The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1869-10-15
4 Senator on the Poor.


!. Tbere is NJ reason why the poor Sho,t
keep poor. There are no clsmps OF 60 60
synonyms. There IS no barr,ng-ouL lror'
40 ayor,cs nf s,,ccese. The doors ~ cVci'
Sn,ortmant ofremunerative toll stand opeT
~ Ill. and education and opportunity arc
within the reach OF all to win the higheS'
prizes. The poor begin, indeed, at INC
lowest round Of the ladder. hut there i nc
reason why they may not climb to the Top,
most. Stewart, Vandcrbllt, anu DreW; ~.
40 advantages at the start. ihev nave pun
M their huge fortunes without help from
wealthy uarents or connections, ana any
who emulate their career may INITIATE H.
The children Of the wealthy sQuander Tor
times: tho children OF the poor create them.
Such has been general law III American
life
The Great Teacher said, "The poor "
have always with you" This saying Is moi
only true, but necessarily true. lt Is )ust aS
;npossiblc that there should not DC poor
Deople rs that two bodies can occupy inc
sa,nn suacc at the same time. If all the
oreenbacks in the United States were equally
divided amonsthe people, each person "onl0
have about ten dollars. There would be no
rich if there were no poor. The poverty o.
Tho moor feeds the thrift Of the rich. What
sort of community would that be where
MI were rich? Who would black boots.
drive carriages. till the earth, do black
smiths work, perform hard labor OF any
sort: "No reason why the poor shonh
keep poor" indeed! Who does net
know industrious, Woodworking, honeS'
men. who haze toiled in vain all then
lives in the effort to lay up something
~Io
that every man quits hard manual labor a
soon as he possibly can, and that one of the
first things a successful or thrifty man docs
j. to live by his wits THAT is, by aVallinc
himself of the aid Of his accumulated capt.
tai: The whole of the real estate IN Rich-
mond for instance, is valued ut 50, OVo,oNV
Now, il is plain that if there were here
TWENTY-FIVE men worth one million OF dol
lars each the whole Of it would belong
10 them; and equally plain that tw"
hundred and fifty men worth one
hundred thousand dollars each Nigh
own it all. This or similar IL.
lustration would hold good everywhere
Before the war Virginia was the richest
State in the Union. There was in this state
so much property that if 1T had been equal,
divided amongst the people each person
would have had about thousand dollars.
This was Justly considered to he m extra
ordinary state Of things. If all men were
equally economical, and equally capable ~
acquiring property. there would be anc
cnuId he no such millonaireS n STEWART.
The amount Of property in the world l.
limited. 1t could not possibly be so dis
trihuted as that all men should be
rich, What would he true Of ten mer
on an island is true Of the twelve hundred
millions who inhahit the earth. If the pro-
pertv on such IN island so inhabited Were
worth only ten thousand dollars, one mar
might have almost RI! Of it; hut it would h'
absolutely impossible that each Of the ter
should have ten thousand dollars worth OF
it, 50 true i this that some writers have
thought it not amiss 60 warn their readers
That Spendthriits are not the most service
able class Of men OF community. The Strue-
Gle for wealth may be compared to The
efforts of two men, one ii each END ol !"
rorc, 10 obtain possession Of the whole rope"
If the two are equal in strength, equal in
perseverance, equal in endurance, ana II
all other respects. the one will hold posses
sion Of rs much Of the rope as the other
But if there he difference between them II
respect of these things, OH" will get much
more than his share. This illustration iSnot
pcrfect-(ioes not run OH all tours. 50 |"
speak-for only one reason, which Is thai
the value OF the property in the world is
constantly increasing. Yet. rs the number
4 H., - Il tl,NfIN
increasing. il is, to say the least, doubtful!
whether there will be ten years hence
larger amount per capita than there Is to-day.
Sothat ifto-day an equal distribution ofallth
property in the world would give to each per-
son not over five hundred dollars, the same
would likely be the case tea or & thousand
years hence. And such being an unatcra-
bic fact, it inevitably follows that nine
tenths of all persons must always he poor:
and that a large proportion Of them must
be exceedingly poor to allow few to be
exceedingly rich. There is possibility
that any man may become wealthy, but not
ece,.y man. The question is rs to who shall
be the fortunate ones. There is - rea-
son" why most of . the poor should keep
DOOR, There IS - harring-out from the
avenues of success" "The highest prizes
are not 'within the reach of ALL" [The
contrary statement is, by the way, 4 bull
for there could be no "higheSt prizes il
all persons were equally Tich.l There IS :
reason why ninc.tenths of persons cannot
possibly climb to the topmost round OF
the ladder of fortune Many who emulate
the career Of VANDERBILT, DREW. and
STEWART, cannot "imitatc il " if by "imi-
tating il it is meant that all men might
become as rich as these for if all the pro-
perry owned by the ten hundred thousand
people of New York city We're equally
divided amongst only one hundred men
each man Of the hundred would he less rich
than STEWART.
But it is not necessary TO pursue this
train Of argument further. Let lis rather
ask, with ARTEMrs WARD, "Why is this
thus" We can suggest some reasons. 1t
is evident that if every man should become
rich there would be no physicians 10 heal
the sick, no lawyers, no judges. no preach
ers. no newspapers, flor no man would be
an editor unless . on compulSiOn,'1 no me-
charles Of any sort, and, beyond doubt, no
servants. And if all men were equally rich
or equally poor-that is, if all the property
in the world were equally divided among its
inhabitants--it is plain that there could be
no farm, and no plantation, and no house,
worth more than few hundred dollars.