Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1871-11-01
CLEARFIELD PA, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER ], 1871.

coming fresh from the family altar,
the problem was simple. But now
all is changed. The squalor of Europe
hes laid siege to these branches Of in
dnstry, and native talent has fed be.
fire it, as it would fee from the
rprch of pestilence. 1t is needless
Il describe to you tho makeup Of the
efaigrant He brings not only him
sell, but certain social ideas. He is
apt to be compound of ignorance,
halc, and despair. And the worst
feature is that ambition is dead Can
there be moro vivid picture of com.
pkte moral prostration than a parent
who has no aspirations in behalf OF
BIZ cbild2 Yet in Massachusetts,
whero q law compels every factory
child to attend school three months in
o year, the strongest obstacle to the
execution of that law is the fi,lsehood
and evasion of parents who take every
means to escape its provisions. Thus
the child grows up in ignorance q
little more age reveals to him the
wretehedness of his estate and il
needs but spark Of the fire which in
others we call selfrespect to make
him a rebel against society and trai.
tor to his race. Tcnder.beartcd wo.
men read the description of a brutal
murder, and wonder how human feel.
ings can become so dead. They do
not know that we ourselves are school.
ing these outlaws by neglect. In the
name Of civilization we have driven
the Indian from tho land, and in our
cities and towns which we call the
last fruit Of civilization, we are rear.
ing barbarism worse than theirs, by
as much as it stands in a more splen'
did era.
Now it will never do to leave this
problem TO our free Institutions
They arc glorious and strong, but in.
stitutions are nothing except os they
inspire living men. The time is alive
with omnibus portents. Labor parties
may not prove that eight hours ought
to bc legal days work, but they dc
prove that something is rotten in
American society. A cry for relief
has gone forth, and refuses to be
hushcd. We can not always ignore
these men. Neither can we forever
satisfy them by quoting Adam Smith
Suppose somo> o>wise individual should
stand with a copy of "The Wealth Of
Nations" in his hand before a mob oi
London bread rioters, and begin to
read the chapter on wages; would
they all go off rejolclig in the beauties
of the science, and convinced that
they were happy? Political economy
has had ample trial in England. A
mill agent recently said, 81 regard my
workpeople Just as ! regard my ma,
chinery. SO long as they can do my
work for what choose TO pay them
| keep them, getting out Of them al
can. = When my machines
get old and useless, reject them and
got new, and those ponpla are part o
my machinery" Is not that sufli
GENTLY rigorous application of the law
Of demand aud SUPPLY And it dc
scribes the whole factory system in
England up to tho time when the agi
tators took it in hand. What it has
done for England ] need not repeat
Suffice ii to say that political economy,
as solution of this question, is dis
astrous failure.
Well, having failed in this, society
looks about for somo other remedy,
and finally adopts the charity system
At the risk of a glittering generality
| pronounce this the ago of poor r-hous
cs. Hospitals for the sailor, asylum.
for the inebriate, and retreats for the
spinster spring up in night and open
their doors TO the unfortunate. Never
was society so thoroughly nursed n:
it is to day. Now, no one would dis
parngc these enterprises. They hon
or the head as much as they do the
heart of their authors. But they dc
not meet this great social problem oI
poverty, and they never will Fol
they are not philosophical. The best
gift you could bestow on a cripple
would be to set him on his feet; and
If some disease is crippling society,
crntches will never make it walk
stmight. viii it develop into life aud
vigor the selfreiancc of an able bodied
man to feed him like child with his
daily bread The truth is, there must
appear in society some miracle work
or personal or impersonal, which shall
bid these crippled, halting, and help.
less thousands to rise up and walk.
IT. then, our institutions can not be
trusted, if political economy has prov
cd itself futile, and il tharity, howov-
er broad in its reach or multiplied
in its form, can work no permanent
cure, to what shall we turnl Must
we abandon the question in despair
Must woaccept as fact the existence
in America of an isolated class ?
While England is manfully fighting
her way to justice in the face OF tradi.
ton and law, shall we ignobly surron-
der this very fortress ofhuman rights
/ do not believe it. That same politi.
cal economy for which 80 much is
claimed, teaches that man with his
muscle alone is able TO produce more
than he can consume. And if he can
a., Tho uno;Joh rhora IL thn bOaatp1