The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1871-11-04

companies made speciality Of working
mems dwellings. The consequence was
that at least two-thirds Of the houses de-
stroyed were insured in these home corpor-
atoms. And IL is right here where the pecu-
liar hardship Of the situation appears.
While we cheerfully acknowledge the mu-
niHcent liberality shown to our citizens in
the hour of need, there is no question that
the heaviest sufferers-thOse who have
lost their all-will receive the least sssis-
lance Eastern and European capitalists
are too much interested in Chicago's de-
velopment to allow her merchants or man
ufacturers to go by the board. Stocks of
goods and material will soon supply the
places Of those destroyed. but on who or
what in his hour Ofneed, must the workmen
or mechanic depend-on his own ener-
U and ten fingers. No one will vol
unteer to make good the loss he has met
with. To be sure he can 60 to work again,
and perhaps look forward to the time when
he may be able to replace what he has
lost, but it is problematical, and to man
with a family dependant on him, almost
an imposibility Isit right, is it Honorable
under such circumstances, that corpora
tons which for years have amassed for
tunes with the money .frauduLently taken
from these men some of whom have
paidApt per cent on the amount OF their
stock, shall be allowed to escape scott free
and rob their victims, by offering from 8
TO 10 cents on the dollar, while their i'll got
ten booty remains We think not, and we
believe nineteen-twentieths Of the citizens
OF Chicago are Of the same opinion.
We believe if the proper steps are taken,
that ways and means can be devised when
the Legislature re-convenes, whereby
substantial relief can be afforded to these
pOlicV-holders. A loan of 100000
under sufficient guarantees, md judiciously
disbursed under the control of the State,
together with the available 100000 OF
assets remaining, will 60 long way to
rebuild those streets where the poor man
made his home And in no way, we in
sist, can the material interests of Chicago
be SO much advanced as by pursuing such
a policy. Instead Of feeding them at soup
kitchens all winter, enable them to re-
erect their dwellings, and before the work
Of ~ commences, substantial homesteads
will have taken the place Of the present
ruins, and the invaluable services of these
men have been secured to our city. TAX
ing into consideration the fact that the
stockholders above referred to are worth
at low estimate from e75 600, 900 to $50
100000, the proposition is neither unrea-
sonable nor exhorbitant
But it has been urged that the Legis-
lature has no constitutional authority to
make such an appropriation. Well, sup
pose it hasn't We shonld like to ask
these constitution sticklers if when neces
sity required, the Constitution of the
United States was ever violated Let them
think and refresh their memory. When
Florence Nightingale, the heroine of the
Crimea, found the red tape OF the circum-
locution office deny her requisition for
her patients at Scutsri, what did she do /?
Took a posse OF men, broke the locks
from their fastenings, and helped herself /;
and both the British and American people
applauded the act. Let them also remem-
Der that there is a deal Of difference be-
tween shutting the treasury Of the State
against a nest of petty thieves and open
ing it when its best interests can be sub
served.
We do not know what view the daily
press may take of this matter We trust,
however, they will not dismiss it without
giving it their careful consideration, or
proposing a more practical method to ac-
complish the purpose proposed.