, 1877-07-29
70 WHOM DOES THE WORLD OWE l.
LIVING3

in their recent assaults on society. CAPITA
and labor alike, one of the most dangeror
and delusive is that 1.-THE world owes Us
living" The assumption is utterly falst
There are only two classes to whom th
world may be said to owe living in an
sense of the term, viz. d: To children befor
they grow out Of the helpless and dependen
conditlon Of infancy, and to the old, deerepit
lnfrm, who have been worn out in th
worlds service. The most liberal philan
thropy cannot 60 much beyond this. Th
world owes nothing to the able-bodied maj
md woman beyond what they work for ant
earn. The "world is not a debtor, but al
outraged creditor and loser, in the case
Of every loafer and vagabond who lives
| upon it in idleness, dissipation, OF
crime. The "world," at best, is &
sort Of cooperative institution upon which
every one draws according to his investment.
The moment man able to labor ceases to
work and stops his contribution to the CON-
mon fund, he has nothing to draw against.
The laborer who throws away his tool and
lifts his voice for "bread is sort of con-
idence-man who seeks to swind1e the COM
munity out of livelihood which he is not
willing to earn. He has the right to strike
for higher wages he has the right to quit
work if be thinks he can do better; but he
has no right to throw himself upon the COM
munity either to beg, bully, or plunder the
living he has voluntarily abandoned.
Least of all does the world owe a living to
the dead-beats, yagrants, drunkards, thieves,
gutter-snipes, Communists, and vicious
loafers who came to tie front aud de-
manded it in the recent riots. The world
owes these classes rather determination than
livelihood Tho "world" will be better
off in the degree that such witches cease tc
exist. They degrade and cripple the
'world, disgrace the wprkingmen Of whom
they CLAIM to be part, and render capital
timld, distrustful, and unproductive. How
much is owing to the men who destroyed
millions Of dollars worth of other peoples
in Pittsburg? How much to the
men who have driven thousands Of working
men from their places during the past week.
and brought suffering and dismay on their
families How much to the men who have
violently and unlawfully throttled the busi-
ness Of the country for week, and made it
poorer by tens of millions of dollars !? How
much to those who have burned
,ars and locomotives, ditched trains.
md plundered and destroyed freight:
How much to the men who have
increased the public expenditures OF
he United States, the States, the
counties, the cities, and the towns, in order to
[uen disturbances and restore public order? |
How much to the men who have acted as ill.,
endiaries and highway robbers in plunder- |
ng communities Of their accumulated say
ngs and their valuable time? In settling
his account it is the thieves, and rufians, anu
acendiary Communists who are the debtors,
nd they can only discharge their obligation.
, society in the jails aud penitentiaries.
The brawler who claims that the world"
wes him living may be set down as
'scal or dead-beat. In one of the Chi
ago mobs Of the first few Days there was
'nspicuous figure carrying banner OIL
Inch was inscribed Bread Bread Bread!"
he fellow that carried that banner WINS !.
Professional thief, well known to the police.
I'd had been familiar with tho interiors oi
'yeral penitentiaries. He was toting tli,
'igrammatic transparency for the purpose OF
'thering crowd upon which his fellow
ievcs and plckpockets could operate.
hlle holding aloft q luminous appeal TO,
Bread Bread! he Was looking forward
the tenderloius, frogs legs, and champaign.
proposed to enjoy on the proceeds of thu
ghts plunder, This is the sort of fellow
10 believes the 't world oeocs him living"
} such men the reply should be made that :
:. JOHNSON, or SIDNEY SMITH, OF some other ,
SO old fellow, made to the able-bodied beg 1
r who said q he must live" It isn't at ali {
cessary. In fact, it would be no serious l.
IS for that kind Of cattle to die,
lit. W. F. STOREY, whose sheet is perfect
snging weathercock On all subjects, is in the
olt Of criticisiug his neighbors' alleged ill., Il
lssrencies Of opinion. People who indulge 81
Ibis sort Of recreation ought not to live in II
IS houses. To illustrate: THE TRIBUNE of Il
day nad an arttcle praising the police for the ~
e manner in which they scattered the mobs lie
Thursday last, aud paragraph In the same CT
le rejecting Oil the Mayor for not dealing Is
b the rioters earlier and more vigorously. Ct
octt him, hat tf ~ r1