Morning appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1877-1906, 1877-08-23
THE QUESTION OF MAKING EMPLOY
AIENT FOR THE UNEMPLOYED
POOR.

In Lato conversation Win q reporter o.
an Eastern paper, ex-senator Simon Cam
eron of Pennsylvania ia said to have expressed
himself as follows concerning the now absorb
ing question Of labor-remunorative work for
the idle and furnishing millions Of our. coun-
trymen:
Speaking of the edac. OF the late strikes
upon the future Of the business Of the coun-
try, the Senator said: "The times had not
looked so gloomy since 1920, when in Penn
sylvania everybody had to be Or was about to
be sold out by the Shorts. The panic then
was occasioned By the war of 1912. Penn
sylvania had hard struggle, and in order to
revive business expended some 800, OOO, 900
on internal improvements. These are equally
dark times. It is hard to prophesy what
might happen in the near future. 1t is prob
able that some Of the railroads would have to
20 into bankruptcy
As the older readers of the APPEAL are
aware, we long since advocated the owning,
by the General Government, of the great
trunk lines of railway, as well as the tele
graph system of the country. This notion IS
in the line OF Capitalization" but VIC d
not see as many ills in Federal central.zation
POAA'AN~
profess to fear. We think the country would
have been lust SO much better off in the.way
OF available assets if, instead Of giving to the
Union and Central Pacific Railway ComPa-
nies the means wherewith to build their lines
OF road, the Government had expended those
means itself, in its own name, and III the
furtherance Of great national scheme.
Somehow while conducting some OF the po.it-
ical afTaira OF the Republic as in the name
and by the authority OF a national power,
there has always been evinced 3 tinlidity on
the part of the National Idea to assert itself.
It has covered, habitually, before the more
arrogant assumption Of State Sovereignty.
Thus, while the Government assumed su-
prene power enough to cede away millions OF
acres Of land and tens Of millions Of dollars
to assist certain individuals in their work Of
building tie great transcontlnental road, It
lacked the moral courage TO make the Nation
the proprietor of what, in all justice, Is It's
own property. We supper. an army, navy,
& Customs Service and P0stoffice Depart
nent, as we'll a. il system Of National Banks,
and then weakly waive our rights, or our pol
ICY, of ownership in the most important ad'
iuncts OF interior public commerce and news
transmission. Certainly the great trunk lines
Of railway and the equally great lines Of tele-
graph are Of quite as much Importance as the
mails, the coming Of moneys and the collec-
zion of customs duties. 1t has been stoUt!y
keld, time out Of mind, that We Do 10. need
a standing army; and still We have tie nu
ceus of one--the sign Of the substance Of the
thing deprecated. And yet, if We did main
tain an army of half million OF men, itself
would not only give employment TO many
thousands OF persons incapable Of seIs-heIp,
but it would foster vast line OF industries
now languishing. On the other hand, II We
are not to have standing army IS part OF
prcat National military establishment, IS not
the need all the more urgent that there should
be an equivalent peace employment OF the
idle classes2 Other nations put proportion
Of their unskilled masses and naturally idle
people in their armies We neither provide
a place Tor them in the army nor and them
substitute employment We think that the
veteran Senator'S hint above quoted will COM
nland serious attention in the next Congress.
tie cites the fact that Pennsylvania in time
of great public distress, devised employment
for her starving people. 1t seems to US that
it is the first duty OF Congress to find work
for the millions Of the idle and sorely dis
tressed people Of this Republic. Tho Nation
now, as Pennsylvania was moro than fifty |
wears ago, a is witness Of the distresses coming |
upon the people after the subsidence, and re-
action following, great war. The effort Of
stateslnanship should be toward such devlslng |
as will make peace seem blessing. There
should be inaugurated great public works
not mere temporary affairs, but projects of
substantial and comparatively permanent /
character. The payment OF the public debt |
IS Of little Importance compared with the re-
lief of che suffering masses.
The Chinese Of San Francisco, being taxed |
for school purposes petition the Board OF
Education asking that their children be adj
1nitted to tho public schools. 1t strikes US
that so long as they are taxed to support the
schools they have as much right to their
benefit. as any white people.
Rollen P. SAKE, the cattle man, who