The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1882-11-19
MIR. A. s. Hewitt on the Struggle BE.
tween Poverty and Riches.

MIR. A. s. Hewitt on the Struggle Be
tween Poverty and Riches.
The discussion of the labor question which
Mr.. A. S. HEWITT has contributed to the
magazine entitled Capital and Labor will
commend him to the cordial esteem of those
who believe that the progress of society is
more vitality concerned with the equitable
distribution than with the accumulation of
wealth. Mr.. HEwTrr's conclusions may not
coincide with those of orthodox economists
nor, for that matter, did those at which J. S.
MILL arrived in his last days--but they re-
| spond to the instincts and convictions of the
mass OF men who have to earn "a livelihood
by hard and inccssant work.
Mr.. HEwlrrs purpose is to make himself
clearly understood by plain people, and for
| that reason he discards the terms capital and
| labor, which require elaborate definitions,
and which, unless their definitions are stead
| lily kept in Wow, lead to many misconccp-
lions. He sees that the tTcprcsslblc conflict
| of our times is u struggle FOR the ownership,
not so much of active capital IL, of that por-
| ton of the wealth Of .s,cicty which rs used
for other than productive purposes. He
| therefore lays down the principle that in its
essence the controversy is between great
| riches and poverty, and is On attempt to
| change the ownership Of suporihous wealth
! What Mr.. HEWITT las in mind when he
| speaks of supcriluoNs wealth is indicated by
| his division Of American society into four
sections. In the lfst he places the very rich
! who live without productive labor of any
kind-for CUTTING OF coupons il not labor
upon the proceeds of realized property, with
| superintendent means which they to min
lister To their own desires, whether commend
| able or ccnsurublc. To the second section
would be referred The members u! the large
middle section who know neither poverty
nor great richie. who are rs Il rule engaged
in useful cml'iOrmcnts, who have more or
less OF the comforts and luXurirf Of life, and
WHO are above the reach Of want. In the
| thir! category belongs the multitude of in
| dustlious working people vino possess little
property, and try to gain decent livelihood
for themselves aud their families by daily
labor. They may bc said to'bc poor in the
sense that they are liable to bc reduced to
want by sickness, or by the chances and
changes Of business dcpriying them of the
opportunity to work. In the fourth group
stand the vcritai,e paupers, who neither
work nor are willing to work.
Now, regards the FIRST and fourth of
these sections Mr.. HEWITT is of the opinion
that if they should cease To exist, humanity
would not have cause to shed many tears.
The problem in fact, which society now finds
| itself forced to solve, turns on the mode of
| getting rid of these two extramc sections
| without revolution and Sithout injustice.
| Tie relations of the sfcossd and third divi-
| sions-thc well to do who are engaged in
| useful employments and the industrious poor
/ would, he thinks, be readily adjusted, be-
| cause the transition from one 20 the other is
| not only very easy, but is continually going
on Their interests are at bottom identical
| ans, as between them, Mr.. HEWITT deems
| 1t scarcely necessary to discuss the
| limitations of wealth But when he
| comes 40 consider the position OF the
| very rich, he encounters the sef-evidcnt fact
that they aosscss an amount of property far
| beyond the capacity of any class Of human
| beings OF their limited number TO contribute
| by their own Efforts to the sum total Of human
wealth. He does not hesitate to say that the
| possession OF such superabundant riches will
not stand the test ~ absolute justice, and he
! reminds us that in this affirmation he only
repeats what some OF the greatest thinkers
and the best men who have ever lived have
| earnestly propounded. He maintains also
that their doctrine Is in distinct accordance
with the teachings of CHRIST; for while He
tells lis that the poor we shall have always
with us. and thus seems to recognize by i'm
plication that there will be inequalities in the
ownership of property, yet He nowhere says
that we shall always have the rich with us.
Not few Of his readers will concur with
Mr., HEWITT in believing that the great
question Of our time is how to transfer n
larger portion of the accumulated wealth of
society from the very rich to the hardworli-
ing poor 1t is only when he comes to con-
slider the methods by which that desirable
operation may be furthcrcd that his Ian
guage may be thought not sufficiently OK
plicit. He seems to think that the extension
of the cooperative principle will suffice to
accomplish the economical revolution, but
| such is not the opinion OF many who have