The Labor enquirer., 1884-03-22
dynamite is strong to-day at SOC.
POVERTY PERPETUATED.

am very familiar with the poverty
stricken section. As 1 walked along,
with elegant and costly residences on
each side of me, began to think, and
in those thoughts there was no bitterness
towards the inhabitants of those luxu-
rious dwellings. tried to be as chari-
table as possible and I.succeeded in curb
inamy temper against the men who
have robbed the toilers and producers OF
all the plenty of wealth saw around
me. l said, let me be charitable to these
men; they are not to blame. l must 60
deeper and place the crime where it be-
longs-upon the system.
There were scores of little children ;
bright and happy boys and girls, romp-
ing and shouting in the capacious grounds
which surrounded the dwellings. l be-
gan to think of the children have seen
in that other quarter of the city known
as Poverty Flat" and it was probably
due to the hold the little folks took on
my thoughts that restrained my indigna-
ton for the bankers, railroad and other
corporation robbers who had amassed-
no matter now, how-all these good
things, and set them apart for themselves
and their own few kin.
saw their children nicely dressed,
surrounded by all the pleasures of youth,
with bright, happy faces and merry,
sparkling voices! l turned to the little
ones of Poverty Flat and l saw half
clad forms, bare feet, pinched features,
hungry eyes and joyless voices, l saw
little boys and girls too poorly clad to be
seen at our public schools, saw them
backing boots and selling papers, in all
kinds of weather, on the streets; picking
up rags and scraps in the alleys; hanging
around the lowest dives and tagging
after the-worst specimens of humanity
in this wicked town.
l saw these two pictures and my
thoughts travelled on. l saw the rich
HAL SOllS SIauuhkC LOIA oul NOL4AdO
schools, then placed in one of the great
colleges Of the land. saw him with
his mind highly cultured and his man
ners refined, return to take>a high place
in business circles, placed there by his
fathers wealth. On the other hand |
saw the poor mans boy, as soon as he
was large enough to do the lightest work,
enter the ranks of the laborers, to pro-
cure the rags and bread for himself that
his parents could no longer provide. |
saw him going from hard to harder labor
as his frame expanded and grew, and |
saw him bending his worn-out back and
whitened head over slavish toll the hour
before he died. For him there was no
rest, no peace, no hope. Society had
made him a slave from the cradle; it had
debarred him from the opportunities to
cultivate his natural talents, and had
then cursed him for his ignorance. 1t
chained him to british labor and robbed
him of his sweat, which it coined into
lu1uries and pleasures for the benefit of
few.
I saw all this, and more, in that short
walk, and SAID to myself, why this?
Why have these children playing here
before me any more right to be reared
amidst plenty than mine? Why is it
they will have the opportunities and
benefits of fine educahons and big starts
in the business world, while those of the
workers are condemned to tread in their
fathers footsteps from the time they are
able to walk. Why is it one goes to the
colledge, while only the tread mill is
open to the other? And said, it is
because the systems of the world are
wrong; they must be changed.
Man is to blame for this; he must
remedy it. Therecannot be two Gods
one for the poor man and his children,
and one for the rich man and his. The
system whereby he who labors none,
produces nothing enjoys all, while he
who labors ever and produces all, reaps
only what is sufficient to maintain him
to produce, is wrong, is wicked, is un-
Cody. 1t is our work to rectifv it. q.
Let those who call me fanatic" and
crank" talk as they please Of the thrift,
Iessness and improvidence of the work,
ingman as much as they please. They
are not deep enough to trace these
things to their origin. But let them tel
me how l am to prepare my son so he
can be able to compete with the son o.
the Fourteenth street millionaire. L
they cannot do it, then let them be
honest, and say, with the Socialist, ''the
competitive system must 60"
No use to tell me all men. have al
equal chance. He who uses such rot il
mentally deficient. I know rich men,
sons in this city to-day, who don't know
what it is to do hard days work, anc
they have more than they can waste
and their pile increases all the time
while u have worked hard all my life
and see no hope for anything else as Ions
as I live. And don't talk TO me about
natural superiority" Our country:
history is full of evidences that natural
intelligence is not regulated by eondi