The Labor enquirer., 1884-03-01
DYsAxrrr is strong to-day at 4oc.
ARE YoU SATISFIED,

This question is asked of the so-called
or self.called reformer; you, my brother
and fellow worker, who have given some
thought, perhaps great deal, to the
questions of social and industrial reforms.
You have gone deep enough into the
subject to know that wrong is rife in the
world, that Justice is being trampled
under foot and hope is dying. You
know that there are misery and want
perhaps have felt their pangs yourself
you know that there are riches and
luxury; you know that those who suffer
from the former are hard-working
producers, and that those who enjoy the
latter are the idle burdens on society;
you know the cause of such unequal and
unhappy conditions, and you know the
power to correct the evils lies with the
class to which you belong-that, in fact,
it lies with you. You know all this, and
yet you are doing little, if anything.
Are you satisfied?
You read accounts of fresh outrages
heaped upon the toihng poor, of the
increased misery and suffering of your
fellow beings. You gaze upon the evil
dences of how the rights of humanity
are trampled under the feet of tyrants
and heartless aristocrats right under
your own eyes. You are yourself and
fellow toilers denied the wretched privi-
lege of shaving for An existence. You
see wages decrease and arbitrary tyran-
nical boss rule grow more heartless and
despotic. You see starvation and death
in the faces of your little ones. And
what do you do? Your blood boils for
the moment; you grow wrathY and give
expression to some strong and vengeful
thoughts. You hurry off to the lodge
room, and there tell the well-told story
to companions who are as familiar as
yourself with such things as you relate.
You talk excitedly for awhile, denounc-
ing the systems under which you are
slaves, and finally you cool down, and go
out to once more face a barren hopeless
existence. -
But are you satisfied?
You are certainly not satisfied with
the systems you have 80 roundly de-
nounced; but are you satisfied with
yourself, with the course you are pursu-
ing as an all-powerful factor in the now
dormant reform forces? Can you con-
seientiously and to the satisfaction of
your own mind say, well, I have done
my duty; let the worst Gomez" when
you have, once in year, in the pulpit or
the rostrum, through the press or on the
street corner given semi-public express
sion to your convictions, are you con-
tented to 60 about your business in the
ordinary way until another opportunity
offers itself for you to say what you
Think
Now, l wish every reader of these
lines would consider this subject
seriously. This is a serious subject, and
these are serious times. If the injustice
Is such as you say, when you are forced
by immediate evidences, then how can
you keep still one moment If you
should see your wife and children
stricken down by some terrible disease
and struggling in the throes of death,
would you sit quietly in your home and
wait for some neighbor to come in that
you might tell the dreadful story, or
would you hasten, at the irstsign of
danger, fer assistance and remedies? ?
There can be but one answer 70 such a
question. And yet, you see not only the
wretchedness and deprivation of your
own family, but of four-ffths of the
entire human family, and you seldom
even do as much as raise your voice.
You see, with your minds eye, the bent
forms of the miserable, hopeless women
and the peaked faces of the blasted,
starving children of the great industrial
centers; you see the homeless, penniless,
shoeless tramps on the highways of q
land of plenty; you see the gaunt wolf
at a million cottage doors, and you con.
tent yourself with few bitter words or
momentary burst of execration.
And are you satisfied r.. ...a
Do you know that sooner or later the
people must face this question and strug-
gle in it; do you know that they will
either receive relief through the contest
or be ground down into hopeless
slavery? Do you know that the longer
the final struggle is delayed the more
terrible it will be in action and the less
beneficial to US in its results? And do
you know that you are in part to blame
for the DELAY, and will be responsible if
the reyolution-whidh is sure to come
is bloody one instead of peaceful =?
Reyolutions come whether the world
is prepared for them or not, and the car
mage and devastation of the next revolu-
ton will bemeasured by the preparations
made for 1t. In the past great reyolu-