The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1885-06-04

sufn, of--late, ID % bestow IArRo sum up0n
some benevolent object This they mll
charity. But IL the business Affairs Of the
donors be investigated tho chances are ten
to one that the wages Of their employees
will be found to be reduced to the meresl
pittance.
Il is said that great Chicago boot and
shoe manufacturer few years ago donated
$lO. 900 for the erection Of the Moody Tab
ernacle, and that Same week he reduced
the wages Of his mon. already working for
starvation wages, Is per cent.
few months ago an extensive lard 70.
liner anil manufacturer Of butterine and
foap paid S1.J for box at charity ball
by which he gained some cheap notoriety
Tor his generosity =; and vet the co0pers ii
this mans employ have been on strike for
some timc b.cause he does not offer them
two-thirds of the regular rates.
The proprietors Of the Mccormick reaper
works reduced the wages Of their men Is
per cent. last fall. promising to restore them
again this spring; but when spring came
tho demand for the restoration was refused,
caasing 1,5cO men in their employ 70 70
on strike. But this Mccormick family
during this time could bestow something
like half million dollars upon charitable
institution.
vanderbilts endowment Of medical col.
lego to the extent Of half million has been
quite largely noticed and lauded, yet very
few will claim that his vast estate has been
accumulated BY honest means.
It sounds very dattering and compli.
mentary to the donors to style these Rifts
charities, but il We apply the Bible rule
we shall have to find some other term BY
which to designate them. In one place
one Of the apostles says: And though !
bastow oil my goods to feed the poor, etc.,
and have not charity, IL rroAteth me moth.
ing. From which il will be seen that gen.
uine charity 10 an entirely different article
from best0wal upon some religious or
benevolent enterprise Of money that per-
SON does not know what else to do with.
merely to advertise ones generosity.
But the manner in which these men, a.
most without exception, treat their en-
ployes, is evidence that there il neither
charity nor justice in their hearts or make
mp.
Investigation would disclose the fact that
these would-be generous souls never give
anything "to feed the poor" or Tor any other
so-called charitable object, where the fact
Is not likely to be published as an instance
Of the giver's cleyerneas.
The effects of the injustice that has been
practiced in this country requirins the aid
Of charities are apparent on every hand.
There il not . city in the nation that has
not had more or less INDECENT people to sup
port dufis 8 the past winter, and In some Of
the larger cities the number Of such dc.
pendents has reached tens Of thousands
Had these people been paid what they Justly
earned during past years most OF them
would have been able to support themselves
IN comfort aud happiness.
Somewhere about two years AGO the
Hooking Valley coal region was but little
known. Miners were at work there hap
PLY and contentediy. But syndicate was
formed, In connection with which the
name Of one James q. Blaine has been
mentioned; corporate control Of the mines
was obtained; the wages Of the miners were
reduced to starvation point; and a long and
desperate strike ensued. It 10 estimated
that 100000 in charities vas sent there
for the support Of the strikers and their
starving families,
Strict justice TO the miners would have
avoided the necessity for this amount Of
eaaAraties. II applied, 1t would also give
euiek transit BY hemp to other spheres.
where. according to general report, coal il
not in general use for heating purposes.
According to tho census of 1850, the
average wages of the 9, 738, $50 employees
Of this country 81 1904 year, while the
average profit of tho ass, $40 employers,
exclusive Of wages and raw material, ID
"a, 900 year. When man Of the labor
ing class reads this, he 10 apt to say, That
is too much! do all the work. and get
but $500, while he merely oversees the
concern and gets 81, O0O.s
And Il that laboring man takes "a, ,OOo
and multiplies it BY the number Of en-
ployers; and then divides tho product BY
the 1900. 900 hborers. he finds that the
employers profit on each laborer is lust
about equal to the wages he pays him.
Tho gross earnings Of the Could rail-
roads for the past year we're Sig. 81. 900.
. reduction III wages was recently at.
tempted, causing the late strike on these
lines.
It is the injustice Of Just such extortion
as this that necessitatss such large amounts
Of charities in this country. Capital 10 en-
titled to ito fair portion Of profits; 10 per
gent. would be fair. and ~ per cent would
be ample; but 30 per cenk Is the rankest
injustice! II 10 robbery!
The spectacle Of these extortioners
grinding labor down to the very last notch
and then paying out moiety from their
Overf1owing golfers in order that train Ol
fawhing sycophants may extol their gem
srosity" is scandal0us. 10 call it charity
is naisnomer.
Perhaps there may lurk in the breasts ol
some Of these vestige Of conscience that
berates them for their miserly proclivitiee