Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1886-12-30
MAN AND WOMAN.
The UnmanIy, Selfish Argument Of O
SOciallstic Defender Of Beer, Domi-
noes and Tobacco.
what tho women and children Endure
the Lord and Master should Not
Shrink From.
Chicago Herald.


The reply OF Socialist Morgan to the
address of the woman's Christian Tenn
perance society on the question OF tenn
perance was intended to be very smart
production, but it falls far short even OF
pertness. In substance 1t holds out the
the theory that workingmen are forced
/ into the saloons because their homes are
so miserably uninvitlng. Touching on
this point, Socialist Morgan says: "With
| but few exceptions the wage worker re-
turns from his days hard labor TO home
| of one, two or three rooms in crowded
tenement, TO home where every inch of
space is used for the actual necessities
/ OF family life, to home containing moth
/ ing TO excite him to mental activity, un-
| less 1t be the fumes of his upper, with no
room to receive and no means to enter
tain visitors, and he finds Ia the saloon
relief for his tired hand and brain.
There, with cards and beer and friendly
neighbors, his social instinct, find de-
gree Of qualification. The saving of the
race lies in this gregarious instinct, in
the fact that we need each other"
1t may not have occurred to Mr.. Nor
gan ard his socialistic friends that one of
the surest methods of maintaining a
miserable home and never getting bet
ter one is to spend the money which
would provide decent accommodations
on beer and cards in the saloons. Neither
the workingman nor the millionaire can
eat his cake and have 1t, too. II the
former contributes one, two or three dol
lars week to the saloon which he could
easily save or by wiser eXpendi-
ture secure a more attractive home
with, he deliberately cuts off his
chance OF improving his condi.
ton. II the latter, by gratifying his ar
petite TO excess, encroaches on his capt.
tai and neglects his business he will not
DE millionaire for any great length Of
time. The rule is memorable. 1t oper-
ates on rich and poor alike. The royal
road to attluence exists no where except
in fiction. Patience, industry and fru
gallty are the three virtues Of domestic
economy, as important In their way as
the Christian graces are to the divine plan
ofrevealed religion. II the rich man can
not ignore them with safety to himself
how can the poor man expect tor
But If man is gregarious animal, as
Socialist Morgan is fond of repeating,
what about woman2 If the saving OF the
race lies in this gregarious instinct, what
VI bhN llNg Auh
Are they, too, to seek companionship and
relief and recreation in the saloon! The
wretched tenement which his lordship the
soclalistic workingman desplses, the
scanty room In which his eagle spirit
cnafes and longs for freedom, the mental
activity, and the general unwholesome-
ness of the surroundings which he can
not brook even for few minutes in the
evening, fall to the lot of his wife during
the whole twenty-four hours. They are
the portion of herself aud of her chill
dren, made the more unhappy by know
ledge Of the fact that the husband and
father is 10th 20 remain in them, and that
he is daily squanderlng in selfish pleas
ure the earnings which, IL rightly applied,
would add rooms to the tenement, carpets
and furniture and books and newspapers
to the rooms, and Joy to the occupants.
The whine of Socialist Morgan is not
manly. 1t signifies spirit which does
not control many American workingmen.
1t Is the weak excuse of selfish man, or
else 1t is put forward as an excuse to be
used by selfish men. 1t win be laughed
at by thousands who frequent saloons
and who krow only too well the m ntal
activities which are there excited and the
social pleasures which are there encoun-
tered. 1t will be read sorrowfrlly
~ thousands of brave and in
dustrious women bearing up he
roically under privati0n which
might be relieved with the greatest ease
and with a shudder by other thousands
OF women who, conscious OF their escape
from such compaDionship, will neverthe-
less appreciate its full import. The
workingman whose home is not good
enough for him has a home that IS not
good enough for his wife and children.
lie can no more excuse his expenditures
on himself at other places than million
aire who kept his family in squalor and
lived himself at the club could excuse his
C nduct.
1t is possible that some of the social
lists of Mr.. Morgan's caliber have spent
so much time in cultivating their mental
activities that they have forgotten that
the road to comfort lies through toll.
The men who repine and seek by various
stupid subterfuges to escape work and
who expect to enjoy luxury without thrift
only stand in their own light. They in
weigh against men, but their grievance is
against conditions which men did not
order, and which men are powerless to
change. The socialist is no exception TO
the rule governing all mankind. II he
nnds that the saloon stands In the wav OF
his acquiring competence, let him re-
n1unce it. II he viii not, he cannot COM
plain because others who do that thing
outstrip him in the race Of life.
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