The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1886-01-16

eDactIHent vi lnaJ oppreSslNc III"
which requires bread to be earned
by the sweat Of the faces. Certain
it is that the oldest inhabitant does
not remember when the cry of hard
times was not in the mouths of the
people. Now, why all this cry of
hard times, and by whom? Sixty
years ago the handful Of men who
were entering lands along the White
river, and opening farms, living in
cabins and going fifty miles to mill,
complained less of hard times than
some do now, albeit there were men
even then that murmured, and not a
few sold out their Openings" for n
mere song and went back to Virginia
or Ohio to dronc out a few years,
singing hard times until death
came to their relief. They were sim
ply unwilling to get down to the
hard work and hard living that was
necessary to open up new country.
Hundreds of them kept pegging
away, shaking during the agne sea
son, hunting and fishing when they
had to,and working when they could;
these men never complained OF hard
times. They lived well, raised their
families well, cleared their farms
well, and acquired good homes. OF
their contemporaries, many hunted,
fished, drank whisky, and loafed for
living, and worked only spasmod-
lically-thcse had hard times.
And so it has been all along. Ex-
cept as they catch the contagion,
and say. "hard times" because it is
fashionable, the Industrious and fru-
gal, seldom complain of hard times.
OF course, they have to work hard
and live close, but this is inevitable
under the law above quoted. But
they get along all the better when
they work cheerfully and accept the
situation as inevitable. If hard
work means hard times, they may
claim their share, but it is generally
not your patient working man who
complains of hard times. Analyze
this thing called hard times and you
will find that in all cases it is known
only among those who seek to abro-
gate or evade the inevitable law of
our being, except so far as the mis-
deeds of others may in some in
stances effect the innocent. A thief
or swindler may prey upon the saw
ings of an honest man and cause
him to suffer; but, except this, the
sufferers are those who start out to
live without work, after sort, in a
field already overworked, or for
which they are not qualified, or
those who attempt to live beyond
their legitimate income, not to men
ton those who waste their earnings,
if they have any, in various kinds of
dissipation.
To illustrate: There are dozen
men in this city who have fair med
zeal or legal requirements, but they
are living on the merest pittance.
Some of these, after acquiring fair
business and good reputation in
their native towns, have come to
practice in metropolitan city.
There is not business enough for all
such, and they say times are hard.
They are not loafers, nor mean men.
They are willing to work, if they get
the kind of work they want. There
is another dozen, probably score of
men, who, from ten to thirty years
ago, impelled by laudable ambi-
ton to become more than mere hew-
ers of wood or drawers of water, left
their fathers farm or shop for city
life, and they aspired to become law
yers or doctors. Some of these have
no mean requirements, others are
mere pettifoggers or quacks, but
while their brothers, who remained
on the farm, or in the shop, are good
livers and own property, and never
feel hard times, many of these are on
the point Of starvation. Law bust
ness and medicine have limit
There is not enough to feed the hun
dreds who are really capable men.
These starvelings talk of hard times,
but who is to blame? No one is I'M
der obligation to make law business,
or get sick just to make business.
They are not all of them loafers;
some are ward politicians, and most
of them would do something easy, if
they could get it to do. 1t is simply
a case of maladjustment of labor.
At the other extreme of society is
another illustration. There are in
the city hundred of able bodied men.
Some of these are skilled mechanics,
but they are out of profitable en-
ployment; some are unskilled, and
out of employment. Here, again, is
maladjustment. No one can afford
to build house merely to give en-
ployment to mechanic, or to create
job for the unskilled. 1t is simply
an oversupply of workmen in these
lines. 1t is not impossible to over
stock the market with any kind of
an article. Sometimes it may be
country produce; sometimes iron, or
wooden, or wooden goods. Goods
must have purchasers, and purchas
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