The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1886-07-01
Pioneer Life No. 1 4.
BY DAVIS MACKLEY.


81 years, had made me a pleasant call.
at my residence He has been a care
full reader Of the STANDARD for many
years. He said that many young peo-
pie do not believe some things that
have said in these sketches, but he can
certify to their correctness.
Now I want TO introduce AN extract
from an able article in the last iu.u-
Der of the atlantic Monthly 1t is
not on the subject Of Pioneer Life,
but | want to show the contrast, and
how people may live comfortably, and
yet save something. ] have told some
Of the discontented that | have lived
comfortably on one hundred dollars
per year. It is hard to make people
believe this. [ like to see people have
everything that is necessary to make
them comfortable.
When I was boy | had as many
advantages, and as much general IN
formation as the average country boy;
vet I never saw newspaper until |
was nearly fourteen years of age; |
never saw cigar, or an oyster, or a
piano, or billiard table, until I was
over twenty-one years Of age.
But to the article from the atlantic ::
1.-The most urg ut want Of labor to-
day is self-control. In this free coun-
try no man endowed with average
abilities need remain all his life poor.
If he has thrift, self-restraint, perse-
verance, he will pass from the ranks
of labor to the ranks of capital. 1t is
the saving man who becomes the cap
italist,-the man who has force to
deny himself indulgences. What a
lesson lies in the drink bill OF the
American workingmen. for instance |!
At moderate estimate, it amounts to
between four and five hundred million
dollars year. While labor is throw
ing away that enormous sum annually,
with what show of consistency can it
lament it's condition? One years re-
mission Of that destructive self-indul-
gence would solve every labor problem
extant; would provide fund for the
establishment of cooperative works,
for the sustenance Of the sick and
aged, for the maintenance and educa-
ton Of orphans, for libraries and sci
entifc schools, for all manner Of helps.
At present the workingman can
hardly make both ends meet. Is it
not because he insists on creating cap
itaiists out of the saloon-keepers, and,
not content with that, on submitting
ali his rights Of citizenship to the
same objects Of worship? The saloon
in politics is the most hideous abuse
Of the day, but where would it be if
the workingmen withdrew their sup
port from it? 1t keeps them poor.
It keeps our politics corrupt. 1t sup
plies a constant stream Of base adven-
turers, who disgrace the American
name at home and abroad. 1t makes
the terms public Office and public
plunder' Synonymous. 1t stiles pro-
gress, fosters pauperism, brutalizes
husbands and fathers, breaks women s
hearts, puts rags on the workingman' s
back, disease in his body, and shame
and despair in his heart. Yet when
labor is most disturbed, when the de-
mand for advanced wages is loudest,
when strikes are most frequent, when
hunger and misery are most rife in the
homes of the poor, the saloon -four
ishes STILL There may be no bread at
home, but there is always beer and
whiskey at the bar, and the men who
consider themselves the victims Of cir
cumstances or the 'thralls' Of capital
squander their earnings, spend their
savings, in these dens. Can there be
serious labor question while this
state of things continues? Can work.
ingmen talk gravely of their wrongs
while it is plain to all the world that
if they only saved the capital they
earn they would be comfortable?
This aspect Of the case has not been
sufficiently examined, and for reasons
which will probably occur readily to
the reader. But it is really the key to
the situation. When we see on the
one side yearly waste of between
four and five hundred millions Of dol
lars, and on the other side a body of
men, the squanderers of this vast fund,
complaining that they have not suffi-
cient opportunities, we cannot long be
at a loss to comprehend the true nature
Of the existing dissatisfaction. It is
clear that labor has been incited to
seek from without the relief which
ought to be sought from within. The
socialist theory of a paternal state
system which provides everybody with
work and wages is mischievous fall
lacy. It simply encourages Incidence
and dependence. The first duty of
labor is to demonstrate it's capacity
for self-government. At this moment
its drink-bill is an impeachment of
that capacity. No man who spends
half his earnings at a saloon can get
on in the world, or has the least right
to expect to get on. Nor can any
body of men follow the same course
with better results. Prosperity is the
reward of persevering, temperate, un-
grudging work. In these days there
is, however, great wind of new doc
trine. We are asked to believe that
it is possible to succeed in very differ
ent ways: that the less a man works,
for example, the more he ought to re-
ceive; that national prosperity can be
advanced by diminishing production;
and many other equally hard sayings.
But it may be confidently affirmed
that these new theories are destined to
De short-iived, and that the world Will
1aye to be managed eventually upon
pretty much the old lines.
Labor has got upon the wrong track.
That is the truth. 1t has been misled
~ incompetent advisers 1t has, no
loubt, great opportunities before it.
under better manage
nent may lead it to successful solu-
ion Of the cooperative problem, will
ertainly give it adequate protection,