Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1889-05-04

OF which they would substitute claw
of assuClauun.' These critics and re
formers, however, CountenanCe no vi
oleut, sudden or ill-considcred changes,
and they find no fault with capitalists
Owe make no war upon individuals"
they say, 1--WE do not censure those
who have accumulated vast fortunes
simply by carrying to logical end the
false principles upon which business is
now based But they insist that these
principles are false, and in their place
they urge the naturalization of industry
as the best means Of promoting the
brotherhood of humanity, They have
even agreed upon a policy of encourag-
ing the agitation of national and local
measures looking toward Government
control, and i'll this they invite the co.
operation of the whole country.
Both addresses are thus, it is seen,
essentially and purely SocaIistc Both
agree that there ought to be entire
equality in social conditions and Coy
eminent suppression of competition;
and neither is the declaration of those
apostles of violent agitation who make
murder and destruction their chief
argument. We do not propose to dis
cuss at this time the fallaCies of the So
cialistic dogmas thus set forth; nor do
we inquire into the causes that under
lie the feelings of these men. The point
10 be noted is that there are persons who
see so little to be satisfied with in the
country S present condition that they
even feel called upon to seize an occasion
OF general rejoicing and Congratuaton
to throw cold water upon our patriotic
enthusiasm. And what is of more I'M
pOrtanCe still, there are undoubtedly
many Others among us in whose hearts
responsive chords are touched by these
words Of criticism and protest which to
some are but jarrlng notes
1t would be untrue to say that these
feelings OF dissatisfaction are confined
to the few noisy and lawless dynamiters
who first spring to mind in connection
with such sentiments. These we can
d0ubtIessly attend to effectively as oc-
casi0n requires, and they are not very
| much to be feared. But there is wider
spread and more national discomfort,
not lawless and not always even ex-
| pressed, the existence of which is too
ihti' NOii'lhtINu' anu NHlElt IL HlllSi ht
| confessed, we have not yet discovered
how best to treat. The feeling is by no
means confined to this country; it is a
part of that undercurrent Of sentiment
which is to be observed in every civilized
| country now, and which shows itself in
various forms in different parts Of the
world, the degree Of violence Of its man
itestations being apparently in direct
ratio to the strength of the efforts made
TO suppress it.
Where this growing force under the
social structure is finally going to carry
humanity, no man can say; but it is evl-
IDENTIFY a force that cannot with safety
be either ignored or rudcIy counter
acted by the mere brute strength Of or
ganized society, 1t is a force to he
/ treated nationally and cautiously, a
force whose existence and meaning
ought to be considered in every step Of
legislation. And the first requisite for
intelligent treatment of the social
| problem is to know that this wide
spread feeling Of discomfort does ex-
ist and where it exists In one sense,
therefore, the authors of these two
! public addresses are to be thanked for
calling attention to the matter in so
striking way, even though their pro-
nunciamentos are sadly out of harmony
with the prevalent feeling Of seIf-satis-
| fled rejoicing incident to these centen-
nial festivities.