The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1890-11-05
SINGLE TAX DEPARTMENT.
THE GROWING Discomfort.

THE GROWING Discomfort.
Craze for Wealth on tho Ono Hand,
Grinding Poverty on the Other.
1t was the great Edmund Burke who
wrote so learnedly when giving his
trThoughts on the Present Discontents, y
and many before and since have noticed
d restlessness among the people AT
present tho disconnected can be found
in all Countries. American soldiers have
been so disconnected that Congress and
leading army officers have cudgeled
their brains to find some way by which
the number of assertions can be lessen
cd. In England tho famous and favor
lite of her majosty's troops have been
sent to India for INSTRUMENTATION. And
emute has recently been reported in
Halifax, ind the troops In Dublin are
Upon the verge of open revolt. Among
the civilian class this discomfort is also
manifest, and is seeking satisfaction in
various ways. In Russia the dissatisfac-
tion of tho common people has found
vent in an insane attack upon the Jews,
which has resulted in a second, and this
time an involuntary, exodus, where no
Red Sea is called upon to open pas
sage way. The laboring classes in Eng
i land arc dissatisfied and thousands OF
them meet at intervals in Trafalgar
square, and with more or less feeling
discuss the situation. Farmers in this
country arc dissatisfied and arc seeking
in various ways to secure relief, while
! the laboring men were never more rest
less and uneasy.
| Philosophers and economists have
been endeavoring to account for this in
| vain. The world is wealthier and tho
rate of wages higher than ever before.
| Mechanics and their families live better
and dress better than did lords and mobiles
d few hundred years ago, and as far rs
tho comforts and luxuries Of life are
concerned, the man In comfortable cir
cumstances enjoys more Of them than
did kings Of old. Present discontcnts.
therefore, do not arise from the condi-
ton Of the people, but rather from an
! increase of intelligence and spread OF
democratic ideas which demand more
and more every year. What would have
satisfied a nobleman in the past will not
satisfy a day laborer now. Men being
/, born free and equal can not submit
quietly to any system of government or
conditions of life that breeds and fosters
disparitics aftcrward. Whilo one citi-
zen must live in garnet and feed on
crusts, no can not believe that his neigh
Dor who spends 100000 on stable, has
not been partially dealt with to the dis
advantage of tho poor.
| However much We may yearn for that
! millennium dreamed of by theorists, seen
in visions by philanthropists and pictur-
ed by the artists of the Bcllamy school,
there is but little encouragement to
hope that change Is to be enjoyed in
the near future that will bring about
contentment and entire quiet. 1t is con-
trary to mans nature. The more intel
ligencc is diffused the more dissatisfac-
ton will exist because mans desires
outstrip his ability to crafty them.
This unrest is the cause OF mans ad-
vanccment. Were we all satisfied, inn
provcment could not come. AT present
the world, collectively and individually,
is cngrosscd in the task of accommodating
wealth. Not a worry high pursuit, it
may be observed, because the acquisition
of wealth is merely an animal instinct
which, fired by ambition, has been In
tensified into craze. 1t is we'll to obey
the biblical injunction, and provide for
ones household, but tho spectacle of
sensible people making life burden to
themselves in the race for wealth that
they can not possibly use is ridiculous.
| The dedication Of the dollar, the I'M
equal distribution Of wealth and an IRA
tional view of life may be said to cause
discomfort at present Until people can
look upon the world through different
glasses, or until ambition finds new
parallax, little change can be expect
ed People should learn to enjoy the
possession of what they have, and spend
less time in an insatiate yearning for
what they have not, il happiness is de-
sired. tbs quito as necessary and as
IuCu u uu1y w pioNAuO oHo . Ao"ooHoiA
with sound bodies, healthy and un-
warped minds and correct ideas as it is
| to furnish lands and estates. Tho ORR
entail maiden who makes display of her
burdensome estate of rings, coins and
other trinkets, by wearing them around
her mock, we esteem vulgar and foolish.
Yet she is inspired by the Same motive
that impels m an to load himself down
with strife and misery in the gathering
and display of wealth which is worth
less to him because he can never use it,
and which finds It's root in the purely
animal desire for the preservation of
life, or, as it is called, the law of self
defense. Tariffs may be raised or low
cred, the earth may give forth a tenfold
increase and people will be better off,
but not less disconnected, until insane
ambition passes its perihelion and re-
cedes into space, leaving virtue, purity
and unselfishness the objects of pursuit.
The diffusion of intelligence is hasten
ing the good day.
TWO WOMEN