The Ottawa free trader., 1890-06-07
Editors will learn some Of these days
that no permanent gain can come from
such Misrepresentation.

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Now that the eight hour workday On
exceptional cases it is nine hours) has
practically been secured by the carpen-
ters, the attention Of the leaders will be
turned toward the miners. A great deal
of preparation is necessary before this
industry will DO in condition to make
any sort Of fight. While the miners are
very we'll organized, they are, as indi-
viduals, poorly equipped for struggle,
and the coal barons will not give In so
readily as the contracting builders did.
Past strikes Of the miners have shown
how completely the mine owners can die
regard the needs o. the public and the
miseries Of their workmen, and they are
not liable to sudden changes Of heart.
Therefore, the labor federation should
move carefully. The summer months
are not favorable for strike Of coal
miners, and at least six months must
elspse before the season will be propi-
tious. During the interim organization
should be pushed and monster fund
collected. It is sad that the most op-
pressed and destitute Of all the army Of
workers must be left in their unhappy
condition 80 long; but it will be better
In the end. When the move Is made to
lift up the miners it must not fail.
In his recent interview with reporter
Of The New York World DR.. Talmage
had very little to say on the burning
question Of the day: The sufferings OF
the millions through the operations Of an
unchristian system. He failed also to
say anything about the absence Of the
poor from the churches, a subject which
should certainly be Of interest to every
minister Of the gospel He did take 90
casion to say that the charge which Is
sometimes made, that many ministers
are prone to overlook the sins Of the
rich men who attend their churches, was
unqualifiedly false. The doctor may be
mistaken in denying this charge whole
sale. He said that labor has a sad story
to tell" but seemed willing that the tell
ing should be left for labor to do, while
he talked about the wrinkles on the
brows of employers, and the fatigued
brains of bankers, but what he said was
true
The reporter asked DR.. Talmage II
Christianity was not communistic at the
beginning. Hesaid, emphatically: "No"
and then went on to explain how and
why the apostles resorted to the prac-
tice of sharing their goods; but he
wants it understood that it was not
modern communism" that they prac-
ticed. Hardly, in those days. But it
does seem that the doctor goes too far
when he presumes to tell us what Christ
and the apostles" would have done had
the theories Of modern communism been
suggested to them. He says they would
have rejected it, because they did not be-
lieve that the individual should be
obliterated." A man of Mr.. Talmage's
learning and practical sense ought to
know that the modern" article does not
"obliterate the individual" 1t must be
understood that the reporter and clergy
man were talking Of the whole social re-
form movement. and not Of what the in
formed social reformer knows as COM
munism.
At Decatur, nls., there is in full blast
and prospering a cooperative boarding
house. 1t is conducted by an association
composed, at last reports, Of about sixty
men, women and children, who, in the
words of one Of the officers, "are all Of
the upper crust aristocracy, used to liv-
ing we'll and who wouldn't put up with
ANYTHING but the best" And, judging
from the lists shown by the secretary,
they do have the very best that can be
had in the market. Three meals-break
fast, dinner and supper-are served in a
manner equal to any first class hotel, for
which each member pays $2.75 per week,
children half price. Staples, Of course,
are purchased in large quantities, every
thing is directed by wisdom and there
are no unpaid board bills to even up. In
substance, these are the secrets Of the
cheapness The employees are manager,
head cook, second cook and three walters.
Cooperative kitchens and dining
rooms, conducted on the cost principle,
il seems are solution Of the problem of
lhow to live we'll within ones income,
and they certainly are Godsend to the
wives and mothers who can avail them
selves of the advantages they offer, In
the Christian-Socialisti novel, "Metz-
croft, Shoemaker" a picture is given of
such boarding house, maintained for
and supported by working people who
had very little with which to make a
start. There is not the slightest strain
ing of the rules of common sense and
practicability on the part Of the author
to make the undertaking a success; ev-
erything is as plain as pikestaff. In
telligent cooperation offers solutions for
many troublesome problems
"Metzerott" should be read by every
Christian, and especially should clergy
men study it. Edward Bellamy says Of
it: 1T is written in the power and unc
ton of the spirit of humanity, which |
imagine comes pretty near being what is
meant by the Holy Ghost" The book
does not pretend to solve the social-eco
nomic question, but it presents several
noble characters whose lives typify the
| tr,,e Christianity and morality No pes