Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1890-07-15
SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
o. S. A. ANSWERS Btrsy TRorwooo.
Ne ssss Cssss sss AisSss ss Co the rs,-
are oS Oss Cssssry. = sssss stss~s
which Indicate The Dtssssiss 90 'hs
Wtna.

wisa.
fContnsei from last w.sk
Are the poor, "a q whole, better on
than flfty year. agos We will notice
this furthermore In q general way.
Thomas a.. shearman present.. some In
terc-ting and startling figures IN the
Forum, showing Who are tb. owners 81
the United States. Prom his eSamlns-
tIon of such statistic. aud other facts ss
he could ohtain on the subject be ssy. /:
"Ihe property of les than 10000 men
In the United staie- aggregates more
than the balance of .ay, 5y.pD..i IL Ne
call the present population CO.o1.0oo. y
Til. I. prac,icly saying that Que rich
man In the United states owns mJrc of
the nation. wealth than 500 II hi. fellow
citizens. again b. say. "lO.nS people
own nearly the whole IL New York city,
With IT. 2,uD0,.O of population" also
that ''th- United states ~ America u
practically owned by lc.. than 10000
persons" ". ~. a. Murry believes that
III. wealth ~ the United states !. cen-
tpied In a much fewer hands than Nr.
sh.arman'. hgurrs indicate.
On- can readily .s- sith What crushing
forc- thl. enormous aggregation ~
wealth In the hand. of the few, can bc
brought to hear Ia monopollying the
fruits 81 TIL. industrial nation, where
on, man WELD. "a much financial p"aer
a. IN hundred of hi les. fortunate
Dcighbors.
That these millions are consolidated
Into grcat cngulfing monololle., needs
no argument io show. Take. for In
.tancr, the standard oil 90. which, With
it, s.O,crD,uc1 of watrr~i capital, paid
a profit Of s.u,DD,O0 In ls-1. or the
Cslmut aud lIccla copper Trust, which
has paid al, go sine. ls.O, on cap
ltsl ~ only s?,Jo,UO. Coal, sugar,
aud Thousands ~ other trust. snd .yndl-
cate. are seen upon every hand, throitl-
Ing private enterprises, aud robblng the
poor by making corner. Ia necessary
article. Ia their living. Mr. -bcarInsn
put. the number of famllis. la the
'nlt-,i state. a. ls,DO,D0 of four each.
out IL which li,O1b,Dn must live on an
Income of le.. than siD. IIy these hg-
urr. II will bc seen that thi. corporation,
In ls-1, got mor- of the earnings 81 th"
nation than JO,U1 families, comprising
s1.OOO souls. hi. !. but one ~ the
thousands II Kindred corporations which,
lik. a gr-at Anaconda, has cncirclei th"
nation every day weaker corporations ~
down under ". Trlsutlc.. grasp, every
week Ne feel u. tightcning iolds
aud c,,ry y-ar more and morr tribuis
money l. .xacici from the sous and
daughters ~ toll.
An .xodu. FROM the country Ia the
city Z. the tendency everywhere aud in
thc.e great bu.iD.-. c-ntr''. the ri,h gros
richer sud the poor grow poofrr.
There are vj,U1 boy trump. la th'
United STATES. n there was one twenty
h,e year. ago, Ne ha,. no rrc"rd 81 ".
N IIst.y TTOtNooi's Theory !. true, that
the poor arr b.tt.f tel, clothed, ani
housed than they we're hiiy years ago,
then ". h.s. the remarkable phrnomc-
non ~ boy. staying al homr while I"of'
IA clad, ic,i aud h0usei, and ss .oon a.
their condition 1. improved la Ill thee
r-.p-,t. they Voluntarily leave thee
improved hom... aud 80 s-afily tramp
ing among strangers, With hunger, flg.,
and rstshe,ln".. Tor th.ir daily ,uiii-
paninn.. Hi. most r-m,Tkabl. phe-
nomsnou take. On gigantic proportion,
wh.n We add Ia thl. number, that e'ri
swelling tidr of adult tramp. ~ho in'aie
every hamlet Ia Our dom,in.
Tie we'll known, philauihropic, :. ~.
q. struck the Ley note When be wrote:
"I'ictur ib. hundred. of Thousands " 10"
20 up aud dow u the street. seeking work
snd finding none III. great many of un-
employed With no chol," bctsccn iu'-
pri.onmsnt la IA. Norkhouss aud .tarNa-
iion outside, every year ihl. stat" oi
thing. !. b.coming worse" Ihi. con
dltIon ~ thing. I. true of both hrmi-
spheres. In our country this phss" ~
the social problem u tDO much overlook
.,i. ia addition to other causes which
produce tIii. result !. that of the .noTui-
ou. multiplication ~ machinery, ~her'
one machin. take. the place 81 mlni
Mofkmen. III. stern cold truth ", ihrr"
I. not work enough la this in'iusifi'I
nation, fOr steady, continuous employ
ment.
Think ~ th. economic condition oi
our land to-day, ESPECIALLY tl. larg'
cities. Think of tb. spalling contrast
exhibited by the Thousands Of million.
alr,. aud the million. of p,upcf. aud
tramp., With Que corporation absorbing
a. much ~ the nstiou's earning. as 21,-
Ooo ~ our Industrial people have ior
their support.
Think how fact the condition 81 the
extreme poor of New York aud Chicago
s appronlmating that of London where
the Register General. report show. that
one out ~ every i've who die annually,
perish la the poorhouse, hospitals or mad
house.
The DEDUCTIONS, Ia be drawn from the
fact. Ia our history to-day, are that there
.. q wider rang. la ih. condition "f TIE
poor from noderat. comfort to unmiti-
gated wrctehe,lne-s aud Noe, nov th'n
my year. ago. That ther. !. a large
and steadily Increasing elias. of uneIn-
ployed men aud women la our country,
aud the employed lind the number oi
working days growing less and les.
ever, year. That the wsg. Garner. pay
more aud more tribui. money to the mo
nopolI.t of the necessities ~ life. That
each recurring year Dive. j. growing
richer aud his purple co-tilcf, whll'
Layaru. l. growing more bcggarly, hl'
rag. scanti.r, and tli. crumbs falling
from the rich man. table ha,. Ia bc di-
yiied among a greater nambcr.
For these reasons ] cannot concur IN
the opinion that the condition of the
poor l. improving.
Betsy TrotwoOd: "Ie-. than uir-e
score year. ago intemperance VAS -o
universal, even here la New England -
to be an accepted condition of life, nov
To be drunk u to be guilty of Disgrace
ful action, "and furhur on are these
words. "what IL true of Maine l. true
Of Massachusetts, aud even New York.
To this I would say that, Ia slander, de-
fraud, steal, or commit other crimes, u.
..to be guilty of dlsgaceful action,
bat notwithstanding, ss ] have alread,
shown, crime IL Increasing. Hut ! do
not feel called upon to prove again. what
I before proved and Put upon solid
basis which her argument has not in The
slightest degree inyslidsie,i or brought
one scintilla of reblttiBg proof g over
turn. Her smooth ho~ing logic here
deserts her and she IL driven to the ne
ce.sity of simply denying = well estst'-
lished fact, that she cannot disproSe.
Her method of proving less drunkenness
now than formerly IL much the same a'
that ppcticei by n West Virginia law
yer 20 clear his client from prosecution
Tor theft. The prosecution brought .if
witnesses Who saw the act done, so be-
brought ten who did not see II done,
therefore his client Was acquitted on ac-
count Of the preponderance oftestimony.
Betsy Trotwood lnfers, because six
horseloads of liquor were seen In the
/ steets In Oxford County fifty years ago,
before the times 0f railroads and liquor