Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1890-03-13

dividual, but of the statesman and
moralist A sound and healthful mind
according to the old maxim, can only
exist in sound and healthful body
Morbid physical tendencies are sure to
create morbid mental teudencirs.
These tendencies are transmitted from
father 10 SON \ man who can point
to All ancestry urhltmishei by crime,
| Will not BE- apt t be a criminal, and
the children of such parents will have
a better chance to live pure and noble
lives than those with less fortunate e
ancestry. Any industrial, social, or
political system, that causes the deter
fora ton of men of the working class,
sh uid be destroyed, no matter what
Interests are behind it, for the natiots l.
huilded on the broad fnundatien of the
men W ho earn their daily bread hy their
daily work. The greatness of no nation
has survived the decadence ofits work
| ing classes. It is not the parvenu mil
supplies the strength and life o. society;
and, when the former class fastens up
| on the latter, and, like the leech, fat-
tens upon its Iife's blood national death
must follow, if this class cannot be
shaken off. The lines of Goldsmith b
| express great economic truth:
all fares the land, to Fastening ills prey,
When wealth accumulates and men decay.
! Princes and lords maN flourish, or may fade
y breath can make them, a> breath has
| made
| But bold peasantry, thrir eountry's pride,
When once destroyed, can lever be sup
Piled"
One of the conditions necessary TO
mans highest physical development is
space-space not only for himself, but
for lis IA mily. With US, the family is
the social unit. Hedged about with
the privacy If home. the child grows
and is prepared for the coming life
struggle. Whatever tends to destroy
the family relation, whatever tears
down the walls of home, is evil, and
only evil. Let us pause for moment
and look at the condition of our work
ing clssses. Wat is the marked ten
dency of the hour? Is it not the dis
appearance of the home from our
modern lie? How are the working
classes housed in our large cities, and
about our mines and pubic works?
Look at the overlooking tenement
houses, some of which contain twenty
tamiIies-many large families occupy
ing only two rooms. How can there
be anything in the nature of home, ,un-
der circumsta nces such as these? How
can health or purity be preserved
amidst this miscellaneous press Of hu-
manty OF all conditions? Yet, one who
speaks of these matters in the presence
of the wealthy, is met with looks of
surprise, aud perhaps hears the term
"crank,h or "anarchist," applied to
him in an audible undertone. To use
the language of a recent issue of re-
ligious Journal, let the plutocrat remem-
her that hunger has 10 mercy. Men,
like trees, require space. Crowd them
toget her, feed them with insufficient
and UNIV holesome food, and physical
degeneration takes place. Physical de-
generation means moral and mental
degeneration. We send missionaries
through the tenement districts of our
cities, to endpavor to elevate those who
live there. Ninety-nine times out a
hundred, where any good Is effected,
moral reform is accompanied by change
in habits Of living. Where this is im-
possible, very little is accomplis shed.
a modern sphinx is propoutding its
riddle to society, which it must read
Alright, or be devOurei. Everywhere
are evidences of unrest among the pro-
duciug classes. Socialism, and other
isns of a similar nature, are on the in
crease. Everywhere men are agItat-
ing and striving to better their physic-
al condition, in order to better their
moral condition. and they are right.
Give each man u fair Return for his ei-
fort. Let the price of fair days work
be fair days wages, and you have
solved the riddle with which modern
society is now struggling.
When men have the assurance that,
with reasonable effort, they will be able
to support their families, you have
ne far toward their moral refOrma-
| tiOu. A loug step has been taken to-
ward fiiIing our churches aud lecture
rooms. Society is ike PIE, with an
/ upper and au under crust. Let both
| the cTusts br as thin as possible, and
/ the filliBg-the great middle class-be
! as thick as possible.
| We may continue to preach TO the
dwelIers of our crowded tenement quar-
ters, or to the under paid aud over
worked miner, or lumberman, but his
moral condition will rapidly grow
worse, until be is able TO live decently.
/ The way up IL through mans physical
mature. The man whose whole time
aud attention Is taken up with keep
/ ing the wolf from the door, W Ill never
! be an ideal man. Insufficient food, III
sufficient light and air, will as surely
stint men morally, as it does physical
! ly. Put band of iron around the
head of CHILD, and you will never
have we'll developed head. Put q
child into a dark, noisome. Gro - ded