The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1891-06-04
LOOKING FOR WORK.


LOOKING fOn WYNN
why Are Not tho Hslf Million Idle Nss
Put to Work.
The Scientific American, , purely
scientific publication and entirely con-
sentative, says:
There are In the United States In this year
1891, i've hundred thousand seekers Tor work |
n half million people, OF both sexes ana oil |
ages, looking for employment"
This statement is based upon the COM
putation OF Hon. Carroll D. Wright,
United States commissioner Of labor,
and an authority than whom there Il
none higher. Now. why Is It that In
this country there are half . million
idle people-people who are anxious
TO find work at which they could earn
an honest living? Is It because thers
is no work for them to do? Then God
has made the terrible mistake Of Gre
ating half million too many people
and has not yet found it out, for he IL
all the time creating more. The very
thought is sacrilegious, but Il Is justi-
fed by the argument that there Il no
work for these thousands Of idle people
to do.
Is there really no work? Look around
and see. Go to the cities where tho
center OF wealth is supposed TO Be.
There are hundreds Of old tumble-down
shanties In which miserable people are
living wretched lives. These old struct-
ures that long since outlived their age
and usefulness should be torn away and
something more like human habitations
erected in their place. Would this #
ford anybody work? It would employ
laborers to tear down the old buildings,
teamsters to haul away the rubbish,
architects to plan the new houses, dig
gers to excavate the cellars, qusrrynen
to get out the stone, cutters TO dress
them, masons to lay the foundations,
brickmakers to prepare the brick,
teamsters to haul them, builders TO
place them In tho walls, carpeu.
tiers to do tho wood work, mill
lers to prepare the lumber, glass
makers to make the glass, GLACIERS 70
put them in the windows, fnishers 70
do the nice work inside. manufacturers
to make the paints, painters TO put them
on-the mind is actually bewildered at
the laborers this one line Of improve
ments would employ, and II 10 work
badly needed to be done, . work human
comfort demands.
Is there any work needed TO b done
in the shops and factories7 Mix with
the people without regard TO class or
calling. Note the hats that should Be
replaced with new ones, the Shoes that
| let in both cold and water, tho absence
OF overcoats, the worn and patched
garments and then make up your minds
whether or not additional work should
be done In the factories. And whom
would this employ? An army Of labor
ers from the first inception Of the raw
material to the perfected article.
Is there any work needed to be done
in the country Ask yourselves, farm
ers. Walk about your farms and see.
Wouldn't you like to have those stumpa
uprooted and taken out OF the hclds7
That thicket over yonder grubbed OUT
That middle fence that has already
caused you some trouble repaired
That bottom field tiled and drained7 A
pond dug out in the pasture LOTT Ths
barn repaired, made larger and painted
You have long intended to build new
dwelling, or to add . room or two e
the old one; you would b glad 70 d
that now. The poultry, doing thei
best to repay you for the little sttsn
ton they receive, need better quarter
and you would like to accommodate
them Your plows are getting bsdl,
worn, and the very necessities Of you
calling demand implements and ms
chinery that you have not. But VIII
prolong this investigation? To do d
! the work actually needed to be done o
the farms, and done now, would en-
ploy thousands Of idle hands.
And yet hands are not employees
Halt : million Of people in the Unite
States seeking work and cannot find !
J And there Is more work to be done
the United States than In any 9TH
, country on earth. Why are not the'
idle hands employed? Why don't "a
have somebody to do the work yc
! would like SO well to have done on 20,
farm? Let your answer come In thumb
tones, and let it echo from mounta
top to valley. Let it reverberate aloz
J the rivers and sweep across the prairie
Let it be heard above the busy din
the city's strife, and let It add sour
! to the noise Of the shop and the rattle
/ the mill, for your answer will bo 81
) answer Of all-"I have not got 4
/ money!" That tells the story. The
: five hundred thousand people are n
!. idle because there is no work for the
4 to do, and the work does not 60 undol
!. because there is nobody to do It u
: because there is no money.
! The farmer cannot employ labor !
8 cause the products Of his farm bri'
i him no profits. The manufacturer @
q not employ labor because the farmer
unable to buy his wares The landlo
y cannot employ labor because his tensu
q are unable to pay him rental on bett
9 houses. And 50 1t goes through the .
4 tire line of labor. All because Of , II
q of money. And why q lack OF mons
n Because money has been made . mi
d ketable product, an article Of specul
% ton, has been given into tho control
70 Shylock whose god is greed, and "
compels the courts and congresses
sustain his satanic schemes Of plund'
and leave the laborer bound and hel
3 less at his triumphant chariot vince
2 Nero fiddled in satanic glee while Ro1
y was swept by devouring hameA sd ]
D. name has become q word Of undyi,
10 hate. When the people wake TO I
~ wrongs they have suffered and real
. the crimes that have beep perpetrat
n upon them in the name Of law. I
W statesmen who instigated and oosntv
at those crimes will take their place
r page Of kindred history.-Mt YeEp
= Qn.) Progressive Farmer.
y
- Submarine Lights.