The farmers' union. (Memphis, Mo.) 1891-1895, 1891-04-30


dred-fold. hate to see man thus
overloaded with wealth.
son the other hand l hate-it sickenS
my very soul-to see homeless, friend
less, foodleSS tramp, a poor devil. gaunt.
ragged. cold, shrinking through life. de-
spised, barked at by the very dogs in
rich mems backyards.'
II there is a sight on earth to make
God angry and angels weep. it is the
billionaire and the tramp. Both are
monStrOus cxcresenceS which the AL
mighty never meant to disgrace His fair
creation. And yet they are both multi
plying in the world.
'London, the richest city in the world
and the poorest. Berlin, with a popula
tion of a million and a half, has 200, 600
people living on the verge OF ntter drSti-
tuition" SO says Cardinal Gibbons, who
says also thus the thirst for wealth be-
comes daily more Unsuitable, and the
cries of the distressed become more sharp
and loud and poignant
And the weight of luxury rests ulti-
mately upon the suhstratum of society,
as the weight OF the elegant upper story
rests upon the foundation of the editire.
The more eXtravagant the luxury the
more crushed will be the poor classes.
When the time comes that the burden of
luxury becomes intolerahc, when the
pauper classes can no longer bear the
weight thrust upon them, the whole
top heavy structure of the government
careenS over into the bottomleSS abyss
of ruin. as other nations have done be-
fore for the same reason: as fine build
ings have gone down in a pile when their
foundations have given way. We may
as Il ration haughtily disregard the
pitiless condition of our lowest classes,
hut it will be wise to remember that
whatever fate overtakeS them will over
take lis in due time.
Their welfare or llfarr must be shared
by the nation as a whole. 1T is policy
as well as pcty to remember the poor.
The Third Cause of Poverty
have right to hire people just as low as
you can get them. Lee Meriwether,
whom | quoted moment ago. after hay
ing examined the condition of working
men in Europe, was deputed by the bu-
reau of labor statistics at Washington
to examine INTO the condition of working
people in large American cities, and fe
port of his investigation was published
:"
the Tramp at Home" He reports an
unwillingnrss to he investigated both by
employers and employees. The latter,
especially. could not believe that the
government took any interest in them.
They are very suspicious that the coun-
try is rnn in the interest of the rich, and
no rrndT. The Knights of Labor We're
not ready to contide ill Mr.. Meriwethcr,
But he was their friend and seeking
their good. He was bearing their hard
ships that he might report them to the
government. | quote few points as
the latest and most reliable on this mat
ter of low wages. The author says:
In New York it is Impossible for the av-
cragc workman or woinan to live in any
thing like comfort. Rent and provisions
are high :,~ is every necessity of life: and
wages are low. The best place they can
get to live in is miserable tenemen, house
with all that that means. Here is the case
of Agile Williams: She was Il yestmaker;
had a hard struggle to keep soul and l'ody
together: made on the average So 30 4
week; with another friend rented a little
closet Of d room for S1.10 week: buys Il
loaf of bread and makes her own tea in the
morning. At II O'Clock she has Il sandwich
| of bread and cheese and at night a l5-cent
dinner ut one of the cheap eating houses.
| A cheap eating house and dyspepsia have a
close relation to each other, and these two
| girls are in declining health.
Take a southern city. New orleans. Here
| i the description of a family OF IA ~canl-
| stress: Family II six. the four children
We're from to 9 years old; occupy
! board Shanty overlooking canal:
| IN siInrne: the canal dr.es upand smell and
| stencil are very dsagrceable AID unhealthy
| the rooms are bare and wretchedly fur
| ni~hed-a beciStead a few chairs and Il
/ oh 81 tai he f.,th is ,.irra
maker; when at work he earns SIS to 80 a
| week: has been idle for some time: the
mother operates a sewing machine and the
father assists: the two earn S3 week; the
| total cost of food per day for the six equals
40 cents-for "A week s.. so. with the rent OF
| 81 $3.50. What miserable living this mus,
afford.
Young women in the south avoid domestic
| service for some reason. but any number
wait to he employed in factories clever
hours q day for 81 a weak and less.
| The lot of serving women Is confessed y
hard tie world over. and 1t is said TO theii
credit that the number of those who &C
wrong in that occupation is less proportions
ately than in almost any other occupation
! Take now New England factories: The
Pacific mills in 1850 paid 4 dividend of =:
per cent. on capital of S2.300.00 TIL,
| Nerrimar mills paid 10 per cent. TIL.
MideleSeX mills 90 per cent. The BoS-
| how are these profits made; By Woiffin.
rhldr'n ten h0nFs Il dnU. and employing mel
and women at wages ranging from S4.So t,
So IL week and by increasing the price o.
the neceS>arics of life by the imposition o
| n tariff tax every article the factor,
| hand uss
The Wiiiiamanlc Linen company pay.
the same low wages. and one year declare,
| = dividend Of 50 per rent
There are 1000 insane in Massachu
Setts, 5000 paupers and 1000 deaths from
consumption. The number of criminals
is proportionately large ''ls it not prob
able" Mr.. Meriwcther asks, that
close connection exists between thi;
moral and financial bankruptcy of the
people and the unhealthy increase o
manufactures and their cruel grinding
down of the working people
'It is pleasant to know that in Cali
fornia better wages are paid, especially
to women, than in the east" But
must not follow this subject any farther
now.
Has not enough been said to show tha
a vast deal of poverty is caused b.
starvation wage.?.
am very sorry that have saved my
self so little time for the last point tha
can just name it. A fourth cause fo
poverty must be
| Found in the Poor Themselves.
They are sometimes improvident ant
shiftless. They spend money for thai
which is not bread. The billion and q
half yearly spent for liquor and tobacco
in part comes from the pockets of TIL,
poor. There are in all a great man!
men. we have all known them, VIII,
drink and smoke the daily bread out o
the mouths of wife and children. Ant
women as wei, as men spend money thi
way. Mr.. Meriwether interviewed
commercial traveller in the south wh'
sold snuff. and he declared tina
he sold millions OF dollars wortl
of snuff every year. And no
only southern women but northern
women use it. 1t is said on good an
thority that the operatives of the smut
factory at Bytield, Mass. eat twelve
tons of snuff year. And besides this
besides spending money sinfully, man!
poor people are improvldcnt. They