St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-09-29
A CRY FOR HELP.

The world seems out of joint when
we read of men starving in cities be-
cause they can get no work, and of the
crops of North Dakota in danger be-
cause there are no laborers to harvest
them.
Stranger than fairy tale sounds the
eloquent appeal which the GLOBE pub
fishes in another column this morning.
Men crushed with poverty and toll re-
sulting in nothing have turned their
backs on their homes, which they had
won with high hopes, and travelled into
distant places that they and their chill
dren might not want for bread. No
threshing machine has been heard on
the summer air because the wheat has
not grown, no matter how stoutly the
pillow has been run and how carefully
the seed has been cast broadcast. North
Dakota has been in desolatlon, and its
people downcaSt and with fast-fading
courage. Villages have been deserted
and farms allowed to lapse into wild
ness because their cultivation meant
nothing but sorrow and disappointment.
To-day a loud cry goes up from the
prairies, calling on the world for help.
But the help which is asked is not help
against poverty. In the land of dis
pair great plenty is come. Where
blight and famine reigned the fields are
heavy-laden with the wealth of
great increase. They are praying for
help in North Dakota, but the help they
want is to handle the rich grain with
which God has crowned their labors,
and to get it into the overlooking grana-
ries before winter appears, and the time
is past when they should be preparing
for another season. They want the men
who have gone away to return. They
want others to come in. They are beg
ging for threshing machines. that they
may reach the markets where their
wares may be sold. The railroads will
carry laborers and the tools for their
work for nominal prices. Big wages
prevail, and hearty welcome for every
pair of stout arms. The opportunity is
at hand for whoever is equal and will
ing to earn an honest return for an hon
est days toll. Never in the history of
the country was there such a demand
for help and so little help to be had.
At this hour the only poor who:have
the right to utter bitter remonstrance
against their fate are the poor WHO are
also sick and weak. For the strong of
every trade there has been during the
past year, and is to-day, an opening for
their skill and power. AT no time dur
ing the twelve months now ending have
the railroads of the Northwest been able
to procure half the hands they could
have used. At no time during the past
two months have the owners of farms
found force available to meet their
needs. If there are mechanics out of
employment or tradesmen looking for
job, let them get out into the land of
wealth, where the golden crops are call
ing for their services. AS patriots, let
them lend their muscle to the marketing
of the harvest. which means so much to
these states. A month in the open air,
spent in robust and vigorous exertion,
will fan into new life their dormant
energies. They will return equipped
with their earnings, better for their ex-
periences, and fitted for the tasks which
then await them. There is a loud cry
for help from the prairles. Let it he
answered promptly by host of willing
men.