Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-04-17

useless, but they are dangerous. How
hard it is for them to white away tl8s
hours! Alas, for them If they do nos
! know how to while away an hour,
what will they do when. they have
all eternity on their bands? These
men for while smoke the best cigars
and wear the best clothes and move in
the highest spheres, but 1 have hoticed
shat very soon they come down to the
prison, the almeaoNse, or stop at the gall
zeMs.
The police stations of this cluster of
cfsies furnish annually between tive and
thsee hnndred Thousand lodgings. for
tho most part these two and three Rz11-
dred thousand lodgings are furnished to
able-3ocfied men and womcn-pec pie as
able t9 work as you and l are. When
they a2e received no longer at the police
stations because they are 'srepeaterS''
they go tor some other station, ard. soy
they keep moving aroni1i. They get
their food at house DOORS. stealing what
they can ls,S their hands m in the front
basement while the servant is spreading
the bread, in the back basement 1,ney
will not work. Time and again, il: the
the country districts, they lrAve wanted
hundreds and thousands 81 laborars..
These mon wila not go. 'Ehey do not
want to work I have tried thcm. I
have set them to saving wood in my cell.
lar TO see whether they wanted to work,
! offered to pay them we'll for:1t. l have.
heard the saw, going for about shrec min
ute, and then vent down, ann 10. the
wood. but no saw. They arc the post of
society. and they stand in tho way of the!
LDsd's poor who ought to lie helpcd, anC
must be helped, and will be helped.
while there arc thousands OF .industri-.
Gus men who cannot get any work. these
men who do not want any work come in
and make that plea. l am in favor of
the restoration, of the old-fashion. whip.
ping post for Just this one class of men
who will not wor'i---Slccping ut night at
public expense in she station house; dur
ing the day getting their food at your
doorstep Imprisonment does not scare
them. They would like it. Blackwell's
lsaand'or Sing Sing: would be u comfort
able home for them. They would have
no objection to the. almshouse, for they
like thin soup, if.they cannot get mock
| TURTLE.
l propose this for'tnem: On one side
of them put somo healthy work: on the
other side put rasvhide, and let them
take their choice. I like for that class
of people the scaut bill! Of fare that Paul
wrote out for the Thessalonian loafcrs,
''if any man work lot, neither should he
eat" BY what law OF God or man is it.
| right that you and x should toll day in
and day out, until, car hands are blis-
tered and our arms ache and our brain
gets numb, and then. be called upon to
support what in the United States, are
about two million, loafers. They arc q
very dangerous class. Let the public
authorities keep THEM eyes on them.
| I,,+ cnJ,,c of sc
want interpret there are said to be, as
far as can figure it ap from the reports,
about three hundred thousand honest
poor who are dependant upon individual,
city and State charisies. If all their
voices could come up at once it would be
groan that would shake the founda-
tions of the city and bring all earth and
heaven to the rescue But for the most
J part it suffers uneNpressed. 1t sits in
silence, crashing it's teeth and suck
: ing the blood of it's own arteries, waiting
: for the Judgment day. Oh, should not
wonder if on that day 1t would be found
out that some of us had some things that
belonged to them,. some extra garment
which might have made them comforta-.
BILE in cold days; some bread thrust into
the ash barrel that might have appeased
their hunger for justia little while; some
wasted candle or.gas Jet that might have,
kindled up their darkness; some fresco
on the ceiling that would have given
them a roof; some jewel which, brought to,
that orphan girl in time, might have
kept her. from. being crowded off the
precipices of an nnclean life; some New
Testament that would have told them of
Him who sscame to seek and save that
which was lost.'
Oh, this wave of zagrancy and hunger
and nakedness that dashes against our
front door step! If the roofs of all tho
houses of destitution could be lifted SO,
we could look, down into them just as,
God looks, whose nsryes would be strung
enough to stand it? And yet there they.
are. The fifty thousand sewing womeu
in these three cities, some of them in
hunger. and cold,. working night after
night, until sometimes the blood spurts
from nostril andlips.
How woll their grief was voiced by
| that despairing- woman who stood by bar
| invalid husband and invalid child, and
| said to the city missionary: 81 am down.
hearted. Eyerything's against US; and
| then there are other things 'SWllat
1 other things?" said the city missionary.
'sOh," she replied, ssmy sin.'' ssWhat do
you mean by that?' ''Well," she. said,
81 never hear or see anything good. It's
4 work from, Monday morning till Satur-
day night, and then when Sunday cones
1 can't go out. and walk the floor, and
it makes me tremble to think that Il have
got to meet God. Oh, sir, it's SO, hard
for US. We. have to work SO, and then
we have so, much trouble, and. then we
are getting along so poorly; and sac this
wee little thing growing weaker and
weaker; and then to think. We are not
getting nearer to God, but floating away
from, Him. oh, sir, I do. wish I was
ready to die"
1 have preached this sermon Tor four
or five practical reasons; Because I
want you to know who are the,uprooting
classes of society. Because. I want you
to be more discriminating in, your chars,
j ties. Because want your heart open,
with generosity, and, your. hands OPEN
with charity. Because i want you to Do
made the sworn friends Of all City
evangelization, and. all. newsboys' lodg.
ing houses, and all childrsn's aid sacie-
ties, and Dorcas societies, under the
skillful manipulation of wives and ,aqth1
/ e,;e a., Il To- W,