The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1892-09-10

Of the eighth commandment we must'
therefore, grasp also the law oil prop
erty right, which Is not
tho good old plan
That he may gtf who has inc power
And he may keep who can
but is. that every individual has right,
God-given and fundamental raght, 70
all the wealth which he produces by the
application of his labor to natural OPP
portuuities, and TO all wealth he re-
ceives by purchase, exchange or gl1t'
directly or indirectly, from some one
who has opposed it.
In recent years the fact OF tie exist-
ence of poverty, seemingly hopeless
poverty. amid the advancing prosperity
of civilized communities, has forced IT.
self before public attention. 1t rs hard
ly worth while to bring forward argu-
ments and facts to prove the increasing
pressure of this question OF poverty.
The place it holds in the popular nina
is patent to all who will look. Prof.
Charles eide, of the University OF Mont
pellier, France, a conservative teacher
of political economy, writes IN regard
to the distribution of wealth as follows:
s'To the general public the clearest ana
most appalling fact in the distribution
of wealth is its inequality the more I'M
bearable in proportion to the successive
breaking down of all other inequalities
which used to separate them one from
another. Modern laws have realized
civil equality; universal suffrage has
given political equality; the growing
diffusion of education Is tending to IN
troduce the reign of virtual intel
lectual equality. But the inequality Oh
wealth still remains; formely 1t was
hidden. as it were, behind even greater
inequalities, now, however, it is seen in
the foreground of our democratic So
cieties, and against it dash the waves
of public wrath" Prof. Glide then pro-
ceeds to point out that inequality in 1T
self is no Just cause for complaint, and
winds up as follows: ''In fine, the real
complaint that can be urged against the
distribution of wealth is not SO
much its inequality as our
inability to perceive the reasons
for this ineqality. 1t is by no means
proportional to the labor expended; on
the contrary, according to John Stuart
Mills bitter remark, the scale OF remu-
neration appears to descend further and
further the more labOrious the work be-
comes, until finally it reaches a point
where the most severe toll barely suf-
fees for the necessities of existence
Still less does it seem to be proportion
ed to mems merits or virtues. The an
tithesis between the man who Is poor
but honest, and the scoundrel who Is
fortunate and wealthy, is common
place which is as old as the world, but
it never fails to be true in the present."
In these paragraphs Prof. Glide states
that the substance of the labor problem,
which is essentially how shall we secure
a more equable and an equitable distri-
button of wealth? Not a mathematical
equality, but a practical equality, an
equality of opportunity to satisfy the
| wants which we each one feel within
us, and which are in measure peculiar
| to ourselves.
The inequality of wealth is increasing
ly felt, partly because, as Prof. Gldc
says, other inequalities which crst-
Willie ScpdLdtCQ man Ah"'>
passed away, but partly also because
this particular inequality between rich
and poor is increasing. The time has
come when many men, even of conser-
| vative instincts, have recognized the
| need of remedy for the present in-
| equality, and have come to the conclus
sion that such remedy must be radi-
cal, and is to be sought for in wide
departure from present governmental
methods. They acknowledge that the
present distribution of wealth is unjust,
and that the world will not much
longer endure it, and they also see that
it is impossible to change the distribu-
! ton of wealth and leave the present
social order just as at present Bellamy.
with his plan of state socialism, has
gained many disciples. 1t is becoming
quite fashionable to call ones self q
socialist or Christian socialist It
| would be difficult to define some of
these names, but they all mean that it
is necessary for the state to lay hands
on the wealth of individuals, and use it
or direct its use for the benefit of other
individuals or for society, But it is
evident that to do this with clean
conscience we must rewrite the Deca'
logue.
FRO BE Continued