Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-02-08
TO ABOLISH POVERTY.

New York World. ~ have visited courts,
alleys and tenements where sanitary laws
were utterly disregarded and the very air
breathed pestilence. have seen hundreds
OF people who had no place of shelter dur
ing the cold of wintry night but some en-
tryway or doorstep, and have heard that
cry which no woman's heart can ever forget
the cry of starving children.
ReSul ations snouid be enforced to prevent
the terrible overcrowding in the tenements.
The sanitary condition Of things should be
improved, and it would indeed be boon ir
work could be provided for the many who
are anxious, but unable to procure employ
ment. The awful number of saloons should
certainly be lessened, and the houses of ill
fame, which are now tolerated, should De
closed Suitable night lodgings, such MS
those provided in our shelter brigade, for
the many who are now homeless and penn1-
less, would save, ah! how many men from
reckless despair and woman from shame.
Yet, when say that all these things will
only lessen the evil and not remove the
cause, do not wish it in ferred that they
should be lett undone. Far from it. The
sooner they are done the better for the lair
name of our country"
She further said that the Salvation Army
IS teaching the poor to have more ambition
in life, is Transforming the outcasts into
good citizens. If all could be taught this
lesson then poverty would be driven out
When the Poor Are Rich.
BELvA A. LOCKWOOD has some character
istic observations to make on this subject. In
her letter she says:
"First-Be content with your lot! Wealth
and poverty are relative terms. The poor
farmer or miner who has enough to eat and
to wear, a wife, children and the comforts
and love of a home, is rich. He eats well
and sleeps well.
"Second-Legislation shonld be such as to
impose the minimum of burdens by way of
tariff and taxes on all of the necessaries of
life required by the poor, and when imposed
to meet the necessary requirements of the
burdens OF the State, the revenue should be
drawn largely from the luxuries of life. The
tendency of such legislation will be to
equallze the possessions of the rich and the
poor.
"Third-When from untoward circum-
stances, beyond the control of man, by u
disastrous fire, flood, failure of crops and
a famine, town, city or State may be-
come impoverished, it becomes the duty of
the Government to afford necessary assist
ance, not as n charity, but because govern
mentS are instituted among men tor neces-
sary protection The good of the State, as
well as that of the individual requires this.
Not only should food and clothing, but pay
ing labor. he supplied. 1t is always better
to furnish employment to persons in reduced
Sound Money and Lots of It.
fFoURTH-A sound currency and plenty
of the circulating medium for all of the ne
cessities of trade and commerce have much
to do with the financial success of the bust
ness portion of a community, and this al
ways involves all of the smaller dealers and
depositors who depend upon the larger ones
in the case of a money stringency. 1t would
not have taken much of a prophet to fore
tell that the last year would be fraught with
bank failures and financial disasters, and
that they would carry with them ruin and
dismay to many house of heretofore unim-
peached standing. The withdrawal of bonds
from the national banks in the payment of
the public debt and the necessary contrac-
tion of the currency engendered thereby
have borne the legitimate results. There is
no reason why the general Government it
self should not issue all of the money neces-
sponsible for its redemption.
"Fifth-The education OF our children is,
to very large extent, wrong, and especially
that of the female portion, and in a large
number of instances entails upon them poy-
erty and misfortune. l would have COM
pulsory education and compulsory labor
taught the child, commencing with his 7th
year. The industrial school is undoubtedly
to become the school of the future. Both
mind and body of the child should. be culti-
waited, and at the expense of the State. as
the good of the State requires it, Every
child of the commonwealth, whether of rich
or poor parents, male or female, should be
taught some trade or profession by which he
may be able to earn u livelihood, and be
proficient in it. They should learn the use
of money, be taught economy. and self-de-
nial if necessary, learn the effects of al
coholic stimulants and narcotics on the
human body, and that exercise only will
perfect the human system"
Faith in the Middle Glasses.
Mrs. HENRY WARD BEECHER says that
the trouble is that the little the unculti-
vated earn goes to waste because they don't
know how to manage it. In speaking of the
she says:
"Such redemption must come through the
efforts of the rith, or rather perhaps from
those who have neither poverty nor riches.
If those who have an abundance of this
worlds goods, instead of indulging in lavish
expenditure, would from their love for their
children teach them the true value of
m oney and the proper use of it, these would
be prepared, if misfortune came, to meet
md conquer poverty by the courage and in
telligence which their education and intel
ectual advantages gave them. But if thew
have neglected thus to train their children
md are themselves equally ignorant, what
,an they do if adversely overtaIes them?
They will not know, even rs well as those
who have always been poor, how to take
not help to abolish poverty.
"Who can? If any, it must be the work of
hose usually called the middle classes who,
without abundant wealth, have always en-
Dyed comfortable living. All through
heir lives they have felt it no humiliation
% take care of their income and to be care
nj in their expenditures, contriving how to
secure the greatest comfort from whatever
money they find it necessary to eIpend.
20, if misfortune comes upon them, they will
rot allow themselves to despair, but boldly
they will conquer in time and
nay reasonably hope to regain their former
position"
Believes in the Golden Rule.
GRACE GREENWOOD says that the ques-
ion is one which she could not really at
empt to settle so that it would never come |
I'D again. Her modus operandi would be q |
tern enforcement of the COLDER, rule, COM |
rich people the world over, on |
,ain of death, confiscation and cremation, to |
ccept and put into practice that divine law
-even though they strip themselves of all |
lse golden" She is inclined to believe |
hat only the author of the golden rule. only |
he divine originator and organizer of the |
Universe can abolish human want and mis-
Frances E. Willard advises the poor people
o give up tobacco, drink and gambling. She
Ieo thinks the end would be reached by
living women the right to vote, and then
uggests economic reform: such as D !
arif for revenue only with incidental
protection; (2) by the Introduction of
-mettulism: (3) the nationalizin gof all
means of communication and trunsit: ~ the
OF physical and industrial
raining into all departments of our educa-
ional system: (5) the introduction of CO.
in place of competition i'll the
rage system: (b) the formation of national
nd international boards of arbitration, to
rhich all differences should be submitted,
rhether between countries or between the
mplOyer and the emplOye.
ME- CHILDS A NEW YORKER