The Newtown bee., 1892-08-12
THE BEE BUZZ.

It was a law of the ancient Grecians that, if man ''being overcome with drink did then strike any man, he should suffer punishment double as much as if he had done the same being sober.' It seems very just law. The man who gets drunk commits a crime and then, be- cause he is drunk, he commits another crime and why should he be excused for the former which was the cause of the lttGer? Strict justice demands that pen alty should be according to the offence and in proportion to the consequences. Drunkenness being the mother of sin and crime ought, therefore, to be prohibited, and punished with penalties severe enough to protect the innocent and law abiding against it's dreadful consequent ces. X man has the same right to the proper use of whiskey that he has of to- bacco or tea or coffee or liver pills. But he is also under the same restraint of law against its abuse that he is against the abuse of powder, dynamite and quick poisons, which endanger the lives and peace and property of others. And there is this peculiarity about whiskey, that it's abuse leads to more other abuses than any other thing on earth.
 l was born poor, have always been poor and expect always to be poor. And, what is more, do not wish to be rich. I know what it is to labor and to want. worked for some years on d farm, at q time when everything was done by hand and the days work was from sun to sun IS or 16 hours. 1 have labored in the shop, 10 hours per day and know what it means to go by the whistle. know the worth of dollar by having earned it in many ways and by having to do without it in times of need. 1 have some times done what ought to have been two mems work in order to get my education. I have known what it means to be out of work and out of money and out of health and dependent on others, with family to provide for. 1 may say that l have worked my passage thus far and, there fore, my prejudices and sympathies are naturally with the poor and with those who labor. Moreover, my profession brings the least compensation, on the average, for the capacity and training required, of any occupation-less than that of the average skilled mechanic. But what could I have done without the rich man? It was the capitalist and cap- ital which helped me at every step. The capitalist hired me on his farm; it was capital paid me wages in the shop; it was the rich man who endowed the school for my education. Capital gave me the opportunity to labor and win sue cess; and, when l have been in need ,cap- ital has always come to my aid; and, in the work of the church, it is capital that puts the means in my hands to do for others. Some of my best friends are poor people and some are rich and, af- ter many years of experience, I cannot say that the rich are, all things consider ed, much better off than the poor. The law of compensation or equilibrium reg ulates the differences of life and the Di- vine love which is over all and in all SiNCS oo SiCdeOi Soot III hUiO &Sduoh shares than we are wont to think. Where much is given, much is also required. Capital has it's risks and losses and cares which the laborer knows not If the rich enjoy much, they have also much to care for. Many things do not insure much pleasure. The mere possession of wealth does not change human nature, nor make so much difference in men as they imagine. Put the cares and temp tations and abuses ofcapital over against the wants and inconveniences of labor and the balance is probably on the side of greater happiness for the laborer. The intelligent laborer, who is temperate and industrious and faithful, is as well of as anybody. The misery of life, for rich or poor, is ignorance, intemperance, pride, envy and selfishness. If striking will cure these, give us strikes. 10. O.. Wright.