Arizona silver belt., 1893-05-06
"rhe IneaualIly Amons Mea. .
]. W. Mason, in the American Journal of
 Politics.

q. w. Maxou ir the American Journal Of
 Politics
 We are absorbed in tbe questions of the time and prone to magnify the evils of the situation, working ourselves into the belief that matters arc becom- ing worse instead of better, The mass as catch upon some euphonious phrase as "the rich are growing richer and the poor poorer, accept 1t as complete and truthful exposition of present in- dustrial conditions and their undenia- bie tiend for the future We know that this is not true that tho condition of laboring classes for the last one hun, dred years has steadily grown better; hours of labor have become shorter; rate of wages has increased; pnrehas- jag power of earnings greatly enhanced and homes more sanitary and cheerful The laboring classes are to-day enjoy jag comforts and luxuries which the wealthy did not enjoy and could not procure one hundred years ago This condition of affairs is not peculiar to America alone, but to the whole civil ized world where capital has planted modern industries and provided oppor- tunities for labor. Instead of "the rich growing richer and the poor poor CT, wealth is constantly becoming more equally distributed, and, with one single exception, is moro equally distributed in America than in aay other country on the globe
 The social reformer, in his tirade against wealth, leaves out of account fhe real significance of capital He pictures to his discontented hearers the capitalist at his ease in his marble man sion, and draws contrast between it and the abode of the laborer. The contrast gives scope for his rhetoric, but he stops short of tho pith of 1t all. That marble mansion may represent million dollars expended in it's cree ton. Where has that money gone It has been distributed among every class of labor and industry represented iA the structure, from the hod carrier to the tapestry worker, from the arti- san who designed 1t to the workers who assembled and put in place its varied materials. Its erection vas beneiac- ton and, possibly, its owner the hard est worked man who had to do with 1t. The inequality among men IS not so much that ot money as mental capacity. This factor Is entirely ignored by the socialist We all know that many who now manage and direct the great in- dustries asd enterprises once were com mon laborers. Their success is not due to money or social caste. but to brains. Material conditions are not so unequal as VIC ure wont to suppose All men, with few exceptions, start equal iu life They come into the world naked, and are all slaves to the necessities of their environment. No artificial device can make them equally strong, fleet and capable; und when you handicap the swift and capable you lower the standard and retlrd progress.
 No. Stripped of all useless yerbiage, and stated plainly, much of tue discon- tent arises from prejudice and jealousy. Capital is not alone to blame; labor is not alone to blame, and wrongs are done by both. We see one man who has amassed colossal fortune, while another living within stones throw wants for-the uecessaries of life. It IS difficult to resist the feeling that some thing is radically wrong in system which permits or makes possible such a condition, These inequalities are seen everywhere, not only in the financial, but the physical conditions of men, and there IS an adequate causc back of 1t all. Take for example Elias Howe, the inventor of the sewing machine. He labored till middle life in abiect pow erty, but at last rcaped a fortune so vast that it seems at first blush as though no man, in iustiee, could have so much, while others had so little His bare income from his capital was moro in single day than many accu- mulate during Q lifetime But there is more to this picture, The Fortune of Rowe, so vast in extent, was a baga- tslle compared to the wealth which he added to the world by his labor and genius, to say nothing of the ameliora. tion which directly resulted from the introduction of his invention. Possi- ply he got mora than his share, but on what basis would the social reformer have divided it? am glad that Howe lived, and lived in an age and under conditions that Quickened bis ambition and left his talent free And l am d. ways for leaving man free, with the piniens of his genius united by govern mental red tape.
 The doctors from all over the UBi- fed Sfnles and ,,nrts nf Nnnndn in nt