The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1893-06-14

Of brightness and glitter, hustle and an
imation, beauty and magnifcence, that
the caterer to the public's literary taste
has but to sharpen his pencil, turn on
the descriptive stop, and copy" flows
along like water. Important events
crowd upon each other; distinguished
personages, any one Of whom would Gre
ate q sensation, elbow each other in full
view Of most enthusiastic audiences;
worlds congresses convene nine meet
ings deep every day in the week; royal
banquets and receptions equal in SPLEEN
dor to anything they have in ''the effete
east" are mattersof everyday occurrence,
and vast crowds and wonderful exhibits
form a standard source Of columns and
columns of interesting matter"
But am not a conventional scribbler.
To try to be would be but to make my
self poor copyist. I see and hear all
that the others do and forget it as we do
last summers storms, but I know Of
something they do not. It is the low,
continuous, minor undertone, nearly
drowned by the noise and confusion Of
the meeting Of nations, that catch and
remember and cannot rid myself Of
Amid the happiest and brightest scenes
dim, sad visions come and go and haunt
me always. When throngs are widest
over some idol Of the hour-be it a beau
tiful woman with no merit except that
she is satisfactory result of years of
leisure, luxury and culture, or a very or
binary looking foreigner with title and
the honor Of having descended from a
successful adventurer-there comes ever
the consciousness of the true, the de-
voted ones of earth, defrauded, forgot
ten, ignored. It may seem morbid, I'M
wisely sentimental, to crowd these
thoughts to the front when so many
pleasant subjects present themselves,
but to the unprecedented, serious minded,
it cannot appear SO. It is necessary that
some one in the glare and clamor should
take note of the undercurrent flowing so
deep, SO quiet, that it's powers for swell
ing and rushing in mad, destructive
torrent are scarce suspected.
One does not need to be a crank or q
ranter to see the incongruity of a great
republic paying extravagant tribute to
. titled idlers from foreign monarchies, to
mere citizens of our own country whose
only claim to greatness is their enormous
accumulations Of wealth, while the peo-
ple-the kind that founded this nation
the useful, the strong, the enduring, are
sighted and wronged. It is not too
much to expect Of civilization, since it is
capable of producing such great material
marvels, that by this time it should have
learned how to be just to it's producers.
It is not unreasonable to suppose that
where there is 80 much to boast of some
recognition would be given to those who
render real, genuine service to society.
am aware that in answer to all this it
may be questioned:
"What injustice do you complain of!
Are not the workers paid their wages
for all they do? If they are poor, is it not
their own fault? If they do not distin-
guish themselves, how can they expect
distinction? Are they not generally salts
fed with what they get? Would they
know what to do with leisure, luxury,
prominence, honor, if they had it,"
But, / reply, workingmen, the pro-
ducers of all wealth, are not equitably
paid, or they would own sufficient of
their productions to satisfy every nat
ural desire or want. They would not,
as now, be the poorest, most unhappy
ones on earth Why the wages they
command in the market are not suf6-
Gent, why you cannot fix the response
bility of injustice on any one particular
person or combination of persons, are
different questions deep ones too. /
only assert here that they are not equita-
bly, rewarded. The laborers on the fair
grounds and buildings have received, it
is true, what is considered high wages
not from any sense in employers OF
what is their due, but because they are
skillful, are necessary and are so well
organized. But their sufferings, the dan
ger they constantly brave, are not taken
into account. This is how they are men.
toned lin an incidental way, between
pithy paragraphs of description:
"a bell rings, the Columbian patrol
whirls by, and somewhere on the grounds
we know a poor devil of workman is
lying with white face and quivering lips
perhaps a mangled limb or broken
body from which the life will soon o6ze
away"
Nothing 1hore-it is common occur
renee and is merely dotted down by the
way. We hear daily of mining horrors,
of tunnels full of workingmen flooded
and washed away, of explosions, broken
machinery, of melted metals and poison
Gus gases pouring into places in which
they have NO business death, agony, ter
ror-and we hardly stop to think Of it.
Are the workers satisfied when from
all over the world come ominous mutter-
ings and whispers of desperate strikes
when men in high places blanch at the
sound and armed soldiers are remarka-
bly, equipped, trained and kept on the
alert? Contented and prosperous men do
not make such precautions necessary.
And all have not equal opportunities,
or there would not be privileged class
on one side and horde Of idle, starving
men ready to rush in wherever labor
takes a determined stand on the other.
But that working people too often are
apathetic, stupid, commonplace, map
- tho ~