Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1893-12-13
Gov. LeMelling,s Circular.

nlSolOnClos SlLuCLIHS IuCul W llcdl
men out of employment as human be.
ings, possessing the sensibilIties of
mankind although they may be clad in
rags and suffering the pangs of hunger.
Heretofore it has been the universal
custom to treat the vast army of unem-
ployed as tramps who would rather
steal than work and standing menace
to society. There is such a class but
to these is not applied the governor s
letter. 1t is the thousands of men
thrown out of employment, who have
no way of obtaining food or shelter ex-
cept by public charity, and in whose
breasts beat as noble hearts as ever pro-
PEELED lifG's vital fluid. They are not
responsible for their poverty and want,
and instead of treating them as va
grants only fit for the rock pile they
should he honOred for the bravery with
which they face the cold world, battling
against nakedness and starvation. OF
the millions in such a condition there
are few but what would never think OF
breaking the laws of our country until
the time is reached when they must
steal or starve. The have sought work
and been turned away until hope is lost
and they can see nothing before them
but the darkness of despair, with not a
rift of happiness beaming through the
bleak and desolate future. The gaunt
spectre of starvation confronts them at
every turn like hideous nightmare,
and at night, when weary with seeking
that which Is not, they have no home
with its cheerful Preside to invite a re-
freshing sleep. Instead they draw
their tattered rags around emaciated
forms in mockery Of repose, to awake
on the morrow with the same bleak fu-
ture before them. Are they to be treat
ed as criminals because of their misfOr-
tune and thrown into jail because they
have no home? Are they to be taken
by the corporations that have cOntribu-
ted to this condition of affairs and
made to work for bread and water like
tho captive galley slaves of old? Our
governor has answered for Kansas.
The antl-adminIstration press has ex-
tensively criticized the circular, simply
because the governor is not of their po-
lltical belief. Their articles are IN
every instance calculated to miScOn-
strue and mlslead. In all the list we
have failed to see one honorable criti-
niQ no IN
true light. They raise great cry about
the protection OF society but tail to say
why the homeless and destitute should
not be protected. Are laws only for the
favored of fortune? They correctly de-
fine it a remarkable document, for il
has come to be remarkable occurrence
in this republic, when an executive
speaks for the protection of those other
than the rich. Society" has all the
laws on our statute books to protect it;
but its minions scott at crumb of pro
lection for the outcast, the unemployed
and the homeless. The pampered Syb
arlte may repose in safety on his gild
ed couch, guarded by massive walls and
the United States army; but the mar
who lays his head on the cold stone
pavement is liable at any time to be
thrown into dungeon because he is
'Yagrant" and is unable to show enough
money to buy his breakfast. And If {
governor declares such a policy shall
not be pursued in the commonwealth
over which he presides he is at once at
tackled by venal press as throwing on
gates open to tramps. Such papers
have sacrificed honor, truth ant
patriotism upon the altar of partisan
prejudice. The governor said of thos
| criticisms:
"My circular only applies to men whose ST
| is their enforced idleness, For that class tn
| rock pile shall be abolished In Kansas as lon
| as am governor. Men who commit Offense
against society are not protected by the circu
lar. There is no anarchy in the sentiment o
| inspiration of the circular, and no fair-minde
man will so construe it."
And what must fair minded me-
think of those who have ridiculed sue
an action?
The circular has IN it spirit of hu
manity and consideration for the feel
ings of our fellow men, who by unjus
and partial legislation have been force,
into idleness. 1t says in effect that tn
unwilling victim of discriminating law
shall not be punished for his condition
10 the crime of impoverishing the PEG
pie shall not be added the inhumanit,
OF making penal slaves of them becaus
they are victImized. There are thous
ands of people in Kansas today who ar
out of work and have not the necessitie
of life. Because this is their condition
are they to be classed as criminals AM
assigned to the rock pile? Since whel
have the poor become criminal out
| casts?
In Kansas, thanks to Governor Lew
cling, poverty is no longer crime.