The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-12-25
THE WORLD OF LABOR.
SOME REMARKS ON Ex-PREsIDENT
HARRIsoN's LABOR SPEECH.
The Work of the Rescue Mission
Fauperizfag Effects OF Charity
The Tramp Problem-Measures
Adopted in Germany.

Among the many pladtudeS uttered
by ex-President Harrison IN his recent
speech on the labor question, there was
one erninently correct statement, and
that was that whatever injured the
employer, injured the employee IT men
who 20 upon strikes and injure their
EMPLOYERS business or destroy his prop
erty would remember this there would
be less of such retaliatory work done
1t injuries labor by antagon1zing en-
blowers generally, lessening their abll-
ity and willingness to pay better wages
and by Withdra wing the sympathy OF
the general public from raen or orga-
nizations responsible for such kind OF
work
Perhaps Benny intended sly allu-
sion to the alleged injury worhngmen
had done their employers by voting
the Democratic ticket. He may pos
sibly have intended to convey the i'm
preston that the hard times employ
ers and employees were now suffering
from was on account of Democratic
rule for which the votes OF working
men We're responsible. But since hard
times began before the vote was cast,
and extends to almost every country.
and since there have been no changes
in the tariff by the Democrats, the in
ference of their responsibility for hard
times is very far fetched. They are
Just as responsible for the panic of 1873
and the hard times of 1855 and 1885.
But there are a large number OF people
who will ignorantly lay all the evils
that afiict them to the party in power
They are no more capable OF reasoning
from cause to effect than they are of
calculating logarithms.
1 learn from the manager of the Res
cue Mission that about $500 in pledges
have been so far secured for the sup
port of the mission, and renewals to
the amount Of $500 or $500 more are
expected. IT is rather more difficult
to raise money these hard times, but
the manager tells me that if the public
would buy their kindling wood from
them they would not have to caI-upon
the public for very much money They
have large quantities of kindling which
they sell at q low price and the cutting
OF this kindiing is the only work they
are able to provide applicants for re-
lief. Applications for assistance are
constantly increasing and they will
not be able TO provide for as large a
proportion of the applicants this winter
as they did last They intend to Sc
cure additional room so as to put up
more cots for sleeping. They also fur
niSh tickets at the rate OF seven for 81
each of which will provide employ
ment for the holder, in return for which
he will receive one meal or a lodging.
To the charitably inclined this affords
the best means of giving relief to an
applicant for help. The ticket cannot
be traded off for drinks and it is GER
tain that the applicant will have to do
some work for whatever he gets. The
extent to which indiscriminate charity
is applied is shown by the fact that
nearly 20 per cent. of those who apply
at the mission for relief are unwilling
TO work for what they are to receive.
The mission certainly provides the sur
est means of helping the deserving and
of discriminating between those who
deserve help and those who DO not.
The mission deserves the hearty sup
port of the charitably inclined.
The experience of San Francisco
charity organizations is the same as
that of the Salt Lake Rescue Mission.
They state that about one-third of
those who apply for assistance are de-
serving men who are out OF work and
anxious to work at anything that will
keep them from begging. One-third
are men who viii work if they can
dictate the terms and conditions and
the work suits them. The other third
would not work under any circum-
stances. Hungry men there can get
and bread and a nights lodging by
merely stating they are out of work,
homeless and hungry. Many of these
men after breakfast go through the
residence quarters begging for Victuals.
They only keep the choicest mOrSels,
bring them TO the sand lot and cook
a hot lunch which serves them until
they get a plain supper at the Saliva
ton army IN the evening. This ex-
perience has induced the army to give
no more out of door relief.
That among the army of the unem-
ployed there is a growing number of
those who prefer charity to work is
shown in Chicago. The wrecking com
paries engaged in tearing Gown the
Worlds fair buildings sometimes have
difficulty in getting men who are will
ling to do the work for the wages of
feFed, which is S1.25 per day. Some of
those who seem anxious for work re-
fuse TO work for less than S1.50 per
day. or they work two or three days
and then quit. Others loaf whenever
the foreman's back is turned. Said
one of the contractors in a. published
interview: 1T looks a little as if a
good many Of these men prefer free
soup tickets three times a day and a
free bed at night to a job that pays
living wages. Yet there are 100 900
men out of work in Chicago and the
number is constantly increasing. All
the police stations are filed at night,
the floor of the city hall is covered
and lately the churches have been
thrown open for the homeless.
All this shows the pauperizing effect
of charity. The hand of charity-no
matter how well meaning-cannot
support the average man in idieness
any length of time. without finally
bringing him down to the point where
he prefers, the free SOUP kitchen to a
days work and an honestly earned
meal. He loses his self respect and
ambition; his conscience is deadened,
his words are weakened and he finally
degenerates into a worthless tramp
and petty thief to whom thirty days
in jail is no disgrace il it furnishes
a1inl a bed and board without work
You cannot substitute charity for JUS
fice. If you do. that most Christian of
sl1ands that every man shall have the
opportunity of earning his bread by the
power of earning his living through the
labor of others. Until such oppOrtuni-
ties are created for all men we can ex-
pect the number of trampS to increase.
The criminal class multiply and the
dangers which threaten republican in
stitutions to become more menacing.
In Germany begging is forbidden by
law In that country there exists a
Verin, or anti-begging society, to which
nearly all householders belong. Each
member has a plate on his door indi-
eating that he belongs to the Vern So
such house. Instead OF this he re-
n 10 ifafr