The morning call., 1893-04-30
TO BE BORN POOR.
written for THE MoRSrso CALL.

,
than to be born poor"
Thus Professor David Starr Jordan in his
lecture at the Christian Church last Tues
day evening.
Ghus not merely Professor Jordan, but
every other dealer in platuudes since pro-
fessional moralists and quasi-scientsts be-
gan to deliver lectures to keep the people
quiet.
1t is possible that the first man who per-
petrated this tallacy believed what he said.
There was once a limo in the worlds his
tory when it was deemed wise to "toughen"
delicate lungs by exposure 10 cold; when
hardships and obstacles were considered
excellent helps in getting along IN the
world, and disease and aff1ictiOn were
thought to have been sent from God. This
idea that poverty is COED thing belongs To
the same dark age; only the Professor JOr-
dams and other fossils of the present cen
tury will not lot it remain in the oblivion it
merits
What does it mean, this statement froma
scientist that "a young man could have no
better luck than to be born poor Pow
erty implies lack. II implies restricted mp
portunities. 1t implies insufficient nour-
lshment and the poor man who achieves
ana acquires does both these things ut a far
greater cost to himself and 20 the world
than does ne WHO is not poor. Poverty is
at the root OF fOur-6lthS OF the drunkenness
ana two-thirdS of the crime in the world.
Nay, even the crimes of the rich were not
possible but for the poverty of the poor.
Lack OF means with the inventor, lack OF
time and opportunity with the poor and
oVerburdened student, lack of strength in
the poorly nourished, insufhcienilY clad
workman have hindered the worlds prog
resS by many years.
Yet Professor Jordan declares that "a
young man can have no better luck than TO
be born poor"
Suppose man wishes 10 train race
morse 10 beat the worlds record. From the
time the colt is foaled he sees to it thar the
creature IS well nOurished, well cared fer,
we'll housed. He knows that an under
allowance OF food will weaken bone and
slnew; that energy spent in Keeping warm
ana scrambllng Tor proveldar to exc out
that provided is energy that would other
wise 90 lntOS growth and GeYelopment-iS,
IN TACT, energy misspent As between the
colt that IS cared for the first two years OF
ms life and the one who has cared for him.
sell, In pasture. with such attention as is
commonly given by the farmer, the former.
other things being equal has the better
chance-wlli be stronger. harder, in better
condition.
But Professor Jordan would have us be-
Heve 1t is different with young men.
There IS curious blindness about these
people who declare that poverty is good
thing.
They know that impoYerishment Of the
Ihey know that impoverished soil Yields
meager and unhealthy crops, that Sparse
pasture produces Inferior beef and mutton,
that poor AIR is detrimental to life, but by
some singular mental bejugglement they
have come to accept the preposterous doe
trlne that poverty in The individual is going
10 work good for the nation composed of
those individuals.
"a young man can have no better luck
than to be born poor"
Suppose such thing possible, and that
every child In the generation now coming
into the world-the young men of fifteen or
twenty years-hence could have the exceed
Ing good luck 10 be born poor
What would be the effect on the nation?
rake one item alone In this same lecture
Professor Jordan says:
-. From the boys who go to college come
the great men of tho future"
Granting this-the fact remains that il is
only the exceptional poor boy who can get
to college.
The uneXceptional poor boy cannot get
there, not merely because of his economic
poverty, but because OF what that implies.
Because he is po0r-because his father and
mother were poor before him-he is DOOR
mentally and physically. Poverty produces
a lower grade Of being than does wealth,
or even that comforta bic condition known
as being well to de-" boy NAV have
been started in this world with sufficient
mental and physical force, could he be
given opportunity, to acquire a College
education and become useful man, even,
perhaps, TO achieve greatness who were
ne forced by poverty to make his opportun-
lily, would md his energies so curtaileu and
exhausted by that effort as to render him
unable to profit by them. If you see baby
craving on the floor and put before it some
obstacle which it must surmount before it
can proceed further the baby may succeed
In passing the obstacle, but may, in doing
SO, so exhaust his strength as TO be unable to
go on. de may gather strength by resting
ana go further Tomorrow, but there is no
tomorrow Tor the uneXcepIiOnal poor young
man. He must spend as he goes.
NOT only Is the young man who is so
lucky as Ia he born poor curtailed in his
opportunities, but these are becoming still
fewer, in these days when trusts and COM
binations and enterprises on a large scale
are swallowing the small capitalist and the
individual, when the United States Senate
has become 1.-THE rich mems club" and
money buys laws and The administration
thereof.
Professor Jordan probably wishes us 10
understand him as meaning that the worthy
young man who mas strength to surmount
the obstacles placed in his way by poverty,
TO go to college and rise triumphant over
his dltncultes, Is the stronger and better for
his yicissitudes.
Even this is not true. The man who in
the face of great difficulties achieves great
ness might have. probably would have,
gone further still but for being hlndeIed
Suppose Professor Jordan wishes to get
downtown. Suppose at the outset he finds
he has nc hat and is obliged to make for
himself one. Suppose, having made his
hat, heiS still without Shoes and must make
them. Suppose half a dozen similar delays,
and then the professor Is able to set forth.
He has missed his car, and must walk or
wait for the next one. In one event he ex-
ponds further strength, in he other further
patience. In either he arrives at his desti-
nation late, tired and cut of patience, less
fully prepared to take part in the business
that brought him cut than h would be had
he been able to arrive fresh and on time.
Or would the professor have US believe
that his expenditure Of strength and pa
tieUce in surrounding the obstacles have
rendered him still more able TO take part in
the worlds work than he would otherwise
have been? Ii it is lucky thing for
young man to be born poor WHY are The
lucky paupers OF England ana France and
Ireland and Germany not proSpering?
What are the poor OF America growing at9
How is it that our newspapers are depre-
eating the steady growth of limited
wealthy class and fighting with all their
power the monopolies that render possible
this Capitalization of wealth. Why do the
rich themselves find it advisable to spend so
much money in trying to keep the people
amused and to ameliorate the dire effects of
their poverty? What in the name Of sense
are all these lucky people bowling about,
and why are the unlucky rich seeking to in
CREASE their riches?
II Mr. Jordan means us TO understand
that these young men must always be poor
it is granted that it is then better that they
should be born into the condition to which
they are predestlned. But he only holds
that il is good for them to be poor in order
that they may surmdunt poverty. He does
not show us the benefit to b. derived from
this feat. Would not the average Young
man acquire as strong physique from attn
letic sports as, from wrestling with poverty?
as clear faith in ultimate good from pros
peritv as from adversely? as keen an ill.,
tellect from graphing, for instance. with
Professor Jordan's logic as from trying To
solve the bitter problem Of how TO make
SO do the work OF 81?
No amount of speeinus reasoning or SEN
timental talk can Gisguise the TACT that
poverty is bad thing, an unhealthy thing
a degrading thing. We boast of the wealth
of our nation. not of the poverty of its in
divduals. 1t is because We are a rich
country that we are a powerful oue among
the nations. The poor nation. ike tbs