Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1893-12-29
If CHANGE. THEN SOON.

! - ANNsUs
The Rev Father Mahoney of Brooklyn,
delivered a sermon to his parishioners
the other day, on the unemployed in
Brooklyn. 1t was rather startling, be-
cause he spoke Of facts Of distress, of
which the people before had not fully
realized. In beginning he said.
Never in all my experience. has Brook
Ign been in such condition as at present.
Hundreds of families are starving. and.
unless relief comes, and that speedily. the
have seen strong men. steady and industri-
ous, actually begging for bread to feed
their starving children. Fol months they
have been out of employment. There is
no work for them to do. % are there m
indications that the situation will improve
for " or three months at least.
This is the first time in my career as a
Catholic priest. that l have been obliged to
use such language. l have invariably held
that actual and poverty are caused by
the people themselves, and that they are
shiftless, spendthrifts or %drurkardS. This
time it is different. Good honest families
are feeling it. The little they managed to
save in times past has disappeared and as a
result, in many homes this morning there
is not as much as a loaf OF bread.
"A blight seems to have fallen upon the
country. and for no apparent reason. There
is no panic: at least there should be none.
No disease is spreading among us. The
prospects OF good crops were never better
and everything points to a much better
spring than we nave had in twenty years.
Now, however. We are. and for at least two
months more VI will be. face to face with
actual starvation. Money is not in circu-
lation. The building trades here are at a
%standstill.
So far, Rev. Mahoney spoke truly, aud
of what existed in the bitterest Of reality.
In fact, he spoke only Of one community,
while there are hundreds in the country
in the same condition. Mr.. Gompers,
head of the federation of labor, publicly
states the number of the unemployed at
100000. These people are of classes
which have been earning, according to
the last census report, an average of
$500 yearly, and the bare support of
themselves and families can hardly cost
less than 81 per day. Soup houses aud
kitchens for the distribution of food are
the best patronized institutions in
numerous OF the large cities. It seems
an era Of soup houses. They are a neces-
sity. because the hungry must be fed.
And the hungry are not so. because they
are disinclined to work and earn bread.
There is no work for them 20 do. Their
labor Is o in demand.
Continuing his sermon, Father
Mahoney says:
What has caused this condition? The
tricks of ~blo0dhounds who call themselves
men. In order to crush the unfortunate
toiler they have closed up factories and
mills. Industries have been crushed, pro-
ducfion curtailed, that prices may be
forced up. No one feels it but the work.
man. He is made to feel it so that next
year he will be glad to take whatever
wages the bloodhound is willing to offer.
Here, however, the reverend gentle
man advances a theory which is alto
gether unit enable. unless We are willing
to believe that the condition Of things as
depicted by Donnelly IN his Caesars
Column, has arrived. Mr.. Mahoney
says manufacturers have closed down
their factories to crush the toiler. Since
the toilers in the country are the ones
who purchase and use the products Of
the factories, why should the manu-
facturer crush them, and thus decrease
the consumption Of his WI productions?
When before have manufacturers closed
down factories, unless there was a change
at hand which promised 10 affect ma
t%erially the price OF their wares? And
that is the exact reason for the stagna.
ton in manufacturing circles to-day. It
is not, as Rev. Mahoney asserts, a desire
to crush the toiler. It is not because of
that feeling of malignant hatred toward
and desire to do harm to the working.
man with which capital, l n the minds OF
some persons, is always inspired. Was
there any of this condition existent last
year, when factories everywhere were in
full blast, and when nowhere in the
world was there a more prosperous class
OF working people than in the United
States? The change which Rev. Mahoney
lameDts, is because OF the unsettled
policy of the administration which
now las the reins of the government.
Were Rev. Mahoney a manufacturer,
would he operate his factories, purchase
material, and turn out mis- wares, when
be was not certain but that at any time
there would be a vital change in the
cost of production which might entail
heavy loss upon him?
The democratic idea is that a tariff
change will be Of great benefit to the
American people. This is a theory, OF
the wisdom of which no one has proof,
and factories cannot be operated upon
theory. They must have a measure Of Ger.
talnty. II, as the democrats argue, a tariff
change means prosperity, then let us
have it. and at nee Let them agree
upon q measure, pass it, and relieve the
uncertainty. If prosperity ensues, then
we'll and good. Manufacturers can op.