The herald., 1893-09-02
A CRUCIAL wINrBE.

From present appearances the large
cities In the east will be brought face to
face with most trying condition of
affairs next winter. If the depression
in business continues, the army of un-
employed In the large cities will be
vastly recruited from the manufacturing
towns, and the strain upon private and
public charity for relief will be in
tinitely greater than it has ever been
before. The agitators and demagogues
will not neglect to get in their incendi-
ary work amongst this vast mass OF
idle and starving people, and the result
OF such condition of things is fearful
to contemplate. Rioting will lead to
bloodshed, and bloodshed may lead to
results such as have only been expert
enced in some of the overgrown and
densey-populated capitals OF Europe.
We have, for the past fifteen years.
been receiving into our country some OF
the worst elements of Europe. A con-
siderable percentage of the immigration
has been from the worst ranks of the
turbulent and discontented fomentors
of strife among the lower classes. Pro-
fessional nihilists, whose hands are
raised against ell governments, and
whose policy is to provoke the poor and
discontented against all who have accu-
mulated property, will ply their dis
turbing trade to the great danger of the
public peace. The Herr Mosts, with
their gospel of dynamite, will leave no
stone unturned to excite the idle and
vicious into fury, and to produce, if pos
sible, q repetition Of the horrible scenes
that were witnessed in the streets OF
Paris one hundred years ago.
The authorities of all our large cities
should be prepared to meet the terrible
emergency which may be upon them
next winter. And the best way to pre-
pare for it will be for them to make pro-
vision to help the unemployed 80 that
they will not be led by want and desti-
tuition into desperate courses. 1t is far
better to give work to the masses of un-
employed than to let want and starva-
tion goad them into fury. The destruc-
tion of a few days of riot in our large
cities would more than Offset the cost of
any employment that might be carved
out for them, however needless to the
public might be that work at present.
There is no city that cannot undertake
some great public improvement which
would in the end be of benefit to it.
Take New York for instance. Thou
sands of men could be beneficially en-
ployed in improving the city frontage.
In the upper part of the city on the
North river side, the water has ehoaled,
and great public advantage would
result from filling in to deep water and
constructing wharves accessible to heavy
draft ships. This is only one of hun
dreds OF opportunities of employing the
idle population and helping it to live
through the ordeal of an unprecedent-
edly trying winter.
Congress should feel itself called upon
to do it's share to give employment to
the great amasssa of unemployed who
have been thrown out of work by un-
wiae legislation. Appropriations ought
to be made to greatly increase our navy.
We should, during this period OF de-
preston, add to our feet of cruisers
enough vessels to make us the equal on
the sea of any other naval power. Con-
tracts for the construction of these yes
sells should be so distributed that all
parts of the country would be aided in
lessening their number OF idle men.
Then, again, no better time than this
could be availed of to improve all our
coast deienses. Every harbor from
Galveston to Portland on the Atlantic,
and from San Diego to Seattle on the
Pacific, ought to be made as impreg-
nable as possible.
We know that next winter will be the
most trying one we have ever had in
this country. We know that the panic
has thrown out of employment more
people than were ever before compelled
to 60 into enforced idleness; and we
have reason to believe that unless some
thing ON an extensive scale is done to
mitigate their sufferings that we shall
have ugly uprisings to deal with. 1t
would therefore be the part of wisdom
and in the interest OF economy to make
such provision as is possible to help this
great army OF unemployed to tide over
the cruel winter that will soon be upon
them.