The record-union., 1894-09-11

writers. All communications must De accom-
panied by the name OF the writer, not for
publication unless so desired, but as a guaran-
lee OF good falth.-EDS.
Some Thoughts for Breadwinners.
EDS. RECORD UNION: The wage-earu-
er's morning and evening supplication
should be amended. 1t ought to read
"Out of thine abounding mercy, good
Lord, deliver us from our fool friends ="
And what discordant pack of them there
are giving tonguei The editorial sanctum
mas become sandlot. The politician
koW-toWs before the hoodlum. The
tongue OF the agItator clacks between his
unWearled jaws from the rising OF the sun
Til the golng-up OF the saloon shutters.
Our manly fathers soberIy builded the
edlflce OF our liberties ana our institu-
tons. 1T Is noble pile. And about it
their children gabble as if it were another
iooAsh tower OF Babel. In the midst of
this dIn the clear voice OF the true Amer
lean Worklngman ought to make protest.
w hat do these workers of untiring Jaws
proclaim? They tell US that there is
necessary internecine war between capi-
tai and labor. That great corporations
are lnlmical 10 the common veal. That
every railroad corporation is a malignant
type OF devil in disguise: but that the
Southern Pacific is the Prince of Dark
ness III his own proper person. They tell
the workiugInan that he is deIrauded OF
the product Of his labor; thai he is op-
pressed and enslaVcd. They iutlame
empioye against employer. They would
upset the institutions Of centuries; and
they lnsolently detame the laws and the
flag. My fellow work men, il we blindly
follow these blind leaders, what reasona-
bic hope IS there OF escaping the ditch?
Come, let us reason together.
TE a g..f-t a. L
just wage? Is he oppressed? Herein is
the root OF the whole matter. l know
that the impression is quite general
among manual lGborers that by some
hocus pocus of legislation they are kept
poor and the rich made richer. That
pestiterous parasite, the professional poll
tician, is chiefly res sponsible for this I'M
preston. The practical politician is usu-
ally practiced LARA skillful, persistent
and enthusiastic fatherer of falsehood.
And the political editor is too cften the
Wet-nurSe OF the progeny. Between them
they have incub bated and reared the par
tlcular lie IN question. For it is lie-a
lie with a prefix. The American work.
man is not serf His wage is not stolen
under the bandaged eyes OF Justice. For
the most part, the American work. man is
well led, well clad, we'll housed. He is a
freeman. lie is content at his toll. IL is
happy in his home. He rejoices and is
glad of his citizenship in goodly land
And he loves the flag and will noJ spare,
when duty calls. To I'LL with his veins
blood the measure of his country's needs
That is the American workingman as
know him. And L have served at his
side since boyhood.
1t is true that for months there has been
lack OF work, and that to us who win
bread the lines have not fallen in pleasant
places. These be hard times, and out of
their abundance the rich should remem-
ber the distressed poor. And so they
nave. Witness that magnificent charity
that walked with open hands last winter
through the streets of all our cities. But
still there has unqueStionably been dis
tress. l speak by the card, for | have
borne my own share. | have tramped
and am tramping now in search of work,
Physical disability will not let me work
III the fields, and at my craft there is moth
ing to do. So for weeks l have slept uu-
der the roof OF stars and spent the little
money made here and there Sparingly for
food. The professional hobo, who hesi-
tates not To beg, has Jared sumptuousiy
every day IN comparison.
Perhaps you see in this a condition
confronting the theory that under exist
ing laws and institutions the workman
need not be otherwise than comfortable
and happy. But let me be honest and
then you be honest, ., proclaimer OF
workmen's woes / am unwiIlingly on
the tramp simply because during all the
years when / had well-paid work l did
not save dollar. That's the truth, and
L am not fool enough to shut nay eyes to
1t. And il is the truth that lies at the
bottom Of every mans distress who finds
himself out of work for time DON'T
talk 10 me, my agitating friend, of Gov
ernment ownership of railroads, of Gov
erDment aid to the unemployed, of any
political panacea. The man who in his
prosperity lays up no store against adj
versity must suffer with the other sim
ners, of whom l esteem myself at present
chief.
/ wish that considerable body of work
men who are running after the new lights
could see things as they are. / wish they
could see that by no possibility can any
legislative Juggling abolish poverty or
make the extravagant man forehanded
The law OF existence is as old as life 1t
is the law of struggle. 1t is a stern law.
The individual who does not bow to it it
Will break. 1t is a beneticent law. To it
we owe the existence of the race all that
IS tine and noble in our makeup, our
laws, our institutions, our civilization
1t is an omnipresent law. 1t runs with
swift feet along ali the highways of the
universe. Nothing is so great and moth
ing SO small as to escape the toucn of its
scepter. Life and death are It's angels.
"ElghtW is its command to all things
Flight or die!' And to him who begs
bread it scornfully says, ''Win it,"
While this law runs from the footstool
of God. 1t is idle folly to seek for auy
other solution of the problem of human
living than that which the world long
ago found. To eat bread we must win il
with the strong hand. And he that can-
not or Will not so win it with struggle
and pain must go TO the wall. Is that a
harsh law, weak brother? Well, it is the
law OF life, in the making of which L had
no hand. True, do not believe ii is to
reign always. When it has wrought the
purpose OF the Infinite intelligence, when
the perfect man peoples the earth, then, L
think, the brotherhood of man will be a
fact. But that time is long distant. Ana
herein is the justification of the Carpen-
ter's doctrine. For Jesus did not teach
for his time, nor for our time, but for all
time. And the socialism he inculcated
he well knew could not possess the earth
until the law OF evolution had done it's
work and the supremely lit finally sur
vived.
Meantime we live in a work-a-dav
world, and IN IL we must work or suffer,
If any fellow would rather suffer, that is
his business, but he ought not to parade
his woes in the market places.
FellOw-workmen, these clap-trap poll
ticians and loud-voiced agitators who
rant from the houSetops about vour woes
are not your real friends. Ii they were
wise anu honest men they would tell
you plainly that these hard times
are not due to any local causes;
that they are not the result of Mr.. Harri-
sons defeat or OF Mr.. Cleveland's pol-
icy, OF the tariffslaws or Of the Reilly
funding bill. They would tell You that
the wave of industrial depression has
swept around the globe. That all lands
have suffered. They would tell you that
for twenty years the whole world has dis
counted the future and now has its bills
To meet; that production has run ahead of