The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1894-02-21

doxA, since the Same cause which would LEAD .
fashionable woman to close her house to enter
tanning would also lead her to refrain from
elaborate personal adornment during the finan-
cial panic. It is now the fashion for society to
wear its old clothes. to dispense with music at
dinners. to five up the fashion of introducing
At fabulous prices prtma donnas to sing for
the guests at dinner. Our imports show that
the wealthy women have to a great extent
modified their orders to their French dress
makers. The usual spring trip to Europe taken
by fashionable women to study the latest
modes and replenish their wardrobes will be
confined to a very few. But while the rich
have been cutting down their own expenses
they have been careful to do all in their power
to aid the poor. Perhaps their charity is not
| always wholly based upon philanthropic mo-
tives. 1t may have been founded rather upon
. sense of self preservation. 1t requires no
fine logic to demonstrate that the security of
wealth depends largely upon the condition OF
the poor.
It appears that what Mr.. Depew only
hints at McAllister blurts right out.
There have been articles in the New
York papers recently in which it was
stated that many of the mansions up
town were being fitted up with heavy
inside blinds Of steel that can be pulled
down behind windows and doors at a
moments notice, and it was plainly
given out that these precautions were
being taken against the day when the
hungry hordes from the east side lose
their temper. My candid opinion is that
the alarm which is so manifest is unwar-
ranted. do not expect that what the
gentlemen l have quoted believe likely
to happen will happen, but cannot say
that l am very sorry that the fears of
some folks are making them uncomfort-
able. Yet it is enough to make one
doubt the sanity of man to think of these
things. That people with good sense
tolerate such a condition of society as
confronts us is not thinkable. That for
the sole purpose Of holding on to ten
thousand times more of the worlds
goods than he can possibly consume
man is willing to suffer constant annoy
ance and disturbance, and sometimes
the anguish implied in what have re-
ferred to in the foregoing paragraphs, is
! beyond my comprehension; but, as |
have said, am not good at some kinds
of conundrums.
| Present conditions are made by man
and can be unmade by him. Nature has
provided abundant means for all her
children, and if the greedy would only
be contented with what belongs to them
as natural right there would be no
unemployed to be afraid of. am not
preaching dangerous communism"
Nothing is further from my thought than
that we should share alike, regardless
of our performances. Give to every man
his natural right to apply his brains and
muscle to the raw material provided by
nature and guarantee to every one the
product of his labor, and while some
would undoubtedly have more than 9TH
ers no man could possess what he had
not earned under conditions equally open
to all and protected by and for all. No
one would care to pile up simply for the
sake of piling up, if he could, and no one
willing to work would want for any of
the necessaries and luxuries of life. Hogs
have more sense than men have; hogs
know when they have enough. A little
common sense legislation would put us
on the right road. That we do not get
thatlegislation- why don't we get it?
But there is a pressing necessity just
now which all recognize, and which be-
lieve a majority think may and should
be met by emergency legislation. re-
fer to the many propositions that public
works be started by the national govern
ment, by the states and by the munich
palities. It is not necessary for me to
refer to the many suggestions which have
been made in this line. It seems to me,
however, that the idea that the national
government should at once begin the
construction of transcontinental boule-
ward from the Atlantic to the Pacific is
a good one. The great value to the coun-
try of such road when completed every
one can see. Every unemployed man in
the United States could be put to work
inside of 60 days if such an undertaking
was begun at once and in earnest. do
not mean that all would work on the
boulevard, but the return of the million
or more who could be so employed to the
ranks of the buyers of the products of
| other labor would give work to every
one who wanted it.
But the great stumbling block in the
way of this undertaking is the thieving
greed of small portion Of our people
and the blind ignorance Of the rest.
"Where will the government get the
money to pay for this proposed boule-
vard?" cries the editorial mouthpiece of
Shylock. And all the people stand dunn
founded, and, like the parrots they are,
whine, Eyes, where will the government
get the money!" Where did the govern
ment get money when it was confronted
with a somewhat similar condition lit
tie over 80 years ago? "Oh, you're giving
us greenbackism, fat money rot, now"
Yes, and if you were not the blind slave
of Shylock you would see 1 am giving
you sense. There isn't any money in the
country today that isn't ''fat;'' the ''fiat"
is the only thing that makes it money.
And what do you know about the green
back? Here's what the supreme court
of the United States said of it on March
| q 1904 sS1Ir,%o1 C+o%oc 1ocr.,1