The herald., 1894-12-23
HELP THE POOR.

aim of our well-mesning people to give
permanent relief to the poor and an OPP
po-tunity and encouragement to the un-
employed lsborer, the question to be
discussed should first embrace q suffi-
cient rangs of thought on ''cause and
effect" that we may clearly see what
produced the present conditions, and
how to remedy it as q business prop
osition.
The deep gulf separating the handful
of lately-made millionaires from the
great army of struggling poor was not
produced by China, and the stubborn
stand taken by both sides will continue
to widen this breach until spirit OF
honest patriotism and wisdom takes the
place Of greed and oppression on the
one hand, and deluded masses by dema-
eoRus leaders on the other. We see
cruel punishment inflicted upon certain
poor creatures for apparent trivial
offeuses. and ON the other the govern.
ment catches the Csrnegies stealing mill
lions through defective armor-plate
and compromises therefor by al
lowing the highwaymen to re.
fund q small percentage, out of which
the government pays $35, 900 commission
for the information. We hear the pa.
shetic appeal OF women and children
and the man in jail pronounced q
tramp because he roamed the country
In search of work without friends and
money. We likewise read the state
ment Of Mr.. Havemeyer, wherein his
sugar trust made $50, 10000 in three
years, the result of standing in" with
. political king; and We read further in
Ex-Governor Pattison's report the rail-
road commission, where four Califor-
nians furnished the brains and gall, and
the government furnished the land and
money, to build a railroad. and the said
four netted $118, 8,0000 900 Gas to time) in
the twinkle of an eye. The oppression
of power from these ill.gotten colossal
fortunes in the hands of interruptions
men OF brain, is being felt by the
thoughtless, unsuspecting people, and
the friction created thereby calls for
Debs and his forces on the one hand and
the United States troops on the other,
and the end is not yet. Nor is the fault
all on the one side. In many OF our
beer dives of an evening you see 30 to
eco idlers swigging down stale poison,
whom their time and money could be
better spent with their family or in.
forming themselves in leading issues;
and later many of these same idlers in
the hands of political demagogues form
a balance of power Gin blocks of 1907,
and deliver the country into the hands
OF its enemies, and the man who thinks
the Australian ballot or the purity law
has remedied this evil is not posted in
politics.
We further see certain labor organiza.
tions demanding that eight hours shall
constitute days work, without detin-
ing whether or not they shall get 8, 10
OF IL hours' pay for it. Nor do they in
clude the farmer (the salt of the earth),
who. after putting in IA hours' hard
work per day, finds his products selling
lar below the coat of production. With
these chatting, retaliatoyy feelings on the
one hand. deiuded by demagogues on
come short road to fortune, including the
nonsenaicsl ohaff from single takers and
other "fads," while, on the other hand,
the lion grip OF monopoly sitting in
Judgment all along the line OF justice.
psrjuring themselves as to the payment
OF taxes, compelling the government to
extend their loans so years at 3 per cent.
With these, and many similar conditions
existing. we open the doors of "sweet
charity" not only to the ''poor who are
always with u.s." but to the brakeDeam
and box-car tourist; and worst still,
we open wide the doors of our generosity
to the poor, the drone, and the vicious
Of every nation; and, should we adopt
the method inaugurated by the mayor
of Detroit, and turn all of this country
into public potato patch, the numbers
would increase in proportion to the char.
ity we bestow. Ii our aim is
10 permanent solution OF this
great question, to help the poor,
to heal the breach between labor
and capital (for it is as necessary for
them to be in perfect harmony for pros
perity as it is for a timepiece 20 be in
perfect order to keep perfect time). Ii
there is truth in the statement that
''charity begins at home," we should
effectually shut the food gates against
the millions Of idlers, drones and vicious
element pouring into our ports--so det-
rimental to every American interest.
We should then give our people to un-
derstand that we will not inaugurate q
parental government, where every drone
is simply to clean" on the government,
but that as patriotic. lberty-loving
people We will first heal this breech be-
tween labor and capital, and all along
the line from poverty to wealth we
determine to do right. be just. honest
and fair, and then see that our neigh.
bors in the minority do the same (even
though We resort to the ballot box, that
We will allow good sense to take the
place of prejudice, and compromise. the
place of force or oppression. That we
open up opportunities for all who desire
to work, such as the government build
ing, the Nicaragua canal, not only
paying investment to the government
but putting large amount of money in
circulation giving work for many thou~
sands it would give such stimulsnt
to trade along the Pacific coast that all
the wheels of industry would be set in
motion. The fruit industry alone by
reason OF a cheap outlet to foreign mar>
kets would set 100000 extra men and
teams at work; then. again. let the gov
ernment build an irrigsting and light
chipping canal las a paving investment)
from some point on the Missouri river.
on the north line of Nebraska, down
through the dry lands Of western Kan
eas and Texas into the Rio Grande del
Eorte. The countless millions OF acres
ci choice farm lands this would open up
r. our people and the good this would
80 cannot be estimated.
Then there are many natural water
'Asors which the government, at a
iaOft, could set thousand wheels in
i.ution, and many other legitimate and
psying enterprises would develop if
r.'nopoIy takes it's hand off the throat
., he people; and these warlike labor