The oasis., 1894-05-03

can legislation Is Co SO foster Ainerl- lcan production that there will be the largest possible exchange between the wo' kshops and farms of America and In that way prevent that alarming condition foreshadowed by Macauleyl in which "amultitudc, none of whoiil have had more than half breakfast, and none of whom expect to have more than half adlnner, shall choose a legis-
 aturc" So long as there is a hungry American artisan willing Co work, just that long Is it snprcne folly to import anything he can make and export food tO pay for it. That Is McKneyism. And McKlnleyism proceeds upon the assumption that the cost of clubbing hungry workingmen into snbjection by constabulary or shooting them into sublection by soldiery, as intimated by Macanlcy. will prove far greater than Keeping them at work well fed and contcntcd, even though the high- est kind of protective tariff taxes have to be collected to compass the latter. In fact a prohibition of importation, such as England enacted to create her great manufacturing industries, to keep workingmen employed would be preferable Co shooting them down when unemployed and hungry. which Macauley intimates is the only final alternative opposed to a ruined civil lzation. Right now the assertion is safe that it is costing the country far more Co feed the various industrial armies" and guard against their dep relations than the reduction of duties contemplated in the Wilson bill will save in many years, without taking into account the enforced idleness of the multitudes Of unemployed they represent.
 It is indeed grave pr0blcm con- fronting American legislation, but it will be happily solved by the genius of American institutions, as have been the problems of the past And by wise and considerate legislation will the solution be c0mpaSSed. The coun- try has reached that point in develop ment where wise legislation must keep the wheels of industry revolving to avoid civil c0mmOtiOn Even desp0ts. with all the power of great military establishments. have found it adyisa- ble to keep the unemployed busy by executing great public works. This was the motive of construction Of the great highways that cover Europe IS with network: and the marvellous monuments of antiquity ppobably had their origin in the same motives. Shall the great republic, founded on the rights Of man, he less considerate oi the suffering of the people than the despotisms of the pasty The plea of Coxey for good roads. and Kellys proposition that congress provide for reclamatiOno the arid lands for homes for settlers. are in line with this idea. These muchcriticised propositions may be the germs of much that will be use ful and necessary in meeting by wise legislation this problem that will yet be pressing for solution.
 The great objection to these propo- ositions like the objection to McKin- lcyism is embodied in the word pa ternalsm" But to that must it come at last Highly civilized society with it's complex organization units men to care for themselves save in their GUS tomary environments To the great mass of humanity any change from that environment is attended with suffering and hardship ana danger to society. Society then must exercise