Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1894-08-15
OUR NATIONAL CRISIS
AND ITS REMEDY.
RY REV. d. OGLESBY.

nation is In a crisis. Society boils
like tempest tossed sea. Millions of
men and women changing on the
ragged edge of starvation. Millions
tramping through the country beg
ging for labor, to earn bread. With
the multitude it is desperate strug-
/ gle to live, while few revel in luxury;
clothed in purple and fine linen"
possessing ia bilious wealth.
Why is it that this great inequality
exists in a republic? In a government
/ formed expressly to secure equality.
WHY this upheaval? Why this inter
nal commotion? What is the cause,
and what the remedy? There must
be a cause, and if we can find 1T, the
remedy will suggest itself; for if the
cause is removed, the effect will dis
appear.
Some men think that the present
! system under which society now
grOans, is the best possible system
God pity their ignorance. Others
think that a change in our tariff
laws would bring peace and quiet the
country Others think that foreign
immigration has caused all our trouble
Another class think that the single
tax, tax on land only, would be the
remedy. They see no monopoly in
anything except land. Their theory
is abolish land MONOPOLY and all is
we'll. These, and many other theories
are put forth as the cause of our ma
tional unrest. They are theories, and
only theories. What we need in this
investigation is facts. 1t is a fact
that within the memory of the writer
land he is not the oldest inha bitant )
there has come on the stage of pro-
duction more laborsaving machinery
than ever existed in our world before
Not less than SIS or 90 per cent of the
labor of the world is performed by
labor-saving machinery, making the
demand for wage la Dor less and less.
And every day nearly some new labor
saving device is added. On the other
hand, the army of wage workers grow
larger every day, making a demand
for work more and more imperative.
Thus it is seen at glance that this
great gulf letween Dives and Laza-
rus grows wider, deeper and darker
every day.
What are we going to do about it?
There it is. This great army of
wageworkers is growing larger every
day. They must eat In order to eat
they must work. If it is impossI BILE
TO get work, then what? They will
be forced to starve, or steal or fight.
And are they not doing little of
each now? Must this state of things
continue? If it does it must grow
worse because the army of wage
workers must grow larger.
What is the cause of this war be-
tween capital and labor, and what is
the remedy? The cause is this; Our
competitive system of business,
founded on usury, has made class OF
men called capitalists. This class
own and appropriate to themselves
all the labor-saving machinery of the
world and all the benefits resulting
from them. This small class called
capitalists, using only part of the
army of wage-workers in connection
with labor-saving machinery, can
produce all that society needs, leav-
ing the balance of the army of wage
workers to starve in idleness.
The Remedy.
The remedy is to institute a system
in which and by which all the mem
bers of society will share proper
tionately in the benefits of la Dor saw
ing machinery. This is the only
remedy. If this was the case now, no
one need work more than two OF
three hours day, because labor saw
ing machinery performs three-fourths
of the labor now. If we can't ar
range a system in which all will share
in the benefits of labor-saving ma
chinery, it would be better if no labor
saving machinery had been invented
for under our present system it is q
curse to wage workers. This needed
system is cooperation or socialism.
What the world needs, must and will
have. is the system of socialism
taught by Jesus Christ and practiceC
by the early church. The world ha:
been under the com petitive system
for 5000 years. 1t has wrecked every
government nearly; those that are
left standing to-day are on the border.
of violent revolution-standin Over
rumbling volcanoes
Competition at its best is socia
war. When it natures and comes t.
perfection it ends in civil war. It i,
individualsm. 1t is every man fol
himself if the devil does get the hind
ermost It is hatred. There is NJ
love in its makeup. 1t practically re
pudiates tie fact that man is hi
brothers keeper. 1t ignores the fac
that an injury to any one is the con
Germ of all. It is division and disin
tegration. It divides. separates AM
produces inequality. Founded OIL
selfshness it cultivates the baser par
of mans nature, and fills society will
envy and jealousy. 1t antagonize
the commerce of the world to Chris
tianity. 1t pervades every fiber o
society. From the huckster on tn
street corner to the great govern
ments of earth it's deadly work is seeI
and felt 1t is the most expensiv,
system that could be devised TIL
load piled on the world by it is incom
! prehensible individuals and frm