The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1896-02-26
WHY THEY STRIKE.
THE MIsERIEs OF THE POOR,

The agriculturist, living upon his
own land, and with plenty to eat,
even in the midst Of hard times, does
not realize the condition of the poor
| men Of the cities, whose daily living
depends upon their daily toll The
farmer who goes down. as meal time
draws near, into his cellar for mess
of potatoes and fitch of bacon, and
who always has a sack or barrel of
flour on hand. can hardly realize the
condition Of those who go out, with
basket on arm, and money in hand, &c
pay for what they need to sustain
life; and who when the money give S
out have to bring home the empty
basket to the hungry wife and crying
little ones.
Ii these unhappy people belonged to
some other race,-if they were yellow
or brown, or black, or green, or blue
we could not help but feel the keenest
sympathy for them. But when they
are our own white kindred. -children
or the same great Aryan stock-that
feeling should be intensified hun
dred fold. And yet how rarely do we
find in our daily newspapers any ref
erence to their sufferings or any sug.
gestions for the Improvements of their
condition.
This train Of thought was suggested
to us by reading the following extract
from recent speech OF Eugene V.
Debs:
| am going to ask you to look at a
railroad strike. An average Evans
vile business man takes a train for
Ie1re Haute, my home. He gets
ABOUT half way up the road. and is
stopped because Of some labor dis
agreement. The fist thing he says is
that the strikers ought to be hanyed.
especially Debs. [Laughter] They do
not stop to thing who is right or who
IS wrong. They do not thing that
there has been possible ATTEMPT to
force the employees into deeper subiec-
tlon, and it has resulted in an up
heval. Why not CHARGE them equally
With the trouble until the cause is
learned?
fuJ yourself into the place of poor
section hand. Some Of them receive
925 cent day. Would you not be
striker at those wages? They live in
holes, not cottages. Cottages are
luxury too high to enjoy. l probably
know more about their condition
than you do. l have been among
them and have talked to them. l
speak then. from my own observation
and experience. With pencil and pa
per l have endeavored to figure how
they life. AS mathematician l
the maintained life. AS a mathema-
tician l failed to do this. There are
today thousands of people in this very
condition.
1t is the belief Of the Chris ian
world that Christ came down from
the bliss of heaven to this wretched
and contemplate world, and died on
the cross for all men;-for the humble
and the wretched as we'll as the great
and powerful. In fact he came es-
pecially to the poor. He belonged to
the poor. He was the son of me-
chanlc--he worked, 1--WE are forced to
infer,) at the carpenters trade, until
he was thirty years of age; and he
died, shirtless, shoeless and hatless,
and with but single garment to
cover him, the death of malefactor at
the hands of the Jewish aristocracy.
And some one said "Christ was born
in manger, that nevermore might
poverty be reproach to any man."
How strange is it then that a Chris
tian people,-a prominently Chris
tian people, las they esteem themselves,
could be Indifferent to the sorrows
and sufferings of Christ's poor, strug-
Cling children. 1t would seem to US.
that great political party should es-.
pecially concern itself about their
welfare, and, turning it's back upon
the rich and the prosperous bend the
whole power OF government to the
giving to every human being comfort,
abundance and happiness.