The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1896-05-10
NR. sovERE1aN,s EALI.AcIEs.

Mr.. Sovereign comes with the same old
cry Of the Populists that the poor are
becoming poorer and the -ieh richer. )"
when the fact Is apparent to any I'M
partial student that just the reverse OF
this proposition is true, and that the dis
tribution OF wealth is more even and
general in this country now than ever
before.
In the face of this fact. which any
man can learn by little painstaking
examination, it seems to the Astorian a
wrong OF almost criminal nature for a
man Of apparent Intelligence to 20 around
In a time Of temporary industrial de-
preston seeking to infame the passions
Of idle and perhaps nearly destitute
Worlingmen. by telling untruthful stories
Of wrongs and injustice suffered at the
hands of capitalists and rich men.
To show the utter unreliabflity Of Mr..
sovereign's statements, and TO prove how
baseless are the woes and complaints OF
other Populists, when viewed in the light
Of facts and everyday experience, take
the statistics, for example, just pub
nshed by the Massachusetts, bureau OF
public information. That state furnishes
perhaps more Of the capitalistic class
than any other OF the Union. yet the
figures presented overthrow the oft-re-
peated arguments Of these Populistic
theorizers
Great fortunes have indeed been made
by mary, but that does not mean an
increase of poverty with the sober, in
dustrial classes by any means; for who
come TO the conclusion that there is an
adSahce in the standard of social living
and a steady increase OF home comforts.
The value of Massachusetts, estates
has risen on the average from S,sls to
.1oe4e, but this increase has not kept
pace with the increase Of population.
The advance in the wealth of the /.
wealthy was about III per cent, while 4
the population increase 26s.7s per cent !
And ii is clear that from 1SSS to 1850, |
when the times were most prosperous /
for laboring men, the rich were less ia
vorably situated. and the poor were re-
eeiving better wages and paying less for
the necessaries Of life.
The statistics Of the bureau also show
that the average OF the valuation Of small
estates was far higher than ever before.
the difference being from s2,5O4 in is3g
to 1882 in 1890.
The average wealth of the average
rich man in 1880 was far greater than
that of the average rich man in 1880.
Between 1880 and 1880 the small estates
gained s1s,OOO.OOO, while the great estates
gained only S1.OOO.OOO. Their average was
reduced during that decade from S1ss. CO..
to $4,000.
Thus in a single generation the wealth .
Of Massachusetts has practically passed
into new hands, and the same redistribu-
ton of wealth is continually going on,
to the dlsmay OF aristocracy and the .
betterment Of the poor.
II Mr.. Sovereign were a patriotic cit-
zen, and equal to the responsibilities OF
his position as the head Of a great Ia
bor organization, what a world Of good |
he might do by inculcating a spirit OF
contentment and thrift among his fol-
lowers with such facts as these. And
how he might cheer the tagging ener-
yies of the old and excite ambition among
the young, by impressing upon their
attention the further fact that under
our benign laws and free institutions,
The poor men and laborers Of one genera
ion are the rich men and capitalists or
mother.
But, no, it is not the plan Of Mr.. Sow
reign and other Office seekers to preach
his kind Of doctrine. Their only hope
If personal aggrandizement lies in their
lbiIity to stir up a state Of strife and
among the poor and lowly,
md thus induce some form Of political
evolution which may yield them a
.hance to slide into power and position
which neither God nor their own moral
.ttainments intended or have fitted them
o. occupy.