The Democrat. (Scotland Neck, Halifax Co., N.C.) 1884-1896, 1896-02-13
NUMBER Tin MAN OUT OF EMPLOY
IFNT

The unemployed are found in places
where machinery is in use and in places
where machinery is not in use; where
gold is money, where silver is money
and where paper in money; where there
is free trade and where there is protec-
tion; where government is corrupt and
where government is honest; under
monarchies and under republics. Neither
the question Of machinery, relied upon
by Socialists, nor the question Of money,
relied upon by Populists, nor the ques-
ton Of good government, relied upon by
political reformers generally, can solve
the question Of the unemployed. The
most significant figure Of our times is
the man out Of employment. Yesterday
he was regarded-sO far as regarded at
all-with alternating contempt and
pity. Today he is regarded with con-
cern. Tomorrow NJ may be regarded
with terror
On your way home tonight some Of
you Will see, coming out from the shad-
ow of an alley OF building, man abb
ject and unkempt. He Will not venture
you, and, in subdued voice and with
cringing air, will ask you for the price
of a nights cheap lodging or a cheap
supper. Who is he? The man out of
employment. You have seen him be-
fore. He has called at your Office. He
has been seen at your kitchen door.
You have seen him in crowds before the
bulletin of employment Offices. You
have .een the crowd stream all day long
into some factory on Office which had
advertised 'thelp wanted. You have
seen him wistfully watching more for
tunate men who We're at work on some
building or excavation. You have seen
him Cn the country roadside. You have
seen him crawling from the trucks of q
railway train He is known to fame.
You can read Of him i'll the newspapers,
where he appears i'll the column OF
crimes or in the column Of suicides.
This is the day Ct ''labor problems, "
and on every such problem there falls
the dark shadow Of the man out Of en-
ployment. Who keeps wages down? The
man out Of employment.
WHO reduced tln- wages of Pullman's
employees? Not Pullman himself, not
greedy corporation, but the man out OF
employment. Who ordered the great
strike Of 1894? Not the American Rail
way union, nor Debs, but the man out
of employment Who is it that was
feared by the strikers? Not the railway
magnates nor the courts, not the in
functions nor the troops, but the man
out Of employment. Who broke the
strike? The man out Of employment.
Who compels organized labOrers to stand
together shoulder to shoulder? Not the
labor agitator, not the walking dele
gate, but the man out of employment
Protean i'll shape, the man out Of en-
ployment is here a tramp, there q hero;
here spiritless, there proud; here re-
vengeful, there patient; here mendi-
cant, there martyr. The man out of
employment is the constant menace to
our civilization Today the army Of the
UNEMPLOYED turks in the rear. Tomorrow
it may be at the front, barring the way,
more terrible than an army with ban
ners Once mustered into that army,
the man out of employment never mus
ters out unless he furnishes q substitute
from the ranks of workingmen. Why
are men unemployed? Yesterday society
answered, Because they wish to be. !"
Today society answers, "We do not
know" What shall be done with the
unemployed?
Yesterday society answered, eve do
not care. " Today society merely echoes,
"What can we do?"
CLARENCE A. MILLER.
Los Angeles, December, 1895.
Change the feeling in an individual.