Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1897-03-05
W'ashlnaton Standard
TP!A. WASH.
FRIDAY EVENING. MARCH ). 1891.
Let Us Find tho Cause.


ftr-rti India reached oar shores. it
mover crossed TIM mind 81 oar most
!n'"l. mt l""rl" that Very soon the
SAM cause furau"ui~h, the same spirit
al evil, would li>it our own shores. 1t
WAS accepted. somewhat IL a matter
ui course. that famine should occa-
sl"nally sweep over the partially civil
IIz"d portion oi the globe. and the
probable cause was readily found in
the fact that the higher degree of in
telligcncc had not served to establish
or maintain those conditions which
might have Warlcd off the disaster.
Whether ar not this assumption is
based upon truth, We are confronted
10y the same misfortune in our own
country, and from widely separated
portions of our broad and hitherto
prosperous land, we find thousands OF
people battling with the Demon
Want, and the misfortune spreading
like an epidemic where hitherto have
been known for generations past only
happiness and prosperity.
There must be some underlying
cause for this great wave of adversely.
There must be some fundamental in
fiucnce at work to effect such radical
change, and to enthronc want and
misery where but short time ago,
plenty and prosperity had apparently
an absolute sway. What is it? Where
may be found the changed conditions
which have shut off the bright rays of
heaven and substituted for peace,
plenty, thrift and happiness, discon-
tent, want, disaster and misery? To
discover the cause and apply the
remedy should enlist the most CAREFUL
thought and institute immediate and
vigorous efforts for relief. The posi-
BILE cause, whatever it may be, should
be dragged into the sunlight of reason
and subjected to the most searching
investigation. There is some cause
for the twenty thousand destitute peo-
pie in Chicago, the ten thousand who
are receiving aims in St. Louis and
the many thousand who have applied
to the general public for relief in the
Gulf States. There is something
wrong when the unemployed in San
Francisco haul wagons through the
streets publicly soliciting food and
raiment for those who are at the time
suffering the pangs of hunger, or are
slowly perishing from cold and expos
ure.
In searching for a primary cause of
all this misery, one of the most prob
able yet advanced has been the ad-
mitted absorption of the many smaller
industries which had hitherto given
employment to labor, by gigantic
trusts. The aggregation of capital
has enabled this control, by use of
labor-saving machinery and other de.
vices, to so enormously increase the
product as to glut the market and re-
duce its price. Then the factories
have been closed and labor been
thrown into competition with that of
other industries, and this has culmi.
mated in a grand prostration until
labor has about lost all value as a
marketable resource. The smaller
producers have been literally squeezed
out of existence by the superior oppor-
tunities for economic production that
capital commands.
This condition has been intensified
by the money famine, precipitated by
the demonstration of silver. 1t gave
the trusts absolute command of the
golden lever that operated the motive
power of the car of progress. and they
could move on, pause or, reverse the
wheels, as best suited their their selfish
interests. 1t is but one of the effects
SO graphically predicted as a culmi-
mating result in the late national CAM
paign. 1t is part of the same paraly-
sis that has made property Of all kinds
valueless, except it can be eaten, drank
or worn.
When any given act is followed by a
specific result, and when repeated is
attended by precisely the Same conse-
quences, and this immutability seems
to be attended by an unvarying fatal
ity, it is time to accept the logic of
events as palpable demonstration
and provide relief by changing the
conditions which bring continued mis-
fortune. The people have it in their
power to do so, if they but exercise
their right of citizenship free from CO.
ercion and in accord with reason.
Will they do it, or will the screws be
given another turn? 1t appears that
the matter is rapidly approaching a
crisis, and that more liberal policy
will have to be accorded by those who
have usurped control of wealth and its
vast possibilities, or revolution will
follow. Men will not starve patiently
nor allow their families to suffer from
.privation or want, without a struggle
for relief. Though liberty and happi-
ness be denied them, they will fight
for life as the first law of nature.
Let us hope that avarice and greed will
awaken in time to avert the calamity
which desperation may precipitate.
A. calm and dispassionate review Of
the horrors by which the civilized