The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-09-05
AN EP1GRAM DEMOLISHED.

Among those who discuss political
and economic problems from the stand
point of prejudice and by pleas to pas
sion, no dictum is more forceful than
that which declares that the rich are
growing richer and the poor are grow
ing poorer The generalization has
about it an epigrammatic terseness
which strikes the willing fancy, and
to casual observation it seems a truth
of social conditions. In a paper which
will attract attention, Carroll D.
Wright, in the Atlantic leaves the cpl
gram in shreds after an analysis of it's
terms. Without clouding his meaning
in technical terms, the chief of the fed
eral bureau of statistics declares the
doctrine a false one; false in it's prem
Uses and misleading in it's influence"
1t is. he adds, "half truth, and yet in
the whole untrue"
To attempt a summary of the entire
paper in a brief space is an inviting.
but impracticable task; only it's essen
tial conclusions can be set forth. and
those only with the hard figures upon
soning used in their development It
is true, Mr. Wright asserts, and the
statement is not in the form of an ad-
mission, that the rich are growing
richer, and that more people are, with
the progress of time, possessed Of in
dependent means; but it is not true
that the poor are growing poorer, from
any standpoint which may be chosen
to view the subject. The poor, like
the rich, are growing richer; the diff
ference being relative. The roor true,
are not comparatively speaking, grow
ing rich as rapidly as are those already
possessed of enough or an abundance
The gap between the very rich and the
very poor is wider than it was a gen.
Grafton ago; but the weIl-to-do and the
poor, in the meantime, have made
marked advance. If there is cause for
social complaint in the rapid increase
of wealth which the world has seen in
the last half century, it is not because
any class has suffered, but because the
distribution seems unequal This in
itself may, and doubtless does, seem to
many legitimate cause for dssatisfac-
ton. but it must sink to the level of
petty criticism when compared with
the popular understanding that the
poor, SO far from keeping a relative po-
sition, are actually retrogra ding.
Mr. Wright's assertions are based
upon official figures which are unpreju-
diced and unquestionable as authority.
They bear out his conclusions in ev-
cry detail. From 1910 to 1890 the av-
erage rate of wages steadily grew. The
aggregate number of wage earners, in
proportion to the total Of population,
shows a marked percentage of increase
for those engaged in skilled trades, the
professions and in commercial employ,
nlent Only in unskilled labor is the
percentage one of loss. To emphasize
the Importance of these figures it is
only necessary to state that in the
those who support themselves-incr
ed more than per cent. In fifty years,
then, the number of those engaged in
productive labor increased faster than
did the rate of population. The relative
aggregate of those in skilled employ
ments outstripped the increase among
bread earners in general Only among
those where decrease was to be desired
was there a falling off, In the same
time hours of labor were shortened and