Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1897-11-17

NNAlth NAAO " IL not WORK. W men the
French nobleman was asked why he
kept busy when he had so large prop
erty he said, Il keep on engraving SO
l may not hang myself / do not
care who the man is. he can not
afford to bc idle. 1t is from the idle
classes that the criminal classes are
made up. Character. like water, gets
putrid IL il stands still too long. Who
can wonder that in this world. where
there il SO much to do. and all the
hosts of earth and Heaven and hell are
plunging into the conflict and
angels are flying and God is ut work,
aud the universe is a-quaSs with the
marching and counter marching. that
God lets His Indignation fail upon "A
man who chooses idlcncsS? l have
watched these do-nothingS who spenu
their time strolling their beard and re-
touching their toilet, criticising indus
trious people, and pass their days and
nights in barrooms and club.
houses, lounging and smoking and
chewing and card-playiug. They are
not only useless, but they are danger
GUS How hard is il for them 10 while
away the hours!
Alas. for them! II they do not know
how TO while away an hour,
what Will they do when they
have all eternity on their
hands? These men for awhile smoke
the best cigars, and wear the best broad
cloth, and move in the highest spheres;
but have noticed that very soon they
come down 10 the prison. the aims
house, or stop ut the gallows.
The police stations Of two OF our
cities furnish annually 200. 600 lodr
ings. For the most part these POO. OOe
I lodgings are furnished To ablc-bodied
men and women people a. able To
work rs YOU and are. When they are
received no longer at our police sta
/ tionS, because they are ''rcpcatcrs,"
they go To some other station. and 20
they keep moving around. They get
their food At house doors. stealing
what they can lay their hands on
in the front basement while the
servant is spreading the bread in the
back basement. They will not work.
| Time and again, in the country dis
trictS, they have wanted hundreds and
! thousands OF laborers. These men will
not 20. They do not want to work. |
have tried them. have set them to
saving wood in my cellar to sec whcth-
or they wanted To work offered 10
pay them well for il. | have heard the
saw going for about three minutes,
and then | went down, and 10. the
wood, but no saw.
! They arc the pest Of society. and they
stand ia the way OF the Lords poor,
| who ought TO bc helped, and will be
/ helped. While there are thousands Of
| industrious men who can not get any
/ work, these men who do not want any
! work come in and make that plea
| Sleeping at nigAt at public cNpcns, in
| the station house; during the day, get
| ting their food at Your doorstep Inn
! prisonmcnt does not scare them. They
would like IT, Blaclsycll's island or
! Moyamou,jng prison would be- COM
! Portable home for them. They would
/ have no Objection 10 the almhouse. for
/ they like thin soup, IL they can not pct
noel, turtle.
/ like Cor that class OF people the
scant bin of fare that Paul wrote out
| for the Ihossalouian loafcrs: "Ifanv
work not, neither should nc eat" Bv
| what law OF God or man is IL RIGHT that
! You and should toll day in and day
out, until our hands are blistcrcd and
/ 'uI arms acne ana our brain pctS
NUM-. and then bc called upon TO sup
| port What in the United States are
about 1000, 900 loafcrs? They are n
very dangerous class. Let the public
| authorities keep their eyes on them
Among the uprooting classes place
! the oppressed poor. Poverty TO a Ger
| tain extent is Christening; but after
that, when it drives a man to the wall.
and he hears his child cry in vain for
bread, it sometimes makes him dcspcr-
ate. think that there are thousands
Of honest men laccratcd into
| vagabondism. There arc men crushed
under burdens for which they are not
half paid While there is no excuse
for criminality, even in oppression. /
state il as a simple fact that much OF
the scoundrclism Of the community is
| consequent upon ill treatment There
are many men and women battered
and bruised and slung until the hour
OF despair has come. and they stand
with tho fcrocity of a wild beast which.
pursued until il can run no longer.
turns round. foaming and bleeding, TO
fight the hounds