The advocate., 1897-11-10
THR WIDE FTELp or REFORM.


tent Of reformation needed in society
and the nature Of appropriate remedies,
will be found in the fact that all reform
ers do not see the same defects, and such
as do see the same do not look at them
from the same standpoint, nor view
them in the same light; hence the rela-
tions which one subject or class Of sub
jects bears to others are not given the
same rank ore importance by all stu
dents.
AS illustrative of this thought persons
who witnessed a particular transaction,
when called upon to testify as witnesses
in court, do invariably differ in some Of
their statements of details. One witness
is positive on a particular point, yet
has no recollection of some other mat
ters that another witness is very clear
upon. On examination in chief wit
ness goes on easily telling what he saw
and heard, but on discrimination he
is soon made to feel that, after all,
good many things that were visible and
audible at the particular time and place
he did not see or hear, and so far as
this witness is concerned, the things he
did not see or hear were not present and
did not take place at all
So 1t is with jurors called upon to
hear and determine the truth of mat.
ter in issue; they excitedly discuss the
various points involved, each along his
own line of argument, and not until (as
if solving a problem in algebra) they
eliminate all things not necessarily fac
tors in the case do they arrive at con-
clusion.
The field of reform is wide, and the
number of reformers are many, 80
many, indeed, that they amount to an
innumerable host that no man can num-
ber each, whether separately or in con-
neCtion with Others in organized bodies,
moving in the direction of the light he
sees and acting on what to him seems to
be most important of all.
The man whose toll competes with
the work Of machines becomes labor
agitator He sees but one way of restor-
ing the even balance between employer
and employe, and that is through public
control that will secure to every worker
what he earns.
The man who has lost his home
through extortion of usurers and tax
gatherers makes common cause with
him that pays ten times as much tax on
his lot or farm does the owner of the
adjoining lot or farm, on which he has
not put one atom of improvement, and
these men become tax reformers.
The tiller of the soil and the manu-
facturer of farm and family supplies find
themselves paying for transportation
more than is reasonable, and they with
people who have lost by reason Of un-
just determinations on the part Of rail-
way and express companies, ask for re-
form in the matter of transportation.
Private credit being the basis Of
nearly all our substitutes for money,
and frequently recurring panics leaving
losses in their wake, the multitude cry
for reform in the monetary system.
Then there Is one who looks at all
these things and takes careful note Of
the relations which they bear to one an
other. He sees society is made up OF
people whose wants in general are the
same though their manner Of life be
very different. He sees the people di-
vided into classes-farmers, manufac-
turers, carriers, miners, merchants,
bankers, traders, etc.,-all being under
one form of government, each striving
a nlr.Ar.