The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1898-06-14
POVERTY AND SOME OF IT'S
CAUSES.

Echanic Arts, June I, 1893, by Mr. ~. 3.
Stansel, of Robson County.
DR.. Strong says: "The failure Of al
ancient civilization Was due to an un-
equal growth. The material outgrew
the mental and the moral. The conse-
quence was destruction. We as q ma
tion are facing similar conditions and
similar conse quences to day. Our ma
terial growth ia far outstripping the
mental and the moral"
To this assertion of DIR. Strong may
be added the fact that the material is
struggling to establish a new realm in
life with laws which recognize few
principles save those of the lusts of
mankind. Wealth is becoming des
potic and poverty atj'ct. Paradoxical
as it sounds, Americas rapid material
growth has been accompanied by an
equally great growth in poverty, and
our mental and moral growth has not
only failed to keep pace. but has al
most failed to recognize that we have
been building q preponderating ma
terial civilization at tremendous cost.
AS a part of the nation has prospered
and banked high it's heaps of gold, the
poor have remained poor. As our
civilization has progressed until our
wealthy nation is the envy of despair
ing nations, as refinements, comforts
and luxuries have entered multitudes
of homes, forms of povertypecuIiarly
our own have domiciled themselves in
innumerable other homes.
The rich refused to join hands with
the poor, * Progress linked arms with
Poverty and all along the way of life
each has intensified the other. So we
have many individuals, companies.
syndicates and trusts with their mil
lions making an imposing national
army of wealth on the one hand; on
the other, millions whose beds are are
straw and whose meat is sorrow.
Is it not almost heart crushing to
think that In county, that boasts q
greater aggregate wealth than that of
any other nation. we have with US as
our brothers between 10 and LIZ mil.
lions Of people who when the day is
done have already eaten the bread that
must be produced by the toll of to-
morrow3 Take q palace car in New
York for San Francisco and glide in
supine ease for FIVE days and nights
over the most magnificent empire that
flag floats over and remember that
every sixth home you pass is q home
Of pitiless, grinding, despairing pow
erty, and you have some conception of.
this problem Of poverty which no
thinker can escape. The panorama Of
life about as brings the gilded dome
and 'huts where poor men lie" in sharp
contrast and intertwined with the
changing scenes of daily life we see
what Burns said when he wrote:
"Man's inhumsnity to nan
Makes countless thousands mourn"
What is poverty9 It is not pauper-
ism. Pauperism leaves the rank and
file Of life and is carried along by the
generous impulses of altruistic human
ity. Poverty struggles alone. It is
the lack Of or the being without the
things which others in q better condi-
ton financially are able to secure. And
it is thus a relative term and, SO long
as society is made up of relative beings
with such a wide difference Of intel
lects and aptitudes, neither poverty
nor pauperism can ever be abolished.
Both mental and physical liabilities
debar many from ever being freed
from poverty's life. But the rigidity
and extremes Of the poverty side Of
the expression may be lessened and
brought more in accord with the
boosted sentiments of ours as a gran
deur loving people.
How to lessen poverty isthe greatest
economic question before all nations,
and the most painstaking attempts at
it's solution is a solemn dutyaWhich can
not be ignored. Generally the first
towards q remedy can only be found
after the cause of the desire is known.
We cannot accept the almost world
wide belief that poverty is q part of the
Divine plan Of humanity. And il it is
not this, it must be the product of an
artificial state Of society or Of some
other remediable agency. Broadly
speaking, we may group the charac-
t~eristic faults tending toward pover9y
under four heads, namely:
LIST. The IndividuRlist.
I'd. Waste.
Sd. Unequal Distribution.
4th. DISCRIMINATION Of the Masses.
THE NDTvIDUALIsT.