The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1898-03-22
"cAusEs OF POVERTY

A Correspondent Take, Exceptions to
Francis a. Walkers Opinions.
To the Editor OF the 1ntell!gencer.
sIR:-whlle your excellent paper is
not a medium for controversy, feel as
sured that YOU win publish q comment
on anything which may have appeared
in Its columns that may be detrlmental
to the reader. In your Issue OF March
10th is an article, taken from the Gem
tury, by Francis "A. Walker. Tie sub
ject Is Causes OF Poverty" II Is pity
that such pessimistic views OF the re.
lation OF '.hesh and blood" to bread.
with n Misrepresentation OF God g prov
idencc should SO forth TO do Its work
upon the minds and hearts OF men with
out anything 10; counterfeit Its influence.
He says: When It Is written that God
cursed the ground and bade 1t be I'M
FRUITFUL ETC., that s"the5 scripture does
not exceed the truth of the Euncensing
and even painful struggles for exist
ence." God did not bid the ground be
untrulteulr 10 any one but Cain, because
he had split the blood of his brother
upon It. True, with a dripping brow
man, who before the fall had lived on
fruit, (yet without the labor of dressing
It and keeping it), was chiefly TO supsist
on grain and vegetables. yet after the
flood he has the gracious promise thar
while the earth remains the seed time
and harvest shall not cease" Not even
I to the murderer should the ground be
unfruitful, but his blood was TO be shed
for his crime It Is not the condition of;
the earth that makes this "a hard, cold
and cruel world, - 1t Is partly the greed
Of MANTLE strong in body and intellect
preying upon the weak, who are gen.
orally made. so by disobedienceA to the
laws OF nature. This with gluttony,
drunkenness and 1asciviousness lie at
the root OF thet"toil and anguish" which
have to be endured by the poor. The
scriptures, from which Mr.. Walker
quotes. say: "The drunkard and glut-
ton shall come to poverty" and that
.,many strong men have been slain" by
lasciviousness, and of such one 1t Is
said "a dart shall strike through his
liver"
The full breasts of Mother Earth az
ford ample nourishment for all man
kind but the righteousness OF the
gambler the dealer In strong drink, the
dissolute woman, and the ayarice OF the
Spectator, all rob their brother man OF
the rlecessaries OF life. is either the
improvident. or the oppressed who with
tAleman, the Greek, call spring the
season OF short fare" And 1T Is no
wonder that the Irish peasant has spo-
ken OF the time which precedes the
harvest as "the starving season." for
the Lords OF the land scarcely leave
them enough OF the fruits Of their toll
TO sustain life from one harvest 20 an
other. Mr.. Walker exhorts those who
complain OF poverty" to make their
complaint manfully and sQuarely
against the Maker OF the earth" and
declares that poverty Is largelr! His
work. Man will find 1t an unequal
warfare IL he contends with the Al
mighty, for the scriptures say, Shall he
that contendeth. with the Almighty In
struct Him? He that reproveth God,
let him answer It" "He maketh his
sun to rise on the evil and on the good.
and sendeth rain on the Just and on the
unjust. !" Trust In the Lord and do
good, and thou shalt dwell in the land
and verify thou shalt be fed" II so
ciety has done vastly more to relieve
misery than to create II" as the writer
concludes, why IS 1t tina T. the world Is
ruled by wicked w-makers, placed In
power by the masses, while a godly NIL
nority, are struggling to counterfeit the
evil influence Of their legislation? Why
are the insane asylums, prisons. and
slums OF the cities filled faster than the
Society" Of which the writer speaks,
can rescue them? Nay. verify, Sin
dIeth at the door OF most of the poverty
of the nineteenth century.
NJ. NJ. LOVE.
Grafton; VIVA, March 10. Il