The evening times., 1899-12-20

miners are even obliged to depend in ILL
ness upon company doctor" and as
for their votes, 1t is not necessary to en-
plain where these must go.
These men are pominally free, but In all
but the name they are slaves. In the
coal regions man with a family must
keep his job or starve. Under this system
it is impossible for him to save: he can ac-
cumulate no fund against time OF idle
ness; he can even be kept in the COM
pany's debt II he is unfortunate enough to
have much illness in his family. There is
absolutely no way in which he can make
himself Independent. He must live in
houses owned by his employers, pay as
much as they wish for his groceries, his
accept whatever goods are offered him.
There may be ways Of circumventing these
regulations-they are to him far more
binding than most of the laws laid down
by the State-but the miner is ignorant.
and as a rule not inventive. He knows
when he is cheated but he cannot always
help himself.
by anu Dy sOm6 audTCulSl COluto diou6
with plan for destroying the whole ex-
isting constitution of things and beginning
on a new foundation. The laborer thinks
slowly and impsrfectly, but with great
emotional force behind his thinking. He
arrives at the conclusion that he could ar
range matters SO that he and his fellows
would not be subject to this artificial en-
slavement. Possibly he Is an immigrant
who has been told that America is free
country, and has come here with an idea
that he and his children would be independ-
ent and have a share in the Government.
in the possibility OF democratic institu-
tions, and he knows that the Government
which fleeces him out of his hard-earned
money and forbids him to vote as he wishes
is not democratic at all. He gets his
ideas of America from the law administered
The result OF all this is burning discomfort.
and possibly violence in the near future.
The educated man may reason out some
explanation of the inconsistency OF things;
the peasant reasons to a certain point and
then his feeling overpowers his reason, and
ne fights. II is important. therefore, that
he be led to reason correctly Oppres-
sion is always dangerous, because it unites
against the opprsssor the fighting instinct
of the untaught man and his rudimentary
of right and justice Where the
middle -class citizen finds a
hundred reasons for not fighting the ig-
norant laborer. believing himself TO be
wronged stops reasoning and attacks his
Oppressor with club. In the end. the best
investment in any business is simple JUS
tice.
The company store'' is an illustration
that it is unsafe to entrust any man, or
party of men, with absolute power. In the
beginning. this institution was due to the
perception Of the fact that the company
could buy goods in large quantities and
sell them TO employees cheaper than out
siders could do il. Thus. competitors were
and driven out. Then, having |
things in their own hands, the agents con-
ceiyed the idea of making the miners pay
the same price they would have to pay |
and pocketed the little percentage |
which must go to any middlaman. Then /
they, took 10 selling inferior goods for |
sxorbitant prices. and. OF course. that re- |
suited in discomfort, and the miners had |
o be forbidden to buy of other merchants.
so Greed calls in Tyranny to protect the |
operations of Cunning This sequence OF
hings is as logical as the rule OF three; /
md it always ends in disaster