The times., 1899-08-23
The Nam With the Hoe


The Man With the Hoe.
FOR various alleged reasons. but main
ly, perhaps, for the sake of opposition, diff
ferent persons are now abusing Edwin
Markham's poem. The Man With the
Hoe" There are some people who can
never be contented in an attitude of con-
sent. They must object to a thing, espe-
eia1ly great thing, if a shadow OF reason
can be found; and in poems, books, and
measures dealing with large subjects the
shadow can usually be discovered
objeetoT No is the loquacious Mrs
Ella Wheeler Wilcox. but this need not
cause Mr.. Markham any uneasiness. Many
sensible people have been heard to aver
that when Mrs. Wilcox condemned thing
ed. But Mrs Wileoxs argument is 50
good type of other arguments that it may
be worth recapitulating.
She declares. first, that God was la
borer, and therefore the laborer may take
his place with kings. Then she states the
undoubted fact that with love a toiler
may be far richer than the un,oved king
$Ano NhoI 10 Tic SulD anu SuU5ldIlEP Oh noT
reply" Compared with the poem which
inspired it, the reply does not amount to
very much.
God may have been the First Great
Workman, but that does not have any
thing to do with the statement that the
laborer of today and of several centuries
past is not getting much godIike joy OFT
of n
Mr.. Markham objected to in his now
world famous poem-far from it. It was
not the divine joy of the Creator that he
would destroy, nor could he destroy it if
he would. The artist at his easel, the poet
at his desk, the actor throwing lis whole
heart and soul into the expression of a
magnificent thought-yes, even the Swiss
wood carver patiently working out his de-
sign on the cover of a little box-may
work hard, and JOY in the working. 1t is
not that sort of work that kills The far
mer, planting carefully his few acres OF
grain and vegetables. tending his fo, ks,
caring for his fruits. often takes part in
that same great silent joy, the one heri-
tage OF the worker in all ages. But there
= AlIllicHS O1 OtnST MOThntu WHO uliS5
this gladness, because they are over
worked; whose brains are stunted AMI
whose muscles are overgrown; whose sole
conception of pleasure is earouse; whose
spark of intellect is buried beneath layer
upon layer of dulIness bred by months and
years of routine; whose work consists of
few muscular movements many times re-
peated, and whose time for recreation. for
JOY, for emotion, for living must be taken
from needed sleep. That is the stunted
toiler Millet painted That is the man
with the hoe.
Then there is the other argument-anl
it is a very feminine way of begging the
question-that the peasant, with love, Is
better than the unloved king. Yes, but
the peasant is not always loved, nor the
king loveless. There are rich men whose
homes are happy; there are countless poor
men who have 10 stumble through life
with hardly touch Of real human love,
given or received. What about the rich
man who, when his loved ones are i'll, can
give to them all the alleviations devised
by modern science? What about the poor
man who must see his wife or his babies
die because he cannot procure for them
fresh air to breathe, pure food to eat,
warm clothing TO wear? What about the
little ones who grow up stunted and weak
in the slums of the city, or ilIiterate and
unframed in a country town where there
is not a church or school?
The plain truth of the matter is this.
that it is very easy to find alleyiat.ons in
a lot which one has not tried. Ii Mrs Viii
cox really desires to experience the bless
ings of love which fall % the very poor,
let her wander penniless around the streets
OF New York and hunt for work-say in
a sweat shop. Let the phi,osophic editors
who are objecting to Markham's picture as
too dark go and work for year or two in
a coal mine. in a factory. or on big West
ern farm. The chances are that when,
after that experience, they sit down at
their desks they will not find that their
brains have been developed by the expert
ment. The labor of this world is not even
ly distributed, nor are its rewards justly
awarded as yet, and that is all that there
is about 1t.