The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-03-19
JOYCE TALKS OF LABOR
METHODIST BISHOP ADDRESSES A
BIG MEETING AT STATE
CAPITOL
HOW TO HELP ToIL1NG MASSES
One of the Gravest Problems That
COnfrOnts the World Today
Position of the Church
Friendly.

Bishop I. W. Joyce. of Minneapolis,
quite won his way into the hearts of
very large audience of working men and
others assembled In the house OF repre-
sentatives yesterday afternoon through
his dissertation upon the labor problem
The subject Of his lecture, specifically,
was THE Cause of Our Troubles" He
opened by stating that there was a very
prevalent impression among people that
ministers knew but little of the COM
monplace in life, and that they were
somewhat removed from the strife and
struggle for existence. Furthermore,
many people believed that ministers were
not only ignorant of these things, but
took little interest The bishop proceeded
to dispense any such idea with the state
ment that the impression was entirely
erroneous. as all ministers were poor
men. He qualified this last statement,
however, by asserting that some had
married rich wives, but this was the
great exception, and In no way affected
the truth of his statement. The rank and
file Of the ministry. the bishop stated
were in touch with the people and with
the conditions which exist on every hand.
This was true, first, because of their pc
culiar position. and. secondly, because
of their general knowledge of things
Bishop Joyce continued by saying that
his subject was one OF very wide scope.
1t was one Of universal interest HUI
mainly was unit, so to speak. Babies
cried the same the world over Whether
they were English babies. German ba-
bies, Indians or Spanish. they all cried
the same. One heart beat, one pulsation
and one throb of pain and anguish reach
ed around the world.
The labor question was one of the most
general and widespread interest to the
American people and to the people Of
every land. 1.-THE population of the
earth this afternoon Is 10000 900 people,"
said the bishop, "and majority of these
people went to bed hungry last evening"
the night before and the night before
that. and for years and years. In China
where L recently spent two years. the
labor question Is as great as It is here
Methods are different, but this being a
human world the same general conditions
prevail The laborer receives from five
to eight cents per day. I paid four men
ten cents a day for carrying me 400 miles
In the interior of China, and when / paid
them twice what they asked they thought
they were getting rich. I have Travelled
hundreds of miles in China without seeing
a wheel. The people carry their rocks,
woods and building materials on their
shoulders and heads. Their homes con-
sist Of four mud walls, with openings
for ventilation, and their bed Is mat
Their grandfathers and great great great
grandfathers slept on these mats, and
the custom will be handed down to pos
terity unless something happens A
ha rha In Dfrxy in y ~.
gentleman. In China he is a condemned
man in the eyes of society. and for five
generations his descendants are not rec
ognized nor admitted to the privileges
of polite Chinese society. The personal
or private rights of individuals are not
respected. The poverty of the masses is
something appalling. I thought 1 knew
as clergyman in a large city, what pow
erty was, but until I visited an uncivil-
lied land L knew nothing of its worst
forms The poorest man I ever saw In
these United States was rich compared
with the pauper of Corea. The govern
ment cares nothing for this condition, ex-
Dept when starvation is killing off the
people by hundreds and thousands; then
the rice given by the emperor Is very
largely stolen by some greedy official
''The question that confronts us Is. Are
We any better? I think I can answer
for you all. First We are better off In
every respect We have better civiiza-
ton. better air and better houses. The
man of every craft knows when he has
finished his days labor he has home
to enter when the sun goes down. Yes,
We have better ideas. We respect the
rights of individuals We would go to
the ends of the earth to defend the rights
of an American citizen. l have talked
with many people In Corea and China
regarding this civilization of ours, and
they do not readily appreciate 1t, they
really do not comprehend it. We have
better incentives and better motives and
a high civilization. But, conceding all
this, does 1t mean that everything Is all
right in the United States? No, 1t is a