Waterbury Democrat., 1901-06-14
RANDOM SHOTS.

Andrew Carnegie left his magnificent state room in the first cabin to go down into the "steerage' where the em- igrants and the poor travel and while there he was approached by an anarch- 1st, Samuel Ming, man who formerly worked in the Carnegie steel mills at Pittsburg. The anarchist wanted to talk with Carnegie about social ques- tions and so he approached him and asked the favor of an interview. MT anarchist up to his state room and gave him a seat.
 Then the anarchist told Carnegie in very plain words what he thought of rich men and of their much advertised acts of charity. MT Carnegie had re- gently given five million dollars for pensions to aged and helpless miners and for libraries to which they will have access. But the anarchist re- garded individual wealth by which the means of such donations were made possible as the result of low wages, and argued that if MT Carnegie's com pany had paid fair wages there would have been no such accumulations and no need of such charities. He said:
 'Mr Carnegie, do you think it just for man to have surplus wealth? Can you deny that this wealth is not yours, but the wealth of the miners whom you desire to help through your charity and who have produced it? Do you know that the surplus wealth is but the unpaid wages of the men who have contributed so greatly to your success? Do you know that the inter- est on that '$4,000,000, which amounts to $200,000, out of which the miners are to receive their pensions, is but the product of the same laborers or laborers at large? You give money for the erection of libraries in Homestead, Braddock and Duquesne Do you know that the majority of the miners and their children are unable to read and write because they never have had the opportunity that you and men of your caliber have had?
 tDo you not know that these miners have not the time to go to the libraries and read, because they are below in the mines from 5 a. n. to 4 p. m. and on their only day of rest, Sunday, they are too tired to drag themselves down to the library? Why are you now willing to give so much to the miners. when you were so unwilling to yield them their meager demands, which were but little part of what was just? Your charity-bah! It is but a mockery!''
 MT Carnegie was deeply affected and shed tears while this bold anarchist was talking thus, but he did not reply. He seems to have accepted the burning criticism as all such criticisms should be accepted, that is in silence, to be thought of later and to be used for all the good there is in 1t.
 It would be interesting to know what proportion of the American people ap- prove the doctrine of this anarchist and what the proportion think it right for men to accumulate great wealth and thus to acquire the means of founding libraries, colleges, hospitals and other charitable institutions.
 MT Carnegie is one of the richest men in the world yet he has said that it is t'af disgrace to die rich."Y He IS therefore giving away his wealth at the rate of a million a month, his last gift, since this interview with the anarchist, being i've million dollars for founding free scholarships for men and women in all the Scotch universities.
 confess have been thinking good deal on this subject in order to decide which was in the right, Carnegie or the anarchist. My conclusion is that neither is entirely right and neither en- tirely wrong, The anarchist repre- sents the ideal condition of life, Car 4hx IL. 1n {, ,i,& resents things as they ought to be, Carnegie things as they actually are. All men ought to be brethren. The workingman ought to be regarded as in a certain sense partner in the house that employs him. He helps to pro duce the wealth and ought to share it above the mere means of keping soul and body together. Wages ought not to be such that any man could accumu- late hundred million dollars by manu- featuring during one short life.
 And then there are many things that ought to be on the side of the working man. He ought to be intelligent, econ omical and industrious. He ought not only to receive good wages, but he ought to use his wages wisely. Every company and employer ought to pay the best wages that the business will justify and the worker ought to save his earnings so carefully that he would not have to look to the bounties of the rich for support In old age.
 This Is the ideal condition and towards 1t human society seems to be slowly tending The number of em. ployers who deal generously with their men is certainly increasing, and the proportion of workingmen who save up and own their own dwellings and are comfortable in their old age is also increasing, and when these conditions reach their full maturity there will be no millionaires and no pnupers, but that time is yet far off, and in the meantime other conditions prevail.
 1t would be difficult for single man, like MT Carnegie, to resolve not to ac- quire wealth but to pay out all his sur plus earnings in higher wages, for he does not do business alone. He has many partners and they are all seeking wealth They would not consent to pay wages above market rates on the ground of justice.
 MT Carnegie is in the world and is bound, in many ways, to the methods