The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1902-04-16
WORST OF BEING POOR.
IT IS THE FEAR OF WANT WHICH
TROUBLES MOST.

Two or three Sundays ago, DR.. Felix
Adler gave a lecture dealing largely
with the evils of poverty. He men
toned several OF them, and among
the rest he dwelt upon that anxiety
for the future which never leaves the
poor man except when he Is dreaming
or when he is drinking. We put in
terms OF our own the fact OF that fear
of want which Is far the worst Of be-
ing poor though we do not know
whether DR.. Adler declared IL so or
not.
None of us are quite free OF the
black care whose name has come down
to us from the classic ages, but which
was probably much earlier in the
world. Rich or poor, old or young, man
or woman, atra cura keeps us com.
rany from the beginning to the end
Of the journey. Sc is not always so
very black; at times she blanches
to something IKE Whitley brown;
and there are times when she is so
useful In reminding us of the claims
and rights of others that she whitens
to the candor of a celestial angel. But
ordinarily she Is of the sad complex
ion attributed to her by the ancients,
and she can wear no other to the poor,
who, when not in want, are in the fear
of it. Except the very richest, indeed,
We are all in the fear of want. and
the prosperous man can easily bring
the image of adversely before him by
thinking of some less prosperous man
who has. say. been getting sS or $40
week, and has been what they call
laid of, or has. as they say, lost his
JOB. IL II Is prosperous woman who
is willing to do this thinking, she can
imagine fellow woman who has been
earning 81 or $5 week, and Is laid
up. rather than off, by sickness, with
four or Ave children hungering and
shivering round her bed.
II 1t comes to asking us whether
exercise of the imagination, we own
ourselves unable to give an explicit
answer We can only say that the
possibility is of sort so very akin
to probability with the poor that they
have always to take 1t into account.
1t Is the fear of want which is the
worst of povety, and want itself, when
1t comes, Is something like a relief.
Then charity steps in. first in the
guise of the poor neighbors who are
always in the same shadow themselves
and later in the authorized shapes
which like time to ascertain merit
in the case of destitution, and which
are not to blame for not knowing
what the poor neighbors know. Want
can be very easily confronted and over
come. The community has amply the
wealth and the will for that. 1t is the
fear Of want, the lurking fear, the
hidden fear, which cannot always be
met, and which remains through all
the struggle Of life, to harass and
hamper the victim.
Yet 1t is somehow this very fear of
want which has juggled itself into the
place of several virtues in the minds
OF the old-fashfoned economists, and
got itself recognized as one of the
highest incentives to industry. II is
considered almost sacred, and worthy
OF at least as much veneration as CAPT
tai punishment. To many 1t still
seems the corner stone of civilization
the foundation Of liberty itself. We
have been so anxious to keep 1t that
when few years ago there was talk
of abolishing poverty, casuists and
economists rose together to Illustrate
the scheme. as II some attack upon
the fear of want had been threatened
Yet 1t might be shown that the fear
of want Is not essential to the devel-
opment of the individual or the growth
Of the community. 1t might be not i'm
possible to prove 1t the prime blunder
of human progress, the stumbling
block which humanity Is always
reaching and always falling back from
into real adversely. 1t lies at the very
heart of prosperity. it is the cloud
that darkens the good times, it Is
the year of famine which is always
advancing to devour the year of plen-
ty. AS long as the poor suffer from
this worst evil of poverty the state is
sick with disorder which sooner or
later must declare itself. 1t is idle
to pretend otherwise; one feels 1t ba-
nal to affirm fact so plain.
How, then, shall we try to cure the
poor of it? We should all, except the
old-fashioned economists. be glad to do
that. to have 1t away. once and for
ever; but when it comes to the ques-
tion how, we begin to distinguish; we
wish. in the first place. to have it
clearly understood that it is not to be
done at our cost in conveniences or
luxuries, or in any of those social
forms which we find so comfortable,
| so fattering. Most of the specifics
which have been suggested involve
something OF the kind, and we have
therefore had no patience with them
we have denounced them as failures
without trying them. We are still
seeking science which shall secure
our superfuities to us while adding to
the scant necessities, always threaten,
Il