The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1902-12-21

policy upon which many selfish church
and many a business establishment is
run. The policy which is almost every
where In vogue is that against which Sol
ONION is giving the warning OF my text.
1t is to say as few pleasant things as
possible, to pay as little as we can 10
those who are In our employ and then
to spend the rest Of our time in boastng
how much we have been able to get for
little or for practically nothing.
Depressing depreciation Is annually
driving thousands and hundreds Of
thousands Of poor men, women and
children into a life of crime and into a
quickstep march to a premature grave.
The public Is guilty of completely in the
evil. It not only encourages the en-
ployer in his inadequate remuneration Of
his employees, but it incites it. Every
where the universal cry Is. Give us
something cheap. cheap cheap, cheap!"
and the heads of the large factories and
stores are daily trying to meet this de-
mand and to meet 1t the salaries of the
employees must be cut down By the laws
of social economies some people must
be, lguratively showed to the wall. 1t Is
not the head OF the great dry goods en-
porium who, as a rule, has to suffer oh,
no. He will get his percentage of profit
no mater what comes. But 1t is the me-
chanic at the bench. 1t is the poor female
clerk who receives a salary less than she
can live on. It is the poor sewing girl
who has to work all day and far into
the hours of the night. 1t is not, as a
rule, the capitalist who has to be crush
ed and squeezed by the great crowds
which swarm around the bargain coun-
tersA on Monday morning. 1t Is the
small wage-earner whose heart and life
are being trampled under the rect of the
and VIII nra "a
stores to find goods which they can pur-
chase at little above, or even less than,
cost. It is the poor girl and the young
man who on account of the awful strug-
gle for a livelihood, which is daily be-
coming harder, are throwing themselves
into the outstretched arms of temptation,
and who are becoming more and moro
reconclled to lift their thin, pale lips
for tho polluted, poisonous, cancerous
kiss of sin.
Causes Many Funeral.
The grinding and Satanic e--ects of sin
full depreciation in the business world
are the cause of many tragedy. Look
at that funeral! Who was that poor
creature whose body was being taken to
q potter's field? Yes, tumble her into a
pine box and shovel her under the
ground! Who cares? She is nothing but
a poor working glrl--yes, nothing but a
poor working girl-yet her life was just
as dear to her as yours IS to you. She
had an invalid mother and little baby
brother. At night, when she would come
home from the store. she would some
times bring a few faded flowers and put
them in an old broken pitcher and say:
Come, mother; let's play we were out
In the country. How 1 wish we could see
the old farm, where papa used to take us
before he died! Tired? Oh, yes E-tle.
The store is so hot, and the customers,
especially about Christmas, find so much
fault with us, as though we were not
human But, then, think of you and the
baby, and the seedlings of the floor
walker do net cut so deep. You know 1
must be up early in the morning TO be
down to the store on time"
Day after day she got weaker, and
weaker. The hours were too long The
boxes were too heavy to lift. All, she was
earning bread. She was earning it with
her life's blood After awhile two little
red spots appeared in her thin, pale
checks. Her eyes had an unnatural brill
liancy. Half the night she would toss,
unable to sleep. The hacking cough
never seemed to relieve the awful pain
in the aching chest One day No ST.
tainted. When she was being carried to
the cloakroom, and old lady customer
stopped and looked and wiped her eyes
and said: Poor little thing! l wonder If
my little grandchild will ever have to
work like that" Two of her companions
took her home. After that she could net
do much. Still, a happy smile would al
ways welcome the girls who would stop
at night after they had left the store
and bring her an orange or an apple,
bought out Of their scanty earnings.
That is all. She's dead now. Tumble her
into her pine box. Shovel her under the
ground. She is nothing but poor work.
ing girl. What is the matter? Oh. moth
ing, except that this continual deprccia-