Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1902-12-19


children into a nfe OF crime and into
quickstep march to premature
grave. The public is guilty OF compiled
y In the evil. IL not only encourages
the employer In bis inadequate remu-
neration OF his employees. but IL tncltes
il. Everywhere the universal cry IS.
Give us something cheap. CHEAP,
cheap. cheap" and the heads OF the
large factories and stores are daily try
ing 10 meet this demand. and TO meet II
the salaries OF employees must be cut
down. BY the laws OF social economics
some people must be. figuratively,
showed TO the wall. IL is not the head
or the great dry goods emporium who.
as rule. has TO suffer. Oh. no. He viii
get his percentage OF profit TO matter
what comes. But II ia the mechanic at
the bench, IL is the POOR female clerk
who receives salary less than she can
live on. It is the poor sewing girl who
has to work all night and far into the
hours of the night. 1t Is not, as rule,
the capitalist who has to be crushed
and squeezed by the great crowds
which swarm around the bargain
counters" on Monday morning Ii is
the small wage Garner whose heart and
life are being trampled under the feet
| of men ana women who are securing
the stores TO find goods which they can
| purchase ut little above or even less
than. cost 1t is the poor girl and the
young man who on account of the aw-
full struggle for livelihood, which is
daily becoming harder. are throwing
themselves into the outstretcbed arms
OF temptation. and who are becoming
more and more reconciled to lift their
thin. pale lips for the polluted. poison
Gus. cancerous kiss OF sin.
Causes Many a Funeral.
The grinding and Satanic effects OF
sinful depreciation In the business world
are the cause OF many tragedy. Look
at that funerali Who was that poor
creature whose body is being taken to
potter's field? Yes, tumble her into n
pine box and shovel her under the
ground! Who cRres7 She is nothing
but poor working girl-yes. nothing
but poor working girl-yet her life
was just as dear to her as yours is to
YOU. She had an invalid mother and a
little baby brother. At night. when she
would come home from the store, she
would sometimes bring few faded
flowers and put them In an old broken
pitcher and say: Come, mother; let's
play we were out I'm the country. How
wish we could see the old farm, where
papa used to take us before he diedi
Tired7 Oh, yes; little. 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, l think of you and the baby.
and the seedlings OF the fioorwallSer
do not cut SO deep. There, mother, kiss
me good night You know l 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 long. The
boxes were 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 cheeks. Her eyes had an unnat-
ural brilliancy. Half the night she
would toss and toss, unable to Sleep
The hacking cough never seemed TO re-
lieve the awful pain in the aching
chest. One day mo. 81" tainted. When
she was being carried to the cloakroom,
an old lady customer stopped and look
cd and wiped her eyes ami said: Poor
little thing! / wonder IL my little
grandchild will ever have to work like
that" Two of her companions took her
home. After that she could not do
much. Still, n happy smile would al
ways welcome the girls who would
stop at night after they left the store
and bring her an orange or an apple.
bought out OF their scanty earnings.
That Is oil. She's dead now. Tumble
her into her pine box. Shovel her under
the ground. She is nothing but n poor
working girl. What IS the matter? oh,
nothing. except that this continual de-
probation of the price OF goods has in
evitably driven some people to the wall.
and she is one of the first TO go. What
"a the matter2 Oh, nothing, except the
fact that thousands Of men and wom-
en-, some OF whom are members of the
church, are driving prices down and
down until at last n groan OF agony is
coming from the throats OF hundreds of
thousands of working girls whose NOR
al and physical life is being crushed
out or them. II an article is worth
$40, pay II or go without. IT is far bet
ter TO pay young men or women n liv.
Ing salary to support them before they
do wrong than TO establish rescue
homes TO save them after they have
gone astray.
The Hypocrisy OF Depreciation.
depreciation, when 1t is unjust. is hy-
pocrisy, and II IS in large measure
responsible for the depressed condi-
lions OF spiritual life in the church as
well as in the home and the store.
Some people seem 10 think that. the re-
hgion OF the Lord Jesus Christ has
nothing to do with the weekday. They
act as II they had n right to leave their
piety at home on n Monday morning.
as they would put on or of their Sun
day clothes. But want TO tel Won
that Christ's teachings are utterly at
variance with such hypocritical non
sense. IL man Is not n Christian dur.
ing the weekday, he Is not Christian
on sunday. If woman Is not n Chris,
tian In her dealings with her grocery
man and butcher, her baker and sery-
ant girl and on her shopping expedi-
tons, she is not a Christian when she
goes to church. A falsehood is Just as
big and black when uttered over q
store counter as when it Is told I'm
church. 1t is as heinous an offense as
was that lie told under the shadow of
the uplifted hand which the APOSTLE
Peter raised when he was preaching to
Ananias and Sapphira near the Jeru.
salem temple. And so, my brother. II
you want to consecrate your churches
to God, you must also consecrate your
stores and factories. your advertising
columns, your commercial buyers, your
clerks salaries and your draymen's
wages. When some one asked George
Wmteheld whether certain man was
Christian or no. the great evangelist
answered: How can / tell? / never
lived with him." So God will never de-
clare we are his children unIoeo VIC 20.