The independent., 1903-06-18

senator controlled. THE servant is
worthy of his hire" But this servant
works for the monopolies and is pail
by the people. The senator not only
advises the people to keep their hands
off, but does everything he can to see
that they keep their hands off.
:. Even in so trifiing matter as the
tax on his home it seems that the SEN
ator has been very generously dealt
with by the taxing machinery in Gu
yahoga county which, until recently,
has been so tractable. Any Cleveland
er will tell you that there cannot be
much difference between the value of
Senator Hanna's home and that OF
Mayor Johnson. Mayor Johnson's
house with an acre and a half Of
ground on Euclid ave. is appraised at
$73,320. The senator's home with ten
acres of ground on picturesque bluff
overlooking the lake is appraised at
S39,930. If you talk of equalizing the
burdens of taxation the senator says,
Hands OFF,
He not only says it, but he takes
the taxing machinery out of the hands
of the local authorities and puts it
in the hands Of the state auditor.
Driven out of his entertainments in
Cuyahoga county, he has taken refuge
behind bulwarks which the state leg
islature has erected for his protection.
The same political forces which have
wrested Cleveland and Cuyahoga from
his control must now dispute his right
to control the state legislature. Those
who believe in American institutions,
who believe in the power of truth and
the ultimate good faith of the people,
have no fear as to the final result Of
that contest
But when we consider, not Senator
Hanna's private affairs, but the condi-
tion of the people of the state and
the nation, what do we find? The
senator says he cannot imagine any
thing happier than the present state
of society. What is the condition of
society? Senator Hanna is one wit
ness, and not an impartial witness
surely. Let us summon another.
Here is the story of big Jennie"
She was an ifoner in laundry, She
had worked in the laundry for years.
come on her feet. The doctors thought
an operation necessary. The forewo
man in the laundry described to me
the affecting scene when Big Jennie
said goodbye to the girls. She had
been faithful worker, and was kind
hearted and loved by all. She had
preTcnition that she would not sur
vive the operation. AS she was wait
iEg for the elevator to go to the hos
pital. she turned to the group of COM
panions which had gathered about
her and said: ''Girls, you won't let
them bury me in the paupers field,
will you?"
1t was one of those successful op-
erations' in which the patient died.
There were girls in that laundry work
ing for as little as two dollars a week.
But they all contributed something to
buy Loffin and grave for their
friend.
When the great senator made that
speech in which he described the
present social order as the very eli
max Of our ambition he wore linen
which was laundered by girls who do
not receive enough for their work to
pay the cost of keeping one of his
horses.
You remember the fate of Dives.
Thus did the Nazarene excoriate that
type OF rich man who is unmindful of
the beggar at his gate When | read
the senator's shameful admission that
ne was satisfied with a government
where there is so much bitter poverty,
| thought of the rebuke of Alton
Locke
"You sit in a cloud and sing, like pic
tured angels,
And say the world runs smooth
while right below
Welters the black, fermenting heap of
griefs
Whereon your state is built"
We want statesmen with a loftier
ideal Of human society. We want
statesmen who will feel there is
flaw in their work so long as there is
poverty among us. We do not need
rich men to tell us that we have
reached the goal of progress and that
there is nothing more to be desired in
the way of social Improvement Of
more service are the agitators who
will cry to us as Charles Kingsley
cried to the workers of England