The independent., 1903-04-30
A LIVING MlGE
Rev. Herbert 8. Bigelow Believes 1t Must
More Than Keep His Body Alive

More Than Keep His Body Alive
Cincinnati, O., April 26.-At the
Vine Street Congregational church,
the pastor, Herbert S. Bigelow, dis
cussed the question, What is living
wage? He said in part:
"a living wage must be sufficient
to keep man alive. AS a man is
more than animal, a living wage must
do more than keep his body alive
Man is a rational being and living
wage must give him chance for in
tellectual development. But nature
has decreed, and so has President
Roosevelt, that man shall marry
and raise family of children, the
more the better, according to the
president. So, then, living wage must
be sufficient to keep an entire family
in material comfort, and provide the
children with reasonable education.
What is reasonable education? AS
this is not Utopia we shall not insist
that the workingmans wages ought
to be sufficient to enable him to send
his children to college. We shall raise
no dispute with those who think the
privilege of higher education may
justly be confined to the few, as at
present. But we have a school sys-
tenn maintained by the peoples mon
ey. Its aim is to put good common
school education within reach of every
boy and girl in the republic. There
fore, living wage ought to make it
possible for every honest, sober and
Industrious workingman to enable his
children to take full advantage of the
opportunities offered by the public
schools. He ought not to be COM
PEELED to rely upon the labor of his
wife or children, but his earnings
alone ought to be sufficient to send
his children through the schools of
the republic, and to maintain his
family in comfort and selfs4espect.
"But this is not all. Besides edu-
eating his family, a living wage ought
to be sufficient to enable a man, out
of his savings, to buy home of his
own. Is it not a laudable ambition
for the WorlSingman, that he should
one day dwell under his own vine
and fig tree? A home gives man a
stake in the government. 1t makes
him a better citizen. Even if it were
IOt tuc IISuI VI tuC Wol hCi, oGlll 1t
would be the interest of the nation,
that his wage should put home
within his reach. Less than 10 per
cent of the people of New York own
their own homes. The 10 per cent
who own the homes of the 80 p. c. own
80 per cent of all the rest of the
wealth. 1t is notorious that those 10
per cent who own 80 per cent of the
homes and other property, escape the
most of their tax burdens. The bulk
of the taxes fail upon the 80 per cent
They contribute to the federal gov
ernment in increased prices of ev-
erything they eat and wear The
taxes upon the homes they rent are
paid out of their earnings.
'"Now within the last few years the
annual cost of our navy has increase
over fifty millions. The army and
navy together cost S106 100000 more
year than they did in 1892. The ma
tional government will spend next
year $170,000,000 on its army and fleet.
This burden is borne chiefly by the
80 per cent of the people who own but
20 per cent OF the wealth of the ma
tion. The 80 per cent are taxed to
defend the property of the other 10
per cent. The social fabric which
rests upon such condition is like a
house built upon the sand. 1t does
not take the wisdom of one of your
practical statesmen to fancy state
of affairs which would lead to greater
security with less cost. If 80 per cent
of the people owned their own homes,
we could abolish our army and navy,
use this one hundred and seventy
millions for education, and be infinite
ly more formidable to foes from with
out or within, than we are now. A
living wage should contribute to the
permanence of socity as we'll as to
the life of the worker. We say there
fore that it is for the good of the re-
public as we'll as for the individual
worker that his wage should enable
him to own home of his own.
Nor is this all. After educating
his family and paying for home,
man ought to be able to lay by enough
to make him reasonably independent
in time of sickness or old age. That
was the idea of the prophet. His
dream was not merely that a man
should dwell under his own vine and