The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1904-04-12
GIVE THE POOR MAN A CHANCE
TO LIVE SAYS BOOTH TUCKER

Commander Booth Tucker Of the saliva
ton Army. when seen BY Times man at
the Tacoma hotel last evening stated that
the sole object Of his trip was to create
and crystalize into action sentiment in
favor Of the colonization bill now pending
before congress. The bill was introduced
by Senator Hoar and is now in the hands
OF the secretary of the interior, to whom
il has been referred Commander Booth
Tucker thoroughly impresses one with his
sincerity Of purpose in his great work to
uplft mankind During the course Of
the conversation he said;
"Our politicians make q great mistake
when they think that because man has
no capital there must be something wrong
with him The very best people we have
are the poor family mon They are the
backbone Of our civic organization. Under
the present system everything operates to
make il difficult for this man to live. Ii
should be otherwise 1t should be the OBJ
ject Of our government to help all of its
people but first OF al we must help the
family man. We must give him an oppor-
tunity TO live aud bring up his children az
they should be brought up
II have been to New Zealand and have
made study of the manner in which
they handle this man there, aud | have
found ii an admirable way. and | have
drafted bin for the establishment Of the
same method here. They do not allow
poor man who cannot get work 70 stay In
the city. They take him to the country
and put him to work on the road Instead
Of sending the tramps to prison as we do
they put them to work out in the open air
and pay them for H. If the standard
wage OF the country is SO dollars per day
they pay him 81 and credit him with 81
Coon he has a little money ahead. when
they give him a piece OF land and the
necessary provisions and articles to work
that land and take his note for it. charg-
ing him 9 per cent interest. This interest
pays of the principal and all in 30 years.
The New Zealand government has put
thousands of families on farms with com
Portable homes within the past 10 years
and has not lost single cent On the
contrary, II has gained over $500 900 in
that time over the interest il has TO paw
on the money loaned to these farmers
I'VE should take this poor man who
has no capital and give him start. It is
the bnsiness of the government to do so.
You would have ten times as many people
in this state if you could take the poor
man who has no money and give him a
show. Instead Of throwing him into pris-
on. put him to work and pay him for it
and keep before his eyes the fact that he
can have home. If he is single man
he can marry and settle down and be a
blessing to mankind.
I'VE must give this man show. Give
Ia. - l = n L. -
capital should do this colonization bust
ness, bnts-the capitalists want too much
for their money In New Zealand private
capital has come to see that the PROPOSE
ton made by the government is a good
one, aud in many instances people with
money to invest have made even better
rates than the government This is not
a socialistie measure IT is a measure tc
help the poor man to get a start Once
he gets a home of his own he is all right.
"Iou know we have been running col
onization schemes for some time and they
have proved successful in every way.
I'VE have been going at this business
OF crime and poverty in the wrong way.
We We're only looking at the surface Of
the matter. A doctor might as well nut
q plaster on the face Of a man who has
the smallpox, attempting to cure him by
that method as for us to try to alleviate
poverty and do away with crime by the
methods we have been using Taking men
out OF the cities, away from bad inhu-
ences, and giving them a chance to live. is
gong to do more toward reducing poverty
and crime than any other method"
Those who heard Commander Booth.
fuckers lecture at the Tacoma theater
last night know that the work of the
Salvation Army is not limited to holding
religious meetings on the streets every
night. For two hours last night the com
mander talked TO an audience that filed
The theater, and told of the various
branches of Salvation Army work. about
which many people know very little
Throughout the evening the lecture was
interspersed with scenes of army life and
work in the slums, Like panorama, pie