The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1904-12-01
DIRE wAMT IN NATION.
Robert Huutcr says Country Has TO-
OOO.OOO pnupcrs.


Robert Hunter. who became promi-
neni In charity work in Chicago aud re-
c,ntly married the daughter OF Anson
Phelps Stokes Of New York. an hciress
90 millions. has written n book scoring
American m~illionairrs and ~denouncing
the economic conditions IL the United
States. The book i entitled Poverty
and In IL MIR. Hunter asserts that 10000
900 persons Ia this country ARE Ia want.
He calls I.0OO.OOO paupcrs and the re-
inaindcr wage-carners. The pnuper de-
ponds on public or private charity for
his sustcimncc. The others work. some
Of them night and day. and yet are I'M
able 10 obtain those neccssarics which
viii permit them to maintain n state of
physical efficiency.
That 1O.OpO.OOO IL the people az the
United States are In poverty. either as
paupers or as laborcrs pinchcd by the
iron wise of necessity. Mr.. Hunter calls
to witness an array ~ statistics.
The number az evictions In n com
munity.' he continues. ''is a fairly good
measure of the minimum distress. In the
year 1903. JO.IG3 families In the borough
of Manhattan were cvicted from their
homes. That Is about II per cent Of the
total number Of families In the borough.
AS another Indication the number Of
paupcr burials should he cited. Every
one familiar with the poor knows how
desperately they struggle To give a de-
cent burial TO their dead. Even the poor.
est people have friends. politicians or
others. who save them. II possible, from
this last Disgrace. And yet one out Of
every ten persons who die In New York
City Is buried In a potter's field. I should
say that the number Of paupcr funerals
dccs not represent half the actual dis
trcss OF the community"
Mr.. Hunter quotes reports from OIL
cial sources TO the effect that In 1897
and 1899 IL per cent OF the Inhabitants
OF New York State were In distress.
He declares this figure represents only
the poor who finally are helped by char
lily, and adds that he would not be sur
priscd IL the number Of those In distress
In the metropolis and in other large In
dustrial American centcrs rarely fell be-
low % per cent Of the people.
Mr.. Hunter finds In the fact thar
2.OoO.OcO waEc-carncrs in the United
States are out Of employment from four
to six months Of the year additional data
FOR his estimates.
He thinks that an annual income II
500 a year Is the average amount ON
which a family Of father. mother and
three children eau live aud keep above
the poverty" line.
1T h hardly 10 be- doubted" the so
eial agent continues. that the mass Of
pnskilled lnborcrs In the North receive
less than $500 n year. and that the same
class la the South receives less than
$500
Mr.. Hunter declares that the condi-
lions Of want are increased 10y the ar
rival every year Of 10000 male immi-
grants who seek work In the very dis
trict where employment il most scarce.
lie declares that 100000 little children
are forced "a. become wngc-earners IN this
country when they should be- in school.
aud that about 100000 women find IL
necessary Ia work. II whom 10000 u
are employed in factories aud mills.
Probably no less than 100000 work
rrS are killed and injured each year while
doing their work" he says, land about
lO,OOO.OOO persons now living, IL the
present ratio l. kept up. will die Of that
pTcVcntablc disease. tuberculosis"