The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1905-01-21

Rev. Herbert S. Bigelow is to speak
in Duluth on the last day of February.
He is an interesting character, and is
we'll known by every student OF So
GEOLOGY. The following from his pen
may be of interest to our readers. 1t
draws a picture from a sunchine league
in large city, and he finishes it with
an appeal for justice, not charity.
"The National Sunshins Legion"
an organization by that name has
opened in Cincinnati day nursery
for the care of the children of de
serving poor mothers who are obliged
to 60 out to work.
The circular concludes with the
statement: "All we want is to help
the poor to help themselves.
If a man lays a burden upon his ass
greater than he can bear, and l take
part of the burden and carry it,
which am I helping, the man, or the
ass? If I make a business of giving
assistance to the ass so that the mas
ter counts on it and loads his beast ac-
cordingly, is it not plain that I am
only making an ass Of myself, and not
helping the heavy laden at all?
The Pullman company knows that
you are going to fee the porter. That
custom is one of the assets of the COM
pany. In view of that custom, the
wages are lower. When you give the
porter a tip, you may flatter yourself
that you are helping the porter. But
you are not. You are gratifying your
own vanity and chipping in on the
Pullman pay roll. That is the way
it works out in the long run. Charity
comes to the same end. If to day
charity were to stop, there would be
more misery tomorrow, but the day
after there would be revolution.
In the parish house of a neighboring
church I saw a crowd Of young peo-
pie, girls and boys from the shops
and factories. whom society ladies
were waiting upon and attending in
the most obliging manner. You would
have thought that the spirit of caste
were really passing away and the rich,
in that parish at least were anxious
to surrender their privileges and well
come the dawn of brotherhood.
But wait! On the walls Of this par
the Garden of the Gods The paint
ing was not unworthy of the subject.
AS stood looking at those supendous
snOW-clad peaks, it was explained to
me that the man who gave the picture
was the private owner of the Garden
Of the Gods, and that it was his BROTH
er's money which built the parish
house.
The Garden of the Gods the private
property of mortal man! For the
moment the idea staggered me. Then
another word explained it all. This
lord of the Garden Of the Gods was a
railroad man. Then remembered
that to these railroad men the United
States has made a present, all told, of
213,000,000 square acres of the public
domain. I recalled computation
had once made that this railroad grant
equals in extent the States of New
York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia,
Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Illinois.
! The pity of it is that the same law
which gives to one man the Garden Of
! the Gods dooms ten others, of econom-
ic necessity, to live in some DEVILS
! dive, sweated and despised. But the
rich themselves do not understand this,
and many Of them, wanting to do some
/ good and not knowing how, build par
ish houses and support the National
Sunshine Legion.
If you want to help the poor to help
| themselves, it is not Sunshine Legion
! that you need. 1t is Land League,
agitating to restore the earth, the
Garden Of God, to the sons of men.
! There is a Christmas charity nobler
even than building parish houses and
tending work-womens babies. Take
taxes off from industry. Redistribute
them according to the value of a mans
land. This will reduce the taxes of
the small farmer and home owner. It
will tear down the fences which pri-
vate monopoly has built around the
Garde:: of the Gods It will unlock
doors now closed to labor. 1t will open
countless opportunities to men. It
will give them a chance to earn their
own Christmas dinner and realize the
truth of that maxim: 1T is more
blessed to give than to receive
AVOID THE WINTRX BLASTS.
! by going to California. Your health is
| your real wealth. The sunshine and out
door life in California will do wonders
towards building up the tired mind
and body. Through tourist cars leave
Minneapolis and St. Paul via THE
NORTH LINE every
Thursday and Saturday. For further
information address d. A. Blakeney
| Agent, Duluth. MINI. -