Albuquerque evening citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1905-1907, 1905-11-30
FOR GIVING THANKS

England cannot feed herself. The cravings Of hun
ger grow more and more acute as shown by the poverty
parades that are becoming frequent in London streets.
In France these parades would merge into uprisings and
bread riots that would tax the military and the police.
But the British workingman is not built that way. He
suffers and murmurs not Or he sends his women
through the streets, making a dumb show of his de-
spair.
England is dependent upon her ships for food. Her
real state is shown by the parliamentary debates on the
state of the country. It is seriously proposed to store up
supplies in depots to prevent starvation in case of war.
A blockade of English ports of entry would bring on al
most instant famine. Meanwhile the Drawn and muscle
of the country is pathetically stunted by pinching pow
erty. The fact was painfully apparent during the Boer
war. Nine out Of ten applicants for enlistment were re-
fused, because they did not come up to the physical
standards standard, be it noted, that was purposely
lowered because of the necessity. The strong yeomanry,
once the Britons pride, is slouching into the slums.
What will England dot What can she do? What
ought she to do? She can and ought to give her people
access to the broad acres of useless land. These lands
are held for great public parks or used for vast game
preserves or for the private pleasures of rich nobility.
They ought to be opened to the pillow. In lnis country
the whole public domain belongs to the people and the
people go in to possess IL. In England, the people are
shut out, largely, from ownership or operation of the
land. Hundreds of thousands of acres that would support
tens of thousands of the worthy poor are given over to
the landscape gardener or the game keeper, ministering
only to lordly pride and pleasure.
An American fails to understand how a rich and
titled nobility can be pampered at thte expense of a
starving populace. He cannot understand why the peo-
pie do not demand their own--a chance to live. He can
not understand why men and women whose children
suffer the pinch of hunger and exposure will doff their
hats to king and nobility and humbly petition their lords
and ladies. Democracy would speedily solve the prob
lem. The idle lands would be thrown open for settle
ment and production. And thus two pressing needs would
be met: There would be healthful employment for hon
est labor and the production of more food for the people,
There Is a limit TO human endurance and suffering. Has
England reached that limit? There are signs that indi-
cate that a crisis Is near. Mere changes of ministry, rip
pies on the surface, cannot stop a flood. What will Eng
land do?
While time is working out this problem, as time will
ultimately work out all problems for the betterment of
the race, it is neither unseemly nor improper that the
people of the United States shall contrast the condition
of our country with that of the English Isles. Here, the
land overflows with plenty, and such scenes as those
recently witnessed in England are neither possible nor
called for. This is a profitable theme for Thanksgiving
meditation.
Another profitable contrast, over which we cannot too
much rejoice, may be found in comparing our personal,
social, religious and political freedom, with the night of
hell which for months has brooded over ignorant, super
stitions. bloodthirsty Russia. From every heart in this
broad, free, prosperous land, should today ascend a dox-
ology of praise to Almighty God.