The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-07-15

word, which degrades man to the
two irreconcilable currents, the psychol-
ogy of the rich and the feeling Of the
poor, threaten a clash which will lead
to whole series of tragedies and
catastrophes.
America is possessed of great store
OF energy, and therefore everything in
it, the good and the bad, develops with
greater rapidity than anywhere else.
The children in the streets of New
York. produce a profoundly sad i'm
preston. playing ball amidst the
crash and thunder of iron, amidst the
chaos of the tumultuous city, they
seem like flowers thrown by some rude
and cruel hand into the dust and dirt
j long they inhale the vapors of the
Yellow Devil. Pity for, their little
lungs, pity for, their eyes choked up
The People Awakening.
I have seen poverty aplenty,, and
know well her green, bloodless. hag-
gard countenance. But the horror Of
East Side poverty is sadder than every
pick out from the garbage boxes on
the curbstones pieces Of rotten bread,
and devour it, together with the mold
| and the dirt, there in the street in the
singing dust and the choking air.
They fight for it like little, dogs. At
midnight and later they are still roll
ing in the dust and dirt of the street,
these living rebukes to wealth, these
melancholy blossoms of poverty. What
sort Of fluid runs in their veinss What
must be the chemical structure of their
brains Their lungs are like rags fed
upon dirt; their little stomachs like the
garbage boxes from which they obtain
| their food. What sort of men can
grow up out of these children of hunger
and. penury9 What citizens9
america, you who astound the world
| children Of the East Side, and consider
the menace they hold out to you! The
boast Of riches when there is an East
Side is q stupid boast.
However, "there is no evil without
q gaod, - as they say in Russia, coun-
try Of optimists.
/ This life of gold accumulation, this
Of the Golden Devil already begins to
stir up protest in the country. The
odious life, entangled in network Of
iron and depressing the soul with its
dismal emptiness, arouses the disgust Of
healthy people, and they are beginning
/ to, seek. for a means of resche from
spiritual death.
Compared to Europe.
And SO we see millionaires and cler-
gymen declaring themselves socialists,
and publishing newspapers and period.
icals for the propaganda of socialism.
The creation of settlements" by the
rich intellectuals, their abandonment
Of the. luxury of their parental homes
for the wilds of the East Side-all this
is evidence Of an awakening spirit; it
heralds the gradual rise in America Of
the human life Little by little peo-
4 slavery of gold and the slavery Of pow
erty are both equally destructive.
The important thing is that the peo-
4 pie have begun to think.
After all that I have said, I am in
voluntarily drawn to make a parallel
4 between Europe and America. On
that side of the ocean there is much
bold, vehement activity Of mind.
There art always shines like the sky
4 at night with the living sparkle of the
4 imperishable stars On this side there
is no beauty. The rude vigor of polit-
4 ical and social youth is fettered by the
rusty chains of the old Puritan NOR
atty bound to the decayed fragments
| VI uOaa plCJuuiSOS.
!. Looks for Conaagration.
i Europe shows evidence of moral de-
crepitude, and, as consequence Of
4 this. skepticism. She has suffered
much. Her spiritual suffering has
i produced an aristocratic apathy, it has
made her long for peace and quiet.
4 America has not yet suffered the
i pang Of the. dissatisfied spirit, she has
I+not. yet felt the aches of the mind.
i Discomfort has but Just begun here.
i And it seems to me that when America
will turn her energy to the quest Of
liberty of the spirit, the world viii
WITNESS the spectacle Of a great con-
4 fagration, confagration which win
cleanse this country from the dirt Of
4 gold, and from the ustSof prejudice,
i and it will shine like magnificent cut
i diamond, rejecting in its great heart
4 all the thought Of the world. all the