The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1907-03-04
A SURPLUS OF LABOR.

Tends to Destroy Democracy and Degrade
/ the Worker,
There is no. condition Of modern SO.
ciety so destructive Of democracy, so
degrading to the workingman, so pro
ductive Of misery, despair ana vice. al
what Is known as IA surplus Of La
borsh says Maxwell's Talisman. On
the other hand, there il nothing so fa-
vorable to democracy, so well calculat-
cd TO elevate the work1ngman, to slim
ulate education, the arts. social prog
.ress and the general welfare, as one
where there is no surplus, where ev-
cry man is fully employed at good
wages aud where the employer has TO
hunt for the workinglnan instead OF
the workingman Tor a job.
Yet the principal reason for the pref
erence given by certain class Of man
ufaeturers to the large city as the
scene of their enterprises il the fact
that there is usually TO be found a
surplus of labor, and their efforts are
constantly directed to the maintenance
Of such surplus. The packing indus
tries on Chicago AFFORD case In point.
AT Paekingt0wn by the delusire offer
Of I7i2 cents an hour for common la
borers and from 25 to 80 cents an hour
for skilled workmen, dense, sQnalid
population has been gathered Its
units find. too late. that under the sysl
TEN Of payment by the hour the wages
actually received amount to only q
minor fraction OF what they expect
ed. for into this eager human surplus
the packers thrust their nets whenever
business prompts, draw forth as many
iaborers as they need for few hours,
for day, for week or more, and
then, the temporary need supplied, they
thrust them back into the mass again.
caring not whether they live or starye,
since the same lure can be relied upon
to draw others to take their places,
The victims OF this system are held
to the locality by their poverty, by
doubt as TO obtaining better employ
nent elsewhere, by!family ties, by debt
and by vice. They sink lower and
lower in misery until the surplus be
comes a social ulcer, fraught with peril
for the whole body polite.
To remove this ulcer from every city
is one Of the main endeavors OF the
home crofters.
The preamble of the creed and plat
form OF the home crofters declares
"We believe that the slums and tene-
nents and congestcd centers OF popu-
lation In the cities are a sayagely dc.
terlorating social, moral and political
influence and that a great public move
ment should he organized and the
whole power OF the nation and the
state exertcd for the betterment OF all
and conditions Of rural life and TO Gre
ate and upbulld centers OF social and
civic life In country ana suburban
towns aud villages, where every FAM
lly shall have its home croft and where
trade and industry shall be so firmly
anchored that they cannot be drawn
into the commercial maelstrom that Ia
now steadily sweeping industry and
humanity into the vortex Of the great
cities.
t'We believe that every citizen IN
this country has an inherent and fun.
damental right to an education which
will train him 10 earn q living and, II
need be, to get his living straight from
Mother Earth and that he has the
same right TO the opportunity 70 have
the work to do which viii afford him
that living and to earn not only com
Portable livelihood, but enough more
to cnnble him TO be homo crofter and
TO have home OF his owp, with ground
around II sufficient to yield him and
his family a living from the land as
the reward for his own labor.
"We believe that the public domain
is the most precious heritage Of the
people and the surest safeguard the ma
tion has against social unrest. disturb
ance or upheaval. and that the cause Of
humanity and the preservation OF So
cial stability and Of our free institu-
tons demand that the absorption Of
the public lands into speculative pri
vate ownership without settlement be
forthwith stopped, and that the nation
should create opportunities for home
crofters by building irrigation and
drainage works TO reclaim land as fast
as 1t is needed TO give every man who
wants home on the land a chance to
get it.
1--WE believe that as a nation We
should be less absorbed with making
money and should pay more heed to
rnising up and training men and won.
en- who will be law abiding citizens,
that the welfare OF our workers is Of
more consequence than the mere accu-.
mutation OF wealth and that stability
OF national character and Of social and
business conditions Is OF greater i'm.
portance to the people Of this country
as n whole than any other one ques.