Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-03-25
Who Are the "Home-Owners?"

To the Editor Of The Star:
Will YOU kindly permit me to ask a few
questions relevant to advertisement
recently appearing in the local press of
this city?
In it Mr.. c. w. Post of Battle Creek
Mich calls upon the people of this coun-
try to contribute in sums varying from
one TO five hundred dollars to the f1nanc-
ing of an organization known as the
Home Owners Association the object
of which seems to be to prevent protective
legislation in behalf Of those whom Mr..
Post calls the common people
Whom does he mean by the nome
owners? Is it that class that under the
present industrial system is decreasing
in numbers rapidly as it is increasing
i'm wealth? If So he has aptly named
them, for they are in very truth the
"home owners" They own their own
homes and they own the homes of the
people.
And who are the common people?
Are they the slaves who are dying i'll
the workshops and the mines OF the home
owners? Are they the overworked. I'M
derfed millions upon whose hearts the
home owners have built their mansions:
Legislation is lame horse that needs
the spur of adversely to urge him on the
road of progress. Adversely is here
Scientific discoveries and inventions so
promising of veal have but added to the
woe When the sun freezes instead or
warming man will cry out that there Is
something radically wrong in nature.
Government is the sun OF nations, ana
that is only another name for legislation
by which to govern.
Under the present conditions the sun
that warns the few freezes the many.
Does il not therefore logically follow
that something must be wrong with the
system under which such conditions can
exist The people-the common people
as Mr. Post calls them-are overburdened
physically and therefore sluggish men
tally for man is an animal, and when he
is hungry his thoughts turn rather TO the
wheattield than to the stars But even
through this twilight of physical needs
a thought is penetrating.
AS factor first, then as a unit, the
common people are asking: 'Why?" The
giant. slumbering through centuries OF
starvation. is rousing at last at the cry
| for bread Cumbrously as such bodies
move he is none the less moving. He is
reaching for the weapons of self-protec-
! ton.
The employers liability act and the old
! age pension bill are two OF those weapons.
| OF the nation whose boosted power he is
| he asks them; of the lawmakers whose
! creator he is he demands them. Nor,
| bitterly though Mr.. Post assails them,
will they be denied. for they are but
| 1.-THE of what the world owes to it's toll
| ers. Leaving justice entirely out Of the
| question it would be poor policy to deny
/ that which benefits the one class without
| injuring the other: and in the matter or
the employers liability act actual ex-
perience has proved 1t to be of benefit to
| all concerned.
| In England where the social-labor
| party has succeeded in passing this act,
| experience has proved that while it great
" benefits the laboring class 1t imposes
no burden upon the employing class In
| surance companies have accepted the risk
| and it has proved a blessing to all con-
| cerned. 1t is reasonable to assume that
the same conditions would prevail here.
In the matter of the old-age pension
bill il Is not easy to understand Mr.. Posts
attitude nor why he so perverts facts.
| Ii is not an effort of the people to secure
| air for their aged from others while deny
| ing it themselves; nor can they be blamed
| for refusing the poorhouse, which. Mr..
| Post says. is open to them-and implies
| is good enough for them
The social-labor party in England car
| ries on its rolls many rich and influential
| people OF rank and title. This bill is
! of their framing. 1t eXempts from taxa
ton only the poorest in the land. All
! others must give their little to the aid
| of the aged And Mr.. Post must admit
| that among the ALI is included the
vast army of working men and women
who. far from being wealthy are yet
above the lowly ones who. because OF
! their very poverty, are exempt from the
taxation he wishes to force from them.
AS man employing a great number OF
| people and being therefore a witness to
| the worlds poverty he should blush to
| hide behind an organization. When he
seeks to turn the people against them
! selves it is he who benefits The poor
/ house is cheaper than the old-age pension
| bill. and the potters field a soft couch
| for sumber of the poor.
| JESSICA PENN HUNTER.
Valuable Platinum Cups Stolen.
Six nlatinum cupS. valued at 500 vera