Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1908-04-10
Washinaton tandard
OLYMPIA, WASH.
FRIDAY MORNING, APRIL 10, 1905.
Facts VIII Not Lie.

caCLS VIII " OF Lie.
What is tie good Of irving TO hoos,
the present brand of prosperity when
the Chaplain Of the House Of Eepre-
sentatives prays for the unemployed? p
NIdtso9 DcnocrW.
Or when two men were killed by
anarchStic booms. in the great city
Of New York. last week. during a
demonstration of the UNEMPLOYED
The unruly class. wherever it exists.
always attempts to ride ON the wave
crest of public excitement, and is
ever ready 10 turn any well-mcant
demonstration into diSorderlv mob.
Probably 1900 people had gath
cred in Union Square to demon
stratc the urgency of the call for
some action that might restore con-
ditionS that would meet the cost of
bare necessities Of life, when its
whole effect was destroyed by the
appearance Of red hats worn by
many in the dense crowd and red
flags Haunted in open defiance of the
peacable protest against the money
panic produced by greedy capital and
scheming politicians.
Speakers of prominence had been
engaged, for suggesting some means
of meeting the exigency by peaceful
means, but when the red signal of
sanguinary warfare was disployed, a
special detail of $50 policemen were
ordered on duty to preserve order.
This seemed to incite the malcon-
tents to their usual resort in such
matters, blOOdshed, and one of the
multitude left the crowd and soon
returned with an explosive which he
hurled at the squad of policemen
standing together for orders. Two
men were killed and a number we're
injured by the BOOM
This is but single instance OF the
discomfort which is being adroitly
used by politicians to discourage the
masses, who find price, increasing
and labor decreasing in its demand if
not in the rates paid. One need not
look any further tnan Seattle to dis
cover this same condition, that has
been in some degree lessened by
the establishment of "soup-houses,
where the means of subsistence NAV
be obtained at the bare cost of it's
preparation.
What folly it is to boast of pros
perity, which as a whole does not
exist, and is only shared by those
having money, in some favored
places, where that very condition en-
ables them to squeeze the life-blood
out of those who have to rent their
homes of them, or purchase the bare
necessities of life at a cost that has
never before, in times of profound
peace, prevailed. When you hear
this boast of the salary-fed autocrats
Of the prevailing party, look at facts
squarely, and you will discover upon
what slender foundation it rests.
Lately, after a careful canvass of
the whole country. the result was
published in many of the leading Chi
cago and New York papers, showing
that the lumber of unemployed, who
really want work-excluding, of
course, the hobo element, who are al
ways employed in lodging works
about four and a quarter millions at
the present time. The condition is
worse in the East, with New York
as the stOrm-center, and better in
the West, with Omaha as the oasis
in the desert of Dependency. The
accepted estimate of the unemployed
in New York is 25O, 900. and to this
must be added many thousands more
who are working short hours or at
reduced wages. In West Virginia,
with working population of 125, 600,
more than 6O,OOOare idle. There are
200, 900 idle men in Illinois, of whom
$4,000 are in Chicago. In Philadel-
phia, 100000 men are looking for
work, and many of those employed
find their earning capacity greatly
reduced.
F. How few of us pause to reflect upon
the stupendous magnitude of this
impending evil, or can form a concep-
tiOnof its widespread extent running
into the millions of victims. 1t ex-
emplifies truth which modern con-
ditions will embody in a new axiom:
The poor mans famine is the rich
mans harvest, foreshadowed in the
prophetic warnings of the forefathers
to guard well the heritage of freedom
from the entertainments Of wealth