The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1909-04-15
State vs..
Unemployed
A Very Able Essay on Present So-
cial Conditions Containing
Sensible Remedy.
Paper Read Before the Chautauqua Circle.


Paper Read Before the Cha,ttauqua Circle.
Under the heading "Problem of Tn.
employed the Duluth Herald of March
3, prints short but interesting account
Of a meeting held by the various charit
able, relief and employment organiza-
tions of St. Paul, Minneapolis and Du-
luth, at the State Capitol. 1t was stat
ed that there are approximately ten
thousand unemployed men in the cities
mentioned and that it would be impos-
sible to find employment for them
there.
Many theories relative to the i'm
provement of these:c0nditiOns were ad-
vanced, but as usual nothing definite
was done. AS much can be said in re-
gard to this matter, the writer, who be-
lieves it to be one of the most impor
tant questions of the day, has decided
to impress upon you the fact that the
state is morally responsible for the
maintenance of the unemployed.
Whether organized society is morally
responsible depend not merely on how
far one is willing to go in setting up
new responsibilities for the state.
but on whether the state, as such,
should be called upon to perform any
purely ethical functions at all.
The state in many instances has as
samed the responsibility whether from
economic OF ethical motives / cannot
say) of caring Cor its dependent classes,
and it is my opinion that it should
adopt measures for mitigating the dis
tress of its unemployed or of lending
its good Offices free of charge to bring
ing the employer in search of help and
the able and willing unemployed to-
gether.
We all know that the state is not an
individual, but that each common
wealth is composed of thousands or
millions of citizens, each contributing
his mite in taxes, labor or creative
ability to maintain its existence.
It is through the energy and number
of it's members that the community &C.
quires its place among the nations OF
the earth. In the relentless struggle
for existence where each individual in
a way is opposed to the whole, it be-
comes necessary, if we>are to exist al
all, to make rules governing our rela
70 A fhaca
or laws are made they must te enforc
ed, and punishment dealt out to offend
ers.
This all requires the brain aud energy
of trained men, who must in tuIn live
as we'll as support those dependent up
on them. Government buildings mus
be built and the innumerable depart
ments of a commonwealth must be or
ganized.
The community Ie alizes the absolute
necessity of having competent person
to manage all this, men who are abl
by their ability and training to eettl
all interior-aisputes as we'll as to trt a
successfully with foreign powers.
follows naturally that those best suited
or best able by any me ans, rightfully t
hold or brutally to grab these Offices
are the ones to hold them. This, theI
is the state, q people or communit
banded together for self-preservatiol
whether it be in one Of the tribute nt
tions of a conqueror like Alexande
the Great, or in the more republica
and milder government of William +
Taft, the American,
Once firmly established, the govern
ment seeks every means within il
power to strengthen ITSELF and til
people understanding fully that SAFE
from without rests wholly upon unio
within, readily comply with the Law
laid down by the rulers, for it is on
after great injustice and cruel wrong
that a people rise against q governme'
over them. The state demands th
every man shall obey the laws. that
shall contribute by taxes to its suppo