Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-12-19
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The Unemployed in Our Cities


I coming back to the city at the end of the
harvest season and attempting to get an
| other job at his trade. Where did you
work last?'' the foreman will inquire.
oh. L was out on a farm, the me-
chanic will answer. if he wants to tell
the truth. ION a farm? We're not hir
ing Rubes: We want skilled men And
no amount of persuasion can make tn.
average foreman believe that the fact
that the man before him went to work
on a farm rather than loaf in the city
is really to his credit. He cares nothing
about the finer points in the matter; he
wants men who can do the work de-
manded of them, and he must judge
of their ability on purely surface grounds.
To some this may seem like trivial
! barrier, but it is very real one not
! only as far as the foreman is concerned.
but the shopman as well, for they have
a feeling of contempt for the hay
seed" be he the original article. or mere
ly one who became such a make
shift. And the workingman tramps
the streets. with all the pride of the
skilled American workingman-some Of
| it foolish. but some of IL most commend
able-hoping that tomorrow will find him
at work at his trade.
The unskilled laborer hasn't this oh
stacle TO contend with-at least, not L.
SO great a degree. He could accept
job in the country without the sacrifice
Of very much pride. But there are
even more serious reasons as to why lie
cannot go from the city to the country
to help the farmer get in his hay. Any
one who knows the man of the poorer
tenement districts is familiar with pale.
narrow-chested individual, who simply
could not stand day in not August
sun, using pitchfork. or even driving
team. 1t would be physically impos-
sible for him to make good I'm "A task
which would be absolutely new, and
which would require more muscle than
he ever possessed. With him. il would
be a matter of endurance, aside from
the social questions which are bound to
influence him to considerable degree.
and he is not equal to the job.
After all, this whole matter is prim
cipally question of human nature. We
may find fault with il and persuade our
selves that the citys poor and unem-
may be, they are human, and some
how. they can't very well help that.
What. then. is the remedy? Certainly
not the labor colony. excepting for
peculiar class and for peculiar times.
The labor colony probably has its place
in our economic life under the present
system. Nor yet shall it be found i'm
the wholesale transfer of the citys poor
to farm colonies. Many will. undoubted
ly, find their way to the country. and
there discover life and joy in the open
air. But the vast majority will remain
| in the city And since they are To
remain there, they must be dealt with
as citizens Of our municipalities. If their
lives are unreal, they must be trained
to learn the true values. If they are
living under conditions which debase and
degrade. morally and physically, thosa
conditions must be removed. so that
even life in a tenement may be made
sweet and wholesome. If they are in
their present situation because of ineffi-
cheney they should be made more COM
petent. In any case. the fight will be
lost won In the city. We cannot shift
the responsibility. The problem is ours.
whether We accept it or not, for the veal
or the woe Of every man in the city
helps to constitute the life and the
thought of the world.