The Washington herald., 1909-06-14
Concentration of Wealth.
Ocean City. Nd

Editor The Washington Herald:
/ Those who are persistently asserting
that the rich are getting richer and the
I poor poorer: that wealth should have a
limitation: that pauperism and poverty
are on the increase. do as much to retard
prosperity as any other agency.
These prophets OF evil are continually
reiteratlng the stock phrase that ours
Is fast becoming a moneyed nation: and
a moneyed nation Is generally a weak
one" The converse Of this, Of course. is
that nations which are becoming poor are
growing stronger-for instance. Turkey
and Spain Those who assert this seem
to be blind 70 the fact that wealth pro
duced by legitimate industry is ever one
OF the greatest sources OF national
strength. and poverty OF national weak
ness. England and the United States.
the two richest countries on the globe.
are to-day leading the march Of civiliza-
ton Wealth and civilization are az
much synonymous terms as are poverty
and barbartsm. Wealth is the sign and
symbol Of mans increasing command
over nature, and the ability 70 utilize the
worlds resources in the process Of self
development.
But they do not stop here. They go
further and insist upon what they call
a fact. that in States in which the great
est wealth is concentrated, the largest
proportion Of paupers is to be found. Z"
This assertion is a stale and often-eK-
posed fallacy, and well illustrates the
danger Of careless and prejudiced use OF
statistics The simple fact is that IN
the wealthy States the subject OF pauper-
Ism has been given an amount OF atten-
ton and preventive effort quite unknown
In the poorer States OF the South and
West Paupers are carefully sought out.
many Of them placed in public institu-
tions, and numerous efforts made for the
abolition Of pauperism. The result is
that the official records show nearly
every case OF pauperism in the wealthy
States. whether being cared for at public
expense or otherwise On the other hand
In the more backward agricultural States
only very incomplete reports OF pauper-
ism are kept. and but little effort Is made
to abolish the evil Such being the case.
Il is evident, Of course, that official sta
tistics In the two classes OF States will
show much greater proportion OF pau
perism In the wealthy States. which IS
contrary to the most common observa-
ton. There are whole groups OF negro
and what is called white trash popula-
ton in the South, which. Judged by
Northern standards. would be classified
as pauper population, but in the South
are not far enough below the general
level OF poverty TO be thus specially des-
ignated. The same general condition is
to be noted in all countries where the
OF wealth ownership Is ap.
p-oximately equal Poverty is uniform,
and famine Is the only break in the mo-
notony OF existence. Famines are OF
common occurrence in China involving
the loss Of tens Of thousands OF lives.
In this country one bona ade case of
starvation becomes a subject Of indig-
nant comment all through the country,
and II Is doubtful II many such cases.
genuine or otherwise, ever escape pub
icity. Some persons claim that because |
Of the concentration OF capital human
life is becoming lamentably cheap"
Human life and human labor are dearer
In the United States than anywhere else
on the globe. and to-day than at any |
previous date In the worlds history.
The pith of the contention Of these as
pirants for notoriety Is that in pro-
portion as ones wealth increases. the /
wealth Of others must decrease" This |
statement is as devoid Of truth as the 1
others. Since 1910 per capita wages IN this 1
country have doubled. while population /
has Increased over four fold. and the pro- /
portion Of wage earners TO total pop
iiation has increased at an even faster /
ate. Since 1850 the total wealth or the |
country has increased from about $1,000
10000 to over 100000. 900. 900. The great
act which the calamity howlers fasI TO
is that all Increase OF wealth /
zones out Of nature. and is distributed /
n ever-increasing amounts 70 labor IN
wages, and 70 such portion OF capital as
5 able to render relatively superior eco
ionic service. II all gain OF wealth TO
ne meant loss TO some other. there
would have been no increase in the
volrd's well-being since the days OF
seyagery. EVERETT SPRING.