The Paducah evening sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1906-1929, 1910-01-14
VOICE OF THE PEOPLE.
:~~~NNNx~NN~N~~NNN~>~N
Justice VS.. Charity.

rush ard rustic, its toys and tears.
its joys and capers, its wild scram-
BILE at a million bargain counters. its
exchange of presents, the sweet
laughter of children, the reunion of
loved ones, the telling of stories that
make the eyes grow dim, and the
heart grow hungry with an hides
cribable. an indefnable soul-hunger
for happiness.
And still as a nation. as one large
family, where there ought to be hap
piness enough for all we must re-
luctantly admit that We are not real
ly happy. As large family We are
so closely related and 80 intro-de-
pendent upon the mutual services of
each other. that any normal. right
minded person cannot be truly hap
py, while he knows that many, or
even one of the least of this great
family lack those simple comforts
without which happiness is impossi-
bic. Life and happiness are not de-
pendent upon bread alone" quite
true. but without bread" as a ma
terial basis. no kind Of life. physical
or mental Is possible. Now the we'll
TODD have exchanged millions OF
dollars in priceless presents. have
given fairs and charity balls where
they danced for the benefit of the
poor" They have donated most lib
orally of wealth they did not earn.
to numberleSs charitable organiza-
tions which sent thousands OF bas-
kets Of good things to the "deserv-
ing por." And in shame let il be
said. that the need OF food and fuel
and clothing. and the demands made
upon organized charity were never
so great, and never so insufficient, as
just at the close Of this prosperous
CD year. True, those gOod-hearted
but misguided folks who seek to
patch up the rotten old profit sys-
TEN and make Il more tOlerable by
sprinkling aims on the deserving
poor" at Xmas time and letting them
rot in filth and famine the rest of the
year. All these patrOnizing. gener-
Gus reformers have enjoyed a perfect
saturnalia of charity lnOngers. Bag
are the poor less poor for having had
one good meal during the year
Have these aims prevented or cured
the poverty Of a single victim of our
pitiless counterfeit civilization? Are
not the homeless, hungry, shivering
horde just as shelterless, as famlshed
as cold since Xmas as before?
All these good people are trying
to remove the effect without disturb
ing the cause. They remind me of
the thirsty man who sat on the bank
of a small stream waiting for II to
clear up before taking a drink, a
more practical fellow came by and
said to him. III you'll go up the Hill
yonder and drive that old SOW out
of the spring. you'll stop the flow Of
fifth and be able to get a good, pure
drink"
The whole stream of civilization Is
polluted sby the profit system"
That "sy aem" is the "old sow in the
spring" and while it remains undis-
turbed me social stream will be
thick and foul and pestllential, a
vast breahing place for tramps, va
grants, prostitutes, criminals and
suicides constantly increasing mum
Der OF ahich are being driven into
this terrible abyss of despair and
degradation by the cruel lash of
necessity. There is a maxim of
law which says that lone must be
just before he can be generous" All
of these unfortunates are victims of
the greatest injustice. They have
produced mountains of wealth which
has been filched from them by the
profit takers, who buy palaces,
yachts and autos with the blood
stained loot. and toss the hungry
workers a crust at Xmas. Charity Is
like feeding a dog a piece Of his own
tail. to give a fellow time to climb
tree. We workers demand not
charity. but Justice. Justice will
give the workers 1of the world "all
they produce" then charity will be
unnecessary, for there will be no
Justice demands that no
man shah consume without produc
ing. or produce without consuming.
That no man shall take millions out
of society's store house without put
ting anything into it, This plan
eliminates the drones. idlers and
parasites of all classes and makes
them useful, respected members of
society, shortens the hours of labor.
Increases It's reward five or ten
times, and work under such favor
able conditions will become a joy
instead of drudgery. A land without
bosses. strikes or lOckouts, no back
lists, injunct!ons or unemployed no
rents, no mortgages. no bread lines,
no "faIlen women" no little chill
dren eating garbage. no millionaires,
manners chaingangs or scaffOlde. no