The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1910-02-04
THE AGE OF PROPERTY
Man Today Is a Secondary Con-
sideration.
TRUTHS TO KEEP IN MIND.
The Toier Gets but Measer Share of
the Wealth He Produces-ldlers Fat
Creatures.

ne loieF SetS OUT a med9er Snare OF
the Wealth He Produces-ldlers Fat
ten on the Blood of Their Fellow
Creatures.
What's the cause of consumption?
Poor nourishment, foul air and over
work. Wipe out the tenement districts,
ventilate the mines and factories,
shorten the hours Of labor and you
have solved the problem. We have
abolished hog cholera, but not con-
sumption, because it costs more to buy
a hog than laborer.
One-third of all the children of the
poor die prematurely from preventable
diseases and undernourishment.
Thirty thousand men are killed and
100000 injured on our railroads ev-
cry year. This frightful slaughter is
almost entirely unnecessary and conse-
quently criminal, and if justice were
done the men responsible would be de-
clared guilty Of manslaughter. This
would put stop to it at once.
This much for the physical man.
Now, what about his intellectual prog
ress?
The average young man of today is
cane sucking sport interested in none
of the great problems Of the day. He
reads the Diamond Dick stuff, the Po-
lice Gazette or the sporting page of our
daily papers. If he buys a newspaper
he couldn't be induced to read the edi-
torial section. He culls out the sport
ing page and throws the balance into
the gutter. He can tell you every ball
players and prizefghters record both
here and in Europe. But he does not
think. He only thinks he thinks. The
children of the poor have their vitality
prematurely Slapped in shop and fac
tory, all finer sensibilities destroyed or
stunned mentally, morally and phys
ically. We still expect him to father
the citizen of the future. Can we ex-
pect anything but rubbish?
Our present system is to blame. We
have societies for the prevention of
cruelty to animals" but none to de-
mand a change of an industrial system
which damns the many as well as the
few. What howl goes up from these
people when farmer attempts to
work an immature colt! But child
slavery is to them question of no i'm
portance.
The mad rush in business and in
4 HI
unrest of today. Poverty OF the fear
of poverty, unemployment and the fear
of it-all these are responsible for
our overcrowded lunatic asylums and
the increase in the number Of sui
cides. Drunkenness is also on the in
crease and cannot be checked until
you take from men the need of a
stimulant. The overworked man near
ly always seeks comfort and forgetful-
ness in drink Our middle class does
not supply us with drunkards. They
are fairly well clothed, housed and fed.
Again let me remind you that this
is the age of property. Property is the
chief consideration today. Armies, ma
vies, policemen, militiamen, all are en-
gagged in the protection of property.
Man is only a secondary consideration.
Our courts are also instruments In the
hands of the property owning class
and safeguard their ownership.
Dear friend, go home tonight and
whip your wife until you have covered
her tender white skin with bruises,
and if you are hauled before judge
he will fine you or send you to prison
for about three months Steal ham
to keep her from starving and the
same judge will give you three years.
You see, he is paid to watch the
ham, and he does his duty well.
What is this civilization $50 called
doing for man? This and this alone
is the chief consideration. How is he
housed? How is he fed? How is he
clothed? How is he educated?
He, the laborer. is the builder of all
houses, yet has none of his own.
He, the laborer is the creator of all
food, but is himself starving.
He, the laborer. is the weaver of all
CLOTH but is naked
He, the laborer, is the builder of all
schools and theaters, but has been re-
duced to the university of the street
and the moving picture show.
Toilers, are you satisfied? Does life
mean nothing to you but beastly toilP
You produce all and have nothing.
Those who have all produce nothing.
Is it not time for change?-Professor