The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-01-10

is received and spent by 100000 peo.
pie. one two-hundrcdth part Of the
population, or, in families. o%ne-for-
tieth of the population is receiving
and spending one-third of the income
of the country. 1t is incumbent upon
those who have been blessed by Provi-
dence to make sacrifices for others.
That is said to be talking socialism by
setting class against class. Lee us get
rid of these cockatoo phrases. Let us
get to real. terrible, human. lasting
facts writhing, and see the thing be-
low. Lot us tear from this pit of
wretchedness its fimsy covering Of
phrases. so as to reveal that mass Of
human agony. 1t is idle to attempt
to deal with Il colossal problem of this
kind unless those who arc well-to-do
are prepared to make great sacrifices.
'Thc great lesson of christianity Is
this: You cannot redeem those who
are below except by the sacrifice Of
those who are above. The task is a
great and colossal one. 1t is a task
our Master camc here for. Il lift the
needy from the miro and the o
from the dunghill. and it is the chris
Ia tIluIGtleS dIoIt Ildl Ctu dNNotll-
plish it,"
The practical question is as to
whether poverty can actually he
bought off. One meets IT in every
country. one does not nave to- aunt
for it--there is so much poverty that
one cannot keep out Of the way of
it. 1t was written n long time ago:
Y have the poor always with you:"
and when h a was written the needs
of mankind were of the fewest and
simplest sort, and at least half the
world was waiting like a virgin to
yield its fruits to the industry of man.
Since then man has taken possession
of the world. and has don the best
with it that he could-has, in fact,
made n great Zeal out Of it-and still
poverty abounds as his constant COM
Danion. Can the wretched. ill-fa-
vored fellow be bought off with mon
ey? Lloyd George has money on the
brain-he thinks that If he a in
fuencc the men OF England to the
point Of voting the money in n
mans pocket out of it and into an
other mans pocket all will be WE'LL
that poverty will go away and be
seen no more. But will poverty be
bought off. and stay bought off?
There are two opinions as to the
answer; and the other opinion was
we'll stated the other day by Bonar
Law. He was writing to the Union
list candidate at an English by-elec-
tion. and said
81 know the constituency we'll, and
l. have no doubt that tho claim Of
the Radical party hat they alone are
the friends of the people, and hat we
are the protectors of privilege and
the party of the rich, has had great
influence in recent elections. That
is a claim which is easily made. and
to make it has always been the dis
tinguishing mark of the demagogue.
You yourself have personal knowl-
edge of the workman's lot, and you
are. therefore. we'll qualified to on
vince the electors of the Govan divis-
ion that we are not less anxious than
our opponents to improve the social
conditions of the mass of our country
men. but uch an improvement can
not be attained by destroying the
sense of security on which industry
depends. by stirring up class hatred
or by indiscriminate doles.
THE greatest of all local reforms
would be Il general rise in the level
OF wages which would enable the
working classes to help themselves,
n h state can n ought to assist
in attaining that reform by giving to
u workmen h a security in the
homo market which is enjoyed by all
our competitors, and which is the Sc
crct of the success of their COMPETE
ton with us"
In other words, is it money in the
pocket. and unearned money at that,
That turns the trick against poverty,
or is it the qualities in the head? We
in this country have gone on the
theory that if a man can earn enough
by his labor or his skill he will at
tend to poverty on his own account.
In England they are still going on
under the Golden system, which was
designed. not to reduce poverty, but
to make the manufacturers and mer-
chants of England prosperous and
commanding by giving them two legs
to stand on. namely. cheap goods and
cheap labor. What Lloyd George is
in fact doing-although he may not
he quite conscious Of it's to bolster
up free trade by distributing public
money among the w%orkingmen whom
the system of free trade requires to
he underpaid year in and year out.
VIC think that our way is better, and
Bonar Law agrees with us. Raise the
level of English wages SO as to en-
able the working classes to help
themselves" and then leave them to
deal with poverty. That is his opinion,
and it is the American opinion. tried
out by a half century OF experience.
Even this. however. is no panacea
against poverty. 1t is a big fact, and
apparently an everlasting fact, that
every generation produces it's due
quota Of men n women who can