The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-12-20
PEOPLES FORUM
Why BE Thankful?

sir--wiIl you kindly allow me space to 10.
down a few thoughts that have been gradually
gathering in my thought tank for while.
In the first place I wish to let loose few
thoughts concerning Thanksgiving Day Pres!-
dent Wilson Issued a proclamation that we re.
turn thanks to the Almighty for the unparalleled
prosperity 10 our country. This was followed
later by our governors backing up the presidents
proclamation by their little procs Well
Thanksgiving Day at last arrived on schedule
time, thanks to the president and governor who
it appears graclously give to us Thanksgiving
Day.
] am so used to turning out at A. NJ. and
preparing to go out on my daily chase after
the price ow-hosom and bread for the kids that
after that hour l unable to rest horizontally
and am through force of habit forced to assume
the perpendicular. Great Is habit, II Gabriel
blows the horn about a. NJ. the workers will
all be on the Job. and the Rockybutlts and Nor
ganheimers will continue 20 sleep. o'clock
A NJ. Thursday. Thanksgiving Day l turned
out and began to pay my respects to the great
corporations that and run this country
First, OH trust and glass trust as represented
by my ten cent lamp. I then pulled on my
bullswool and oakum suit of clothes made by
wool trust; then the leather trust appeared in
my one-ffty shoes. shook down the produc'
OF the coal trust in trust made heater Stand
ard oil struck double barrel blow when
started the oil stove in action. My wife then
began TO get together few odds and ends for
breakfast and saw the sugar trust, coffee trust
bread trust and beef trust In action After
seeing all these trust representatives and know
ing had paid tribute to them all 1 began to
ask myself what In Sam Hill had to be thank
full for I could net think of a thing worth
mentioning and had about decided to attend
church. hoping the preacher might DO able to
mention a few things. Just then ! thought of
tho people would he likely to meet a, church.
under the present system Of competition. When
the druggist returns thanks FOR his prosperity
he Is thankful that others sick; ditto tho
doctor. The undertaken is thankful that othars
die Lawyers are thankful that others have
trouble Business men are thankful that skin
Ing has been good. One succeeds because others
fail. the ladder of success Is made of the bodies
of others, and to climb that ladder one must
trample others down.
Having nothing personally to be thankful for
there was nothing for me but be thankful for
tho unparalleled prosperity (?) of the country.
Well, l began to think about 1t and finally came
To the conclusion that thanks were unnecessary
that score. am one of the people who are
paying the salaries of legislators, State and
national to legislate prosperity to us or us to
prosperity. Now the question arises, IL 1 pay
these fellows to do the work, why thank the
Almighty And If the Almighty is responsible
for prosperity why ray lot Of legislators
to pass tariff and currency bills that are guar
anteed to boom business and keep prosperity
ever on tap? The president has told us to re-
turn thanks to the Almighty for prosperity,
and / guess that is right; the professor is a very
learned man, and L am sure he knows. There
Is one phase of our prosperity that / am not
clear as to who Is responsible for that particular
kind | wish to know who is responsible for the
bread line in New York city, lot OF homeless
starving men, double line four blocks deep?
who is responsible for the prosperity of the
poor of Chicago, five thousand jobless men,
which means twenty-five thousand men, women
and children that suffering for the
sites of life? Who is responsible for the pros
perity OF the 1--WE thousand down and outs OF