Evening journal., 1914-06-29
Peoples Column
MR. ANpREWs ANN
I 1TEFN7 ~ = w " y IFIFI
THE ARDEN SITUATION.

THE ARDEN SITUATION
To the Editor Of THE EVENING JOUR
NAL, Siri II. W. Js designation Of
the writer ms the ring leader of the
Single Takers OF Arden would prob
ably be seriously disputed BY the Hon.
g. Frank stephens, who has long cher
ished tho idea that this distinction be-
laneed to him. ] plead mot guilty TO
the charge. Far be il from me to at
tempt 70 settle the petty squabblcs be-
tween the masses and the glasses il Ar
den. After all Arden is not SO very
different from the outside, vulgar, world,
except that possibly there one viii find
lust little more freedom, and the in
hHbitants ure just little closer 10
Dame Mature than our city friends.
While il is true, that Arden's deed and
trust specifies that there shall be no
discrimination because OF race. color or
creed, il is impossible TO change human
Z nature in moment, and Ardenites. as
q rule. are only just little less narrow
q little less orthodox than people in the
outside world Arden is simply a little
oasis IN the desert Of capitalism and
many Of the colonists have imported
with them the nHrrowncss Of vision. and
the industrial system under which they
have liNed So, as Arden has prospered
and grown 4 has developed many capt
talistic traits, and we even nave there
miniature arlstocracy. comprised of
ultra-respectabe droDes, who never soil
their hands with a dish cloth, whose only
interest in laborers, black or white. is
TO exploit them.
The question has often been asked,
who will do the dirty work under So
cialismy y Arden's upper ten" attenipt-
ed 70 solve this question (under Capital.
ism by importing colorcd help from
Wilmington. Not, as H. WI y surmises
because they were at all interested in
the problems which confront the eolored
race, but because they wanted TO re.
lieye themselves from work They
didn't even want this colored family
as neighbor5, they held them in tile
same naughty (a'hemll contempt as
they do the poor whiiesn Of Arden who
have TO do honest work for a iivnu.
MOI the upper tenn didn't want their
colored labor to reside in their neighbor-
hood, they arc willing to exploit their
labor but they didn't want their com
panv, SO the "clitep or Arden decided
that they would locate their hired hands
away from the Social center" upon the
hill up in "shacktown," as they mildly,
describe the humble residences 81 AZ.
dcn's working class. Now. strange Ia
say. there exists ia Arden the same
economic struggle for bread that Is tax
ing place In the outside world. Jobs arc
scarce and the supply OF labor exceeds
the demand.
Arden contains a few persons. who.
weary with the struggle for an exist
ence under capitalistic economic condi- |
uons, have gone there hoping at least
70 find measure Of relief in the much
heralded "haven Of the oppressed 9 |
However, they found, that even in sin
gle Tax Arden, the man who owned Tho
Jon owned the man~that most of the
lobs We're controlled by a few petty re
formers men who have been known to
shed rivers Of tears upon the public
forum because their fellow men were
forced TO work long hours for a miser /
able pittanee but who at home ont OF
the iimehght. forget their beautiful sen
timents, hung their tear-stained ~
handkerchiefs on the line to drv. and
then imported the cheapest labor they
could hnd; and those who had made /
their homes there in the hope that free
On access to hand would solve their
economic troubles. who had hoped that
in Arden. with their feet on eAfother
Earth" they would at last be free from
the trbulations of capitalism. found
themselves in competition with an of
eapitalism's surplus labor and were
forced ont into the cold cruel world TO I
earn living. Naturally this has I
aroused resentment against anyone. I
black or white, who will come into Ar 4
den and work for starvation wages.
II is not case of race or color. il is
one Of economic determination. No
sensible colored man win worry about
social equality" until he has solved the
question Of economic justice. Equity
md Justice demand liberty for all men.
black or white, and the right of an
mankind, white or black, to labor and
enjoy the fruits thereof. their right to
education. culture and refinement. When
VIII the negro cease 10 be the pawn OF
Republican and Democratic politicians
ma vote the ticket Of the party that is