The Anderson daily intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson, S.C.) 1914-1915, 1914-06-17
ton is found in the midst OF the great

Go back for moment with me to
the time when this great country of
ours was first settled by the Anglo
Saxon race, where the machinery and
exchange is yet rude and inefficient;
where the accumulation OF wealth Is
not yet great enough to enable any
class to live In ease and luxury; where
tho best house is but log cabin. and
the richest man is forced to work
daily. There. though you will find an
absence of wealth and all 1t implies.
you will find no beggars. There Is no
luxury. but there Is no destitution. No
onemakes an easy living. nor a very
good living. but every one can make
a living and no one able and willing to
work is depressed by the fear of want.
But just In proportion as wealth in
creases population becomes greater,
connections with the rest of the world
more intimate, labor saving machinery
! lessenfng the cost OF production, 80
does poverty take darker aspect.
Some get an infinitely better and cas-
Ter living. but others find 1t hard in
deed to get living at all. The tramp
comes with the locomotive. prisons are
as surely the marks of material prog
] ress at are the costly dwellings,, rich
warehouses, and magnificent churches.
! Upon streets lighted with electric
lights and patrolled by uniformed po-
licemen. beggars wait for the passer-
by. and In the shadow of the colleges
and Libraries are gathered the flerccr
vandal Of whom Muca;ilay prophesied.
This fact. this great fact. that power
ty and all It's committancos show
themselves In communities Just as
they develop into the conditions to-
wards which material progress tends;
proves that the social difficulty exist
ing. wherever certain stage of prog
ross has been reached. do not arise
from local circumstances, but are, in
some way or another, brought on by
material progress itself. And, un-
pleasant though 1t may be- to admit
1t. 1t is at last becoming evident that
the enormous increase in productive
power. which has marked the present
century and Is still going on with ac-
celebrated ratio. has no tendency to cx-
. Plate poverty or to tighten the bur
dens of those compelled to toll. 1t
simply widens the gulf between the
moneycd kings and the poor and
makes the struggle for existence more
intense. Amid the greatest accumu-
lation of wealth. MEN die Of starva-
tion. and the INSCRIPTIONS few wal
/ low In the greed for gain.
Wealth has been greedy increased,
leisure and refinement have been
raised. but these gains are far from
general. In them the lowest classes
| do not share. do not mean by this
that the condition Of the lowest classes
! has In no way been improved, but
that inventions which increase pro-
ductive power tend to better the cap
italist and not the laborcr. Nay, 1t
tends rather to depress the lowest
classes. In the United States It is
clear that Bqualorsa and misery every
where increase as the villages grow to
cities. It is In the Older and richer
sections OF the Union that pauperism
and distress among the working class
are becoming more and more appar-
ent. When Atlanta reaches the point
where New York now is. who can
doubt that there will be just as many
ragged and barefooted children on her
streets IS are nc% found Il. IScw York
city?
There Is problem of today and we
must solve 1t. Civilization SO based |
cannot continue. ,The eternal laws
of tho universe indeed forbid it. 1t is
something grander than benevolence,
something more august than charity
1t Is Justice herself that demands Of
us to right this wrong: Justice that !
will not bc denied and cannot to put
OF. Shall we avert thece facts by |
raising churches where hungry chill
dren moan and weary mothers weep?
1t Is blasphemy that attributes to the |!
Interchangeable DEGREES OF an all-wise
Providence the suffering and BRITISH
ness that come from poverty. that lays
on Him the responsibility for the want =.
and crime of our great cities BY |
such. we degrade the Everlasting; we !
slander the Just Ono. It Is not the
Almighty. but VIC who are responsible +,
for the vice and misery that prevail |
amidst our civilization. The Creator
showers upon us Hit: gifts which arc
more than enough for all; but, like
swine scrambling for food. we tread
them IN the miro. while we tear and
rend one another.
Now friend. wei Certainly have ar
rived at conclusions. which there can /
be no mistaking.
We have. now traced the unequal |
distribution of wealth, which is the |
curse and contamination of our civ
ilization to some common cause. and
we know that 30 long eas the institu-
ton Of this cause exists no increase
In productive power can permanently |
benefit the masses. There is but one
way to remove an evil, that Is to re-
move the cause. 4
:. Squeeze the water out OF monopol-
les. regulate competition. and destroy
the institution OF private property In |
land. and we have the problem solved. |