The Washington herald., 1914-06-06
THE OPEN FORUM.
Wrong Methods Of Dealing with Pow
erty and the Worthless Element.

To the Editor: 1t Is as easy as II n
brilliant to say that what is the mat
ter with the poor Is poverty" Neither
4 is Bernard Shaw the first enunciator oi
H. The destruction of the poor Il
their poverty" said the Hebrew epigram.
maker. What Is the matter, with poverty
that there is no wiping 1t of the face
or the earth. is the real problem, and
till the social economists can make that
4 out there is no triumph for religion
government. goodness, Justice, nor truth
on the planet
Poverty Is the one dead weight that
brushes all hope of better being out Of
humanity, and no creature ever heartily
sang Its praises who was not well away
from its blighting power. 1t is when the
orator, like Seneca, can inscribe his eulo-
gfes on tables OF gold that he delights
to do 1t honor, and then about all that
/ he enunciates is a glittering lie. Ask
him to go back to the poor mans privi-
leges and he will hedge on the money
issue like a political candidate. Honestly
\ TO admit that poverty Is the curse OF
the earth. against which all lines of re-
ligion. human brotherhood and philan-
thropy should be directed. Is a grace al
most unknown even to the most pro-
nounced laborers in such fields.
Meantime the enterprising manner in
which Christian governments and civill-
zations help II on Is an edifying spec
tacle in these days of loudly proclaimed
worship of altruism and brotherly love
as the new ideals of religion and life.
But most refreshing of all are the tao
tics brought to bear in the case in some
common direction by the wise and pru-
dent Here. as a certain good and great
man was wont to say. is a little story.
Att.
Prisoners wife will mourn alone at
baby's funeral. Potter's field burial ne
cessitated by poverty following incarcer-
alton of child's father" Then follows
the pitiful tale of a woman "gaunt and
shabby" who appeared at a police sta
ton of a great city to beg help for the
burial of her year-old baby, who died of
want the previous day. The baby and
have nearly starved ever since my hus-
band was arrested two months ago."
she said. II have done my best. but
the baby was sick good deal and I
couldn't work steadily" And the police
man remembered the young woman. runs
the conclusion, and that before her trou-
BILE she was stylish and pretty.
They are making a raid upon vaga-
bonds and thieves in that same city. have
to. of course, where the ethics of loafing
and looting are not up to the polite stand
ard. but il might be worth while to con-
slider how many of the 'incarcerated" are
leaving wives and babies behind them to
starve while they live on the county. 1t
seems such a neat and judicious way to
stop crime and suffering to take a bad
or worthless husband and father OFF to
live at the expense Of the public, while
the wronGed and helpless family must
shift for itself. And then. of course, the
man can be made to work. as he should.
hut by another brilliant provision of
things his wages go to the State instead
of the starving family. Just TO reverse
that point in the case said a worker
among the poor in one city. would end
about the hardest cases OF poverty !
have encountered. Let the courts ar
rest the drinking, worthless man and
compel him to work, but give his wages
to the worthy and suffering family and
the whole tone Of life among the poor
would be revolutionized.'
But the price of labor for those who
will work and the attitude toward good
and faithful laborers is the main point
in the poverty making business and not
until some real ideas of conscience and
as well as laws OF supply and
demand. color the relations of employer
and employe will this prolific method of
paupers of all workers past their
prime cease. There are business men and
firms who perceive even from a financial
standpoint the wisdom OF paying their
good workmen enough to make them easy
and content as to both present and fu-
ture. But in general it is the man who
will work for the lowest wages the So
called shrewd business man demand. and
in many cases will surrender the trained
and efficient, but higher priced, employe
to secure.
America is a rich and proud nation.
vet ii is safe to say that from the Presi-
dent down few even OF the government
officials are paid what the case demands.
and when Il comes to private firms and
employers the matter grows so monstrous
that it might fairly be called a crime.
II IL no wonder that women and children
in all parts OF the land have been pushed
put into the dusty arena to make up the
DEFICIENCIES in the family mans salary.
Recently professor of political economy
IN a Pennsylvania university. declared
that until the husbands salary is at
least $40 per week. the wife must !
Of necessity become n wage producer
with him. That is the lowest margin !
upon which any man can decently sup
port a home. and yet how many of the !
arge firms and business houses average |
hat pay for even their good workmen, |
however we'll able they are to afford it? !
and unions, are shooting wide of the
mark when they try to force the unfit |
and incompetent upon firms and employ |
ers. merely for the unions sake. But il |
they could manage to secure fair treat |
Dent of the fit. new life and fire might !
run along their lines. II might even up
set the Scriptures and leave us without |
our blessed poor forever with us. But If |
We could manage to spare them and do |
our good deeds less to be seen OF men. /
an honest treatment of the workman or
employe in the beginning might be bet
ter than a pretentious asylum of charity /
almost do away with the necessity for !
charity, II once 1t could secure its seat
on the globe.
To be sure. the poor are not all martyrs
any more than the rich are all fiends. |
ingalls, is right when he says. 'Indolence
will never have the same wage as thrift, |
nor ignorance the same reward as wis
iom." and those who fall. having had
equal opportunity" can never lay their
misfortune to the charge of those who 4
succeed. Yet life and Ms survivals might
shortly dispose of such poverty. if men
would cease making paupers of those
Who do their utmost and deserve a bet
er fate And. perhaps, if they would
simply recognize poverty as the deadliest II
blight they could cast upon human life II
md society, self-interest, IL not brotherly u
owe. might call a halt in the reckless
reed and avarice which conspire and
combine to crowd the small trader into
utter darkness" rob the workman of
lis hire, and. as one keen brain COM
,utes it, send ninety-seven out of every
90 American citizens to die penniless
The time is surely coming, remote as
b ~