Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1915-08-26

factories, stores, laundTleS and IN IN
lustrial occupations generally, work at
wages of less than So a week. Ap-
one-fifth earn less than "a
and nearly one-half earn less than IS
a week.
Plight Of the Unde rpaid. III
six dollars a week what does II
can to many? Three theater tickets,
asoline for the week, or the price OF
dinner for two; a pair of shoes, NJ
hree pairs of gloves, or the cost Of an
evening at bridge. To The girl it
leans tha> every penny must be
.ounted, every normal desire stifled
nd each basic nee V,sity OF life bare
satisfied by the sacrifice of some
her necessity. If more food must
had than is given with Is cent
inners, it must be bought with what
hould go for clothes; if there is need
or a new waist to replace the old one
which the forewoman has glanced
'eproac hfully, or at which the girls
ave giggled, there can be no lunches |
or week, and dinners must cost five
:ents less each day Always too the
he room must be paid for, and back
Of it lies the certainty that with slack |
seasons will come lay-offs and dis |
harges. If the breaking point has |
,me, and she must have some amuse- |
'nent, where can it come from? Sure |
y not out of six dollars week.
Last of all are the children, for
whose petty addition to the stream of
production the nation is paying a
heavy toll in ignorance, deformity of
body or mind, and premature old age.
, After all, does it matter much what
/ they are paid, for all experience has
shown that in the end the fathers
wages are reduced by about the
amount that the children earn. This
is the so-called family wage and
examination of the wages in differ
emit industries corroborates the theory
that in those industries, such as tex
tiles, where wome nand children can
be largely utilized, the wages of men
are extremely low.
The competitive effect of the en-
ployment of women and children upon
the wages of men, can scarcely be.
lfoverestimated. Surely it is hard
enough to be, forced to put children
] to work, without having to see the
wages OF men held down by their en-
ployment.
This is the condition at one end of
4
"Massed in Millions, at the other
end Of the social scale, are fortunes of
size nevear before dreamt Of whose
yer yowners do not know the extent.
nor without the aid of an intelligent
clerk, even the sources of their in
comes. incapable of being spent in
any leg1tlmate manner, these fortunes
ar burdens, which can only be squand-
ereo, hoarded, put into so-called 'bene-
factlons, which for the most part CON
stltute menace to the state, or put
Dack into the industrial machine to
pile up ever-increasing mountains OF
gold.
\ Rewards Only For Service.
4 IN many cases, no. doubt, these
huge fortunes have come in whole or
N part, as Their ich reward of excep-
,lonal service. None would deny or
envy him who has performed such
service the richest of rewards, al
-hough one may question the ideals
I nation which rewards exceptional
service only by burdensome fortunes
out such reward can be claimed as a
ght only by those who have perform
ed service, not by those who through
lrelat1onshi pOr mere parasitfsm chance
o be designated as heirs.
Legal rightd of course, they have
by virtue of the law of inheritance,
winch, however, runs counter to the
whole theory of American society, and
which was adopted. with important
variations from the English law with
out any conception Of its ultimate re
suits and apparently with the idea
that it would prevent exactly the con
ditionS which has arisen
Inheritance Law Condemned.
In effect the American law of in
heitance Is as efficient for the estab
lishemnt and maintenance of families
as the English law, which has bull
warked the British aristrocracy
through the centuries. Every year, in
deed, sees this tendency increase, as
the Grafton Of estates in trust Sc
cures the ends which might be, more
simply reached, if there we're no pro-
hibition Of entail
According to the income tax re
turns for ten months of 1914, there
are in the United States 1898 for
tunes yielding an income of 100000
per year or over. Practically all of
these fortunes are so invested and
hedged about with restrictions upon
expenditure. that they are, to all In
tnts and purposes, perpet-ities.
IAN analysis of fifty of the largest
american fortunes shows that nearly
laR have already passed to the con-
rol Of heirs or to trustees their vice
.egentsJ, and that the remainder will
! pass to the control of heirs within, 20
years upon the deaths Of the found
ers.' Already. indeed, these founders
have almost without exception retired
rom activ service, leaving the man
agemeat eRtensIbly to their heirs, but
actually to executive efieias upon
salary.
Soc Striking Figures.
We. have, according to the income
tax returns, A families, with incomes
Of $1s00D.000 or more, whose members
perform little or no useful service, but
whose aggregate incomes, totaiIjng at
the least fifty millions per year, are
equivaentt o the earnings Of 100000
$500.
limb; sQwimforlh ETAoTNETAdoNN'l