Denver labor bulletin., 1915-02-13
Nation Could Find Employment
For Every Idle Man
By ARTHUR BRISBANE
In New York Evening journal

II a man owns a farm and five or so
horses he knows that the important
thing is to keep those horses working.
As late in the fall as possible he plows
and harrows, and as early as possible in
the spring he is plowing and narrowing
again.
In the winter time he hauls in cord
wood, hauls out manure, brings in corn
stalks from the distant fields. He knows
the horses must eat. He knows that it
is bad business if they do not work.
The successful farmer, respected by
his neighbors and by himself, is he who
keeps horses, men and everything else
working and producing.
Uncle Sam is farmer. Human beings
are his horses and workers.
And Uncle Sam and those that rep
resent him should be ashamed when the
workers are idle.
They must all eat; they should all
work.
There is plenty of work for them to
do. The country needs roads. The
swamps need to be drained.
Desert places need to be irrigated.
Canals are needed, thousands of miles
of them. And we have standing idle
the machinery just used nt Panama.
1t is a calamity to families un-num-
bcred and disgrace to this country
when hundreds of thousands of men are
idle.
The government ought to own the
ra ilroads and in idle times build new
railroads.
Let 'Em All Work.
The government of this intelligent
country could at least do what is done
by little New Zealand.
In New Zealand, when contracts are
to be let for railroad building and other
government work, the contracts are di-
vided.
Old men who cannot do as much work
as the younger men are allowed to gath
er in groups, undertake n certain amount
of digging. or whatever il may be, and
do what they can do, and get paid for
what they do.
In this country only the youngest and
strongest can get work, and the older
men hover about or go to the barber's
shop and get their hair dyed so they
may not look old. Why not let them
all work?
The farmer works all his horses, old
and young, When they are able to work.
If he has good heart he gives horses
too old to work a good pasture.
We ought to work all our able men,
old and young. And we ought to give
those too old to work and who have
rendered faithful service n pension in
place of the good, old horses pasture.
In New Zealand.
In New Zealand, at time when the
crops need to be moved, the government
stops public work that those engaged
in public work may be driven to the
work of the crops.
And when there are men idle in one
place and men needed in another the
idle go to the place where work is need
ed on the government railroad. II they
get employment they pay for their
transportation with part Of the money
earned. If they can not get employ
ment the government railroad brings
them back, and II doesn't cost them any
thing.
"Paternalism," do you say Common
sense" we say.
ment is that it has been managed by
gentlemen chiefly devoted to getting Of
flee and living up to certain foolish
fetiches of the past.
They have been very fond Of saying,
'sWe must not paupcrizc the people,"
1t isn't pauperizing n man to give
him a chance to work for his living.
These politicians have been very in
genious in discovering ways Of taxing
the people. And when times are hard
and business Is bad they invent new
taxes.
They might just as well use some Of
that wonderful brain power in finding