The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1916-02-26
BY SENATOR. RICHARD JONES.

Gladstone said that, it is the proper
function of government to make it
easy for men to do right and diff
cult for them to do wrong.
This does not mean, that big, strong
men, able! to work, and willing to
work. should be: the objects Of char
ity handed down to those who, live
in the blouse of Have to those who
live in the blouse of Want" It
means that men and women should
have the opportunity to develop the
best. that is in them, untrammeled
by tyrants and oppressors; free from
the blight of poverty and the curse of
economic PRESSURE -
We are creatures of enviroum ent.
Ordinarily we. act and thfffk IS our
economic interests impel us. Paul
is his epistle to the Philippians eau
lions them against Hooking each to
their own things, and not to the
things of Others" The message of
the lowly Nazarene was social. His
message went straight home to the
common people who heard him
gladly. He realized that the public
welfare overshadowed the rights of
the individual. 49,. p. ::
Some Old superstitfons.
At this time the mentally defective
were thought to be possessed with
devils and those afflicted with dis
ease as incurable, and they were left
to shift as best they could, begging
what they might on the highways
and byways. Such was the attitude
of society towards these unfortunate
people Of 1000 years ago.
But the attitude is changed today.
Society recognizes a duty to those
who fall martyrs to the present false
economic system and we attempt to
perform that duty by placing them
in public institptions under the care
of servants of the state, and we try
to make them as happy as we can.
Life is a struggle for existence.
hundreds OF thousands annually go
down-swallowed in the vortex of
commercialism. The race is to the
swift and the battle to the strong.
In New York City one out Of every
twelve persons that die is buried in
the potters' field, or turned over to
physicians for dissection. Nearly
one-th1rd of the male workers of 10
years and over in American factories
earn less than $1,000 per week. In
our basic industries the workers are
out of employment on an average at
least |one-fifth of the year.
Nearly three-fourths Of the women
workers in factories, stores and
laundries work at wages of less than
50 per week: one-f1fth earn less than
81, and nearly one-half earn less than
Sc per week.
Our Modern Ways.
In the families of the working
class, 81 per cent of the mothers are
at work and consequently unable to
give their children more than scant
attention.
In the 10 years from 1900 to 1910.
tenant-operated farms have increased
from % to 81 in every 100 in the
United States = I ssr 49,, =.
A commission appointed by con-
gress, after an exhaustive investiga-
ton, comes out boldly and declares
that the chief cause Of social unrest
Is the unjust distribution of wealth
and the denial Of an opportunity to
earn living. That two per cent of
the people own so per cent Of the
wealth, while IS per cent of the peo-
pie, the poorer classes, own but five
per cent Of the wealth.
The problems that confront US are
no longer to be regarded as individ-
ual but as social problems. The rapid
growth of population and that COM
plexity of these problems, make it
imperative that we look at them and