The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-08-03
Priest Urge'Nanufacturers To Organize H r Betterment Of, Mems Living Conditions
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even excluding that, say, the man or the family must be looked upon, at least, as a business proposition.
 'Tn business a man. pays out or his gross receipts the material labor, re- pairs These payments are known as running or up-lkeep expenses. Then from what is left he pays out the 1n- surance, interests and depreciation or his property.
 i Having paid all necessary expenses of doing business, out of the profit dividends are paid, improvements and ext ensions of plant are provided for. "Finally a careful business man in- creases the stability of his business by adding something to his surplus.
 Now take man of the family. He also pays from the total family in- come the family running expenses, ] food, clothing, housing, medicine. From the remainder, he takes interest on the investment made in bringing up and educating himself; insurance against all contingencies such as sick ness, death, accident, unemployment and sum of depreciation in his old age.
 The remainder net income should be sufficient for the workman to pay himself dividends proportionate to the great risks which he runs in bringing up a family for the country; it should be sufficient to add at least something i to the surplus which the family lays i aside to provide for births, deaths, or prolonged illness. G
 "A business man who conducts business on a basis that pays only the ulp-keep, would be considered as men, tally unbalanced, and yet the major l ity of workmen are forced to conduct 1 their family business on a basis that will not pay reasonable running ex- 1 penses. The legitimate fixed charges, l expenses, interest, and depreciation are far above the reach of most work
 men. The ordinary workman is thank full if he can pay his bills. Dividends I are luxury of which he seldom dreams
 1 "In short, the present system of wage is fixed by competition and mon cpoly and, considering the high rent 1 and other necessities of life, it fails to provide fc~ the business needs of the i family and of it's social needs. It lseems, there is at present one practi- l cal remedy to heal that wound of the workingmen. The land in which we live is sufficient to feed the whole l world. Instead of wasting our time, energy and money in devising means i to prevent >agitations and strikes that
 would paralyze our industries, why not devise means by combined effort I of all manufacturers to utilize the l natural resources and the soil and 2 thus to force the necessities of life to I come down to a level where our work mems envelope would be able to meet them and be prosperous besides? I am 1 sure that there is no man or group of men in the city of Bridgeport who ] would care to fight for the increase of wage if the market value or what he tearns in proportion to the necessities
 of life would put him on a basis of an
 ordinary business man.
 t"The second wound of the unrest is
 environment It is .on1y a natural consequence that low wage in propor- ton to the high cost of the necessities
 of life, breeds, necessarily, low wage Ienvironment. The environment is one I of three influences that are making lones character for life. The first is l the home influence, the second is the I school, the third is the environment. 'The chief factor which enters into
 environment is the economic factor. The income of a family determines its place of living, it's manner of living,
 and dts view of the interpretation of life. That environment influenced by
 the economical condition is so strong
 
 or misfortune to rise or fall from one
 to another class of environment, an
 entirely changed set of opinions he
 has about almost every matters that
 vitally concerns society. He no longer holds the opinions he had while a
 member of the other class, but un- consciously assumes the mental color and holds the class flag of his new
 fellows. The environment, good or
 bad not only has its moral influence
 on the character of man, but even well.
 Now, what is there we can improve in the environment of the working i men? In the first place, there are un- restricted liquor licenses in the thickly
 populated sections. It is injustice to the workingmen. his wife and chil- dren, to be surrounded with so many temptations. In time of industrial de- pression he feels the Restitution that he and his family are facing, and fre- quently seeks relief in drink In times
 of prosperity, being tied down without respite for the same number of hours
 to the same mechanical work every working day of his life, it is easy for
 him to be tempted by the dangers that surround him on every corner, and when released at last from his toll, he
 seeks compensation in strong stimu- lants.
 Unusual moral energy is required for the strong will not to yield under such circumstances, especially when his physical condition craves for
 stimulants. I highly respect the free dom of everybody. But believe that the injustice done to the human free dom arising from the prohibition can never measure up to the injustice al- l ready existing in thousands and thou sands of homes of the wor}ingmer under the present system.
 "In the environment of the work. { ingman next, comes his housing con. dition. A home of the working peo. 4 pie should not be a mere shelter, z \ place to eat and sleep. It should bt the most sacred spot on earth wher. the family hearth is continually re
 minded of the childhoods joys ana < happiness. To encourage and devis, \ means to help the work1ngman to ow1 s their own homes, is to encourage ant help their efficiency and loyalt, 8 towards their employers. knov H many instances where the rents O Il the workingmen during the last yea have been doubled. With high rents high cost of living, but especially witt ? vacant'1and and lots held for specula