The twice-a-week Twin Falls times. (Twin Falls, Idaho) 1916-1918, 1918-01-08
c. /. LONGLEY, General Manager
$500 PER YEAR IN ADVANCE
ENDING THE BREAD LINE

The International News story of the
ending OF the "breadline" at several
of the famous "haudout' resorts in
New York City published in the
TIMES Thursday. is of more import
than may at first appear and teaches /
a lesson which only criminal negli- /
gence and folly viii prevent the /
American people from learning and
retaining. The Bowery Mission and
the Fleischman Baking company each
maintained a breadline for nearly
forty years. And now. for the first
time, there is nobody in line
The explanation given is simple
1.-The men who formerly depended
almost wholly on the breadline have
taken up work of those who should
cred the rifle. War depleted labor
ed forces. Work was more plentiful
and the men of the breadline proved
they would work if work was to be
had. Many were broken in health,
but the jobs were varied There was
employment for all. And so it comes
about that one of the most famous in
situations ever established. simply ex-
pires for want of patronage" /
The really significant and pathetic
fact is that it is now proven that the
men were in the breadline, not be-
cause they were lazy. or dishonest,
but because they could not get work
to do. They were not there from
choice How many men of affluence,
living in ease on the unearned in /
crement produced by community /
growth have slandered these poor
fellows, by charging they could get
plenty of work if they wanted it?
Perhaps stripped of their advantages,
these same critics would have them /
selves stood in the breadline.
We are not censuring the critics, /
who may have too readily accepted
the theory that they we're superior to
the men in the line In so doing they
display very human characteristics
Neither do we wish to appeal to SEN
timentality of the "sob-sister" kind.
or to weep over past wrongs or err
rors. What we do wish to call at
tention to is the fact that when it is
proven that the majority of men, even
wn-and-outers' will work if they
get the right sort of chances; and
when, as a result of this salutary
tendency and disposition on their part
the breadline has been abolished, it
will be an economic crime and sin
against civilization to permit its re-
establishment if it can be avoided
There are doubtless men New York
who will not work under any circum-
stances That is true to some extent
everywhere. 1t is not true and never
has been true to the extent that many
imagine, who lightly accept every
flippant statement. After all, this
element is negligible. The end of the
breadline teaches us that
For long time there was a theory
extant in this country that there was
something inherent in the Latin
American which made him utterly
shiftless and dirty Major General
William c. Gorgas, U. S. A., on his
return from Panama where he waged
successful war on yellow fever said
he had found a sovereign remedy for
this trouble: it consisted in paying
living wage to the Latin-American |
and giving him plenty of work. He
said:
Science knows that the chief cause
of disease is poverty-that disease
can never he eliminated so long as
people are forced to live poorly and
close together. In Panama we were
able to eliminte poverty. The govern
ment doubled our wages Poverty
vanished and with it disease. How
can we eliminate poverty? I'm not a
Socialist nor a Single Taxer, or any
thing radical politically. But one So
luton is throwing open the unused
lands of the country. It should not |
matter If one man owned the whole |
of the United States so long as he |
kept 1t worked. But it is dangerous |
when one man owns a great deal of |
land and permits IL to remain unoc-
cupied If the congested city popula- !
lions could be turned into this vast
space a great part of our disease
problems would be solved"
The suggestions as to the cure of
disease and poverty by the surgeon
general of the United States, whose
experience has been practical. is
worthy of consideration in figuring on
the way to keep the bread line abol-
ished.