South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1919-11-18
Hard Times for the Rich
BY The Duchess of Westminster

LONDON. Nov 17.-No one is
more anxious than am to welcome
such a dawn as the Duke Of suther-
land orecasts-and no one is more
alive TO the fact that il can only
be brought nearer BY the rich and
the poor striving 20 understand
each other
The day has gone when the peer
age was a thing apart. when there
was a great gulf between the aris-
tocracy on the one hand and the
masses on the other. In the old
days were dependent on the rich.
The day IS coming when the rich
vii have 20 realize that If they are
not dependent on the poor there
Is at least an equal dependence on
both sides
am convinced that 1t is only
by those who have money making
a real effort 10 understand the diff
culties Of those who have not that
We shall ever establish more har-
monious relations.
Rich people DO not realize what
il means 10 be without the countless
Injuries which are commonplace 10
them but which are beyond the
dreams OF innumerable of their fell
low creatures. Some are being
forced 10 realize IL more now,
though.
To understand the life Of the poor
is for the rich no easy matter. They
have every luxury from babyhood
upwards. and have never tasted
life in the raw, without its soft rap
pings. If they had feelings toward
poverty it would be very different.
I think il is the duty of Us whose
lines are cast in pleasant places TO
teach our children ths< there are
others who never have the good
times the themselves enjoy.
A Difficult Task.
1t is no easy matter. To drive
home TO a chiId who has always
been waited on. always Jared soft
~, always had his ponies. dogs and
everything else he wanted, and
teach him that other children are
often hungry cold. overworked. is
| not so simple as it sounds. But
there are little ways in which it can
be done; and it should be done.
In little ways one can teach small
favorites of the Gods TO realize pow
/ erty. Now that my own daughters
! are older I can impress on them
/ that they ought to see some of the
dark side Of other peoples lives.
OF course, one does not want &c
| sadden childhood, which should be
a happy time. But the younger
years are the plastic years. and it is
| then that the lesson of consideration
and sacrifice for others can be mos
lastingly taught.
II may be argued that since the
I war it is the rich who need the
/ sympathy and not the poor, thai
| the poor We're never better off. II
is not a sound argument at the
best of times, and even if it were
the difference between hard times
for the rich and hard times for the
poor is immeasurab bic.
I quite admit that the war
! brought uneXampled prosperity 10
the working classes. When the wal
broke out everyone anticipated that
the poor would suffer horribly. and
the Prince OF Wales opened a spe
cial fund on their behalf to which
] enormous sums were subscribed.
Artificial Prosperity.
But with separation allowance.
\ coming in regularly in familie!
where the father was fighting
abundant employment at higl
wages TO those left behind. and tn,
/ restriction of drinking, many, many
/ households were in clover for foul
/ years. ] even read the other dav
that the big surplus left from TIT
4 Prince Of Wales fund is being de
voted TO the help of disabled Off
, GERS who cannot find suitable jobs
This prosperity. however, was ar
7 tificial. and the days of artificial
I plenty are over. We are being sol
EMMY warned that we can no long
I or spend freely; that, in order {,
pay back our debts we must prac
tice thrift with a big T.
Next winter will be a hard on,
/ for everybody-even for those VIII,