The toiler. [volume] (Cleveland, Ohio) 1919-1922, 1920-02-27
The Black Sheep.|


the convict and the preacher bad rent
the veil of her temple, and revealed
to her what she called the soul of
the world. The more she thought OF
what Jack had said, the clearer she
could see the cross of exploitation
lying upon the shoulders of Labor; the
clearer did she behold the sad and
tortured face of Christ in the toling
masses of mankind. 1t caused her to,
wrestle with two great concepts of
duty, one of which was to her parents
and the people to whose class she be-
longed, in which case she had to make
herself content with the world and it's
ways, or she had to defy the laws and
rules of that world and dedicate her life
to struggle such as Jack was waging
to make the world what she thought
1t to be. OF course this desire was
utopian. She did not realize that the
very mob for which she would sacrifice
herself, in the hour of her bitterest
need, might turn upon her and rend
her limb from limb, as they did tc
Hypatia. That they might burn her at
the stake as they did Joan of Arc.
These things did not occur to her. She
knew that she had to make choice
between the worshippers of the cross,
and the followers of the Christ And
she desired to choose the latter believ.
ing sincerely that her god man, Jesus,
was the incarnation of the good and
the useful. in human kind. And she
was right. Early christianity was a
labor movement or rather was planted
In the labor movement already in exist
ence. She did not know these things.
She only felt them.
Olive Anderson was laboring under
a delusion. She thot that she was
choosing the side of labor, in reality
she was choosing Jack. She looked at
the world thru him. She measured
labor and its problems by the big
blonde boy, she had seen in an iron
cage. All she knew. of the vast me-
chanism Of production were steel
grey eyes and roughish smile. His
logic appealed to her brain; but he
appealed to her SEX Olive the thinker,
really wanted justice done for Justice
sake, but Olive, the woman, saw the
boy first and as back ground to him
the masses of mankind
Thus she wrestled all night. In the
morning she came down stairs with
heavy eyes, her father greeted her
with the information that he had
heard Of her activity in the boys
behalf. lie told her that she had StSs|y
very indescreetly, that she dindn 4 n
know the boy, that there was a good
chance that he was nothing but CON-
mon criminal. He further told her chat
he would call up the preacher and tell
him that he would "knock his block
or If he ever sent his daughter
again, "to peddle church junk to buns
III the can" At this his wife took
violent issue. It was Olives duty to
visit those in prison and preach the
word to them and if her husband
wanted to live the life of heathcn
that was his affair, but her daughter
was going to be a christian and preach
the word.
BUT when Olive asked her to 90
with her to the Judge and to Small
head and get this boy out, then tie
mother Immediately changed her tune.
= EVIL doers have to be punished bnt
while they are punished we must preach
to them. To which the girl replied, that
mother seemed to be glad that there
was some one in jail to preach to. She
tcld her that christian actions were
better than christian words. That it
was her idea that the best way in
which she could show her christianity
was to tell the people of the wrongs
they were committing and to restore
the boy to liberty.
Of all this the mother would have
nothing. She would 90 and pray with
an innocent man condemned to death
by corrupt judge, but would not do
thing to stay the hangman 8 hand.
Her creed was not to concern oneself
with the affairs Of this world except
to get what was necessary to eat and
wear by legally approved methods
That is the reason she had taken an
infidsl for a husband. She had never
agreed with this views on theology
but was thoroly agreed with his me-
thods of bringing home tho bacon
The truth was she only ate the bacon
and did not concern herself about its
origin. The origin Of things were
mystery to her. She was only con.
cerncd with their destiny, and the
destiny Of the things Gus Anderson
brot home, was his wife's back, her
stomach or her church. She concerned
herself much about the heather in1
caina. She could tell long tales Of
their poverty, their ignorance and
their superstition, caused by a bad
government and a worse keligion. But
she knew nothing Of the poverty on
alkali flat, caused by tho machiua.
tions Of her husband in the real estate
business. When It came to misery her
philosophy was, that distance lends
an. la xl..t.. A.. ~