Evening star., 1922-12-17
BY THOMAS II. MARSHALL.
Former Vice President OF the
United States.

w L are gravely told that
NN/ unskilled work m n
should be paid a wage
which is inadequate to
enable them to support a wife and
child. This suggests that society
does not need or wish children OF
such sires. and. inferentially, that
these children, II not nuisances.
are at best source OF worry and
vexation.
The old-fashioned man who read
Apostle PauTs diatribes against
marriage no doubt was impressed
with the logic of the apostles ar
gument upon this much vexed So
cial relation, until and unless he
happened to see the one fair Wom-
an beneath the sun, whereupon
most likely he straightway cast
the bumped backed Paul into the
discard, Notwithstanding the canon
Of holy Scripture was rent in
twain. 1t is lucky that all men
are not compelled to face the ques-
ton Of marriage from the stand
point of whether they can afford
a wife and children.
The new gospel limits the inhlbi-
tion solely to the unskilled wage
Garner 1t is difficult to under
stand this limitation. One Won
ders whether il is based upon the
welfare of the present or the well
fare of the future. Any man who
is happily married Will give the
subject only smiling glance. He
who is unhappily married may give
his assent as did the Englishman
to the formula that marriages
would be happier if they were all
made by the lord chancellor. But
this new pronouncement in the
social and economic life OF the
public deserves more than smile
or a sneer.
If there ever was a time when
need of plain men to do plain work
existed this is the day. Unskilled
labor. conscientiously performed.
is at a premium. Many men who
claim to be skilled workmen in
fact are not. To deny this would
be toying with the truth. The i'm
provement in machinery has made
the so-called skilled workman,
literally speaking, half skilled and
half machine. Whether we have
been educating the people or not I
do not say, but from innumerable
plugs we have been turning upon
them the noZZles of education and
at least wetting them down with
information.
often have wondered whether
much is TO be gained by training
q man with a natural bent toward
chicken stealing for the more
rcmunerative profession of forgery.
1t may be that in the development Of
Americas wonderful inventive
genius discoveries Will yet be
made as will enable US to do all
the worlds work by machinery. In
that happy day, 1t is to be hoped
that men who operate the ma
chinery will be sufficiently skilled
as to justify their receiving wages
sufficient to justify marriage and
the rearing of families. But as yet
there are things left in life that
must be done by the hand Of man
unframed to follow any specific
vocation. This fact ought to be
complete justification for this
kind of a man. Are we to have a
social and economic arrange
ment that will forbid in 4 democ-
racy the existence of such a man?
Is it the hope that when the pres
ent unskilled workman dies child
less civilization will have ad-
vanced so far as not to need his
successor?
* X X
This may be q new Utopia. but it
would be unsafe to await it's ar
rival. We might find ourself bank
rupt and starving. The theory
might do for monarchy, but il
is not consistent with a democ-
racy where we prate about the
rights of man to life, liberty and
the pursuit OF happiness. Indeed.
it might with equal propriety be
suggested that anybody that does
not meet the requirements of life
In any particular shall be deprived