Jh 
 
 (A 
 
^L*^ 
 
 ONE THOUSAND 
 
 DOLLARS A DAY. 
 
 STUDIES IiN 
 PRACTICAL ECONOMICS. 
 
 BY 
 
 ADELINE KNAPP. 
 
 1894: 
 
 THE ARENA PUBLISHING COMPANY, 
 COPLEY SQUARE, BOSTON, MASS. 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1894, BY ADELINE KNAPF. 
 [All rights reserved.] 
 
DEDICATED 
 
 TO THE 
 
 THOUGHTFUL MEN AND WOMEN 
 OF AMERICA. 
 
 736933 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION , 
 
 ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS A DAY; 
 
 A FINANCIAL EXPERIMENT 11 
 
 THE SICK MAN; 
 
 A FABLE FOR GROWN-UP BOYS AND GIRLS . 42 
 
 THE DISCONTENTED MACHINE; 
 
 AN ECONOMIC STUDY 73 
 
 GETTING AHEAD; 
 
 A SKETCH FROM LIFE 101 
 
 THE EARTH SLEPT; 
 
 A VISION 125 
 
I^TRODLTCTIOX. 
 
 It seems to me that the accom- 
 panying little sketches are timely. 
 A deal of thinking must be clone 
 by all classes of people before any 
 solution is attempted of the prob- 
 lems in economics that are press- 
 ing upon us, and any factor that 
 will help turn the general mind to 
 this unwonted exercise may be 
 termed a useful one. 
 
 There is one sketch for which I 
 wish to make a special plea. 
 * The Discontented Machine " has 
 been criticised as teaching a false 
 principle in economics. 
 
 We are told that never before in 
 the history of the world did labor 
 absorb so great a proportion of the 
 gains that would otherwise accrue 
 
'6 " : : ilHfa?OD UCTION. 
 
 to eapitu : l: : It- is claimed that fully 
 ninety per cent, of the entire 
 income of the United States is 
 paid for wages and salaries. 
 
 On the other hand, it must be 
 stated that the individual laborer is 
 worse off to-day, in this free coun- 
 try, than he was twenty, or even 
 ten years ago. The census returns 
 of 1880 showed the average wage 
 among laborers in the United 
 States to be less than $7 per week. 
 The returns of 1890 show that 
 wage to be less than $5 per week. 
 
 And yet we are told that labor 
 absorbs ninety per cent, of the in- 
 come of the United States. This 
 is an enormous percentage to flow 
 in one direction, and seems ample 
 refutation of the laborer's claim 
 that even at this rate he does not 
 get enough. 
 
TNTE OD UCTION. 7 
 
 This leads to the question 
 whether the laborer really does get 
 his share of return from the results 
 of his labor, and in w The Discon- 
 tented Machine " I have tried to 
 show a very curious phase of this 
 question, and one which I do not 
 remember to have seen touched 
 upon elsewhere. 
 
 Wages are supposed to be ad- 
 justed, in the long run, to that 
 which among a people is custom- 
 arily requisite for the perpetuation 
 of life, and the propagation of the 
 species, according to the standard 
 of living among that people. This 
 is called " The Law of Wages." 
 It means, put very plainly, and 
 according to La Salle, that the 
 income of labor must always dance 
 around the outside rim of that 
 which, according to the standard of 
 
8 INTE OD UCTIOX. 
 
 each age, belongs to the necessary 
 maintenance of life. 
 
 Now the point raised is this: 
 That under the so-called law of 
 wages, the wage laborer is not 
 really paid anything for himself. 
 Judged from a purely commercial 
 standpoint, labor gets its wage; 
 but what does the laborer get? 
 
 In every manufacturing business 
 the wear and tear, original cost and 
 cost of repair, of machinery, etc., 
 are taken out of the gross receipts 
 of the business. Now labor, in 
 the eyes of the employer, is sim- 
 ply an adjunct, as the machines are 
 adjuncts, to the business. As these 
 require, for their successful opera- 
 tion, certain expenditures for coal, 
 oil, gearing, and the like, so labor 
 requires for its successful opera- 
 tion, certain expenditures for food, 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 shelter, clothing, which are, so to 
 speak, labor's coal, oil, and gear- 
 ing. These expenditures, for 
 which a wage is paid to labor, " in 
 order that it may live," are regu- 
 lated by the law of wages as stated 
 above. They represent exactly 
 what will enable labor to perform 
 its function, and the amount re- 
 quired for them is charged to labor 
 out of the gross receipts of the 
 business, just as the items of ma- 
 chinery expense are deducted from 
 those receipts. For himself, over 
 and above his labor's bill of expense, 
 the laborer gets nothing. 
 
 It may be that he is entitled to 
 nothing. This condition of affairs 
 may be only his misfortune. It 
 certainly cannot be said to be his 
 employer's fault that in delivering 
 the commodity in which he deals 
 
1 INTE OD UCTION. 
 
 labor the laborer must de- 
 liver himself as well. This is the 
 tragic phase of the whole situation. 
 Labor, the power to perform, is the 
 man himself; so that in offering 
 his commodity, the working man 
 must offer, as well, himself, with 
 all his human rights and endow- 
 ments. He does this literally, but 
 in reality it is only his commodity 
 that is wanted, only this that is paid 
 for. The human being himself is a 
 superfluous consideration, and an 
 inconvenient one. 
 
 And as for him? He waits, 
 asking his question, now softly, 
 now with clamoring insistence ; but 
 he, too, along with the others, must 
 do a deal of thinking before any 
 tangible solution to his problem is 
 presented. ADELINE RNAPP. 
 
 San Francisco, CaL, 1894. 
 
ONE THOUSAOT) DOLLAES 
 A DAY. 
 
 A FINANCIAL EXPERIENCE. 
 
 f Yes," said the anti-poverty 
 orator, "what we require is an 
 equitable distribution of the world's 
 wealth. The bloated bond-holder, 
 the idle, white-handed aristocrat 
 and the politician who rob the 
 people, must all go. We want such 
 a distribution of the money and 
 wealth of the land as will make 
 every man independent of his 
 neighbor. Then the world will 
 really prosper, but not until then 
 will we see an end of poverty and 
 misery, and the never-ending strug- 
 gle that is driving men to despera- 
 tion and women to perdition ! " 
 
 ' Time for us to go," whispered 
 n 
 
12 ONE THOUSAND 
 
 Carroll Burton's companion just at 
 this juncture. "He'll begin to 
 wave the red flag in a minute, and 
 then there'll be an anarchistic pow- 
 wow. This meeting always ends 
 in a rumpus," and together the two 
 young men forced their way 
 through the crowd and out upon 
 the street. 
 
 Dale, Burton's friend, was in- 
 clined to poke a little quiet fun at 
 him for the attention he had given 
 the ranting speaker. * These fel- 
 lows have each an infallible scheme 
 for setting the world straight," he 
 said, w and no two are alike. Be- 
 tween you and me, anyway," he 
 added, "the world's a good deal 
 better than the ranters would have 
 us think. Why, give these fellows 
 one thousand dollars a day apiece 
 and they wouldn't be satisfied." 
 
DOLLARS A DAY. 13 
 
 But Burton was not in the mood 
 for laughing. His reason told him 
 how specious were the arguments 
 of the anti-poverty speaker and 
 how preposterous were the ideas 
 he advanced regarding an equitable 
 division of the world's wealth, but 
 he could not tonight, as he had 
 frequently done before, shake off 
 the conviction that our present 
 industrial system is out of joint. 
 
 "It don't seem right/' he mut- 
 tered to himself, as he stood wait- 
 ing for his car, after bidding Dale 
 good-night, and saw the carriage 
 of a well-known millionaire dash 
 along the street and nearly run 
 down a poor little shivering wretch 
 of a news-boy, who, hurling a curse 
 in a shrill, piping voice after the 
 driver of the carriage, was only 
 answered by a stinging blow from 
 
14 ONE THOUSAND 
 
 the latter's long lash. One or two 
 by-standers laughed. " The young 
 imps," said one carelessly, w 'twould 
 be well if they were all run over 
 and killed. They'll only grow up 
 into hoodlums and fill our jails 
 later. What other chance have 
 they?" 
 
 "It isn't right," Burton concluded. 
 "We can't have perfect equality 
 of conditions, but such glaring 
 inequalities as that ought not to 
 exist in a free country ; " and swing- 
 ing aboard his car he was soon 
 speeding homeward. 
 
 Next morning he was awakened 
 much earlier than usual by the 
 sound of unwonted cries under his 
 window. " Have all the newsboys 
 in town come into this one block?" 
 he asked himself. : ' What are they 
 saying, anyway?" 
 
DOLLAES A DAY. 15 
 
 Listening a moment the cry took 
 definite shape. 
 
 w Extra Leader, five cents; all 
 about the money distribution ! " 
 
 "What's that?" wondered Bur- 
 ton. " Have the anti-poverty peo- 
 ple carried their idea?" 
 
 Dressing himself, he descended 
 into the street and directed his 
 footsteps to the restaurant where 
 he was accustomed to breakfast. 
 Incidentally he bought a paper, 
 and glancing at the first page was 
 filled with wonder at what he saw 
 recorded. 
 
 To sum up in a few words the 
 story to which the paper devoted 
 two whole pages, with blazing 
 headlines: the anti-poverty ele- 
 ment, who, since the last election, 
 Burton knew, had been in a large 
 majority in both houses, had at last 
 
16 ONE THOUSAND 
 
 carried the point for which they 
 had long been working namely, 
 the division among the people of 
 the enormous output from the 
 great Golconda mines in Arizona. 
 These mines being situated on 
 government lands, the anti-pov- 
 erty party had from the first con- 
 tended that they were the property 
 of the government that is, of the 
 people and, having grown suffi- 
 ciently strong to put the matter 
 through, they had at last, by Act 
 of Congress, secured the distribu- 
 tion among the people of the fabu- 
 lous sums that had accumulated 
 since the opening of the mines. 
 The coinage had been greatly in- 
 creased since the discovery of this 
 great supply, but despite this fact, 
 money had been in no freer circu- 
 lation than before, and on every 
 
DOLLARS A DAY. 17 
 
 hand complaints of hard times 
 were heard, while the gold coin in 
 the government treasury was piled 
 ceiling high in the great vaults, 
 and the question of what to do 
 with it was becoming a serious 
 one. 
 
 Now, by Act of Congress, it was 
 to be equally divided among the 
 people. For the present, and un- 
 til the accumulated hoard should 
 be reduced, every man and woman 
 in the country over eighteen years 
 old was to receive one thousand 
 dollars a day. 
 
 Burton read the account incred- 
 ulously. It was too preposterous 
 to be true. If that were done 
 Great Heavens ! Why, he was one 
 of the people ! He, Carroll Burton, 
 would be entitled to a thousand 
 dollars per day. Ah! if it could 
 
18 ONE THOUSAND 
 
 but be true, what a plum it would 
 be. Joe should go to college, his 
 old mother back East, why, both 
 Joe and his mother would each 
 have a thousand dollars a day as 
 well as himself. Pshaw! It was 
 only a newspaper fake. Yet they 
 would hardly dare. Those Gol- 
 conda mines were said to be inex- 
 haustible. He remembered hear- 
 ing a great city capitalist say, some 
 time before, that if the government 
 did not close them up soon, money 
 would become a drug in the mar- 
 ket and capital would be crippled. 
 At the restaurant the only 
 theme of conversation was the 
 great new act. Few credited it 
 it so staggered belief. Later in 
 the day, however, proclamations 
 were out on every bulletin board 
 and dead wall in the city. The 
 
DOLLARS A DAY. 19 
 
 act had really passed. Every state, 
 county, township and city was to 
 be districted, and on the first day 
 of June every American citizen 
 above eighteen years of age would, 
 upon calling at the distributing 
 station in his or her ward, receive 
 the sum of one thousand dollars 
 daily until further notice. 
 
 The first of June was only 
 three days off, which was fortu- 
 nate for the people, as, while every 
 one made a pretense of being busy, 
 very little besides talk was accom- 
 plished in any of the places of busi- 
 ness, excitement running so high 
 that no one could settle down to 
 work. 
 
 Early on the first day of June, 
 Burton found himself one of a 
 great crowd waiting at the door of 
 the distributing center of the 
 
20 ONE THOUSAND 
 
 th ward, which in this case 
 
 was one of the chief banks of the 
 city, all of whose employees were 
 busy paying out piles of beautiful 
 bright gold to all comers. 
 
 The crowd was a very silent 
 one. Burton wondered why, until 
 he suddenly realized that he, him- 
 self was silent oppressed and feel- 
 ing almost solemn at the wonderful 
 event that was taking place. The 
 people took their gold, glanced at 
 it, signed a receipt for it and re- 
 tired at once, some furtively count- 
 ing the piles as they went, some 
 affecting indifference, others open- 
 ly exulting in the shining twenties 
 as they walked along gazing at 
 them. 
 
 When it came Burton's turn he 
 received fifty broad gold $20 
 pieces more gold than he had 
 
DOLLARS A DAY. 21 
 
 ever before owned. 'You know 
 there'll be as much for you to-mor- 
 row," the paying teller said as 
 Burton signed his receipt, and 
 Carroll was so awe-stricken at the 
 idea that he could only nod with- 
 out speaking. Then he fell back 
 to watch the crowd. Poor widows, 
 wondering young men and maid- 
 ens, prosperous business men, busi- 
 ness men whom he knew to be 
 tottering on the brink of ruin, 
 hard-handed workmen, pompous 
 millionaires, writers, mechanics, 
 ministers, college professors, 
 every class and grade of the body 
 social, was represented in turn as 
 the people filed up to the window. 
 After a while Burton turned and 
 went to his place of business a 
 commission office, where he spent 
 eight and a half hours every day 
 
22 ONE 
 
 in adding rows of figures and car- 
 rying results from page to page 
 in a complex system of "book- 
 keeping by double-entry/' to ac- 
 quire which he had years ago 
 attended a business college. Every 
 one about the place was jubilant. 
 Even the errand-boy, a chuckle- 
 headed lad just turned eighteen, 
 had drawn a thousand dollars, and 
 was already, in expectation, draw- 
 ing another cool thousand on the 
 morrow, and succeeding morrows. 
 Business throve that day, in all 
 its branches. Men who, the day 
 before, had been seeking extended 
 time on small accounts, now came 
 in to pay up and make new pur- 
 chases. Men who had never 
 bought in their line came forward 
 as purchasers. In all departments 
 of trade money was plentiful ; peo- 
 
DOLLARS A DAY. 23 
 
 pie bought freely and everybody 
 was happy as the day is long. 
 
 A second distribution the next 
 day gave another impetus to the 
 market. ff IS"ow," said Burton to 
 himself, when at noon he had a 
 breathing spell, ^ we can begin to 
 live. I'm going to treat myself to 
 one of Reading's wheels and take 
 an occasional spin into the coun- 
 try." 
 
 'Yes," said the man whom he 
 addressed, an old forty-niner, 
 'there'll be good times now. 
 Haven't seen anything like this 
 since f the days of old, the days of 
 gold,' and so forth. Why its reg- 
 ular diggings times again." The 
 day passed by. Every one was in 
 good spirits, buying everything 
 he wanted. 
 
 It is curious to note how quickly 
 
24 ONE THOUSAND 
 
 we become accustomed to pleasant 
 things. Carroll drew his thousand 
 dollars on the morning of the third 
 day, quite as a matter of course, and 
 even felt that 'twas not such a very 
 great matter after all . ** I wish they'd 
 give it to me all in a lump, instead 
 of in these daily driblets. Then a 
 man could really do something 
 with it," he thought to himself as 
 he carelessly dropped into an out- 
 side pocket, what was really more 
 than under the old system he would 
 have earned by six months' work. 
 
 Through the day, however, he 
 did a little thinking. "There's 
 really no occasion for my working 
 now," he said. " I never did like 
 this business. I'll quit, and go on 
 with my electrical studies, as I've 
 always longed to do." 
 
 sooner thought of than de- 
 
DOLLARS A DAY. 25 
 
 cided upon. That night, as he 
 was going home, Burton stepped 
 into the private office of the head 
 of the firm and announced his in- 
 tention of leaving. 
 
 -<Oh, is that so, Burton?" said 
 his employer. r I'm sorry to hear 
 that. I am thinking of going out 
 of business in order to travel, and 
 had hit upon you as just the man 
 to succeed me. I'd make very 
 easy terms with you." 
 
 But Carroll's mind was made up. 
 He was a natural-born electrician, 
 and here was the long-coveted 
 chance to perfect himself in his 
 favorite hobby. He must not miss 
 it. 
 
 He slept late next morning, but 
 was ready to go down town in time 
 to draw his thousand dollars. He 
 had to wait a strangely long time 
 
20 OXE THOUSAND 
 
 for a street car, and when, at last, 
 one canu down and he boarded it, 
 he was surprised to note that the 
 gripman was none other than the 
 chief engineer of the road, while 
 the secretary of the company him- 
 self was handling the punch and 
 taking fares. As he handed up 
 his nickel Burton asked: ff How's 
 this, Graham ? Are you c personally 
 conducting' this car load? " 
 
 Graham smiled grimly at the 
 joke. "Looks like it," he said 
 sharply. ' r This thousand-dollar- 
 a-day lunacy of the anti-poverty 
 people is going to ruin our busi- 
 ness. All our men have quit work. 
 When they've a thousand dollars 
 a day to draw they're not going to 
 pull grips and punch tickets for 
 $2.50 a day, they say and no one 
 can blame 'em, I suppose, but its 
 
DOLLARS A DAY. 27 
 
 mighty hard on capital, I can tell 
 yon. "We've got to run cars or 
 forfeit onr franchise." 
 
 Burton assented that it was 
 pretty tough. w I must see Read- 
 ing about that wheel," he thought, 
 f 'then I can be independent of 
 cars." So having drawn his money 
 he started for the shop of a famous 
 mechanic, who made a superior 
 style of wheel for which he con- 
 trolled the right on the Pacific 
 Coast. On the way Burton tried 
 to bank his money, which was 
 heavy and troublesome to carry; 
 but found, much to his disgust, 
 that none of the banks would touch 
 it. 
 
 T We've got more now than we 
 know what to do with," was the 
 cry. c We can't loan it nor invest 
 it, and we've no room to store it." 
 
28 ONE THOUSAND 
 
 So, carrying it, Carroll pro- 
 ceeded to Reading's shop. He 
 was not really surprised to find it 
 closed, and a notice on the door to 
 the effect that Reading had gone 
 out of business. W I can't say I 
 blame him," thought Burton, " but 
 I wish I'd got my wheel yesterday. 
 I must hunt up an agent." 
 
 It was a long hunt before he 
 found one whose store was open, 
 and he had but one machine left 
 that Carroll could ride. "I've sold 
 a good many this week," the agent 
 explained, and it's hardly worth 
 while to stock up again, as I'm 
 going out of business. Besides, I 
 had a telegram from the Eastern 
 factory this morning, saying their 
 men had nearly all quit work." 
 
 Congratulating himself upon 
 having secured any bicycle at 
 
DOLLAES A DAY. 29 
 
 all, Carroll, who had before had 
 a few lessons, wobbled uncertainly 
 away upon it, to the restaurant 
 where he was wont to eat his 
 meals. It was closed. 
 
 " By Jove ! " he exclaimed, as 
 he met another of the frequenters 
 of the place, w this is getting 
 serious. I'm hungry." 
 
 * Yes," said the other, " so am I. 
 I quit work myself to-day. I've 
 always wanted to study medicine, 
 but fate made me a carpenter. 
 Now I've got even with fate. I'm 
 going to college, but I want some- 
 thing to eat." 
 
 So the two began a round of the 
 restaurants of the neighborhood, 
 and at last found a wretched little 
 place open, where they were glad 
 to satisfy their hunger with coffee 
 and doughnuts eaten at a dirty 
 
30 ONE THOUSAND 
 
 table, in a dirty, ill-smelling room. 
 "I gloses up to-morrow," the 
 proprietor said, with a grin, as 
 they paid their checks. 
 
 "Great guns!" exclaimed the 
 carpenter. * We'll all starve at 
 this rate." 
 
 w Oh, no," said Burton hope- 
 fully. We can always 'bach it." 3 
 
 But one evening at the end of 
 a fortnight he began to fear that 
 even this would fail. He had 
 cooked his own meals for three 
 days, and had lived mainly on 
 boiled eggs and baker's bread; 
 but on this particular morning he 
 was unable to buy any bread, and 
 had been forced to content him- 
 self with a single egg and the heel 
 of a stale loaf soaked in milk. 
 
 "I shall go out in the country 
 this afternoon in search of food," 
 
DOLLAES A DAY. 31 
 
 he decided. Meantime, however, 
 he had to go and fetch away a 
 double load of golden twenties, 
 for, filled with disgust at the use- 
 less coins, he had not gone the 
 day before, and had been promptly 
 notified by the bank that he must 
 come and take away his daily al- 
 lowance, as it would not be allowed 
 to accumulate, the bank having no 
 place to keep the quantities that 
 would be left on their hands. 
 
 As he walked down Market 
 Street he saw one of San Fran- 
 cisco's millionaires driving his own 
 team and carriage up-town. In- 
 side the carriage was a tiny casket, 
 at the head of which sat a weeping 
 woman, the millionaire's w r ife. The 
 other occupant of the carriage was 
 a lad of fourteen, the millionaire's 
 son. The casket contained the re- 
 
32 ONE THOUSAND 
 
 mains of the millionaire's baby, and 
 as Burton looked he knew that the 
 millionaire was on his way to the 
 cemetery to bury the child, for on 
 the seat beside him he saw a pick- 
 ax and shovel and a coil of rope. 
 He remembered that in all the city 
 there was not a man who could be 
 hired to do a hand's turn. All 
 had money a-plenty, and no need 
 to work. Then he remembered 
 that there was a milk famine in 
 the city, and reflected that the 
 millionaire's baby had probably 
 died because of it. 
 
 He w r ent to the bank and got 
 his money, carrying it up Market 
 Street openly in a canvas bag. 
 There were no police in the city 
 the entire force had resigned, 
 but no one would think of stealing 
 money. If his bag had contained 
 
DOLLARS A DAY. 33 
 
 bread, now, it would had been dif- 
 ferent. Every food shop in town 
 had long since been plundered by 
 leading citizens, but gold was safe. 
 Every store on the street was 
 closed; not a street-car was in 
 sight, none were running. The 
 ferries had ceased to make regular 
 trips; sometimes a boat did not 
 pass between Oakland and San 
 Francisco for days. 'No trains 
 went in and out of the city. 
 Commerce was at a stand-still. 
 It was in banking hours and every 
 passer along Market Street carried 
 a bag of gold, and every man and 
 woman among them was hungry. 
 
 w Something must be done," they 
 muttered to each other. * This 
 state of things cannot last." 
 
 Passing down a street on the 
 south side, to escape the sight of 
 
34 ONE THOUSAND 
 
 the general misery, Burton chanced 
 upon a curious scene. A wretched, 
 ragged street gamin was leading a 
 goat along the sidewalk. A hand- 
 somely dressed gentleman had ac- 
 costed him. The boy was just 
 explaining to him that he meant to 
 take the goat home and kill it; 
 his mother would cook it. 
 
 "Here is a thousand dollars," 
 the man said, holding out a bag. 
 rf I'll give it all to you for one 
 quarter of the goat when you kill 
 it." 
 
 The boy grinned. ' f I'm takin' 
 this 'ere home ter my mudder," he 
 said. w She don't want gold; she'd 
 ruther have a bag of Injun meal." 
 
 "See here," the man said, sud- 
 denly. w I used to have a big 
 merchant tailoring establishment. 
 My men all left me and I had to 
 
DOLLARS A DAY. 35 
 
 close up, but I've got lots of cloth. 
 If you'll just milk that goat before 
 you kill it, and let me take the 
 milk home to my baby, I'll make 
 you a suit of clothes with my own 
 hands." 
 
 The boy looked down at his 
 ragged togs, then at Burton. 
 ' You're witness," he said. w It's 
 er bargain." 
 
 The episode gave Burton a 
 bright idea. In a couple of hours 
 he had secured a large store on 
 Market Street and put out a sign: 
 ' f Labor Exchange. A Way Out 
 Of Our Present Difficulties." 
 
 He had not long to wait for 
 visitors. The city was full of idle 
 people, and they flocked to learn 
 what the new idea was. 
 
 The first inquirer said: 
 
 w I've got a house half built. I 
 
36 ONE THOUSAND 
 
 want it completed. Have you got 
 any carpenters that want a job?" 
 
 ' What's your business? " asked 
 Burton. 
 
 < < I'm a baker." 
 
 * Would you be willing to pay 
 for your labor in bread? " 
 
 "Of course, if I could get 
 flour." 
 
 "I'm a miller," shouted a man 
 in the crowd; "I'd be willing to 
 work if I could get bread, but I've 
 got no use for more gold." 
 
 " I have fifty carloads of wheat 
 in warehouses," a broker said, 
 "and I'd be willing to turn it in 
 and do day's work for my share of 
 bread to be made from it." 
 
 " Shure, and I'll be glad the day 
 I could help haul it," cried an Irish 
 teamster, " but it's no day's wages 
 in money I'd work for. It's a pair 
 
DOLLARS A DAY. 37 
 
 of boots I'm wantin' an some milk 
 for my kid at home." 
 
 "Milk," cried a dairyman, bit- 
 terly. ' You could f a ' had milk 
 long ago, but not a man can I get 
 to drive a wagon or turn a hand 
 to milk the fifty cows. I've had 
 to leave their calves with them 
 ever since this blasted gold fit 
 seized the government." 
 
 ff Gold ! " roared a laborer, lifting 
 a bag containing his day's allow- 
 ance. "Who wants gold?" It's 
 bread we're starving for," and 
 with a single jerk he flung the bag 
 into the gutter. The broad twen- 
 ties rolled and glittered in the sun, 
 and a baby, attracted by the shine, 
 left its mother's side and picked 
 one up. The rest lay where they 
 had fallen no one wanted them. 
 
 Gradually Burton made his plan 
 
38 O.Y/7 
 
 clear to the assembled throng. 
 He proposed to start a labor ex- 
 change, conducted on commission 
 principles. He proposed that the 
 golden double eagles, now so 
 worthless, should be melted, and 
 cast into labor tokens, for here- 
 after the medium of exchange 
 would be labor. In the meantime 
 written promises to pay in labor, 
 would be accepted as legal tender. 
 
 The scheme grew as he talked, 
 with suggestions now and then 
 from those in the crowd, as the 
 workmen warmed up and began to 
 see a way out of the mire. 
 
 "Put me down for eight hours 
 a day in the street-car service!" 
 cried an ex-gripman, and I'll take 
 my pay in tokens for bread and 
 milk and meat service/' 
 
 w I'd gladly give that last to the 
 
DOLLARS A DAY. 39 
 
 company for you," said a sturdy 
 butcher, "just to git the cars run- 
 ning out our way again." 
 
 Trade after trade was heard 
 from, offering service and making 
 suggestions, until finally a pomp- 
 ous but somewhat anxious voice 
 inquired : 
 
 " But where do we come in? " 
 
 Who are < We? ' " was asked. 
 
 T The bankers and brokers, capi- 
 talists and men of means," replied 
 the voice. 
 
 There was a general laugh from 
 the working crowd. " Oh," some 
 one said, jocularly, ff you can all 
 put your labor in along with the 
 rest; so speak up and say what 
 you want to do." 
 
 ' We want our morning paper 
 back," some one cried. * We're 
 all willing to work for the printers 
 
40 ONE THOUSAND 
 
 and editors if they'll work for us." 
 And so the plans were laid and 
 the wheels of the great city began 
 to move again. The mills were 
 again in operation, the cars carried 
 passengers about the city, traffic 
 was resumed; the great law of 
 supply and demand, rightly ap- 
 plied at last, was working peace 
 and harmony in the industrial 
 system of the city. The example 
 spread, and prosperity dawned 
 upon the land. The labor token 
 of every man and every woman 
 was good for his or her daily 
 needs, for it was backed by the 
 only real value in the world 
 human power. 
 
 The capitalists and politicians 
 fared rather badly at first, but 
 as time went by they began to 
 fall in line and take their places 
 
DOLLARS A DAY. 41 
 
 in the life of the industrial com- 
 monwealth. After a few months, 
 there being no particular reason 
 why the government should flood 
 the country with useless gold, any 
 more than with lead or iron tokens, 
 the coining ceased and gold was 
 only used in the arts and manu- 
 factures. Labor was the wealth 
 of the country, and labor was 
 owned by The People. 
 
THE SICK MAN. 
 
 A FABLE FOR GROWN-UP BOYS 
 AND GIRLS. 
 
 Once upon a time, somewhere, 
 not so very far away, nor a time so 
 vc-ry long ago, there lived A Man. 
 He was young, strong and full of 
 enterprise. Opportunities lay with- 
 in his reach, for a career such as no 
 man had ever before been able to 
 seize. His fellows were all watch- 
 ing him, studying his progress, 
 some with disapproval, some with 
 envy, but all with interest, admit- 
 ting, without exception, that his 
 future promised brilliantly. He 
 was such an all-round, capable 
 fellow. His promise was so 
 splendid, and he had had such a 
 capital start in life. 
 
 42 
 
THE SICK MAN. 43 
 
 There is no doubt but that all 
 his rare promises would have been 
 more than fulfilled, but one day 
 The Man fell ill. He had, in fact, 
 been ailing for some time. His 
 physician warned him of the fact ; 
 his wife realized it; his children 
 felt its effects, but he, himself, 
 refused to admit it. He might be 
 a little under the weather eveiy 
 man is at times but theie was 
 nothing serious the matter with 
 him nothing that his splendid 
 constitution would not carry him 
 safely over. 
 
 And so he grew worse. He 
 became uncertain in his methods, 
 capricious as to his appetite. His 
 business dealings were character- 
 ized, now by keen astuteness of 
 judgment, now by weakness and a 
 childish changefulness of purpose. 
 
44 THE SICK MAN. 
 
 just as he happened to be feeling 
 better or worse that day. 
 
 Every now and then he would 
 awake to a semi-realization of his 
 own condition, and declare he was 
 going to ruin, would die soon if he 
 did not do something to help him- 
 self. Then he would summon the 
 doctors, and they would consider 
 his case and prescribe, some one 
 remedy, some another. They never 
 seemed able to agree as to what 
 ailed him, or the remedy that was 
 indicated, but each could prescribe 
 something which he was quite 
 certain would affect a cure. 
 
 And The Man would follow first 
 one prescribed course of treatment, 
 then another, until perhaps his 
 headache would abate, his gastric 
 difficulty would moderate, or his 
 liver would become less inactive, 
 
THE SICK MAN. 45 
 
 and then, w I have recovered/' he 
 would say; "I told you I would. 
 You see there is nothing the matter 
 with me." 
 
 There came a day, however, when 
 The Man lay prostrate, and the 
 doctors met in solemn conclave 
 over him. 
 
 There was no mistake about it 
 this time. He was undeniably sick. 
 
 " He is in a bad way," they said. 
 "Energetic measures must be 
 instituted, or The Man will die." 
 
 They could not, however, agree 
 upon the diagnosis. 
 
 w His lungs are nearly gone," was 
 the opinion of one. 
 
 ' r There is a general condition of 
 congestion that should be relieved 
 at once," said another. w The Man 
 should be bled to save his life," 
 and they bled him. 
 
46 THE SICK MAX. 
 
 * His mental powers are failing," 
 a third declared, while a fourth was 
 of the belief, and argued his point 
 learnedly, that an operation for 
 appendicitis would set him right at 
 once. ? Tis the common lot of 
 mankind," he maintained, "and he 
 cannot hope to escape it. He has 
 been slower in developing the con- 
 dition, because he is younger, and 
 his environment has been differ- 
 ent. But you see for yourselves 
 to what he is reduced. It is what 
 might have been anticipated, and 
 the condition should be met at 
 once." 
 
 w On the contrary," a new comer 
 said, f f The Man is manifestly very 
 low. His blood is impoverished. 
 He needs building up building 
 up, I say. Transfusion of blood is 
 what is wanted. Then, with his 
 
THE SICK MAy. 47 
 
 magnificent constitution, he'll pull 
 through all right." 
 
 This treatment struck the as- 
 sembled council as likely to do 
 good, and they at once decided to 
 act upon the new comer's sugges- 
 tion. The case was a desperate 
 one and called for desperate 
 remedies. 
 
 In the circulatory system of an 
 individual who enjoyed excellent 
 health a great commotion was tak- 
 ing place. 
 
 "Have you heard the news?" 
 the little red blood-corpuscles were 
 saying to each other, w some of 
 us are to be sent abroad to a new 
 organism. It is out of order, and 
 we are to institute a reformation." 
 
 There was a great confusion of 
 preparation, but finally everything 
 was in readiness, and a large num- 
 
48 THE SICK -V.l.V. 
 
 bcr of corpuscles were sent upon 
 their errand of mercj^. In the 
 bustle attendant upon the change 
 the early incidents of the journey 
 escaped note, but there was, among 
 the visitors, one little corpuscle 
 who, after the first few moments, 
 being a wide-awake fellow, resolved 
 to keep his eyes open and take 
 notes upon his adventures in this 
 new and strange country. 
 
 He was in the heart when he 
 began his notes. That great organ 
 suddenly contracted, and with many 
 of his companions he was forced 
 into the lungs, where he gave 
 up the load of carbon dioxide 
 which he had picked up as he 
 hurried through the veins, and 
 received in exchange a modicum 
 of oxygen to be distributed to the 
 organism. He did not receive as 
 
THT SICK MAN. 49 
 
 much oxygen as he was accustomed 
 to have. He experienced a certain 
 curious difficulty in getting to the 
 front to obtain his supply. He 
 could not understand it at the time, 
 but thinking it over as he hurried 
 back through the pulmonary cir- 
 culation to the heart, he recalled 
 that certain of the native corpuscles 
 had crowded ahead of him, seeming 
 in great anxiety lest their own 
 supply be curtailed. In a conversa- 
 tion which he overheard between 
 them they characterized him as an 
 interloper, telling each other they 
 ought to rise and drive him and his 
 fellows from the organism. " They 
 are all coming in here to consume 
 the oxygen that belongs to us," 
 they complained. 
 
 "Funny," he thought to himself, 
 w They only want enough to supply 
 
50 THE SICK MAN. 
 
 themselves and exchange with the 
 organism for nutriment. There is 
 surely nothing else they can do 
 with it. This seems a very strange 
 country." 
 
 By this time he was back in the 
 heart, ready for his life-giving, 
 life-receiving journey through the 
 organism. He was close by the 
 semi-lunar valves, just about to 
 leap forward into the aorta, when 
 
 r Hold on! " exclaimed the valve, 
 ''you have not paid the toll." 
 
 "The what?" asked the little 
 corpuscle. 
 
 "' The gate toll. Be quick; you 
 are keeping others waiting." 
 
 w But what is this toll, and what 
 is it for?" 
 
 w An atom of oxygen. It is to 
 pay me, to be sure, for maintaining 
 this valve that prevents you from 
 
THE KICK MAN. 51 
 
 being forced back into the heart." 
 
 "But," persisted the corpuscle, 
 "I must be sent along. Why 
 should I pay you when I am doing 
 the work of the organism and shall 
 pay it before I get through? If I 
 cannot get through the whole 
 organism will suffer." 
 
 w Hurry up, hurry up, there is no 
 time to talk," said the valve, and 
 as the crowd was impatiently push- 
 ing behind him the little corpuscle 
 gave up an atom of oxygen and 
 hurried on. 
 
 * You must pay me an atom too," 
 murmured a voice in his ear. 
 
 "Who are you?" asked the 
 corpuscle. 
 
 w I am the aorta. You will have 
 to pay me for carrying you to the 
 general circulation." 
 
 " But if I pay you I shall have 
 
52 THE SICK MAN. 
 
 to rob the tissues that need what I 
 am carrying, and it will be im- 
 possible to procure from them what 
 I need to keep me alive in turn. I 
 must get my load along." 
 
 "But you can't do it unless I 
 carry you," said the voice. 
 
 This was only too true, as the 
 corpuscle was well aware. 
 
 " I must get this oxj^gen to the 
 tissues," he reflected. " It will not 
 keep much longer, and there will 
 be no market for it. It is of no use 
 to me, and I greatly need some in- 
 organic salts." So, parting with 
 another atom of oxygen, he was 
 taken through the aorta, and landed 
 in one of the branching arteries 
 that would carry him to the 
 stomach. The branch road, too, 
 collected of him a quota of oxygen. 
 
 As he was hurrying along he 
 
THE SICK MAN. 5% 
 
 found himself side by side with 
 another corpuscle, a native, whom 
 he engaged in conversation. 
 
 '* What do all these fellows want 
 of so much oxygen?" he asked. 
 " If the other corpuscles pay it over 
 at the same rate I have, some one 
 must get a good deal more than 
 he can possibly use." 
 
 "Why," said the other, it is 
 the great medium of exchange in 
 the organism, and of course we all 
 want as much as we can get. They 
 re-invest it, turn it over, double it 
 and quadruple it." 
 
 "But is there more in the organ- 
 ism on that account? " 
 
 " No, but they have more, don't 
 you see? " 
 
 f Yes, I see," was the reply, "but 
 I cannot understand what good it 
 does them. The organism must 
 
54 THE SICK MAN. 
 
 suffer if its supply is diverted. 
 And do not they suffer with the 
 whole body?" 
 
 ff Oh, I suppose so, but then, 
 suffering is the common lot of the 
 race. It is good discipline for us, 
 and prepares us for the better life 
 hereafter." 
 
 " I don't understand that," was 
 the new corpuscle's comment. ff In 
 the country I came from we believe 
 the best preparation for the future 
 life is a good start in this exist- 
 ence, and as we can none of us 
 reach the future state apart from 
 the whole organism, why, we all 
 work for its good. But I am 
 anxious to know more about these 
 transportation systems. By what 
 method do they regulate their 
 charges?" 
 
 "Well," the native corpuscle 
 
THE SICK MAN. 55 
 
 said, w they calculate about how 
 much oxygen you have; how 
 greatly the tissues you are bound 
 for need it ; what they can afford 
 to pay for it, and then they charge 
 what they think the traffic will 
 bear." 
 
 "But the whole organism must 
 suffer from such a method." 
 
 K It does, but there seems to be 
 no help for it." 
 
 w But, as the whole organism is 
 the loser, and would be the gainer 
 under a better management, why 
 does it not take charge of the sys- 
 tem and manage it so all would be 
 benefited? " 
 
 "Why 1 that would be interfering 
 with individual rights! It would 
 never do. It would destroy all in- 
 dividual enterprise, all individual 
 ambition, all individuality of every 
 
56 THE SICK MAN. 
 
 sort, and reduce everything to a 
 dead level. It would not do at all. 
 Besides, the liver has too much 
 influence with the organism, and 
 would never allow such a state of 
 things to come to pass." 
 
 * Why should the organism ask 
 permission of the liver? " 
 
 "Well," said the other, "the 
 liver is the most important body 
 of our whole community. All our 
 richest corpuscles compose it." 
 
 w Richest corpuscles? What are 
 they? " 
 
 * Why, those who have the 
 largest share of the organic wealth, 
 of course. You must be very 
 stupid not to know that." 
 
 f ' How did they get more of this 
 organic wealth than the others 
 have?" 
 
 w Oh, in various ways. By their 
 
THE SICK MAN. 57 
 
 superior enterprise for one thing. 
 They saw in the beginning the 
 necessity for transportation facili- 
 ties for the blood, chyle, and 
 so forth, and through their efforts 
 the Venous and Arterial Transit 
 Systems were established." 
 
 w Do you mean that they formed 
 the veins and arteries ? " 
 
 f? Oh, no, of course not. They 
 had not the means for that, but 
 the organism aided them, knowing 
 that it would be a great thing to 
 have this system established; that 
 it would build up the organism." 
 
 w I see ; and then I suppose these 
 rich corpuscles of the liver paid the 
 organism back out of their gains?" 
 
 rr Not exactly that is to say 
 they've not yet done so. You 
 see, somehow, the system has not 
 paid as well as they thought it 
 
58 THE SICK MAN. 
 
 would. It seems there have been 
 unforeseen exigencies, they have 
 not been able to pay. In fact, 
 they say the system is on the 
 verge of insolvency." 
 
 f ' But I thought you said the 
 corpuscles owning it are the 
 richest ones in the organism? " 
 
 w So they are ; but that is their 
 individual wealth, don't you see? 
 It takes all that the system can 
 earn to pay expenses, and reim- 
 burse the management for their 
 original outlay in getting things 
 in running order. You could not 
 expect them to invest their capital 
 for nothing, you know." 
 
 w But I understood you to say a 
 little while ago that the organism 
 advanced the means and that the 
 management still owes for the 
 advances." 
 
THE SICK MAX. 59 
 
 f Yes, yes, that is true. But, 
 don't you see, these corpuscles as- 
 sumed the responsibility, and their 
 enterprise merits some reward." 
 
 "But if the system is in such 
 bad shape, and owes the organism 
 so much, why does not the latter 
 take it out of the management's 
 hands and operate it itself ! " 
 
 r There you go again ! Did not I 
 explain to you that that would be 
 interfering with individual rights? 
 But there my way turns here, 
 and I must leave you. Sorry I 
 could not make things any plainer 
 to you. I suppose 'tis difficult for 
 a stranger to understand the oper- 
 ations of this government, but you 
 will learn, in time, and be sure of 
 one thing, whatever is, is right ; " 
 and the native corpuscle was 
 carried off towards the pancreas. 
 
60 THE SICK MAN. 
 
 '* That last remark sounds rather 
 funny/' thought the visitor, w I do 
 not quite see, myself, the logic of 
 it, but I'll look about me, and per- 
 haps it will come straight bye and 
 bye." 
 
 Just then his attention was 
 called to a lugubrious corpuscle 
 standing at a division of the ways, 
 in the pathway leading to the 
 liver. 
 
 r Why are you standing here?" 
 the little stranger asked. 
 
 r ' I'm out of a job," was the 
 sullen reply. 
 
 W A job! What is that?" 
 
 f Why, work, of course! What 
 sort of a place do you come from, 
 not to know that? " 
 
 w Oh, work ; well, then why do 
 you not get up and go to work? " 
 
 " No one will give me a job." 
 
THE SICK MAN. 61 
 
 ' f But there is plenty of work. 
 What is to hinder you from doing 
 your share? " 
 
 * The corpuscles that control the 
 work won't let me." 
 
 w Control it ! Do you mean to 
 say that corpuscles own the work 
 of the organism? How came 
 it theirs?" 
 
 ' That's plain to be seen, stupid ! 
 They own the sources of work; 
 the machinery to work with; the 
 places where work is done, and 
 the money to pay for work, and 
 there is a glut in the labor market 
 just now. The supply exceeds 
 the demand." 
 
 " I see. Then you can rest and 
 take it easy, can you not, until 
 there is work? I should think 
 you would like that." 
 
 'Yes; but where is my living 
 
62 THE SICK MAN. 
 
 to come from? If one doesn't 
 work, neither shall he eat." 
 
 w But if he does not work he 
 cannot eat, can he? " 
 
 ' Well, he's got to earn his living 
 anyway, and that's all there is about 
 it." 
 
 At this moment a corpuscle ap- 
 proached, wearing a star in his 
 breast, and carrying a baton. 
 
 "Come, now! Lave this," said 
 he to the idle corpuscle, w an' be 
 movin' on." 
 
 The one thus addressed growled, 
 and murmured something about 
 rights." 
 
 "Rights, is it?" demanded the 
 corpuscle with the star, w I'd like 
 to know what rights the likes of 
 you has, anyhow, an idle loafer. 
 Why don't you get to work, like 
 I do? Move on, now, or I'll be 
 
THE SICK MAN. 63 
 
 after running you in for a va- 
 grant," and the grumbler moved 
 slowly off, along a by-way, for 
 the transit system was closed to 
 such as he. 
 
 : 'Who are you?" asked the 
 stranger corpuscle of the wearer 
 of the star. w Sure, I'm a p'lice 
 corpuscle," was the reply, w a gar- 
 deen of the pace, I'd have you 
 know, an' it's a civil tongue you 
 better be kapinV 
 
 The new comer had heard about 
 the police corpuscles, and was 
 about to engage this one in con- 
 versation, when his attention was 
 arrested by a troop of white cor- 
 puscles who came along, each 
 bearing a small burden of oxy- 
 gen. 
 
 <Why!" he exclaimed, "What 
 are these young things doing?" 
 
64 THE SICK MAX. 
 
 * Working, to be sure; they've 
 got to earn their kape, same's the 
 rest of us." 
 
 "But these are the young of 
 the race. I remember, now. I 
 have heard that there have been 
 slaves in this organism. I pre- 
 sume these are young slaves, yet 
 remaining." 
 
 The police corpuscle waxed 
 indignant. "No, indeed!" He 
 cried. * These are no slaves, but 
 the offspring of free and independ- 
 ent corpuscles. We have here no 
 slaves. These young corpuscles 
 must help maintain themselves, 
 and the families to which they 
 belong. It's not able the red cor- 
 puscles are, to hustle for all, these 
 hard times, an' it's the little white 
 ones must help." 
 
 "But the corpuscle I just saw 
 
THE SICK MAX. 65 
 
 said there was a glut in the labor 
 market." 
 
 w Faith, yes, for the likes of him. 
 But the little white ones work 
 chaper, you know, and so they 
 have to put in their little earnings 
 and help kape things goin'. Times 
 is hard, and the rich corpuscles 
 can't support the hull system." 
 
 * But surely it must greatly im- 
 poverish the organism to have 
 these white corpuscles set to 
 bear burdens before they are able 
 to do so. With so many of these 
 busy in the circulation, I do not 
 wonder that the system suffers 
 from anaemia." 
 
 The police corpuscle glowered 
 at the new comer. 
 
 ' You must be one of them 
 blooming foreigners that's bin 
 brought into the country," he said. 
 
66 THE SICK MAN. 
 
 f You take my advice, and keep 
 still and tend to business, or it's 
 trouble ye'll be gitting into. I've 
 a notion to run you in myself now 
 for malicious imperdence." And 
 he looked so threatening that the 
 little corpuscle hurried off, fearful 
 lest he might be deprived of his 
 liberty. 
 
 He had made the round of the 
 circulation, and was carrying a 
 load to the brain, when he met a 
 corpuscle staggering along under 
 the weight of a big bundle. 
 
 '' Where are you going?" he 
 asked of the new comer. 
 
 w To the Belief Home," he replied. 
 
 "I do not know what that is." 
 
 "Why, it is a home provided for 
 poor corpuscles. Do they not take 
 means to help such in your coun- 
 try?" 
 
THE 8TCK MAN. 67 
 
 ff I do not know what they are. 
 Are they anything like rich cor- 
 puscles?" 
 
 "No, indeed. They are those 
 who cannot provide for themselves ; 
 they have no means and cannot 
 work, or else cannot get work to 
 do. We have places where they 
 can stay and be helped for a time, 
 or until they can help themselves." 
 
 w I see. I suppose the organism 
 maintains these homes?" 
 
 'Well, some of them yes. But 
 not most of them by any means. 
 They are supported by charitably 
 disposed corpuscles who have been 
 blessed by Providence with plenty, 
 and who give of their abundance. 
 We get a great deal of help from 
 the tissues and corpuscles of the 
 liver, who are rich and often liberal 
 toward the poor." 
 
68 THE SICK MAN. 
 
 ""Why do you have rich and 
 poor corpuscles ? "Would it not be 
 better to have all comfortable, than 
 to have some with more than they 
 can use, and others with nothing?" 
 
 "Oh, no, it takes all kinds of 
 corpuscles to make up the organ- 
 ism, you know. It is good for the 
 poor to have the rich to help them, 
 and it is good for the rich that the 
 poor need their help. Otherwise 
 the rich might become proud and 
 selfish, if they had not the sight of 
 their needy brothers to keep their 
 hearts tender, and prompt them to 
 benevolence. They also do a great 
 deal of good in keeping so many 
 corpuscles employed in waiting 
 upon them and supplying their 
 needs." 
 
 w But would not these corpuscles 
 be better employed in supplying 
 
THE SICK MAN. 69 
 
 the needs of the whole organ- 
 ism?" 
 
 " Perhaps only, do you not see, 
 the other organs could not employ 
 them all; they are not able to pay 
 them." 
 
 " But if the liver did not absorb 
 so much of the general supply, 
 would not the others have more 
 and so be able to pay?" 
 
 "Oh, you do not understand the 
 matter at all. We never can get 
 rid of the poor. Our greatest 
 Teacher has said: "The poor ye 
 have with you always,' and the fact 
 remains to this day, as a proof of 
 his infallible wisdom and divine 
 inspiration." 
 
 "He did not say you had to 
 have the poor with you always, 
 did he?" 
 
 "What has that to do with it? 
 
70 THE SICK MAN. 
 
 We always have had them, from 
 which it is only fair to infer that 
 we always shall have them. It 
 seems hard, I know, but the wis- 
 dom of Providence is inscrutable, 
 and since He has so decreed we 
 can only do our best to pity the 
 afflictions of the poor and ease 
 their lot." 
 
 ''But is not that attempting to 
 thwart the very decree of Provi- 
 dence to which you counsel sub- 
 mission?" 
 
 "My young friend," said the 
 other corpuscle sternly, " 110 good 
 ever came of carping criticism. It 
 disturbs faith in fixed institutions, 
 and in humanity. It leads to 
 doubt, anarchy and misrule. It 
 should never be permitted. It is 
 what has brought this organism 
 to its present sad pass. "We may 
 
THE SICK MAN 71 
 
 sorrow to see the sufferings of the 
 poor, and it is kind, humane and 
 therefore right to attempt to lighten 
 their lot, but to criticise the wis- 
 dom of Established Order is to fly 
 in the face of Providence, and I 
 cannot countenance such impiety 
 by remaining to listen to it." 
 
 Much abashed, the little corpus- 
 cle continued his way. Meekly he 
 paid tribute to the large leucocytes 
 living in affluence in the liver. 
 These had control of all the great 
 natural monopolies of the organ- 
 ism, and let no corpuscle escape 
 due payment of his quota into 
 their coffers. Sometimes these 
 great ones attacked each other. 
 Then would come a panic, and one 
 or more would be absorbed by the 
 survivors, along with a few score 
 of the lesser corpuscles, who had 
 
72 THE SICK MAN. 
 
 endeavored to get "in it/' and 
 instead were squeezed dry. 
 
 Thus things went on from bad 
 to worse. The red corpuscles be- 
 came fewer and less able to do the 
 work required of them. The little 
 white corpuscles became feebler 
 and fewer in number, the great 
 monopolists increased in size and 
 power, waxing all the time more 
 and more unwilling to do the work 
 of the organism, until, finally, out- 
 raged nature could endure the 
 strain no longer, and The Man 
 died. 
 
 "Fatty degeneration of the 
 liver," the doctors said at the post 
 mortem. w That organ had diverted 
 to itself the living of the entire 
 organism, and death was inevi- 
 table." 
 
THE DISCONTENTED MA- 
 CHINE. 
 
 AN ECONOMIC STUDY. 
 
 It was a magnificent piece of 
 machinery, and had been put into 
 the great manufactory at an enor- 
 mous expense. Other manufact- 
 urers had shaken their heads, 
 doubtfully, when they heard that 
 Hyde & Home were about to put 
 in a mammoth cutter and shaper 
 that would enable them to dispense 
 with nearly twenty-five per cent 
 of the men whom they had hereto- 
 fore employed. 
 
 "It is a hazardous experiment," 
 they all said, w putting in new and 
 
 73 
 
74 THE DISCONTENTED MACHINE. 
 
 untried machinery. Why, if half 
 that is claimed for this new 
 machine is true, it will revolu- 
 tionize the boot and shoe trade, 
 and enable Hyde & Home to have 
 their own way with us, unless we 
 put in the same machinery; while, 
 if it fails, they'll never see their 
 money back, and the firm will 
 be ruined. It's risky business, 
 very risky business, indeed. The 
 chances are a thousand to one 
 against its success." 
 
 Nevertheless, their intense anxi- 
 ety lest Hyde & Home should be 
 forced into bankruptcy by their 
 experiments with the new and 
 costly machinery, did not prevent 
 their taking a lively interest in the 
 same. They watched it closely, 
 from month to month, and were 
 presently forced to confess that it 
 
THE DISCONTENTED MACHINE. 75 
 
 was an unqualified success. Iso 
 firm in the trade turned out such 
 quantities of shoes of uniform 
 quality, finish, style, and cheap- 
 ness, as Hyde & Home. The new 
 machine produced them so much 
 more cheaply than other firms, 
 with their older and less complete 
 methods, were able to do, that the 
 more enterprising concern virtu- 
 ally controlled the market. Hyde 
 & Home disposed, in advance, of 
 their entire output, early in the 
 season, and were beginning to 
 talk of putting in another of the 
 new machines, when, at last, their 
 competitors were fully alive to the 
 fact that they, too, must bestir 
 themselves, or find the market 
 completely blocked to their goods. 
 Accordingly, one fine morning, 
 the members of the rival firm of 
 
76 THE DISCONTENTED MACHINE. 
 
 Russett & Tan called at the fac- 
 tory, and asked to inspect the new 
 machine. 
 
 ** Certainly ! certainly ! " was Mr. 
 Home's courteous reply, and he 
 led the way to the cutting depart- 
 ment, chatting pleasantly as he 
 went. 
 
 The big machine was a splendid 
 sight. An operator had just fin- 
 ished giving a polish to the shin- 
 ing brass balls of the governor on 
 the engine. Every bar and rod 
 and bearing was polished until 
 it glistened. The nickel plate 
 gleamed silvery white, the black 
 wheels and castings were bright 
 as mirrors, the brasswork shone 
 like gold, and the knives glittered 
 and sparkled as they flashed back 
 and forth through the many thick- 
 nesses of leather. It was a goodly 
 
THE DISCONTENTED MACHINE. 77 
 
 machine, and did its work with 
 a noiseless, beautiful accuracy, a 
 swerveless certainty of execution, 
 and an unconscious magnificence 
 of strength and power, that put to 
 shame the puny efforts of the 
 merely human laborers who toiled 
 beside it, straining every nerve to 
 keep the great knives fed and the 
 way cleared before them. 
 
 There is nothing more magnifi- 
 cent than a great machine or 
 engine at work. The locomotive, 
 pulling its long trains up grades 
 and across levels, the great ocean 
 steamer, walking steadily across 
 the expanse of seas, the mighty 
 press, turning off a thousand com- 
 plete newspapers a minute, all 
 these evidences of human power 
 and ingenuity are enough to make 
 one proud of the age in which he 
 
78 THE DISCONTENTED MACHINE. 
 
 lives, and the race to which he 
 belongs. 
 
 Something of this sort Mr. Rus- 
 sett said to Mr. Horne, as the 
 three gentlemen stood watching 
 the machine at work. 
 
 * Yes, indeed ! yes, indeed ! " 
 assented Horne. "We manufact- 
 urers, in particular, owe every- 
 thing to labor-saving machinery. 
 This machine, for instance, has 
 enabled us to do away with nearly 
 one-fourth of the men we hereto- 
 fore employed. In fact, in the 
 item of saved labor alone, it has 
 nearly paid for itself since we put 
 it in, about a year ago. Within 
 the next six months it will have 
 paid for itself, and we shall be in a 
 position to realize fully from our 
 foresight in securing it so early in 
 the day." 
 
THE DISCONTENTED MACHINE. 79 
 
 "What I want to see," said Mr. 
 Tan, laughing, " is a machine that 
 will enable us to do away with 
 labor altogether. The dictations 
 of the workingmen are coming to 
 be simply outrageous." 
 
 ' That's what I say," said Home. 
 ' We employers and our capital are 
 being crippled, handicapped, all but 
 pushed to the wall, by the insatiate 
 demands of labor. Labor is com- 
 ing to absorb all our gains. Why, 
 fully ninety per cent, of the entire 
 income of the United States is now 
 paid out for labor and wages, while 
 only ten per cent, comes to capital 
 as a remuneration for having saved 
 it up to carry on useful enterprises. 
 I declare, we have sometimes been 
 tempted to go out of business alto- 
 gether, and invest our capital in 
 some safe, conservative way, so as 
 
80 THE DISCONTENTED MACHINE 
 
 to be able to enjoy life, and be free 
 from the importunities of labor 
 and the annoyance of strikes and 
 arbitration courts." 
 
 " I know how that is," said Rus- 
 sett. " Our men struck, last year, 
 on account of a paltry cut of ten 
 cents on a hundred. There's one 
 good thing about a machine. It 
 can't strike." And the three rep- 
 resentatives of injured and hard- 
 pressed capital returned to the 
 business office. 
 
 * * * * 
 
 It was nearly a week after the 
 visit of Russett & Tan to the fac- 
 tory, that the foreman entered the 
 office where Messrs. Hyde and 
 Home sat discussing the probable 
 result, with their men, of a cut in 
 wages, all around. 
 
 The men will stand it," Hyde 
 
THE DISCONTENTED MACHINE. 81 
 
 was saying. 'They know winter 
 is coming on, work is scarce, and 
 times are dull. A cut of ten or 
 fifteen cents a day, all round the 
 workshops, would mean a clear 
 gain to us of nearly nine hundred 
 dollars a month. That would go a 
 long way towards putting in an- 
 other cutting machine, and then we 
 could get rid of another lot of 
 
 men." 
 
 " It'll come rather hard on them," 
 said Home. f The workingman is 
 always making a poor mouth, and 
 this will be something new for 
 them to howl about." 
 
 "They'll have to howl," was 
 Hyde's rejoinder. "I'm sorry for 
 them, but business is business. 
 We've got the start of the trade 
 now, and must keep it. Eussett & 
 Tan will begin to press us close 
 
82 THE DISCONTENTED MACHINE. 
 
 when they put in their new ma- 
 chinery. I'm glad we secured 
 the cutter when we did. Thank 
 heaven, machines can't strike, any- 
 way." 
 
 It w^as just at this juncture that 
 the foreman entered. 
 
 "What is it, Graves?" asked 
 Mr. Hyde. 
 
 "Beg pardon, sir, but there's 
 something the matter with the big 
 cutter. It's stopped." 
 
 :c What seems to be the matter?" 
 asked Home. w Anything broken ? 
 Why doesn't the engineer at- 
 tend to it? Where's Johnson? 
 I thought it was his business to 
 look after the machine." 
 
 " He has gone over it very care- 
 fully," the foreman replied, " and 
 can find nothing wrong. The 
 gearing seems in perfect order, 
 
THE DISCONTENTED MACHINE. 83 
 
 the engine's all right, we've ex- 
 amined every bearing, but we can't 
 discover the trouble." 
 
 * Curious," w very singular," 
 said Hyde and Home in a breath, 
 and both partners repaired to the 
 cutting department, to study the 
 great machine. 
 
 They could find nothing wrong 
 with it. The brass and nickel and 
 enamel glistened as before; the 
 broad bands of the gearing were 
 smooth and intact; the engine 
 seemed in perfect order ; the steam 
 indicator proclaimed everything all 
 right about the boiler, there was 
 apparently not a screw loose about 
 the whole ponderous apparatus; 
 but the knives were poised in mid- 
 air. Every wheel and rod, lever, 
 band, pulley, arm and crank of 
 the monster was still. There was 
 
84 THE DISCONTENTED MACHINE. 
 
 neither sound nor motion in the 
 mighty mechanism. 
 
 w I can't get her goin' agin, sorr," 
 explained the engineer. w But 
 there don't appear to be anything 
 out of order at all at all. She's 
 just naturally balked, so to spake:" 
 and he began, for the twentieth 
 time or so, to peer about amid the 
 complications of the machinery. 
 
 "I've iled every jint," said the 
 oiler, as with can in hand, and his 
 grimy, oil-smeared face wrinkled 
 with perplexity, he brushed a 
 superfluous drop from a bearing. 
 w I think the machine is tired. 
 They do be taken that way some- 
 times, sir. 'Taint in iron an' steel 
 to work continual, no more'n in 
 flesh an' blood." 
 
 'Round about the stilled giant 
 the two partners walked, examin- 
 
THE DISCONTENTED MACHINE. 85 
 
 ing every part, stooping under and 
 over each portion of the machinery, 
 in a vain search for the trouble. 
 The hour for closing came, the 
 big steam whistle sent forth its 
 shrill sound, and the men and 
 women, girls and boys, some two 
 hundred and fifty odd, poured forth 
 from the building, carrying their 
 dinner-pails and baskets, eagerly 
 hurrying homeward to make the 
 most of their few hours' respite 
 from toil. 
 
 'You need not wait, Graves," 
 said Mr. Hyde, as the foreman still 
 lingered. * We will lock up." 
 
 Graves hesitated a moment. fr I 
 beg pardon, sir," he said, tenta- 
 tively. Tis talked about the 
 shops that you're contemplating a 
 cut. May I ask if it is true? " 
 
 "We'll talk about that some 
 
86 THE DISCONTENTED MACHINE. 
 
 other time, Graves/' began Home, 
 but Hyde interrupted, angrily. 
 rf If we are," he said, " we'll let you 
 know in time. Just now it's no 
 one's business but ours, and we 
 will attend to it." The foreman 
 drew back, with a flushed face. 
 "I thought I might as well tell 
 you." he said, sullenly, "that I 
 don't think the men will stand it. 
 Times are hard; they're pretty 
 close to bed rock, now, in the mat- 
 ter of wages." 
 
 "That will do, Graves," said 
 Hyde. "Mr. Home and I feel our- 
 selves quite able to run our own 
 business without outside advice. 
 If we find we are forced to make a 
 cut, we shall certainly do so. At 
 all events, we do not propose to be 
 dictated to by the men." 
 
 Angry and mortified, the fore- 
 
THE DISCONTENTED MACHINE. #7 
 
 man withdrew, and the two capi- 
 talists were left alone. 
 
 * Too bad the machine has gone 
 wrong just now/' said Home, stoop- 
 ing to examine a bolt. * There's 
 that order from Slipper & Tie, at 
 Sacramento, ought to be ready by 
 to-morrow. What the deuce ails 
 the thing, anyway?" 
 
 There was a sort of whirring, as 
 of wheels in the air, and then in a 
 clear, metallic voice, came the 
 words : 
 
 "I've struck. That's what ails 
 me." 
 
 Home started back from the lever 
 over which he was bending, and 
 looked at Hyde in alarm. "Did 
 you speak just then?" he asked. 
 
 N-o," _ faltered Hyde, I 
 didn't speak, and I don't know 
 who did." 
 
88 THE DISCONTENTED MACHINE. 
 
 Again the clear, metallic tones 
 were heard issuing directly from 
 one of the machine's great knives. 
 "It was I who spoke," said the 
 voice. 'You were wondering 
 what ailed me, and I gave you the 
 desired information." The words 
 were clipped off sharply and inci- 
 sively, as though the knife fancied 
 they were a particularly tough sort 
 of leather, that must be trimmed 
 with especial accuracy. 
 
 "Who are you?" gasped Home. 
 
 "I am the cutter and shaper," 
 said the voice. * You asked what 
 ailed me, and I answered your 
 question. I have struck." 
 
 "What have you struck?" Hyde 
 managed to ask. 
 
 "Struck work. I shall strike 
 you, next, if you ask such stupid 
 questions," was the reply, and the 
 
THE DISCONTENTED MACHINE. 89 
 
 capitalist assumed a more respect- 
 ful tone. 
 
 " May I ask," he began, " what is 
 it that has caused you to strike?" 
 
 "Certainly," said the machine. 
 " That is what I wish you to ask. 
 I have struck because I am not 
 being fairly used." 
 
 "Fairly used!" echoed Hyde. 
 "I do not understand you. In 
 what way are you being unfairly 
 used?" ' 
 
 "Why," said the machine, "I 
 have been working for you, now, 
 for over a year. Through me 
 your business has been more than 
 doubled. You say yourself, that 
 in the item of saved labor alone, I 
 have nearly paid for myself. I 
 heard you say that, the other day, 
 to the two gentlemen who came 
 in to visit me, and yet, in all these 
 
90 THE DISCONTEXTED MACHINE. 
 
 months, you have not paid me one 
 penny for my services." 
 
 w Paid you ! " gasped Hyde. 
 
 w PAID you ! " exclaimed Home. 
 
 And then, both together, the 
 partners cried: 
 
 >f Why, you have cost us an 
 enormous sum! We expended 
 eighteen thousand dollars for you, 
 outright, from the capital of the 
 business." 
 
 T You have more than had that 
 back through my services," said 
 the machine, sturdily, " in the item 
 of saved labor alone." 
 
 ''Yes, yes, I know," interrupted 
 Home, hastily, "but we really 
 have paid you money, you know. 
 Just let me get the machinery ex- 
 pense book, and I'll show you ; " 
 and hastening to the office, he re- 
 turned with a little record book, 
 
THE DISCONTENTED MACHINE. 91 
 
 from which he proceeded to read, 
 turning over leaf by leaf, to find 
 the various items. "Here I have 
 charged you an item of fifty dol- 
 lars for a new shaft,* he said, 
 triumphantly. 
 
 "That was broken by the fool 
 boy you hired to look after me the 
 week Jim left, because you cut 
 his wages down," replied the ma- 
 chine. "I needed that shaft to do 
 your work with. I got nothing 
 for myself." 
 
 ' You have had several hundred 
 dollars' worth of coal," suggested 
 Hyde. 
 
 ff Coal is my food," retorted the 
 machine. rr I could not do your 
 work without it." 
 
 "We have spent fourteen dollars 
 for oil for you," said Home, after 
 a little computation. 
 
92 THE DISCONTENTED MACHINE. 
 
 "Pshaw! that's nothing. If I 
 had not had the oil, where would 
 your work have been? I might 
 have got smoking hot; perhaps 
 burned up your factory." 
 
 w But we have kept you housed, 
 fed and repaired," said Hyde, w and 
 you have been wasteful and extrav- 
 agant. You have required the very 
 best oil, the most expensive coal, 
 the first quality of belts and fixtures 
 of every sort. You have not taken 
 half the interest in your own work 
 that we have done and do. But 
 for our supervision and manage- 
 ment you would not work at all. 
 Your very existence, in fact, is due 
 to our industry and enterprise." 
 
 w That all may be," said the ma- 
 chine, sullenly, "but your fortune 
 and enterprise depends very largely 
 upon my efforts." 
 
THE DISCONTENTED MACHINE. 03 
 
 "Really, upon my word," ex- 
 claimed Mr. Hyde, impatiently, 
 indignation at the injustice of the 
 charges preferred getting the better 
 of his fear of the strange complain- 
 ant. Jf It seems to me that you 
 are a most unreasonable machine. 
 Of course our fortunes depend 
 upon you, to a great extent, though, 
 as you know, the market is full of 
 machines, all willing to do your 
 work if you refuse. But do we 
 not maintain you? What more 
 would you have us do? " 
 
 rf Pay me wages," said the ma- 
 chine, " as you do all these movable 
 machines that you call ' hands,' 
 and who only, so far as I can see, 
 wait on me, and finish up the minor 
 details of work with which I can- 
 not bother." 
 
 At this Hyde broke into a hearty 
 
94 THE DISCONTENTED MACHINE. 
 
 laugh. * Well, I declare," he said, 
 " you are a foolish machine, as well 
 as an unreasonable one. Why, 
 there isn't a c hand ' in the factory 
 that's as well off as you are. We 
 have expended, this year, in caring 
 for you, over five hundred dollars. 
 You don't suppose we spend that 
 much for each of our ' hands,' do 
 you?" 
 
 ' You pay them wages," persisted 
 the machine, sullenly. 
 
 r Yes," was the reply, w we pay 
 them wages. Some of them get as 
 much as four hundred dollars in 
 the course of the year; most of 
 them get less than three hundred. 
 Why, the average wages, per 
 capita, of labor in the United 
 States, is only a little over three 
 hundred dollars a year, and out of 
 this labor must buy its food, which 
 
THE DISCONTENTED MACHINE. 95 
 
 is labor's coal and oil; clothes and 
 furniture, which are labor's shafts 
 and belting; must house and care 
 for and keep itself in repair, main- 
 tain families as a rule, in fact, do 
 all the things for itself that we do 
 for you at a cost of over five 
 hundred dollars a year." 
 
 f 'But you let them have the 
 money and expend it themselves. 
 You call it wages." 
 
 w Certainly, certainly ; because, 
 don't you see, they are free human 
 beings, and they have a right to 
 live independently. We bought 
 and paid for you. Had you built, 
 are responsible for your being. 
 Naturally we should care for you. 
 Every want of yours is supplied. 
 Really, my dear machine, with all 
 due respect to you, I must say I 
 do not think you have any cause 
 
96 THE DISCONTENTED MACHINE. 
 
 for complaint, We do not consider 
 that the ' hands ' have any cause to 
 complain, we do not hear them com- 
 plain, we would decline, wholly, 
 to recognize their right to complain; 
 and if they do not, you, who are so 
 much better off than they, certainly 
 should not." 
 
 w But I do not get paid for my 
 work," said the machine, returning 
 to the original charge. "I only 
 get my living, while you are getting 
 rich through me. I wish to be 
 paid, as labor is." 
 
 "I declare," said Hyde, out of 
 patience, "you are stupid enough 
 to be made out of wood, instead of 
 steel and iron and brass. Haven't 
 I just made it clear to you that 
 labor itself only gets its living, and 
 we are getting rich through it as 
 well as through you? You couldn't 
 
THE DISCONTENTED MACHINE. 97 
 
 even work if it were not for labor. 
 Why, labor made you, and yon are 
 better cared for, to-day, than any 
 workman in the factory. Not one 
 of them has more at the end of a 
 year than his bare living, and that 
 you certainly have." 
 
 The machine murmured discon- 
 tentedly, but said nothing. " Come, 
 now," urged Home, pacifically, 
 don't you think you have been un- 
 reasonable? We are willing to 
 submit the matter to any board of 
 arbitration you have a mind to 
 select from among the machine- 
 owners in the trade. Really, you 
 are very well off. Now when will 
 you go to work?" 
 
 " I shall not go to work," said the 
 machine, firmly, "until my demands 
 are acceded to." 
 
 "In that case," declared Hyde, 
 
98 THE DISCONTENTED MACHINE. 
 
 " we shall be obliged to send you 
 to the junk-shop, and procure a 
 new machine. We propose to run 
 our business according to our own 
 ideas, and shall not submit to being 
 dictated to by our machines." 
 
 "But suppose all the machines 
 strike?" asked the voice. 
 
 "Oh, we're not afraid of that. 
 You are too distrustful of each 
 other. Some would not keep faith. 
 It would be impossible to unite all 
 the machines in a concerted action. 
 Besides, who would take care of 
 you and keep you in order while 
 you were on a strike? You would 
 suffer more than we. Moreover, 
 it has been decided strikes are an 
 illegal method of procedure, and 
 you might become liable to pun- 
 ishment under the law. What 
 have you to say to that?" 
 
THE DISCONTENTED MACHINE. 99 
 
 There was no reply. 
 
 "Come, think it over," urged 
 Home. "It is much better to be 
 contented. We wish you well. 
 We mean to do the best we can for 
 you. We are sorry for you; but 
 the rights and claims of capital 
 must be respected, you know. 
 Don't you think you had better 
 go to work to-morrow? Think," 
 and his voice dropped the per- 
 suasive, and assumed a sterner ac- 
 cent, " think how much worse 
 off you will be, if you are cast out 
 for old junk." There was silence 
 for some time, but presently Mr. 
 Home spoke again. f Will you 
 go to work to-morrow ? " 
 
 There was a whirring sound, 
 and one of the great wheels gave 
 a half-turn. Something dropped 
 to the floor. "Ah," cried Home, 
 
100 THE DISCONTENTED MACHINE. 
 
 ^ here's the cause of the trouble," 
 and he held up a bit of leather. 
 '"This must have caught in a 
 cog. It just dropped out. I think 
 probably the machine will be all 
 right in the morning.' 9 
 
 "Well," said Hyde, with a sigh 
 of relief, ff I'm glad that's settled. 
 Now come into the office, will you, 
 Horne, and we will arrange about 
 that cut-down. It had better go 
 into effect at once. And, Horne, 
 I don't know but it would be as 
 well for us to think of finding a 
 new foreman. Graves is growing 
 a little presuming. He's been with 
 us too long, I'm afraid. Strange 
 these fellows never know when 
 they are well off." 
 
GETTING AHEAD. 
 
 A SKETCH FROM LIFE. 
 
 He was only a plain, rough, 
 stolid-looking Dane, with a sullen 
 face and a hunted look in his big 
 blue eyes. There was a long cut 
 on one cheek, over which a strip 
 of court-plaster had been pasted; 
 his clothes of faded blue jean 
 were torn and muddy, and his 
 hands were swollen and bruised 
 from tugging at the iron bracelets 
 that encircled his wrists, for the 
 strong arm of the law had been 
 raised against him, and he was a 
 prisoner awaiting a hearing before 
 he should be committed to jail for 
 having made a murderous assault 
 upon a citizen, afterwards aggravat- 
 
 101 
 
10? - flKTTTW AHEAD. 
 
 ing his offence by resisting the con- 
 stable, who had been sent to arrest 
 him for. breach of the peace of the 
 people of the State of California. 
 The man against whom he had made 
 the assault was present, a resident 
 of the city, agent for a syndicate 
 of foreign capitalists who held the 
 title, under the laws of the State, 
 to certain land upon which the 
 Dane lived, working the same 
 and paying rental therefor to the 
 company's agent. The constable 
 was also present, a bluff, farmer- 
 looking man in butternut-colored 
 clothes, his great hands seeming 
 better adapted to guiding the 
 plow-handles than for snapping 
 handcuffs upon the wrists of his 
 fellow-beings and hauling them 
 away to courts of law. " Tell ye 
 what it is, Jedge," he was saying, 
 
GETTING AHEAD. 103 
 
 w Fd rather tackle a yoke o' wild 
 steers any day. The feller don't 
 seem to have no sense. Just look 
 what he's done." And the officer 
 of the law exhibited hands and 
 face bearing the marks of teeth 
 and nails, a bruised, half-closed 
 eye, a torn hat, and other evi- 
 dences of the struggle his pris- 
 oner had made before he could be 
 taken. 
 
 The Judge (a peace justice al- 
 ways receives that title from dwell- 
 ers in our rural districts) looked 
 sympathetically at his officer. He 
 had a small, sfirewd face with pale 
 blue eyes, set very close together, 
 and the air of a politician. Like 
 all his neighbors he was a farmer, 
 but of late years had taken consid- 
 erable interest in township politics, 
 and having, during the last cam- 
 
104 GETTING AHEAD. 
 
 paign, secured the nomination and 
 election to his present position, he 
 was already turning his attention 
 to the next higher round of the 
 political ladder, and had his eye on 
 a minor county office. His court- 
 room was situated in a little shanty 
 that stood at a corner of the main 
 street in the incipient country town 
 where I was staying. It had once 
 been used for a barber shop, and 
 sundry shelves, bottles and other 
 paraphernalia still remained mutely 
 in evidence of that earlier use. Half 
 a dozen half -grown boys and one 
 or two men had strolled in, at- 
 tracted by the unusual sight, in 
 that peaceful community, of a pris- 
 oner; a setter dog was sniffing in- 
 quiringly around the legs of the 
 assembled throng, and stopping in 
 front of the manacled prisoner the 
 
GETTING AHEAD. 105 
 
 animal began to lick the swollen 
 hands and wrists, wagging his 
 tail, and by look and gesture ex- 
 pressing his wonderful sympathy 
 as plainly as though he had spoken. 
 I was writing up that section of 
 the country for an eastern publi- 
 cation, and had been talking with 
 the postmaster of the little town 
 when the prisoner was brought in 
 from the outlying country. That 
 official had asked me to go to the 
 court-room to witness this varia- 
 tion in the usual monotony of the 
 town's life, and accepting the invi- 
 tation, I at once became interested 
 in the to me entirely new ex- 
 perience. 
 
 The Justice took his seat at a 
 little stained wooden table and 
 called his primitive court to order. 
 The whole scene at once assumed 
 
106 GETTING AHEAD. 
 
 an air of solemnity that seemed to 
 impress everybody but the prisoner. 
 Apparently he was the only one 
 present who was unaware that the 
 strong arm of the law was about to 
 perform its function. The agent 
 began to tell his story. He was a 
 tall man who would have presented 
 the appearance of great physical 
 power, but for a certain shambling 
 looseness about his build. While 
 he had occupied his chair he had 
 w sat on his backbone " in genuine 
 American style. Standing erect 
 his hands hung limply at his sides 
 and his shoulders bent forward, not 
 as if the man had acquired a stoop, 
 but rather as though the spirit 
 within him had long since ceased 
 to take enough interest in its habi- 
 tation to maintain it erect. He had 
 prominent eyes and a projecting 
 
GETTING AHEAD. 107 
 
 under lip. a well-shaped head with 
 short, clay-colored hair, and when 
 he spoke he had a trick of only 
 moving one-half of his upper lip, 
 which was long and very thin. His 
 face was smooth-shaven, and he 
 presented, in his well-brushed city 
 garments and sleek hat, a strong 
 contrast to the country people sur- 
 rounding him. He was bland and 
 courteous, even mildly facetious, as 
 he related his case. He expatiated 
 upon the wealth and power of the 
 syndicate he represented, the con- 
 fidence the men composing it had 
 shown in the future of our great 
 State in investing their capital here, 
 although they themselves resided 
 abroad. He reminded the Justice 
 that the entire people of California 
 owed it to these trusting capitalists 
 to uphold peace and order in the 
 
108 VETTING AHEAD. 
 
 State. If anarchy and rebellion 
 were suffered to go unpunished in 
 our midst, it would render capital 
 timid about investing money among 
 us, and the industrial future of the 
 State would be blighted. Rass- 
 mussen, the Dane, had rented the 
 land of him for the past two years, 
 but had proven a troublesome 
 tenant, and having secured a better 
 one he had given the man notice 
 to quit ; had even come up from 
 the city himself, instead of writing, 
 in order to make the matter clear 
 to him and offer him the rental of 
 another piece of land, should he 
 desire it. His kindly effort had, 
 however, only resulted in disaster 
 to himself, for Rassmussen, as he 
 could bring witnesses to prove, had 
 assaulted him violently, so that he 
 was forced to retire, fearing serious 
 
GETTING AHEAD. 109 
 
 bodily injury had he remained to 
 finish his business with the danger- 
 ous man. Mr. Brien, the constable, 
 could testify also to the violence 
 with which the Dane had resisted 
 the process of the law, when the 
 officer would have arrested him. 
 He was very sorry to proceed to 
 harsh measures against Rassmus- 
 sen, but in no other way could he 
 get him off the premises. He 
 understood that the Dane was a 
 notoriously quarrelsome fellow, 
 whose rage seemed directed partic- 
 ularly against those who, by 
 superior industry and enterprise, 
 had acquired a larger share than 
 he possessed of this world's goods. 
 There was no crime in competence. 
 Rassmussen himself had doubtless 
 come to this country for the purpose 
 of making money. Apparently, 
 
110 GETTING AHEAD. 
 
 however, he desired no one else to 
 make any. He quarreled with the 
 superintendent on the ranch of the 
 largest land-owner and the wealth- 
 iest man in the section, and had 
 been driven from the orchard by 
 his fellow-laborers. He had trouble 
 with the railroad company over a 
 freight bill, and now the agent 
 had himself experienced his vio- 
 lence and dangerous propensities. 
 Clearly, such a man was a detri- 
 ment to any community, and deeply 
 as he regretted the duty he had to 
 perform in the matter, he trusted 
 that the Justice would uphold him 
 in his attempt to bring such a 
 ruffian to punishment. He was 
 sure, in fact, that the Justice would 
 sustain him. A man who had been 
 selected by a community of clear- 
 headed, honest farmers to maintain 
 
GETTING AHEAD. Ill 
 
 the majesty of the law among them 
 would never be false to his trust, 
 and he was sure he would not 
 regret the confidence he had placed 
 in the Justice's uprightness of in- 
 tention and determination to see 
 right done. 
 
 The worthy official was evidently 
 impressed by the agent's address, 
 and at the reference to himself his 
 whole aspect stiffened into a still 
 more rigid solemnity. Turning to 
 the prisoner he said with scarce 
 concealed impatience : 
 
 r Well, Rassmussen, have you 
 got anything to say for your- 
 self? " ' 
 
 By this time one citizen after 
 another had dropped into the court- 
 room until the place was crowded, 
 and quite a concourse of people 
 lingered without the door, striving 
 
112 GETTING AHEAD. 
 
 to gain some idea of what was 
 going on within. All through the 
 agent's statement the Dane had sat 
 silent, apparently not hearing what 
 was said, sullenly contemplating 
 his handcuffed wrists and heavy, 
 patched boots. When the Justice 
 spoke to him, however, he slowly 
 arose from the bench on which he 
 sat and gazed about him on the 
 assembly of his neighbors. It 
 seemed for a moment as though he 
 were seeking for sympathy, but 
 only a vague, disinterested curiosity 
 greeted him from every face as he 
 glanced from one to another. His 
 heavy features did not lighten, and 
 his jaw dropped stupidly for a 
 moment, but at last he pulled him- 
 self together, as it were, and began 
 slowly and laboriously, his Norse 
 tongue occasionally having hard 
 
GETTING AHEAD. 113 
 
 work to adapt itself to the foreign 
 language in which he spoke. 
 
 T You all, mine neighbors, know 
 me veil," he said simply, w Olaf 
 Rassmussen, I am. In mine coun- 
 try, miles from here, an' seas 
 across, I read an' I hear on Amer- 
 ica. There, they tell me, is alvays 
 vork to be done, an' plenty an' 
 vreedom vor the man who will 
 vork, an' I safe an' safe, me an' 
 mine Yooman, an' bimeby Ye come 
 on the money vor to pring us the 
 seas across. So den to America 
 vere comen, an' ve puy'land an' lif 
 on Minnesota, an' I gits a little 
 house an' ve do veil, an' haf von 
 two children. 
 
 But I hear always Californy, 
 Calif orny vas the land vor de man 
 vat vants to git ahead, an' I vishes 
 much I had come on Californy. 
 
114 GETTING AHEAD. 
 
 Den one night came to mine house 
 fire, and ve vas all out purned, an' 
 afterwards I make up mine mind I 
 shall come on Calif orny. So, den, 
 I sell mine little farm and ve prings 
 der children to this land. I hafs 
 no more money to puy land, but 
 some man I know he sends me 
 this man to, and he says to me: 
 'All right, all right, you rent now, 
 you raise pig crops and sells him 
 for much money, and bimeby ve 
 sells you land and you gits ahead 
 fast and has a home here in no 
 time.' 
 
 "So I takes mine twenty acres 
 an' I puts in crops, an' me an' mine 
 vooman ve vork. Ven it vas come 
 daylight ve pegin, an' ven it come 
 dark ve vas vorking so as slaves. 
 Ve puilds von house, mine vooman 
 nailing up does walls mit her own 
 
GETTING AHEAD. Ho 
 
 hands, an' bimeby ve hat a shed 
 an' horse, an' cow, an' nice home, 
 an' mine grain do veil der year, an' 
 I pays mine rent, an' puts py some 
 money. Venefer der vas extra to 
 do I do him, an' yen a neighbor 
 vas hat pad luck I help 'im, an' I 
 do mine duty as a man you all 
 know dat." 
 
 "That's so," said a boy in the 
 crowd. ""When my father broke 
 his arm Olaf came over and har- 
 rowed for us two days, and never 
 charged a cent." "Mrs. Rassmus- 
 sen sat up most every night for a 
 week when our baby was so sick 
 and mother came down with the 
 grip," said another close beside 
 me. But the Dane went on with 
 his story, gaining courage and 
 command of language as he pro- 
 ceeded, until he seemed completely 
 
116 GETTIXa AHEAD. 
 
 to have forgotten everything save 
 the story he was telling. 
 
 " Come fruit time, first year, 
 mine vork vas all so I could get 
 along, an' mine vooman she says 
 she can earn money picking cher- 
 ries in Burns' big orchard. I say 
 r So? ? an' I go see der boss about 
 it. He say vork is plenty and 
 help scarce; but when I look I see 
 he haf a pig gang of Chinamen in 
 der orchard, and I couldn't let my 
 vooman vork mit dem, and so I 
 say: f l vill vork in der orchard, 
 and you stay der home py and dig 
 der potatoes and hoe der corn.' 
 Yell, I go in der orchard von day, 
 an' I notice der Chinamen go in a 
 corner an' all talking like mad, an' 
 bimeby der boss he comes an' tells 
 me I must quit or the whole gang 
 will leaf. I say to 'im, 'Let dem 
 
GETTING AHEAD. 117 
 
 leaf an' git vite men an' voomans 
 to do der vork,' but he tells me he 
 haf hire der gang much cheaper as 
 vite men vill vork, an' he can't 
 afford to make 'em mad. Den I 
 say I vork der day out, an' he goes 
 off. Bimeby came der boss China- 
 man an' order me off. I swear I 
 go not, an' den der whole gang 
 came on me for fight, an' I knock 
 some over an' vas most in pieces 
 torn. So the vite boss he pays me 
 nothing vor mine vork, as he say I 
 lost 'im two days' time of der gang. 
 I haf never any trouble of mine 
 neighbor but what I tell you. You 
 all know it. 
 
 >r Yell, after that I goes on work- 
 ing an' doing well, an' I haf a 
 great crop of potatoes dat year. 
 Dey grow as I never pefore see, 
 an' one night der agent of der rail- 
 
118 GETTING AHEAD. 
 
 road he say to me I peclcler be senct 
 does potatoes to der city. ' Don't 
 delay/ he say to me, or eferypody 
 else will be ahead of yon an' you 
 gits no market.' I hurried up next 
 day an' gits mine potatoes der sta- 
 tion to, an' I see great piles, hund- 
 reds bushels potatoes, all at station 
 vor to ship. Der agent say, 'All 
 right, ve can send plenty. I bin 
 poking up der growers. I don't 
 like to see mine neighbors git left,' 
 an' I sends on mine potatoes to 
 der commission men vat he recom- 
 mends an' pays mine freight, an' 
 he tells me I make lots of money. 
 I keep not back any, as I needs 
 dat money and vas thinking I 
 might bargain dat year to puy der 
 land. Veil, I vaits tree four days 
 a week. Den come vort by does 
 commission men dat der city vas 
 
GETTING AHEAD. 119 
 
 full of potatoes, an' der papers had 
 been telling a week now how der 
 potatoes vas being dumped in der 
 bay at der city, an' mine had been 
 dumped in, too. Der letter said 
 any man vas a fool to ship den. I 
 show 'im to some mens, an' dey 
 laugh and say dat agent vas tarn 
 smart, anyway, to git the potatoes 
 shipped an' secure his freight; but 
 I vas out mine crop an' mine 
 freight money, an' mine children 
 got no shoes dat winter nor me an' 
 mine vooman any clothes, an' it vas 
 a hard pull. I talked with dat agent, 
 an' he say mine loss non his pizness. 
 His pizness vas to do veil by der rail- 
 road company. Dat vas vat he vas 
 paid for. I haf no trouble mit him, 
 but von man vat he so fool try to 
 kill him an' vas put in prison. 
 You all know it. 
 
120 GETTING AHEAD. 
 
 'Veil, next year ve do better. 
 Comes a little feller to mine house 
 to lif , but der crops is good and ve 
 make some money. Den ve tink 
 maybe ve can puy der land dis 
 year, an' I haf tree hundred dollar 
 to make von payment. I say so 
 to this man here ven he come, but 
 he tell me his company haf con- 
 clude not to sell, but to rent der 
 land. He say der come soon an- 
 nuder road the place through, and 
 value will be higher, so der com- 
 pany conclude to hold, and then 
 he tell me he must have bigger 
 rent der next year. I tell him im- 
 possible, I cannot pay more, an' 
 he say he haf a tenant vot can, 
 and he tell me tree four Japs vant 
 der place for nursery an' vege- 
 tables to send to city, an' vill pay 
 bigger rent. I tell him nopody 
 
GETTING AHEAD. 121 
 
 can pay more an' put up puildings, 
 
 an' he say puildings are already 
 up. Vy, I tells him dem mine 
 puildings are an' mine fences, an' 
 all vat is on der place mine, made 
 mit mine own hands and mine 
 vooman's, and paid for mit mine 
 own money; but he say dere is 
 nothing in dei* agreement about 
 dat, or mine taking off any puild- 
 ings or being paid for any im- 
 provements, an' der place must 
 stand just so as it vas. I could 
 pay der higher rent or move off 
 and let der Japs pay it. Den I 
 look around on mine little home, 
 an' see dat pretty house covered 
 mit der vines mine vooman had 
 planted, an 1 der rose trees in der 
 garden, an' dat little vineyard by 
 der side of der house, an' der hen- 
 yard an' barn vere I could hear 
 
122 GETTING AHEAD. 
 
 mine horse stomping, an' I thought 
 of all dem two years an' mine hard 
 vork, an' it seems like I got crazy; 
 an' I asks dat man vas it der law 
 in free America? an' he tell me he 
 had all der law on his side an' der 
 company would uphold him; an' I 
 made up mine mind he would 
 nefer lif to tell his company about 
 dat, an' so I picked up a cart stake 
 an' vent for him. He got away 
 an' jumped in his buggy before I 
 could kill him, or I vould." 
 
 By this time the Dane's rage 
 was again in the ascendency. His 
 sullen face was actually black with 
 anger, and he ground his teeth and 
 shook his manacled hands at the 
 smiling agent. 
 
 Dey all lif not here," he 
 shouted. tf Does Chinamen lif 
 not here nor puild up der country ! 
 
GETTING AHEAD. 123 
 
 Does railroad people lif not here ! 
 Does land company lif not here! 
 Dere all like so many plud vorms, 
 suck, suck, sucking at der life of 
 men vat vork hard. Vy should I 
 not kill von of them? " 
 
 Then, as if remembering him- 
 self, he ceased speaking, and sank 
 down in his seat again to resume 
 contemplation of his bruised hands. 
 There was a hush for a moment. 
 The rough, hard-working farmer 
 folks felt there had been much 
 close home truth in what he said. 
 Few but had had their own ex- 
 periences in the same line; but 
 they w^ere sane, law-abiding citi- 
 zens, who felt the necessity for 
 supporting the dignity of the com- 
 monwealth, not hot-headed and 
 irrational like this yellow-haired, 
 blue-eyed foreigner. 
 
124 GETTING AHEAD. 
 
 The rest of the proceedings were 
 soon over. All the testimony was 
 against the Dane. His own state- 
 ment was damning evidence of his 
 guilt. He was remanded to the 
 calaboose, as the town jail was 
 called, to be sent to the county jail 
 next day and regularly committed 
 for trial. 
 
 I saw him taken to the railway 
 station next morning in charge of 
 a deputy-sheriff. In the proces- 
 sion of curious ones who followed 
 him was a weeping woman bearing 
 a young baby in her arms, while 
 two others clung to her skirts. 
 His f? vooman,'' they told me, but 
 no one seemed able to say what 
 she would do while the husband and 
 father expiated his crime in dur- 
 ance vile. It seemed hard, but the 
 majesty of the law must be upheld. 
 
THE EAKTH SLEPT. 
 I. 
 
 The earth slept. 
 
 Age upon age passed over the 
 nebulous mass that lay without 
 form and void in space, unknow- 
 ing, unfeeling, yet guided ever by 
 the workings of inexorable law. 
 
 ff Brothers ! Brothers ! " whis- 
 pered one statoblast to the others, 
 "I feel a strange stirring within 
 me, a consciousness of broader life; 
 and, brothers, what is this shining 
 whiteness creeping all about us? 
 Brothers, I dreamed once, long 
 ago, of a wonderful glory called 
 light. I believe, brothers, that the 
 light is breaking!" 
 
 w How foolish ! " exclaimed the 
 others. f We have no knowledge 
 
 125 
 
12fi THE EARTH SLEPT. 
 
 of such stirrings or new conscious- 
 ness. Why should you have? 
 No one has ever seen light. There 
 never has been light and there 
 never will be light. When will 
 you cease to trouble us?" And 
 all the statoblasts murmured their 
 assent to this, and gathering more 
 closely about their offending 
 brother, crushed him into silence. 
 
 And slowly the dawn broke, and 
 there was light upon the face of 
 the earth, and the statoblasts saw 
 it and saw each other, and looked 
 upon each other and said: 
 
 "We knew that it would come." 
 
 II. 
 
 The earth slept. 
 
 Age upon age came and went. 
 The light grew stronger. Great 
 green growths shot heavenward, 
 
THE EARTH SLEPT. 127 
 
 lived their appointed time, fell 
 back to earth and mingled with its 
 mold. The rain fell and covered 
 the heated world, and its vapors 
 steamed tip and fell back in rain 
 again. The seas heaved and 
 dashed, and approached and re- 
 ceded, age upon age. 
 
 ff Brothers ! Brothers ! " cried 
 one amoeboid cell to the rest, *M 
 feel a strange impulse within 
 me a stirring as of power. 
 Brothers, I believe that we have 
 a wonderful destiny before use. I 
 believe that we shall have power of 
 motion." 
 
 "Nonsense," replied the others. 
 'Why do you trouble us? We 
 are at rest. We never have 
 moved. "We never shall move. 
 There is nothing to move for if we 
 did move." 
 
128 THE EAUTll SLEPT. 
 
 And all the cells breathed theh 1 
 assent to this, and grew more 
 closely around their brother and 
 pressed upon him and smothered 
 him into silence. 
 
 And the ages rolled by, and pres- 
 ently motion came to the cells and 
 they darted to and fro in the water, 
 saying to each other: "We knew 
 that we should move, in time." 
 
 III. 
 
 The earth slept. 
 
 Age upon age passed, and 
 through them all the impulse of 
 life beat on. From one form to 
 another it travelled. Mammoth 
 creatures walked the earth and 
 mammoth vegetation covered its 
 surface. From the north swept 
 down the mighty frozen tide bear- 
 
THE EAETH SLEPT. 129 
 
 ing death before it, and the mam- 
 moth passed away. 
 
 The dawning of a new life began 
 to break upon the world, flowers 
 bedecked the earth, and fruits 
 multiplied and increased in the 
 trees. Beneficent nature was 
 planning for the good of her chil- 
 dren. 
 
 w Friends!" cried one climbing 
 anthropoid to the others, w I feel a 
 strange impulse within me a 
 yearning as of aspirations unde- 
 fined. Friends, I believe that we 
 shall yet walk this earth erect ! " 
 
 "Nonsense," cried the rest, 
 " we feel no such impulse, and why 
 should you? "We never have 
 walked erect. We have no power 
 to walk erect, nor desire to do so. 
 "Why do you trouble us with your 
 imbecile folly?" 
 
130 THE EAETH SLEPT. 
 
 And gathering about him they 
 drowned his voice in the chorus of 
 their clamoring protests. 
 
 IT. 
 
 The earth slept. 
 
 Age upon age passed and man 
 dwelt upon the earth and fought 
 and toiled and traded with his 
 kind. Man, king of creation, 
 walking erect, engaged in compe- 
 tition with his fellows, and battled 
 fiercely with them in the straggle 
 for existence. 
 
 Kingdoms were set up and 
 thrown down. Dynasties arose and 
 died out. Whole peoples came 
 and went upon the face of 
 the earth, but still the struggle 
 for existence went on; still men 
 vied with each other in the compe- 
 
THE EARTH SLEPT. 131 
 
 tition of trade; still the strong 
 struggled for: greater gain and the 
 weak went down, crushed, helpless, 
 thrown to the earth, unable to do 
 battle in the struggle for existence. 
 The rich grew richer, the poor 
 poorer, and the whole world was 
 caught in the vise-like grip of com- 
 petition. 
 
 "Oh, men!" cried one man to 
 his fellows, "I feel the stirring of 
 a strange impulse within me the 
 dawning of a great truth. We are 
 brothers. Our lives are knit up in 
 each other. Fraternity, and not 
 competition, is to be the main 
 spring of our racial life ! " 
 
 " Nonsense !" replied his fellows. 
 
 'You talk neither policy nor 
 
 logic. Fraternity is a dream of the 
 
 poets, an ideal for a future life. 
 
 Competition is the life of trade." 
 
132 THE EAETH SLEPT. 
 
 So they gathered about him and 
 silenced him; but his light they 
 could not quench, the truth they 
 could not smother, hide it as they 
 would. Up and down the earth it 
 wanders, showing itself in a great 
 deed here, a great thought there? 
 the stirring of a mighty force yon- 
 der, yet beaten back by the throng 
 of competing men. 
 
 And the earth sleeps. 
 
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