GIFT OF Prof. G. A. Kofcid 5, 4^^ Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/capitallaborOOharrrich jv/foss Books /9R£ //y/J /fj^LF MILLION HOAfES. ///usfraiecf hy PAVLJm/IFfT Sold by Subscription Only. The burning question of the Twen- tieth Century is the one that relates to the struggle between Capital and Labor. All people are interested in this great issue, inasmuch as it affects the income and expenses of each fam- ily and will decide the destiny of the rich and of the poor. Capital is strong in money and brains, while Labor in addition to its mental power is especially strong in men and muscles, and each side is contending for the mastery of the field. It is not hard to find the cause of this unhappy strife. A little reflection and observation reveal an alarming condition of things in our country. We see the great corporations and monopolies heartlessly grabbing the lion's share, and with rapacious greed they are swal- lowing the whole country at a steadily increasing rate. We also see the arms of the octopus Graft fastening themselves upon every part of our fair land. On the other hand, we see the vast army of workers grinding their lives away at hard toil and ever getting the deepest cut from the competitive whip, and suffer- O PREFACE. ing from a fiendish partiality at the hands of the law- makers. These workers are tantalized by a taste of refined life, but they are unable to earn enough to live such a life. They have not been blind to the fact that the rich are becoming richer and the poor are becom- ing poorer, just because monopolistic oppression has raised the prices on the one side more rapidly than it has raised wages on the other side. Under the whip of monopolistic slavemasters, the host of common people, generally known as laborers, are getting deeper and deeper into bondage. This has given rise to widespread discontent among working- men, which has found its expression in various kinds of Labor Organizations and also in such revolutionary measures as Strikes and Boycotts. This movement on the part of Labor was perhaps the most fortunate thing that could have happened; for, if capitalistic oppression had continued unchecked for a few decades more, by this time, the nation would be owned and controlled by a few great moguls, and the great bulk of humanity would be reduced to a new type of slavery even more abject than the kind under which we now suffer. The rising of Labor against Capital has revealed the low spirit of the greed of Monopoly. The workers have found that if they wish to shake off the fetters which bind them, they must push their own campaign with vigor, and dig out their own path to liberty. When one man earns so much money that he does not know how to invest it, and the other man earns so little money that he does not know how to get enough to eat, then the time has arrived to call a halt; and who will do this unless the people as a mass rise up PREFACE. 7 and offer their protest and make their demand for an economic change. The earth yields enough to feed and clothe everybody, and if we can subtract from the amount of work done to-day, the useless labor spent by reason of competition, it will then be possible for everybody to receive the reasonable comforts and luxuries of life; and to do this, no one would be re- quired to work more than five or seven hours a day under the reign of the Co-operative Commonwealth. It is impossible in a brief foreword to outline the remedies suggested in this book. The reader inter- ested in this matter must look at the chapters that take up this phase of the question. It is easy and natural to doubt, but the practicability of pure socialistic prin- ciples is readily apparent to anyone who will investi- gate the workings of Municipal Ownership, and the operations of our socialistic post-office system. We have spent considerable time in investigation in order to gather facts and figures for this book; and it would be impossible to enumerate the many sources from which help has been derived. The library of modern Socialism is very extensive, which in itself, is an indication of the drift of the age. Social economics is a study that has come to stay. Many of the world *s greatest thinkers are seriously studying the problems that arise in connection with the suffering masses and the favored classes. The illustrations are the product of the ingenious mind and artful hand of Paul J. Kraff t. He hasi readily caught the spirit of the book and has forcibly portrayed its thought in the beautiful chapter head- ings, pen sketches and half-tones that adorn this volume. 8 PREFACE. We have not been unduly ambitious in writing this book expecting that it would turn the world upside down, but we had hoped that it would have some in- fluence in uplifting the general masses of humanity upon a higher level, even if it should become necessary to bring some of the higher classes of Society upon a more common level. If this book will in any degree accomplish this end, the author will feel amply repaid for the many months of work which he spent in pre- paring it for the market. The Authob. In placing the volume ''Capital and Labor*' upon the book market of the world, we believe we are doing a valu- able service for all mankind. The indi- cations of Social unrest are every- where clearly seen, and we cannot be indifferent to the stupendous conflict now waging between the great power of Monopoly and the struggling mass of workers. The taunting extravagances of the rich and the miseries of the grovelling poor cannot be forever tolerated in any free coimtry. These dangerous ex- tremes in our national life must be abolished, and it should be done in an equitable manner. This book gives a graphic description of present con- ditions as they exist among all grades of workers and also among the wealthy classes. The spirit of Monopoly is laid bare ; its deceitful mask is torn aside, giving the reader a full view of this monstrosity that hopes to feed forever on the sacrifices of our millions of toilers. Perhaps nothing will appeal to the reader more than the fair and candid manner in which the author con- siders the various phases of this complicated question. Many readers will be astonished to learn how cruel a master competition continues to be to the people. The 9 10 INTRODUCTION. book makes a strong plea to free the millions of our wage earners from the enslavement into which abused liberty has forced them. One noticeable thing about this book is the logical and impartial maimer in which the author proceeds from step to step in his argument. He discounts an- archy, revolution and other similar instruments, and urges that the battle shall be won by regular and law- ful means, looking forward to a final redemption by a change in our system of economics. The book does not abound in gloomy forebodings or pessimistic utterances. It digs a path to the sunlight of emancipation and shows the human race a way out of the misery into which the slavelords of competition have whipped the masses. There is an inspiration in the happy thought of a race redeemed from Social bondage, and this is the thrill of delight with which the book closes. The illustrations are of the finest quality, being the work of the deservedly famous artist, Paul Krafft of New York. Each production is original and with great care was drawn expressly for this volume, thus sup- plementing the valuable chapters of the book. Concerning the author, little need be said as his name has already appeared in connection with other popular books. Only one who is accustomed to study and analyze a subject carefully could have written a volume of this kind. He is a genius in the book-writ- ing world, and his millions of readers will welcome this his latest production. His writings are fascinat- ing and stand alone in all the range of fact and fiction. The Publishers. CHAPTER I. THE ARMY OF LABOR AGAINST CAPITAL. I. The Greatest Battle of the Ages — Strife Between Labor and Capital — Its Changing Phases from Ancient to Modern Times — ^Millions of Men Against Millions of Money — The Advance Skirmishes — Great Need of the Grolden Rule. II. The Solving op Other Great Questions — Redemption the Great Theme Nineteen Hundred Years Ago — Liberty in Church and State the Great Issue of the Past Five Hundred Years — ^The Social Question the World's Present Problem 21 CHAPTER II. DIGNITY OF LABOR. I. Labor and Idleness — Divine Origin of Labor — Idleness and Laziness Breed Poverty, Disease and Death — The Slavery of the Idle Rich — Happiness and Contentment the Fruit of Earning What We Eat. II. General Statements Concerning Labor — 1. All Grades of Labor Are Honorable — 2. Labor Furnishes a Means of Support — 3. Labor Is a Great Source of All True Value — 4. Labor Is a Giant Capable of Ruling. III. What the Dignity op Labor Demands — 1. The Laborer Should Receive Fair Treatment — 2. Laborers Have a Right to Combine for Mutual Protection 29 CHAPTER III. LABOR IN THE LIGHT OF THE AGES. I. Age op Slavery — Its Origin, Egypt, Greece and Rome — The Low Condition of the Slaves. II. The Dawn and Reign op Feudalism — ^From Slavery to Serfdom — Causes of the Development. 11 12 CONTENTS. III. Our Present Contract System — Labor Sold for a Fixed Wage — England's Fight Against Capitalistic Repression of the Laborers — The World-wide Upward Trend. IV. The Coming Deliverance— Through the Human Brother- hood Principles of Thomas Jefferson, Instead of the Aristocratic Teachings of Alexander Hamilton 36 CHAPTER IV. THE CONDITION OF THE SKILLED WORKER. I. Introduction — The Sfcilled Worker a Natural Evolution in the Ranks of Labor. II. The Skilled Worker Viewed in the Light of Reason — 1. Their Wages Are Gradually Reaching the Proper Limit — 2. Skilled Laborers as a Class Are Refined Slaves — Competition Well- nigh Intolerable — Apprehension of the Uncertain Future — 3. They Are Handicapped Three-fold — ( 1 ) Their Needs Increase More Rap- idly Than Their Wages — (2) The Skilled Laborer Is at the Mercy of the "Boss"— (3) The Skilled Laborer Is Restless Over the Unearned Wealth of the Rich 44 CHAPTER V. THE CONDITION OF THE UNSKILLED WORKER. I. A General Glimpse. II. The Condition of the Unskilled Worker — 1. His Con. dition Is One of Slavery — 2. His Condition Is One of Suffering and Misery — His Present Environment Entourages Intemperance, Lust and Crime, and Results in Ill-health and Inefficiency — 3. His Con- dition Is One of General Poverty — The Tenement House Section Considered — Poverty in the Mining Regions — 4. His Prospects for Old Age Are Not Favorable 50 CHAPTER VI. THE CAUSE OF LABOR'S DISCONTENT. A. ARISING FROM CONDITIONS IMPOSED ON LABOR. I. The Grinding and Killing Systems of Work — 1. The Length of a Day's W^ork— 2. The "Rythm Stroke"— 3. Sweating System — 4. Robbed of the Sabbath Rest. II. Low Wages — Average Wages Insufficient — The Slave Rate for Unskilled Labor Contrasted With the Capitalistic Gain in Profit«. CONTENTS. 13 III. Uncertainty of Work — ^Causing Unrest Among the Workers — The Terror of Being Out of Work — Causes of Uncer- tainty — 1. Shut Down — 2. Panics — 3. Discharging of Employees. IV. Blessings Changed to Curses — 1. Invention — Some Ex- amples of What Machinery Does to Make Labor More Irksome — England's Experience — 2. Immigration — Its Evil Effect Upon the American Labor Market Under Our Present Economic System— Under Social Reform, Imported Labor Would Be a Blessing 63 CHAPTER VII. THE CAUSE OF LABOR'S DISCONTENT, (continued). B. ARISING FROM THE ATTITUDE AND EXAMPLE OF THE RICH. Many Rich In Using Their Wealth Are Guilty of: I. Indifference — II. Heartlessness — III. Foolishness — IV. Fashionable Robbery 87 CHAPTER Vni. THE CAUSE OF LABOR'S DISCONTENT, (continued). e. ARISING FROM GRAFTING AND UNFAIR LEGISLATION, I. Graft — Evil Widespread — Instances of Graft in the United States— Efforts to Check the Evil. II. Unfair Legislation — Much Legislation Controlled by Capitalists — Instances of Partial Legislation and Partial Applica^ tion of Law — Revelations of Lawson 99 CHAPTER IX. THE CAUSE OF LABOR'S DISCONTENT, (continued). D. ARISING FROM THE EVILS OF COMPETITION. I. Origin of Competition. II. Claims for Competition. III. Evil Effects of Competition — 1. It Made Possible the So-called White Slavery — 2. Competition Has Slain Its Tens of Thousands — 3. Competition Is Indifferent to the Welfare of the Weak — 4. Competition Produces an Evil Effect Upon the Employer — 5. Competition Compels a Laborer to Bid Against Another for Work — 6. Competition Has Enriched the Employing Class and Degraded the Laboring Class — 7. Competition Compels an Enor- mous Waste of Capital and Energy 109 14 CONTENTS. CHAPTER X. THE CAUSE OF LABOR'S DISCONTENT, (concluded). E. ARISING FROM, TRUSTS AND MONOPOLIES. I. Benefits of Monopoly Briefly Stated. II. Evils of Monopoly Operated for Private Gain — 1. It Forces the Small Competitors to Surrender or Die — 2, It Robs the Public — 3. It Takes Advantage of the Workers — 4. Certain Corpora- tions Restrict the Dealer to Their Own Products — 6. It Robs the Producer — 6. Certain Monopolies Defy the Law — 7. Monopoly In- fluences Legislation. III. Tidal Waves of Public Opinion Against Monopoly. IV. Proposed Remedies of the Monopoly Evil — 1. The Acquirement of Foreign Markets — 2. The Abolition of All Legisla- tive Privileges — 3. Prevent Overcapitalization — 4. Compel "Pub- licity" of All Trust Matters — 5. Regulation of Trusts by Law — 6. Kill the Trusts — 7. Let All the Trusts and Monopolies Be Operated for the Benefit of the Public 119 CHAPTER XL THE WORLD-WIDE STRUGGLE AGAINST MONOPOLY. I. Austria — ^Trusts of Central Europe Born in 1873 — The World Is Watching the Result. II. Switzerland — Noted For Its Policy of Home Government. III. France — Trusts Are Probihited by Law. IV. Germany — Monopolies Increased For Fifty Years — ^FuU Literature on Trade Combination — Many Labor Unions Have Been Organized. V. England — ^London Center of Monopoly — Capitalists More Shrewd and Antagonism to Them Less Intense — Socialism Growing Rapidly. VI. Scotland and Ireland — Profiting from England's Experi- ence — Experiment in Glasgow. VII. Bed of Nihilism — ^Reformers Know of No Better Way to Express Their Indignation — Civilization Advances, Socialism Dawn- ing. VIII. Belgium — ^Monopoly Slowly Growing — Cause of Labor Growing More Rapidly. IX. The Australian States — Most Aggressive Field of Recent Years — ^Labor in Politics Is Slowly Winning 136 CHAPTER XII. • THE COMING DISASTER. The Evils of Wealth: Luxury and Vice— Downfall of Other Nations, Rome, Spain — Conditions in England and United States.. 151 CONTENTS. 15 CHAPTER XIII. WHY ARE THE WRONGS NOT RIGHTED? Labor and Capital Each Places Blame on the Other — Testi- mony of Middle Class — Private Ownership and Free Competition as Controlling Forces — Selfishness on the Throne — ^The New Social Economics Promises Relief 161 CHAPTER XIV. THE RISE AND REIGN OF LABOR UNIONS. I. The Rise of Labor Unions — Evolution Was Redeeming Man Too Slowly— The Worker Took the Initiative to Get His Rights — Capitalists Alarmed, Influenced Legislation Forbidding Workmen to Organize — ^Repeal of These Laws Followed by Wide- spread Labor Organizations. II. The Reign of Labor Unions — First World-wide Organi- zation Described — Knights of Labor and Its Aim — ^The Greatest Labor Organization of Earth : "The American Federation of Labor," With Nearly Three Hundred Branches of Labor Organizations — Charitable Feature of Labor Organizations 166 CHAPTER XV. LABOR UNIONS CONSIDERED. I. Objections to Labor Unions — 1. Some Claim That They Threaten Public Interest More Than Monopolies — 2. They Will Not Be Able to Stand Genuine Adversity — 3. They Represent a Very Small Portion of the Entire Mass of Workei^— 4. They Do Not Enter Politics as They Should — ^5. Trade Unions Infringe Upon the Natural Right of Employers — 6. Trade Unions Destroy the Liberties of Many of Their Members — 7. Trade Unions Have Been Criticised for Their Method of Limiting Apprenticeship. II. Benefits of Organized Labor— 1. It Has Instituted the Weekly Wage in Lawful Money — ^2. It Has Influenced Legislation Against Foreign Contract Labor — 3. It IT^" Compelled the Passage of Sanitary Laws — 4. It lias Been Largely Instru-nental in Abolish- ing Child Labor and the Sweating System — ^5. It Has Lessened the Length of a Day's Work — 6. Wages Have Increased Materially — 7. It Has Exposed the Evils of Trusts 172 CHAPTER XVI. RASH REMEDIES. I. Anarchy— 1. Five Kinds of Anarchy: (1) l^^volutionary, (2) Revolutionary, (3) Communistic, (4) InuividuaMstic, (6) 16 CONTENTS. Reformed — 2. Teachings and Aims of Anarchy — { 1 ) Law and Gov- ernment Are Invasive — ^(2) It Aims to Give to Everybody Free and Natural Liberty — (3) It Aims to Overthrow All Existing Gov- ernment. II. Nihilism — What Anarchyy Is to the Civilized World, Nihilism Is to Russia. III. Insurrection and Revolution — These Methods Similar to Anarchy, But Frequently Prove a Blessing — Commune of Paris — Revolution of Cromwell, and the Thirteen American Colonies, IV. Boycott — V. "Grand Divide" — VI. Strikes — 1. Definition and Nature of Strikes — 2, History of Strikes^ — 3. Cause of Strikes — 4. Evils of Strikes — 5. Benefits of Strikes. VII. Sympathetic Strikes 181 CHAPTER XVII. LEGISLATIVE REMEDIES. I. A Glimpse of One Hundred Years Ago. II. Recent Laws in Favor of Labor. III. Legal Enactments Against Monopoly. IV. Legislation Considered as a Remedy 199 CHAPTER XVIII. MUTUAL AGREEMENT REMEDIES. I. Profit Sharing — II. Sliding Scau; — III. Piece-Woek — IV. Sending Unemployed to Farms — V. Arbitration 208 CHAPTER XIX. PROPOSED REMEDIES. I. Christianization of Capital — II. Income Tax — III. Sin- gle Tax — IV. Self- Help — V. Industrial Schools 216 CHAPTER XX. SOCIALISTIC REIVIEDIES. I. Communism— II. Co-operative Societies— III. National- ization or Land 222 CHAPTER XXI. SOCIALISM. A Very Elastic Word, and Must Be Divorced From Anarchy, Nihilism. CONTENTS. 17 I. Definitions of Socialism — 11. Aims of Socialism— III. Remarks Concebning Socialism— 1. It Is Practical and Is En- dorsed by Eminent Men — ^The Post Office System and Municipal Ownership Are Socialistic Measures — 2. Socialism Is the Fifth Industrial Order in the History of Labor — 3. Socialism Is a World- wide Influence and Will Finally Triumph 229 CHAPTER XXII. BLESSINGS UNDER SOCIAL REFORM. I. Poverty Will Be at an End — Poverty of the Poor and Rich Will Vanish — ^Many Rich Deserve Sympathy Rather Than Censure. II. The Financial Burden of All Misfortunes Will Be Borne by the Public. III. The Death Rate and Sickness Will Be Decreased Under Social Reform. IV. Children Will Be Properly Protected Under Social Reform. V. Sunday Labor Will Be Reduced to a Minimum— Com- petition Will Eventually Force Men to Work Seven Days a Week — Social Reform Will Demand a Day's Rest — Much of the Present Sunday Work Is Unnecessary. VI. Intemperance Will Be Checked Under Social Reform — Its Deadliest Blow for Centuries Will Be Struck by the Hand of Social Reform — ^No One Will Get Any Financial Benefit by Manu- facturing or Selling Liquor — ^Appetite as a Cause of the Evil Con- sidered. VII. Prostitution and Crime Will Be Lessened Under Social Reform 244 CHAPTER XXIII. BLESSINGS UNDER SOCIAL REFORM, (continued). VIII. Adulteration of Foods Will Be Stopped. IX. The Tramp and Vagrant Nuisance Will Be Abolished — A Beggar Will Either Land in a Public Workhouse or Hospital. X. The Aged and the Unfortunate Will Be Fully Cared For 259 CHAPTER XXrV. BLESSINGS UNDER SOCIAL REFORM, (concluded). XL Much Waste Will Be Eliminated — 1. The Waste of Advertising— 2. The Waste of Selling Goods— 3. The Waste of Dis- tribution — 4. Waste in the Legal World — 5. Waste of Insurance — 6. The Waste of Competition in Manufacturing — 7. Convict Waste. . 268 18 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXV. CHRIST AND SOCIAL REFORM. 1. Christ Taught That Selfishness Is Death— 2. Christ Taughl That Unselfishness and Benevolence Are Blessed — 3. Christ Taught That Life Has Worthier Aims Than Wealth — i. Christ Forbids the Hoarding of Wealth — 6. Christ Denounced the Spirit of Modern Competition — 6. Christ Clearly Teaches the Spirit of Co-operation — 7. Christ Teaches Us Not to Worry Over Temporal Needs — 8. Christ Condemned Extortioners and Speculators 277 CHAPTER XXVI. HOW TO GET SOCIAL REFORM? I. Will We Get Social Reform Through the Church? — Ecclesiastical Bodies Do Not Frame Civil Laws — Social Reform Demands a New System of Economics — ^The Church Works by Per- suasion and Love and Therefore Cannot Inaugurate Social Reform — It Can However, Create Public Sentiment. II. Will We Get Social Reform Through Politics ?— Labor Organizations Have Prepared the Way For Victory — ^The Most Will Be Accomplished Through Politics, III. Stepping-stones to Reach Social Reform — ^Municipal Ownership — All Measures for Partial Relief to Working Men — State and National Ownership — The Highest Plane Will Be the Co- operative Commonwealth 290 CHAPTER XXVII. HOW TO GET POSSESSION OF OUR INDUSTRIES. I. Bond Issue Method — II. Freezing-out Method — III. Pub- lic Seizure Method — IV. Privilege Method 299 CHAPTER XXVIII. PROPER SPURS UNDER SOCIAL REFORM. I. Competition Will Be Eliminated Under Social Reform. II. Substitutes for Competition — 1. System of Medals as a Spur— 2. Honor Will Take Place of Wealth — 3. Educational Merit Will Be Rewarded With More Trustworthy Positions^— 4. Christian Impulse the Spur of All Spurs 299 CHAPTER XXIX. A GENERAL GLIMPSE. A Bird's-eye View of the Whole Book 321 PAGE Fort Labor and Fort Capital ." 27 Capital and Labor Machine 28 The Poor Man's Comfort. ., 61 The Juggernaut of Poverty 62 Panic 75 The Gardener at Work 97 Graft 98 Level of Competition 114 The Idol of Monopoly 117 The Monster of Monopoly 118 Labor Against Monopoly 144 The Coming Disaster — National Euin 159 Levels of Society 160 Before and After 227 Following the Political Leader 228 The Dawn of a New Era ,243 Waiting to Die 265 The Death of the Rich Sinner 275 The Death of the Poor Christian 276 The Voter 294 The Path of Human Life 319 Monument of Skulls 320 Mountain of Money 324 Many other specially executed Illustrations and Drawings distributed through the book. ^ 19 o >* • CHAPTER I. —i^ti^, . I.— THE GREATEST BATTLE OF THE AGES. The world is yet young, and it shall see more of its manhood in the next one hundred years than ever be- fore. All the by-gone ages are stepping stones to the golden future, which will so outshine the past that it will be a crown of glory to the world's history. Since man has lived upon the earth, many great ques- tions have been settled ; some by sharp debates in Con- gress; others by great political campaigns, and still others by decisive battles in which thousands of human lives were sacrificed. One of the great conflicts be- tween man and man which has never reached a final settlement, is the strife between the employer and the employed ; or, in more general terms, between Capital and Labor. The battle has been long drawn out, dating back to the time when the Egyptians laid the lash upon their 21 22: .•*•• \i:^AilMt Of LABOR AGAINST CAPITAL. •• '.• . V : ;•: -./ playesj .'Natipnafter.yiation, as it advanced in the scale i[)f*civxllzatipii,.i§LS*;ha(i more or less a part in the con- flict. Such life as is pictured in the Patricians and Ple- beians of Eome, or in the caste life of India, or in the slavery of the olden, or of modern times, is a sad and terrible comment on human history. The laborer has entered his complaint against the capitalists, contending that his rights have been tram- pled under foot, and that he has not received a suffi- cient return for his toil. In return, the capitalist in- geniously denies the charge, declaring that the worker is unreasonable in his claims, and is never satisfied, and that concessions on the part of capital only encour- age further demands on the part of labor. Out of such, and similar counter charges, there has arisen a sharp antagonism, which has already shown its ominous front at many places. The lines are being more clearly and tightly drawn every year ; and, while the optimist sees nothing but peace and prosperity under our present system, others can see with a pro- phetic eye, the coming transformation of society, in which all present social conditions will be changed, the power of Monopoly crushed, and the gates of a new Eden opened to all classes of workers. The regiments of this great labor army have already crept over the dark ravine, and will continue storming the breast- works of the enemy until their cause shall not only be recognized, but until complete victory shall be perched upon their banners. The issues involved in this conflict are not to be winked at nor brushed aside with a smile. There are serious problems to solve, and the question will never be settled until it is settled rightly. May the final and THE AEMY OF LABOR AGAINST CAPITAL. 28 decisive battle be a bloodless one, fought out with the pen, press, and the ballot. The side called Labor can count upon its millions of men, while the other side can boast of its millions of money. It is plainly evident that this famous conflict is one of man against money, or a small army with great resources, arrayed against a numberless army with limited resources at present. By reason of the handicap of Labor these two great forces are now so evenly balanced, that the conflict wages at one time in favor of Capital, and then again in favor of Labor. The details of the passing struggle are full of interest and terror ; and each year is marked with endless dis- cussions, riots, strikes, and also with arbitration on a large or a small scale, or conferences between the em- ployer and the employed. Each one of these powerful combatants has, at certain times, stepped to extremes, and, therefore, has been censured by the general public. During the disputes of the past, justice suffered many a blow, because certain leaders of Capital and Labor, each in their turn, worshipped the god of sel- fishness under the light of a false star, and yet, amid all this, the great cause of human rights has forged ahead, and its devotees are steadily climbing the steps to the summit of the mount of victory. The social question is the monumental question of the age, and certain captains of industry and labor chiefs are free in expressing their opinions as to the best methods of settling it. There are, also, not a few radicals on each side who are extraordinary in their utterances, while there are only a few, comparatively, who look care- fully at both sides, and with the Golden Eule in sight, offer a solution to the great question* 24 THE ARMY OF LABOR AGAINST CAPITAL. There never was a time since man^s creation when the Golden Kule, as taught by Christ, should be prac- ticed more than now. If there is to be any solution that will last, it must be worked out on the basis of each doing to the other as he would like to have the other do to him. When this Eule operates, love in- creases, and also, as love increases, this Eule will be observed. The Devil aims to destroy the influence of this beau- tiful and powerful rule, both in the church and in the world, for he knows that when it becomes opera- tive, earth gradually becomes more and more like heaven. II.— THE SOLVING OF OTHER GREAT QUESTIONS. Great problems are not solved in a few years, but they require some sacrifice, and often long years of patience and struggle. Over nineteen hundred years ago, the leading thought of the world was Redemption. In all civilized localities the pulse of this living issue was felt, and it made kings tremble on their thrones. There was a feeling of unrest as the great elements of power by the miracle working Christ became known, and the world soon awoke to learn that a mighty Prince was in their midst, and that Redemption was at hand. About five hundred years ago, the world was again turned upside down by an imusual revolution. It was the question of liberty in church and state. The burn- ing of John Huss kindled the fires of enthusiasm all over Europe, Luther caught some of this flame, and THE ABMY OF LABOR AGAINST CAPITAL. 25 he dashed forth as a hero of his times. The same enthu- siasm burned in the soul of Savonarola. It also moved the heart of great Cromwell, and nerved his arm to strike the deadliest blow of his age ; for with a courage bom of high conviction, he dashed to pieces the divine right of kings, which had cursed the age with its iron heel. This same great idea of liberty moved the hearts of the Pilgrim Fathers, and resulted in their landing at Plymouth Eock, thus bringing to the shores of America the finest blood and the noblest inspiration of the world. At the present time, there are other great questions to be settled, such as Intemperance and the question of Divorce, but the issue that is pushing itself to the front for first consideration, is the great question of Social Reform. Before this is finally settled, humanity may be called upon to go through a more severe trial than ever. Perhaps the man is now living who will mar- shal the labor army for victory; or perhaps there is a child bom into the world to-day, toward whom the guiding star is now moving, and who may be the real leader of the world's social wisdom to the Bethlehem of Peace. The specially drawn picture on the op- posite page is a strong representation of the strife between Capital and Labor. For many ages Labor has been firing with the Guns of Legislation, Arbitra- tion and has been using many other simi- lar weapons. But all this warfare has not won enough for the cause of Labor. The strike Gun has been used with some effect but after every encounter the Fort of Capital has been able to repair the damage sufficiently to continue its severe campaign. The leaders of Labor have long ago urged the placing of a new Gun into posi- tion called ** Ballots.'^ When this is once swung into position, it will have a deadly effect on the opposition and will win the victory for Labor. Just how long it will take the workingmen to get this Gun into proper action, no one can tell, but ac- cording to present indications, this will soon be accomplished. 26 * f w P £L cr o ■-1 o* ^ o ST 3* W - H 3 o* r rt > O ft u 3 o •o JO o »> 2. 2. > ^^ 5' z o' w o 3 " 1 ►rl o a* D* X n -J 3 r* 3* ft n > W •. ►D < s. > t- o ■-1 ^ rt ] >< ^ o c 3 3* n w^ •-^ cr c 6! p rt 3 ji* CL rt ^ o ^ D- 3 n 3* ? O ff- 3 n ►n r OQ C o 3 ■-1 w 3 ^ a- (fl 3 ^? 3 1^ 2 '^ w o IS-o o a «H U 04 (U H ^ wi •t-J w < w V O rt 5' 2 >» j^ ^ bo O (U o, < a M ?^ (U -5-5 z 2 < c 2 £ ^ CHAPTER II. I.— LABOR AND IDLENESS. Labor is of divine origin, and no man should be ashamed that he is a workman. It is necessary for the perpetuation of the human family that certain work be performed, and the greater the civilization of the peo- ple, the greater variety of labor there will be to do. Carlyle has well said: **In all true work, * * * there is something of divineness." Listen also to the beauti- ful words of Dr. A. T. Wolf, ** Labor is honorable; God has set his seal upon it. Jesus Christ, the world's Saviour, was a carpenter. Paul, the great apostle, was a tent maker. To-day, every male member of the German Royal Family learns a trade. The laboring man is thy brother.'* The Creator intended that man should be engaged in useful work. He made Adam, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress and to keep it; and not merely to eat and idle his time away. All the righteous labor 29 30 THE DIGNITY OP LABOB. of man is the indirect creation of God, and is honored by Him. Although man does not win his redemption by natural or spiritual work alone, yet in order to be a subject for Heaven, he must be a worker in both spheres. Idleness and laziness breed poverty, disease and death, and are contrary to the best state of man, indi- vidually or collectively. In the wake of laziness, you will find frivolity, immorality, crime and other kindred evils. He is not a man who refuses to do his share of work, and he who is able to work and will not work, is the lowest kind of a slave, and the greatest enemy to hu- man welfare. The most worthless and thriftless classes of all humanity are found in the idlers at the two extremes of society. The one class is composed of the ranging tramps, forever evading work, and the other is that arrogant aristocracy that idly rolls in luxury through money obtained by speculation, extor- tion or inheritance. It was a healthy piece of advice that the Scotch doc- tor gave to a wealthy lady. She was really not afflicted with any disease, and yet she thought she needed the doctor's attention, so it was easy and safe to prescribe for her. One day she complained of insomnia, and the doctor, losing patience, said: ** Madam, if you would have a good night's rest, you must live on sixpence a day and earn it.'' So we would advise all worthless idlers to earn what they eat, for in so doing, they shall have a new life of happiness and contentment. THE DIGNITY OF LABOB. 31 II.— GENEEAL STATEMENTS CONCERNING LABOR. 1. — At J. Gbades of Labob abe Honobable. No manly mian will say that his fellow ^s work is menial or degrading. When a man is engaged in use- ful toil, he is in harmony with nature and nature's God, and is in the ascending scale as far as natural forces are concerned. The kinds of labor range from the lowest and simplest forms to the most complicated and sublime. The unskilled laborer, when he performs his work to the best of his ability, stands on a worthy platform with the skilled mechanic. The work of the latter demands greater wages, and is looked upon as more refined, which is only natural under the circum- stances. The pathway to skilled labor is open to all who feel themselves capable of attaining to it, and no one can say that he is restricted by custom or caste. It is cer- tain that the man who gives his hands and brain to the higher types of toil, forfeits our respect for his man- hood when he scorns the one who is engaged in some simpler kind of work, which may be as essential to the well-being of mankind as the other. The dignity of Labor demands that there should be no rivalry between the different kinds of laborers, for he who works with his brains, and he who works with his muscle, are fellow brothers. It is proper to give credit to any man or woman who, by special endeavor, rises from the lower to the higher forms of labor. If any person should become d'jtinguished above the humbler worker, he ought not to incur the envy of his 32 THE DIGNITY OF LABOB. humbler brother, inasmuch as the more complicated work requires a longer and more careful preparation, and all such investments should have a just recompense of reward. There should be no brakes pressed upon the wheels of human advancement, and each one should have the best opportunity for the fullest development of his mental and physical powers. 2. — Labor Furnishes a Means of Support. After all is considered, perhaps the most dignified thing about Labor is, that it provides an honorable means of support to the laborer, and from this we argue that he who toils should receive his full share of the product of his labor. The most undignified thing about Labor is, that the laborer applies too much of his energy to fill the purse of the magnate. He must work, in some cases, ten or more hours a day, and then receive no more than he has earned in half that time. He is the common tool of human greed, and from this condition he has thus far not been able to escape ; there- fore. Labor has come to be looked upon as a disgrace. This should continue no longer, but as quickly as pos- sible, each one should be called upon to do his share of work, and thereby make the labor of all much lighter, and the act of labor itself more honorable. 3. — Labor is a Great Source of All True Value. Labor has created much of the glorious wealth of the world, and is worthy of special recognition. Who but the worker is a more important factor in creating the millions of dollars that go into the hands of the THE DIGNITY OF LABOR. 33' employer ? And yet, he is the least considered of all the agencies employed. The horse, the donkey, the cart, the machinery, and all else are cared for and main- tained with more decency and respectability than the laborer himself. Physical and mental labor are the true sources of all material and immaterial wealth. Through these agen- cies the mind is enriched to know and enjoy the beauti- ful and ideal. The kind of material wealth that comes by labor and careful economy to any individual, is not the kind that endangers society the most, but that which comes by speculation and exploitation of Labor, enriching one at the expense of many. In this cruel manner numerous workers have an indirect share in the creation of the wealth of the great magnates of our country, but they hold no legal claim to that share. It is diverted from them by certain powers which these magnates possess. We cannot expect that this condition will be im- proved so long as a man or a corporation manages its business under a banner of the largest possible profit with the least investment. Any man or corporation is a moral law-breaker when he regards not the good will of society and the well-being of his employees. 4. — Labor is a Giant Capable of Euling. Without Labor, nearly all other agencies would be ineffective. Even the great forces of Capitalism would be powerless without this important factor. If the real situation were described, it would be said that Labor employs Capital more than Capital employs Labor. The reason this is not true in fact, is because 34 THE DIGNITY OF LABOK. the mass of laborers are unconscious of their power and privileges. When all is considered, it will be seen that Labor is more important in human affairs than the students of political economy have admitted. It is being shown more clearly every age that even the lowest aims of the magnate cannot be reached without the help of the worker. It is therefore evident that one class is de- pendent upon the other, and that Labor has been tricked into slavery by methods that appear more ter- rible the more we know of them. III.— WHAT THE DIGNITY OF LABOR DEMANDS. 1. — The Laboker Should Receive Fair Treatment. The dignity of Labor demands that the laborer should be treated in the spirit of love and justice. If love were at the helm, justice might be enjoyed by those on board the ship. Each one seems to be strug- gling for as much as he can get, and because the Capi- talist has much money he also has much power, and this is too often used to crush the employed. At times we see covetousness, greed, and poverty raising their grasping hands, and, disregarding the miseries and sufferings of a large army of workers, rob them with- out mercy. In such instances Capital is receiving more than its just share of the fruits of Labor, and as time passes, the laborer is receiving relatively less and less. It is therefore seen that Capital and Labor, left to themselves, are carrying on a cruel war of misery and death, and no one can doubt that we need legislation to control both parties and grant to each his rights. the dignity of labor. 35 2. — Laborers Have a Right to Combine for Mutual Protection. The dignity of Labor also demands that the laborers are justified in combining their forces for mutual pro- tection. The initiative must be taken by the workers themselves, and, therefore, they have organized their forces and have shown what a formidable host they are. It is a case of China awakening out of sleep to see how large she is, and how strong she might be wheru order and system once rule her brain and muscle. So the hosts of Labor have come to see that they have all power in their hands, if they can only find a way to manifest it. The worker is gradually seeing that the problem is not easy of solution, and no one seems to be able to suggest a plan that the whole army of workers is willing to adopt. Yet each struggle is a step toward the end, and the army of workers, even at the cost of mistakes and blunders, will continue their agitations, and push their campaign until they reach some Water- loo or Gettysburg, where their decisive battle will be fought, and the cause of Labor win its day. Till then, all hearts must be patient, and every soul be in earnest, willing to suffer, if need be. until the day of redemp- tion is at hand. CHAPTER in. L— AGE OF SLAVERY. It is interesting and profitable to review the history of Labor as it has developed in the different ages of the world. To study the earliest phases of the la- borer is tedious and somewhat uninteresting. It is enough to say that long ago people worked for hire, and that gradually slavery was introduced in a natural way. Instead of victors killing their captives, they used the wiser plan of holding them as slaves. This custom of slavery, instead of decreasing, grew in favor until it became the general order in nearly all the civ- ilized nations before the time of Christ. In Egypt the nobles and the priests were the ruling classes, and these were forbidden to work. Agricul- tural and pastoral work was performed by slaves. In its later history, when the slaves were too few to at- tend to the regular work, in addition to the building of the pyramids, the armies of Egypt forced their way 36 LABOR IN THE LIGHT OF THE AGES. 37 into Asia and Ethiopia, capturing large numbers of foreigners and forced them into slavery. In the palmy days of Greece, slavery was very popu- lar. It is a strange part of history to learn how the number of slaves was increased under the power of the ruling classes. Piracy, kidnapping and exportation were all brought into service, until the number of slaves was nearly seventy-five per cent, of the total male popu- lation. This condition and custom had a powerful in- fluence upon the famous men of that time, whose minds were so warped that they deliberately argued in favor of slavery. Even the immortal Aristotle openly taught that those who performed manual labor were in dis- grace, and should not be entitled to citizenship. Upon a close reading of the old philosophers, we find that Plato, Cicero, Cato and others, reasoned along the same line. Such was the dark and hopeless condition of the poor slaves, who had no possible chance of self- defense, inasmuch as they were not permitted to enjoy social or political privileges, and, therefore, could not legislate or combine for mutual interest. Rome was no exception; her conquests and treat- ment of the enslaved rather added to the terrors of slavery. Her armies were so powerful that they were able to capture in war large numbers of men, and like Egypt reduce them to servitude. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Dr. Ingram says that Caesar sold on a single occasion in Gaul 63,000 captives ; Au- gustus made 44,000 prisoners in the country of Sal- lassi; after immense numbers had perished by famine and hardship, and in the combats of the Arena, 97,000 slaves were acquired by the Jewish War. 38 LABOR IN THE LIGHT OF THE AGES. When Rome required a larger number of slaves to fill the ranks of her armies, she resorted to methods similar to those of Greece to swell the servile ranks, and it is estimated, on safe authority, that at one time nearly three-fourths of the population were slaves. The slave masters lost more and more the humane feel- ing, and certain slaves were treated worse than dogs. Some of the field hands worked and slept in chains, and those who became sick, were cast out to die. They worked under the lash and were guarded by soldiers, and were compelled to yield to the bestial and sensual instincts of the masters. II.— THE DAWN AND REIGN OF FEUDALISM. The foregoing is the painful picture of a large part of the world when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea. He was the new Light and new Power that was to set men free from the natural and spiritual bondage in which they were suffering. With the spread of Chris- tianity, there came a loftier idea of Labor, and men were taught that every other man is his brother. Facts -for full volumes could easily be gathered to show how the chains fell from men as fast as the new teaching touched the consciences of the nations. The next advance in the history of Labor was from slavery to serfdom, or a condition of half liberty. This was only a step toward the better life, and, in some respects, a small step; but, nevertheless essential, as it is impossible to transform society in one bound. The serfs lived in poverty, and the lords were their mas- ters. They enjoyed certain rights, but the privilege LABOR IN THE LIGHT OF THE AGES. 39 to advance or improve themselves was carefully guarded, and the possession of property forbidden. It was on such a foundation that Feudalism lived and flourished during some of the darkest centuries of the middle ages. Some of the human slaves long looked upward for liberty; others were so ignorant and so accustomed to their tasks that they were like dumb lambs being led to the slaughter. The next period of development was ushered in by a pressure from the two extremes of society; the influ- ence of human policy and righteousness on the part of masters, and the combining for mutual aid and pro- tection on the part of the workers. Eev. Washington Gladden, D. D., says of this period: — ^*The workmen in the cities first won their freedom ; afterwards, their fellow-toilers on the land were loosened from their bond. Three great causes, political, economical and eth- ical conspired for their deliverance. * * * The Me- diaeval Church with all her sins and shortcomings did speedily and mightily decide against human bondage. * * Arthur Fairbanks also says in his Introduction to So- ciology, **Thus the serf was trained for centuries in the school of partial freedom, till at length the power to work for a future reward was a greater stimulus than external compulsion. The masters gradually learned that hired labor was more profitable than forced labor, and the principle of serfdom, like the principle of slavery before it, gave way to a higher form of organization for production.'' It was a happier day for the human family when serfdom disappeared. According to Dr. Gladden, serf- dom became extinct in England during the Fifteenth Century, largely through the teaching of John Wyclif ; 40 LABOB IN THE LIGHT OF THE AGES. in France it lingered, and the last remnants of it were swept away by the Revolution of 1789 ; in Germany it was not wholly extirpated when the Nineteenth Cen- tury began ; and in Russia its death knell was sounded in 1861, and its death sentence was passed recently. In the clamor for liberty from serfdom, it is remark- able to hear the sentiments expressed in the heat of the conflict. The cry is of the same order as is now heard from the depressed legions of wage-earners. We insert extracts from a sermon by John Ball : — * * Good people, things will never go well in England so long as goods be not in common, and so long as there be villeins (serfs) and gentlemen. By what right are they whom we call lords greater folk than we! On what grounds have they deserved it? Why do they hold us in serfage ? If we all came of the same father and mother, of Adam and Eve, how can they say or prove that they are better than we, if it be not that they make us gain for them by our toil what they spend on their pride. They are clothed in velvet, and warm in their furs and ermines, while we are covered with rags. They have wine and spices and fair bread, and we oat-cake and straw, and water to drink. They have leisure and fine houses ; we have pain and labor, the rain and the wind in the fields. And yet it is of us and of our toil that these men hold their state. ' * This is one of the many quotations that might be given to prove the trend of feeling among the high and the low serfs. More will not be given, and we need but say that from such agitations as this sprang the Peasant's Revolt, which was apparently a failure at first, but which proved to be the seed from which sprang the tree of promise and blessmg. Serfdom went down and LABOR IN THE LIGHT OF THE AGES. 41 a larger liberty took its place; thenceforth the work- ing man could Live where he desired; Select his own occupation; Choose his own employer. These are the privileges enjoyed by the workers un- der our present * ' Contract System, ' ' which is one more step toward the worker's emancipation. Scarcely any of these blessings were enjoyed under Feudalism or Serfdom. We will take a glimpse at the world of La- bor under the reign of the present system. III.— OUR PRESENT CONTRACT SYSTEM. The next step in the progress of Labor, as heretofore mentioned, is called the Contract System, by which is meant, that the laborer is to work for wages as agreed between himself and employer. With few exceptions this is now the ruling principle in all civilized countries of the world. We are now standing in the midst of modem times, and with profit could study the history of any one country, but England presents the most striking exam- ple of Labor developments as seen in its one-hundred- year-battle between the employer and the employed. The rich minority became fearful of the laboring majority, and long ago they commenced to influence legislation against the laborer, so that for several hun- dred years the statute books of England were stained with partial legislation against the worker. One of the old laws made it illegal for workmen to combine, 42 LABOR IN THE LIGHT OF THE AGES. and at one time this offense was punishable by death. This only shows the extreme to which the law-making body was driven by the Capitalists. Old laws have been repealed, and new ones more favorable to the laboring classes have been substituted. This is the story of a hundred years in England ^s history. Jus- tice is gradually rising to the throne, and, as time ad- vances, the workers will continue to see their deliver- ance coming nearer and nearer. One of the greatest victories for Labor in England, was the passage of the British Factory Acts in 1802. Since then, the oppres- sors of Labor have been compelled to yield inch by inch, and now most men can see that the em- ployer and the employed will ultimately be on the com- mon basis where they belong, all being servants of the community. In the United States, events are following fast after the order of England, only with some different phases. The last fifty years has witnessed many preliminary skirmishes, all preparatory to the final issue. There has been more legislation against Monopoly, and more organization amongst the working classes in the past fifty years than in the hundred years previous to that time. The Contract System has been in force long enough for us to pass an opinion on its merits and demerits. At first great prosperity was enjoyed by all, but in course of time the evils of free labor became apparent. The pale cheeks and wasted forms of the young and old as they tried to keep pace with the steel muscles of modern machinery, revealed a new type of heartless- ness on the part of the masters, and a new kind of slavery on the part of the workers. LABOR IN THE LIGHT OP THE AGES. 43 We will show later in this book the part that selfish- ness and competition are playing in this frightful mod- ern drama. All the facts at hand clearly prove that the Contract System in itself is not the final solution of the Labor question. IV.— THE COMING DELIVERANCE. And here we are in the glorious light of the Twen- tieth Century which gives promise of great and good things to come. We must take one side or the other; we must join ranks with Alexander Hamilton, who represented the rich people of the country and seemed to have but little concern whether the struggling masses of workmen ever received their rights or not; or, on the other hand, we must take the side of Thomas Jefferson, who advocated the grand principles of hu- man brotherhood, with a great love for the common people, and a strong desire that right and justice should prevail and that class legislation should be dis- couraged. The cause of the laborer must never go backward, since what is enjoyed has been purchased at so great a cost. On the ruins of the past, we will now build un- til every man shall consider it an honor to work, and every worker consider it an honor to be a man. CHAPTER IV. ^e 0>ndtf/ono//Ae I.— INTRODUCTION. We rejoice in the advance of labor from slavery and serfdom to the present condition, and hope that the more complete deliverance of the worker will soon be realized. The orator frequently soars into ecstasies over the privileges of the American workers compared with those of certain other countries. This is allowable in the light of what we have learned of the down-trod- den in many parts of our old earth. We are not so much concerned about what the worker once endured, nor about what he now enjoys, but we are concerned about the rights and privileges to which he is entitled, considering that he is a man, and that justice should be on the throne. In a general sense, nearly all men work, and the em- ployed are composed of two general classes, the skilled and the unskilled. In this chapter we shall consider briefly the first class. XL— THE SKILLED WORKER VIEWED IN THE LIGHT OF REASON. Let us take a safe and candid view of the skilled 44 THE CONDITION OF THE SKILLED WORKER. 45 workers in the United States under our present system. 1. — Their Wages are Gradually Eeaching the Proper Limit. This is not diie to accident or chance. It has been the result of long and persistent effort on the part of the workmen themselves. They have been knocking at the door of the employers a long time, and much has been gained by their humble petitions, and still more by their organizations, strikes, boycotts and other similar means. These latter modes of attack have clearly revealed the peculiar difficulties under which the ordinary employer is struggling. It is seen that he is also bound under a galling yoke, and very fre- quently cannot do what he would wish to do for his em- ployees. The main trouble lies at the door of our present Social condition. Great forces are very often operating to destroy the plans and wishes of the small employer. The war of the skilled workers against corporate greed has brought to light startling facts concerning the methods of Trusts and Monopolies and their fear- ful extortion. It is frequently found that large cor- porations make, as a profit on each worker, from one to three times as much as the worker receives for wages. It is not to be expected that the skilled worker will ever reach a satisfactory state in regard to his wages. If it does happen that he receives a large com- pensation at one time, then will follow either scarcity of work or sickness or some other unwelcome stroke. But wages do not count for everything; even if the 46 THE CONDITION OF THE SKILLED WOBKEB. wage question could be settled forever, there are many other unsatisfactory conditions resulting from the present indefinite Contract System. This opens the way for the consideration of the next fact. 2. — Skilled Wokkebs as a Class abe Refined Slaves. This is a strong term, but is, nevertheless true, as applied to the masses of trades people and professional men. They are living under the banner of independ- ence; but, in reality, are slaves to their environment. Some of these men are struggling for a home; others are straining every nerve to gain a fortune ; they are in the mad race that carries so many of the human family into the horrors of suicide, or into a grave of premature death. The general competition among pro- fessional men makes life well-nigh unbearable. The fault of all this is the evil social state under which we live, which coaxes a man of reasonable prosperity into the expenditure of all his power. No master on the plantation could whip him into so much effort, not even under the threat of death could he be compelled onward as he is under his ruling ambition for power or wealth. Why all this strain, this unnatural rush, this human slavery beyond description? The answer comes from the feeble and dying, and tells us the secret of our present competitive system. If all men could be as- sured that as long as the earth can yield enough to feed mankind, no one should suffer for the necessaries of life, there would prevail a new ruling ambition, and the early old age of the human race would be largely cut off. In looking at the general aspect of the skilled workers we find that : the condition of the skilled wobkeb. 47 3. — They abb Handicapped Thbee-fold : (1) — The Needs of Civilized Life Increase More Rapidly Than Wages, This is a most embarrassing situation and always creates restlessness. We have admitted that the wages have increased in the past hundred years, with a fre- quent backward step; but during this same period of time, there have been such advancements in every branch of knowledge, and human life has been so in- creasingly complicated, that the demands upon the head of the family are much more now than they had been before. We have, happily, risen above the low idea that a man needs only enough to keep his body in a fairly healthy condition so that he can go to work again the next day. The worker can no longer be per- suaded that he is not entitled to certain comforts, con- veniences, and luxuries, and he will never be satis- fied until he can enjoy his share of these privileges. (2) The skilled worker is supplied with better tools and receives better treatment, but he is at the mercy of a ''boss/' When we say * * at the mercy of a boss, * ^ we mean that he may be suspended from work for a day, a week or more, or that he can be discharged at pleasure, or sharply rebuked for any real or imaginary offense. This is not true in each individual case, nor in certain localities. It is argued that a man needs a *^boss," to which no objection can be offered ; but the diflficulty, as we now have it, is that the worker is beneath the **boss," and the **boss" is often surly, dictatorial, un- reasonable and inconsiderate of the happiness or well- being of the employees, and according to Gronlund 48 THE CONDITION OF THE SKILLED WORKEB. **This relation becomes absolutely unbearable if, as very often is the case, the employee has more knowl- edge, more brains, a fuller head in short, than his em- ployer. ' * (3) The sacrifices and sufferings of the skilled worker are magnified through contrast with the unlim- ited and unearned wealth of the rich. Although the skilled worker is not receiving the hardest blow from the capitalist's lash, yet he realizes more keenly every week of his life that the rich are growing richer and the poor, poorer. This refers to the relative rather than the absolute condition of the two classes. We learn from the latest statistics that there are one hundred persons in our country having a total wealth of about $3,600,000,000. This is startling enough, but is not quite so alarming as to think that one seventy- fifth of our population holds in its grip two-thirds of the wealth of the entire nation. If this condition could remain stationary no doubt the working people would be willing to suffer the present ills they have, and not dream of greater evils to come ; but under the system of investment by the millionaires, it is only a matter of time when the great lords of finance will practically own the earth. It is both strange and satirically amus- ing that the masses of people can be induced to remain the slaves of the human kings in a free country. The skilled worker who has served years of appren- ticeship, and who is bound down to certain hours of employment, feels as if something is wrong when the fruits of his labor are turned from his own comfort and his own family to swell the fat treasuries of rich individuals and rich corporations. Is it a wonder that THE CONDITION OF THE SKILLED WOBKER. 49 he is still dissatisfied, even with a certain increase of wages that has come to him? If the truth were prop- erly stated, it would be said, that while he is support- ing his own family, he is, at the same time, earning enough to support one or two other families. This addi- tional money he does not get, neither does he expect to get it, because of the fearful dilemma into which Monopoly has thrust him. CHAPTER V. 0^ I.— A GENEEAL GLIMPSE. If one wish to see the greater sufferings of the working people, he must look into the unskilled ranks. It is from this class that the greatest wail of distress rises heavenward, and the greatest number of discon- tented are found. In the United States there are in round numbers 10,000,000 poor families, and to the door of several millions of these, the cruel wolf has al- ready come. The story of want, poverty and wretch- edness, as witnessed in these unfortunate abodes, is terrible to relate. Books have been written on the subject of poverty by Walter A. Wycoff, I. K. Friedman, Robert Hunter, Jacob A. Riis, Mrs. Lillian Betts, and a host of others, to say nothing of the magazine articles and the flashes 60 THE CONDITION OF THE UNSKILLED WOBKER. 51 in the public press. This has awakened public senti- ment to some extent, and yet, with all this, the general condition of the lower classes is but little improved. Taking a glimpse of the United States alone, — in that vast army of unskilled workers, composed of a larger number than could be found in any army that ever moved on the face of the earth, — we are strongly reminded of the sentiments expressed in Edwin Mark- ham's famous poem, **The man with the hoe.'' Some of the army are far in advance of the others, both as to skill in labor and general intelligence. TI.— THE CONDITION OF THE UNSKILLED WORKEE. 1. — His Condition is One of Slaveby. This slavery is not exactly the kind under which the negro suffered, but a kind that brings with it more em- barrassment, and more humiliation and mental suffer- ing than any class of honest workers should be called upon to endure. According to the civil law and the law of human love, the unskilled worker is duty bound to support himself and family, and when he finds at the end of his week of severe toil that his earnings are in- sufficient to pay the various debts incurred, he must of necessity feel discouraged. Who can then picture his hours of anxiety, most especially so when he has no bright outlook for the future. Many men who are in this condition, finally become indifferent concerning their increasing debts and are branded as dishonest, and others, through dishonesty from the beginning, make themselves eligible to the grade of rascality. 62 THE CONDITION OF THE UNSKILLED WOBKER. Some become dishonest through poverty, and others become poor through dishonesty. A man is a little better than a slave when he must toil laboriously for ten or more hours each day, just for a bare subsistence for himself and his family. It is an insult to declare that such a man is free when his environments and circumstances crush him more than a master's whip. We will add these stinging lines of Stanley Fitzpatrick ; they are worthy of study. *^The negro's free, but in his place The wage-slave bows his haggard face, The power of gold holds full control. It owns its victim's life and soul; It owns the mother, woe-worn, wild. Who cannot feed her starving child; It owns the woman, gaunt and thin. By want dragged down to ways of sin ; It owns the masses of toiling men ; It fills each lowest, vilest den. Where vice and crime, where sin and shame Are stamped on souls with brands of flame. * ' It gives the low the power to rule, The toiling millions but their tool — The helpless tool of cunning knaves Who make free men their cringing slaves. The sons of toil who should be free, Yet bend to gold their servile knee. And cast their eyes in silence down Before a master's haughty frown. THE CONDITION OF THE UNSKILLED WORKER. 53 **0, men of toil, on sea and land, Who feel the tyrant's iron hand, No longer yield your manhood up. And groaning drink the bitter cup While your taskmasters wring from you The just reward to labor due ! Ye are not babes, but men full grown — Arise and take what is your own. The negro's free on Southern plains; Let white wage-slaves now break their chains.'* 2. — The Condition of the More Unfortunate Class OF Unskilled Workers is One of Suffering and Misery. The severe demands of the employer or capitalist make it hard enough for the strong and able-bodied workers, but our heart shrinks in terror as we see that the survival of the fittest has crushed the more unfit of the unskilled workers so far down that their condition is one of hopeless despair. We will draw the curtain aside and take a passing glimpse of the hordes of the *^ unfit" human wretches who grovel under the hand of Greed and under the power of their own sin. Why are these miserables unfit? No doubt three great causes are, intemperance, lust and crime. These will not be considered at this time, and if we were to consider them, we could show that to some extent these curses are the result of poverty as well as the cause of it. Some workmen are unfit because of their inferior skill. We are not referring to the shirker, but to the honest worker who is not endowed with the same 54 THE CONDITION OF THE UNSKILLED WOKKER. advantages as his fellow brother, and who, by putting forth his best efforts, is still inferior. His is a hard lot. He suffers embarrassment not only from his em- ployer, but from his fellow workmen. It takes just as much to keep him alive as the other man, although he must receive much less for his labor. Other workmen are unfit through peculiar circum- stances. One of the most painful pictures of human life is to see a number of dependent children clinging to their widowed mother, who is slaving at the wash- tub, so she need not farm out her children, or force them early into the factory. This is the *^unkindest cut of all.'* When will the poor widow receive just treatment from the state? It can hardly be expected under our present system. There are also many husbands who are compelled by circumstances to remain away from work; it may be a sickly wife or child, or some other cause beyond their control. At such times their expenses are larger than ordinary, and the income is reduced to nothing. We have known of hundreds of such cases, where the physician who called from two to ten minutes a day, charged more for his services than the husband, who labored ten hours, could earn in the same day, and so this program continues in some instances for several weeks or months. Is it a wonder that a man would get discouraged, trying to support a family under such circumstances? The day will come when the physician will be liberally supported without being a burden to the poor slave who works, and the quicker that day comes, the better for all concerned. In the light of such facts, we are not surprised at the strong words of Victor Hugo in his immortal irony: THE CONDITION OF THE UNSKILLED WORKER. 55 *'What happiness to be again ridden and beaten and starved! What happiness to work forever for bread and water ! What happiness to be free from the delu- sion that cake is good and life other than misery ! Was there anything more crazy than those ideas? Where should we be, if every vagabond had his rights? Im- agine everybody governing! Can you imagine a city governed by the men who built it? They are a team, not the coachman. What a godsend is a rich man who takes charge of everything! Surely he is generous to take the trouble for us ! And then he was brought up to it; he knows what it is; it is his business. A guide is necessary for us. Being poor, we are ig- norant ; being ignorant we are blind ; we need a guide. But why are we ignorant? Because it must be so. Ignorance is the guardian of Virtue ! He who is ignor- ant is innocent ! It is not our duty to think, complain or reason. These truths are incontestable. Society re- poses on them. What is ** Society ?*' Misery for you, if you support it. Be reasonable, poor man, you were made to be a slave.'' There are many workmen unfit because of ill health. Possibly no chapter of the hardships of labor records so many pathetic scenes as this one. To see a sick father dragging himself to work so that his beloved offspring can get enough to eat, is not only a common scene but a heart-touching one. We have known men who were altogether too sick to work, but who were under the **swim or die'' system, and therefore, went to work until their strength was so wasted that they fell at the post of duty. Can you think of a sight more pitiable? We have also known many a man who met with an accident, a broken arm or limb, and who was 56 THE CONDITION OF THE UNSKILLED WORKER. bedfast for several weeks. After such a one is in bed a short time he is likely to see a ghost of his debts hanging over his head at night. This is the common comfort of the poor man who is sick, or who becomes disabled through accident. The grocery bill has run to its reasonable limit, the meat bill has been paid only in part. The last ton of coal is still unpaid and more is at once needed to keep the children from freezing. The landlord is restless, not being able to get his rent, and everything is gloomy because of these conditions. The little relief money coming scarcely pays for the milk, the medicine, and other incidentals. In addition to all this the attending physician in three cases out of four is kind enough to charge from fifty cents to two dollars per visit. This is not alto- gether the physician's fault as much as the fault of the system under which we live. And, perchance, the sick man must have a prescription filled, then the druggist helps him by charging seventy-five cents for fifteen cents' worth of medicine. Of course, we must not blame the druggist ; he is simply making all the money he can under the existing condition of society. 3. — The Wages of the Unskilled Workers Eeduce Them to a State of General Poverty. According to the ** Municipal Court Review'' (Feb- ruary 1904), over 50,000 families were evicted from their homes in 1903 in the Borough of Manhattan, New York. Lay this sad comment on passing events beside the other, that one burial in every ten in New York is in the Potter's Field. In the Census Report of THE CONDITION OF THE UNSKILLED WORKER. 57 1900, it is shown that in Greater New York in that year, there were in round numbers 700,000 families. Of these 35,000 owned their homes free of debt, while 48,000 had mortgaged homes and over 600,000 families were renters. By a little use of the pencil, it can be seen that only six of these families of each hundred own their homes. There is no need for this condition of affairs in a country of such great wealth, and it will not be so always. It can continue only until the masses understand the way of escape, and take advantage of it. It requires but little proof to satisfy any one that poverty is common amongst the unskilled workers, even if we look only at the unsanitary condition of their homes, if it is proper to call them homes. The most terrible aspect of this poverty is seen in the tenement- house sections of our great cities. We are informed by statistics that there are wards in New York in which the rate of population runs over 200,000 to the square mile. To use the language of Dr.- Sprague, ^* Think of a plot of ground two hundred feet square providing a permanent home for nearly six hundred persons, giving to each a space of eight feet by nine. But even so scanty a provision is palatial when the facts are more closely examined. Sixteen families, composed of eighty persons, in a single twenty-five foot dwelling is common. In a room of twelve feet by eight and five and-a-half feet high, inspected some years ago, it was found that nine persons slept and prepared their food. In another room located in a dark cellar, without screens or partitions, were hud- dled together two men with their wives and a girl four- teen; two single men and a boy of seventeen; two wo- 58 THE CONDITION OF THE UNSKILLED WORKER. men and four boys, nine, ten, eleven and fifteen yeaps — fourteen persons in all." It is no wonder that children bom in such places are early carried to their graves. This is a picture of low life and found in more than one city. It is terrible to think that such conditions could prevail in a land of plenty, where the harvests are so abundant in some places that they must partly rot in the fields. We will close this part of the chapter by a quotation from ** Socialism from Genesis to Revelation:'' *^Let the dullest imagination fill out the sickening details of this horrible picture; the gnawing hunger and pinching cold; the frightful and obscene jests; the brutal quar- rels and hideous orgies; the noisome smells and dis- gusting noises; the reeking filth and shocking inde- cencies; the utter absence of that ^hope that comes to all ; ' the hot tears flowing from glassy eyes ; the sighs and groans of despair at the certainty that the only de- liverance from this sepulcher above ground, is the one below it. And we are led to ask in all seriousness ; can there be real fear of God and genuine life of man in a community or country where such things are allowed to exist r' Poverty also shows its fearful work throughout the whole country. If one travel in the mining regions, or the manufacturing centers anywhere along the com- mercial lines of our country, he will find the poorest workers huddled together in masses, living under the most miserable and unsanitary conditions. Conditions of this kind are enough to arouse the attention of all sober-minded people. It is not enough to lay the blame at the door of the suffering poor. Society at large creates the conditions that make such a life possible, THE CONDITION OF THE UNSKILLED WORKER. 59 and we as a people shall never be free from condemna- tion mitil we have given each man an equal chance to be what he ought to be, and to carry out his honest ambitions for advancement in life. The whole rank and file of unskilled workers are restless and discontented, mainly because they well know that they are unduly crushed, and that they are not receiving a sufficient return for their labor. 4. — The Unskilled Worker's Prospects fob Old Age Are Not Favorable. Under this section we must crowd a volume of facts and conditions into a few general statements. An old worker once said, * * I envy that horse. ' ' The horse in question had faithfully served his master for many years, and now the four-footed creature was too old to work, so his master kept him on account of the work he had previously done. Many a horse is given his vacation after his best service has been rendered to a master. But some horses are treated as badly as some poor old men, they are worked to the full limit of their endurance, just as l©ng as they have any strength left. We ask the reader to study the condition of the average unskilled worker, and decide for himself whether or not such a man can decently support him- self and family, and in addition, treasure up a little for old age. Admitting that some men are careless spendthrifts, the fact yet remains that the common la- borer cannot get more than a bare subsistence. What is such a man to do when he reaches old age? The answer to this question reveals a pitiful series of facts, 60 THE CONDITION OF THE UNSKILLED WORKER. from which too many of our social economists prefer to turn their eyes. We are living in a cold, cold world, and no one knows just how unsympathetic the mass of people are until he comes to a dependent old age with- out money or kinsman to sustain him. Such a condi- tion ought not to be possible, and the time will soon come when every old man and woman will receive all the comforts and necessary attention that they can well appropriate, and not under the roof of a public almshouse. When the redemption of the worker is at hand, and each man does his duty to society, and society does its duty to each man, then the present incogruities of the worker and of the aged will be a nightmare of the past. The workingmen, as a class, are gradually seeing that industrial liberty is more than a dream and that it can be reached without a bloody revolution or insurrection. The workers are the burden bearers of the nation, and their sufferings are being recognized. They are imposed upon by the employing class; they are made the fools of legislation; they are suffering under the lash of our cruel competitive system. They have many common foes to meet, and must wrestle under the power of heartless monopolies. They see new ma- chinery placed upon the market to save labor, and in- stead of making their burdens lighter, the whole bene- fit of improved machinery flows into the coffers of the rich. We will consider at more length the causes of labor's discontent in the chapter to follow. O w' SI'S X (" o tn 3 '^ ;:^ p o 5 3, » C o & O 13- > 2 " St 3 o - • ;:^ s o S ►n 3 ^ O w w ■ -• "J o c The Juggernaut of Poverty. — Under our present system of economics, poverty is doubly cruel and heartless. While all try to escape it, yet thou- sands are crushed annually under its awful wheels. CHAPTER VI. A. ARISING FROM CONDITIONS IMPOSED ON LABOR. I.— THE GRINDING AND KILLING SYSTEMS OF WORK. One of the saddest results of greed and competition, is the effort on the part of the employer to get as much work as possible out of the employed. From a busi- ness standpoint, this seems to be a very natural result, for it has been recognized by some long since that ** might is right.*' One of labor's incongruities is: 1. — The Length op a Day's Woek. The ten-hour day for the manual laborer is one of the unnecessary evils of our time, and should be stricken from the list of civilized customs among free men, and be considered as a punishment to criminals 63 64 THE CAUSE OF LABOR 's DISCONTENT. in penitentiaries. There are certain kinds of employ- ment for which ten hours a day may be fair, even though it is not essential, but for hard manual labor, it is too long, and compels a man to expend too much energy for the amount of strength he possesses and the wage he receives. We read of a man who was re- tained by the trust. He said that under the new man- agement it was often eight o'clock at night before he got through with his work, and with all that, the se- verity of his work was greatly increased. When he was asked how much his salary had been increased, he answered by saying that it had been cut 40 per cent. **But what can an old fellow dof he slowly added. A contractor or corporation agrees to do a certain work for a fixed amount, and let us suppose one hun- dred men are employed to accomplish this. It is easily seen that the longer and more rapidly the men work, the more profit the employer will make ; so, of course, the pick and shovel must move ceaselessly, and the poor laborer can take his choice — keep grinding away at it, or quit work, either to starve, go on a tramp, or get another job of a similar character. There are many difficulties in the way of reducing the numbers of hours that constitute a day's work. Competition directly blocks the way, and compels one competitor to receive as much service for a day's work as another. Any one acquainted with the work of re- form knows how difficult it is to get all competitors to act in unison. Since one line of business overreaches another, it would mean that the whole state or nation must act. The suggestion has been made that the na- tional government has power to pass such a law, which is very true, and if the national government were in- THE CAUSE OF LABOR 's DISCONTENT. 65 fluenced by the laboring masses as much as by the monopolies, such a law would speedily be enacted. Certain tradesmen, such as bricklayers, have won the victoi;^^ by strikes and other similar measures, but it is very difficult to unite all workmen sufficiently to gain any just measure for the workingman. There are certain writers who claim that less hours per day for the workman would mean less production and more vice. Strange as it may seem, when the hours of a day ^s work were reduced to ten, the amount of production was almost the same as before and vice was not increased. It is interesting to study the different methods used by employers to get the most work possible out of their men. One of the most terrible of these is what we will call 2. — The ** Rhythm Steoke.'' A few years ago in the suburbs of Philadelphia we saw a gang of about fifty men at work on the highway digging ditches of some kind. The ^^boss^' stood be- fore them, and the head workman kept time and all fifty men were compelled to raise their picks at the same time. Up and down went this line of fifty picks. Minute after minute the earth trembled with a heavy thud as long as we watched the operation. Any one of the workmen could take his choice of keeping pace with the rest or of falling out of line and thereby surrender- ing his job. Our heart was strangely and deeply touched as we witnessed this picture of real life, and we were moved by a spirit of indignation somewhat akin to that which was felt by Abraham Lincoln as he 66 THE CAUSE OF LABOR 's DISCONTENT. looked upon the selling of slaves whicli gave birth to that immortal remark ; ^ ' If ever I get a chance to strike that, I will strike it hard/' So we felt at that time, and now feel concerning all the grinding and killing processes of work that are used by some of the employing class. We should like to get a chance to strike so hard that the laborer could be made free and placed upon a platform of honor, where he would be given the same chance to advance himself as others now enjoy. 3. — Sweating System. Still more terrible is the picture of the ** Sweating System, *' as seen in most of the large cities of our country. This is a popular name to describe a condi- tion of labor in which the greatest amount of work is to be done in a given time for the lowest wages, with- out considering the happiness or misery of the em- ployees. The work is not always done in the factory, but it is often parcelled out to different ones in their homes. The man who has charge of this kind of work, is called the * ^ Sweater, * ' and when you become familiar with the conditions of labor and the grinding wage, you will conclude that he is rightly named. Carrol D. Wright says in his outline of Practical Sociology, * * The employees in this work are usually very ignorant, * * * crowded in close rooms without regard to sex or age. The evils of the sweatshop come very largely within the domain of morals. * * * Pub- lic attention of late has been very sharply called to their existence, and to the very bad conditions which surround the worker, and efforts have been made not only to regulate, but to abolish all such places. ' ' THE CAUSE OF LABOR 's DISCONTENT. 67 Certain employees work by contract, which is an- other term for piece-work. This sounds very dignified, but when you know the facts, you are chilled with hor- ror. The writer has taken much pains to investigate the work and wages of young women who work by contract in factories. Along this line has developed the most modern type of the Sweating System. We know of one strong young woman who worked like a slave for six days and earned $2.60. Her average wage for six months was under $3 per week. She struggled hard trying to earn enough to pay her board, and then at last, with tears in her eyes, she said that she did not know what to do next. She might have worked as a do- mestic in some home, if she had been willing to enter one of the meanest forms of slavery that modern life enforces on the great majority who work as servants. After an investigation of many homes, we found that only one out of the three of the house-servants was treated with ordinary respect. In the other cases the so-called servant was made to feel that she was *^ beneath'' the members of the household, not worthy to meet with them on any base of equality. No matter how poor a person may be, a haughty spirit on the part of the mistress makes it very humiliating for the servant who has any degree of self respect. Instances like the one cited could be mentioned by the hundred to show the various forms of the sweating system. In the light of this knowledge, is it a wonder that some women are tempted to yield to a life of shame? And the terrible fact that some do fall, com- pels us to make reference to one of the blackest chap- ters of human history. The moral stench arising from the larger centers of population is so great that one is 68 THE CAUSE OF LABOR 's DISCONTENT. sickened and appalled. We are reliably informed that there is one harlot for every ten women in some of our larger cities, and the sweating system of work is partly responsible for these horrible conditions. Valentine Reichel, A. M., Ph.D. Lit. D., boldly declares: ^' It is a notorious fact that about thirty per cent, of the women and girls in this country who are forced into a life of sin, fall into the mire because their wages, in honest callings are insufficient to enable them to obtain even the necessities of life.'' It is only just to say that there are a great many em- ployers who make every effort to treat their employees as fairly as possible; in truth, there are many prac- tical Christian business men who would be willing to make it possible for a person to receive a living wage for a normal expenditure of energy, if it were not for the ^^ squeeze'* of business competition which compels them to get their work done as economically as others. When the day of redemption for the laborer comes, no honest man or woman will be compelled to work like a slave, and no capitalist will profit by the heartaches and broken lives of his employees. If any one wishes to look into this question further, let him write to his Congressman for the article on ** Sweating" report 2309 of the House of Representa- tives; or let him read Bank's White Slaves, or let him take a personal tour of the districts where the ** Sweat- ing System" is in operation. 4. — Robbed of the Sabbath Rest. Another of the grinding methods of work is the grad- ual move in this country, for the past one hundred years, to break down the Sabbath day of rest. We will THE CAUSE OF LABOR 's DISCONTENT. 69 not here enter into any religious discussion concerning the right or wrong of this matter. We will look at it purely from a humane standpoint. The one who works (and everybody ought to work) is entitled to one full day's rest in seven. It has been shown that a periodi- cal rest every seventh day is good for man, beast and machinery. France tried to ignore this law and experi- mented with the one-day-in-ten-plan. This was a fail- ure as was all the plans that have been substituted for the one adopted by the Creator. God who made man knew what was best for his physical and spiritual nature^ and the individual or the nation that ignores the law of one-day-in-seven, or the Sabbath day of Rest, is beating against a rook. It is sometimes said that corporations have no souls, and, if we are to judge them by their attitude on the Sabbath question, we can conclude this is true of many of them. The workingmen of this country ought to get their eyes open before they are altogether en- slaved. If the Sabbath is broken down, it will then be just as hard to earn a livelihood in seven days' work as now in six, for it has been proved that wages will always be so adjusted that the worker will earn only enough for a bare subsistence. Under the ruling greed and graft of our monopolies there is no effort made to spare the worker on the Sabbath day, and if certain large business concerns had their own way, they would utterly overthrow the Sabbath as a day of rest. It is impossible in a limited consideration of the subject, such as we are compelled to give, to go further into details. We simply call attention to this as one of the grinding tendencies of our times. 70 THE CAUSE OF LABOR 's DISCONTENT. II.— LOW WAGES. One of the chief difficulties that leads to a dozen more, is the small wage that the average unskilled worker receives. Joseph Cook in one of his Monday lectures declared that a family of five living in the city could not very well live through a year respect- ably, and according to the standard of the workingmen of America, if the father is the only support, and is paid less than $10.00 or $12.00 a week. The Massa- chusetts Bureau of Labor also declared that the re- cipient of a yearly wage of less than six hundred dollars must go into debt. John Mitchell, that famous labor leader says: — ^^For the great mass of unskilled workingmen residing in towns or cities, with a popu- lation of from five thousand to one hundred thousand, the fair wage, a wage consistent with the American standard of living, should not be less than six hundred dollars a year. Less than this would, in my judg- ment, be insufficient to give to the workingman those necessaries and comforts, and those small luxuries which are now considered essential." The General Advisory Committee of the Chicago Bureau of Chari- ties on March 17, 1904, ^* agreed that no American family, or family of any other nationality, whose standards of living are similar, could comfortably live on any less than one dollar a week per capita at the present time, owing to the high price of foods.'* The grinding conditions of work and low wages, coupled with the scarcity of work at certain times, have greatly increased the army of paupers of which there are nearly three millions in the United States. The usual custom is to put a wholesale condemna- THE CAUSE OF LABOR 's DISCONTENT. 71 tion on the paupers themselves. This is the easiest way to get rid of the whole question. Now, if we rea- son together, will it not appear that much of this pau- perism is due to the Social conditions under which we live as a people? So far as the tramp is concerned, our people seem to be willing to support him, but he will not always be fed after the present manner. The time will soon come when the tramp or vagabond, instead of being a burden to Society, will either do his share of the work and live respectably, or he will be put to more severe work under the state, and his work will be of a useful character, and will help to make the work of the honest man lighter. We shall have much more to say about the general class of unskilled workers in a few chapters to come. It is enough to say at this time that the Trusts and combinations are having by far the best of it. There is something radically wrong when over 600,000 men and women are destitute in New York alone at a time when the country was never more prosperous. The large number of Trusts have so doubled the price on such a large number of articles, that living is un- bearably high, or to put the matter more truthfully, those who work must work half the year for them- selves, and the other half for the Trusts and the idlers. Does it not seem strange that coal should reach its high- est price when it is most plentiful, and that the Beef Trust should charge nearly double price for meat, when the Western farms never yielded a greater supply of cattle, and at a price beaten far down by the power of the Trusts! And what the Ice Trust, the Sugar Trust, and the Oil Trust cannot do, then the Gas Trust or 72 THE CAUSE OF LABOR 's DISCONTENT. some other kind of Trust steps in to do. We are cer- tainly in a country of great prosperity, and everybody is prospering but the workingman. He has been con- tent to make automobiles and let somebody else ride in them ; to make Pullman cars for the comfort of others ; to go shivering in winter and follow coffee wagons while others eat out of silver dishes; but he is begin- ning to see his folly, and he has long ere this asked for his rights, and he has done many foolish things trying to get them; but some of these things are nec- essary evils before the most intelligent plan of com- bination will be reached. When that day comes the tiller of the field will join hands with the miner, and the miner will join hands with the shopman, and they will all move together to secure what belongs to them : and THEY wHjL get it. III.— UNCERTAINTY OF WORK. Since work is the divinely appointed means of gain- ing a livelihood, it, therefore, follows, according to a popular quotation, ^*If any man will not work, neither shall he eat.'' This law is reasonable and right, and is having a practical application in some countries where the imemployed are assisted to find work. A trudging tramp is put in a public workhouse where he can earn his own living ; and if he refuses to work, he receives nothing to eat. Another saying, which is not quite so popular, runs as follows : — '*If any man does work, he has a right to eat.'' We will change this by saying that if a man works, or is willing to work, he has a right to a decent THE CAUSE OF LABOR 's DISCONTENT. 73 and comfortable living. The world does not question this right to a man who actually works, but to the man who is ^*out of work'' and yet willing to work, it de- nies him necessary provision. He must depend either upon what he has accumulated, upon his friends, upon voluntary charity, or go begging. Our Social system is radically wrong, when there is no reasonable way of getting food to a needy family whose wage earner is incapacitated. The great ma- jority of those who work have no certainty as to the permanence of their employment, even if they render good services. 1. — Shut-downs as a Cause of Uncertainty. Sometimes a corporation will post notices at their shops or factories, similar to the following: *^ There will be no work for two weeks.'' They need not give any reason for their shut-down, and they need not give the notice very long in advance. It may be that a company wishes to make necessary repairs. There is nothing wrong about this, except that the men have no work for two weeks, and no provision is made for their support during that time. Under our present system, the employer would not be able to pay his men when his works are idle. It may be that the shut-down is due to over produc- tion, one of those peculiar situations in which there is too large a supply of goods on hand and the people are unable to buy them, and, therefore, the producer and the consumer both suffer. This is one of the strangest paradoxes of our advanced civilization. The shut-down may be for the purpose of freezing 74 THE CAUSE OF LABOe's DISCONTENT. and starving the employees into submission of some kind. The truth comes from behind the scenes that certain companies must ^^keep their men down,'^ and when they observe that they are prospering and be- coming a little independent, and perhaps discussing their rights, then the best medicine that can be ad- ministered is a few weeks or months of idleness. This medicine has great effect on the laborers. They be- come very humble, and when work is again given to them, they feel like blessing the hand that gives them a chance to work. This uncertainty of work is one of the most unjust situations in our country, and yet, who is to blame for it? The employer claims a right to run his business as he pleases, and the men natur- ally know that they can get no pay when they have no employment given to them. Prof. Ely, in his ad- mirable work on Sociology, etc., says, * * What the wage-earner wants is not so much larger annual earn- ings, but a regular receipt of income in place of the present uncertainty." 2. — Panics as a Cause of Uncertainty. No volume ever written has been able to describe the far-reaching curses of the periodical American panic. We need not go back farther than the one of 1837. This was a remarkable time when the coun- try in the Middle West was rapidly filling with inhabi- tants. People crowded into that section; lands rose to fabulous prices; towns and cities sprang up like mushrooms in the night. In some sections, real estate jumped to twenty times its original price. Work was plenty, and everything in the mad rush told the ex- ffi 76 THE CAUSE OF LABOR *S DISCONTENT. dted populace that there would be no eud to the wild craze, — ^but a sudden turn came when Andrew Jackson issued a specie circular in which he demanded, '*Pay for Tour kmd in coin hereafter. '^ Paper money in notes had been the handy medium, and the President wished to straighten things out as he thought and get everything back on a good foimdation. The result was far-reaching and terrible. A gen- eral bankruptcy followed until all the states were plunged into financial ruin. Then came the tales of woe from the mouths of several millions ; they had no work, and therefore, could not buy bread. The farms kept on yielding their abimdant crops, and there was ample food to feed every hungry mouth, but the social machine was out of order, and it had no way of lifting the bread to the mouth of the hungry, and therefore some starved amidst plenty. This is a common tale, and with some changed conditions it is the same in all our great i>amcs. In the panic or hard times of 1882-1884, the same sad conditions prevailed in r^ard to the suffering of the laborers. It is very difficult to ascertain the cause of such a panic. The United States Labor Commissioner threw out his lines and gathered in from prominent authorities on political economy the followiag list of causes: — ** Abolition of the apprentice system, Busi- ness incapacity, Timidity of capital. Absorption of capital. Concentration of capital, Absence of caste, Employment of children. Creation of corporations. Small croi)s, Scarcity of currency, Indiscriminate education. Enforced idleness. Poor-class immigration, ffigh-rate interest, Extravagant living. Labor-saving machinery. Over-production, Party policy. Inflation THE CAUSE OP LABOR 's DISCONTENT. 77 of prices, Reaction from prosperity, Decreased rail- road buildiQg, Over-building of railroads. Speculation, Introduction of Bessemer steel, Sixteen difficulties with the tariff. Liquor traffic, Consolidation of wealth, War/' The foregoing list is somewhat amusing. It simply shows that each one places the blame along the line of his own thinking, and it also teaches how pre- sumptuous it is for any one man to insist upon his particular theory or hobby. It does not make any dif- ference what the real cause of the panic is, we are more concerned about the result, and that is, that a man should be thrown out of employment and no means provided for his support. In 1893 a painful panic prevailed over the country; it was especially severe in the sections of the iron in- dustries. It cannot be proved positively, but appear- ances indicate that this was the cruel soil* out of which the billion dollar steel combine grew. In the Capital- istic style it was necessary to tear out the foundation of the whole iron and steel industry in order to bring everything to terms. If there was a selfish motive back of that movement, there must come a righteous judgment some day upon the heads of the promoters. We witnessed with our own eyes some of the sharp turns of poverty which people suffered during this panic. We know one instance of a father who had been hunting all day for work, and not finding any, he dreaded to go home to face his starving wife and chil- dren, who had been hoping all afternoon that he might bring some food or good news to them. The mother had given the baby the last bit of bread long before the husband returned. When he did enter the door she 78 THE CAUSE OF LABOK^S DISC0N1:enT. looked at him imploringly, and asked, *^Have you found any work yet, John ? ' ' The poor fellow weakened by hunger, was unable to stand the strain, and he broke down completely. This father did not become insane, and in a mad fit go out and shoot himself, but was driven to that last humiliation of asking for help. This, to our mind, is one of the most pitiful pictures of modem conditions, that a strong, honest man, able and willing to work, and begging for it, is neither given work nor its equivalent. The long-ago stanza of Eobert Burns pathetically describes such a man: **See yonder, poor, o'erlabored wight. So abject, mean and vile. Who begs his brother of the earth To give him leave to toil! And see his lordly fellow worm The poor petition spurn. Unmindful though a weeping wife And helpless offspring mourn.'' In this same panic we know that scores of families were driven to the keen edge of suffering and many others were compelled to spend all their hard-earned, life-long savings. There was no need that anybody should suffer; our land was producing more wheat than the people could use; hundreds of thousands of bushels were being shipped to other countries, and thus our poor farmers were working like slaves to feed themselves and other countries, and thousands of our own workmen were starving like wrecked mariners on a broken mast, unable to get food. the cause of labor 's discontent. 79 3. — Discharging of Employees as a Cause op Uncertainty. This is another fruit of our present system. It may be all right to discharge a man who is inefficient, and from a legal standpoint, it is all right to discharge a man for any reason or for no reason. We will take a recent example; let that suffice for all others. In the spring and summer of 1904, between fifty and one hundred thousand men were thrown out of employ- ment by the railroads alone in a short time. The managers of the railroads claimed that ** depression in business '' compelled them to make retrenchments, and so they discharged the men without making any provision for their support. At the same time other corporations that employed much help also discharged a certain per cent, of their employees for the same reason. It is said that in the Wall Street Gambling Centre, over two thousand clerks were discharged be- cause times were dull. Incidents of this character could be repeated times without number. It is in all a painful comment on our American life, and those who suffer most, seem to know least how to remedy the situation. This is one of the greatest curses to the man who works — ^he can never feel safe as to his fu- ture. He can buy a home in the hope of paying for it by installments, and then he must feel uncertain as to the permanence of his work, and in altogether too many cases, his home is sold and he must lose what he has paid thereon. 80 the cause of labor 's discontent. 4. — Various Causes of Uncertainty. There are many other conditions that make work uncertain. The formation of Trusts often throws men out of work; by combining certain industries, fewer men are required to do the work; the introduction of new machinery also throws many workmen ^*out of a job.'' We welcome the new machinery, but we grieve at the fate of the poor worker who has depended upon his trade and who is now past middle life, and is su- perseded by the machine that takes his place. Neither the country nor the state has made any provision for such emergencies. The honest tradesman is simply cast off to get a living the best way he can, somewhat after the fashion of a horse that has worked hard until it is of no more use and is cast off into the field to get its living as best it can, except that Society does not furnish the field for the man. The army of the unemployed is strangely growing larger, notwithstanding our general prosperity. La- bor Commissioner Wright, drew the net of investiga- tion over 25,000 families in thirty-three states in the year 1903, and found that almost half of the wage- earners of these families were idle part of the time during the year. The average length of idleness was almost ten weeks. If you study statistics on this ques- tion, you will find that on an average there are be- tween two and four million wage-earners idle every day in the year in our country. This brings to us a story of distress, and only a few amongst the capital- ists seem to care. We need not mention any more causes of the uncertainty of work, as enough has been given to demonstrate its curses. THE CAUSE OF LABOR 's DISCONTENT. 81 IV.~BLESSINGS CHANGED TO CUESES. 1. — Invention. It is terrible to know that angels should be turned into demons, or blessings changed into burdens. This is what the workingmen of the world have experienced in regard to the things that should have lightened their burdens. What a glorious age of invention we have had, eclipsing the past, glorifying the present, and giving promise of the most golden age of material advancement that the world has yet seen. Just as the year 1492 stands for the discovery of America, with all the consequent blessings that fol- lowed, so the year 1769 stands for the discovery and utilization of the power of steam with all the wonderful events that have succeeded it; just as America was to op(3n the door of liberty to the world, so the coming of machinery gave promise to make men more free from their slavish tasks. The introduction of machinery that came after the steam engine had been applied to industry, accom- plished all and more than what was expected of it. It has done marvels in accomplishing results with the least possible labor. Eeliable statistics tell us that the steam harvester can reap and bind the waving grain of ninety acres in one day, requiring only the work of three men. Who would be dull enough to say that it were better to hire a host of men to do the same work in the old-fashioned way? With the McKay machiue, one man can handle shoes sixty times as fast as he could without it. In the manufacture of matches, three hundred girls, by the aid of machinery, will make as many matches as seventy-five hundred 82 THE CAUSE OF LABOURS DISCONTENT. men could formerly make. Since the perfecting of watch-factory machinery, it is possible to manufacture nearly six hundred thousand watches in a year at one place. In the up-to-date steel works, four men can do as much work as one hundred and forty men could do in the old-fashioned way. In weaving with mod- ern machinery, one man can do nearly as much work as one hundred men could do with the old-time hand loom, and, startling as it may seem, we are reliably informed that spinning machines tended by one over- seer and two girls, can turn out more yarn than over ten thousand hand spinners could do in the days of yore. Let us give one more example as described by the '* Cleveland Citizen:^' **The new 70,000 horsepower station of the big street railway monopoly in New York is a model labor-saving institution. The combine operates 3,000 cars on 217 miles of track in a territory ten miles long and two miles wide. To get an idea of the scientific manner in which labor-saving machinery performs the work, we cull the following example from the ex- haustive description. The coal required to operate this immense plant is unloaded from barges in the East Eiver, weighed and delivered to and fed into the furnaces by only four men! These four men, by operating the machinery, handle from 80 to 180 tons an hour. The ashes are also gathered up and dumped upon barges by automatic machinery, which never goes on strike and never boycotts.'' We are told that the machinery in the Common- wealth of Massachusetts can do as much work as fifty million men, and that the latest improved machinery of Great Britain can do the work of over five hundred million men. THE CAUSE OF LABOR ^S DISCONTENT. 83 Does it not appear that when work can be done so much more easily by machinery, that the workingmen should look upon such inventions as ministering angels coming to their relief, or, in other words, has the laborer any right to expect that his burden should be lighter in the presence of iron and steel muscles that move under the power of steam' and electricity? Certainly he has a right to share the benefits, but how has it affected his condition? Take a sober glimpse of the past. Under the old system, the individual hand-worker did most of his manufacturing in or about his humble home. He bought the raw material and sold the finished product. When machinery came, men, women and children were crowded into factories under the new ^^wage system. '* Never a more sudden transformation took place in the indus- trial world. It was a journey from the individual to the collective; each owner of a factory bought the raw materials and made all the profit he could. He paid the employees not what he considered the work- men's rightful share of the product, hut the lowest sum for which he could persuade them to work. This was the beginning of the new order which has not yet had its end, and it is becoming more and more clear that the worker is being robbed (pardon the term) of what rightfully belongs to him, and we must not, in all cases, blame the employer for the robbing. The nation and upper classes are growing enor- mously rich on the fruits of labor. Under this de- ceptive wage system, the poor workman is a slave, as we stated in a former chapter. His bondage is so great that he is being crushed constantly by the hand that he is filling with gold. In the name of justice and 84 THE CAUSE OF LABOR 's DISCONTENT. the God of justice, we declare that the laborer is en- titled to a more equitable distribution of the fruits of his labor. Why should capitalists and corporations enrich themselves so enormously by gathering in the increased fruits of machinery? In this manner the angel has been turned into a demon. When machines were first introduced into the mills of England, and large numbers of employees were discharged, there followed scenes of bloodshed and riot. The men who had lost their situations looked upon the machinery as an enemy, and in many instances, raids were made upon the work-shops and the machines were broken to pieces by the enraged men. This led to the passage of a severe law attaching a death penalty to a machine-breaker, and more than one man lost his life in this fanatical fight against what he considered his greatest foe. It does not re- quire a logician to see that under the proper system of economics there would be no necessity for such severe and horrible legislation. When the syster~ of private ownership has passed from the earth, and the terrible ghosts of greed and graft follow the corpse, then every device that saves labor will bring some relief to the whole mass of la- borers, and everybody will share alike in the benefits of invention and in the utilization of the natural forces that are being harnessed to serve the purposes of man. 2. — Immigration. We will not discuss at this place whether immigra- tion is helpful or harmful to the people of the United States; we will only consider it as it affects the con- dition of the laborers of our country. THE CAUSE OF LABOR 's DISCONTENT. 85 The immigration question did not receive any seri- ous consideration before the year 1821. At that time the Government made arrangements to take statistics of all persons who came to the United States. Not until the middle of the Nineteenth Century did immi- gration rise to large proportions; the numbers then coming from the countries of the old world averaged over 250,000 annually, and before the Century was three-fourths gone, there came to our shores over 500,000 annually. The incoming of such vast numbers was a terrible strain in the labor market, and instead of being a blessing to the American worker, it was another case of the angel being turned into a demon. Instead of lightening the burdens of the American worker, it compelled him to sell his labor in competition with the more untutored and more untrained laborers that came flooding in to bid for work in the American mar- ket. There is no object lesson in all history that fur- nishes a clearer conception of the evils of the wage system than the lesson that immigration furnishes. We do not wish to east reflection upon any other nationality, but the truth stands before us that many of these immigrants from Hungary, Ireland, Italy, and other countries were from the lowest classes of people, who were accustomed to live in their own country on a starvation diet. As they came to America, they were able to live cheaper than the most common of our American laborers, and therefore, rather than do without work, they sold their labor in many instances at considerably less than a dollar a day. In fact they worked for any wages they could get. Some of our American contractors, ever anxious 86 THE CAUSE OF LABOR ^S DISCONTENT. to make all that they possibly could out of a contract, were willing enough to take advantage of the situa- tion and hire this labor so as to get their work done as cheaply as possible. The natural result following these conditions was that our resident laborers were often pushed to the background, and could take their choice to work for a mere pittance, or not work at all. It is not strange that American laborers become hos- tile, in many sections, to this incoming flood of immi- grants. When we look at the situation fairly, we can easily account for the rash acts committed and the bitter feelings that existed in many corners of our fair country. If we lived under a system of Municipal and public ownership, the coming of a few million immigrants into our country who would be willing to work ten hours a day at hard labor for one dollar a day or more, would only lighten the burden of resident workers, if our government would permit such un- charitable discrimination. We are only speaking of a situation that could hardly be possible. As it is, in- stead of being a blessing, the inmiigration of laborers into our country proves to be a burden, and only one class of people are reaping the benefit, and they are the capitalists and corporations. It is the same old story, that the rich have been growing richer upon the hard toil and sacrifice of others, while the common people are called upon to bear heavier burdens on account of these conditions. When will the happy day come that angels will no longer be turned into demons, and when blessings will no longer become burdens, but when each one alike shall receive the benefits that come from the discoveryj the inyeation or the sacrifice of another? CHAPTEE VIL CO/MTf/MUCD B. ARISING FROM THE ATTITUDE AND EXAMPLE OF THE RICH. Among the many causes of unrest among the work- ingmen is the manner in which certain rich people use their wealth, and the spirit which they manifest to- ward the poor; also the attitude of certain corpora- tions toward their employees in times of strikes and during other kinds of disturbances. Among the rich there are many who have used, and are still using their wealth in a very commendable manner. These excep- tional cases are the bright lights along the path of financial frenzy. The man who realizes his responsi- bility, and studies to use his wealth in the best possi- ble manner, is a mighty moral force, and is ever giv- ing rebuke to the selfish, miserly men of wealth whose sole ambition is to grasp and accumulate at any cost. The rich man should recognize his many obliga- tions, and, if he wishes to please God, he must not for- 87 6 88 THE CAUSE OF LABOR 's DISCONTENT. get that he is a steward, and is held responsible for the manner in which he uses his wealth, and all the other powers at his command. This law is so simple that it needs no line of proof. The fact of human re- sponsibility to God is one of the greatest realities of life. The poor man must also give an account of his stewardship in finances, influence, opportunity, ability and every other quality of the body and soul. If money is one's greatest power, then money is also one's greatest opportunity to do good, and he should not use it to oppress individuals, or impose burdens on society, which will all come to light in the final day of reckoning. There is no truth more firmly estab- lished than that man must give an account of his deeds in the body, at the final judgment. We have personally known in our time a few men of moderate wealth, who keenly realized their responsi- bility to God. Their daily prayers breathed out the request to the Infinite One for guidance in the hand- ling of their money. Suppose that all the corpora- tions and money kings of our country yielded the fruits of such a spirit, would there then be any cause for labor uprisings! No general movement would be known, for our Social System, defective as it is under the cloud of private ownership and competition, would then render to every man a fuller product of his labor. It needs no argument to prove that the spirit of the great majority of our rich men and our rich corpora- tions is just the opposite from what it ought to be. The heartless rich are using their vast possessions as abso- lutely their own; they seem to care not for God, for man or Satan. A true photograph of this class re- THE CAUSE OF LABOR 's DISCONTENT. 89 veals a picture of indifference, heartlessness, foolish- ness, and fashionable robbery. L— THE INDIFFERENCE OF THE RICH. The spirit of indifference manifested by so many of the wealthy toward the poor has been breeding more misery and hostility of feeling than one can im- agine. No doubt there are many humane hearts among the wealthy, but the poor judge by actions. It is sadly true that many of the rich are very careless in paying their bills to the poorer class, and there is an unwritten law that it is an insult for the poor to ask for their money. Marion Harland publishes a let- ter that tells its own story along this line. We take the privilege of reproducing it from the ** North American : ' ' December 14, 1900, **Dear Marion Harland: **I am going to tell you one or two true stories — true, every word. I am a nurse, and see a great deal of both rich and poor. To-day I made a call on a young woman who supports herself and an old crip- pled mother by lace-mending. She works for several of the so-called *400.' When I came to see her, or, rather, her sick mother, there was no fire in the stove, very little food, and, of course, not a cent in the house. The young woman told me she had bills out for nearly $60.00 and that she hoped every moment, with hope against hope, she would get her pay; that some one of her rich customers would remember her bill and send her a check. She doesn't dare ask for her pay, or she would lose their custom. So she and her poor invalid 90 THE CAUSE OF LABOR ^S DISCONTENT. mother have to freeze and starve because million- airesses don't remember to pay a poor, hard-working woman. Unfortunately such things happen every day in this city. Eich ladies, who have only to go to their writing desks and fill out and sign a check, let day after day, week after week, pass, without remember- ing there are poor women suffering, starving because of their thoughtlessness. That poor invalid will very likely die because women, whose husbands and fathers are worth millions, * don't think' to pay what they owe, or are too lazy to send the check. **I know that young lace-mender personally, and that what she told me is true. Often mistress and maid employ the same workers. The maid pays her bills promptly. The lady will not pay hers, perhaps, in several weeks. Of course, I helped the woman to get fuel and food, but I fear it was too late. **Not so very long ago another woman, a seamstress, took a bad cold, and died literally of want. There was about $80.00 due her from prominent society ladies. *^I cannot forget the sight of those two women freez- ing and starving, because they don't get the money for which they have worked honestly and hard. If you could see and hear only half of what goes on in this line, you would not wonder that there is so much bitter feeling against the rich." We have good judgment enough to admit that such cases are the exceptions with most of the rich, but it requires extreme cases to fully illustrate the truth. It is strange that the ones who have the most money take the most advantage of the credit system. They leave their grocery bills and certain other bills run three, six, and twelve or more months before payment is made. THE CAUSE OF LABOR *S DISCONTENT. 91 The incidents given above are not the worst fruits of indifference on the part of the rich; but one result more disastrous than all the rest is that it has widened the chasm between the rich and the poor. Under our present competitive system, it is necessary that sym- pathy and confidence should prevail between the rich and the poor. These feelings are largely unknown and everything has been resolved to the cold ethics of business and necessity. This charge we lay before the rich; they are more responsible than the laborers for our present strained relations between the two classes. IL-^HEAETLESSNESS OF CORPORATIONS. Under this head, we speak particularly of corpora- tions. Their attitude has done much to provoke the workingmen to anger and rebellion. During the strike at Pullman some years ago, an investigation took place, and the Vice-President of the concern admitted that while the receipts of the company had been re- duced $52,000, it had at the same time and for the same period reduced the wages of its employees $60,000; yet, with all this reduction in wages, it did not cut down its charges for house rent to the em- ployees, or the salaries for the officials of the com- pany, nor its dividends to the stockholders. This is hearties sues s indeed, when a company with twenty- five millions of undivided surplus deliberately places the entire burden of hard times upon its dependent and helpless employees. This injustice is not prac- ticed by all corporations, but it has prevailed to a very large extent. Many pathetic incidents have come 92 THE CAUSE OF LABOR 's DISCONTENT. to US from the coal strike of 1902, among them is the story of a miner who was evicted from his home by a certain coal company, because he could not pay rent during the strike. We give an extract from the daily press on the sad experience of this miner, who gave his sworn testimony before the Commission appointed by President Eoosevelt. He was decrepit and marked from many injuries received while in the service of the company. The miner declared that when the of- ficers of the law came to force them out of their rented home his wife was sick and her 100-year-old mother was blind and unable to walk. The day on which they were ** thrown ouf was rainy. He took them as best he could to Hazleton, seven miles away, and placed them in a cold, damp, empty house. This was when the atmosphere on the Hazleton mountain was quite cold. His wife became worse. Medical aid was kindly fur- nished free by a Hazleton doctor but it did not help her much. **We were greatly worried because of our having been turned out of our house and one night, * * the wit- ness said, between sobs, **she died.'' **She diedf exclaimed Judge Gray, who was pacing to and fro across the room, as he quickly turned when he heard the man's last words. ^*Yes, sir; she died and I buried her yesterday." The witness went on to say that he did not know whether the centenarian was alive to-day or not. **She was in a bad condition owing to her daughter's death when I left home last night," said he. Circumstances like the foregoing do much to incense the masses against the employer. The Coal Company had an object in view in evicting its tenants. It was THE CAUSE OF LABOR 's DISCONTENT. 93 no doubt one more effort to whip the men to terms by making them suffer the full consequences of the strike, but in this case an unfortunate result made the com- pany's action appear so much the more heartless. These are only a few isolated instances ; if space per- mitted we could give many more. IIL—FOOLISHNESS OF THE EICH. When we speak of the foolishness of the rich, we refer to the bold extravagances that have made the blood of the poverty-stricken classes run fire. When we hear tales of more money being spent by a wealthy woman on a poodle dog than a workingman spends on a whole family, we are disgusted; when we hear of thousands of dollars being wasted to gratify the mor- bid appetite of a man of wealth, we are shocked ; when we hear of wild frivolity at a reckless cost, we are more than ever reminded of our own hopelessness, if we ever fall into the hands of such reckless rulers. Think of the women who spend millions to gratify their pride and love of fashion, in the very midst of swarming poverty and discontent. The artist who wishes to draw a picture of selfishness, can find no better model than the man or woman who is making a frantic effort to spend as much money on himself or herself as possible, while he turns a deaf ear to the cries of the suffering world. There is a law of Scripture, **Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required." There are too many of the wealthy who interpret this word **much'' to mean much extravagance, fashion, much of the overbearing spirit, much tantalizing of the poor. Dr. G. V. Reichel very forcibly says: — **The 94 THE CAUSE OF LABOB'S DISCONTENT. privileged class must set a better example of living before the circmnscribed classes can be uplifted. It is only too appallingly true that the power of wealth in its oppression of the poor, is, in many instances, not short of murderous. Hence we witness a change of opinion concerning the privileged class; and the much vaunted ease, the unjustifiable indolence, and the ofttime unquestioned worthlessness, so characteristic of it, had disenchanted the vision of wealth, and ex- cited among the poor a bitterness of hate that grows ominous. '^ We are not alarmists, but we wish to say in the line of history, that the Reign of Terror came like a thun- der roar after the gathering storm of ages, and the conditions existing now in our country indicate that imless radical changes occur, there will come some calamity of which no one can now make an adequate prophecy. IV.— FASHIONABLE ROBBERY. Those among the wealthy who have gained theii: gold by questionable methods have done more to prejudice the working masses against the rich than all the others combined. 1. — Usury. This is a common method of fashionable robbery and has crushed one farmer after another in the west- ern part of the country. Some of the states allow the lender of the money to charge a high rate of interest, even as high as 12 per cent, or more is sometimes ex- THE CAUSE OF LABOR ^S DISCONTENT. 95 acted by the lender, who in one way or another takes this advantage, just because conditions enable him to do so. As a result many of those farmers having mortgages against them are unable to meet the inter- est, and their hard-earned savings of years are merci- lessly swallowed by the mortgage. If the farmer is able to pay the interest, it only means that he must keep himself on the ** grindstone,^* so as to be able to meet it again when it is due. Why is it legal to charge 10 per cent, interest? The answer to this question reveals the close relation be- tween the law-making body and the men of money. One of the reasons that the Eussians hated the Jews was because the Jews in some localities were the land- lords and charged large rents, enough to make 10 per cent, or 20 per cent, on the investment. The fire of anger among the poor renters blazed into a fury until it was uncontrollable in the spirit of the mob, and the fearful results of massacre followed. 2. — Concerning the Market. ~~ It is not right to hold prejudice against the rich people as a class, just because a few of their number resort to low methods to gather wealth. The common people have murmured their complaints against the air, because the man who corners the market is deaf to the suffering cries he may cause. The man who wishes to * 'corner'' a commodity, se- lects something that people must or will have; the reason for this is apparent. Wheat is often chosen, and sometimes corn or oats, or perchance some other necessity. Then the people consciously or uncon- 96 THE CAUSE OF LABOR 's DISCONTENT. sciously pay an extra price in order to get the ** cor- nered*' goods. This is robbery, and he who is able to succeed at it is called ** smart/' and his friends compliment him on his good fortune. These are only a few snap-shot pictures of the fashionable robbery that is being committed constantly, and which is ever causing restlessness and discontent among the work- ing classes. We cannot censure the toiling slaves for making their protest strong and clear. We think it only natural to hear their clamor for equity, and the Ear that is ever sensitive has heard their cry, and the redemption that has been long coming, is already in sight. The next chapter on Grafting and Unfair Legisla- tion will give more light on some of the fashionable types of robbery. The Gardener at Work. — According to the remarks of a very rich man's son, it is proper to clip 999 buds (small dealers) in order to develop the one flower called the "American Beauty Rose" (Monopoly). II t-B ° s re o tn -^ O .51 o JZ ^ 2 o i; T3 CO CHAPTER VIII. (Continued ) ARISING FROM GRAFTING AND UNFAIR LEGISLATION. I.— GRAFT. Another fruitful source of discontent among work- ingmen is the partiality of law-makers and the prac- tice of Grafting that is sapping the life blood from the body of our nation. As the secular press becomes more fearless in exposing the crimes of public men, the people are learning more accurately the facts con- cerning the lying and stealing in places of public trust, and they are being convinced that these dangers threaten the life of our country. The hideous Graft Octopus stretches its threatening arms in all direc- tions, ?nd who will say that the illustration on an ac- companying page exaggerates the condition. Take a glimpse of our nation in 1905, as brought to the attention of the people through the public press of 99 100 THE CAUSE OF LABOR 's DISCONTENT. Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, and other great centres of population. Information came from Cali- fornia that one of its state senators was serving a five years' sentence in penitentiary, and that one of the tax collectors stole a quarter of a million, and was also serving a sentence. From the other two Pacific Coast states of Oregon and Washington, comes the same tale of woe concerning men in public office, who sold their birthright for a mess of pottage. From the states of the Middle West, especially Missouri and Illi- nois, have come the news of abundant and outrageous Grafting. Men who have been honored with public positions by the vote of the people have trampled under foot their sacred trusts, and with seared consciences, and in violation of every principle of justice and right, have used that trust to enrich themselves at the ex- pense of the communities they had sworn to serve with honor. From the eastern and southern parts of our great nation come the same distressing tales. Texas is awakening to the real situation of affairs be- hind the screens, and Ohio is afflicted with a company of smaller Grafters that infest many of its larger cities. Pennsylvania is one of the school teachers of the nation on the subject of Graft, and the state of New York has an equally unenviable record in this distressingly dishonorable business. It would require a volume to relate the facts on this subject even in our own country. It is so serious '.a case that the people are aroused and our Chief Ex- ecutive is determined to mete out punishment to the offenders. In the year 1905 it was seen in many of the Scientific Bureaus; in the Statistical Bureaus of THE CAUSE OF LABCil V.I^^SCjP^jrTEl^rT,. ; J 101 the Department of Agriculture; in the Government Printing Office, and in other departments of our na- tional service, that certain of the leading employees placed their private interests ahead of the Govern- ment, and, as a consequence, the President declared that laws must be formed or enacted to bring speedy punishment to those who betrayed their public trust. He expresses himself on this wise: — ** Crime in the government service is the most detestable that the courts have to deal with. It is betrayal of confidence in its worst form and abandonment of every principle of patriotism and good citizenship/* Happy the nation which has as its chief ruler a man who is not afraid of men or devils, and who has the courage of his convictions. President Eoosevelt in his general attitude became one of the greatest political heroes that ever graced the Presidential Chair, and we rejoice that millions have held this opinion. Notwith- standing what he accomplished to arouse public senti- ment against public crimes, and in elevating the public service to a plane of honest efficiency, such as it never occupied before; yet the laboring masses have not been quieted in their suspicions. The awakened public well knew that the reform efforts of 1905 were a repetition of the old saying, **Lock the door after the horse is stolen.** This is surely wiser than carelessly to continue leaving the door unlocked ; but the suspicion in the hearts of the masses is that there are many doors yet open that ought to be closed. As the laboring men continue reading of the dishonest thousands who are living without work upon the pro- ceeds of their pilfering, they will become more and more settled in their conviction that our social system 102 '^ECE C4TTSB OF LABOE^S DISCONTENT. is radically wrong, and that the army of workers will never get justice until a new economic system pre- vails. In this feverish discontent the millions of workers are trying to feel their way toward better conditions, and as soon as they can see a reasonable method of relief, the masses will move in that direc- tion. The only reason the great mass of people suffer 60 long the evils they have endured, is because of their helplessness and ignorance of any open door of escape. II.— UNFAIR LEGISLATION. Another potent cause of discontent is unfair and unequal legislation, or a discrimination between the rich and poor under the law. This is nothing new, for it has been the curse of the ages, that, with few exceptions, the poor man always gets the hardest blow. As we look back to the middle ages and study its history, we find that the statutes of that period did not very much take into account the workiugman. The laws were framed according to the wishes of the landlords, or more properly speaking, the feudal lords. If at any particular place a few workingmen tried to combine for mutual benefit, it was not long before a law was passed to prohibit such privileges. We are told by reliable writers that one of the great curses in England upon labor, existed in the laws regarding Apprentices. The employer and the public oflficers could legally work together, and they had power to fix the price of wages and to regulate the work and the workers. The masters in their heart- lessness played the part of tyranny over the laborers more shamefully than was witnessed in the days of THE CAUSE OF LABOR *S DISCONTENT. 103 American slavery. They could compel a person to start work as early as five o 'clock in the morning, and to continue his labors until 7.30 o'clock in the evening and even later. These repulsive conditions continued, with varying intensity, to darken the social skies of, England for six hundred years, and not until recently were these laws completely repealed. It is true that during the past one hundred years things have changed very much, but the real evil of discrimination has not yet ceased. It is not difficult to see why a man of wealth is usu- ally treated with more leniency than a man of no wealth. It is for that reason that we have considered the subject of Graft in this same chapter. It is com- monly known that some men can be bought for a very low sum, and therefore, at certain times, the man of wealth can influence legislation in his favor. The conmion people would not feel the injustice so strongly, if the burden of this crime did not fall upon their shoulders. The spirit of partiality in law that had cursed Eng- land so long, came over to America in the Mayflower. You need but read the simple laws that governed the early Colonists to see the tendency toward employers. The workingman's voice had but feeble influence, and this same spirit continued to darken the centuries of American life ever since. In the running history of our great country, we have seen that the Capitalists and the great corpora- tions have generally been able to secure legislation in their favor. What the_laboring man received have been the few and far between measures. Civil govern- ment should have no respect to persons. Class legis- 104 THE CAUSE OF LABOR *S DISCONTENT. lation is a black crime which must be accomited for in the great days of reckoning at the hands of both hu- man and divine government. And when we speak about partiality, we refer to the administration of the law as well as the making of it, for there is so much partiality shown in the execution of the law. The drunken member of a club house is sent home in a cab, and the drunken poor man is hurried off to the jail. Gambling in high places is frequently overlooked, while the ^^crap'' players are brought to justice. Is it strange that the workingman should feel that in- justice has been done to him when such partiality is administered by the courts, a sample of which we quote from the *^ Seattle Daily Times.'' **Two weeks ago Tony Jurewich, virtually a vagrant, without friends or influence, was sentenced to fourteen years in the state penitentiary for steal- ing an old overcoat from a room in the Haddon Flats, the door of which he found open. * * To-day Clyde Clancy, an adept in a profitable pro- fession, with good family connections and friends hav- ing political influence, was sentenced to thirty days in the county jail. His confessed crimes, covering a period of two years, include the robbery of scores of rooms, in as many hotels in Seattle and Tacoma, of clothing and other portables valued at hundreds of dollars. *^The cases of both criminals were handled by Prosecuting Attorney Mackintosh and both were sen- tenced by Superior Judge Griflfin.'' We also quote some instances from the ** Appeal to Eeason:'' THB CAUSH OF LABOR ^S DISCONTENT. 105 HOW THE EICH EVADE THE LAW. **The sons of rich men who spend their time gam- bling and consorting with harlots, having had their gambling dens in Chicago temporarily closed, char- tered a ship and went out on the lake where the racing reports were wirelessly sent them and there gambled. This is known to all the people; the papers prate of it ; the gamblers and the disreputables gloat over it — and what is done about it I Nothing. They are rich and the rich cannot be punished for crime. The offi- cers say there is no law to punish them! But how quickly would a law be found to punish them if they were poor ! If there were no law they would be pun- ished without law.'' ** Indictments have been returned by the federal grand jury against the teamsters in Chicago on charges of violating * police morals' and * trade morals.' When labor undertakes to get better condi- tions for itself ^ it is a conspiracy.' When a man like Bigelow filches a couple millions, it is a * breach of trust.' Broken heads and jail sentences for the work- ing class, and banquets and trips to Europe for the bankers who swindle confiding depositors." It is very difficult for the laboring man to get laws passed in his favor. Recently the Legislature of Colo- rado refused to enact an eight-hour-day law after the people had sanctioned and demanded it by ballot. This was the voice of the working masses and it was not heeded by the lawmaking body. When corporations can so influence a State Legislature, is it not true that public government is at an end, and revolution is at hand? Nothing is so much the cause of the present 106 THE CAUSE OF LABOR 's DISCONTENT. uneasiness and the general disrespect for law as this partiality in its administration. ** Government should also protect the poor man^s property against the rich man's fraud, as well as the rich man's property against the poor man's stealing. There are selfish and lawless men in each class that will get their neighbor's goods without an equivalent if they can. * * * if there is any difference, the rich banker, who steals the wages of the poor com- mitted to his keeping, is a worse rogue than the sneak thief who steals the banker's overcoat, yet the last is stealing and the first is embezzlement, and if the embezzlement is managed with considerable skill, the criminal may still be in good society. Such false dis- tinction should be done away with and all the thieves whether rich or poor be upon an equality." Another source of uneasiness is the manner in which honest people are fleeced out of their money by mis- representations and by common agreement amongst captains of finance. The great revelation along this line by Thomas W. Lawson in * * Everybody 's Magazine ' ' will not be forgotten by the American people for a long time to come. Let us quote one of his general comments on the Wall Street Speculations : — '*The truth is that in high finance all civilized amenities have long been suspended. The black flag is to-day the Wall Street standard. Thuggery and assassination are so much the rule that nowadays all parties to a business transaction wear armor and carry stilettos. Property rights are vested in Power; the sole license to have, is strength to hold; to covet another man's railway or factory is, if you be the stronger, full warrant and charter to its possession. THE CAUSE OF LABOR 'S DISCONTENT. 107 In the pursuit of *made dollars* greed and cunning lead the pack ; kindliness, fair dealing, and truth have lost the scent. To-day the penal code is Wall Street's bible; its priest, the corporation lawyer; conscience is a fear of legal consequences; the sole crime, being caught; talent and character are best proved by a large bank account; to err is to fail; continued suc- cess in speculation and a few years' immunity from retributive justice constitute a reputation for virtue and stability that finds its highest justification as a handy asset behind a bond issue. **It is the deplorable fact that in carrying through the great deals that have marked the last few years, it has become a habit for men to lie, cheat, bribe, and commit perjury, and there is no more condemnation of such practices among those who are to-day the rep- resentatives of finance in America than there was in earlier times for the close-fisted driver of a hard but honest bargain." Should anyone consider that this **word picture" of Wall Street is overdrawn, he has the privilege of investigating for himself, providing he has the nec- essary time and ability to do so. We feel safe in saying that any competent investigator will have his eyes more than opened after he has thoroughly com- pleted his work as a detective. It required such a man like Lawson, who lived on both sides of the Wall Street fence, to give a full word picture of the black crimes committed in the dark in the name of decency, and even Christianity. These stealthy criminals es- cape the penalty of the law by secrecy, bluff, arro- gance and bribery. The middle class and lower class of people are fleeced out of their money by all kinds 108 THE CAUSE OF LABOB's DISCONTENT. of promising schemes, and, whenever the guilt has been properly placed, the offender is punished very lightly if punished at all, and the sufferer has no way to regain his lost money. The day is not far distant when the large army of speculators will be called upon to do their share of honest work. It will then be seen how much of the Wall Street machinery is really necessary to the successful maintenance of our government. CHAPTER IX. Discsf/reNT (finriNUto D. ARISING FROM THE EVILS OF COMPETITION. One more cause of discontent among laborers is competition. We have been born and bred under the reign of our present industrial order, and it has been natural for us to believe that the things that are, are the things that ought to be; and he who doubts this is regarded by many as a pessimist, or as an imprac- tical, dreamy reformer. I.— OEIGIN OF COMPETITION. Before competition became the ruling power of busi- ness, prices were regulated by custom or law under what is commonly known as the ** Guild System.'* With the advent of machinery and the factory, new conditions arose which compelled the factory to under- sell, so as to dispose of its larger output. This was the opening wedge of the competitive system, and it gave a new hum and bustle to business, and society 109 110 THE CAUSE OF LABOR 's DISCONTENT. waited in expectancy to see what yet might come of this new order. All this happened in England a little after the Eight- eenth Century; and the champion of the new princi- ple was Adam Smith, whose great work entitled * ^ The Wealth of Nations'^ was an epoch-maker. He argued that industry would take care of itself under free com- petition, and that both employer and employed would be duly protected by the correct poise of the ever natural balance. He held strictly to the doctrine laissez faire, which means *4et alone, *^ the world evolves of itself. The idea was that there should be no inter- ference by the state with industrial competition. Mr. Smith argued at length that competition among la- borers would prevent wages from going too high, and also competition among employers would keep wages from going too low ; in other words, there would be a constant and just equilibrium preserved. We have no space in this single volume to give a larger view of Adam Smith's book. Any one who is interested can read it. Its teaching, coupled with the conditions previously mentioned, ushered in the new era of com- petition. II.— CLAIMS FOE COMPETITION. Adam Smith claimed that free competition wouW increase the production of wealth. His prophecy along this line has been fulfilled, only that wealth has come to one class and poverty to another. It was also claimed that competition would be the mother of in- vention. This claim has also been fully realized, and perhaps, there has been no greater blessing from com- petition than the stimulus it has given to individual THE CAUSE OF LABOR ^S DISCONTENT. Ill ejffort. There should be no system of economics that would put brakes on the wheels of human progress; and no matter what kmd of economic administration may exist, there should always be an incentive to study, invent, and discover, so that the human family will reach the most glorious goal possible in every realm of thought and endeavor. It was also claimed that competition would protect and elevate the la- borer. This prophecy has not been fulfilled. This leads us to a necessarily brief consideration of III.— EVIL EFFECTS OF COMPETITION. 1. — It Made Possible the So-Called White Slavery, This is one of the most cruel phases of competition. The employers, wherever they saw an opportunity of using children, put them into the factory in order to save in the cost of production. The laws of health were little taken into consideration. In the beginning of the cruel system of competition, certain children were required to work twelve hours per day, and as they went to their beds, another lot went to the fac- tory, and the greed of the operators was only satisfied when the factory wheels were humming day and night. The beds of the children never became cold. **One batch of children rested while another went to the looms, only half the requisite number of beds being provided for all. Epidemic fevers were rife in con- sequence. Medical inspectors reported the rapid spread of malformation of the bones, curvature of the spine, heart disease, rupture, stunted growth, asthma and premature old age among children and yoimg per- 112 THE CAUSE OF LABOE's DISCONTENT. sons; the said children and young persons, being worked by manufacturers without any kind of re- straint.'* This is a partial glimpse of the early reign of com- petition before public indignation was aroused. When better conditions came, it was not because the em- ployers became more benevolent and kind, but because the general cry of the people demanded reform. We have had in our own country some deplorable conditions of white slavery, and all of this has proved that competition left to itself manifests a heartless, soulless and barbarous spirit. We will have more to say concerning the slavish effects of competition in another part of this book. 2. — Competition Has Slain Its Tens of Thousands. Not only the lives of children have been taken by the terrible strain brought upon their tender bodies through overwork, but hosts of adult workmen came to an untimely end by the lack of protection that should have been afforded to every workman. It is true that many laborers lose their lives through their own carelessness, but the more terrible fact remains that thousands go down every year just because the employing class give too little attention to the safety and welfare of their employees. This comes from such causes as unprotected machinery, unsanitary work-shops and other forms of carelessness and in- difference on the part of the employing class. Under a true economic system there would be just as much effort made to protect the worker and to make his surroundings sanitary, pleasant and safe, as there THE CAUSE OP LABOR 's DISCONTENT. 113 would be to get the product of his labor. There would be no motive to have it otherwise, and if any should appear, the workers themselves could easily correct the evil, because they would in a large measure control the industry. 3. — Competition is Indifferent to the Welfare of THE Weak. These are the ones who are left to perish in the struggle of life. They go down amidst groanings un- utterable, being unfit to meet the conditions imposed upon them by competition. This is one of the darkest pictures of human society and is treated elsewhere in this book. 4. — Competition Produces an Evil Effect Upon thb Employer. Under the spur of competition the employer is tempted to treat his employees as a commodity sub- ject to the law of supply and demand, and to forget that his hirelings are human beings endowed with su- perior faculties and destined to an immortal existence. This continual forgetting hardens the soul of the em- ployer, and robs him largely of human sjnnpathy. He is consequently a heartless machine, grinding out the very lives of his employees into gold dollars for his vaults. This is one of the most heartless phases of competi- tion, and the helpless worker suffers the bitterest end of the injustice. There are times when the employer suffers heavily, when he, in turn, is also being crushed by some power greater than himself; he then gets a taste of the sorrows that must be borne by his own employees altogether too often. lU the cause of labor 's discontent. 115 5. — Competition Compels a Labober to Bid Against Another for Work. This is the most pitiful struggle of all the conflicts in the world; to find one class of helpless men under- bidding another class in order to get bread to eat. These pictures are not so plentiful in times of so- called prosperity, but in times of panic it is terrible and heart-rending. This cruel state of affairs must come to an end, and the worker must be the prime mover in order to reach the desired end. 6. — Competition Has Enriched the Employing Class AND Degraded the Laboring Class. This phase of the question is considered in another part of the book. 7. — Competition Compels an Enormous Waste of Capital and Energy. This is one more of the business considerations of this question. It is costing the general public much more to maintain the different competitive systems than it would under co-operative ownership and man- agement, where public good instead of private gain is the controlling spirit. For example, here is a city, and its gas company has just been in business long enough to get **on its feet.*' About that time another gas company commences operation, and the streets of the city are dug up again to lay pipes along the same streets where the other company had already laid pipes. This new company offers special induce- ments, and the people are rejoicing over the fact that 116 THE CAUSE OF LABOR *S DISCONTENT. competition in gas has come so that prices will be kept down. This is one example that will serve to cover all the others. The people do not stop to think how much better it would be if the city or borough owned its own gas plant and operated it for the bene- fit of everybody. This is no dream. It has been prac- tically proved that the people get better service and cheaper gas than can be furnished under any competi- tive system. It is a rule well established that people must pay for everything that is needlessly duplicated under competition. For a larger consideration of this subject read chapter entitled ** Blessings Under Social Eeform.'' The laboring people are having their eyes opened, and for many years they have been studying and ob- serving this peculiar system of competition, and, while they have been hearing on every hand that *^ competi- tion is the life of trade, '* they are being more and more convinced that competition is the death of indus- try, and also their own death. As soon as some better system can be shown to be practical, it will not be long until the great change will be wrought, and from the present discontent and turmoil, there will be ushered in a period of human blessing heretofore unknown. Competition was, and still is a hard schoolmaster to teach the people the curses of private ownership. These things must needs be in order for full enlight- enment; but after the discipline of school days, shall come the period when knowledge will be used; and, when the proletarian or common worker gets down to hard thinking, nothing can stop him in his effort for larger liberty and a happier life The Idol of Monopoly. — The workers of America have made unto themselves an idol called Monopoly, which many of them still admire and worship. Oh workers ! This is not your god. o ^ » ft -o , o. «-, o c J3 3 V o ^ u (U o o J3 M ^ ^_, 1— 1 . C >j: ^ s-s. ^ "o gl c o -^3 2 c o 1 1 c > rt ^ i-r ^_, o o gs o n bo z rt n c u .« % CJ 3 fc z _ -a o ^ rt ~ w ^■^ K :5 n J-1 o ^'iH > a KNEDIES mlF^LP 'ifDUJTRf/ILi^ffogj^S I.— CHRISTIANIZATION OF CAPITAL. For many ages past it has been preached from the pulpit and delivered from the platform that the only safe remedy for present evils would be to Christianize the Capitalist. This sounds well and seems reasonable, but it would no doubt be more difficult to Christianize Capital than it would be to Christianize the laboring masses. Dr. Washington Gladden in his ** Applied Christianity, ' ' declares that '*the reform needed is not the de- struction, but the Christianizing of the present order.'' This good-minded divine was aiming at a great truth when he said this, but to tell how Capital can be Christianized is a harder task than to 216 PEOPOSED REMEDIES. 217 explain how the laboring masses can be elevated to their rightful plane. It would have been better if Dr. Gladden had advo- cated the conversion of the present order of eco- nomics. It has been found to be impossible to make the present wrongs right under the reign of private capital, free competition and the free contract and wage system. Let this present economic order be converted or transformed into a new order, and we will make it more possible for the exercise of Chris- tian principles among those who live. There are many- corporations claimiQg that they are now working in ac- cordance with Christian principles; certain monopo- lists declare that they are doing all for their men that is possible, paying them higher wages than the average, and that they are dealing with the public in a fair and equitable manner. This may be true and it may not be true, who is to be the judge? We might as well say that if you run a saloon in a Christian-like manner, it will do harm to no one. Sup- pose we try the experiment. First, let us take the Bishop Potter plan, and we find that whiskey, beer, or any other intoxicant sold in the name of Christianity has the same effect upon the individual as if it were sold in the name of the Devil. Now, if we were to run a saloon upon Christian principles, we would, first of all, make a radical change. We would take out all the beverages that intoxicate, and we would sell only such as might be beneficial and healthful to the individual. This, of course, would mean an entire change, and the idea of the place being a saloon would no longer exist. We do not wish to ridicule the effort on the part of large business men to run their business in a Chris- 218 PROPOSED REMEDIES. tian-like manner; we have only words of commenda- tion and none of censure to offer to such men ; but we wish to have it clearly understood that all such efforts combined, up to this date, have given no promise of the final redemption of the laboring masses. We speak with positiveness because we know something of the prejudice that has been awakened in the general mass of workers. Men of large corporations, who indi- vidually profess to be Christians, have continued their grinding processes and their unjust exploitation of Labor in the name of Christianity; and if good has been done in one quarter by a thoroughly consistent man, harm has been done in another quarter by the man who practices all manner of polite robberies in the name of Christianity. The whole system of Capital- ism, as now in power, is rotten. Its heart is unclean and its head impure ; it needs a thorough regeneration ; its body and soul needs Christianizing which, according to our previous language, means an inward change of the whole system, so that afterward it could be said in the language of Scripture, ^^Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.*' II.— INCOME TAX. The income tax is a proposition to exempt all per- sons from paying taxes who have an annual income below four or ^ve thousand dollars. The theory is to compel those to pay the public expenses who are the most able, and pay it according to the ratio of their income. When this measure was radically put to the front, it met with general favor on the same principle PROPOSED REMEDIES. 219 that the members of an organization would vote for an oyster supper if somebody else paid for it. In 1894 this law was passed by Congress and signed by President Cleveland. The validity of the law was tested, and the United States Supreme Court, by a vote of five to four, declared the law unconstitutional. It was claimed by this court that the construction of the law was defective. III.— SINGLE TAX. This is offered by the Manhattan Single Tax League of New York as a cure for many present ills. This league teaches that all land should be taxed according to its possible value, no owner being exempted. The supposition is, that men will not then be tempted to hold hundreds of thousands of acres of land for their own luxury ; but they will either hire men to work the land, and thereby give work to more men, or they will sell the land so it may be worked by somebody else. No doubt the benefits of this system are exaggerated, and, as is very frequent in partial theories of reform, it would be clipping off a few branches of the tree of social evil instead of cutting at the roots. IV.— SELF-HELP. It is claimed by some that the very best remedy for the poverty stricken class would be the cure of ** self- help.'' The theory is, that the commonwealth or gov- ernment, should make special provision to teach every 220 PROPOSED REMEDIES. young man and young woman the secrets of self-im- provement, and, therefore, self-advancement. It has been found that the best methods of relief are those which create and foster the spirit of ^* self-help.'^ We answer that ^ ^ self -help ' ' already has its great- est stimulus in our present competitive system; we cannot see how it would be possible to throw out more Luducements for men and women to be independent than are given in this war of the survival of the fittest. It is unavoidable in the present rush of selfishness and competition that some are way down. It will always be so until the causes of the present inequality be- tween man and man shall be swept away to such an extent that all will have an equal opportunity to be- come what they ought to be. v.— INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS. The Industrial School is no longer an experiment. It is doing on a small scale what Socialism proposes to do on a general scale. It has been tried in Europe and America. When Anthony J. Drexel, with the purest of motives, founded the Drexel Institute in Philadelphia, it was said by some that this kind of work would even- tually solve the problem of labor and industry. This institute, and others of its kind, have done a great amount of good and nothing but words of praise should be spoken concerning those who have aimed to help humanity in this manner; but as far as settling the discontent among workingmen, the industrial school has accomplished very little. The theory of the industrial school will find its most PEOPOSBD KEMEDIES. 221 practical demonstration under the co-operative sys- tem of government. When that happy time comes, there will, no doubt, be industrial schools to train young men and women for the different trades and occupations of life, and when they get their training, they will not find a cruel system of competition keep- ing them out of work. There are many other remedies that have been pro- posed to overcome the present evils of society. Some of these may be worthy of more attention than some we have mentioned, but it is impossible to consider them. The whole list of proposed remedies are inef- ficient to accomplish the desired result. Reformers are gradually seeing that theory amounts to but very little; for we are dealing with the mighty monster of Monopoly, and nothing but a hard and definite blow will count for anything. Decisive and radical action will save the nation and lift the laboring masses to their proper plane of existence. Men love their pet schemes more than they love the truth, and, for that reason, much time and energy is being wasted. We hail with delight the indication of the times in the strong tendency to unite forces, and, no doubt, the armies of Labor will gather their scattered units to- gether and unite in a common attack upon the fortress of Capital. Until then, let us do what we can to de- stroy petty jealousies, and counteract extreme teach- ings, and counsel for sensible Labor agitation. 14 CHAPTER XX. I.— COMMUNISM. In considering briefly the subject of Communism, we will go no farther back than the days of the early Christians. It is said that they had all things in com- mon. For some time believers tried this method of Social government, and apparently the system failed. If there is any discredit for this it must not be placed upon the Christian faith, or religion, but rather upon the business judgment of the Christian leaders of that time. The attempt to perpetuate any type of Com- munism amongst a select class of people, living in the midst of a competitive Social system, has always been attended with difficulties, and usually results in failure. Concerning the community of goods at Jerusalem, it must be observed that it was not compulsory. The system was not inaugurated by a general suffrage, nor by any kind of confiscation. The best light we have 222 SOCIALISTIC REMEDIES. 223 on this early Communism is found in the Bible, and we are told that when Ananias had committed his crime, Peter, in speaking to him, made it clear that his sin consisted not in selling his land and keeping the money, but in his deception and falsehood. Peter said, before Ananias dropped dead, ^^ Whiles it re- mained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? Why hast thou con- ceived this thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God/' Acts 5:4. Communism as understood to-day, is more radical than any type of advanced socialism, but nothing more need be said, inasmuch as it has given way to other theories and other systems. II.— CO-OPEEATIVE SOCIETIES. We have neither time nor space to speak of a tithe of the organizations that have been formed to improve local communities. Many have flourished for a short time, and then died a natural death; others have lived and demonstrated the value of the Co-operative methods. There is no question as to the superior value of Co-operation; but the garden of Society is so covered with the weeds and briars of competi- tion, that the useful and blessed plants of Co-opera- tion must struggle against all odds before they can conquer in their growth and come to maturity. One of the most noted modem examples of the co- operative commonwealth is New Zealand. This coun- try had experienced all the troubles that are asso- ciated with a competitive system of economics. The 224 SOCIALISTIC REMEDIES. country had its periodical strikes, and labor disturb- ances, and its shadings of poverty and crime. After stumbling in the dark, hunting for the cause of all their economic troubles, they found that it was private own- ership and Monopoly. There were wise heads enough to carry sentiment in favor of reform, so child-labor in factories was abolished and a splendid school sys- tem was inaugurated. A government farm was estab- lished where all the unemployed could find work at $2.00 per day. The large land holdings were divided into small tracts, giving many more the chance to till the soil. To condense a long description into a few words we would say that New Zealand adopted the main features of co-operation and public ownership. These reforms were instituted in 1893, and, as a result, there has been a wonderful change for the bet- ter in the economic affairs of the country. Strikes, crimes and poverty have been decreased and the peo- ple are contented and happy. Tramps, beggars and drunkenness have largely disappeared. It is being clearly demonstrated, even to them who were skepti- cal at first, that the reform movement in New Zealand is the proper solution of the Social ills that formerly afflicted that country, and that still throw their black shadows over America and many other nations. The co-operative commonwealth idea is giving one object lesson after another of what can be done; and the people are slowly learning the benefits of such sys- tems, and by the experiments that are being made, we will gradually come to learn the best system of co- operation. All these things are school masters giving us th'^ ^-''ii^ntion that is essential for deliverance. SOCIALISTIC REMEDIES. 225 III.— NATIONALIZATION OF LAND. The nationalization of land is not a system of socialism. The theory is nearly socialistic in its tend- ency, and we mention it because some stress has been put upon this subject by certain enthusiasts. This theory has been proposed as a cure for Social ills. Mr. Henry George, basing his argument on Eicardo's *^Law of Eent,'' argued that if all land were the com- mon property of the people, it would result in untold blessings to the wage-earners. We believe there is more dreamy speculation in this conclusion than appears at first sight. There is no doubt that some good might be accomplished under the reign of Mr. George's ideas, but it is certain that all he has promised could not be realized by the industrial class. There are many other things that must be taken into consideration and properly adjusted before a substantial relief will be felt by the great class of wage-earners. The mass of modern reformers are not inclined to hang their hopes upon the Nationalization of Land doctrines alone. IV.— SOCIALIST LABOE PAETY. This is a political movement, and was among the first in the United States to attempt a marshaling of forces in a presidential campaign. This particular political party is radically opposed to trade unions. This party has done much pioneer work, and has helped to bring about its own destruction. It is grad- ually giving way or being absorbed by the Socialist Party, 226 SOCIALISTIC KEMEDIES. v.— SOCIALIST PARTY. The Socialist Party is known in the states of New York and Wisconsin as the Social Democratic Party. This is due to the peculiarity of the laws in these states by which the party cannot style itself the So- cialist Party, and so we have one great political move- ment under two wings, that is aiming to gather and foster enough sentiment in favor of the co-operative method until enough votes can be won to carry the national election. Already a number of smaller offi- cers have been elected in different parts of the coun- try. The combined vote of these two parties was be- tween four and five hundred thousand in the year 1904. The platform of the Socialist Party in 1904 is very comprehensive, and so lengthy that we cannot insert it here. There are other socialistic movements that have been operating to remedy the present evils of society ; they are all struggling for existence, each one hoping to sweep the world with its power by some sudden uprise of popular opinion. If it were not for the policy of each one operating in his own little corner, the redemption of Labor would quickly come to pass ; but it will necessarily occupy much time and consume much energy in uniting the movements of social reform. In the next chapter we shall consider Socialism di- rectly, with the hope that the reader may get a clear idea of what is meant by this movement. FoLi^owiNG THE PoLiTiCAi. LEADER. — One of the most pitiful sights of our present age, is the manner in which the masses of voters are tricked by campaign promises. They follow the leader like slaves into deeper darkne§s» CHAPTER XXI. The word Socialism has been used in a very elastic sense to cover the principal schools of economical re- form through the past ages. There is a reason for this confusion since many have called themselves Socialists who breathed the air of the libertine and who walked in the path of Anarchy ; but gradually the ear of corn is being stripped of its dark husks, and the world is seeing more clearly the good and wholesome grain. Thoughtful men are rapidly clearing their minds of the prejudice that they have held against Socialism, because they are making allowance for the wild and erratic expressions of certain laborers who feel the iron heel of oppression and are blindly striking back. Christian men have long ago recognized the 229 230 SOCIALISM. inequalities between neighbors of the human family, and have been looking for a method to equalize the conditions under which the human brotherhood shall live. They have found that true social reform offers the best remedy for existing ills. It is therefore proper to give an idea of what is meant by Socialism. I.— DEFINITIONS OF SOCIALISM. Socialism is a new industrial system which aims to give to all a more equal distribution of the products of Labor by the public collective ownership and man- agement of all industries and all land. We will give a number of other definitions from various sources. Let us first listen to what the dic- tionaries say: ** Socialism is a theory of society that* advocates a more precise, orderly and harmonious arrangement of the social relations of mankind than that which has hitherto prevailed. ' ' — Webster. ** Socialism is a science of reconstructing society on an entirely new basis, by substituting the principle of association for that of competition in every branch of human industry." — Worcester. ** Socialism is the abolition of that individual action on which modem societies depend, and the substitu- tion of a regulated system of co-operative action." — Imperial. ** Socialism is a theory of policy that aims to secure the reconstruction of society, increase of wealth, and a more equal distribution of the products of labor through the public collective ownership of land and SOCIAIJSM. 231 capital (as distinguished from property) and the pub- lic collective management of all industries. Its motto is * Everyone according to his deeds/ '^ — Standard. ** Socialism is any theory or system of local organ- ization which would abolish entirely, or in a great part, the individual effort and competition on which modern society rests, and substitute co-operation; which would introduce a more perfect and equal dis- tribution of the products of labor, and would make land and capital, as the instruments of production, the joint possession of the community.'* — Century. We will now give a few definitions of Socialism from certain writers on Social Reform: **What Socialists (and many anti-Socialists as well) propose for early adoption is: City ownership and management of lighting plants, water works and street railroads, and national ownership and manage- ment of railroads, telegraphs and mines.'' — Wilbur F. Crafts in ** Practical Christian Sociology." ** Socialism aims to unite the greatest liberty of ac- tion with the common ownership of the raw material of the globe, and an equal participation of all in the benefits of combined labor." — John Stuart Mill. ** Socialism, in general, desires to abolish private property only in so far as it enables one to gather an income through the toil of others without personal exertion. * * * Not only are the material instru- ments of production to be owned in common, but they are to be managed by the collectivity in order that to the people as a whole, may accrue all those gains of enterprise called profits. * * * ^e may call the chief purpose of Socialism distributive justice." — Ely's Socialism. 232 SOCIALISM. ** Socialism abhors the violent methods of fanatics; it is peaceful and law-abiding, and it puts its trust in ballots rather than in bombs. * * * The hull of the present industrial ship is rotten and utterly un- seaworthy; her keel of private capital^ her vaulted ribs of freedom of contract, and her prow of free com- petition, all fused together and festering with the vicious principle of self-interest, have come to be in the progressive evolution of society, economically in- defensible and socially destructive assumptions. **Such is the leaky condition of the worn-out craft of individualism, endangering the lives alike of its capitalistic cabin passengers and its laboring steerage passengers, when the Socialistic Ship of State comes alongside and invites the imperilled passengers and crew to get on board. We examine fhe principles on which the new ship is constructed, and, finding them to be civil liberty, fraternal equality and social justice, we are logically bound to accept them without regard to the particular manner in which the ship may be rigged. ' ' — F. M. Sprague, in ^ ' Socialism from Genesis to Eevelation. ' * ** Socialism deserves an entire volume for its dis- cussion, and no attempt will be made in this book to analyze or define it. Under it, there is contemplated a complete revolution by some means, peaceful or otherwise, of the present industrial system, and the establishment of a new order, which shall rest entirely upon public control." — Carroll D. Wright, *^ Outline of Practical Sociology" Page 421. We will cease giving definitions for the present, be- cause, according to Mr. Weeks, a clear conception can- not be gained in thi^ manner. We quote from one of SOCIALISM. 233 his speeches : ^ * Socialism is a living phenomenon, and like all live things, eludes definition. A live thing can be viewed at so many different angles, and, besides, it changes so insensibly from moment to moment, that to sit down and make an all around definition of it is a task nearly hopeless.'' — Eufus W. Weeks. II.— AIMS OF SOCIALISM. The aims of Socialism are supposed to be embodied in the definitions which we have just given, but very frequently a person may read the definitions and yet not know much about the subject. It is our purpose to make this subject clear, and so we will proceed to give the objects which the Social Reformers have in view. 1. The Collective Ownership and Management of all the Industries. 2. The Equalization of the Burdens of Society. 3. Individuals Sharing the Full Social Products of Their Labors. These are three great aims and must be understood in order to be appreciated. The Co-operative Com- monwealth is a coming reality, and will be here just as soon as the general mass of people are fully awak- ened to their privileges. We will give the postoffice system of the United States as a practical illustration of public ownership and management; and, if a per- son can see how beneficial this is, he will then be able to see how the principle will work in other branches of industry. It seems like a miracle that the true, common sense idea of social economics should find its full expression 234 SOCIALISM. in relation to the postoffice department. It is a won- der that the schemers did not prevent the public own- ership and management of this splendid department. As we now have it, all the people own the entire post- office service from one end to the other of our great country; and, for that reason, a letter can be sent across fifteen states for as much money as it will cost to send across one county. In addition to this, the same rules and regulations are operative throughout the whole system, so that a business man can calculate with accuracy when he deals with the postoffice department. Can you imagine the result, if private monopolies controlled this department of service? No doubt we would have one company running a mail line from San Francisco to Denver, and another from Denver to Chicago, and another from New York to Washington, and after this fashion the lines would be duplicated until our country would be covered with private mail systems, each one competing with the other, and after the order of the express companies, each one charging its own rate, so that it would cost possibly sixteen cents to send a letter across the continent, nine cents half that far, and three cents for shorter distances. If this were proposed instead -of our present Socialistic system, how many people would be willing to make the change? We need not wait for an answer, nearly all business men are ready to admit that one of the most reliable concerns is the postoffice system under the supervision of the government. Would it not be a great blessing to all the people if the railroads, express companies, telegraph and telephone companies, and, in fact, every other indua- SOOIALIBM. 235 try, were under the control of all the people instead of being controlled by a few grasping, greedy monopolists who take advantage wherever opportunity offers? Why should not the national government own all the railroads in the nation? The advantages that would flow to the people would be countless compared with what they now enjoy. Our government would have owned the railroads long ago, if it were not for the fact that the railroad corporations can afford to buy up enough of the state legislators and enough of the lawmakers at Washington to carry through any pro- ject they desire. It is said, on good authority, that in the legislature of one of the western states, a single state legislator received and distributed a thousand railroad passes in one session for the purpose of win- ning political support. The poor people must pay enough carfare so that many who are able to pay can ride free. The saddest feature of all is that this brib- ery plunders the state and also demoralizes its citizens. Another curse of the private ownership of our rail- roads is seen in the large number of killed and wounded annually. Some one has said that it is more danger- ous to be employed on an American railroad than to be a soldier in the Prussian army in time of war. If the government owned the railroads, then there would be no time or expense spared for the adjustment of safety appliances, and for the adoption of all other precautionary measures, and all these benefits would be furnished at cost. As we now have it, the people of the United States are paying dividends on several billions of watered stock, and in many sections of our country they are also paying the expense of keeping 236 SOCIALISM. up competing lines where one railway would be suf- ficient. A person who will give honest thought to this question, can see at a glance what tremendous advan- tages would come to us, if the government owned and controlled all the transportation mediums of the country. Think for a moment of the telephone service. Com- petition forces upon a community two or three com- panies, and a person having only one telephone is lim- ited to that exclusive company's operations. If the government owned its own system of telephones, we would not be obliged to ask whether a certain party had this 'phone or that 'phone, for all such inconven- iences and relics of competition would be swept away. With very little thought it can be seen that competi- tion under private ownership is both burdensome and inconvenient to Society. The more difficult problem for solution is to make practical the public ownership of industries that per- tain to the manufacture of food stuffs, wearing ap- parel, and all the articles that are used in our homes and business life. This will be a later step in the his- tory of public ownership and it will not be inaugurated until other measures have been enacted. The first question is: **How shall we get possession of our industries?" For the answer to this question we will refer you to a chapter XXVII. If the government once obtains possession of all the trusts and monopo- lies, it can then easily run them under its own man- agement. The great difference will be, that the peo- ple as a whole, will share in the benefits of all the trusts in the country, instead of the benefits flowing into the hands of the kings of finance, some of whom SOCIALISM. 237 are so rich that their fortunes have attracted the attention of all the world. As to the second and third aims of Socialism, these will naturally and easily follow if the first aim is reached. The blessings that will come to society as a result of Co-operative rule, we have unfolded in three chapters entitled, ^'Blessings Under Social Eeform.*' We invite the reader to study these three chapters carefully, in order to get a brief picture of the num- berless blessings that will surely come to us when the glorious day of Social Eeform is at hand. III.— EEMAEKS CONCEENING SOCIALISM. 1. — Socialism is Pkactical, and is Endorsed by Eminent Men. Untried theories are looked upon with suspicion, but Socialism is more than theory; it is even more than an experiment. Many of its first principles have been tried with very satisfactory results. Hon. Eobt. P. Porter, Superintendent of the United States Cen- sus of 1890, in a letter from England says, **It is claimed, and I shall show hereafter, with considerable truth, that whenever the government or the munici- pality, in England, has undertaken an enterprise here- tofore managed by private individuals, the work has been more satisfactorily done; those employed have been better paid, and the people are better pleased with the result. * * * The excellent results from municipal ownership of gas and water works and the 238 SOCIALISM. profits from these enterprises, have settled this phase of the municipal problem for all time to come. * ' Mmiicipal ownership gives us a very direct idea on a small scale, of what true Social Reform will do on a large scale. It cannot be doubted that municipal own- ership is very successful, and is paving the way for the larger movement ; for not only hundreds but thousands of cities are voting for municipal ownership. A short time ago the legislature of Nebraska passed a law com- pelling the city government of Omaha to take posses- sion of its water works. Public opinion is ripening so rapidly on this question, that over one-half of all the cities and towns in the United States own their water- works. Reports are coming in from all places of the great success of this new movement. People get better service for less money, and could not be persuaded to return to the old time custom. Along the general line of Municipal Ownership, the United States is far behind Great Britain. This country across the sea is launching into new ter- ritory; it is slowly but surely pursuing a policy leading toward the co-operative commonwealth. In Glasgow, where nearly a million people live, the mu- nicipal ownership idea has been developed to an un- usual extent. The city owns and manages its own slaughter houses, its market system, its sanitary wash- houses, its lodging houses, art galleries, gas and elec- tric works, and city farm where the sewage is used, and fodder raised to feed horses that are needed to clean the city streets. It is remarkable what effect this municipal owner- ship is having on the city of Glasgow. Its working people are elevated; wealth is distributed; the num- SOCIALISM. 239 ber of hours for a day's work has been reduced; street- car fares have been greatly cut; all kinds of trans- portation are cheaper; and in every way, great bless- ings have come to the people. If it were necessary, we could give this one testi- mony from over one thousand cities, to prove that mu- nicipal ownership is working favorably, and that the people could not be persuaded to surrender their pub- licly controlled franchises, and hand them over to a few individuals to run them as they might see fit. The advocates of Social Eeform are now legion, and among them are some bright lights. Back in the mid- dle of the Nineteenth Century it was both vaguely and definitely advocated in America by such illustrious characters as Hawthorne, Emerson, Lowell, Whittier, Thoreau, Channing, Chas. A. Dana. England also fur- nished a shining galaxy of able Socialistic advocates. 2. — Socialism is the Fifth Industrial Obder in the History of Labor. We will once more give a bird's-eye-view of the five industrial systems covering the history of Labor. (1) Natural Liberty, Under this system or systemless order of society, every man worked for himself and enjoyed the boun- ties of nature at his own pleasure. Society was then simple and rude, and was in its first stages. (2) Slavery, This became the ruling form of labor in all the great countries of ancient times. Labor then was at its lowest point. 15 240 SOCIALISM. (3) Feudalism. This was a slight advance over slavery and was pre- dominant through medieval times. (4) Capitalistic and Contract System, This is the system under which we are now living. It is capitalistic because private capital is the ruling power in the labor world. (5) Socialism, This is not here yet, but it is coming with steady advance, and no power will be able to stop the avalanche when its full sweep is on. This leads us to make the following declaration : 3. — Socialism is a Wobld-Wide Influence and Will Finally Triumph. It was hoped by some of the great Socialists that the better state of Society would come about by evolu- tion ; but the majority of people have been taught that evolution takes several million years to make a partial change in the organism of the body; consequently, some practically minded men approve of the movement in politics. This method will accomplish more in one decade than evolution could accomplish in ages; so that viewing Socialism conservatively, it must be said that it is now passing through the dark valley between two mountain tops. It is gradually scaling the steep inclines, and it shall have for its support the most emi- nent scholars in the very near future. It is fightmg the same battle that Christianity fought in the begin- SOCIALISM. 241 ning. It was said then, **Not many wise men, not many mighty, not many noble are called ; but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise ; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound things which are mighty ; and base thiugs of the world, things which are despised hath God chosen, yea and things which are not, to bring to nought the things that are.^' Although Christianity had humble men for its leaders, yet, through its in- herent qualities, it has grown to be a world-wide power, and is supported by the greatest minds in the world; so we predict that Socialism shall have a similar course. The public press of our country is largely controlled by the dominant political parties, and therefore the people are not given the most encouraging news con- cerning the advance of Socialistic thought. The So- cialistic party had a stormy beginning, and many of its adherents were not in accord with the Christian church, and therefore, they held many of their political meetings on Sunday, (as they still do), at which, in some instances, intoxicating drinks are used. Such facts as these have given a ** black eye'* to the Social- istic movement; but these things will be counteracted when the attention of the general public is aroused to see the real condition of things. When the prevailing sentiment in the Socialistic party manifests the spirit of true Christianity, these objectionable things will vanish like the darkness before the rising sun. The reader can draw his own conclusion as to the probable outcome of this political movement. We are evidently standing on the edge of great agitations in the industrial world. The millionaire, Rufus W. 242 SOCIALISM. Weeks, said, ^ ' That great movement of which we have seen the beginning in the Nineteenth Century, and of which the Twentieth Century is very likely to see the consummation, is the uprising of the working class, * * * those who are hired in herds. * * * The venerable historian, Mommsen, said, concerning Social- ists a year or two since : ^ To-day this is the only great party which has a claim to political respect. » * * * If, in this attempt to read the Social mathematics of the times, I have read aright, it appears that the working classes are to be our masters! Let us hope they will be good to us. After all, they will demand no more from us than the northern states demanded of the southern — to come in and to be one with them on equal terms.'' When the new economic government is established, it is quite certain that all reasonable people will greatly rejoice, and will clearly see the definite ad- vantages of the new order over the old. We will state in the next three chapters a few of the blessings which we will realize under the reign of the Socialistic gov- ernment. 243 CHAPTEE XXn. ^/Poverty/ will cease./ // Misfortunes equally Death-rate ^ sickness will/decresfee./^ , ^ Chfldren' wiiPW^ 7)Sunday^lab6r will ^ /^-^i^decreg-se. '^Intemperance and ''prostitution will be It has often been asked: **What advantages would we enjoy if we were now living in a state of Christian Socialism?'' This is a natural and a reasonable ques- tion, and, if it were necessary, we might suggest or conjecture all the possible benefits entering into every detail of life; but it is not necessary. We will, how- ever, state some of the chief blessings that will come to us as soon as we are willing to throw off the yoke under which we are now groaning, and step out into the liberty of the new and happy life of Social Eef orm. We will give in this chapter and the one following, a few results that will follow in practical life under Christian Socialism; a person of average ability can 244 BLESSINGS UNDER SOCIAL REFORM. 245 then easily make a wider application of the same prin- ciples, working it out on any line that his fancy might dictate. If the great questions of life are settled, the smaller ones will adjust themselves. We will at once consider a few blessings. I.^POVERTY WILL BE AT AN END. First, we will speak of the poverty of the poor. What terrible pictures of wretchedness and want rise before us, as we think of the conditions in which the most unfortunate classes of human beings are com- pelled to work and live. In one picture we see the hosts of honest workers, underpaid, underfed, poorly clad, badly housed and over-worked, living from hand to mouth on the starvation wages which they receive in return for eight, ten or twelve hours of slavish work a day. Another picture reveals to us the vagrant class composed of the worthless, shiftless vagabonds of Society. Another picture portrays, with cruel vivid- ness, the widow and the orphan struggling in a cold world, with the breadwinner dead, and the bread-seller asking for his cash. These are only a few of the touch- ing sights that greet us in practical life, and ever re- mind us of the miserable poverty of the poor. All these conditions will be at an end under the glorious reign of Social Reform, for there will be no under- paid and underfed workmen, no vagrants and no widow who must become a wage-earner to support her five children. One of the first duties of Society under Co-opera- 246 BLESSINGS UNDER SOCIAL EEFORM. tion will be to supply every human being with ample food, clothing, shelter and education. From a Social standpoint, this will be all for which the people will ask. The law of Social Reform is plain and distinct that no human creature need to live in suspense when contemplating the future. Each one will be sure of having enough to eat and wear to the end of his days. He will not only receive the necessities of life, but will also enjoy a reasonable share of the luxuries. There will be no low, dirty hovels where human beings will be compelled to live; in fact. Society will not permit anyone to live in such an unsanitary place, no matter how much he might wish to do so. To live in filth will be just as unlawful as to steal. Everybody will enjoy full liberty to do right, but to do wrong will be just as unlawful as it ever has been. Some one asks the question, ^^How will it be possible for everybody to live comfortably? Where will the money come from?'* We answer, even if it be out of place at this point, by saying, that another of the great duties of Society will be to see that every person is sure of work. There will be no children toiling their lives away in the sweat-shop or workshop to help keep the wolf from the door of their home. There will be no widows slaving at the wash-tub to earn a little money to buy bread for themselves and children. There will be no half -sickly fathers struggling on their way to work under the law of grim necessity. All these barbarous scenes will be, in those days, only pictures hanging on the walls of beautiful homes, reminders of the tyranny and oppression of the capitalistic system under which we are consciously and unconsciously groaning to-day. BLESSINGS UNDER SOCIAL REFORM. 247 Every man will be glad to do his share of the work when he realizes that he is receiving the full product of his toil, and when Social Reform is reigning, no man will be required to work more than from four to seven hours per day, according to the kind of occupa- tion and degree of effort. Woe betide the man who is able to work, and tries to evade it in that day. If he will not work in open liberty a few hours per day, he will be compelled to work in the criminal workshops twice that length of time until he is cured. The man who is born lazy will not be killed, but will only be re- quired to do the same amount of work as his fellow men ; and if that should happen to kill him, he will re- ceive a decent burial; but the man who is sickly and unable to work, will receive the same considerate at- tention and care as a mother would bestow upon a sickly child. Social Reform proposes to make as prac- tical as possible, the social teachings of Jesus Christ. It does not intend to do the work of the Christian Church, but leaves all spiritual teaching to the spiritual department. All such provisions as heretofore mentioned will re- sult in lifting the grovelling masses upon a higher plane of life. Who, then, will be homesick for the old conditions such as we now have ? Who will be desirous for the onions and garlic of Egypt? Having considered the poverty of the poor, we will now speak of the poverty of the rich, which sounds like a contradiction in terms. The great majority of our wealthy people are poor in more ways than one under the strained conditions of our present economic life. We are not looking at the matter spiritually, but refer 248 BLESSINGS UNDER SOCIAL REFORM. to the natural burdens and struggles imposed upon the rich by reason of their environments. There are, pro- portionately, just as many lives ruined and just as many sent to a premature death by riches as by pov- erty. We can also carry the comparison still farther, by saying, that there are just as many cases of ner- vous prostration and insanity resulting from the ab- normal conditions of wealth as from the painful con- ditions of poverty. The great masses of poor people are just as unconscious of the restlessness, anxiety and misery among the rich, as the rich are of the wretched- ness and want amongst the poor. There are exceptions to all rules, and, no doubt, there are many rich people who are having a good, easy time in this life, and are unmindful of their duties to God and Society. Many of these will go down to eternal ruin, while from the hum- ble hut many a poor Christian will rise to eternal mansions in Heaven. Under the reign of Social Reform, this poverty of the rich will be at an end, and we believe that there will be thousands of wealthy people who will be glad to let their responsibility be limited to a few hours work per day, instead of carrying day and night a load intolerable, and yet be envied. No doubt when Social Reform commences its reign, due regard will be given to those who possess a fortune, large or small. Just what will become of their wealth and how it will be managed for the good of the owner and the good of Society, will be determined later. Small difficulties of this kind ought not and will not retard the progress of Social Reform. BLESSINGS UNDER SOCIAL REFORM. 249 n.— THE FINANCIAL BURDEN OF ALL MISFORTUNES WILL BE BORNE BY THE PUBLIC. The principal suffering that will come to the home of any individual meeting with misfortune, will be sorrow of heart, and the natural troubles and incon- veniences that usually attend afflictions. Such burdens are unavoidable, but whatever money or human means can do, will be furnished promptly and freely, and the wage-earner with those dependent upon him, will be fully supported during the whole period of affliction. Concerning accidents and all similar misfortunes, we would say that the injured will be properly cared for in the municipal hospital, or, in certain cases, in the individual's home. All the cost for this attention will be free, and the service given will be the best that Society can furnish. The state will provide an ample and a most efficient corps of nurses, and expert atten- tion will be given, free of charge, to those who need it, regardless of their circumstances. What is true concerning accidents, is also true con- cerning all kinds of sickness. The services of the or- dinary or special physician will be free, and he will not be required to work like a slave night and day. He will ordinarily be on duty no more than six or eight hours, and he will receive everything essential to life and happiness for his compensation. Also in that glorious coming age there will be no competing drug stores dealing out all kinds of poison- ous patent medicines. This department will be under the control of the state, and nothing but the purest and best tested remedies will be used. 250 BLESSINGS UNDER SOCIAL EEFORM. In the event of death, Social Reform does not prom- ise to heal heart womids that have been made, but it does promise to take away the bitter stings that are so often felt under our present system. It will do all this by properly taking care of the remains, under the charge of competent undertakers, and after the remains have been respectably interred, there will be no bill for the graveyard plot, or for the undertaker's services, coming to the bereaved family. All this will be just as free as the air they breathe. Just before we wrote this chapter, we were called upon one morn- ing by a broken-hearted father. He had just lost by death his dearly beloved boy, which was trouble enough for himself and his companion to bear, but the sudden blow found him unprepared financially; and so the weeping man went to the cemetery association, a sort of trust owning the graveyard plot, and in- quired about a place to bury the child. He was told that if he wished the regular place of burial, which in reality meant a decent place, he would be obliged to pay some money in advance. Under no other condi- tion could he bury unless he were to take a place in the poverty lot, and even this would cost him a small sum. So the poor, bereaved man started on a journey among his friends to borrow money to buy a lot in the cemetery. He found no little trouble in getting the necessary money, and after this was secured, he then found himself embarrassed to cover other necessary expenses in connection with the funeral. It is, in- deed, a disgrace that a man must have added to his heart sorrow the delicate embarrassments such as above cited. This is only one instance, and it is a very common one, and always will be, under our present BLESSINGS UNDER SOCIAL REFORM. 251 economic system. During the glorious reign of Social Eeform, all these inhuman conditions will be swept away, and, while religion will comfort the sorrowing hearts of the bereaved, the Co-operative methods will attend to all that relates to the temporal side. III.— THE DEATH-EATE AND SICKNESS WILL BE DECREASED UNDER SOCIAL REFORM. No one can estimate the amount of hidden misery and suffering that is existing amongst the poorer classes of people, just because they dread to send for a physician, knowing that they cannot afford to be sick, yet unable to avoid it. Many a case of sickness is allowed to go beyond all reasonable limits just be- cause of this fact, and when the physician does come, he shakes his head unfavorably and says, **You should have sent for me sooner.'' It frequently hap- pens that death cannot be stayed. Hardly anybody would refuse to send for a competent physician, if all his services were rendered free of charge. Take a walk through the factories and you will find many a poor sickly person struggling at his work, in- stead of being in bed. We have known of scores of persons who were constantly taking medicine, and yet continuing their labors at the factory in their miser- ably unfit condition, just because they ** could not af- ford to be sick." Such conditions are most convinc- ing proof of the present ill-ordered state of society. We have often told such people that it would be better if they would stop work in time, but necessity drives them on to their ntmost exertion until, figuratively speaking, they drop in their tracks; and then, per- 252 BLESSINGS UNDER SOCIAL EEFOEM. chance, a worse form of sickness will develop, or even death itself will come. Multiply these few conditions above mentioned by hundreds of thousands and you have an idea of the total picture as presented in our whole country. Under Social Eef orm no one will be required to drag out his last remnant of strength in the cruel struggle for existence. Neither will premature death be brought about by the fearful unsanitary conditions in thousands of our homes. IV.— CHILDEEN WILL BE PEOPERLY PROTECTED UNDEE SOCIAL EEFOEM. When the facts are known, one shudders at the cruelties which children suffer under our present Social System. Laws have been enacted against child labor, and the public schools have thrown open their doors for all alike, and the Christian Church and Sun- day-school willingly furnish moral and spiritual teach- ing; yet with all these advantages, there are immense numbers of children who are suffering the worst end of our present competitive system. They are underfed and insufficiently clothed ; they have* no home in the true sense ; they simply go to their abode at night. We refer mainly to the slum districts of our large cities. We spoke in the first chapters of this book about the many men who were in extreme poverty. We must remember that lo every man in these districts we must count several children, who are reeking in the natural and moral filth that surrounds them. These children BLESSINGS UNDER SOCIAL REFORM. 253 scarcely ever see a suit of new clothing or a pair of new shoes. They roam the streets from early morn- ing until late at night, and frequently sleep in the open air. There are also other children who are compelled to work, their parents having declared that they needed their support. To these, even the law brings no com- fort. They are toiling away their precious days of promise under the heavy yoke of industrial oppres- sion. It is no wonder that many of them die young, or are only half developed as they enter the avenues of advanced life. From these ranks swarm many of the vicious and vagrant classes. They have had no other training, and society is put to endless annoyance and expense to deal with them in their more mature life. Pages could be written in describing the wretch- edness and other conditions of these millions of chil- dren all over our country, whose chances for a happy and successful life are fearfully limited by their environment. Under the reign of Social Reform, things will be en- tirely different; no child will be required to work to support its parents. It will in early life have the bene- fit of the best kindergartens. There will be no priv- ileged class of children enjoying these benefits alone, but all children alike will enjoy them; and later they will have the chance to obtain a liberal education ; and throughout all these years they will be taught to per- form some useful kind of work. When the new age of Social Reform is upon us, then land will be more easily secured for recreation pur- poses and parks and playgrounds will be distributed in happy profusion. Children in their play need not 254 BLESSINGS UNDER SOCIAL REFORM. then roll in the dirty alleys of a city, or breathe the dusty atmosphere of the public street. There will be no slum districts; everybody will be able to live in a neat, comfortable home, and with the better conditions for rearing of children, and the more favorable oppor- tunities given them for happiness and development, we may expect that the future race will be decidedly in advance of the present. v.— SUNDAY LABOR WILL BE REDUCED TO A MINIMUM. Does a workingman really know what he will be re- quired to do before long, if he continues to be the slave of the Capitalist? He will be obliged to work seven days a week and just as many hours per day as can be forced upon him. The great bulk of the unnecessary Sunday work already demanded by the corporations is one more evidence of their inhuman greed. Some one says that the men are not compelled to work on Sunday. True enough; they can take their choice, work on Sunday or refuse to work and be discharged. In some instances men have worked many years for a company and during all this time have tied themselves down to one line of work, and for that reason are now able to earn higher wages than they can possibly earn at anything else. Suddenly the employer comes with a demand for his men to work on Sunday, not because the work is absolutely necessary, but because more money can be made. This is the inhuman and brutal part of the whole matter. The men are powerless and have no way of seeking redress, providing they refuse to comply with the demand. In this manner things BLESSINGS UNDER SOCIAL REFORM. 255 have been going from bad to worse, until many rail- roads and other corporations make scarcely any dis- tinction between Sunday and the week-day. Under Social Eeform Sunday will be a day of rest. Just where the line will be drawn, no one can predict ; but if the idea of profit is once taken away, then the necessity for work on Sunday will diminish manifold. Whatever work must be done as an act of mercy to animals, or to provide for human needs, that could not be done prior to Sunday, will be done on Sunday, and when Social Reform commences its reign, you will find that no man will be required to work on Sunday more than a few hours, except in extreme cases; and if he wishes, he shall have ample opportunity of at- tending religious services the same day he works. In- stead of the Sunday excursions that are now de- manded, there will be more week day excursions, and all people will have an opportunity of sharing suffi- ciently in these pleasures without being compelled to take Sunday for them. VI.— INTEMPERANCE WILL BE CHECKED UNDER SOCIAL REFORM. Any conscientious man readily acknowledges that the traffic in intoxicating liquors is one of the most ter- rible evils that afflict human Society. We are terrified at the awful spectacle of debauchery and crime result- ing from this monster of iniquity. The evil of intem- perance has caused more disaster than war, pestilence and famine combined. What Herculean efforts have been made to over- throw the curse of intemperance, and yet, with all that has been accomplished, the evil seems to be just as 16 256 BLESSINGS UNDER SOCIAL EEFORM. black and withering as ever. Prohibition offers its radical remedy, and no doubt the nation would be greatly blessed under the reign of a strict prohibitory law. But Social Reform does not urge any one method as a remedy. Each community will settle these moral questions by a majority vote. Social Reform itself will strike at one of the vital roots that support the tree of this iniquity. Look at the question soberly for a moment, and ask yourself, what is the main cause that keeps intemper- ance alive; what will your answer be? Will you say it is a desire on the part of men to spend money? Surely that will not be correct. Will you say it is the demand of people to gratify a craving appetite? You are now coming nearer to the solution, and no doubt this is one great cause of the evil. But think of the other, the profit that men make in the liquor business! That is by far a greater cause of intemperance than most people imagine. Social Reform expects to sweep away this phase of the whole business. It will no longer be profitable for any person to make or sell in- toxicating drinks. The more you think of this, the more you are impressed with the strength of it as a cause of intemperance. When the day comes that a man will receive just as much at any other kind of work as at manufacturing and selling strong drink; or in other words, when no more strong drink is made than human society permits, — and then made without profit to any individual, — intemperance will receive a blow from which it can never recover and do the evil which it is now doing under our present economic system. A certain writer said, **Take away the power of making money by this traffic, and the heaviest gun of the BLESSINGS UNDER SOCIAL EEFORM. 257 enemy is spiked.'' Reformers will then have much more chance to overcome the evils in connection with the depraved appetite. The profit feature is the secret of the great power of the liquor interests at present. They have made, and are making, fabulous fortunes from the business ; and therefore they hold enough money to corrupt leg- islators, demoralize jurors and bribe officers whenever a necessary emergency arises. The liquor dealers of Illinois instructed their new board of trustees to spare neither trouble nor expense to properly organize every senatorial district in the state, so that by the time of the next election of members to the General Assembly, the business men engaged in the liquor trade may be thoroughly organized and disciplined. Josiah Strong in *^Our Country '^ says, ** Although the liquor lobby during the last forty years has used millions of dollars in corrupt bargaining and bribery, and never has made a secret of the fact, yet no mem- ber was ever caught in the act, and, it is fair to pre- sume, no one ever will be. There is no way so dark they cannot find their road through.'' In the light of these and many other instances, it can be seen that when Social Reform destroys private capital and therefore eliminates the system of profit and competition in business, it will then strike the most effective blow that King Alcohol has ever received. VII.— PROSTITUTION AND CRIME WILL BE LESSENED UNDER SOCIAL REFORM. It is not necessary to enter into any argument at length to prove that prostitution will also receive a 258 BLESSINGS UNDER SOCIAL REFORM. very effective blow when once other means of a com- fortable livelihood are provided. There are thousands of prostitutes who will gladly engage in useful work when once it can be furnished honorably, and when they can be assured that the employment is permanent and profitable. Using the same form of argument we conclude that crime in general will be lessened under the reign of Social Reform. Investigate the cause of crimes and you will find that money getting is at the bottom of a large percentage of it. When this incentive no longer exists, then much of the crime will also vanish. Such blessings as are here mentioned could be given to a wearisome extent, so numerous are the benefits that will flow to society when the present grinding, competitive system falls to pieces, and the glorious reign of Social Reform takes its place. In the next chapter we will add a few more of the most general blessings, and we will let what we have given in these two chapters, answer for the complete list. CHAPTEE XXIII. tramps and ^vagrants. ^^be fully care cared for ^ VIII.— ADULTERATION OF FOODS WILL BE STOPPED. One of the greatest evils of competition is the adul- teration of foods and the manufacture of imperfect goods. A very little thought will make it clear to any person why this is true. The competitor is in the race to make as much money as possible, and, if he be dis- honest, he is tempted to use an inferior article, so that he can underbid or undersell the other dealers, who, up to this time, may have endeavored to be honest. Has it occurred to your mind how much adulteration 259 260 BLESSINGS UNDER SOCIAL REFORM. is being imposed on a credulous public as the direct result of this war of competition! Flour is adulterated with soapstone and many other ingredients. Once in our life we had occasion to travel by a mill where they ground soapstone into powder. We saw ton after ton of this stone being hauled to the mill, and our curiosity was aroused. Upon inquiry, we learned that this soapstone was used to adulterate flour, for, when properly ground, it had the same ap- pearance and weighed heavier than flour. Will any- one argue that this soapstone was used for the good of the public? The only conclusion that can be reached is that it was used for the purpose of making more money. Soapstone can be hauled from the quarry and ground into powder for much less than good whole- some flour can be produced from wheat. We did not ascertain what percentage of soapstone was used in a barrel of the mixture called flour. Butter and sugar are adulterated in several differ- ent ways. Pepper, cinnamon, nutmegs and nearly all the spices are adulterated to a fearful extent. Some of these adulterations are poisonous, but certain dealers have no compunctions of conscience over small things like that. Every housewife knows that there is pure lard and adulterated lard. What has been said about the preceding articles of food is also true concerning nearly all the other manufactured food stuffs, such as baking powder, extracts of all kinds; also certain kinds of soap are cheapened by low grade chemicals to add to their odor and beauty of appearance. Liquors and wines are adulterated to a fearful ex- tent. A noted chemist found five kinds of poison in a BLESSINGS UNDER SOCIAL REFORM. 261 certain beer he analyzed. A San Francisco chemist, who analyzed samples of the different kinds of wines used in that city, found that most of them were colored with dyes of the most poisonous character. He found that pieces of flannel and silk could be dyed by simply dipping them in samples of the wine. Another kind of fraud is practiced in the manufac- ture of all kinds of wearing and household fabrics. Unreliable firms are constantly placing on the market inferior articles for the sole purpose of gaining to themselves a larger revenue; sometimes it pays and sometimes it does not pay, for it all depends upon how far a man can go before he is detected. Consider for a moment the character of footwear that is placed upon the market. See the enormous amount of waste just because the people have the privilege of buying cheap shoes. It costs almost as much in labor to make cheap shoes as to make good ones and therefore it costs much more for the poor family to buy three pairs of cheap shoes than one pair of good ones. Why are shoes made with paper soles and with shoddy leather? It is another trick of the manufacturer to gain a point in close bidding. Some will put the blame on the buyer, but the entire trouble is in the false system under which we are living. The same facts are true concerning hosiery. The gpsat bulk of children's hose that is put upon the mar- ket is not fit to leave the factory. It looks nice and has a clear stamp upon it, and is beautifully dyed, but the material is rotten and falls apart after very little wear. Of course, many a mother puts the blame upon the child. Under the reign of Christian Socialism, there would be no need of manufacturing rotten 262 BLESSINGS UNDER SOCIAL REFORM. hosiery. It will cost no more for the making of good ones than poor ones, and the difference in material will be gladly furnished by an interested public. This line of thought could be carried on indefinitely, until we would cover more than one-half of all the articles manufactured. The evils of adulteration and inferior manufacture are so great that every citizen ought to be aroused. Pure food laws have overcome much of the first evil, but what has been done and what can be done to overcome the second evil? As long as free competition is amongst us, we may expect to be annoyed, to a more or less extent, with the evils here mentioned. IX.— THE TBAMP AND VAGEANT NUISANCE WILL BE ABOLISHED. The army of tramps is the largest that ever moved on the face of the earth, and fortunately, it is organ- ized only in small scattered companies that have their rendezvous in the outskirts of the cities. Under our present system, it is a very serious problem to know how to deal with this ever moving army of vagrants. Many suggestions have been made and theories ad- vanced, and a number of ways have been tried to over- come the tramp evil. It must be admitted that the problem is far from being solved, and the tramps are still ever near our doors. In times of so called pros- perity, the number is not so large; in times of panic the number naturally increases. The evils that flow from the existence of this shift- less army are numerous. They are a menace to the BLESSINGS UNDER SOCIAL REFORM. 263 highway traveler; a few of them estimate their own lives as of little value, and therefore, they are willing to take any risk to steal or plmider. Under the reign of Christian Socialism, it will be just as illegal for a man to beg from door to door as for a man to steal from door to door ; and if it should happen that a tramp would appear, he would be com- pelled to go either of two places — a hospital or a work- shop, whichever place would best suit his condition. There will be no necessity for any man to beg, for the simple reason that every man, woman and child will be guaranteed the necessities of life, and any man who is able to work and tries to escape it, ought to be treated as a criminal, and everybody in all ranks of society should say Amen to this. It will be a glorious deliverance for Society when several million evaders of work will be required to do their share to keep the wheels of industry going, aDd to supply themselves with the necessaries of life under a system that will provide fair returns for la- bor. The manner in which the public is imposed upon by a certain class of vagrants is astonishing. We know of one tramp, who, after reading of several miners be- ing burned in an explosion, burned his own leg with acid and bandaged it. He then started to beg in a neighboring town, and people, having read of the acci- dent, gladly helped the poor, unfortunate fellow. Similar cases of imposture could be cited by the hun- dred. Society can well draw a sigh of relief when our system of economics will be so adjusted that it will be ten-fold more difficult than now to play the part of a tramp or of an impostor. This will come when every- 264 BLESSINGS UNDER SOCIAL REFORM. body is positively assured that no one is in need of private charity. X.— THE AGED AND THE UNFORTUNATE WILL BE CARED FOR. Under our present system, it is commendable that private and public charity has instituted so many homes for the aged and so many hospitals for the sick and injured; and yet, with all this provision, there is much humiliation and suffering among the alBBicted which ought not to exist. How many an aged man or woman is working like a slave, and using the last rem- nant of his strength to gain a livelihood, just because he has no other means of support. This condition re- veals to us one of the most barbarous aspects of our present civilization. Also think of the number of aged and infirm that are unwelcome at the home of a son-in- law or of a daughter-in-law, but who prefer to suffer this embarrassment rather than to go to the alms- house. Why is there such a dread of the alms- house? Anyone who has investigated this matter can easily answer the question. We remember some ob- servations we made and some tales we heard that have been sufficient to create in our own hearts a living dread of the very place that should be sacredly man- aged by the state. There are sometimes hundreds of persons in one of these institutions, and they are cared for by only a few attendants. It is indeed pitiful to see how some of these old people are treated just because there are not enough attendants to take care of them properly, and in some cases because there is a beastly heart at the ^ 266 266 BLESSINGS UNDEB SOCIAL REFORM. head of the institution. We have heard from reliable sources of old people who had fallen out of bed at night, and were compelled to lie there over three hours before they received assistance ; and we have heard of others who were beaten because they did not jump to the whims of the keepers ; and then, the most shocking of all, it was the question for a long time at a certain poorhouse, where the bodies of the unclaimed dead were taken. The fact finally leaked out that these bodies, instead of being decently buried or cremated, were sent to the ^Vaf at a large medical college. Just as pitiable is the condition of the unfortunate in affliction; those who are permanently crippled, the blind, the deaf, the sick and every other such class of human beings. Nothing but words of commendation should be spoken of the efforts that have been put forth by the state to alleviate the sufferings and im- prove the condition of these afflicted classes. Yet with all this there is no adequate provision made for the support of a crippled man and his family. Have you ever seen the bitter extremes of want and sorrow in the severe weather in these latitudes? Such suffering is all unnecessary, and under the reign of Christian So- cialism it will be eliminated, for the helpless will be en- titled to support the same as the worker. The expense required to support the helpless and the aged will fall upon Society in general, and each person will bear his equal share of this burden, and he will be surprised to see how light his share will be when that golden era comes. The aged men and women will go on their life- long vacation at the age of sixty or before. They will have earned by that time their rest. It is true enough that some people are more miserable when they are BLESSINGS UNDER SOCIAL REFORM. 267 idle, than when they are working, but the time will never come when a man will be punished for working, SO that if a person who is over sixty years of age pre- fers to work as a matter of pleasure, there will be no objections offered, and he will always live in the happy thought that when he cares no more to work, or is un- able to work, there will be ample provision for his support and comfort. CHAPTER XXIV. ^ ^ /^^^j.y/ .^ ^^Much^waste /^ / / fwill be eliminated, ' > .^Advertisin^.^^^ Selling Goods/ )^ istribution. //^ s COf^OLUDBD y l^h ^^\\\/,r-^ C ^ Msinu(a.ttunngy, >-; Insurance, yy/ 'c^lh-ZMU/^d. XI. MUCH WASTE WILL BE ELIMINATED. Some one has said that nine-tenths of the energy- exerted to-daj is utterly wasted. No doubt this is ex- aggerated, but the estimate can be reduced consider- ably from nine-tenths and yet present a terrible con- dition to us. The present system of capitalism with its natural competition, produces more waste than one imagines. Even to him who studies the situation, only a part of this great waste is apparent. It is argued by some that unnecessary work is a blessing, because it gives employment to many who would be otherwise unemployed. We answer by saying that if we were to continue under our present system, the 268 BLESSINGS UNDER SOCIAL REFORM. 269 more waste we have, the better it is for our working people. If we could have ten newspapers in a town in- stead of three, it would be better because it would give employment to more people, and so we might say re- garding any other kind of industry. 1. — The Waste of Advertising. Has it ever dawned upon the mind of the reader what immense fortunes are squandered every year for advertising purposes. It is estimated that over 3,000,000 dollars a day is expended for advertising in the United States. The sad part is not that the money is wasted, but that the labor is wasted. Advertising as we see it in modem business methods is not one of the essentials of life; it is rather one of the black marks of oiur present industrial system. Under the fearful struggle of competition as we now have it, ad- v-ertising is necessary, and therefore, between 500,000 and 1,000,000 men are working continually to produce nothing essential to our well-being. This great army of workmen is composed of **ad'* writers, solicitors, collectors, paper manufacturers, bill posters, artists, lithographers and printers, to say nothing of the large numbers needed to run the necessary machinery for local and general transportation. You must think of this for a while before the greatness of the facts will dawn upon your mind. It requires no argument to prove that this great waste will be eliminated undel the reign of true Socialism. The products will be made not for the purpose of private gain, but for the pur- pose of giving to each individual the best material that 270 BLESSINGS UNDER SOCIAL REFORM. the world can produce. There will be no need of a thousand firms each declaring that its goods are the purest and the best; the government stamp of Social Reform on a manufactured article will be sufficient. 2. — The Waste of Selling Goods. One more of the foolish results of competition is the immense amount of labor wasted in selling products. Each firm that manufactures goods must send out from a few to thousands of agents, consequently, we have a large number of drygoods agents, shoe agents, grocery agents, and numberless other kinds of agents swarm- ing each community throughout the length and breadth of the land. It is amusing to certain grocers to witness the incoming of eight or nine agents in one forenoon. Each one of these men travels from place to place, and spends all his time in the mad rush to get ahead of the next fellow. Looking at the whole army of drummers, it presents one of the most expensive and yet necessary features of competition, and tells the story of waste that is very difficult to calculate. It is safe to say that there are 400,000 drummers uselessly employed, but, of course, all are necessary under our present non- sensical system. 3. — Waste of Distribution. This opens to our view the large number of com- petitive industries, both small and great, and reveals one of the most fearful pictures of waste that can be imagined. In Boston- there are about 350 drygoods BLESSINGS UNDER SOCIAL EEFORM. 271 stores, nearly 500 shoe stores, 1,500 grocery stores, and nearly 3,000 saloons, besides several thousand other places of business. Figure a moment and see what an immense amount of labor is expended to carry on the work of distributing goods to the people of Boston. Under Social Eeform it would require no more than twenty-five, or less, general stores located to the best advantage geographically, to supply suffi- ciently every family of Boston. Any school boy is able to see that the labor of many thousands of people is required to do the work of distributing goods just because we blindly enjoy the system of competition. Take any large city, and we find that scores of milk wagons come into it, each one covering many miles of streets, and spending from three to nine hours a day to cover its route. Under Social Eeform there would be needed about one-fifth as many vehicles or perhaps less, and each one would supply a certain district ex- clusively. This waste of labor in selling milk does not seem so great by itself, but it is only one instance of many similar ones coming under the head of distribu- tion of goods, such as meat, laundry, ice and coal. 4. — The Waste in the Legal World. There are now practicing in the United States nearly 100,000 lawyers, and nearly as many clerks, to carry on the work of the legal profession. We do not presume to say that all sin will be abolished under any kind of Social Eeform, but we do wish to affirm that there will be much less crime under the new system of economics, when there will be no more vagrants or 17 272 BLESSINGS UNDEE SOCIAL REFOEM. tramps and when many other curses have been changed into blessings. In that golden age lawyers will be the servants of the people the same as any other kind of workers, and it will not be to the advant- age of a lawyer to win a case and thereby get a larger fee. Just how many lawyers will be required to carry on all necessary prosecution and trial is hard to say, but one thing is certain, the army can be cut down to a fraction of the present number. 5. — The Waste of Insueancb. Many fabulous fortunes are spent annually to main- tain life, fire and accident insurance companies. We do not wish to disparage the good that is being done by these organizations. We only wish to say that It will be a happy day for society when all these orgSiQ- izations will be sleeping under their tombstone. Th«3y are the fifth wheel of the wagon, and, under proper economic conditions, just as needless as for a person to wear three shoes instead of two. Under true Social Eeform, no man or his family will be in want. One of the first duties of society will be to give to every one the necessities of life, whether the head of the family is able to work or not, whether he is dead or alive, to. one sense, society owes a living to each individual, but society should see to it that each person, able to work, will do his share to get it. So it shall happen when the new economic system is established, that the hun- dreds of thousands of men who are employed in all kinds of insurance companies will be engaged, less hours per day in one of the necessary channels of trade. blessings under social refoem. 273 6. — The Waste of Competition in Manufacturing. It is estimated that the waste due to competition in manufacturing, both in duplication of plants and in methods of selling, is equal to ten per cent, of the pro- duct. This in round numbers would amount to $7,000,- 000 a day. It staggers one at first thought, and the mind is amazed as this truth dawns more fully upon it. 7. — Convict Waste. This is one more of the many senseless provisions of our present system of government. A man is ar- rested for crime, he is sentenced to jail or penitentiary, and the law-abiding citizens are supposed to clothe and feed him and keep him warm, and pay somebody to look after his needs. Under Social Reform convict labor will be a blessing, inasmuch as it will help to produce some of the very things that the people need, and thus bear its share of the burdens of a co-opera- tive community. In that day, a man in the peniten- tiary will be required to work from eight to twelve hours a day ; and he must work if he is able. This will be the kind of a place that men will go to who are guilty of crime, or who cannot be made to work prop- erly otherwise. They will be put under the coercive work of public institutions. All this labor done by convicts will help to lighten the labor of every man who is not a convict. Does that not seem like a sensible proposition, or do you prefer to work a little harder and longer to keep the criminal without working? Take your choice. The foregoing seven kinds of waste are by no means 274 BLESSINGS UNDER SOCIAL REFORM. all that might be mentioned. It is only a hint at the enormous loss under our present system. Take a pic- ture of the whole country, and counting labor at a reasonable value, the total amount of all our waste under the present system, aggregates the enormous sum of nearly $50,000,000 a day. Do not doubt these figures until you have looked into the matter carefully. The longer you study and investigate, the more rapidly you will find your figures mounting up to the $50,000,000 mark, and if you are a capital- ist, you will soon stop your figuring in the fear that your discovery will take you beyond the above estimate. What is the meaning of the $50,000,000 a day waste! It means that the workers must bind themselves down to slavery in order that this great waste may be main- tained; in other words, we are called upon to labor the same now as the penitentiary convicts will be called upon to labor under the reign of Social Eeform. Do you wish to enter into the full enjoyment of the liberties that ought to be yours? Then break away from the chains that bind you and express yourself where it will count the most — at the ballot box in a true municipal reform movement or in any national movement that seeks the same ends. f cS The Death op the Rich Sinner. — The curse of riches is seen when a man will cling to them with a dying grip. The rich sinner has a burden of sin and sometimes sickness which he will not, or cannot, shake off. The Death of the Poor Christian. — The honest man, poor or rich, at death will leave all his burdens behind, and instead of having weights to drag him down, there will be angels in a chariot to lift him upward. CHAPTEE XXV. After being preached and worshipped for almost twenty centuries, the most misinterpreted character in the world to-day is Jesus Christ. He was bom in an obscure corner of the earth, yet a guiding star and heavenly choirs honored His birth. Christ was reared in holiness, and in the fullness of time His great fore- runner, John the Baptist, proclaimed His coming. Suddenly He appeared and blazed forth with a new light and life, and made such a mighty impression that all human time was numbered anew from His birth. Jle taught for all ages, and it will require all the ages to show His completeness. By some He is worshipped as a religious teacher only; by others He is looked upon as the world's Eedeemer, a personal Savior, as 277 278 CHKIST AND SOCIAL EEFORM. a ^^friend that sticketh closer than a brother-/* and still by others as a guiding star to the world *s peace, — ^not only religious but civil and industrial peace as well. The idea of pure Socialism is a divine thought born of Heaven, and is to be realized upon earth. Its ear- liest light was seen when Christ spake to the multi- tudes, and to His immediate followers. They under- stood in part what He said, but a more complete in- terpretation of His life and teachings was left to un- born generations. The early church, trying to follow the teaching of Jesus, first lived in a state of approxi- mate Communism, which is a partial interpretation of ** Communion of Saints.'' We have but little light on this early type of Co-operation. It appears to have been soon overwhelmed with the selfishness of the age, even before human society had a chance to try or test the early Christian Socialism. The sad growth of competition, and the thorny vines of human greed soon over-ran the fair garden of promise until the life of the Heavenly plant was choked out by these noxious weeds. Thus was the second Eden lost, and those who were to occupy it, were thrown out upon the wild waste of a barren Social life, and ever since that time, the church and the world have been mutually suffering under the grinding processes of hard labor, and as a result, the rich are growing richer and the poor poorer. Will the dream of human brotherhood ever be realized upon earth? This is a practical question, and is waiting for an answer in the world and the church of to-day. One of the strangest aspects of the Twen- tieth Century will be the rallying from the ranks of the church and the world under the banners of Chris- CHRIST AND SOCIAL REFORM, 279 tian Socialism, and this will bring to the earth the greatest industrial peace, rest and contentment that has ever been known. Let us draw back the curtain of ages and look care- fully at that marvelous light and then ask : * ^ What are the principles of the perfect Social State as taught by Christ, the world's greatest reformer and spiritual leader r' 1. — Christ Taught That Selfishness is Death. Christ said, *^ Whosoever will save his life shall lose if He embodied a world of thought in these few words. All man's effort for himself will fail unless he is planning and working in harmony with the will of God. The way of selfishness is one of the shortest roads to destruction, and he who narrows his life to winning his own personal ends, is not only a loser, but he is even committing personal suicide. Selfishness is the ruling principle in all the natural and business life of the world. Nearly everything is based upon each one looking after his own interests. All this is a natural concomitant of our Social system, and will only be eliminated when the better laws of Social Eeform are in force. 2. — Christ Taught That Unselfishness and Benevolence are Blessed. The dangers of life lie along the line of selfishness, and a man is not as likely to give away too much as he is to keep too much. For that reason Christ made no 280 CHRIST AND SOCIAL EEFORM. mistake when he promised a blessing to the liberal- hearted man. How few people there are who will ap- pear truly benovelent when we have an opportunity to study the motive back of their gifts. In some cases we can see that the giver is expecting something in return; and again we see that others are seeking notoriety or personal glory; while very few have as their chief aim the glory of God or the good of their fellows. For that reason Christ taught the superior virtue of expecting nothing in return when we give to the poor. He said at one place, * ^ Sell that ye have and give alms. ' ' The world has found more fault with this passage than it has with the other, which is a maxim of the world, *^Get all you can and keep it.*' Our hearts should be so trained in love that we could give testimony to the truth, *^It is more blessed to give than to receive.** There will be no danger of society going to smash if these beautiful maxims of truth are observed. If the spirit to obey these su- perior laws were manifested, there would also be present an opportunity for everybody to earn a re- spectable living; for love, when it flows on the one side, will also operate on the other. Christ said, ** Whosoever will lose his life for my sake, shall find it.'* This means that no man takes a risk when he apparently loses for Christ. The man who, with a pure motive, makes a great sacrifice for Christ and truth, will only make himself richer in the life to come, and the man who lays down his life, or risks his life in the service of Christ, shall also win a greater reward in the life to come. When Living- stone and Stanley left civilization with its joys and advantages and buried themselves in the jungles of CHRIST AND SOCIAL REFORM. 281 Africa, they found that their apparent loss only worked for their great gain. They came out to find that they were esteemed as the world *s heroes, and that the nations were waiting to crown them as no men were ever crowned who have not laid down their lives for others. Such blessings always follow true unselfishness and liberality. Every true sacrifice finds its reward either in this life or the life to come. How much good could be accomplished by the de- ceived men of wealth, if they would but devote their fortunes to the uplifting of society instead of the up- lifting of themselves and possibly the destruction of their own heirs. 3. — Christ Taught That Life Has Worthier Aims Than Wealth. When Christ said, **A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth,'' He made a declaration for all time. To the man of the world, this thought is, indeed, a revelation, just as new to him now as it was to the people almost twenty centuries ago. Our present system of compe- tition pushes all forward in the mad race to grab all they can. If any man of fair judgment will interpret this wild rush of our business life, what will his ver- dict be? Must he not decide that the people are act- ing directly contrary to the teachings of Christ? They are acting as if their life did consist in the abundance of the things which they possess, or would like to possess. How long will it take the world to wake up to the 282 CHRIST AND SOCIAL ItEFORM. lofty conception of Christ, that the nobler things in life are more worthy of our attainment than the mere things that perish and decay sometimes even with the use of them? When Social Reform comes, the world will have more chance to take a breath, and give more attention to the voice of God. When men can once be convinced that they need not give their body, soul and spirit for the support of themselves and their families, and that they need not be compelled to lay up for a ** rainy day,'' then there will be more opportunity for people to see that it is possible to be rich without gold, and happy without much material possession. 4. — Christ Forbids the Hoarding of Wealth. '^Lay not up for yourselves treasure on earth.'' This is a very direct * command and indicates very clearly that wealth is not to be centered in the hands of a few. Such declarations like this are very ob- noxious to the rich, and to those whose principle aim is to become rich. At many places Christ draws sharp contrasts between the rich and the poor. ** Blessed be ye poor ^^Woe unto you that for your's is the King- are rich." dom of God." ** Blessed are ye that *'Woe unto you that hunger now: for ye are full; for ye shall shall be filled. ' ' hunger. ' ' Christ also said, *^The spirit of the Lord is upon CHKIST AND SOCIAL KEFORM. 283 me, because He hath anointed me to preach the Gos- pel to the poor.'' Just how much property it is pos- sible for a man to hold in His name, and yet be poor within the meaning of Christ, is very difficult to de- termine. Christ was the most fearless teacher that ever lived. He knew that no power on earth could destroy Him, and that He had a home eternal in the Heavens, and therefore, He spake without holding any bribe in His hand. He offered no apology to the worshippers of the ^* Mammon of unrighteousness.'' He saw that riches were destructive, and not fearing the comment of all ages to come, He told the rich young ruler, ^^Wouldst thou be perfect, sell that thou hast and give to the poor." There are certain passages in the New Testament that make reference to the rich and the poor in an in- direct way, and certain men of wealth have taken these to mean that riches are sanctioned by Christ. This is an absurd interpretation of Scripture, and while we will not be extreme enough to say that all rich people are wicked people, yet we will be plain enough to say that it is difficult for a person to have and to hold great riches, and, at the same time, com- ply with the simple and plain teachings of Jesus Christ. His teachings strike a terrific blow at Capi- talism. The saddest part of the whole story is that the selfish hoarder of wealth will see, when it is too late, that he has been blinded by the sophistry of Satan. His eyes will be opened to see his own folly when he stands before God to give an account of his stewardship in the body. Neither is the poor man exempt from these laws. If the principle of the poor man is wrong, and he is poor just because he cannot 284 CHRIST AND SOCIAL REFORM. b3 rich, he is also deceived. He has been climbiag, or trying to climb up the wrong path, and to him the sting of the final judgment will come with the same intensity as it will come to the miserly rich man. There is only one way to follow these beautiful so- ciological laws. A man must be right at heart, and he must see and believe the great truth that his soul is immortal and is greater than anything he can pos- sibly possess; and his life must correspond with this belief. By so doiag, he rises above his surroundings and he becomes a power in transforming the deadness of this wicked world into the living beauty that God intended it should be. The influence of Satan is seen in the spirit of the world to-day, and the whole outcome of the mad strug- gle tells the story that the great majority of people think that it is more blessed to receive than to give, thereby reversing the direct teaching of Christ. When Social Eeform has won its day, then all people will know better the meaniQg of these beautiful laws, and until then, only such will know as are living in the glory of them. 5. — Christ Denounced the Spirit of Modern Competition. Paul, writing as an interpreter of Christ, says: *^Let nothing be done through strife or vain-glory.'* Christ directly demands: **Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods, nor anything that is thy neighbor's.*' The monopolies have grown fat on the fruits of covet- ousness. They start to covet what the small firms possess, and, notwithstanding all the protest that can CHBIST AND SOCIAL REFORM. 285 be offered, they force them to either sell or quit busi- ness. All this is for the purpose of their own enrich- ment, and they can go ahead, for our civil law is mis- erably ineffective. The condition of present day so- ciety makes it about as hard as possible for people to obey the law of not coveting. The law fosters and permits the most unjust inequalities, and therefore, the greatest incentive to temptation is at hand. Christ came to minister to the two parts of man's nature — to the spiritual and to the social. To the one he set the fittest models and ideals, demanding and lovingly requesting that every man should live up to them, and thereby bring his soul into harmony with divine conditions through repentance and faith. This is the casting off of sin and sinfulness, and taking on the life of righteousness with all that this word com- prehends. Christ himself set the lofty example of the sinless life, by taking the eminence himself, whence he invited all the struggling world below Him. **Come unto me, * * He called, until the ear of the common peo- ple heard him gladly. This represents one part of Christ's teaching, but there is another part that ought not to be overlooked. It is just as clearly a part of His whole truth and doc- trine as the former, and that is His teaching that man as a social creature in relation to his fellowman shall live on the plane of co-operative love. We have given a few of these teachings as they relate to the social world, and is it not sad that the world refuses to hear or obey them? And even the church in large part is refusing to recognize these forcible laws regarding the economic life. 286 christ and social reform. 6. — Christ Clearly Teaches the Spirit of Co-operation. Eead these beautiful passages gathered from the book of inspiration: ^'Bear ye one another's bur- dens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.'' ^^Let no man seek his own, but each his neighbor's good." ^^No man liveth to himself." ^'Thou shalt love thy neigh- bor as thyself." **Do unto others as you would that others do unto you." It is not hard for a man to make a Golden Eule for himself, or one that will apply to himself and his friend, but to formulate a law that will stand for all time, and that will meet all conditions of human g^o- ciety, was left alone for Heaven to reveal to men. Take an honest view of human society as we see it to-day, and we cannot find, in the business or social realms, any kiad of obedience to the beautiful laws of Christ that teach the spirit of Co-operation. The more you study the spirit that pervades society in gen- eral, the more you are convinced that the controlling motto is; **Do others, or they will do you," or, as some prefer to put it, **Do others before they do you." It is to be regretted that such a spirit should so largely dominate the business activities of the present age. Another similar thought of Co-operation flowing from the teachings of Christ is that **Love seeketh not her own. ' ' Nobody is able to interpret such a lofty declaration unless he is filled with the spirit of the same love referred to in the passage. There are not a few of the human family who open their ears to hear the angel like story of pure love, and by so doing, CHRIST AND SOCIAL REFORM. 287 they gather to themselves wings to soar above the cruel field of industrial warfare and breathe the at- mospnere created for human souls. Gold will not per- ish in the refining fire, neither will true love. It will stand the test under any strain, and will ever reach out after the one beloved, encircling even the field of enemies. The narrow-minded world thinks it an act of folly to follow this beautiful teaching, but he who has proved the power and beauty of this law will cling to it with undying devotion. 7. — Christ Teaches Us Not to Worry Over Temporal Needs. *Take, therefore, no thought, saying what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed. But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.'' Christ contemplated a state of Society in which no one would be required to take thought for food or raiment, or to lay up treasure for a rainy day. Christ knew that in order to have this state of Society, it would require not only a religious but an economic change. The sceptics of civil government tell us that it would be impossible to form a commonwealth that would take away the necessity of worry. Perhaps all human concern can never be totally eliminated, and indeed it never should be, but it is possible, under the reign of Social Reform, for every man, woman and child to be absolutely certain that they shall have enough to eat and wear, provided the earth can pro- duce enough to feed and clothe all the people. This 288 CHRIST AND SOCIAL REFORM. will be accomplished under Social Reform, if each member of society will give his natural share of labor, which, indeed, would not be more than four or six hours a day. Would it not be far better for everybody to work a few hours a day and realize that he has earned what he eats and wears and the luxuries he enjoys, than for the great bulk of people to work like slaves and a small part scheme like demons in order to secure the largest possible share of the product of the toiler's labor. 8. — Christ Condemned Extortioners and Speculators. *^My house shall be called by all nations the house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves. '* Wliy does He call them thieves ? Simply because the money changers took advantages of the people who came in from other countries. These visitors could not buy until they received current money, and these grafters of the Temple either charged too much for the ex- change of money, or placed an exorbitant price on the doves and sacrificial animals. Christ became righteously indignant at these speculators. ' * If Christ lashed these speculating extortioners out of His Father's temple with knotted rope, what will He do to their descendants when, in the day of His Power, He deals with all who have been corrupting Society falsely in His name ? ' ' We read also at another place, **Ye laden men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers." How applicable is this description to many of our modern capitalists. Christ speaks out in his CHRIST AND SOCIAL REFORM. 289 unmistakable clearness to such: **Woe unto you/' and this comprehends all classes of men and women who take advantage of others, and are thereby enabled to roll in idle luxury at the expense of the grievous toil of others. The world imagines that the great Co-operative principles of Christ are only suitable for some ideal Utopia, and altogether unfit for our every day life, and the church has partly accepted this error. Truth will vindicate itself in the process of time, and it will be found that these principles laid down in the pre- vious pages are well fitted to the needs of Society. They will surely work to the highest ends of the indi- vidual and to the best good of everybody. We search in vain through all the realm of litera- ture to find such great laws that supplement and com- plement each other as beautifully and practically as the foregoing Co-operative Social laws of Christ. They give the only safe recipe to cure the ills that have been caused by the war between Labor and Capital. 18 CHAPTEE XXVI. We have seen what great blessings will come to Society when the kingdom of Christian Socialism or Heaven on Earth is established, but as to the best method of establishing this kingdom, there is a wide difference of opinion. We shall not spend our time in theoretical vaporizing and indefinite juggling of words, trying to give a solution of this problem, but we will be plain and practical in our statements, so that any sincere reader can easily understand our position. I.— WILL WE GET SOCIAL EEFORM THROUGH THE CHURCH? There are not a few who believe that the Christian Church is the only true medium through which all reform measures must be accomplished. Such per- sons do not properly distinguish between the func- tions of the church and those of the state. It is true that the church has wrought wonders in uplifting hu- 290 HOW TO GET SOCIAL KEFORM. 291 manity and in originating and carrying forward great moral and spiritual movements. No doubt this work of the church will continue until time shall be no more ; but we must never forget that the church works through the medium of persuasion and love and not by civil force. The church can prepare the hearts and consciences of the people to act rightly, but when we want new regulations to govern Society we must enter the political arena as well as the church door. The laws that govern civil life are not framed by ecclesias- tical bodies. It is easy for a man to stand aloof from the church and to say that if Christians did their duty, Social Reform would soon be a reality. But the man who throws all responsibility and blame on the church and refuses to co-operate with it, is one of the mean- est of all men living and is a self-contradiction. We are all thankful that the day is past when the church exercises civil authority over the people. It has no policemen or constables to push its campaign, and, if it cannot win by the power of love and con- science, its arms are powerless to save the lost, whether they are rich or poor. We find two extreme opinions regarding the church on this question. The Christian optimist cries out; **Keep on preaching and praying and singing, and changing the hearts of men, and in God^s own good time all the wrongs of earth will be righted.*' And the pessimist cries out: **You may as well shut up your churches, stop your singing and praying, be- cause everything is going to the dogs. The world will keep on getting worse and worse until some great revolution brings about a change.'' Looking at these two extreme views, we cannot 292 HOW TO GET SOCIAL REFORM. safely accept either one of them, nor should we be led by their radical teaching. The most intelligent of un- godly men declare, with a deep sincerity of heart, that for the public good we must maintain the Christian churches. There are men who will not attend any Christian service, who would be shocked if they were to learn that the churches were to be abandoned. It does not require a very shrewd man to see of what great value the Christian Church is to the civil life of a nation, to say nothing of the greater advantages that follow in the individual life of its people. The church with all of its weaknesses and good qualities will no doubt continue to do its work of up- lifting men by the power of truth. But how long will it take the church, with its peculiar weapons of lo\'e, to change the present conditions of human Society to such an extent that there will be no more strife or contention between Capital and Labor? Who knows the answer to this question? Under the circum- stances it is plainly evident that both the Christian and non-Christian laborers are not willing to wait for the uncertain and indefinite accomplishment of this work by the church, or in other words through the processes of moral and spiritual evolution alone. II.— WILL WE GET SOCIAL REFOEM THROUGH POLITICS? We believe that the last and most effective blow against Capitalism will be given at the ballot box. When the new liberty is established for all classes through politics, then the emancipation proclamation HOW TO GET SOCIAL EEFORM. 293 will be proclaimed to more than four million slaves. What a glorious deliverance that will be. Some of the efforts that have been made by labor organizations have been very successful; others have been bungling. Taking all into consideration the labor unions are coming to see that final victory will never be won by following the present tactics, and by depending on nothing else than the work of their or- ganizations. So we send the cry over the whole land, * * Go into Politics. ' ' This can be done by the members of organized Labor without dragging the unions into the political arena. The working men should not be persuaded to give up what they have for the promise of something still better farther off. Let the labor unions go on, but let the men unite and obtain their rights at the polls. The power of the ballot is so far reaching that no one can predict what a wonderful transformation will take place when Labor wins the day. That great sainted American pulpit orator, T. De- witt Talmage, had courage enough to recommend the ballot box as a cure for our present industrial in- equalities. We quote the following: ** While in this country it is becoming harder and harder for the great mass of the people to get a living, there are too many in this country who have their two millions, their ten millions and their twenty millions, and carry the leg- islators in one pocket and the congress of the United States in the other. And there is trouble ahead. Eevolution. I pray God it may be peaceful revolu- tion, and at the ballot box. The time must come in this country when men shall be sent into public posi- tion who cannot be purchased. * • • THE VOTER. — ^Look at the common worker who wishes to vote intelligently. The very jangling of voices is confusing and is ever dividing the workers into parties that fight each other. Final deliverance must come throagh A separate political party- 294 HOW TO GET SOCIAL REFORM. 295 '^Bribery is cursing this land. There have been swin- dles enacted in this nation within the last thirty years, enough to swamp three monarchies. The Democratic party filled its cup of iniquity before it went out of power before the war. Then the Republican party came along, and its opportunities through the con- tracts were greater, and so it filled its cup of iniquity a little sooner, and there they lie to-day, the Demo- cratic party and the Republican party, side by side, great loathsome carcasses of iniquity, each one worse than the other.'' III.— STEPPING-STONES TO REACH SOCIAL REFORM. All great reforms in the history of the world have been gradual. Feudalism dawned gradually, and so it passed away gradually, giving place to our present wage and contract system, and we are quite certain that the present system will finally give way to the state of Social Reform. One of the sure stepping- stones is Municipal Ownership, and such movements as tend to place public franchises in the hands of the community. Let the people everywhere use these step- ping-stones, and whenever it is possible to create local sentiment strong enough to wrest the gas works, water works and street railways from private control, it ought to be done, even if the ballot box must be brought into play. Nothing will educate the people to the benefits that come through public ownership as rapidly as actual experience. Suppose the people of a community should get control of its street-car lines, and the fare should be reduced from five to 296 HOW TO GET SOCIAL REFORM. three cents, that would have a more telling effect than two or more years of scattering literature. There is no doubt but that the usual fare of five cents could be reduced to three cents, and all expenses would be met, and then many people could afford to ride who cannot now. Private ownership is growing fat on this enormous dividend of forty per cent., or more, that it is grasping from the public. The tide of Municipal Ownership is rising very rap- idly, and, as we have said before, large numbers of cities have taken possession of their public utilities, such as electric lighting, street-car lines, etc. Per- haps a movement will soon be inaugurated to nation- alize some of our transportation or transmission me- diums. Let us work for such measures with all our might; they are steps in the right direction, and by adopting such public ownership measures, we will in- troduce the great principles of Social Eeform grad- ually, and Society will not be disturbed as otherwise it would. There are many other stepping-stones that must not be forgotten. Whenever we have an opportunity of lessening the burdens of the laboring man in any way whatever we should be glad to do it. Perhaps we can lend our influence to reduce the number of hours that constitute a day's work, or the increase of wages: It may be that sentiment can be awakened sufficiently in some communities to compel the cor- porations to give greater protection to their employees against accidents, sickness, and loss of time. We may also be able to inaugurate a pension movement, which will mean that a person who has reached sixty or seventy years of age, shall receive a pension from his HOW TO GET SOCIAL REFORM. 297 employers, the amount of the pension to be regulated by the number of years of service the employee has rendered. And so we might continue one suggestion after another without limit. Any such measures that tend to elevate the condition of the worker should be attempted if possible, until the golden era of Social Eeform has dawned upon us. State and National Ownership are the last great forts to win, and as fast as either can assume control of any industry, it ought to be done. Some years ago the Postmaster General of the United States recom- mended National Ownership of the telegraph and tele- phone in connection with the postal system. This was a business-like proposition, and one of the most sensi- ble suggestions ever made. Why was it not adopted? Go and ask the thousands of men who were piling up fortunes from these private enterprises. Perhaps they can give you an answer. It only takes the profit that the railroads and telegraph companies make in one week to buy up enough influence to defeat any sensible proposition like this. You must not be too severe on these Capitalists; they simply take steps for their own protection just like many smaller busi- ness men take steps for their protection. If any such business man could make a thousand dollars by spend- ing fifty, no doubt he would do it. This does not argue that bribing, or any other such low method is right. Enemies, both sincere and conscienceless, are con- stantly misrepresenting the Social Reform movement by picking out the apparent and theoretical flaws and magnifying them a hundredfold before the public. They also try to drag the cause of Social Reform to the low level of the Anarchy, and by this method of 298 HOW TO GET SOCIAL EEFORM. prejudicing many minds they have blocked the wheels of progress to some extent; but slander and calumny cannot always shut out the light. Behold, the workers are rising to claim their throne, and they will gladly throw off their chains when once the angel of deliv- erance is truly recognized. We now come to a very natural question and that is: ** Suppose the cause of Social Eeform would win at the ballot box in a national election, how could we get possession of our industries?'^ We have no ob- jections to anyone asking such a question, for it is perfectly in order to look that far ahead. No doubt the time will soon come when sufficient public senti- ment will be created to push the political fight vic- toriously. The widespread feeling of dicontent, and the endless amount of agitation in numberless communities throughout the nation, all betoken the general uprising that is inevitable. The following chapter will consider how the indus- tries of our nation can be rightfully taken from their private owners, and be the property of all the pimple under the mighty grip of National Ownership and control. CHAPTER XXVn. Q0T^^ss£ssjo]i^^ Public sentiment is being created so rapidly in favor of Municipal and National Ownership that it will not be long until the majority of the voters in many sections of our country will be in favor of the new economic administration. There are many munici- palities now in which there is enough sentiment created to win on a Municipal Ownership platform, if a fair chance were given to the people to express themselves on this issue. The final victory is, never- theless inevitable, and knowing the facts as we do, a pointed question naturally arises, **How will the na- tion ^i^i possession of our vast industries after the people declare that the new order of economics shall go into effect r^ It requires ten-fold more pains and trouble now for the people to understand how this will be done, than it will require when we stand at the threshold of the new and golden period. We will outline several distinct methods by which the nation can honorably come into possession of all 299 300 HOW TO GET POSSESSION OF OUR INDUSTRIES. our industries or as many of them as may be desir- able. We have studied this phase of the question with considerable care, and have profited by the sugges- tions of other writers. We will now present and dis- cuss the following four methods that form the most complete condensation of all the theories advanced. 1. Bond-Issue Method. 2. Freezing-Out Method. 3. Public Seizure Method. 4. Privilege Method. All that we ask of the reader is that he give careful consideration to the reading and studying of these four methods, and, while we do not recommend all of them, yet we can say that any one of them is practical. I.— BOND-ISSUE METHOD. This method is recommended as the most honorable of all. It proposes that the government shall take possession of all the industries to hold and manage them for the benefit of all the people. It would be impossible to pay cash for such a fabulous aggrega- tion of millions as are represented by the value of our widely extended industries. Therefore the gov- ernment, in case of purchase, would issue bonds to the owners and would be in a position to dictate its own price, and would not be controlled by watered stock or any other kind of inflated values which so much misrepresent real values, and disgrace the man- agement of large corporate interests of to-day. With- out a question the government would have the ad- vantage, and it would pay whatever percentage on these bonds it might deem advisable for the perma- HOW TO GET POSSESSION OF OUR INDUSTRIES. 301 nency and well-being of the whole nation. No rich man need tremble in the day of national reckoning, for all things will be taken into account when the gov- ernment compels a sale and offers to be the purchaser. Now we hear one critic coming forward with his in- terrogation as follows: ^* Would it be just for the government to dictate terms of a sale and then become the purchaser!'* If the critic who asks this question, will study the history of Trusts and Monopolies in this country during the past fifty years, he will find that they have manifested the most cruel and merci- less spirit of arbitrary independence. These heart- less and soulless corporations have been dictating to the smaller dealers and to the American people in general just how they should conduct their affairs, and what prices they should pay for certain useful and necessary commodities. Let us in return ask this critic, **Have these things been right? What has en- abled a few men of our nation to gather to themselves such untold wealth T* It has resulted from the capa- bility to dictate terms and prices to those who were compelled to buy or sell. The ungenerous spirit of modem competition has destroyed the business and blighted the hopes of many small competitors, and has heaped upon the poor laborer a burden that has ever been increasing, until, under the intolerable load, he is now groaning, sighing and praying for the relief which must come. Suppose the time were here when we were to enjoy the blessings of National Ownership and management of our industries, and the Bond-Issue method would be adopted; and, as a consequence, the government would dictate to the Trusts and Monopolies the terms 302 HOW TO GET POSSESSION OF OUB INDUSTRIES. of sale and purchase, it would only be the same flavor of business dealing that these same Trusts and Mo- nopolies have been using for their own aggrandize- ment, only in the first instance it is fashionable rob- bery and in the second it is re-adjustment for public good. The great bulk of those who are wealthy would be getting a taste of the same dealing that they them- selves practised in order to heap up riches. Uncle Sam, representing all the people of the nation, would then be the great Trust and Monopoly who would stand on the glorious throne of national strength and dictate to all the now great and mighty Monopolists the terms of sale. Then would the great mass of peo- ple, including many of the rich, cry out Amen! and this shout of approval would be heard from sea to sea and from the lakes to the gulf. When the people be- gin to realize the benefits of the new industrial order, millions of them will wonder how it was possible that so large a company of human beings could have been persuaded to run the fooPs errand so long. Another objector comes to the front and asks how the nation can ever pay so great a debt as would be created by the purchase of all the industries? We answer by saying that the people have already paid over and over many times for the actual value of all the Trust and Monopoly property in our country, and it will not be very difficult to pay for them once more, and then own them for themselves. If the govern- ment become handicapped in any way whatever, it will simply do with these bonds just what the Mo- nopolists do to the people — it will cut down expenses. The government will be careful that it places upon itself no heavier burden that it can easily bear. HOW TO GET POSSESSION OP OUB INDUSTEIES. 303 We do not say that we favor this method for it is faulty in several respects ; but if it should be adopted, the wealthy can count themselves fortunate that the patient endurance of a suffering public has not taken more rash measures, such as shall be considered a lit- tle later in this chapter. Many other questions might be asked concerning the Bond-Issue method. One might refer to the na- ture of the bond, whether it should be transferable or not. Another question could relate to the time limit of the bond, and so many other questions of similar import might be advanced, but it is unnecessary within the scope of this volume to enter into all these details. We do not fear the outcome, if public owner- ship once becomes a reality. All these matters will be fully adjusted, and the working machinery of the new industrial kingdom will be as harmonious as can well be expected while Satan is in the world and his imps are trying to master it. n.— FEEEZING-OUT METHOD. This method has been called by some writers the ** Competition Method,'' and is advocated by some as the best of all. If the Freezing-Out Method were adopted in order to get possession of our industries, it would mean that the government would enter into business in competition with the individuals or corpora- tions that have already established themselves. Let us take for example the sugar business. The govern- ment would organize a Sugar Monopoly of its own, and by its superior advantages it could easily legis- late in its own favor, just like so many Trusts have 304 HOW TO GET POSSESSION OF OUE INDUSTRIES. bought legislation in their favor. In a short time Uncle Sam would have his grip on the entire sugar industry, and those powerful Monopolists that now control the whole business would be compelled to sur- render, sell to the government, or suffer the inevitable squeeze that would follow upon their refusal to do either. In this way Uncle Sam could freeze out all the great Corporations and Trusts that now regulate the business interests of the nation. This would also be a case of dealing out to the Monopolists the same kind of medicine that the Monopolists have been deal- ing out to others in the past. There is no question as to government being able to compete successfully with the Trusts and Monopolists in the country. There are many who will clap their hands in favor of this method when it is proposed to them, without pausing to think that it is one of the most foolish and wasteful measures that could be proposed. Consider for a moment the railroad phase of the question. It would be absurd for the government to commence to build a system of railroads of its own across the con- tinent just for the purpose of freezing out the rail- road corporations or of compelling them to offer their property at a sacrifice price. The Bond-Issue method would be far superior and more honorable than this method. The same evil result would follow if the competi- tion method would be adopted in other lines of indus- try, and all this proves that it is an undesirable method to gain the end desired. As far as we have considered, we would prefer the Bond-Issue method to the Freezing-Out or * ^ Competition Method.'' Suppose a railroad would show fight against the HOW TO GET POSSESSION OF OUE INDUSTRIES. 305 government, and the government would be compelled to handicap the railroad by legislation; that would be worse than confiscation, for it would be taking the entire value of all the railroad lines away from their owners. It would be far better for the government to purchase all the railways in the country, and organize one harmonious system, and abandon all useless lines and all unnecessary duplication of tracks, and then add railways where it might be less profitable but more convenient for the people; just like the govern- ment does in the mail service which has proved to be one of the strongest features of a public ownership policy. We have thousands of mail routes that are run at a loss, but see what great service the people get in the rural districts. The highly profitable cen- ters help to pay for these less profitable routes; and so in regard to railways ; we would have our railways distributed to accommodate the needs of the whole nation. III.— PUBLIC SEIZURE METHOD. The name of this method alone will indicate the nature of it. Being interpreted it means that the gov- ernment would simply take possession of all the indus- tries to own and manage them for the benefit of all the people, just as the postoffice is owned and man- aged for all the people. Certain enemies have brought ridicule upon Social Reform by declaring that public ownership means that everybody's wealth should be put together in one pile and each individual get an equal share of it. This is worse than nonsense, 19 306 HOW TO GET POSSESSION OF OUR INDUSTRIES. and any sensible person does not believe that the stu- dents of Social Eeform advocate such a doctrine. The Public Seizure method implies that all the industries shall become the property of all the people and that all the people will be employed by the government to run these industries. Let us refer once more to the postoffice system. Is it not true that the government owns the entire postojffice department, and thereby it is owned by all the people? But who would argue that in order for the people to get the benefit of the postoffice system that all the postoffices, mail boxes and mail bags must be sold and the money divided equally amongst the people? Any ordinary person outside of an insane asylum knows that this is not necessary. The only way is for the postoffice to con- tinue as it is now established. The Public Seizure policy of getting possession of our industries is certainly a radical measure, and savors of insurrection and dishonesty; yet it would be adopting the same course as is pursued by a vic- torious army marching through the conquered land and taking whatever it wished to have; and, in fact taking possession of the whole land in the name of the government for which its soldiers are fighting. The history of the world is replete with instances of the policy, **To the victor belong the spoils. '^ Is it right or is it wrong for the victorious forces to take posses- sion of the whole country they have captured? We answer in some cases it is right, and in other cases it is wrong; it depends altogether upon the issue of the conflict, and not upon the dominance of brute forces. Was it right for the thirteen American colonies to fight for independence, and, winning in the severe struggle. HOW TO GET POSSESSION OF OUR INDUSTRIES. 307 confiscate to themselves millions of acres of land that now represent billions of wealth? Was it right for them to take possession of this territory just because they were strong enough to do it? The majority of the world will answer that it was all right just because the early colonists were suffering unreasonable and intolerable burdens, and they had a perfect right to free themselves from the imposition that was prac- tised upon them. So we might argue concerning many of the conflicts of the world and many of the changing aspects of national life and territory. The question that now comes to the front in this part of our chapter is a very serious one. Would it be right for a burdened public, overtaxed all their life- time by cruel and merciless corporations, whipped to the severest tasks under the cruel necessities of mod- ern life, bruised and mangled by the coercive laws of modern competition, robbed shamefully of time and wages, beaten into poverty and death by the manipu- lation of corporations, until we have the masses of suffering, shivering poor on the one side, and the classes of tTie immensely wealthy magnates on the other side, — would it be right, we ask, under such con- ditions for the awakened people to take possession of the billions of dollars that have been filched from them by the unjust tyranny of the masters? We answer that it would be right if fair compensation were given for the property thus taken, and doubly right if the general public good demands it, but certainly not right in many cases for the public to seize private property without fair compensation. It is not right to take from a man what belongs to him just because you have the power to do so ; but, if you can show that the man 308 HOW TO GET POSSESSION OF OUR INDUSTRIES. has taken what he possesses unjustly from somebody else then a higher authority has the right to equalize matters. It is painfully true that certain captains of industry have piled up their millions by following questionable tactics of business,' using at times un- christian methods to freeze out all competition. This means that they have violated the law of righteous- ness to pile up a greater part of their wealth. Now, would it be right for the highest authority in our na- tion or the government itself to take from the guilty and innocent alike, their possessions and hold them for the common use and good of everybody? If a thing like this were to happen the smaller owners would suf- fer in proportion just as much as the larger ones, for indeed the man who owns his humble home esteems it as preciously as the millionaire can esteem his vast aggregation of wealth. While at first thought the Public Seizure measure appears unjust, it nevertheless has some elements of propriety. We believe that the best method of all is the one which we will next consider. IV.— PEIVILEGE METHOD. This method resembles the Public Seizure method in the first stages of its operation. It means that the government shall take possession of everything in the line of industries, and that the owners shall be granted special privileges during their natural life, according to the value of the industries from which they have been relieved. If it were true that all the accumulated wealth of the country were gathered by unscrupulous or question- HOW TO GET POSSESSION OF OUR INDUSTRIES. 309 able methods, we would have no hesitancy in advocat- ing a clear-cut Public Seizure method, but this is not true, for many of the men of smaller and larger wealth have obtained their possessions by manifold sacrifices and a conscientious devotion to duty, and, for that reason, we believe that some recognition should be taken of a man's worthy endeavors. Suppose the pub- lic would give such a man, in return for his accumu- lated wealth, the privilege of working at option, or to be idle at option. Would it not be perfectly fair? We believe that the great majority of this kind of men, if they were granted special privileges and free support, would render valuable service to Society, as the out- growth of their own free choice. It is unthinkable that a man of energy and genius could be content to be an idle loafer on the lap of Society. We feel like guaranteeing that the great majority of such persons would render as much service as the Co-operative Commonwealth would demand, as the average amount of work to be performed by each individual. What more should any millionaire ask than to be granted the privilege of having an easy time with his family all the rest of his life, receiving his comforts and luxuries in return for what the public has taken from him. If the millionaire should find fault, he can be reminded that perhaps a great part of his posses- sions have come to him by the exploitation of labor or by the pursuance of unchristian-like methods. Suppose the millionaire has children; would it not be far better for Society that these children should per- form their portions of the work at whatever calling their fitness may suggest and public necessity may de- mand, than for them to be loafers or idlers, which, in 310 HOW TO GET POSSESSION OF OUR INDUSTRIES. itself, is one of the worst evils that can befall any individual ? Why need we further elaborate upon any one or more of the methods that should be adopted in order to get possession of our industries! When the day comes that the cause of Social Reform is triumphant at the ballot box, the people of that day will no doubt have better judgment on these matters than we now have, and therefore they will be much more able to decide which is the best course to adopt. Let us not spend needless time in trying to answer questions too far in advance. When a child is injured get the doc- tor as soon as possible, do not stop to argue and debate what -the doctor will do, or how he might apply the medicine. Let such future contingencies go until the physician arrives. Whatever you can do in the mean- time to alleviate the suffering of the afflicted one and make it easier for the physician to do his work when he arrives, do it with dispatch and neatness. So we say to all who try to slander the cause of Social Re- form. What we want is the physician, — the means at hand to cure, and when that comes, no doubt the medi- cine can be applied. CHAPTER XXVIII. We have shown in the preceding chapters that com- petition with all its evils has nevertheless been instru- mental in developing the human race. It has urged individual effort to its highest point, and has brought to all people the blessings of invention and the per- fecting of mechanical appliances, in addition to the individual and national discipline, that has resulted from mental and physical application. Many a man has worked himself to death thinking of the thou- sands or millions of dollars he would reap as the result of some great invention he was trying to produce. We do not recommend that a man should work himself to death, but we do say that from this class of toilers, who have burned the midnight oil, the world has received its greatest blessings. When Social Reform is inaugurated, competition, as we see it to-day, will be largely a thing of the past. The people wiU be guaranteed a living under all cir- 811 312 PROPEK SPURS UNDER SOCIAL REFORM. cumstances, and no one need tear that the sheriff will approach, nor that the pangs of hunger will be felt as long as the earth can produce enough to feed all the people. It is argued that, as a result of these con- ditions, there will be a great check to inventive genius and to educational advancement, and therefore the question naturally arises, what will take the place of competition as a spur to urge human genius and en- deavor to reach the highest possible plane of achieve- ment? Under any system of economics the most hopeless of all people are those who have no desire to better their condition, and who seem to be satisfied with their present attainments. Men and women with great possibilities have allowed themselves to go to seed by falling back into the loathsome lap of natural de- pravity. They belong to the class of people who sim- ply live to eat and again eat to live. There are mil- lions of such stars that have fallen in the blackness of night forever, who, under the ruling power of a pure ambition to stir them into activity, could have excelled in glorious brightness even unto this day. On the other hand, the most hopeful class of people are those who are not satisfied with their present state. They are ever anxious to become nobler, or become better equipped, so that they shall either be of more service in the world, or better able to earn a livelihood. The Social Eeform pessimist advocates that this latter class of people will be reduced to the level of the first class mentioned, when once the powerful spur of com- petition is eliminated. We wish to say to all such dyspeptics that their mental conception is weak and PROPEK SPURS UNDER SOCIAL REFORM. 313 faulty, if they so anticipate what will be realized under the reign of Social Reform. Can it be true that under the reign of the Co-opera- tive Commonwealth there will be no spurs to urge hu- manity onward! We answer by saying that there will be as many spurs as the people will wish to have, and we believe that greater things will be done in the new kingdom to come than were ever accomplished under the long and cruel reign of competition. First of all, people will be born and reared better, and better hy- gienic conditions will prevail everywhere. We will have a race of stronger men and women. Many of the bright intellects that have dropped into oblivion under our present grinding systems of industry, would have shone brightly in the firmament of their native glory, if equal opportunity had been offered to all. In the coming golden age of Social Reform, there will be means adopted whereby any person who ren- ders special service for humanity will be signally re- warded. There can be eight or ten kinds of medals each ranging in order of merit from the lowest to the highest, and when a person is granted any one of these medals by the order of human Society, or its repre- sentatives, it will mean more to that person in the new age than wealth could have possibly meant to him at the present time. A person who studies out a great invention and it appeals to the chosen representatives of the people as such, can be given one of the highest medals of honor, which will entitle him to a life-long vacation from all the restraints that Society would otherwise place upon him. He can then engage in such pursuits as he chooses, working only when he pleases, and traveling where he wishes at the expense of So- 314 PROPER SPURS UNDER SOCIAL REFORM. ciety. It can be made a lawful custom for such per- sons to wear their medals so that one by doing so, would not need to appear vain or presumptuous. Some one may object by saying that a system of medals will prove to be an evil just like a system of titles. We answer by saying that the tendency in this direction will not be as strong as it is under our pres- ent order of economics, and if the people are foolish enough to abuse the medal privilege, they will be obliged to suffer their abuses until they are remedied. If the medal privilege is abused, it can be made more difficult for one to receive this honor, thereby granting a less number of medals. No two medals will be alike; there can be just as many forms to be awarded as may be deemed best for the welfare of Society, and each one will stand for a distinct line of privileges to be enjoyed by the individual holding it. Another spur under the reign of Social Reform, will be along the line of educational advancement. Per- sons who excel by reason of laborious study or intrin- sic worth, can be honored with the more trustworthy work of Society, and can be given the educational medal that will stand for special privileges. The aim to occupy the more honored positions of Society will be a spur more effective than most people imagine. It is perfectly proper that if a person study hard and long, and thereby fulfill certain educational require- ments, he should be rewarded with one of the positions of honor. Some persons must necessarily fill such po- sitions, and why should they not be given to those who have fitted themselves best for this work? This policy would bring the richest fruits to Society, and would be a splendid means of rewarding merit. PEOPER SPURS UNDER SOCIAL REFORM. 315 In the glorious coming kingdom of the Co-operative Commonwealth, honor will take the place of wealth, and in many more instances the love of service will take the place of grim necessity. It will be much more likely that people will enjoy work when the slavish aspect has been taken away, and when it is no longer regarded as a disgrace. Another spur under Social Eeform will be the rec- reation feature. It will be possible for any man or woman who has lived in good behavior, and performed his or her share of the work to enjoy the privileges of travel at certain seasons of the year. Every worker will be allowed a month's vacation each year, to say nothing of the shorter periods of rest that will be in- terspersed throughout the year. This month's vaca- tion can be spent in any distant part of the country, for every worker will be entitled annually to a speci- fied number of miles of free transportation over the national railway, and if he wishes to take his wife and family with him, he can either draw upon his credit that has accumulated, or he can wait until sufficient mileage is due him, and in this manner the working- man with his family can spend a few weeks traveling over the country. This is not a wild dream, although it reads like one. It ought to be possible for any man to enjoy privileges of this character, and if the hun- dreds and millions of dollars that are flowing into the treasuries of the great corporations, were shared by the ones who work to create this wealth, it would mean less labor and more recreation for all. This is a mighty spur that the average worker of the present age does not enjoy. He must grind away at his severe tasks, and, when pay day comes, it re- 316 PROPER SPURS UNDER SOCIAL REFORM. quires all his earnings to pay the rent, grocery bill and other expenses that have been incurred since his last pay day; and, in millions of instances, the poor workers can count themselves fortunate if they have enough money to meet all the natural expenses neces- sary for the support of their families. What encour- agement has any one of these men? They are robbed of their liberty in a free land, for they must go to work early and return late. I met a poor father a short time ago, who told me that he did not see his children from Sunday until Sunday; he was obliged to go to work before they were out of bed, and return home after they had gone to bed; and then very frequently his employer demanded him to work on Sunday. What could the poor man do! It was a position at which he had learned how to make enough money to support his family, and his continued attention to this particular work had, in a measure, incapacitated him for other work. You may call such a man as free as you wish, but, in our opinion, he is the meanest kind of a slave, with a galling yoke around his neck, a cruel object lesson of the present wicked system of greedy competition. Under Social Eeform, the worker will not be re- quired to toil more than six or seven hours a day, and, by doing so, he will be entitled to enough to support himself and family decently, and to enjoy enough of the luxuries to afford happiness and con- tentment for all. Such a worker will then feel as if he were a human being, with a crown of honor and dignity upon his head, instead of being a common tool of greed and a living fool of need. We wish to have it clearly understood that these PROPER SPURS UNDER SOCIAL REFORM. 317 blessings can only come to humanity providing the power and influence of the Christian Church is not relegated to the rear. No people living in the midst of sinful and reckless conditions can expect to be happy and prosperous under the most favorable econo- mic conditions. The Church of Jesus Christ on earth must have full sway, just as complete as it ever has had. We are not talking of some ideal condition of righteousness on earth ; that would spoil the argument of all the chapters in this book. We are only asking that Christianity be given its rightful place and be allowed to operate with all the freedom possible; and even if it does not accomplish any more than it is ac- complishing now, all the conditions that we have prom- ised for Social Reform can be fully and easily real- ized. We would also clearly state that during the continuance of the present Gospel age, while the two forces of Sin and Evil are operating in the world, the time will never come when the possibility of all trouble will be avoided. With all the spurs that are urging men and women onward, the greatest of all is the spur of righteous deeds resulting from the new birth of Christ in the soul of the individual. It is remarkable how men and wo- men who are thus born anew, are urged onward to a noble life, to the accomplishment of still greater things, for the uplifting of humanity. This line of ac- tion has been the bright side of the world ^s history throughout the stormy ages of the past. The world wonders what power sends the thousands of mission- aries away from the comforts and luxuries of Ameri- can homes, to live in dirty hovels, and sacrifice even their lives for the sake of educating, enlightening and 318 PROPER SPURS UNDER SOCIAL REFORM. Christianizing the heathens of the earth. It is the spur of all spurs that moves them onward ; it is the miracle of all miracles in every age of the world, and is still manifesting itself in the hearts and lives of millions of people. What other force has uplifted mankind outside of this ? Name any agency you wish, and you will find it to be the outgrowth of Christian endeavor, some- how or somewhere; and we can expect that, to the same extent that people will become subject to the higher laws of God, and obedient to the will of God, they shall enjoy the temporal blessings of life, and complete the circle of happiness in their life on earth. We doubt not that critics will always be able to pick flaws with any condition of economics under which we do or may live. We need not be unduly influenced by the habitual fault-finder, for it is clearly evident that some have even criticised Christianity unfavorably, and have tried to upset the holy Bible with its doc- trines of Heaven and Hell. If men are bold enough to deny such fundamental truths and facts, we need not be surprised to hear many foolish criticisms and objections offered against the establishment of a Co- operative Commonwealth, which is to redeem man socially as Christ has redeemed him spiritually. The; Path of Human Life. — This is the path we all must travel and pay our daily toll to one trust after another. The burden is becoming un- bearable and it must come to an end. Monument of Skulls.— When the battle between Capital and Labor IS over, such a gruesome monument will be a suitable memorial. Two old survivors have come to shed a few more tears in memory of the cruel age of competition. CHAPTER XXIX. In the preceding twenty-eight chapters we have given a brief description of our economic conditions and have suggested a remedy. We cannot expect that a person prejudiced in favor of Capitalism will accept and promulgate the teachings throughout this book; but, if he would, with an unbiased mind, carefully study the whole subject of economics, he would no longer be dead to the suffering of the masses and the heartlessness of the higher classes. He would then be more inclined to champion the cause of Labor, and lay bare the iniquitous schemes hatched out under the cover of Monopoly and Greed. Surely the reader will not question the accuracy of the first chapter in the book, for it is altogether too apparent that the statements contained therein are true. The fight of the workingmen to secure their rights is the most stubborn of all the contests in the world. The facts and conditions that are being brought to light during this great Capital and Labor 321 322 A GENERAL GLIMPSE. struggle, present the most alarming conditions and will precipitate a most direful calamity if proper set- tlement is not effected. Concerning the second and third chapters, there can be no objections raised. Labor was early dragged into disrepute by the unkindness of man to man under the influence of sin, and the great duty of humanity now is to separate Labor and disgrace forever. The advance toward liberty has been indeed a long and severe struggle, and has agitated every period of the world's history; and now the most important crisis is at hand. We do not hesitate to say that the Co-opera- tive Commonwealth will give the surest and safest deliverance to the fettered millions of our land to-day. Any reader familiar with statistics will hardly deny the facts contained in chapters four and five, where we have given a description of the condition of the skilled and unskilled laborers. Even before this book went to press, we heard words of appreciation from those who chanced to read the manuscript of these chapters. In our consideration of the more unfortu- nate classes of people, we endeavored to be fair. If we had gone to the one extreme and desired to present pictures of the darkest horror, we would have multi- plied tenfold our descriptions of the wretchedness and terror that have come to humanity as the fruits of greed and competition. From chapters six to ten inclusive, we have given a faithful statement of the several great causes that have led to the general discontent among working- men. The reader can do as he wishes in believing or doubting the truthfulness of these chapters, but he cannot brush aside the real facts as we see them in the A GENERAL GLIMPSE. 323 daily life of our American workingmen. Facts are more convincing than all theories, and if you read these five chapters of Labor's discontent, you will find that we have held strictly to conditions as they prevail. Whatever we have said in this book on the subject of Monopoly in chapters ten and eleven, or in any other part of the book, we believe is an honest presen- tation of the whole subject, and, of necessity, very briefly considered. We are just beginning to see the fearful power of money, for its curse is coming upon us with increasing ratio. The scenes of the past twenty years have been almost dramatic, and both the moderately and the immensely rich ought to help solve this problem for the present and for future generations. If the masses of people will not awake to the situa- tion and take radical action, the prophecy of chapter twelve will come to pass, and we will go down to ruin as we deserve. This brings us to ask in the language of the subject of chapter thirteen, **Why are -the Wrongs not Eighted?'* This is considered by some of our friends as one of the most reasonable chapters in the book. It places the blame of our present condi- tions at the right place. Some radical reformers will not like this chapter very much, just because it searches after the real truth, and does not heap flam- ing condemnation on the Monopolists. The question has often come into our minds, *^How many people would continue in poverty if they had the chance to be rich?'* It has always seemed inconsistent to us that the one who cannot get wealth should curse the one who has been able to attain it. In all this we do not 20 & -v ^ g OS n3 - i p. O © m ^ .2 3 fl !> S § 2 a «M O is .11 2 '3 z .a .if ■♦J ^ .2-5 I ^ >^ 8 ^ .s fe J O S 324 A GENERAL GLIMPSE. 325 wish to be misunderstood; it is n9t our purpose to wink at the methods used to gain riches; but we do wish to say clearly, that the present system of compe- tition, and an insatiable human greed, are the two great powers that are mainly responsible for the wretched contrasts in Society to-day. In chapters fourteen and fifteen, we have outlined the history and the work of the labor unions, and have shown what an important factor they have been and are in elevating the mass of workers. They have overcome many internal and external difficulties, and will, no doubt, stay in the conflict until the battle is over. It is true that, in many localities, much evil has resulted from the work of organized Labor, yet it must be admitted that the general uprisiag of Labor had proved to be a very effective force in fighting agaiast the heartless and crushiug greed of Monopoly. It has prevented the total enslavement of the masses, so that it is now possible for them to strike off their shackles forever. Chapters sixteen to twenty inclusive form an im- portant section of the book. Here we have considered the remedies that have been suggested or tried in order to cure the ills of Society, and thereby extend to all people the natural liberties and blessings that God intended they should enjoy. We have given a long and careful study to the several remedies proposed in these chapters. Concerniag our opinion of the rash remedies, we refer you to chapter sixteen. The reme- dies described in chapters seventeen, eighteen and niueteen are all partial in their effect, and some of them are worthy of consideration. In chapters twenty and twenty-one, we find the rays of hope, and, no 326 A GENERAL GLIMPSE. doubt, we will be piisiinderstood by many readers in saying this. We therefore ask your attention to some words of explanation in regard to Socialism and its followers. There is a low class of Socialists who are mostly free-thinking infidels and reckless conserva- tors of thought. These have done much to dishonor a good movement, and have caused many of the noble minded to scorn at Socialism altogether. The diffi- culty of all good reforms is that some classes of peo- ple dash ahead into an ultra radicalism, and thereby do more harm than good. There is also a reputable class of Socialists, who have intelligently surveyed the whole Social question, and are faithfully striving to create public sentiment in favor of Socialism. Some of these are Christian and some are not, although Christian Socialism will be the ultimate platform. Perhaps the best terms to be employed as descriptive of an ideal system of eco- nomics, would be the Co-operative Commonwealth. But it is needless to offer an apology for the word Socialism; the word itself is very good, and is per- haps the best that can be used in connection with the reform for which so many true-hearted men and women are praying to-day. If we can get this reform in line with the lofty teaching of Jesus Christ, it does not matter very much what word is used. In the pre- ceding chapters we have frequently used the term Social Eeform to indicate the coming period of indus- trial equality. By the reading of these few lines, the reader will understand why so many different terms are used interchangeably, if he has not understood it before. In chapters twenty-two, twenty-three and twenty- A GENERAL GLIMPSE. 327 four, we have outlined some of the blessings that will be enjoyed by humanity when the golden period of Social Reform is inaugurated. To these chapters we invite the most careful attention of the reader; for they are suggestive more than exhaustive; and the best of all they are practical instead of fanciful. It is hard to form a full picture of the transformed condi- tions of human Society when the fearful losses of com- petition are eliminated, and when all the surplus labor is thrown into producing channels. In our ignorance we boast of our advancement to-day, and yet we are doing business as a nation in the most unbusinesslike manner, and with the most wasteful methods. Read carefully the three chapters above noted before you charge us with being pessimistic. We admit that we are greatly in advance as a nation over any other for- mer period of our existence; but compared with what we might or should be, we are faf in the rear. Chap- ter twenty-four alone, gives a picture of our blighted industrial life, and in that chapter we make some at- tempt to picture the fearful waste due to our present grinding life of competition in business. We do not pause to think of these things ; nearly all facts of this kind are revelations to us. Just as needless as the fifth wheel on the ordinary wagon, are all the lines of waste labor outlined in this twenty-fourth chapter. Who would care, if this loss of time and labor did not affect the great mass of workers! They are the ones who are made the slaves by reason of these sinful and far-reaching losses. When we take the broom of So- cial Reform and brush down all these darksome cob- webs, there will soon be a purer atmosphere, and the 328 A GENEKAL GLIMPSE. incoming of a greater flood of light, and consequently- greater happiness will prevail everywhere. Who will not welcome the period when the aged and unfortunate will be duly respected? Just as we were writing this chapter, we lifted the daily paper and read that the aged inmates of a certain county poor- house were dying of neglect and starvation. There were aged fathers and mothers who were unfortunate enough to outlive their children, or, perchance, to suf- fer the disgrace of having heartless children, were now at the cold mercy of an almshouse, controlled by brutal and heartless managers. We will all welcome the day when the aged will live in the finest buildings and receive the best attention, and when they will not be considered as burdens, but may feel that they are really our fathers and our mothers. And likewise will we all rejoice when the tramp nuisance shall have been settled; there will be no want or tramps under Social Reform. They seem to be inevitable under our present order. And will it not be a day of great rejoicing when nobody can have a motive for adulterating foods of any kind, or producing inferior articles of manufacture? Do not say we are dreaming! We are talking in the soberness of our souls. We are speaking a truth that will burn its way, some day, to the front. We need not here repeat all the blessings enumerated in the three chapters above cited, for we presume that a per- son reading this chapter has already read those chap- ters. We will spend no time on the important chapter, numbered twenty-five, entitled, ** Christ and Social Reform,'^ for it covers such a distinct field, that to re- view it, would be to repeat practically the entire chap- A GENERAL GLIMPSE. 329' ter. We would urge upon the reader, who may have passed over that chapter lightly, to consider it with careful thought. Tt reveals the attitude of the greatest teacher that ever lived, regarding the economic condi- tions under which Society may enjoy its greatest blessings. Chapter twenty-six, considers the all-important question of how to get Social Reform. Turn back a few pages and read this chapter, if you have not al- ready done so, and you will find that we believe in the stepping-stones of progress. This is a practical field in which we may all work. Let us therefore do what we can in any local effort, such as attempts to secure Municipal Ownership ; and also, let us not forsake po- litical efforts that are being advanced and supported in the interests of Social Reform. We regret that according to past occurrences and present indications, it does not appear that the masses of laboring men can expect to get relief during the reign of either one of the great political parties of to-day. For the satisfaction of those who look ahead for trouble, we have written chapter twenty-seven, to show that it is possible for the government to get possession of our industries. We have not carried this phase of the subject to its many results. There are hundreds of questions that arise, and to consider them all would require another volume ; and, for that reason, we have simply hinted at the manner in which the transforma- tion can take place, and we must depend on the good sense and good judgment of the people who are happy enough to win the victory against Monopoly, to in- augurate a system of economics that will be adequate, 330 A GENERAL GLIMPSE. and as complete as can be obtained by the best wisdom of the people. We need not say anything further concerntQg chap- ter twenty-eight just precediug this one. It overcomes the most serious criticism that has been offered against the Co-operative Commonwealth. If the greatest difficulties can be so easily overcome, it is needless that we enter upon a long and tedious dis- cussion of the probable manner in which the lesser difficulties might be overcome. Other writers have prophesied at length concerning the details of the Co- operative Commonwealth ; they have told us to a nicety just how things will be managed, and how everybody will be happy. Their theories may be correct or they may be false ; to us it makes but little difference as to the smaller details. When a man buys a house he can arrange tlie furniture to suit' himself. The thing that interests us most is the settling of the great points at issue, such as we have covered in this book; and if these wrongs are adjusted, and if the causes of our present economic ills are swept away, then the happy results will follow, just as the day follows the night. When the war is over, and the din of battle no longer disturbs a peace-loving people, what will be the Opinion of that fortunate generation as it reviews the past? It will most naturally regard our present Capi- talistic system as the second of the Dark Ages in which day and night mingled in strange confusion. You have no doubt seen the picture in this book, with its monuments of skulls rising heavenward. We admit that the picture is fanciful more than realistic, but it tells its own story of our present Capitalistic system; when crime walks in broadcloth and silks, and chastity A GENERAX. GLIMPSE. 331 is too often robed in rags. These skulls also speak of untold crimes committed in the name of decency, crimes as black as any midnight of the world's history. These skulls also tell their ominous tales of the woe and wretchedness, of the misery and death that comes to countless numbers of the human race, all laid low under the grinding wheels of poverty, greed, competi- tion and Monopoly. The question arises from the murmuring masses of to-day, ^^Will humanity ever be freer' and the answer comes to us from the brave sons and daughters of the whole nation, as they are rapidly awakening from the sleep of ages : * * We shall be free at last, for the chains must fall from more than four times four millions of industrial slaves.'* We feel like exclaiming after the style of the great Apostle, Competition, where is thy sting I Mo- nopoly, where is thy victory! And the answer will come, they have been taken away by the help of God, and by the outstretched arms of the millions who clamored for deliverance from the fearful bondage. THE Ein). UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY BERKELEY Return to desk from which borrowed. This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. a\a\'i' # A LD 21-100m-9,'48(B399sl6)476 m YC 26146 MlllSGG H5S THE UNIVERSITY OF CAUFORNIA UERARY