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Image provided by: Kansas State Historical Society; Topeka, KS
Newspaper Page Text
0 THE JEO VALJEAH3 OP OUK DAY AHD OODUrEY. Jeaa Valjeau's. Victor Hugo's great character in "Les Miserable," be longed to a poor peasant family of La JJre, France. His parents died while he was very yonng and he grew up in the family of a sister. On the death of the sister's husband he assumed the duties of a father to the seven helpless children, and gave to the family such support as he could This continued while work lasted. On a hard winter came when "Jean had no work to do, and the family had no bread. No bread, literally none, and seven children!" Con fronted by this situation, Jean Val ofnla frnm a baker a loaf of JVUU bread with which to feed the starv ing children. He was arrested, con victed by the court and sentenced to five years at the galleys. Let Victor Hago tell in a few words, without de tail, the fate of the family: What beoame of his sister? What beoame of the set en children? Who troubles him self about that? What beoomes of the spray of leaves when the stem of the young tree has been out at the foot? It is always the same story. These poor living beings, these creatures of God, henoeforth without sup port, guide, or shelter, went oil haphazard, and gradually buried themselves in that oold fog in whioh solitary destinies are swallowed up, that mournful gloom in whioh so many unfortunates disappear dur ing the sullen progress of the human race In the sentence of Jean Val jean all the hopes of a noble spirit were crushed and the possibilities of a noble life destroyed. In all the uf ter years his he life was pursued by a re lentless police. As Father Madeleine, the founder of a great manufactur ing establishment, at M., his presence was pronounced a providence. He raised wages, improved his manufao tures, extended his trade, dispensed blessings everywhere, helped the needy, became honored and respected, was nominated by the king mayor of M., prospered, grew rich and eojoyed the confidence and esteem of all. By his workmen and by the poor he was idolized. He led an unblemised life and was known and honored far and near for his many virtues and bene factions. In the performance of a noble act, the release of an old man from the crushing weight of a loaded cart which had fallen upon him, Father Madeleine was recognized by .Tavflrt. the insDector of police, as Jean Val jean, the galley slave; and he again became the convict, the of fender against the majesty of the law. And for what? For having years be fore taken a loaf of biead to keep a woman and seven children from starv ing. The city of M. had been made prosperous by the work of his hands and brain. Its citizens, wno owed their own prosperity to him, forsook him. His own workmen shunned him. He was friendless in the midst of those who were indebted to him for all they had and for all they hoped to become, How many Jean Valjeans are there in America to-day? How many men are driven to desperation by the pangs of hunger or by the cries for bread of starving children. How many men tdsy are lm jnishinpf in American T-rhonfl, erp-.rric-d frm wives tad children who were dependent upon them for their daily bread, and who would now be upright and honored citizens but for deeds doneindes peration to save loved ones from want? How many others are homeless wanderers, tramps, vagabonds, who but for the hard conditions imposed upon them by society, would be now engaged in industrial pursuits, living honorable lives, and contributing to the aggregate of our national wealth? Public officials and boards of charity talk of aid to the " worthy" poor. Who are the worthy poor, and who the unworthy? Why is the one worthy and the other unworthy ? By what peculiar marks are they to be distinguished? Is it likely that any are poor from choice? You say the one is worthy because he is honest and would work if he could get work to do; while the other will not work when the opportunity is offered. Or the one is simply an honest laboring man out of work while the other is a professional tramp. There may be this distinction. But suppose your honest laboring man, out of a job, starts out to find one and fails. Sup pose he continues to go from place to place in search of work and does not find it. His money becomes ex hausted and he still goes on seeking employment. How is he to live after his last dime is gone, and what now does he become as he pursues his daily search for work, in vain? What would you call your honest working man at this stage of the game? Sup pose he is unsuccessful in finding either work or food; and in his des peration he robs a bank or a railroad train. He becomes then not only one of the unworthy poor, but he be comes a criminal in the eyes of the law. Who made him a criminal? Is he alone to be blamed because he is not still an honest man? The New York Herald of Decem ber 4, 1393, contained a dispatch from Bessemer, Miah., a town com posed of miners, and where five mines had been recently closed. Out of 900 inhabitants, 875 were hungTy when visited by the investigating commit tee. The dispatch says: Forty men marohed to the house of J. W. Bedell, road supervisor. They were all armed, some with rifles, and others with pickaxes and handpioks. "We want work," they growled when Mr. Bedell appeared. "I hate no work," he replied. "We want work or food, and we will hare it," they an swered. These men evidently belonged to the "worthy poor" up to this stage of the proceedings. They had been thrown out of employment by the closing of the mines, and they were honest men now only seeking work by which to keep their wives and children from starvation. Evidently our boards of charity would con sider them worthy of assistance. But the interview with Mr. Bedell contin ues: What will you do if you oan't get it? We will break into the company stores here and live off what they hate there until that is gone, and then we'll break into Bdssemer's stores. We won't starve, and when all get into the penitentiary, they'll bare to feed us. What are these men note? Do they now belong to the worthy or the un worthy poor? The Kansas City Journal of De cember 23, 1893, had the following local: Charles Hall, who olaima Danville, Ky., at his home, was arrested last night by Ser geant Miller, who discovered him in the act of stealing an overcoat from the doorway of a clothing store at Ninth and Maine streets. When taken to the Central police station, Hall told the police that he saw Sergeant Miller and a squad of policemen ooming up the street, and that he took the ooat jost when he did, so that they would see him. He said he did not want to escape from the ofSoero, and is glad that he was caught. He told Captain Flahive that he hoped he would get six months in the county jail as a punishment for stealing the ooat, and that he would much rather be in jail than out in the world with no money or friends. Where would our boards of char ity class this man with the worthy or unworthy poor? A few days ago seventeen men found lodging in one of the station houses in the city of Philadelphia. In the morning they delegated one of their number to ask that they all be committed to the house of correction. "Why are you so anxious to go to the house of correction?" asked the magis trate. "Well," replied Weunder, and he wiped a tew from his oheek, "my companions and myself are weary of several months of a compulsory nomadio life, and they have delegated me to appeal to you to imprison all of us until the oold weather ha passed." The magistrate sentenced each of them for four nnnths. Lieutenant Wolfs record showed that all the applicants but four were mechanics, and they had none of the air of professional loungers. Were these men of the worthy or the unworthy poor? The city could do nothing for them, society could do nothing for them, our boasted civili zation could afford them no relief, ex cept by sentencing them to the house of correction. O, shame upon such a civilization! Shame upon a govern mental system that can exercise no care for its citizens unless they first become criminals. 0, for another Victor Hugo to picture the shame of our American civilization as that in imitable writer has pictured the like evils in France! Ah, these be good times! Green cow skins are selling at 30 cents each in Texas. Wheat, 22 to 26 cents a bushel in the state of Washington. Good colts one year old are selling in Missouri at $3 and $6 a head. Fat sheep-sold recently in the Kansas City market at $1 a head. In Mis souri mules that sold one year ago for $60 cannot bring more than $30. Pennsylvania farmers are feeding their 1892 crop of wheat held for a higher price to their hogs. In Mil waukee, Wis., cows were sold recently at $2.50 a head. Ab, these be grand times! Ws desire to repeat a question we asked some time ago to which no an swer has yet been given. Suppose the farmers of Kansas should com bine together and decline to pay the taxes levied upon their property by the assessors, as the railroads have done, what would republican papers call them If the Capital will con descend to answer the question, per haps the me-too papers will copy the answer. C30IOLU3IVE. The McPharscn Republican has bees lookirg np one of the great hobbies of flat agitators, and gives it the following notice: "The Populist papers are resurrecting the old stories about the Bank of Venice. It is described as a wonderfully beneficial insti tution, surrounding itself with a halo of good deeds to ths public The real f aot is that the Bank of Venice was a first-claas cut-throat. It got a monopoly of oertain transactions, and then worked the mon opoly for all it was worth. It skinned its own neighbors unmercifully, and swallowed a stranger whole when it oould get at him. For people who are not rich enough to be worth skinning it had no earthly use. It would neither do business with them or for them." Capital, January 10. Now, that's conclusive isn't it? The historical citations are so authori tative and exhaustive in support of the statement of this MoPnerson county statesman, that fair minded men will at once accept his conclu sions, especially since they have the unqualified endorsement of the Capital. PoruLMM either means socialism or it means nothing. And the faot that it does mean socialism and makes everyone who adheres to the party a socialist i3 what makes the party not only dangerous to the individual but to the government aa well. Lawrence Journal, January 6. The above is a very positive but a very indefinite statement Will the Journal now be kind enough to specify the particular tenets of social istic faith that are so dangerous to the individual and to the government, and then show its readers just why they are dangerous? The time has come when such general statements a3 the above fail to satisfy fairminded people. Chauncey Depew is joining in the waiL Chauncey draws a salary of $75,000 as president of the Van- derbilts' roads, but turns away from his duties to join in a high tenor in the calamity chorus. He says there are 2,000,000 men unemployed in this country, which means 10,000,000 of people without a bread winner, or the possibility of winning bread. Brad- street says there are 3,000,000 of idle men in this country, and according to Mr. Dapews's estimate of an average of five persons dependent upon each man, we have 15,000,000 of people without a bread winner. It is clearly the policy of the ad ministration to issue more bonds if congress can be induced to do so. Carlisle's recommendation in his re port was evidently intended as a feeler for the country, but it re mains to be seen whether congress will be as tractable in this matter as it was in the matter of the repeal of the Sherman law. As Wall street is in the saddle the country may be prepared for anything. Ukrt you noticed how very little the old party papers have said, edi torially, about R. G. Dun & Co.'s re view of business for 1893? That is a document entirely too strong for old party stomachs, and they are let ting it severely alone. It is certain that Dun's report or review of the business of last year will form no part of any campaign document the old parties may issue this or any other year.