Ralph Waldo Trine - In the Fire of the Heart, 1906 by gnosisclassics

THE FIRE OF THE HEART

THE FIRE OF THE HEART BY

RALPH WALDO TRINE Author of In

What All the World's a-Seeking, Character-Building

Tune with the

Infinite,

Thought Power,

etc.

NEW YORK McCLURE, PHILLIPS

MCMVI

<£•

CO.

1906,

McCLURE, PHILLIPS & CO.

PREFACE volume deals with certain

and

forces in

connection with both our individual lives and our

common

This

social

little

life.

It deals

with the

facts

latter first.

principally three types of readers.

The

have

It will

first,

class of

open and fair-minded people who love

honour,

who

that large justice

and

believe in the great principle of equal oppor-

and

tunities for all

special privileges for none,

who

believe

that one great class of people are not to be used simply as

a grist for another

class,

who

much

just, or wise, or safe,

believe that there is

nothing

common-sense, in per-

less

mitting a social and political state where there are

groups of

men and

and powerful

The

menace

second,

tliat class,

much

so enormously rich

and

own

to their

people at large and

possibly already bers

grown

that their very riches

excesses become a to that of the

families

little

privileges

and

welfare, as well as

to the

very State

itself.

perhaps comparatively small,

larger than

realize,

whose mem-

have been so long schooled in privilege on their own

part, or

from

that they

their ancestors, or

come actually

from

to believe that

their associations,

they in some

are better than the rest of the people, that

somehow

way was,

or is intended, that they be sort of custodians of the welfare

Preface

vi of oilier

and

less

favoured people, and that they become

dispensers of bounty to them in the degree that

own

affect their

standing.

and

accumxdations, or ease

By them

will not

proprietary

the book will be strongly criticised, but

their criticisms will be honest, the

same as

their pre-

judices are honest.

The

third will be the class

— though

the readers of the

book from this class will be very small

means and

fold, chiefly foul,

manipulate be

to get the great

and

people into their

who

own hands

state,

and

that

and

and ivho

control sufficiently

by any means all

work in our

social

menace or

curtail

and

who own a deliberate

portion

promotion

in one form or another influence or

some other portions

— as

though

would present truthfully

their methods;

who

at heart,

strike out vigorously

to disturb or

of the public press for the direct of their ends, or

personal and

poison as they go,

and many

the forces that are at

would seem

their privileges

own

for their

viciously at everything that

and impartially

devilish,

and smooth and suave and

"respectable"

plausible in their methods,

and

for the welfare of all the

who debauch and

are criminals in practice

eminently

dishonest,

by fair

natural properties that should

owned by and administered

excessive enrichment,

— who

have

it belittle

— though not

and

belie

all

any and

attempts to present true conditions and feasible remedies

to the people.

The book

will be criticised by them, con-

demned even as being something given

exaggerating

sonditions or dangerous to the social order

numbers

—

there are

expressions and forms that form sort of

vii

Preface stock phrases that are

always ready and

purpose. The major portions

for this

and vicious

that they

of the criticisms

of this class will be falsehoods

and statements from those deliberate

pens point

— and the interesting part

—

it is

they are such, even while they are uttering

know

them.

may

It perchance

those of the class

not be unwise or amiss to say that

first

mentioned, as well as that portion

of the public press that is not

whose

policies are not

the forces of greed

shaped

and

owned

or controlled, or

by, or their cues taken from,

privilege

and public debauchery,

manhood and

but that stand true to the higher

for the

higher public welfare, while they will agree with and sanction the general purpose of the

little

agree with the author in all particulars.

book, will not

Nor

such

to be expected.

Again,

may

not be amiss to say by

way

of foreword,

that on the part of those or rather many, in the Academic

world, the

little

book will not be accepted, on the ground orthodox ?)

of its being not "scientific," or "scholarly" {or

The author wishes

but "popular." this criticism,

aimed

and

make

to state

little

volume

"common people"

its

make

made

this,

and power in

and upon whose welfare

a simple,

with which

deals,

being for that splendid

that has

every nation of importance history,

aimed

along the lines

"popular," in the sense of great

at once

academic, or technical, or orthodox,

but that he has deliberately concrete

acknowledge

most frankly that he has not

all

as well as the world's

depends; and who,

Preface

viii

now

moreover, are facts

and

forces into their possession, as will yet save

and redeem

common

getting such awakenings, as well as

the

nation,

and with

their

own

great

interests.

Sunnybrae

Farm

Croton Landing, N. Y.

November

1906

College professors moan because no one reads their bloodless and wordy books on economics, but economics when dealt with straight from the shoulder by men who know the facts is to-day more popular than the most popular fiction, more interesting than the most interesting travels, better selling than any other form of literature. This is significant. The American people are gathering facts for future action. They want to be absolutely sure before they act, and then, get from under. From a Current Exchange.

—

CONTENTS PAGE

CHAPTER I.

II.

III.

IV. V.

VI.

VII.

VIII.

With the People

The

Revelation

Conditions that Hold among Us

As Time Deals with Nations

As to Government

A Great

People's

Movement

100

Public Utilities for the Public Good 117

Labour and

Its Uniting

Agencies Whereby

Power

The Great Nation The

188

Shall Secure

the People's Greatest Good IX.

235 289

Life of the Higher Beauty and

Power

316

THE FIRE OF THE HEART

WITH THE PEOPLE: A REVELATION i\ DREAM, seemed yet

know not; but it be amid surroundings unknown before and

seemed very

difference

— to

desired person,

seemed

tance, yet

one had

travel

thought but to see presence of the

there.

where one could look for a long

was not a

But there was a

locality, or in the

and he was

to be

coming and going. for

like this world.

a desired

one's self in

or a vision, or fancy, I

hill,

and men and women

seemed to be neither day nor

dis-

were

night,

one could discern no sun nor moon, neither were

there stars,

And

and

yet

was

light.

I heard heavy trampings as of

men

clad in

coarse nailed boots. I looked and presently I beheld the

form

of a

man, but

bent,

and he looked

closely to the

ground before him as he walked. Though he seemed tired,

weary, and as

he would be glad to

sleep for a thousand years, yet he

along as

he might be

late to

lie

down and

seemed to be hurrying

something. In his hand he

carried a pail. others.

Some

were coming, some were going. All seemed encased

in the

And

as I looked I

saw

others,

and

still

same coarse garments, many were weary, and bent toward the ground and

[3]

all

seemed

were hurrying along.

And

as I

pervade

all

— pity seemed — there appeared before me one

wondered pityingly

things then

who seemed

come

to satisfy

was not one

of those I

seemed as

was as

for

questionings.

was looking upon, although

one time he might have been. His face

sometime he had known great

but there was now a look there

Heart

the Fire of the

was such beauty

of strength

suffering,

and compassion,

in his face that I

wondered

know all things and my thoughts as quickly as I knew them myself. I was about to make inquiry of him when he approached nearer and said: "These are of a company numbering many millions upon the earth who do its heaviest and most important work. Were they not to go to their work daily all.

Moreover he seemed

the industries of the world would stop, and great suffering

and privation would result." I thought,

work later

heavy. Their hours are long.

and

faithfully while

on work stops and

year,

I thought,

made from

and

for for

no work, and their pay were

and

not enough to keep

smiled;

seemed

contemplated the vast

industry even in

their pay so small

did not answer

why he

lasts,

comfort."

But why millions

work

for some, for weeks,

they to work every day in the year in

They

time with their families, for they must

little

diligently

some, for months, there

them

eager

and why are they bent so to the ground?

''Their work

have but

Why do they seem so

country every

to be a pitying smile, but

thought, and I

smiled and said nothing.

[4]

knew not

at the time

In While

was meditating upon

commotion as and

voices

companion

all this

for

and

said,

score,

" These are

and the others

will

be scarcely one

tramp on as they have

to other works."

had the noise subsided and

multitude of

men gone on

its

way when

prime of

the

man

and as he ran he was followed by a crowd

and excited men and boys. then I

was wet and very

not yet

His face was haggard and white

life.

saw a stone

eager

I heard excited

and angry shouts. I looked and beheld a in the

I heard

men by the score. My men out of work. A few

the cries of excited

many weary days

Scarcely

I heard a great

outside of great gates,

are to be taken to-day, though

from a

Heart

the Fire of the

fall

to the

red. I

I heard a dull

of shouting

sound and

ground and one corner of

saw the man stagger and

fall

forward, and from the back of his head blood flowed. woman rushed from the crowd. " It's John, I feared

the look in his eyes this morning." She kissed the white face

and with her lower

bleeding head.

And

skirt

wiped the bruised and

the child she carried in her arms

looked on in wonder.

Then

heard the clang

hoofs striking the

a gong and horses

hard pavement, and as the rapidly

gathering crowd separated I noticed that the man's

form was very

thin.

My companion

work and with hungry mouths stolen bread. It's

said: "

Long out

to haunt him, he has

common.'

— I knew not whence they came or whither they went — a large company that seemed to be And

neither

saw

men nor women

for they

[5]

were not grown, nor

In were they

erect.

the Fire of the

They

did not seem to be children, for

they had neither children's

"These were children,"

race,

said

Some

before their time.

though

Heart

nor

faces

movements.

my companion, "put to work

are old and broken now,

young, are scarcely able to keep up

still

and from them a brood

But there are not so many, alone there are at this

God, Heaven and

worse

still

Hell, I cried,

nearly two million."

—

"Wait," he said, and before he had spoken I

come."

"In your country

I ventured.

moment

will

and

in the

his

thought

heard a commotion as of doors breaking open, and

under

lurid

lights

and amid

strains of coarse quick

music I saw bedraggled and flushed faced and harsh voiced women that were pushing and pulling one another,

and when one to kick

What

"This

others

seemed even with

With a sense

her.

a low dance

and

man." revel

They

hall.

I heard the

from other

place after place of the

words

places. I looked

same

type.

and how came they here ? "In ranks are always

from many

full.

They

and saw

So many, I

said,

this section are over

will

be to-morrow; the

start in different

ways and

different places." I looked at a

group with

The

faces were

were

still

traces of refinement.

some marred, but the hair in its colour.

"These," he

and well-known small that

are fighting for a

same music and the same

thousand to-night and there

whom

vile

of horror, I thought,

this ?

brute of a noise

fell

and beat

stores

said,

some had great beauty "were employed

and establishments

when food was

gotten, all

[6]

in large

wages so

was gone. They

the Fire of the

Heart

many bravely, but they grew could make no headway, for the

struggled for a while,

weary when they

and the dreams of youth were with them. Men were ready to give them money. For a while they found the way less hard and dreary.

grace, the attraction, the fire

They never dreamed of these places; but all find their way here in time." All? I said. "Sometimes a rough black wagon carries a rudely stained box out through a long street and through a gateway edged with drooping trees,

and some are spared these

became

resorts."

conscious again of the sights

Then

and ounds about

me.

So horrible

and those that of one

all

seemed, that I said, cursed be greed

— "Lightly," he

said,

"a wealthy owner which some of

of the large establishments in

these were at one time employed, has built a most beautiful chapel in one of our large churches just

had

dedicated to Christ. In

liberal." I sat

musing but

all

and has

charity he

could not comprehend.

anger seemed to vie with reason,

when

most

Then

was brought

again to myself by the sound of horse's hoofs hurrying by.

They drew a

by two

strange looking wagon. It was followed

rattling carriages that

were drawn by poorer

was a gentle looking woman and with her were three children. In the second were

looking horses. In the

women who looked

first

like those that

something

places about us, but they

seemed

type. "I said," volunteered

times a rudely stained box

street,

be of

were

in the

a more gentle

companion, "that some-

carried out through a long

and some are spared these

[7]

resorts.

She was so

In gentle

the Fire of the

Heart

and beautiful and was filled with such compassion

and kindness. So young, only care of the family

largely

fell

the early twenties.

The

upon

was

never strong and by and by she

her, but she

Then kind

weary.

fell

gentlemen helped her, though they received more than they gave. She went

away

failed to reach the little

but

all

for a time, but her help never

home. By and by she returned,

hands were raised against her, and her fine

tive spirit

could not stand

before

away and soon the White Plague came panion, but

letter carried

little

home,

to be her

From

her savings

each fortnight the same old help to the

until

two days ago, from a public

institution,

where even with a sad and sweet smile she

body with a

little

envelope enough to bury

back to her mother's home." And as bravery, her goodness,

*'but

to seize

me. "It

the

way of

But we

all

have our

Jesus and

cried,

"Jesus was wise and his

own

And

life

full

was without

as I pondered

and stood looking out

and anger

ears

stainless

failings

enough

and none

relief,

then

Mary Magdalene.

of compassion,

and more,

error."

and repeated to myself

companion seemed

her

the world," he said,

are perfect, I volunteered. I wept and found involuntarily

it,

was sent

I thought of her

few are wise enough or themselves

to unders and.'

left

it,

and her youth, then "All hands

were raised against her" rang

seemed

com-

did not stay with her long. She seemed

not to care, nor had she any fear.

sensi-

Again she went

it.

to be

forgetful of

his words,

presence

into the space before us, while a

strange expression covered his face. I looked at

[8]

him but

Heart

the Fire of the

and without any other move-

said nothing. Presently

ment, even of the head, he placed his hand upon

My surroundings

forehead and said, "yonder!"

changed and beheld a

was not

company

midst was one

walked as

her face I saw that in

seemed

earth. I looked

and

white garments and in their

in very

who seemed

distance, for she

was

on the

as if

she had

come a long

weary, and as she turned

was sad, and

yet not sad, for joy

it.

And two were

leading her

by the hand and they

a path that was very bright and that

went along

became brighter as they went. And there walked beside them one whose form was not that of a woman and He was clothed with a greater light. I wondered upon it and when

all

I perceived again I

saw that some were

seated and others were reclining as on a bank.

He whose form was

not that of a

woman

Then

bent over

and kissed the forehead of the one; and I saw

Him no

more.

Looking again I could no longer distinguish from the others the one that had been led.

— she

must be rested now. And

seemed

to be joined

were I

little

children

saw no aged

called his

him

there. I

"They

strange looking

thought

of others,

and among them

and young men and maidens, but must have

surroundings

hand from say,

by hosts

And

immediately they

slept, for

when

I re-

companion was taking

forehead and as he did so I heard

are returning." I looked and

wagon and the two

rattling carriages

as they retraced their course along the road.

[9]

saw the

"And her

the Fire of the

Heart

mother never knew

it,"

she not until she

welcomed and cared

said

companion. "And

may

by the one

for

who was welcomed and cared for to-day, and then to know will not hurt her." I am grateful for this revelation, I said. Would that all could have witnessed it. "All," he replied, "who, imperfect themselves are prone to judge or condemn another. better it

Henceforth you shall be a

man." Amen and amen,

seemed

as the

whole

city

I shouted,

and so loudly

must hear. Then

I thought,

but I did not feel ashamed. I

heard a low rumble, the grinding as of iron upon

iron,

A crowd quickly gathered.

a sudden jerking sound.

A woman

rushed through

was limp and blood

and bore something from

the track. There was blood

upon the

down upon her

trickled

Pale and trembling, she bore

"To-morrow they will

Field.

He was such

But the father ? father's

work

cart

dress-

through a door, the

entrance to a long dark passageway. said

The form

track.

away

companion

to the Potter's

a bright lad, and of great promise."

"He is away to his work." But the "You do not understand," he said, and

I said,

again he smiled. But surely, I persisted, there should

be no Potter's Field

own

a country such as

"one

great city," he said,

the Potter's Field. This year

hauled there.

this.

in every ten

"In your buried in

many thousands

will

but the living must have bread and they cannot help

The crowd

still

but the car had

What

the last indignity the poor fight against it."

looked at the blood upon the track,

moved

on.

a place, I thought, for a child to play, for the

[10]

was not wide, and

street it

the Fire of the

was very

Heart

seemed to be very

and

dirty

and many teams were going and coming,

hot,

and through them

seemed never to end

cars that

The

clanging, were threading their way.

and then the smells were something

noise

their

and now

"Look

frightful.

about you" he said. I looked and in the one block there

were over a hundred children play here

Why do they

about the

prairies

city,

seemed

do they

not go to the parks, and to the

and out

into the country

The

again he smiled and said nothing.

and

Why

at play.

we were

was

air

And close

some strange place under-

ground where there was no

light

nor

only noise

air,

and commotion and smells indescribable.

And

saw a

little

seen before but

cortege similar to the one

was longer as

threaded

we had way

its

along. "Another victim of the plague." The plague ? " The White Plague. This time it is a mother. She

worked with

until

a few days ago. Last year the father went

and two

children.

Three are

left.

tenement over a dozen have gone with

many years. This were the

built for

city.

it.

Why

air,

here

spreads

a third as

itself

throughout

here as in other

have they not houses with more

more open space ? And again he smiled,

and

said nothing. It

and

I longed for full breaths of pure

change," said

In the same

home. These houses, these rooms

Three times as many take

parts." I said, light,

is its

From

seemed

my companion,

brain were on air.

"We

and turning he

fire

must

led the

way.

There was the mingling of sounds as

[11]

pieces of fine

the Fire of the

Heart air;

and out from

trees

and along a

metal were striking one another in the

under the shade of wide-spreading

smoothly paved road a low hanging carriage almost without noise. In so

comfortable,

seemed to

me and

seize

of the conditions

go to

their relief.

seem

to share in

and so

big,

I said,

we have been

Hope men knew

well-to-do.

only these

witnessing, they would

My companion my

rolled,

were four men. All looked

listened,

but he did not

enthusiasm, and at the time I

not why. "One," he said, "is owner of

knew

the mills from

which you saw the coarsely booted and clothed men with pails in their hands coming and going, the

whose wages enable them comfort

to live

men

only in the most meagre

they work every day in the year which they

never do. Very large sums are saved by closing the mills for a portion of each year

and even when they are run-

some work always on part time only." "His companion on the seat with him

ning,

works where many hundreds

women

are employed.

for him, they

Though

of children

others

owner

and many

manage the works

have machinery which children can tend

that saves a million a year over what adult labour would cost. It is very

hard and exacting work for the

and many come out and deformed

for

of the

life,

but

little

ones

works crippled or stunted it

a great saving for the

owner!

"The

other

very rich and prominent, the owner of

many apartment houses as he calls them, in the portion of the city we have just been visiting. Tenements and lung-blocks those who live in or near them call them. [12]

Heart

the Fire of the

The Honourable Joseph, his friends and charitable institutions know him as. Slimy Joe his tenants and those who have close dealings with him, call him "The fourth is a man who has never worked at all. He inherited properties worth many millions. Managers attend to these and collect his incomes.

many known as

Among them

extensive railroad properties. His father

are

was

the great corruptionist. His managers follow

in his father's practices.

loves sport.

Though

a lavish spender and

and strong looking, he

large

never well."

But

all

the rich are not like these, I volunteered.

"By no means," he replied. "These are only the parasitic, the low down rich, those whose God, whose religion, whose life is greed, and who know no more. But their name

legion,

though they are never happy, never

at peace."

The

people, the people, I cried,

inequality that

fool.

They do not

day" — and a strange

seemed

filled

They have little imaginaknow their power. But some

think.

enough to

tion, scarcely

light

passed over his face and he

with great emotion, but did not finish his

thought. Presently he continued,

many

of the rich help support

it.

you look

large hospital that

was destroyed some days

ago, and a large charity ball

rebuild

musing on the great

seemed to haunt me. "The people are

being given to help

They are on their way to it now. A little later as upon it you will see women, wives and daugh-

ters of these,

and others, clad

garments costing almost

fabulous prices, and decked with jewels and gems

[13]

the Fire of the

sufficient in value to feed

the city

we have

and clothe the portions of

been in for years. I

just

out to you a young

man who

who has never done

and who perhaps never

in his life

point out to you a lad of but twelve years

will. I will

who upon

will point

has recently come into

possession of over thirty millions,

a useful day's work

Heart

his father's

demise

will fall heir to properties

worth over a hundred million,

all

made from

values

created by the people of the city where his properties

Among those whom you will see to-night you will many most vulgar in their excessive display, and

lie.

notice

and vulgar

others gross

appearance, for excessive

in their

wealth makes gluttons and abnormals of many.

And

when you see the haughty, self-important air on the part of many, remember it is merely one of the weaknesses of

human

nature to which the excessively rich are

easy victims, and that

by the presence of many

who

will

be more or

balanced

less

admirable and sensible people,

There are few

of the very

of the excessively rich that

do not pay

be there

and none

rich

will

to-night.

heavy penalties for their abnormal hold on

same

life,

the

as the excessively poor. In this they are alike.

Rejoice that you are of neither and use the knowledge

you have gained for the good

mon

of both.

With

the com-

people their redemption lies."

I thought

on the times when

and said nothing, and

my questions he smiled

then I

seemed

to understand

clearly.

"With as

the

people,"

repeated

he touched his hand upon

[14]

my head.

companion, I

seemed

In for a

while to

Presently

and

strange it

holds

absorbed,

perceived

that

fascination

took

Heart

the Fire of the

still.

"With

people."

[15]

yet I

not

was

thought.

alone,

possession the people."

when me,

"With the

THE CONDITIONS THAT HOLD AMONG US

E should be a very great and a uniformly prosperous As a nation we have had advantages and oppor-

people.

tunities that

have never been equalled perhaps, by any

people thus far in the world's history. free ling

have been

from the cast systems and certain progress strangcustoms of the old world countries; we have enjoyed

from the beginning liberty;

practically full civil

started free

hopeless, drink-impelling poverty, that

the curse of so

many

for our boys and our

free

our young

for the older

natural products from

and mine have been

We should

the bane and

we have

educational opportunities

girls, for

young women, and even

Our

religious

of the old world countries;

had almost universal

so chosen.

and

from that dreary, grinding,

men and our

when they have soil,

and stream,

almost fabulous in their returns.

be a uniformly free and happy and pros-

perous people. But

are not uniformly free, neither

happy nor prosperous. These statements may seem some the product of a mind ill at ease, or given misstatement or to exaggeration. Shall

For

all practical purposes,

as collectively, enjoy

economically free,

civil

we do

see

to to

individually as well

freedom. But he

who

not

a slavery of the most haunting

and endeavour-crushing

type.

[16]

the Fire of the

Heart

over ten millions of our people are in a state of

And

chronic poverty at this very hour

every seven, or, to

make

full

— almost one out of

allowance, one out of every

eight of all our people are in the condition

have not sufficient food, keep them

And

and

where they

and

clothing,

shelter to

a state of physical and mental efficiency.

the sad part of

it is

that large additional numbers,

— numbers most appalling for such a country as

this,

are each year, and through no fault of their own, drop-

ping into this same condition.

And

still

sadder feature of

creasingly large

numbers

it is,

that each year in-

of this vast

army

of people,

our fellow-beings, are, unwillingly on their part and in the

superhuman

face of almost

the last those

efforts to

moment, dropping

who

into the

— already

increasing year,

pauper

class,

till

are compelled to seek or to receive aid from

a public, or from private charity, all

keep out of

numbers

and so

in order to exist at

numbers about four

million,

while

of this class, the pauper, sink each

naturally, into the vicious, the criminal,

the inebriate class. In other words

we have

gradually

allowed to be built around us a social and economic sys-

tem which yearly

drives vast

numbers

of hitherto fairly

well-to-do, strong, honest, earnest, willing

men

under

its

weary, endeavour-strangling influences

of these in time,

moment in to

and admirable

with their families into the condition of poverty, and

their semi-incapacitated

keep out of

many

hoping against hope, struggling to the last

it,

and pathetic manner

are forced to seek or to accept public

or private charity, and thus sink into the pauper class.

[17]

In It

the Fire of the

a well authenticated fact that strong men,

now weakened by

poverty, will avoid

they will take this step. thing they have

when

Heart

first,

Many

to the last before

after parting with every-

break down and cry

babes

moment comes, and they can avoid Numbers at this time take their own

the final

longer.

rather than pass through the ordeal,

numbers

struggled so valiantly,

still

whom

desert their families for

—

and

they

lives

larger

have

almost invariably the

woman who makes her way to the charity agencies. The public and private charities cost the country during the past year as nearly as can be conservatively arrived at,

over $200,000,000.

Moreover, a strange law seems

work with an

accuracy that seems almost marvellous. It

is this.

Not-

withstanding the brave and almost superhuman strug-

gone through with, on the part of these,

gles that are

before

can

they

take

private charity for aid,

themselves to

when

public

the

the step

they gradually sink into the condition where tive

and

lost,

all initia-

sense of self-reliance seems to be stifled or

all

and

once taken,

it is

only a rare case

now and

then that they

ever cease to be dependent, but remain content with the alms that are doled out to them,

do they

rise

—

out of that condition

practically never

again.

Talk with

practically

any charity agent or worker, one with a

sufficiently

extended experience and you

there

cerning

scarcely this.

more than one type

And

will find that

of testimony con-

as this condition gradually

becomes

chronic and endeavour and initiative and self-respect are

[18]

In lost,

the Fire of the

Heart

a certain proportion then sink into the condition

of the criminal, the deseased, the chronically drunk,

the inebriate, from which

reclamation

still

difficult.

There are reasons

and one reason consider most let

us look

for these conditions

chief

among them

all,

shall

fully in its proper place. First, however,

more minutely

still

into the conditions of the

type we have been considering that we us facts sufficient in to

coming about, that

number and

may have

power

before

to impel us

an examination of the causes which have brought

about these conditions.

As has been

stated, there are at the present time over

a state of

ten million of our fellow-beings living in poverty, that

and

is,

shelter to

without sufficient of food and clothing

keep them

as animals are kept,

first-class

condition even

— to keep them in a

state of effi-

ciency to compete in the struggle for work; and

work, the rush and the strain in

become so

great,

many

and the competition

livelihood so keen, that

when

centres has

for even a

no one can afford

mere

be even for

the shortest period, in anything but a state of full and

complete

efficiency.

The above

careful estimates late

is based, among others, upon the made by Mr. Robert Hunter, in that

estimate

and very admirable book," Poverty,"* and has been statistics and facts

formulated from a very wide range of

and observations. Moreover, as

made

this estimate

has been

only on the basis of the distress which manifests

*Macmillan

& Company, New

York and London.

[19]

In itself,

the Fire of the

Heart

such as pauper burials, yearly evictions, the

num-

bers applying for public charity, the vast armies out of

employment most

for

number who

who

some portion

clearly evident that there

of the year, is

are in great need,

suffer keenly but bear

struggle on, without

must be

a very large additional

many

bravely,

in dire distress,

and

suffer

and

ever becoming evident to the

its

world.

After stating that in 1903, 20 per cent of the peo-

were in

ple of Boston

cent of the

per

evicted;

who

distress;

1897, 19 per cent

cent

families

the

Manhattan

were

10 per cent (about) of those

and every year

die in

New York State; in 1899, 18 per people of the New York State; in 1903,

the people

Manhattan have pauper

taken directly from city and

burials,

—

facts

and the

state statistics,

pathos and tragedy and suffering they stand for so plainly evident,

Mr. Hunter goes on

to say:

"These

figures, furthermore, represent only the distress

manifests

itself.

There

of those in poverty, in I think

anyone

in saying that

that

is,

any community, apply for

living in

many

which

no question but that only part a Settlement

families

who

will

charity.

support

— housed —

are obviously poor

underfed, underclothed, or badly

never ask for aid or suffer the social disgrace of eviction.

Of course, no one could estimate the proportion of those who are evicted or of those who ask assistance to the total number in poverty for whatever opinion one may ;

have formed

based, not on actual knowledge, gained

by inquiry, but on impressions, gained through friendly

[20]

intercourse.

Heart

the Fire of the

own

opinion

that probably not over

half of those in poverty ever apply for charity, tainly not their

more than

should not wish an opinion

from the

of this sort to be used in estimating distress, etc., the

from the

cer-

that proportion are evicted from

However,

homes.

and

number

figures of

of those in poverty.

facts of distress, as given,

And

yet

and from opinions

formed, both as a charity agent and as a Settlement worker, I should not be at of those in poverty in

large cities

and

25 per cent of

all

New

surprised

the

number

York, as well as in other

industrial centres,

rarely

fell

below

the people."

Speaking of unemployment,* and when one's wage

about a "living wage," that

and

is,

sufficient to

his family in fair condition, providing

time whatever,

we can

easily see

keep him

loses

what unemployment

even for a very short period must necessarily mean. Mr.

Hunter says: "The

figures of

very imperfect, show that the times of prosperity. the

unemployment, although

evil is

wide-spread, even in

In the last census (that of 1900)

number found to be unemployed

sometime during

the year was 6,468,964, or 22.3 per cent of

all

the work-

ers over ten years of age,engaged in gainful occupations.

Thirty -nine per cent of the male workers unemployed, or 2,069,546 persons, were idle from four to six months * At this present time

—

a period of unusual commercial and industhan the average number are out of employment. But with our present methods, this dreaded and hard condition, that has in the aggregate affected millions among us, is liable to repeat itself at any time. Any fair dealing, therefore, with the economic conditions of the nation cannot omit a consideration, or at least a mention, of these conditions.

trial activity

—

less

[21]

In of the year.

the Fire of the

These

Heart

figures are for the country as a whole,

for all industries including agriculture. In manufactur-

ing alone the

unemployment

rose to 27.2 per cent of all

the workers. In the industrial states of the East and

North the percentage of unemployment

larger than

The Massachusetts

for the country as a whole.

for 1895

census

showed that 8,339 workmen were unemployed

continuously during that year, and that 252,456 persons

were irregularly employed. This means that over 27 per cent of

all

some portion is

persons covered by the inquiry were idle

of the year.

That

this is

shown by the Massachusetts census

time over 29 per cent of the

not exceptional

for 1885.

workmen were

At that

irregularly

employed. In other words, the annual wages of more

workman

than one

in every four suffered considerable

decrease by reason of a period of enforced idleness,

extending in some cases over several months. In the industrial towns, such as Haverhill,

Fall River, the irregularity of greater. In these

workmen were That very lies,

idle

large

of workers, heads of fami-

work an

insufficient

a well-ascertained

numbers are not receiving what

enough

but

That

amount

there are those

fact.

fail to

so, either

Very

is known as a who do receive

keep themselves and their families

who

their families in comfort as well

as in a state of efficiency,

fort,

employment was even

during some part of the year."

numbers

receive for their

"living wage."

Bedford, and

towns from 39 to 62 per cent of the

keep themselves and

large

New

com-

on account of intem-

perance, or bad management, or misfortune of some

[22]

Heart

the Fire of the

kind, or through lack of an ordinary good management,

some other cause or

or by reason of edly true,

and

deny

would be

causes,

undoubt-

entirely useless.

That,

on the other hand, there are vast numbers who are receiving a wage insufficient even by the utmost economy,

good management and in a state of comfort

Were

true.

this

keep themselves

self-denial, to

and

efficiency

number very small

such enormous proportions,

most abundantly

instead of being of

would be a menace

the highest welfare of the country as well as a disgrace so great as to

demand that

its

causes be ascertained and

eradicated. It

would be a very hard matter, as can

seen, to establish a necessary or "living

would be such for

all

living expenses in

wage"

that

portions of the country, because sections are necessarily con-

some

siderably higher than

readily be

others.

can approach,

however, to an average necessary wage by ascertaining

what good

authorities, as well as careful investigators,

have practically decreed as a necessary wage

in various

employments as well as sections of the country. John Mitchell has said, in his book on " Organized Labor " "

For the great mass of unskilled workingmen,

residing in towns five

and

cities

thousand to one hundred thousand, a

wage

consistent

should not be

would, in

with less

with a population of from fair

American standards

wage, a

of living,

than $600 a year. Less than

this

judgment, be insufficient to give to the

workingman those necessaries and comforts and those small luxuries which are

now [23]

considered essential."

In the Fire

of the

Heart

has been shown by the Massachusetts Bureau of

Labor (1901) that $754 a year

Statistics of

for a family of five persons to live on.

one of the largest

City.

required official of

City charities states that as

necessary for a family of five in

Without going farther

New York

into the matter this

would

an average necessary wage of about $659 a

establish

year.

able

two dollars a day, or about

result of his observations

$624 a year,

New York

And

may

while this

undoubtedly

an amount for many

be greater than necessary, as

some

for

localities, it is

others.

In the light of this

will

be interesting as well as

valuable to see what in various of work, the actual

not too high

localities, as well as lines

wages received

are.

The

census of

1900 shows that the average yearly earnings of each of 5,308,406 $437.96. it

persons

The

engaged

manufacturing

was $444.83 per worker. This

census bureau says:

slight difference, the

"was only an apparent

one, due

partly to the exclusion of high-salaried foremen

managers from the returns

due

was

previous census, that of 1890, showed that

also to the

and

of the census of 1900, partly

more complete returns

of the lower-paid

labour in the south.

The

following table (the census of 1900) subdivides

the census compilation for a

number of cities

The

10 largest cities 154 next largest Outside these cities

Average

wage-earners,

yearly wages.

1,412,831

1,599,033

2,294,279

5,306,143

[24]

as follows

Average No.

$489 445 400

For

this

lion, the

number

the Fire oj the

Heart

of wage-earners, a

over five mil-

little

average wage therefore, was in round numbers,

$445.

Dr. Peter Roberts says that the average yearly wage

and that

in the anthracite coal district is less than $500,

about 60 per cent of the workers receive

The

less

than $450.

Federal census for 1900 states that 11 per cent of

the male workers, over 16 years of age employed in the

New England cotton mills, received a rate of pay amounting to less than $6 a

week,— about $300 a

must be noted, was

their rate of pay, that

year. This, is,

what they

would have earned had they worked every day year, hence not the actual wage received. In the Middle States nearly a third of

all

in the

the workers

are receiving a rate of wages less than $300 per year,

and

in the Southern States, considerably over half

59 per cent

When

— are

can readily see what it

means

ers, in

at least

this

than this amount.

work

taken out,

amount means. In many

cases

less in actual

wages

industry

than $300

one fourth

In the shoe-making

ceived.

a year

receiving less

the time that they cannot

—

less

re-

received by 51 per cent of unskilled work-

the Central States

by 80.3 per

Middle States by 87 per cent of

this

cent,

and

same

in the

class of

workers.

Testimony was presented before the Industrial Commission showing that the 150,000 track hands working

on the railroads of the United States received wages ranging from 47| cents a day for the South to $1.25 a

day

in the North.

The

highest

[25]

wage they would

receive

tlie

Fire of the Heart

then would be about $150 a year for the South, and a little less

than $375 for the North. Testimony was given

by the same witness that these wages were

shopmen

the carmen and

North and South, num-

in the

about 200,000 men.

bering

also paid to

Before

the

same

In-

that

the

dustrial Commission, testimony was given

wages of the

street-car

employees ranged from $320 to

$460 a year.

From

this

are able to get

some idea

what the

needs of some millions in the country are compared to

what they are able actually needs.

And

then

when

meet these

to receive to

sickness comes, or death, or

accident, or misfortune of

any type as well as being

temporarily thrown out of employment, which times a misfortune of the gravest moment,

what

see

distress

and uncertainty must

we need brought about gives an at

tees

in the nation

economic and industrial a

least

regularity of

decent

fairly

employment

to the

I can scarcely

resist

we can

many

readily

result. Certainly

a condition that

state

which guaran-

wage

living

and a

who

great hosts

day are denied them. This, indeed,

to-

fundamental.

here the impulse to quote an-

other paragraph or two from Mr. Hunter's admirable

work "

Among

the

many

inexplicable things in

life,

there

probably nothing more out of reason than our disregard for preventive measures to

provide

homes,

almshouses,

etc., for

and our apparent willingness prisons,

asylums,

hospitals,

the victims of our neglect. Poverty

culture bed for criminals, paupers, vagrants,

[26]

and for

— In

Heart

the Fire of the

such diseases as inebriety, insanity, and imbecility; and yet

endlessly go on in our unconcern, or in our blind-

ness, heedless of its sources, believing all the time that

are merciful in administering to

sults.

Those

its

unfortunate re-

in poverty are fighting a losing struggle,

we might

because of unnecessary burdens which

from

become drunken, suppliant,

vagrant,

criminal,

and the

social miseries is thus perpetuated

come

From

in that

almost impossible, the degeneracy

of the adults infects the children,

generation.

and

diseased,

do we consider mercy necessary. But

day reclamation

lift

go to pieces and

their shoulders ; but not until they

foulest of our

from generation to

the millions struggling with poverty

the millions

who have

lost all self-respect

and

who hardly, if ever, work, who are aimless who like drink, who have no thought for their children, and who live contentedly on rubbish and alms. But a short time before many of them were of ambition,

and

drifting,

mass

that great, splendid

material welfare

were

but they

poverty,

hard-pressed,

but

possessed

gained nothing,

they

were

they were ambitious, determined,

and miserably housed,

want

They were

self-respecting;

and hard working. They were clothed,

upon which the

of producers

the nation rests.

them,

also underfed, under-

— the

they

fear

worked

they were isolated,

and dread sore,

but

heart-worn

and

weary." It is true, as

can be readily established, that during

the past few years there has been on the whole an increase of wages,

— though by no means in [27]

all cases,

the Fire of the

Heart

but at the same time through various other combina-

economic causes there has been an increase

tions of

the prices of the various commodities as well as actual necessities of

and out

many

life,

which have been enormous

of all keeping with whatever

been in wages. Under the

title,

advance there has

Wages and

the Cost of

Living," the following paragraph appeared in the Arena for

November, 1903. " The

tions

and

trusts

have made a great deal of capital out of

the fact that between 1897

York City have

special pleaders for corpora-

and 1901 the wages

in sixteen trades risen

of $2.78 to $2.91

a day, and

heralded through Great

this fact

New

from an average has been broadly

Britain as an

argument

favour of protection and monopoly. But these special pleaders

for plutocracy fail to

and one which

They

fact,

entirely changes the nature of the case.

fail to state

living in the

mention another

that during this period the cost of

Empire City increased 10 per cent above

the increase in wages, while since 1901 the cost of living

has steadily risen. Dun's Agency places at over 33 per cent. "And according to the tile

Agency report on March

the

1906, the cost of living

for the entire country

was then the highest

during the thirty years

certain

we can

are

has been

many

lines of

the necessaiy non-employment during a

number

cases, as

is,

has kept a record. This coupled

with the uncertainty of employment in so

work, that

increase

Dun Mercan-

still

weeks

in the year,

works

many

readily see, almost untold hardships.

considering this vast

millions in our country

who

army

of over ten

are living in poverty in the

[28]

the Fire of the

Heart

face of our great apparent prosperity,

much

which

indeed apparent when the facts are carefully looked into.

There has been

of late years a great

prosperity,

but confined so generally to such a small group, or to such small groups of people, that

measure

when considered

lost

its

force

to a great

in connection with

the

great mass of the people.

The number in

of propertyless persons, that

state or country, is

many

the real standard, or rather the diffusion of

The ilies,

they

is,

tenants,

times a good criterion of its

prosperity.

census returns for 1900 show that 8,365,739 famor 54 per cent do not live,

that

is,

own

the

homes

which

they are continually paying rent. Those

owning and occupying mortgaged homes were 2,196,375

;

while those living in homes that were wholly and

own were 4,761,211, or but 31 per cent of the total number of families in the country. Of course, the number of families owning their own homes is much actually their

smaller in the

cities

than in the smaller towns. In several

of our larger cities, probably 99 per cent of the

do not own the homes

earners

which they

are each year paying out, sometimes as

much

cent of their earnings, in rent. I have seen that the

amount paid

ed homes the

at least

amount paid

in rent

two

and

in interest

billion dollars

in taxes,

— and

wage-

live,

but

as 40 per

estimated

on mortgag-

per year,

this vast

—

less

amount

annually transferred into the pockets of 10 per cent of the population, the rent paid for property used as homes only.

The

last

Federal census shows the following percent-

age of homes rented in the various

[29]

cities,

enumerated

the Fire of the

Heart 81.1 74.9 79 82.0 80.6

Boston Chicago Cincinnati

Fall River

Holyoke

New York

(Manhattan)

94.

77.9

Philadelphia

In 160

cities,

of at least 25,000 inhabitants each, the

number

average

of tenants

seventy-four in every

hundred. Professor J. G. Collins, a statistician of

some

who had charge

of the inquiries of the census of 1890, estimated

that only about 10 per cent of

the population of the

country were landlords, and that these owned and con-

somewhere near 90 per cent

trolled total

of the nation's

land values.

The

idea I think quite generally prevails that the

great agricultural population of the nation

in a gener-

ally prosperous condition, and that there are but few

who do such

States

own

not

which they

till.

the case. is

the farms

Certainly

upon which they is

live

and

natural to suppose that

The total number of farms

in the

United

5,737,372, supporting a population of about

28,000,000 people. Mr. George K. Holmes, a very cautious

and

careful investigator, has

basis of the census of

shown

that on the

1890, over 34 per cent

of our

farmers are tenants, and an additional 18.6 per cent

have

their

farms mortgaged. Accordingly over one-half

of the farmers of the country have only a partial owner-

ship in their farms or are propertyless.

When we

consider the great numbers of families

[30]

— In

the Fire of the

Heart

whose wages or incomes are scarcely

keep

sufficient to

them above continual want, or in other words, above the poverty

line,

and then only when they are working

every work-day of the year,

wrought when any extra

we can

calls are

see

what havoc

made

or burdens

thrown upon them, when sickness or accident comes, or death takes place, either on the part of the breadwinner or in his family.

or as in so

When one is receiving just a living wage,

many

untold hardship

doubtedly

number

The

cases, less than a living wage,

when any

means

This un-

one of the great agencies that keeps a large

of this great

army

frightful killings

ally going

of these come.

in poverty.

and maimings that are continu-

on in connection with our railroads and var-

ious other large industries,

ward country

— and we are the most back-

in the world in our gross neglect in

pelling greater safety

and

care,

—

com-

also responsible for

untold hardship and suffering.

To show how

and uncertain the work

a railway employee

the following facts will indicate.

The

dangerous

Interstatej

is,

Com-

merce Commission for the year 1902 reported among employees 53,493 injured or killed,

among passengers

7,028,

other persons, 12,729, with a total of 73,250. These figures

are

indeed,

scarcely believable.

And

the

previous year, out of every 399 employees, one was killed,

and one out

of every 26

was

injured.

The

trainmen,

engineers, firemen, conductors, brakemen, etc., are the greatest sufferers.

Among

these one

was

killed for every

137 employed, and one was injured for every eleven

employed. It

indeed

difficult to believe that in this

[31]

Heart

the Fire of the

day and age such slaughter, and much of sary,

and

so unneces-

permitted to go on year after year and strange :

may seem

the railroad owners or managers resist,

most powerfully,

resist

practically every attempt

is made to compel them to adopt various, and many times well known, safety devices. The Accident Bulletin issued by the Commission for the three months ending March 31, 1906, shows the total number of casualities to passengers and employees

that

to be 18,296 (1,126 killed

and 17,179

injured). In closing

the Bulletin says: "

The most disastrous

bulletin

—a

collision,

injuring twenty -four

accident reported in the present

causing thirty -four deaths and

— was due

to the striking failure

of the train-despatching system. at

a small and lonely

station,

telegraph operator

who had been on duty

day and more than half the awaking misinformed the

night, fell asleep,

train despatcher as to

had occurred while he was

asleep.

all

and on

what

pertinent to

observe that the block system repeatedly advocated by the Commission,

the true

means

that ought to be

adopted for such distressing disasters as that reported

made public." workmen are more serious than at first appears, for very few of the men who are injur-

Accident Bulletin No. 19, just

These

injuries to railway

ed are over ties.

thirty-five,

This period

and most

them are in the twen-

— between twenty and

thirty-five

—

the most important period of a workman's life. Itis the time

when he is of utmost value to his family, since the children are still too young to take up the support of the family. [32]

"The

injuries or casualties, is of three kinds at

First: In

ployees.

Heart

responsibility of the railroads for poverty, re-

from

sulting least.

the Fire of the

many

Dr. Samuel

cases they overwork their

McCune Lindsay

says:

em-

'Emer-

gencies frequently occur due to accidents or condition of weather

when men may be required

work contin-

uously from twenty to thirty hours, and, in exceptional

men have been

cases,

continuously at

service for thirty-six hours.' Second:

tems have to put

the

resisted

work

in train

Many railroad sys-

and violated the law compelling them

on automatic couplers, and they are now fighting system, both of which

introduction of the block

improvements are designed to prevent accidents and injuries.

cians

Third In case :

of accidents,

company

and lawyers hasten immediately

physi-

to the place of

workmen to sign contracts by which they agree, for some small immediate compensation, to release the company from any further liability. I have known many, many cases the accident, and,

where

away

workmen their

possible, persuade the

have,

rights to sue

for

when

few

signed

dollars,

their injuries

have been

as serious as the loss of a leg or arm. In the seventeen

years ending June 30, 1902, 103,320 persons were killed,

and 587,028 injured by the railway industry."*

Of the

anthracite regions, Dr. Peter Roberts,

made a very

careful study of the industrial

conditions there, says

no provision for

who

and

has

social

" Nearly half the employees

have

either the incapacitated through acci-

dent or for the maintenance of widows and orphans

"Poverty"—Robert

Hunter, p. 38.

[33]

—

when death hazardous

the Fire of the

who

befalls those

Many

calling.

worthy of emulation

Heart

provide for them in this

operators display generosity

others manifest criminal indiffer-

;

ence to the sufferings of employees and their families

because of accident.

leave these

mercy

of overbearing operators in case of

death

unworthy

which we

From number

men

to the

injury

and

of the civilization of the century in

live.

these facts

and

figures

we can and

of semi -incapacitated,

see

what a large

in case of the death

what a large number of

of the breadwinner

practically

dependent people are thrown each year upon the public

for support, or

system in

this respect.

with

in connection

systems, it

has

who have

— for old

made an

As a

result of statistics gathered

splendidly growing insurance

its

age, accident, sickness, infirmity,

effort to find

the suffering, and to

who

out

demand

for the injured. In other individual,

to accept the condition

We have much to learn from the German

of the pauper.

words

many

who

responsible for

accordingly compensation it

has fixed not upon the

times entirely helpless in re-

gard to the matter, but upon industry and upon society the responsibility for suffering. It

its

poverty and attendant

found that 80 per cent of

dustrial lines

industry

much

all

accidents in in-

were due to the "professional risks" of

itself,

and as a consequence the industries of

that nation must bear the cost of these

and not

the workingmen

themselves.

accidents,*

How

differ-

ent from our almost barbarous conditions in this respect.

"Workman's Insurance Abroad" by

[34]

Dr. Zacher, 1898, Berlin.

the Fire of the

Heart

Certainly the criminal negligence

the

railroads

as well as other great lines of industry in this terrible

and

— at

to a large extent preventable slaughter, of

cost

reduced dividends

slightly

appalling,

and

only,

the

indeed

equalled only by the stupid negligence

of the public in allowing

to continue.

change

will

come, however.

means

Sickness

any other

to the

and for two,

class,

reasons. In the

far

first

wage-earner than to

not indeed for more,

place the loss of the

wage

the wage-earner, or the increased expenses

no reserve power, as

where one be; and

be one

such large numbers of cases

receiving just a living

in the

wage there cannot

second place, the care and attention that

can be secured are not at

had by the more so

if it

means immediate hardship where there

of his family, is

if it

all

equal to those that can be

well-to-do. Especially

many hundreds

is this

true

when

of thousands are compelled to live

in the types of tenements landlords are permitted to

extract their rent from.

But

this is

again the result of

our general economic condition, for people would not live in

their

any

these,

— some

would, but very, very few,

incomes or wages permitted them to

live in

—

quarters

better.

These conditions

to a great extent are responsible

for that slowly devouring, subtle,

modern plague among called the "

— tuberculosis,

Great White Plague. "

month claim fifteen

us,

New York

thousand of

its

but most deadly

sometimes

It will in this

twelve-

City alone not less than

people, in the United States not

[35]

In less

than one hundred and

over a million. entirely

Heart

the Fire of the

And

yet

preventable

fifty

thousand, in the world

to a very great extent

Social

disease.

and

economic

conditions far below what they might be are to a very great extent responsible for valence.

its

never diminishing pre-

Mr. Hunter,* who has had perhaps as observing

great opportunities for

methods as anyone not

its

growth and

its

directly connected with the

medical profession, says: "It

a needless plague, a

one of the

our

results of

in-

preventable plague. It

humane tenements; it humane sweatshops; it

follows in the train of our infastens itself

young people because we

forget that they need play-

grounds and because we are providing breathing spaces; of labour are long

children

who

and niggardly

it afflicts

the

when they should

yet

plague goes to meet them.

half clothed

"The is

and rooms dark,

extent of the White Plague

its

a brother

this

scant

hard and

one of the best

a high or low state of society; in

the truest and most

number

It is

and wherever food

relentless brother of poverty finds a victim.

tests of

comes where the hours

and the wages small;

to the anguish of poverty,

and bodies

selfish

are sent to labour

in school ; the

upon children and

many ways it The

accurate of social tests.

victims will indicate the districts in which

sweat-shops flourish, and the streets in which the double-

decker tenement, the scourge of often is

found. Where

New

York,

most

the death rate from the plague

greatest there ignorance

prevails;

* " Poverty," page 164.

[36]

drunkenness

poverty, hunger,

rife;

fortune.

Heart

the Fire of the

and cold are the common mis-

"Tuberculosis

more common

in the cities

the country. The death rate from cities of

over twenty-five thousand inhabitants

twice that of the rural districts of the state.

ment

than do

much more from

suffer

districts

than

about

The

tene-

the disease

the well-to-do districts. In Paris the death rate

three times as great in the poorest quarters as

in the well-to-do quarters. In

tion

this disease in the

Hamburg

it is

the propor-

almost the same. In the First Ward, near the

New York

Battery in

City, fourteen times as

many

people die from tuberculosis, in proportion to population,

as in a certain

Obviously

it is

the poor than

ward adjoining Central Park.

a plague which exists

among

" The disease

of the tenements

the rich.

one which

much more among .

affects especially residents

and the workers

in certain trades, as,

for instance, printers, tailors, bookkeepers, dressmakers,

bakers, cigar-makers, potters, stone-cutters, file-grinders, dyers, wool-carders,

"To know why let

us for a

etc.

these classes of people are affected,

moment

consider

how

the disease

spread.

A person having consumption can, it is said, expectorate in a

day seven

billions of

germs or

bacilli.

These germs

The

sputa

or expectorations from the diseased lungs dry and

after-

bacilli are the

only cause of the disease.

ward become a pulverized dust which

blown about

through tenements, theatres, street cars, railway trains, offices,

and

factories. In fact, the infection is dissemi-

[37]

Heart

the Fire of the

nated wherever tuberculosis sputum becomes dry and

The germ

pulverized.

but a short time in

in the

open

darkness or in places

air,

means

but

will live for

artificially lighted.

" Tins dry, pulverized dust the

by sunlight and

killed

lives

months

the most important of

of spreading tuberculosis throughout all parts

of the city, so that, I

do not doubt, a consumptive

of the

sweat-shop, spraying the garments he sews by sneezing or coughing,

may convey to some delicate lad

or girl in a

far-distant part of the country or in a wealthy part of

the city the disease which the sweat-shop has given him.

A virulent cause

consumption

the spray discharged

from the nose, lungs, or mouth of the consumptive invalid.

suffering

As before mentioned, those near the person from tuberculosis are very

likely to contract

the disease. Children playing about on the floor, kissing

or embracing the diseased

mother or

father, taking

the milk from a tuberculosis mother, so often contract

the disease that the mass of people have an almost un-

shakable belief that

it is

inherited.

however, say that the disease It is

Eminent physicians,

not inherited.

sanatorium than

it is

public institution of

him

to let

die in a hospital or in a

some kind, but

to let

hospital or institution of whatever kind to let

cheaper in every way to cure a consumptive in a

him die in his tenement.

just the

wrong

thing.

What we .

It is

him

die in a

cheaper than

are doing

now

unquestionably

the duty of society to care for the victims of this disease. It is a social disease. Society is responsible for its con-

tinuance.

[38]

the Fire of

"It will be stamped out

tlie

when

Heart

humane work

the

Tenement House Department and the Health Department of this city, and of every other city, is victhe

when

torious over opponents;

vanced

civilization,

there

established in

that vital principle of an ad-

the mind of everyone

namely, that the

profits of individ-

uals are second in importance to the

and prosperity

welfare,

life,

of the great masses of people.

It will

disappear from that community which demands the destruction of an insanitary tenement regardless of in-

convenience to individuals and which also demands that

no dark and windowless rooms within its boundaries under any condition whatsoever, as a result of

there shall be

any plea, or as a favour to private interests great or small." Certain tenements as well as workshops become infected with the disease.

Block" and

also of the

with their frightfully tuberculosis.

have heard of the "Lung

"Ink Pot"

large numbers

Mr. Ernest Poole,

New

York, both

of deaths

from

in describing the condi-

tions in this latter tenement, says " It has front and rear :

tenements

five floors high,

between. Here

live

with a foul, narrow court

one hundred and forty people.

Twenty-three are babies. Here I found one

man

sick

with the plague in the front house, two more in the rear

— and one

of these

Here the plague halls,

had a young wife and four children.

lives in

darkness and

filth

over walls and floors, in sinks and

in nine years alone twenty-six cases

How many

— how many cases more [39]

filth in

Here

have been reported.

besides these were kept secret

these nine years

—

closets.

And behind

"Rooms court,

on the third

Heart

floor,

looking

down

a room with two little closets behind

Scotchman

these a blind '94.

tJie

here have held death ready and waiting for

years.

the Fire of

slept

it.

into the

In one of

and took the plague

His wife and his fifteen-year-old son both drank,

and the home grew squalid as the tenement

Slowly his

the plague fastened again.

nights.

The

in this

son then

the germs lived on.

Here in darkness they

in dusky nooks, on dirty floors. in October,

and died

a Jew rented

in the

this

last

moved away.

They might

been killed in a day by sunlight; they can in darkness.

daughter

was her only outlook. At

The mother and

room

little

later

fever, the coughing, the long, sleepless

foul court

she, too, died.

itself.

Only a few months

died in the hospital.

grew used to the

But

live

all

have

two years

on grimy

walls,

Then one year

later,

lived,

same room. He was taken,

summer. This room was rented again

autumn by a German and his wife. She had the plague already, and died. Then an Irish family came in. The father was a hard, steady worker, and loved his

in the

children.

The home

time was winning the

this

fight.

But six months later he took the plague. He died in 1901. This is only the record of one room in seven years. Professor Koch,

who a little over twenty-two years ago

discovered the cause of tuberculosis, says in an inter-

view on the subject: "In

attack infection at

its

all

other infectious diseases

source; cases of small-pox,

of leprosy, of diphtheria, of plague, are isolated, but

cases of tuberculosis in their last stages, the most deadly

[40]

Heart

the Fire of the

stage of the most deadly disease of

all,

are

allowed

still

throughout Europe to spread further infection broadeast in the midst of their already destitute families.

This fact does not yet seem to be learned.

and when we have these homes adjoining

every'- city,

it is

for the hopeless cases

— consumption — because

this great "

its

and

social

its

non-

industrial

powerless to

and which only a united public action can end.

There are public our

White Plague

prevalence and

directly caused

conditions that the individual himself escape,

not cruelty to

the truest and highest kindness.

have dwelt at length upon

abatement are so

it is,

then tuberculosis will pass from

the midst of us." Again, he says: "It isolate these cases;

When

states,

spirited

however,

who

and earnest people

some of

are already aroused to the im-

portance of this great, and, to a large extent, unnecessary evil,

and who are already beginning

agencies that promise

much

for

its

to put into operation

amelioration.

Much,

however, must be done; and a great part must be along the lines of better social and industrial conditions under

which so many millions of our people

Did space permit we could the diseases resulting to of

workmen from

employment, for some are

breaking, and

some

generally for those

live.

also consider at length

various types

in time inevitably health-

are invariably most deadly.

who

are striken through these

ployments, no provisions of any type are made, and

no longer strong or capable the worker

upon

himself.

Unable

tion to find other

in his

But

em-

when

thrown out

weakened or diseased condi-

employment, he many times becomes a

[41]

public

"Parasitic"

charge.

Heart

the Fire of the

employments,

with

further responsibilities for those whose health they

undermine,

are

enlightenment. tection

The

from and

common

too

all

The

greater pro-

on the part of these.

responsibility

Mr. John Graham Brooks,

day

this

demand

public must

his

admirable work,

Social Unrest, "* has spoken most strongly of that

frightful

list

of striken labourers that are

now thrown

their families with

recompense

back upon themselves or

so uncertain and niggardly as to shock the most primi-

Speaking of what comes under

tive sense of social justice.

the head of accident injuries in connection with the

progress

German

Mr. Brooks further

insurance,

" Previous to the accident insurance in

Germany it

says

was

thought that there might be thirty or forty thousand

injuries

due to machinery that would be covered by the

The first number; when

insurance. this

investigation

the

complete, six times the

showed three times

investigation

number

became more

Most

civilized

communities outside of America have already made the

same acknowledgment by framing new laws

mark an

era in a juster social legislation. 1881,

then

Germany,

Norway, England, France,

Italy,

and Den-

Switzerland Austria,

that

came

mark. They have

all

first

taken definite steps along the lines

of the securing of justice in this matter of industrial accidents.

The United

States,

the nation

others that one would naturally think

had

above

all

greatest cause

for taking such a step, has as yet done practically nothing. * Macmillan and

Company,

New York [42]

and London

the Fire of the

Undoubtedly lack

Heart

employment, sickness

of regular

or weakness, combined with the receiving of a mere living

wage, which leaves no opportunity to meet any emer-

gency successfully,

responsible for the great propor-

and

tion of the poverty

resultant

pauperism that

own as well as in so many other counThe uncertainty and darkness that the

existence in our tries

to-day.

combination brings into the

lives of millions of other-

wise strong, honest, hard-working, and withal deserving, people,

many

man

respecting,

We make

almost indescribable. to

hard for

be honest and independent and

and when with

all his

self-

magnificent struggles

he eventually goes under, we throw the role of the criminal or the pauper upon

him and those dependent

on him.

We have the rush and strain in so many lines of work, the

boom and

then depression,

and then no work. There

men rushed and

no time

vancement while the rush and uncertainty of existence tions,

for culture

strain

on,

driven

and ad-

and the

— to meet one's honest obliga-

and many times the search for work when un-

employment comes,

leaves

no time

for culture or ad-

vancement, or even for the normal enjoyment of

which should be

any enlightened country at

life,

least

the portion of every endeavour. I think one of the saddest

and most unjust features

of our present

day

life is

the

who

are

contemplation of the thousands of thousands

working from early

to late year after year

merely to get

bread and clothing and shelter for the next day's work nothing more,

lives void of all art, learning, rest,

[43]

—

or hope.

Think what a

loss it

of citizenship.

means

to even

Think what

become, compared to what

have an

life

for the future. this

infinite respect for that great

honest, self-sustaining,

has

basis

might and should be.

striving in the face of such great

body of labour

odds to remain

diligent,

continually to retain

fighting

members

their places as self-supporting ity,

an average standard

means

Think what a thing human

Heart

the Fire of the

commun-

of the

and to give whatever opportunities they are capable

of giving to their children

heroes in the

Many

common

this vast

army

of heroes,

the highest type there

is.

them, however, on account of sometimes

shabby clothes and a looked

—

life,

less

prosperous appearance, are

down upon by many more well-to-do and better who in a similar test would fall far below them measure of heroism. It is of this great army that

kept, but in the

Mr. Hunter speaks as follows: "In the same

cities

and,

indeed, everywhere, there are great districts of people

up before dawn, who wash, dress, and eat breakfast, kiss wives and children, and hurry away to work or to seek work. The world rests upon their

who

are

moves by

stop

any reason, they should decide not

if,

for

the fields

and

factories

would

their muscle; everything

shoulders;

go into

and mines. But the world

organized that they gain enough to live upon only

when

they work; should they cease, they are in destitution and

hunger.

The more

fortunate of the labourers are but a

few weeks from actual

distress

when

the machines are

stopped. Upon the unskilled masses want pressing.

As soon

employment [44]

constantly

ceases, suffering stares

the Fire of the

Heart

They are the actual producers of who have no home nor any bit of soil which may call their own. They are the millions who

them

in the face.

wealth,

they

possess

and can work only by permission

tools

know They know the meaning of hunger and the dread of want. They love their wives and children. They try to retain their selfrespect. They have some ambition. They give to neighanother. In the main, they live miserably, they

not why.

They work

sore, yet gain nothing.

bours in need, yet they are themselves the actual

dren of poverty.

chil-

The necessities for maintaining

physical efficiency are very different from those essential to

mere

may

living.

live well

Hottentot, a Lazzarone, or a vagrant

enough on

little

or nothing, because he

does not spend himself.

The modem workman demands

a far higher standard of

living in order to

intense industrial istence, It is

vital.

His necessities are necessities!

a terrible word, for "Necessity's sharp pinch"

like that of is

him

keep pace with

Physical efficiency, not mere ex-

life.

steel vise.

like flint or granite.

There It is

no give

irresistible.

it.

Necessity

cannot be

shuffled with nor altered. If physical efficiency

absolute and vital necessity to the

workman, so

him

are certain necessities for maintaining that physical

The fundamental thing in all this is that workman who is expected by society to remain

efficiency.

every

independent of public

must be guaranteed,

relief

and capable

of self-support

in so far as that is possible,

opportunity for obtaining those necessaries essential to physical efficiency.

Such a standard

[45]

the basis of

In the Fire almost everything;

physical efficiency, they

men can

unless

for,

of the

power

of doing work,

and

means

in the

end pauperism.

There

retain

their

must degenerate. To continue

any long period means

in poverty for

Heart

of the

in the

end the

to be unable to

loss

work

a very direct connection between uncertainty

employment and increased vagrancy and increased

crime,

especially

thereto.

This

theft

and those things pertaining

always noted in connection with any

unusual industrial depression, and also

down

in connection with the closing

any particular

We allow to be built up an economic and

work or works.

industrial system that

possible for a

in lesser degree

man

makes

hard and next to im-

be honest, self-supporting, and

and then punish him

therefore self-respecting,

for

workman and

Several years ago, the case of a

it.

his

connection with the Associated Charities in Boston

came under my

observation.

He was

a strong, splendid

type of man, driver of a team in connection with one of the large

lumber

was

dislocated

One day

firms.

of heavy timbers, through

in handling

some mischance,

and he was

laid

for

a load

his shoulder

some weeks. His

family consisted of a wife and three children, one of

them a babe. They rooms

lived in three neatly kept small

a section of low-priced tenements. As soon as

his little reserve

power was exhausted,

in order to

keep

above want, they had to apply for aid to the Charity Organization.

work,

When

he was

was found that

another. I have

known

finally

his place

this

man

[46]

capable of resuming

had been

to get

filled

up and be out of

In his

house long before

endeavour

any

get track of

among

and with

light,

for breakfast, regularly in his vain

day

after

work. Wherever he could

possibility of

work, he was there early

little

He was

not a shiftless

whether he had work or not, but a

strong, sober, earnest of the family

practically nothing

day for several weeks,

to find

those seeking the same.

man, caring

Heart

the Fire of tJw

man, who

felt

the responsibility

dependent upon him. This weary,

search for work,

tale that is

fruitless

repeated over and

over every day in any large centre.

Sometime ago

was

privilege to sit with a friend,

a Municipal Judge in the Borough of Brooklyn, as he despatched his daily round of cases. There were bers

whose troubles could be traced

of regular

employment.

directly to a lack

Among them was an man,

strong, splendid looking

num-

unusually

about middle age, a

blacksmith by trade. His work had been chiefly in connection with the handling the large forge pieces that

form part

the

Through some

who drank

work

various

shifting of forces

— he was thrown out

fruitless search for

work and

machine-shops.

— he was not a man The weary,

of work.

the increasing

want

—

notwithstanding his splendid physical build he was a sensitive

man

— enabled depression

finally to

take strong

hold of him, and after struggling with this for some days

he lay

finally

one evening got

down on

his bottle of poison

the kitchen floor to end

and

all.

quietly

He was

found before the end came, was resuscitated, and the next day was taken before the Municipal Judge on the

charge of attempted suicide.

[47]

was indeed pathetic

splendid looking man, dejection and quiet

see this

written in every

now

less

Heart

the Fire of the

as to

movement and on every

what

disposition

feature, care-

would be made of him,

having no choice now as to whether

was confinement or

freedom. Fortunately he was before a Justice of unusual

who used

type, one

his office primarily for the

good he

could do to that weary and never ending round of fellow creatures that

came before him

agencies were

put into operation to help the

work

daily.

That same day

— the only thing needed — and thus and

as nearly as possible to his family

man

find

restore

him

to his

former

independent position.

How

frequently

many

of this, in

men drop on

respects, great nation,

addition to that greater

who

suffer quietly

They

number

plenty for

prefer hunger

from hunger,

men and women

and unknown

country where there over.

the streets of the cities

to the world, in all

a thousand times

and starvation

to theft or

begging, and thousands upon thousands prefer

becoming a pauper. Such are indeed heroes of the highest

mould.

of our industries

must learn that the duty

done with the payment of just a

living wage.

not

Compensa-

tion must be adequate to enable something to be laid

for the

and

emergency that comes

to every individual

to every family.

There poverty.

a necessary and there

The former

an unnecessary

that that comes about through

intemperance, shiftlessness, laziness, depravity. This I

suppose

will

always be with

us.

[48]

There

no power that

In the Fire

men

can shield

Heart

of the

women from

the penalties or the

and moral

inevitable results of the violation of natural

There

laws.

on the other hand, and

the very great portion of

The

it all,

amount

great bulk of the vast

it is

unhappily

an unnecessary poverty. of poverty in the

country to-day, as well as that in every other country is

of this unnecessary type. It results through

fault

of the individual, in fact through agencies that the in-

and cannot escape.

dividual as such cannot cope with It is

due

to certain social

and

and wrongs

industrial evils

that a truly great or even self-respecting nation cannot

continue to permit. causes

that

citizens of

We must

and put an end

to the

the

of the public funds.

industrial system that takes out of

vitality

out

a great and free nation, and then turn around

and take care of them out

find

make paupers

deliberately

and energy and good there

man

all

the

him and then

throws him out and onto the public as a public charge, is

not of a high order, and as

tainly cannot

make

much

longer

it is

and

still

be permitted.

provisions for old age.

receiving merely,

not necessary

When

vast

cer-

must

numbers are

other vast numbers not even,

a living wage, and can scarcely keep even with the daily

demands

life,

how

then, broken

long before their time

— can

and

helpless

they expect to

— many

live, self-

supporting, and in even the crudest form of comfort, in their later years.

must learn from Germany and

other countries, and take pensions.

up the matter

must make provisions

of old age

for old age

and for

the helpless outside of pauperism, this in addition to a

[49]

In fairer living

the Fire of the

wage.

A noted

the whole matter resolves

Heart

writer has recently said that the matter of fair

itself into

wages and regular employment.

Then

we must

too

stop killing as well as injuring the breadwinners in such

wholesale numbers, or

make

compelled to

just

not, then

and

full

and quick recompense

to those that through this agency Prof.

Edward D.

says

The

industry must be

become dependents.

Jones, speaking of the fairer wage,

necessity for higher

wages

based upon the

observation that, in the purchase and sale of labour

upon the market,

all

the necessary and legitimate costs

of producing labour are not provided for in the wages received.

Such transactions are not complete economi-

and do not meet the claims of social justice. Fair wages must include more than enough to support the labourer while working, and must cover compensacally,

due to

tion for seasons of idleness

sickness, old age,

youth, lack of work, or other causes beyond the control labourer."

of the

are

considering the actual conditions that

still

a country supposedly very great and uniformly

exist in

prosperous. In the United States to-day there are over

four million paupers.

New York

believe that in

per cent cent

for relief.

the

The average person would

the

people

And

in the year 1897 over

and

people

found

in it

1899

relief

over 24 per

necessary

yet, these figures given

Board do not include the

scarcely

apply

by the State

rendered by the trade

unions, various small clubs, circles, and committees,

nor the

relief

given by individuals. During the year 1903

[50]

the Fire of the

Heart

more than 20 per cent

in Boston,

of the inhabitants

were rendered aid by the public authorities alone, and in addition to these

it is

estimated that during that year

336,000 persons were aided in private institutions, such as hospitals, dispensaries, asylums, etc.,

and these are not,

except by duplications, contained in the above figures.

Estimating that these figures are correct as published, it

be found that the number of people in the State

will

New York

in distress

the

number

the

number of those

The

Boston

Charity

finds

that

tions

for

and requiring aid

and

1903 equalled proportionately

in poverty in

Organization

London.

New York

Society in

from 43

to 52

per cent

need

work

rather

aid

1897,

than

all

applica-

The

relief.

United Hebrew Charities in the same city say the distress

and poverty among

their people

to the inability to find opportunities to

supporting. This applies not only to

due mainly

become

New

equally well to Chicago and to various other

There

self-

York, but cities.

then a direct connection between irregularity

or lack of employment and pauperism, the same as there

a very direct connection between irregularity

or lack of

work and vagrancy.

of those applying for aid need

If so large

nearly or practically one half, then

cumbent upon

society to

Want and a

problem.

a proportion

work rather than it

certainly

relief, is

en-

provided a solution of the

lack of regular

employment

precede both poverty and vagrancy more often than they follow

There

it.

also

a very direct connection between want

[51]

Heart

the Fire of the

and an adequate means

to supply

dreary condition in men's

It is the cheerless,

men and women,

the lives of both

and drunkenness.

that

for the great bulk of intemperance that fed, underclothed, cold

despondency,

often than

ance which

find.

Under-

road to intemperance and

know

the facts

all

find that drink precedes but rarely.

lives, in

responsible

without sufficient heat, no hope,

this is the chief

Were we

degeneracy.

follows.

The

we would

Poverty precedes

great evil of intemper-

the bane in the lives of such vast

numbers

of working people in this country, as in England,

every country where is

and

has reached similar proportions,

a vast extent due to the dreary and hard and under-

fed and hopeless conditions in so

thousands of

lessness.

Cold without

lives.

away from,

desire to get

many hundreds

heat,

sufficient

to forget the dull,

weary hope-

Wise, indeed, was the Bishop of the English

Church when he

said, " If I lived in the

slums I should

be a drunkard, too." Dr. Henry van Dyke, preaching the baccalaureate

sermon

one of our leading universities some time ago,

gave utterance to "

this

There are monstrous

same great truth when he evils

and

intemperance be for us the type of of the others are

its

oppose

it ?

really

conquer the

intemperance

it.

But

because so

many

shall

do say that we can never way.

the vacancy

[52]

How

shall not pass resolutions

evil in this

lies in

all,

than war.

fives

do not say that we

and make laws against

Let

Drunkenness ruins more

children.

homes and wrecks more

said:

vices in society.

The

stronghold of

and despair of men 's

The way

minds.

beautiful

the Fire of the to attack

and happy and

of this vast

army

it is

make

full of interest.

men and women

those continually in

sidering,

Heart the sober

But the

that

nor

They should

or continually face to

of the Industrial

have had a long and

timate personal experience with the class of to,

and

not

many men

I give

commonly

unhesitatingly as

are

lazy

happy

be; they could be.

Mr. Arthur W. Milbury, Secretary Christian Alliance, has said

lives

are con-

face with want, are not beautiful, neither are they full of interest.

life

in the sense in

men

in-

referred

testimony that

which

this

word

used. I have dealt with thousands of such

almost invariably found them willing and

men and have

anxious to work. I

know

lazy people, but I

much make

laziness that

many people enmuch to say about

that a great

gaged in charitable enterprises have

inclined to think that

not so

many of us All men are

at fault as the efforts so

to put square pegs in

round

holes.

not born with the same energy and the same intelligence,

and what might be

might be called

men. In

this institution,

called laziness in

superhuman energy

in other

we do not put at chopping wood or shoveling coal, if we can possibly help it, the man whose only occupation in life has been that of bookkeeper or clerk and who has never had any hard physical labour. as far as possible, to put fitted for.

Perhaps

this is

men

at the

endeavour,

work they are best

one reason why our experience

leads us not to consider laziness as prevalent a vice as

some other

The

people.

conditions that surround the lives of the children

[53]

In of

any country,

Heart

the Fire of the

the play-life, constitute a

especially

very great factor in determining the immediate future conditions of that country. In the early days of the

American nation the

and

fields,

all

that this conveys,

were the playgrounds of the children. As the

and grew the this

fields;

Common was

city

began

given them in place of the

was succeeded many times by the small

yard of the home. But as the

have grown and land

cities

has become more valuable, and population denser and continually denser, the children have been gradually

pushed out into the

Greater

streets, until in

for example, the street and

all

New York

means

that that

the

chief playground for not less than half a million children.

Tins

also true, to a greater or less extent, of certain

portions of every great city in the country,

and

with

its

dirt,

and many times

noises

all of its

all

its

dangers,

its stifling

moral dangers,

its

— the

street

dust and

its

atmosphere, as well as

the playground of at least

seven million of our children to-day. After saying that,

"The younger sively

criminals seem to

come almost

from the worst tenement-house

exclu-

districts,"

eminent authority even many years ago gave before a

New York "By

far

Legislative Committee, testimony as follows

the

largest

part, 80 per

cent

least,

crimes against property and against the person are perpetrated by individuals

with

home

life,

who have

or never

either lost connection

had any, or whose homes have

ceased to be sufficiently separate, decent, and desirable to afford

what was regarded

influences of

home and

family.

[54]

as ordinary

wholesome

the Fire of the

Heart

It is the life in the streets of the large

where the

city

needs of the children seem to have been so generally forgotten, that develops as

Mr. Jacob A.

Riis has so

authoritatively said, "dislike of regular work, physical

sustained

incapability of

misdirected love

effort,

adventure, gambling propensities, absence of energy,

and untrained

of the happiness

will, carelessness

others.

Such are the baneful

influences

surround

that

these almost unbelievably large

the lives of

of our quickly

numbers

coming men and women, a number so

large as soon to constitute the determining factor in

the nation's

For one

life.

to realize that there are

among

even

the children,

who

hungry people, and

especially

need proper developed

and

sufficient

and

enduring bodies as well as brains, to realize that

nourishment to insure

there are the hungry sulting

from poverty,

universal prosperity,

fully

and the chronically hungry, in

re-

a country of such supposedly

at first almost startling. It

estimated during a recent winter

was

— at a period of more

than ordinarily average prosperity that there were more than seventy thousand children in

New York

arrived at school hungry. I have seen attempts to

deny

ones. this

this,

When

who made

City

but so far there have been no successful

asked his opinion as to the correctness of

statement the City Superintendent of Schools said:

"With regard to say that

Mr. Hunter's statement, I beg leave

a statement of

this

[55]

kind must necessarily

Heart

the Fire of the

be an estimate and only approximately

correct.

Mr.

Hunter, however, has had unusual opportunities for matter and I should think

forming a judgment in

this

that he would be more

likely to

overestimate the number. " It

Superintendent

himself, that

underestimate than to the opinion of the

there

thousands of children in the

hundreds

are

upon

this

same matter at about

The

fact that seventy

hungry of

influential

Commenting

that time, an editorial in

New York daily

They say

England are deteriorating because many

in a

constant

state

papers said

thousand children go to school

established.

who cannot

city schools

study because they are always hungry.

one of our most

the people

half-starvation.

them

live

...

conditions are not changed, the next five years will find the

number

children

half-starved

New York

doubled. These conditions will put 100,000 children in

Chicago on half rations, and they

will create a starving

population in every city of this marvelously prosperous country. of

life.

There

It is

not a part of the

no excuse

United States. Destitution is

political

and economic

for is

disease.

A correct

remove

it.

" In addition to this

lot

in the

a removable calamity.

government and a correct enforcement will

common

anyone starving

system of

of proper laws

army

of underfed

children in our schools, there are undoubtedly very large

numbers

of the underfed

not in the schools at

among

those

who

are

all.

The number of children not in our schools is perhaps much larger than the average person has any conception [56]

of.

City,

careful estimate in connection with

shows that fourteen out

children of eleven five

Heart

the Fire of the

and twelve years

out of every hundred of

years,

and more than

fifty

New York

hundred of

of every

all

of age, over twenty-

children of thirteen

all

out of every hundred children

of fourteen years of age are not in attendance at the

public schools. I have no facts of a similar nature that pertain to other cities, before me, but I dare say that in

some

would be quite as

Our modern

large.

life is

gle for existence

so keen

many, the numbers

cases at least, perhaps

becoming so

intense,

becoming, especially

and so sharp, that no one growing

aid womanhood can afford activity in

to enter

and the

some into

strug-

centres,

manhood

upon the stage

anything but a thoroughly

and

first-class

sound condition, both mentally and physically. Each should have an equipment of only the very best in a

country supposed to be

among

the best.

Nevertheless

there are at this present hour over 1,700,000 boys girls

under

fifteen years of

and

age at work in our mills and

our mines and various industrial establishments and

works of

of all types.

this point

space does not permit

any enumeration of the conditions under which vast

numbers

from

of these children of

of age are working, nor

broken condition of so their time,

five to fifteen

any detailed enumeration

many

them

years of the

so long before

sometimes even before they have entered

upon young manhood and womanhood.

The trolled

cotton mills of the South,

by wealthy Northern

many owned

capitalists,

[57]

or con-

have of recent

In the Fire

of the

Heart

years brought about a condition of child slavery that

was

scarcely surpassed

during years

its

ago.

The

when

greed for gain

man

possession of a

way many

by a similar condition

England

many

darkest period of child labour so many,

never

once takes

and the only

satisfied,

times to protect the helpless from the brute

for society itself to stretch forth

its

strong mandatory

arm. In addition to the almost unspeakable evils resulting to the child himself is

and

later to the

the competition that this

army

man and woman,

of over 1,700,000 child

workers throws out against adult labour, and especially is this

a matter of no small import

when

there are con-

men and women

tinually such large

numbers

employment as we

have already noted. Greater profits

the one

and

out of

practically absolute cause, for in this age

modern machinery

the children can

many

times be

hired for a third of the man's normal wage.

much discussed book, "The Present

In view of the facts presented in that

and very suggestive and valuable

Distribution of Wealth in the United States, " published

sometime ago, by Mr. Charles B. Spahr, we can scarcely cease wondering that our Federal Bureaus have not

even before this

made an

effort to find the present drift

of matters in this respect in the country.

Mr. Spahr's

findings revealed the fact that even so far back as 1890,

considerably over one-third of the families in the United States,

or 41

seven-eighths

per cent, are entirely propertyless of

the

of the national wealth:

families

hold

but

that

one-eighth

and that on the other hand,

[58]

the Fire oj the

Heart

one per cent of the families own more than the entire remaining 99 per cent.

Another suggestive way of presenting the matter

and "well-to-do"

that the "wealthy"

classes, that

is is,

1,500,000 families hold in wealth over $56,000,000,000,

while the remaining "middle" and "poorer" classes, that

and

is,

included the 41 per entirely

own but

11,000,000 families,

of course, in this latter

cent

number of

which,

property less,

$9,000,000,000,

of families are not

the families as

are

that

apparent, would

greatly swell the inequality.

Other estimates including those Holmes, an expert

statistician

Mr. George K.

employed on the census,

revealed facts of a very similar nature.

These are indeed not portentous facts, and

only significant

but

most

the above are the facts as far

back as 1890, they have undoubtedly been accentuated with great force since then, for there has been no decade in

our entire history

which so many great private

fortunes have been built

or have been added so

powerfully to as that between 1890 and 1900, and since.

well-known

some

man

in the financial

of our present

statement to the effect that

mathematics years away,

it is

only a matter of simple

to ascertain the day,

when

the United States.

world in reviewing

day conditions has recently made a

men

ten

of present conditions

will

and that only a few

be practically owners of

has indeed

much

basis, in

and the present trend

view

of matters,

for this statement.

The

fact of the matter

that in face of the great

[59]

and

the Fire of the

Heart

unprecedented growth of wealth in the United States,

measure from

resulting in large

its

youth and wonderful

natural resources and opportunities, the increase has

been so unequal that the vast millions have flowed into the pockets of the few, while the few millions have gone to the lot of the

rate

and

while

have grown richer

rich

to a degree that

almost astounding, and

not true that the poor have on the whole grown

it is

poorer,

many. The

it is

true that the increase going to their lot has

been so exceedingly small

cases not even sufficient to be noted at

same

tically the

effect

— some — that prac-

comparison

all

has come about. In other words

the increase in general prosperity and of those at the

upper end has been out of

all

proportion to that of the

The masses

of the

people are not getting their just relative increase.

Were

great labouring and middle

class.

figures,

would be most

consider the total

amount

or each decade, and the to the great

mass

much

statistics

and

interesting to calculate

and

not at the risk of dealing too

of wealth created each year

amount

men

that actually goes

are about one million

England who do nothing, hence

labour of others. estates,

of the producers of that wealth.

A Fabian Tract says that there rich

with

The

sometimes even

in the heart of

London

in large cities (over is

on the

the people to

600 acres

held by a single individual),

that are held by rich or titled families,

away from

live

vast tracts of land that in great

whom

belong or for whose benefit

and thus kept

the land should rightly

should be used,

un-

doubtedly one of the great causes of the great inequality

[60]

the Fire of the

of conditions in Great Britain.

one estate

numbers

whole in

villages

which he

without

have passed partly by

North Britain, eighteen miles wide and a

hundred miles vast

Heart

long.

There are numerous

of square miles

where no

lives,

estates of

each, even comprising

single dweller

owns the house

nor can he even drive a nail

in it

permission.

In view of the above facts

interesting to note

the following, a conversation between the well-known

author of that widely circulated

little

book, "Merrie

England," and one of the subjects, a working-man subject, of the King. it

occurs

is,

The

"Who Makes

title

of the chapter in

the Wealth,

and

which

Who

Gets

It?"

"Now, John, what plain

Lowness

are the evils of which

of wages, length of

we com-

working hours, un-

certainty of employment, insecurity of the future, low

standards of public health and morality, prevalence of

pauperism and crime, and the existence of of

false ideals

life.

" I will give It is

you a few examples of the things

estimated that in this country, with

its

mean.

population

of thirty-six millions, there are generally about 700,000

men out of work. There are about 800,000 paupers. Of every thousand persons who die in Merrie England over nine hundred die without leaving any property at

all.

About

eight millions of people exist always on

the borders of destitution. poor.

More than

about ten

About twenty

half the national

thousand

people.

[61]

millions are

income belongs to

About thirty-thousand

own

people of the

the Fire of the

fifty-five fifty-sixths of

kingdom, but of

Heart

and

the land

capital

thirty-six millions of people only

one and one-half millions get above $15 a week. The average income per head of the working classes

$85 a year, or

less

sum

homes

living in

about

than twenty-five cents a day. There

working under conditions

are millions of our people

and

that are simply disgraceful.

The

of crime, vice, drunkenness, gambling, prostitu-

want, disease, and death

tion, idleness, ignorance,

appalling.

They are due

To what

and order from our

and newspaper

"Political orators

fond of talking to you about it is

society.

editors are very

your country.' Now, Mr.

a hard practical fact that you have not got

any country. The British Islands do not belong British people; they belong to a few thousands tainly not half a million

The

other large centres in Great Britain its

according to it

London and indeed very

we in the United States are many centres, and in some, facts and statistics, we have

proportions, but

rapidly approaching

reached

to the

— cer-

— of rich men. "

poverty and wretched conditions in

great in

unequal distribution of wealth, and

to the

to the absence of justice

Smith,

are the above evils due

all

already.

philanthropist

available

and

Sometime ago a well-known English sociologist,

who was

travelling in

this country studying the conditions of the working

classes, publicly declared while in

Washington, as the

result of his investigations that there are in that city than the worst quarters of

Said Jacob A. Riis

" I

[62]

worse places

London.

not easily discouraged.

But

the Fire of the

Heart

was surprised by the

I confess I

in the national capital.

alley after alley filled

You people

sights I

have seen

Washington have

with hidden people

whom

you

don't know. There are 298 such alleys. "

They

tell

me the

born in these alleys

death rate

grow to be one year

among

the negro babies

475 out of a thousand before they old.

Nearly one-half! Nowhere I

in the civilized world have I ever seen "* that. as thing such a

have ever been

luxury on the one hand and the poverty on the

The

and

other,

has been the history of the world that

where the former has grown great the great also

has grown

latter

and as a consequence, that we

find in the

American nation to-day, and within a period so comparatively short,

simply enormous in

While in this country

its

proportions.

are not labouring under the

caste system that exists in England, and has there

almost as fixed

and pronounced as

become

has been for untold

generations in India for example,we are already feeling

a similar bearing and power on the part of the very rich,

both as families and as individuals, and some such state is

now

as for

some time past

has been, in process of

rapid formation in this country.

Sometime ago

I noticed the definition that

writer gave to the recall lives

as a

—a

loafer

word

— one

on the work

loafer,

and

an eminent

as nearly as I can

who works

not himself but

of others, either as a gentleman, or

tramp or a beggar or a pauper

kept through the support of others. ^Washington Times, Dec.

16, 1903.

[63]

— both

classes are

the Fire of the

The upper and middle

classes,

Heart

lower ends are borne by the great

— and

the growth and increase of the

upper tends continually to increase the lower

— These great extremes

unequal distribution of the

number

result primarily

from the

profits resulting

handling of earth's products. This

of the

the reason of the

one per cent of the families owning already more than the remaining 99 per cent.

this that the "

smart " set comes, sometimes " called the " brainless " set, sometimes the " thoughtless. It is

from

The maker of the fortune, the father or the grandfather, many times made from the most common clay stuff,

ing,

but with an ability in manipulating, in accumulat-

sometimes with a working knowledge of scarcely

one of the ten commandments, was the one who did the work; idleness,

and the descendants become dwellers

and worse than

idleness, for the old

gentleman

has helped them onto the backs of other people and from this position they refuse politely to descend,

remain there

until the people bring

set of conditions

luxury, so

many

on the one hand, or

John Stewart Mill

When men

will

about a different until idleness

and

times descending into vice, has sapped

the vitality and the

and

common level is found again. It was who pointed out the following facts:

talk of the ancient wealth of a country,

of riches inherited

from ancestors, and similar expres-

sions, the idea suggested

is,

that the riches so trans-

mitted were produced long ago, at the time are said to have been

first

when they

acquired, and that no portion

[64]

the Fire of the

of the capital of a country

Heart

was produced

year except

this

may have been this year added to the total amount. The fact is far otherwise. " The greater part in value of the wealth now existing in England has been produced by human hands within

much

the last twelve months.

of that large aggregate

was

very small proportion indeed in existence ten years ago;

of the present productive capital of the country scarcely

any

farmhouses and

part, except

ships

and a few

factories,

and machines, and even these would not

cases have survived so long,

fresh labour

employed within that period

most

had not been

them

putting

into

repair.

"The thing

land subsists, and the land

that

almost the only

Everything which

subsists.

produced

perishes, and most things very quickly.

" Capital

kept in existence from age to age, not by

preservation, but

A great

by perpetual reproduction.

deal of very

nating thought

bad sense and a lack

shown

discriminate vituperation of the rich, as

the

same

class. It is

by no means

true.

of discrimi-

day

at the present

all

in-

were of

They cannot be

indiscriminately classed together nor spoken of

same category any more than various types

in the

of business

enterprises, those that though large are straightforward

and honourable, and those that seem

be the very

of the finest

and noblest

epitome of hell in their methods.

Among

the rich are

some

types, and most valuable

over,

seems to

in the social structure.

More-

that there should be not only

[65]

Heart

the Fire of the

indiscriminate vituperation, but none at

blame there quietly

should rightly rest upon those sitting

by and allowing a system

injustice

Whatever

all.

and inequality

of social

built

and economic

that enables a

few to become so enormously and so drunkenly rich

and

that even they themselves

from the

effects of

their descendants suffer

and on the other hand millions

it,

men, women, and children are reduced to a life of continual poverty and misery through this very inequality that we permit. This in face of the fact that the demands of the people could

be made for an economic and

dustrial justice in a

manner

pelling that

no bodies or groups

however powerful they

may

gain and

however

influence, or

in-

so convincing and so comof

men

or families,

however drunk with

be,

skilled in

methods

manipulation, could do anything other than listen to

and heed these demands.

Not

hostility to the rich, a foolish as well as

dangerous

proceeding, but a fully prepared and determined and

never-ending

hostility

political

system that permits a few to rich,

industrial

excessively

and hence such unequal and such rapidly grow-

ing dangerous conditions. It if

and

become so

we permit

not their fault but ours

them would do under It is

public

They are who condemn

these conditions to continue.

doing only what large numbers of those

a beautiful

similar circumstances.

little

Common was

a joy and

pleasure

rich in flowers, in grass, in trees, in birds

Sometime ago

several

The

village of 3,000 people.

all;

and song.

influential families turned and

[66]

now

Heart

the Fire of the

it. The people through negThe owners of the cows are now

pasture their cows in

ligence permitted

it.

using a great abundance of very rich cream. But for the

Common

people the joy of the

gone.

Sometime the

people will awake and the cows will be driven from the

Common them out

and

of their

cream

dearly.

The

system

Their owners

forever.

own

now

accord.

at fault,

never take

They have grown

of the nation, as well as

the welfare of the great mass of the people. As the great proportion

it is

now

simply a grist for the few.

New York

Bishop Potter of

to love

and must be changed even

and perpetuity

for the safety

will

has recently said

" :

The

growth of wealth and of luxury, wicked, wasteful and wanton, as before

God

I declare that luxury to be, has

been matched step by step by a deepening and deadening poverty, which has

left

practically without

hope and without

whole neighbourhoods of people

In The Churchman of June

"Some

following paragraph:

Labour) by

its

Advancement

and Children, one

in rear houses,

Church

of the Interests of

by Dr. Daniel, of the

Women

than eight lived

were pre-

L. (The

tenement-house committee.

families investigated

Infirmary for

occurred the

startling facts

sented at the conference of the C. A. Association for the

aspiration.

4, 1904,

Out

of 512

New York

in a little less

though these have been

legally forbidden for years; two-thirds

(377) lived in

houses with dark halls; only forty in houses where the halls

were

really light.

But one

of the houses could be

reported as in really good condition; 222 were in moder-

[67]

In ately

the Fire of the

good repair; 255

Heart

and out

dirty

The

of repair.

earnings of these families averaged $3.81 a week, and of this they paid almost exactly half, $1.85, for rent.

The number

was

after paying rent, forty-six cents for " person for food, clothing, heat, light and the rest.

that there

each

of persons in a family averaged 4.26, so

We make

left,

poverty and then bountifully supply, or

attempt to supply,

who

cast into It

relief for

to the sad, sad

and heroic

despite their most diligent it.

It is

numbers

efforts are

indeed a sort of " benevolent feudalism.

has been said and so truthfully, that the rich and pow-

do anything

erful will

The

for the poor but get off their backs.

munificence of our charities and

relief

works

in one sense a most beautiful feature of our country's civilization.

In another sense

horrible shames, in that

one of the most

and

registers,

counte-

still

nances the great mass of the poverty among us, only a small fraction of which in

charity

and

relief

two hundred million

necessary.

— public

dollars,

tinually in advance of the

demand

We spend annually

and

private

ways

of meeting them.

for relief always keeps considerable in

of the supply

— such

— over

and the demands are con-

the testimony of Prof.

able book " American

The

advance

Amos

G. Warner

in his

But with

all

economy

of prevention over cure, or attempted cure,

we have

Charities.

not yet learned the far greater

in addition to the frightful

amount

of suffering

and

misery and degradation that such a system brings to

such vast numbers.

may

be suggestive.

The

following partial illustration

few years ago

[68]

Glasgow there

Heart

the Fire of the

among the people of a The municipal authorities,

existed a frightful death rate certain portion of the city.

more quick

to act for the people than in similar cases

among

us,

examined

causes,

and demolished the houses

section

and erected new tenements

The death to a

into the conditions,

was reduced from

rate

in that

to take their places.

fifty-five

over fourteen per thousand.

little

ately adjoining

still

had a death

found the

immediate

per thousand

slum immedi-

rate of fifty-three per

thousand. Here stood two groups of dwellings housing practically the

same

rate of a

over fourteen to every thousand and the

little

class of people,

one having a death

other a death rate almost four times as great. this

common-sense

action, this frightful

sary death rate would have kept

and charity and

money and amounts

make

relief

But

for

and unneces-

up year

after year,

would have been taxed both

energy to a far greater extent than the

money and energy

that were required to

the surroundings of these people decent, and as

becomes a

The

civilized

community.

following paragraphs are

filled

with truth con-

cerning this matter of charity and relief charity sprang from the noblest feeling

" In

its

origin

— that sympathy

with others which prompts us to relieve suffering.

The

impulse to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and shelter the homeless,

wholly creditable. But the modern

machinery of public and private

charities,

by taxation or by private funds given out obligation,

"All

supported

of a sense of

abominable.

statistics of charitable

[69]

organizations

show that

In the Fire

Heart

of the

the real trouble with the great majority of the people

who

seek

cent

of those

relief,

lack

who

are

work.

75 per

least

by private charity

assisted

or public institutions are able and willing to work,

And

only they could find employment.

25 per cent, including the children, the indirectly the

work or low wages.

part of parents to

make

sick,

etc., is

same conditions

the

result of

Because of

the remaining

of lack

inability

on the

provision for their children, the

orphan asylums and industrial homes are overflowing. Because of

are crowded.

unhealthy tenements, the hospitals

Because the sick are poor they must look attendance instead of employing a

for free medical

physician.

brought on by insufficient nourish-

distress

ment, or by living

So with

practically all the objects of charity.

Directly or indirectly the need for help arises from the fact that

workers are not able to support themselves

their labour.

hardest at charities

surface

Those who have worked the

know how

hopelessly inefficient and

Charity

and always must

insufficient they are.

to accomplish

fails,

aims, because

its

concerns

itself

symptoms and not with fundamental

"Since charity cannot stop anyone people out of work,

with

causes.

from shutting

cannot do anything to alleviate

or abolish the evils arising from want of work.

pretends to do so,

fail

When

a fraud used to soothe the vic-

tims of partisan laws into silence.

"The

rich are generally well

they charge their that Jesus said,

aware of

all

this

— so

own indifference to their God, and say The poor ye shall have always with

[70]

In you.

Heart

the Fire of the

He said,

Jesus never said anything of the sort.

'The poor ye have with you always and whensoever

may do them good

ye will ye

may commend of

(Mark

14, 7)

that

;

it,

is,

too. I

to those religious persons the last four verses Revelation. "*

And is

and the causes

abolish their poverty

while I think the author of these paragraphs

in the

main

he speaks somewhat too

I think

right,

many rich know many are aniand noblest type. And

generally in regard to the motives that actuate

people

who

give to charity, for I

mated by motives

of the highest

can see their way to spend a portion of their

until they

means and energy

way

—

a far wiser and more effective

an endeavour to bring about more just and

and

equitable conditions in the social of the country,

may

industrial life

they not cease the good work they

are doing.

Then so who

those

far as the practical effects of charity

are

its

upon

recipients, the following testimony

Mrs. Josephine Shaw Lowell,

keeping with the testimony of practically

quite thoroughly

all

ex-

perienced workers and observers in this field of charity.

Mrs. Lowell says, " Whatever exception you encountered, you know that the rule receive

relief

are or soon

become

may have who

that those

idle,

intemperate,

untruthful, vicious, or at least quite shiftless

provident.

You know

as a rule

the

;

the

relief

they have

more they need. You knew that

destructive to energy

*From

that

and im-

" Free America,"

and

industry,

by Bolton Hall.

[71]

and that the

taint

Heart

the Fire of the

passes from generation to generation and that a pauper

family

more hopeless

reform than a criminal

family.

Our and

efforts

relief,

amounts

must be

much with charity that make such vast

to deal not so

as with the causes

of charity

and

necessary. It

relief

astounding, our willingness to

let

simply

things go on as they

who

are and then care for the unfortunate millions fall

in their struggles against

We allow our municipal who

thereby

become

such tremendous odds.

and

state representatives

representatives

moneyed and corporate

interests

the

— to give

—

great

over fran-

chises for the use of great public utilities that should be

used for the people and with millions upon millions in value, to the personal

men, without asking

and private uses

little

groups

most cases even a dollar

compensation and then we tamely accept poor

many

high charges,

vice,

times disgusting and almost

inhuman treatment. They accept

even as

give

did not

it.

rich

we choose

to.

know

were something we had to submit cause

better

to,

profits,

it.

and as

We if

rather than be-

Thus we make them

increasingly

and daring and unscrupulous, so that out

enormous

ser-

wrung from the constantly

of their

increasing

needs of the people, they are enabled to build up great corruption funds, to lobbies to influence all

that

may be

maintain strong and powerful

all legislation in their

adverse, in other words

favour, to

all

that

kill

may be

for the interests of the people. In this

way

gone on and on, getting many times by

direct purchase

[72]

they have

the Fire of the

of the votes of the legislators,

members

Heart

and

of our city councils

additional properties that

laws of

all

common-sense as well as the most crude laws of justice, should belong to, should be managed by and for the people.

Some

day, and before long now,

at the asinine qualities that

we American

wonder

will

people have

displayed in this respect.

wonder then that the business and propertied

Little

classes in

have grabbed and are

sight,

still

grabbing everything

as well as appropriating to themselves the

machinery of government. They this as long as the people permit

will continue to

it.

These agencies, eminently "respectable," though many times rheumatic and gouty, whence spring the greatest forces of corruption in the country, are already

gnawing well as at

men

at the very vitals of the nation's welfare, as its

safety

and perpetuity. The nation

already in danger.

The

of free-

mutterings of the great

discontent are already most clearly audible even to the

most ing

indifferent

and unconcerned. Of these

men and women

all

think-

The

are most keenly aware.

nation cannot remain in safety, but must retrograde

and

this splendid

example

of free institutions

men and women must be counted

abortive

and

free

unless a

movement and a very pronounced and determined and unceasing movement is quickly made to beat back the advance of the

whose motto It is carrying

sleek, cunning, conscienceless

greed and whose method

bands,

corruption.

a blight, withering and deadening to free

institutions, into every quarter that

[73]

touches.

In " If the

as he

and

King

Mexico has any

his followers stood

Montezuma,

" let

Heart

the Fire of the

him send

gold, " said Cortez,

clamouring at the gates of

out to us. For I and

companions have a disease of the heart which

cured

by gold.

Sometime ago that very keen observer, matchless thinker,

and great lover

of his country's welfare, to the following;

The

most

words :*

from the unjust and unequal

evils arising

"The

modern

civilization goes on, are not

the midst of

pinches and imbrutes men, and it,

which must bring

poverty which

which flow from

dis-

which are becoming more and

incidents of progress, but tendencies

progress to a halt.

men, hence,

Henry George, gave utterance

significant

tribution of wealth,

more apparent

and

of justice

all

abundance

the manifold evils

spring from a denial of justice.

In permitting the monopolization of the opportunities

which nature

when we view to be the

away

things

this injustice

— we

ity in

shall

—

upon a

supreme law

we have

ignored the

so far as

we can

But by sweeping

asserting the rights of all

see,

large scale, justice seems

of the universe.

and

natural opportunities,

law

all,

for,

freely offers to

fundamental law of justice

shall

men

conform ourselves

remove the cause

to the

of unnatural inequal-

the distribution of wealth and power,

substitute political strength for political weakness ;

and

make tyranny and anarchy

impossible.

Our

primary social adjustment

a denial of justice.

* "Progress and Poverty," p. 541 (1900).

[74]

Heart

the Fire of the

It is this that

turns the blessings of material progress into

a curse.

this that

crowds

human beings

and squalid tenement-houses; that

cellars

noisome

into

fills

prisons

and brothels that goads men with want and consumes them with greed; that robs women of the grace and ;

beauty of perfect womanhood; that takes from children the joy and

innocence of

life's

"Civilization so based cannot continue.

laws of the universe forbid

that

lence,

cannot be.

It is

eternal

in every soul answers,

something grander than Benevo-

something more august than

Justice herself that

The

Ruins of dead empires

it.

and the witness that

testify,

little

morning.

demands

Justice that will not be denied

Charity

—

of us to right this wrong.

that cannot be put off

;

—

Justice that with the scales carries the sword.

Can

be that the

the Creator

gifts of

misappropriated with impunity labour should be robbed rolls in

few

wealth

its

thus

a light thing that

earnings while greed

— that the many should want while the

are surfeited

may be

Turn

to history,

and on every page

read the lesson that such wrong never goes un-

punished;

that

the

Nemesis that follows

never falters nor sleeps! state of thing continue? !

the deluge "

Nay

;

Look around

May we

to-day.

injustice

Can

this

even say, "After us

the pillars of the state are trembling

even now, and the very foundations of society begin to quiver with pent-up forces that glow underneath. struggle that is

must

near at hand,

either revivify, or convulse in ruin,

if it

Thoughtful and

The

be not already begun. fearless

men

[75]

are in

increasingly

In large

numbers

briefly to

the Fire of the

some types

paragraph

warning

raising the

Heart voice. Shall

of these warnings

The

listen

following

from the editor of one of our prominent

magazines "

With the waning

of religious faith

comes the wor-

ship of wealth and the attendant evils of extravagance,

and wide-spread

dis-

a bad way, indeed, when

it is

ostentation, false pretence, envy,

That nation

content.

notoriously true that the mass of

its

citizens will

almost anything to get money, and are able to do almost

anything by means of money, to ignore or violate the laws, to laugh at decent opinion, to override popular rights,

States still

and is

The United

on the poor.

trample

not yet in such a lamentable case, our land

abounds

in honest

men and

unspoiled

women,

but,

with the unparalleled growth of private fortunes and the spirit of wanton display, with the increase, on the other hand, of misery and wretchedness,

approaching the danger miserable poor prodigal rich:

while ful

we have

may

our

little ?

that you have so

How can you

justify this

much

shame-

squandering of wealth when you see us, your

brothers, toiling in factories in

are rapidly

well cry out to thousands of our

— 'How comes so

where millions

line

and sweat-shops, starving

tenements, and wasted by disease

The

following

utterance. Speaking

a type of recent independent pulpit first

enormous sums expended

of the

annually in charity in the United States

"This public

colossal

relief,

sum

continues

about equally divided among

private giving

and the

[76]

charities of the

— In churches.

the Fire of the

How much

good does

benumb

the poor,

anaesthetic to

Heart

do ?

lest

merely an

they cry too loud

Can wisdom and make charity necessary? " The true philanthropist is the good steward the man who labours, plans, executes the honourable business enterprises of this world. He who opens the doors virtue eliminate the conditions that

—

employment, pays an honest,

of steady

his foresight this

and

wage, by

living

skill frustrates 'panics,' 'depressions'

the true philanthropist. His business enterprises

are a blessing to the community.

"Then,

again, there are those

like scorpions

Jesus lashes

— men who lay burdens on men's shoul-

ders grievous to be borne,

them with

whom

their

little

and do not

much

as touch

There are those who,

finger!

having a giant's strength, are using

a tyrant

—

promoting monopolies that oppress the people, controlling the

necessities of life

and thus use

very

— places

and

little

commends

Jesus

coal

—

for plunder.

This kind

justice

all

for social

such.

plunderers were abolished, there would be

need of philanthropy."

Said a well-known Bishop at a

dinner recently, aires

oil,

wrong makes poverty and prepares

revolution.

parasites

beef, sugar,

their business positions as did the old

barons their castles of social

—

were seated:

Chamber of Commerce

which many prominent million-

"The

people, are suspicious that

people,

the great

common

some great corporations and

masses of wealth are protected, or their interests ad-

[77]

In vanced

the Fire of the

Heart

ways that are inconsistent with the

rights of

the people.

"They may have no

material grounds

suspicions, but they are suspicious,

for

their

and so are many

you.

not so afraid of the rich

of the poor

man

and weak man

man

in politics as I

in politics,

and the

rich

outside.

" Civilization cannot go on where there suspicion,

people

think that the reverence for law by which

safeguarded

"The massing come

mutual

and prosperity cannot go on long while the

feel or

property

not upheld.

of great wealth in corporations has

to stay, but neither our sympathies, nor the risk

to great properties, nor the curtailment or loss of our

properties can reconcile us to rights

and

any dallying with the

liberties of the people.

Sometime ago an able and well-known contributer to various English

and Continental

whose work has made in various capitals,

periodicals,

his residence for

and now residing

one

sometime past

London, spoke

follows

What you have to

deal with in America

snobbery.

We have here in London a host of American women who have shaken the democratic dust of America feet forever,

and who are nightly

off their

be seen at the royal

opera, their heads covered with tiaras and coronets, giving themselves sybaritic queens,

all

the airs and presumptions of

and who think

America. Yet their fortunes were

[78]

a disgrace to talk of

made

in the

American

Heart

the Fire of the

mines and the American railroads, and without the

American labourer they would this moment be living in the backwoods, on the remote plains, or on some obscure

New

street of

York, unheard

known. Snobbery .

American snobs have made

ington,

lords, I

institutions.

the

this to say:

fortunes here are bringing

...

world.

York, Wash-

London and

Paris.

American women marrying English

for

have

New

and Chicago antechambers

unobserved and un-

of,

undermining American

Within a short period of twenty years your

rich

women who

them to

I predict

bolster

bring their

up a decadent

an invasion of broken-down

lords of all grades in the near future, until at last there will not

be a fortune

left in

America of any consider-

men

able size that will not pass to the favour of

resid-

England or on the Continent. 'Come what may,' said an Englishman to me not long ago, we are bound to possess the wealth of the American millionaires in

ing in

the long run, through the American women.'

have dwelt

at great length

the picture, because fully

it is

and that we see

upon the dark

so essential that

at once.

But there

side of

see this side

another side,

and that not without a great deal of brightness.

in the condition of the people of

present time for of

government

With the

example

Russia up to the

— without a voice

— then we would indeed be

forces

fully intrenched

we have been and so

in the affairs

a bad way.

considering already so

skilled in their

would indeed be no hope. But the

[79]

Were

methods, there

battles for political

Heart

the Fire of the

emancipation were waged and won, as King John and

were they

others,

years ago.

and the

rights,

final deciders of

This

what the conditions

gain and

and economic freedom,

the power with which

political

This gives us our hope and our

we can

power. With this

many

vividly recall,

are a body of freemen with

the nation shall be.

dustrial

would so

living,

justice,

shall gain, in-

and

equality.

shall drive to the

back-

ground, the forces that have been making a byword of freedom, equality and justice.

We have cause to be grateful by virtue of the newness and power

What

of the country.

has been almost the

cause of our undoing shall yet be the means by which

have

be saved.

shall

freedom,

religious

full

Church and

State.

have

growing among

full

independence

are free from the cast systems

that constitute the bane of so

freedom.

political

many old world

us,

but

countries.

not fixed and

can yet be broken by an aroused and determined peo-

Our

ple.

main

reputation

yet good.

self-seeking

Labour

splendid in

to include

scope. ing

there

all,

The masses

its

have an educational system

quality,

and that can yet be made

hope.

most, within

of the people of all types are

dissatisfied

with present

are inquiring into their causes, is

but in the

uniting, learning, growing;

even those that need

profoundly

They

sullied

and unscrupulous leaders are being discov-

ered and thrown out. that

somewhat

becom-

conditions.

and where

this

is,

much of the future outcome. La Follette is recognized in his

It tells also

Roosevelt, a Folke, a

its

[80]

In ideas of

the Fire of the

and demands

for a

Heart

more equal

justice,

and

rewarded by the confidence of the people into a position of

still

The stirring

greater responsibility.

past several months even have witnessed a great

among

the people

tion into the infamous

New York and become and and

— among others an examina-

methods

of the

Gas Trusts in both had they

Philadelphia. So infamous

so brazen in satisfying their ever increasing

insatiable appetites for larger

and ever

wrung from a great common need

larger profits

of the people, that

public opinion was finally compelled to rise

So far and no

The

up and

say,

farther.

people of another great city have registered their

protest against the

methods

of another public service

concern that has for years been taking millions upon millions of toll spects the

from them, and with a service

most

most abominable. They have asked why

a-dozen or

more men should every twelvemonth

re-

half-

receive

their millions, while the people should receive practical insult at their hands.

They have

strongly and in such a

common-sense and

voiced their protest so practical

man-

ner that the blood-sucking tentacles of the already overfed and bloated creature are

now

Other localities are taking lesson from

being withdrawn. this

and are

rising

against any further granting of enormous wealth-

creating franchises to individuals, or

so, for

nothing

but very short periods, and then not without compensation full

and complete.

Likewise revelations in connection with various other public and semi-public service concerns and the methods

[81]

In of

still

the Fire of the

Heart

other large business concerns have been coming

to us with startling import during even the past few

months.

And

just as soon as sufficient

numbers

take enough interest in the public welfare,

always their

own

of our people

—which means

welfare to a far greater degree than

many are given to realize, and thereby become conversant with the actual conditions that are fast crystallizing

about us and the agencies that are at work in their

sly

and subtle manner bringing them about, then the forces will

be engendered that

will

take the Republic to that

God people, we

eminent and true position, that by the grace of

and the awakened common-sense believe

shall yet attain.

[82]

the

ni AS TIME DEALS 1

IME

has a strange

with men.

Its great

way

WITH NATIONS of dealing with nations

and

clock ticks unerringly on. It seems,

be merely the sentinel of a great and im-

in a sense, to

mutable system of Law.

When it

the nation gets sufficiently sick and diseased

dies as does the individual. Its

hour

struck off with

an unerring precision. From that instant the process of disintegration

sets

and consume the

to crumble

body, the structure that so shortly before held the It

would be

useless

and indeed

spirit.

foolish to say that

there seem to be great immutable laws that govern that determine the If history

the ways, the fate of nations.

means anything

may

read.

occurred

will

life,

means

These same laws occur

and

again

this,

and he who

exist to-day

under

and as has or

similar

conditions.

So clearly has history written her pages that he who will

may go

once to her

oft

repeated forms, and read

with a quickness and clearness that no understand. privilege

always in substance

man

can mis-

— that

great

and wealth and oppression have been the cause

of the gradual

undermining and the

final fall

and

dis-

integration of all the earlier states that have flourished

[83]

the fire of the

and that have passed. They

Heart

failed to realize the

im-

mutability and the precision of the laws that govern

men and

no nation or no

nations. Moreover,

man

has

ever been rich enough or powerful enough to change or

There are

to escape the accuracy of their workings.

who thought

those

seemed to be

it,

and

a time their

for

successful, but at the right

efforts

have

moment

they

have been crushed and powdered, even as the rock has crushed and has powdered the shell of the egg; and as long as time endures this story will be repeated in the

and every individual that does not

of every nation

life

stop to learn the writing.

"Every civilization," said the late Henry George, "That has been overwhelmed by barbarians has really perished from internal decay." Elaborating

he has said :*

He would have

when Augustus was changing

Rome

marble,

the

been a rash

Rome

upon

this,

man who,

of brick to the

when wealth was augmenting and when victorious legions were ex-

magnificence increasing, tending the frontier, refined,

higher splendours

who

— he

would have been a rash

then would have said that

decline.

Yet such was the

"And whoever civilization idity

when manners were becoming more

language more polished, and literature rising to

may

see that,

though our

apparently advancing with greater rap-

than ever, the same cause which turned

What

man

entering her

case.

will look

progress into retrogression "

Rome was

Roman

operating now.

has destroyed every previous civilization has

* " Progress and Poverty," p. 525.

[84]

the Fire of the

Heart

been the tendency to the unequal distribution of wealth

and power. This same tendency, operating with creasing force,

day. "

in-

observable in our civilization to-

turn a republican government into a despotism

the basest and most brutal,

it is

to change

tions.

constitution

its

not necessary formally

abandon popular

elec-

was centuries

after Csesar, before the absolute

Roman

world pretended to rule other

master of the

than by authority of a Senate, that trembled before him.

"Where of wealth

ism,

there

— that

virtue,

and

anything like an equal distribution to say,

where there

intelligence

the government the better

— the

will be;

general patriot-

more democratic but where there

gross inequality in the distribution of wealth, the

democratic the government the worse while rotten democracy rotten autocracy, will

be worse.

its

may

not in

effects

To give the suffrage to tramps, to paupers,

men to whom the chance to labour is who must beg, or steal, or starve, is to

arms around the corrupt

men em-

to tie firebrands

Samson and

pillars of national life.

to twine his .

must

finally

when a people become

corrupt

democratic government

corrupt the people, and there

men

and turn them loose amid the standing corn;

to put out the eyes of a

a boon, to

invoke destruc-

put political power in the hands of

bittered and degraded by poverty, to foxes

be worse than

upon national character

tion.

will be; for,

itself

no resurrection. The

life is

[85]

gone, only the carcass

In remains; and

bury

the Fire of the

it is

left

Heart

but for the plowshares of fate to

out of sight.

"Now

transformation of popular government

this

into despotism of the vilest

and most degrading kind,

which must inevitably

from the unequal distribu-

tion of wealth,

result

not a thing of the far future.

already begun in the United States, and

on under our " In theory sacrifice

has

rapidly going

eyes.

are intense democrats.

The

proposal to

swine in the temple would hardly have excited

greater horror and indignation in Jerusalem of old than

would among us that of conferring a

upon our most eminent

up among us a

class

of the virtues of aristocracy?

who

But

citizen.

who have

all

there not growing

the power without any

have simple

means of livelihood

men; who name the Governors

name

attorneys,

citizens

of great

numbers of

of sovereign States as

their clerks, choose Senators as they choose

and whose

tures as that of a

The

rank

control thousands of miles of railroad, millions of

acres of land, the

they

distinction of

will is as

French King

supreme with Legisla-

sitting in

bed of

justice.

undercurrents of the times seem to sweep us back

again to the old conditions from which

we dreamed we

had escaped. "

Whence

shall

come the new barbarians

the squalid quarters of great cities,

even now, their gathering hordes! perish? fires

Men

will cease to read,

and be turned

Go through

and you may

How

see,

shall learning

and books

will kindle

into cartridges

"Everywhere the increasing intensity of the struggle to

[86]

the Fire of the

Heart

the increasing necessity for straining every nerve

live,

thrown down and trodden under foot the scramble for wealth, is draining the forces which

to prevent being in

gain and maintain improvements. "

But

as sure as the turning tide

ebb; as sure as the declining sun so sure

must soon run

new

full

must bring darkness,

that though knowledge yet increases

it,

invention marches on, and

and

states are being settled,

expand, yet civilization has begun to wane

cities still

when, in proportion to population, we must build more and more prisons, more and more almshouses, more and

more insane asylums. societies die;

it is

It is

not from top to bottom that

from bottom to top.

But there are evidences

that can be given by civilization.

There

far

more palpable than any

statistics, of

tendencies to the ebb of

a vague but general feeling of dis-

appointment; an increased bitterness among the working classes

;

a wide-spread feeling of unrest and brooding

revolution.

man

can

tell,

thoughtful

What change may come, no

mortal

but that some great change must come,

men

begin to

feel.

The

civilized

world

trembling on the verge of a great movement. Either

must be a leap upward, which vances yet

undreamed

ward, which

will carry

of,

will

is it

open the way to ad-

must be a plunge down-

us back towards barbarism."

That very careful and able philosopher and economist, Professor Lange, has said: "We may show a hundred times that with the success of speculation and great capitalists the position of

everybody

[87]

else, step

step,

the Fire of the

improves; but so long as

true that with every step

improvement the difference

of this

and

dividuals

means

in the

Heart

in the position of in-

for further

advancement also

grows, so long will each step of this

movement

lead

towards a turning point where the wealth and power of individuals break down all the barriers of law and morals proletariat serves as a football to the

and a degraded

passions of the few, until at last everything ends in a social

earthquake which swallows up the

fice of

one-sided and selfish interests.

becomes venal. The hopelessly poor hate the law as the over-rich despise

when

artificial edi.

The state

will just as easily it.

Sparta perished

the whole land of the country belonged to a hun-

dred families; Rome, when a proletariat of millions stood opposed to a few thousands of proprietors, whose resources were so enormous that Crassus considered

no one

...

expense.

dom was tariat.

richest

that

lost

at his

own

In mediaeval Italy also popular

free-

could not maintain an

who

rich

through a moneyed oligarchy and a prole-

It is characteristic that in

banker

finally

Florence the

becomes an unlimited despot, and

contemporaneously

George

army

Genoa the Bank

St.

a measure absorbed the state."

Again he says " The present :

state of things has

been

frequently compared with that of the ancient world before

its

dissolution,

and

cannot be denied that

cant analogies present themselves.

moderate growth of

riches,

we have

signifi-

have the im-

the proletariat,

have the decay of morals and religion the present forms ;

government

all

have their existence threatened, and

[88]

Heart

the Fire of the

the belief in a coming general and mighty revolution

widely spread and deeply rooted."

was the eminent

Mommsen, who

the

historian,

league drove the Italians out of Italy and

swarms

insula partly with silence. It

Italy;

a terrible picture, but not one peculiar to

whenever the government

world in the same way.

of capitalists in a slave

has desolated God's

All the arrant sins

that capital has been guilty of against nation tion in the

modern world remain

abomination of the ancient

man, be he ever

will the

world have again similar :

dragon seed of North America ripens "

As long

fruits to reap."

as our civilization

property, of fences, of exclusiveness, delusions.

Our

mouth. Only that good

will

all

burn our taste with

men."

economist, Professor Smart, of Glasgow,

But when machinery

heavy work

one of

be mocked

which we can

makes a most suggestive statement "

will

and our wine

profits

doors open and which serves

The eminent

riches will leave us sick, there will be

bitterness in our laughter,

all

civiliza-

so poor, remains superior to the slave;

until the

Said Emerson

and

as far inferior to the

capitalist states as the free

and not

the pen-

filled

of slaves, partly with awful

state has fully developed itself, fair

Professor

late

"Riches and misery in close

said:

of industry,

cient prejudice that

replacing

it is

attained. Possibly,

see that the reason

man and

ten hours a day to

level of the

clear our

why we

doing the

time to get rid of that an-

man must work

keep the world up to the

in the following:

still

[89]

minds

comfort of cant,

has

we may

wish the labourer to

work ten hours a day

may go on

Heart

the Fire of the is

that we, the comfortable classes,

receiving the lion's share of the wealth these

machines, iron and human, are turning out. It is

the great

common

people that has

made and

that

has been the backbone of every nation, and as long as interests are

its

guarded and as long as the tendency

towards an ever greater equality of opportunities for all,

so long

a nation

safe.

But

as soon as extremes of

wealth and poverty begin to manifest themselves, and privilege grows, resulting in

greater inequality in

still

and power, that moment the

the distribution of wealth

— a force that grows

destructive force begins

its

work

by what

evil that will

itself,

and

feeds upon,

that, unless

never correct

be checked by the great common

people, will carry the nation to destruction. Oppression

and

evil is its

It is

own

destroyer.

the labourer with his vine-clad cottage, and suf-

ficient of

and content

in the life of

a uniformly prosperous the

tutes

make

those things that

for peace

a normal

common

and happiness

human

being,

and not a few

really great nation,

people, that consticastles

with their hordes of hirelings about them.

In addition to those nations that have been mentioned that have flourished, that have

have declined, we might mention

grown great and still

that

nation after nation.

might go back to Egypt, to Assyria, to Babylon,

and

to the other earlier civilizations, but

same cause

in all.

The law

immutable

Absolute, seems to be the word.

not be denied. She

may seem [90]

The

find the

in its workings.

larger Justice will

to delay, she

may seem

the Fire of the

Heart

even at times to take no account, but in her

way and time a

she strikes, and

terrible vengeance.

As she

when she

own good

strikes

with nations, so

it is

with

she also

with men.

How

can we hope then that

tion shall escape,

this civilization, this

any more than those that

in their

na-

day

were as great, as proud and apparently enduring,

by common consent the same

forces are at

work

time spelled destruction to those that have preceded us

that in ?

TO GOVERNMENT

HERE havebeen many able disquisitions on the theory

and the functions

Government, and

would be

inter-

esting did space permit, to examine in detail into some of the best of these.

though

Much, however,

that has been said,

might have pertained to a greater or

extent to the time or times in which

pertain to our present time. It

the

was

less

said, does not

same with

this as

with a great deal of the earlier theological discussions,

amounts

vast

quential that

which have proved

we pay no

find that they

—

attention to

them

have been of value only

be so inconseat present

and

in a single respect

in that they

have helped lead the way to the few real

are finding to-day constitute the basis of

things that

the true Religion. It

also evident that a theory of

Government that

pertained to us Saxon people, say two hundred or three

hundred years ago, and life

we had

fitted

attained to then,

pertain to us, or that

the degree of evolution and is

not a theory that would

we would even

for

an instant think

of accepting in total at the present time. It

can also be truthfully said that for a thinking,

growing, aspiring people, some of the methods and principles in

vogue

our own nation even

[92]

fifty

years

Heart

the Fire of the

ago we cannot, we should not, and as evidences on every

hand

indicate,

nance

in the

demands

that

we no

longer honour nor do

year 1906.

we keep

itself

tend to

there

make

us satisfied

vital truth that will reveal

are ever on the alert to recognize It is so

in religion or in

and to-morrow and to-morrow,

to us to-day

life

that

careful that old

forms do not crystallize about us either will

mark

to the

we be

the truth of to-day, and that

with anything but the vivid,

counte-

growing, progressive

ourselves

government, forms that

it.

easy to hold on to the old shells, thinking that

them something of value, long after the life has

departed from them and truth with

goodly train has

all its

moved on, giving joy and blessings to those hat are keeping pace with her, while we fondly cling to the worthless thing.

The of

crying error of the time

government

and

Everything that all

we stand

that

forget that

awe

are government.

enacted in the nation, or in any of at

similar constitution,

enacted by the people through

their chosen representatives acting for their interests;

or by the consent of the people, in that these representatives act for corporate

and moneyed

interests,

through

party

machines

Where

the people should be supre me, manipulators and

moneyed

interests

and

platforms

manipulators.

working through parties and through

City Councils and Legislatures are supreme. Lobbies

and manipulators and bribed or

directly

bought coun-

cilmen and legislators are only the tools of the moneyed interests.

This

at the bottom,

least nine-tenths of all

our present

[93]

safe to say, of at

political corruption;

Heart

the Fire of the

for the manipulator, the ward-heeler, the lobbyist, the

saloon keeping councilman, the venal state legislator, are

only the tools of these "interests. "

The

latter

are the

principals, the former merely the agents through

they work

to obtain the privileges

and properties

of the people

which

— the natural rights

— through which they make

their royal millions. It is

a well-known fact that

at those periods

when

corporations and private business has been most venal, political corruption, either

municipal or

state,

has been

the most open and brazen and black. Yet the principals

have been our respectable business men, founders sometimes of our wealthiest and

and exclusive

families.

on aristocratic

later

They, I repeat, have been the big

thieves working through these agencies.

Lately the political corruption of some of our large cities

has been traced and exposed by Lincoln Steffens in

series of articles in

later republished in

Shame "

one of our leading magazines, and

book form under the

of the Cities. " In

Enemies

one of

of the Republic, "*

"Every time

Mr.

his

title,

articles

"The

entitled

Steffens has this to say:

I attempted to trace to

its

source the

political corruption of a city ring, the stream of pollution

branched It

off in

the most unexpected directions.

flowed out of the majority party into the minority; out

of politics into vice politics,

and back

and crime, out

into business.

of business into .

We are all of us

on the wrong track. You can't reform a city by reforming a part

it.

You

can't reform a city alone.

*McClure's Magazine

for April, 1904.

[94]

You

can't re-

In form

politics

American

Heart

the Fire of the

alone.

politics

The

corruption of our

our American corruption,

political,

but financial and industrial too.

"Our

corruption

political

a system, a regularly

established custom of the country, leaders are hired

by which our

by bribery, by the

political

license to loot,

and

by quiet moral support, to conduct the government of

and

city, state,

nation, not for the

common

good, but

Not

for the special interests of private business. politician, then, not the bribe taker,

the

man we

man, he

the source and the sustenance of our bad

The

captain of industry

any

man

the

the trail to follow.

would hold up our hands

as a nation

even at the thought of

but the bribe giver,

are so proud of, our successful business

government. catch. His

the

titled person,

in horror

— we are so intensely democratic — and through such

right,

even though

he be of the highest type and one imbued with the highest sense of public welfare

and

over us

justice, ruling

even for a limited time. But the large moneyed interests

have gotten us so used to

we seem

that

to think

nothing of having large and important portions of our public affairs in the hands of the lowest type of our citizenship,

and allowing them

portions of our governing for us. satisfied

and that

pass

wealth that return,

seem

that they be our rulers, for in

at times

do most important

amounts

over

meagre

to this. It

annually their

and

the

many [95]

some

times

centres

through

many

principals,

to be fully

and

them

millions

disgraceful

and

the Fire of

disgusting types

tlie

Heart

public service

many

that

times,

or to speak more accurately, that generally, give to

the public.

Such has been the

origin of the wealth of

enormously rich and well-known

our

they are

now becoming

many

become a

very distinct menace to the public welfare. It

by a

socialized people that their

and

families,

so intrenched as to

only

power can now be

broken.

Of corruption in the government of our municipalities, Andrew D. White as ar back as 1890 had this to say: " Without the lightest exaggeration, we may assert that, with

few exceptions, the

city

governments of the

Christendom, the most

expensive, the most inefficient,

and the most corrupt.

United States are the worst

one

who has any

considerable knowledge of our

country and of other countries can deny "

The

city halls of these larger

edged centres of the ly

towns are the acknowl-

They are absolutewho live under their

vilest corruption.

demoralizing, not merely to those

sway, but to the country at large. Such

decaying spots on ripe

body

politic.

As a

own

this.

fruit,

rule, the

cities, like

the

tend to corrupt the whole

men who

sit in

the councils

of our larger cities, dispensing comfort or discomfort, justice or injustice, beauty or deformity, health or dis-

ease, to this

and

to future generations, are

men who

other country would think of aspiring to such positions.

Some in

of them, indeed,

would think themselves lucky

keeping outside the prisons. Officials entrusted with

the expenditure of the vast wealth of our citizens are

[96]

Heart

the Fire of the

men whom no one would

frequently

with the management of his private

fitness or

The same can be

;

some by crime."*

said of various

members

of our state

These are the types of men that most

legislatures.

work through. Some

great corporate interests there deliberately

and

among

this, let

Should

him become thorough-

other things with the history of the

principal railroad in the states, say, Michigan,

New

sylvania,

The

great

know

Penn-

York, Connecticut, Massachusetts.

common

people have everything in their

hands when they once forward and

of our

are put

directly for this purpose.

anyone have any doubt of acquainted

their

by public service; many have

gained them by scoundrelism

indeed,

affairs, or,

any capacity. Few have gained

of employing in

positions

think of entrusting

make

their power.

fully realize

it.

They must come

and the moneyed interests They must take over and back to

politicians

themselves the power that they have gradually allowed to

be usurped by the

these enormously fat

politician, the political leader, for

and gorged concerns and

individ-

uals.

people with that great weapon of freedom

franchise

— are

preferences intelligent

invincible in the expression of

and

their

and united

privilege with

—

its

the

their

demands when they present an

interest,

if it

be done before special

great accumulations of wealth

and

power has grown too great and too cunning and too corrupting.

When we

*The Forum, December,

take into consideration 1890.

[97]

how

vastly

In the great

Heart

the Fire of the

common working

people out-number the privi-

leged classes, something over a hundred to one, then

must wonder that greed and

graft

and vast and un-

scrupulous wealth have been able to attain to the pro-

But the

portions they have already attained in our midst.

reason abounds and ;

later

shall consider

fully.

Certainly one of the great central facts of government,

one of the greatest fundamental principles of a govern-

ment

freedom and

equal 'privileges for

intelligence,

all

and

This we had nominally, at

the insuring of

special privileges for none.

a very small fraction of

to-day,

and we are witnessing

this proposition

its

departure from

us to-day more rapidly than ever before. tinues at the rate

true

among con-

If this

has been going on during the past

twenty years or so, and at the rate it

but

least in the nation,

reality

it is

going on at present

will be but a short time, and within the experience of

many now leges

and

living, until

will

be that the " equal

privi-

opportunities for all " will have been swallow-

ed up completely by the special privileges and the con-

sequent vast accumulations of the few. Life in satisfying class class.

no country can be happy or prosperous or at all where

special privilege reigns

produced that becomes simply a

The

loss to citizenship

and one great

grist for

so enormous,

influences are so deadly that the entire nation

so thoroughly diseased politically

and

socially

another

and

becomes

and

foundations are so quietly undermined, that before realized the nation

already in

its

decline,

its

it is

under the

workings of the same mighty compelling laws that have

[98]

the Fire of the

Heart

never yet faltered nor delayed in decreeing the fate of nations.

that

Each

for all

was written

time endures,

and

all

for each

in the beginning,

will

was the mandate

and as long even as

brook no change nor

the slightest modification.

[99]

will

permit

V A GREAT PEOPLE'S MOVEMENT

greater part of really important legislation

moneyed must be that

has

interests.

this,

— the great

management

hands

all

depends.

of the nation's

just as securely

and

shall

own we really people's men in

affairs in

our

of the

and our national assemblies.

our municipal, our

state,

Robert Owen's time, held,

rich operator in

have

just as quickly as

There must be more

so elect.

people

and every country, and upon

whose welfare ultimately the

common

and

Henceforth the greater part of

for the people

made

the great corporate

present for the benefit

in con-

nection with his fellows, that they could not afford to dispense with child labour

The "maudlin

business out of England.

nature," they pronounced labour.

Yet

been making profits.

in the cotton business

200 per cent

ing the

The

enormous

in yearly

go up to-day when the people be-

gin to redeem the country and use.

admission, had

own

cries will

human

interference with child

all legal

he, according to his

So the

common

sentimental-

neither business nor

who knew

ism of those

because that would drive

slightest

its

resources for their

own

movement that aimsatcheck-

profits that are

being reaped from the

resources that should belong to the people in

[100]

common,

now

even

the Fire of the

Heart

The number of

being met with that same cry.

labour disturbances during the past few years and to-day is

in part,

and among other things, the measure

of dissat-

isfaction with the present monopolistic system.

not bring justice to labour. This, feeling

are realizing,

and

"Corn Laws"

England,

easily

connection with

Cobden's time, that

brought about a peaceable revolution,

would have

does

thinking and right-

realizing all too keenly.

was a great people's movement

the

men

all

in place of

what

been a revolution of another type.

We are to have among us a revolution, a great and a very clear-cut revolution, but a great people's

movement

in-

sures that it will be an evolutionary revolution, a peaceable revolution, but

telling

less

marked and

in fact, far

telling,

than any blood revolution can possibly be.

In an intelligent and a determined political action on the part of the this

common

people

lies

our safety

path that we must move. United labour

along

it is

;

beginning

to recognize this. It

was but a short time ago that

was

by organized labour, and

carefully avoided

were more along what benefit lines,

and

of political action. trust

even

from

And

all

now it

along these lines that the

interests

and splendid body can become.

and

discreet

in its

and

wish

ways

It in itself,

sufficiently patriotic in

of voicing them,

through the great balance of power that

form

as mutual

would be kept. What a power, wisely directed,

sufficiently

desires

efforts

thought of any type

and combination and corporate

this great if

commonly known

this apart

its

sufficient,

a united

can hold, to bring about practically any type

[101

the Fire of the

Heart

may

desire.

of public administration

action "

getting

of united labour.

more and more

"In

political

be the watchword

This, notwithstanding the fact that

that part of the public press justly called the " capitalistic

make

press," that endeavours to

otherwise,

by an

the great good that

intelligent

Labour Party

the public believe

being accomplished

in Australia

New

and

Zealand, and from there are coming many instructive sons that we here can most profitably study.

les-

New Zealand

has been described as a country without a millionaire, without a pauper, and without a people, including labour, tunities for all, a

common-sense

fairer share of those gifts

are intended for

all.

One

justice,

of the best

with their purposes has said

and

and as a

result

known

New

P. Reeves, in connection :

object of our social legislation to tent

The common

and resources of the country that

Zealand's legislators, Hon.

possible — to

strike.

simply compelling fair oppor-

" It

the unconcealed

make democracy

consis-

create conditions out of which

such threatening extremes of wealth-ownership cannot grow.

Money

as a force in legislation, used as

is,

some-

times almost like water by the great capitalistic concerns in their carefully studied direct

the bribery

and debauchery

and

indirect ways, in

of public officials,

of such a wide-spread nature that

by the people. The complaint

it is

also true that

it is

evil

must be corrected

now

so frequently

heard, that the people do not get a fair show. It

but

our own fault that

true;

we do

not.

we look as carefully to elections and appointments [102]

moneyed

as the great

Heart

the Fire of the

then that complaint

interests do,

will forever lose its force.

This

a most

vital fact for

our great farming communities to learn, almost as

much

or even more, than any other portion of our people,

because in some respects and

some

sections conditions

with them have at times become well-nigh intolerable.

We must recognize once and for all the fact that governdemand

always as good as tne people

ment

be. "

should

King, no veriest tyrant ever ruled except by the

will of the people. Because the popular will has been

ignorant and

evil, states

have been

think in the

evil. " I

following paragraphs that clear. thinking and far-seeing

statesman,

the

has given

Ex-Governor Altgeld

late

some wonderfully

compelling statements along

clear

of Illinois,

and thoughtIn an address

this line.

before the American Railway Trainmen, at Galesburg, :

our institutions are to undergo great

Illinois,

he said "

change,

it is

money,

should direct the change.

vital that the

men

blessing as a servant, but

Money

of America,

and not the

Money may be a

a curse as a master.

never established republican institutions

in the

world. It has no natural affinity with them, and does

Money has neither soul nor sentiknow the meaning of liberty, and

not understand them.

ment. it

does not

sneers at the rights of

field

man.

time of war, and

never bled on the battle-

never voluntarily sought

the public treasury in time of peace.

Men

time acquire the nature of those things which absorb their lives. Unconsciously

change

until

and

invisibly they

undergo a

those things which occupy their daily

[103]

the Fire of the

Heart

thoughts seem actually to circulate in their veins.

Consequently all

peoples,

in all countries, in all ages,

of great wealth

were not the

they seemed to care

provided

was a

little

patriots.

what

flag that

war

left their

the contrary,

flag floated over

them,

would give them a bayonet

with which to protect their gold. late

and among

has been found that as a rule the possessors

The men who

in the

millions of hoarded treasure

and

shouldered a musket to fight for the Union were as scarce as the camels that have passed through the eye

The soldiers' cemeteries of patriotic dead men who when alive had to struggle for a living. It is the great masses of the people who defend the government in time of war, and who bear its burdens in time of peace, and these alone know the full value of the needle.

are

filled

with

of free institutions. It destinies of our class,

government should be shaped by

and they can be

capital.

They

may be

upon

Now, how

injustice to will

not only

While money may have

injustice to the masses, the

never done an

this

justice to

of the greatest possible use to

properly directed.

done a great "

relied

appreciate the fact that capital

a convenience, but

man when

therefore important that the

masses have

money.

you meet these problems

Standing

as individuals in the presence of mighty combinations

you

will

be crushed and there

will

be no hope for you

or your children. I can see no other course for you than to stand together, shoulder to shoulder,

and

patriotically.

check, whether in the

intelligently

great force never holds

phenomena [104]

itself

of nature, in politics,

In in

government, or

force will check

the Fire of the in religion. it.

Heart

Only a counter or

resisting

concentrated capital shall meet

with no checking influence, or force, then republican institutions

must come

an end, and we

will

have but

two classes in this country, an exceedingly wealthy on one hand, and a

class

spiritless,

crushed, poverty-

The hope of the country depends upon having a number of forces that will counterbalance or check each other. And in this constriken labouring class on the other.

nection

let

suggest to you that the world has pro-

gressed to a point where intelligence will always defeat

brute force, and any method of contest that involves violence belongs to a bygone age. of warfare in society are of

The modern methods

entirely different character.

You complain sometimes that you do not get a fair show, by

that capital controls legislation, that

didates for the judicial offices,

selecting the can-

many

cases controls

the courts and that the same is true in the execution

But you have yourselves

laws. It

largely to blame.

has happened frequently in the past in

in other States that

you wanted

thought was necessary and for the legislature

whom

just,

tion

some

just as

all.

men

which you

certificate of election,

their services in the

as being

and

you believed were honest, but

financial or other advantage.

spot those

Not

legislation

the rear stairway to the office of

and tendered

this State

and you supported men

who, as soon as they received their crept

of the

unworthy

some corpora-

hope of obtaining

Did you afterwards of

your confidence

Their chances for public preferment were

good thereafter as they were before. Again, cor-

[105]

the Fire of the

porations have for

many

Heart

years looked after the matter

They

of selecting judges, especially of the federal courts.

realized the fact that the construction of the laws

even

more important than the making of laws, and to have a friend on the bench is much more important than to have a lawmaker

at the capitol. It

no man

a quarter of a century

asserted that for

has been appointed to

the federal bench unless he was either a corporation

lawyer or was

known

to hold views

satisfactory to those interests,

which made him

and when these judges

afterwards distorted the law and usurped powers to assist corporations

sarily corrupt.

and smite you, they were not neces-

They were simply

judices which they

giving force to pre-

had imbibed during

their

former

association with corporate influences. It has never hap-

pened

in this

of labour

country that you or any other organization

men or of farmers sent a delegation to wait upon

the President in reference to the appointment or rejection of

You have

any particular

man

no right to complain

judicial office.

you are discriminated against

under these circumstances. Every in this

any

not looked after your interests and you have

man who

seeks office

country will need your support, and once

him understand

let

that you are capable of acting intelli-

gently and standing together, and that you insist on being honestly dealt with, Fall in with

what

and you

intelligent combination.

and

of justice

will see a great change.

is the spirit of

Move

the times.

along the lines of law

and practise foresight and you

able to right almost any grievance.

[106]

Practise

will

In " In conclusion

men

the Fire of the let

of this country are

Heart

say that you and the labouring

interested in maintaining

republican institutions than any other of our people.

You

are

interested in

making the

stars stand for free institutions

interested ditions

monarchy. liberty

It is

and

manhood

alone that

maintaining those con-

under which the greatest possible opportunities

are opened to every citizen

You cannot

the commonwealth.

leave your children millions to squander.

It is therefore

important for you to endeavour to leave

them a country will

than any other people

Wealth has always courted aristocracy

in this country.

and bowed

and

stripes

which

intelligent

and honest

effort

be properly rewarded and in which the labourer

not only be worthy

him and

of his hire, but will

will

have open to

to his posterity all of the fields of

honour and

the paths of glory."

nation such as this depends solely, for

as well as for

its

and ambitions

perpetuity,

its

welfare

upon the hearts and minds

people.

With these crushed and

traduced by monopoly and the despoiler, the nation

doomed and even will in

the corporate interests themselves

time be torn to pieces, trace the long fight for political freedom

which

those before us had to undergo, shows us

how

and how advantageous our position

Had we

political

freedom and the

is.

hopeful not

right of the ballot in face of

these rapidly growing concentrations of evil

among

our position would be well-nigh hopeless. As cannot be other than masters of this

[107]

us,

critical situation

In if

lie

within our reach, and

The

intelligent freemen.

wao-ed

Heart

speedily to a realization of the great

we come but

forces that

the Fire of the

great battle

we use them as that must now be if

the battle for economic freedom, for equal for justice

opportunities,

justice in legislation

He who owns

working conditions, for

and administration.

or controls that upon which others

depend owns and controls them. The fundemantal issue at stake is justice and equal opportunities, a more equal justice in the distribution of the results of labour,

using for all the people o those great natural

resources that are

and used

How

now

and

common

being grabbed and monopolized

for the enrichment of the few.

strange our position

estimate of the millions

could be revealed by an

is,

upon

millions in the

form of

natural franchises that we allow to be taken from us

each year, and that are making so enormously rich the

few men and families that have become so as they roll in this wealth,

parison of

power

and then

the immense preponderance

self -conceited

make a comof the voting

of the people over this relatively small

millions

making

compared this

to the thousands.

their

business.

Very

number

—

But they have been quietly, while

the

masses of the people have been going about their own private affairs, they have been getting possession of

diverting to their

concessions,

own

coffers these

and

immensely valuable

and which have grown more enormous

in their profits as the

and the needs

country has grown in population

of the people

have increased. While the

people have been farming the farms, this small privileg-

[108]

In ed

class, as

the Fire of the

Heart

an able writer has recently put

it,

has been

"farming the farmers." They have acted upon the principle that

he enunciates

as follows

— do not

people to

fool.

speaking of their methods

fool yourself while there are other

The way

to succeed

work the workers; not

not to work, but

farm the farms, but

farm

the farmers.

And how

even

now money

trying to blind the eyes

them from seeing

of the people to prevent

clearly

and

taking back to themselves these great resources, can

be seen on every hand. But the hour has struck and are on the move.

The day

to hesitate or to delay

passed. Revelations have been

coming so rapidly

of late,

momentous in their import are becoming we could not turn back even if we would. Every law of human nature and human development cries out against it. And although concentrated wealth and power may exert every influence to climb and to and

facts so

so clear, that

stifle

the

idea

greater

equality

and

justice, the

men of genius and insight common people are hearing them

thoughts and the voices of are up, and the great

over and over again giving voice and sanction to their

own thoughts and

rapidly forming conclusions.

Attempts to do something for to take the place of

denied them, will

what

fail.

And

men by

philanthropy

taken away from or what

they ought to

fail.

No manip-

ulations of this sort will ever take the place of justice. Justice

the absolute law, and

to itself sooner or later.

The

will

compel obedience

enlightened people

people of the great nation want and will

[109]

— the

demand

con-

the Fire of the

Heart

ditions of such a nature that they can build with the builder's satisfaction and pleasure their own art museums and libraries and institutions of learning. Not benefactions, but what by right belongs to one. What belongs to labour and the citizen by moral right shall be made so in fact by legal right. Nothing short of this in the

end

will satisfy.

" Social service,"

and schemes for" social betterment

are good, and praiseworthy in their place, but they will

never be accepted as taking the place of those more essential things that are the rightful inheritance of the

people, nor should they. "

The

separation between the owners of fixed capital

and the labourer has long been noted; but with vast federated

plants,

managed by

hired

intermediaries,

it is

unavoidable. There will be brave attempts to meet

the

difficulty

by alluring philanthropies, by 'doing

something for the workingmen.' these will

fail

they deserve.

merely philanthropic,

Benevolent schemes

that bear the slightest taint of charity have at last got

the contempt of the intelligent wage-earners.

"Importunate, and never again to be silenced, their

demand

that they get their benefits, not as gifts or

favours, but as recognized rights. Philanthropies are a

dangerous substitute for honest wage payment, shorter

working time, and increased influence over the con-

What may be

called the

to put gratuities

and bene-

ditions of the labour contract.

Great Bluff of our time factions in the place

of justice. There

however gaudy, that can

fill

no donation,

the place of justice.

nioi

The

the Fire oj the

attempt of the ruling class to do in history.

was the opinion

'Magnificence

The crowd

gifts

may

Heart this

of a

the oldest trick

Roman

could then be quieted by the brutalities

of a pageant, the butcheries in the arena, stolen grain scattered

We are

among

the people, as a

fleets of

Tammany

and personal kindnesses before the

heeler scatters gifts election.

emperor,

deceive even the gods.'

at least civilized so far that

mand more decorum, and

de-

a certain humanizing of our

They must bear the image of charity and They must be educational, artistic,

largesses.

good-will to men.

and "

in all

Now

ways incentives it

good morals and

religion.

would be both untrue and offensive to deny

that these later bounties are vast improvements

the free circus of Caligula.

a generous instinct of any pictures, churches,

man would check The books,

wise

multi-millionaire.

and schools take

the welfare institutions of

upon

our time.

their places

They

among

are influences

which deserve the honest and grateful approval of the public. " sult

Yet when

this tribute to

good motive and good

has been paid, the story

not finished.

re-

are

hoodwinked, unless we see that there ought to be, and

may

way than this to acquire individual and social morality. The sturdy self-respect in any community that should build its own church, possibly

be, a

still

better

school, library, dispensary,

goes,

— would

— paying

show an

every honest

bill

exhilarating superiority

before which everyone of us would hasten to pay respect.

must be

grateful to our princely givers, but the

[111]

the Fire of the

mistake would be fatal to accept subsidies ability if

Heart

this

method

What we

finality.

and the instructed

will to

really

and nothing

in the quotation

civilization halts

little."

Why

bills,

should

the

even

* Excellent,

more suggestive

— "even

mere largeness and rapidity?

want

pay our own

the pace of our civilization halts a

speak, than the last phrase

of splendid

so to

the pace of our

we be proud

especially as

does not

benefit the great masses of the people, but only the few,

the very small fraction. But the fact will reveal

itself,

upon

closer examination

that excessive wealth

value to no man, and especially

when

of real

gotten by

means

so manifestly unfair and so morally unjustifiable, as

the great portion of excessive wealth

Give

will ever

neither riches

gotten to-day.

be the desire of the truly wise, but give

that comfortable est,

— great wealth — nor poverty,

amount

that

conducive to the high-

the noblest, the most useful, and consequently, the

most happy

life.

Justice, not gifts, not charity.

There people,

spirit in

the American people, in

all

Saxon

that rebels against the proffer of gifts

charity as an equivalent for

them. This

spirit

what

can be neither changed nor broken

until at least the present

unequal distribution of wealth

grows to such an extent, that

results in the concen-

tration of the greater portion of the wealth of the nation in so

and resources

few hands, that the poverty of the

people becomes so great, that the

*"The Social

and

rightly belongs to

Unrest," by John

Graham

[112]

spirit

freemen

Brooks, p. 203.

Heart

the Fire of the

so broken that they sink to the position of paupers

and

public wards.

Said Mr. Lecky, recently, in speaking of the prosperity of nations

"Its foundation

and is

their causes as indicated

laid in

pure domestic

by history

life,

com-

mercial integrity, in a high standard of moral worth,

and

of public spirit, in simple habits, in courage, up-

and a

rightness,

certain soundness

judgment which spring quite from

intellect. If

and moderation of

much from

character

you would form a wise judgment of

the future of a nation, observe carefully whether these qualities are increasing or decaying.

what

qualities count for

becoming of greater or

who

most less

Observe especially

in public life. Is character

whom

in private life,

and

men men of

importance? Are the

obtain the highest posts in the nation,

irrespective of party,

com-

petent judges speak with genuine respect? Are they of

sincere

integrity?

rent that

convictions, .

consistent

It is

lives,

by observing

indisputable

this

moral cur-

you can best cast the horoscope of a nation."*

This social unrest that has been vaguely witnessed during the past few years, increasing yearly, has gradually

brought the people to a definite point of view and

to a definite

been doing

knowledge of

its

work

facts.

Evolution indeed has

in spite of the rapid aggressions of

the immensely rich, over against which has been set the

slowly moving discernment of the people. For a long

time there was unrest coupled with a sort of groping in the dark, *

'The

a failure to understand the

Political

Value of History," by

[113]

full significance,

E. R. Lecky.

In let

Heart

the Fire of the

alone the causes of this great unrest.

however, has been thought,

Back

it all,

in addition to feeling,

the part of the people, quickened and intensified at

times by most bitter experiences, until activity

born, and

sion of

some

time

little

it is

clear-cut

now

tion of methods,

now a new mental

being quickened by the posses-

and wonderfully

significant facts.

spent in the careful study and elabora-

and the great

and economic freedom

battle for social, industrial

and greater than

fully on,

and one fraught with a greater moment, no

this

battle has

ever been waged perhaps in the entire history of

civili-

zation.

Says Benjamin Kidd, in the closing pages of his very able work, " Social Evolution "

the complex appearances

one which

working

life

itself

all

out in our first

the people into the

all

on a footing of equality of oppor-

tunity. In this process the problem, with

and

under

civilization

ever tending to bring, for the

time in the history of the race, competition of

We see that, Western

our

presents, the central process

midst

which society

legislators will

be concerned for long into the

how

to secure to the fullest degree these

future, will be

conditions of equality, while at the

same time

retaining

from offering

that degree of inequality which

must

prizes sufficiently attractive to

keep up within the com-

munity that

state of stress

and

no people can long continue efficiency. it is

For

exertion, without

in a

in the vast process of

individuals or classes

[114]

which

high state of social

always the conditions of social

those which

result

change

in progress

efficiency,

may

and not

desire for

them-

the Fire of

Heart

tJie

that the unseen evolutionary forces

selves,

amongst us are engaged

"Nor

there

in developing.

any

reason

development proceeding

why

work

the great social

our civilization which has

been but feebly and inadequately described

the

preceding chapters, should be viewed with distrust by

who

those of more conservative instincts amongst us

profess to have at heart the highest interests of humanity.

The movement which

uplifting the people

sarily to a large extent, at the

them —

— neces-

expense of those above

but the final result of a long process of organic

development. All anticipations and forebodings as to the future of the incoming democracy, founded

upon

comparisons with the past, are unreliable or worthless.

For the world has never before witnessed a democracy of the

kind that

now

slowly assuming supreme power

amongst the Western peoples.

To compare

with

democracies which held power under the ancient empires

to altogether misunderstand both the nature of

our civilization and the character of the forces that have

produced

it.

overshadows

... all

others

The is

the preception of the fact

fact

of our time

which

the arrival of Democracy. But is

of relatively

little

importance

we do not also realize that it is a new Democracy. There many who speak of the new ruler of nations as if he were the same idle Demos whose ears the dishonest courif

are

tiers

have tickled from time immemorial.

Even those who attempt understand him. Those

to lead

who

It is

him do not

think that he

not

so.

yet quite

about to

bring chaos instead of order, do not rightly apprehend the

[115

They do not

nature of his strength. arrival

Heart

the Fire of the

perceive that his

the crowning result of an ethical

and

movement

which we have been

which

all

taught to regard as the very highest of which

nature

qualities

attributes,

human

capable, find the completest expression they

have ever reached

Such indeed

in the history of the race."

the opinion of

many

other clear and

disinterested thinkers in addition to that of the able

author of "Social Evolution."

ment

to bring

back

great people's move-

immense belong-

to the people the

away from them, and

ings that have been taken

now on, is the supreme Slowly and almost gropingly we have

prevent a continuance of this from

need of the time.

been leading up to

it,

its

rapidly as of

There

late.

on, the knowl-

increasing

and never so

but the incentive cause

edge underlying

or even materially hinder

no power now that can stop

any more than human power

can hinder or prevent the workings of any of nature's great laws. It witness

and

new order up to.

indeed most glorious to be

have a hand

alive, to

in the culmination of this

of life that all the centuries

[116]

have been leading

GOOD

PUBLIC UTILITIES FOR THE PUBLIC

strange

selves to

how

long and

how

heavily

allow our-

be fleeced, or robbed, by custom. Because we

commence a thing in a certain way, is many times the reason we continue it in that way long after it could be changed to our great advantage. Because we began that

way we are still living and great public

utilities,

the people in

acting under the delusion that

the value of which

common,

instead of being

for the benefit of the people, should be

caused by

all

managed by, and managed

for the

private benefit and the enrichment of an individual or little

groups of individuals called companies or corporations. It is

a delusion something akin to the

according to Charles the Chinese

when

Lamb,

belief,

so long held

the savour of roast pork had been

accidently discovered through the burning Ho-ti's hut, that, in

order to cook a pig

to set fire to a house.

that that

By and

its

results.

down

was necessary

by, however, they found

method was not only crude and

also uncertain in

which,

sway among

But

until a

wasteful, but

Chinese sage

came forward and invented a rude type of gridiron which, according to Lamb's interesting dissertation, was the forerunner of the spit and the oven, no one had ever

thought of a pig being roasted without the burning

[117]

down

the Fire of the

were

of a hut, or

Heart

for one better circumstanced,

a house. They, therefore, had to follow the only method

they knew. With us, however, in connection with the

common

supplying of certain great for there are other

needs

that indeed have been

known and have been

ful operation in other countries far in this

some

it is

different;

methods of which we already know, in success-

more progressive

regard than we, for more than a score and in

cases, for

more than two

excuse I can see

score of years.

The

only

that in having begun in a very crude

and thoughtless and expensive way, we have not been bright enough, or energetic

enough as

yet, to find

and

adopt a more common-sense and satisfactory way.

At one period municipal ing these

life

in the

there

common

development of our national and

may have been

necessities to

individuals or private companies.

a good or at

when our

least

a reason for allow-

be dealt with by private

There may have been

a satisfactory reason for this method

proportions were small and our needs were not

so great and not so complex, when individuals not such vast

meant giving over to

amounts that should be used

for the advantage of all the people,

and when the oppor-

tunities for getting these great advantages

away from

the people through political corruption and debauchery

were not so great as they are to-day. So there

may have

been a reason in the beginning, but the basis for that reason has

now

passed. This

method may have been

common with even right at one time — though no longer right now. And the many I question — this in

fact that

are beginning

now

[118]

to think so rapidly along

the lines of a saner and a better

method

Heart

the Fire of the

way

indicates that the

vogue so long has more than seen

its

day.

Nevertheless, although our awakening has been tardy,

our advance will be rapid. It is the

people

— the people

common

— that make

valuable those enormously rich franchises that have

been given over to individuals for their private enrichment, in the form, to deal

privi-

not to mention the various other ones at present.

not only the people, but to state

cretely,

their

— of

with the city

and heat and transportation and telephone

light leges, It

first

it is

enormous

it still

more con-

them

the very needs of the people that give values,

and

it is

through these that their

profits are secured. If this

be true,

why

then

should not these great interests be conducted by and for the benefit of the people, instead of by and for the enrich-

ment

of a

few private individuals

our system of enormously rich

gifts to these individuals

or groups of individuals, and their enterprises with

for years

and

and are

all

still

amount of

the time,

and that from

conducted by and

them-

lines as

poor a

and the greatest amount

and abuses, as any country

As long, moreover, as any necessities

profit for

we have been having

having along these

service with the highest costs,

of evil

conducting these

no thought of the public welfare but with

the one thought of the greatest selves, first, last,

Especially as under

in the entire

world.

of the utilities that are public their very nature should

in the interests of the people, are

allowed to be run for private gain, this condition of affairs will

continue to

exist.

[119]

With

the Fire of the

Heart

our progress along other

all

lines, it is

almost

universally understood that the conduct of our municipal affairs in the United States has

most backward and

been among the

and degraded and

costly

unsatis-

factory of any in the entire civilized world.

In the conduct of these

affairs

are far behind

all

such countries as Germany, England, France, Norway,

Sweden, Belgium, not to go through almost the

and progressive

list of civilized

clearly evident that

we cannot do

entire

nations. It seems to

from the very nature of the case

violence to the principle

— " That which

the people collectively create they should collectively

own," without

Moreover,

suffering this as a result.

shall never reach the highest state in

municipal or

even in state or national administration, until

and

nize

act

upon the

principle — what

recog-

the people

can do best for themselves, that, through their agent, the government, they should do.

permit purely governmental functions to be seized

fore,

and

be exploited by individuals and corporations.

There must,

therefore, not only be blows struck that

put an end to the giving over to individuals

will forever

common

of these great

there

must

all

words

"The

and

to private uses,

one of our fore-

recovery to the people

by the purchase

individuals, corruptly

and municipal *

editors,*

franchises belonging to the people, but diverted

from public tions

properties of the people, but

also be, to use the

most American of

They should not, there-

of corpora-

working through

legislatures.

Henry Watterson

— The Louisville [120]

Courier Journal.

state

our present method

amount

unbelievable that has

Heart

the Fire of the is

of graft

be attributed the almost

and bribery and corruption

become so rampant among us

has been steadily swelling

in its

of late

and that

volume during the pass-

ing of the years. " Nothing, " says one editor of another of our foremost papers, " has conduced so greatly to graft

and bribery

fact that franchises of

municipal and state

enormous value

are to be obtained by favour of certain streets is

back

to the city

and

affairs as the

for public utilities officials.

Give the

element of corruption

this

at once eliminated. " Continuing

—

was an

editorial

on the significance of the great and splendid vote recently given

by the people of Chicago

to drive

from

in their

their midst all further

determination

domination on the

part of the Rapid Transit Companies, their determination to

come

facilities

and

into complete possession of their transit to

the writer said "

conduct them for their own benefit

What Chicago

has done

New York

can do, though

we of The same

on the very day the Western

city scored its victory

New York

to face

were called upon

agencies that

a defeat.

waged war on Judge Dunne and what he

stood for killed the Elsberg Bill in the lature

;

and though that measure

August Belmont

York

New York Legis-

— designed

any more scandals such as the gift to

—

to prevent

of the people's

Subway

— had the endorsement of ever} New 7

civic organization interested in the cause of

good

government, and was openly opposed only by theBelmont combination and the unrepresentative Rapid Transit

Commission,

was beaten

in the

[121]

Senate at Albany.

In "

the Fire oj the

The triumph

Heart

Chicago and the disaster

York simply mean

New

may be

that though a legislature

influenced to favour special privilege at the expense of the people, the people themselves can neither be bought

by a

corrupt lobby nor driven by bosses working for their peculiar interests. If

take entirely

public service

away from

utilities,

then

private gain those great

at once strike the axe at

the roots of the larger share of the source of our political

corruption and debauchery for which, especially in

municipal matters,

stand as the most notorious

nation in the entire world. As lovers of free institutions

and

of ordinary public honesty

alone,

and decency,

of sufficient importance to

demand

this

end

of us such

a course, to say nothing of the enormous gains otherwise.

The

fact that both city

and

state legislation

so domi-

nated by great accumulated wealth and by corporations, especially public service corporations, indicates that our

prevailing

menace

methods are not healthy, and that

to free institutions,

and

to a

this great

government for

and by the people, should be speedily removed.

A matter of such vital

importance to the national and

individual welfare as the public ownership of all public utilities sideration,

more than we

limited a space. It

and

control

worthy of a most detailed conshall

be able to give

become, as

it is

in so

so rapidly be-

ginning now, one of the paramount questions in the policies of the

American nation.

I think there

perhaps no better way of proceeding

to a consideration of the

argument

[122]

favour of such a

In method

the Fire of the

of supplying our needs

Heart

and

necessities than

what has been accomplished in this line in the municipalities of other countries, and with what results. Many times a long and detailed argument considering

first,

that a certain thing cannot be done,

showing that

most

already has been or

met by

best

being done, and

successfully.

account of the general characteristics and con-

ditions there being probably

own,

shall

more nearly akin

our

look in the direction of Great Britain

first.

I think

we cannot do

some

sider

whose

better at this point than con-

facts as presented

statistics in

by Mr. John Martin,*

connection with Great Britain are

vouched for by the British Imperial Board of Trade.

These

facts

and

figures I shall give exactly as they

were

presented by Mr. Martin himself, f After speaking of the various small beginnings along these lines that

made

here, he

continues, "

Driven to desperation by the

cobra-like voracity of the lighting trust, erecting a plant to light

its

we have

streets

New York

and public buildings

(nothing for private consumers yet), and so

begin-

ning to toddle like a babe in those paths of business thrift

which we

been running *

shall see that

European

cities

have

like athletes for decades.

Mr. Martin was formerly a member

of the

Hackney Borough

Council, London. He is now a resident of New York, where he is well-known as a writer and an authority on Municipal Problems, and as an effective worker along the lines of clean politics. t Proceedings of the Annual Conference on Good City Government, held by the National Municipal League at New York, 1905.

[123]

In "

How

the Fire of the

been the record abroad

different has

thirty years

Heart

behind the

cities of

are

Great Britain and Ger-

many. And from the beginning they were more business-

than

are even now.

To them

would seem the

height of economic folly to forbid a city to supply electric light to householders

to retain

and

to allow a private

nicipality sought relief by multiplying wires

for

the

and dynamos

The 355 localities of the United Kingdom and numerous German cities which own and run electric

itself.

lighting plants, hold the

Competition being,

"The same

their

management

in the

two countries.

requires that

somebody

a monopoly, and political sense requires that

somebody

that

in their districts.

field.

with the gas-works

Thrifty business shall hold

monopoly

in the nature of the case, impossible,

the city holds the

monopoly

them while the mu-

extortionate prices for

its

be the

shall

less that

260

cities

city itself.

— Great

Britain

— supply

whole population with gas-light and power.

They charge on an average, taking distant

from and those near

large

and

small, those

to coal fields all together,

sixty-four cents a thousand cubic feet for gas. Therefore

the consumer

benefited, for the private companies,

on an average, taken seventy cents.

What

in the

same way, charge a

little

over

they would charge were they not

held in check by municipal competition Cousin Jona-

than could "

tell

John

Bull.

Has the taxpayer been mulcted

indeed.

The

capital, and,

net revenue has been if

make up ? No,

7 per cent on the

anything, the taxpayer had been too well

[124]

In cared

the Fire of the

Heart

In Manchester he received $350,000 last year

for.

pay for the schools,

to help to

sixty cents; in Leicester

and

six cents,

the price of gas being

he got $190,000 with gas at

in the other places lesser

tion to their size

" And the

etc.,

and the success

workman

everywhere he gets

sums

fifty-

propor-

management.

of the

has not been forgotten for ;

slightly higher

wages than he would

from a private corporation and somewhat more generous treatment with respect to hours and holidays. "Electric lighting

tells

the

same

tale.

While

writing this there comes a return compiled by the

County Council showing that the fourteen

local authori-

the metropolitan district which supply electric

ties in

light, sell

an average of

tions charge in adjacent districts,

as submissive

paying

all

New

than eight cents

slightly less

a kilowatt hour, nearly 20 per cent

much

London

less

than corpora-

and nearly half as

And

Yorkers pay.

yet, after

expenses and the interest on the debt they had

a surplus of $1,244,515. Clearly they understand the notion of thrift in production; they do not regard every

department as a spending agency.

city

Space

fails

works of the 323

dom and

to tell the details of the electric light

local authorities in the

United King-

with their approximate capital of $150,000,000, of the

numerous

Their success after the

similar examples in

sufficiently indicated

Germany.

by the fact that

most virulent attacks have been made on them

in the last four years,

tion representatives

supported by a group of corpora-

from America who went as kindly

missionaries to point out to Britishers

[125]

what a

terribly

the Fire of the

Heart

wicked mistake their municipalities were making,

after

a long investigation by Parliament and a vigorous defence by the highest and most influential administrators in

the

Kingdom, not only has

municipal activity, but

there been

no cessation

while the corps of anxious Americans

Mean-

steadily increasing.

who thought

they

could fool the slow-witted Britishers into the adoption of

American ways, have been sent home routed and led 'Physician, "Still

heal

more remarkable,

Spencerians

who

especially to those belted

piously believe that a government

congenitally incapable of

must be the record

prise,

label-

thyself.'

managing a business

enter-

of the street railway achieve-

ments abroad. For a change of

air, let

us leap the North

Sea and travel to Berlin. " Berlin's

most illuminating experience has been with

her street railways. In 1898, in order to get the lines electrified,

the city granted a charter for twenty-one

years, with these provisions included:

have a ten-hour day. tions to 3.

Uniform

Waiting-rooms at transfer

fare for the 4.

whole length of each

Eight per cent of the gross

half the net profits over 12 per cent

and 6 per cent on the new 5.

At the end of the

rolling stock to

of the

sta-

mind

of taxpayers,

when we

be paid to the

lease all the lines

and the

of the city.

these terms,

New York Rapid

line to

profits, plus

on the old capital

capital, to

become the property

" Please bear in

ment

Workmen

be erected and to be kept warmed and lighted.

2.38 cents.

city.

made by a

govern-

consider, later, the action

Transit Commission.

[126]

the Fire of the

"Berlin's bureaucracy in the world,

and

Heart

and honest as any

as able

worked

to keep the corporation to the terms of

addition,

an association of

can

as well as officials ever

citizens

its

bargain. In

was formed

and fight. But even then the trouble involved

watch

in protecting

the citizens from the universal tendency of franchise

corporations to evade their obligations was so harassing that after a few

months

this council of taxpayers

decided

that

no more franchises should be granted, and that the

city

should enter the railway business.

line

short strategic

which happened to be obtainable was bought,

now

other lines were built, and active competitor

every franchise as

"No

less

their

and

own

ready to take advantage of

expires.

than 162

ability, enterprise

manage

and it

the government

localities in Britain

foresight

street-car lines.

have shown

to take over

and

Among them

are

enough

London, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham, Hull, Newcastle, Nottingham, Halifax, Leeds, Sheffield,

Aberdeen, Brighton, Dundee, Yarmouth, Belfast and Rochdale. All of them are so well satisfied with the results in lower fares for the passenger, better conditions

for the

workman and

no party

even

profits for the taxpayers, that

in existence

which advocates the

surrender of any system to a private corporation.

mere whisper

such a proposal would be a request

for political execution "

London owns

of the

re-

The

and

burial.

the surface lines both north and south

Thames. Those on the north

side, in

fit

lukewarmness, when for one term the Progressive and

[127]

In Moderate

the Fire of the

parties

Heart

were evenly balanced, and to the

present regret of the population served by them, are leased for operation to a corporation on terms remunerative to the government, but obstructive to improve-

The

ment.

city

has electrified

refuses to follow suit.

So much

During the

eight

lines; the corporation

for that superior cor-

we hear ad nauseam.

poration enterprise of which "

its

years

municipal ownership

these returns have been secured.

the lines worked

of the passengers

by the council, 44 per cent

pay one-

cent fares, 43 per cent pay two cents, 8 per cent three cents, 4 per cent four cents, and, to

99 per cent of the passengers

compensate for the

who pay

less

straight five-cent rate, just one poor soul,

to travel the

whole

"In those

length of the line, has to

than our

who

pay

wishes

six cents.

years, despite the increases of wages, the

annual holidays and the day's

rest

per week given to

employees, the street railways have contributed $1,465,-

000 to the general of the debt

city treasury, $1,670,000 in reduction

on the

lines,

$330,000 as a renewal and

reserve fund for the southern system, $450,000 for taxes

on the southern system during the

and

last six years,

$630,000 in reduction of debt from proceeds

of sale of

horses, etc.

In addition to the extremely low fares that are paid in

German

better

have is

cities for street-car service,

and with

far

and cleaner and more up-to-date cars than we

— with

a rare exception here and there

— there

There the number

of seats

this noticeable difference.

each car contains

posted in clear and

[128]

artistic

form

In in the interior, it.

and each

As soon then

Heart

the Fire of the

seat has

its

number

as all seats are taken

no more passen-

number

gers are permitted to enter, but a sufficient cars

run to provide a seat

of a fare always implies

makes a

child. It

above

just

— for

every man,

woman and

difference whether a matter

ducted for the comfort and convenience of

the last possible penny, giving

many

accommodation that we, had we the

all

people

con-

patrons

its

them

or for the deliberate purpose of extracting from

sense of justice that

— that which the payment

times in return an

and the

civic pride

— and I had almost

said,

above

— should have, would not put up with more

than the number of days absolutely required to bring about the change.

Compare

the

German

citizens'

two-cent fare and his

accommodations

guaranteed seat and clean and

artistic

with our five-cent fare, even

for half a

with our

many

when they

dozen blocks,

times rattling cars, sometimes even junk

are bought,

and our almost equal chances

that for this excessive fare

hang onto

strap to

common

exchange a

will get in

with a

number

of people

standing equal to or sometimes greater than the

management deigns

that the

and

all

the discomfort this

Many

the car.

form is

is all

accommodate with

seats,

means on entering or leaving

times merely

room

to stand

upon a

plat-

they will permit us to have, and for a fare that

at least twice as high as

sitting

number

should be even for the best

accommodations.

They

are thirsty lesches, these owners and managers

of our public service corporations.

[129]

But

it is

because

In permit to be

it.

the Fire of the

Heart

Their blood-sucking propensities seem never nor do they decrease, but by virtue of a

satisfied

And

great natural law they are ever on the increase. again, because

we permit and

stand

it.

There, one finds almost without exception, vestibuled cars for the protection

and comfort

This portion of their citizenship as

But here

all others.

it is

motormen.

of their

looked after the same

manage-

scarcely ever that the

ment

of the roads adopts this plan voluntarily,

when

the

demand

of ordinary

a measure to the legislature compelling

common

the

it,

pany's representatives are there with their their lobby to defeat

and

decency and fairness takes

com-

money and

with practically

every measure looking to the comfort and welfare and safety of those the public service corporation

supposed

to serve.

The the

who

winter just passed but one was a frightful one in

amount for the

of suffering these

safety, should

City alone

mining

men had

to undergo,

and

most effective service as well as for the public

be kept always at their

best.

caused the death or resulted

of the health of

many a poor

New York

in the

fellow.

under-

They

are

sometimes scorpions, these owners and managers of our public service corporations, for they sting to the death in their excessive

the

common

directly

and unchecked greed

citizens, are

also

had a hand

suffering that resulted

that brought sadness

in this frightful

more than once

and want

their breadwinner; for

for gain.

But we,

not free from guilt; for

to those

in-

amount

in death,

and

dependent upon

are dwellers in a country of

[130]

the Fire of the

Heart

democratic institutions where the people are responsible

among them.

for the conditions that prevail

In the matter of the municipal ownership and manage-

ment

we have heard much of late The people of among the most fearless and the

of public utilities,

Glasgow, and not without reason.

Glasgow have stood most successful

managing

for themselves their public

has been a long time since the franchise

utilities.

The

grabber has been able to exploit the people there.

people of Glasgow, strange to say, prefer to keep for

themselves the millions of dollars their public return each year, instead of handing

group of

capitalists, foreigners

only interest of tribute

1869,

to take

them over

many

from the

little

and whose

times,

city the largest

amount

can exact. For over thirty-five years, or since

Glasgow has owned

its

own

gas-works.

As a

result,

people pay fifty-three cents per thousand feet for gas.

its

Its

municipal

electricity is supplied at five

and one-half

cents per kilowatt hour. All the markets are

the

city.

establishments.

brings

ment

owned by

Private slaughter-houses were abolished

years ago and the city

utilities

to a

its

now

many

supplied by three central

From Lake Katrine in the Trossachs The Water Depart-

splendid water supply.

also supplies hydraulic power.

In addition to

museums,

its

hospitals,

its

parks,

its

art galleries,

libraries, botanic gardens, art schools, techni-

cal schools, etc.,

has also

concerts, facilities for golf

and playgrounds the children of

its

winter gardens,

its

free

and other games, gymnasia

for the children. It has also

widows and widowers;

[131]

homes

for

has depots for

the Fire of the

Heart

the supply of sterilized milk to poor children. "It,"

London

says Robert Donald, editor of the

"was

private telephone

Chronicle,

Glasgow that broke down the

the persistency of

monopoly

Great Britain, encourag-

ed other municipalities to establish their own system,

and has now

led to the complete nationalization of the

whole service." Speaking of Glasgow's municipal tramways, Mr.

Donald says

" It will

be interesting to state the

effect of

municipal ownership, and to explain the policy which

The company

guided the City Council. enterprises profits.

row

must do

— kept mainly

Like most British companies,

policy.

The keynote

— as

all

private

view immediate

pursued a nar-

of the municipal system

was

The

service, giving the best possible to the citizens.

municipality operated the roads in the interest of It

greatly lowered the fares, banished

from the

cars,

made

the

names

nations conspicuous, opened

up new

districts. It also

out a contented

its

all.

advertisements

of the routes

up new

considered

staff there

all

routes

and

desti-

and linked

employees. With-

cannot be a perfect service.

So the drivers and conductors were dressed

new

uni-

forms, their wages were increased, their hours reduced.

The

citizens

had the

feeling of personal possession

when

they patronized the cars, which display the city's arms

and

its

motto

ism asserted

— 'Let Glasgow Flourish.'

itself later

on,

when

Civic patriot-

the displaced franchise-

holders started a competing service of omnibuses, which failed to get support

The

fares in

and soon disappeared.

Glasgow are one cent [

132]

for a stage of a

In little

Heart

the Fire of the

over half a mile, and over 30 per cent of the pass-

engers travel this short distance, and bring in nearly 17

per cent of the receipts. For an average of two and a

two

third miles, the fares are

cents,

and

on 61 per

cent of the passengers travel this distance and contri-

bute 66| per cent of the receipts, so that 91 per cent of the total

Only than

number

6.31 per cent travel for three cents.

Less

one per cent of the 189,000,000 passengers last

year paid "

carried pay two-cent or one-cent fares.

more.

five cents or

The Glasgow tramways are managed by a Committee which holds frequent meetings

of the City Corporation,

and reports regularly

to the City Council. It consists of

who

twenty-eight members,

appoint sub-committees for

supervising different departments. It obtains the sanction of the Council for

its

actions.

The

Council might be

regarded as the legislative authority, and the Committee as the executive.

From a

financial point of view the

Glasgow under-

taking has been remarkably successful.

Last

year's accounts indicate the healthy financial condition of

the tramways.

The

total receipts, for instance,

amounted

to $3,624,255, the operating expenses to $1,684,100

per cent of the revenue.

The

net receipts

showed a gross

return on the capital outlay of 17.46 per cent.

The

— 49

accounts of the department are examined and audi-

ted by independent professional accountants.

The

ac-

counts are published with elaborate detail, showing the smallest item of expenditure

worked out

and comparisons with previous [133

years.

to percentages

the Fire of the

Heart

"The Tramway Department, as its own electric power, the

generates is less

have indicated,

total cost of

which

than one cent per kilowatt hour.

"The Tramways Committee delegates considerable power to its general manager, who is responsible for the staff who form part of the permanent civil service in the city. Politics

motion "

With

does not influence appointments, and pro-

by merit.

and reserve funds

liberal depreciation

meet

renewals and obsolescence, with a redemption fund

which liquidates the original capital of the undertaking

which

in thirty years, in

tion

efficient is

same time maintained

at the

condition out of revenue, the City Corpora-

more than doing

its

duty to the next generation.

Lower

fares for long distances should be easily possible

in the

near future, and there

average fare will come

down

a prospect that the

to one cent.

universal

one-cent fare irrespective of distance could then be

adopted.

Here then we have a municipal enterprise which after paying

its

annual

making

interest,

its

fund for the redemption of

payments its

capital,

allowing for depreciation and reserve fund,

paying

into the sinking

its

local tax assessments

— for

tribution to local taxation as

if it

makes the same con-

were a private concern

— and which although carrying over nine-tenths of patrons for one-cent and two-cent of thirty years

pay for

fares, will at the

its

end

— between nineteen and twenty years now,

itself

entirely without

one cent of cost to the

people or to the municipality. Moreover, from the very f

134]

In beginning,

owned

Heart

the Fire of the

has been more up-to-date than any privately

system.

There

indeed quite a contrast between the sturdy

common-sense and business sagacity brethren and the

way we

all

of our public utilities

the type of service that even then Is

and

we accept. many thinking men

any wonder then that so us are

now

realizing so keenly the stupid folly

lack of business

respect

Scotch

allow ourselves to be fleeced in

connection with practically

among

of our

And

is it

management among us

any wonder that

in this

at the close of the

recent election in Chicago, resulting in the

demand

of her

people for the municipalization of her transit systems, that a

man

of such business insight as

Carnegie should send to the newly following message as he

Mr. Andrew

elected

Mayor

the

reported to have sent: Tell

Judge Dunne not to stop until every public

utility that

can

be made the subject of private monopoly has been placed

under the control and operation is still

of the city.

in its infancy. It has scarcely yet

For some

less

to grow.

we take In this we have

additional concrete facts shall

a glance at Liverpool's transit systems.

begun

Chicago

an authority than Mr. C. R. Bellamy, General

Manager of the Municipal

Street Railways of Liverpool.

Some time ago Mr. Bellamy gave an

address before

the National Convention on Municipal Ownership and Public Franchises, held under the auspices of the

New

York Reform Club. In opening, he showed how the accommodations on

his roads

were doubled during the

rush hours, and although he had a population of but

[135]

the Fire of

ifie

Heart

700,000 to deal with, the fan-shaped form of the city of Liverpool became, he said, terribly congested night and

morning, and the as in

any other

was quite as

traffic

difficult to

conduct

city.

"In Great Britain," continued Mr. Bellamy, "the municipalities have largely concluded that local tram-

common common good,

way management should be taken up interest

treating

and

and worked it

as a necessity in the

artificial light.

in the

entirely for the

same category with water

" All objections to municipal trading are based on the

surmise that

and

will

it is

fraught with danger to the community,

end disastrously; but an ounce of

fact

worth

a pound of opinion.

"In

1897, a

company rented the tramway lines which

belonged to the municipality under an expired lease of seventeen years.

The

service

was inadequate, the

fares

were high, and there were loud complaints as to the conditions of labour of the employees. It

was

felt

that

me-

chanical should supersede horse traction, that the system

should be largely extended and fares reduced, and the

company not being

willing to

make

these changes,

negotiations were opened resulting in the purchasing of the stock

was

and shares of the company.

at once arranged to scrap the entire under-

taking and to adopt electric traction, and within three years of

its

acquirement the whole of the sixty-eight

miles of track were reconstructed, together with forty miles of additional

new

track,

with 400 regular cars.

[130]

which were equipped

"The

the Fire of the

total carrying capacity

fares reduced

by nearly

Heart

was quadrupled, the

one-half, the

wages of the em-

ployees largely increased and their hours of labour re-

duced, and they were

supplied with uniform clothing.

all

"It was a bold movement, and was considerably criticized, facilities

cess

but the response of a grateful public to the

afforded

once evident that the suc-

of the new scheme was assured.

Here, then, its

made

a system which

in addition to

making

annual contribution to local taxation, putting by a capital, allowing

regular fund for the redemption of

its

for depreciation, keeping

the highest state of

efficiency,

itself in

has nearly doubled

a period of

its

earning capacity within

although raising

five years,

its

employees'

wages and shortening their hours of work, and its

giving

patrons a most up-to-date service and accommoda-

tions,

charging a fare of two cents within the city limits,

and a

fare of four cents

on beyond the

that in a few years will entirely pay for

city limits,

itself

and

without one

cent of expense to a single citizen or to the municipality.

As soon

as this period

tion of fares can,

for such

managed

and

up, then a

still

greater reduc-

in all probability will,

the policy of these municipally

utilities.

Another

fact should

connection with this system

— one

be made;

owned and

be mentioned

person, employee

or passenger, was killed the previous year in every

They also, as in connection with all municipally owned and managed utilities, had no 13,000,000 people carried.

expensive legal and court proceedings to compel private

owners to carry out their agreements with the

[137]

city.

In the Fire

of the

Heart

coukl go into hundreds of other

Britain, in

Germany,

and

countries, as well as into Australia

but

in all

we would

cities in

Great

Belgium and other continental

find the

New

Zealand;

facts

and con-

same general

ditions, varying slightly in detail simply

by reason of

varying local conditions.

Now

in all fairness I ask,

the people in the cities of

these countries can save for themselves the returns from

these wonderfully rich properties, aggregating hundreds instead of allowing these vast

of millions annually,

amounts rich

to flow into the pockets of a

few already overly

individuals, why cannot we American people do the

same

we cannot then we must admit

that

are less

capable in business management and in the matter of

we can scarcely believe, especially when in some respects we have proved ourselves self-government than they. This

even more capable. I cannot believe that in these matters

are any less capable, or that

when we

ability

The

will

show an

inferior

are sufficiently alert and determined.

made,

we had

the honesty in municipal

administration that they have in England, in Scotland, in

Germany and

the various other countries where such

splendid municipal ownership results are obtained, then

we could

safely travel along the

same lines. True, but the

municipalities in these countries did not always have this characteristic, but they

about

to attain

very definite

This

the stock

by simply going

They made the start which in a them to such splendid results. argument presented against the muit.

way has

nicipal ownership

have attained

led

and management

[138]

of public utilities,

and that ly held,

it is

Heart

the Fire of the

a strong argument

by large numbers

held,

and very honest-

of people. It is

an argument,

the only argument really worthy of consideration, but

had

get into conditions

still

an argument not without an answer. keep as we are said.

it is

But

lest

this latter

no argument, and

truth even as a statement; for taking

it all

better

worse,

has no

in all

it is

absolutely impossible to have conditions in this respect

worse than they are when we consider the uniformly excessively high charges

and the generally poor and inad-

equate service, and the thousands of unnecessary killings

and maimings that form the total

for each year.

must be combined the great amount

With this

of political corrup-

and debauchery that passes every year, and coupled

tion

with

it all

we must not

refuse to take account of the

yearly additions of the millions to the wealth of these little

groups of already excessively rich men,

whom and

many

are thoroughly unscrupulous in their dealings

in their entire outlook, as

is all

too clearly evidenced

by the methods they have been and are continually using in furthering their ends, and in getting control of still

larger

amounts

of the people's properties, so that

they have become a menace to free institutions and to the welfare of every

man, woman and

child in the nation.

Matters, I repeat, by no stretch of the imagination,

could be any worse than they are, unless in connection

with the taking over of these use,

cut loose from

of procedure

sure

all

utilities for

common-sense

our

common

our methods

and business management, which

are not liable to do.

[139]

The in

present

the Fire of the

amount

very great argument,

and

of political corruption

city administration

our

Heart

is,

graft

inclined to think, one

when we look

all

round

way, for taking from private exploitation the manage-

ment

of these public utilities; for then the responsibili-

City Hall will

ties at

become

so great that we, the indi-

vidual citizen, will be compelled to give the

amount

time and study and attention to municipal affairs that

we should be

giving, for

on account of

it is

this lack that

these public service corporations have been able to have

men that they have been

seated in our city councils the able to

make

and who,

their deals with,

for considera-

have been handing over these public properties for

tion,

their private enrichment.

This

must now quickly

ually rotting

and

face. It

festering

the great evil that

the sore that has been grad-

and gradually enveloping the

very vitals of our entire social body. Men's abilities and real qualities assert themselves in the degree that responsi-

upon them. So with something personal enough and large enough and inspiring enough

bilities

are placed

for our splendid

great

and

common

movement and

especially

all

citizenship to

that

strike for

work for, as this

carries with

must

be,

at once without delays

or dickerings, and without any more millions being

handed over or any further rights,

we would

quickly

alienation of properties

make a

purging our social body of vigour-sapping disease.

this rapidly

And when we

growing and

begin to experience

the direct personal results that will follow, then I

sure that

will

never stop until

[140]

and

splendid beginning in

we have put com-

In pletely

by the

old,

Heart

the Fire of the

and

and complete operation,

into full

the new.

Hand

hand with the extension

of this

movement of our

must go the continual extending and perfecting Civil its

Service system, making

continually stronger in

requirements for admission, with perhaps continually

greater leeway along the lines of dismissals for proven

incompetency, and

the

management

making

re-

movals cannot appoint except from the duly qualified lists,

there will be but

little

chance for the

political

machine methods gaining

control, or even extending

themselves materially.

a wise and judicious exten-

sion of such a system,

hand

hand with the growth

municipal ownership, the machine elements would be

compelled gradually to disappear.

There can be no argument that the

financial

in connection with these undertakings

burden

would be too

great for our cities to assume, because under wise and

management no

judicious

additional burdens need be

assumed, and these enterprises can be taken over and

improved and extended just as they have been cities of

in the

Great Britain and of Germany already noted,

and can be made to pay

for themselves out of their

own

earnings without involving a burden of a single dollar

upon any But

individuals or

this

entire matter of municipal ownership

nothing new nor

an extension

—

upon any municipality.

startling even with us ;

it is

of the municipal ownership

in fact

merely

methods that

already have, including municipal water supplies practically all of

which are now or soon

[141]

will

be under

the Fire of the

Heart

complete municipal ownership and management. So our

fire

departments, our street-cleaning departments,

our parks, and our public schools. Are these and others that could be mentioned not

and

welfare than

Who any

managed more economically

and more uniformly

satisfactorily

they were

to private enterprise

left

there bold enough to say at all seriously, that

be turned over to

of these public utilities should

private enterprise rates

for the public

and

lighting

But

all

and heating

street-car

to be supplied at satisfactory

round satisfactory manner with facilities

and telephone

— gas

and

electricity

facilities, etc., is just

tant, for they are just as

much

—

as impor-

necessities as those

already mentioned.

now rapidly crystallizing municipal ownership movement, we are not without

And

even in the matter of the

precedent and not without some very telling results.

Chicago for example, for over

and operated one in the country, lic

buildings. arc-light.

fifteen years

has owned

of the largest electric lighting plants

with which she lights her streets and pub-

At one time she paid $125 a year

She

able to

make

her

own

$54 per lamp. She has been doing

light for

this

for

about

despite

the

fact that she has not been furnishing the private con-

sumer with

light.

And on account

private concerns, her

of the fat-pursed

city lighting plant,

which has

al-

ways been a menace to the private gas and electric companies, has been fought and hampered by them at every movement. Aldermen they have elected and Mayors they have controlled have crippled and starved

[142]

it.

In Notwithstanding

and

this corporate

this official treachery,

city splendidly, It

the Fire of the

Heart

hatred and intriguing

has grown, has served the

and has saved

sums every

large

year.

has therefore demonstrated what even under the most

adverse circumstances can be done, and furnishes a basis

upon which the

city will

now

speedily build a true

which

will

supply

electric lighting system,

with light and also.

amount

for

all

her people

them each year

of the private concerns will pass

With the passing

the great

sums

so will save vast

debauchery and corruption they

have been responsible for

in the city's

municipal ad-

ministration. It

should also be stated in connection with Chicago's

lighting undertaking that, during the period in operation,

something over

has been

fifteen years, in addition to

doing her municipal lighting for about one-half of what private concerns

would demand,

has in this short

now the property the city without any cost to it, and is now in position reduce still lower the cost of its lighting. And a short

period of time entirely paid for

time ago both houses of the so plainly the

demand

itself, is

Illinois legislature

heard

of the people along the lines of

the municipalizing of their public utilities, that a bill

was passed allowing the and

whether bought or certificates to

properties for

the

city of

electric lighting plants,

least

built

Chicago to maintain gas

and

— by

pay

for

them

—

issuing interest bearing

be redeemed out of the earnings of the

which they pay, thus not affecting

the city's

general

taxation. Chicago will be very

[143]

revenues

proud

rate

the coming

In the Fire

Heart

of the

years to have the honour of being sort of a forerunner in

ownership movement that

great municipal

this

will

eventually inciuae every city of importance in the land.

And we can

well afford to give her this honour, for

her example and experience other

cities

be en-

will

couraged and helped.

When

in addition to the

few millions the street-car

companies of Chicago have been taking from the people each year, several millions

in addition are

saved to the people in their gas and

electric lighting

in profits

bills,

they can well afford even financially to bear with

becoming grace

honour.

this

But the best thing about the move.

we once

start

they

are

now on

characteristic, that,

all

public

utilities

for the benefit of those to will be,

are capable of moving rapidly.

the time comes that

and

that

has taken us a long, long time to get

But we have another

started.

all is

and sooner

whom

are

when

When

managed by

they belong, as

inclined to think than

many of us even now realize, we will then wonder that our bump of common-sense and business insight in connection with these matters did not mature more early.

The

price

are paying for this delay

certainly

something enormous.

So far as the question over and managing is

concerned,

all

know

it is

that

of right in the people's taking

these utilities for their

benefit

scarcely worthy of consideration, for it

exists.

Almost a hundred forms of

private ownership in the form of

own

tolls, etc.,

have gone.

can proceed by way of direct purchase, mutual

[144]

In agreement to

the Fire of the

regard to price,

buy the private companies

done

way

this

way

if it is

found advantageous

The more that can be Then we can proceed by

out.

the better.

condemnation proceedings, through the right

of eminent domain. It

ment

Heart

a recognized principle

that the right or desire of the individual

subservient to the public good. If I piece of property of

it, if

a street

benefit, or

uals

and though to

may

be opened that

according to

it.

its

and

Here

real value,

any

— they

its

taken, or

value I

may be

pleased to place

managed

be taken at their

and a shrinking

millions will be witnessed.

will

accordance with

for all the

real values,

The

pay for every dollar of

not at

tune of

in values to the

people are always

pre-eminently fair in matters such as these.

want

all, if

something to be noted when these public

will

fiat values,

many

be for the public

given compensation for

and not

properties are taken over to be

people

think very highly

a railroad owned even by private individ-

whatever estimate of

upon

always

particular

be constructed, or a public building erected,

necessary,

own a

will

the portion of the property required all

in govern-

They

real value taken,

will

but they

not pay the prices that the companies, almost with-

out exception, will ask.

The

millions in watered stocks

will be of no value to the people as they are of no value

them now, but on the contrary, are the cause

parting with

and

willingly

many

a hard earning dollar.

pay every dollar any property

but we should not pay a dollar more than calls for. r

145

]

its

of their

will is

pay

worth,

real value

the Fire of the

Heart

instructive lesson along this line

comes from Lon-

don. Various water companies, some dating even from the Middle Ages, were able to retain their gr p upon the ;

through the progressive action

city until,

County Council,

which the

city

or tne

London

owes much of

modern people's movement programme, determined take them

The

entirely out of private hands.

its

old com-

panies were dispossessed and the entire water supply

was put under the management

Water Board. An consisting of

arbitrating board

some

was appointed,

of the ablest engineers in

Their finding was that the

Britain.

sum

of the Metropolitan

city

Great

should pay a

equal to about 60 per cent of the amount asked for

them by the old companies. The

result

was the saving

to the people of a little over $10,000,000. It will not

an impossible task for similar boards composed of

men who

skilled

thoroughly understand the matters

they are brought together to pass upon, to estimate in

a similar manner the real values of the various

shall

utilities

be taking over here.

seems scarcely necessary

view of the facts

have already considered pertaining to the

results that

have already been achieved along municipal ownership lines, to

attempt to say anything further

The mere enumeration

some

in its favour.

of the things already

accomplished, with their splendid results to the people,

should speak and does speak more loudly and persuasively

than any array of arguments that could be gotten

together. It

not, fortunately,

a matter of experimenting. r

146

the Fire of the

know from what has

Heart

already been done what the results

under wise and careful management must be. The fact

we have already noted that all privately owned and managed companies are actuated by the one motive, the as

largest possible gain,

makes

absolutely impossible for

the people to be served and benefited as they should be;

nor

will they ever

until these public utilities are con-

ducted primarily for the benefit of the people.

"No

the following telling and true sentences: benefit

make

edi-

Boston Herald, sometime ago, contained

torial in the

for gain,

public

ever to be expected of corporations organized

which are so powerful that they

the law or to defy

it.

good

to the

feel able to

consumers of

products can be hoped for from a monopoly which begins by the creation of fiat-capital.

competition,

will certainly

Having eliminated

squeeze out of the people

every dollar that can be extorted, regardless of justice

and

indifferent to suffering, even to the verge of pro-

voking popular revolution. They

will

by means they well understand,

legislation, administra-

tion

and

they feel

judicial tribunals.

bound

matter. It

served.

we have

really

intended to serve

should be so managed that

no choice

in the

purely a matter of justice, a clearly written

— that which

common

people have no rights

to respect."

In view of these facts

duty

The

proceed to control,

is,

all

the people in

the people are

the millions are exploited

hundreds, and worse, for

plundered by them. quietly submitting to

And it

many cases

all

they are plainly

we have been we knew no bet-

these years

and acting as [147]

by the few

In fcer.

the Fire of the

Heart

We have been learning very rapidly of late, however.

The

issue

becoming so clear

cut,

and so many able

and well-known men are now coming forward with ing

and

ring-

inspiring declarations in favour of this great

movement

that

now on

among

foot

us, that

an entire

volume could be quickly compiled from these declarations alone.

Note the following extract from a an

ship League of fact that

New

letter in

response to

by the Municipal Owner-

invitation recently sent out

York: "Unless, indeed,

be the

— as some have recently cynically intimated —

'New York

practically insane,'

quite irresistibly

demand

its

citizens will

soon

the definite adoption and the

genuine execution of the policy of municipal ownership (and municipal operation) of

all

these conditions

and

instrumentalities, the efficient administration of which, in the general interest,

at once absolutely essential to

the prosperity and safety of the

city,

and, not otherwise to

be preserved from the abuses and perversion inevitably incident to their exploitations as the private property of

a profit-mongering and stock-gambling monopoly."

The "

following also in response to a similar invitation

New York

voters have tired of the stock-jobbing gas

combination which charges exorbitant rates for a miserable, inadequate service,

and which boldly decrees

that our streets shall be constantly torn

rather than

allow the providing of pipe galleries in the subways,

which might give opportunity to be asserted.

They

for the rights of the public

away scores Subway company

are tired, too, of giving

of millions of the city's property to the

[148]

the Fire of the

become a tax-free asset

Heart

...

of the Rothschilds.

believe that the great majority of our citizens hold the

supplying of light and transportation to be as lic

functions as the veins

and

much pub-

arteries are functions of the

body. For these public functions to be exercised as private interests

and with private

end

profits as their chief

condition of mediaeval anarchy which no possible combination of politicians will, for

much

longer, be able

to uphold.

So conservative and able a business nor Douglas of Massachusetts

one of his

to the Massachusetts Legislature,

regard to the matter

had

are considering

legislation giving to cities

the

as ex-Goverlate

messages say in

this to

recommend

and towns wider powers

the conduct of business which derives necessities

man

its

profit

from the

community. The powers already

granted have proved the economy and wisdom of the

conduct of such business by the community

"In many

cases of privately

itself.

owned public

service

corporations the rates, fares and prices charged are too high.

The

public

entitled to reasonable charges for the

services of these monopolies. It will be far

to obtain service at reasonable prices to

do business on

"When rates

own

and

it is

likely

giving good

not likely to be disturbed.

prices are unreasonable,

interest of the public welfare,

"It

has the right

account.

a public service corporation

service at fair rates its

its

if it

When

should, in the

be disturbed.

not disputed that, as a rule, private corpora-

tions conduct their business

more economically than

[149]

the Fire of the

do public corporations.

It is,

Heart

however, disputed that the

public usually obtains the benefit of this economical

management. In most

sewers, gas

publicly

and

elec-

have given the public cheaper and

tric lighting plants

better service than have the privately

the

therefore,

cases,

owned and operated waterworks,

For these reasons,

owned concerns.

I ask the Legislature to give every

reasonable facility to those municipalities which desire to conduct their

own

"Appreciating

public service

the

difficulties

utilities.

obtaining

good

management and economical production by municipalities, I urge you, when making laws for munibusiness

cipal ownership, to so

cal

management

With proper

frame them that the

will, so far as possible,

legislation

evils of politi-

be eliminated.

should be possible to obtain

of the benefits without any of the

evils of privately Most owned and operated public service corporations. Of course, it is not to be expected that at first the

results will in every case

all

that are looked for

most sanguine. Some mistakes is

one of the ways

will

which greater

of these enterprises will be grown.

by the

be made. But

ability in the

And

then

have such splendid examples to learn from.

this

conduct already

It will

un-

doubtedly require careful and wise business management to obtain in I think

all

cases the highest results.

another paragraph from ex-Governor Douglas's

inaugural address

may

not be amiss here

guarded by as careful and wise

legislation as

" is

If,

when

possible,

certain municipalities should fail in their attempt to

give better and cheaper service to the public,

[150]

will

the Fire of the

Heart

because the citizens of these municipalities do not

upon having

their municipal

businesslike manner.

ship

insist

plants conducted

The principle

owner-

of municipal

sound. In cases where unsatisfactory results are

produced the

fault

administration.

usually to be found in a laxity of

believe

that

every such franchise

taken over by the public relieves the people from possible exaction, practised for private profit.

rates at

With the low

which municipalities can borrow and the

elimi-

nation of dividends, the rates must be inevitably lowered,

and the people become alone responsible for the efficiency of the service.

far, in this part,

we have

dealt entirely with the

matter of the public ownership and management of those

utilities

number

that pertain especially to our

of people

also asking

why we

rapidly growing

among

The who are

cities.

should not have a national and state

ownership and management or control of those public that pertain to

utilities

principle

all

the people, the

same

as this

being extended in Great Britain and various

Continental countries, so as to include telegraph, express, telephone, railroad enterprises, and thus secure for the

people better service and lower rates as the people in

There

these other countries are enjoying.

why this that cipal itself

no reason

should not to a judicious extent come about, and

will, is

as certain as that the principle of muni-

ownership

will

eventually so

grow and extend

as practically to include every city in the nation.

The

principle of state

control will

and national ownership and

grow and extend [151

itself

little

tardily,

In but

its

The

the Fire of the

eventual growth and triumph

made

beginnings will be

managing people,

just as certain.

in connection

with the

of the municipal utilities for the benefit of the

and as

demand

the

Heart

seen what gains will result from these,

it is

for

extension so as to include

its

"natural monopolies" that are

now

the

all

operated purely for

private gain will continually increase. If this can be

done

in other countries

being done, then this,

successfully, as

now in

are willing to be classed as incompetents as

compared with our

And

and so

can be done here, unless again

if it

British

and Continental brethren.

can be done so successfully and to the great

gain of the people in one successfully

more or a

and

less

Here again,

line,

then

can be done also

to the gain of the people in lines of a

kindred nature. fortunately,

we do not have

to deal with

any matters of theory or speculation merely. For years the United States public utility for

has been

Government has conducted a great

its

people,

in operation

and during

all

the years

has given them a service

comparably better than that of any private

company

in-

companies even by the wildest stretch of the imagination

would have been, and

at prices a

mere fraction

would be now paying as a necessary greed. vice,

what we

tribute to corporate

can, through this splendid government ser-

send a message by postal card or a

letter to practically

any portion

for a two-cent fee or a five-cent fee.

ask,

what would be exacted

much longer one

of the entire

Now,

for this service

necessity were under the control of private

[152]

world

in all fairness I if

this public

companies?

Judging from their charges telegraph, freight, can

one would be than ten

less

vices, with

in other things

we reasonably

— express,

expect that the

a fee of less than five cents, or the other

That

even for the shorter foreign ser-

an additional fee for the longer distances.

still

In addition to the low fees

what we would pay under service that

Heart

the Fire of the

we now

private

prompt and

pay, compared to

management, we get a

efficient as

can reason-

ably be made. Dependent upon private concerns, our

mail matter would be carried at their convenience.

first

routes later

would insure us against the worst

of service, but

on when the various concerns through mutual

interest

into

competition in connection with some of the

had pooled

their interests or

self-

had consolidated

one huge monopoly, then we would be practically

same

at the

mercy

people

all

mercy

of other concerns of a similar public nature.

of this concern, the

as millions of

over the country are at this very hour at the

appreciate too

much

our one-cent and two-cent fees

for domestic postal card and

way we have

so far as

letter,

amount

with the large lee-

concerned in connec-

tion with the latter.

Then the conveniences we have for small merchanmany times allows us to save ourselves from the demands of the privately owned express companies dise

when

the element of distance enters.

paying them

still

more were

Department

over their calculations. I have before

New York

post-office for the

[153]

should be

not for the benign and

restraining influences the Post-Office

the

exerts

the report of

year ending June 30,

Heart

the Fire of the

1905. It shows a net profit for this

month, of a

sum we

period of twelve-

more than $10,000,000. Quite a neat

little

go into the pockets of private individuals did

allow private concerns to attend to this necessity

same

for us, the

would be much

would be

allow them to attend to other

a similar nature. This neat net

necessities of

in practically all cases

And by

now

paying.

less,

and giving an

profit

however, for their charges

larger,

higher than

are

virtue of paying their employees

accommodation

inferior type of

the people, their operating expenses therefore, their profits

still

would be

for

and

less,

greater.

In addition to this item of $10,000,000 in net profit for a single year, I think quite as significant a matter is

the fact that on the day the report

was made, twenty-

new sub-stations — for the people's greater convenience — were opened, one with a force numbering six

sixty-six. Private

companies do not increase their operat-

ing expenses for the peoples' greater convenience, ex-

cept as self-interest peting

may

company makes

dictate, that

business.

hundred additional

when a com-

additional accommodations for

the convenience of the people a additional

is,

This also clerks

method

of securing

interesting

who have

served

time as substitutes were added to the regular day.

One their

staff to-

additional hundred substitute clerks

have also been appointed to take the places

left

vacant

by those promoted. This makes two hundred appointed from the new All in all

eligible list."

it is

not a bad showing so far as clear-cut

[154]

the Fire of the

Heart

and clean business methods are concerned, Rather a

to the neat business balance. isn't

it,

to present to the attention of those

that a great

and complex

in addition

argument,

stiff

who argue

service of this kind cannot be

conducted as economically and as advantageously for the people by the government as by private concerns I

wonder how much

delivery service that

now coming

of millions in the country

and

private concerns were fattening utility,

How

pardon

and dishonesty

ment that came ago, I hear

who

es-

this great public this service for us.

in connection

in the Post-Office

to the public

with the

Depart-

knowledge some months

asked. There were irregularities and there

was corruption. The very

much

upon

— were performing

about the revelations

irregularities

to the convenience

rural districts,

need greater conveniences, there would be

pecially,

of an extension of the free rural

and the

fact,

however, that we heard

fact that the perpetrators of

were arraigned and brought to

argues well for

justice,

such government ownership and administration. Moreover,

venture this assertion, that the aggregate of

losses sustained

by the public through

not equalled one thousandth part

this agency,

the

have

amount

debauchery and corruption that would have resulted were

this public service utility

allowed to be in the hands

of private individuals or companies,

and therefore run

from beginning to end for private gain. this

statement, that

all

I also venture

the losses sustained through

dishonesty and fraud in our government Post-Office

Department, from the

first

year of

[155]

its

operation

down

the Fire oj the

Heart

to the present time, have not equalled

— one

tive

management would have taken from uniformly inferior type of

say nothing of the

service furnished,

and

conserva-

thousandth part of the amounts that the

five

profits of private

us, to

—to be

compared

to that

which we have been

are enjoying.

Can any one

present what would be regarded as any

reasonable argument, and one that would be accepted

by any number

of reasonable

and thinking men, why

the government cannot carry for us our express packages

through the medium of a parcels post, and attend to our telegraph and telephone needs, as successfully as

now

attends to our postal needs, and the

same

as other

people through their central governments are having

done for them with a better service and rates

much

lower

than they were able at any time to get from their

former private companies difficult is

and

Certainly no one of these

complex as the service the government

And

already performing for us.

to take these over

simply as extensions of the department already in operation

would be by no means a

difficult task.

Those who

are familiar with the parcels post in Great Britain for

example, and

its

nominal "peoples " charges, compared

to the tribute levied ciate

what

minimum It

this

by our express companies, appre-

change

will

mean. The absurdity

express charge here being twenty-five cents!

would make an Englishman's or a German's or a

Belgian's blood boil to have such a tribute levied

upon

him, with no other reason than for the purpose of lining the pockets of a few already wealthy

[156]

company owners.

the Fire of the

Heart

to such as this for example:

What would they say

few weeks ago through the breaking of some minor

was compelled

parts of a cultivator I

factory for

and

new

pieces.

twenty-five cents.

to send to the

The cost of the parts was a dollar The bulk was less than half a

cubic foot, or perhaps equal to that of an ordinary

The distance was about a hundred and fifty miles. The tariff levied by the express company was seventy-five cents. The time taken to bring the pasteboard shoe box.

parcel

was considerably more than twice the length

of time

could have been carried and delivered

The company

parcel for a charge of twelve to twenty cents

a handsome

And

then

in.

or companies could have carried such a

and made

profit.

when

the service

poor or careless, in addi-

tion to being excessively high in

charges, there

its

recourse for the people, for public service companies

have no ethical sense that would lead them to any amicable settlement when the shipper suffers

great inconvenience or loss.

which does not pay

to take the matter into the courts,

unless the

amount involved

either

has no recourse except

large,

and even then he

subjected to delays and dodges of almost every ceivable type. It to

Here

utterly impossible for

them

it.

another concrete example of a frequent type

of private corporation

sixteen

it is

any way of avoiding is

con-

the policy of such corporations never

pay out a cent unless

to find

hundred young

a few miles south

methods. fruit trees

of Rochester,

[157]

Some time ago

had

shipped from a point

New

York, to a point

the Fire of the

was a

The

specially

lot

New York

from

thirty-four miles

Heart

do not allow

delay,

November. The time

high-grade trees.

known

nature of the goods was

to the railroad

— perishable, with-

company. The cases were labelled out

City to the north.

selected,

freeze.

was

early

which they could have been

carried handily with a service organized for the peo-

convenience and welfare would have been a period

ple's

of not

more than

way between

two or three days intensely cold

plant

them so

pushing out into the

would in

five or six days.

and

fourteen

They were on the days. The last

fifteen

of their transit they encountered

and stormy

period.

them

as to have

in the Spring, I

Though ready

in readiness for

was compelled

to heal

ground for the winter, not knowing

an early

them

until Spring

whether they would come out of the ground

tell,

a normal or

a damaged condition. Large numbers

proved to be damaged and a block of several hundred

had

thrown out

to be

and

iences

losses

entirely.

incident

The

upon

various inconven-

this

were, after the

lapse of several months, put into the form of a letter

with an offer to accept a very reasonable settlement, provided

were made promptly, and sent to the claim

agent of the railroad. taking

all

The amount was

considerably

things into consideration, than the

really sustained. In the course of several letters passed. I finally received the final,

the agent indicated

less,

damage

months several

announcement

—

— that a careful and thorough

examination of the case had been made, and that they

would decline

offer as they

[158]

found themselves not

In liable, for

Heart

another road into whose hands they had given

the freight,

had carried

Though

as they.

the Fire of the

it,

they found, as long a period

prefering otherwise, an effort to secure

can now be had only by taking the matter into

justice

the courts. But this of inconvenience

and

simply an example of but one type loss that

thousands upon thousands

of people are being put to every year, in addition to

charges in practically every case higher than they should be, because

are sufficiently stupid as to continue to

allow private concerns to get possession of and create

many

times into a monopoly, the public service

that

should be conducted by the people through their agent, the government, for the benefit of the people.

Another concrete case by way of a personal experience was that of another road in taking seventeen days to carry of

some goods from a point twelve miles out

Boston to the same destination

north of

New York

reader of these lines

— thirty-four miles

City. I dare say there

who

scarcely a

has not had similar experiences

with the privately owned corporations that abound in the country. I suppose

if all

could be chronicled, especi-

ally with all the adjectives

and

all

the feelings that

escaped at the time, books could be quickly compiled that

would form a very large public

The taking

all

these

utilities,

telephone, railroads, control

library.

people of other countries have for years been

etc.,

such as express, telegraph, out of the hands of private

and monopoly and through

their central govern-

ments are supplying themselves with these services practically every case greatly to their advantage.

[159]

the Fire of the

Heart

are at least a quarter of a century behind them. Outside of the United States over two-thirds of the railroad

mileage of the world

owned and operated by the

governments of the various countries. Ours only great country

now

almost the

world that does not own

in the

and operate the telegraph

lines.

Those who are acquaint-

ed with the telegraph service in Great Britain

know and

appreciate the fact that there they can send messages for twelve cents to

any part

of Great Britain, for

which

the charges here would in no case be less than twenty-

and sometimes would reach as high as

five cents,

and

fifty

cents for the

to this one

forty

same distance covered. In addition

much more

furnished there with a

con-

venient service both at the point of sending and in the

matter of delivery, for

has

all

Postal Department with which that our is

minimum

connected.

telegraph charge that our

quite as ridiculous as

charge

the conveniences of the

The

fact

twenty-five cents

minimum

express

also twenty-five cents.

In Great Britain the history of the telegraph under

government ownership has been one of continual enlargement and development with the thought of the widest and best possible service for

with the least possible charges.

The

all

the people, and

result

become a great public convenience serving the people.

The

that

there by

all

has

all classes

charges here under private ownership

are absolutely prohibitive for such uses as are it

common. made on the

made

the people in

There was a great

fight

vate companies to retain their grip [

160

part of the pri-

upon

when

the

the Fire of the

Heart

telegraph service was taken over by the government.

Many

many

arguments were used, and similar to

en-

countered here, against the government doing the same in connection

private owners

with these same general

and those

any way

and influenced by them, were sons

why Among them

utilities.

The

with them

allied

fairly bursting

with rea-

the government should not perform these ser-

vices.

—

was not the government's bus-

iness to telegraph; the rates would be higher;

not be as progressive in

its

management

companies there would be a deficit to be ;

would

as the private

met the use ;

the telegraph would be less; there would be less of a

stimulus to invention, and hence, it

new improvements;

would be an arbitrary and unjust interference with

private rights for the government to invade the field of private business, etc., etc. In spite of these

arguments, and in spite of every private companies to

effort

and

their

made by

the

impede and to prevent the move-

ment, the telegraph system of England was bought by the government and

made

a part of the postal system

in 1870.

As to the results

in this case, they

have been formulated

by a very able authority as follows:* "The immediate results of public

ownership were:

First,

rates of one-third to one-half; second, of

a reduction in

a vast increase

business and work done by the telegraph, doubling

the

first

year after the transfer; third, a great extension

* The late ex-Governor Altgeld, of Illinois, was a most competent and earnest advocate of the principle of both municipal and national ownership and control of all public service utilities and all "natural

monopolies."

[161]

;;

Heart

the Fire of the

of lines into the less populous districts, so as to give the

whole people the benefit of telegraphic communication fourth, large additional facilities

post-office a place fifth,

by opening more

where a telegram may be deposited

a considerable economy by placing the telegraph

service with the mail service,

under single control, thus

avoiding useless duplications in

marked improvement office

offices,

more conveniently, and making every

locating offices

offices,

in the service, the

sixth,

etc.;

aim

of the post-

being good service, not dividends; seventh, a de-

cided gain to employees in pay, in shorter hours and in

tenure of office the press for

;

eighth, in unprecedented advantages to

cheap and rapid transmission of news at

the same time freeing

from the pressure of a power

that claimed the right to dictate the views it

should express; ninth, the development of business

and strengthening

of social ties, such as ties of kinship

and friendship tenth, the removal ;

and the cessation it

and opinions

of a great

of the vexations

and

antagonism

costly conflict

had caused between the companies and the people.

"These were the immediate

results.

Now,

after a

quarter of a century of use, the following further results are noticeable: First, a further reduction of nearly onehalf in the average cost of a message; second, while the

population increased only 25 per cent, the

telegraph

business has increased 1,000 per cent; third, a six-fold

extension of lines and a fifty-fold increase of fourth, a steady policy of expanding service,

facilities;

and improving the

adopting new inventions, putting underground

hundreds of miles of wire that formerly ran over houses

[162]

In and

streets,

the Fire of the

Heart

a systematic effort to elevate

etc.; fifth,

labour, resulting in a progressive amelioration of the

condition of employees tenure, promotion,

respect to wages,

privileges,

etc.;

hours,

satisfaction

sixth,

with the telegraph service, even on the part of conservatives

who

objected to the change before

was made."

Gaining valuable knowledge and experience nection with this great national public Britain

con-

Great

taking under government ownership and

management her of

utility,

entire telephone system

—a

portion

which was taken some years ago. The people are

already great gainers, and I dare say the government will carry out the

same plan

more convenient

of greatly extending

and making

for the people this great public utility

also.

Can we not

see a very great similarity between this

government owned and administered

utility

— Great

Britain's telegraph system

— and our own government

owned and administered

postal system

constantly

increasing

for

facilities

the

Are not the ever greater

convenience and accommodation of the people, the sucbusiness

cessful

administration,

the

uniformly

low

charges in our system closely akin to the above detail of results in connection with Great Britain's national

telegraph system

And

as important even as are these results

that this

makes one

less great

and corruption and debauchery ly

utilities,

and

the fact

source of puolic bribery ;

for the fact that private-

owned companies have gained

public service

control of most of our

their efforts to retain

[163]

and

Heart

the Fire of the

continually increase the scope of their holdings

the

greatest source of our notorious political corruption.

As has been the

and

history

results of

Great Britain's government telegraph

postal system,

system, so have been in a general results of the

our government

way

the history

and

government owned and controlled railroads

Germany, Belgium, New Zealand, Australia, and many

other countries that have brought or that are bringing

under government ownership and management their railroads.

A recent number of

Officio,

Corre yondence

(

Berlin

)

contained an important article in regard to present

European

ment

policies of railway

management. The move-

now determined toward

nationalization of rail-

ways, especially in Germany; Austria at the

now aiming

same consummation.

"Germany,"

says the writer,

extensive system o

has decided at

last

railways of

"which has the most

all

European

upon making an end

of private railways.

the law of

countries,

remnant

of the

December

1905,

the purchase of the Palatinate railways, 450 miles in length, for.

by the Kingdom of Bavaria, has been provided

There now remains only the railway from Lubeck which

to Buchen,

and whose railway

but seventy-five miles in length,

management,

relative to the

the

acquisition, for the sake of a unified system

German

purchase of

very desirable.

this line

have been

Rumours on

afloat

stock exchanges during the past year, but

they have been mostly devoid of foundation.

"In Austria

it is

anticipated that in the near future

[164]

In the

oldest

the Fire oj the

Heart

and most extensive private railway, the

Kaiser Ferdinand Northern Railway, 1,036 miles length, will be transformed into a line State. It

of the

no longer any

managed by

the

secret that the Austrian half

Hapsburgian Empire

endeavouring to obtain a

purely state system, such as already exists in the

Hun-

garian half. Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark,

Sweden, and Norway have already carried out the nationalization of their railways.

system of railways has, however,

The

idea of a state

met with most success

during the past year in Italy. Twenty years ago public opinion was so strongly against the state

management

of railways that even the railways already belonging to

the State were leased to private companies. In February

and April, 1905, however, the

Since July

Italian Parliament de-

a system of state-railway management.

cided upon 1,

1905, over 6,300 miles have been taken

over by the State.

The purchase

of further lines

being

negotiated, especially the Adriatic network, but no result has yet

which

been arrived

at.

After the experiences

Italy has gained, especially in the year 1905, of

private railway

management, there can be no doubt

that the State will remain victor in the struggle for the

possession of the lines."

one agency, perhaps, has so contributed to the growth of corruption, lawlessness, and privilege, has stifled

competition and

all

chance of justice as between

dealers as well as justice to shippers types,

and contributed

and buyers

to political corruption in

our state legislatures and

of all

both

our national legislature as

[165]

In the Fire

Heart

of the

our privately owned and controlled railroad systems.

For years we have been trying

to get

ahead

even with these abuses, and with what

of or to

familiar with the records of our Interstate

keep

anyone

results,

Commerce

Commission, or familiar with the powerful, and up to the present time, almost uniformly successful efforts

on the part of the railroads

and

have them stop

gard of the laws, If the

same

their

will fully

open and villainous disre-

comprehend.

have been spent, and

efforts that

of the country simply

public,

make

in great

the railroads

law abiding and decent

and

affairs

in their

these efforts I repeat,

evolving plans in getting

all

reasonably fair and just

part vainly, in the various attempts to

conduct of their

and escape

to defeat

make them

public efforts to

them

in the

treatment of the

had been spent

into operation

under

government administration, we could to-day be standing at least near the point of tries that are so far

Though public

will

advancement that other coun-

ahead

of us

have made.

perhaps be one of the

utilities to

last of

our great

come completely under government

ownership on account of the powerful private interests that will in every possible it

way oppose

it,

nevertheless

one of the most important from the standpoint

of the great

common

And

welfare.

while

we have been

spending time trying to regulate them and to secure

some

little

measure of

justice

from them, to say nothing

of our charges being higher than those in

modern country

any other

the world, other countries have

solved this problem by going boldly forward and ad-

[1C6]

the

ministering their railroads for

the great public benefit, the

of affairs

well that

and regulation be made,

people's

and

still

state

greater efforts at control

at the

time when

for

shall find that

same time we

shall lose

meanwhile we are not putting forth

in the

looking to the utility

same

do eventually. And while at the present

shall

much if

Heart

the Fire of the

efforts

this great public necessity

be taken under government ownership and con-

ducted

in the interests of all the people.

Announcement has

recently been

made that the Court*

has approved of proposed additional subway routes in

New York

costing

City, aggregating nineteen in

some $450,000,000.

It is to

Rapid Transit Commission people's rights to a

band

talists,

be seen whether the again

deliver

the

and tremendous future properties over

of traction financiers, agents of foreign capi-

the Rothschilds, or whether they will have a

sufficiently

and

will

number and

will

strudy

stamina to

these

resist

agencies,

have the brains to find a method or methods

whereby these can be the great city

itself.

built,

The

owned, and controlled by

people have to considerable

extent already been aroused to the iniquity perpetrated in connection

with the subway already

that will reveal

itself in

built,

an iniquity

greater proportions, as a rapidly

increasing intelligence along these lines becomes

and more the possession

of the people. I think,

more-

and witness a

repeti-

quietly

over, they will scarcely

sit

tion of such methods.

Boards and Commissions of the

same nature *The

in the

various and numerous cities of other

Appellate Division, the Supreme Court.

[167]

countries can find the brain tility

Heart

the Fire of the

power and a

sufficient fer-

of resources to hold such properties for the people,

and some very legitimate questions

will

be asked,

becomes apparent that they cannot be found by

members

of this commission, as also

sions here. of the

The

by similar commis-

decision of the Court approves the routes

subway system

as laid out on paper by the

Rapid

Transit Commission, but a legal point never suggested before,

paper*

and

" which, " as a writer in a leading

says,

"may

the Rapid Transit Commission,"

Court

New York

upset the financial calculations of

in its opinion.

pointed out by the

Continuing, the writer of the article

says: "the vote of the people in

1894 that subways

should be constructed with public funds renders questionable, say the judges,

'permissible by

law to build them with private capital, as contemplated. '

'Upon which question/ 'because not before us, Justice O'Brien,

who

says the opinion significantly,

express

opinion.'

Chief

writes the opinion, gives as one of

the most weighty reasons for attaching a condition to the complete approval of the system, that such a course

might preclude the

possibility of building

owned and operated system." Following

a municipally are his

own

words "

By the adoption

of the proposed plan

cal

monopolizing of all the city's

gle

scheme

and exercising the

New

wedded to a sin-

management, the forever excluded from asserting

of transit construction or

people are practically

streets,

and the practi-

right,

York American, July

which has much of reason and 13, 1906.

[168]

;

In argument

the Fire of

tJie

In its support, to wit: to

Heart

own and

operate their

municipal subways. " It

may be

that in a year or a few years the vast

ma-

jority of the people of this greater city, in their enlightened

judgment,

will

own

of their

demand

the construction

transportation

facilities.

and operation .

So free have public service corporations been in the use of

money

in bribing

and corrupting public

to get the people's public property into their

officials

own hands, pay the

that there

comes a time when even they have

penalty in

having to part with a greater amount of their

than they would voluntarily pay.

profits

created such a debauched condition in

thousand or

five

members

manded

thousand dollars for votes

coun-

two

connec-

as time has passed, that they have de-

as high as

fifty

thousand and even more, for

votes in connection with other measures.

city

some particular measures, have so emboldened

tion with

the

They have

some

state legislatures that their first offers of

and

cils

Sometimes

hear the managers of corporations complaining that

they are held up, blackmailed, by councilmen legislators.

Their methods have instituted such

ness and venality that sometimes in the end

amount

to this.

They have themselves

more bold have been known those still

at times to

to blame.

and foul-

does

The

pay with checks

more cautious and wary pay with money; the

more cautious and wary give dividend paying stocks

in the

company or some

in addition their

member, and

allied

company, and pledge

continued political safe keeping to the

others adopt

still

[109]

other methods.

There are those who get

and

Heart

the Fire of the

elected to our city councils

purpose of making

state legislatures for the sole

deals with these corporations, office

way

this

the largest

and getting out

of the

amounts they can

get.

own particular men have made a deal before elec-

Corporations then again, have their elected, with tion, or with

whom they whom there

the understanding that they

command their services after their election. Some corporations are known to have in city and state legislatures a member whom they and pay

councils

support

Some-

to look regularly after their interests.

— — side

times to disarm suspicion a very good type of citizen

whom

weak on

they judge

palm

the itchy

induced to accept nomination, his election

by them, and he interests.

Political

secured

then manipulated according to their

machines do the same. Once

great while they get fooled by not rightly calculating their

man. Such was the case when the machine

Louis promoted the

the office of Circuit Attorney. substantially that

selection

Joseph

Mr. Folk

elected he

and that he would conduct the

in St.

W. Folk

for

at the time said

must have a

hand,

free

affairs of the office in his

own way. They thought he was merely

talking.

for their error in calculation in this case, are

now

Some, serving

good penitentiary time. While speaking of Mr. Folk, think

findings

may

not be uninteresting to note some of his

when

the

bills of

finally presented for

the old score were one day

redemption.

The

following

from

a public address delivered at an important centre of the state of

which he

now Governor: [170]

"For another

was paid

of the preceding assembly. This fran-

was afterward sold

chise

Heart

franchise $250,000 in bribes

members

to the

the Fire of the

for $1,250,000, but the city

received not a cent. Twenty-three of the twenty-eight

members

of the

each for

this franchise.

House

of Delegates took bribes of $3,000

Seven members of the council

obtained from $10,000 to $17,500 each for their votes.

One councilman was

given $25,000 to vote against the

franchise

and afterward accepted $50,000

favour of

it.

gave

man who

returned the $25,000 to the

to him, saying he did not believe he could

'honestly'

keep

without 'earning'

by giving

in accordance with the terms of purchase. flection

to vote in

his vote

Upon

re-

he likewise sent the $50,000 back, with the hope

of getting more.

ordinance with

finally voted for tne

the expectation and under promise of obtaining $100,000 for his vote. His friend, the promoter, disappointed

him

by leaving the city early the next day without paying him.

sorrow than in anger the

promoter to ceeded

New

York, ana after

in obtaining $o,000,

had him sign a

official

mucn

out not untn tne promoter

certificate oi cnaracter saying, 'I

heard rumours in

St.

know, and

do know

above offering a bribe as I This was right

and

literally true, as left,

tic scale in

the

*^at

vxxat I

you are as far

above receiving one.'

official

had taken bribes

and the promoter had boodled on a gigan-

getting his

sembly. Seven

have

Louis that you paia memoers of the

assembly for their votes. I wan„ to say position to

tracked the

aifhculty suc-

members

bill

through the municipal as-

of the council, elected to serve

[171]

the Fire of the

Heart

the people at a salary of $300 a year, were paid a regular salary of $5,000 yearly to represent corporate interests.

was bribed through the House

lighting bill

of Dele-

The bargain was made right on the The money was given to one of the members, and after the meeting they met in the home

gates for $47,500.

House.

floor of the

number, where the

of one of their

money divided. House

was cut and the

Nineteen members of another

of Delegates obtained $2,000 each as bribes for

their votes

'pie'

Men

still

another franchise.

would run

for a seat in the municipal assembly

money by the prostitution The scheme of corruption was systemaand far-reaching. The people were careless; the

with the sole object of making of their position. tic

public conscience

was

asleep.

These

legislators

city

went on without hindrance. They devised a scheme of selling the water-works,

which belonged to the

city, for

$15,000,000, the works being worth about $40,000,000.

They planned to get $100,000 apiece for their votes on this. The proposed sale failed, because of a wise provision of the city charter forbidding unconditional alienation.

Then

their gloating eyes fell

court house with the gilded dome.

on the old

They thought

They hoped to obtain $100,000 apiece for their votes on this. Then they concluded to sell the Union Market, but the market men had considerable political influence. With this and the sum of $20,000 they raised and paid the members they succeeded in stopping the sale. Then came the exposure. Now some

selling that.

of these representatives are fugitives

[172]

from

justice in

the Fire of the

Heart

foreign countries: others have turned State's evidence;

the remainder have faced juries, and eighteen of these

and takers

givers

have received sentences

of bribes

ranging from two years to seven years in the penitentiary. .

These conditions are the outgrowth

the

commercialism of our times. Various public service corporations are

known

contribute very liberally to one or the other political

party in campaign funds. Usually

the dominant

party in either state or city according as their needs

Sometimes to be on the safe side they are large

lie.

contri-

butors to the campaign funds of both parties. Their profits

taken directly from the people's pockets are gen-

erally so

enormous that they can afford to do

addition to

this, in

maintaining large corruption funds for

definite action later on.

That there are others large — who

realize

— and the numbers now are very

these

facts

evidenced by the

following expression from the editor of a leading zine:

"The

maga-

chief agencies of corruption, bribery,

debauchery of the

legislative,

executive and

and

judicial

departments of government, as has been shown time and again, are found in the public service corporations

which

operate natural monopolies or those

which

all

the people are interested.

head of all

political corruption

and

utilities in

destroy this fountain-

to give to all the people

the benefits flowing from the operation of public

utilities

or natural monopolies, the city, state and nation,

or the people, should

good

of the

own and

community at

large.

[173]

operate

them

for the

the Fire of the

Heart

This also even though longer, from one of the sanest

and keenest observers

of our social

and formerly governor of one

and

political affairs,

of our leading states:

"Private monopolies furnish the hand that bribes by

day and bribes by

night, that pollutes everything

touches, and the existence of corruption in our cities

and

our state and national governments furnishes the

strongest

argument

monopolies, for

ment.

The

favour of wiping out

will give the people

back

all

great question in America to-day

restore republican government,

private

their governis

how

by the corporations. They control not only the city

which has been destroyed local

governments, but they control the state govern-

ments and the national government. They decide what

may and may

the Legislature

may and may political

not do, what Congress

not do; they determine the policies of

parties,

and they have destroyed the

vitality

of both political parties.

Only a few weeks ago the Chicago Inter-Ocean and

the Chicago Record-Herald, two of the most influential

Republican papers of the

House

America, lamented the decadence

of Representatives at

Washington and

declared that Congress had practically abdicated

its

functions to the monopolies; that great public questions

were no longer discussed upon their merits, but were decided arbitrarily by the majority, and the decision

was not the

result of investigation

was the arbitrary

and

discussion, but

dictation of the lobbyists.

mere change of party administration

signifies

nothing so long as the same slimy hands control the

[174]

the Fire of the

policy of government.

owned

had two such changes, and

was written with the

their history exploiters.

Heart

dirty fingers of the

We need a change of policy.

the people

Instead of being

must he the owners, instead

of being

lambs to be shorn they must be masters of the fold.

Our

and our great public

industries

utilities

were

built

with the money and the industry and the genius

of the

American people, but they have passed out

hands

of the people

who made them and

of the

now

are

controlled

by manipulators, controlled by bankers, by brokers, by

speculators.

"These men do not build

cities;

rule, they are

they do not

what other people

create anything; they simply grab

have created. As a

They do not

railroads.

build factories; they do not build

mere birds

of prey,

tearing the flesh of the men and women who work with their hands, eating the vitals of the men and women who do the work of the land and who made civilization possible on this earth. "

republic can endure that remains in the clutches

of these birds of prey; they use government as a con-

venience in the process of exploitation, extortion and robbery. It that

among

the newly

made and

find the spirit of snobbery

apologizes for republican institutions. It

who demand a free press. They

lists

would rob them "If ple

there

should

monopo-

the

the restriction of free speech

and of

not only plunder the people, but they

of their liberties.

were no other reason

own

corrupt rich

and flunkeyism that

the

monopolies

[175]

why

than

the

that

peowill

In give

them back

Heart

the Fire of the their

government, that reason

itself sufficient."

The

and the management

difference in the policies

of the various public service

where they are moving, and so lines of public

successfully, along the

ownership and operation, or manage-

and the prevailing

ment,

those countries

utilities in

and methods

think be noted.

policies

management among us should

case of the former, the best and the most up-to-date service, with

minimum

Not the making

policy.

of cost to the people

the

of large dividends, but using

what would otherwise be

larger profits for the greater

convenience and better accommodation of the largest

number

of people at the lowest reasonable cost. In case

of transit, for example, municipal or state, the opening

of sections

tricts,

and properties

new and

outlying dis-

thus affording desirable and real homes to large

numbers

of people

who

otherwise would be compelled

to remain as tenants in the already densely populated portions, districts

because unable economically to reach the

where they can have

may become

owners.

real

homes

the largest numbers of the people, that

sought

after.

utilities,

which they

the welfare of the people, of

And what do we

find here

continually

find these

with a minor exception here and there, organiz-

ed and managed with an eye single to the largest dividends that can be extracted from the people, and

many

times large dividends even on stock watered to

two, three and even four times ing,

its

judgment, criminal

[176]

real value,

a proceed-

in its nature

and that

In should not

much

the Fire of the

Then on top

longer be permitted.

after giving the vast

all this,

Heart of

sums we are continually

giving to those private individuals and companies by

way

highways,

etc.,

privileges, the use of streets,

and

of franchises

are struggling continually to have

them, deal not honourably and

with us, but to be

fairly

even decent in their charges and service and general treatment of their patrons. fight legally

and against the

have

many

times to

ablest legal talent that our

combined contributions enable them to employ, to secure the most elemental rights, and many times the most ordinary forms above

decency in treatment.

true in regard to practically

corporations, true of

all

The

public service

natural monopolies of munici-

pal, state, or national character.

How much

public welfare could be served

these utilities were in

better the

the hands of the people moving always and directly

along the lines of their

own

best interests.

There are exceptions. In numbers of our smaller places the service

is all

profits received, that

that could be expected

is, all

that could be expected under

During the past year, a well-known

private ownership.

citizen of Australia, President of the

of the

Chamber

from the

Commerce

Federated Council

of Australia, in visiting

Chicago, spoke quite at length concerning their

methods along these countries

compared

lines

to our

own

and the methods

in other

own methods. The

following

are two or three brief paragraphs from

what he had

say concerning his observations:

"In Australia

all

public utilities are

[177 J

owned by the

the Fire of the

or municipality, that

state

Heart

includes

the telephones,

the telegraphs, the railroads, the street railways and

the waterworks. structed

"We,

some

Under public ownership we have con-

of the greatest waterworks in the world.

in Australia,

have become firmly convinced

the principle that municipal ownership of public

means

their administration

utilities

people with the

for the

simple object of securing the most benefits for the smallest price. "

The

truth of our theories seems to be demonstrated

here in Chicago, where the people have to ride in dog

boxes that are a disgrace to humanity. that our people in Sydney, or

would stand

for

Why,

were made to run such cars along our in

you suppose

any such coops for a minute

folks are compelled to ride in

would be up

any other Australian

arms

city,

as Chicago

any attempt

streets,

the people

an hour and jam mass meetings

50,000 strong."*

What he would manner it is

say were he to speak in a similar

of his observations

by no means right

difficult to

good concrete

mediately in hand, comes

1897 the street

and findings

New

York,

imagine.

illustration of the point f

Milan,

im-

Italy. Prior to

railways were owned by a corporation

city a lump sum of $200,000 a year. "Fares were high, service was poor, employees were

which paid to the

overworked and underpaid; and the public was treated pretty

much

cattle."

as the

New York

public

treated

But thanks to municipal ownership

* Chicago Record Herald, October 26, 1905.

[178]

—

in con-

In nection with this

utility,

the city owns the tracks and

has a supervising control over It

now

receives

Heart

the Fire of the

its

entire railway system.

an annual income of $600,000, and

one of the most valuable lessons for us, perhaps, following

— During

the street railways

the

two hours each day the fare on the equivalent of one cent ; during

the balance of the day

the equivalent of two cents.

it is

And the operating company, which has a twenty year contract, is able to declare right good dividends from its arnings of $1,500,000. Since the

share of the annual

has owned

city

its

street railways line, fares

have been

reduced as above, service has been vastly improved,

employees hours have been reduced and their time

made more in

regular with a guaranteed rest of four days

each month, while at the same time their wages

have been increased. Thus the people of Milan, the second city in the country, have the satisfaction of

knowing that they have one

of the best street railway

systems of any city in the country

—

this satisfaction

a valuable asset of the people. Isn't it really about time that we " progressive " American people began to itself

sit

up and take note?

The owners

of these public service utilities find a

in spite of all efforts against

and

make them monopolies,

the people are then at their mercy.

principle

is this, if

a monopoly or the people should

safe

and sane is

a monopoly, then the

control that monopoly. It then

to all alike

It doesn't enrich the

connection with anything there

possibility of

own and

becomes a benefit

way

few while [

179

]

and an injury it

to none.

helps economically to

the Fire of the

enslave the many, as at the

Heart

same time

abounds

corruption and helps undermine and paralyze republi-

Why

can institutions.

shouldn't the people, as

many

are asking now, through their agent, the government,

own and

develop the coal

which practically

all

fields,

upon the product

are dependent.

get our coal cheaper, at a

Why

more uniform

from the inconvenience and

shouldn't

price,

and

distress that result

free

from

the frequent disturbances between employer and em-

ployee? This very direct

way

fare of every Isn't all

something that would influence

child in the country.

a saner and a more common-sense principle that this necessity at the great saving

could be obtained

price, than that

at,

and

at a steady

free to exact fit,

rich,

and who are

from the people whatever tribute they may

even to the extent of causing great suffering and

not infrequently even death

The

and uniform

be allowed to be monopolized by the

few who have become already unduly

see

the economic, and hence the entire wel-

man, woman and

be able to obtain

that

principle that thoughtful

men everywhere

are

beginning to recognize as a sound and common-sense principle

is this,

that all natural monopolies be brought

under government ownership and state, or national,

control, municipal,

according to the nature of each, and

so be administered for the direct benefit of in

common,

distinction

from

all

the people

their being

grabbed

and cornered and through corruption and debauchery and venality monopolized the few.

Under

for the over-enrichment of

the head of natural monopolies would

[180]

In fall

such

utilities

Heart

the Fire of the

as pertain to dwellers in the city, such

as water, gas, electricity, transit, etc.,

come under and

and those that

the head of state and national ownership

control, such as the postal service, the telegraph,

the telephone, the express, the railroads, the coal the

oil fields,

and mines

Can any argument,

fields,

of sufficiently important types.

that will stand a thorough

and

all

round examination, be put forth why these great public necessity utilities should not, in

administered for the

The

some way, be held and

common good

of all the people

principle of public ownership

ownership of those

utilities,

that from

become or may become monopolies, or

sound

— the

their

nature

of those utilities

that from their nature derive their values from the

common

needs of the people.

Whether now or

as time passes

ownership and control,

mined only by the people tions in case.

may

or advisable that all such utilities

public

something that can be deterin a

reckoning with the condi-

each particular locality and

But there

be practicable

come under

each particular

a principle thoroughly safe as well as

sound that should be put into immediate operation

every state, namely, that each locality have the right

— by

statute, as

has the natural moral right

— to

purchase, or to construct and own, and to operate or control such of

upon.

And any

its utilities,

legislator

as at

who

any time

sees

dares record his vote against

fit

may

decide

to oppose, or

who

any enabling measure

of this nature, gives evidence, with possibly a rare ex-

ception, of his subserviency to certain agencies that do not

[181]

the Fire of the

Heart

represent the people, or of his anticipation of such

subserviency, and these are the

more stamina

little

formance of our duties as advancing nation, a private

will

get a

be quickly read out of public

life.

giving a good service at a

decent and honourable in

in large

with the public, there

numbers

its

may

of cases there will

be found no reason for interfering with such

and

in its dealings

be no reason, and

citizens of a progressive

company

reasonable cost, and

methods and

men who,

in the recognition of and the per-

it.

But, where

not the case the city should have the right even

for the protection to say nothing of the welfare of

its

people, either to bring such concern to terms, or to

throw

out of business entirely.

having such protection,

The

fact of the city

right, will, of itself act as

a tremendous

and the chances are that such

right

would

have to be exercised only now and then as occasion might demand. In regard to fair

this principle I think

and unbiassed minds cannot

fail

to agree.

ous examples could be given of how this principle has

ready worked. Following there

a case of how

all

Numeral-

works when

an actual worker behind the works. I quote from a

New York

recent issue of a leading

paper,* an editorial

with the heading, " Cleveland's Lesson to

"What an monopoly

intelligent

illustrated

New

Mayor can do with a

York. traction

by the news from Cleveland.

Cleveland had a merger of a number of street-car companies with a watered capitalization like that of the

Interborough-Metropolitan. But Cleveland also had a *

The

New

York World, July [

21, 1906.

182]

Tom

Mayor,

and

Heart

who had been in the streetand knew all about its costs, possibili-

Johnson,

railroad business ties

the Fire of the

profits.

"Instead of doing business with himself capacity of

Mayor and

railroad

man,

acted only for the people of Cleveland. that

the traction

monopoly did not make

dual

in his

Tom

Johnson

threatened

better terms

with the people he would have their routes paralleled with three-cent-fare

lines.

pality the traction

monopoly now

tickets for

build "

Rather than

fight the

municiseven

offers to sell

a quarter, to give universal transfers and to

what extensions Mayor Johnson may

The way to simmer down a monopoly

direct.

to threaten

with competition at a reasonable price and to bring

thus to terms. That

has with

its

the opportunity T

cent fare would force the traction its

monopoly

three-

to reduce

fares or to lose all competitive business. If this

subway had branches it

New York

new subways. One subway w ith a

new

Queens County and Brooklyn

would compel the Brooklyn Rapid Transit and the

Interborough merger to exchange free transfers or they

would

lose the Interborough business.

This shows what can be done by a

man who

actually at heart the interests of his fellow-men,

has in his brain structure a certain quality

by the term stamina, and who forward

in his general

has

who

designate

honest and straight-

make-up. Moreover, a

man who

thus serves his city in a fearless and an honourable way, serves not

alone, but his

example

whose bounds may know no end.

[183]

an inspiration

The fact

that practically

larger ones, are

all of

our

in their infancy,

still

and how zealous

Heart

the Fire of the

cities,

and even our

shows how careful

their people should be in the disposition

of their public utilities, for the values of these will, as

time passes, increase to tremendous proportions.

On account of these natural monopolies being grabbed and monopolized

for the enrichment of the few,

therefore not administered for the

common good

among

the people, the two greatest evils

have gradually come about. The one

and

of all

us as a nation

lies

in the great

inequality in the distribution of the wealth of the country,

we have

in that

the few thousands of the overly and

sometimes criminally

poor and resulting

of the

conditions

fortunes

we have

you

carefully

built

rich,

now

over against the millions in the

almost unbelievable

already noted. If you will search

find that practically all the great

will

held by individuals or families have been

up through the ownership and

monopoly, of these public service natural monopolies.

not true.

Once

Look

and see

will find

or the

or these great

utilities

carefully

a while you

control,

this

an exception, a

minor exception, but so rarely that the other becomes pre-eminently the rule.

To these as the new generation comes along, we owe our continually increasing numbers of the " idle rich, some

whom — both men and women

— have never

been known to do an honest day's work

They and

live

all

and

in their lives.

fare sumptuously, they roll in wealth,

the time, as John Steward Mill has pointed out,

they are being supported by the daily

[184]

toil of others.

In It

who become

they

400. Gradually they

time eligible to the

come

made

and so

lists

to believe that they are

of the

made

from those about them, that

of a different type of clay

they were

Heart

the Fire of the

be served and supported by others,

way many become way for

also their children. In this

" smart " and foolish and gradually prepare the

immediate or remote, to become

their decendents either

degenerates or linked with degenerates, through the ability to live

becomes

dissipated. It

the great

common

something

true of very

realize,

lose the respect of

and when

no amount

compensate

sane person will

who

they

people,

lost that

station will ever

whom

longer through the support of others,

for.

not of

this

once

lost

of wealth or supposed

This all,

true as every

by any means, but

many.

The second great evil lies

in the vast

amount of bribery

and corruption and debauchery that has come about in public

and

political life, the riding

of the people that these agencies

and that

will eventually

mark

over the rights

have brought about,

the downfall of our very

not speedily checked and eradicated.

institutions

It is in this

way

that the liberties of the people in

all

nations that have flourished and then either perished or degenerated, have been undermined. Civilizations perish through internal decay, not through outside agencies.

Such has been the

rule with scarcely

an exception.

detail of the political intrigues of the

and corporations

in their

representatives in city councils legislatures for their

own

companies

manipulations of the people's

and

in state

and national

private business ends,

[185]

would

In fill

volume

with

the Fire of the

Heart

now familiar ean see how handi-

Most people

after volume.

some form or another.

are

capped are the forces for reform and for representative

government tion rule

in struggling against

and

its

company and corpora-

accompanying corruption. The

fact

that great private wealth so dominates legislators

proof in

itself

that

these great sources of private wealth that belong

and run

right to the people are taken possession of interests of the people, letting

The way

shall then witness a

this

become

in the

gradual

monster. Those industries

monopoly should be taken

others as they

this

go of the grip of

gigantic in

not healthy. When, therefore,

first,

and the

so.

organized labour has been of late turning to

government ownership idea and also

action, argues well for the strides

shall

to political

soon be mak-

ing along this line.

must get away from the idea that we are

governed. right,

The

people must govern. It

but their duty.

If the

the exploitation of the

few

not only their

people do not govern, then

many by and

will inevitably follow

even as

for the gain of the is

going on to-day,

and as has always happened when the people themselves

have not ruled. Not only as a common-sense

principle of self-interest, but a sense of safety for the

commonwealth, pure

patriotism

itself,

demands

without undue delay these great public service

that

utilities

and these great natural monopolies be owned and controlled in the only

of all the people

way they should common. [186]

be, for the interests

The

the Fire of the

wealth that

Heart

created by the

common

the people or by the continually growing

people should belong to

all

the people.

life

needs of of all the

By moral

right

belongs to them, and without undue delay that

which belongs

to the

belong to them legally

this

movement

people morally must

made

and by custom.

increases

among

us,

"commissions"

will

be ap-

pointed by those interested in retaining their grip on the properties from which they are deriving their annual millions, to go abroad to "study," and "investigate," the municipal and State ownership movement in other countries. They will be sent to those countries where the people are gaining so much and are so continually extending their operations along these lines. They will be so selected that the

"majority reports" will be unfavourable to the public ownership methods as applied to the United States. Men more or less prominent will also be sent or will go as individuals and will cable back, or will send back, for publicity purposes, similar opinions. As time passes we

suggestion is, in each probably witness much along this line. case make a little investigation of the matter in order to find what connection the authors of such reports and such messages have with certain interests, or, note the life of the authors of such reports and such messages, and see what influences have shaped or are shaping his will

prevailing trend of thought.

[187]

VII

LABOUR AND

ITS

UNITING POWER

i\ GREAT

people's

that will save

and redeem the nation.

movement

now

the only power

I think there

significant factor in the getting ready for this great

purpose than the splendid companies of

men

that are

bringing themselves together in our Labour Unions and

And among them

Brotherhoods and Federations.

must be I

said,

know

some

is, it

of our princely citizenship.

that there are various opinions held in re-

gard to the purposes and even the good of our labour unions. This can be said, however,

and without any

fear of successful contradiction, that those

most

of the business

and labour world

the splended results they equally important tainly

who know

them and what they have accomplished, and

upon

work

their wise

in general, realize

have already achieved and the that

and

yet before them. Cer-

intelligent

opment depends much that

will

growth and devel-

make

for the highest

welfare of our coming institutions. I

know

that there are those

who have doubted

even

the right of labour combining in this way, to say nothing of the expediency of

as I view

it,

it.

It is

not only right and expedient,

that labour should so organize, but

absolutely necessary that

[1881

so,

it is

also

necessary not only

In for

its

own good and

good and

welfare, but also for the

the welfare of the very nation It

Heart

the Fire of the

itself.

has been the history of labour that what

gained for

— and

itself

gained entirely through

Those who are

know

has gradually

its

much

has gained

own

—

has has

efforts.

at all acquainted with the conditions

of labour in times past,

century,

and especially prior to the present

out of what a condition of bondage

was

lifted itself. It

condition in which

had

considered as belonging to sidering the matter farther

literally

human it is

at one time in that

rights that

were

beings. Before con-

interesting to note that

in the industrial world, the captains of industry

— the

employers, had this same fight for liberty and for justice,

and they are now, mark you, not such a great ways ahead

of that larger class called

Concerning ancient

times,

this

wage- workers.

an eminent authority has said: "In

particularly

the

Roman and

the

media? val world, a manufacturer or merchant, though

might cover the inland

his ships

men might be

in the

seas,

though thousands

doing his bidding, yet he had no voice

government, was not considered

man and making

patrician to associate with,

fit

for a gentle-

had no voice

the laws that should govern him, nor in deter-

mining what taxes he should pay; he was plundered indirectly by means of taxation, and when this did not suit the

purpose of dissipated and rapacious

he was plundered a

member

directly.

officialism,

be born a patrician, to be

of the priesthood, or a successful military

chieftain, entitled

man

to rule.

[189]

The man who

supplied

Heart

the Fire of the

the world with necessaries had no social or political standing, and this continued to be so throughout the

M iddle Ages — continued to be so in most toward the end of the tent

still

last century,

the case in Russia

of Europe.

...

and

in the

all

Europe till

a great ex-

Turkish provinces

In England the employer acquired

his rights earlier,

and has

the government.

But even

sometime had a voice

for in

England the much praised

Magna Charta was not for the benefit

or workman, but simply of the nobility

who, by reason of the accident of

employer

of either

birth,

— the

idle,

were enabled to

appropriate the labour of others."

Continuing and speaking also of the early conditions of the wage-workers, he says:

"But, upon the whole,

the employer in his struggles for justice in

advance of the

and

class

they, the labourers,

practically all slaves.

to-day call the wage- workers,

were

in ancient

sure,

there, in ancient literature, a phrase

being worthy

of his hire,

not a century

and

later times

catch here and

about the labourer

put wnen we examine

actual condition of the toiling masses

into the

are forced to

treat such utterances as the emanations ot fancy, for

not only was the labour of the mass posal of the master, but practically,

at the aosolute dis-

and

every-day

experience, their lives were also. True, there

was

most countries a law providing that the master should not

kill his slave,

went unwhipped

but

the master did so he generally

of justice.

This continued to be the

condition, with slight exceptions, throughout

down

all

to near the beginning of this century.

[1901

Europe For un-

numbered

Heart

the Fire of the

centuries they were absolute slaves, belonging

to individuals; then they belonged, as

and were known as

may be .

said to It

soil,

to the

county or shire.

some European

cities

workmen, who enjoyed not only

organizations of skilled their freedom,

were, to the

and, in time, in England they

serfs

have belonged

true there were in

but some advantages that

may be

said to

have been ahead of their time; but, as compared with the great mass of the common people, they were so

number, and

insignificant in

ceptional that

their situation

to call attention to the fact that they

developed the

and honourable conduct, while by means ings

ex-

members, and enforced sobriety

technical skill of their

ed,

was so

need not consider them further than

and discussions they became,

of their meet-

a measure, educat-

and thereby reached a much higher plane than was

otherwise possible, and they thus wielded a powerful influence for good.

"In 1360, during the provided by law that

III,

a labourer refused to

by the

the wages fixed by law or

Edward

reign of

was

work

for

justices of the county,

he went outside of the county he was to be brought

back by the have the

sheriff,

letter

was

forehead in token of his

manner

be imprisoned, and was to

'F' branded with a hot iron upon his falsity.

he sought by any

to increase the rate of wages, he

prisoned.

From

turies, the legislation in

be im-

that time on, for four cen-

England

prohibiting by imprisonment

and providing that the

was

all

of uniform kind,

meetings of workmen,

justice should fix the

[191]

wages

the Fire of the

paid in their county; that

wages

for the

the stocks;

by the

fixed

Heart

any labourer refused to work justices,

he was to be put

any labourer was found

idle

apply himself to work, he was to have the

branded with a hot iron upon

two years,

sold into slavery for

sold,

have the

and

and were

either

letter

he or they ran away they were to

life,

and were

was provided by law

they ran

death. Children that had worked at husbandry

were twelve years to

iron,

made to work by beating, by chainaway again they were to suffer

that they were to be if

his children likewise to

be sold into slavery for

and

S branded on the cheek with a hot

fed on bread and water, and

ing, etc.,

letter

and was

his cheek,

and did not

do anything

old,

till

they

were forbidden ever to attempt

else; other children

were required

follow the occupation of their parents or be imprisoned. It is

hard to conceive of a condition of the labouring

es that could

much worse

class-

than that of the English

during these centuries."

And

so far as the length of the work-day

cerned, during the reign of

Queen

was con-

Elizabeth, in 1562,

the following statute was enacted: "All artificers and labourers being hired for wages by the day or

betwixt the midst of the months of

week

shall

March and Septem-

ber be and continue at their work at or before the clock in the morning and continue at

five of

work and not

depart until betwixt seven and eight of the clock at night, except

drinking; and

all

in the

such

time of breakfast, dinner, or

artificers

and labourers between

the midst of September and the midst of

[192]

March

shall

the Fire of the

Heart

be and continue at their work from the spring of the

day

in the

morning

until the night of the

same day,

ex-

cept in the time of breakfast and dinner.

So much then for the early conditions of both employer

and wage-worker. time.

As the employer

come on down then class

became

fully

to our

own

emancipated

own hands, and who worked for them and

they began to take matters into their in their relations

with those

who were the absolutely essential factor in their business and who helped make their profits, they had the entire say. They paid what wages they chose. They laid down the conditions under which those working for their work.

The

them did

labourer had practically nothing to say

regarding anything.

The employers were

organizing

among

themselves; they were getting stronger, and as

rule,

can be truthfully said, more

dictatorial.

The

wage-workers then began to take heed. They began to see

what was

co-operation.

to be gained through organization, through

They

realized that they

various types, that they were

had grievances

not getting as a rule

fair share in the profits of the enterprise in

which they

were as necessary a factor as the element of capital

and

its

management. They

dividuals they of their

also realized that as in-

had absolutely no way

making any

wants or grievances known, and that for

dividuals to act in these matters

was not only

but unsafe for the one or ones so acting. tion

and the uniting

the labour union

of the

came

Then

wage-workers

in-

futile

organiza-

in the

form of

into being.

In reply to the question, " [

193

What ]

originally

were the

and

conditions

the Fire of the

which seemed to make necessary

facts

workmen

the combinations of

and which

Heart

called

labour unions,'

justify their present existence?"

officer

of one of our larger labour organizations gave the follow-

ing reply " :

facts

would require many volumes dealing with

conditions, social injustice, special privilege,

world.

and

describe accurately such conditions

The specific fact which made

all

social

over the

labour unions neces-

ary was this Wealth was produced as a result of a combi:

nation of labour and of intelligent direction. tion, otherwise the

ed wages, treated the employee as he saw fit. ers

were also united

mutual

interests

The

direc-

employer, was in absolute control,

and

fix-

The employ-

in their social relationships, their

in other ways.

The

employees, the

workers, were isolated they had no union, working from ;

dawn

till

dark made

social intercourse impossible.

The

unions of workers were formed for the same reason that the union of States in this country was formed

— namely,

to give to the individuals forming the union the greater

strength that comes from united action, to give

them

the dignity that comes with escape from a servile condition, to give

them the power enabling them

for themselves

fair

tion for their families

ment

to obtain

wages, involving comfort and educa-

and

leisure for

mental improve-

for themselves.

Said the President of the American Federation of

Labour of

a recent address before the

Trade and Transportation

of wealth

and

its

possession

The

New York Board

very concentration

potent organization, and

unless the wage-earners, the workers, combined their [

19 *]

the Fire of the

Heart

unions of labour, their condition to-day would

efforts in

be such as to shock the mind even in contemplation. for material improvement, moral ad-

That any hope

vancement, or higher ethical consideration without the organizations of labour, few

possible

now

seriously

believe.

This

quite in keeping with an utterance of former

Governor Washburn, of Massachusetts, when he spoke

"The fact that there when man is confined to

unrest and dissatis-

as follows:

faction

unremitting

of the brightest It

and most healthy omens

indication that his better nature

for emancipation

manhood

;

it is

toil is

one

of the times. is

struggling

a hopeful sign of finer and nobler

in the future.

Such

efforts for

improvement

should never be discouraged, but always encouraged.

So much then for the

necessity of the wage-worker organizing for protection

and

for

and the

right, the expediency,

mutual

and uniting

self-help.

The labour unions have committed errors of course, they are committing them to-day, and plenty of them.

Counts of many various types can be made against them. Enemies of or those unfriendly to union labour could, I dare say, compile very long cesses of various kinds. Friends of

lists

of errors

and those sympathetic

to union labour could compile also a similar this

of is

and ex-

list.

But

only natural, for in the early and formative days

any movement indeed

this

scarcely

practically always true; there

an exception.

No movement

system, especially one involving such complex and such difficult

matters to deal with and

[195]

men

such various

Heart

the Fire of the

stages of development, can start in a fully perfected

form, nor

to be expected.

Once

was urged

England that men should not be given freedom

and

until they

until there

were

fully prepared to use

was no danger

their political rightly,

of their ever abusing

it.

This course seemed plausible and reasonable to those advocating

it;

Lord Macaulay

replied, " If

to wait for freedom until they have

men

are

become good and

wise in slavery, they will wait forever. In a similar vein and speaking directly of organized labour, the Springfield Republican has said: philosophically,

and

it is

"Viewed

inevitable that a riot of inexperience

inefficiency should characterize the early stages of

labour's organization.

No state of

society

ever inaugu-

rated with people already perfected for its coming.

Republican institutions were not deferred on earth until a people were found entirely capable of running perfect republics.

Democracy did not await the advent of a popula-

tion already fully trained in the arts of self-government.

and the people most concerned

All these things come,

have to develop up to them. Such

Labour-unionism came

also,

the lesson of history-

and, in the same way,

its

adherents have had to discipline themselves by experi-

ence in the best methods of organization and conservative

management.

tion the

the whole, taking into considera-

enormous increase

than fair to say that

it is

of unionism,

no more

constantly gaining in equili-

brium and sanity."

The unions and

their leaders

have been learning

rapidly in these matters. Generally speaking, the older

[196]

In the union the

the Fire of the

Heart

more conservative and

same time firm and

effective

dealings. In other countries, in

quiet

in its

is it

England

where the unions are a great deal

and

at the

methods and

its

for example,

older, they

have even

long ago worked through and out of the rash and tem-

pestuous stages, the stages where so

many

counts could

be made against them, and have reached the position that the unions in

way

their

America have been gradually working

towards. Here, as there,

hard road to

travel,

has been a long,

has meant fight and defeat, and

won, the

at times apparent rout along with the battles

the advancement made — the pres-

experience gained,

meant brave

ent priceless possession. It has

many

sufferings

times not only on the part of the wage-workers,

but also on the part of their families.

has meant at

times, the facing of great uncertainty. I think

should be said that from the managers of

capital, labour has learned some of

and all

excesses. I think

the excesses

and

can be truthfully said that with

violations of

labour in times passed equalled the

amount

worse features

its

law on the part of union

has never, taking

of disregard for

and

law that organized capital has been guilty

more open and awkward

in its

under cover. The

latter

and hence more apt

But out

worked is

in all,

of. It

has been

methods, perhaps, while

organized capital in addition to being in glaringly open, has

it all

violation of

many

cases also

a subtile and silent way

skilled,

may be

said,

in these matters.

of this long

and

at times apparently

struggle, union labour in this country

[197]

clumsy

also attaining a

In position

where

not only for

the Fire of the

exerting a great and powerful good,

it is

its

Heart

own and

for organized capital,

for the public welfare, but also

the latter

openly and freely recognize

its

wise enough to

power and

its

purposes.

In connection with the final settlement of the great strike in the anthracite fields

among

some time ago, there were

others two utterances to

very significant and

worthy of a wide reproduction. Judge Gray, chairman of the Arbitration

ment

at fault

Commission, said " Unless :

and

faith

my judg-

unfounded, the labour

unions will soon have passed through their period of trial

and

tribulation

sunlit plain,

and

emerge on a bright and

will

where true American character, the

fruit of

American

liberty,

stitutions.

Purging themselves of every anti-social and

will

illustrate

unworthy element, recognizing

the worth of our in-

in others the rights

they

claim for themselves, with malice towards none and charity towards

all,

subordinate to law, with a

full

sense

of their appeal to the public opinion of the country, as

our fathers the time to in the

made

their appeal, they will

come by employers,

be unheld

as powerful coadjusters,

maintenance of American ideals of free govern-

ment among men."

Much

of the energy of labour unions

up to the present

time has been directed towards the securing of a larger

wage and

of a shorter

towards both.

true.

there

But with

this

some

gained to a greater or

comes a time and

push out

workday, and

It is quite natural that at first this

into a larger

has

less extent,

now come, when

and more general [198]

cases

should

field.

must

These

In gained, and with

the Fire of

more time

for council

and with a greater recognition ing,

it is

still

more able now

Heart

tlie

its

and

stand-

its

move upon a broader and

The union and the

telling plain.

federation has

an excellent means of training

also been

intercourse,

power and

reason as

against crankery, in moderation as against rashness

and hot-headness, stantial

and

in short for

a broader and more sub-

effective citizenship.

very discriminating

writer, in speaking along this line, has said:

omit certain unions

in the

more corrupt

"If

where

cities,

the leaders learn bad habits by imitation, and are too

frequently bought and sold, there

ment

train

men

this

at the present

country no more powerful influence to

for citizenship than the influences at

in the best

mo-

work

and strongest labour organizations. This

true of the Federation

it is

;

the printers, trainmen,

true of separate unions like

iron-moulders

many

;

the

longshoremen, and cigar-makers.

"But

especially

do these older and stronger unions

learn to check dangerous .

and revolutionary opinions.

the trade union strengthens,

its

influence

against turbulent and revolutionary projects steadily increases.

The

only agency that will prevent the spread

of this conservatism insists

the fatuous obstinacy which

upon defeating completer labour organization."*

The time

has come

seems to

federated labour must move, and

and

telling

way along

me when organized and move

a very effective

the lines of political action.

Not

that the union or the federation as such, as an organiza*

John Graham Brooks

in "

The

Social Unrest "

[199]

Chap.

xii.

In tion,

must so

and undoubtedly most such a course.

affiliating

has steadily avoided

There would be

wisely.

did

it,

pitfalls

adopt or attempt to adopt

Nor would anyone

membership

cate the

along

act, for this all

innumerable for

Heart

the Fire of the

judgment advo-

of the union or federation as such

with any

par icular

party.

be inde-

pendent in party action, here as in the rest of our citizenship should be, as

getting

more and more

to be, the great fact; then for organized labour to

along the lines of educating of policy

great

and

membership

its

work

in the lines

legislation that gives or that keeps for the

common

people, of which the wage-worker

such a large and powerful factor, larger rights and

and more

fairer opportunities

just conditions, as dis-

whom

tinguished from the privileged classes by

machinery of government

chief portion of the

dominated and controlled, and larger share of legislation as the immediate

this

whose

And

so far

of organized

me that the time

seems to

the

now

interests the

enacted.

demands and the welfare

labour is concerned,

come when

now

the effective and the telling

has

now

method

work, also the orderly and the peaceable, hence, the

most

satisfactory.

It is

undoubtedly

in the

matter of strikes and the

almost innumerable things that accompany them that

union labour has suffered most greater or less extent in of

its life

its

in its reputation,

and to a

Whether

this part

standing.

could have been lived better or not

portance so far as the present consideration

The one concern

at present [

200

]

— the

no im-

concerned.

lessons that are

;

the Fire of the

Heart

to be learned from the past use of this weapon.

Un-

many and very important lessons undoubtedly many have been learned.

doubtedly there are to be learned;

That

strikes

have been too

frequently

called,

and

especially the sympathetic strike, that others have been

called rashly

and without

sufficient preparation,

and

without a sufficient consideration of the chances of success beforehand, that others have been too frequently called ship,

under a poor or undoubtedly

ineffective, or self-seeking leader-

The

true.

abler leaders and the

members have now come

the position where they recognize that the strike and

its

better

and more

intelligent

attendant circumstances

weapon

of last resort.

through very great

to be considered only as

The

losses,

grievances and differences

now if

to conciliate, to adjust

any possible way can be

found without a resort to the

strike.

strikes, those lost as well as those

home leader

to the intelligent

disposition, reached partly

The

history of

won, has brought

and capable and unself-centred

and union member some very

clear-cut facts

such as the following: that a strike should not be

al-

lowed to be called by a walking-delegate, or by any

power outside

of a full

that the union should

and complete vote

move

possible degree of fairness

;

that

should be thoroughly

organized and ready for the strike; that direction of a thoroughly able leader; that

be sure that

its

of the union

slowly and with every

be under the

and honest and proven

demands or

its

grievances

are thoroughly just and sufficiently important to pay this

price for their attainment or their adjustment;

[201]

In that

Heart

the Fire of the

has come to pass that public opinion

the court

or the power that finally decides whether the strike

be successful or whether

end

in failure;

in addition to the necessity that the

there

ly just ones, that

demands be thorough-

no violence or

rioting.

— as

well as

True, owners and managers of capital sympathizers

— have

provoked or have deliberately

planned violence and

as they probably will

rioting,

come, but by forbearance and

in other cases yet to

patience the public can in practically

be shown

its

cordingly.

The

source,

and

will

strike, is itself

upon the

all

cases eventually

render

its

verdict ac-

very fact that this method has some-

times been deliberately resorted

break a

therefore,

influence

to, to

help weaken or

a powerful and quiet commentary

and the power

of public opinion as

the determining factor in a strike.

How keen

the really able labour leader

in regard

to the importance of no violence emanating from the

organization in time of strike

shown

partly

by the

following words of John Mitchell, spoken in connection

with the anthracite coal

strike,

and not

for

its effect

the public but in earnest council to the miners

want

to spoil your

own cause and

lose every sacrifice

you have made for yourself and your to your

upon

" If you

families, give

way

temper and commit some violence. Just a few

outbreaks like this and the public good-will, to which

we must

look in last resort, will

serve to lose

it.

Mitchell, understands

ment

of violence,

fail

us and

shall de-

leader of the keen insight of all

John

too thoroughly what the ele-

emanating from the organization at

[202]

In a

the Fire of the

Heart

period of the strike, would

critical

upon public opinion. This, however, council, but

mean

in its effect

not exceptional

has grown to be that which

on the part of the able, experienced, and

common

efficient

labour

leaders.

The

number

very large

of strikes that are prevented

through the influence and the clearer councils of the abler leader and

organized labour. general

The

probably not

following letter by the very able

secretary of the

Henry White, on

subordinates,

his

by the one not intimately acquainted with

realized

Garment Worker's Union,

also indicative of

much

that

going

at present:

Mr.

— foreman

— informs

me that your only men was that he refused employ two men laid off for incomof

reason for calling out the to continue in his

petent work, and that even your business

men was

mitted that the work of the

such

imperfect.

the case, your action in withdrawing the

was not Union,

justified. is

This

office, as

not suitable.

It is just that sort of

that creates needless opposition to the union, of trouble.

Your union

men thing

and causes

the only one that would

make such a demand. Where members believe that they cannot be discharged,

are

made

no matter what

they do, they become careless, and the poor falls

men

well as the National

opposed to forcing upon an employer

whose work

no end

agent ad-

workman

back upon the protection of the union. The em-

ployer has got to

sell

the goods, and he assumes the risk,

consequently he alone can be the judge as to the quality

[203]

As long

of work.

Heart

the Fire of the

as he pays the union scale

discriminate against active

members, that

and does not is all

you can

expect of him.

Now I trust you will not place us

a position where

the General Executive Board will have to decide against

you." I

know

who have become very know also that some,

there are employers

bitter against organized labour. I

at times

have had to meet some

very exasperating

things from the unions. This I think

part to two causes

the feeling of

to labour since the unions have

owing

in great

power that has come

become a force that must

be reckoned with; and again on account of the sort of transitional period through which both employer and

worker has been passing, where we have reached the end of the period where the employer has had practically everything to say in connection with the works and the conditions of labour, and where he

now loath to admit

that the portion of his establishment, the portion as

necessary as his capital, his management, and his

chinery

— the

workmen

— can

have anything to say

regarding any feature of his works.

come when

the wise owner or

who have taken

this

But the day has

manager

and even cheerfully recognizes

ma-

this.

he who openly

There are those

view of the matter, have acted

and are even now glad that this changed condition has come about. They are managing in such a way that great good is resulting to them as well as to accordingly,

their

workmen.

The day of " my business " has passed [204]

;

the day of " our

The new

business" has arrived. are

now

entering

Heart

the Fire of the

upon

industrial era that

the one in which there shall

be more consultation and more friendly co-operation

between employer and employee; and where

method

more sympathetic recognition and

this

entered upon freely and with a fuller and

of each other's rights,

due from each to the other, very

of the amenities

great mutual gains will be made.

The one important for is

must now be looked

factor that

by owners of large enterprises and by companies,

men

managers who are keen enough to recognize

the advent of this

new

era,

and who are

meet and to deal with labour upon after all but

degree of

an indication

modem

this

enough to

large

new

basis. It

of the possession of a

good

business ability. Speaking along this

a very able Eastern railroad president said some

line

time ago " :

To assume

that

we have

modically fighting the unions, gent.

The truth

that the kind of

got to go on spas-

tactless

and

man who

unintelli-

not strong

enough to work with organized labour has not the qualification for his position. It

tions to say,

is silly

for powerful corpora-

We will deal with the individuals, not with

representatives of unions.' Organization of labour has

got to be recognized as such, and dealt with as such,

and the problem now and

capacities to

Mr. Darrow, one

to get

men

with the qualities

this."

of the miners' counsel, in speaking

before the anthracite commission, spoke possibly strongly though not

Henry D. Lloyd,

truly in the following.

also counsel, [

205]

had

more Mr.

just pointed out the

the Fire of the

Heart

commission could hope to bring no peace

fact that the

to the anthracite fields that could be in

manent unless

provided for agreements with the union.

Mr. Darrow, speaking the union, said

any way per-

in regard to the recognition of

You can do

just as

you please about

recognizing the union. If you do not recognize

and you want

because you are blind it

some more;

the burden

that

is all. It is

here. It

on you and not upon

us.

it,

bump up

against

here to stay, and

There

neither

the power nor the disposition in this court, I take destroy could,

union.

the

and

would not accomplish

And

certainly could not

would.

if it

it,

these

wise business men, with the combined wisdom of business gentlemen and the agents of the Almighty, cannot see the union, they

more is

years,

had

here and recognize I

know

better blunder along

and possibly

there

is still

still

after a while they will

a few

know

themselves."

a great deal of unsettled opinion

regarding strikes and lockouts, regarding arbitration,

and

especially

familiar with

form

it,

compulsory arbitration. All who are however, are agreed that there

of arbitration that

other forms.

It is

unique

tion; or

one

leads all as the

more accurately spoken

form of conciliation than as a form still

what has come to be known

" joint agreement." It might be of as a

in that

of arbitra-

accurately, perhaps, as a

form of

working agreement between employer and employed. Its basis

is,

that once so often, according to agreement,

accredited representatives of both employer and work-

men meet

a joint session to consider, to discuss, and

[206]

In to

draw up a

the Fire of the

Heart

agreements that shall be the basis

set of

of the year's or the period's work.

labor

organized and

representatives to such a meeting

agreement

The

" possible.

Otherwise

"joint agreement"

The

its

features that

its

mark

very fact that

makes the "joint

would not be

possible.

pre-eminently the highest

type of arbitration, for

are

The

capable of sending responsible

arbitration

from within.

high value are many. First

educational features, in that

makes both em-

ployer and employed acquainted with each other's points of view, with each other's needs as well as desires;

leads to a better understanding between employer

workmen, probably dustrial world.

And

modern

the greatest need in our if

entered into heartily

and in-

has the

tendency of creating an active sympathy between the two. This in increasing

itself will

time lead to a continually

mutual respect and mutual helpfulness.

Again, agreements thus voluntarily

made

are far

apt to be kept, and more easily and conscientiously

than in case of conditions imposed from without, and

which

in almost every case are

features distasteful other. Again,

it is

bound

and onerous

to contain

some

one party or the

simply a recognition of a purely com-

mon-sense and practical method that

recognized and

used in practically every other avenue in the business world. Finally, I think

and no

effective

relations

can be said, that there can be lasting

peace between

employer and workmen until the agreement ed as the common-sense and

and

fair

method

entered into in a whole-souled

[207]

recogniz-

of procedure,

manner and with

the Fire

of the

Heart

the purpose and intention on the part of both interested parties of living fully

The

" joint agreement "

to the agreement.

not a

new method

or a

ciliation

employer and employed, but used for

many years, and

ly satisfactory results.

from the standpoint of

its

more general and This fact

and

most

some all

fields

actual achivements. It

effective

has been coming into a

into a continually increasing use.

and

much

its

effectiveness

testimony to be had in regard to

satisfactory results that

much

teresting to consider

manager

a dozen years and

has settled

subject for us. Its best trait

men

its

in-

The

one of the largest stove manufactories in

all

that, as

to see the limits within

advantages.

would be

did space permit.

the country has said of the agreement "

the

value.

There

has been

cases with thorough-

undoubtedly an evidence of

of con-

between

can therefore be spoken of

however, that

later years,

new method

of procedure as

have tried

questions on this it

works,

trains

which they can get

makes the men more conservative and

makes us more considerate." Mr. John Graham Brooks,

"The

Social Unrest" has

dealt with the joint agreement in a very effective way.

At one place he says " To keep agreements voluntarily, :

a much For many

higher discipline than to do

under

years unions have actually kept

when employers have genuinely and

force.

contracts

heartily co-operated

with the joint agreement.

"There

no such convincing proof of

[208]

this as the

In fifteen years'

the Fire of the

trial

Heart

between masters and

men

Boston Building Trades. The agent of the W. H. Sayward, who brought about this conducting

employers,

agreement,

with growing success for eighteen years,

allows

in the

to say that

under

scores of strikes have

been prevented, millions of money saved, and the most delicate

questions,

the

and apprentices, the use

limitation

output

of the boycott, the conflicts

between different unions, and the sympathetic are

now

strike,

so far understood as a result of this education

that they are no longer feared."

Mr. Sayward's testimony, experience has convinced

in part,

as follows

that labour thoroughly

organized and honestly recognized

even more im-

portant for the employer than for the workmen. It possible a working

method between the two

makes parties

which removes one by one the most dangerous elements

and misunderstanding." Speaking

of conflict

Mr. Sayward

farther,

said: "that either for the building trades

or other lines of work, these intricate

and involved

matters will not take care of themselves; they cannot safely

be intrusted to one of the interested parties alone

both parties

must have equal concern, must

not only in their own interests, but, in ests of the If

act jointly,

effect, in

the inter-

community."

anytime differences do arise under the joint

agreement, or

they arise

when

not in use and

trouble seems iminent, then conciliation or voluntary arbitration

there

the next sensible step. It

scarcely a case

where the

[209]

safe to say that

strike or the lockout

In need be resorted

on both

the Fire of the if

there

sides. Conciliation

Heart

an eminent

and

spirit of fairness

fairness.

looking at

the matter from the standpoint of the other, a pocketing of pride to gain something larger

satisfactory in the end.

getting

and

fairer

and more

away from pure

fool

obstinacy and allowing a spirit of openness and fairness to assert itself

and lead

prove to be a wiser

will

The workmen

course and a better end. to

what

fair

and

be sure they are making no unjust demands, not

hasty but considerate of the probable difficulties that lie

the employer's way.

beyond the

Employer

and inane period where "this

foolish

business and I will conduct

" there

The

will

public

;

" there

pretty well tired

nothing

now

nothing to arbitrate," and popular disapproval

soon

call

a halt upon

owner or manager himself. All that

this puerile

finds sense

obstinancy unless

enough

—

overalls

and the owners or managers

strikes

and lockouts

sufficiently large as to enable

their prejudices

abandon

needed to prevent precipitated labour

troubles

grow

absolutely to suit

myself, " " I will not be dictated to " to arbitrate. "

to pass rapidly

for the

them

and meet as they meet

men

of industry to to

throw away

in other things,

on the common-sense platform of fraternity and humanity.

the

Each must manifest more

pleasantly

fully

and

this

the spirit of open fairness,

and

done the more smoothly and

satisfactorily will the negotiations run.

President John Mitchell has given this bit of testimony " I have never seen in

not have been averted

experience a strike that could

the employers and the

[210]

men who

work had met

Heart

the Fire of the

conference before the strike was started.

have said on many occasions that I was opposed

to strikes,

opposed to lockouts, opposed to industrial

turmoil; that I favoured peace, but always with the

must be an honourable peace. There never be peace between the men who work and

qualification that will

those

who employ men

antees to

work unless that peace guar-

each side that which

Herman

Justi,

is its

Commissioner,

proper due.

Illinois

Coal Operators'

Association, has said: "With scarcely an exception,

every strike that has taken place in our time, even where there has been bloodshed

has finally been settled

and destruction

of property,

in friendly council.

Speaking then of the plan of the Coal Operators' Association in their

method

of joint

agreements with their

men which have been in operation for a great many years, Mr. Justi says " Our plan is to prevent these senseless and costly strikes, and the many differences and disputes arising between master and men which seem to place :

them in

enemies to each other, are settled

in the attitude of

same manner

the

which the most destructive

strikes are finally settled, viz:

council,

where we

us to say: 'Come,

let

practically, all there

mining industry of strikes

and

by meeting

in friendly

enough

try self-control long

us reason

together.'

of the plan

pursued

Illinois,

and

to enable

This

in the coal

of this plan to prevent

promote harmony and good feeling

be said, at least, that

it is

is,

can

the fairest thus far offered.

But what a commentary upon the experience past twenty or twenty-five years to

[211]

know

of the

that finally

Heart

the Fire of the

by the very means that

practically all strikes are settled

could have prevented their ever occurring had more

speak more plainly, more plain ordi-

real ability or, to

nary common-sense prevailed on one side or the other, or on both.

As soon

workmen

becomes apparent that employer and

are unable to adjust their differences through

conciliation or voluntary arbitration, then

by the

ordi-

nary course, the strike on the part of the one, or the lockout on the part of the other, results trol, all

sometimes

resorted to.

this

then thrown.

that right at this point

have

of the public to

it is

Upon

the public

know

that

and the duty

many

men, and among them some eminent labour hold a different view. strike they believe,

one of

its

labour of

and

most its

effective

power

leaders,

to take

from

weapons. I would not deprive

to strike;

and the more thoroughly

organized the greater does this

become. There

more thoroughly

labour

deprive labour of the power to

and honestly, would be

closely labour

ability

the

has always seemed to

the privilege

say. I

its

What

method assumes con-

are thoroughly conversant with.

the chief burden

when

are,

in the

who

believes

to result

both to

probably no one

good that

worker and employer, as well as

to the public at large,

from a continually growing and developing organization of labour. in

But the

larger

good must always be kept

mind, and when the calling of a strike or the instituting

of a lockout

becomes the supreme

principle of compulsory arbitration

sound one, even as

necessity, then the is

undoubtedly a

has proven so completely to be,

[212]

much

that

the Fire of the

we hear

New Zealand,

to the contrary notwithstanding, in

in Australia, for

example.

Were employer and workmen in the

Heart

the cnly ones concerned

matter of compulsory arbitration then

would

present a somewhat, in fact an entirely, different aspect.

But even then ciple,

when

only

way

men

in the

should thoroughly believe in the prin-

would appear the

the strike or the lockout

Men

of adjusting the differences.

mad, the

or groups of

fighting condition, are not as cap-

— and there can fairness enters — as

able of adjusting difficulties as fairly

be no lasting peace unless mutual

an able and impartial body of men selected for purpose. sides

And

when

the enormous

the strike

seems to me, thoroughly strike enables the

drawn

workers to bring their

would be

out, are,

The

ill-advised.

grievances to the point where, were to possess this ability,

upon both

losses entailed

at all long

this

ability to

difficulties

not strong enough

a most deplorable

condition.

Two men

have a

worked up by rage

difference.

into

one species of temporary

The

time was when,

— thoroughly mad, insanity — they took their

a fury

bludgeons and pounded away at the skulls of each other.

have grown.

When two men

have a difference they

are not allowed to go into the street and bludgeon one another, or deal with one another in the

the

modern

fisticuff

manner of even

manner. The public has long ago

decreed that they take their differences in an orderly and

common-sense way before a man or a body

men,

more calm and reasoning, and hence more capable [213]

Heart

the Fire of the

determining the right of the matter at

This

issue.

our

method, the method that we have found far better than the former brute method. There

who would even

intelligence

no one

of average

think of appearing in

public to advocate a return to the earlier methods. In

however, the public

this,

scarcely disturbed, or at

most but a few persons, and then

for but a

few moments

at most. Fisticuffs are ordinarily not lengthly

there not a thousand times this

same

sane,

more reason

affairs. Is

for compelling

common-sense method when

comes to

the disputes not of two men, but of two groups of that

may

for days

last

where the

entire

limb, where

it is

and normal

many

or even for

community

endangered as to

inconvenienced, and

relations demoralized,

all

where

men

weeks, and

it is

life

natural

its

subjected

and where sometimes

at times to

tremendous

weeks

compelled simply to remain quiet and look

it is

losses,

for

on at these two groups struggling without reason because each

animated by the desire for the questionable

glory of saying

beat"

"we beat"

not saying that

"we

always the animating principle on the part of

the contending parties.

many

cases

it is, is all

a struggle of

this

That

some

cases

it is,

that in

too evident, and sometimes

when

kind has been entered upon, with the

greatest of reasons,

has frequently occurred that as the

the conflict

became extended the "we beat" business

became the

controlling

lockout

to enable

too

much

The

principle.

a matter of

be used upon the

vital public

concern

slightest pretext

part of groups of hot-headed men.

[214]

strike or the

I say

on the

hot-headed

Heart

the Fire of the

advisedly because, were

not true of one side or the

other or of both, then a less crude and bungling and a

more common-sense could, but

method

would be found.

There was perhaps a

justification, or at least a reason

and the pommeling method

for the bludgeon

ment

not only

of settlement

of differences

of settle-

between the two men. In order to

reach the period of the "reason method," this period had to

be passed through. There was also the same

tion or reason for the strike

justifica-

and lockout method

disputes between two groups of men. This crude

was

also at first natural.

in the

method

have too much common-

sense in other matters, and in matters of a very kindred

nature to allow

farther to be said that this

any longer necessary or even natural.

method

become so

accustomed to certain conditions that at times we do not I

move on

as rapidly as

well for us.

beg to repeat the statement that when the strike or the

lockout

resorted to, there

a distinct threefold

the worker, to the employer, to the public.

Some months ago

it.

Here are a few

Chicago Tribune: Duration

number

seventeen; total

facts taken at

random

after

by the

days, a hundred and

garment workers

number

anything, of the

from a general summary made immediately

five;

loss, to

I right

witnessed a strike in Chicago, and

terminated rather to the disadvantage, side that called

originally involved,

teamsters eventually in-

volved, four thousand six hundred

and twenty; persons

killed in strike violence, twenty-one; persons injured

(reported by police), four hundred

[215]

and

fifteen; police

In and deputy

Heart

the Fire of the

sheriffs

hundred; cost to city

thousand seven

strike duty, five

and county

and

extra deputy sheriff protection, four hundred

thousand

five

wages, and

hundred

protection of wagons),

dollars, to the employers,

two

trifle

over a million

million, while the public

pay to the tune of between

and Here

(estimated), six million dollars.

then the cost to the unions was a

besides shouldering

dollars,

(wages and

to employers,

dollars; shrinkage in wholesale, retail

freight business

had

cost to unions for strike benefits, one million

lodging of strike-breakers and

two million

six

to teamsters

dollars; loss

thousand dollars; cost

fifty

and

for extra police

all

and seven million

six

the exasperating

conveniences and a compulsory witnessing of

thrown

diabolical happenings that were If this virtual defeat for the

in its

all

in-

the

way.

unions was caused, as

claimed, by incompetent or self-seeking leadership,

much

the worse for the unions that permitted such

leadership to hold sway and to lead positions where defeat

How long will along

You

take organized labour to learn

will recall that in the

side chiefly to

and when In

trifle less

pany

into such

its

lessons

this score ?

a street-car strike

side.

them

was almost a foregone conclusion.

summer The

in St. Louis.

blame

in this strike,

was ended the

of 1900 there

was the company,

chief defeat

this strike the loss to the

men

than half a million dollars the ;

in fares, in operating,

and

was

side in error, the

was in

also

its

wages was a

loss to the

damage

com-

to cars

and

plant was two million dollars; the loss to the city in

[216]

the Fire of the

Heart

business alone, to say nothing of loss in extra police

and deputy

sheriff needs,

was

thirty million dollars;

there were fourteen killed, seventy injured by bullets,

a hundred and

—

loss

injured otherwise. Here then

fifty

money

part of the public compared to a combined loss of a

little

then two and a half million dollars on the part of

less

the

alone of thirty million dollars on the

company and

its

right or even the duty

case

Who

workmen.

shall say that the

on the part of the public

in this

not of a very clear-cut and certain nature.

Under the head "The torial in the

Louis Strike Folly" an edi-

St.

Boston Daily Globe

at the conclusion of the

strike spoke as follows: "This strike was begun inno-

cently

enough on

ped work.

May 8th. On that day 3,500 men

was a

destroy the labour union, and because the

succeeded in compelling 300 union

company has

men to go back to work

and leave the union, and moreover succeeded ing it

more than 3,000 men

calls this

'victory.'

to run

its

cars

few such

scattered over this continent civil

stop-

on the part of the company to

fight

in import-

day and

night,

'victories' as this

would create a general

war, in which victory would finally poise at the

point of the federal bayonet. For a corporation to call

a settlement forced by such conditions 'victory' libel

by the same Victory,'

on the English language. Yet the unions, animated

No,

spirit that possesses

the company, claim a

too.

this

not 'victory,' in this day

when reason and

the moral sense are supposed to have superseded the

gun and the bludgeon.

It is defeat,

[217]

dismal defeat for both

In the

the Fire of the

company and

The

the men.

Heart only victory

found

agreement of both sides to resume their old

in the

and

lations, forgive

forget

again to be reasonable

old scores and begin

human

beings. If

re-

over

all

anybody can

conceive a victory after such disgraceful proceedings,

where does

come

who have been and whose 000?

in for the

losses in business are

How many

taxpayers of

to be settled

reckoned at $30,000,-

St.

Louis will

by and by, when the

calling this a victory

700,000 people of the town

inconvenienced for nearly two months

feel like

have

costs

This strike has had some features that are

liable to

sadly demoralize the calculations of corporations

fancy that the victory in hiring

men

at the

The company

has

This was

broken the

but in breaking that back

strike,

same time depleting

its

Such a

from impending

strike as this

its

was

strikers

ruin.

ought never again to be possible

in this country. It cost the

fares alone for

treasury so rapidly that

was forced to make an agreement with the

in order to save itself

who

as soon as they succeed

to take the places of the strikers.

the case in St. Louis.

back' of the

won

company over $1,500,000

'victory.' It cost the

men

$500,000 in

wages. It brought disgrace upon a supposed civilized

American

city.

of cowardly

The

fierce

boycott has been the cause

murders and assaults upon women.

has

engendered bitterness among families and friends that will rankle for

many

years to come.

In order that somebody might of a victory.

Now

And

finally

all

for

what ?

be able to boast

both parties have fought to a stand-

[218]

the Fire of the

Heart

and both, maimed, crippled and disgraced, have

still,

been forced to an agreement which each

How

childish

and how unworthy

Now

nothing

settled,

all this

When

learn anything from these sad experiences

To say that it is advisable men to engage in such a

and decency, throwing

this

men!

when

except the fact that both

have virtually been defeated.

sides

a 'victory

of intelligent

Arbitration could have easily settled

began.

calls

will

men

ever

" ?

longer to allow two groups disruption of public order

enormous expense upon the

shoulders of the general public, simply because one

party or the other, and generally the one least in the right,

so bull-headed, or so lacking in ordinary brain

capacity as well as in business insight as to be incapable of adjusting these difficulties without a resort to such

clumsy and brutal methods, seems to

insult to the

to be almost

most ordinary degree of public

gence. I don't think there

intelli-

an average of one person

fifty

who, cognizant of

it is

either advisable or possessing even the qualities of

all

What a commentary then upon

ordinary common-sense. the lack of initiative or this

method with

all

practically nothing in ed. Especially

the facts, really believes that

movement on our

its

part to allow

attendant horrors, and with

justification, still to

its

this true

when

there

be employ-

already a clearly

demonstrated better method.

Sometime ago Carroll D. Wright, then United Commissioner of Labour,

American Review gave some tion with

an investigation

article in the

States

North

of his findings in connec-

of the matter of strikes in the

[219]

the Fire of the

Heart

United States since 1880. Between 1881 and 1900 there

were about twenty-three thousand

strikes,

which would

be an average of more than a thousand a year. Nearly fifty-one per cent of all these strikes

were successful,

thirteen per cent succeeded partly, while the remaining thirty-six per cent failed.

Over

six

million employees

were involved and were out of work for a longer or a shorter period. Their loss owing to idleness

two hundred and

was nearly

fifty-eight million dollars.

The

loss

to their employers was about a hundred and twenty-

three million dollars, or a

than one-half the

them.

loss to

little less

have given just the

losses

from a monetary stand-

point, and to the two parties engaged in these industrial

wars.

The

still

greater losses to the public at large, not

only from a monetary standpoint, but in almost innumerable

ways otherwise, can be imagined by the aid

the detailed statistics relating to the two strikes already

mentioned.

One

of the concluding observations

in this article

recognized

now that labour conflicts grow out of The avoidance or adjustment

ing intelligence. conflicts

must be the

Fools do not strike;

enough

by Mr. Wright

abundantly worthy of notice: "It

increasof

such

result of increased intelligence.

it is

men who have intelligence condition that make use of

only

to recognize their

this last resort.

With increased

intelligence they will

look back upon the strike period as one of development;

and when they the

new

shall

conditions,

have accommodated themselves to

and when employers shall have recog-

[220]

nized the increased

in the future

intelligence

be handled

these matters will

Heart

the Fire of the

employees,

their

such a way as to prevent

a repetition of incidents like those which

are chronicled in the statistical history of the strikes of the last twenty years.

the case, in the majority of strikes

It is generally

always the case, that the loss to the workers, far less able to stand

sustained

it, is

by the employers. The

have a way of making the public in addition to the

thrown upon

it.

still

who

are

considerably greater than that

moreover,

latter,

finally

pay

their losses,

heavier losses that are always

Certainly the word dense

quite ap-

we take some lessons from happenings that has come to pass,

plicable to the public unless this great array of

and unless we now move speedily along the path insistence of cases

upon compulsory

arbitration in that

class

where no other method of settlement but open

industrial warfare

and workmen. of a

doubt

able to be reached by employer

seems to

in regard to this

there can be no

when

comes to

shadow

strikes in

connection with any public service industry, or anything where the inconvenience or loss to the public

specially great. I think there

no better way of terminating

this

very brief examination of the points that seem to favour

a compulsory arbitration plan

in those cases that are

or that apparently cannot be settled

not

through mutual con-

cessions or by conciliation, with the result that the matter is

thrown onto the public

fare,

in the

form of an open war-

than by a very brief consideration of

[221]

New Zealand's

the Fire of the

arbitration court methods.

From

Heart that portion of the

world we got our Australian ballot-system that has

proved to be better than anything we had to compare with

it.

We can get still other things of good value there,

same

the

still

getting things of

older nations are from time to time

good value from

us.

The New Zealand law was drawn up by Hon. William P. Reeves, former Minister of Labour, after a careful study of the arbitration

most

methods of various

other countries. It was passed after considerable discussion and not without opposition, on

its

said, the

ployers

some-

merits,

thing more than ten years ago. Organization

might

is, it

Em-

keynote to the working of the law.

and workmen are expected

on the assumption that

form organizations

all interests

are best promoted

by the organization of labour. The

cannot

act, therefore,

be invoked by or against workmen not organized in

may

unions, though employers briefly

summarized the

Very

be sued singly.

chief points of the

law

are,

"First, the privilege of securing voluntary arbitration quietly; and, second, voluntary arbitration failing, the

law forces publicity and compels reference to a ation board

parties in dispute

first

before the local board of

conciliation, there being six of

from

there,

such boards

unsettled, the appeal can be

final court of arbitration sitting for the .

The boards and

in all,

made

guarantee of

and

to the

whole country.

court are composed equally

of chosen representatives of both employer

ployed.

concili-

and obedience to the law's awards. The

and em-

ability, experience, dignity

[222]

and

Heart

the Fire of the

entire disinterestedness

expected to be secured by the

appointment of a judge of the Supreme Court as president of the court of arbitration. that every precaution

a suggestive fact

It is

taken that the proceedings

be cheap, expeditious and non-technical.

shall

mediate value inheres

im-

Its

in the fact that the industry goes

on uninterruptedly while proceedings are pending. In a

letter

which appeared

tary for

Labour

in the

New

York Evening

Edward Tregear, then

Post sometime ago, Mr.

New

Secre-

Zealand, in reviewing various

statements that have gained circulation here regarding

method

the failure of this arbitration court

"Compulsory

Zealand, says:

been nicknamed) that

it is

(as

New

has

so far from being a disastrous failure

here considered a pronounced success. Only a

revolution could displace act

arbitration

Last session an amending

it.

was passed whereby the Boards

of Conciliation

(which have no power of enforcing their recommendations)

were practically

of Arbitration that

powers of the Supreme Court.

seven

awards with

its .

as answer to calumnies set abroad

we have

favour of the Court

set aside in

can enforce

all

the

Here, then,

interested persons,

the spectacle of the people of a colony, after

years'

experience

approving and reapproving colonial neighbour,

New

compulsory

its

principle.

arbitration,

Our

nearest

South Wales, sent one of

its

leading judges across to us to investigate the working of our act

on the

spot.

As a

result, that

colony has just

passed a compulsory arbitration act of a more drastic character than ours, for there are no Boards of Con-

[223]

In the Fire

New

provided for

ciliation

of the

Heart

South Wales. South Aus-

tralia and Western Australia have similar legislation on

our model. Strange that,

we have

failed,

our near

neighbours are so blind as to follow us into the

which we floundered

in 1894.

employee being strained, is

promoted by

detectives, etc.

" In regard to the relations

pit into

between employer and

may I ask whether good

feeling

strikes, lockouts, picketing, Pinkerton's ?

Compulsory

arbitration certainly has

not strained this feeling. Last session of Parliament the Right Hon. Mr. Seddon,

who

as well as Premier, declared to the tatives

Minister for Labour,

House

of Represen-

'There has never been a better feeling between

employers and employed than at the present moment, .

So far as

bitterness

ployed.

almost

most kindly

power

of observation goes, class

unknown

feelings exist

New

Zealand, and

between employer and em-

then proceeds to consider the general outlook of

the country, also the fact that years ago they were told that the effect of labour legislation would be to " drive capital out of the country. " In

answer to

that during the period between 1894

ample, capital instead of spreading

had extended

its

this

he shows

and 1902

its

operations so that the

for ex-

wings for

number

flight,

employed had more than doubled, and that the trade of

doubled

New in

Zealand during

total

had nearly

volume.

Organized labour stands periods in

this period

men

its

one of the most

critical

history at the present time, in this country

[224]

In at least.

And, although

successfully,

knocks and

Heart

the Fire of the I believe

it is

coming through

some strong

nevertheless will receive

some severe and

will suffer

necessary set backs, unless some of

some

or rather those of

its

entirely un-

worst practices,

members and

its

sections,

are quickly eradicated. Flushed with pride undoubtedly in attaining to the degree of

has so far attained

the

to,

power and recognition

members

some groups

of organized labour, especially in the larger cities, are

already showing marked symptoms of severe attacks of the " swelled head, " rights

and

getting so fine that the rights of those employing

them and

of the general public, are

become

that they have tions. Especially

the public

so minimized

of almost microscopic propor-

work where

concerned rather than the employer of

Union" becomes a

when organized

"The

a wholly inadequate

in giving

good high wage, or

for a

labour,

shield for incompetent or shirking

workmen, or backs them

work

now

this true in those lines of

labour in works. And,

day's

their conception of their

in carelessness of

the rights and amenities due to others, or a reasonable care of their belongings, or cal, or

too fine in

its

programme, then

rules it

when

and

will

its

becomes too techni-

methods and

alienate

otherwise sympathetic public, so that

quickly begin to balance

its

gains,

foolhardiness, set a limitation to gress, that otherwise could not

motive

and its

its

general

intelligent

its

will

and

losses

will

own

its

advance and pro-

If the animating " continual getting, with thoughts only of " us

set.

and "ours" with no adequate return, and no sense of

[225]

In its

the Fire of the

Heart

relationship with the great public welfare, then

will

soon

fall into

the pit of arrogance and pure self-

seeking without due consideration of the rights of others, rebellion against

which was the very thing that brought

the labour organization into existence.

permanent

organization or institution cannot be built upon any

such basis.

A "labour trust " is just as obnoxious to the great common

people, as

for one

a capitalistic trust and they will stand

no more than they

moreover they

down and

will stand for the other,

and

time find a method of putting

will in

out of business the one, the fame as they

surely will the other.

And

comes too dominant a

factor,

and kindred

villianous

again, if

browbeating be-

terrorism,

and murder,

methods become too frequent

or habitual, and too fully condoned by organized labour in efforts to coerce other equally honest

who cannot or

still

idly

see their

others

by and

who

way

and worthy men

to sanction all their methods,

are too brave or too

see their families driven

manly

sit

and pinched by

want, then also a suicidal blow will be struck that will

be a tremendous hindrance to what would otherwise be a more gradual but a permanent growth. The methods of the brute are used only

to the task

many of will

where brains are not equal

desired to

accomplish. In this

the strongest and best

be turned against

it,

and

men

will in

in the labour

way

ranks

time become a most

powerful element backed by the great public sympathy to be reckoned with. Better

and

grow a

little

slowly,

accordance with just and righteous laws, and

[226]

the Fire of the

Heart

hence more surely and permanently, than to try the

way many

short-cut methods, for in this

get

swamped

and tremendously delayed, while others never " arrive.

Those

and methods above described

of the policies

become a

sore

upon the great body

ourable labour, which can for such methods;

much

will very

Does

to be offered,

that has,

it is

illy

of splendid, hon-

afford to

and personally,

condone or stand

I don't believe

longer, nor even countenance them.

seem

this

like plain

speaking

The

only excuse

indeed any excuse were necessary,

spoken by one of the truest friends that labour

and

friends don't snivel, neither

and having no

do they fawn

ulterior ends to gain, there

no need

for reticence in relation to truth, nor for lying. I believe the time

rapidly approaching, and

may

be indeed immediately upon us as some signs seem to indicate,

when labour

going to push squarely into the

sphere of political action, even as the great masses of the people are moving along the lines of political action,

unhampered vision,

as never before, because of

political

more open

machines, or dictated to by notorious

old hacks as party bosses.

The day to-day

has already arrived for this in England and ;

— the

results

of the late election

splendid body of over

ment, and

fifty

see a

labour members in Parlia-

even fairly wise and discreet in their actions,

as I fully believe they will be, their

tinue to increase, in

— we

and there

will

numbers

will

con-

be a strong party right

Parliament thinking and working directly for the in-

terests of the great

common

people, not so hopelessly

[227]

the Fire of the

Heart

impotent, so far as actual accomplishment as have been most of the

concerned,

political parties there

during

the last decade or more. I have long thought, looking

numbers

at the

of the one

time had nearly come

away

House

of the

and

of the other, that the

Great Britain for the doing

of Lords,

and substituting

in its

place shall we say, a House of Labour. But, things move sometimes in a most indirect way, and it may be

beginning

that through this the

long needed

labour and people's movement, this result

in effect

would be brought about.

Who

knows but

the greatest need

that one of

its

greatest needs, perhaps

has to-day, will be served by this new

—

that England and Scotland and Ireland movement rapidly more be freed from the centuries old curse will of landlordism, and that the land now so held will be

nationalized or in

some wise method be brought back

The Labour Party in co-operation

to the use of the people.

with the progressive wing of the Liberal Party, should

be able to bring about

And

then

if,

this sorely

and long needed end.

speaking along general good

lines, this

combination could give to Great Britain a new, a better

and broader universal public-school system, something, I do not hesitate to say, akin to our

own, or better still, then

they would at once be dealing with one of linquencies

and one

needs. In this directly

its

way numbers

greatest

direct treatment.

greatest de-

of other ailments, resulting

from one or the other of

would begin

its

and most pressing

these, or

from both,

be healed without any other special

The

excessive

[228]

amount

of drinking

among

the working classes, and

women, life

the Fire of the

the

Heart

among both men and

bane and the curse of

this

phase of British

and now almost universally recognized as

to-day,

such, would begin at once to be on the decrease. It

comes primarily from the vacancy, the hopelessness, the

want and the despair

in the lives of these vast

of Britain's population that

or indirectly by these two causes, probably as

more than by

all

along the same Socialist

body

numbers

have been induced directly

much

other causes combined. And, speaking

who knows but that the splendid the German Parliament to-day, already

line,

numbering between seventy and eighty members, and steadily increasing in

essential

its

Germany

numbers and

in influence, will

have

primary mission, the freeing of

what royal and the privileged

have

classes

evidently neither the brains nor the inclination to throw off,

even for the

relief of millions of people, the

military system, under

will

give

which

its

aid also

honourably and hence

manner with

And

labours year after year.

new Labour Party

I think this

in in

England as

dealing

grows

more humanely,

a more statesman-like-ship

India.

to labour in politics in this country I

remember a

monstrous

fact accentuated

by the

would

say,

fact of Britain's

high and enviable position as regards cleanliness in politics, that

of the United States, notwithstanding

our inclination to think otherwise, are of the

low

politics.

among

in this respect, especially in

And remember

the lowest

our municipal

that this condition has

come

about because we as a people have so allowed commer-

[229]

In cialism

the Fire of the

and large moneyed

Heart

interests to take

from us and

convert to themselves such valuable properties that their

greed for more has become so insatiable that no fills

sure to escape their blighting and

Hence, be careful

you give your gift,

man who

public office to-day, municipal, state, or national,

benumbing

your nominees and

political support.

influences.

men

direct or

whom

an indirect

depending upon whether at any particular centre

composed

these agencies

of our "successful"

and "re-

spectable" fellow citizens, are bold and brazen in their

methods, or very plausible and smooth and cunning a direct or an indirect

repeat, of fifty thousand

gift, to

or a hundred thousand or more dollars,

temptation to a

poor man.

The

and proven

man

integrity. Better

a very sore

man

have men of known of less culture, or

judgment, than one subject

money bags of the " successful " and

despoiler, the arch

moderate circumstances, or to a

essential thing

even more liable to errors to the

—

enemy

American

" respectable "

and

institutions

American citizenship to-day. Another point I

in the spirit in dissatisfied,

hoping

will suggest,

which

it is

given:

will

Be not

those you elect, or those to

be received

displeased or

whom you give

your support, do not vote favourably for every labour that

any

class or portion,

general welfare. unsatisfactory lation

bill

proposed. Labour's welfare, and the welfare of

must be always subservient

Class legislation

and destructive

always

in its results.

to the

time

Class legis-

emanating from labour alone, would be but

slightly preferable

any

to that

[230]

emanating from capital

In Only as

alone.

and advanced

the Fire of the

the general will that of

good any

Heart guarded and fostered

class or portion

and permanently conserved. Here service that lies in the power,

labour to render

There

itself

really

an inestimable

if it lies

in the heart, of

and the nation.

indeed a prophetic insight in the words of

the "

Good Gray Bard of Democracy, " words that were written by Walt Whitman nearly forty years ago: "I expect to see the day when the like of the present

— Federal,

personnel of the governments military and naval —

cipal,

derision,

and when

qualified mechanics

reach Congress and other

will

their

working costumes, fresh from

and returning

for the stuff

The

their

them again with

young fellows must prepare

sent in

benches and dignity.

The

credit to this destiny,

them.

following are a few characteristic words from a

member

of the

Labour Party, who has served with great

ability

speech to his constituency by an able British

muni-

and young men

official stations,

tools

State,

will be looked upon with

Parliament before, and

who

in spite of

much strenuous

opposition was re-elected at the recent election by a

majority of something upwards of ten thousand votes. "

The working

keepers are

all

class,

professional

struggling

men and shopto make a com-

— some few

petence, but the great majority to earn a livelihood.

Millions are steeped in poverty whilst millions

but one degree removed from toil

and

suffer, the

it.

While the useful

owners of land and

capital,

are

classes

and the

schemers and gamblers of the Stock Exchange, are

[231]

the Fire of the

Heart

heaping up untold wealth. Whilst the poor die for lack of the barest necessaries of of excess.

life,

the rich revel in a riot

Great accumulations of wealth menace our

London organs

liberties, control the great

of the press,

lead us into wars abroad, and poison the wells of public life

home. Landlordism and capitalism are the upper

and nether millstones between which the

common "

people

My one

life

of the

being ground to dust. in politics is to aid in creating the

object

public opinion which will sweep

away

produce poverty,

drunkenness and im-

crime,

vice,

the causes which

morality, and introduce an era of freedom, fraternity

and

equality.

step,

but

This ideal state cannot be reached at one

much can be done to

mitigate

some

of the grav-

er evils arising out of our present system of wealth pro-

duction. is

The immediate

object of the

to create a driving force in politics

Labour Party

which

will

overcome

the inertia of politicians in regard to social reforms, and

give the nation a strong, true lead along the paths

which make

children are properly fed

and cared

are given an opportunity to work,

brought into the striving for.

life

see that

for, that

the able

the nation

and that comfort

of the aged, are objects

These things

ordinary party if

for national righteousness.

politics,

lie

outside the

to be saved

and

from decay; and should it

will

to see that they are attended to.

As a Democrat,

tary rule,

worth

domain

but they must be attended to

again be returned as your representative,

main concern

am opposed to every form of heredi-

favour of conferring

[232]

full

and unfettered

In powers upon the

women

include

I think

common

people. In this connection I "

men.

as well as

peculiarly fitting that an utteranee of

Heart

the Fire of the

Lincoln close this part:* " In

present position I could scarcely be justified

were I to omit raising a warning voice against the approach of returning despotisms. fitting

not needed nor

It is

here that a general argument should be

favour of popular institutions, but there

made

one point

not so hackneyed to which I ask a brief attention.

the effort to place capital on an equal footing with,

not above, labour in the structure of government It

assumed that labour

available only in connection

with capital; that nobody labours unless somebody

owning

capital

labour.

But

somehow by the use

capital

have existed

induces

else

him

the fruit of labour and could never

labour had not

first

superior of capital and deserves

Labour is the

existed.

much

the higher con-

sideration.

No men

living are

more worthy

to be trusted

than those

who

up from poverty; none

less inclined

toil

to take or touch aught

earned. Let

which they have not honestly

them beware

power which they already

of surrendering a political

possess,

and which,

surren-

dered, will surely be used to close the door of advance-

ment

against

abilities

such

and to

they

and burden upon them

fix

new

dis-

until all of liberty shall

lost.

Prophetic words, spoken of

all

who

labour,

words which show Lincoln's matchless * In

Message to Congress, December

[233]

1861.

and also

faith

the

In great

common

the Fire of the

people.

Heart

He came from

them, he knew

them, and he loved them. Can anyone have a doubt as to

where he would stand

connection with the great

and pressing questions that are immediately before us ?

[

234]

VIII

METHODS WHEREBY WE SHALL SECURE THE PEOPLE'S GREATEST GOOD 11 OW can we, as a people, get the machinery of government back

into our

own hands ? How can we meet and

and defeat the combination which great

battle with

moneyed, corporate

have

interests

made

with the

machine, the combination that has already

political

well-nigh throttled democratic or representative govern-

ment

nation

in the

We have

seen by illustrations per-

haps almost too prolific, how the people's will

how

their desires are disregarded,

literally to fight their

to prevent

them from

thwarted,

and how they have

chosen representatives in order selling out their interests

com-

pletely to the agencies already mentioned.

need now a new and more comprehensive appli-

cation of the term, traitor, so that

the one who, as a chosen of the people

and hence

includes in

its

scope,

and supposed representative

of the country, for gold or for

whatever gain, conspires with the enemies of his people,

and

sells to

them

his people's interests, as

our representatives, municipal,

done the

state,

hundreds of

national

have

one form or another the past twelve months,

same

as for

many

years that are gone. r

235

They

will

the Fire of the

Heart

continue to do so and in greater numbers and to greater extent as each year passes, unless in

some

our

diligently to

as a people begin

and common-sense way

effective

own

affairs

to attend

government. This

not a mere putting together of words, nor a false charge,

nor an

thoughtless statement, but a hard, cold,

idle,

though exceedingly unwelcome,

must take in

traitors

civil

and disastrous

men

make

which are far more destructive

life,

fact.

out of the power of

the people's

and therefore

the

nation's welfare, than the occasional traitor that ap-

pears in time of war. I had almost said this tendency

must be checked, but the hard, cold

demand one among us,

facts

instead to say, this condition that is actually

sucking the very life-blood from the body of freemen,

must be speedily checked and driven from out the land, or the dissolution of the nation

in addition to the humiliation

and

dition,

be the inevitable

result,

attendant upon this con-

also the great losses

we have

already sus-

tained and will sustain to a continually increasing degree.

Our governmental

institutions to-day, not in theory

perhaps, but as they actually exist, are neither democratic

nor representative. This no thoughtful, clear-

seeing will

man

desire to this so

is,

practice

so. It is

may be

not necessary here to ask,

almost a wearying extent already.

How and

shall

results,

get to

back

in fact,

and

his

Why is

This we have gone into both directly and

directly, to

tion

at all acquainted with existing conditions

even attempt to deny, however great

in-

The quesin actual

what government among us [236]

In is

theory

the Fire of the

— the

Heart

government and

upon

institutions

which we so pride ourselves?

shortcoming

serious

veloped

be foreseen

in the beginning.

the necessary changes

our institutions has de-

and

which

could

scarcely

We must halt now to make repairs, or the entire

ma-

be wrecked, adding another huge junk

chinery will pile to the

a shortcoming

itself,

wrecked and worn-out machinery of nations

that once were great, but whose people were unable

and grasp

inclined to see

illy

meaning

.the

new

times and conditions, and arouse themselves sufficiently to

master them instead of suffering themselves to be

brought to a gradual ruin by them. essential,

change now

a repairing of the machinery.

must take a long step and get back

to,

move

forward to, actual representative government. Representative, is

here a better word perhaps than democratic.

The New England town-meeting tion in

and

hundreds of

western states, of the latter.

New

method

a similar

still

in active opera-

England towns and vogue

many

villages,

of our

newer

perhaps the best concrete example

You who have had

who have know how each

part in or

attended such a meeting or meetings,

year the voters of the town or village meet at the duly

appointed time and place, and

initiate,

discuss, vote

upon and adopt such measures, make such appropriations, select

such

as they decide year.

You

men

to carry out their

programme

necessary or advisable for the coming

appreciate most fully

with such a method to

sell

how

impossible

out the interests of the people

[237]

the Fire of the

Heart

of the village or town, because the people are there to

own

attend to their

own

safely

now

are acquainted with it

when

extended to

and there

Those who would

our villages and towns through-

being adopted here

has such a thorough common-sense

works as well

in practice as in theory. It

government.

than representative

better

it.

various parts of our thriving newer western

Because

basis,

first instituted,

effective workings,

its

all

out the country, the same as

states.

was

apparent on the face of

effectively

for the interests of the people as

did a hundred years ago, or

and the reason

to see

to look after their

This method works just as

interests.

and as

and

business

pure

democratic government.

upon which the

It is the principle

great nation can most safely be built.

tion,

large

larger units, the

to the

then

its

city,

institutions of

But when

difficult, if

not entirely out of the question. As nearly as

approach to

it,

however,

in these larger units in that

select

we have

men

we can

the best government; in

and

theory an ideal system,

to represent

us at seats of govern-

and national. We, however,

ment, municipal, state,

have not completed the system. The result theoretical representative

practice thoroughly

comes

the state, the na-

becomes more

application

that our

government has become

and notoriously

allowance of exceptions of course

— with

a proper

— misrepresentative.

In other words our system has developed, or has given evidence of some most

serious

shortcomings, and I

admit, shortcomings such as could not fully be foreseen

[238]

the Fire of the

Heart

but such as have

made

In in the beginning,

become, tries

some

what

has

respects, the laughing stock of coun-

whose machinery

government

far less representative than our

supposed to be

And what we of this

own.

generation and those of the generation rapidly coming

upon the stage of action

are called

nize the exigencies of the time

what to-day

from what

far

upon to do,

to recog-

and amend or complete must be made to

be.

Let the State Legislature be an example of both municipal and national legislative bodies. failure or

legislature

The

chief

weakness of any particular session of any that

fails to

do certain things that the

and

interests of the people require,

does various other

things that are diametrically opposed to the interests

whose

of the people,

representatives,

chosen nominally to be. at the

bottom of

Now

this two-fold failure

into so fully in previous pages that

make

useless repetition here.

in connection tives

of the

members

its

has been gone

unnecessary

But the point

that

is,

people, the people have practically

of their agents.

words they are absolutely

act in a

way

with his agents, or in a

way

that

business would be irrevocably ruined

time that

at the

that no business

even for an instant, would think of acting

Now, one

with the acts of these nominal representa-

recourse, in other

in less

are

the chief reason that

man,

in connection

he did so

and

mercy

act, his

many cases

would take to describe the process.

feature in connection with which

we immediately repair the machinery of our government is, that we have the power, and the essential that

[239]

the Fire of the

quick and ready power to a sufficient require.

veto

number

Heart

initiate

whatever measures

of people feel the public interests

Another feature

is,

we have

that

the power to

whatever measures our chosen representatives,

or supposed representatives,

may

number

of the people feel are

welfare.

These are two

mon-sense and

enact, that a sufficient

opposed to the public

principles, fundamentally

com-

essential in order to perfect the running

machinery of our government. In our system of representative government as

worked out to the present time, the people power and

have

lost,

whose hands

to all intents

all

has

— the source reside —

power should

and purposes, the

having their desires or wishes put into force.

power to men and hold them

ability of

We delegate

no way responsible to

us for the use of that power, and with the tremendous prices

large corporations,

many

them

of the people's properties, are able to

expect men, many

them

fattened off

and do pay, we

entirely irresponsible be-

cause chosen by these interests for the direct further-

ance of their ends, to work for our interests and for the public welfare.

do what no business management would consent

to or even think of doing, unless he were deliberately inviting the disruption or the certain annihilation of his business;

and

requires only the

course of reasoning and especially

when

the lessons that are in such vast

thrust into our faces, to

know

most ordinary reinforced

numbers being

that the continuance of

our representative system without a safeguard for re-

[240]

In tention of

continued

power on the part unsatisfactory

and tremendous

Heart

the Fire of the

of the principals, will

mean

and humiliating conditions

and the eventual dissolution of

losses,

every semblance of desirable government.

In other

words we have come to a weakness, a breakdown

our machinery of government, which could not be fully anticipated

by those who gave us our splendid

beginnings of government; and which, if

we have but

let

wisdom they displayed, we

half the

said, will,

without delay and at whatever cost be about repairing or remodelling, and

ment and

Now these

will bring

to the develop-

to the needs of the times.

what simple

two

essential

manner can we bring

practical

provisions

spheres of government

into

Fortunately

our

respective

we do not have

theorize in regard to the matter at all; a system has

already been initiated and has been in effective use for

many

years already.

From

a nation that of

all

nations

has the most ideally representative government, because the most democratic in

its

essence, Switzerland,

we have a system that has been in for many years, hence thoroughly worked equally well

successful operation tested,

in other countries

and that has where

has

been put into operation, as also in several commonwealths in our It is

means

own

country.

through the principle of Direct Legislation, by of the Initiative

and Referendum, that we can

get the machinery of government back into our

hands, of

and

establish

government among

a truly us.

[241]

own

representative system

Heart

the Fire of the

"The Referendum

started in 1830 in the

St. Gall, the Initiative in

1845

Canton of

Canton

in the

Vaud.

Since those dates the two institutions have marched in

a triumphal tour through the Swiss Republic until

they have been adopted in the Federal Constitution. It

not too

much

to say that within these

few years,

Switzerland has been converted from a nest of oligar-

entrenched behind

chies,

vested

interests,

into

the

model Democratic Republic."

The by the

Initiative

means the proposal

law passed by the

vote by the people on any

legislature, or

on a law proposed

Initiative.

The two Direct

law or statute

petition of a certain percentage of voters.

The Referendum means a by the

of a

many

are referred to

Legislation,

times under the term

sometimes

characterized

"guarded representative government."

As a thoughtful is

writer has said: "Direct Legislation

simply an application of the fundamental principles

of agency recognized in every court of

law

in the civilized

world, viz: That an agent must hold himself at

all

times

command and approval of his principal. One employing an agent to manage his business ex-

subject to the

pects is

him

do as he

directed in

not willing to do this he

principal.

The employer

its

may be

retains the

veto, not having to wait until the

conduct. If he

discharged by the

power

of instant

end of a

specified

term, during which his property might be mortgaged, sold or given away."

In reply to the question

— What

[242]

the

Popular

In Initiative? in

answer

the Fire of the

Heart

an able Symposium

The Arena* the

is:

"The Popular

Initiative

the right of a certain

percentage of the voters, usually five or ten per cent, to

propose a law, ordinance or constitutional amendment for action

by the

legislature or decision at the polls, or

both. "

Under what

considered by

form, the measure which

number

many

petitioned

as the preferable

by the

which may adopt or

reject

it,

amend

it,

pass a substitute,

or refrain from any action in reference to legislative for,

requisite

of voters, goes to the proper legislative body,

it.

If the

body does not enact the measure as petitioned

if it

takes adverse action in any form, the said

measure together with the amendment, substitute or other action of the legislative body goes to the electorate for final decision at the polls.

"In Oregon a somewhat Here, on

different

form

use.

the petition of eight per cent of the voters filed

with the Secretary of State, the

amendment included

or constitutional

bill

in the petition is

the people at the next general election, jority of those voting

submitted

and

the

ma-

on the question vote Yes, the

Governor announces that

fact

by proclamation, and

The Arena Magazine has taken a very great and commendable interest in the matter of Direct Legislation. Its able editor has had a body of well-known men, also interested in the same matter, prepare for the June number (1906) a Symposium on the Initiative, and for the May number (1906) a like Symposium on the Referendum. Knowing its policies, that it is a magazine with a purpose, and that *

these articles have been prepared for the purpose of the greatest pub-

and influence, the author from them. licity

feels free to

[243]

quote somewhat fully

In from that date

the Fire of the

it is

Heart

the law of the state without further

question."

why

In answer to the question, as to is

the Initiative

needed now to preserve a government

of, for

the people in the United States? the answer

out the Initiative the legislature the people by refusing to act.

people can veto legislative action

When

is:

can block the

and by "Withwill of

the Referendum the

when

goes wrong.

through timidity, conservatism, corruption or

the pressure of private interest in any form, the legislative

refuses to pass a law or ordinance

body neglects or

desired

by the

public, action

may be

secured through

the Initiative.

"In many other instances during recent years the people have expressed their desire for legislation and their representatives

have made anti-election pledges,

but after they were elected they came under the fluence of the lobbyists service corporations

and the representatives

and other

in-

of public-

privileged interests,

when

they have been false to their trust and have deliberately violated their pledges.

can secure needed way,

in spite of

voters

By the Popular Initiative the people

legislation in a peaceful

and defeated the

interests of the

In reply then to the question, the

and orderly

corrupt influences that have thwarted the

Referendum

What

community." is

meant by

"The Referendum means

the referring of a law or

ordinance or any specific question to the people for decision at the polls.

vote on a law or ordinance

* The Arena May, 1906.

[244]

may

Heart

the Fire of the

be taken, not for the purpose of decision, but merely to secure an accurate and definite expression of public opinion. This vote,

such as

as Chicago

a quasi-Referendum or public-opinion

and

use in Illinois; also in some

Detroit.

the right of the people

cities,

such

The Referendum also means to demand the submission of

an enactment or measure to the voters for decision;

and

it is

also used to designate a statute or constitutional

amendment

securing this right. In Switzerland, during

the greater portion of the last

dum

fifty

has been a part of the constitutional law of the

When

republic.

a law

passed,

the voters, say five, eight or ten

per cent, within sixty

have the right to pass on the measure, the

people

enactment

a certain per cent of

passage of the law petition that

or ninety days of the the

years, the Referen-

held in abeyance until the electorate has

voted on the question."

In answer to the question people's

representatives

them, or

any way

— Does

any just

limit their legitimate exercise of

power, and also to the question

— Would

be expected to oppose the Referendum "

The Referendum

tives

no power that

desire to

The

legislators

takes from the people's representajustly belongs to them.

lators are the agents

their masters.

take from the

rights that belong to

and servants

The

legis-

of the people, not

true representative has a right or a

do anything

his principal does not

wish to

have done, or to refuse to do anything his principal desires to

have done. The Referendum merely prevents

the representatives from becoming mis representatives

[245]

the Fire of the

by doing, through ignorance or

Heart

what the

dereliction,

people do not want, or neglecting to do what the people

do want.

legislative

because

will

body may depart from the people's

does not

know what

the people's will

or because the pressure of private or personal inter-

contrary to

est,

public interest,

the

overcomes the

legislators' allegiance to the people's will.

the

Referendum

In either case

the remedy and the only complete

remedy the only means whereby real government by the ;

people

may be made

"No oppose

continuous and effective.

why any honest legislator should who put the interest of cor-

reason exists it.

But

legislators

porations or other private interest above the public interest

might naturally be expected to oppose the

Referendum.

who

corrupted or

All legislators

who have been by public-

desire to be corrupted

service corporations and privileged wealth will oppose

the Referendum. All legislators graft

and who

stituents will

are ready to

sell

who

are looking for

out or betray their con-

oppose the Referendum, for

them the power to

effectively

takes from

rob the people and sacrifice

the interests of the public for private gain or the power

and place that corrupt wealth

own

tools in securing.

of the people

These

ever ready to aid

its

false or misrepresentatives

and persons who do not believe

a popular

or truly democratic government are opposed to the

Referendum. In answer to the question as to

why

demanded to-day ? the article concludes [246]

it is

imperatively

the Fire of the

"The Referendum

Heart

imperatively

demanded be-

cause there has arisen in our midst in recent years a

powerful plutocracy composed of the great publicservice magnates, the trust chieftains of privilege

who have succeeded

and other princes

in placing in positions

of leadership political bosses that are susceptible to the

...

influence of corrupt wealth.

become

government has

privileged wealth, for privileged interests,

and

lessness of the privileged ones

manner the

this

a government

largely

by the law-

their tools, with the

result that the people are continually exploited

corruption

steadily

spreading throughout

ramifications of political

Referendum

ment back

Against these

life.

and

all

the

evils

the

a powerful weapon. It brings the govern-

to the people, destroying corruption

many by the few. The Referendum is the surest and

and the

mastership of the "

swiftest

method

checking the aggressions of the great corporate

interests

from

have captured our

that

legislative bodies,

city council to national Congress. It

the funda-

mental reform before the American people.

Here strated

blows. It it

a simple, an

effective

and a

weapon with which we can is

fully

a practicable and attainable method because

cannot be made an issue of parties and

cannot be made a football of it is

something

agree. It truth,

And

demon-

strike the necessary

and such

because

men

really

almost axiomatic

in its

connection with which

a principle that

politics. It

political parties, all

principles are not subject to dispute.

moreover, so far as dominant parties at least are

[247]

the Fire of the

concerned, no Republican in " a

and

execute

it,

wisdom

or oppose

its

adop-

believes with

"governments are Republican only

embody

proportion as they "

its

And no Democrat who

use.

Jefferson that

believes with Lincoln,

government of the people, by the people, and for

the people, " will dispute tion

who

Heart

and

proportion as

has

aad

the will of the people

" government

more or

in its possession

republican

less

more or

less of

this

ingredient of the direct action of the citizens."

And may

no new party that has

evident,

arise,

than they are able to

oppose the adoption and

Moreover, there

however

interests

be persuaded the two dominant

parties as at present constituted are

foolish,

arisen or that

working for the people's greater

working

for, will

application of such a principle.

no leader

(

no party

great his natural desire

sufficiently

)

might be

otherwise, as to array himself against such an axiomatically

sound principle of truly representative government

as to oppose

it,

when

its

advocates once get

squarely

before the people as an issue to be acted upon. It

seems to

desires

institutions,

may and

be, can

also that those

and

ideal their conceptions

will unite

which

From

and plans

effective strides

pave the way, and that

to the realization of such

guarded

various

upon such a common-sense

practical agency through will

who have

for the betterment of governmental

however

be made that lead

and plans

can

time will

hopes and such plans.

the very nature of the principle of direct or legislation that

are considering,

almost seem that specific arguments in

T248]

its

would

favour were

the Fire of the

may

unnecessary. It

come

not

Heart

amiss, however, to give

an enumeration of some of those most evident,

briefly

or a sort of

summary,

in the foregoing

First

of those suggested or hinted at

pages of this chapter.

and foremost as must be evident to

have more or

less of

all

an intimate knowledge of conditions

as they actually exist

among

us to-day,

the fact that

form of

as a matter of pure self-preservation of our

government, and thereby our this It

who

amending,

interests, this

completing of our political system

necessary.

has become essential to the proper working of repre-

sentative government.

Without

this

power held

in reserve

by the people, we make our chosen representatives who would otherwise be honourable men,

mined upon the people's

and

intent

interests, the

deter-

prey of these

same nefarious

influences for all time to come, or,

the other hand,

we make

sentatives interests

these supposed chosen repre-

whose candidacy

and who have us

managed by

own common

same

agents,

posses-

a free hand to betray our welfare into the

hands of these tion

these

elect these, their

for them, practically masters of all our sions, with

interests.

In other words, Direct Legisla-

essential to representative

government

complex

or large communities, essential to the realization of

anything approaching true democracy. "It

simply

a common-sense application of the principles of agency, affording the principal his proper rights of veto, construction,

control

means control

and discharge. Direct Legislation

of your servants instead of letting

servants control you."

[249]

your

From this,

the Fire of the

Heart

then, follows naturally the fact that bribery

and the corrupt and venal lobby

will, to

be done away with, or they

be so diluted that the

will

be practically the same. Where $50,000

will

results

a great extent,

would buy the necessary number of councilmen, or legislators to

buy the passage

of a measure, the briber,

the agent of the " interests" could not with this amount

amount buy

or any

50,000, or 5,000, or any large

of citizen voters to vote for or to pass

number

a measure against

their

own

The

" interests" then are not going to pay their good

money under

interests.

Such a thing

men who cannot

this

scarcely conceivable.

"deliver the goods,"

and

system they cannot deliver the goods, because

they would not have the final say in regard to the

matter at

issue.

Rings and bosses

will lose their

hold

and their business. Franchise grabs and blackmailing bills will in

time disappear because in case of the former,

the people will be able to see to are retained for their

own use and

that their properties welfare,

and

in case

of the latter the people can always be appealed to with

the

assurance that justice will be compelled.

The

following paragraph from a former distinguished Judge

and a man who knew well the methods of the boss, the machine, and the " interests, " is most appropriate here:

"The

fierce

commercialism of the age, which has

tended to enthrone the dollar and enslave the man, has lowered the standards and has covered the land with corruption

until

corrupt

concentrations

money,

wielded by unscrupulous men, have acquired such a

complete control of the governments, national, state

[250]

the Fire of the

Heart

and municipal, that the people are almost

Laws

and laws necessary

bribery,

kept

off

for their protection are

the statute book by bribery.

and unfortunate condition be given the power direct,

helpless.

destructive to their interests are passed through

either

upon the

it is

in certain

To meet

this

new

necessary that the people

emergencies to legislate

by a popular vote

to put specific acts

statute book, or to declare certain specific

acts already

on the statute book to be null and void.

This would destroy the business of bribery, because

would render the ration

fruits of bribery worthless.

would buy a

legislature or a city council

corpoif

acts of that legislature or council could be nullified

the

the people.

"This system has worked marvellously well where it

has been

about. It

tried.

It is

not a question to speculate

not a chimerical idea. It

simply a question

of self-preservation.

And

the following from

Governor Folk when the

people of Missouri were finally aroused and determined to free themselves

from most debasing and well-nigh

intolerable conditions,

"Vote

more than

for the Initiative

suggestive.

and Referendum, a system

that will be the death blow to corruption,

remedy

for bribery. " the proper tools ?

true

and the only

Why elect me unless I am given

While on the one hand the application of the tive

and Referendum * would have a very

Initia-

telling effect

* Ellweed Pomeroy, President of the National Direct Legislation League, is one of the highest authorities in the country on this subject. He has made an exhaustive study of its workings in the Swiss

[251]

Heart

the Fire of the

upon the party boss and the machine, upon the

star

chamber, "arranging" methods through which almost every phase of legislation must pass,

on the other hand

call into

public

life in

would also

many

cases a

higher grade of men, for the higher the plane politics are upon, the better the to

it.

This

men

that are naturally attracted

the general rule ; the exception occurs in case

of the occasional brave

and earnest man who

sees the

well-nigh intolerable conditions in political affairs around

him, and

who without thought of

self

and without count-

ing the cost, sets about in an endeavour to end them. It will

promote thought and discussion and a greater

intelligence

with

all

good

on the part of

public measures. As

citizen

you

please,

cussion nor in the forming lative

matters

;

all it

people in connection

is,

the average citizen,

has no part

the dis-

of conclusions

he has no method except

cumbersome and roundabout and

in legisin

some

generally ineffective

government, and has been a most indefatigable worker for its adoption here. He has during the past ten years or so discussed its merits before popular gatherings in many different states, before schools and colleges

and before many educational and

civic bodies

;

and

perhaps no more than just to say at no small loss to himself, for he is a business man and for most business men their time is money. He has at no period been more deeply interested in the movement for which he has stood than he is to-day. In a biographical sketch of him by the editor of one of our current " He belongs to a group of thoughtful exchanges, the writer says young Americans and to a band of thoughtful workers who reflect the spirit of altruism, or co-operation and brotherhood, as opposed to the spirit of commercialism, greed, and egoism that is struggling to establish an oligarchy or plutocracy under the mantle of republican institutions, as the di Medici family subverted free institutions and established a despotism under the garb of a republic in Florence during the Renaissance." His address is Ellweed Pomeroy, A.M., East Orange, N. J. :

[252]

way

making

matters

and

good

and

direct

all

known.

With

instrument

this

simple

hands of

the

government

measures of public concern

and welfare

revive,

would

or his protests regarding

good

citizens,

would it

his desires

legislation

effective

Heart

the Fire of the

their

interest

and by reason

receive,

of the healthy stimulation

would give birth

a new type of

patriotism that would redeem and carry our institutions long strides towards its

influence

come It

what they are yet

upon the youth

into the field of action,

it is

And

easy to forsee.

would strengthen our respect

our growing disrespect for

to be.

of the land, as they in turn

it,

for law, instead of

because then

ment would emanate "from the mind, the

its

enact-

conscience,

the abiding will of the sovereign people," instead of

"some

legislators,

New York

are good men,

whom

It will

intelligent

favour

whom,"

says an editorial in the

many

whom

are fools, and not a few

are scoundrels."

separate issues from men, thereby fostering discussion

before the people. its

Independent, " are wise men, some of

and keeping

real

issues

As important a feature

the fact that

fairly

any

the remedy, the reform,

the amending, the completing of our governmental institutions along the lines of least resistance,

a most important feature politics

and

in connection

which

with practical

in connection with political

growth and

continual higher political attainment.

have considered, though

in very brief form, the

reasons or arguments in favour of direct or guarded

[253]

What

legislation.

Heart

the Fire of the

are the arguments against

have

it ?

never seen more than two that are really worthy of consideration.

The

other

One

The

and they

takes,

make

that the people will

to the former,

the assertion.

first

is,

mistakes.

that they will abuse this power.

than they

will readily grant the truth of

people will

will

be apt to

will later

make occasional mismake more mistakes at

on with more experience and

with such increased intelligence in connection with matters of public policy as this educative process will bring about. That no system

most readily admitted by question

made

But the

real,

the vital

make as many own Interests, as

mistakes

all.

will the people

is,

working directly for their takes

wholly perfect will be

— and

the mis-

that mistakes are sometimes

made

the people's representatives will be admitted

perhaps

freely

combined with the that

are

frequently

irresponsible

and

graft

all

— by

these

wrongs and

frightful

perpetrated

injustices

under our present

where

system,

representative

and

representatives,

bribery

and public debauchery have become so wide-

spread and so general on account of

our system, as to

make

this

weakness

us the laughing stock of practi-

cally every other civilized country in the world,

Russia

own

desires

possibly excepted.

and aims and

The own

people

their

known by any number

know

their

business better than

of representatives, even

can be

though

they might be uniformly wise and honest.

The man who comes

afraid to trust the people

to attending to their

own

[254]

affairs,

when

has something

wrong

radically

the Fire of the

in his

mental make-up, or has some-

thing under cover that

will

not stand the scrutiny of

Watch him.

honest and honourable men.

We of

must, moreover, get over the idea that matters

government are deep and

matters.

When

complex, or there as

would

at first

made

and complex

intricate

comes to attending to

on the part of the people, there

or are

Heart

their

own

affairs

nothing intricate or

nothing as intricate and complex

thought seem. But things are

made

to seem, intricate or complex,

by the pro-

by the paid agents, and

at times the

fessional politician,

paid attorneys of thieving or stock juggling corporations or privilege seeking or law defying corporations,

combines and agencies of the various types that are continually at work.

So much then

make As

for the

argument that the people

will

— that

the

mistakes. to the other

argument above noted

people will abuse this power, the testimony in an over-

whelming abundance that

is,

that

argument that the people is

entirely

unfounded,

has no basis in actually demonstrated will

abuse

this

fact.

This

power which

not borne out by the facts, but which has on the

contrary been wholly disproved by such facts as

have up to the present time, brings us to the enunciation of one of the strongest possible reasons for the Initiative

and Referendum, namely, that the very

of the people having

this

power reserved

own hands and without having it at all, prevents in many

[255]

have

cases,

fact

their

recourse

questionable

the Fire of the

Heart

or baneful legislation, and on the other hand compels

would not many times be enacted were

legislation that it

not that the people hold this compelling power.

The

holding of this power indicates, and makes

all

plainly evident to the people's representatives

and

too to

who would debauch and buy them, that the own hands the final power, and

those

people hold in their

cannot be bought successfully without

their legislators

the buying of the people, which on the very face of is

impossible.

Direct

come

Legislation

amendments have already be-

a part of the constitutions of several of our pro-

newer western

gressive

Referendum

since 1898. It has

the necessity of

same, a flaming sword

had the

amendment

in the

it.

" It remains, just the

hands of the people, con-

reminding the unscrupulous lobby and the

stantly

designing

when

state has

constitutional

never yet, however, been driven to

making use

One

states.

direct

boss

that there

a reserve power which,

the occasion demands, can and will be brought

into requisition."

Where the proposal

of Direct Legisla-

tion has been brought squarely before the people to

receive their sanction or their veto,

every

was adopted

has been cities,

pal —

has in almost

case been adopted by an overwhelming vote.

few

made

and

one state by a vote of over

five to one.

part of the charter law already in a

in every case so far

has given good results

;

—

state

many

that could not possibly be accomplished

and municicases results in

any other

way, or by any other at present known way.

T256]

the Fire of the

Heart

Amendment went

Direct Legislation

before the

people of the State of Oregon at the general election of

and was adopted by an overwhelming majority.

1902,

This was just ten years from the time agitation for

was

first

begun.

The

new

essence of this

provision

may

be said to be as follows, contained

in the

tence of Article IV, Section I "

legislative authority

The

of the State shall

be vested

consisting of a Senate

opening sen-

a Legislative Assembly,

and a House

of Representatives,

but the people reserve to themselves power to propose laws and amendments to the constitution, and to enact or reject the

same

at the polls,

and

Legislative Assembly,

independent of the

also reserve at their option

the power to approve or reject at the polls any act of the Legislative Assembly."

make

effective this

to the

power held

numbers required

in reserve

by the people,

eight per cent of the legal voters of the State have the

power ments,

to propose or initiate laws, constitutional etc.,

and

on any act or

per cent

five

acts passed

may demand

amend-

a referendum

by the Legislature when

their

petitions are filed within ninety days after the adjourn-

ment

which they were enacted.

of the Session during

During even the comparatively short time that the people of the State of Oregon have had this incorporated into their said, "

machine

has proved a

field of

politician. "

dragons teeth to the Oregon

Through

they have already secured that for political decency

amendment

constitution as has been well

and

the possession of this

now

political

essential

progress, a Direct

Primary Election Law, than which there

[257]

measure

nothing

effective

the Fire of the

put

political

Heart

out of business. In a late

Review

Reviews

and machine

bosses

politicians

number

a very suggestive

The

article

by a

resident of the State of Oregon, giving a review of the

methods used to bring

some brief

this

amendment about and

The

of the results already evident.*

paragraphs are taken from

"The an end

initiative

in itself,

following

it:

and referendum amendment was not

but a means to an end.

way by which the

provided,

constitution could be

first

amended

all,

any particular within a reasonable time by the people

acting in their legislative capacity.

responsible for bringing forward the

Those who were

amendment had

whose enactment

into

law they believed would be made possible only by

this

mind

several important reforms

means. "

One

of the reforms for

which the amendment was

way was a

intended to prepare the

primary-election

system of nominating State, county, and local

So strong was the

demand

campaign of 1902 both

of the leading political parties

pledged themselves to secure lature.

The

officers.

for this reform that in the

its

enactment by the Legis-

question of the popular election of United

States Senators

was

also a

most practical one

Oregon,

in view of the various legislative " hold-ups " chargeable

to the old constitutional

and

method

as early as 1901 a bill

of choosing Senators,

was passed providing

popular vote for United States Senator. * Oregon as a " Political Experiment The Review 0} Reviews, August, 1906.

[258]

Station, "

The

for

People's

by Joseph Shafer,

the Fire of the

Heart

Power League, however, which had fathered the tive

initia-

and referendum, resolved upon the enactment

a thoroughgoing primary law that should include, as

an organic

feature,

and

the nomination

So a

Senatorial candidates.

bill

election

was drawn up and

presented to the people at the general election in June,

was passed by a great majority.

1904, which

On the 20th day of April,

employed

for the first time in

to be voted

not too in

much

to say that

old

political

means

its

political

revolutionized.

leaders

was

nominating candidates

at the regular election in June,

Oregon have been

extent,

1906, the primary law

and

it is

methods

a remarkable

who had shown undue

devotion to private or corporation interests were eliminated, while the great parties vied with each other in the effort to bring out

candidates

whom

the public could

trust.

"The way

which

this

formidable

list

of subjects

highly creditable to the Oregon elector-

was dealt with

ate.

In no case was there indifference; every-

thing points to the fact that the ordinary voter studied

the questions proposed, to the polls,

made up

his

mind before going

and voted independently on

tions placed before him.

a vast deal of discussion;

all

the proposi-

The measures have provoked indeed, it may be said that for

a number of months past the people of Oregon have

been more or legislation.

less actively

The

engaged

all

in the business of

educational benefits incident

to the

system are bound to be very important. With a change in the initiative

law perfecting the method

[259]

of distributing

copies of proposed measures to

reason

why

lyceum

in the State

and

the voters, there

cannot become in In this

way

and

club, labour union,

every farmers'

legislative assembly.

sections

Heart

the Fire of the

a miniature

effect

the interests of

all classes of the people are

bound

all

to receive

attention; measures will be proposed for submission to

the local representatives and others to go before the

people at the general elections. " But, with

all this political activity,

make

their

The

people want possible, but

tendencies.

are not disposed to hurry the process unduly. indeed, revealed in a striking

election,

no evidence

government as perfect as

of dangerously radical

there

The

recent

manner

their

conservative disposition. " In conclusion,

we remark among

the Oregon people

a genuine joy at the discovery of their Representative government

ies.

political capabili-

good, but there

an exhilaration in direct participation in law-making, the interest

moral

sharpened, the intelligence

quickened

The Oregon

susceptibilities are aroused.

people

are convinced that in the double form of government,

and partly

partly representative

direct, they

have

dis-

covered the true solution of the problem of self-govern-

ment

our American States.

Another agency that

dence

party action.

going to

redemption of our present

political

The

tell

strongly in the

methods

is,

indepen-

time has about passed

when

a sort of blind, senseless, fanatical allegiance to party is

going to dominate

ful

men everywhere

men

has

in the past.

Thought-

are beginning to realize the stupid

[260]

the Fire of the

and more, the moral

One

Heart

criminality, of such allegiance.

reason that the low party machines, as well as those

of the higher grade, all their

damnable

numbers rebuked

them

characteristics,

men and

thoughtful

have been able to be

their party

that good

up with

men and

not in sufficient

managers and defeated

and dishonourable doings,

in their questionable

and have not rebuked the

men have

patriotic

built

selection of questionable or

men by defeating them at the pushing home a lesson to the party boss

venal or notoriously unfit polls,

thereby

or party managers that would be of telling

would be

of real service to the party.

sufficiently large

number

men make

effect, that

And when a clearly under-

stood that they will give unqualified support to that

party which in every case puts up the best public

office,

man

for

and which stands honestly and squarely

we will see men nominated

for measures of the best public policy, then

a great difference for public office,

in the

and

standards of

in the

methods of

political party

management. " In our country

we fool the people with some

pretend-

ed differences between one party called the Republican

and another called the Democratic." So says an American writer in dealing with the agencies that have made the governments

of Australia

and

New

Zealand so

truly representative of the people's welfare.

This cry to loyalty to party

generally an emanation

from some old hack of a party boss many times solute in

and dishonest and

practice

— an

criminal, both at heart

emanation, directly from him,

[261

]

dis-

and or

Heart

the Fire of the

through some of his equally dissolute lieutenants, to

hoodwink and

to hold the

time they

may

members

deliver the goods

— the

— to those with whom they are

terests

under

to the party

domination, in order that at the right

his or their joint

the people have not seen through this

people's in-

That

in league.

method and have

not recognized this fact in such larger numbers long before this,

a most astounding

now

open, and minds are

fact.

alert

But eyes are now

and discriminating,

and the death knell of those parasites upon the body scorpions in their deadly sting, and the

politic, of these

methods

of the

moneyed

with

interests in their dealings

them, are being understood more clearly every day and

month

every

Says a writer in The Springfield Republican: "In-

dependent voters, after ous

this

all,

more numer-

are every year

In Massachusetts and Rhode

country.

Island there were some 50,000

men who,

after voting

for a Republican candidate for president, were capable of voting for a

Democratic candidate for governor. In

Minnesota there were sort,

at least 50,000

and they did business on

Let us see

election

make

same

dis-

the republic

anything will."

how is

of the

election day. It

crimination of this sort that will live forever,

sometimes works as

now

exists.

approaching and nominations for certain

offices are to be

made. The directing

officers

or the

agents of certain leading public service corporations, etc.,

sure

want always that

"safe,

to be

on the safe side and want to be

sane,

and conservative" men are

[262]

In the Fire

of the

Heart

nominated. At the appointed time and place a conference

held between them and the party boss or the

party managers,

— the

party that

dominant or that

seems the more

likely to carry the particular election.

Then

doubt

there

regard to

this,

the party boss

or the party managers of both parties are "seen," and

arranged with. the

men

The

" interests " care no

members

to be elected are

members

more whether

of one party or

party than they care whether

of another

they belong to one or another religious denomination.

be affected

If the business interests that are liable to

have nothing of special importance before them just then, they in turn are " seen "

managers to ascertain selected

are

agreeable

party have their support,

made

accordingly. If

machine

politics

by the party boss or party

the candidates about to be

them,

etc.,

a locality where

it is

low type and have a

men

of the ordinarily

sufficiently certain hold

affairs,

a matter not open to

man, but always "safe, sane, and

conservative," such as

this type of

conditions are different, then a very re-

spectable type of

out most

the

ticket

of like character are the natural nominees,

those whose subserviency question.

that

has been in operation for some time

and where the party managers are then

order

and the

find for

some reason watching

carefully for the " interests " business for them,

the natural type of candidate. But whichever the

type selected according to the exigencies of the case, as the is

campaign advances the

" loyalty to party " cry

continually to be heard through the various agencies

[263]

Heart

the Fire of the

and methods employed and with which we are now so familiar.

Then on

election

be plucked by

polls to

will sell us

and our

this

day we march up

to the

machine management that

interests out at the first opportunity,

or by this contemptible combination of machine politics

with the " interests." I do not say this case. In

may

many

of our smaller

be simply traces of

But wherever

true in every

towns and

villages there

this, in

some

cases none at

of sufficient importance

all.

you may

be sure that matters are "taken care of." Moreover, there

not a city of any considerable size in the country,

and there not

not a state where this has not been, or

now going

on. This

the combination that has

brought the corruption and bribery and debauchery into politics that

now undermining our

very institu-

tions of government.

And what are we going to do about it ? I'll tell you what we are going to do about it. We are going to change our method of nominations, and change

such a way,

that the boss, the machine, in their combination with

the " interests " are going to have their feet knocked

from under them.

system of direct nominations by

the people whereby they can ballot for their dates after

much

the

same plan

as they

own now

candiballot

at regular elections, will soon enable us to select our

own

candidates for public

office,

for the combinations to be

thus making

made whereby we

tinually being sold out, sometimes so openly

brazenly, or in cases where it

not

this,

harder

are con-

and so

then making

harder for combines and trusts and public service

[204]

the Fire of the

Heart

corporations to secure such favouring legislation as enables

them to become monopolies, stifling

honest com-

all

thousands of businesses, moving up and

petition, ruining

keeping up prices of necessities to suit their

own

ad-

vantage, and always in advance of whatever advance

comes

wages to the wage-earner, the professional

man, and

to all outside the combination.

The caucus and

the nominating convention as

become to-day,

and venal and

vile in

It is

the starting point of

our American

all

that

has

corrupt

politics.

the stronghold of the boss and with this in his

possession he controls elections and legislation, spreads

corruption as suits his ends, and makes merchandise of

government. Through popular

rule,

he has well-nigh

destroyed

and through him the people have

at each

with an occasional exception here and there,

election,

been given merely the choice of two

evils.

It is

only

through the destruction of the present system that the

power for

of the boss is

through

and

his

machine can be destroyed,

that he thrives

and

his

tentative,

carries

impudent business. Several

more or

states

have already enacted

less effective,

primary election laws, not perfect,

but being amended and

made

for betterment

manifests

and

among

Illinois are

better as each opportunity

itself.

Minnesota, Wisconsin,

these states.

worked out the following

may be

As they have so

far

said to contain the

chief details:

"Hold

the primaries of

all

parties

on the same day,

under the control of the regular election

[265]

officials.

In the Fire

of the

Heart

the voting at primaries from the regular registration

all

lists.

Let candidates for

office get their

primary ballots by petition only —

names on the

five or ten

per cent

of the voters in the district of the office-seeker belonging to his party. Let each

and

let

him vote

man

for but

vote for the ticket he chooses,

one

ticket.

Require each candi-

date to set forth in his petition for a place on the primary ballot his policy as to the office he expects to

fill

and as

to no other office. Let the candidate of each party receives a plurality of the votes cast

who

his party in the

primary for the position which he seeks, be the party

nominee

the

official ballots for

With such a system could dictate

the

of right, let his

the general election.

evident that no party boss

and without

this

power

neither patronage nor subsequent

legislative action, for

through

nominations,

he could control

Newly

As a matter

for this position.

name go on

dependence

able to dictate these solely

candidates

upon him.

elected officers could then look to the people for

their instructions

directions

and not be compelled

from the party boss and

his

to receive their

machine.

And

far as the voters are concerned, " each voter would have set

before

him

in every

primary

election,

and

later

at the general election, definite, intelligent statements

as to the policies

that office

which would be carried out

by the candidates who sought

in this or

his suffrage.

National, state and local issues would not be mixed together. If such a system were in force

no people would

have to submit to the shame of accepting the marionette of one boss or another.

machine could fatten on

[266]

In the Fire officially

protected vice, or on the sale of legislation.

The government would be better,

Heart

of the

no worse.

Here then

good as the people, no

a simple, a practical, and an effective

way

whereby we can battle with, undermine and wrest the

government from

control of

this

combination that has

been steadily and systematically perverting all our forms

government for years.

Direct Nominations by the people, and direct legislation

by the people through the

dum

will give us

They

Initiative

are not ends, merely

means

of ends.

are the weapons, the strategic weapons,

must be gained

that

great battles that are realized

and Referen-

back our government.

But they

you

please,

in order to fight successfully the

now

on, for almost before

we have

the revolution has already begun.

is,

fighting with these forces of

mammon

corruption, or this combination between the two, like

an army, a large army,

you

please,

and it

moving out

with wooden swords and wooden guns against opposing

forces,

much

smaller

fraction in numerical strength

true

and but a small

when compared

to the

greater army, but entrenched behind fortresses of great

strength

and

of systematic building

and every individual

armed with the most up-to-date patterns guns, with which the entire oncoming

mowed down

before

machine

army can be

can get even to their entrench-

We must have these weapons or lose in the great How shall we secure them ? for they constitute

ments. fight.

the key to the whole situation. Clearly they will not

[267]

come

the Fire oj the

to us through the initiative action of

party as such, that

who

known

People's

Nomination,

Direct

see

fit

Direct

or whatever

the issues, with no small

expense

will carry

later, reinforced

people, they will take their

bills

all

our

Leagues,

Legislation,

name

work under. They

and as to means, they campaign, and

men throughout

band themselves together

will

Power Leagues,

may

political

measures, these weapons, through the

will secure these

states,

any

by the people.

until forced

action of groups of determined

they

Heart

will

names

formulate

both as to time

on an educational

by the support

of the

to the various legislatures.

They will compel whatever members may choose or whatever members may dare to oppose them to show their colors, that the people

may know who their natural

enemies, their betrayers are. If then a sufficient of

members

first

bought

off

number

by the combination

in the

meeting of the Legislature before which their

bills

are brought, they will profit by the knowledge of the

methods employed to defeat them, they their

will

go back to

campaigns and to the people with a renewed

energy until the voice of the people will speak in such uncertain tones that even the lowest of the combination tools will not dare

do anything but

listen.

Thus

rein-

forced they will go back to the next meeting of the Legislature into which they have in the

men who fight,

will fight

from within, and

or possibly even another in

weapons

will

meantime put

after another

some

hard

cases, these

be secured and put into the hands of the

people.

[268

can spend years

effective or

Heart warfare with in-

in desultory

inadequate weapons. With these weapons

we can make an fight,

the Fire of the

effective,

telling,

and a conquering

taking one after another the citadels of the en-

trenched interests opposed to the public and the people's welfare, the citadels of

greed,

all

them

monopoly and

of corporation

from the combination of

resulting

the " interests " with the political boss and the political

machine. With these weapons we

will

be moving and

With

continually moving, not merely marking time.

own hands through the possession of these weapons, instead of a much talked of and boasted power

our

power that has become merely an empty the real power cantly small

purposes,

in the

hands of the almost

numbers who are using will stand as a

own

the franchise in their

shell,

body

while

insignifi-

for their

own

freemen holding

hands, should stand.

Now here is a programme, simple and effective it seems to

me, that we can begin at once to put into operation

to bring to an end this intolerable situation that has

gradually

come about among

better, simpler,

effective

to yield at every point

where

us.

anyone has a

programme, I its

willing

really superior features

can be established. I do not mean for some ideal state in the

bye and bye, but I mean as a force to

operation in a practical and telling

may

way now,

set into

that

be up and doing those things that will lead to the

ideal state that will be established

to-day,

what there

and to-morrow.

to do,

by our doing now,

and to-morrow the same,

an "opportunist"

[269]

in that I be-

Heart

the Fire of the

way to attain is to take hold with the insight we can command, of the thing that needs

lieve that the

clearest

be done and that can be done to-day,

letting that

lead to the next thing that will in turn develop

from goal

and

it,

this into the next, until in

reached.

see

ideal state,

nothing until that ideal state in

or because

it,

With these agencies

are

once,

all at

of political

power

our hands

move along

the lines

and economic advancement untrammelled.

can then take each step and secure each change for

and economic betterment

political

and do

law of which we so far

then be in a position to

of political

sit

have any tangible knowledge.

at least,

will

developed and

entirely contrary to all natural

time the foreseen

and

cannot be attained

itself

just as quickly as

see such step or such change to be desirable.

could then institute as several of our progressive

states in

keeping with some of the more progressive

European countries are

— the the

Recall.

official

instituting, or

means

have instituted

when a

shows himself too subservient to the of

interests

combines,

etc.,

public-service

public

will or to

corporations,

trusts,

or shows too fully a disregard of the

expressed will of the people, or violates too fully his anti-election pledges, he can,

lated

number

upon

of voters, providing

majority of voters

when

to them, be recalled

and

petition of it

sustained by a

referred in a regular retired

a stipu-

manner

and a true representa-

tive

of the people's interests be selected in his place.

This

a principle long recognized and long established

[270]

in the business world.

a thieving,

dishonest

matters

man would

agent.

much

capable of exhibiting as in

business

against

employ an agent incompetent,

his will continue in his

Heart

the Fire of the

are

certainly

ordinary common-sense

government where such tremendous

interests are at stake, as

are in matters of ordinary

business. It list

wouM

New York

our

end the public careers of men, quite a

who have been service

and

there,

little

State Legislature, for example,

some

in the direct

for years,

pay

own

filching the people of the State for their

whose methods, whose

the direct

of corporations that are

gain,

and

and whose subser-

influence,

viency to these interests are more detrimental and more

and the

destructive to the people's interest

whom we

call

our state penitentiaries to-day. If

this

the State, than the acts of thousands

criminals

volume were given

York

interests of

to personalities, this

Legislature could be given.

list

Those

in the

New

in the Legis-

latures in other states, as well as in the Councils of

come

various large cities will at all conversant

Then

the

minds of those

with these matters.

the election of United States Senators by the

such as practically

direct vote of the people,

convinced,

all

are

not only desirable but necessary, can be

brought about in a comparatively short time, and great stronghold of

monopoly

ment can be taken. With various

now

members

every reader at

our national govern-

can be retired some of the

that will readily

all

this

come

to the

conversant with public

[271]

mind

affairs, that

the Fire of the

Heart

are very carefully watching and upholding even with a

grim defiance of the public the ests. "

The

leading

New York City papers

"The of

and

free

New York

tives in the

following

interests of the " inter-

from an

editorial in

one of our

intellectual inhabitants of the State

are supposed to have two representa-

United States Senate. As a matter of fact

New York

express

company has one

representative

United States Senate; a very rich family of railroad

in the

owners has the other representative

Untied States

in the

Senate, and the people are not represented there by so

much isn't

as a white kitten. Nice, popular representation,

Under the circumstances you can hardly wonder

it ?

that no effort

when

made

to protect the people's interests

corporations are concerned.

And what

could be said of a United States Senator

from a very small

interests.

What

who

state

accurately as an arch

enemy

states not so small

The

American people's

could be said also of a

Senate from another small

from

could be described quite of the

member

possession of these agencies would enable us

to bring about

easily

and more quickly a change

movement now world-wide along

that the

the lines of a

truer democracy, along the lines of an increasing in the

hands of the sovereign people,

namely, that officers

of the

state, as also of certain others

now

be made

all

Federal judges and

receiving their positions

elective at the

power

demanding,

all

important

by appointment,

hands of the people.

quite as

necessary that laws and statutes be construed by repre-

[272]

Heart

the Fire of the

sentatives of the popular will of the people, as that the

laws and statutes be enacted

same agency. Here

the beginning by this

a change

a feature of our

government that we must now be giving attention

The

to.

possession of these weapons would enable us to

bring about an effective income tax, or an effective inheritance tax, or an effective act limiting, for the greater public good, the accumulations, with constant additions thereto, the vast private fortunes that will in

time as menacing and as poisoning to the greater

public welfare, as they have proved to be in past.

That we must be about

manlike

this

matter

eminently fair manner

and

evident to large portions, and perhaps to say, to the majority of thinking

— than they are

in their

wise measure along these

effect

it is

own

lines,

times

all

some

states-

now

clearly

not too

men who

are

much more

patriots there-

selfish

personal gain.

moreover, cannot

illy

even the possessors of these vast accumulations

for excessive wealth real benefit, to If

in is

welfare — true

interested in the public

fore

become

any

we cannot

man

no advantage, or rather of no

nor to his descendants.

in all cases get at

a just basis in the

distribution of the products of labour, or in the gains

from those properties whose great increase caused by the

life

and the

toil of all

in values

the people, then

matter also from the other end.

will

have to get

Not

the interests of a few individuals, able and shrewd

at the

I admit, but the welfare of

all

the people, must be the

motto of a really great and continually progressive nation.

That we

will

be able to find a

[273]

fair

and a

just

the Fire of the

upon which we

basis

shall

Heart

build such action, I

confident.

agencies of government so into direct

we must get the our own hands by these

perhaps not unwise to say that

It is

methods that we can put an

effective

gambling and predatory methods of Wall

end to the

Street, not to

any methods that are honourable and legitimate and commendable, but

to those that are hellish in their

nature and whereby tribute

levied

woman and child in the nation buccaneers may add still more to and

upon every man, order that a few

ungodly

their already

Their methods enable them to

illegitimate gains.

reach out into every state and every city and every hamlet in the nation to gather in their tribute

Many

of our

clearest

that the time has

come

and

men

thinking

their

toll.

are realizing

that a Federal Bureau of Cor-

porations be established, so that all companies, corporations, trusts, etc.,

doing in

state business get their charters

tion to

and

inter-

articles of incorpora-

from the Federal government, and be strictly subject

its

fair

any way

scrutiny

and

regulations.

the basis of certain

but adequate requirements, those companies and

corporations designing to do a business unfair, unlawful

and

illegitimate, could

stock watering

be weeded out.

methods now used

openly employed

and

corporations,

The

practically all large all

present

so freely and so

companies

methods designed

to give

inflated or fictitious values to their stocks, could then

be suppressed and could be dealt with

and

satisfactory

manner.

[274]

a systematic

The

possession of these weapons will enable us as an

and a determined people, to bring about

intelligent

such regulations or limitations aggressions of our great

become monopolistic

welfare.

in their

work

agencies that have of

efforts

methods or oppressive

of the representatives of

and

fight

these

our various

could counterbalance the

representatives

the

"interests,"

from within every measure

designed to protect the people and the public

from the aggressions of such

of these as are dishonourable

and law defying or law breaking well as blighting

and combines

the individual citizen's

become intrenched

Legislation.

of these

as they obstruct

that

the methods and

trusts

could then counterbalance in an effective

the skilful

Halls

modern

and therefore destructive

way

Heart

the Fire of the

and corrupting

in their practices, as in

their influences.

could also in time, and quickly in some cases,

cause a complete political extinction to become the

lot

of the representatives of these interests. I

would not be understood as opposed to any

interests that are

of those

honourable and above board

in their

methods; or opposed to the advancement of those

in-

opposed to the greater public

in-

terests that are not terests.

Large corporations and large combinations of

capital can accomplish results that are unquestionably

of great public benefit. their

methods should

believe

Those that are honourable no way be hampered.

do not

on the other hand that they should be unduly

favoured for they are abundantly able to take care of themselves.

When, however, they secure [275]

their favours

In the Fire

and

Heart

of the

end

their advantages at the terrific price that in the

must be paid by the individual welfare, then I say

effective protest, sit

citizen

and the public

cannot, without intelligent and

by and complacently permit these

blighting influences longer to ply their trade. Because a

man is very wealthy it does not follow that he is a criminal, though many are. That a corporation is large and successful

no sign that

dishonourable or criminal

methods. Very many, however,

in its

are

honourable

respect

and

are not

this aid

and

of others

their

methods should be given

and every aid up

every respect

Those that

are.

to the point that this

not detrimental to the interests

to the public welfare.

From

those that

we should not only withhold respect and aids of we should find an orderly and effective

every kind, but

of checking their aggressions, but

method not only

they persist in such methods then, of putting them out of business completely.

and determined enough I believe

are also.

Are we as a people to

When

this ?

intelligent

Other people

are.

the people are sufficiently

united and determined these matters are not so complex

and

difficult

of attainment, as they in the ordinary

course of events and under a half-hearted method of

procedure, appear. But before a people of the right

temper these forces of corporation and listen

and

will

seek cover, and

the run they are

among

unexpected ways.

are once on

the greatest of cowards. Ordin-

arily they will not stand in

when routed they

privilege will

when they

a square and open

are liable to

pop up again

They must be [276]

fight,

in the

but

most

continually watched.

the Fire of the

Heart

I think the author of the following paragraph,

from

a recent number of The Outlook, reads aright the signs

and the temper of the times: "

The

people do not resent wealth, but they do resent

predatory wealth. of

They would not despoil their neighbour

any property honestly acquired; but they would

despoil

him

of the

power to monopolize any

of the

avenues of trade or to control any of the functions of

government.

To compel

plutocracy to act decently

not enough; they wish to destroy plutocracy and reestablish

democracy

— perhaps I should say to establish

for the first time in the world's history, a

And they are What next?

quietly but none the less eagerly

industry.

asking,

the overthrow of monopoly It

democracy of

Not the

regulation but

the popular

demand."

should be the purpose of a wise and liberty loving

people to afford every encouragement and protection to each

and every honest and

large or be ination.

legitimate business, be

small. In this there should be

no discrim-

But when through bribery and the debauchery

of public servants,

and when through the securing

unwarranted favours they are detrimental to practically every other interest, or

when by

technical evasions or

delays in the process of existing laws under the guid-

ance of skilled legal talent, or when through contemptuous disregard or open and apparently fearless violations of existing laws, or

tion of vast

amounts

when by

virtue of the confisca-

of the people's property, companies,

corporations, vested interests, trusts

become so

great, so

and monopolies

contemptuous of the people's

[277]

rights,

In of the state,

and

of the entire public welfare, then

plain duty of a worthy, fair-minded

the

loving people

who have

government

the Fire of the Heart,

and

liberty

who can have the full agencies own hands, to come forward

in their

man

as one

and

to cry out, thou thief, thou briber

and

thou criminal black in your law defying

dcbaucher,

and law breaking methods, thou despoiler of other men's goods, thou robber of even widows and

de-

pendent children, thou traitor to the public welfare, so far

and no

farther.

Let every vested interest be protected, but

let

every

smaller interest be protected also in like manner. Let

no favouritism be shown whereby one is

able to cripple, crush and

There trifled

no danger

kill

of the

interest.

American people, unless

with too long and unless goaded to the

of desperation, manifesting

vested interests,

and

any undue

certainly

honourable and straightforward is

class of interests

any other

there a

man

living

who would

last ditch

hostility to

any

none to any that are in their

methods; and

think or

who would be

bold enough to proclaim that hostility should not be

shown

to all that are not

weakly

foolishly

It is

only an ignorant, or a

self-complacent, or

already

conquered people, though perchance ignorant of the fact, that will

to put an

not arouse

itself

to a sufficient hostility

end to an economic slavery of such type, and

that unless ended will have as

its

final

end a complete

political slavery.

have

this interesting

has come about

among

and

farcical condition that

us, interesting

[278]

were

not so

ally

and

its

Heart

and brazen and so degrading and

notoriously bold destructive in

the Fire of the

— A body of rich men individu-

results

collectively conspire for their

own

and

greater

quicker enrichment, deliberately to violate some fully established law. influences

Many times

then through certain other

they set into operation they are not even

molested, or

many

so they

times go scot free.

however, they are tried and convicted they are with a paltry fine $25,000.

An employee

from

filched

— $5,000 or $10,000, or

his

If,

let off

in rare cases

one of these corporations has

employers a few hundred or a few

thousand dollars, or another has filched from the

or state.

city

promptly arrested, speedily tried and

sentenced to the penitentiary for a term ranging say

from two to twenty years.

Now why

not fine him a

certain small percentage of what he has filched. Is five

and

thousand call

Make him pay

the matter ended

or rather

what deterrent

over five hundred of

it it

In other words, what

effect

has a fine of

thou-

effect,

five

sand or twenty-five thousand or a million dollars where millions are gained

proprietors of trusts

on the part of the managers and large corporations, through

and

of established

their criminal violations

right that the small filcher

sent to State's

and filch

all

whom we

Prison, then there

law?

call

the

same

the greater reason that these criminals

under the most cold-blooded and

methods

their millions,

sands of businesses, who

who hamper

criminal be right

who

deliberate

or destroy thou-

undermine the very foundations

of law, of order, of free institutions, then I say there |

27<)

]

same

the

right

Heart

the Fire of the

and

the greater reason that these be

all

sent to State's Prison, or that they be fined so heavily that

results in

business, or both.

a virtual confiscation of their entire

should not be at

talking of " confiscation " criminals.

all

chary about

comes to dealing with

must, as a people, speedily get the ma-

chinery of government preting power

when

— so

— the

into our

law making and

inter-

own hands through

the

simple and direct methods already enumerated, that

we can put a speedy end

to this travesty

justice

and

order.

do not believe

errors

faultless being that

mind or

And understanding when

may

I believe

in his heart for

so well the frailties of

all -wise

be at

would

find

all

condemnation.

human

nature,

lenient.

But

established that

men

judgments he would be most

harmoniously and mutually advantageously

together, certain forms

ience to

to a greater or

only an

such would

a certain order of society live

It is

own

capable of judging or conof

But such a being

place in his

in all his

that.

do those of every man.

demning; only on the part consistent.

condemning any man.

and shortcomings forbid

less extent

and a

must be established and obed-

them must be compelled.

must drive the money-changers from the Temple

even as the Christ drove them in His day. In connection

human nature He was supremely charitable. The only ones He ever judged harshly or ever really condemned so far as we have any record at least, were those who bound burdens on other men's with

all

the frailties of

[280]

the Fire of the

Heart

who never raised even a finger to make them lighter, who sought ever to gain advantage at another's disadvantage, who oppressed or who robbed the people. When we put forth the restraining hand to hold in check or to drive completely out of business men who backs,

rend and tear the flesh from other men, simply that

may gorge themselves, not that they need food, then we will manifest somewhat the wisdom and insight that was manifested by Him, who understood so fully our common human nature that He was all compassion and forgiveness for all save those who oppressed, who made burdens heavier, who sought for advantage they

to another's disadvantage.

know it is a fascinating game, this financial game. I also know well that great law of life, that we grow into the likeness of those things we habitually contemI

plate.

one's dominating thought, so his

within, so without

and

life

becomes.

— simply the direct law of cause

effect. I therefore

know

that the

game with some

natures becomes so fascinating and so irresistible that

they are carried to depths and extremes that they never

even contemplated

at the start.

reach out and gain

an additional million now and then that he does not by hook and crook, by gaining or taking some

earn, but

manifestly unfair advantage, by a contemptuous defiance, or

by a brazen, open

violation of law, or

process of indirect murder, as

many a

million

by a

among

— and the greater shame upon us — becomes fascinating and well-nigh

us has been gained as a people sistible.

irre-

But where men are absolutely incapable of

[281]

In the Fire

of the

Heart

and

exercising self-restraint, but are given to excesses

crimes that are not only detrimental to society, but are destructive to the very forces that hold gether, then

society

to-

clearly our duty to deal with such

men

it is

by way of

restraint the same as we restrain the lesser The point is simply this we must stop recognizing men and groups of men who are engaged in these practices as among our "successful and representative " citizens. We must look upon these "rich men

—

criminal.

without moral sense consumed by greed, devoid of scruples

and

contemptuous of the

utterly

rights of the people,"

as the oppressors, as the law-breakers, as the criminals that they actually are.

of restraint in exactly the

same manner

other types of criminals. It

all

such as this

must deal with them by way

this that

we can hope

deal with

only by treatment

to cope with this type,

most dangerous type of criminal that has become

rampant and so bold and so brazen among

as sensible to attempt to

kill

progress with a pop-gun and

head

as to try to

off

us. Just

an elephant or retard its

his

attendant paper wads,

or to keep even with the corrupt

and criminal practices that these men and federated groups of

men

meeting to them

are

constantly

operating

under, by

the penalty of a fine, either

nominal

or heavy.

In addition to the possession of these weapons, one of the will

most

significant features of the

win out

clean,

way the people now on for a

in the great battles that are

truly

representative,

advancing government,

and

the type of

[282]

continually

young men

that

In are

Heart

the Fire of the

now coming into the field of 'political action both as and as men who will stand for and who will be

voters

Here

elected to public office.

one of the most en-

lies

couraging and significant features or facts of the times.

Already

some

sections they are throwing out their

and some

battle lines,

and hitherto

of the old time

secure bosses and machine managers are fighting with

chance to retain their hold. Some are

a desperate

down and out, others way. What has occurred

already the

already

enough,

rapidly

are

have heard

few

points

aptly put,

to drive the old time apostle of "regularity" to drink

or to suicide.

Some

and machine

of the old time bosses

managers as well as machine wards are already ing

in their

believ-

vague superstitious bewilderment that the

methods of Hell have broken loose and have crossed the

and others that Hell even

border, asking,

what next

crazy.

They

are

and wondering where the next blow

will fall.

To who

the young

man who

will consent to stand for or

would

will aspire to public office, I

iently wise

and

far-sighted as not to

stop at the politician's stage.

You

your fingers continually, and you

and

have to lower

life if

you do, you

have to associate with and have as your constant

many

selfish

times unwelcome companions

and scheming men. You

from a boss, you will

for or not to

have to dirty

will will

your ideals and your whole trend of will

say, be suffic-

aim

will

will take

become subservient

keep you as long as he and

[283]

his like

dirty

and

your orders to him.

have use for

Heart

the Fire of the

you. Association and like trends of thought will in time

mould you and

You may

into his likeness.

time become a boss

—a

sink to his level

now

parasite

rapidly

becoming despicable in the public estimation; but the chances are that you will get so far and no farther. will

thereby set

your own

years you will confess that your as

will

and

limitations, life is

You

latter

a disappointment,

indeed be to your family and to

all of

your trur

friends. If the stuff is in

you then I beg of you to

the higher ground. If the stuff

in you,

the statesman stage, but you will reach

making a deal whereby honour

you

strike for

may reach

only by never

sacrificed,

and by being

enough and brave and resolute enough to stand and to stand uncompromisingly for such measures

far-sighted

of public policy

and such methods

of party

management

as are always for the people's greatest good. If then the stuff is in you,

you are wise and resourceful,

you needn't bother so much about retaining the people's support, about retaining hold on your position. The people will attend to that.

need more such men.

men

that the people find

need more such young

a pleasure and

young men

come from our farms, which

contain

to-day one of the most interesting and promising of

young men

in the entire world.

such

men when

all

the ranks

come from

are able to recognize

they are really to be found.

284]

sets

need more such

young men from our workshops and from of labour. We need more such young men our colleges and universities.

need more such

a duty to support.

the Fire of

It is interesting

men

Heart

and somewhat amusing

even old-time bosses of his types of

tlie

own

to see

how

party as well as kindred

and

in all grades of publie office

in party

management, those who would have downed and who would have knifed him a hundred times

in the past

they could have found the way, are now, as state and congressional campaigns are coming on again, rushing to the

for

support of President Roosevelt and " the policies

which he

standing"

— trying

in the

cases to crawl in under his tent folds.

majority of

"According

the desires of President Roosevelt," "for the sake of the policies for which President etc., etc.

The

Roosevelt stands,"

following from a circular recently issued

by the leader of an Assembly District, in the of Brooklyn, "

believe

quite typical: it

be the duty of every

the Republican party's interest at heart, sires to aid the

Borough

man who and who

has de-

cause for which President Roosevelt and

the national and State administrations stand, to put forth every effort to elect executive

members, county

committeemen, and State delegates who

— organization as leadership of — the

There

will

at present constituted

support

under the

nothing that so takes hold of men, that so

challenges their admiration, that so compels their respect and their support as downright honesty of purpose, as a courage that compels a

man

drive on until he accomplishes that will

to stand firmly or to

what an upright soul

make no compromise with dishonour

Such men compel the support

[285]

compels.

of the people that lesser

the Fire of the

Heart

and compromising and timid men continually Does and

this

not give us hope for the future of our country

institutions

questioned

Does

human

our old

seek.

not give us renewed faith in

nature that

Does

we have

many

times

not give us a renewed faith for the

future of the race?

And and

and frankly what one observes

to speak fully

feels

among

— the great admiration and love the millions Mr. Bryan, and

feel for

any party names or

him

also a brave

lines is

entirely irrespective

because they recognize

and an honest man, and a man with

A man so

a heart primarily of love.

endowed

will stand

A man

always for the people's interest and welfare.

who so One

stands

man

of the statesman stature.

day, several years ago, a certain congressman

visited President Roosevelt in the interests of

known man, activities

made

a well-

whose

quite prominent in State politics,

connection with certain postal contracts

probable that he would be indicted for bribery

or conspiracy, or for both. In order that there be no

misunderstanding

in regard to his position, President

Roosevelt followed up their interview with the following letter.

"( Personal.)"

"White House, Washington, October

"My "

—

1903.

dear Congressman:

The

statement, alleged to have been

ordered

inspector that I

or anyone else,

lie,

made by

the indictment of

— just as much a

lie

the ,

if it

had

been stated that I ordered that anyone should not be

[286]

indicted. plicit

Heart

the Fire of the

and are

directions have been explicit,

now. Anyone who

guilty

who

with the utmost rigour of the law, and no one guilty

be touched. I care not a rap for the

or social influence of any tion

one of his

human

being

Government

when

not

political

the ques-

such a matter as

guilt or innocence in

the corruption of the

ex-

be prosecuted

service.

" I note what you say, that the circulation of this report about

feel

me may

alienate the support of

from

friends

who would

that anyone

be either lacking

believe such a story

me by the fact that

anyone

when

gross wrongdoing,

all I

can say

Republi-

political or

his

appears that he

— why,

must

be alienated from

I direct the prosecution of

can or Democrat, without regard social standing,

or else possessed of

in intell gence,

malignant credulity.

many

administration. Frankly,

is,

guilty of

let

him be

alienated.

"If District Attorney

has anything which should

be known to the Attorney-General or to this suit, I

have not the

slightest desire to see

in the interest

'success.'

charged

as regards

him

his visit

'of the welfare of the party,'

In a case like

one that

Commonwealth, office

should be delighted to see him. But, frankly,

this,

where the crime

strikes at the foundations of the

should hold myself unfit for this

I considered for

one moment either

my own

welfare, or the interest of the party, or anything else

except the interests of justice. Respectfully,

Theodore Roosevelt.

[287]

Why do

Heart

the Fire of the

I cite this

It will give to

young men an

dication of qualities that compel the confidence

in-

and the

support of the people; with such qualities subserviency to party boss

and party machine, subserviency

methods are made unnecessary.

politician

suggestion as to one reason

occupies the position he

why

scarcely

we have had

o-day occupies; also is

why

the only people's

since Lincoln's time. It

an exception the limitations that a

to himself that

low

It will offer

President Roosevelt

can be so truthfully said that he President

man

with sets

determine the level to which he will

rise.

Again

to the

young man entering or contemplating

entering political

life

—

employing the methods

you

first

have

contemplated

enumerated and stopping

at the politician stage, then think again

and keep out

altogether. Stay in the

and be wise

workshop, on the

farm, at your business, your profession, and have there-

by a more satisfactory your fellow-men than on

this basis. If,

life,

would be

and stay

life will

sufficient to

stature of the statesman,

rounded

life

more value

you entered

however, you have the material

and a determination

political life,

and a

permit.

measure up

politics in

you

to the

then, for God's sake go into if

you ~an, as long as a well-

You

could do no nobler thing.

[288]

THE GREAT NATION 1

HERE

human

never has been, and from the very nature of

nature there never can be a truly great nation

where one

class of people rule,

other classes are ruled. in

which the people

The

rule,

and another

great nation

where through

affairs

for

them.

that alone

their agent

the state or government, they attend to their

and where they do not allow others

class or the

own

—

affairs,

to attend to their

Government must be thoroughly

representative or those in

power

will gradually get the

agents of administration and of production so under

own

gain

their continually increasing powers, that in

time

their control,

and

will so

use them for their

the very liberties of the people will be stolen away.

late,

we have been having some

tions of the actual conditions of

very direct revela-

government

in Russia,

where a group of eminently " respectable and high-born gentlemen,"

among them no

pany of Grand Dukes, have

less

for

than an august com-

many years been

direct-

ing the affairs, in a sense ruling this nation of consider-

ably over one hundred million people.

high as a dozen or more palaces,

all

Some own

splendidly or even

sumptuously equipped, with annual incomes reaching into the millions.

This

all

comes from the people of

[289]

the Fire of the

Russia, chiefly the working people. late events

is,

have also revealed

The

clearly than ever before.

Heart

What their condition

to the world,

and more

hopeless state of inef-

ficiency that this governing class has kept the nation in,

and has prevented

world ity

now knows. To

from

whole

rising out of, the

think that their greed and rapac-

and general debauchery would become so great

that through habit they could not keep their hands off of a large

was

and splendidly equipped hospital

starting

its

journey during the late struggle with

Japan, to give whatever aid

wounded and

train, that

could administer to the

suffering soldiers

were fighting primarily

who

in their

ignorance

put more money into the

pockets of their rulers! This splendidly equipped train

was completely looted and it

had hardly gotten

fully

filled

with cord

or at the connivance of those in authority. of Russia, I hear

wood

before

under way, at the instigation

But the people

have not yet attained

said,

freedom and so are not able

to prevent other

men

their

ruling

over them notwithstanding the state of affairs that such

a system means. Very

true,

but there

perhaps even more significant for

us.

another truth

There have been

nations where the people have fought for and have their freedom,

won

but where through lack of due vigilance,

and by reason of the growing and

time mastering

greed of privileged and excessive wealth, their liberties

have been stolen away, and their country, of which they were formerly proud, has through the inevitable resultant internal decay fallen into the despoiler.

The

hands of the

greed for gain becomes so powerful that

[290]

the Fire of the

common

unless the great

ing or controlling

way

people find some

those that

it,

Heart of check-

become mastered by

will pillage the very liberties of their

country as quickly

as they will loot a hospital train. Recent developments in

own

our

nation, even within the last twelvemonth,

have clearly demonstrated that there are among us,

men

of otherwise high standing, eminently respectable,

church standing,

in learning, in

in society,

but

who

have gotten so under the drunken sway of the greed for gain that they would not only loot a hospital train, but also

a funeral train were the prospective inducements

and were the chances

of not being dis-

of a sufficiently rosy hue.

This may be plain

sufficiently large,

covered at

man who will

speaking. But a for gain, and

many a death has been caused by the schem-

cunning and the depredations of some of those

ing, the

we term is

cause or connive at death

financiers,

even within the past few months,

indeed worse in his depredations than the one

who

will despoil the dead.

"The law sleeps

of disintegration

and only eternal vigilance can check

brings

its

own

are frequently

mighty

noise.

dangers, and those that

more .

we can meet on is

and destruction never

invisible,

the

Every age stealthily

than those that come with a

Instead of an armed foe that

field,

there

to-day an

enemy

that

but everywhere at work destroying our

institutions; that official

fatal

it.

come

action,

enemy

dictates

corruption. It seeks to direct

and endeavours

legislation

to control the construction of laws

[291]

The

flag

the Fire of

Heart

tJic

has been praised at champagne dinners, while the very pole from which

floated

and republican

ruption,

to the vitals.

ing to which

new

is"

was being eaten

institutions

mean

to rob a

by cor-

were being stabbed

come among

gospel has

off

us, accord-

hen roost or a hen, but

plundering thousands makes us gentlemen.'" there can be no great nation without government

by the people, so there can be no great nation without a continual vigilance on the part of the people. Vigilance is

the price that

must ever be paid

for continued liberty-

Equal advantages and opportunities fundamental

for

all,

which

any great nation, without active

vigi-

lance on the part of the people will be quietly and craftily

changed into privilege for the few the

toil

be enriched through

many. And as wealth increases wealth,

of the

and power increases power, we can privilege

and

its

readily see

how

concomitant, oppression, has in time

many former states. we have so much to read from

spelled destruction to so

The and

fact that

come among us a

hope that there

ment

redeem and save

that

tainly there

can do

it.

to is

history

and so repeatedly, makes me so

so clearly

now no power

Moreover,

this

full of

people's

this nation.

move-

And

cer

any other nature that

movement must not be unduly

long delayed, for concentrated wealth and privilege are growing with such gigantic strides that every year, or now, even every

month

of delay,

continually growing entrenchments,

task

more and more

The

on account

of their

makes the

people's

difficult.

great nation, putting

[292]

another form,

that

In in

the Fire of the [leart

which the people

realize the fact that they are not

separate from or apart from government, but that they are government. It

indeed strange where this

not a

part of the active consciousness of the people,

what

little

group

men and

control of the agencies

families

and

welfare or even the very

And

able to do in gaining

necessities

life

upon which the

of the people depends.

nothing has been more clearly and more repeatedly

demonstrated in the history of nations than the fact that he

who owns

or controls that

depend, owns or controls them

upon which

also. It

possible for

word

there to be a nation of slaves without the

or any

word

slave

of a kindred nature ever being used.

more shrewd and cunning the owners, the more will

others

The

careful

they be to see that no word or sign or mark describ-

ing the actual condition of those

owned or

controlled

be used or even hinted.

Where the people

are keen

and

alert as to

who and

what they are

in relation to

government, or rather what

government

in relation to

them, there

will

be found a

who see to it that every opportunity is given to those who aim to do right. Such a people will see that among the great mass of their toilers, upon whose people

sturdy welfare and good keeping the very welfare and ability

to exist at

who

the nation to progress, or to continue even all,

depends, there are not untold thousands

are working from early to late year in

getting merely or barely to provide

that they

and year

them with food and clothing and

may be on hand [

out,

enough for each day's work shelter

for to-morrow's work,

293]

and

t.'

Fire of the Heart

to-morrow's and to-nabrrow's ing

and

art

and

leisure

are so essential to any slave.

—

lives

devoid of

life

that

not the

This does not conduce to that

gressive

and happy

all

learn-

and hope, those elements that

citizenship

life

intelligent

makes

that

of the

and pro-

for a real

nation of freemen.

The

great nation

and

of production,

again, that in which the agents

especially those that

come under

the

head of natural monopolies, those things upon which

owned and administered

the people depend, are

nearly as

possible

their agent, the state,

administered for the good and the welfare of

all

and so all,

and

are not permitted to be monopolized by the few for their

own enormous enrichment, and of the great

mass

therefore, at the expense

of the people. It

ship or control of these as

the private owner-

we have

seen, that has per-

mitted the growth of our enormously rich families that are

becoming so intrenched that they are

now becoming a menace freemen.

It is

men and

some

to the very

of these, not all

life

a nation of

by any means, that

have allowed themselves to become so drunken

in their

greed for an ever-increasing gain that they have resorted,

and are to-day

resorting, to such practices of criminality

and dishonour that they have won deservedly, the term, 'the

low-down

rich.

clined to think that as the people get a insight into their

and

for themselves,

And lam instill

methods the application of

greater

this

term

or terms of a similar nature, to them, will be a continually increasing one.

But men who gain

these methods are never happy.

[294]

From

their riches

the very nature

the Fire of the

of the laws that govern

human

Heart they never can be-

life

Therefore, to save these from their drunken frenzied

be an act on the part of the people that

folly, will

not deprive them of anything that will take really valuable belongings, but will

will

away any

be doing a kindly

service for

them

these great

common belongings are held and used as such.

The this

great nation again,

unnatural use of these

a small

them. This

history's lesson

The

not that where through

common

belongings

and powerful men

class of rich

castles with great hordes

about

by seeing that

as well as for the people,

of hirelings

we have

living in their

or dependents

something in regard to which

most clearly written.

nation with which

one quick to see

its

are dealing

is,

again, the

weaknesses, also the danger of

running into and working that were once advisable

in ruts, or

remaining in ways

and reasonable, but where

the time has long since passed for

to continue in these

ways, and where a continued growth and advancement, to say nothing of

its

even holding

its

own, demands that

keep up with the process of evolution and growth that

ever working to

lift

the minds and the hearts of men,

and hence their relations, to continually higher planes. It is also the

nation that

alive

and keen

that can be learned from other nations

Many

times the younger nations where great concentra-

tions of wealth with

its

debauchery of the agencies of

government on the one hand, and

its

other, have not yet gotten a foothold,

fore

to the lessons

and peoples.

are

filled

with

men and women [295]

oppression on the

and which thereof lofty

purpose

and ambitions

Heart

the Fire of the

for a nation better than has yet been,

commendable features

have

and

that the older ones can adopt

adapt to their own institutions with great advantage.

The

welfare of the great nation depends above

upon the general

things, perhaps,

intelligence

and the more general and wide-spread

people,

intelligence the greater, the happier

That

ing the nation.

all

its

this

and the more endur-

cannot be an intelligence and

education on the part of the few, while ignorance or a lack of intelligence holds

among

the larger numbers,

has been shown most clearly in connection with nations that were once

among

known except in place among the

the great, but that are not

history, or that

now

have fallen from their

ablest to a position

among

the back-

ward and the unimportant. Free and open educational opportunities for the poorest as well as the richest,

facilities

and

numbering millions,

for

undoubtedly the

best road to a general diffusion of intelligence

the people. It

all,

among

possible to have wide-spread educational

still

for there to

be whole armies of children

into the thousands of thousands or into the

who, on account of carelessness or greed or

incapacity on the part of parents or other causes, are

deprived until lege,

it is

too

and more, the

The

state

late, of

must see

that attendance at school, or

education, be

what should be the

privi-

right, the sacred right, of every child.

made more it now is.

carefully than

does,

some adequate means

carefully

and more generally

compulsory than

That army

of nearly

two million child labourers from [

296

]

Heart

the Fire of the

five to fifteen years of age, that are this

very day toiling

our mills and sweat-shops and t factories and mines,

must be

relieved that they too

may have

the equipment

mind and in body sufficient to enable them to enter upon the plane of life's activities with opportunities in

somewhat equal

United States; but perhaps than

who most

to a great extent

realize, offset

tunity to this great

same

to the other millions of the

have an excellent free educational system

army

and

coming

in the

far

oppor-

this denial of

of rapidly

ages.

citizens

of all need these opportunties to enable

have anything

like a fair

chance

them

in their struggles for

self-supporting competency, or even for existence at

Greed for gain, and

clearly illegitimate gain,

prove triumphant and will

stifle

of the nation's heart, unless

all.

will

the higher promptings

we compel

man

every

running a parasitic business or enterprise to be decent. "

To what

Why

purpose then

these machines at

all,

our

they do not help to

age of invention

care from the soul and burden from the back

purpose

our

age of enlightenment,

our nakedness, we establish

among

if,

wisdom

of the wise

and parade

Malabar?

To what

us a barbarism that

Is this the Christianity

Is this

boast

benighted Madagascar and unsaved

Is this

what our orators mean when they

jubilate over

species

just to cover

overshadows the barbarism of the savage cycle the

lift

civilization

and

the progress

the

And why do these

children

learning, nothing but the

know no rest, no

play,

grim grind of existence

[297]

Is it

In the Fire because we are there

all

naked and shivering?

because

land?

because

sudden destitution

in the

noonday?

pestilence walks as

hand

because war's red

and burning our

pillaging our storehouses

Heart

of the

cities

No, forsooth! Never before were the storehouses so

crammed

bursting with bolts and bales of every

warp and woof. in the gristle,

millions

The

forsooth!

down

are ground

may be heaped

up.

that a few

useless

We boast that we are leading and we grind

the commercialism of the world, mills the bones of the

children, while yet

ones to

little

our

make good our

boast.

What if

they

avail our exports, our tariffs, our dividends,

rise out of these

are losses, left

to rot

all

treasons against

All gains

riches are poverties, so long as the soul

down.

...

enter

upon

There are golden opportunities

women

God ?

for earnest

men and

determined work in every-

one of our states until conditions along these

lines in

everyone of them are what they should be. Magnificent

work has already been and

many;

being done on the part of

the help of more, those

who have

purpose that does not stop even until the thing

But outride

done,

important period

their

equipment for

at the

solely needed.

of this great

that

a singleness of

in the face of defeats

army

of children at

work

when they should be getting work and duties, many times

life's

expense of great bodily injury as well as

* "The Hoe-Man in the Making," Edwin Markham, tember (1906) Cosmopolitan. [

298

]

intellect in the Sep-

the Fire of the

Heart

ual and moral, there are almost unbelievingly large

numbers

that are in school but very

others that are there none at

all.

little,

and

still

Every child in school

until a certain age or until a sufficient equipment to meet

the ordinary duties of life is reached, should be the na-

motto.

tion's

It is also

eminently

fitting that

the quality of the education

something be said of proposed to make

compulsory attendance upon universal. to the point

mind and

intellect

alone

way

from the

off

briefly

we we make

not sufficient;

ideal until

To come at once

— training

shall

of the

remain a long

moral, humane,

a far more important feature of our

heart-training

educational systems than

we have made it thus far. We we have great advances

are advancing in this respect, but yet to

make. Kindness and consideration, sympathy and

fraternity, love of justice

to give

as well as to

— the

demand

full

and ready willingness

it,

the clear-cut compre-

hension of the majesty and beauty that escapes into the life

of the individual as

he understands and appropriates

to himself the all-embracing contents of the golden rule.

The

training of the intellect alone at the expense of the

" humanities" has

made or has enlarged the power of many a usurper of other men's homes and property, many an oppressor, and has thereby added poison and desolation to his own life as well as to the

many

a criminal,

lives of those

who have

with

felt

his

It is also chiefly

whom

he has come

blighting

in contact

and withering

from those without

this training, that

that great body of our fellow -creatures which

[299]

and

influence.

we term

the Fire of the

Heart

the animal world, receive their most thoughtless and cruel treatment,

than

among

and perhaps from among none more

the rich and fashionable.

think there

another feature in our educational

systems that we would do wisely to.

attention

In a nation of free institutions, more attention could

wisely be given to systematic

with this a training

in connection

sees to

gard public

office as

of their highest is

single to

of their hand.

New York

filled

integrity,

with men of men who re-

a public trust worthy the service

City,

Hall

and the reach

of their vision

Such a system would

Tammany

and

manhood, rather than with those whose the largest amount of loot and graft that

comes within the range

end

instruction

in civic pride that

that our public offices are

at least ordinary honesty

eye

and concrete

with the institutions of government, and

in connection

to give

time spell the

— a Democratic

whose

chief object

organization

make

politics

a cover to divert the largest possible sums of money

from the people pockets, of the

and

body

of the City of

in great

of loot. It

New York

to line the

abundance, of those

would

time

spell the

in control

end of the

Republican rings and Halls whose object and purpose is identically the same in every city where they have

been able to gain control, as well as the Democratic rings in cities other than New York. The methods of the rings of the one are equally black with the methods of the rings of the other;

same the

Our

resultant action

where the motives are the the same.

educational methods are developing.

[300]

In edu-

In cational

Heart

the Fire of the

work are some

of our noblest, our

foremost

men and women. There is an element of the practical, the useful, that is now sort of remodelling our earlier methods. It has always seemed to me that not only in our public schools but it is

our colleges and universities,

possible to get as great a degree of training from

branches that are in themselves useful, that will be of actual use later on, as out of those that are used for their training value only.

The element

but combined with

the expense of the training,

should be, I think, and

of the useful, not at

coming to

be, the

it,

marked

feature of our developing educational methods.

The bread and

butter problem will be the problem

of practically all in our

common

or public schools to-

day. There probably will not be one in a thousand

whose problem

To make

will not be.

our educational

systems so that they will be of the greatest aid to

all

as they enter

upon

life's activities

'practical

should,

seems to me, be one of our greatest aims. That our college courses to

can be improved to

forty per cent,

at least

from twenty

along this same line I

fully

persuaded, in addition to the saving of considerable valuable time for those who, contemplating professional careers, will afterwards

have to spend a considerable

period in years in professional schools.

When we consider

that not

more than one tenth of one

per cent of those in our common schools ever get as far as the college or university,

we can

that every child be guaranteed

see

how important

it is

what the law of the most

ordinary justice demands, that he or she have the benefit

[301]

In the Fire at least of

stage of

Heart

of the

what will enable him or her

to enter

upon the

young manhood and young womanhood

free

from such tremendous handicaps with which so many are entering

The it

upon

to-day.

great nation

a religious nation. In order that

be truly religious

necessary that there be no

recognized or established religion, that there be no relation, or rather

so easy to confound particulars with essentials.

It is

The

fundamental principle, indeed the sum

essential,

and substance of

connection between Church and State.

God

of all true religion

— The consciousness

man. To come

in the soul of

into the conscious

living realization of the fact that the Spirit of Infinite

Life

and Power that

through

life

the

all,

life

back of

all, is

the

and no power outside

life

ligious

in this

of our

life,

— to

live

one

may

and

that there

and

thought and this realization,

Without

life.

working

and that

it,

and move and have our being " always

all,

we live to act

the re-

belong to a thousand

churches, or subscribe to the creeds of infinite varieties of

man-made

cannot be

in the religious

life.

To dwell consciously and

continually in this Life, and thus allow

through us,

one

religious systems, but without this,

love to

God.

recognize

to manifest as the

life

of every other being, manifesting in different stages of

Divine unfoldment, gives us the best basis for love of the fellow-man. This marks also the difference between

the getting and the giving religion, for ligion that

we can

get only as

the law in regard to happiness.

[302]

give, the

true in re-

same

The people it is

of the great nation

an intensely

and supports

discrimination

a patriotic people;

patriotic people. I read

tionary a definition of "patriotic"

country,

Heart

the Fire of the

its

interests."

we have done

patriotism in the past. In

—

" one

from the

who

loves his

Through lack

great violence to the

name many

its

dic-

word

foolish things

have been done. Most unpatriotic and most ungodly things have been done in

We have allowed ourselves to be swayed

innocently done.

by the

name, though many times

its

by the

politician's patriotism,

patriotism,

by the demagogic,

self-seeking, self-consti-

They

tuted labour leader's patriotism. the

same common ground

of everything that welfare.

As a

spring from

at the

expense

conducive to the highest public

fully in discriminating is

all

— self-seeking

people, however,

order of patriotism

capitalist looter's

are gaining wonder-

power. As a consequence a

coming

into being

new

and among

us.

What was at one time confined to the few brave, indepenadvanced men, is now becoming common among

dent-

the people.

are finding that the elements of justice

and righteousness,

and godliness, have a

fraternity

very direct relation to, or rather, that patriotism has a very direct relation to them. War,

war and

the flag,

were at one time supposed to be the only agents with

which patriotism was linked. to

hurrah for the

flag

and

be eager to go to the front when the war bugles sound-

ed, or were likely to sound,

was

prevailing idea of patriotism. It

which patriotism

The

may

for a long period a

may

still

be a way in

be manifested.

people are learning the real cause of

[303]

many

wars,

Heart

the Fire of the

indeed the great majority of them

— the bull-headed-

ness or pig-headedness, the incapacity on the part of

those having to do with affairs and again, the throwing ;

war by

of an entire nation into

though unscrupulous financial

and powerful

large

interests solely for gain.

These two agents are responsible

for the great bulk,

indeed for nine out of every ten, of all

even as they have been for

modern wars,

Men

time past.

all

are

beginning to realize that instead of having anything to

do with

this type of

war, patriotism

ing absolutely to aid or abate fluence in a similar

and

way among

in refus-

lies

in using one's in-

one's neighbours

blunt and with less power of discernment.

When we

reach a point where the large body of citizens see to that these

men and

their agents

of the unscrupulous type almost

interests

work through agents many

whom

body

of citizens see to

I repeat,

that these

men and

their agents are kept out of public office

them

to the subordinate place

then

dominant among

The

man

relegate

entirely

new

soon to be

that which

us.

know

to be honest, kind, hence thoughtful in all

his business relations

him

of patriotism that

highest patriotism that I

impels a

and

where they rightly belong,

will witness the full birth of

and a higher order

invariably

they place or have

— when

the people place in public positions the larger

— for the large financial

to the primary

and

in his daily life; that impels

to give attention to those fea-

tures of our political institutions that are of even greater

consequence than his casting his vote on election day; [

304

]

In that impels

him

Heart

the Fire of the

and

to think

to be discriminating in his

thought; that enables him to be not afraid to point out

and denounce the pure ways, be he in public

self-seeker

life,

and

demagogic

his

ranks of high standing

in the

financiers, or in the ranks of organized labour, or in the

common

ranks of the "

My country,

"My

country"; but,

right,

and

dom and

life.

The man whose motto

the courage to

work

her into the right, and then

new

It is this

the wis-

may

she have every God-

prevail."

Thus

us.

patriotism in the

Men who

work; who are

posed upon them

demand

give

patriotism

witnessing

birth.

high quality. their

may

among

are appearing

the

God

as a patriot to help bring

Such is the patriot. and rapidly growing number of such men

given aid that she continually

not

country, be she always in the

not in the right then

be she right or be she wrong, but always

it;

who

;

common

faithful to

who

life

are industrious

that

of the

and honest

whatever tasks are im-

are as eager to give justice as to

are working industriously and

intelli-

gently in order to take care of themselves and those

dependent upon them, and thus remain self-supporting

members

of the

community; who remain brave and sweet

in their natures

of the

and who abide always

in faith in face

hard or uncertain times that come at sometime or

another and in some form or another into the

everyone

us;

who

honour, and of the administration of of the nation as in the

for in the

life

all life is

from within

lives of

are jealous of their country's

out,

and

[305]

its

life

internal affairs,

of the individual,

ihe inner so always

In will

the Fire of the

Heart

men and

be the outer. These I repeat, are the

these

new and now coming

are the conditions that are giving birth to that that higher order of patriotism that

among

and that

us,

That wars

to take captive the hearts of

in the past

of cases entirely inexcusable,

be very

little

men and

thinking

all

That they are

are agreed.

men.

have been, and even at the

present time are too frequent,

women

majority

in the great

and that there

use for military forces

and should

any, outside of

purposes of defence, the highest and most intelligent

And

portion of our citizenship thoroughly believes.

and again, that a

concerned

has been proven time

citizen soldiery

the finest in the world.

far as effectiveness

men drawn off from creative and productive enterprises and made into a professional soldier class, nor bodies of hirelings, but men who are citizens of intelligence and training, and who stand with the ear ready for the call to arms when there is Neither vast bodies of

just cause for their hearing this call, such are the intelli-

and the daring, such are the

gent, such are the brave

most little

effective.

price in

Men

will not fight effectively for the

money they

are paid.

effectively for the glory of another, effectively for

They nor

will

not fight

they fight

a mere tract of land. But where homes

are and institutions that they love and revere and care for,

then

men

gence and

all

to call forth.

will fight with all that

triumphant

that indomitable daring that

With a

citizen soldiery

it is

intelli-

possible

ready at the just mo-

ment to come from the mine, the mill, the counting-house, the farm, thousands of thousands or millions strong,

[306]

why

Heart

the Fire of the

should there be a vast professional

soldiery, a

great non-producing class kept primarily for the glory

and

do the bidding

of a ruling class, but supported

common

almost entirely by the great

people, that

true of the foolhardy military systems of various Euro-

pean countries to-day

Then

think of the

women and

children by the thousands working in the fields by the side of horses

and oxen, and then these

non-producers, and for whose benefit

vast armies of

Royalty, privilege,

capitalism in government always depend tary

arm

for their support

continued existence. great, however, is

When

their

demands become too

of progress, then even the sol-

throws down

itself

upon the mili-

at times even for their

and too much dead or dead-beat timber

thrown before the car

diery

and

its

arms and goes back

to the

ranks and to the cause of the people whence they came.

The

only excuse for the present gigantic military

systems that are in existence to-day

and wisdom,

nations,

that out of the

come men

ruling classes there have not yet

brains

of sufficient

meet similar men from other

and come to a sane and common-sense under-

standing regarding their relations.

democracy grows, and whether are coming

men and

hellish monstrosity to

these millions of

From

take the

the people as

name

or not,

forces that will yet break this

a thousand pieces and

men back

back to the homes that they

will

send

to the mills, to the farms,

may

be as they should be,

producers and equal sharers in the support of their country.

No,

it's

intelligence

and something [307]

to fight for that

Heart

the Fire of the

constitutes the effective in distinction

army

tive

or navy. Reference has been

and the condition

to Russia

from the

made

of her people

ineffec-

in this part

— the result

of allowing one class to attend to the affairs of the others in matters of

government. This gives us the basis for

an observation regarding her army and navy of

somewhat recent

Her navy was

events.

larger

view

and

supposedly superior to that of Japan, her adversary; but the larger portion of the sea, and telligence

ment aims

soon

littered the

bottom of

went there because of the superior

and hence

of the people.

ability of

in-

a people whose govern-

make intelligence the common possession Her army was virtually defeated in every

engagement, chiefly through the lack of ability on the part of

its

on such

cannot be grown — for the higher — and through the lack of and ability

officers

soil

intelligent

common

hearty service on the part of her

And

this

for the

but

are denied opportunities

intelligence

and who have no homes*

growth of

who pay

soldiery.

men who

because

excessive tolls

and taxes and

can have neither the power nor the

fees to others,

spirit of

those

who

have such opportunities and who have homes. But the deliverance of these, the patient Russian people, out of

the

which

hell

results

when

the

people allow

themselves to be ruled instead of taking the manage-

ment

of their affairs

into their

own hands,

near

at hand.

Through have

the

received

treatment their

the

efforts

people to

Russia

obtain the most

ordinary rights of men, and after exhausting every

[308]

the Fire of the

Heart

hope of peaceable methods, they have now declared war

and the great Revolution is

to the hilt

on.

There will now

be no settlement and no end until Bureaucracy, Czarism

and "Holy Synods" are relegated

wonder they were not relegated and delivered people of a

new

will stand as the

The same

nation.

to the place

to years ago,

forces in

and a

free

representatives

power

govern-

ment that would deny freedom, or that would take freedom from the people, strangle even from the church, so that

and

all vitality

life

becomes a curse and

a drawback instead of a blessing.

Can

be that because a

man

born a ruler he

born without brains, or without brain power to read

sufficient

and appreciate the writings that history has so

often placed in letters of blood before the vision of the

world

Or can

be that he

hood without powers

him

born or that he grows to man-

of discernment sufficient to enable

to discern the purposes

constituted Bureaucracy, of parasitic

and the methods

composed partly

Grand Dukes and

of a self-

a body

others of a similar order,

which they deliberately plan in their selfish arrogance and greed to surround him with that he limits of patience

not

and the temper of his people

respect on their part

so intense that

may

finally

know the even when

turning to hatred, and hatred

demands

his extinction

Can

be also that the former become so steeped in their

own methods

of corruption

and oppression that they

have not discernment enough to know when their end is

nearing and their destruction

[309]

close at

hand

In this the price

Heart

the Fire of the

they finally pay for so continued and so

brutal a disregard of

all

laws of justice and equity

and humanity? "

And

the struggling masses must suffer through the

who

greed of their rulers,

draw a sword themselves But,

it is

harm

said,

talk patriotism, but never

in defence of their country."

suppose the ruler went to the front and

or death befell him, what then for the country

Nonsense, there

the

isn't

King or an Emperor

to-day whose place could not be field of battle,

men from

his

filled, if

ruling

on the

fell

most ably by a hundred or a thousand

own

country, and in

many

cases

must

be truthfully said, more ably.

How

often also

do those that

in legislative halls of

whatever nation talk and vote for war, go to the front themselves? Probably not one

who

instigate or

who

vote for

in it

Were

1,000.

those

compelled to go, war

would be most infrequent. So often those that talk the loudest of partiotism in

its

ordinary sense, are the

greatest of cowards. Hasten the day,

come long

ago,

which should have

when no war can be

declared except

through a Plebiscite of the People.

So let

far then as the soldiery of a nation

the interests of

of, let

all

there be institutions founded

equal opportunities for

man,

let

there be

all

and

fool's

concerned,

upon

dream.

upon no

encircling these

a large military system

There

such a people a citizen soldiery more

[310]

justice,

special privileges for

homes and sentiment

homes, and the keeping up

becomes but a

the people be equally taken care

will

come from

intelligent,

the Fire of the

Heart

brave and determined, and therefore more effective,

than can ever come from any professional fighting

and

class,

at a cost not a

Take sentiment from

hundredth part as

great.

the battle-field and you take

chief source of heroism away.

The

people of homes and

of just institutions are a people of sentiment.

every cartridge-box and upon every field

piece

its

rifle

Upon

and upon every

such a soldiery the word "Invincible

could most rightly be stamped. But of such people and

such soldiers jugglers,

let it

be said to you, unscrupulous financial

Kings and Emperors and Grand Dukes, beware,

now beginning to know your tricks. "me and mine," and the ever-ready

for the people are

They know mockery

that

trumped up patriotism

of a

written

all

over

you, and that had you your way, you would continue

make dog

soldiers out of great bodies of

men, you would feed leave their families to

that you might

add

your fellow-

their bodies to the vultures

weep

sorrow and cry for bread,

your already excessive and

and

honourable gain, and continue to

live in

dis-

luxury even to

your own moral and physical deterioration and destruction.

The

great nation again

important

class in

the nation where that most

make-up, that upon which

its

depends more than upon any other, that that forms so to speak the

community

backbone

its

life

It is to

there

— the

— grows and prospers, and has

looked after and looks after

more.

organism

is,

my mind

its

own

the most natural

and the one

— as

[3111

its

interests

farming interests

more and

and normal

a general statement

—

In that

most

that

and

satisfactory,

made

or that can be

There

Heart

the Fire of the

the most happy, and the

honour second to none.

already a growing tendency, and I believe

will

be and should be a continually increasing

tendency, for young

men

of ability

and ambition to

remain on the farm, instead of leaving superior callings, that

aptitude to

lies

for supposedly

unless the inclination or the

so pronouncedly along a different line as

make another

course abundantly advisable.

then to the school, the college, the university, the school, — and with — go then back to conduct a supe-

agricultural, the horticultural

superior equipment, rior type of

farm.The outlet for your abilities will be equal

to those abilities, both there

The to

this

and as occasion may

possibilities of soil cultivation

under more

careful,

ods, are hardly even

so.

dreamed

And our

things allied

all

scientific, intensive

meth-

of to-day, notwithstand-

ing the great strides that have been

dozen years or

and

arise.

made during the past

legislative halls, State

and

National have never called so loudly as they are calling ,

to-day for

men

such make-up as

from these superior types

of farms.

will yet

come

Nothing to

them

my mind

could contribute more abundantly to the welfare of the

country than the coming of increasingly large numbers of these into our legislative halls. class that

privilege

There

perhaps no

has suffered economically more from special

and maladministration,

in short

—

injustice

during the past two or three decades. In no better could these abuses be more effectively ended. In no

way way

could a better balance be secured and preserved in

[312]

—

all

Heart

the Fire of the

matters of legislative policy and in conduct.

May

interest in public affairs,

and an ever greater determination share in the

latter,

matters of national

more organization, an ever-

there be

increasing intelligence,

all

on the part of

have a more equal the most impor-

this,

tant of our citizenship.

The great nation is again

the nation in which the

man

of great natural executive or financial ability finds con-

tentment in a smaller amount of possessions for himself,

and the

larger contentment

and

using that unusual ability in the service of, his city, his state,

and joy

satisfaction of, for

the benefit

The wonder is that more What an influence a few such

the nation.

are not doing this already.

men

could have, what results they could accomplish,

what

real riches they could bring into their lives

through

the riches they would bring into the lives of multitudes

— What gratitude would go As men continue

them

to see the small satisfaction there

and

in the possession of great ability of this nature,

the possession of great wealth

when divorced from an

adequate or even from an abundant connection with the interests and the welfare of their fellow-men, and as

they catch the undying truth of the great law of as enunciated

by One who though

He had

where to lay His head was greater than them that

not even

among you shall be your servant then company with all men will be the gainers.

Think what could be accomplished the lines

— He —

all

greatest

they in

life

we have been considering

by a company

such

in the nation in this little

men devoted [313]

along

volume

such ends.

change

coming and very

when we

already arrived

Heart

the Fire of the

will

rapidly.

The time has

no longer look upon the

possession of mere wealth or the ability to get

and

serving of any special distinction,

means adopted

the

as de-

especially

when

acquirement are other than

in its

those of absolute honour and rectitude.

How significant are the New York Outlook:

following observations from

the

" Those

who have

of fortune-hunting,

fallen most completely under the spell and have been consumed by the fever of

a pursuit which dries up the very sources of spiritual

no longer be blind

to the fact that

when

life,

can

great wealth ceases to

be associated with character, honour, genius, or public respect, is

a very shabby substitute for the thing

men once

held

There are hosts of honourable men of wealth, and there are large fortunes which have been honourably made;

to be.

but so

much

brutal indifference to the rights of others, so

tyrannical use of power, so privilege without

human

ence to

arbitrary

much

employment

much cynical indiffermuch vulgar greed, have

a toucli of genius, so

ties

come to light,

much

of .

all

kinds, so

that the lustre has very largely gone

and wealth, as a supreme prize of life, has immensely lost in attractive power. There are hosts of young men who are ambitious to be rich, but

such terms; the price

Men

who is

are not willing to accept wealth

too great, the bargain too hard."

of exceptional executive

and

financial ability,

raise yourselves to the standing-point of real greatness

and use

these abilities to noble purposes

and

undying

ends instead of piling a heap of things together that you'll soon it

will

ing,

have to leave and that

go more harm than good.

mankind

may do those to whom The times are chang-

advancing and ascending to higher

[314]

the Fire of the

standing places, and

your position

will

Heart

be but a short time when

maintained as at present will be a very

ordinary one or even a very low one in the public esteem

— and so

will

be your memories.

The Bishop of Exeter voices a well-nigh human cry at present when he says Give us

universal

men

Strong and stalwart ones:

Men whom highest hope inspires, Men whom purest honour fires, Men who trample Self beneath them, Men who make their country wreathe As

her noble sons,

Worthy

of their sires,

Men who never shame their mothers, Men who never fail their brothers, True, however false are others:

Give us

Men — / say again, Men !

Give us

[315]

them

X THE LIFE OF THE HIGHER BEAUTY AND

POWER O

be at peace.

To be happy. To

The

indicates, to

the normal

fact that

success-

life.

so echoes a universal longing,

at least, that

In order to

must be something to be view

contentment.

—a

This echoes the longing of perhaps every normal

ful life.

person.

live in

have a satisfying and harmonious

it is

a harmonious

live

should be the natural, life

there

harmony with; and here

the great secret of

life

and

its

and

successful

satisfactory fulfillment.

That there

a Spirit of intelligence and of love in

the universe, no normally constituted mind, and one that has lived at

all

may have come

it,

a Power, beneficent

near the higher revelations that

can for a moment doubt. There if

worked

harmony

with, that

pervades and through the channel great and definite systems of law, governs the universe and

all

that

Every decade we are discovering new laws and

and the

latter

their nature.

seem

This

to be

nature

it.

forces,

perhaps on account of the process

and nearer

— the soul

the time finer and finer in

all

of evolution so developing, so unfolding us, that

getting nearer

are

to the essence, the inner

of things.

[316]

What was knows. Nor

Heart

the Fire of the

essential or important that

is it

But

in the beginning, as

now was

and

all-pervading — the

Spirit

Power

that

back

the source, the fact

—

man

the actual beginning of things no

life

Infinite

Being, self-existent

working

all,

Infinite

and

Life

and through

This seems

all.

Being projecting

we do know.

all,

be a self-evident

itself

into ex-istence,

therefore the spirit, the substance, the

life

of all there

is.

Various terms or names are used by different minds; but to

this Infinite

Being

To know

God.

this as

our source, the very essence of our being and from

which or from

whom we

can be cut

ourselves, only to our detriment, selves as spiritual beings;

it is

off,

can separate

to recognize our-

be born into the

spiritual

spiritual life is the life eternal. Thus we know God in the degree that we realize that in Him we live and move and have our being. In the degree that we live in the realization of this truth, does life,

and the

come

this spirit of Infinite Life

and Power reveal

consciousness more and more, and

it is

we grow and unfold

life.

It is

way

our

that

through great systems of law, definite and im-

mutable, that these laws

God

and

brings

or Infinite Being works.

to live, to

brings peace and

all

in the spiritual

itself to

in this

harmony with them

wilfully to violate

inharmony and struggle and

work together

wilfully to violate

namely

suffering.

them

They

To live in harmony with good. To fail to recognize or

for good.

them can bring us only of good,

work

harmony;

To know

them brings

evil.

Evil has

necessarily the opposite its

[317]

origin properly speak-

the Fire of the

Heart

ing not in God, but from a violation of the laws, shall

realize that in essence,

are one with the

life

God.

say, the ordinances of

though not

God, and then

in degree,

open ourselves,

our minds and our hearts, so that a continually increasing degree of the

God

through

understand more and more and to

come

us, is to

life

can manifest

into a continually greater

under which we

itself to

harmony with

the laws

and which permeate and

live

rule in

the universe with an unchangeable precision.

through our non-recognition of the the laws by which

all

life

that

and

in us

and

things are governed, in other

words, living out of harmony with the laws under which it

with

decreed

we must

live,

that inharmony

and

evil

consequent pain and suffering and despair

its

enters into our lives.

There are those who have

fully in the realization of their essential

lived so

oneness with

the Divine Life, that their lives here have been almost

a continual song of peace and thanksgiving. expressions of Being projected into As individuals

—

existence

— we are given the power of choice.

can

choose to open ourselves so fully to the realization of the Source of our

imflux that

life

and open ourselves so

festing, incarnating themselves lives,

so that in time

more and more

maniin our

take on more and more the

wisdom, the insight and the powers of

way we

fully to its

will find the attributes of this life

this Life.

In this

are gradually changed from the natural to the

spiritual,

from earth-men

the undoubted

God-men, thus

purpose of our being

[318]

fulfilling

— divine

self-

In realization,

Heart

the Fire of the

and the returning

from which we

to that

came. Coming as babes, returning as

fully

grown

spirit-

ual beings, gaining our experience in contact with this

material world through the agency of the material body

and

for

some purpose

which we do not yet know,

but that shall be revealed to us

What

it is,

come when we which we are

are ready for

living

and

it.

Step by step in

God

the laws under

an ever

lives into

what concerns us now.

live

is first

know

the

life

separate ourselves from the

life

fore the guiding

wisdom

harmony with

buffetted about as

that

the part of the wise. of

is its

these laws,

God,

and

to lose there-

attribute, to fail to

and

be battered and

invariably the result of the violation

of law, until through this

driven into

then in harmony with these laws

to reap the results that follow naturally

unerringly from this course,

live in

our

will

this as in all things.

know God's laws

in us.

and thus

due process of time-

To know

to bring

completer harmony with them

But

cannot concern us materially now. This

harmony with

of the unwise, the fool.

hard process we are the laws of God,

finally

the part

The laws will have obedience and man or a woman powerful

there has never been a

enough or

rich

enough or unique enough

to violate

without suffering sooner or later the inevitable

Many have sought to do so but have learned sorrow, in anguish, in humiliation. of our

them

results.

their lesson in

We go voluntarily and

own accord, or we are pushed and taught through God will have obedience. To know God is to

suffering.

know His laws; for His laws are written in the heart of man[319]

the Fire of the

dwelling continually in this

Heart life

God we come

where we are led more and more by the Divine guidance, where the Divine wisdom and power and life so manifest and illumine our being into that condition

and through and more

this

know

and

to do.*

While the end of

we know more

at the right time;

do the right thing

for such, to

our understanding that

not attained through intellec-

life is

tual processes alone, the mind, the intellect nevertheless is

a means to

the connection

Divine. It

this end. It is

through the mind that

made between

human and

the

channel of the mind that

are able to realize and keep

our connection with Infinite Being, our source. It virtue of the mind,

are connected

The body

the

through thought operating through the

working through the brain, that we

with the material, physical universe.

take,

and to the earth and the

Every

particle of

it,

from the earth and the

air

material, physical.

through the food

air every particle of

finally

returns.

realize that the

body

strument by which the

and made

but the

in-

temporarily related

to,

not the

self is

self,

able to manifest and live in a material world

for the purpose of experience, growth, development, is

a great aid in arriving at the

realities of life.

then of giving supreme attention to * For suggestions as to the realization, as also for a

day

life,

entitled,

the reader

"In

much

method

The

folly

and the things

of entering into this higher

fuller portrayal of its results in every-

directed to the volume by the same author the Infinite, or, Fullness of Peace, Power,

Tune with

and Plenty."

[320]

In that pertain to able

it.

give

self to use, is

can be

sufficient attention to en-

become the clearest,

instrument that

Heart

the Fire of the

the soundest, the most perfect

made and kept

the part of wisdom, for

for the real

the true middle

it is

ground.

Now, why

hear

all this, I

asked, in a book of this

nature? In order to get a basis osophy, in as

the individual

higher, never lower.

life

in religion, in phil-

the individual

reality, for life, for

the national

life;

life,

and

never

As Dr. Patton, formerly president young

of Princeton University once said to a class of

graduates "Religion

man must

the goal of culture, and the educated

God. He must

stand in some relation to

have some philosophy of human

And as makes men

life,

some theory

society."

Milton has said: "There

that

rich

And

nothing

and strong but that which they

carry inside of them. Wealth

hand."

of the heart, not of the

as Mazzini once said:

"Where

there

vision the people perish."

The

chase for the material has of late years become

so great

and so absorbing, whether by

foul, that

means or

fair

has become one of the notorious features

or characteristics of the time.

And

while I believe the

heart of the people, and the heart of the nation

virtue of the vastly superior

honest,

unpurchasable

women among us, both istic

tendency

of the time.

and

old

sound,

of splendid,

men and

and young, a strong material-

nevertheless a

As there

numbers

high-minded

marked

characteristic

perhaps no greater truth in

[321]

the Fire of the

human

connection with

and

in his heart so is he,

likeness of those things

and

also that all

life is

how

clearly apparent

the material,

from within out, for as

hear

becomes

and

often said,

Now I would

life.

I think a truer way. life,

put

The

spirit-

and the physical,

the channel through which

the inner,

way, that the physical,

the basis and the end of

the material,

into the

essential that the right centre or

another way, a safer and ual

be the outer,

will

the basis of

we grow

habitually contemplate,

most well meaning

said in the

— As a man thinketh

also, that

be established.

life

than

we most

and necessarily

so always

basis of

life

Heart

and works and unfolds and masters. The

manifests

latter

not

to be despised or slighted, but to be used, to be wisely

used, but to be subordinated to it

its

proper place. Thus

becomes a great blessing and helper rather than a

hindrance and a curse.

have an abundance of the

make

the

accumulation of material things the chief object of

life

world's goods

good

rightly used, but to

can end only in disappointment. Such have but a pinched and stunted

empty

of but

little if

Each one must radiates, or,

one that

true

So many

born

and

and except by way

life

from which

all

another way, a basis, a founda-

and

Such a centre or such a

satisfactory,

longed for by myriads of people. religious life

unsatisfactory

any value to the world.

all else is built. is

find a centre for

putting

upon which

basis,

which

of joy to themselves,

warning

tion

life

earnestly

instinct for the

in practically every

human

soul.

great chunks as the years have passed, have

[322]

away from our

fallen

chunks are that

theological systems,

man

mentally honest

to find

any satisfactory or even ac-

ceptable basis for the religious

mon

with

all

there.

life

others will

that the essence, the suostance of

al basis for this I

God in the

and have over being.

" In

John Tauler has put

the

"God made way is

man

as he

soul which enables

putting

more blessed or

Him," was

The

the

less blessed in

"That

Divine

the is

unity of

the

philosophy

"An

Human

certainly the profoundest

[323]

Life

inseparable

the

St.

Augustine's

only death to be feared

presence

spiritual of philosophers, Fichte.

so near to

me than I am to myself. It is part He should be nigh and present to

it.

was the keynote

Divine

to perceive

aware of the presence of God."

actually lives in us

absolute

us for Himself, and our hearts are rest-

unconsciousness

Paracelsus.

in the

and move

live

what a homely, splendid way

until they repose in

Him we

is,

ration-

nearer to

And

same measure

less

man. The

in the following:

of His very essence that

me.

true religion

all

soul of

has been,

as certain as that I live that nothing

God.

belief

have endeavoured to point out

early pages of this chapter. " In

"I have a power in

com-

in the world's history,

whatever the religion or system of

the Consciousness of

Such

find that the uniform teaching

most inspired teachers

of all the

God:

away from them

continually falling

still

and as many

hard or well-nigh impossible for an earnest,

Heart

tne Fire of the

God,"

said

Energy

and

from Religion," of

that

insight

most

into the

Existence with

the

knowledge that

man

can attain," said he again.

who

dom the

here or, !

God is Kingdom

these things

who gave

there

within you. "

was the most inspired

among us who

has yet lived

they say,

Heart

the Fire of the

said: " Neither shall

for,

behold the King-

again: " Seek ye

And

first

God, and His righteousness, and

shall

be added unto you."

all

was He

the substance of the moral law and therefore

the essence of religion as

— Love

God and

love to

the fellow-man.

To me

God

love to

this dwelling continually in the

conscious living realization of the essential oneness of

our

with the Divine Life

life

— Seeking

other will than that the Divine will

may work through wilt

keep him

on Thee,

and He

us.

How

also " In all thy

manifest to and

significant then

in perfect peace,

and

may

to have

whose mind

— " Thou is

stayed

ways acknowledge Him,

shall direct thy paths. "

How

truly in the light

of this truth does Fichte say that the expression of the

mind

constant

" Lord

let

of the truly religious

Thy

but

will

be done, then

for I have no other will than this

done." wilt

And how

keep him

Thee,"

his

him

this prayer

mine

— that

also done;

Thy

thoroughly in keeping with

in perfect peace,

whose mind

will

— "Thou stayed on

thought in the following:

"Whatever comes to

man

strange

pass around him, nothing appears

unaccountable

whether he understand

— he

or not, that

it is

knows in

assuredly,

God's World,

and that there nothing can be that does not directly tend to good. In him there is no fear for the future, for the absolute fountain of all blessedness eternally bears him on towards it; no sorrow

for the past, for in so far as

[324]

he was not in

God he

In was nothing, and

God he

dwelt in

Heart

the Fire of the this is

now

an end, and since he has

has been born into

God, that which he has done

good.

and

gently,

Love

Inward Being, and

his

fellow-man

to the

are

all

will all

life in

have obedience or

who do

"He

the realization of the fact

each

the established law of

softly

issues out into Reality

parts of the one great whole, that the

source and essence of that love

assuredly right and

His whole outward existence flows forth,

from

without difficulty or hindrance.

that

while in so far as

light;

he was

violence to

essentially the

will strike its

same,

and that the law

life,

punishment upon

it.

that loveth not his brother, abideth in death,"

said the

Master Teacher, and

ciation of the

law

and immutable

that's written

deep

"All beings are the fruits of one

for

in the universe

in its workings. tree, the

branch, tne drops of one sea. Honour

men, not

simply the enun-

this is

for

leaves of

him who

one

loveth

mm who loveth his own," says the Persian.

Truly we are

all

parts of the one great whole,

or have

can't suffer

injustice

and one

done him without

all

sharing in that suffering and none more than the author of that injustice. It

was by

virtue of His perceiving so clearly the laws

in relation to

human

life

that are so

immutable

in their

workings that enabled and prompted Jesus to give

anew all

to the world

an epitome of the laws relating to

human relations when He said, "And as ye would men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise."

that It

what

ordinarily termed the Golden Rule. I

have never seen any wiser or more suggestive com-

[325]

In mentary upon

Heart

the Fire of the

than the following, by the late Hon.

Samuel Milton Jones*:

"As I view it, the Golden Rule is the supreme law of life. It may be paraphrased this way: As you do unto others, others will do unto you. What I give, I get. If I love you really

and

truly

and

actively love you,

in return as the earth is sure to

the

midsummer sun.

you are as sure

to love

be warmed by the rays of

you and abuse you, same kind of antagonism

If I hate you, illtreat

equally certain to arouse the

towards me, unless the Divine nature

so developed that

and you have learned to love your enemies. What can be plainer. The Golden Rule is the law of dominant

action

in you,

and reaction

in the field of morals, just as definite, just

as certain here as the law

definite

and

certain in the domain

of physics. I think the confusion with respect to the

Rule

arises

from the

different conceptions that

Golden

we have

word love. I use the word love as synonymous with reason, and so when I speak of doing the loving thing, I the

mean

the reasonable thing.

When

speak of dealing with

fellow-men in an unreasonable way, I

mean an unloving way.

to my mind one of the most significant our country has yet known. A man who believed in actually adopting the law of life as enunciated in the Golden Rule as a basis for personal action and for the administration of public affairs. A man who used public office only for the highest public good. A man whom the people therefore so trusted that, running as an independent candidate against the candidates of the two dominant political parties, he was able to pole a vote of nearly 17,000 out of a total voting number of 24,000. It is rather sigand this against the combined and determined nificant, isn't it ? efforts of the machines of both political parties, both local and state, and in face of the united opposition of all the newspapers and corporations in the city, and not a few of the "eminently respectable

*Mayor Jones

men

Toledo was

politically that

—

upon the political future is concerned, being already, carried into activity by younger men who are coming into the field of political action, it is unquestionably true that no greater or more valuable man has ever come from or been associated with the State of Ohio.

people. " So far as his influence

it will

be, even as it

[326]

Heart

the Fire of the

The terms are interchangeable absolutely. The reason why we know so little about the Golden Rule is because we have not practised

it.

Yes, what

law of

we term

and

life,

the Golden Rule

will

and therefore the gain observe

brings into our lives

will

the blankness

drives into our lives

As we

joy,

violate

it.

give to the world so the world gives back to us.

Thoughts are like. If I

forces, like inspires like

give love I inspire and

wise

man

and

like creates

receive love in re-

and

turn. If I give hatred I inspire

The

an absolute

have obedience by the pain and

it,

have obedience through the

I receive hatred.

loves; only the ignorant, the selfish, the

fool, hates.

man who

It is the

the riddle of

life,

loves

for

and serves who has solved

into his life

the satisfaction, the peace

comes the

fulness,

and the joy that the

He it is who is the wise man. The man who has no sense of service

Law

decrees.

man, whose idea

primarily gain for himself, whether

honourable or dishonourable,

by virtue of of a

to his fellow-

the supreme fool in

his ignorance leading

him

life

into the violation

law that condemns him to a pinched, a stunted,

sunless, joyless

life.

"If the gatherer gathers too much," says Emerson, "nature takes out of the

man what

swells the state but kills the owner.

she puts into his chest;

Nature hates monopolies

and exceptions.

well

when we remember

this

— one

can

never do an injury to another without in some form

[327]

the Fire of the

Heart

or another suffering for that injury himself. is

so written in the

we do

Law of the Universe, remember

likewise well to

Why ?

that's

— one can

And

all.

never do

a real loving, unselfish, kindly act without deriving a benefit

from such act himself; and

are apparent exceptions to this

any time there because

I believe,

it is,

our limited vision does not enable us to see the

human

relationship of

"No man

another without being injured in return,

nature seems to recognize

accounts

finally,

— some way,

of offence that

the boomerang. Nature

keeps her books admirably; she puts all

wrong

the world ever attempted to

somehow, sometime. The only weapon

she closes

total

actions.

down

every item,

but she does not always

balance them at the end of the month."*

the

house

life

of a

man

which he

more value

him than the

so the possession and growth

lives,

him

of the faculties that enable

to enjoy the things that

pertain to and that spring from the inner

more value

him by way

of bringing

life

are of

him happiness

and contentment than any possible accumulation of material things. Wealth fort;

good

— as a means

com-

good as a servant, never as a master; good as a

feature, never as the chief

One

most

of the

way some very

rich

end of

life.

pitiable sights that I

men

know

die; several such deaths

the

have

transpired during even the past year. Let the following serve as the type of many. *

From

that excellent

little

A man

booklet "

by William George Jordan.

[328]

has

made

The Majesty

gain

—

of Calmness,"

In money-getting

Heart

the Fire of the

— the

chief object of his

life.

In time,

shall

ities,

the greed for gain becomes his master and dries

say through nature's abhorrence of abnormal-

his very

in life.

powers of enjoyment of the

finer things

accumulates a hundred million, with

all

the care and worry that keeping this invested to the

best advantage means.

of but

little

use to the

world, and through the dwarfing of the finer qualities of his

life

and the drying up

He dies. Three months

he has become so also to himself. he has gone his name

after

powers of enjoyment

of his

scarcely ever heard,

except perhaps in some long drawn out or bitterly fought will contest.

many a dog,

His end faithful

a dog. In short,

like that of

and

intelligent

and

useful, has

more genuinely mourned and longer and more remembered. And then

fully

been

grate-

true, as I believe

we commence in the other form of life we leave off here, taking with us only what we have gained by way of soul growth and it

must

be, that

exactly where

spiritual

unfoldment, but not one cent, not one cent,

and having, moreover, no further control over any material possessions,

Contrast

life.

for a

all

and

poor,

how

pitiably poor

such

with this as an ideal and a purpose

primarily engaged to myself to be a public servant

the Gods, to demonstrate to

all

men

intelligence at the heart of things

yet higher leadings.

power

wind

life:

"I am of

how

These are

good intentions,

there

good -will

and ever higher and

engagements. If there be

in fidelity,

and

in toil, the north

shall be purer, the stars in heaven shall glow with a

kindler

beam that I have lived. I

329

And what

life

the Fire of Hie

was the

Heart

man Emerson who part. And what an in-

of this

life

deliberately chose this as his

fluence while he lived, and truly for

Not

centuries can forget his

three months, nor three

name

or cease to bless his

Another

whom

time to come.

all

memory.

success in the sense of excessive gain

develops pride and an itchiness for ostentatious show builds a lars,

mansion

— a home

thinking also that

reminder of himself.

will

costing four million dol-

monument

be a sort of

Within

fifty

to,

years, or within even

much shorter space of time, it may be the possession of a Barnum and the home of a good up-to-date circus.

Such

the security of a man's hold upon material

And how few seem

possessions. cess

and remain good, healthy,

to be able to stand sucsensible,

seems strange that so seldom can a ful

normal men.

power without taking on,

as to either wealth or

mentally at least, the strut of the turkey-cock. great

man, however, is always immune

Pope

It is rather as

all the

Mans What

Is Pride

really

causes which conspire to blind

and mislead

weak head with

—

The law seems

from this affection.

said:

erring judgment,

the

man become success-

the

mind,

strongest bias rules,

that never-failing vice of fools.

to be absolute in that " whosoever shall

be abased and he that humbleth himNature seems to abhor an self shall be exalted." abnormally developed pride, snobbery, too marked a exalt himself shall

;

consciousness of superiority.

And

[330]

to the

— I am holier

In than

thou

Heart

the Fire of the

— she

feeling

Hypocrite, and she burns

always the brand,

applies

deep.

Another makes the accumulation of material things the chief object of his

life,

from humble circum-

rising

stances, possessing unusual abilities, but giving but infinitesimal

amount

both badly

his state,

of these

abilities to his city

need of such service

make

conspiring with their enemies to for a

an or

but rather

;

special privileges

few greater, to secure acts alienating valuable

properties

from the people of

and

his city

avoid

state, to

a just share of taxation, thereby defrauding and throwing greater

and unjust burdens upon

all of his fellow-

men, except upon those equally dishonest and contemptHis

ible in this practice of tax-evasion.

here closes

life

considerably

before a normal and well-rounded

should

and on quitting he

close,

tically the entire results of his life

young grandsons, not yet

directs

work go

life

prac-

that

to a couple

in their teens,

in order

that the family name and business be preserved.

" Every just so

man,"

much

said

the

Marcus

Aurelius,

worth

are worth about which

things

The business may be preserved may tumble into ruin. Nature deals so in mockery when a man fancies he can have a conhe busies himself. " or

trolling

hand

material

preserved esteem, or inebriate

actual

in the final

The may be

family

possessions.

and it

may

asylum.

raised

be preserved

A man

only in regard to his

own

disposition

name

may be

even to a higher the records of an

can have an actual life,

[331]

his

say

but never in regard to

In the

life

alone for

"By

any

the Fire of the

self but,

labor, incessant

and

and devout, to

raise earth to heaven,

good that as yet

the end and purpose of

Not by ambition and gain

other.

to realize, in fact, the

that

Heart

human

exists only in idea life;

and

—

in fulfilling

achieve and maintain our unity each with every other

all

with the Divine."

Many

a rich man's son has found the handicap of

great riches too great to allow his success of

life

;

making even a decent

the incentive which nature seems to have

decreed as a healthy and strength-developing stimulant

has been neutralized by the burden which an over-rich father has

dumped upon him. "Ungirt loins,

unused

talents, sink

enough

for ruin. "

man Many

like lead.

unlit lamps,

Doing nothing

a daughter of the unduly

rich has found her associations as also

her training

or lack of training of such a nature that undue pride or a false ambition has taken possession of her, robbing

her of one of the chief charms of womanhood, and a designing or worse than empty marriage has fallen to her portion.

Surely wealth

of the

mind and the heart and

And the man who makes as his life work self and who fails to recognize his inexor-

not of the hand. only gain for

able relations with his fellow-men, getting from

that

life

what he thinks

what he gains turns

fails

completely in

he'll get; for

he finds

to a greater or less extent to

ashes in his hands, and what he bequeaths to his descen-

dants

far below

what

might be,

— he or she who

worthy of receiving such bequest would rather

at all

be a few millions

less

and be accompanied with a

[332]

name that

the Fire of the

honour and a memory to be revered than

come with

Heart

the tremendous handicap

many

times comes with.

As we come and

to a fuller appreciation of these facts

of the laws of

human

life

and

relations that will

not be denied, then more and more will "

we measure

the degree of civilization not by accumulation of the

means life

of living, but

by the character and value

of the

lived."

Now I have said, nor would I say ought against wealth. I believe

comforts of

wealth

life

;

and

—

sufficient for all the legitimate

I believe in

plead for a state wherein

so thoroughly that I

can become the portion of a

much larger number than has ever yet been known. And while I do not share in the belief that our time is necessarily

materialistic than other times

have

been, I do realize and most keenly that the economic conditions during the past few years have produced a class

men

so materialistic in their entire outlook,

so insatiate in their greed for ever larger gain, so

drunk

with opportunity and power that they would pull the very pillars of the state to the ground

a united and

determined people did not come forward and say, so far,

these

and no

farther. It

against the aggressions of

and the abuses we have permitted them

birth to

and

to give

fatten upon, the aggressions of these against

the welfare of their fellows, against the economic and political institutions of the nation, that

for

some time to come with an

ation

we must

battle

alertness, with a determin-

and a bravery that can know no

[333]

defeat.

In In the

Heart

the Fire of the

and with a mind calm and

of the heart,

fire

determined and with malice towards none, must these great battles for the redemption of this nation be fought.

And

as excessive wealth

any

real value to

man

nor to his descendants, but becomes more often a veritable curse,

and as

makes

menace

possessors a

its

to the

very welfare of the nation and to the welfare of every

man, woman and

child in the nation,

be doing

will

a twofold service through such warfare and subsequent vigilance possessors from

our

saving

their

own common

carries with

and

possessors

its

own

folly, as

interests. It's the

its

would-be

well as conserving

middle ground that

the satisfactory solution of

life.

Excesses

have to be paid for with heavy and sometimes with frightful interest.

Life,

the

problems, ity is

life

its

of everyone has

struggles

and

its

brave and there are but few

men and women, some in the

be done.

who do

not stand up

aim

of each to

to lend the

the skies are blue

and a ribboned road

Shall the •pilgrim's heart beguile

Yet hurry not so fast with your load,

For

there is

many a

mile.

And it's

here a friend and there a friend To bear your hand a while But none will go to the journey's end,

And few

throw

hand whenever

can.

its

Human-

path of any fellow-being, to make

no load heavier; but rather

almost like very Gods to

the end. It certainly should be the

no hindrance

perplexities,

its

work

will stay the mile.

[334]

;

And

the Fire of the

problems and perplexities

in connection with the

and apparent

losses that

Heart

come and

that

must be met

as the days hurry away, I believe without a question

come when we

of a doubt, that the time will

will see the

part that each thing has had to play in our lives and

thanks that

will give

came

just as

came. I believe,

moreover, that a sort of an inborn universal feeling of nature

this

a reason why humanity

hope that never wearies, a

brave.

faith that defies defeat,

an attitude of mind that compels gladness, stand like if

men until we realize this glad culmination. And

one would find the easier way it lies

realization

— " Thou

whose mind I

suppose

himself

comes little

it is

in the ever conscious

keep him

wilt

in perfect

peace

stayed on thee."

some

will help us to

natural for each to find or to form for

Here

sort of creed.

to-day; perchance

is it

mine

may

at least as

contain

some

suggestion for another:

live to

our highest in

all

lend a hand as best we can to

things that pertain to us; to

others for this same end wrongs that cross our path by pointing the wrong-doer to a better way, and thus aid him in becoming a power for good to remain in nature always sweet and simple and humble, and therefore

all

aid in righting the

;

strong;

To open ourselves fully and to keep ourselves pure and clean as fit channels for the Divine Power to work through us; to turn toward and keep our faces always to the light;

To do

our own thinking, listening quietly to the

opinions of others, and to be sufficiently

[335]

men and wo-

men

the Fire of the

Heart

upon our own convictions; to do

to act always

our duty as we see it, regardless of the opinions of others, seeming gain or loss, temporary blame or praise; To play the part of neither knave nor fool by attempting to judge another, but to give that same time to living

more worthily

when we

ourselves; to get

stumble, face again to the

without wasting even a

love

things

all

moment

and

travel

in regret;

to stand in

own wrong-doing;

ing save our

up immediately

light,

awe or

fear of noth-

to recognize the

good

lying at the heart of all people, of all things, waiting for

own good way and time; and the wild flowers, the stars, the far-open sea, the soft, warm earth, and to live much with them alone, but to love struggling and weary men and women and every pulsing living creature better; To strive always to do unto others as we would have them do unto us. In brief to be honest, to be fearless, to be just, to kind. This will make our part in life's great and be as yet not fully understood play truly glorious, and we expression,

all in its

love the fields

—

life

nor death; for

death is life. Or, rather, it is the quick transition other form; the putting off of the old putting on of a new; a passing not from ness but from light to light, according as

coat and the

need then stand

in fear of

nothing

to life in an-

light to dark-

we have

lived

another form just where we leave it off here; a part in life not to be shunned or dreaded or feared, but to be welcomed with a glad and here; a taking

ready smile

when

life in

comes

in its

own good way and

time.

THE END

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