OCR Text |
Show THE TWOJXTREMES. A Glance at the Strained Social Relations as They Bow Exist in the Home of Liberty and Patriotism, WHAT WILL THE OUTCOME BE? It is an Enigma Which Eludes Solution . With a Pertinacity That is Perplexing Per-plexing and Astounding. Because wage earners, as a class, en joy today more of the good things of life than ever before, by some it is argued that in their condition there is nothing of which they may reasonably complain. But the question concerning the wage earning class that is up for discussion, as fair minded persons will perceive, is not whether they enjoy more of the wealth they produo than heretofore, but whether they enjoy all they are entitled en-titled to. Economically the situation is unstable. , Our present system of holding land, under un-der whioh probably three-fourths of all the land in. this country, for speculative . purposes, is held out of use, thus producing produc-ing rent and a powerful class of non-laboring non-laboring rent takers; our present system - " of issuing money, by which the circulating circulat-ing medium of the country is monopolized monopo-lized for the benefit of the bondholders and the creditor class generally, thus producing interest and another powerful class of non-laboring interest takers, and the complete subserviency of tho lawmakers, law-makers, editors and clergymen, as a rale, to these two powerful classes, resulting in multitudinous laws intended to favor the cunning operations of those who live by plundering wealth producers by means of the legal manipulation of capital cap-ital and the fostering of public opinion ' favorable to such legislation, have brought nearly to culmination a social system that must end in beneficent change, the complote) enslavement of wage earners or war. What the outcome will be no man can prophesy. Economio education may be so rapid that needful modifications will be made, or stupid indifference may lull the mass of the people into a carelessness care-lessness that will be punished by complete com-plete industrial servitude a mighty plutocracy living in unparalleled splendor, splen-dor, with millions of human drudges providing them with whatever their vitiated vi-tiated tastes may demand; or an increase of the power and impudence of the capitalists cap-italists may lash an awakened and outraged out-raged people into fury that will express itself in bloody and dreadful war. Will there be any considerable change in the situation by which the nuxfc gen- eration will benefit? I beltave there will, - I think the industrial system will not ' last fifty years longer. It will be peuxie- fully improved or violently overthrown to give place to a better. That our civilization, civil-ization, like some civilizations of the past, will bo utterly destroyed is not ' probable. What changes come are likely to be improvements, and somo great accomplishment for the social betterment bet-terment of mon will probably occur within the next fifty years. The only question is whether Che improvement will come through evolution or revolution. revo-lution. Through evolution, I hope; through revolution, I fear. Ilugh O. Pentecost in Arenv |