Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 30.djvu/547

Rh operative in society. Evade the subject as we may; put it aside and refuse to consider it, as so many do; characterize it as Utopian, or sophistical, or chimerical—nevertheless it constantly reasserts itself with the declaration, "The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground,"

We may wrap ourselves in a mantle of selfish exclusiveness and refuse to recognize these obligations, but ever and anon the jostling of passing events will remind us of neglected duties.

Our responsibilities in this regard are not confined to legal formalities nor bounded by them. They have to do with our relations as members of one common brotherhood. Our employes have claims upon us in addition to the stipulated compensation for services rendered and our recognition of their technical right—claims upon our sympathy with their sufferings and misfortunes; claims to our encouragement in all their efforts for improvement, and to our helpful care in every time of need.

The claims of our neighbors who are not our employes are equally valid and imperious. Personal interest, as well as our obligations as good citizens and honest men, forbid us to ignore these claims. There is a tendency prevalent in society to limit these obligations by the narrowest possible lines.

Men look askance at the various manifestations of evil in the community, and, instead of planning and working for the correction of the evil, they spend their thoughts and efforts in devising better safeguards for their personal interests, in the vain hope that, when the storm does come, their defenses will be found sufficient. When the ruin comes, however, the strong and the weak are involved in one common catastrophe.

The granger organizations which a few years ago wrought such disaster to the railway interests of the Northwest, the strikes prevalent in connection with mining and manufacturing industries, and the riotous demonstrations and destructive agencies of the commune, serve as illustrations.

We were lately receiving the details of what was termed the working-men's insurrection in London. We see how easily such a movement passes under the control of socialistic and communistic leaders, and how readily it is transformed from a popular demand for employment into an ungovernable and devastating mob.

Doubtless a large fraction of this assemblage was made up of the criminal and base elements of society, but another large fraction was composed of those who had neither bread nor an opportunity to earn it—men who would be peaceable and industrious if only they could be given a chance to provide food for themselves and for those dependent upon them.

It was the discontent and sense of wrong upon the part of this element that made the riot possible. I am very far from offering any