Were a mere modicum of the vast sums now worse than wasted in
pauperizing the unemployed; a tithe of the money squandered on
building palaces for our numberless, ever-begging colleges, devoted to
settling the poor upon the unimproved lands in Florida, the dangerous
flood of ever-increasing crime, and physical and mental suffering
which now threatens the very existence of our republic, would soon
vanish from our cities, and thousands of the dangerous classes would
become self-supporting, self-respecting, independent men and women.
Were a tithe of the vast sums lavished by our millionaires upon the
pictured walls, gorgeously embellished ceilings, overcrowded book
shelves of our numerous libraries, and upon the unchristlike towers
of unfrequented cathedrals, be even loaned to those who would gladly
cultivate the thousands of acres of untilled soil in fair Florida,
all the suffering hangers-on for jobs would become successful
agriculturists, owning their own farms, buying their own books, and
sufficiently educating their own children.
If the money spent every winter in pauperizing the unemployed by
giving them free soup, could be devoted to settling colonies upon our
uncultivated lands, the vexing problems and contests between labor and
capital would be easily solved and obliterated; the unskilled poor
would be at once enabled to respond to the call of the poet--
"Come back to your mother, ye children, for shame,
Who have wandered like truants for riches or fame!
With a smile on her face, and a sprig in her cap,
She calls you to feast from her beautiful lap.
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