Fordham University - Maroon Yearbook (New York, NY)

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Rev. Ov en l Clur«r on •» ,! • no I Cthico. v-c« President Edmund J Burke. S J. R«v Michaol J M«hO«y SJ IKlwrrr onHiU ry rt.il«.»ophy SCOrt M. Welly. S. J. lisnr ol Ptiy«ie». Gooloyy. • no AI Iron o n v Mr. George £ $lro iaver. S.J. PrOlmorol C h • mi itr y. The Professors of Sf.nior Year

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Unemployment: A Peril of the Masses 505 for his children, and show him where the dangers lie. Secondly, by compulsory industrial education, and by the total prohibition of child labor, we must provide these embryonic citizens with a fair mental and physical start in life. Again, by efficient legislation, minimum wage laws and so on, the condition of the unskilled laborer must be so improved as to be made, at least, far preferable to vagrancy. Lastly, both capitalist and laborer should be taught to respect each other's rights as men, and to hearken to the ringing words of Pope Leo XIII: “Class hatred is not necessitated by class distinction.” Not for one moment do we pretend, of course, that when we have done all this, the tramp and the gangster will cease entirely to be—it is our destiny in this life ever to strive for, never to reach, perfection; but we do maintain that their numbers will be decreased and the ranks of the criminal army depleted. Now we come to the third and last class, those who though able and willing to work, are unable to find a market for their labor. It is this class that constitutes the greatest menace to the community. Lully thirty per cent, of the trained male wage earners in the Eastern seaboard states are out o f work, and this proportion is increasing geometrically. The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company reports 357,000 unemployed in New York City alone, and Mr. Sears, director of the Public Employment Bureau, has stated that in his opinion the number of people out of work reaches 500,000. Besides this, there are at all times hundreds of thousands of men, » who though actually employed, are at any moment likel)r to lose their means of sustenance. Think what that means! Perhaps you have seen the haunted look in the eyes of some poor fellow who has struggled along for years in constant fear of dismissal? Then consider the conditions of a society composed of millions such as he! Caligula is said to have wished that all the people had but a single neck, so that he could slay them all with one stroke of his sword. The great capitalists of to-day have that terrible power; with a nod of the head they take away the livelihood of thousands, and cast them out to starve. What should be the government’s attitude towards these unfortunates ? Undoubtedly, in extreme cases aid should be forthcoming, but it is a dangerous thing to lead the mass of the people to rely on the state to provide for its necessities. It must not be forgotten that “the number of dependents tends to increase in direct ratio to the aid they count upon receiving and that once the government be-

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