Brockton High School - Brocktonia Yearbook (Brockton, MA)

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BROCKTONIA ment, slaughtered like a horde of wretched dogs, they were cast back before thelr Maker starvmg yearn mg, unsated Most assuredly, we can not rxd ourselves of our unemployed as we would a multitude of pests, we cannot extermmate them, humamty IS composed of sterner stuff Obvxously we must struggle to devlse some re deemmg plan of salvat on for the coun trys pressing need It IS not beyond As we have triumphed over na tion after natxon, as we have survxved catastrophe after catastrophe, so can me triumph over thus problem that now stands before us The natxon that has rnsen supreme in every crlsls can never fall to surmount thls one But the work w ll not be easy We must flght as we have never fought before The Army of the Unemployed has assumed alarming proportnons, steadily ploddmg ranks have lessened but llttle If one listens lntently, one can almost hear the mcessant tramp, tramp of their leaden feet ommous, portentlous Thls army has no leader, anyone may find hxmself, unwlttxngly unknow1ngly a vxctlm of cnrcum stances a member of thenr ranks Cons1cler how nt mamtams nts steady mtermmable march there IS no end They press on these sullen eyed, ob durate soldxers of misfortune' The transcendent rumble of thexr weary feet has reverberated down through the ages On and on they plod tramp, tramp, tramp tramp, tramp To what goal? To what end? When wlll the threatenmg echoes of thelr journey dwmdle away in the d1stance9 That IS the unanswered question before us Today, according to some author mes, there are ln Amerxca almost 3 000 000 unemployed, upon whom per haps as many more are dependent for existence Frnancners may determln edly aver that the busmess of Amerlca IS sound, sclons of wealth may stead fastly maxntam that the busmess of Amerrca 15 sound, captams of lndustry may proclaxm to the whole umverse th1t the busmess of Amerlca 15 sound They all, yes, all, may stoutly prophesy that It w1ll always remaln so, but, tell me, how can a natrons busmess be stable lf so many of 1ts people are jobless, xdle, wandermg the s reets m hope of some opportunity to obtam labor? By what right do these same men of lndustry cry that the busmess ofAmer1ca1s sound, lf dally they themselves dlscharge so vast a multi tude of laborers? If we can not or wlll not read the Handwr tmg on the Wall we may awaken some mormng to discover ourselves tossed and whlrled amidst a sea of rebell1on we may find ourselves caught fast ln the throes of revaluation Thxs rs no 1dle thought If IS but a predxctxon of what may well occur Nation after natlon has experlenced tts upheaval We are not lmmune, we are not nnvmclble Man the world over IS formed of the same stuff what was characterlstxc of our ancestors can be true of us And as the burden of unemploy ment mcreases rn wexght, so does hrs spxrlt become more and more rebell nous, become mstxlled wlth a multxpll xtatrons And men who have naught to do but roam the streets m lclleness, have unllmxted tlme to mull over and revolve xn their mnds the apparent mlsdeeds and wrongs of then' em ployers And these thoughts are not transxtory, fleeting They are not mere ldeas to be forgotten wxth the advent of the morn Gradually, a man s bram becomes warped, obsessed with a pas sron to overthrow, to crush, to trample, on this power that rs oppressmg hxm, that IS welghmg hmm down He real lzes that the waters of desperatlon and last hope are slowly closmg over hlm, and that, unless he acts xmmedlately he wxll be drowned wlth the rest of the so called rabble This xs the seed of the movement to follow The sentlment be comes widespread, nt expands lxke an unquenched HFC, searing its path mto the hearts of the people For months and perhaps years they llve under the mfluence of thls feelmg But their mmds have been lrremedlably lmbued wtth an lmmutable determ natlon t rend the Cham that keeps them bound 15 i . , , g . , - . . : . y . . ., . , 1 ' ' - ll 3 ' us. ' - ,', ' 3 Y ' ' ' its 5 K ' D it is not organized.. All are eligible- City of pernicious thoughts and cog. , . . u ' I I l I , e 1 i a ' - ' ' . , . - . - . . , 1 9 ' ' ' - U ' 5 . . . I . . i . 0

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14 BROCKTONIA EDMUND PILLA Or to Class Orfatzon Unemploymen Without a doubt many of us of the graduating class will find in the portals of Brockton High School the termina tion of the long road to educat on Many of us either because of lack of funds or other hindrances will find ourselves cast into immediate contact and conflict with the economlc con ditions of this world Those who broaden their education in some h gher this experience from four to six years later if not before You parents and friends, have already tasted che world s venom and its nectar, you have met its passions its people its prob lems But all of us pupils parents friends, teachers all are concerned or will be concerned in one of the great est of modern problems unemploy ment Almost as far back as we turn the dusty pages of history we discover that employment of mankind was a tre mendously important factor in the gov ernment and ClVlllZ3.tl0I1 of every land True various countries have tempo rarxly succeeded in confronting and solving this question Tradition says that in ancient Peru where the gov ernment was paternahstic and hier archial each unit of society was re sponsible for the one below it and the king and the government were respon sible for the whole Throughout the ages of civilization shackled leaving a trail of civil war, bloodshed, and death behind it During the re gn of Henry VIII society afflicted with the pleas and plaints of the helpless unemployed, conceived a solution to the conundrum as to the disposal of 72 000 sufferers Think' What a genius it must have re quired to solve so baffling an enigma' Yet how simple' They hanged them' There seemed noth ng else to do with them after all they were the refuse, the offal of humanity Picture it to yourselves 72000 frightful examples of the ultimate results of unemploy Class a r ' ff t,, s 1 ' 1 . ' ' , - , . 9 5 ' Y institution of learning will encounter this iminent question has stalked, un- , . i , . . i . , , : . ' , - . , 9 3 ' ' -' 1 9 - , . - , . . 1. S v - T- , .

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BROCKTONIA to the Rack of Despair Then comes the mobilization of the powers Now It IS that the tramp of the avenging army draws irrevocably nearer, the sound is dreadful, awe 1nsp1r1ng Through the thickly encircling clouds of dust, w perceive their grim, impassxve lmea ments They will not be thwarted, they will not be foiled they are adamant They seek no quarter, they give no quarter Resolutely they approach They are coming XVhat shall we do? I am quite certam that many of you present consider that I am wandering tai afield n describing to you these horrible possibilities Yet, I think that I have not exaggerated, that I have not conjured up mere, hollow phan toms Indeed I may have spoken all too conservatnvely Let us not be so bllnd that we will not see Once, the inhabitants of a little seacoast village to undermine nts foundation Too careless and neglectful to construct a protecting sea wall, they awoke, too late, to the real zation of their danger It is for us to profit by their expert ence The latter generally costs dearly let us purchase it as cheaply as pos sxb e Of course, my supposition is, as yet, a mere phantasm, it is something in tangible and impossible but it can well material ze From sleek conten ment keep me free, and Hll me with a buoyant doubt says the poet Then there is another aspect to un employment We must take into con sxderatxon its effect upon the produc tive capacity of a man If he remains too long in idleness, he loses much of his skill and adeptness He loses speed and accuracy, he becomes less and less valuable Frequently pauperism IS the indirect result of unemployment Out of once respectable and law abldlng cmzens de velop hoboes and nondescript tramps Although xnstitutions h a v e been founded for the betterment of such unfortunates nevertheless, these aids are all too few Some of them, priv ate employment agenciesj have even been proved to be fraudulent It has been discovered that these agencies of ten overcharge or discriminate in re gard to fees required Often they retain these fees without having rendered the promised service Many times they are nn collusion w1th unscrupulous em ployers by arrangxng w th them to dis charge new laborers for the sake of additional fees They send men to dis tant locahtxes where there is in reality no apparent work They dupe ig norant, trusting immigrants In fact, many of them transact everythmg ex cept their legit mate business they are veritable parasites who literally snatch their money from the toil stamed hands of man I tell you if conditions such as these are not remedied, if we permlt this momentous question of un employ ment to r e m a 1 n unsolved throughout our land, if we preen our selves complacently while this mon its enormous hands drenched with the gore of man before us, we are de mented, unreasomng blind If we fiddle while Rome burns , then we are doomed we are perched upon a tottermg, tmsel throne that any mo ment may crash to ru n One poet has very aptly stated m no uncertain words Beside the road of time, the gaunt Sphinx lay Half buried in the dust of cities dead A mighty nation came with rngmg tread The monster rose, the traveler stood at bay And heard the riddle What is there to say When xdlers feast and tonlers lack for bread? No answer came, a struggling gasp m stead Told that the Sphinx had clutched another prey Empire on empire fell the question su Unanswered, and today our young land hears Contlnued on Page 88 16 , i , , e . . . h Y ' . , , . . . I . , . I . J . , . ' , . . . , , . . - perched on a bluff allowed the ocean ster is menacing our entire nation with ' 7 . - . , . D - - - ct - rs . 5 A ' - ' l . ' ' G . . . . - U . . ' I . - t- 4. - - -. 73 ' 9 ' ' 1 ' J j ' - Q ' v 5 . ' ' g ' 'll , , 7