The
general public shared in the blame for this state of things by reason of
the almost universal demand for cheap goods.
"While the introduction of machinery was a real advance, whose benefits we
are reaping to this day, other conditions had not become adjusted to it at
the time of which we are speaking, so that there was often a surplus of
workmen, especially in the lower grades of labor. This had a tendency to
reduce wages, of course; and the want of employment, improvidence in the
use of small wages, intemperance and other immoralities, ignorance and
misfortune, all combined to keep part of the people in poverty. On the
other hand, it was a time of great wealth and luxurious living, and these
two classes, so far apart in their manner of life but often so near each
other in all their selfish aims, seemed to have a strong mutual
attraction, for they were always found together, crowding upon each other
in every large city.
"One of the most difficult things for us of the present day to imagine is,
how persons of refinement and sensibility, living in comfort and without a
care, could take any pleasure in life when they knew that within a stone's
throw of their doors were human beings who, very often through no fault of
their own, were so destitute that a crust would relieve their want, or so
friendless that a kind word would make them shed tears of joy.
Pages:
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394