Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, January 25, 1874, Page 2

- Visory. - Litzsch. 2 THE LABOR PROBLEMN. cople’s Banks of The P i Cermany. Co-operative Stores that " Deal in Noney. The Amalgamated Carpenters’ and Joiners® Societys Formation of a Co-operative Building Company- Education of the Dasses---Foreign Railing Against American Institations. Evils of the Present State of Society--- Rich Drones Worse than Poor Ones. Chicago vs. Yorkshire---Country vs. City. The People’s Zanks of Germany=-Co= operative Stores that Deal in Money. Schultze-Delitzsch, after seventeen years of toil, hus firmly established in Germany the sye- tem of People’s Banks,—one of the greatest of blessings -to workingmen. ~ What is this system? What were the objections Schultze- Delitzach euconriered ? And how did he over- come them? In studying the wants of the workingman, this . FATHER OF GEBMAN CO-OPEBATION rockoned among the greatest of them his in- ability to obtain loans on the same terms that employers did. He saw that this was inevitable 8s thinga then were; for & man who had no guarentee to offer, except his willingness and ability to work, possessed in reslity no security at all. ©Yes,” said Schultze-Delitzach, “3you are in the tight as regards one workman. No matter how probable that an individualis honest sud can earn enough to pay you, he may die, be robbed, or be prevented in some other way from mesting his obligations; but,” continued be, wisely, ““ body of individuals is to be trusted. Skill and willingness to work, aud the combina- tion of thia skill, this labor, and their earnings, does count for capital,—is & perfectly good, negotiable commodity.” Hers, th:en, is the iden, the objection, and the answer in theory. Thero is sn snswer also in practice, for the objections have besn met and overcome by the Loan Associations on Peo- ple’s Banks. These banksare FORMED DY THE WORKINGMEN. “Each member subscribes for one share, which is 21l he is entitled o hold. The. pricoof each share is abont 87.50. It is paid on entering, or in montbly installments atier entrance. Theso installments are, as & rule, as small as 12} ceuts. The entrance fee, which is from 75 cents to £1.50, and . which goes toward the reeerve- fund, i5 also payable in monthly installments. Tiag profitr of the bank are divided among the membars iz proportion to the amount cach hes pnid ; and, until & sbare is fuliy paid for, the amount of the dividend umpon it is credited in part payment. The number of mem- bers is unlimited, and entrance is zl- Jowed to any opme who will subscribe to the rules of the society. Withdrawal at soy time is allowsble, provided due notice, ac- cording to tho statutes, be given. Any with- drawing member is lisble for tho debts formed by the sociaty during his membership, until dis- chsrged from that Lability in such a way as the ssgociation approves, Tho quettion vory natu- rally arises, MUOW 18 THE MONET BAISED ? The collection of a few hundred shares of £7.50 pives s Ecant capitsl. The money bor- rowad by the society is raised on the joint cred of the members, i tirlue of the unlimifed lia- bity of all of ‘them. Each member is person- ally Tiablo to the full extent of his property. Thig is the foandation-stone of the system, and i6 the guarantee upon which all loans are ob- tained. Even this may bo considered at first slightly ~risky, end tho sssociation may be obliged ~ for . s time to pay higher rates than the wholesale —market-price. Butit eoon becomes established 28 firmiy as other financial institutions, aod can buy in the market or equal terms with them. WHAT ARE THE PROFITS MADE BY MEIDERS? The bank buye money at wholesale, and eclls at rerail to its customers. Few peoplo realize ai that menns. The difference between the wuclesnle and rotail prices is greater thau is imagined. The difference in Germany is gener- aily & per cent. For instauce, o bank buys at 4 Ter cent_and sells at § per cont. Then there is a dividend of 4 per cent to be divided among its members, including, of course, those wic - borrow. This ~ scems . a large ‘mirgin, but American workingmen pay 26 and 30 per cent on money that i8 borrowed in the first placa at from 7 t0 ;10. - The members of these asrociations, then, can get loans at the market-rates, and they thon receivo dividends, which aro in reality rebates on even those rates. Eo & workingman can often borrow on even bot- tor terms than his_employer. Money is mer- - ~chsnaise. The People's Banks of Germany are CO-OPERATIVE STORES DEALING IN MONET instead of in teos and sugars, and dealing -oub - that money equally. v They grant Joans only to their own members. his is one of the main precepts of Schultze- Delitzsck. Another is the pecessity of never Jending money for longer terms thin that for which it has boen borrowed. " THT HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE'S BANES i8 a proud record. At tho close of tho Franco- German war, their number was 1,871,—an in- crease of 121 gained during the struggle, and not one bank lost. Of these banks, about 800 were constructed entirely on the plan bere described. The others differed but slightly from it. In 1859 thero,were 80 societies. Iu 1889 thera were 735. Jostead of 18,760 mewmbers, the number has in- creased during the ten yoars to 304,772, In 1859 the total of shares and _reserve-funds amount- ed to £203.000. In- 1869 it stood at £9,400,000. Tho borrowed copital in 1859 was sbout $750,000. In 1869, it was $32,500,000. Of this sum, nearly one-half consistod of savings- deposits. The outbresk of the Franco-German war exposed the banks to o double peril. Very many of their members were in the army, snd 50 their power of borrowing, which dependad upon tha producing capacity of ol their sharcholders, wag dimini: At the same time, thero was a Grain on thoir savings-deposits, for the support of the families of these men. Nevertheleas. while the great Lanks broke right and loft, not one of the People’s Banks closed its doors for & day. The general principles to be observed during the crisis were snmmed up in A FEW SHORT TULLS at the Central Bureau of the Co-cperative Bank ot Potsdsm, o3 the beginning of the war, and were published in the co-operative newspaper, which1s under theimmediate control of Delitzsch. The rulea were as follows : 4 First—Pay higher interest on your borrowed eapital o prevent or dimisich its cflux. ‘Sccond—Raise proportionately the interest charged to your customors. Third—Limit the amount granted in any one lozn, and shorien the term for wiuch you grant iko loans. v Fourth--Demand higher security. Fifih—In granting_ prolongations, insist on propertionaterates being euccessively paid off. 1t was to tie carrying out of these rules that the triumph of tho People’s Banks dwing the War is to be ascribed.: THE FEDERATION OF THE DANES js simple and admirabie. Each association forms part of n_Provincial Union, and the Un- jous are leagued togetner. There are Provincial ‘Acsamblies and a Central Congress. The latter maects once a year. Its functions are only ad- Tt is composed of delegates from each andis presided over by Schultze-De- Itsitsin several of the larger cities in All the associations are 1o constant with the Central Bureau, which Eociety, £UCCesEion. correspoudence publishes an annual report of the condition of the Federation, This report shows tho exact finarcial status of cach and every bank. The figures aro 50 clearly put that nobady can fail to nnderstand them. The . Schultze-Delitzsch sys- Fem is now it use smong. tho -workingmen of Rusgin, and Ialy. It is simple’ and safe. workingmag- cau find . 4 ready 2=cipo 1o most objectiouable featurs of iue *iyrai capital.” A In it the Amorican m ‘the of _ The Labor Question._ There is one society in this ity that hasforits objec: tho amelioration of many of tho miserics to which workingmen-ore subject, and its mom- bers have goue to work 1IN A SENSIBLE MANNEB to accomplish their purpose. Strikes ara dis- countenanced by them, and are allowed only in extreme cases ; even then eo many restrictions a6 thrown around them that it is to their mani- feat advantago to Licep out of strikes. One of their rules reads thns: * The objects of this Society are to raise funds for tho advance- ‘ment and protection of the trade; for the mu- tusl suppsTt of its members in caso of. eickness, sccident, superannuation; for the ‘burial of muembers and their wives; emigration; lossof tools by fire, water, or theft; and for assistance to members out of work. Also, as directed in the following rules, to form a Contingent and Bonevolent Fund, which shall be used for tho purposé of grauting assistance in cages of ex- treme distress not otherwise providod for in these rales.” Tt will be readily seen that these men will not ba very likely to hang round tho doors of tho Relief Society duriog & scarcity of work, as they will . SUPPORT EACK OTHER in & time of hardship like the presont, and ex- tend a helping hand to the helpless. A lawyer is employed to collect the wages due the mem- bors, in order that none shall bo & charge upon the institution when they have money duo thom, These fow items will convey to the general reader the advantages to bo guined by bocoming a member of this Society. This body of men having accomplished 8o much, it was not to bo expected that they would stop here, ueither have they come to a dead halt, with no thought of going further. On last Monday ovoning thoy £old & meoting at 199 Forquer street, tho rasi- dence of Mr. Maurice Lynam, their Secretary, to form o Co-operative Bpilding-Stock Company. which should be confined to members of their own organization,—thoe AMALGAMATED CARPENTERS' AND JOINERS' CIETT. 1 was present at this meeting, and I can as- sure the reader that it was not composed of dull men, or stupid men, or mon without brains; but 1t8 thembers wore wido-nwake, enorgetic, hon- est, go-ahead, stick-to-ative men. Ond trait that itapressed me moro than any other was their faithin themselves, and in cach other ; and, a3 T thought of Christ's saving, ** Accozding toyour Iaith it shall be done unto you.” I felt surc in my own mind that their undertaking WOULD BE A SUCCESS. How blind we are to this miracle of faith. It is taking place every day right under_our eyes, and yet wo have eyes that sco not. How many mountains have beenremoved by this same faitti, and still we give no heed. The active faith of the “workingmen will yot romovo the moantains of Protection aud Monopoly. Witk faith in God, faith in themselves, and faith in each other, they could indeed_perform miracles,—nt least what Seem to us mow to be miracles; but the great difiiculty is, that workingmen in general are afraid of each other. They do not reslize their own power, and they_disirust their fellowmen, "This suspicion and distrusy weslens thom, an tends to make them totaliy helpless, leaving them an easy prey to the spoiler. ‘Theso men appeared to trust each other fally ; their interests reemed to be so closely identified that so- THEY WERE AS ONE AN, and therefore they bad the power to move. Every question was ably discussed. I do not Tmean that it wus talised upoa wich a grand fow of eloguons oratory, which carried Lhe feclings of the hearers siong with it, and obscured tae Jadgmont; bet that it was' discussed in Euch plain terms that every ono present thoroughly Dnderstood it, and knew, when thoy Yoted, just, oxactly what they were voting for. ‘Tho first step taken, after the meeting was or- ganized, was to choose their Board of Directors, Shich, according to their rules, sbould consist of seven. The Chairman advised thom to move very cautioasly here, and be guarded in their nominations, remembering that they wero aboat to place their fortunes in tho hands of theso Di- Tectors, who would have full power fo sigu all contracts and transact all tho business of tho Society; npon- them would depend the success or the failure of the schemo. It was necessary that these Directors be men of good judgment and good execative ability, as they would bavo to appoint the members of the Socicty their places of employment, and assign to the differ- ent branches the men most_competent to accom- plish the work; therefore, it was necessary that they should Lave the ability to put the RIGHT MAN IN THE BIGHI PLACE, The Board of Directors was then ciosen with as much gravity and deliberation as the Chairman could desire. The amount of stock was the next question under consideration, But little time was spent on this matter, and it was quickly decided that tho stock should for the present be limited to 10,000 eharce, at £50 per sbare, with the privi- lege of incressing the number of shared to 50,000, ‘The next question, and the most momentous ono of the evemng, was the smount of stock that ehould be owned by any one man. When it is understood that the object of this Association 15 to do job-work and take contracts for build- ing, rent or purchace workslops, supply the members of the Society with_employment, build and sell for the general benefit, and carry on the concern as & dividend-psying institution, tho importance of limiting the number of shares owvned by obe men will be readily per- ceived. j.yf one man were allowed to own an indefinite number, he would, of course, haye ss many votes 08 he had shares ; and, in'process of tims, when the As- gociation had been carried by a large number of industrions, frugal, honest men through in- fancy, toothing, measles, whooping-congh, and all the incidental drawbacks of childhood, to the substantial grandeur of maturity, o few of tho ghrewdest men’ might outvote all the smalier fry, and g YOTE THE CONCERX INTO TEEIR OWN HANDS. Therefore, 88 a Co-operativo Mutual Bencfit Bociety, it is necessary that the number of shares should be so limited a8 to gaard againkt any- thing of this kind. E i Afer long deliberation, the number of shares | was limited to ten,—no member being allowed to own more than ten shares. Th co-operative plas 16 the plau for working- ‘men. If they wonld unite their forces in estab- lishing houses of business in the manufacturing and commercial line; they surely must succeed when oneman salone can make such a splondid prccess as many of our merchants and manufac- turers have done, who commenced lifo poor and have become millionairee. Eesides, it would injure no ono, and that is of itsolf & merit. - How many factories and stores might now be sielding & good return if the money had been expended :in them that has been wasted, and worde than wasted, in strikea. impossiblo for any one to_be ignorant of the at- tention it is commanding among all clagses. The workingman bave, in the last few weeks, fally demonsir:tod, by the articles they have written; ibat thev uro by no meuus . the drogs of seocicty; but they have been. 80 oOp-~ pres=.d by the moucy-power that they had ‘owe to tho concl_sion tuut thoy had no chance Tor thewselves; £.°, movoin wiatoycr direction - ey pleared, pu: lic sentiment would bo aguinst: L, and frown dovu ailtheir eirts. ince the aticution o readers hasbeen calied £, ihe to bo redressed, public seatinidut 1S IN THEIR FAVOR. ° It is a fact ' which they shou!d never- forget, that-au enlightencd..public soutiment is always with tho oppressed ; and, toe indigustion of the people arousad against any great pablic wrong, we may safely caleulate that the wrong witl be mado right. . neer bo suscessful ; that has been Btrikes will 3 proved again and ogain. Tho strikera may gain but is will be at a little temporary advaatage, 1 tho expenso of & great deal of snfferings nnd, at the risk of belng charged with tautology, I ‘would again urge upon tho attention of working- men PLAN OF CO-OPERATION: The carpentors and joiners havemedo the first beginning ; they will immediately apply to the Legislature for & charter, and expect to bo ready to commenca operations at the openiug of the building season. : How. many other trades will follow thetr ex- ample, and be the arbitors of their own fato, in- stead of leaving their future at the mercy of their nnscrapulous taskmasters ?. Mas. M. D. WrNE0OP. Educating tho NMasses-=Foreizn Rail- ing Against American Institutions, To the Editor of The Chicago Tribune : Sim: I dospiseau anonymous letter. and con- sider the person who communicates opinions in that manner, as a rulo, beneath notice ; but I should like to answer one reccived this week, for others may have thought as he does. I copy it verbatim ot literatim: CmroaGo, Jan, 19, Garnet B. Freeman, Esg. : i I s “Hard Times” in Dean Sm: After reading your Toipuse of yesterday, viz.: you are either a moneyed aristocrat, who grinds down the poor, or a capitalist’s hirchug who is paid to uso his pen in the fntorest of his employer, In cither casp I advise you to withdraw from the columns that belong to those who work for mot against the poor. ANoxTaA. So, Tam “a moneyod aristocrat or a capital- *jet's hireling.” Since when, I wonder, have I beon eithor? “ You adviso. me to withdraw." Inever accopt advice that I don’t nmsk. That part of Twe TRIDUNE *belongs ” to you? I DON'T BELIEVE IT. I think both sides of tbe question may have a hearing, and that thus wo sball best reach the cause of the present difficulty, and know how to apply » remedy, if there is one; but I sm not alono in the belief that there is none, and that this is one form of the incaiable ovil that must bo endured. Common sense shows,—I would not say1t unless obliged to,—that there is a class of poople who will always want,—always bo behind everyono else, Education wonld do something for them, but it will be a limited re- lief, because everybody won't be edacated; and there ave some natures that won't educate, a8 there nre some metals that won't harden. I be- lieve & * Compulsory Education Bill” bas been peseod in the Houso at Springficld, tho strongest argument in favor of which was, that the plat- form of the *workingmen of Chicago demand- edit.” I don'tindulge in slang to any great ox- tent, but T beg to be sllowed to say ** Dullyl” for the workingmen of the Garden City. It speaks well for ** us,” doo'v it ? But you know, s woll as I do, that a few fnds work and think for the many. and that they. who devised that were men who would edu- cate themsolves if they denied themselves food to buy books, and went without slesp to get time to study them. They aro men who wonld educate themselves from observation alone, if they bad no better aids ; and tho ides that you could bring all up to their strength ia a8 absurd 08 to say that you could polish cheeso-cruwbs into diamonda. You CAN'T MAKE ENONY OF DASS¥OOD. One in five hundred would study Euclid and dive into Greek by the lizht of a pine-torch; but it requires o clear brain, a sirong will, and consuming thirst for knowledge, that can only be s&:flic'.l by longdraughts from the fountaiu- head. A blacksmith may study the dead languages when his day's work is done; but, where ono does it, & hundred go to somo placa of amase- ment, or to a billiard-hall, or saloon. A carpenter may lay down bis plane, fold his apron, and go home to store his mind with the philosophies of Copernicus or Plai but, Whero one deee it, o score eat their sapper, givo a touch to their toilet, remark that they have to % giep just round the corner,” or “ down town,” —vory indefinite places, both,'the whereabouts of which no wife knoweth,—and do not return uatil midwight. A bricklayer may spend Lis_evenings with tho poots, but muck more likely he spends them with somebody else. If our free-school privileges were improved as they might be, not & child need lack the foundation of = good education, and our artisans would be the pride and wonder of the world, sinco to strengti of developed musclo woald bo added strength of developed sod cultivated in- tellect ; but you OAN'T FORCE IT GPON A MAN - any more than yvou can forco him fo be. Christian and_a God-fearing man. DBoth must depend upon lis inclination. " Educating the massos by means of lectnres is avothor fallacy. A tired, crass, fretted msn don’t care half 8o much for belles-lettres 18 ho does for pork and besns. Scorible, tno; forone gives him strength for the morrow’s work; the other doesn’t. ; Announce a courss for the special bepefit of tho poor, and thoy would stay at home in exca- sable disdain. It would have just the effect that Houry Ward Beecher's announcement did that he would deliver a discourse, on'a certain morn- ing, to * Fallen Women.” Piymouth Church was literally jammod with the elite of New York and Brooklyn, the well-known leaders of the best society ; butnever a ropentent Magdalen showed her tear-washed face. 2ocher privately re- marked with grim sarcasm that was not com- plimentary to his audicnce, that he was never sure, after all, that' he pieached to an empty ouse. . 1t tho object has been nccomplished in En- gland i this way, as some intimate, it must Bave been ginco tho last emigrant-ship came oyer; and, if workingmen sro so_much better paid, so much better educated, and can live so much cheacer there, why, in .the name of rea- son, don't they . LET WELL ENOUGH ALOXE, or, when one finds be has jumped from the fr{;- ing-pan into the fire, why dou't he jump back, instead of staying there and grambling about the heat ? i A gentleman on the Zeitung's editorial staff used often to me, for no other purpose, that I could ever seo, but to rail ngainst our instita- tions, social, roligious, and political, and espe- cially to barp oa this one string over and over: how much better off the Germaps were at home I inquired of the President of the meeting if they intended to have a newspaper of their own. _“"No, bio replied, **s paper published exclu- sively for workingmen is read only by working- men, and we want to reach all calsges. “THR CHICAGO TRIBUNE will insert anything we want published, and that paper wiil do us justice. Whatever we have ‘to £ay to the public we shall say through TmE TRISUSE,—at least for the present.” ‘Twenty thoisand miners are now said to be on astrike. If they have strack for any length of time, they must neccesarily have saved some money on which to live whiie they are idle. How much better for those miners to have consoli- dated their funds and opened mines of theirown in a new Btate or Territory, which was pretty well under cultivation by farmers, but where no conl-beds had yet been opened. With_ the prac- tical knowledge they must have acquired while they bave been mining, they certainiy ought to be able to tell whore coal is likely to” be found; and my advice to these men, could I reach them, | would be: ** Send our best men out prospect- infi, and, when coal is found, make your claim an STADT AINES OF YOUB OWN. Leave the owners of the munes where yow now aroto fight the battle out smong themselves. While you are idle you must live, and the monay necessary to sapport you and your families while you aro out of employment—if it is correct that there dre now 20,000 men out on a strike, with the prospect of more in & few days—would sure- than here; Low much essicr thoy could live; how much finer their Government was than ours, &c., &o., until he provoked me into saying that there was at least one boautifnl feature in our orty. s . “Ishould like you to point it out,” said the irate Tenfon, who always talked himself into or was in a chronic ill-temper. i “It is,” sard I, “* that; while our doors and onr hearts are ever open to receive you, they aro NEVERB CLOSED TO YOUR DEPARTURE. Yon aro a8 welcome, as free, to go as come.” 1 would saggest this to the dissatisfied of all nations; say it as kindly a8 to s homesick, dis- contented guest under our roof. America is a3 generous to her adopted as to her own children, and at least equal gratitude is duo from them. The same rule applies”to Chicago. Hundreds who rushed in here, Lioping or expecting to make a fortune out of acr calamity, feel ill-used and disappointed because they have mot, and blame tho city—tho people. Iugress and egress are alike - free to them. I know something of several other cities— Memphis and Nashville and New York, better than Chicago; but I never saw 80 generous & people, or & city whero aid was so freely given, —where 1t is bestowed so much upon the princi- ple that It is better to give than to roceive.” I will sy amen with all my heact to any meas- ure that will benefit the needy, or relicve any who suffer ; but I ghall ever deprecate THE SENTIMENTAL PRATINGS of those whose wasted pity only enervates and Iy be eutficient to open new mines and get them into working order.” The objection might be raised that the rail- roads would not carry the coal to merket. We think that matter might eafely be lert to public opinion, which is & mighty power when it is once aroused. ‘The labor question is now o thoroughly venti- lated through the newspapers that it is almost weakens the little force possessed by the object of nd, if I wero called a ** capitalist's hire- ling” every day, none theless would I denounce their idea "that it ia & crime for one man to be richer than another. If one wero compelled to share ovenly with his neighbor the well-carned reward of years of labor, the probabilities are, that 1n ton years ho would have doubled his re- maining half, and the man upon he bestowed the Tact that t.-Lro v.ere real grievauces which ough | ono thing 18 clear to my mind, . other would have run through with it, and call out of poverty for a second division. 5 GARNET B. FREEMAN, . The Evils of the Present State 'of So- o © i ctetys 7 5 To the Editor of The Chicago Tribune: i . Smm: The $ whatever is, is rizht® philoso- phers on the * Labor Question," have boen put< ting forth view lataly that appear to ms to be rather , In tlo first place 1t appears to bo.the general “opinion that the principal wants -of the-laboring _olasses—oan - be, and- only-admit- of-being, sup~ plied by charity in one shape or.another. In the second, that, alf igh starvation, des- titutioo, etc,, aro evils, , on the whole, rather lard to bear,-they are -really ineignificant coms pared to the agonies of bankruptey. .. ... . The answer to the first is, that charity, how~ ever layishly bestowed, can. only ba a temporary reliof ; it is simply an opiate, the less resorted to the better. *A:-permanent remedy for the present state of. things must bo looked for in ofhor directions. s F Charity has placed, snd is now playing, ALTOGETHER TOO PROMINENT A PART = ip the clvilized world. It 18'simply one of man~ kind's indolent, blundering ways of pelliating the evil effects of our present state of society, instead of taking the trouble to 80 rogulate society iteelf that thoss evils could not possibly result, { L That this is practicable is_geperally admitted Dby the greatest thinkers of the last hundred years. The chief ground of dispute now is, What are the best mesns to be employed ? Whether Communism, or Socialism, or any of its modifications, such as Co-operation, etc.; or the Limitation of Wealth, or the Abolition of Inheritance ; or—as some gtill advocate in the- orv,and indeed we all appear to advocate in practice—whether it is best to trust to Provi- detice, or the * Laws of Supply and Demand,™ or the natural tendency of things in goneral to coma right of themselves, aro still open ques- tions, £ Tno advocates of the first theories appear to be gotting a little the best of it lately. Right or wrong, however, IT WILL DO NO HARIC for these things to be understood, and torned over, and tslked about, and written about, in Tae Onicaco TRIBUNE, or anywhere ; and I fail to see, in my simple ignorance, how it can set claas agamst c'zas, or be productive of any of 1ha horrible things that some appear to dread, except perhaps making the wrong give way to the right. Iam well aware these theories are exireme, and, when put in practice,. will revolutionize society; but onr present evila are extreme, and tho remedies must be in proportion, B T can derive no consolation from the prophec, “Tio poor ve Lave always with yow.” In probability this will continua true ; but, in'any- approaching & right state of society, we sbould havo nothing but the lazy and improvi- dent poor, and these in greatly diminished num- ber ; for 1 think the Coming AMan will havo us pang of conscience in quietly ALLOWING THIS CLAGS TO BTARVE, and this would probsbly induce the great ma: jority to cultivate habits of industry and thrift. - Abova all, we should have no lazy rich,— surely the greatest of the two evila, Tho drono who merely asks to be farnished with the bare necessaries of life, without return- ing any equivalent, whose wants can be easily suppliod by his follow-man with a trifiing amount of labor, is unworthy to live ; but is sarely.less of a sinnor, and less of a burden on nis fellow-beings, than the droue who demands the Lighest luxuries, whose extravazant needs can only be sapplied by the lifelong labor of szores and hundreds of his fellow-men, and who returns as an_ equivalent something ho never earncd, and only undér unjust laws is slluwed 10 pussess,—in other words, WHAT 18 NOT HIS. The socond stacement, ¢hat actnal want is a lesser evil than the dread of business failure, aleo, T think, admits of & difference of opinion. The first i8 actual ; the last imaginative. 1 know that millionaires reduced to a hundred- tnonsand have committed suicide; but, alas! women unable to attend the matinoo have done the same. ‘Are, Jones, in her rod brick house, with o ona- Dorse buggy, and 8500 closk, ia heppy. Mra. Brown moves into- the marble-front opposite, Yides in a two-horse carriage, and ~ears an 2800 cloak; and Mra. Jones is miserablo. Afrs. Brown's husband has reverees ; sheleaves the avonue, sells one of her horses, and sighs for death to end her misery. Mr. Jones goee along swimmingly with & doz- enclerks; the panic comes; e fails in bosi- cea: paTS 20 cents on_ the dollar; begins lifo afresh with the remaining 80; and tells work- ingmen that thore are some things harder to be borne than starvation. and wishes he was a me- chanic, and never had the terrible dread of fail- ure hanging over him. The whole ** Labor Question " 1S A BIDDLE, put to society at large, to be answered at its peril. It will serveuo one’s iuterest to pcoki- poohit. And it may be worth while o assure some writers thst caat is equally uscless. T would also rewmark that, if a certain one of our correspondents. caonot find a *reliablo party” amongst Lis * limited_acquaintauce” who knows of a case where a building was erect- ed by successive gangs of mon, and nons of them paid, he cannot do bettor than cultivate the ncquaintance of relisble partica, 2nd he will fhon discover that the lady was not misinformed, but, on the contrary, stated the case very mildly. GrunrRT GURNET. Chicago vs. Yorkshire. o the Editor of The Chicago Tribune: Sin: Your paper of the 18th inst. contains a letter written by & Yorkshireman, who sigos hia nama George Hondry, and assures you aud your many thousand readers that be is -*'in no way .connected with Communism, Trades-Unions, or Secularism of the Bradlaugh type, which sneers-| at Roralty and the religious community; coming hore to ask tho force of public' opinion on bohalf of English theoretical Republican- jem, whose members do not average ome in a thousand of the population of Yorkshire.” 1 believe Mr. H. wants to make out that York- ehiro is a botter place for a workingman than Chicago. He at times compares Yorkshire with- Americs, and Chicago with ‘England, and goes on to contrast the * purchasing power of & dol- lar” in the two countries. He speaks of Free- Trade Yorkshire, a8 if Free Trade really had an existence there, which it has not. Now, before I enter into any details on the ‘cost of living in Yorkshire, or in any part of En- gland, I hope you will allow me to say that I was in company with ME, DRADLAUGR 0 on several occasions during the agitation for the' passsge of the English Reform bill of 1867, and 1 nave nover known that great English Repub-~ lican to “emeer at any religious community” he believes to be.sincere in what it professes. As for Mr. B. sneering at Royalty, I am of opinion he would plead guilty to the charge, 53 would any honest or consistent Republican. I believe Mr. B. is an Atheist, and consequently he and Ido not share each other's belief on re- Dgious matters ; yet I only wishwe had amongat our ed Christian gentlemen many such champions for the workingman's rights and liverties as he is; for,if we bad, tho United Kingdom to-dsy would be walking with a quicker Btep in the path of progress. = Mr. H. says: ‘‘ Legislative acts are passed here independent of an enlightened public opin- jon.” I would inform him that, when any of our Senators or Assemblymen get out of favor with the people, they very soon afterward get ont of office; and, knowing it to ba uscless, they do Dot pretend to be sick, and then march in pomp and grandour to s cathedral offering up prayers for the recovery of him whom the public was duped into the bellef of being on the point of death. _Our high fanctionaries conld not endear themselves in the hearts of the people by such acts. . ¥ : . Now, a3 for the coat of living in Yorkshire, I must < DISPUTE THE STATEMENT of Mr. H., remnding lum ot the fact that York- shire forms part of England, and is, therefore, subject to the same lawe as any other part of hia ‘beloved country; consequently it has to pay taxes on food to support Royalty. He eaya: “'A doliar 1o Chicago is only equal in purchasing power to 93 cents in Yorkehire, when expended in rent, clothing, and provisions.” I omphatically deny the accuracy of this statement. I admit house- rent is less there than here, but it is not, a8 he Bays, “soven times doarer here than in York- phire,” House-rent in Leeds, Bradford, snd Bheffield,—three of the principal towns in York- shire,~may be set down about half as dear as Chicago. 'The custom in all parts of England is to pay rent by the week for furnished or unfur: .-DEFICIENT IN THE ELEMEXT-OF-TRUTH. nished apartments, 8o that it won!d scarcely be worth compelling tensnts_to pay in advance, more especially as the laudlord tnera can saize farniture or other goods, and <sell the same by suction, forthe rent due. The rentjn London is'much ‘sbout’ the ' same as’ Chicago, and, in ‘many instances, paid in advance, shough it is 1ot ‘the custom, * ", ¥ [ ' . . 7AS FOR FROVISIONS of. - a1l kinds, they are at-least 25 -er bero chish in any town i gland_with a ‘Population numbering eoything lise taat of Chi- cnizo 5 and, 0s for anital food. it is about one- hatf “the “price heve of” what itis inany - of “tho English towns I have -montioned. It is usoless for me to occupy-your valuable space by quoting _tha_exact_figures. Suflica it tosay I have lived.| ia most of the largo towna in England, and tho prices mentioned in round numbers are as cor- rect a3 there is any call for. Ar, H. quotes the price paid for Iabor in 1872 ; and I must ssy he tries hard to make the best he can of a wrong er cenf cheap-: aseertion, by’ instancing - the p-ices paid to.molders -in- Yorkshire -and -ths-..prices aid here,~ -as ‘it is & _well-known fact that molders, blacksmiths, and almost all other trades mentioned by him, aro the highest paid class in Englaod. w{xilu in America, they he puts at £1.25 here, against 84 cents thera; now, good tea can Le had here at from 90 cents | to 81 per pound. - i No doubt there are some things that can be: got there chesper thau here, .and vice verss. iThen ho goes on to deplore: tho diference in the ‘Bociety kere and there. . He .can stand in: the ‘same class of socioty hero that he can thers. I. | suppose ho thioks that wo Americans betieve that mectanica nnd workiogmen there associate in the rame Bacicsy as tho rich ana- titled. Alaybo they do, but I wasnat aware of it before. and I think i must bo something new. Wil ho -plexse~inform g~ when- - this- chacge -oc- curred? As far as ihe moral character of tho two places is concerned, I don't think thero is much_difference in tho_two places; at_least, | statistics do not showit ; and, if ho will examino the statistica of crime in this country,. he will find that many of our criminnls are from" the. country that Lie Luils from. Thero is no_ law against the immigration of forcign criminals and poupers, and, as & nafural consequence, they soon find their way into tho prisons poorhouses. Aftor figuriog it all ap, he comes to' the con- clasion that the 01d Conatry is A FAB BETTER PLAGE aro only about £he average,—in fact, hardly that. However, even according to Mr, H,, tho class mentioned is better paid Eere than in Yorkshbire ; for instance,~molders £3.25 here, and $1.40 in England. g e AS FOR ‘! FREE-TRADE YORKSHIRE,” it is all moonshine, a8 somo of the articles men- tioned by Mr. H. are_taxed 25 per cent on their original value; but, before that can reach tho revenue, the Custom-House delays and annoy- auces to “the merchaots dealing in them ultimately tax the consumer 100 per cent on his purchases. There isin Epgland what is called the Free Trade Lescue, established for the pur- ‘pose of abolishing all $axcs on food; thereforo there must be taxes on the necessaries of life in Yorkshiro.: This League held o meoting Oct. 17, 1873, at No. 1 Adam street, London, and the fol- lowing isone of the resolutionsadopted: “That this conference, having duly considered the pres- ent modo of taxation, is of opinion that the present method of taxing food is pernicious in ite incidence, upjust in oj cration, repng- pant to tho best interests of society, and_ injurious to trade, commerce, and Agriculture.” Now, sir, according to an official document, T find that the produce to the rove- nue, from tes end sugar slone, is, in ronnd numbers, £6,000,000 per sunam. Surely, Mr. H.must be blinded by prejudice, otherwiga he would not talk aboni Free-Trade Yorkshire, Bat I hope a longer stay in our Great Republic’ will be the meaus of converting him into a good citizen of the United Statds, the peer of any nation in the world. I am, yours, very respect- fully, J. GILMORE. CHICAGO, Jan. 22, 18T, Flore About Yorkshire and Chicago. To the Editor of The Chicago Tribuine = Sm: Ihave read with much in‘erest the cor- respondence for several weeks past on the “ Labor Question " in THE ThpuSE. Some very good things and some very ‘silly-ones havo been said. One last Sunday headed ‘ Yorkshire vs. Chicago,” seems to me (who am an Englishman) to have been written with a view to republica- tion in Yorkshire, where it may-bave-the ef- foct of keeping some grumblers at home, for which we g OUGHT TO BE TRULT THANEFTUL. Mr, Hendry is rough on capitalists, and, as T belong to- that unfortunate claes;-I feel called upon to say s word in their defense, My capi- tal, like many others since October, 1871, con- sists in my claracter for honesty, sobriety, and onergy, Now, H. eays the capitalist who has tho privilege of his servicesand who is supposed #to get three-fonrths or the lion’s share pro- posed to reduca his wages to $1 per day. I have never offered a8 iittle 8 that, belioviug that the mau who 18 not. worth more E 1S WORTA NOTHING. . Mr. H, does not like to pay reot in advance. T L:avo not been asked to do 80 for many year: Wby should landlords make this distinction b tweon Englishmen and Yorkzhiremen ? He gays hie pays 18 cents per pound for tough Americau beef. " L 83 a capitalist. get pretty tough beef for 8 to 12 cents. I can't afford to be 80 extravagant, Thinking that all working- men were wasting mouey by paying those oxor- Dbitant prices, I inquired among my workmen. found they could buy as cheap a3 L do. Ono eaid, *Icarried home last Saturday o sheep woighing 50 pounds, for which I paid $2.” In the scalo of wages given by Mr. H., I take the firat_items : American molders and black- Emiths, $2.50 to £3.25 perday ; Yorkshire, 53. 6. per day.. The American, at $3.25, makes 819.50 B week ; pors 95 for bis board,—loaving a alanca of $14.50, or neaily 75 per cent more than the Yorkshireman gets for -his services, viz.: $3.40 per week. His other fiyures ars as OUTBAGZOUSLY RIDICGLOTS. He pays moro for eversthing than I do. T live ia an aristocratic neighborhood. I could save by marketing two_miles from home, whero work- ingmen generally trade. MMy experience smong Yorkshiremen bas led o to tho conclusion that thev are vory clannis and generally trade among their own nationality almoat exclusively. This may account for tho lugh prices paid by Mr. Hondcy. If 8o, I would advise him tocoma out of that crowd; trade with Yonkees, Dutchmen, or pecple of any other pauonality ; stop gramblug; learn that in thesa lavd times he isno worse off than his neigh- bors ; 8 goon a8 spring opens, start out fally de- termined to be a capitalist, and get * threo— fourths.or the lion's sacre;” don's follow the oxamplo of that class who do not. pay their worlimen; ~ pay yours promptly, no matt: wiether you have fhe money or not: sot an ex~ ample for otkers to follow ; and next winter you can y LUXURIATE OF THE ‘* LION'S STARE,"” and write home to Yorkshire, and tell the folks that this country 'is improying fast; provisions aro much cheaper; capitalista don't pay freight on “American flour, cheese, pork.” ete., any longer, for the fun of selling them in Yorkshiro for less monoy than they can got for them in Chicago, Thoy have found out that. *Itis too thin. E.C. Cmicaco, Jan. 22, 1674. g The Yorkshireman and the Indi~ . vidual Who ¢ Roughed 1t.”? Tv the Editor of The Chicago Tribuns : Brr : Thore are two articles in your issue of the 18th of January that I wonld like tosay a few words_about. ~ One is headed ** Yorkshiro v8. Chicago,” the other ** Roughing Itin Chi- cago.” The first one tries to make out that it is far more profitable for & workingman to stay in the O1d Country than to come tothisconntry. His firet complaint is, that ho was offered $1 per dsy (when he probably expected $3 or $4) to_ work ; and he then asks now he is going to support his family of five on that? Woll, admit that becan- not do it on that, he can COME NEARER TO IT than he can on nothing, and far more creditably to himself and the public in general ; and he can stick to it until he gots something " better todo; which will be better than loafing around the Re- lief Society’s rooms. Then he goes on to com- pare the wages here and-in Yorkshire, which, taking tho average,aro about double here to .ivhat they ate there. ‘He says honse-rent here is seven times dearer than there;. that he can. get the same amount of room in ~ cubic feet there’ for $2.75 - that ho pays 318 for here. Well, admit that he can got o much room (which I doubt), I think if che $wo places conld be pat side by side, there would be found considerable difference in_the guality of the two, and that difference would be on the gide of the one here. Then he gues op to com- pare the prices of provisions here and there. He- R_X‘IJIH tbe prico of beef here ab 13 to 24 cents, a fact i, good beef can be had here st from 10 to 15 cents fir. pound, of course it must be expected to be higher East thaa here, a it can- not be traneported thousands of milea without materially increasing the cost. It is altogeher different in Englaud, where it is only a few han- dred miles_from one cnd to the other of the jsland, and it makes some difference wWhether things aro transporsod & few hundred milss, or a thousand or fifteen hundred, but ho does not take that into considetation at all. Milk he has & cent higher thau it is hare, as it only costs 6 cents instead of 7. Andnext comes BEER, which I think he bad better have left out, in- stead of nearly beading the list of eatables with it, 88 it is sometbing tbal can be dispensed with, and no great loes at that; and I think that, ifa great many of those who are hanging around the Relict Society would spend lees for beer and whisky in the summer, they wonld have more to liveonin the winter. Potatoes ha puts at 83 cents per peck here, sgainst 25 cenis there; there are plenty of timea when they are down t0 10 cents and 15 canta here. Such things as potatoes are regulated according to the size of the crop; if there should be & large crop, the price is down; if small, itisup; and, I suppose it is the same there, as there are times whea they ‘are ia good deal higher there than 95 cents per peck. Bugar he puts at13 cents per pound here, against 11 cants there; the former Price is too high, a3 good brown sugar can be got here for 8 cents, and white at 10 cents. Tea to live in than here. Now, I think the sooner acres of uncaltivated lands that have nev, turned by tho plow or *tickled with fhe peth waiting improvemont. Much of thig 1an Lcsn b bought at $8 and g1p 1N o, and will soon be worh gan If youhave no moues to pay down, by payiss Jour interest on the purchase valus, yon el Btave off tho prncipal for n number of yerd ‘until yoz are able, by close cconomy, to maj, payment to reduco tho principal. In short, e iy boro an oz road to 3 dovest and comfortably living, aud I could give you the p nceessary, of g 2 i 5 ‘.\'u’}; A FEW FARMERS HERET who came to this country & few years ago and who now couat their acros ) [rootlerby tho lundrods. b 2well 8 thair _ Be you mechanic orlabarer,.shut up in agres: . city. with a change to earn your btcu%’ h:r:lm?. Tonths of tho year, compelled to eatin w&? the Inst cont earned in_summer, you can better sour condition by coming - to the country, untj] you get comfortable_start, st lcast, Make sp effort to. change your hole for a hiome; and, it you-wil, you can db it. - <AL v - BOOK-BUYING. he iats back thero the better it will bs - for him, 8t Josst, and this country, too. If the Old Country i8 & 80 much better place to live in than here, why do its people keep coming here by the hundreds of thousands every vear. T think - right there is whero the trouble is. When_they [come to this country (that is, the majority), they launch oat into all of the lux- uries of the dsy, instead of bringing 'their Old- Country habits and style of living with them; they lesve those behind, and the result is, they spend all they earn, when if they would adopt” the samestyio of lising they had at home, they could sy up more bero in one year. than thoy could there in two. € Sa e Now, I will say a few words on the other sub- ject, " Roughing It in Chicago.” How does ihat sound ? * Well, I suppose, poor fellow, he did heve a hard time of it. It is a wonder ho. over got awayfrom his -mothor’e-6pron string. I would'be ashamed to have it koown that & strong, healthy young man hed to prowl around the hackguda and pick-up crusts for a living. “Why did he not R T " _ _BTART OUT INTO THE COUSTRY, ‘where ha could have found something to do, if it was no more than to work for his board, uutil the times got a little easier. .Thore is plenty to do in the country, if yon are inclined to_go and look it up. Thera is plenty of wood t6 choy and otfuey farmchoreg t0 &, Bat B0, that would be too much like work- for him ; he was after & clerkship, and there would not be. anything re- spectable_in- chopping wood ‘or doing -ferm- chores. Poor follow! Ihope e has got that clerkship thut he 18 lookiog for by this time. He is probably standing bebind some counter, dreased like & dandy (as the newsboy told him, and he was about right too), taking tho placo some bard-working girl ought to-have instead of him. Therc are go many of his cines - that I do - mot have much pity on them, 8o long as they can get enough to eat, drees like o dandy, and buy their boer and cigars every day, that is all they caro for. 1 hope such as these will profit by tie hints I have given them, and start out info the country in search of something to do, instead of soarching ‘back yards for crusts end bones, as it will be FAR MORE TO THEIR CREDIT. . T am & workingman, or atleast always have beex but. by the loss of a hand, -cannot do much at bard mannsl labor now, but I can assure you I would not have spent much time in back yards Jooking for crusts befora I lost ‘my hand {or nt presens eithor), but would have gone into ths country and found something - to do, for & while at least. Don't think that I don'nt--koow what hard _times are, for I have szen ilie tims when I did not know wkhere the next meal was to come from: but I did not ask for help. As the work would not_come tome, I went to it, and found it. and worked for my bosrd until the times got bettor; then I bettared myself. I remain yours truly, . A FREE-BoRN AMERICAN, CicaGo, Jan, 2, 1874, o The Relief and Aid Society. To the Editor of Tie Chicaso Tribune: Srz: I noticed in the columos of your last Sunday's iseue an article which, thongh: un- doubtedly well-meant, is calculated to mislead the uniformed, and embarrass in its workings one of the noblest charitable organizations that ever existed in any age or clime. ... o Ielluds to *“W.C. W.'s " suggestions to the Board of the Relief and Aid Society. The im- pression ho gives is, that a large amount of the fuands of the Society are unnecesarily expended in salaries to the various employes, and that tho Poor aro sufferers in consequence of the smount thus disbursed. The truth is, that the force employedis SCARCELY LADGE ENOTGHE to perform the labor devolving upon them, and the Society is managed with the strictest econ- omy. Thae officers do not look like men who draw large pay for light labor; on the conirary, thoy. appeac care-worn and wasry, bearing the burdens of others. Would it not be wiser to quietly trust these men of large sympathics and long experience, who have thus far steered the bark Relief safely over the stormy waters, than to add, even by one small wave, to the troubled ocean they are coa~ tending with ? ’ Tho idea that “appointing certain persons in their respectivo wards to seok out the worthy poor * would prevens imposition is, in my view, A MISTAKEN ONE. * Undonbtedly, some would perform the daty of relievine distres imparually, while others would uso the power thus vested in them for selfish purposcs, to be manifested at the poils on some fature election-day. - Tho visitors aro carefully selected by the Board of Relief. They have nothing to gam or lose by favorable or unfavorable reports of the circamstances of the applicants. They are also well aware that their positions depend upon & DY FEOP. WILLIAM MATHEWS, OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO. . Reader, were yon cver aflicted with that hope, Iessly-incurable- diseaso, -yolept bibliomania—. that disease which sends its victim dsily to A plotons’ or Seribner's to - 22 EMPTY 1S POCSET-BOOK FREELY in the purchese of rare and curious editions ; o, ‘perhaps, luxurions modern editions of hv‘;riu' oldauthors, flaunting in the bravery of large clea type, with snow-white paper,—a rivalet of k in a meadow of margin? Do you know what is to be drawn' to the book ssles-room with an attrection liko that of the steel. to the magret and to find tho tap of, tha auctioncer's bammer as irresistible a8 is the roll of the rontetto-balltg the gambler, or the music of cork-draning to the toper? Did yon ever stand for hours wistfally turning over the pages of some coveted volume, veinly racking your brains for _Bome art by which, with' your limiled funds, to make it your own? Did you ever feel your heart sink within vou when, throngh your hesitation, or, more likely, tho depletion of ‘your fiirse, some ardently-coveted volume; on’ which yoz had fastened with longing eyes,—which. in im- agibation; you had already scen snugly stowed in a corner of your library,—passed by the inexora- ble law of the-hammer to some luckier indi- vidual? Have you not deplored a thomsand times the fatality that led you to haunt thess marts of literature, and resolved, and re-resoly- ed, and resolved sgain, : ) NEVER MORE TO BE SEDUCED by the witchery of tree-calf, fine tooling; or laxurious type and paper?” And yet, if'the book-buying. discase. had. fairly . seizad on you, . did you. .ever. succeed .in extir- pating .it, stern . 83 might be'-tho necessity for economy? If you got itunder for s weel, or possibly ‘a month, did you not inva- rizbly find, in the very ecstasy of yonr' tritimph, that it had temporaribly abated only to break forth' with tanfold fury? ~ E i 1f you have ever experienced the feelings we have described, we can-sympathize with you ‘Wo have been a life-long viclim of the disease, which early became chronic and incarable. -Our ruin dated from ‘the hour when we bought our first duplicate. This downward step, as John ~t, Hill Barton says, is fraught with fearfal consc- quences ; it is like the first eecret dram gwal. lowed 1n the forenoon, or the first pawning of the silver spoons ; there i3 no hope for the pa- tient after this. * It rends'atonce the veil of decoram spun _ont " of “the flimsy sophisms by which he ‘has-been deceiving bis friends, and partislly deceiving himself, into’ the belief that his provious purchasos wers .neces- gary, or, at all events, serviceablc—for pro- fegsional and literary purposes. "~ He_now be- comes E PERAIIINDS S 7 SHAMELESS AND HARDESED; - and it is observable, in the careerof this class of unfortunates, that the first - act of duplicity is immediately followed by an-access of the- dis- order, and a reckless abardonment to. its pro- pensitica.” . * Shall w8 ever forget the evenings passed in £ “lang syno” at Leonard’s, in the American Athens; at Bange',in Gotham; or at Lord's, in the City.of Brotherly Love, mobs, and firemen's fights, in watching the sale of thoge darlingsin £ calf or Turkey-2forocco, on which we had set our affections? How, like many a lover by the eido of flesh-and-blood mistresses, did we sigh for ;3 _wealth for, their sake! Tho beauties! we sould have . R YL g ‘but, alas! a terrible presentiment weighedupon our mind touching tho pumber we ehouid bs i able to secure in the awfal conflict of the even- i ing! The Duke of- York, naming the select courtiers whom Le wished to be saved from tho wreck of the Gloucester frigate, leaving the rest ¢ to perish, was but a faint type of our gloomy gelf, deciding among scores of coveted-volumes £ tho fow: choicest and most fondly-prized ones which e were most anxious to carry to the dry 7 land of onr own snug bookease at home. Then | how anxionsly we weighed tha_ chances:how profoundly we estimated the probabilities—of gecuring, or not securing, the favoritesl Per- haps onr capital was enough only £ warrantthe conscientious discharge of the duties pertaning to them, and thus have the strongest motives for discharging them faithfally. Let us all be content with giving the Board of Reliet e § © _OUROOOD WISHES, - fecling assured that they aro fally competent to mauago the affairs of the Society in a mannor highly creditable to themselves and Chicago,- and beneficial to the suffering poor. i . . “Mas. F. M. D. Goto the Countrys AOTNT PLEASANT, Is., Jan. 3, 1874, To the Edilor of The Chicago Tribune : Bm: Why do the suffering poor of great cities love the bread of poverty and the. dirty rags of dissipation better than the pure airand plenty of country-life ? Is a Lleared eye stronger than a bright one; a dirty hammock swester than a clean bed ; ahovel better than ahome? Isit becanzo indolencs and vice are CHEAPER TIHAN LABOR, - and the door of relief stands wide open and in- vites them to live on a city’s charity. The num- ber of mon, women, and children who to-day are dragging out a miserablo existence in Chicago— to say nothing of _the other large cities in this country—is sstonishing. The objecta of reliet are divided into two classes: those who will not work because it .is cheaper to beg; the other, through misfortune, and- almost six months of hard winter, are deprived of the means of eup-. ‘hope of winning one goodly-sized volume,~s fine old copy of Selden, Fuller, Burton, or 8ir ;% Thomas Browne ; should we concentrato allour | “financial resources upon’ that, ‘or should we .* divide our affections and our cash among tWo or . three smaller volumes? Perhaps—hatefol thought !—the very book or books we Jesmed - for might be eyed and coveted by i 2 SOME RICHER RIVAL, o who would outbid us. The work came early io the catalogne; there would be few present; it wonld go cheap. ‘It was in the middle of tha list—the very noon of the sale; it would g0 ! dear. Oh! how we dreaded to eeo certain: well- Xnown faces peering throagh the crowd! Never have wo had rivals whom we feared or hated more than rival book-buyers. Even when we neither saw nor heard any person who had fixed bis '} affections on the book we longed for, thers ws sure to be soms Iynx-syed Burnham or other 4 Antique-Bokestore” man, who would fgbt 10 1 the last dollar, or, at least, make ud pay dearly ! for'the tressure. if wo won it. With what pe™ 3 fott malignity did we regard those cruel, re- morseless, bat craftyold fellows,—tbese tyrants, —who bid off the precions volumes, not from any love of them, or because they could &ppr ciste “the precious life-blood of s master-spirit, “that ‘seasoned life of & man presarved acd storod up in books,” as Milton tarms it, bat fron the i mes T AT & i port. . The hard earnings eaved by the industri- ous mechanic or laborer last eummer will hardly guffice to support the family until the resump- tion of spriag business; and yet thousands in this unenvinble position of life : PREFEH TO WASTE THEIR LIVES in the city chan to go into tho country, where, by the exorcise of the same energy required to keep from starving, they canesecure, beyond & doubt, a decent living, PR g S Every winter the people are asked to con- tribute to buy bread, coal, and clothing for the- city poor, Truo, * He that gives to the poor Tends to the Lord;” buc thero 15 1o reason why a string should not be pulled that will afford & better and more substantial mode of relief to tho needy. There are s great many poor mechanics and day-laborers—men many of them with large familics—who would prefer o change from_city to country, if they Lad the means simply to make the change, but who, for the wantof the price of their faro, are compolled to stay where Shey are, until force kicks them into the street for rent. . IT COSTS LESS to get a family of eix or more persons ioto the country than to feed them for six months ; and, when once hero, they will find—provided always they are ready to work—Iless trouble to feed and clothe themsalves than. under the old rule, where the effects of want are sour tempers, ‘broken hearts and health, and recruits for the asylums. Would it not be better, to say nothing of the miserv relieved =nd money saved, for relief com- miitees to send or employ agents in the country —paid agents, I mean—to . - SECURE GOOD HOMES . fora few hundred at least of their zerving belp. . Iowa alone .thouaanda of rich most de~ There are in MEAN AXD SORDID MOTIVE of making money!. How inexplicable soemed the ways of Providence, that placed. all tho cash in the pockets of such wretches, instead of 1n the pockets of persons like ns who knew bo¥ touseit! % e . There are gome persons who haveno flymplihz with the inveterats book-buyer ; who, cansd apprecinte the miser-like feeling which prompts & man fo sccumalats on his ehelves hundreds o volumes which he can never resd. Thefe 81 those to whom the artificial Tefinements v_\‘bu'-‘l hive grown up zbout the outmde ot liters ture yield po pleasure,—~to whom omo of Pickering’s gorgeous editions, of even one of Aldus’ Limself, bas no greater chsrmd then the ssme work on flimsy paper and I8 shabby shaep. A book to themia & szoxeml:; of ideas and facts, or 8 mine to be quarried workea, after which they care ot what happent : to it The volumes they have read a0 2 4 them shells without kernels, oranges het le‘ < been squeezed. They never acquire 3 love farir book, a8 a true smoker does for his pip, SPATE - | from its uses. No pleasant sssocistions or 4 licious memories cluster sbout fheir ~volumed. which the bare sight of them, after lbfih!fl; conjures np. No pefs.or daclings_of the; have they ; their souls never warm to 8 i Th best book in the world, ” after they E¥ suckead cutgll ita marrow, to j_lusq blooded, matter-of-fact readers, nothing But . _ PRISTED PAPER DETWEEY DOARDSY B, Jast a8, to some persons, tho grandest o!d::]’ A Qral, with ite fret-work and aly A i 1 g i