THE DEPENDENT CONDITION OF SOCIETY.
By T.
THE machinists have been on a strike for some weeks, and at this writing the strike promises to get much worse. San Francisco has had a succession of strikes and boycotts. Various classes of men in other parts of the country have also been striking. When these strikes are in operation, business is always more or less affected, and in many places it comes to a practical standstill. Not only are the strikers themselves made to suffer because of the cutting off of their income, but almost every one is embarrassed or distressed in some way. One class of men raise the fruit, another raise the vegetables, another raise the grains, another raise the cotton, another raise the sheep, and so on. There are very few farms comparatively, on which is raised more than one or two kinds of produce. And after these commodities are produced, another class of men take them on the railroads or steamships to the city where they are to be marketed. When the city is reached, another class of men must unload them from the cars or ship and dray them to the commission house; then another class of men must take them from the wholesaler to the retailer, and finally another class must take them from the retailer to the consumer. The hands on the railroad may feel all right and be willing to work; but the coal miners decide to strike, so that it is with difficulty that fuel can be supplied to turn the wheels of commerce or manufacture. The teamsters have a grievance, and strike, and then after a little while they think it necessary to call for a sympathetic strike from others, and so the difficulty spreads. Business may be brought to a stand-still, and much want and suffering result from any break in this complex machine that we call society. Strikes have become the order of the day, and they are getting more frequent and more unmanageable. Men will finally get to rioting, and the most serious troubles will follow. Tranquillity in business will not be enjoyed much longer in this world. There doubtless will be short periods of calm in the storm, but there will be no settled conditions of peace. There are principles at work in the world that can not fail to result in every form of violence and disorder, and the time for furious outbreaks can not be long postponed. It is as absolutely inevitable as that effect invariably follows its cause. When these troubles reach their worst, there will be but little peace on the earth anywhere, but the country districts will be the places of the most tranquillity. And as we view these complex conditions in society,—every man dependent upon the faithful working of other men who are to bring him his coal, and oil, and bread, and so on,—is it not high time that we were studying how to live more independent lives? One person has truly said, “There is hope in the soil.” And if instead of crowding into the cities, we turn our attention to the opportunities and blessings and joys of a country life, we will be saved from much of the bitterness into which this whole world is driving. Think of these things now, before conditions get any worse. For in the days just ahead of us everything will be in such turmoil that it will be difficult, if not impossible, to make changes that could now be made with comparative ease. T.