MISGOVERNMENT OF GREAT CITIES. 527 



operative in society. Evade the subject as we may ; put it aside and 

 refuse to consider it, as so many do ; characterize it as Utopian, or 

 sophistical, or chimerical — nevertheless it constantly reasserts itself 

 with the declaration, " The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto 

 me from the ground." 



We may wrap ourselves in a mantle of selfish exclusiveness and 

 refuse to recognize these obligations, but ever and anon the jostling of 

 passing events will remind us of neglected duties. 



Our responsibilities in this regard are not confined to legal for- 

 malities nor bounded by them. They have to do with our relations 

 as members of one common brotherhood. Our employes have claims 

 upon us in addition to the stipulated compensation for services ren- 

 dered and our recognition of their technical rights — claims upon our 

 sympathy with their sufferings and misfortunes ; claims to our en- 

 couragement in all their efforts for improvement, and to our helpful 

 care in every time of need. 



The claims of our neighbors who are not our employes are equally 

 valid and imperious. Personal interest, as well as our obligations as 

 good citizens and honest men, forbid us to ignore these claims. 

 There is a tendency prevalent in society to limit these obligations by 

 the narrowest possible lines. 



Men look askance at the various manifestations of evil in the 

 community, and, instead of planning and working for the correction of 

 the evil, they spend their thoughts and efforts in devising better safe- 

 guards for their personal interests, in the vain hope that, when the 

 storm does come, their defenses will be found sufficient. When the 

 ruin comes, however, the strong and the weak are involved in one 

 common catastrophe. 



The granger organizations which a few years ago wrought such 

 disaster to the railway interests of the Northwest, the strikes preva- 

 lent in connection with mining and manufacturing industries, and the 

 riotous demonstrations and destructive agencies of the commune, serve 

 as illustrations. 



We were lately receiving the details of what was termed the work- 

 ing-men's insurrection in London. We see how easily such a move- 

 ment passes under the control of socialistic and communistic leaders, 

 and how readily it is transformed from a popular demand for employ- 

 ment into an ungovernable and devastating mob. 



Doubtless a large fraction of this assemblage was made up of the 

 criminal and base elements of society, but another large fraction was 

 composed of those who had neither bread nor an opportunity to earn 

 it — men who would be peaceable and industrious if only they could 

 be given a chance to provide food for themselves and for those de- 

 pendent upon them. 



It was the discontent and sense of wrong upon the part of this ele- 

 ment that made the riot possible. I am very far from offering any 



