THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE 24! 



If he say to himself : By the labour of my hands 

 I helped to raise the edifice of this man's prosperity, 

 why then should I lack so much and he enjoy such 

 superfluity of the good things of life ? Thus I answer 

 him : The man whom you so envy found for you, 

 and for hundreds like you, a place in the labour 

 market, is feeding and clothing you, has elevated your 

 condition in life and your standard of comfort. Take 

 then with gratitude the daily wage which you are 

 able to earn, and learn this, that towards the pro- 

 moting and advancing of the general prosperity of a 

 locality or of a nation, one ounce of brains is worth 

 a ton-load of legs and arms. If then you have only 

 legs and arms, use them for your support, and in 

 discharging your duty to yourself and to society you 

 will ennoble your daily toil. 



I come now to consider the amount of competition 

 that exists in the labour market, and that in so many 

 quarters is so loudly and bitterly voiced. In the 

 upper classes and in the middle ranks of life it is 

 principally expressed in complaints by parents of the 

 difficulty they experience in getting their children 

 placed out in the world in suitable situations. But 

 the competition is more limited than is generally 

 believed. It scarcely exists among the wage-earning 

 working classes. Artisans and labourers do not 

 experience any difficulty in finding suitable places 

 in the labour market for their children. It is in the 

 several professions, including literary men and artists, 

 and among those who aspire to be office clerks, that 

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