2 The Problem to be Solved 



Life, to the average man, means hard, anx- 

 ious work, with disappointment at the end, 

 whereas it ought to mean pleasant work, with 

 plenty of time for books and talk. There is 

 something wrong about a system which con- 

 demns ninety-nine hundredths of the race to 

 an existence as bare of intellectual activity and 

 enjoyment as that of a horse, and with the 

 added anxiety concerning the next month's 

 rent. Is there no escape? Throughout years 

 of hard toil I suspected that there might be 

 such an escape. Now, having escaped, 1 am 

 sure of it. So long as I can get a house and 

 garden for three dollars a week, so long as 

 oatmeal is less than three cents a pound, so 

 long as the fish bite and the cabbages grow, I 

 shall keep out of the slavery of modern city 

 existence, I shall live in God's sunshine and 

 enjoy my children's prattle, my books and 

 papers. 



For a good many years I worked hard at 

 newspaper correspondence and miscellaneous 

 writing without doing more than keep my 

 family in the most modest way of life. I went 

 to my desk early and remained late. Year 



