THE SOCIAL PROBLEM 263 



tinue, conditions here must approximate those in the crowded areas of 

 Europe. "With increasing surplus of work-seekers, wages must de- 

 crease. Severe restriction of immigration should come and come 

 quickly. It is not the duty of those already here to impoverish them- 

 selves in an effort to support the distressed or dissatisfied of all lands. 

 Even the golden rule does not require that a man love his neighbor 

 better than himself; and the Apostle Paul, that champion of generosity 

 and self-denial, asserts that whoso careth not for his own is worse than 

 an infidel, he has denied the faith. But restriction of immigration is 

 not enough ; the surplus population is already here ; our cities are over- 

 crowded with utterly unskilled labor — it is estimated that in Xew York 

 city alone there are 100,000 unemployed clerks; the great problem is 

 already with us. 



Some maintain that the problem is purely ethical; they assert that 

 the law of supply and demand should not be considered in connection 

 with employment; that if employers would consider properly the inter- 

 ests of their employees all difficulties would soon be of the past. But 

 this is purely academic. Xo doubt conditions would be improved 

 greatly in some respects if the golden rule were the standard of con- 

 duct; but it must be remembered that selfishness is not confined to 

 employers and that the sermon should not be preached to them alone. 

 When man's nature has been so changed that each will endeavor to do 

 his full duty, the time will have come for essays on ethics. But as long 

 as the employer seeks to get as much and the employee seeks to give 

 as little as possible for the wages, discussion of the ethical side will 

 remain academic. In any event, it is irrelevant now; it concerns 

 only those for whom there is work; it offers no relief to the increasing 

 number of those for whom no work exists. 



The socialist has his remedies. He tells us that all men should 

 have equality of opportunity; that no man should control another's 

 opportunity; that every worker should receive such wages as would 

 enable him to live in comfort according to the American standard. 



The implication that opportunities are not equal in this land is so 

 contrary to fact that one can not believe that it is made in good faith. 

 Hardly a quarter of a century has passed since the impoverished Bus- 

 sian immigrants first set foot on our shore, yet they already own much 

 of the lower east side in Manhattan and great tracts in other boroughs. 

 It is conceded that the conditions for some kinds of unskilled labor are 

 terribly bad; one dollar a dozen for making shirts, sixty cents a dozen 

 for making bedspreads, tell the story of misery; but not of slavery. 

 Such sad conditions tell only of competition for work, that awful temp- 

 tation to the selfishness of employers and of purchasers; they tell only 

 that there are too many workers and too little work; but they do 

 not lead to the suggestion that there should be no employers. And 



