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"Since 1861 nearly 400 children of from 10 to 15 years of age have put an end to their lives."

If any period of life should be sacred to happiness and joy; to education and development; that period is the days of childhood. And yet there are countless thousands who never have any childhood; who from earliest infancy know only hardship, suffering and tribulation; who are better acquainted with tears and sorrow than they are with laughter and happiness; who at a tender age are dragged to the factories, shops, and mines to have everything good and high and noble dwarfed in them; and have instilled in them principles of vice, wickedness and crime. Is it any wonder that some of these little wretches frequently take their lives? With no hope or escape open to them it would be remarkable if even the majority of them should grow up to be respectable citizens. The suicide of many a gray-beard might be traced back to an early time when he first began losing his hold on life. Many of these, were the truth known, deserve praise instead of blame for having held out so long in the unequal fight.

Our modern strenuous life finds all kinds of victims. The aged with but a few days to live; the starving; those from whom hope has fled; the bankrupt, and the disgraced. The rich who have escaped all this, and who should be contented often end careers that have been nauseated by over-indulgence; the criminal, who, by the way, is made such nine times out of ten by a distorted and miserable social system; and finally the many who attempt, but fail to take their lives.

And yet, many as there are who resort to suicide to escape the struggle, the wonder really is that there are no more. Human nature must be good, and brave, and strong, indeed, to put up such a good fight in the face of so many wrongs and vicissitudes. Consider this:

WHY ARE SUICIDES SO FEW?

"New York Journal. Many people wonder why there are so many suicides. The extraordinary thing is that there are so many who fail to commit suicide. Everybody knows that there are in America hundreds of thousands of men who cannot get work-hundreds of thousands willing to earn their bread, who are obliged to live on charity. Could anything be more humiliating than such a situation when forced upon a man willing. but unable to be useful?

"Of course the answer comes that this is the process of elimination, of weeding out, that goes on throughout creation, from the oyster up to the American citizen.

"But that does not answer the original question: 'Why is it that so few destroy themselves?'

How marvelous in its force must the instinct of selfpreservation be which compels men to hang on to their lives in the face of humiliation, added to hopelessness and hunger.

"The Providence or the laws or destiny which control us here must have some important plan for us to carry out when it compels men who would rather be dead to live and suffer."

And it really is a wonder that no more of these crimes actually take place. To live in a country surrounded by plenty and to always go without; to live under a free and supposedly righteous government and to be continually wronged, is demoralizing to say the least. It is madden. ing to live where might makes right. It is unnatural to live under conditions that make paupers and millionaires, tramps and scholars, society butterflies and desperadoes.

But everything points to the fact that such conditions cannot continue. He who will, may read as he runs. The unnatural strain and struggle against each other will be kept up a little longer and then something will snap. Listen and hear the breaking! Look and behold the rents!

CHAPTER XV.

EDUCATION.

Misdirected Education.-Institutions Under the Control of Plutocracy. Politics and the Public Schools. Ignorance of Educators-"Business" and

the College Man.

It has often been said that the hope of the world lies in education; because ignorance is one of man's great enemies. This is true. It is further asserted that all social and industrial questions, will be solved without any trouble, in this country; the American people being so highly educated. For America has schools and colleges scattered from one end of the land to the other.

Let us see if education can and will prevent the Revolution of 1907.

In order to perform a difficult task, one must be educated to do that and not some other task. To illustrate: If a man has received a good medical education, we would not say he could perform well on a musical instrument.

Likewise if a man wanted to practice law he would not study flowers and trees.

Yet we often follow exactly that method of reasoning when we listen to the opinions of graduates and professors, on subjects they have never investigated. A man may know a great deal about mathematics, yet if he has never made a specialty of social, industrial and political economy, his opinion on these subjects have but littic weight.

Education, then, to solve the social and industrial questions, must be along these lines. At present it almost ignores them.

Education, if properly directed, would show people the flaws and fallacies existing under present economic conditions, and then, all being thoroughly posted, could vote and legislate intelligently enough to correct and change them. But the wrongs and abuses of the present system are studiously avoided. The educated are educated along every line save these.

Why do not the schools and colleges teach the truth? Why are not the people taught how to legislate against all these evils? Simply because somebody does not want them to do so. The colleges are endowed and supported by the rich and are consequently under their control. Why should the trust barons and plutocrats encourage and promote the study and investigation of their abominable ways? Of course not! It would be suicide. They want no change. Present methods have been the making of

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