breed; "pauper children"
must make a better start in life; we must stop by every means
in our power the "pauper child" from recruiting the
vagrant class, by training him to be above its influence.
How is it possible to solve so difficult a social problem as "Poverty,"
unless we get at its cause? How can we get at its cause unless
we understand that it has been brought about by disobedience to
law? The first thing is to awake to the consciousness
that all men live their lives under a reign of laws, and that
their health, happiness, freedom from poverty, the well - being
of themselves and their offspring, depend on their obedience to
these laws - laws which at present, unfortunately, are not taught,
yet, without a knowledge of which, progress for the mass is impossible.
Human laws fail as deterrents. Why? Because we think they are
to be evaded. The natural laws are self-acting; they inflict their
own penalties; there is no evading them. Take any social outcast,
get at the history of his life, or that of his predecessors, you
will find that the position is due to infringement of the physical,
physiological, or moral laws. These laws follow us, surround us,
hedge us in on every side; escape is impossible. As we sow, we
reap. I believe that "every effect has its cause," and
that poverty is caused by a debased mental or moral condition
of brain, that incapacitates the individual from earning his livelihood
when subject to the competition of others with higher mental or
moral organization. In reply to those who argue that these social
outcasts are so debased that there is no hope, I reply, unhesitatingly,
that even if they were more debased than they are, escape is possible.
But obedience to law is the only remedy;
