When there before I had seen cows at
almost every cabin, and there were besides many sheep and pigs owned in
the village. But now all the sheep were gone, all the cows, all the
poultry killed, only one pig left; the very dogs which had barked at me
before had disappeared; no potatoes; no oats."
The young man pointed the moral, which these horrible spectacles
suggested, with laudable courage: "I would not now discuss the causes of
this condition, nor attempt to apportion blame to its authors; but of
this one fact there can be no question: that the result of our social
system is that vast numbers of our fellow-countrymen--of the peasantry
of one of the richest nations the world ever knew--have not leave to
live. Surely such a social result as this is not only a national
misfortune but a national sin crying loudly to every Christian citizen
to do his utmost to remove it. No one of us can have a right to enjoy
either riches or repose until to the extent of his ability he strive to
wash himself of all share in the guilt of this fearful inequality, which
will be a blot in the history of our country and make her a byword among
the nations.
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