helpless.'"

Another faithful industrious father was taken away from his wife and
his little ones. He had been their stay and support. He was sober and
thrifty but sickness and untoward conditions made accumulations
impossible. When he, the head of the home, was taken away there was
nothing for the support of these helpless little ones and their
widowed mother but her own arms and head and heart. There was no time
for sentiment and tears. These little ones must be sheltered and their
hungry mouths must be fed. Restraining her grief, she bravely
undertakes the heavy task.

She rents a room but the rental is high, for the interest must be paid
on a mortgage held by the Security Co. She finally finds a shop where
she secures employment but the wages are low, for the shop is heavily
mortgaged to the Security Co. and the interest must be paid or the
shop will be closed and even this opportunity for scant wages will be
lost. The distance requires that she shall ride to her work but the
round trip costs two nickels and one of them goes to the Security Co.
for interest on their bonds and stock. She buys a loaf of bread but
the wheat was raised on a western farm mortgaged to the Security Co.
and the interest was charged up against the wheat. The wheat was
floured in a trust mill and the interest on the Security Co. bonds
were charged up against the flour. It was transported by a railroad
that charged up against it the interest on the bonds held by the
Security Co. It was baked in a mortgaged oven and handled by a local
dealer doing business on capital he had borrowed of the Security Co.
How much of her bread money went for interests is an intricate
problem. She only notices that her loaf is small.

The same oppressive tribute must be paid on all that she buys to feed
and clothe herself and her little ones.

The first widow does not live upon the earnings of her husband. They
are untouched at the end of a year nor diminished as the years pass.
By the operation of usury she has lived upon the hard earnings of this
poor widow. The laborers on the western farms contributed to her
support in decreases of wages; the operatives of the railways, the
workmen in the mill, the baker and merchant all contribute a portion,
but it cannot be denied that the heaviest burden comes upon the
poorest. The rich widow has fed her children with the bread which the
poor widow earned.

The flaunting sympathy for the poor of those who themselves