So
I decided that I would go to work as soon as possible, and give to the
community an equivalent for the things I enjoyed.
But then, the great difficulty arose when I tried to find something to
do. It made little difference what kind of work I should engage in as
long as it was of a productive nature. But when I went around looking
for employment, I discovered that there was none to be had.
It is certainly a most unnatural system which fails to utilize all the
power at its command for the good of universal production, and it seems
hard to realize that such conditions can exist; but during my wanderings
from street to street, store to store, and factory to factory,
throughout the great commonwealth of New York, I discovered that besides
myself, there were also thousands of other earnest men tramping the
streets, willing, but unable, to find work. At last, however, I was put
in the peculiar position of having to pay to work. One day, after a week
of unsuccessful attempts to obtain employment, I ran across one of the
sub-bosses of the street-cleaning department. Making known my desire to
him, I was amazed when he told me that he would let me work on condition
that I paid him twenty-five dollars for the job and promised to give him
ten per cent. of my wages each month. He informed me that all of the men
under his charge had to do likewise. In fact, he intimated that in order
to hold his own position as sub-boss he had to pay this money to bosses
higher up in the department.
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