The Hawk-eye and Iowa patriot. (Burlington, Iowa) 1839-1843, 1840-03-19
POLITICS FOR WoRKINGMEN.

"A Wttk III tWO WilCll WI v oil ASu7
ren's favorite5pr project, the Sub Treasury,
was under discussion in the U. S. Senate,
Mr.. BUCHANAN, the federal senator from
Pennsylvania. declared that one good eff
feet Of, the bill, il passed, would be TO
REDUCE THE WAGES OF LABOR.
This is the policy of President Van Blu
Iren's administration. They wish to col.
lect all the specie in the country, for the
use of the OFFICE HOLDERS, while
the withdrawal of it from circulation will
REDUCE THE WAGES OF LABOR to level
with the hard money governments of for
eign countries, to which Mr. Van Buren,
referred with so much commentator in
his annual message.--ln order to show
the laborers and workingmen what Mr.
Van Buren, intends to do for them, we
quote the following statement of the wa
ges of labor in several exclusive hard mo.
5ney countries:
Uages IN Fsa1ce.-Calais, common
laborers; I'D per day, with board and
without dwelling; Boulogne, Sd per day,
do. do; Nantes, Sd, per day, without
board and without dwelling; Marseilles,
4d. TO I'd. per day, with board and with
out dwelling. The food in some districts
'sconsists i'll rye bread, soup made of mill
let, cakes made of Indian corn, noy and
then some salt provisions and vegetables,
rarely, if ever, butchers meat" In 9TH
ers, "wheaten bread, soup made with We
getables, and a little grease or lard twice
day, potatoes or other vegetables, but
seldom butchers meat"
SWeden.-'',The daily wages of skill.
ed agriculturalist are I'd. or 3D.; while the
unski!led obtain no more than Sd. or 4d.,
and board themselves. Agriculmrsts in
the Southern provinces live upon salt fish
and potatoes; in the Northern provinces
porridge and rye bread from their food. =
Bacar:a -..I .aborers are paid at the
rate Of Sd. per day in the country" with
out board.
Belg;una.--s.A skilled artisan may earn
in summer Is. I'd. to Is. Sd; in winter
from l0d. to Is, 3D.: unskilled half as
much without board. live upon rye bread
potatoes and milk Agricultural labor
Germ any--Dantzic, laborers ii. to
I'd. per day without board; AIulhburg, I'd.
per day do; Holstein, I'd. per day with
out board.
Northumberland Holland laborers
Sd. to I'D. per day with board; North Hol-
land, GOD. per day without board; Ant
werp, sd. per day do: West Flanders,
96s. to l04. per year with board.
! Nay.-I'rieste laborers I'D. per day
without board; do. Sd. per day with board
l6to20cts per day with out board;do 4d.to
sd. per day with board: Lombardy, ID. to
Sd. per day do; Genoa, sd. to Sd. per
day DO. and without lodgings; Tuscany,
Cd. per day without either.
Sarony.-..In 1897 a man employed
in his own loom working very diligently
from Monday morning to Saturday night,
from 5 o'clock i'll the morning until dusk,
and even at times with "a lamp, his wife
assisting him in finishing and taking him
the work, could not possibly earn more
than 20 eroschen abou. 60 cents per
week. Nor could one who had three
children aged IL years and upwards, all
working at the loom as well as himself
with his wife employed doing up the work;
earn in the whole more than 81 weekly"
The foregoing are compiled from Pot
ter's Progress of the Nations. and Wade's
History Of the Middle and Working CIas-
ses, two recent and respectable au,hori-
ties. The statistics have been principal
ly collected by the British Government.
The wretched condition of the working
classes in Europe, and the limited means
upon which they subsist, are held up by
the administration as pattern for the in
telllgent mechanics, artizans and Iaborers
Of the United States. But if we mistake
not, our countrymen will pause before
they consent to cheaper the productions
oflabor, and thus plunge themselves into
irretrievabe wretchedness. We have
heretofore held the opinion that the labor
ers of this country had escaped from the
degraded condition Of laborers in some of
the countries Of Europe, and that the race
was proportionably elevated; and we are
10th to abandon this opinion. Before they
will consent to that reduction Of their
earnings and comforts which is to blast all
the hopes of the ireemen, they will inquire !.
the reason for the fatal step; and when
they find that it is for the sake of hypo-.
critical party alone, they will spurn the |
with becoming Indignation.
We are. glad, however, that Mr. Van Bn-t
rem and his friends have thus early pro-
claimed their purpose. The workngmen
are put OIL their guard in season.-Pa Tel. /
"WHAT IS THE NEwsn" We are wea,i- !
ed, wearled, Wearied, with this necessarily
question. II is asked of us GER
tainly one hundred times per dem, on an
average. Such an interrogatory should ne
yer be put to an Editor. It's quite as much !
as he can do to write the news, not speak
1t. Moreover, it is the most meaningless
as well as the most provoking of all que
ries. People that ask it do not expect
reply; or if they do, they must set very
value upon the time of an
Editor. Time, time, time is the Jewel Of
our soul-it is cruel, yes savage, to de-
prive us of it by long reiterating double