The Ohio Democrat and Dover advertiser. [volume] (Canal Dover, Ohio) 1839-1840, 1840-06-12
THE Vi ORKINGMEN,

We find the following excellent article in the |
New York Evening Post, the wr ter Of which is |
not more distinguished fcr his genius and learn
ing than for his phllanthrophy aud devotion to
liberal pnhcpeR.
'Whsn We published the order of the Presi.
dent Of the United States directing that IeborerS
employed upon the public works under the at.
thOri,y of the federal government should be re-
1ureG TO work but ten hours day. VIC thought
the regulation a just and beneficial one. The
human heng who lives by the sweat of his
| brow, ought not 10 be considered as n mere ma
Chine, which is to be kept breaking sono or drill
| ing rocks. or delving the grorHd. or attending
tho spindiss ami shuttles OF factory, until it re-
quires 10 be wound up by food and rest, under
the condition Of returning TO lis task as soon as
| the exhaustion isrecruited.
The Inborer in this country is man, a citizen,
a sharer in the sovereign power of the nation.
| The confinement to incessant toll, the necessity
of concentrating the attention of the mind per,
petually upon the same monOtonous task with
which the hands are occupied, relieved only by
the hours given TO the taking Of ones meals aud
to sleep is melancholy state of human cxs>
tcnce, the effect OF which is to dwarf and dca-
den the intellect and to check the growth Of the
|
when they insist upon reserving portion Di
time for other occupations than their daily tasks.
for the improvement of the mind by rGaiirg, for
tie society of their families and that Of their
neghbors for preparing TO exercise their polit.
cal rights, and for exercising them.
The whg press have taken very different
view Of the matter. The order Of the President
has been attacked in the Boston Times and the
Boston Daily advertiser, as fatal to the interests
of lndustry-meaning, we suppose, injurious to
the interests Of employers of the aboring class.
We cory the paragraph from the Daily Advert.
ser, which did not meet our eye at the time il
was published, but which we find extracted in
to an0lherprint;
'Tha len ii0ur System. lit would seem from
q notification published in theWashngton Globe
that the President of the United States las Join,
ed the trades unions, and ordered that all mech.
cs and laiOters employed on tie rnb'i.
works, under the authority Of the departments
shall he required 10 work only according 10 the
ter hour system. This is making a serious in
road upon the long established habits of the in
dnstrious portion of our community. Ii appear
10 us not very iudirOus, and certainly not yer,
econo real, for tie President of the United
States, by his official authority, TO introduce sucI
a change in the usoges Of the country
This article shows the alarm with which th
proprieors Of the eastern factories regard The HI
name example set by the government for the re
lief of the over-taskcd working peone m ,hos
establishments. To ccH.aUc TIE present 81, Or
exacti0ns, to extorl from the human machine al
! the muscular exertion Of which it is capable. il
. ono UNMARRIED task, for the emolnments of III
oil 70 -
denoe with the vlews Of that party which look
upon a part of the community as born TO the ma
Q terry, and the rest to life Of servitude. Thei
+ alarm at the innovation is masked in pretend
, ed regard for the preservation ofindustrious ha
ts. Industrious habits arc only useful as the
promote the good morals, the intelligence an
j happiness ofthe community. Excessive and u
: varied toll does neither the history Of many ma
ufaGtories in England shows that it produces
on tho contrary, degradation, ignorance, and di
Folutionof manner.
The practices OF what is called The factory sv
. tenn have been undergoing legislative investgs
ton in England and in France. The develoDc
\ ments before the English parliament of the abu
ses and enormiies and fatal effects Of the pre-
sent system of factory labor, are ABSOLUTELY fTigl
= fuL Lord Ashley laid before parliament papers
= in which, among many other circumstances G
qualIy startling, it appeared that in the mnnufac
, turing districts, as many persons died undertwe
ty years of age as in the agricultural districts
the same extent died under forty. Even in Mas
Z. achusets, the legislature Of the state has been
= lged to interfere between the children empoye
, in factories and the inhumsniiy of their emplo
eN, and 70 prescribe the hours beyond which III
frame Of the little victim should not be tasked.
II the example set by the President should
followed by those who have the power to follor