The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1857-08-06
From The Norihcrn T",S iiccIp"o, J"iy I.
THE CONDITION OF THE ENGLISH LABORER
.-EFFoRTs 10 IMPROVE 1T.


those who inclined 10 tho belief that " there was
no hone for mankind on this side Of the grave. "
That destiny cf the masses was Toll, toll, iron
morning till uight-from weeks end to week
cnj-without, il may fairly be said, mon,cnt
cessation except the brief period absolutely necs
sary to i,,biLc the food required 10 keep the lu
hostile to tlrcintcrcs,s Of the working cs<.s mn;
utterly ignorant Of their own. We boast of on
abhorence Of nr:,r" slavery; we romance, we mo
taIizc, and we actually weep over the tales of fri
eau suffering, but we cannot afford n p;,ssin
Thought for the millions of white slaves who con
stitute the masses Of our laboring population
What are these i'll reality but mere ed ma
chimes ?-cmployed only because il has not beer
possible yet to discover others to suppressed,
them AS their employment has been the resuI
at necessity, aud not Of choice, the great object o
the employer has been to tax the physical cudu
rance of the employed to its utmost limits, and re-
dncc the rate OF remuneration TO the lowest mini
mum. Unfortunately the iiercc competition o
trade, and the unusually ovcrcrowdcd state of the
labOr-market, combined to render this state o
things apparently inevitable.
Strikes we have bad in ubundancc-combina
tons Of workmcn against masters, and masters
against worknen-the results generally being n,
jnous TO the mass, and far from profitable to the
few while n spirit of hostility was displayed on
both sides injurious alike to all. Fortunately.
serious strikes have recently been of rarrr occur
renee than formerly and when they have occur
cd, the same bitterness of feeling las not been
exhibited OIL either side, as formerly the case
Many masters have discovered that in order to
secure the willing services of their operatives it
became their own interest to extend many in,lul-
gcncies which had formerly been denied them:
aud all experience has shown the results to have
been not only agreeable but profitable
The lhant'ir"pI>t moralizinc and dcplor
ing the hard fate Of the of labor has ever
admitted that nature never destined them To an
eternity of toll THAT they We're entitled TO par.
take of ut least some Of the bouniies of creation ::
10 inlae occasionally tho free and refreshing
breezcs Of Heaven, To cool their heated brow
to tread the green sward; to listen TO tho scng-
stcrs of the grove, or enjoy their evening stroll
by the bank, Of some pulling brook, other
wise TO taste some Of The many charms of nature
hitherto denied them; but then there ''was
time tc spare for such PURPOSES The struggle
for life demanded that every hour of their cxis
tence should be spent in the viliatcd atmosphere
uf the factory or Workshop or in partakna of
that rest necessary TO enable them 10 perform
their daily round Of toll and hence. although the
hardship Of their fate was dcrlorcI, and It's in
justice admitted, il Was prGnuuuccd to be their
fate, and beyond the reach Of IL rational remedy.
1t appears that the white slaves destiny was tic
result Of absolute decree Of Proyidcncc-an
evil beyond the reach O! human anncliora,ion-
We have already sul that, 10 Il certain extent,
we inherited this belief A ray Of hope has,
however, broken in upon We have Just risen
from pcrusal vf The proceedings ofthe Liverpool
Rccrcativc C"inl'any, ut their meeting held Oh
Monday nj: :sht ut the Concert Hall. A Recrca-
tive Company What Is The meaning of that?
we think We hear most Of our readers cNcl;im
Who ever heard of such Il thing say the Tom
my Noodle and the Sairy Camps. But, never
thcess the thing is there and il WILL in the hands
which have its direction, ultimately prove Il
great Elct, otherwise are mistaken.
The speakers OH the occasion were, M.ssrs. ].
X Jeffcry, Chairman; w. Ra,hbonc Rev -
A. Stcintllall, Nh SanuclsUn, Rev. ii. :. Brown
Mr.. Thomas, Mr.. +. IL. Ea,hLone, &c, &c
The speeches were all good, but Mr.. Jcilcrv's
vas, indeed, master piece. Ii Was alike elo-
1ucn, argunlcntatvc AID conclusive With such
advocates the working classes lavo no need to
fear. Mr.. Jcifcry's sentiments do honor alike to
the head and heart oc the man who gave utter.
nncc to them, and they will find Il response in
the mind OF every welIwishcr Of the working
man Mr. Jclcry's speech has not Only done in
finite credit 10 himself. It's pliiIanthropist and q
moral philosopher but ii has conferred :: dignity
OIL the order TO which ho belongs Here we have
no clap-trap oratorv--nO appeals to the passions
preJudlccs or f,natcism Of class-no cIcctionccr.
ing perorations about the "proul boast Of Enr-
lisi'men" the flag that bravcd thousand
years &c, or &c Brtous never shall be sluv.s'-
phrases rcsorlcd to by our popularity hunters.
TO secure " one cheer more" or another round of
the hentlsh lire from their ignorant and ,lrlueed
dupes. Mr.. Jcifcry tells The working men tai
they are i'll reality slaves, and lc points out a ra
t'onai mode oil obtaining national liberty, if they
will only prove true 10 themselves
Our own cXpcricncc-and it has been con.id.
crable-confirns IT'S i'll his statement, that the
moie leisure III reason you afford tile work. juy
classes, the more will you wean them from l,alt.
Of intempcruncc. But it is libel on the cbarnc-
ter of large majority Of the British workmen 10
say that they are lrunkards. or late wears Tho
amelioration i'll their condition has been consider
able, and their habits have improved amazingly.
In many large establishments drunkurd is even
summed by his fellow workmen, when formerly
tee-toler would have been PORTED at with the
hnGer OF scorn. We do not attribute this vast i'm.
provement merely to the agency of temperance
principles 1t Is more the result of that steady
progress which the working man has reccntIy
been making i'll his material position. Take the
Majofity oil men III barragam whom you may
chancc 10 meet, even over their pint Of bccr and
You will find that drunkenness is tho exception
rot the rule. Listen TO their conversation. and
you will find that they read and are capable of
commenting with much slrewdness and intel-
.,of.~,- an the events of the day-that profane
Iahenagc Is rarely r.l''lucd in-whiIe, in trcatino
on details connected with their b"+;ncss, the2
display capacity and intelligence not possessed,
by their superlors. All these men most rcn,lirc
10 oeVelop their good qualities to the fullest ex-
teht IS, more leisure and rational recrcution The
Liverpool Rccreativc Company promise to pro-
vide these, and in their efforts to do so we wish
.hen God speed" The perusal of their pro.
nl', there is some hope for mankind
49,. -----
s>---
Ftsn 20 11nington.-A correspondent of
the Journal Of Commerce has described n vis, fn
arlington, the residence Of the venerable Geo.
Washngton Purke Gusts, the survivor of the inn.
mediate household Of Washington:
found him alone in his studio, where nm
told. he spends most of his time On the easel
lay sPicture of the battle of Trcnton-one Of his
own wnrepresemtation Of u scene witnessed by his
own eye. The. cleaning of arms, and tho orrav
o. war seemed fit subject for the cont tcmpiaton
ofthat ase whose childhood was ntirlured in thc
shadow Of the greatest warrior Of apy nation
so truly do our earliest associations become our
latest. fise- = - '"'
The walls Of his room; were.eovcred with mill.
tary pictures, in which Washington always fio,,sd
III the foreground, pictures whose creation lad
been great source of senjoyment to one who had
wearied Of active life before time had exhausted
single energy ofh robust constitution.
s..lisalEneh had some such resource for their
tssS3l9tg Years, the wordsqucrnlous and bnrthen.
selgs4NSnid never have become associated with
OLD Hge. Not for. fka HIN oEt ,,l,;.t.