New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-12-03

Thousand persons in this City alone who are idio
when they would gladly be at work. Say that Only
Twenty five Thousand Of these are full-grown Men;
while Fifty thousand are Women, ard the residue
bows and girls of twelve to eighteen years, the
average value Of their labor, if they were fully
employed could not certainly be less than MY
cents per day, or $500, 600 per week for the whole
number. Suppose that the loss for the warmer
half of each year is but half great the aggregate
loss from dearth of employment in this City alone
is no less than SlI,7O00O0. Surprising the loss
here 70 be one-fth that of the whole country, the
aggregate loss throughout the Union is nearly
Sixty Millions per annum.
And this is but a beginning. Ware the invoiun-
tary idlers all at work, they would not merely Dc
earning money but acquiring capacity. Inc man
brought up to no productive VOCATION. and, there
fore unable now to earn more than fifty cents per
day. would very soon be worth a dollar per day If
he were steadily employed at almost any branch OF
industry. At best, instead of acquiring industrial
capacity be is sowing the seeds OF evil habits, oil
love of Incidence, which will ultimately yield large
baryests of vice, if not of crime and infamy
L. il not possible to devise the ways and means
Of setting every one TO work-not, OF course, just
as he would choose to be employed and compen-
stated but so that he may be earning bread and ac'
ouiring capacity until way shall open for HIM 10
do betteri And suppose this were to cost heavy
sum. would it not be well expended
Mind that all these idle persons have to
Iye-meagerly, badly, for the most part-stli'
they must live. Deaths by outright rost OF
famine are, happily, rare. All who live must ea'i
and must eat out Of the savings of the capitalist,
the earnings of the worker, for there Is no other
resource. Suppose, now, 1t were TO cost even
Fifty Millions to create the conditions OF Sc
curing Employment and a usefully-earned iyell-
hood ever more to all who seek it, would not that
cost be well incurred
And why is it not possible to create such condl-
| tons
We say, indeed, that the markets and marts are
eluted with staples or fabrics adapted to every hu-
man need. But hou glutted while so many SILVER
and famish7 Are there too many shoes and clothes
when tens of thousands on every side have but the
merest wrecks and shreds of shoes and clothes 7
No, it is the capacity to buy not the need to OBJ
| tain which is exhausted.
Just suppose now, that this City were blessed
with gigantic workshops open to every conner,
wherein he who could make hats, or Shoes, or
bread, OF coats, or almost anything else, could re-
pair at pleasure aud there convert his labor into
whatever was required by his needs, is it not plain
that the workers in these shops would be their best
! customers The halter who needed shoes, the
| shoemaker with shocking bad hat, the baker,
the tailor, would all be customers of each other
consumers of the products of each others labor.
| Possibly, half the labor employed in such shops
would be compensated by simple interchange Of
each others products.
But we will not now pursue the discussion.
We PROFOUND no theory, Indicate no special sou'
ton. We only insist that Property and Phianthro-
phy greyously err in not at least seeking the means
| of securing Work and fair Recompense to every
needy seeker. For, if that solution were earnestly
and generally sought, we are sure it would speedily
/ be found.