New-York daily tribune., 1862-11-14
DEMANDS FOR sNCREAsE OF
WAGES,

subject of wages. We have nothing TO say
against men getting good wages for days
mechanical labor; ON the contrary, we have
always, at the cost of much de.aInatory attack,
sought to elevate tie rate Of their reward, and
with it, tho responsibility, dignity. and honor,
social and political, Of which working men have
been in past times despoiled.
Working men, however, were never 40 well
provided for Us they are in the Free States at
present, beth % regards food raimeDt, and
shelter. and the means of moral, religious, and
intellectual instruction. Tie State provide.
their children with education for a small tax,
within their means; Laws giving them prefer
ence iu liens ard other ways abound, and no
debls are 30 promptly PAID as those OF men
working for stipulated wages The profession
al man, struggling with difficulties, frequently
gets nothing but promises TO pay: the Journey
man meChanc very seldom. Especially IN lie'o
times do professional men suier. Many Of
them have lived on their little secd-corn dnring
the past two years, rather than on rewards,
current and generous, afforded them. But the
mechanic doe. get his cash. aud it may be as
serted that never were wages higher or better
paid than at present There may ne some
yery few exceptions; but what W. state on
this point is essentially correct.
II il time now, be it borne in mind, not on-
" Of war, but of civil war-oi war with the
people Of more than one-half Of the gross ter.
At. -. A ,4-ifh nh
caste Of slayeholdiDg oIigarchs. who, up to this
moment, are so sacred il the eyes of the be-
sottei so-called Democracy of the North, that
iour million Of mechanics, egricul.urists, and
laborer. Gall capable OF hard outdoor or led
labor, and equal thus 10 an average OF eight
million Northern woskiDs people,. are LETT un-
tosched yet in the hands Of their .reaoheTous,
liberty hating. toil-dcspsing mosters-thOugh,
too, these masters have solenny declared, as
the ba.i. of their rebellion. that all labOriug or
mechanical men, whether white Or black, should
be owned by tho capitalists, and are carrying On
the war solely to establish empire to realize this
damDing theory! With these views of the awful
gravity OF the cr-is-with the cOrreatlye fact
that we will soon have about q million OF men
actually in the field, who mus. be armed and
accouterei, fed and clothed nursed and pro-
tected-and at an expense a head which would
frigh, the private pure but where the public
is concerned We expect TO p6y more freely
than if " the eye of the master" secured thrit
and cconomy-it is a trnism to~sta e that the
good citizen should bear with privations silently
aud generously; thas he should be most occu-
pied in deylsug means 10 aid tho republic to
conquer the foe and TO crush the treason, and
least in living luXuriously. or comfortably, or
in laying up money for the iuture. We think.
therefore, that this is not COED time ior
Iousneymcn's discoDtents and strikes, though
under ordinary circumstances, We should be
glad 10 enforce their legal claims 10 n hearing,
and to have their wages, il possible, increased.
In the North as yet We haze hardly iclt the
war pecunisry. Prices have appreciated, It
is true for some things, but not I" rates
which forbid muliitudes 10 abstain totally from
their use. There may be some economies
necessary, some little priyat.ons, but they are
not glastly or unendurablc. la The South,
however, the masses are cut of lrom tie
cheap aud common iuxuries or necessities of
the Nortb; neither tea, nor coffee, nor sugar
meat, ere beyond their purchase aud boots
and shoes vary at such dizzy nights rs iiitcen
70 Thirty dollars pair.
Ias 81 a6 hosfe dOctu: it is wise 70 learn
ftll 4 l.rf,a
some practical ethics by contemplating tue
course of the people South in their prIvations;
not that~thcy are not utterly bc.o,ted in allow
ing Themselves 10 b. driven - hogs 10
slaughter by a few man-owuing, HOrk-con-
tcmuing aristocrats-but they 10 endure aud do
suffer.
We cntreat therefore, our good worrying
mon not II be 0yerfnst IN asking ior more
wages. Let them survey the present ground
Let them look at the dlficulties whs h bcsct
Government aud society. lie. them wcmember
that the SlayeLolding traitors bey eyed aud
declared that if they made war. revolution in
our cities would follow; murder would stalk
tbo streets; and starving masses. with " Bread
or Blood " on thoig flag. NO I'D marshal IN
force, likc the saaa.culoites Of 'aungry, rcyolu
tonary France. In all this DE- vulgar Ueciora
Of the plantations have. OF course, been
disupI for how ARE men engaged ia
exlorling oil the wages vi humanity uuder the
lash--liyipg as social P.obinson Crrsoe4 cat oi
tho world oi light lad liberty--to understand
the magnificent problem OF nslio' al labor,
tree. A9lored, RspiripE copgreheas,lei n IL
$50 >