The workingman's advocate., 1865-03-25


also be happy to hear from our friends
outside the city; but in no case will an
anonymous communication be published.
CLAIMS OF AMERICAN LABOR.
There is no doubt that the American work
ingman is the most advanced in capacity for
self-goTernment, cooperation, and all those
principles upon which new state Of society
has to be built, if he only knew it. Nowhere
else workingmen enjoy such wages, such in
dependence, such power as here, if they only
knew how to use it. While the East India
"Sudra'' does a days work for a plate of
rice; while the pay of common Irish la
borer net many years ago, was only four
pence, America was regarded by poor men
on the other side of the ocean, the work
mans paradise-with its three times meat
a-day, and sugar and coffee and tea in un-
Eaited quantities. But the ques ton arises
Are these advantages Of permanent char
acter, or are they liable to te lost by the ul-
terror development of this country3 We
have seen already in times past, the wages of
common lab0rers reduced to fifty :ents day,
and other workingmen in proportion, and as
far as the law Of supply and demand is con
cerned, which as capitalists assert, regulates
the price Of labor, as of all other merchandise,
they are about taking care to keep the sup
ply up on the labor market, by importing
and encouraging, by Congressional and State
legislation, the importation Of European
workmen. Workingmen as yet have not
succeeded in defeating that cruel law Of sup
ply and demand, and rendering it powerless
in regard to fixing the price Of labor. But
there is another point to be considered.
Wages aie high in tn United States, because
rent-that is, land rent-is extremely low,
while in Europe it is very high. In ENGLAND
and Scotland, the rcn. lid by the cuItivator
for the use Of land, is estimated in round
numbers at one-fourth Of the gross produce !;
in France the average proportion is about
one-third. In the United States the land
rent Is considerably lower, owing to the i'm
Inense supply of land, preventing the neces-
sity of cultivatiH8 those Inferior soils which
older countries afe glad 70 use, and are there
fore willing to pay rent for the right Of
using. As the difference between the pro-
duce Of these inferior soils, and that of the
superior, is the measure Of the rent of the
latter, the cause Of the low land rents in the
United States is easily seen. As land rent,
interest, profit and wages, are the elements
or different features in the price Of products
and goods, it necessarily follows, that, as
long as land rent is low, wages and profits
will be proportonately higher than they are
in older countries. But this cause of high
wages will one day cease and come down to
the European standard, unless American
workingmen begin by times to build the dykes
preventing the influx Of European misery.
They must make themselves the masters, not
only Of the labor market, but of all markets
whatsoever. They must increase their wages
in two ways: First, they must increase
them by forming cooperative associations,
doing away with employers and capitalists,
and distributing the profits Of the establish
ment among themselves. Second, they
must increase the value of their wages by
doing away with the numerous class Of mid
dlemen, that place themselves between pro-
ducer and consumer, living on both, and use
lessly and arbitrarily increasing the prices
Of all kinds Of merchandise Cooperative
groceries, dry goods stores, &C., have to take
the place Of those middlemen, and dollar
of the workman will then buy more goods
than $1.25 or $l.50 in the store Of the mid
demen. But labor cannot battle victoriously
against capital, unless by taking the law
making power out of the hands of the latter,
and shaping law in the interest Of labor.
The relation that labor bears to the State, or
is to bear to it, is the great issue. Even in
Germany, the existence and importance Of
the workingmen as a class, Is officially ac-
knowledged. A remarkable debate took
place the other day in the Prussian legisla-
tme. The administration openly bid for the
support of the working classes, promising
them estate help"-that is, help from the
treasury of the State for their cooperative
associations, in order to detach them from
the so-called liberal party, that tries to oust
mobiles and bureaucrats from government,
and take the helm of State in their own
hands. Leaders Of the liberal party--though
representing largely the manufacturing capi'
tai interest--haye to bid higher now for the
political support Of workingmen, who ara