The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1866-04-21

Creator. Lawyers in this country and Eng
land make Coks's rule, or Jones, their guide,
and thus become patriarchs.
Sir Ed. CoKE-
Six hours in sleep, in Laus grave study six.
Four spend in prayer, the rest on nature fix
Sir WILLIAM JoNKs--
Seven hours to law, to soothing slumber
seven,
Ten to the world allot, and all to Heaven.
The laboring man, now a mere drudge,
would be enabled under this arrangement 10
become well informed, and 80 a more useful
member of society.
The purpose of the workingmen who ask
for this law is 10 show the capitalists and
employers that the new regulation will be as
advantageous to them as the present prac-
tice that ss much labor will be accomplish
ed and as much profits made. When the
sanction of the legislature shall have been
given to the principle, they will appeal TO
employers throughout the State 10 let it
have fair trial. Wherever IL he's been tried
he etofore, it has given entire satisfaction.
Machinery has indeed wrought marvels-
II has multiplied the power Of producing, so
that our 80, 900, 900 Of population actually do
the work Of three hundred millions. IL has
extended the scope Of our faculties so as viz
tualiy 10 increase the range OF our ply sIcal
senses. Ii has heightened our eyesight SO tha.
We can map the surface OF the moon, our ears
hear words on the instant that are uttered
az 5000 miles of distance Ii has added
wings to our feet, so that with our iocomo-
tves we outstrip the birds Of heaven in their
flight. The uip-hammer smItes with the
strength Of a thousand men beating the
brittle iron into plastic malleabllty, and the
cotton mill spins with thousands Of metallic
Fingers that never tire. McCormick's reaper
gathers In the harvest ofa prairie m single
day and the moving machine does M in a
month the haying for hundred farmers.
These are some Of the herculean achieve
ments which workingmen have performed.
The pToft-capitaI has reaped il sll. "1e
mechanic and workingman are required 20
labor as severely and as unremitungly as
though none of these magnificent inventions
mad ever been devised. Ii can work no iu-
justice to grant their demand for some 81 the
benefits, to extend to them, by an su ueliOra-
ton Of their condition, an sbridgrment of
their terms Of day labor, some Of the sdvSn-
merry.
The question is fairly presented to Us As
men and statesmen, whether Il il wiser for
one workingman to produce for ten hours a
day, and continue to do SO for only ten or
fifteen years after the age Of twenty -one,
or to put In operation the eight hours ~ stem,
under which they will be able to continue
IN active life from thirty to fifty years after
having attained to the estate OF manhood.
This legislation for them is required as n
needful restraint upon the eDcroachiDg ten
dency Of capital. Usury laws are enacted
for similar reason saying nothing about
enactnents to restrict exorbitant fares upon
railroads, and unjust discrimination in trans
porta.'on Of way freights. England rs the
paradise of the capitalist. We may deduce
from her example moral to restrain US from
falling into her errors.
Il stood in Oxford road Manchester, and
observed the stresm Of operatives as they
left the mills at II o'clock. The children
were almost universally Unlocking, small,
sickly, barefoot, and lli-clad Many appear
ed to be no older than seven. The men,
generally, from sixteen to twenty four, and
none aged, were almost as pallid and thin as
the children. The women were the most
refined in appearance but | saw no fresh,
healthy individuals among them. Here was
where | saw, degenate race; = race
overworked, enfeebled, depraved"
TO shorten the hours Of labor in their
factories then IS urgently Tequired.-As il
is they cannot earn a livingp A 1.munitiou
of the hours Of labo by diminishing the
production would enhance the price of the
commodity, and thus allow an equal or greater
wages to the laborer. We must devote one
quarter Of the day 70 recreation, if We wish
to live comfortably and attain 20 the age OF
man.
There is, we will venture 10 say, M
country in the world where the effects q.
trades on health and longevity Of the work
men who follow them are 50 extremely per
nicous as in Great Britain for there is nons
where the condition Of the peol's employed
in hurtful trades is so great, none where the
workmen are congregated SO much In towns
and large manufactures, and none, too, we
believe, where working hours occupy % large
q part ofthe day. And on one occasion only
has the Government interested itself IN the
fate OF the sickly and short-lived artisan"
This exposure created profound sensa-
ton in England, and forced Parliament 10
make an investigation Of the matter. A bill
was introduced to restrict the term Of labor
to twelve hours day. Ia consequence oi
the opposition Of Sir Robert Peel and other
large capitalists in that body, it was defeated
But finally, in 1888, the endeavor was re-
newed with success, and the law was enact
ed. The condition of the laboring classes,
however, was not greatly improved and e.
forts were subsequently made, year by year
to reduce the number Of hours TO ten. In
June, lS47, the desired legislation was Oh
tanned and to their astonishment, in utteI
contradiction Of the assertions Of the CAPT
talists. while the hours OF labor had thu:
been reduced, and the rate Of wages actually
advanced from ten to twenty-five per cent
1.-THE wages Of nearly all classes Of >oper
atives appear to have increased from ten u
Twenty-Five per cent. during the last twenty
years (from 1889 to 1881 This is ma nly
owing to improvements in machinery, AnC
the increased speed which it is nov worked
and its consequently increased prodactiv,
power"
"Since the passage Of the ten hours fac
tory act in June, ls47, various restr ction
have been placed upon the employment 0
young persons in cotton mills, and the nc
tuai labor per week Of all adult persons IA
been limited TO sixty hours"
Il am, l must say, surprised when hea
men Of eminent ability and knowledge LAY
down the proposition that dimunition o