The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1866-06-23

him lust remuneration for his labor, and
the workingman win soon put some Of your
. lords Of creation to the blush.
Ills common argument, b.. cra v;lb.
out any weight, and " I'd chiefly By mean
e ...",ssnsn lsboBsrs spend their leisure
hours nosc 10 the grog shop. Admit fer
argument sake that some OF thein do, what
has that to do with the merits Of the eight
hour question. Their time is their own, for
good or evil, all the days Of their life. and
they alone must be accountable for the use
Of il in an improper manner. 1t will GER
tainly not make them less brutal or dr..-
TO ossrwerk thsm that hs~ 80
already and failed 80
. facr admitted by MI the great
y 'ral reasoners Of the old world, that were
education Is limited crime abounds. 1t Is
also ~ undeniabie fact that the mechanics
Of America, and indeed OF Great Britain. are
the physical strength Of the nation-the
utility class. "Oh,' say the shoddyites, we
do not deny that, but they add mentally and
very often audibly, we hear it said every day
in some shape, you are only our machines,
the slaves ana drudges Of society the illit-
crate, immoral, depraved class. We, the
sristocrscy, the middle men, etc, are the
N entail strength Of the nation. We make
the laws and enforce them; we guide and
direct you Especially at election times) we
keep your machines in motion, we keep you
laborinS on, ard if we did not keep you in
poverty and misery, why you agrarian mon
ste.s, you would be the destruction of all
civilized society. We are the rulers, the
thinkers, the instructors, the organizers of
society, the mind Of the nation--ts great
mental strength-the literate, moral, and
pious class. We rule, you must toll; we
q you must act; we command, you
a hey"
oh let me say in answer that the work.
ingmen Of America are the noblest men she
can boast, whether in the workshop or at the
pillow, you will find the true union working
man the same noble hearted, free and indie
< .l..t N. And il there il man in
society upon whom to look with admiration,
1t is the independent, sober, intelligent work.
ingman, it matters not whether the speci-
men is farmer, or mechanic, whether his
home is the frontier log house or the neat
cottage, whether his toiling place is the field
or the workshop. What = happy picture
he presents, what reward for his lsbor.
who by his own unaided exertions estab-
fishes for himself respectable position in
society, who commencing in poverty, by his
skill and assiduity surmounts every OBJ
stacle, overcomes every prejudice, and
finally succeeds in establishing for himself
a character whose value is enhanced by those
who come after him. Such man we prize
as the 1oblest work nature is capable OF, the
highest production she can boast. Let it be
remembered by the young workman Just en-
tering upon the stage Of life, let it be at the
foundation and the moving spring of all his
efforts, that to attain this position he must
strain every nerve. II can be attained by
well directed effort Untiring industry and
Virtuous ambition never fail to find their
reward. They never yet were exerted in
vain, and never will be while honesty ana
justice find home in the human breast.
~. Thirty years ago, in the Eastern
States, no limit was placed to to the work.
ing day, men were compelled to work twelve,
fifteen, or even eighteen hours q day, and
many of the employers admit, to their dis
advantage. Now all this is wrong we con-
tend that the mechanic ought not to be
compelled to work more than eight hours.
Capital gets more than its just share, and
always did.
Capital in estimating on any given work,
after covering cost of material, labor, &C.,
always puts on profit Of twenty Ave to
fifty per cent, and we have often known it
to run up TO two hundred on small manu-
featured articles, and those too that the
least wages are paid for manufacturing this
might seem exaggerated to some, but we
are prepared TO prove our assertions, always.
Now, after a workingman has paid his
debts thing he generally does-and pro-
vided for his family, did you ever know Of
his having clear surplus Of twenty-five
per cent. we think not. As far rs we have
been able to ascertain the truth, according
to Savings Bank reports, we find the aver
age Accommodations in them to be one and q
half per cent Of the gross earnings Of labor,
OF q reasonable computation, allowing that
only one-fifth Of them deposit their surplus
in these institutions, we find the net profits
OF labor to be seven and a-half per cent.
only, while capital-money-of itself, with
out labor, win command here in Illinois, ten
per cent legally, two per cent a month
often, and "shent per shent" whenever it
can get it. Now, ask is the living noblest
work Of Gods hands worth not SO much in
this market by two and one-half per cent as
Secretary McCullough's pictures Of money,
or even the yellow mstal itself. Capital
virtually says no. Labor calply says yes.
And we mean, gentlemen, to try and see
that Labor gets its right-we shall try hard