The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1866-04-28


the wish for better DAYS to the better DAYS
themselves "a work og difficult and tedou,
constitution, 1t Ia therefore no matter Of
great scgrst 20 US, to see the eight hour bill,
everywhere strsngled and defeated at chs
behest Of capital, smelling the danger from
afar, at -hich the eight hour movement !,
bat diminishing party, precursor tn,
defeat Of that measure in our legislatures
proves the want Of power in our con lctions
the want Of system in our organization, tn,
want Of vigor in our efforts.
Our public speakers and our organs hav,
scarcely touched the surface Of that immens,
social question, the sphinx Of this century
The have talked to US about the advantage,
Of reducing the hours Of labor, Of the usefu
and agreeable Of aid reduction, and how
nobody would be the loser thereby, bu
everybody the gamer. The employer, by
the improved quality of the work done tn,
workman, by receiving the same and higher
wages than before. 1t was represented as 1
beneficial measure generally acceptable; 1
reform just like any other reform Of sanitary
character, as the introduction Of sewers int
cities, or Of lake tunnels guaranteeing pure
water throughout the year. 1t was not to b,
expected that . movement SO gingerly and
cautiously treated, should have struck roots
at once deep and powerful anough to shake
the centre or even the circumference of so
e'etY. We shall have to begin over and
deepen our trenches. Ours is not . matter
Of mere philanthropy, Of victories easily won,
of results earned without effort; ours is the
usheriDg in Of a social revolution. of wsl
OF labor against capital, in which one or the
other has to 60 to the wall To create the
feeling, the effort commensurate to the great
task requires unusual vIgor, unusual esrnest
ness and most comprehensive study on the
part Of our speakers and our lsbor papers.
If they had succeeded in touching the real
root Of the matter, the real cause Of the pres
ent rottenness Of society, if they had found
out and proclaimed the new all-reforming
and Ienovating idea, On which society has
to be built up anew, or If they knew 70 ap-
ply the new idea to partial life everywhere,
the common press Of the day, Of capital,
could not have afforded TO ignore them 50
thoroughly, rs we have seen from the frs
up TO now. As long as the southern FIRE
eaters only talked sec, ssion, nobody cared
for it, but when they At last succeeded IN
firing the southern heart the talk became m
idea, the idea great practical fact a south
ern confederacy, asserting its right Of exist
ence against the powers that we're, new
power sprung into existence, challenging foT
a life and death battle. The old power pre-
tending to have better idea at the bottom
Of its civilization, proclaiming that Of the
North a sham, a nuisance, virtual anarchy
and mobocracy. The principles measured
swords with each other the slave labor sys.
TEN fought against the free labor system
and went under in the storm Of iron hail as
well as in that Of hot and fiery debate
Now another battle is announcing itself for
the great lists Of America the present sys.
tenn Of the almighty dollar has outlived it.
self, capital begins to become impudent
competition ends in monopoly; they ere
waiting already at the gate to carry the dead
out to the old burying ground, where al
former ideas and institutions, and class-rule,
snd systems have gone before them.
In order to do Il, we have 6rst to show
up and dissect the old idea which called the
presen. civilization into lie, admit its once
usefulness, prove its present effeteness, and
then present the new idea Of the future,
sprouting already here and there in tender
shoots, but as yet not comprehended in lis
full granduer nor in its practical application.
Our movement is IS yet in the transition Vi0
between the first stage Of social reform and
the second. The idea-key that opens the
rock of tho future, is not yet fully shaped or
wrought out. Earnest men, like Sylvis, feel
the grand future coming and announce it,
telling the masses not to deIude themselves
with the thought as even an eight hour
victory at the polls amounted to much tell
ing them to grid their loins for far grander
with far more dangerous lions and
real giants, despair and injustice. There
never yet was any important reform carried
without struggle proportioned 10 its i'm
simply because every great reform
means deposing Of ruling power, an ush-
aring-in Of a new class into power and en-
oyment at the cost Of their opponents