The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1867-09-28
The Labor CRISIS.
LreNcI.rnrn.f

prUHuction OF tuc country IN many bFanciFRe
would have been ,ess than It is now bntit
is very certain that American society would
have been il a healthier condition, and
AIn,..ean industry based on a surer and
more lasting foundation. An agricultural
population, such as that OF the Northern
Sta.es sixty years ago, vas sure not to con-
fine itself 60 one field OF enterprise exclusive
ly. Enterprise and activity aud restiessness
ard ingenuity, loyc q Tort aud love al Try
iBg all kinds OF work, were as marked lea
lures Of the national character then IS they
are now. The American population could
boast Of much greater supeSse riiy. 10 the
European Ioy~laiOR than 1t can now
There was sure, therefore, to have ZEN
constant overflow from the farms Of The most
gUick-witted, sharp-sighted, aud enterprlsins
men of the community for the creation OF
manufactures they would have toiled,
eontriyed. invented, copied, until they had
brought into requisition and turned
eoant, one By one, all tie resources o. the
counlrY,-nli It's advantages over Cher coun-
tries in climate, soil, water p wer, minerals,
or moral or u, ntal force and whatever
manuiaetl7es they built up would have been
bait up forever. They woold have needed
no iNt-house legislation 30 save them. They
would have ilourisled as naturally, and
could have been counted on %th as mach
Certainty, as The wheat crop " the corn
crop; and laste&d Of being constantsource
Of uncertainty and anxiety a..u legislative
corruption, as manufactures are now. they
would, nave been one Of the mairstays Of
CDR social and political system. Says Mr..
Atkinson "lhe most firmly established
manufactures IN the United States are those
which have never been protected 70 any *
tent; such as the various manufactures OF
wood VI boots and Saoes; Vi beeyy ma
chlnerF sncu A. 1oconotjyes aud, above
ca, agricultural implements aud tools, Of
clothing, of sewing machines, and so on, to
the extent 1t tie larger part OF our home
manufactures, some u " hich have grown up
in swte Of heavy duties on the raw materials
Of which they aie composed" Moreovers-
ard i0is IS what most concerns US IN the
De. nt d,scuss,On,- they would have been
bulit upon die American pan l. men OF
education and intelligence and seIi-Tespect,
acc 5. ned T. cooperation, 10 SeliTsharcS,
end "a fiugaty, ana tie w0Tkmvn would
Fave impaired even more layorably with
oar present manufacturing population than
the Lowell operatives ot to-day. Amer lean
rnsnu,a0Erss would toen, ia short, have
ben leg innate NtfsheoGs Of American agri-
culture would have crown, IS i grew, In
llst AID true relations TO II 7; would have
sUs5fbpl steadily and comfortably lis sur
plus popIiatfon S4sr' ms s.ssslgI Gao ideas Of
IAaa's capacity and yslue ard neeTs Would'
have reigned II the regulation Of the new
INDUSTRY
Cur material progress, perhaps, would
bite been slower. Nhcm ibe rush OF igr-
eigu immigrants began, IN 1916, they would
nos have Il ia huge factories yaTning for
them in eve drecn0n, and great capitalists
ready to enlist them in regiments 10 do their
biddng ard wait Oh their VIII They wonld
have ueen forced into bttaking themselves
to agriculture, the great source Of the ma
lions wealth aud On farms they would
have acquired the habits aud learned the
lessons which have made America a great
nation, out Inch these new.cou els, we fear.
will be very long N learning in the streets
Of factory towns IN which they now swarm,
ana IN which no intelligent man can deny
Il at lhoy are rapidly producing the social
diseases which are threatening the very life
~ more han one European state, and notably
that worst If AL diseases tha accumulation
cf large masses Of capital in few hands, and
the reduction Of the rest Of the population to
serviie dependence on its possessors. How
much manufacturers make IN year, is but
a secondary consideration for Americans
Tie great question for the American poIti-
tician is, how are the results Of production
distributed. IL is on the diSuibltiop OF
wealth, far more than on It's increase, 4hat
Al . Happiness and prosperity anu liberty OF
stats depend. Under TIE hiring system
wl5ea ruw prevails, not only are large mass
as cf the population kept in political and
social dependence on comparatively few
individuals, but the facnlies of oTking'--g.s
are only uarfiaiy hvot'e~' i''sv pay anu
thus The producing power OF the country Is
iously diminished. OF courke, tie inge.
unity aud industry and other good qualities
81 the laborgr are in any Christian and CIV
lzei community mere or less tried, no mat
ter bat ~ stem be works. The reputation
ag good work, and the chance Of pro-
notion or increase OF wages 20 Consequence
of doing good work, are prizes which are
offered il societies ia which labor is free;
but the Influence Of these prizes on the mass
Of men is, after all, only very feeble. There |
Is really very little in The present industrial
regime 10 stimulate the Intelligence excite
the ambition, and sweuten the toll Of ordin-
cry mortals. The york is, after all, another
mans work tie gam is 10 be his, and the
honor of Success is 10 be bis too and the
natural resalt IL, that the great object OF the
laborer, 10 nearly all the trades,--the matter |
which most occupies the thoughts OF all but !
few dmes q elite, as the French hare so
happily called them, who are 4. be found in /
every cllmatc,-is getting lobe every day /
more and more, Tot bow 10 display most
skiil or diligence, but how 20 give least labor
IN return for fixed labor This is to-da7s the
great problem ofihs workingman's life Il, |,
~ the less productive power. caused BY
lhis state OF things little need be said. Ii
can scarcely be over estimated, although OF
course it would be impossible 70 form eny
estimate Of il whatever There is no such
force IN Industry as the zeal, the cagerness,
OF workers. It's presence or absence often
makes all the difference betSeen national Il
decline ard prosperity, between naticiisl
greatness and national wa4kness. The states
most blessed in soil aud station and NUM-
bers have been rnised for want Of it; as, or
instance, Spsi., ADD Turkey, ard the Sonth..l
ern Stsi~s Of the Union. Some Of The
srsrsfest and least blessed by nature-as, for
inStance, Holland and New EnglaDd--haye
acnleYedI fame and power and wealth through b
tie possession Of il. The natural resoafces N
OF the United States, and the natural energy !,
Of The peopIe,--energy which Is born with
them, which she political institutions foster,
and of which they are not likely ever to rid
themselves ARE such that there is not the
least probability that they viii not be three
hundred years hence, as they are now, II
growing and thriving pafioh. But ths greatli
body Of the peaplstmay he then, asiihey are
now. even in the most favored country Of the i
world, NOT poor 80 the European sense OF /
The word, bat 90 poor that their lives shall /
be ever-laborious, their n1sans of selfim-
provement srsaii, their epjoy ments and even I
their comforts scanty, and b. Ezf the eFeaterl,r
part of their most elesating desires add as IL
piratioas unSatisfied. Me-. Atkinson obtained /
asnle statistics from Deputy-C ommissione ar 1