The national Republican., 1867-05-10
THE WAGES OF LABOR.


The question which is soon to assume
among the questions Of the time more con-
sideration thnn almost any other, is that
Of the reciprocal relations and duties Of
capital and labor. Just how many hours
the laboring man and mechanic shall work,
and what compensation he is to receive for
that work, forces itself uponpublic atten-
ton with o distinctness that cannot be
mistaken, nor can it be postponed for other
times; nor can its complete adjustment be
pushed aside to suit the convenience or
caprice Of those who seem disposed to ig-
more it altogether. We have no belief in,
or sympathy with agrarianism, and while
we would see labor properly rewarded for
its tolls, we would on the other hand pro.
tect capital and see to it that II has its
legitimate accumulations and all the bene-
fits that properly belong to it. We be-
lieye, as We have said above that capital
and labor are reciprocal, and moreover,we
are firm in the conviction, that proper
adjustment Of this now perplexing ques-
tion will not be attained until the princi-
pies which should justly govern both capi-
tai and labor are rightly understood and
correctly applied. The world has been out
Of joint in this particular for long ages,
and oil attempts to partially heal and
bridge over the difficulty have failed and
will continue to fail just so long as the
present policy shall be pursued. Out Of
this illadjusted arrangement between cap
ital and labor has grown this eight hour
movement in this country, and the intense
clamor in the Old World for more free
dom, for extended suffrage, &c.
The laboring man whose wages does not,
now that every article of prime necessity
brings SO high price, admit him scarcely
to put bread upon his table for his chill.
dren, naturally inquiries why this is SO ?
And when he looks around and finds that
capital, in many Of its investments, is
bringing dividends of 100 per cent, be very
justly concludes that he should be more
literally rewarded for his toll. Aud why
noti
We cannot complete this discussion in |
a single article, nor point out the best
means OF reaching the desired result in an
editorial Of q columns length. We have,
nevertheless, some suggestions to make,
and shall follow them by others from time
to time. The New York Tribune, a paper
which has given good deal Of attention
to questions Of this sort, thinks to reach
the solution, in a measure, of this difficulty
by proposed plan which it recommends
to the cordwainers, and if ii is good for this
class Of mechanics, it is equally good for
all Others. The Tribune says:
Take the ancient and honorable fra
ternity OF cordwainers for illustration i
surely one thousand journeymen en- hs
found who can invest 5000 each -
Joint capital of 100000. Os tbis rn snn fst
100000 be invested in .ooch;nnSr ,S sum- imnIo %
inc s5O Oo0 ~. s500 900 in stock, leav-
veFy best o. . working capital; let the
foreme- the co-operators be chosen as
ke, ..I, with competent statesmen, book
.spers, &C.; and let the public be advised
that the company is ready to make every |
variety Of boots, shoes, CATERS, pumps,
slippers, &C., for customers at the shortest
notice, or to sell them ofhand from its
shelves. Such company, properly ad-
vertised, would have a good run Of bust
ness from the start, and would have q
right to claim the sympathy and support
Of workingmen and women, though it
might or might not receive them"
Now, all this looks very we'll on paper,
but it is fallacious. The scheme will not
work; and for the very obvious reason that
such community of interests never have
and never can succeed, till human nature
is changed essentially from what it now 49,
The jealousies that would inevitably spring
up in such company would within six
months scatter it to the four winds. 1t is
true that we have corporations where men
invest their money whenever they please,
and to the extent that they please. These
corporations are governed by certain fixed
laws and rules, and are under the manage.
ment Of directors, and all that any one ex-
poets is his dividends at stated seasons.
He invests with this end in view; nothing
more.
But the TrtJune's plan for the cord.
Wainers is totally different affair, and il re.
quires no great sagacity, and certainly but
a slight knowledge of human nature, to see
that it would be an utter failure. Some.
thing else, then, must be divsed, and whv
not come directly to the just and funda,
mental idea which should govern these re
lations between capital and labor2 There
is but one rule, and that is the golden rule
No satisfactory reason can be given why
capital should divide its one hundred pei
cent. while labor is left to starve. Lei
capital have oil that justly belongs to it
IL Is certainly entitled to all of its just &C.
eumulationSj and it is truth, equally
potent that the "labOrer is worthy of his
here"