The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1867-10-05
THE ",ADVANCE IN A RETRO
GRADE MOVEMENT.


THE ".ADvANCE IN A RETRO
GRADE MOVEMENT.
ArrgR h'sing laid down the general prn-
ciplc that discontent among the laboring
classes is little short Of treason against the
DEGREES Of Providence, the writer follows up
his argument in the same vein, by stating
We think that Almighty God has placed US all In the
positions TO which We have been ssslsnta i9a VIE anu
COED Iurpose. All cannot be ohioers hed n1aTsstH OF
generals in the grand army now hshtns 'he battle Oh
Ii seems TO us that the author of the above
lodges the issue entirely. All tic laboring
class expect or demand, is that an opportu-
nIty be afforded them Of filling the position
which God iat9s3ed hfg should; that while
they Do not expect to be field mxrshals or
generals, they demand eqtal Justice before
the law that class legislation, and the sys-
ten which makes the rich, richer and the
poor poorer, which keeps them in ignorance
and poverty, which makes the producer the
menia', and the non-producer the master
shall ba destroyed.
Let the manufacturers Of New England
who work women and children twelve and
thirteen hours ut employers everywhere
lay the catering JUNCTION to their souls that
they are doing COTS serSfco; let them incul-
cate upon the rising generation the idea that
God-the disposer 81 every good and perfect
gft-has, il his inscrutable providence, de-
creed that man shall live by the sweat OF
his brew" ana That il ls more than idle to
attempt to alter what he has orGained-snd
the thumb screw may be applied a httle
s.igh.~., w..silc-aa additional s@@ary is goted
to the beloved pastor.
The writer Ia con trast.ng the condition Of
the lborer ID Great Britain in 1855, with the
laborer Of the present day, 10 free republic,
mikes, in our humble opinion, very um
tsring excuse, and evidently forgets that the
cattle OF Bunker Hill, Of which he has prob
ably heard, settles the divine right Of
Kings" with its attendant theories and
no ominations, (of which the state Of affairs
10 which be aliuies was but the legitimate
oifsprinE), among the American people, a
theory, however, not one whit more objec-
tcnable than the one be leebly attempts to
establish. An argument which compares
the condition Of The laboring classes under q
proftIgate monarchy in a semi barbarc age, to
their condition under democratic form Of
government, in The middle OF the 10Th GEN.
curry, Is, 70 say the least Of it, far fetched.
As an evidence, that the complaints hereto
fore referred 70 are unfounded we are graveIy
informed that laboring man, by paying his
fIrs, has the priceless privilege Of riding in
a street car Or railroad coach, j and also Of
burning coal oil, drawn from the bowels OF
the earth by his own iabor or skiiilk. Gan
~ = e'yvs The writer, can be enjoyed by
not less than the richest Of our
-'1e Think of this ye dissatisfied
,"0''aiS Tue next time you buy gallon Of
NeioSeoe' ana thNnk God that it was not Nv
dained you should $500. . ...sos candle
Referring to the position now occupied bv
ihe female sex, he finds equal cause for con-
graduation. lie says
Nor has the condition Of woman ,,pnroved
much less. First the slave, then the TOW Of
man, she = nov MS equal in all aud his superior
N many things For her The sewing m lchine.
that miraculous piece Of ingenuity which seers
" 90 everything but tRiAk, has displaced the
distsf and spinning wheel and the omen fire.
place, over which she bent and toied IN lei &C
wei as cold, to prepare the meals of her family
nave given place to the economical cook mo
stove. -
NOW all this sounds very well. Lei as
put 1t through the crucble of truth and see
no" 1t stands the test. Ca the 29th Of June,
we published an article from the New York
Waterman and Reflector, in which a CORES
pendent details the experience Of one Of ten
thousand workingwomen. The folIowino
tells its own tale, and as its truthfulness il
vouched for by the writer, an eminent phI-
ianthroplst, it may be relied on as literally
true:-
&C.. up at o'clock In substance dres myself I'm
the cold eat mouthfu OF soluethinSlist,a ..,,.h
mere IS u eat-and hurry 70 the shop We ars 80 ri
70 warm oerseves by the fire. matter Low cold
~ 80 We may be, and all day / am shiverfnr nv |
s work y making faPer bags. tLirty-6Ye cent?
And bow many can you make adsyp
Cns noGsend when 1 WORK hard.
itl = I'VE CENTS for whole day OF hard labor In 1
coid room, surrounded BY girls who are probihlteS
strictly from converting With each other a,,d among
Nhom II Is grave ohencs to look out Of a Windov ,r
stand moment by the stove.
Alter visiting the establishment, and ex-
aiming into the facts Of the case for himself
the writer says -
ne nost expert Of these grl Is able % earn aho,.
~ &c uoisrs week. was told many earn sss None
~ enen pay ess than THREE dollars week fnr th-;r
nysru; no~, Then, do they l.ef How cIofhe shsro
women are shuddering over Il ev,ry Day.
On the 9th of July, there also appeared
IN the ADVOCATE, an account of the starua-
ton Of seamstress 10 London, England.
at the coroner's inquest, her daughter,
widow with four children, testified as fol- |
ows:-
also am widow, LETT With four Children ~ A.
easeo v~ my neither, whom Supported for ,esrv I
ears ny Own husband has been dead AZ nonths frr,
'hca nme have kept them By nsedlework skirt ,sr
hsa rom "a 70 eid. shirt For the Iss, fort 1
ave lived on bread and rice. w !
Fang nhufu a. s~.I.-. I....