The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1868-09-19

81 414 49, H4A4Y ~ 4l1u1<& ~ IN
4 nov nearly century lnce or fathers nj
| IN council In PHILADELPHIA, 10 concert meon
i urss fbr securing w Ilbaties u Is pSopl,
| Of tbis oenntry. Ninety yeaGa Anes pSst
ainos, sppoa1ine thair enn6o - ~ tnaties q
the Deity. they dssuaed 4 their dufys il o.
Declaration Of Independence, sltnr anunsrs,
ting the rsssona which jusli6ei such ssfisu
y 10 hurl their defance ~ ~ most wealthy
I and potsnt nstion thea exisliag - ~
!, globe. sla saseea s xa
| But bafors arriving q such eonclusion
they found Il necessary = sketch, 70
our guidance. the duties Of govssnmeat
These they declared wsrs three, viz :---A 4
secure life, kbefty, and the pursuit Of hap
pincss-" The "rights Of property which
lstssrly seemed 70 have nsurped al The as.
seation Of our National, State, and Num-.
4 cipal Legislaturss, were not enumerated,
save intellectually. perhaps, In the last Of
these specifications.
4 The question will doubtless come before
You - 10 whether the government has dons
its duty in this matter uf the security Of hu.
man life. Will our records of the criminal
4 and accidental destruction Of human life
compare tavorablywith these Of other nations
OF our standing end enlightenment It is
believed they will not. Nor are our muai-
eipai authorities less negligent of their duty
IN this matter. In the city in which you
Will meet 10 has bsen stated by the press that,
during the summer months, the deaths Of
not less than one hundred children per week
are due 70 circumstances over which the city
authorities have power, but fail 20 exercise
L. IL 10 not too much TO assert that the
meanest shanty in New York ID more
carefully guarded by the authorities, than
the lives Ut hecatomb of the children Of
the laborers. aet ses.
Tue second right which, our fathers in
form as governmens should secsre, In that
Of liberty. So careful were they OF this ~
cred right. that, thosgh by the cupidity Of
Great Britain slavery existed amongst them,
they utterly refused to lsgslass upon IL In the
least. They decreed large territory 1.-THE
horth-wssD 70 liberty. They refused to in-
sert even the word '.servitude'' i'm the Con-
stituuon, because il suggested slavery, and
inserted ''service" instead. They decreod
the destruction OF the slave trade, after
short term Of years, and set al example TO
other nations, by branding it ~ 'splracy."
IL 10 manifest that if our government. or
even our popular churches, bud maintained
the grounds they took against slavery in the
Revolutionary period, and which they now
bold, II wouli soon have withered and died
out in the land, and we should have been
spared long and bloody war. But they did
not. The latter governments, whether Wing
or Democratic, bent before the power OF
slavery. Webster sacrificed 10 It trial bv
jury, and Douglas, az its behest, annihiia,ed
she Missouri Compromise. We are not ia
fah q arsaaf 49, -. -.
Of the churches or the honesty Of the
governments, but to the common and spon-
taneous Indignation Of the people. Under
these circumstances, it is submitted, we are
but little beholden 70 our later governments
for The care with which they have secured
liberty"
The third and aforementioned duty Of
government Is 70 secure M in the right Of the
pursuit Of happiness We are arepublic,
and are justified in claiming that this hap
piness shulc be general. Probably we can
yet compare favorably witn ether nations in
this matter, but how Is it A. regards our
seivesf In the most populous state OF the
Union, paper issued by the Citizens Asso-
clafscn, and signed with the houorea name
Of Peter Cooper, informs US that, during the
past thirty years, psuperism has advanc-
ed in the state of New York nine hundred
per cent.-tnat recipients OF public charity
have increased from one in one hundred and
thirty nine in 1885, to one in Is in 1865,
throughout the State. 1t is no answer 70
this 70 seek to balance this sad condition Of
humanity, BY pointing to the inc, ease OF
property in the community. Such advance
is proof Of the industry, and does not Jus
tify the pauperism Of the thirteenth part "
the vpeople. The causes of such d.gene
racy must be found in the evil land and mo-
ney laws which Cypress as, which add 6c-
tititious values to ali we eat, drink and wear,
and ruinousiy burden us in the places we
hire for shelter, which Qess 10 per cent)
double the property OF the wealthy, and
secure it from taxation, which, in the ma
tional currency itself, create invidious dis
tinctions, classify mankind in our Republic,
and Withhold proper remuneration from the
laborer BY compelling him TO receive q ma
tionslly repudiated and debased medium,
not warranted by the Constitution, 10 ex-
change for his tolls.
At the same time while we mourn the in
crease OF pauperism and consequent misery
amongst the people, colossal fortunes 10
some individual instances greater tnan could
be earned Dy the constant toll of many
thous-Id laborers for th term Of their lives,
are nonopoiized by the few. II these were
naturally acquired, and the world received
due return Tor The monopilization Of It's
money, this would not be 20 objectionable
But 1t does not. These fortunes are com
monty hlched BY shrewd men taking advan-
tage OF artificial and unworthy laws, passed
to defraud and rob laborers legally Of the
results OF their tolls. OF all such laws we
have rignt to complain, assuming that
they are not warranted BY the Constellation,
and that they are inimical to the " pursuit
OF happiness /" claimed for us, AZ our right.
in the state paper above referred to.
The codes OF Law which have prevailed
amongst mankind are few In number, and IL
is gratifying to reflect that, since the broken
Law Ok inspiration, each has been an ad-
vance upon its predecessor. Let us hope
that such advance will be continued, uufil
we again arrive ut the perfection OF the
great code Of Moses, contained In the great
magma charta OF the laborcr, the Bible,
which alone, Of oil human laws, secured %
the largest section Of humanity, the tiIlers
OF the coil, the full fruits Of their tolls
which deprived money of the power Of in
GREASE except through labor, and ruled for
three centuries the puress and shrifsiess the
ocratic democracy the world ever saw. No
thing 10 more certain than, before We can
succeed In securing the rights Of labor, ~s
must forbid the rights Of goverunsnss Or
peoples 70 sell permanently the soil, ana
cease utterly 70 sugment, BY evil laws, the
power of money. af Airf NR
Like the Jews, We have dsspissd the
truth, and s,orned In our Senate the '-highsr
Law" with which We were thrsassnsd I'm
1851 Bot ID has been fsarfnIly sindisassd.
Even nov, while our Soushsrn Stnas 10 yet
hot and smoking with theD thundsrs and
lightnings Of the avenger Of justice, our rep
resentatises are, by unjust eissts, vorship--
ping the money calf" which they have
ses mp. Let ~ hope, aoweyer, shat IL NJ
destined, like Its predecessor, 20 b destroyed
and ils sshes scattered over ths uatsfs,
never again 70 be eollected for our epprss-
=.