The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1868-03-21

Now q great rebellion calls for TIVE thingas
tnen 10 carry II on, and men 10 resist il; and
these, whatever may be their patriotic aspi-
ratiens, their yalor and enthusiasm, must be
fed, clothed, and equipped. There respea-
tive governments, having no time 70 lose,
stand ON the "outer walls" of circumstance,
and call londly for the vendors Of food
clothing, and ammunition to draw near.-
Honest industry hears the call, end pre-
pares to anuwer it as Ear as e0neience and
means will allow. Meanwhile enterprise,
whether honest or not, pricks up it's ears
"lfailol here's lack! /! country in trouble
wants something in . burry--n0 time 10 ex-
apine--little downrhearted, | see--ne harm
to cheat the government And the conse-
quenee is, coNrRAcT made 50 very advan-
tageously 70 the Treasury Departments that
hoaest merit sighs, says, II can't afford to
20 in,n and settles down to the old routine
The fortunate contractor at once bays No
all the floating "poor stuff" at home and
abroad; and his minionE, with their sub
contracts, fatten themselves like EamPires
on the poor sewing-women of the land.
Then come immense supplies Of army cloth
ing; flannel under-shirss, made OF sshuman
creatures lives. aud blankets and uniforms
Of veritable sshoddy.' The armies march
forth in gallant array. Soon follow innu-
merabIe catastrophes like that described by
an observing troubadour of 1861.
".Mrch y said the colonel; forward march,
-tasu orask went the seams in halves Hi
4 hasaIsd @sps-a handrsd men ts5 " -
Showed just two hundred cayesr'
Notwithstanding this sad event, oon6ding
officials still trust to the shoddy garments
They fade, and rip, and burst apart. and
drop to pieces, bus the contractor feels se-
cure His fortune is made, let the soldiers
shiver andeurse rs thev may. What are o
few thousand poorly-elad men to him He
is comfortable IN his s'marble halls.T a-
Then come the peddEers with their packs,
everything by this time valued at an exOrbi-
tant rate-fOr must not the army be fed and
equipped !? With lying tongues aud exnlt-
ant hearts they present their wares. Toe
inspectors are in hurry. in facs, their eyes
are dim with wAr-smoke. Everything is
passed, !" lsAky tents, glued shoes, monldy
oats, hickory beef, rusty pork, poor muskets
and worse ammunition. Broken-down horses
aud d0nkeys are transmitted Ton paper) into
war.steads and mules and leAky, unsea-
worthy tugs, yclept "Vessels' by ShOddy,
are cold at fabulous prices for the parsuit
OF Ul1UBfC pkANASCETSe 8n4 VI 2 11AC d0nok kNA-
tation Of the country's defenders. The
Treasury grows lean, but, like Ayn beer Won
Dundefland, the peddler- contractors grow
fat. They count their gains in hundreds
and thousands and millions; they thrive
and feast and are merry, while their victims,
they who feel the real weight Of their
iniquity, are cheated Of their soldier death
and must fall, in swarms, from the effects Of
insufficient shelter, bad food, and positive
poison. s...ar
Of course there are some marked excep-
tions 10 those contracts and c0ntr actore but
that they are exceptions Cor were so ct the
beginning OF the-war) none can doubt.
It there ase Shoddy sinners, there are also
Shoddy saints men ;ghe, having committed
no wrong, fnd themselves suddenly well on |;
contractors, too, some Of them, who fulfil
their part ike good Christians, and strange
to say, make money W that same. A certain
class Of lucky inventors, inspired specola-
tors, sudden. rise-of- property men, and men
who have sstruek oil' or gambled suocess-
faliy in ss ocks, make up the rest OF the ranks
Of Shoddy; and strange, motley ranks they
are, swelied BY the consequences and re-
Quiremenss Of the civil war into formids-
bic body indeed.
Shoddy minces its words with anxious af,
fectation; Shoddy pours forth slang with a
recklessnsss unparalleled. Shoddy care
lessly jingles its wealth and invites mankind
to come and see Shoddy clutches lis gains
with the sleepless vigilence of the miser
Vlliainous Shoddy rises to foam Of spark
ling beneyolence yirtu0us Shoddy, like the
rat in the fable, breaches industry to the
starving, from a pulPis Of cheese. Shoddy
sinners dUze ia the best pews on Sunday
Shoddy saints stay at home, paralyzed b.
their sudden good fortune. ShoddY mer-
chants stand well con the street - and Shod-
dy merchants dodge the sheriff round the
corner. In fact, there is scarcely form of
human an. hesis in which this same Shoddy
does not shine supreme; and We in turn be
moan it, laugh at it, despise it, envy it, in
sun it,, and fiatter is We warn our chill
dren against its example, and sedulously
emulate its display in our own humble man-
ner. We cry, "Lord be merciiul unto these
miserable Sinners" even while We long .
be able, in some mysterious and eonsccrated
way, to go and do likewise. 1--WE sneer Al
Mrs. O'Fisggerty's immense diamond, and
conceive an intense dissatisfaction concern
! ing the "meau little stone" that once had
| power 20 gladden. our hearts. In fact am
afraid, if Shoddy be absurd, ARE foolish ;
il Shoddy be sinful, we are without charity ;
but let that pass--vhat we have to deal With
now il the serpent itself, not the community
that, 'scL --medn and scotohing ty turns, Is
IN danger Of writhing within its folds.
Nothing could be greater mistake than
to consider ShodJy as an invariable synonym
for recently acquired riches. Men are lre-
quently TO be found who cast no reproach on
sudden riches, but rather exalt good fortune
By accepting 1t. These can hardly be called
Shoddy, though their entire wealth come in
day. Neither, of course, can those be 40
classed who, by inheritance, fall from the
bare limb Of sSgood family into the warm
nest Of plenty bat those whose honest gains,
long withheld, are unexpectedly rendered 70
them en- masse. The lines are wiredrawn,
and yet the practical distinction TO d close
observer Is as broad az the day.
When you hare seen, rs / have seen. .
coaFse- visaged, angular female, dsssssd-or
rather eovered-in the very extreme Of the
mode, weighted With velvet, silk, and spark
ling jewels, and hear her 'excialm, st or
expense amt no nattsrlof consequenvs q
u r. yog vail asdoabtsdIy detect q tainl of
Sh0ddy In the air. When you hear a sshon-
ored citizen" boastipg in Bad English, OF bis
weif-kne~n wealth md general can't-be-
hsAtivsnsss, you with KNOW thst Shodag il
not mr. away. When yoas sentss maeEia.
cent mansion redolent Of newnsss aai fssh.
ion and search in ssin amid the gorgeous
upholstery, snowy freso0ss, and monerel
adofnmsat, fer the trailing home-aowers u
sisganss snd rePose, be sure that Shoddy d
written IN the wall lsen n sra
Sonstimss, mere glance, or tone. Or
football viii bstraS the lressncs or Shosiiy.
p. or cammens a on NE, science at music, 81
tops thodgh yon may have passed ne leeSn6s
una1afe In tie street. To brief, t6 fesIiy
comp ehend Sh0ddy, You must See it, home.
hear ~ conversation, and obse. We its 10
tIonss note its tastes and desires a5d aspira.
tions. Tnsn, and not till then, YOU cas saS.
sThis 10 Shoddy'-"Thss Is not ShodFIk -
.~.~