The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1868-08-08
COPS PIONEERS.

We men OF thought and action who ne'er shrink
The noble duties God has on you laid,
What though you're vorld-despised and badly paid :
GODS pioneers arr you I ard do His work
while we. Ike bigst priests behind you Turk,
And At the buebear Doubt shrink back sirad
You Onward boldly march, sai undismayed;
Grapple the Devil beard him like Turk
Bid Thought and D.ubt, turn brothers; rule the
BY them is Truth set free and faIsehood hurled
Back TO er home Of everlasting night,
while knowledge, oot-tracked BY the Angel, Worth.
Dsrkscss f'spels with his electric 'ght,
And Gods light Heaven Of Love prtpal rs for dawn
earth. JANIS HOWELL.
Be up and doing is the motto which
should - =attens over the door Of every
worker and thinker. 1t is no time tc be
idle or faint-hearted. Labor is in great de-
mand, and il has greater rights and demands
to make in return. A great industrial re-
form is TO be inaugurated. The victims as
well as the devotoes Of false system are to
be aroused from their lethargy. Plain, out
spoken truth must be proclaimed. Every
new idea must suffer martyrdom to gain q
foOthold. First, it is simply trivial and
foolish, then mischievous and devilish Self
satisfied ignorance and stupidity will ridi-
cule and laugh at il, while piebald selfish
ness hates and maligns it.
But laboringmen, in the eight hour law,
you struck blow at the iron heel Of des-
potsm. Viewed from the capitalists stand
point it was very wicked and foolish. What
an outrage upon vested rights !" But then,
say these self-complscent gentlemen, it will
harm nobody so much as the laborer himself.
If lie works but eight hours per diem, his
pay must be correspondingy redueed-but
very probably--but we could have abolish
ed slavery without war Why did we not
do itf Because that is not the worlds Gus
tom. Make bad systems by law, and mend
them by breaking one another's heads But
reforms "neyer 70 backwards" II the eight
hour law has been barren Of results in the
reduction Of The hours Of toll, yet it is
bringing to the woIkingmen knowledge
that if labor produces wealth money distrib-
utes it. There is no inequality in the pro-
duction. A certain amount of well directed
labor always accomplishes a certain uniform
result, corresponding with the labor-effort
But the distribution Is far otherwise. One
man does little or nothing, and gathers
abundantIy, while labor does all and gets but
little. This inequality in the distribution
arises out of the system. The principle
agency employed is in estimating values by
money. Suppose, then, that working men
begin to look at prices and wages as tie
product Of the money system itself--as an
il genious device, as it is, to give to
those who do not labor, about fye-eighths,
leaving TO the lAhorer himself only three
eghths. The next question will be, how is
this effected, and hlw far are the principles
Of justice respected by the law in making
such an inequality. When the nottingham
has fully solved this problem, be will find
that prices and wages come from giving a
money value TO every product Of labor or
service. Hence distribution is by law through
the agency Of money Interest and monop-
oily Of the money are the principal instru-
mentalities by which this injustice is per-
petrated. Hence, also, arises the necessity
for the laborer TO scan the propositi on so
frequently propounded by labor organiza-
tions, viz ''fair wages for a fair days
work." Is it possible, under the present
monetary syktem9 To determine this, the
value of the dollar, or its purchasing power,
must be known.
II this is not known, bow is it possible
for workingman to know whether he Is
getting fair wages for a fair days work ?
How is it possible, under the present money
system, to obtain this know.edgee Finan-
ciers only know how much money is aAoat
what rate Of interest, brokerage, profits
and transportation has been included in set
Ting prices and wages. The capitalist alone
has the key 70 this system, and he effectu-
ally locks the laborer outside of the money
changers temple. They alone determine the
account Of interest to De paid-sthe amount
q m61ey which shall b 10 cieeuiasion, and