The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1868-02-01

I
what u II protection n tbs little child
No, Il d to shutssut he nSunhslurs Of .
pstiop thar only Fosln II children ten
1eq1t dAy. The slave o~ner always was
|eakLng fr pref -,tion 70 kssp his slAyes. IL
or cotton maj ufacturer sny bettef than
slaSe ownsrsf DID any PLANTER u the South
Rofk hss small childfen thirteen hours .
dsyf NJ. He knew they would never grow
up 10 be Of any use when they became men
i! " they did. But the cotton manufacture
hes no such scruples. He goes In boldly for
destroying slavery 10 the South, yet carries
on worse system himself. THESE cotton
mills too have even . worse feature than the
| planter, for be usually remained on his
planiation, md TO some extsnk looked after
hss slayes. whilst thsae cotton mills are
owned by what u called corporations, and
they employ IN agent (which Is but another
name Tor slave-driver) to supsrintspd them.
and be 10 expected 70 carry ont this brutal
syslem ii III iss particulars
was very much struck while standing
looking 1t the mills the hour Of dinner ar
rived-frst saw . band Of boys and girls
CONS bounding out OF school, and how Joy
Qua thew were sliding and laughing along
the street, making the air ring again with
merry lsarhtsr. Thea the fa,tesy bell rang,
and : host Of children merged ftom there
but. Oh, hsu difFsrsnt: nth thar blood shot
eyes, Gas almost al children in factories are
subjse to) their sunksn cheeks and wasted
forms, 20 thinly clad L watched with inter
EFT 70 go the play begin, and hear their
merry laughing; bat waited in vain, with
silent tongue end 'downcast looks, they
wendell their var home to dinner, perhaps
(Ior an told that many are scarcely able to
provide one,l every principle of the joyous
germs or childhood aud boyhood crushsd
out Of them By the terrible system carried
90 w sne ovsrseers In our manufa etorie.
bare. had right before me two phases o
the life Of our youth; one was happy and
joyous-ths other respondent and detected
I asked myself what ia the cause OF it; bu
was soon able TO answer it for myself. II
Is long hours that is the great cause Of nj
the troubIe--ths one are kept at schoo
studying from TO 8o'clock, which il though
quite long enough to tax young child
brain. The others are kept often for thir
teen long hours. Are their physical francs
any better able to bear the fatigue in tn
one case than they are in the other? TheI
say, do not our lawmakers and our mel
who elect these lawmakers, commit q Grim
against God and hum anity in allowing sucl
things as these to exist? Does il requir
any further argument to convince the toilin
,aasses Of the United States that there
no hope to remedy these things until the
do it themselves; II never will be done B.
either Democrats or Republicans. 1t is tn
peoples question, and the peoples part
must noue at once consolidate their forces
and redress their great wrongs. Even tn
press, that great guardian Of liberty and 70
to oppression, viii never say one word abou
it. Read any Of the journals published il
these manufacturing to Ens, and all that yo
will find in them will be such paragraph
as that such mill is expected to run shor
time, and il another one don't do any bette
thea they have been doing, il viii shut dow
altogether. Then it is currently reported.
; cot on goods continue to 20 down rs they Dc
. such and such mills will have to reduc
wages. These paragraphs are all the tim
being published BY the employers to kee
} the bands, as they say, in subsection bu
in reality to prevent them from asking for
/ living rate OF pay. And thus for years hav
these poor people toiled on. Most Of th
children die before they reach manhood Q
womanhood, and il they do reach it It
only . name, all else is a wreck, aad life
! blank. re your readers doubt it, let thet
read the statistics of the New Englsn
States Yet this Lewiston ia. yer
pretty place, right in the heart Of the Stai
Of Maine, and one Of tue largest manufactu
ing cities we have in the States. Wit
/. proper regulations aud great curtailing Q
: the hours Of labor, thousands wouli be hap
. py where there is now nothing but misery
The water-power here Is very fne, an
there are about eight large factories, SON
Of them employing each 1000 hands. In
mediately opposite Lewiston ID Auburn,
very pretty little town, which Is just no
being Incorporated. r
The other trades Of Lewiston are small
. and could not find that there were an
> Unions ct all. It Is said that the wise me
came from the East, but there does not al
. pear to be much wisdom displayed anon
2 the workingmen down here; possibly Ii
sun will penetrate even these ics-boun
lakes and rivers ct some future time, or
D then when il does. these little children shs
work no more than eight hours day, thu
joyous laughter shall ring out again. bles
ing and praising the workngmen who r.
lieved them from . slavery worse than eve
existed in the South. That the time ma
l soon come is the wish ofa WAsDERER.