Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1869-12-14
THn MAN WHO TOLLS;
Ten Points ON Topic of Interest.
BY THE BLUFF TALLER.
INCORPORATION.


Cooperation is g very fine thing when
seen through green glasses; it has pol
ished and reflective face, and appears
quite bright and beautiful to the beholder
who knows nothing about its workings or
its effect upon the man who is compelled
to toll for wages. To be sure it is com.
mon desire for one to have controlling
interest in the trade in which he is en-
gagged; it is, o sort of ambition which all
should feel and encourage--an impulse
Of the heart prompting cultivated head
to direct its course out Of position of
dependence into one of freedom and se-
curity. At the same time it muRt not De
believed that the man who tolls seeks TO
better his condition from belief that the
reception of wages implies degradation: !:
for he has the testimony of holy writ in
his favor to the effect that the laborer is
worthy of his hire, and it assuredly
would be queer freak Of fancy to think
otherwise. He also knows that man does
not live by bread alone: that there are
comforts and delicacies and dsinties to be
provided; that there is q home to be pro.
cured, and house to be built and fur
nished and adorned; thatthere is O station
in society to be attained by some means
life depends upon his ever Creeping
onward. Now all these things may blaze
up and pop out in perplexing way
like will-o' -the-wisp as long as toiler
has TO bear the whips and soorns of an
employer; and there seems to be no means
Of escaping from these torments (Which
are little less than those of hell) save
through the gate of cooperation, which
opens way for every man OF mechsni-
cal mind and industrious turn to become
bis own master. 1t must appear clear,
then, to an unclouded intellect that CO.
operation, like joint stock company, is
capital thing for those embraced in its
profits; but as it is matter of very
grave doubt that every toiler is able to
set up for himself, or to join others who
are willing to start in business, it must
appear to the commonest observer that
the same feeling is as likely to spring
up between a co-operationist and
Journey man as springs between q cap
ltaist and laborer. Indeed the CO.
operationist (who does his own work.
not only leaves the journeyman
toiler (who depends upon cspi-
talist for employment out in the cold to
wither, but by close economy is enabled
to undersell in the market the striet cap
italist, and in the course of time by this
means cuts down the standard OF the
journeyman's wages. OF course it must
be admitted that but few toilors can be
come capitalists, because their earnings
are seldom more than keep body and soul
together and uphold the fashion of the
period in shabby genteel, frugal-festive
sort of way. Nevertheless there is q
plan by which the man of industry may
better his condition, and that is by taking
q share or two in the Workshop in which
he is engaged. Thus ne may become q
stockholder in the concern and secure
share of its profits, while at the same
time he assists that much-needed system--
the unity of capital and skilled labor.
Sill in this plan there are pains as we'll
as pleasures, fer losses are as likely to
occur as gains; however such is the LOT
of trade, aud they who work hsrmoni-
ously together, bearing each others bur
dens as well as receiving each other
blessings, are certain to overcome all OBJ
staeles aud achieve success. There is a
broad field Of mutual interest to be cul-
tivated by the man who holds money
aud the man who tolls; and when they
are linked together iD labor, brotherly
love and friendly feeling will bud and
blossom and shed fragrance on all
around them.
vm-cELEsTIAL IMMIGRANTS.
1t is glorious thing, to be sure, 10 live
in city of sages, where subjects of q
serious nature are skinned over 9th
bluf grin of derision, and matters Of no
mundane value are discussed with
breviIy of conception and tullness of
ignorance quite happy in an age of ideas
that jingle like symbsls of silver and of
accomplishments that glitter like burn
isbed brass. The latest phase of civili-
zatiou and progress into which we have
been jerked out of the muddy pond of
stupidity, as q keen angler jerks dczen
trout out Of wayside brook into bis net
work basket, is that Of calling AsiRtics |
into the corn-feld and cottou-patch 10 |
perform the work neglected BY the en-
franchised and benighied AfricsnF: This
change of pig-tails for tow-heads, the pet
politicians Of the times graciously tell
Us, is to work wonders in the shape Of
the mnrky clouds that hang
over the green valleys Of this
gentle cline, and bring out in pristine
grandeur the glories Of good liyiEg and
intelligent activity which were 10 vogue
in the days when SAmbo sawed wood, fed
cows, blacked boots snd cleaned dishes
without pay or profit. Nevertheless it
appears strange, Notwithstanding the
hrirhtness and besuty Of the era /