The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-05-13
CHI r L E S T ON.
THURSDAY MORNING, MAY ,1s, 1859.
Free Trade and tho worlinglnen.

THURSDAY MORNING, MAY 1s, 1859.
Free Trade and tho Workingunen.
Professor Perry delivered lecture last
week to the wofkingmen Of New York, on
the subject of free trade and specie pay
mtnts, which might bs repeated with ad-
vantage in every city in the United States
In the movement now begun, it is import
ant to have the cooperation Of the artisans
and laboring men. They are powerful by
their numbers and by the wealth Of produc-
tive force which they represent: Their
support is sought by every political party,
and IL is to their interest to consider quietly
but carefully the relations Of free trade and
wages. They should judge for themselves
whether it is Wise for them to give any po-
litioal support whatever to party whose
policy is to swamp the country with ire
deemabis paper-to enrich the few and
make the many poor. by class legislation
and prohibitiYe tariffs.s - r0.. :: o.
And at the very outset it must be borne
in mind that the number Of dollars earned
weekly in deprecated currency is no true
test Of the profit Of labor. The question
is, not how many. dollars do you receive,
but vhat will your wages bring! Will
they bring much or little Of the necessarieS
and decencies Of life .-.
Without, perhaps, seeing too clearly the
reason, the workingmen have shown that
their relations to their employers are un-
satisfactory. During the last fo1r years
strikes have been more frequent than ever
before. These, with the trades unions and
the meetings constantly held for the pur-
pose Of obtaining higher wages, prove that
spirit Of discomfort exists. The laborers
feel that they are not dealt with fairly, and
take the handiest means to better their
condition. But they should themselves
stndy the whole subject They should make
the comparison between the rste of wages
and the current price Of commodities; q
comparison which has been made lately on
Q grand scale by Mr.. Wells, the special Com
missioner Of the Revenue, whose reasoning
and whose figures the protectiOnist organs
have yainly tried toupset. Mr. Wells, after
a most painstakipg examination, came to
tho conclusion that while the general rate
Of wsges Of unskilled labor had only risen
fifty per dent, the rise in the price Of the
commodities which laborers require to make
themss3rss and hmiliea comfortable had
been st least stosnty-siyhss psr cent in the
last seven years, IN regard to skilled
labor, his conclusion was that the. rise in
tho wages, Of mechanics and artisans
Isnounted to sazty per cent, while the sd-
vance in the price 81 the neoessaries Of life
was, ss before, sspenty eight per cent, show
ing . difference. of eighteen eants in the;
dollar against the workingman. Here
is the plain TACT that the wages Of the
,workingman do.not buy him NOW ss many
esmforts and nsopsaries as they did in
1851 and 1862. Where the unskilled lsborer
received one hundred dollars he now re-
oefves one hundred and yffiy; but the neoessa-
ries, which he could have bought for one
hundred dollars now cost at least one hundred
and seventy eight. Where the skilled work.
man received one hundred dollars he now
receives one hundred and sizty; but what he
could have bought for one hundred dollars
now costs one hundred and seuenty-eight
It is very evident, then, that the man who
works for wages will never obtain his dues,
or know what he is getting, until the cur
rspcy Of the country is hard cash. Every,
merchant or storekeeper using paper cur
rency knows that it may drop down ten or
twenty cents, on the dollar in one day. The
paper dollar has no intrinsic value. What
is seventy-fve cents to-day may be but fifty
cents tomorrow, and this ncertainty
makes necessary heavy addition to the
selling price Of all the goods the poor man
requires. The merchant does not consume
the goods. All that rests with him is to
make himself safe, and he does it-at the
expense of the purchaser. The laboring
man pays the price. Food, shelter and
clothing he must have. There is no wait
ing for lower prices, no escape for him. No
profit can be added on by him for some one
else to pay. Every cent is taken from his
own hard earnings. The laboring man
pays the piper. This is why the working
classes should join in the cry for hard
money. Silver is silver and gold is gold
There is NO risk in dealing with specie, and
the merchant has no excuse for tacking on
twenty or thirty per cent. to the fair SELL
ing price.
Free trade, also, will benefit the working
man in every conceivable way. 1t will give
them cheap houses, cheap clothing, cheap
shoes, cheap tools and implements, cheap
coffee, tea and salt. Fortunes may not
be made as quickly as Of old in New Eng
land and Pennsylvania; but the working
man will prosper, and by his prosperity
the whole country will thrive, the sggre-