The national Republican. [volume] (Washington City [D.C.]) 1866-1870, 1869-09-21
Tho Disorgani.asion OF Labor.

Tho DisorGanisation OF Labor.
A Trades Union Congress has lately been
held at Birmingham, England. A corrcspon.
dent Of the New York Times says the paper
that excited the most lively interest In tho
Congress was one from Mr.. Potter, editor Of
The Beehive, on "Thc Dlsorganization OF
Labor" Ho said:
"Tho trade of England, or OF any other
country, depends mainly upon the following
considerations: Upon the position toward Il
ofthe great thoroughfares ofthe world; upon
its climate; upon the cheapness and abun-
dance Of It's raw materials; upon the amount
of Its burden Of pauperism, and the amount
and Incidence ofits local and imperial taxa
ton; upon tho presence Of labor and capital In
duo proportions, and tho relationship u,
social and personal-betwcen them upon no
civilization and requirements of other natio Is
upon the health, strength and moral charac-
ter Of tho workmeu; upon Its freedom, indus
trial, Intellectual and religious; and tho moral
Is that, If wo sec trade leaving US through
the absence Of any Of these, we must mini
misc our loss on that one, and strengthen our
position as to tho others. For instance, In
England we cannot make more land, nor can
we hold an unlimited population; but VIC can
make the most Of the mon by education and
self-rcstraint, and Of the land by freedom and
centre Of tho worlds trade. On the contrary,
II, nstural feature centres at Suez and Pam
ANA, and the progress Of steam navigation,
and such enterprises as the American Pacific
Railway and the Suez Canal tend directly
TO lessen some Of our artificial advantages.
Before steam navigation American ships had
to cross the Atlantic too near the Azores TO
Gnd winds even for tho South American voy-
age, and this disadvantage to them and ad-
vantage to us ran for centuries through our
respective histories. Steam now saves them
some ten thousand miles out aud homo on
tho voyage In question. Their Pacific Rail-
way will divert further traffic, while the Sucz
Canal, always opposed by England, puts
Marselllcs between Southampton and tho
East, and literally gives to France long odds.
In England the national industry and Intel
lect, notwithstanding their stupendous de-
yelopment, are powerloss to arrest pauperism.
Our three familiar demons, war, waste, and
taxation, consume sum much greater than
tho aggregate Income OF all the workingmen
In tho kingdom, estimated at ESQ year for
each man. The army Of industry must de-
clare war agalnst the cause Of this pauperlsm
and crime. Tho producers are not IS per
cent. OF the population. Criminals and pau
pors must live, and while all property falls In
value, labor falls first and most. Our object
to-day Is not so much to show In detail tho
admitted enormity and danger OF certain
evil-drunkcnness-wh We must meet and
master, as to show that 1t Ia of such char
acter that We must declare martial law
against IT.; VIC must SIT as vigilance commit
toe against common enomyj we must stamp
1t out and get 1t under. Tho problem Of tho
age and Of all tho future 10 tho organization
Of labor and Of democracy against all their
enemies, whether within or without-an or.
ganlzation ofall who work, Of every class,
against all who do not work, or who spoil
work-an organization Of all tho creative
and governing classes against those who only
consume and obstruct, against all waste,
against all unnecessary profits, adulations,
or interference between the manufacturer
and the consumer. There must DO an organ
ization against the beer house and tho gin
palacej for they destroy all we want TO save,
and save all We want destroyed. They arc
tho causes Of pauperlsm, insanity, bad trade,
low wages, destruction of raw material, and
OF capital, Of health, intellect, character.
We shall not dwell on figures, or potter over
blue books-the evils Of excessive drink are
infinite. II the army Of labor Is to conquer,
drink must DO subject to martial law; must
We say DO watched by vigilance committees
of those whom II seeks to destroy Ponder
this ono tremendous fact-tho leading fact of
all that you will hear during this conference
tho leading fact In the economy and exis-
tence Of Great Britain Every year upward
s~s~'pNSoboNSI
nation on intoxicating drink. Spent wo
say-how much Of II Is wasted How little
there 10 of II that Is not wasted And this In
the land of established churches! This calcu-
latlon Is patent TO the world; any man can ver-
lfy the figures. 1t consists OF money spent
In drink; Of waste Of land, capital and labor,
In producing drink; loss Of labor and time BY
destruction aud theft, by paupcrlsm, destitu-
tlor AcknesS, insanity, premature death,
police, prosecutions, courts Of justice, sup
port Of criminals, &c. This expenditure
would pay oil the national debt In less than
five years, and lessen taxation forever.
Mark this further. This G22S, 900, 900 year
ly Is not reproductive. Expenditure ought
TO be for the wealth Of society, and wealth
ought TO mean 'weap or we'll being. 1t ought
to be creative. 1t comes then to this, that
the mighty army established at the yearly
cost OF f22S 900 900, and laboring and fight
Ing for tho disestablisbment and dlsorgan-
izat'on OF labor, Is really IN army ofpaupers,
---,Ss, or useless persons, maintained at
the cost Of tho nation. We see now what
accounts for the million or two Of paupcrs,
for lowness ofwagcs, SCI; we can't have cap
!,Gl and drink It; %o can't attend chiefly TO
pauper manufactures, and yet expect tho
other fa prizes TO flourish; we can't expect
the laborer to get enough corn when
Hell 10 SO merry with the harvest home.
Mr.. Potter Is not teetotaler. He takes
his beer and brandy like free Briton; but
his declaration Of war on drgnkonnoss took
the Congress by surprise, and hls figures
have been rldlculed as an exaggeration, but
tho more SEQ OF England, town and country,
the moro | am satisfied that Its chief curse Is
drink. The nation Is covered with spirit and
beer houses, and every one Is tho centre OF a
company OF drunken mon who waste their
wages, rob their families, often abuse and
starye their Wiyea and chlldrpn. md aDFoau