The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1869-05-01

3~1F
In view.
| Ftrst-That physical and intellectual Ia
Dor employed In production, and In the
di stribution Of the products Of industry,
as well az In the useful professions and
callings, 10 the true and only source of
wealth, or Of whatever contributes to the
well-being Of society.
! Second That there are but two pur-
poses to which the products OF industry
can be- applied they either 20 the pay
ment Of the rent or interest on the capital
employed, or to the payment Of labor
4 Third That the rate Of interest on money
determines what proportion shall be award
ed to car'tal for its use, and 70 the labor
ers for their productions.
F6urth-That every cent OF interest paid,
whether on United States, State, county, city,
railroad bonds, or for any purpose what
ever, is as much q tax upon labor as the
money paid for the support Of the govern
ment
The interest paid by railroad companies,
manufacturers, merchants, and all others,
for any purpose whatever, must either be
deducted from the wages OF the laborers or
charged to the consumers. These corpora
tions, and other employers of labor, are as
much the victims Of the money oiigarchy as
their employees. You have frequently shown in
in the columns of the Advocate, that the gen
eral average increase in the national wealth
has not in the past exceeded 3 l-3 per cent.
per annum, while it is certain that the aver
age rate of interest on the public securities
and 10 legitimate business TRANSACT ons ii
at this time as much as 3 per cent. per an
mum. This is the source and loot of all
the evils that are depressing the enterpris
ang industrial classes, and right here the
remedy must be applied.
Stripped Of all sophistry, the naked issue
presented to the American people by the
bankers and bondholders IS. Usurg or In
terest against Ldbor-Repudiafion oith ma
tiondl disgrace, or TIE reduction Of me Ia
boring masses TO state Of UGSSlt1ge. Ii
needs no argument beyond the simplest
rules Ct political arithmetic, to prove to any
unprejudced mind that the continuance Of
the present fiscal policies must, BY the inevi-
table logic Of necessity, force upon the nation
the alternative Of the reputation of not ouiy
the national debt but Of every public debt
of whatever kind or nature, If not, indeed, Of
all private obligations, or the Suppression OF
our Democratic Republican institutions aud
the permanent establishment Of a money OH
ghsrehy. Ii the honor Of the nation is
maintained, and the rights Of the people pre-
served, il III 1st be the work Of the great en-
terprising, industrial element Of the nation.
There is nothing 10 hope from the profess
sl0nal nc,iucans Ia either Of the old political
organizations, for they are IN the interest,
aud he willing tools Of the unscrUpuloui
ShylockS that now control the government.
The recent action Of the bankers an 1 DO. 4
holders "st home and abroad" through their
agents ia congress, have, by the passage Of
the bill "tO strengthen the public credit,
(GllaS Schenck's pO0rman's sticking plaster
added at least six hundred million dollars 70
the public debt, to not one iarthing OF which
have they any Just claim, either IN law or
equity. This. and the Withdrawal Of the le-
ga tenders, and the substitution Of their
bank notes, and other kindred measures, en-
acted and Pre- posed, indicate, With unerr,ng
certainty, that they do not intend 10 aban-
don any 0l their wicked schemes for robbIng
the producing classes. But, on the contra
ry, 10 greatly multiply the already unjust
and grieyous burdens Of the taxpayers.
These parties are condemned by their own
acts. For, II by the laws under which the
debt was contracted, the principal was pay.
atl- ia CON, then there was no necessity foT
the passage Of the act declaring i 50 paya-
BILE But II, on the contrary, il was paya-
Die ia lawful money, (and We have the au-
thOrity of the trainers Of the laws, as we'll as
Of the ablest and best men Of the nation
both in and out Of congress, for saying Il was
payabls IN lawful money }, thea the passage
Of this act was a deliberate reputation OF
the contract between the bondhOders and
taxpayers and. therefore, without any
= III -
and honor aIke demand its repeal and the
payment Of our public debt, "sccordidg d
the letter and spirit of the laws under which
il was contracted" and 10 no other way OF
manner.
Ii would be Just as dishonest and dishon
orable for the American people to tamely
submit TO this plain and UNANIMOUSLY wicked
fraud upon their rights. as it wo1ld be to re-
pudiate every moneyed obligation, public
and private IN the nation. LET THE TAX
PAYERS THEN SAY 70 THESE REPUDIAToRs, Ac
CAPT WHAT Is NOMINATED IN THIS BOND OR Y0U
SHALL have NOTHING.
Labor, whether employed in agriculture
mining, the mechanic arts, the distribution
Of the products Of industry, OF in the usefa
professions and csllings, as well as the CAPT
tai employed in productive industry and th'
development OF the national resources, havt
a common interest; opposed to which is ths
sccumulatiVe power OF money by interest
which, as At present established and pro
tected by legal enactments, absoTbs al th'
surplus products OF industry, and concen
trates the wealth and power Of the nation In
the possession of the few bankers and usur
! ers. This condition Of things is opposed t.
| every principle Of natural justice, and des-
truclIve Of civil liberty. Without {
thorough change we can have but nomna
freedom.
II we would preserve and perpetuats oul
/ institutions in the spirit of justice in which
they were founded by the fathers, we mus
50 institute our laws and administer th,
government that the creators of wealth
shall govern its distribution. Workingmen
the enactment of your financial bill, intro
duced into Congress by Hon. S. 4. Cary
will enable you to maintain the nationa
honor BY paying the debt, according t
the letter and spirit of the laws under which
J it was contracted :" it will also furnish {
|, currency OF uniform value, adequate to to,
I wants Of the business interests Of the ma.
tiou, and that will effect the equitable dis
| tributlon of the wealth, comforts and con-
veniences Of life, between the owners d
capital and the producing classes. II vii
likewise relieve you from your present con
dision Of servitude, which is scarcely les,
unjust and degrading than chattel slavery
itself. These are your inahenabie rights
and it is your imperative duty to secur,
them to yourselves and families at the ear
liest moment possible.
i To assure success, il Is only necessary
that the enterprising industrial classes should
put forth an intelligent, organized, and de-
termined effort, for numerically they are ~
ten to one compared with their opposers
Let there be no diseentions or divisions or
this point, but let all divest themselves Of
their rreconceived opinions, party preju-
does and sectional jealousies, and JOIN il
one grand effort for the common good.
POLITICAL EcoNoNIsr.
II FROM WASHINGTON.
WASHINGTON, April Ia, 1859.