The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1869-11-06

system, merging tho sharp and keen outlines
OF personal individually in a dull, torpid,
ana uninsplrlng conglOmeration of corporate
interests. IL would lessen the rate OF indus
trial speed, and reduce the skill and talent
now applied TO the regulation Of that speed
We anticipate too that 1t would be found
quite as difficult to adjust the balance sheet
among these co-operationists, so that ca Oh
should receive his share in proportion to the
quantity aud quality Of his labor, a. Il is
now to settle the question between sthe en-
pioyer an the emplOye under the system Of
wages. IL would, as 1t strikes us, need the
JudIcial skill OF an archangel 10 distributing
the profits Of labor undef such a theory.
How much shall capital x for, as set of
against labor with NJ capital? What shall
De she pro rata estimate for labor Of
different kinds? What relation shall brain
labor bear to that of mere muscle ? We
have no idea that the theory il practicable,
or that it would be useful in such world
as this IL is mere waste of words to de-
claim agains wages, unless We can show
some other system under which the work Of
society can be better, more successfully, and
more equitably done. The world Is waiting
for this proof and We more than sus-
pect that it will have to wait for some time
yet to come.
We may be mistaken 10 the opinion; yet
We think IL iact that she general average Of
wages, IN tots country at least. calls for no
remedy. IL is well enough q it is under the
law OF supply and demand Whatever may
be true in other countries, it is here that
that labor, for a rule, is we'll paid. 1t is
not only in demand, which serves to give it
high market value but it rises or falls
with the movement of general prices, 90 as
to keep at a very uniform rate in its pur-
chasing power. It's large deposits in sa wing
banks prove its "A -mense surplus beyond con
sumption. The frequency with which 1t
rises to opulence shows that it is not want
ing in opportunities. Individual cases OF
injustice there may be, in the aggr egate
amounting to comparatively large number
but there is no suf6 ,ient proof to show that
labor in this country is oppressed by low
rate of wages. The evidence to the contrary
is most abundant There is hence NJ need
OF this new system - remedy evils in the
existing one. Most Of the evils complained
of are incidental TO the difference among
men in capacity and moral qualities !, and
this difference will exist under any system
One can chop more wood with sharp ak
than he can with dull one; and 50 one Of
lOuustrlOus naOlts anu wise economy Will
accumulate more and live better than one of
opposite qualities. No system can eq 4Izs
the conditions Of men so long as they are 50
unequal in themselves. To attribute this
inequality to the wages system il to assign
false cause for an admitted fact.
We are Of the opinion, on the whole, that
cooperative labor as q remedy for what are
termed " the ineradicable vices of the wages
system" is proposed reform for which there
is no occasion in this country, and Of whose
success we see no reasonable prospect any
where. The history of such efforts, whenever
and wherever made, il against them 1t is
history OF failures. The elements Of failure
lie in the very idea itself It is an attempt
to do what, az this world is constituted, can
not be so successful done as to warrant its
universal adoption. The wages system may
have its incidental evils; vet there is no
other that can take it's place or do it's work.
Let US DO what we can to correct these evils,
and In this way improve the condition of
the laboring classes; but the system itself
will and must stand. II has a power of life
in the necessities and facts of life that moth
ing can destroy.