The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1869-12-04

occasionally prominent men In each d then
wiz Introduce q resolution embrAcing some
P'scs o. oemagoguery, which they think will
casen the ears Of the woekingmen and help 70
carry coming election. These acta, however,
are sporadic, not epidemic. They break out Ia
particular spot Just before an election, and
are mere Incidents Of the campaign, without
oelng at any time objects Of government Go
Morally. they are based upon some current ella
NOR, OF little Importance TO ths workingmen,
and never do they attempt 70 re-Organixe the
institutions Of the country through laws which
recognize the rights Of labor. You know that
very conscientious men believe that they have
fulfilled their whole duty If they obey the Law.
Even When they pay the laborer bis wages at
current rAtes, they feel justified in combining
capital, In contracting and expanding currency,
In importing coolies, or operating in any other
LEGITIMATE manner for q decrease Of the cur
rent prices Of labor. They rever reflect that
conscience and Law are different things, and
that the latter has been made by shsse who
welded the capital Of the country ard the
States according 20 wages established in Eng
land, where the rich govern and the poor sup
port them.
I maintain that system 90 organised is es-
sentally wrong. and that mac may be what 10
called good citizen and conscientious paymas
ter under the Law. and yet absorb for his own
delectation the profits accrui"g from Others Ia
Dor, In which they should share; but from which
capital and The laws and usages adopted in its
interest excludes them.
WOrkingmen are beginning to realize these
facts, and are organising cooperative assOcia-
tons to secure their share Of the profits These
associations 10 E0gland are % thoroughly or.
gaDiEed that they constitute governments with
in the government and although they may
wiaId hair H.
are necessity. They grow out Of the evils,
and are compelled to protect themselves against
combination by combination.
Practically, the capitalists, spectators and
jObbers control the machinery Of both the old
political parties in America. / take it this
needs no argument; il it does, l can prove the
Fact. Every convention panders to the moneyed
power; aud every important fuuctiouary 10 cap
tured by il. IL places public men under such
obligations and commands them by such in
huences, that whether willing or no, they fall
into the snare. The motives which prompt |
the pressure for appoin'ments are frequently
hidden from the appointing power. 70 be dis
closed OILY when a crisis sLartles the cOmmunI- |
y through Official cOnnivance. Operators in |
gold get Treasury appointments to work in the |
interest OF ring of spectators. Officers of
steamship and telegraph companies, agents Of
railroads ard colonization schemes, are appoint
ed TO foreign missions, where they may furLha ~
private ends, at the expense of the people; and
where, in pursuit OF these ends they often im-
peril our international relations Almost every
minister to foreign courts leaves the United
States armed with double commission, one from
the government, another from some corporation
Or band OF jobbers. You all know how the
State Department has been converted into q
real tstaIe agency; but the people do not know
he private interests that prompt many OF the
public movements
There are jobs connected with railroad routes
in Mexico and Central America; with the an.
neXauOn Of Sonora aud ChihuAhua; with the
colonization OF Lower California; with the con-
quest OF Cuba, and Ihs purchase Of ST. ThomAs
and the annexation of St. Domingo; with steam
ship lines in both oceans; with telegraph lines
u China and Liberia and Russia; with Chinese
aud Japanese emigration to the West and South;
With Scandinavian emigration TO the Northwest,
which enlist political Influences and secure IN.
accountable apPoinIm nts. ARsrIDEs.
TO BIZ coNrNCKD.