The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1870-06-04

~ F~sAf ~ W0Nfe yo8f4 ooo exRSrte4ce
! whose character no political dog would dar,
ito detile. S6SA Es1 a Washinetop, Jeffer
lSony Adani M Wm. Doya '0af1iR1tt q
fanshNwnnsnn eLsigslas Mo4y aGtS cd,
Stanseas and Mssy.aetsn. i,snriouiO d.
b Ane. osr p.es:st =. sJtsA 4 votAex& y
very nucn modl1sd y every Wy. Wa yc
G.. G.; ssss5s. ;sss -: 3 = -. q .
experience must decidG The. ii|Sas here
advanced are merely intended as suggestions
for thought and 6oasil6ratiou. They are
l'msde with Ehs design Jof fsssshsdowine
AOAe ome Of ths9 real sbjeptiens! toI NO
mans suffrage may be removed, objections
that are rs real and valid against manhood
suffrage KDNMG VqmRho6A arffrage.
MnE o. G.. WILLARD.
The Social futnEs q ths Working Glass.
A-ERcrURE
Deliv.ses y hssa.x ~ ID! Eeoaon Trades Usisu,a.
s.s S.a;ssr Professor ef H'oFR 10
Now in tie other type of collective ac.iy-
lty-the industrial-a similar organisation
has constantiy prevailed. 'Tbe analogy !.
stkking, sad il II not accidental, for the
eOaditioas ars fhndsnsshtaaly ths 4 msse
Eghtipg and working are two great terms
Of activity, and if you have to orspaizs
them on large scale, it is not strange that
the same met6od sbcsld Be found best for
bOth. And werkmen viii do wen 10 notice
Ah saology. and insist o. pressineit home
70 The utmost OF their, power; &r. the
more logically il 10 carried out the, more
striking and overwhelming are the aFgu- a,7R
mants il supplies for their side u the laLor
cOutroysrsys There % nes . phase Of chat
eontrossry which It doss not illustzats, end
invariably, to their advantage, As one in
stance ont Of many, may mention the
sanction Afforded BY military practice for a
Uniform rate cf wages to the rank-And Ole
Of hbOF-+-ss aEgunsat wAich was put bv
ons Of the Trades Unisa Isquiry Com
missioners to the Secretary of the Master
Builders Association, and which conplete-
y shut HE mouth on that question. But il
is for another purpose that I am now refer
ring to this analogy. Spsc;al skill snl
training, unity Of purpose, prom6tuds, and,
occasionally, even secrecy, ars necessary for
successful direction Of industry lust mn
much as Of war. "a council of war never
Rshn = maxim which has passed intaoro.
sSssss.s ss.ss o s1a.eissss.: !.
posed of private soldiers. but Of skillfal and
experienced officers. They are more analo-
gOus to odr boards Of railway directors,
whose incapacity, I must admit, does not
take exactly that form. Whether the eff
cheney Of our railway management would
be improved by an infusion Of stokers and
plate-layers into the direction, I will leave
II to the advocates Of Cooperation to say.
Another no less important advantage Of
the old Industrial systsm over Cooperation
is that it transfers the risk from the work
man to the employer. Capital is the re-
served fund which enables the employer to
carry On his BUSINESS With due enterprise,
and yet to give steady rate Of wages to
the workman. Great rs have been the
changes through which industry has passed
slavery, serfdom, and free lhbor-this
fandamental characteristic has remained un.
altered. In all ages of the world, since
industry began to be organised at all. the
accumulated savings which we call capital
have been in the hands of comparatively
few persons, who have provided subsistence
for The latorer while engaged in production.
The employer has borne the risk and taken
the profits. The laborer has had no risk
and no share Of the profits. Though in
modern times there appears to be some de-
sire on the part Of the master to make the
workman share the risk, he will soon come
to ses, that such policy destroys the only
justification of capital, and thas strikes st
the root Of property ITSELF The workmen
will help him to see this by their combina-
tons, if be shows any indisposition to open
his eyes. II is one among many ways in
which they viii teach him in spite of him
self what is for bis own good. In point Of
fact, in the best organised trade-that Of
the engineers the rate cf wages Is subject
20 little if sny fiuctaaticn. a asl7+'fud
i The separation, then, between employers
and employed, between capitalist and Ia
bOrer, is q natural and fundamental condi-
ton Of society, characteristic Of its normal
state, no less than its preparatory stages
We may alter many things, but we shall
not alter that We may change our forms
Of government, our religions, our language,
eur fashion Of dress, our cooking, but the
relation Of employer and employed is is no
more likely 10 be superseded in the future
BY Communism in any Of its shapes, than
u another institution much menaced ut the
present time-that Of husband and wife
II suits human nature in a civilised state
Its aptitude to supply the wants Of man il
such that nothing can compete with il
There may be City ways Of getting from
Temple Bar to Charing Gross; but tn
natural route is b3 the Strand and alonI
the Strand the bulk Of the traffic will al
ways lie. And 50, though we may hav,
triamg excepioua the great mass Of work
men will always be employed by capitalists
Now this was What The founders of Co
: operation refused to see and ia their en-
thusiasm they fancied they could establish
} societies. the shareholders of which woulc
; voluntarily surrender to shareholders ,
Large part Of the profits which their capita
would naturally command. But the share
: holders were most Of them only. averag,
men; they were not enthusiastic, or thei
I enthusiasm cooled rs the money makini
habit erept over them. The Oo-eperasiv'
: theory was not bound up With any feligiou
system, Or supported BY any spiritual dis
8 cipline and they soon fell into the vulga
; practice Of making the most Of their capital
What . the lesson 10 be learnt? Whateve
{ there was Of good in the movement beleng
! cd not 70 the industrial theory. but 70 th
4 social spirit Of the men who started it.
those men had been employers, or if an,
. employers had had their spirit, the wofkme1