The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1870-05-21

Wlsu % speak. say that the
lot Of the skilled artizan earning bis sos.
or S5s. week (when he IL not out of en-
pscyment) s hard lot. Perhaps il NAV
seldom or newer happen to him to 90 for .
d.y WITH h's hunger only half satisfied. But
ns position compared with that Of a non
workman 70 one Of great discomfort. People
often sssm to forget this. Il 10 mot uncom-
mon for rich men, when addressing m
se@ence OF Workmen to say my
friends. l an workinsmsn /
nave been workingman all my life. I
nave bse. working With my brain as you
nave with your banda" Yes, but there
I'D just that difference. The one man has
arisen. say, at eight in the morning, from a
. comfortable bed, has come down stairs to
comfortable breakfast, read his newspaper,
reecbed &,' place ofbaiDsss towards eleven
ec'ocK' and then worked perhaps hard
enough Tor some hours, but IN q comfortable
ONCE, and with interest in bis work 50 in
tense that be perhaps, prefers it to any
amusement and then back to his comfort
able dinner and bed. The other man has
risen perhaps before daylight, has toiled ten
or twelve hours, it may be under broilinQ
sun, or chilling rain, or under other con-
ditions equally disagreeable, and at work
which cannot have very much interest for
him, FIRST, because it ia monotonous, second
ly, because the product will not be his
when be has produced it. He has snatched
hs coarse food At intervals during the day,
and has returned ut night to an uncomfort-
able home. / think that rich people are too
apt to forget that, though the habit counts
for much, poor mans muscles, lungs, and
stomach, are. after all, not very unlike their
own, and that no amount Of custom makes
such Iife otherwise than disagreeable and
even painful 10 him; and that the main
question for him i'm reference to civilization
win be how to alleviate his condition. How
are we 10 answer tina. question? Everyone
u familiar with the hymns Of triumph that
are raised from time to time on the platform
and in the press. We need mot enter into
particulars, because NO one disputes that, 50
faF a. they 60. they do not point to progress
of a certain kind. No one disputes that
production and accumulation of wealth is
an eleDeut Of progress but it 10 only one
element, and IL even this il confined to q
comparatively email section Of the commu-
nifty, il must BE admitted either that society
40 whole ID not progressing, or that it's
progress must be proved by somewhat bet
ter evidence than the statistics paraded in
budget speeches and newspaper articles.
There ID no question about the material
progress Of the -workingman class.
There are many houses in London infinitely
more commodious and luxurious than the
palaces Of Plantagenet kings. But there is
very great question whether the workmen
generally have made any real progress in
comfort. Some Of them have, no doubt.
The skilled artizan in London gets enough
to eat. He 10 perhaps no better lodged
than bis forefathers, but be dresses better,
and has greater opportunities for enjoying
himsek and moving about to better himself
no samsng. .Aw nErisnltnral laborsrs Mhkt
state Of things do W. find? In many parts
Of England they are positively worse of
than they were hundred years ago. In
Eastern Counties where agriculture Is car
4
ried on by the newest lights Of science, the
horrible gangsystem has come into existencs
within the present century. Nor is such
misery confined to agricultural hborerS II
has been proved in official reports that the
workingmen in such extensive trades as
sboe-makiug, silk-weaving, and stocking
weaving, are on an average worse fed than
the Lancashire operatives were during the
cotton famine.
Now, wretchedness Of this terrible kind
does not exist even among barbarous nations
and savage tribes. The child Of the North
American Indian or the Caffre, or the Esqui-
maux, does not begin to work in q mill or
in an agricultural gang almost as soon as it
can walk. Il gets better food than the
English child, and leads q healthier and
more enjoyable life. The West India ne
gro has been treated as an irreclaimable
savage because he will not toll like an
English hborer, and the reason assigned is
that be has plenty to eat and drink without
working hard for il. l fancy most English
labcrsrs wish they could say the same.
Really, if progress and civilization mean
nothing but an increase of wealth, irre-
spective of its distribution, Rousseau had
much reason to prefer the state Of nature.
Ii ID childish 10 remind the poor man that
bis ancestor under the Plantagenet kings
had no chimney to his hut, no glass in his
windows, no paper on bis walls, no cheap
calico, no parliamentary trains, no penny
newspapers. He was no worse off in these
respects than the Plantagenet king himself,
who was equally without chimneys, glass
windows, calico, railways, and penny news
papers. There are parts Of the world now
where The laborer is still in that condition.
But be gets sound and healthy sleep out Of
the straw spread ON the floor Of his win
dowless hut, which is more than three or
four families huddled together in a single
room in st. Giles can do, though they may
have q glazed window and chimney. A
poor Englishmen might be ashamed to walk
about in good stout sheepskin; but be
lie often clad in garments mnnh lass warm
and durable. What sort of progress is this,
in which the larger part Of the community
remains az miserable, if not more miserable,
than 10 state Of barbarism : If progress
is necessarily 30 one-sided, il were better
I say it deliberately-it we're better il
ceased. 1t were better that all were poor
together than that this frightful contrast
shoule exist to shake mems faith in the
eternal principles Of justice.
(ro BE CONTINUED.
Ernaainn the EhanTal