The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1870-06-11

} because they, maintain tlns wages os6lAsneI
10 fhll with every temporary depression u
trade, 10 always sesms 70 me that iaxse Do
ing they are discharging precisely thein
most useful function. ] have already al
lnded to the duty Of tho, capitalist in this
respect. and Unionisn supplies dxactly ths
machinery required for keeping him up %
his duty. until religious influence shall
have been organised which wiz produce the
same result in a more healthy and normal
way. No doabt epnieps mfgm sNe6 d.
plofahy a 6eir sidsp aiai6N tha priScip1s
Of steady rate Of wages. fts is coDceiv-
able that they might screw out Of the en-
Ployer every year o.; s4ery month wagss %
such an amount as would leave him only
the bare profit which would make it worth
while to continue in business. 1t is mani
fest that on those terms be could not amass
such reserve fund as would enable him to
tide over temporary depression without re-
ducing wages. Every fuctuation in trade
would cause a corresponding fnctuation in
wages, which would vary from month to
month. II Trades Unions were TO act in
this way they would loose their principal
justification. They are charged with doing
50 now, bat the charge isperfecdy ground
less. Prob bly, IN no case do they extract
from the employer anything Ike the wages
he could afford to give if he was disposed.
do not believe that unions, extend them
as you will, will ever be strong enough to
put such pressure on the employers. be-
lieve that an organised religious influence
will hereafter induce employers to concede
to their men, voluntarily, larger share Of
their profits than any Trades Union could
extort from them. An additional security
that unions viii never go TOO f.r In this d
rection is to be found IN the fact that some
masters, whether from larger capital, greater
business ability, or higher reputation, make
much larger profits than others But
unions do not pretend to exact higher wages
from such masters. The tariff, therefore,
is evidently ruled by the profits Of the least
successful employers.
, 1t might have been supposed at first
sight that employers would have looked
with more favor on Unionism, which leaves
; them in full possession of their capital, their
authority, and their responsibility, than on
J Cooperation, which proposes to supersede
! them altogether. But, as you all know,
} the contrary is the case; and there could
not be a more instructive test of the rela.
tive efficiency of the two methods. Union
ism maintains that capital has its duties,
and must be used for social purpose. Co
operation shrinks from asserting doctrine
so distasteful to the propertied classes, and
seeks TO evade the necessity for itby the
shallow fallacy that every one is to become
a capitalist. Although every one will not
become a capitalist, no doubt some will, and
the net result Of the cooperative movement
} will be that the army Of capitalists will be
considerably reinforced in its lower ranks.
Will that army so reinforced be more easy
to deal with ? An exaggerated and super.
stitiOus reverence for the rights of property,
and an indifference to its duties, is the CHIEF
obstacle to the elevation Of the working
class. The fewer the possessors in whose
hands capital is concentrated, the more easy
will be to educate, discipline, and, If need
. be, gently cOerce them. But when the
larger capitalists have at their back an
army Of little capitalists, men who have
sunk the co operative workman in the co,
. operative shareholder, men who have invest
ed their three or four hundred pounds in
the concern, and are employing their less
fortunate fellow workmen at the market rate
Of wages, why, it stands to reason that the
capital Of the country will be less amenable
to discipline than ever. A striking ex-
ample is to be seen in France at the presen,
time. You know that the immediate effect
of the old revolution was to put the cult
vators in possession Of the soil. A vast
s, number Of small proprietors were created
, Doubtless many advantages resulted from
that change. France got rid of her arts
tocracy once and for good. The cult
vators identified themselves with the revo
: luton which had given them the son, and
defended it 6ercely against the banded SOW
ereigns Of Europe. If the people had moi
/, been bribed with the land, the revolution
might have been crushed. But there has
!. been another result from it, of more doubt
ful advantage The whole Of this class Of
. small proprietors is fanatically devoted to
the idea Of property and in their fear that
property should be attacked they have
thrown their weight on the side of conser
Vatism, and against further political and so
cial progress The wealthy middle class
plays on their ignorance and timidity. All
who desire to initiate the smallest social re
form, who express any opinion adverse t.
the tyrannical power exercised by capital
are denounced as Communists and apostles
|. Of conGscation. The small proprietors are
worked up into a frenzy Of apprehension
and fling themselves into the arms Of any
crafty impostOr who talks big words about
saving society Thus the artisan and small
proprietors, men whose interests must be
essentially the same, for they are all alike
! workmen living by the sweat Of their brow
and the labor Of their hands, are pitteG
against one another. and the middle elias.
:. alone profits by the dissension. IF th,
manufactures of this country were to ge
: into the hands of number Of small share
[ holders, simple workmen would soon 6nG
: the rein tighter and the load heavier. Their
demand for the repeal of unjust laws would
:, encounter a more stubborn resistance tn,
/ progress they have been making toward,
comfort and dignity would be abruptly
I checked. Fortunately, as / have ALREADY
!. endeavored to show, there is no likelihood
|. that so called Co operation will ever driv,
= the capitalist employer out of the field.
Such are the reasons for which | hole
! Unionism to be by far the most efficient o
all the agencies that have as yet been large
y advocated or put in practice for the pur
pose of elevating the working class, anc
preparing it for its future destinies. Tn,
French workmen have much to teach us