The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1871-05-27

corner stone Of their institution 10 keep up
q monoPC'y Of existing skill lie did not
ask working men to give up, but only to
amend their ASSOCIATIONS. He called at
tention to the recent action Of the working
mems convention Of this city which re-
solved that its delegates should be repre-
sentatives o labor and not Of capital, and
would not admit upon its floor the repre-
sentatlves Of cooperative organization.
In other words he said the moment man es-
capes out Of wages slavery and goes into
cooperative labor, he is to be kicked out
and Is unworthy to associate with working
men. Is man the enemy Of labor simply
because be owns property. The true ques-
ton Of labor il, Is there an equivalent ex-
change for II, and if 30, is there equality?
Ii is true, ~ Mr. Cummings has said, that
''God has given me these hands and | have
right not only to say what they shall be
employed in and for what reward, but a
right 10 detsrmineI the whole conditions on
which they shall 4bs employed" but must
net then say to ethers. You have no right
to use your hands" The speaker denied
that wages had been advanced BY the ao-
ton of trades ul7Ons beyond the propor-
ton which theg have IN tbe past borne TO
the cost Of living. and eited various author
it'es in support of his proposition In con-
elusion he impressed upon his hearers the
fact, that working men suffer from the
great monopoly Of land IN the hands Of a
few and the Capitalization in the great cit
lee Of speculative power and capital, and it
is 70 remedy these evils that they must ad-
dress themselves, and to combating rail-
road and tariff monopolies.
MR.. DRURY's CLOSING ARGUMENT.
Our friend who has Just spoken has
laid great stress upon particular clause
IN the constitutions OF some Of our trades
unions, which be deems particuly objection
able, and be also refers 70 the action Of
the Workingmen's Union here in New
York, who denied the right of representa-
tlon in the union to cooperative body,
mot becsuse its members were members Of
co-operatlve association, but because
they were printers, and the printers were
already represented in that convention BY
delegates from the Printers Union, and
were not entitled 10 double representation
on that 6oors That was the real reason
why they were not admitted, not the one
which the gentleman has stated. Gap
plause He objects to the clause which
objects to new members coming into the
organization, or rather which, when the or
ganization ~ Of sufficient strength, enables
It to strike against a shop to make il come
to terms. That is but carrying ont the
old programme. You capitalists drove us
into corner and you compel us to use
strikes, our only arm, 10 combat you Now
the question comes, are all trade societies
like this The gentleman who has spoken
does not generalize sufficiently. He takes |
. narrow view Of the old trades societies,
sr1 applies that 10 all. You must know
sE, that nov the whole Of the trades seci
etass OF knrepe nearly have subscribed to
tee International Association-(appla l
and is bl- laws, and in subscribing to
teat they have thrown out all and every !
thing tBat was obnoxious Ia their old w
laws. tApplause The. t-os. st...c.e1
suPercede the others. 1t j., as a matter
OF course, quite natural gr WITH Trades
unions and societies and labor organizations
are net a fabricarion-they are natural
growth, as perfectly 80 as the growth OIL
any other state Of society. They spring
out OF the necessities Of the case. and thew
are following out row their legitimate OBJ
Jects, VIZ, the carrying out of civilization.
This can never be effected but by the aid
Of the working men. You. capitalists. |
have tried it long enough. You have tried
to civIlize the upper classes You have
educated your gentlemen, and what have
you done Have you civilized the world \
Not at all You have made one class to .
prey upon another. and out of this earth,
which might be paradise, you have made
scene Of eternal disturbance, with wars,
pestilences, misery and famine Trades
unions are carrying out the work of civili-
Zaticn, the illumination Of men minds, the \
abolition Of want, poverty, misery, degra-
datiOn and ignorance. One important step .
in this direction has been the formation of /
this International Association Of Working \
men, BY whose action that Objectionable |
clanse has been wiped out Of the bylaws
Of trades unions The capitalists have had !
control for the last eighteen centuries Of
the wealth and knowledge Of the world, Of
the motive power that should lead to civil /
zatlOD. Have they given US civilization at
all No, they have not. They have sue
ceeded in making US workingmen their
toOls-they have divided US of into nations,
aud set frontiers, and said to US, "You
shall not pass here" or there
done all they could to separate us-goaded
US on to wars, crime, misery. Everything
the world can call damnable has been the
work Of the capitalists. Now, we say we
are going to try if We cannot make this
world better and not worse. We have al |
ready oyertbrown their barriers Of national /
ity, and our trades societies have become
international. (Applause.) They cannot
say now that they possess the language Of
the world Differences of language, an
insurmouDtable barrier heretofore, is no
longer so now. We can understand each
other. While we could not it was easy TO
set us fighting, but now that we can we will /
cut yours nails for you, capitalists, who
screwed taxes and duties and imports out
Of us to keep you in idleness. That is what
kings and aristocracies have done, put up
monOpolies and taken the freedom Of ex-
change and commerce from Us; but that
system is drawing to an end. We will
teach the capitalists that they do not own
everything that they are not to secure in their
power as they believe. They have long
regarded wOrkingmen as mere cheap ma
cbinery to swell their capital have specu-
lated upon how much it costs TO raise a
working man to an available producing age, 1
and have not scrupled to say, ''Human Ia |
Dor is our cheapest source of revenue our
horse is lost if be breaks a bone our ma