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

New England thoroughly, but il be does
they have very narrow IDEAS Of the objects
and aims Of the workiDg-msn's associations,
They look at trades-unions ~ they were
twenty five or thirty years ago, apd do moi
seem to know anything about what has
been doing since They are the Rip Var
Winldes oflabor, but they viii have q
wake up when they come 10 New York
Since trsdss-union are in the world there
must be some cause for their existence
Let us see what that cause Is. Labor ha:
created the wealth Of the world. And
what has been the portion OF those who
created that weakh b In the earliest his
torical period it was total slavery; those
who worked worked merely to, feed and
fattsn kings and aristocracy When their
circumstances got . lttle better from
slavery it was changed into serfdon. and
then frpm serfdom into villainage, and now
at last we have another form of slavery,
which is the wages slavery. And now |
wiit tell you Why We joined ourselves Into
theae societies. IL was because We were
working for barely the food we ate, and the
raimenl we wore. and the boyels you were
pleased to put us in to sleep. II was be-
cause we worked for that pittance from
sunrise to sunset, and we we're not content
with that condition Of things, 1t was be-
cause you made eur, Sons and daughters
work fourteen hours day down in coal
mines and we did not ike it. IT was be-
cause in your factories you crushed us to
death and ground our bones out Of our
frames. We Should never have thousht
of it had you not compelled us by yoar
selfishness, your cruelty, and your greed of
money. And now if you want to know the
aims of our societies you must take a broad.
er view than that which the gentleman
who spoke before has taken. We see
plainly that the present condition Of labor
is not satisfactory or just, that the relations
between capital and labor are not upon
just basis, and we mean to agitate them
pntil We get them upon that basis. We
are not quite sure thatwe know yet what
q. Just basis is, and one reason for forming
our socfety is to find out Our societies
are as much a school as anything else.
But we can see very plainly that The pres
ent division Of the rewards between labor
and capital is not a Just one And, BY che
way, let me say that we make broad dis
tinction between capital and the capitalist
We are accused of being the enemies Of
capital. That is not so. We know that
capital is our best friend 1t is for that
reason that we want to get as much of is
as we can. But we want it for ourselves.
We don't want capitalists to bold it fast and
make it . means Of crushing US And
now, what have our societies done In
the beginning they were merely defensive
and desistent in their character but now
they have become creative and productive.
We have made them so in order that our
strikes may not be entirely fruitless. We
know perfectly well-as well as the gentle
man can tell us-that our strikes are not
loss to US; but we are not going for that
70 drop the sword with which We fight the
fas-, 1t IL our only weSpon, ami we wili
not give 4 up until we get d better. That
better we bhafi have when our organ rat;on
have become more complete !; that better
Sezare getting frotn day, as onr societies
take on more the protective form. The
time will come when our strikes will be
more effective than they are now. We
will make one grand strike when VIC get
you IN tight place, not before. When we
have got all the commodity of labor in our
own hands we are going to lock it up, ms
you do, and we shall not have it except at
our prices. Look out for yourselves then.
The time will come when we shall have
ninety days strike over the world We
shall show you in those days that we are
as able to control the capital of the world
as you are So much for the aims Of the
society. The next question is, have we
achieved anythingl? | think we have.
First, we have advanced the remuneration
Of labor. You may say what you will but
men are getting better pay for what they
are doing today than at any time previous
ly. They tell US that We are robbers we
say that we are not, but we say this to you
capitalists, you moropolize industries, you
monopolize railroads, and canals, and the
mines, and BY doing that you injure society
at large for the sake Of making great divi-
dsnds for yourselves and growing rich of
that which you do not deserve, and it is
you that are the robbers Now, we do not
wish to come down hard on you, but to
meet you on friendly terms and we say to
you capitalists; your property which you
have got should be the social property, and
not individual property. (Applause.)
y ou have obtained it by means more or less
legal and more or less powerful. We
wish to appropriate you for the public
good; we will pay you just the price it is
worth; buy it of you at its market value,
even give you 10 per cent bonus to clear
out, but you must clear out or We will
clear in anyway, Just as you like. That 10
just what the question is coming to, be-
cause you have not treated us fairly. ne
gentleman when be was speaking h.rs,
created one impression on my mind-that
be had never known what it is to do hard
days work. You talk Of labor You do
not know what it is to lie senseless on the
floor, powerless and exhausted, with q
mind knowing that il was made for better
things and brighter things, yet feeling that
he is dog, slave, and brute. and all
because you capitalists own the money OF
the world. (Applause.) To such men as
those who work eight heurs, or oftener four
or three day, physical exercise is lux
ury. In their easy labor their physical
powers are not called into action. Possibly
they may take it as relaxation, else they
do not, and from disuse totally destroy the
power Of the two. There comes the ques-
ton, and that is what these men cannot un-
derstand. The utter sense Of villainy that
man teels when be is exhausted both phys
ically and mentally by labor in the ex-
treme. These are the reasons why we
joined in societies, and if for that we are to
be condemned, well, we will 20 to Judge
ment with our imperfections on our heads,