Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1871-10-27
MASSACHUSETTS,.


ence lie was greeted with enthusiastic APP
plauSe. His Subject was: Present Questions |
Affecting Public Prosperity" After Il few pre-
lminary remarks, in introducing his subject he
said that:
Within the last two decades, two great events
have taken place-the emancipation Of the scrfs
and the emancipation of the slaves. In 1870, |
the slaves were living in ignorance and poverty;
and yet, in spite OF all this they produced 4i00-
900 bales of cotton, against 100000 while
slavery existed.
THE LABOR QUESTION.
The speaker said he should cOuSide; the errors
which laboring men commit; and, first, they look
to labor organizations for general and perma
nent good. These organizations are not to be
denounced, and they have the right to say what
the price OF labor should be; but the good ac-
complished by this is only temporary; second !
they spend too much time in considering whcth- |
er they should labor six, eight or ten hours a
day; as the employers come to ascertain their
interests this will be settled, In the mines, and
in unhealthiul pursuits, the man should perhaps
labor but six hours a day; but in other employ
mcutS, where health and life are not endangered,
the man can work more hours.
They do wrong not an error merely, but 4
great wrong, when they attempt TO dictate to
the employer the number of hours they are to
labor or the trade one must adopt Can not Il
youth be a stone mason if he chooses? Is it |
not the right of young man to enter any pur- |
SUIT he pleaSes, without any diCtation from |
laboring men? There is but one general way |
tor aboring men to obtain full justice, and that |
is by cooperation. There are two kinds of CO.
operation. One is cooperation among them |
selves. and the other is the relation 10 the en- |
ployer. If you 20 into the manufactures at |
Worcester and other places, and ask who would |
be accepted in cooperative organizations, some |
would be rejected; and if you 70 TO the employ |
erS, the same result would tranSpire. What |
does il mean? 1t means that some persons are |
not capable TO work for the benefit of man
through cooperative Organizations; consequent |
ly, there are some who must be elevated to the |
benefits received by cooperation. This can be
produced by education, in its lTOadeSt sense |
The only way to elevate the laboring classes is |
by education in the public schools, supported
by general taxation; the schools that are sup |
ported in any other way are inefficient
Mr.. Boutwell, then referred to another subject |
of interest, viz;
TIE TENURE OF LAND.
England is distracted by three or four ques- |
tionS, and one is the tenure of land. In Eng |
land, the opinion is strong that a man cannot |
cultivate tenure of land without being pro- |
prietOr. If all the population of the United |
States were crowded into Texas and all the |
other parts of the country left unpopulatcd, |
there would not be so many people to the |
square mile as there are in Massachusetts. Why |
should any man, because he happens to be in
the possession of land by will or otherwise
say TO what use that land shall be put when |
he is dead2 Our laws should forbid man
saying by testament. or other means, what
use the land should be put to when he is dead.
Another evil in relation TO the land ques-
ton is
THE POWER AND PRACTICE OF RAILROAD COM
PANIEs
70 purchare land which is not necessary for |
the business of the road. Why should railroad |
companies be permitted to buy coal regions, |
and prevent people from getting a livelihood |
from owning this land and Teapng some Of |
the benefits from its products? An incident
evil is, that railroad companies are able to in
vest their surplus profits without the knowl- |
edge Of the public. He then proceeded to
discuss
TRANSPORTATION,
First by railroads, and then by ships. lie be-
leyed that the railroad system at present in this
country includes about $4,000 miles, and was
established 10 transport passengers and freight,
and il is for the interest of the public that they
keep down to their legitimate business, and that
they transport freight and passengers at the very
lowest rates compatible with the interests of the
prOprietOrs. There is one point in which the la
boring man is concerned in England: Parlia-
ment passed law requiring the roads to convey
persons certain distance from the city for one
shilling, and there should be such law in BoS-
ton; so that the working man could get the free
air and establish for himself home away from
the dusty city. The internal interest of this
country is vast; it is fifteen times as great as the
external commerce. There are in the west large
amounts of grain and other products to be ship
ped east, and it is important that it should be
done at the very lowest cost, as it increases the
comfort of the laborer in the cast, as well as in
the west, and no man will doubt the propriety |
of this principle
Mr. Boutwell, then referred to the transporta
ton by water TO other countries, rcmarking that |
it was a deplorabe fact that, of the $40 mer-
chant vessels that sail between this country and
Europe not one was under the American flag. |
Great Britain is taking possession of the com
merce of the world This is humiating. How |
is it TO be remedied? No more wooden ocean |
ships are to be built. Sailing vessels built of |
iron are no longer wanted, and the only vessels |
that can compete with other commerce are iron |
steamships. He spoke Of the advantages we |
have over England in our iron being len per |
cent better. He referred 10 the navy, as it is |
claimed that it is larger for the purposes of |
peace than is necessary; as the question is not |
as to the size or armament of a vessel at Mexico |
or COrea, but the flag under which it sails repre-
sents 4O,O0O,0O0 people, who will not ask any
thing wrong nor will they submit to anything |
wrong.
SHIPS AND DUTIES.
He then referred to the suggestion that if the |
duties in some of the materials of building ships |
were removed we would be relieved, claiming |
that, to some extent, it would be So but that il |
would neecssitate the removing of duties from
other articles, and the government caunOt afford |
10 do that. We are looking to specie payment; |
and would it not be well if the transportation Of |
our products to and fro was in the hands of |
American ship builders.
PUBLIC DEBTS.
He spoke upon the subject of public debts |
which in Europe were increased at a fearful |
rate The debts of Europe and the United States |
a few years since amounted to 81 500, 900, 900; |
to-day they reach S23, 900 ,O0O,0 900; in 1913, in |
this country, it was $500 900, 900; and up TO |
1871 the debt was nearly trebled. He argued |
against the project of poStpOning the payment |
Of the debt, thinking it was best 10 grappe |
with it now, and give the capitalists Il sharp |
rap for endeavoring to shirk, as they sometimes |
do, their real share of the burden.
ADVICE.
He closed with some excellent advice to the |
young who are to rule this country when it con- |
tans 10O,O00,0O0 people, warning them against
some OF the mistakes men in the past have
made.
Chief Engineer Damrell was received tonight |
on his return from Chicago, by grand torch |
light procession of the Boston fire department. |
PosToN, Oct. 26.-The last unrecognized vic. |
tim of the Revere disaster has been identified as
Mrs Locke, widow lady, about fifty-fye years |
old, belonging in Lowell. She left Lowell TO |
visit relatives in Lynn, and, while her friends in |
Lowell have supposed she was in Lynn, her |
relatives in Lynn were not aware that she had |
left home.
SPRINGFIELD, Oct. 27.-Smth, Perry & Co.'s |
whip factory, at Westield, was burned this |
morning; also, n barn; and Brian Keeie & Co.'s |
cigar factory was badly damaged. Loss, $4,000; |
insured for $4,000.
VERMONT.
BURLINGTON Oct. 26.-Ihis afternoon, Israel |