The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1872-09-14
Workingmans Congress at Halle.

ITSELF 70 them. IhM persistence OF the mod
srn lAborer in calling upon the modern Jupi-
ter-the State-to start his wagon for him,
instead of putting his own shoulder to the
wheel, Is becoming tiresome. The American
workman il in his own hands Let him edu-
cate his children and himself, and practice CO.
operation and self restraint, and the labor
problem il solved. He will find it far easier
TO practice this programme than to change
the laws of God, although he apparently
thinks that the passage Of an act at Spring
field or Washington is all that il needed to
effect this latter
\ We copy the above from the Chicago
Tribune, of the 9th inst What these
workingmen did really do, cannot be ascer-
tanned from the Tribune quotation. Il is
most probable that they asked for some
legislation TO protect them from this indis-
criminate and continued plumber of work
ingmen under legislative enactment. And
it is not impossible, that some ofthese men
may have thought, that some positive
statutes recognizing the rights Of labor,
should be enacted. If so, the Tribune is
unquestionably right, taking Legislative
enactment and business customs as a guide
What right have workingmen, but the
glorious privilege of working with all their
might day and night, for the benefit Of the
governing and business masters handing
over to the latter in the shape of taxes, in
terest, discounts and profits, all but the
small pittance needed to keep soul and
body together. Oh but the Tribune will
say Why business men, bankers, tax
gathers, brokers, everybody in this country
at least, labors. That no legislative enact
ment can be made to protect laborers.
There is lust where the mistake lies, and
workingmen too frequently make Just this
blunder. Labor is mental and physical
employment in production OF obstruction,
and so far as these occupations perform any
Of these services to humanity, OF for socie-
ty so far it is labor. But the financial and
governmental tax gathering system has
made a monopoly of the medium Of eX
change, transportation, warehousing and
business therein resulting and by these in
genious fiscal contrivances, the larger share
Of the annual productions Of labor are
gathered by operation Of these laws, into
ness classes These laws and customs,
are not labor, but power, which carry
the surplus products of labor into the
hands of these business men, as the law Of
gravitation carries the water Of the streams
to the ocean-but the difference is, that
the latter, is Just and natural the former
unjust, Unnatural, and the substitution of
an unjust artificial government, OF organic
power which controls and destroys the
natural and inalienable rights of the labor
er. This power is government power,
which should be welded for the protection
of the people, but is welded against them.
The making of bank paper representatives
and so arranging the circulation Of the
money as to effectually exclude the masses,
and these so regulate the interest as
to give the protected class FIVE or ten times
as much gain as the service performed
would give, without the law or monopoly
this is what lSboringmen complain Of In
short, these charters 10 banks, insurance.
railroad, commercial and other corpora
tons, are government powers of the high
est order, which belong to the people, and
should be used for their benefit, but under
these fiscal and other corporate contrivan-
ces, as now used, are largely for the pur-
pose Of plundering them. To the extent
these powers are used to perform a useful
service at a Just compensation they are
legitimate, but labor has no combining
or aggregating power, no monopolizing
functions, and here Is where the iniquity
lies. The government function of concen-
trated power, is let out and welded by
the complications Of business thus created,
the masses cannot fathom the iniquity for
want of the knowledge of the precise man
ner these powers are used. They know,
indeed, if labor earns one hundred dollars
at the market price, it requires considera-
bic mental and phisycal work, but they do
not understand how much Of use there is
in hundred dollars Of bonk paper or
corporate stock, which may not cost eX-
ceeding five cents on the hundred dollars,
and yet for tbs exchange Of labor products,
it in law brings one hundred dollars of
these out of the labor.
1t is, therefore, the solving Of these
questions, So as to get an intelligent under
standing OF them, on the part Of working
men that is important, and labor organiza-
tions which attempt to exclude these ques-
tons, and to denounce those who bring
them forward are making most grave
mistake, and when these organiza-
tons attempt to ask legislative aid with
out having probed these financial questions
to the bottom, they will very likely get
snubbed by the capitalists journals 1t is
true that they will get snubbed by them in
any event, justly or unjustly, but there is
a vast difference in the moral standing and
moral power, between labor organizations
who have grappled with these questions
and understand them, compound with
those organizations who have paid no at
tention to the matter. And we, therefore,
commend this subject and the Tribune
article to the special consideration Of our
trades assemblies. IN laws of God, of
Congressional and State enactment, which
the Tribune filings in our faces as unchange-
able, may prove far otherwise If work
do their duty they will soon be
with the divine right Of kings.
La SALE, Sept. 6.-Col. @. d Taylor,
president of the Northern Illinois Coal
and Iron company, after an absence Of