The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1872-09-14
oooLIE alias CHEAP LABoR-No. 4

AVS yust No"0uS' Inc mOst prominent OF
these unjust laws, is the railroad legisla-
ton. We will commence with the $780,
600, 900 acres of the peoples land donated
to these corporations The loss Of the prop
erty to the people, is but a small share Of
the iniquity-it ia the power to make stocks
and bonds charge upon the goods and lands,
thus to make monopoly of transportation,
storing and exchanging all the products
of industry, and this charge is unlimited
In amount. Along with this also may be
ranked as q depicting agency, the mort
cages Of individuals and Of towns, made in
aid Of these railroad enterprises These
securities being frequently sold at from 10
to 30 cents on the dollar-but the face Of
which, with interest, the people have to
pay
The companies have no other source to
pay their own bonds and mortgages but to
tax the same out of the people. But by
the skillful duplicating and quadrupIng
Of these stocks and bonds the fnAnipula-
tors reserve enough to give them the con-
troll, and their pay for the road and its man
agement, by taxing the whole over to the
men who furnished the only real capital
which built the road Through all these
instrumentalities it is probable that about
five-eighths Of the annual productions Of
the country are tsken from the producers
and actual distributors and given to non
useful plunderers. By these ingenious fiscal
contriyances too the outrage is obscured or
hid from the ken Of the industrial classes,
so far at least, that they have a very dim
perception Of the enormous wrong thus
practiced upon them. The extent Of these
robbery sources now will probably exceed
g, 600, 600, 900, bearing the enticing gilt
covered cognomen of National. State, city,
county, town and corporate bonds and
including therein also several millions
Of those vulgar devices, known as CONNER
cial paper and cut throat mortgages in
the meshes Of these cunning devices all
TIC ctotco arc hhOAuuCus OsP0Siohi thO
Western. Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa
hold in this a most uninvitlng pre-emi-
nence. But putting the whole together
there is an annual plumber Of the people of
about g., OOO, OOO, 900, fer which no com
pensating return is made.
To effect this unmitigated robbery, it is
Of course necessary 10 so handle these Ma
tional bonds and other securities as to
produce large disproportion between
what the producer of the raw material and
the laborer gets and what he has TO pay
for what he buys, to effect this the govern
ment piratical skill has to be brought into
requisitiOn TO shield the robbers We will
now explain one or two modes for doing
this. This central power is gold, around
which all business must revolve as in its
orbit For what purpose We answer to
enable the robbers To convert not only
their wild cat gold bond into gold, but to
enhance the value Of that gold periodically
This metamorphose is in the hands Of the
Secretary Of the Treasury. and Mr.. Bout
well, the present incumbent, does this work
50 mercilessly, that it ought To give him a
fame more enduring IN infamy than that
of Jeffries or Caligula We will nov
explain the modus operAndi OF manner Of
performing tins delightful task The tar
ifs are, say, sl9c. al0, 90 to be collected
in gold, the interest clio, 900, 600 Now
Mr.. Boutwell,, to keep the demand for gold
good, so as TO make 1t worth from IL to Is
per cent. above par holds from $3.50 to
800, 900, 900 constantly in the treasury.
The consequence is that through these
three instrumentalities all imported goods
are kept from twenty-five tothirty per cent
above their real value, which the consumer
must pay, and the gold protected robber
receives through the Treasury device as
the reward Of villainy. The people have
thus inflicted upon them as punishment
for their simplicity in believing in the ON
nipotent power Of gold, and of the salu-
tary power Of gold base to give the peo-
pie good paper currency. But mark you,
it is not paper money, and is never made
money, except when these currency rob-
bers have il thus instituted as a convert
ing medium to be paid to the government,
for the conversion Of their unsecured wild
cat, into the gold and property of the pub
lie.
Through this supple fundamentally of
gold tariffs, gold interest and premiums,
&c, go, 900, 900 is robbed out Of the in
dustrial class per month. and they are
made to pay this much higher for what
they purchase, and receive that much less
for their labor We will now show how
the farmers are compelled to sell their
grain for much less price than il is worth,
and the artizan and day laborer TO pay two
prices for it. To explain this it is neces-
sary to refer to the National State and
Railroad Revenue gathering system. The
farmers have their produce to sell, largely
III IAIi anu WAlOcT. by EcuuCcu money
the National and State govern
ments collecting about $45O, OOO. 600 annu-
ally, the Railroads $500, 900, 600, with a
circulation down to about $500, 900, 600, it
is easy TO hold prices down in the fall when
the farmer must sell, and as the laborer
is out Of employment in the winter, he
must wait until spring to make his pur
chases consequently, he pays two prices
TO the skilful operator who has manipulat-
ID the market. By these devices the price
IF labor and the demands upon it, are such
hat the present labor force cannot supply
I at prices to satisfy employers. Hence,
men must be worked in large gangs and at
ow prices, and the Coohe is the only
ource to which capital looks for q supply. |
What African slavery did for the South
- L. I1wo A. - -