The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1872-12-21
Capital and Labor.
speech ReeeatIy Delivered bV ". a FOrAn
~ Chicago and NJ LOnIS.

our strength ON unnecessary strikes, we
will never, fear, husband force capable
Of effecting our complete disenthrlllment
Strikes are sometimes unavoidable and
must 10 resorted to, but they are at all
times like wars among nations, they inn
puverlsh both the winner and the loser.
Strikes do not, and cannot, strike the
root of the evil There are subtle, hscal
contrlvances and monetary laws existing ID
our social fabric, which, more than aught
else, tend t. keep labor in hopeless seryI-
tude, and these evils strikes cannot reach.
do not propose, at this time, to touch the
bhghtIng, monOpolizlng, one-slded, inquit-
GUS monetary system with which We are
burthened and cursed, by which our ener-
gies are paralysed. ourselves robbed, and
our kid gluved immaculates enriched !
could not do 1t justice IN the brief time
allowed me An elucdatiun 81 the subject
sufficiently PLAIN and elaborate to give an
accurate conception Of the manner III which
LINKS, brokers and thieving interests rob
and plumber the people, would require
more time than could devote 10 1t this
evening Let it suffice for this occasion "a
say that interest is labors greatest enemy
OF itself il Is a direct tax on labor and
the hugest swindle in the world Did you
ever see poor banker or broker No,
slrs, you never did nobody ever did +.
And how du they become rich On inter
est and discount, which you and ! and
every workingInsn pays III In1umerable
WAYS. Our manufacturers Iay fifteen or
twenty per cent. interest, and Of cour 9
cannot compete with foreign manufactur-
rrs, who can borrow money for three per
cent, and, III order that they may compete
with the outsiders, protective tax Is in
trpduced, and the result is that the labOrer
pays the interest on every manufactured
article he purchases Real estate and
land increases but three per cent. per an
mum, but interest demands twelve per
cent. on money, hence the odds against the
farmer are four to one, and certainly the
contemplation Of this fact knocks all the
encouragement out Of the cheap advice to
~ west and settle on land The builder
ut a house bOrruWs money at fifteen per
cent, but you pay 1t back to him in rent ;
the merchant borruws at the same rate, but
he does not pay it himself. No, sirs, he
docs not YOU and do, though. We pay
II by paying an increased price for all we
bOrrUws AZ the same rate, but he reduces
the wages Of his men, and Ivy that means
they are forced e pay the interest. The
banking power Of the country is in the
hands Of few men who know no policy
but the imitation Of their own pockets The
circulating medium is purposely contract
ed, IN order that scarcity Of money IL ay
force excessive rates Of interest, and you
workmgmen pay these high rates.
have merely mentioned these facts to
set you thinking. Let these facts sink in
t. Your minds, take them home with you,
and think them over by your iresides -
think OF them when you are at work to-
morrow, and, surely, if you are perclpient
beings, you will endeaVor to rid yourselves
Of all that seeks to injure and destroy your
present and future prospects, as men and
citizens. Read, study and think, and you
will grow more Independent of boss dicta-
ton. You will combine and work as you
never worked before for the elevation and
the amelioration Of labor, for the social
and intellectual advancement of yourselves
and families for your proper share Of all
that il due you as the creators If all
wealth
Considerable stress seems to be laid, by
Snrdy ref0rmatlonlsts, on the power Of the
ballot to redress the wrongs complained Of
py labor They claim that in country
= here the law making power is vested and
nheres in the people, they, (the people
should not repine if the enacted legislation
i the land Disseminated against them,
. b.axv Il In nj 60 .
out have already shown that the power
# centralizated wealth has become 50 fear
ully puisssnt, that it has actually enslaved
he minds Of men. The school geogra
ohies in use, when | was q boy, generally
a description of the largest bell
ever cast. This great bell was cast at
Moscow, but it cracked at the first blow,
md its clapper was taken away, and
.hough the large st bell in the world, it is
ongueless and voiceless to this day, and in
ike manner. though the workingmen Of
America possess the greatest share of its
political power, they are practically as
mute and voiceless a. the great tongucless
bell OF Moscow | have known lifelong
Idherents Of party change their political
Alth To retain a situation, and lately II has
,assed into saying, that =" az votes the
so vote the men" Necessity,
Iir, knows no law, and if, on the eve Of al
winter, a poor man is given
he alternative Of voting as the employer |
'otes, or looking elsewhere for work, what, |
n Gods Holy Name, is he TO do Can he |
'btain work elsewhere The chances are
mainly against him. Then, think you, he |
s going to see his children cry for bread
{ IL a hard, a nauseOus dose to swallow,
nut the man has a heart-he is human
ne cannot bear to hear the walls Of his |
amily, or see his own flesh and blood suffer, |
md of course he swallows the dose, votes
With the boss and retains his situation. But |
his Is not the only way the freedom of
suffrage II strangled. The corrSlptinR |
lower nf money pervades the whole social |
ystem-it Ia virus that blights and saps
he foundation Of organic socialism. Tom
Scott or Vanderbilt are more Of the law
making power in the states in which they
i've unhanged, than all the worhingmen
yho vote there.
Now ] claim that man is naturally free;
,orn free intended by God to be free.
lie comes forth from his mothers womb
he possessor Of certain innate rights, which
he owes directly TO God. and hence these
lights are above law, superior and anterior
D any constitution or state established by
nan.
Well, sirs, you admit that man has nat
Iral rights who can, or who dare deny it
Tow let me ask, what ia society 1t is not
he complement Of human nature Be
omine . social being does not destroy the
,atursl rights Of MN. No, sirs it es-
nblishes. enlArgss and soIdi6es them and
hat being the case, man should be socially
Rat he i naturAIly-free, independent,
nd the responsible master Of his own
ctions. his own thoughts the architect Of
q exterior and interior ilfe.