The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1872-09-07
CooLIE alias CHEAP LABOR No. 8

That Mr.. Koopmanschap, the great Aslatic
slave trader, is now hailed rs the coming
man who is to usher in the long desired
millennium Of cheap labor Our task now
is to show the causes which have produced
this overweening desire for cheap labor.
The philosophy Of the movement and its
probable result, as shown by the laws gov
erning populations and taught 10y the
history Of the human race.
First, then, as to the causes which have
created such all unusual, no. t. say eAor-
bitant, demand for cheap labor. To salts
factorily explain this, for the present, we
need only to q back t. African slavery,
and to the circumstances attending IT'S
death by the hand Of violence and the
consequences which have grown out of, or
which legitimately flow from that source
Ii viii be readily seen that previous to the
late rebellion, the entire control Of labor III
the South. was in the hands Of the mast
ers. Four million of men, women and
cnllur6n were ntlu III dbSolulc bbIudINs
and thus in fifteen states Of this union
there was no price t. labor 1t was "a the
master simply question of the cost Of
feeding, clothing and housing the black
men. and Il keep him in good working
! condition Out Of this condition ~ labor
! IN the south. manufacturing WAS inaugur
ated in the Eastern States, and the West
| furnished the bread and some raw-materI-
al, and the South furnishes the cotton, and
to some extent competed with the West in
some Of the breadstsltfs With theexception
Of the competition Of employees IN the fac
tories there was comparatively little COM
petition among the lahorers. Ii was a
competition OF rivalry of to- different see
tons Of the country. and We had but little
Of that Of individuals except few cases in
the large cities But by the destruction
If slavery, a change took place a leveling
process, which has brought all classes and
conditions of labor to one common level,
and not only has this resulted from the
Adjustments Of slavery, but an entirely
new mode Of directing and controlling labor
and its rewards has been introduced, which
is necessary To be understood, in order
fully to comprehend the bearing IF this
'' Coolie" question.
One Of the results Of abolishing slavery
is the scattering Of the slaves
ON the large plantations, and from the
want Of the usual masters, or overseers,
these plantations are not systematically
worked. Hence, large tracts Of land are
lying waste Another result is that by the
change Of values, the introduction Of new
men, and the increased price of labor al
the low price for products, makes It hazard
Gus to employ large numbers Of laborers
But the great primary cause Of the dIs"r
ganlzation Of labor added 10 that IF free
ing the slave, i our corporate banking and
railroad system. During the war there
has been granted to railroad and banking
corporations lao, OOO. OOOacres Ofwild lands.
which under a Just government, belong Il
the people; and many millions, and even
| hundreds IF millions If stocks and inter
est-bearing bonds have been issued. which
are a charge upon the labor community, Il
the extent Of their exports. and upon
! these lands, which are uncultivated There
/ is, therefore, an urgent necessity to the
| railroad companies, to have their lands
settled and cultivated faster than the ordi-
nary modes Of emigration and settlement
viii do. But the crowning act Of derange-
ment lies in our money systems and i'll the
bad management Of it by the government
during the war, and very much more mi
quitously handled since its termination.
A short history Of which shall now be given.
The first loan that the government made
Of the banks, was ESQ OOO, 900 but this
loan had scarcely been negotiated before
the banks began u whine about the man
ner in which the loan had been or was to
be drawn and paid out by the government,
and Mr. Stevens, who was Chairman Of the
Committee of Ways and Means, says that
the banks complained that under the Gov
eminent arrangement Of paying out the
loan the banks could not pay this loan in
com. The consequence was the matter
was compromised, and the loan furnished
in deprecated paper money. at about 81
cents On the dollar This discount added
TO the depreciation If the currency
left the amount 81 value received ~
the government not u exceed seventy
five cents On the dollar The next move
made by the government was H. negotiate
new loans, which, to the amount required.
it was soon found could not he done The
consequence was the issue If greenbacks
and the creation q bond called the five
twenties, payable interest and principal
IN greenbacks, and the rate Of interest
being SI per cent. per annum, payable
seml-annually. But before the issue of
this money and the bonds, on went a horde
of gold gamblers, and stock iobbers drom
New York city to Washington. protesting
against this issue, and jew and Gentle
in loving accord, agreeing and trying to in
vent some scheme To make their billions
by their cunning devise without labor
They finally succeeded. That device was
this, to get the Chairman Of the Finance
Committee Of the House to make the in
terest payable in coin, which the Chairman
refused to do. They next went to Mr..
Chase, the Secretary of the Treasury, and
through him, and the Senate Finance
Committee, they succeeded in getting their
favorite gold-clause interest-steal inserted,
and finally it passed into law. The next
move was to get heavy tariff to be col
lected in coin to pay the interest steal.
Through these two devices by the issue of