The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1873-01-04
FROM MICHIGAN.

IONTlAt, Dec %, lSi 2
To the Editor Of the woRkISGsAS's ADVOCATE
The condition Of the people, Of any ma
ton may be estimated for the time being,
by the character Of their d dwellings, temples,
or palaces. When the palace Is seen side
by side with the hovel, it is a bad sign. II
shows that the palace has been reared
through the money and means tn At belong
ed largely to the occupant Of the howell
All the great empires If antiquity started
from small beginnings, as We did, and
through agriculture and manufactures be
came great and wealthy. 1t is said that
they fell through luxury, but in fact they
fell through injustice The wealth which
ought to have belonged TO the many be-
came aggregated in the hands # the :ew,
and was spent in unproductive enterprises.
There is no record Of the downfall If a
poor and industrious community.
Every nation has, or ought t. have, a
yearly surplus above its consumption. The
equitable division and judlcIous expendi
ture Of thiT surplus gives the nation
strength or weakness If it Is divided
among the many, and applied to the i'm
provement Of canals and machinery, this
surplus constantly increases. II it is spent
on costly temples and palaces, or on useless
armies, the masses Of the people cannot
make any true progress The money spent
on the useless pyramids Of Egypt would
have covered the country with Irrigating
canals, and increased its productive power
ten-fold. The palaces Of ancient Rome
represented the plumber Of the known
world and, so far as any benefit To the
people went, the money and labor spent on
pyramids and palaces might As well have
been thrown INTO the sea.
Now, coming nearer home, what do Se
see An apeIng Of ancient extravaganza
and expenditures. As palaces ar1se
among Us, the novels keep pace with them.
But we are only at the commencement Of
our career. As the rich become richer the
poor become poorer. fhe last is a neces-
sary consequence of the first, because, A.
there is only 80 much surplus a. divide, II
one man SEXES upon the surplus that ought
to have been gwen t. twenty, he is richer
and they poorer than ought to have been
the case Aud the principle upon which
mercantile and manufacturing operations
are carried on inevitably tends u increase
the distance and the antagnnisin between
the rich and the poo.
Our progress ~ 4 people is due 10 the
facility with which all could obtain and
cultivate land We had no feHdal Oppres
sions to contend against no loris and
knights to exact heavy rents ami days Ut
military service. We have not been com
PEELED Ia waste much tame or money On
useless objects. We have made more pro
gress in a century, On account Of the abuse
Of European restrictions, than any peUpl,
~ Europe made IL a Thousand years We
in general have had plenty "a eat and drink
WIN adequate clothing and comfortable
dwellings
But, although the ancient baron has not
been among us, sending out his armed NJ
tanners Ia seize our gram and cattle, there
has grown up among US power equally as
exacting and merciless This is the money
power which, sitting IN It's bank castle.
reaches and plumbers all men through It's
financial man, pulations lts progress dur,
ing the last twelve years has been wonder
full II has, through ITS Legislation, woven
chains around the people in all directions.
robbed them Of their lands and profits, aud
laid the foundations II a giAantIc sytem ni
plumber, which, unless timely put am end
"a, will ultimately sweep uS INTO that gull
that has swallowed all the great empires n
antiquity.
These ancient empires foil not because
they lacked protection or " free trade.
not because the markets uf the world Wru,
glutted not from a lack Ut the raw mate
rial Of wealth hut because ali wealth, a,
sonn rs created, WAS, through the srclal
machinery which exists to tins day amouy
US, taken from the tnilrrS an gwen "a the
drones was expended ON palaces and
Rmusements on vast armies and useless
wars; on aristocratIc spectacles and teats
on all sorts Of objects that never gave back
dollar or cased labor Of All hours work
A man loses the heart Ia work IN proper
ton ~ his reward Is scanty aud insurticnt.
A the ancient baron had his machinery
for plumber IN the shape 81 armed men, 81
the moneyed power throughout the evil
iEed world has its machinery for the plum
der of labor. How can the wOrkingmAn be
plundersd by power that never lends HIM
dollar, or charges HIM interest Because
all interest and all profit, through the man
ipulAtions II trade, ultimately falls upon
labor.
At the late tire in Boston, whole miles
Of splendid palaces were swept away such
buildings were never before appropriated
to the storage and sale Of good, and yet,
while these Inanimate dry goods, clothing.
boots and shoes, had palace for resting
place, the men and women that created
them dwelt in comparative novels, IN eel
lars and garrets Why were the men and
women used SO i'll, and the goods So well
Because the men that owned the goods had
no common interest with the men and
women that created them.
These princely storehouses represented a
portion Of the surplus of national wealth.
The dwellings and surroundings VI the
owners of the warehouses; represented an
other portion. All this surplus had been
accumulated within twenty or thirty years
Now, where are the accumulations Of the
men that built the warehouses and manu-
featured the goods What has become Of
their share Of the national surplus What
have the men and women, who have labored
80 patiently for twenty or thirty years in
creating this vast wealth, to show As their
rare Of the national acumul ations Lat
orally nothing. And this happens because
the unjust processes of trade have taken
away the share II labor and given it to cap
ital. On nil sides the same injustice IL VS.
ibls. Evsrywhers, a. class, the men