The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1873-08-09
The I" Industrial Congress.

At the meeting OF lndustrial OOngreBs,
held recently ct Cleveland, Ohio, "plat-
form" Of principles, or, rather declarations,
was adopted, which in rather more COM
pact in its style and considerate in the
| treatment Of the proper subjects Of the
kCopgress thsn platforms" usually are.
II declares the first object of the Indus
trial Congress in terms as follows ITO
bring within the folds Of the organization
every department of productive industry,
making knowledge . standpoint for action,
and industrial and moral worth-not
wealth-the true standard of individual
and national greatness. This is well
said, but rather too general and remote to
be of immediate practical value. The an
nunciation of the second object, or groupe
of objects is put in terms a great deal more
pointed and direct to the purpose. This
u designed To fIcure to the toiler an
equal share of the wealth which he helps
to create more of the leisure that rightly
belongs to him more society advantages;
more Of the benefits, privileges and emolu-
ments of the world in word, all these
rights and privileges necessary to make
him capable of enjoying, sppreciating, de-
Tending and perpetrating the blessings Of
/ EcDuDllCdI1 lIlsblIubAO1S. 1hOAO AD wi
dence in the first part of this paragraph Of
that thought and apt choice Of words
which bstoken the disciplined mind and
hand
So much for the declared objects of the
Congress, which are of a character that
leaves but little room for any one 10 fairly
find fault with. The announcement Of the
object is followed by certain demands up
on the National and State Governments,
among which are the establishment Of
bureas of labor statistics, the reservation
of the public lands for actual settlers,
land not another acre for railroads or spec
ulators :" the adoption of measures pro-
viding for the health and safety Of persons
engaged in manufacturing or building pur-
suits. the reduction Of the hours Of labor
to eight hours per day, the aLrogation of
all laws that do not bear equally upon cap
ital and labor, the prohibition Of the inn
portation of servile races, the discounte-
nance Of the system of contract labor in
prisons, and of subsidies" to steamships
bringing servile races to this country, the
enactment and enforcement OF equitable
apprenticeship laws, and ''the substitution
Of arbitration for strikes whenever and
wherever employers and employees are will
ling to meet on equitable grounds. F"
I[Altogether this is the best specimen Of a
h k''platform" we have seen for a good while
best in its terse expression-best in its
Rclearness and force-best in its clearness
| from inflated nonsense, mere ''bunkum
or artful demagogical appeals to prejudice
or passion. Some Of the demands may be
debatable, none Of them can be stigma
tized as unreasonable, and most of them
are perfectly right. Bureaus Of Labor
Statistics are already established In a num-
Der of States, and our own among the
number. They ought to he established in
all. for there can be no intelligent legisla-
ton touching industrial interests or pur
suits in any way without the aid of the
most complete array Of the statistics of la
Dor. These should include everything re-
lating to production and consumption,
quantities, varieties, and values Of pro-
ducts the numbers of working people in
every division and subdivision Of employ
ment the numbers of skilled and un-
skilled persons unemployed, on employed
in some other calling than that In which
they are skilled their rates of wages and
average earnings throughout the year I;
the amount of the necessarIes, comforts
and beneficial enjoyments of life, their
wages of earnings will buy; the possible
or reasonable surplus that can be laid
by for sickness or misfortune, or old age, or
for the purchase of homestead the ratio
of apprentices or learners in skilled EN-
ployments who are to supply artisans,
tradesmen, and operatives for the future,
and other kindred facts and figures With
out these, as has already been observed
there can be no intelligent legislation or
regulation upon the most important affairs
Of life. As to the preservation Of the pub
lie lands and not another acre for rail-
roads or speculators, there can be no rea-
sonable doubt that nearly the whole mass
of the industrious people of the country
are in accord with the Industrial Con-
gress." With reference to the contract
system of prison labor, which sells the la
Dor Of the prisoners by contract, it has
been productive of number of bad re-
suits, frequently pointed out in this jour
nal. Our Eastern Penitentiary system is
vastly preferable t9 it. The importation
of servile (Chipese) labor presents more
difficulty but, for the present, the con-
sideration of that subject is somewhat
hampered by the existence of treaties with
the Chinese Government. On the ques-
tion of abrogating all laws which bear un-
equally upon capital and labor, there can
be but little room for divided public SEN
timent, if such laws we're clearly and spe-
cifcally pointed out. The eight-hour sys-
tenn In, of course, part of the debatable
ground, but the support given to the ''plat-
form" to the revival and enforcement of
the apprenticeship system, and the estab-
lishment of arbitration as q substitute for
strikes cannot fail of endorsement by an
almost unanimous public voice.
Ii the annual meetings of the Industrial
Congress" continue to make progress at
the rate this last one shows, and will main
tain the attitude of sound sense and mod
Grafton exhibited by this one in its 'plat-
form, they will command far more respect
and exert wider influence than has been
their fortune in their aptecedent history
l-Pwblic Ledger, Philadelphia, July 80,