The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1874-01-31
THE INDUSTRIAL CONGRESS

As the time for assembling of the
SECOND ANNUAL SESSION of the In
dustral Congress of the United States,
at Rochester, New York, is drawing nigh ;
as the platform adopted and the objects
sought to be accomplished by this body
commend themselves to the endorsement
Of every intelligent mind as the justice
Of their object is daily becoming more ap-
parent, and their Importance assuming
vaster proportions, we earnestly trust that
those organizations which so far have failed
to select representatives, will do so with
out further delay. As well known to our
readers, 1t will be composed EXCLUSIVELY Of
labor's bona .fde Representatives, while the
questions discussed will be those in the
solution Of which, every toiler in the land
has a deep and lasting interest.
The great necessity Of the hour, is the
consolidated, systematized efforts of labor,
intetiigently directed, and this desirable re-
suit can never be attained so long as its
strength is deserted through a hundred
different channels. 1he Amazon, which
for four hundred miles, leaves its impress
on the bosom of the ocean, accomplishes
this result through the efforts of thou
sand contributing streams flowing into a
common reservoir. Single or alone, they
would fail to make even ripple on its sur
face, and from this result, labor can take
a lesson.
The experience Of working men. more
especially for the past six months, has been
such as to show the imperative necessity
for thorough combination. In what con-
dition would the miners of Pennsylvania,
who have just achieved one Of the grand
est triumphs Of the age, over one Of the
most powerful corporations ON the Ameri-
can continent themselves to-day,
had they not arisen In their might, and
refused, as one man, under the guidance of
the president of the Miners National As
soclatlon, to accept the unjust demands
sought to be imposed upon them and what
the National Union has accomplished for a
particular craft, the industrial Congress,
properly sustaind, can accomplish for our
mechanics and workingmen at large
But we are heartily in favor of the In
dustral Congress, because it is an Ameri-
can institution, seeking to accomplish the
moral, social, and pecuniary advance
ment Of the citizen, in accordance with the
genius and spirit Of our republican institu-
tons While we wish our co-laborers in the
old world ''God-speed." in their mission,
We are opposed to their assumption of
authority on American soil American
workmen- by the term American, we
mean our foriegn-born as well as our native
born citizens, are certainly more qualified
TO leglslate for their own interests, than
junta, sitting in London or Paris. Hands
of, is our motto; we are perfectly
qualified to settle our grievances in our
own way, without foreign Intervention or
dictation.
From present indications, the Rochester
Convention will be a success, both in point
Of numbers and influence the questions to
be discussed, will be the most vital which
can ehgross the attention of the industrial
classes, and the results, let us hope, will
far exceed the expectations of its most
earnest, sanguine friends