The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1874-01-16

Work. work. work. That is the cry
at pres INT. From all the great centers
OF the Union it wells and surges through
the land. Bands of stalwart mechanics
throng the halls of our city legislatures,
and the burden of their cry is-Work!
/ There they stand-willing and able to
/ do good service, their tools idle in their
/ hands-repeating over and over their
simple demand for work. They want
to create wealth for the nation, and can
not get the chance to DO it, Why ?
Because n few idIers and non-producers
in Wal street have decreed otherwise.
| The gre Il Labor Locomotive is brought
/ to stand-still, because z number OF
money-d-Ink tinancierS lie sprawling
on its tra K.
For once the workers are entirely
right in heir demand. They have a
right to @; ain work-peaceably if they
can, fore " if they must. But the
British che ity-mongers among us are
on the alCrt. They say: Establish
soup-house, when the workers get hun
CRY enough hey will bewilling to be paul
! perized after the English fashion," But
the toilers DO not ask for soup; they de-
mand work. Gentlemen Legislators,
/ Mayors, Aldermen, etc., etc, what will
you do with that elephant? Will you
tell the millions that they have no right
to toll; that it is their bounden duty to
remain idle, and die of starvation
You cannot, you dare notI
1t is true there are some factories run
ming on half or three-quarter time, and
some holding on at reduced wages.
These are held up as models; it would
be difficult 10 tell why. But such, you
will say, has latterly got to be the case
every winter. In that desolate period
of the year, when human beings need
double sustenanee and double clothing,
then man rises to pray upon his fellow
man, and the little that the worker re-
ceives in return for his toll is usually
diminished. Man is the same ayari-
ciOus man in the country that he is in
the cityi if you want to get your wood
cut cheaply, have it done in the winter.
But, -political-econOmists,
Is the present prOstratiOn of labor-the
present idleness of the toiler-sound
doctrine The worker knows that, in
his individual case, it does not answer
for him to waste time. Is it correct.
nationally? First, run in debt, then,
in order to pay off the same, to cease
the creation of wealth. Verify, there is
a screw loose sOmewhere-a hole in the
mournful ballad of the British Labor
System-which has been sung so long,
anu WHICH - 81 uoleiul anu lQelaQclOlY
that it may be termed ''the dirge of the
laborer.n Alas! for us, that the mil
lions in our broad land should have to
take up the refrain, and every weary
winter the wretehed, alms-giving, pau
periZing system of the old country,
make greater and greater inroads among
the workers in our most populous man
and commercial eenters.
But our intent in this article is to in
quire, rather than to instruct. 1t is TO
demand from our railroad, State and
city authorities, an answer to the ap-
peal of the laborers. He has appeared
before them, and he demands work. As .
Mr.. Tweed, lately their leader, said:
'What DO you mean to do about it ?u
1t is modest request, although it may
be earnestly pressed. DO you mean to
deny the wealth producer, while you
are costly Consuming the products Of
his past labors That would not be
quite correct. If you answer him that
there is no money to be got, he will tell
you to make some; there is plenty of
blank paper in the country, and that is
the material out of which the present
medium is manufactured.
Do anything but One-when he asks for
bread do not give him a stone; when he
demands work, do not, in reply, offer
him soup!
Verify, this labor question, which has
been so many years in agitation, is COM
ing to the front with power. 1t is in
deed Reformation or Revolution.
Which ?" At present the demand is
for work. There is only one word
which, under the present circumstances
Of the country, is more terrible. 1t is
the cry for bread! Whenever the pop
ular thunder is heard in Europe, wise
statesmen make ready for its consequent
which Isl Revolution. = WoodhUH d;
CtdQufs Weekly.
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