, 1874-04-20
a SURPLUS OF IABf)R.

Inc IonnBylVant1 mlno-ownGtB frankly hV0W
that t1oy must havo eithor q etriko or |, look
out evory yoar Or two In order to prevent tho
otherwise inevitable ovor-productlon Of conf.
In othor Words thoro is a surplus Of labor In tho
coal-dlatrIots. The crowds which demanded
work from tho city authorities Of Now York,
ohioaRo Boston, Oinofnnati. and othor places.
during tho last winter, showed that thore WAS q
surplus Of labor throughout groat part Of tho
country. This city has worry many unemployed
mon today. They swarm In New York. Reckless
charity has brought them there In hordos
Tho wages Of labor are sinking. There arc first
class carpenters In Chicago who are earning
only S1.60 day. 4 year ago, they got moro
than twice rs much. Contractors who nre doing
hoavy jobB have to post up notices that thoy
wish no moro men In order to koop their of1ooa
from being crowded with applicants for work,
The snme story is told elsewhere. There aro too
many mon to DO hired.
Under these circumstanoos, any increase In
tho number. Ia mattor Of lively ooncorn. It
discomfort, muttorlngs Of communism, por-
haps communism itsolf. There Ia great
danger to our systcm Of government
In tho formation Of largo classes Of
tho worry poor. suoh olasaoH mado Twood n
possibility. Such olasBes keep Butler In his aeat
They give tho Philadelphia Ring Hearty sup
port. Twocd, Butlor, Riugs,-thoao aro tho dan
gors Of tho Republic. Tho great tide Of immi-
grafton scarcely GIBBS Mt all, howover. Thousands
Of wor1dngmon land on our shoros week after
wealth, or at least sure comfort. They are at q
disadvantage in tho fight for employment with
mon who wero born here Or have lived hero long.
A. prominent contractor Of this city says TINT ho
pays some skilled briok1ayers fresh from Cor
many only half what ho gives their o lder
brothers who haVe been hero several yoars, and
yet finds their labor less profitable Tho foreign
element, then, and the least Americanizcd part
Of 1t, is the most apt to bo out ot work. It
greedily listens to the haranguos Of demagogues.
its untutorod sense, liberty and license arc much
tho eamo. Hore Ia tho danger.
It will DO wise for us to corporate heartily In
tho efforta now being made by Germany and
Great Britain to check tho flow of immigration
hithor. Some Of the lenders OF English labor
nro in active correspondence with American
friends on this subject, and arc doing what
thoy can to diBsuado their followers
from leaving their homes. Tho English
Cooperative Congress- OF 1874, which met
ut Manchester on Eastor Monday, listened
to paper by an American advising against im-
migration. Our dispatches state that tho agri-
cultural districts of England, whence Joseph
Arch expects tu transfer thousands vi uuu- to
this side Of tho Atlantic, have been placardod
with cautions against emigration. The cautions
are supported by tho somewhat rash statement,
made On tho alleged authority Of Consul Arohi-
bald, Of New York, that 40, 900 Englishmen in
this country arc trying to got back. The num-
Dor is probably exaggerated, but it has baais OF
fact, II theae and similar measures are v1gor-
ouBly pushed in tho British Isles and on the
Continent, Thousands Of poor men may be saved
from pauperism, and TIC may be savod from the
Commune,