The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1874-06-20
LABOR STATISTICS.
SPEECH or IIE
HON. MARTIN A. FORAN,
In the Constitutional Convention Favor OF Establish
ING Bureau Of Labor Statistics.

(coN,LJ pErJ
Alex. Campbell, If Illinois. and other
statesmen. who have devoted to social sub
Iects "A vast amount al careful study,
tell us that tive per cent ii the people Of
the | nted States own over sixty per cent
uf the wealth uf the country. This Is
truly hard saying, but II We examine the
matter critically, We will toe convinced the
statement Is not exaggerated. Sull We
have n1 means Of knowing positively to
IS Hat extent tins is true. All We know is
that wealth and capital are accumulatlng
ana concentrating on all sides Of us t. an
extent unprecedented in our history OF the
history Of any other people. OF this We
are personally and individually cugnizant.
Is the tendency If wealth towards consoh-
daJlou is So paipably appa-ent that IT
comes within the Immediate observation
of every one Of us But We are unable
to determine the precise ratio of increase
uf wealth iu the hands uf the few and its
inevitable cuuCumltant increase ~ property
aud misery among the many Yet the
statesman must admit that the State ne
elects It's duty ;" long As II remains Ignor-
ant of this knowledge. for no sane man
viii deny that this alarming concentration
If wealth does not mean monarchy and
despotism Wealth and power are synony-
nous terms. Bulwer Lytton makes
Richelicu say. The pen is mightier than
the sword But, SIR, gold Is mightier
than either the pen or the sword yea,
mlghticr than the combined power Of
both, and, sir, when few men own nearly
All the wealth IN country, they III reality
own the country, for they control the law
making power, and though the poor citizen
may be nomlnally free. he is IN reality the
controlled agent Of the ruling power. Re
pubhcs are not possible IN Europe, because
nearly all the wealth is owned and con-
trolled by very small percentage of the
people, and sir, when wealth reaches the
same degree IF concentration here that 1t
has IN Europe, Republic will be no
longer possible III America. A Republic
Is not possible IN any country unless prop
erty and wealth are pretty evenly dlstrlb-
uted and ditfused among the whole people.
| do not wish the convention To think that
| am opposed To the possession Of proper
ty, for am not. always believed that
the advancement Of a state IN civilization
and intelligence could be- measured by Its
advance in property and wealth, provided
however that this wealth is ditfused among
all the people, and not massed IN the hands
of the few, or massed i'll certain localities,
for ia that case it Is rather an evidence Of
barbaTIsm than civilization. | wish 1t also
understood that ! am not speaking alone
for the mechanic and laborer. | am hrmly
persuaded, SIT, that should capital and
wealth continue to concentrate III the
money centers for the next ten years as II
has in the past ten, by that time all our
small business men, small farmers and
manufacturers will be swallowed up IN q
vortex Of hopeless bankruptcy, and the
whole social and political power Of the ma
ton will be controlled by the men who
compose the money centres. Now, sir, |
believe there is a remedy for all this; | be-
lieve we can escape this impending calam-
lty if we discover that remedy and the
method of applying it. In Eastern coun-
tries the government frequently transfers
property from the private mdIXldual to
the crown in order that the citlzeifs posses
sions OF wealth may be reduced to de-
gree more compatible with the safety Of
the government. The feudal princes Of
Japan we're bound 70 appear periodically
at Ieddo with a retinue Of many thous-
ands sometimes said to amount to ten or
twenty Thousand all for the mere purpose
Of saddling the petty prince with an enor-
nous expense. Sometimes the same OBJ
ject was accomplished by the Ziogoon, who
frequently invited himself and all his
court to the abode of some feudal lord sor
the purpose of eating up portion of his
wealth. This is a sample of symptomati-
cal legislation. The Japan government
knew it was dangerous to its stability and
perpetuity to have their lords become too
wealth., and hence too powerful but in
stead of endeavorlng To ascertain by what
means they grew so powerful and applying
the remedy to the root Of the evil, the
government knew Of no method by which
the power of the lords could be curtailed
except by destroying large portion Of
their property. | need hardly say, sir,
that the Japanese method of dealing with
a superabundance of wealth in an individ-
ual, does not strike me fsvorabiy. | do
not believe in the destruction Of property
or a needless waste Of it. do not think
it possible for us to accumulate too much
wealth. My point is that it should be
more generally diffused and that the men
who produce 1t should have their fair share
of it. That this is not the case now | be-
lieye to be due to our want of correct in
formation concerning the true principles
of producing aud its Just distribution, and,
sir, the legislator who desires to see justice
done in this direction must favor the Gre
alton Of Labor Bureaus, as there are nc
other means of arriving at this knowledge.
One or two other considerations, and viii
leave the subject to the wisdom OF the
convention, and the principle one Ia. the
question Of strikes 1t Is not my purpose
to define strikes, to Justify OF unquali6edly
/ condemn them | wish merely to direct
your attention for few moments in that
direction. You are all aware that labor
strikes are common and frequent Oc'
currence. The strikes of capital may b
Just as frequent, but they do not generally
attain the publicity and notoriety of labor
strikes, though they may accomplish more
i raAl and Aarmanank ininrx 10 tha QanaHn