The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1874-07-11

iron age Of progress unfit TO be trusted
with the exercise of corporate rights Ii
80, let it be 30 declared by our refusal to
pass this bill.
There ought TO be no controversy be-
tween capital and labor, nor need there be
If there was q proper understanding be-
tween the laborer and his employer The
great cause of difficulty in this respect is
the failure of a majority of those who em-
plOy labor to recognize the intellectual
capacity and needs Of tho wOrkingmen as
distinguished from the mere physical force
which he brings to bear in the production
of the various articles Of skill which com
bine to make our commerce.
They seem in many instances to recog-
nlze the mechanic only q machine out of
which it is the true poliCy of trade to get
As much force and productive capacity with
as little expense as possible. They
seem to forget that their best interests
may be subserved by appealing to the man
hood of the workingmen, exciting their
ambition to excel, and rewardlng their
efforts in that direction.
Ii there could be a better feeling OF mu-
tual interest established between the me
chanic and his employer, this question of
labor and capital would, in my opinion,
cease to be q complication. If the capi-
talist would consult more freel with those
he employs As to their needs with a view Of
anehoratlns heir condition, when 1t could
be done without serious detriment to his
business, he wonld find that their demands
would not be extravagant or unreasonable,
and he would obtain as a free gift that
which he fails to get by exciting their hos
| tlllty, and receive their friendship person
ally and their interests as a class i'll his
affairs and for his success. | am speaking
now Of the real working men Of the coun-
try, and leaving out those pestiferous busy
bodies and demagogues who assume to
represent the interests and advocate the
wants Of the workIngmen, but who are re-
pudiated by them.
The real mechanics of our country are an
intelligent, educated and worthy class Of
men, and who are, from the nature of their
training and habits Of thought, honest.
Unaecustomed to the practice Of diplomacy
or duplIcity, they state their wants in
manly, straightforward way, and expect to
be met and answeared in the same spirit.
Although this is a measure Of vital interest
to them, they have no lobby delegates EN-
ployed te urge members to favor 1t or press
It's adoption.
There has been one result Of the trades
unions, especially in the class OF mechanics
whose case we are now considering, which
| has been of the greatest advantage to the
country at large /; | mean the elevation in
all that pertains 10 true manhood and good
citizenship of the molder, And what is
true of one class of laborers III respect to
these organizations is true Of all.
Nearly every trade has found it neces-
sary to organize societies for mutual pro-
lection and benefit, and they have been not
only beneficial to the wOrkngmen, but In
themselves have, worked no injury to the in
terests Of trade. At last the agriculturists
have awakened to the necessity Of organi
zation. Oranges have sprung up all over
the country. The necessity tor these or
ganizations has been caused, in a great
measure, by unjust legislation. The
wealthler classes have had the best chances
in our Legislative halls, and the people are
restive under the burdens which they feel
being imposed upon them.
The property Of the holders Of bonds
have been steadily, carefully and jealously
guarded, until it has increased to double
its original cost to them. This class of our
citizens toll not, neither do they spin,
and yet they live off the best the country
can produce and are clothed in luxury and
ease their property and Incomes are held
too sacred in the eyes Of the government
to be taxed, while the laborer, the me
chanic and farmer toll through the labor
ing hours to furnish the means of this lux
urIous support. The time will come, and
that shortly, too, when the farmers and
mechanics of this country will assert their
rights as a mass, having interests too vital
to pay tribute tn the eastern bondholders,
monopOlists, or other moneyed powers. In
q republic the burdens of the government
ought to rest equally upon all but instead
| of this our laws place the heaviest weight
upon those least able to bear them. These
eastern capitalists, these aristocratic bond
holders, who set in their brokers offices
and control the financial interests of the
nation, yes, even the Executive, are the
ones who oppose anything in the shape Of
favorable Legislation for the workingmen
of the country, and who sneer at the de-
mands of the West and South, but who
have only to ask for whatever the country
can supply and Congress or the Executive
power Immediately scceeds to their de-
mands This has been the policy Of the
party in power for the last ten years. We
all remember how a short time since, in
these halls, when the West and the South
were asking for an increase Of the currency,
argument and irony, wit and sarcasm were
brought to bear against 1t by these mon
eyed kings resolutions, letters, printed
articles, pamphlets, books, statistics, and
the like, were showered in upon us until,
like cloud of locusts, they obscured the
| sun. And vet, when we consider the in
consistency, | might rather say the unmiti-
gated selhshness of their conduct, 1t gives
rise to a natural feeling Of resistance.
When the panic was threatening these
money centers with ruin how soon they
came and demanded an imitation of
the currency, and got it. too, to the extent
Of $26, ,O0O, 900, issued in favor Of these men
in violation Of law.
This inequality of taxation, legislation
and distribution of Executive favor is
wrong, and until the equilibrium is restored
| this contest between capital and labor will
go ON, and may reach q serious result unless
1t il remedied. We talk about the people
in terms Of glowing eulogy, and then vote
their money away in schemes of specula-
tion. 1t is time that this kind of law
making was changed, and we make some
laws for the benefit of the workingmen, and
zee to it that they sre executed.
Previous TO 1857, when the first molders'
union was attempted, they, as q class, we're
disorgahized body Of laborers who were
compelled 70 dispose Of their labor and
skill for the price which the circumstances
Of the locality in which they lived per-
mitted them to command, and in no part
of the country could they obtain more than
living wages, and scarcely that for en-
ployers, in places where LABOR was plenty,
could command it at their own price and
40 into the market and undersell those
who who were willing to pay an adequate
price for wages. Since the organization Of
these unions this is all changed, knowing
that he il able to protect himself from the