The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1874-07-25
POLITICAL ACTION. =

Under the above caption the last issue
of the Cooper's Ne,c Monthly, contains the
following:
Politics is bread. said the President Of
the Industrial Congress. IN his address ut
Rochester; politics is the only road to social
amehoration, say many advocates of labor
reform IN their writings aId their speeches;
political action was the key note ut most If
the resolutions prepared by the managers Of
the eight hour demonstrations, held IN vari-
GUS localities on the 18th Of last May The
theory 1T the political actlonists Is that ali
evils affecting, crushing and DESTROYING the
laborer spring from detective and Iniquitous
( legislation, OF from the absence of Just,
comprehensive legislation. To remedy these
| evils all that is required is a reform OF the
awmakIng power. Tins is the theory, and
W are not gong to deny there is much truth
IN it. such Is not our present purpose Our
! object is to suggest some of the difficulties
to be overcome before such reform can be
made effective Were we to believe the glib
utterances of the political actlonist, we would
/ certainly have no fears for the future. They
tell to 20 to the polls and vote for men
Who viii legislate for us and not against us
\ This ~ easily said 1t sounds well-in fact,
there is too much sound about 1t.
\ To make the reform here outlined really
u effective, It Is necessary that wOrkIngmen
elect a majority Of the men composing the
\ state and national legislatures To effect this
/ II Is necessary that the workingmen's party
/ he the dominant party. In other words, we
want about four million electors to vote the
workmgmens ticket This is what we want
\ Now let us get down to realities At the
/ very highest estimate there is not over three
\ hundred Thousand organized laborers in the
/ United states, and admitting that all these
men would vote We desired, it will lie
seen that We have not more than one thirtieth
| Of the number of votes necessary for our pur-
pose. We need about three and halt mil
/ hon more votes than We here count upon.
| But 1t should not be forgotten that many of
the men who compose trade unions are not
voters, and among these who votere there
| Is WIDE diversity OF opinion to what
kind Of legislation is really needed Ii we
reflect upon these things seriously for a single
moment, We cannot do otherwise than admit
that the sangulne assertions of the political
actionlst are hollow. yacuOus Outporings
Political action ON the part Of workingmen
/ Is of the future, and not of the present 1t is
a question that should not be sprung at this
Y time. Its suggestion at this time is not only
premature, but mischieyUus and pernicious
Y The great want of the hour is organization
and unity among wOrkIngmen, and everything
\ that tends to create dlssensIons IN the ranks
Of labor Is a positive INJURY aud works a re
I tardation Of the laborers social elevation
] Norkingmen at present divided On politi-
cal issues. Their political preJudIces are
/ deeply rooted To induce them To ignore
party affiliations and predictions is not the
work OF day OF of year The leading
workingmen of England preached organiza-
ton for a century before they limited at po-
/ htlcal action. But men who assume the
| leadership Of the labor movement in America
urge vehemently and wildly a resort to DO
\ htlcal action IN the infancy Of the movement
and before ten PER- ceat. of the really necessary
nGmber of workIngnen organized If
those men would say untcatlOn ard organi-
zation every time they say political action,
they would be doing the cause OF labor
positive benefit, and at the same time pave
the way to condition Of things, concate-
nation of fortultous circumstances, which
would make political action possible
In tins connection We might perhaps say
/ there Is distinction between local and gen
/ eral political action. Ii workmgmen can
elect iona nj, representation to the leylsla-
ture, it is no doubt advisable for them t. do
SO. But if they DO 50 they should not expect
| too much One man cannot Out-vute a hun
dIed. Some minor advantages may he Sc
cured and good may finally result from the
| agitation Of labor questions But to secure
the full fruItIon Of political action the ideas
views and opinions Of the better phase of the
labor movement must control and direct the
State and National Governments and the
man who believes such thing possible is a
visionary enthusiast If he does not believe
it possible, but nevertheless breaches it, he il
a dishonest refonner in either case danger
Gus man to follow. This continued harping
| upon the political string Of the labor question
has gwen the enemies of the movement a
| COOK opportunity OF saying it IL controlled by
a class Of demagogues and aspiring politicians,
and We are sorry to say that in too many IN
stances the charge is not wholly unfounded
We hope in future to hear less Of political &C
tion and more Of Hnitive and combinative &C
ton. All the necessary conditions. cIrcum-
stances and contingencies, without which pa
htlcal action Is not possible, are Vet alto
gether wanting. When they are secured and
the way prepared, political action will follow
as an eyitable sequence. But all agitation OF
the subject can have no other effect Just now
than to put off and retard the contamination
OF that which the agitators- apparently, at
least so much desire
We have printed the article in full, be-
cause we have no desire 10 misrepresent
the views Of Mr.. Foran, which, in this in
stance, in our judgment, are untenable and
altogether unworthy Of the man. Its
pleadings are specious, superficial and one
sided. Temporary expediency is kept in
the foreground, while principle and ulti-
mate results are studiOusly ignored. Po-
t'tscdt action O', the part Of ,oorkingme'. Is of
the present, not Of the future To-day is
the day of grace procrastination is the
thief Of time. If his counsels prevail,
the painted future will neUeT come The
reference to the position taken by the
workingmen of England is infelicitous in
the extreme. Organization there meant
political action, and it meant nothing else
In fact, the terms were regarded as synOny-
nous. What, we should like to know,
was the meaning of the Chartist movement
and while it is true that Trades Unions, a.
such, were not allowed to discuss the poll
tics of the day, when in session, it is .
well-known fact that their members com
demonstrations, which forced the British
Government to . virtual recognition of
their rights; and this too by men who had
then no voice OF vote in selecting OF elect
ing their Lawmakers. Did policy OF the
prospect Of immediate success control their
actions Not at all. The fact that they
had no vote and that public opinion was
Overwhelmingly opposed to giving them
vote, but nerved them TO stronger exertions