The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1875-08-19
Written for the Philadelphia Sunday Mercury
LABOR.
BY CECILIA.

( ENJOY; yet not permitted to control the
government
From the day when it was declared that
man should live by the sweat of his brow
that the earth should no longer yield her
| products spOntaneously-dow to the pres
ent period, the workingmen have labored
and toiled III order to supply necessaries
and comforts of life. When our first parent
was placed in the garden of Eden it was
required of him "to keep it'-thus giving
to all generations the example of industry
and labor. The importance of this subject
cannot be overestimated. 1t is by labor
alone we are rendered comfortable, and
from it all wealth is derived. 1t would be
useless to attempt to prove the correctness
OF this proposition as many (to suit their
own purposes) would deny the truth by
saying that, for the want of capital, many
do not enjoy either the productions of their
| own labor or any equivalent for the same
To a certain extent this may be true but.
on the other hand, who has built our cities,
cut down our unbroken forests, cultivated
our fields, constructed our railroads. enrich
ed our Golfers, and made us prosperous
and happy country? The workingmen,
by their labor, have converted our coun-
| try-once an unbrokcn wilderness-into
fruitful pains have filled it with internal
improvements, and made it the fairest land
under the sun, whose rapid growth and un-
equaled prosperity has scaled forth the won
der and admiration of all the European
powers.
| No one who understands and compre-
| hends the real source of all our wealth and
prosperity would take any measures calcu-
lated to degrade or impovcrish such class
of men,
! In view of these facts, and others which
might be urged, it is the duty Of every one
to protect the interests of all workingmen
Not by class legislation, nor by laws Great
ing monopolies, but all should alike be
encouraged and receive the same protec-
ton from the gocernmen. No one man
sacrificed to sustain another.
Our form of government no doubt is un-
equaled, but, like an individual, has its
faults, and that is, not providing for the
working class against all financial difficult
ties, instead of which thousands of men,
women and children are thrown out of
employment to-day, without the means to
buy loaf of bread yet let one of these
men-even woman-be tempted to steal
to provide for their lite ones-for let me
assure you, the children of the poor are as
| dear to them as the rich man 's-thcy are
thrown into prison, made amenable to the
law, when the government is to blame for
not proriding against such distress, instead
of making inmates to fill the cells of our
prisons. These remarks need no comment ;
into fearful breakers, and unless there is
change for the better, it will not be long
until we will witness scenes of sorrow, woe
and distress which no pen can portray.
The present heavy rates of taxation will
hasten this trouble, and at the same time
prove advantageous to capitalists. The
great burden of taxes falls on the laborer,
either directly or indirectly, who is in no
condition to spare it out of his hard earned
wages. Property holders do not feel the
effect of this, because they increase their
rents in proportion, and thus compel the
laborer to refund it. Neither does the
merchant suffer, who can place the amount
expended as revenue upon the goods, and
force the consumer to repay it. All this
tends to increase the wealth of capitalists,
and impoverish ,corkingmen. There is no
other alternative but starvation, or to labor
for mere pittancc. 1t is evident we arc
all slumbcring over volcano, whose erup-
tion may at any moment burst forth and
spread desolation throughout the land
The people are becoming more and moro
excited, and may, through want and priva
ton, lead from one excess to another, until
our country is again thrown into trouble
of the most distressing kind.
This evil, which seems greater than men
can bear, dragging them down to the lowest
depths of despair, next to which is crime
when reason becomes dethroned, is not con
. fined to men alone. But ,con,en-hov
then can they live through such tryine
times? Why, by being compelled to worl
from morning until night for mere
pittance. in order to earn sufficient wages
from their hard task master to keep sou
and body together. Ours is not the onl,,
city full of women, laboring toiling an,
suffering for the benefit of those who ar
i'm condition to command their services
Visit some of the large manufactuln;
establishments, and see the number o
women bowed over their work, young girl
in the first bloom of womanhood, who's
countenances speak of their early sorrows
middle-aged women, mothers, perhaps, tot
ing for helpless family, whose sad face
too plainly speak of the cares and anxietie
they endure. Yet the profits of thes
a establishments are immense. The heav
taxes the government requires forces theI
to run up their prices on the articles
proportion, making this revenue an excus
), for cutting down the wages of those poe
n miserable women who perform the labo
g while the principals accumulate wealtl
From one of these establishments some tw
or three hundred women We're thrown OF
of employment recently another sl
81 ;,e+ooca In one of the IeO1rtdfenkS