Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1875-05-22
\ Plea for Statesmen.
ours respectfully,
a NINE SUPERINTENDI

Mr., Editor:
There exists in this community an evil
which ought by all means to be abatcd, and
against which every humane citizen ought
to lift his voice, and lend q helping hand to
remove; because of lis destructivCncss and
inexpedency an evil of its kind that has
not its equal perhaps in any portion of the
United States, if such is to be found i'll any
portion of the world. | mean the long
hours kept by our merchants. From
o'clock in the morning until 10 or II
o'clock at night young men are confined
behind the counters and in the often I'M
pure air Of he store. one Young man told
me that he has sold goods on Saturday
night until the midnight bell warned them
that their contracts would be no longer val
ILL., or their bills collectable by law
Now this is certainly an outrage both of
humanity and morality. 1t is tyranny
worse than our old slavery. The slaves
under that system, as general thing, were
never ovcrworked in task or time. The
greatest evils of that system were that the
laborer was not paid for his work, and that
he was forbidden the right of developing
his mental faculties. This was unavoid-
ably wrong, and, no doubt, our merchants
hesitate not to condemn it, and, if mis-
take not, many of them We're abolitionists
of the highest school. Still these poor
slaves could attend their churches, sing,
pray, and get happy, any night in the
week.
But let us look the state of things in the
mercantile circle of Frostburg in the face
and see if they do net exceed The old sys-
TEN in almost every PARTICULAR q atrocity.
Do you say that you pay these men fol
their labor: l have not informed myself
fully as to the amount of salary which our
clerks receive. But care not how much
they get ! will say to all our merchants
without fear Ct successful contradiction
gentlemen, YOU do not pay them enough;
you have not stock enough in your stores,
or property enough in YOUR names, to re-
munerate these men for what you demand
of them. The requirement is simply meal
culable and invaluable.
From A. NJ. to 10 or II r, M.-what
does it mean? Why it means flesh, and
bones, and blood. 1t means health, life
yes, bodies and souls. of men. Look at it,
gentlemen, in any light you please and it is
stupcndously fearful, 1; .cosshmes the en-,
ergy and spirit of you4s men and makes
them prematurely old it dries up the
fountain of intelligence and research, and
makes them mere commercial machines;
it debascs their spiritual nature, blurs their
religious vision, and makes them feel as if
time and all eternity were crowded into
the dizzening whirl of these 16 or Il hours
of the day.
AS to the improvement of the mind,
what time or energy has young man,
after standiug on his feet from \. NJ. to
10! p. NJ, to sit down and look into Il book
of any character, scientific, moral, or re-
ligious? His stitlcned and aching lmb2, and
faded mind, are fit for nothing but to tulp
bic prone upon his pallet g. recuperatc
some little StrepGth TO meet the fNactlh9
demands Of another restless day. From
Monday mQraing until Saturday midnight,
these young men have e. chance to attend
n religious meeting, read a chapter in the
Bible or hardly ut,er II ejaculatory prayer
to their Savior. Should one of them pick
up a daily paper during lull in these
cyentful hours, you would see cloud,
much bigger than mans nand and dark
er than the backest African, lowering over
the copntenanca of the proprietor, that
will make him look carefully around before
he dare to pick it up again; Il the rules
of the stores and the usages of trade these
young men are as eiEectually declared the
use of every good book as if the proprietor9
were sworn to maintain the ,Inder Elpur
gaia of Pho Mono.
All ~ to separating families, Look at