The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1875-05-20


his own would destroy all desire TO ac-
quire and accumulate property ana rap
idly diminish capital,
sLowNgss WITH WHICH CAPITAL AccuNu-
LATEs.
The slowness with which capital IN
creases even under the most favorable
circumstances was illustrated by figures
drawn from American experience, The
wealth of the United States in 1870 was
estimated at $4,000, 100000, This"
said Mr.. Wells, represents, first, Il value
of $500 to each individual; second the
surplus result of all the labor, skill ana
thought exerted, and all the capital
earned and saved or brought into me
country since it became practical ~ lhe
home Of civilized men, with capital M
creasing thus slowly, we should be care
ful lest by impairing its security we also
impair lis rate of increase, Though the
idea of direct interference with the rights
of property meets with little sympathy
on this sid Of the Atlantic, many OF me
most intelligent people interested In The
cause of labor reform, reasoning from the
large nominal aggregate OF the national
wealth and the large advance recently
made in the power Of production, nave
adopted the idea that the amount OF the
present annual product of labor and capll-
tai is enough for all, and that all that is
necessary to secure to the masses COM
fort and abundance is for the State to IN
tervene, either by fixing the hours OF ll-
Dor or the rates Of compensation Tor ser
vice, or the use of the capital, and so
compel its more equitable Distribution
Admitting the desirability OF more
equal division, it will be well to inquire
What we have really got to divide.
VALUE OF OUR ANNUAL PRODUCT AND WHAT
BECOMES or 1T.
The maximum value of our annual
product does not exceed $1,000 OOOOOO,
ofwhich the product of our agriculture is
returned by the last census with undouOt'
ed approXimative accuracy at less than
one.half that sum, or 81, 400, O,OOO,OOO,
Fully nine teuths Of this product, proba-
blv a larger proportion, must be lmmedl-
ately consumed that we may live and
make roud the loss and waste OF capital
previously accumulated, leaving not more
than ome-lenth to be applied in the form
of accumulation for elleCting a future IN
creased production and development,
Stated in different but not less striking
form after $50 years oftoling and saving
we have only managed as Il nation 10 get
about three and half years ahead III the
way of subsistence. If now as Il whole
people we should stop working, pro-
ducing and repairing, and devote our,
selves exclusively to amusement and
idleness, four years would be more than
sufficient to starve three-tourths OF us
out of existence, and reduce the remain
ing one-f fourth to the condition of semi
burbarism; result it is well to think OF
in connection with the PRONUNCIATION OF
certain new theories that the best way OF
increasing abundance and promoting
comfort is to decrease the aggregate and
opportunities of production. Few things
are more transitory and perishable than
capital. AS embodied in the ordinary
forms we see about us, its duration is not
on an average in excess of the life OF a
generation. OF all the material wealth
of the great and rich nations of antiquity
nothing whatever has come down to us
except, singularly enough, those things
which, like their tombs and public monu-
ments, could never have been possessed
OF Il money valuation.
WHAT Is EACH MANS AVERAGE SHARE OF
OUR ANNUAL PRODUCTS?
IT. again, we suppose our annual pro-
duet equally divided among our present
population, the average income of each
individual would be $40 per annum
II this estimate be considered small, 1t
should be remembered that it is based on
an estimate Of national product greater
both in the aggregate and in proportion
to numbers than is enjoyed by any other
nation our compeer in civilization, and
that this sum, Sl75, is not the sum which
all actually receive as income, but the
average each would receive were the
whole annual product divided equally.
We know it is not divided equally, and
never WILDE, while men are born with
different natural capacities. The aver
age annual earnings of laborers and un-
skilled workmen for the whole country
is not in excess of S400, which, placing
the family of each at four-twO adults
and two chiIdren-the census of 1870
calls it fve-gives 500 as the average
that each member of that class produces;
to which, too, each suca individual must
be restricted in consumption. Clearly,
then, the time has not yet come when
society here can command such a degree
of absolute abundance as will justify any
class or individual, especially those who
depend on each days labor to supply its
wants, in doing aught that tends to di-
minish abundance. Let the working
man, therefore, strive for the largest pos
sible share Of the joint products oflabor
and capital, as it is his natural right to
do, but if in so doing he restricts produc-
ton and diminishes abundance, he Hoes
it at his peril Street professions will
never change the conditions of prOduc-
ton and compensation. ldleness pro-
duces nothing but weeds and rust-pro-
ducts not marketable anywhere, though
society often pays for them most dearly.
DISCUSSION OF REMEDIES.
Wherein, then, lies the remedy, iftEere
is any? The first step towards etiecting
solution Of the problem is to endeavor
to clearly comprehend its conditions.
The causes which tend to diminish
abundance and restrict the rewards Of
labor are not the same in the Old World
as in the New, and the agencies adopted
for relief in the one case are not likely
to prove remedial in the other. The Old
World is overcrowded, and its natural
resources have long ago been fully ap-
propriated. The buyer of labor in Eu-
rope is all-powerful in fixing its price
and controlling it to his advantage. The
only remedy for this is emigration. Here,
on the other hand, we have no excess of
population, but an almost unlimited sup
ply ofcheap and fertile land, such va
riety ofsoil and climate that deficiency
in the food supply is impossible; almost
a monopoly Of cotton; more coal than
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