The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1877-06-16
FIRST PRIZE ESSAY
L II AID ES UNIONS
For which fifty pounds 0he gif, OF Mr. Macdonald, "
we're awarded at the Liverpool Trades Union
Congress, January, 1875.

The working men, having once tasted
the sweets of a prosperous condition, d.
not like to return to their old ways OF
poverty and squalor. They are always
found, therefore, struggling to maintain
their wages at the maximum point they
have ever reached. The reluctance which is
now being shown to submit to a necessary
reduction is evidence in proof Of this.
Now, 1t has been shown by Ricardo, Mill.
and others that the minimum rate Of wages
is found amongst men in that condition.
below which they do not choose to live. Ii
these men can be improved III their condI-
ton, and when that Improvement is Of a
signal character, and A generation grows
up which has always been used to an i'm
proved scale of comfort, the habits Of this
new generation, III respect to population,
become formed upon higher minimum.
and the improvement in their condition
becomes permanent" Here there is an
object worth striving fora permanent
raising of wages-at any rate 80 permanent
that 1t will not fail for one generation y
truly contamination devoutlY to be wish
ed. and one which may be reached, :
only without injury to the capitalist, but
to his material prosperity and advantage.
On the other hand, permanent fall in
wages means deterioration in the "mini-
mum" condition. When men begin to
fall, they descend more rapidly than they
rise, and in a few weeks will forget the
comforts they enjoyed for few months.
There can be no doubt that it was this
keeping down" in years gone by which
permanently injured the condition Of the
Agricultural laborers, from which injury
they are only now recovering. There can
be no higher mission for Trades Unions
than that of raising the condition Of the
working men Of this country to such an
extent and for such length of time that
the point reached becomes the accepted
minimum, and that any change at all must
be of further upward tendency.
The labOrers, however, must not expect
to derive all the advantages Of high wages
at once. They must remember that if en-
HANGED wages cause the price Of the com
modify produced to be enhanced, the price
is raised to them as well as to Others. Ii
the demands Of the cotton operatives raise
the price of shirts, the cotton operatives
must pay more for their shirts lust the
same as must other people. There is. how.
ever, this to be considered, that men pro
duce faster than they consume. Each man
produces more than is necessary for his
own support. When man has made 4
plough he can make another before thai
one is worn out. The more that are made
the more there will be wanted until AL
are supplied, which for practical purpose,
may at present be considered very remOts
future. The supply creates the demand
Stockings were not inquired for (becAns.
they we're not wanted) until they were in.
vented and If tomorrow we had doubl,
the quantity we have to-day, it might b,
possible to sell them at half the present
price without reducing wages at all ItH
quite possible that wages may be enhanced
prices diminished, and profits increased
at one and the same time, as those familIa
with the use Of ewly-invented machiner,
are well aware. This explains a paradox
ical appearance at the present day, viz
that all over the world there is a tendency
of wages to rise, and at the same time |
universal tendency Of all meterials I,
cheaper. Unionism helps both these ten
denotes, and is thus double blessing. 4
is probable, though not certain, that profit
will be called upon to make the prlncipa
sacrifice in the future. At any rate this i
to lie hoped. Hitherto the consu meI hai
been-to use a vulgar but expressive wor,
-feece1, and it is time that the incidenc,
Of injustice be either shifted or annlhIla
ted.
Although, however, a rise in the prIc,
of labor all round taxes, so to speak, tn,
laborers themselves, yet it does not ta,
them to the full extent of the advance
There is a race Of beings called ''non-pro
ducers" "a class sometimes innocent
generally useless, often noxious." Now
rise in wages all round means that some d
the luxuries OF the non-prOductipg clas,
are being metamorphosed into extra com
forts or luxries for the producing class
This Is pl-e gain to the producer, in al
dition to other gains which result from the
improvement of his position. The only
way by which the non-laboring class set
ting to work and producing something
They would then share in the advantage
of the increased prosperity, instead Of, a
now, sacrificing portion of their means
which portion is divided amongst the pro
ducers. So long, however, as, like tn
lilies Ct the field, they neither toll no
spin, they cannot complain that they con
tribute towards the cost Of those who work
1t must not be thought, however, ths
well paid labor il unremunarative TO tn
capitalist. The contrary is the fact. In
deed, that style of labor for which no wage
lin tbs ordinary sense-are raid, is th
least remunerative Of any. Slaves wi