New-York tribune., 1877-05-18

THE INTEREST or TIE WORKINGMEN
Mir Husted ought to be ashamed OF his
speech to the Assembly galleries, because he
knows better. We have been accustomed for
many years TO speeches by politicians OF the
Citv Hal variety on the rights and interests
of the woIkjugman, and are hardly surprised
now by any exhibition of folly and dcmagog-
ism from that quarter. Pot-hOuse statesmen,
like Purroy for instance, who holds that the
public ought 10 pay iii aldcrman's campaign
expenses, have been 80 long in the habit of in
sisiiHg that the city owes every wOrkingman Il
living that they have perhaps come To believe
Il great deal Of their own nonsense and they
rattle off pc.tilcnt notions with as much
assurance as if their crudities were
revealed and undiSpUtcd truths. The work
"ingmaa," in tie political philosophy of this
class of speakers, is q sacred being who has
rights superior to those of every other indi-
yidnal and OF the community collectively.
Every man VINO gets his living, or tries to get
it, by manual labor Of any kind, is entitled to
a consideration not accorded to those who get
their living by trade, or by the labor OF their
brains lie must be fed at the public cost,
while ire clcrl, or the shOpkccpCr, who X per
haps a better citizen and a more yiltuOus man,
NAV 20 ragged aod hungry. His fortunes are
to be relieved (by statute) from the Influence
of the general laws Of supply and de
mand. When wages fall, in sympathy
with general decline of prices, the
Government is bound to step in and
put his wages up again. When work is slack,
because embarrassed capitalists cannot pay for
il, on the stagnation Of commerce prevents the
profitable use OF its products, the State must
find work and assess the cost upon the rest of
the public. There may be suffering in all
walks of life. Thousands Of educated men may
be starving, merchants losing the accumula-
tions Of years of industry landowners in dis
tess because they cannot collect rents, yet
must pay taxes. All these unfortunate people
must look out for themselves; only the "wOrk
"ingman," heaven knows why must be main
tanned in comfort at the expense of those who
are Themselves in distress.
This i, the idea of the political dcmagogue,
and it lies at the bottom of the harangucs
made both by Democrats and Republicans at
Albany to the masOns StOnecutters, and 9TH
cls who wish to work on the new Capitol.
We are not surprised to hear such speeches
from some of the distinguished statesmen in
the Legislature, but Mr.. Hustled, as we have
said knows better He is perfectly well aware
the nottingham has and can have no inter-
ests in opposition to those of the taxpayers
The nottingham is now one Of The chief suf-
fc.cIs from the public extravaganza which
GOV. Robinson tries 10 check. When the
treasury is pillagcd to build absurd captOls
aud court-hodscs and to pay wild prices for
unnecessary work, it is upon the iaboring
classes that the scvcrcst effects of such NAL
administration ultimately fall. They are
the chief sufferers when taxes are
oppressive. No burden can be laid
uIon the public which they Will not have to
bear. The la1oIing classes feel to-day not
merely thp ordinary trials Of season OF gen
oial dcprcs ,ion, but in addition 10 that an ex-
tIaoriinaTy sttinScHcy which results from the
reckless cXtrvagdHce Of the Tweed King
Because Of The IuinOu5 waste OF the public
money during the rule OF the municipal rob
bcrs. IT is now with the utmost difficulty that
New-York can carry on even necessary public
works, while the increasing pressure of tax
alton ObstIucts private enterprise aud drives
captal to other States Yet Tweed and his
accomplices pretended to be the friends of the
workingmcn because they distributed the taxes
among u few hundreds Of them for two or
three years, and left thousands to suffer in
idlcness for several subsequent years in con-
sequence.
If Mr.. Hustled would approve himself the
laboTcrs true friend, let Him tell the poor