The Morning herald., 1877-08-14
ruru,EE SHORE OF LABOR.

State ticket was uOuiH''eu GA"
adopted, setting forth the principles dill"
purposes of the Workingmen's party
The platform adopted is very crazy one
The following are some OF Its planks,
eight hours as normal working oay anu
legal punishment to all violators;;" "pr'h!-
bit,on Of the use of prison labor by pil'
vate enterprise" "abolition Of all consfl
racy laws" "labor statistics in all the
States as we'll as by the national govern
ment, the officers of the bureaus to De
taken from the ranks Of the Labor orsan'-
cations and elected by them;' "the repeal
of the patent and all ether laws or charters
giving special privileges to individuals or
companies :" ',he repeal of all tariff and
other acts which provide for the collection
of the public revenue by indirect methods
ands the substitution therefor, sys-
tenn of direct taxation graduated in pro-
portion to, the amount OF property or in
come to be taxed" railroads, telegraphs,
and all means Of transportation to be con-
trolled by the government "All indus
trial enterprises to be placed under the
control of the government as fast as prac-
ticable, and operated by free cooperative
unions for the good of the whole people"
The 'absurdity Of most of these PROPOSE
tions is too apparent to require pointing
out, but they serve to show how mprac.
liable, visionary, and foolish are the
dreams and plans of the Ohio workingmen'
Indeed, this platform is but fair repre-
s4ntation of the views and visions of the
workingmen's organizations everywhere.
They are all wild and impracticable, and
there is no possible hope that their leading
PRINCIPLES and ideas will ever be embodied
in the laws of any State.
Extravaganza, and absurdity crops out in
many Of their propositions. 1t forces one
to almost despair, of the ameloration Of
the condition Of the workingman by opera,
tion of public opinion when one reads Of
the tyranny Threatened in the Cincinnati
platform. The proposition to deprive the
inventor of the fruit of life's labor, by
denying him patent, strikes at the roo
of further improvement in the W. rid o
mechanics--and blocks in that direction th'
car of progress The abolition Of the con
spiracy hws would throw down th'
barriers which protect society against or
ganized dishonesty. Their sweeping de
nunciation of all corporations, is insane a
without corporate management it woul(
be impossible to direct the great industries
and commercial exchanges Of the Republic
The most pernicious proposition of all
is the one to place all the railroad ant
telegraph companies under the control c
the United States Government. Th
Federal government is bad enough nov
God knows ;but with this added power an
patronage, it would become the most g
gantic compound of corruption, and mo
nOpOly the world ever witnessed
Itis by such movements as these i
Cincinnati, that workingmen in ure the
cause and drive away moderate men, vii
desire to act fairly between capital an
labor, from advocacy of the equitab
aims of the latter. A workmgman
ticket an injection of extreme viev
into politics, is not the road to susceS
Society could not exist day, harnessed |
to the committees platiorm-and Il
vast majority of men, will stand by soci
ty as they know it, and not experime
with code of laws such as tie Ohio wo1
ingmen want enacted. We venture to "a
that the fellows who wrotethe platform a
not working men, but live by their wi
Their candidates prove that the moveme
is headed by disappointed men. The tr
way to ameliorate the condition of the
borer, is to obtain such legislation as W
stop the republic from bleeding to deaf
by crushing taxation. To conserve
financial force, by canceliing the Natiol
Bank notes, and issuing gre enbacks in tn
sead--tAus saving at both ends inter,
and the incredible profit arising fr
loss, and destruction of paper curren
As protective tariff has failed to &
us we'll paid guilds OF tradesmen, away W
it-and let farmers and Iaborers profit
free trade. Abuses and wrongs inhic
upon labor must be made public:-let
hard facts be trumpted throughout
land, to create and foster public opinior
that regard.
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