The New York herald., 1877-07-24
Som. ThougMt. for Honest Labor.

public indignation against them.
Some Thoughts for Honest Labor.
The strong arm of the government may be
relied upon in this country to put stop to
any attempt to overthrow law and order and
establish anarchy in their place if the issue
should ever be really forced upon us. But
the strong heads and honest hearts OF an In
telligent people form power which may be
just as safely relied upon to avert such
contest. We are not nation that has been
struggling for years between absolutism and
communism, where class is arrayed against
class, and where the sense of wrongs rank
ling for centuries in the breasts of the Ia
boring population breaks out at last and
makes the horrors Of the old French Revolu-
tion possible. Our government is govern
ment of the people, and not Of favored
section of the people. The honest working
man who relies upon his hands Tor his daily
living is just as much interested as
the millionaire in the preservation Of
the public peace He helps to make the
laws which protect his civil rights and the
rights and lives Of all who are dear to him.
Anarchy would be just as dangerous to him
as to the possessor OF millions. We are in
fact, nation of workingmen, only differing
in the description of our labor and in the
remuneration we receive, and the laws under
which we live are framed for such condition
of society. If we sweep away those laws and
substitute license in their place we deprive
a laboring population Of their protection
and give ourselves up to the worst tyranny
in the world the tyranny of mob.
An unusual depression of trade for the
last four or five years has made us all suffer.
Its most deplorable consequence has been
the forced idleness it has entailed on honest
labor. Capital has been timid to invest;
hence manufactures have ceased or con-
tracted their work; building and improve
ments generally have stopped, and in every
line of business retrenchment has been en-
forced. Thousands have been thrown out
more fortunate, have been compelled to SUBJ
nit to reduced wages or lessened profits. AS
partial compensation the cost of the neces-
saries of life has been materially reduced,
so that it really is possible to subsist and
clothe family now for much less than was
required three or four years ago.
Everybody has been recently looking for
speedy revival Of trade and better
times, and not without reasonable justifca-
ton. Our currency is getting into a healthy
condition, our exports are largely increas-
ing, and there is fair probability of an
active movement in produce this autumn.
Under these circumstances we insist that a
general strike on the part of labor, and
especially any marked demonstrations Of
lawlessness and violence, are the very
worst things that could happen for the
honest laboring classes at this time. Our
hope of returning prosperity and of the full
employment of labor is mainly based on
the expectation of restored confidence on
the part of capital. How can tn be looked
for if the laws are set at defiance anu capital
finds itself at the mercy of q mob?
Every honest laboring man in New York
and elsewhere, whether employed or unem-
ployed, should set his face strongly against
riotous demonstrations and aid in enforcing
respect for law and the preservation of the
the present bad men strive to work on the
passions and sympathies of the laboring
classes for the purpose Of creating riot SO
that they may profit by it. They live by dis
honest practices and not by honest labor,
and while workingmen are induced to be-
lieve that they are striking for their own
rights they are, in fact affording thieves the
fV,l
ers Of the country should bear these facts in
mind. Any one who advises them to put
themselves outside the pale of the law is
their enemy and not their friend. Their
hope for the future is in restored confidence
and reviving activity and these must neces-
sarily be postponed by lawlessness and vio-
lence on the part of the working classes.