Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1878-08-22
Who Are the Workiugmen.

From the appeals recently made from
the stump and rostrum, for the working.
men OF Massachusetts to put none but
worktngmen in office the present year. a
stranger might be led to the conclusion
that there existed here q strife among
classes, in which the drones Of society had
secured the upperhand, greatly to the det-
rlment of the horny handed sous of toll"
Ii has always been the pride of New Eng
land people that they spr ang from hard
working stock. who never desyised labor,
nor regarded any employment as dishonor-
able which did not involve the obligations
10 lie and steal. As a consequence Of this
state OF opinion and feeling, we have never
had privileged class among us, and we
have none now. Our admirable free school
system opens wide the gates OF knowledge
10 all and the prizes of ambition are also
open to the competition OF the humblest
child In the community, as well as to the
one born to great inheritance. The re-
suit has been, that those who make and
those who administer the laws, as well as
those who direct the vast and varied en-
terpiises which have made Massachusetts
prosperous and thriving commonwealth.
are worklngmen; and. in the very nature
OF our political system, their ranks must
always be reinforced in the future, as they
have been in the past, from the ranks of
labor. There has been a great deal of in
ane twaddle of late about putting the affairs
of the State into the hands OF the working
men. as II that was something new. Why,
Massachusetts has always been in their
hands from the adoption of her Constitu-
ton in lISO until the present time, for here
everybody works; every voter has an
equal voice In the management OF public
affairs with every other. aud the laws as
they exist to-day upon the statute book are
but the reflex of the popular will of pop
ulat'on of working people, more industri-
Gus and frugal than can elsewhere be
found How idle. then, is all this talk of
capturing the State to ameiorate the
condition of the workingmen," and of
bringing workIngmen TO the front who
would drive capital down" The theory
OF these meu seems TO be that every WORK.
tngman who, after years of hard labor,
lays up part OF his earnings, invests them
so that the surplus brings him some inter-
est and, finally, becomes the owner Of
property, houses. land, factories aud work
shops, becomes then, in the elegant Ian
guagc OF the California Communist.
lecherous thief. a blood-sncking vampire"
not ut to be trusted with political power:
and that those who have never earned any
thing beyond bare living (and if not that
all the better, by their rule OF estimating
manhood or who have s1uandered their
earnings la the qualification of their lower
propensities are only d. to govern. Now.
who are the men that it is proposed to os-
trIclze by this blasphemous foreigner, who
only opens his mouth to drop curses? Ev-
cry body knows that theyare the best men
in the state, who. by hard toll. economy
aud enterprise, have become real cap
tains OF industry" and set in motion all
those varied industrial pursuits which have
made Massachusetts and the country what
they are. In all our cities, towns and vii
lagos, these men are to be found who |
starting in life with no other capital than
strong limbs and sn honest purpose, have
achieved success over the obstacles which
poverty placed in the way OF their advance
meut. We need not 90 Into details Every
reader OF the Herald can call to mind, in !
hIs own locality. more or less representa-.
tive men OF the class We have In mind; who |
have made their way In the world by dill |
gent aud Intelligent labor, so as TO sur !
round thcmS elves with all the comforts OF |
life and minister to the comfort and hsppi- |
ness OF scores, hundreds, and In many |
cases thousands of others BY their huowl- |
edge OF some hanicran, and their skill !
aud good judgment in organizing the labor |
and skill ot others, which was waiting to |
be employed. Those men who are now so |
bitterly denounced have been, and are, the !
very pillars Of the State. They have. as |
their means have accumulated enlarged !
their facilities for production, increased |
the number Of their workmeu, Sough: new
markets for their manufactures, encour-
aged the demand for all the products of |
our mines and farms, and given such an |
impetus to the natural desires Of the peo-
pie TO own their own homes, that the like !
has never been seen In any country but |
ours. To say that such men, and the
thrifty and economical worhingmen whom
they employ, whose savings are repre-.
seuted by pleasant homesteads, dotting all |
the hills and valleys OF the State, and. by |
hundreds Of millions in the savings banks,
are unit to govern-to control their own
affairs IN the future as they have done 10
the past-and must yield tie power to
hands which have no other merit bat being
horny" and without any reference to
brains, seems so much like Offering pre-
MUM TO ignorance. idlcness and uuthrift,
that we hardly expect the real working
men OF the State, OF either party, will be
overzealous TO Join In the new crusade
againSt their truest interests and best es
tablished convictions. Boston Herald.