Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1878-08-17
WEE. nEwrrr,s comnIrTEE.

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glance. Mr.. Hewitt, towards the
close of the session, moved the APP
pointment of committee to invest
igate the condition of the working
classes, the causes OF their present
discontents, and their views and
wishes as regards the remedial leg
isIation demanded. Whether any
party motives entered into the APP
pointment of this committee is
question which may be disregarded,
since, whatever the motives of its
appointment, it has certainly ELECTED
valuable information as to the
thoughts and wishes of a large num-
Der of men whose thoughts, how
ever crude, and whose wishes, how
ever unreasonable, cannot fail to
exercisesOme influence on the course
of political events. In a country
where universal suffrage prevails,
neither the statesman nor the polit-
ical writer can afford to disregard
the views and feelings of any class.
Crudeenough, unreasonable enough,
self-contradictory enough in all con-
science are the dicta of the work
men and their leaders as laid down
before Mr.. Hewitt's committee,
and we are led to the conclusion
that many of the men are not work
men at all, but men who want to
find some plan for living on other
mems work. Still, we are disposed
to resist all temptations to a cynical
treatment of the matter, which
would be far the easiest way of deal
ing with it, and to derive whatever
instruction we may from Analysing
the mass of vague discussion and
eager defamation which makes the
staple of the reports from the work
ingmen's committee.
There is nothing that these men
are agreed upon except that the
present state of things is all wrong.
They are not only at variance with
one another, but most of them with
themselves. Most of them put for
ward in consecutive sentences ideas
contradictory of one another; for
instance, one man wants to abridge
the power of Congress, but he also
wants to abolish the State Govern
ment, which would enormously in
crease the power of Congress, and
almost next to him we have one
who wants Government to be the
only employer of labor and distrib-
UtOr of its profits. (NO wonder that
Ben. Butlersis a friend to the labor
league; fancy what pickings for a
shrewd politician accustomed to
handling public funds with pitch on
his fingers.) Almost all of them
are for a high tariff, but one most
Justly contends that a prohibitOry
tariff is the very thing which has
placed them where they are. Al
most all are in favor of an eight
hour law with wages calculated on
ten-hour basis. One, and one
only, sees that this would be to
make the products of their labor
dearer and therefore less marketable
than now. More than one demands
that all wages shall be equal, for
skilled and unskilled labor, for law
yers and doctors, judges and Con-
greSsmen, failing to see that under
such arrangements there would be
no skilled labor, and that thus the
products of the work would not only
be dearer but less valuable, and
therefore still more unmarketable.
One man who ScOrns half measures
wants the Government to loan sew
eraI hundred millions to the work
ingmen, and especially thinks il
reasonable that he should be en-
abled TO borrow $1,000 to build him
a house. 4 member of the commit
O tee asked this man where he thought
the Government was to get the
money to do all this with, and he
answered with surprise at the ques'
ton, sprint it," This, alas, is the
sIFlusion that all of them hold, that
Government can create any desired
amount of money by printing ii
Even so our neighbOr of the Tobacco
Leaf thinks that the State debt may
be paid by printing enough money
to pay it with. And instead o
frankly showing them where theil
real grievance lies, and its remedy
the demagogues of both parties are
forever harping on this string tC
catch their votes, and greenbacks
only let there be enough OF them
are the remedy for all evils.
One man (his name is Kemp af
firmed that the tari1 was the mair
cause of the present depression o
business, that curtailing the hour
Of labor while wages are increased
would aggregate the evil by increas
fng the cost of production and SC
disabling American manufactures
in their competition with those @
other nations; in short, he took q
common sense view of matters and
was Kissed and hoWled ut by Other
witnesses who crowded the room
lie was right, his counsel was wise
but it was not what his comrades
had been 81 the habit of hearing
Erom the dem8gOgueS who rule
them. The truth is that the cause
of the present depression lies in a
nutshell. \ prohibitory tariff 10y
excluding foreign competition pro-
duced high prices; this caused cap
ftaI To be invested in manufactures
then immigration of labOrers from
Europe in large numbers, and man
uGacfures inere2Sad ut the expense
of the agricultural population till
fhe home market was supplied.
VIpra pOnSlsuDtiOD WAS bound ia