The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-06-22
CONGRESS AND THE LABOR ORGAN
IZATI0NS.

The appeals that have been made by the
labor organizations to Congress have not re-
ceived the favorable attention expected by
those who made them. The Senate has re-
fused to pass the eight hour bill, and the
House has merely appointed committee of
seven to inquire into the causes of the de-
preston of business and labor. and report ct
the next session. This simply means that an
opportunity will be afforded some literary
member of writing and publishing an elegant
essay in which his own peculiar hobby will be
paraded to his own qualification. Yet this Is
about all special committee could do. It Is
the merest childishness to undertake in any
such way, and as an isolated proposition the
consideration of subject which Is so in
tricately interviewer with every question of
public policy, and which Is directly affected
by every political issue that Is before the
country. To find out these causes, to
counterfeit them and to forward the pros
perity of the people and the State is
the sole object of society and government,
and Congress itself Is nothing else than
committee to which this duty is entrusted
The finance, the tariff, internal improvement
steamship subsidies, our commercial policy,
domestic and foreign, all these things are but
branches of this very question, and If one
would find the causes of the depression of the
business and labor Of the country, he must
look into all the legislation upon these sub
jects, and into great deal more besides. 1t
Is the merest folly to refer any such question
to committee, all Of which Congress doubt
less understood when it went through the
farce Of appointing one to consider 1t.
But what these labor organizations were
directly aiming at was, besides the passage
Of the eight hour law, system OF costly and
expensive government works, the main OBJ
iect of which was to afford work for laboring
men at the expense of the government. They
asked for enormous appropriations for the
completion Of public buildings and the erec-
tlOn Of new ones throughout the country, and
for all sorts Of internal improvements which |
would afford them work This was the relief
they proposed for their want of work and the |
labor troubles In order to afford any,
thing like general relief by this method. the |
government would bankrupt itself In year, |
SO enormous would be the outlay required. |
But, even il the thing were practicable, we
are opposed to the ENGRAVING upon our gov
of any such pnnen ct Circenses policy.
Neither government nor society owes any
man anything beyond protection in the pur-
suit Of livelihood They certainly owe no.
body living; but then, those who con-
troll the social and political organ
SIN have no right by bad and oner-
1us legislation to SO disturb the natural order
IF things as to make the earning of a SUBJ
;istence impossible or extremely difficult.
This Is what has been done, however, and it is
his which Congress must undo for in no
other way can the business and labor troubles
% relieved. When this is done we will hear
10 more of such demands from labor organi-
cations as were made by them on the last
Congress. Yet as old Ben Franklin said,
some folks think it will never be good times
ILL houses are tiled with pancakes"