Daily Kennebec journal., 1878-10-24
laiIp siennrb:c 3cnrnal
AUG u Ia.
Thur ,day Morning, Oct. II, 1878.
Capital and Labor.

The most absurd course for laborers tc
pursue who are dependent upon capita
for employment is to enter into and keeT
up a war with capitalists, rs a remedy ioi
hard times. Yet this is precisely the
course of action which the greenback
leaders advise and stimulate What is
the present cause of hard times to the
laboring classP Want of employment is
the universal answer The wheels OF
business move slowly. No great enter
prises are being prosecuted. Railroad
building is at a sland-still. Factories are
many of them running upon short time,
and with but little profit. if any, to their
owners. And so in all branches of busi-
ness there is curtailment and the strictesi
economy, rendered necessary by the gen.
eral depression prevailing.
In this condition OF things the dema-
gogue leads of in abuse of the lich. i'm
putting to them all the evils with which the
community is afflicted, and recommending
measures to oblige them to distribute
their wealth with their needy neighbors.
The consequence is that the rich man shuts
his purse closer than before war was de-
clared against him. withdraws from busi-
ness If he can, puts his household expenses
on the least expensive scale possible, and
distributes much less of his wealth in the
al, ,c nn1,Alnx-,,ont Tho
remedy prescribed by the demagogue
Communist makes the difficulty for which
it is prescribed worse. 1t is like inham-
matory medicines to fever. Every time
the labor agitator shouts down with
capital" he Injuries the cause of the la
borer.
We know that the times are hard, and
that it is not pleasant TO feel the pinching
of poverty. but much of the hard times
which are upon US is occasioned by the
war upon capital and efforts made to re-
pudiate the national debt and render the
currency of the country worthless, thus
destroying confidence and compelling
capitalists for their own safety to lock up
their means securely and retire from busi-
ness until the reign of common sense and
honesty returns. This would be a good
time for the rich TO put out their money in
almost any enterprises involving labor.
but the uncertainty as to the currency of
the country and how far Communstic
teachings, rendering property insecure,
have poisoned the minds of the people.
bars the way to improvement. We have
now had five years of continued business
depression. Had the uncertainty in re-
gard TO our currency and the national
credit been eliminated from the case, to.
gether with the spirit of Communism
which has prevailed, business would have
revived long ago, and men now without
employment would have had plenty OF
work and fair pay for it.
Capital and labor are not natural enc
mics. They are united by strong ties of
common and reciprocal interests. They
ought to be firm friends. They flourish
when operating in harmony; they suffer
when discord arises between them. The
ranks of capitalists are constantly being
recruited from the ranks of laborers. The
greater part of capitalists were once la
borers. Thus allied and mutually depen-
dent they prosper best when acting in har-
mony, and the greatest enemy to both,
and more particularly to labor. is the per-
son or party that strives to create antago-
nsm and hostility between them
The (Whffpl HOuSe that Sam