New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1878-08-08
mR HEHIrrS MENAGERLK.


There's nothing so easy apparently as politl-
cal economy and finance. A man can step
down from his dray and eucidate the one,
or leave off drawing beer to discourse upon
the other. and there Will be such wisdom and
sound sense in their systems and theories that
crowds cape at them. 1t is a curious circum-
stance that the men who don't own dollar OF
capital, and never, except upon compulson, do
a days work at any kind of labor, are the ones
who understand better than anybody else the
relations of capital and labor, and are the
most competent to adjust each to the other
and to the State. CuriOusy enough, too, the
men who own capital and the men who
live by labor are so ignorant of the whole
subject that they cannot be permitted to ar
range their own business the capitalist can
not negotiate with the workingman for the
labor which makes capital productive, nor
the wOrldngman treat with the capitalist for
the exchange of his labor for pecunIary reward,
without the interference of other men who not
only do not labor nor employ labor, but who
have never studied this or any other question,
and have hardly reflected sobery upon ITS
most superficial aspects And these latter are
the ones who speak with authority. The men
who have never learned to govern so much
as their own tempers set up schemes OF gov
eminent which revolutonize all existing
systems and turn the world upside down, and
fume and rage and frOth at the mouth with
bad language If anybody objects to their
plans. Men who dOn't labor, and won't
labor, fairly slop over with wise talk and
philosophy between their drinks about
A. .f lnl. Mon
who never owned a dollar over night VIII
talk You almost blind on the responsibilities
and duties of capital. These people know it
all there's nothing yelled from them they
are political economists, fnanciers, philoso-
piers statesmen, by intuition; history has for
them no lessons; they can learn nothing from
the experience of nations or individuals;
social science has no problems that can battle
them; like the Lightning Calculator, they set
You down its factors, whirl their arms around,
and chalk you in an instant the results.
Well, perhaps we ought to be thankful that
Providence has furnished us so many OF these
born statesmen to whom nothing comes amiss'
from fixing the hOd-carrieT's wages to reor-
canizng society. Only it all comes so uneX-
pectedly that it seems somehow to daze and
bewider us. Mr.. Hewitt's committee has been
in this regard succession of surprises. The
most remarkable series of persons have
swung out the most remarkable views and
propositions that were ever preached outside
of Bedlam. 1t was always the unexpected
that happened before that committee. II man
appeared as volunteer witness who was out mt
the elbows and dilapidated, he was sure to
have a scheme to offer for making everybody
prosperous and happy; the discontcnted had
plans for establishing Utopia; the idle and
shiltless for promoting the interests oil the
workingman the dissolute and vicious for
making everybody ymtuOus and annilniatlDg
crime Everybody, in short, brought forward
the last scheme in the world his appearance
and character would lead any one to expect.
Perhaps it would be well to huddle all these
witnesses with radical views together on some
convenient island and give them an oppOr-
tunity there to work out their theories by
themselves Each seems to have perfect con-
fidence in his hobby, and each seems 70 feel
that he is injured and oppressed and treated
with great injustice by the public which re-
fuses either to try his experiment OF listen to
his views. Mr.. Hewitt's committee has an
swered one good purpose in bringing out this
remarkable collection of intultiye statesmen,
and furnishing them an opportunity to
give their views an airing. What else
the committee can do we are ut q
loss TO know, unless they do recommend
the purchase by Government of an
island to be colonized by these philosophers
for purposes of governmental experiments
They are all dissatisfied with the existing
order of things, and each thinks he can cure
the difficulty and make everybody happy and
contented. Let them try their experiments on
each other somewhere where they will have
nothing else to do and will disturb no one
but themselves.