, 1879-07-27

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Of things, inquiry be instituted as to tie
CAUSES Of the improvement, it is possible 1or
the Committee to be of much service to tue
country. This basis for Investigation VIII
enable the Committee to obtain from those
who appear before it useful estimate OF tha
comparative conditions Of tile present ana oi
one or two years ago, and to make up
valuable summary Of the circumstances anu
events that have brought about the notable
change. Such IN inquiry will suggest that
the representatives of the discontented people
be closely questioned MS to the cause
for. the discomfort which they ,purport
to represent and the efficiency Of the RENE
dies they propose. Three classes ask for a
hearing, viz. 3: the Socialistic party, the
Trades aud Labor Council, and the Greenback
Fiatists; all three have appointed Commit
tees to appear before this Congressional
Committee, and these Local Committees
should be catechised in such manner as to
bring out the real purposes of the organlza-
tions they represent. :
!. Leading Communists, like MORGAN,
S1D1Ey, Parsons, N1cAuLuF, Sca1LL1So, and
SrREE1ER. ara tho volunteer spokesmen for
tho Socialists. These people, as nearly as
we hive been able to determine, are opposed
to the compctiGre system Of labor, produc-
ton, industry, and trade which prevails in
this country. The talk about cbolishing the
contract system in all public works, about
prohibiting convict labor, about establishing
Government cooperative institutions, and
about the Governments taking possession
of all the means for transportation and COM
munication, has led 10 this conclusion. The
competitive system may be briefly de-
fined rs the ruling privilege Of every
man to sell his own labor, or the
product thereof, at the highest price
he can obtain, and also for every man to
purchase the labor of others, or the product
thereof, at the lowest price for which he can
procure it. All men, under this SYSTEM en-
joy full and equal liberty to make the best
bargain they can in exchanging their own
labor or goods for those Of others.
If we are correct in assuming that the
Communists desire to abolish the competi-
tive md wages system, then Mr. WR1oHTs
Committee should demand that they explain
very explicitly the nature Of the system
they propose to substitute, and the adyan-
tagee tbs substitution will offer over the pre-
7ailing civilization. The only auti-compeh-
tive system We can imagine is similar to that
which prevails in the government of an
army, Q penitentiary, or poor-house. An
army Of men, for the most part, enjoy
form the duties imposed upon them a! the
word of command, and they live in quarters,
draw rations, and parcel out the work and
the benefits. In penitentiary there is a
similar though stricter discipline; the men
are distributed among different avocations,
work the same number Of hours, take their
rest, their meals. their clothes, their recrea-
ton, and their sleep in equal doses, and ara
subject to the orders of those placed over
them. In a poor-house, the regime is
much the same; the inmates perform such
service IS the overseer directs, and take what
is doled out to them. Any system which
denies the law Of competition must resemble
those We have named. But the army, the
penitentiary, and the poor-house are able to
support their discipline only by the most
rigid laws and the exercise Of force. What
laws and what force do the Communists in
tend to establish which shall compel the en-
tire country to conform TO this kind Of disci-
p1ine, and what advantages will such disci-
pline insure if it Gun be established? These
are the questions which tho representative
Communists should be made to answer.
9. It is little suspicious that the. Trades
and Labor Council should be represented be-
fore the Congressional Committee by the
same men who represent the Socialists
Messrs scHn11Sa, PARsdess, MoAu1ur, end
MORGAN figure upon both Committees. Per-
haps it may be fairly assumed, however, that
the Trades and Labor Council desires espe-
cially to urge a compulsory eight-hour law.
This purpose has no application merely SO
far as the General Government is concerned,
because Congress has already fixed eight
hours as legal days work in tho Govern
ment service Is it their mention, then, to
urge the passage Of q law making it mis-
demeanor or felony for any man to work
in any service more than eight hours? If
SO. it is incumbent upon the representatives
Of the Labor Council to explain to the Com
mittce how such law can be enforced, and
in what manner it will benefit the country if
it be enforced. How are the turner's, whose
crops depend upon their laborng twelve and
fourteen hours at certain Seasons of the year,
to be compelled to limit their toll to eight
hours ut all seasons? How are the men who
work by the piece, which is the system
whereby much Of the labor in cities is now
performed, to be prevented from working
more than eight hours if their industry and
consideration for the future prompt them
to do so? How are the workingmen to fare
better than they do now if they be required
to subsist upon the product Of eight hours
instead of ten hours? These are some of
the questions which the Congressional Com.
uittee should ask the representatives Of the
Trades and Labor Council who are advocat-
ing ten hours pay for eight hours work.
8. The Fiatists are to put in an appear
ance through Messrs. PAGE, HALEY, GIL
MAN, GROVER, and Others. The theory of