The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1879-05-03
SELECT LITERATURE.
LABOR AND THE NATURAL FORCES
Er CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN.
.NnMthIN for .N0N.

account Of Il wotul lack of grcrniacks.-
/ Specie resumptiuniStS, on the other hand,
| have maintained that the cause of Ill the
trouble was the great abundance of green
/ backs
Another class of writers claim that the
distress Is owing solely to the late civil war
and the measures taken to carry it on. the
passage of the lcg;tl-teulrr act, tn" initiation
! of prices. the tiiShandmcnt of the army.
Still another class find the prime cause of
all prc%cnt disturbance in invention and the
substitution OF machinery for muscular la-
| Dor.
1t is certain that Il lack of yrecnbIckS and
the great abundance of them cannot both he
first causes: and il is clear that there must
III some other cause for the distress is sharper
i'll England, where there are no "rc,.nhack>,
than in this country. 1t is apparent also,
tina; the trouble is not due. wholly TO the
war measures for vhil,. there has been civil
i'll III" United States. there has been
peace III England. Ii the use Of machinery
is the cause of all the trouhlc, how happens
il that i'll China. India, Japan Brazil, and
Australia, where there is little Or no in:l-
chinery, there should he the same StagIia-
ton of trade and quite a. much distress?
The distress being universal, there must
lie causes worldwide i'll their effects an'l,
moreover. this commercial disturbance has
been distinguished from all others that have
preceded It by its breadth and prnongation.
With the beginning OF the present cen
fury there was the beginning of y new civ
ilization through the employment of the
forces of nature, which up To that period
had been dormant. Rivers had turned mills
for grinding corn and saving lumber but
now they were set Ia doing work which in
all former periods had been done by human
hands. The coal deposits had been lying i'll
their Subrrrrancam beds from the primrvaI
ages. hut thrncctnrth this 'storr,l-up sun
light, WAS 10 take the place of muscular
power. This employment of the forces OF
nature brought about 4 clIans"ir social con-
dtionS. Ia AL past ages men had laboreh
>ingly, but from that time on they We're to
work collectively, organized and directed
by one individual as Il general nar>hals an
army. with astonishing results, As we shall
presently see. This employment of the
forces of nature and concentration of labor
rrs has not only brought about a change in
social conditions, but has given rise to uucS-
tions the solution "t which will lie vital t"
the we'll being OF society.
Under this new order of things we have
ypf l. rs u
lsp. leagues. Labor rrtornrr<. snriali>t$, conf
lnunistS. which claim tbai-th" lah"rer is i'll
II condition far worse than At any time m
the past: that the use of machinery throws
men ont of employment: that capital is OPP
i,r,.SSive: that the rich arr. growing richer.
and the poor poorer: 1ilat the c;trtS" of the
present distress Is largely due /" the power
of capital over labor: that rs things are now,
labor is ri the mercy nj capital: that inter
est on money is robbery: thai labor has don"
pretty much ali that has been done: that
There is Il natural antagoniSm between labor
ami capital, with other assertions that re-
main TO be proved.
Various are the demands for relic! III III"
hands of government The demand is made
for Il reduction of the hours of labor: for
the abolition "fthe patent laws, on the ground
that patents are monopoie, for Il diScon-
1inulncc of convict labor, upon the plea that
the employment of criminals by the state is
an injustice ~ honest laborcrS. Petitions
are sent To Congress tnr the construction of
railway trom New York To Omaha. and
Il.
Mississippi, The chief argument for such ac-
ton being the employment of the incm-
pIoycd \ bill recently advocated III the
House of Representatives made provision
for the removal of III" unemployed of the
cities 10 the unoccupicd lands of the from
tier and for the erection OF houses. the GOV
eminent giving the cnigrantS land. adNauc-
in. money, and holding Il mort gage on the
property. Socialists and communists de-
mand the enactment of laws limiting the
acquire and the division and distribution
of what has already been acquired.
In order to ascertain whether lahorcrS are
worse off to-day than i'll the past, lei It's see
W MI III i'N tliN' - II
that the use o.! machinery has caused much
of the distress, we will refer t" the most
authentic data To a.rrrtan what the h"r-
mus We're before the Introduction of mech
aniSin>. We will limit our view Ia a time
when Boston. New York, Albany. and Phila-
,lelphia were considerable towns.
The first power loom was set up in Wal
than. in lSlG. Al that time nearly all the
clothing and mrcii of the cloth used i'll
household furnishing was manufactured
upon the household spinning wheel and
loom. Many II weary day spent by
housewives ut the loom, and by maid"ns N
the spinning preparing sheets, tow
els, and articles for persona! Use. .\inaid"n,
TO obtain her marriage outfit" must first
card the cotton OF wool into rolls: then came
the spinning and during ten hours labor
she could spin three and ei%lt-trnthS miles
of thread, but would be compelled to walk
nearly six miles i'll doing it. She must toll
day after day, month after month, and year
after year. to procure linen cnouglStu begin
housekeeping. In contrast. now See, i'll
our manufactures, Il girl sitting al her ease,
ur ltisurely walking to and fro minding the
automatic working of Il machine that pro
ducrS in ten hours twenty-onc hundred
miles of thread: and Il young lady prepar-
ing to engage i'll housekeeping may pur-
chase Il sheet for about Seventy-tive cents.
The development In the manufacture of
textiles was So rapid thai the spinning
wheel nt' the household Was consigned to
garlcd Us :: curiosity. t" be brought ont only
in aid of church fairs. or on centennial an
nivcrSaric$.
We may take 1880 As the beginning of the
that period there were hut twenty-nne miles
of railroad III operation, against ei%hty-onc
thousand II lie present time. The new civ
ilizatioli. therefore. is mainly the ont growth
of half century. Fifty years a." Il citizen
jourucNing iii the public stage Travelled Sry-
enty-ivc miles u day, whereas NOW he is
whirled forty miles IN hour. Then the
Stagrman was the mail carrier. and Il mrr-
not expect Il reply to his miSsivr in less than
six days: in contra Il, III" broker of Wall
street. thu pork packer nt Chicago. the cot
TON factor oi NeW Orleans, every business,
,s,;in Of tr country, regulate, his affairs
now by the hourly reports from every great
commercial center of the world.
\ half century, Jrp "A larp,. rart of th, Dr,,-