, 1879-08-10

volved in the controversy. They were simpl,
imposed upon. Their name for good faitt
and honorable dealing is above raproach.
"LABoR AND CAPITAL ALLIES, NOT KNE
MES"
HAnPzn Brothers have just issued, in their
series of cheap and handy publications., the
paper prepared by Mr. EDWARD ATKINSON, o.
Boston, under the title, Labor and Capita
Allies, Not Enemies" Mr.. ATKINSON is dis
tingulshedfor the clearness with which hs dis
cusses all questions, for the absence Of preju.
dices and old-time notions, md for the fear
lessness with which he assails and exposes
those policies founded on selfshuess. He is
a practical man: he writes from personal
knowledge enlarged by long experience and
careful, candid study. He is no mere theo-
rist; he never uses facts and figures to make
out result previously determined; he uses
the facts, md presents the result they pro-
duce. The present paper is clearly and forci-
bly, written, and no one can read it without
conceding to the author great ability and
great fairness.
After enumerating the various questions
of an eco nomic character which hive been
presented, some Of which are now on trial,
he states that the greatest economic
problem of the century -Slavery-has been
settled That no longer stands in the way
of settlement of those relating to the pro-
duction and distribution Of wealth. How
few comprehend the magnitude Of the in-
duatria1 revolution. throughout the recent
S1ave-stricken States! Who that participated
in the Emigrant Aid Company to fight
Slavery in Kansas in 1856 could have fore
seen that they were planting the seed in that
Stata for crop Of $4,000, 900 bushels Of
wheat and 89,ooo,o0o bushels of corn in
1878, or that they were providing way for
the zoo, 900 people now living in that State
Who could have foreseen in emancipation
the opening of the empire of the Southern
States to occupation by self-respecting and
respected men? Texas, alone greater in
area than the German Empire, hes only just
been opened by this economic progress from
slave to free labor. Nothing since the in
vention Of gunpowder, when the bullet
destroyed the power Of brute force, has been
done leading SO directly to an equitable dis
tribution OF the products Of labor as the arm~
ing Of the freedmen with the right of suf-
frage.
While this industrial revolution has taken
place at the South, the instinct Of the people
aas remained true, and it has been reserved
Tor democratic Republic to be the first na-
ion in the world that, having forced m
rredeemable Government note into circula-
ion as money, redeemed that note in trua
money without partial reputation. Underly-
ng the fiscal problems is that called tie
abor question, which touches tbs deeper
principle in respect to the production and |
distribution Of wealth.
Capital cannot be. considered simply as a
yage fund; it is q wage force, and the
mount of wages that can be distributed de-
,ends as much on the skill with which the |
;apital is directed as on the amount used |
II the mntter Of production and distribution |
his Nation has passed through three periods,
nd is now entering the fourth. A century |
go every effort was needed to obtain food,
uel, clothing, and shelter. To bo idle WIS
crime, and the Sabbath-day could scarcely
"a spared from the daily struggle for the
Arrest means of living. Later, population
ad spread; there was excess OF food in one
lace and scarcity in another; effort was
eeded to distribute. and the construction
+ highways became important. This ended
I the railway system. The mechanism of
istribution had made the Nation one great
The third has been one of in-
ustrial reconstruction. The War, railway
.ania, public extravaganza, IN inflated
arrency had led to concentration and
Displacement of workmen in special
'calities, and in occupations not sus-
lined by the normal demands Of peace.
ew centres had to be established, and,
; these have been formed, tho conges-
on Of the older ones have been removed.
he fourth period is now at hand. How can
g stimulate the consumption Of the excess
production Of every substance needed |
r material welfare ? Our means of pro-
lotion are far in excess Of our needs I
r consumption. The use of machinery
- made good wages or earnings consistent {
ith low cost Of production. The mass Of s
q people of China ara yet clothed with cot {
n woven by hand; 6 per cent Of their cloth 7
'ly is machine-made, Jet one operative in 7
well can in one year produce the cotton G
9TH needed for the years supply Of l,50o t
1880 Chinese. The exchange of services I
pends not on the wages Of the Lowell oper- q
ire, but mainly on what the Chinese can s
oduce that we want, The more tea, sugar, Z
d silk we consume, the greater outlet for \
3 articles We produces in excess. Our t.
,blem is not how to save, but how to il
and; not how to spare, but how to use the d
less Of our abundance of tho necessities j,
life in order to get for our people comforts
luxuries. Machinery, which now by the a.
in-binder has displaced almost all the p
nu1 labor in the production even of O.
eat, is not confined to fabrics and wares | b
lways have destroyed much Of the value OF O
in Massachusetts,, but rendered the
* needed for the subsistence Of her o1
pile less arduous. The late. VANDERBILT, N
, is regarded as the e1emplar of obnox- ce
) wealth, was great automaton. who | 81