The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1882-05-18

eighty millionaire instead OF twenty
millionaire. At this moment the
speculative stocks are making their
vast army Of labor no criterion at all.
They are not looking TO what that labor
ing man IL thinking about, what this
engineer who runs the train is brooding
upon, what the conductor Is
watched at every point to see if he takes
few pennies Of the fare lis saying to
himself about the nature Of his employ
ers. There was a time, perhaps, when
that class Of employees labored for the
small corporations where they were well
considered, where their pride as railroad
men was not less than that Of the big
capitalists who filed the Presidential or
Directors chair. But in the passion for
speculative wealth which has rolled over
this country the employer has lost sight
Of his man, and, Of course, the man hav-
ing every facility for being intelligent
that his employer has, except his specn-
lative shrewdness, turns cold upon his
employer. The wages that are paid in
many Of the corporations do not afford a
reasonable subsistence for the family OF
the laborer, whether he be skilled or
unskilled.
"Now, say" concluded my friend,
"that unless craftsmanship intercepts
the progress of these events there will
be whirlwind in this country between
the labOring masses and the speculative
few. These large corporations have al
ready screwed their men down to bare
II living basis in order to pay high div
idends; but when . crash comes, as
business men generally believe it will
come within few years, how then is the
labor to behave when it must be screwed
down still more, even below the price OF
bread and shelter? You have no Gov
eminent in the United States which can
put down a general movement of labor
satisfied that it has been outreachcd.
You can never get an army big enough
to subjugate your laboring element,
which is three-fourths Of your whole
population. Changes that come about
IN this country are like tropical storms,
giving no signs OF their coming until they
are upon you. The misfortunes Of labor
in America are not confined to the nee
essaries Of life, but to considerable part
Of the Injuries Of life. The unspecula-
tive middle class is victim with the la
borer Of the present speculative condi-
ton.
"There was time when q man in
middle life could send his daughter to a
boarding-school for 500 q year. Now
$500 is the average, and 81, 900 not un-
common, for each pupil. The we'll bred
child Of the middle class, other than a
speculative father, finds that her clothes
are q subject Of distress to her. The
teacher is giving most OF her attention
to the daughter OF some man who gets
his name in the newspaper some broker
in Wall street, some man who has
cornered wheat. or oats, or lard, some
railroad conductor, who had the artifice
to he Spectator and finally a President.
Discipline has passed away from the
better class of pay schools, because
wealth is behind the student, seducing
the teacher. There is hardly boy in
any Of these proprietary schools who is
not smoking his cigarettes, and the
teacher dare not correct him because his
father pays too literally. Consequently
there is adiscontent rife in the multitude,
which will have settlement unless there
is craftsmanship enough in the Govern
ment to arbitrate in time"
well, what ought the Government
to do?'
"That / am not smart enough man
to say; it must strike at speculation,
which is the basis Of these distinctions.
The unrestrained power Of men as
spectators, and in their corporate ca :
pacity, to do as they please is not in
accord with the genius Of our institn.
tions. and will be stopped, either by
wise laws in time, or by violence, fear. I
"Well. we have had Kearney."
"Kearney," said my friend, Greatly
assisted the speculative interests in the
country by precipitating the labor ex
/ element before there was sufficien,
cause for it. The evils under which labor
is suffering did not exist at that time
except, perhaps, in California, as they
are now coming to life over the breadth
Of the country. Look at Ireland, and
see how a people accustomed to submis-
sion for centuries have brought about
changes the Government is powerless Il
improve. There is hardly any rent be-
ing paid in Ireland. There is next K
no safety. The landed class would lister
to nothing, though several issues were
presented to them, all preparatory Il
this present agitation. They would no
be warned, could see nothing but wha
was under their noses. And now i
will he long time before they derive
any further benefit from their lrisl
lands, while meantime the agitation il
spreading from Ireland to other part
Of the British kingdom, and leading Il
bitter feelings which may result in con
sequences Great Britain herself does no
apprehend. In America, where til
people think quickly and act not onl,
with decision, but with right, we ar
liable at any time within the next year
the next two years. or the next fou
years, to see the entire basis Of the pres
ent politics and system Of wealth wipe,
out.
I'm 1877 the large carrying corpora
tions, smarting under the decline Q
their business, and DESTROYS to keep u
their dividends, began TO take away fron
the laborer his modicnm Of pay and
remarked to some of my business friend
that they would presently cut too low
and too near the heart. / had hardl
made the prediction when the railroad
, broke out into fame in three places i
this country, and, except for modifying
conditions, we might have had tel
, riDle situation at that time. But til
laboring class saw that their employ
ers were pressed from natural cause
. real poverty. They know at til
! present day that they are being sacri
feed not necessarily, but from avarice
that the speculative passion to put m
/ other million on the top Of the last mil
ion is grinding them between the uppe
and the neither millstones."
do you seriously sugge st that Coz
gress and the Legislature ought to tai
in hand the management Of these spec,
/ lative properties p
/ mot exactly the management, b,
the correction of their abuses. It
] indispensable, in my judgment,
l prevent another kind OF excitemen
1 which is far harder to snppress-tl