The Labor enquirer., 1883-12-08

the United States, when it uses the word
master and servant. to designate thu
parties to q contract Of employment
| fosters this false sentiment while j
makes distinction in DISBURSEMENT O
/ the laborer.
We deduce from history the furthe
lesson that no change of rulers, and M
revolution in church or state have pre-
vented or seriously modified startling
differences in the distribution of the
worlds wealth. All that social or polit
icaI reforms have ever accomplished il
the matter of labor and property ha,
been, not to prevent the concentration o.
capital In the hands of a few, but to se-
cure to the working classes personal lib
erty, the right to acquire property anG
the enjoyment of the fruits their labor
The first subject of reflection which oc
ours on a survey of society is the
SMALL NUMBER OF THOSE WHO OWN. TIL
CAPITAL
ing millions that swell the ranks of la
bor. How few the happy possessors OF
afHuence or even competence! How
great the multitude to whom toll is 8
necessity! Money is but a symbols
token by which the exchanges of com.
merce are facilitated and the capitalists
who operates within the limits of fair
enterurise is not less producer of actual
wealth than the men whoae chlsels quarry
the stones for our buildings, or whose
picks and drills develop our mines.
The money of the capitalist is 10 these
enterprises what the heart with Its net
work of veins and arteries is to the
other members of the body. On the
other hand, the capitalist must not ig-
more the duties and responsibilities
which he owes to those who are in his
employment. He should not affect to
treat
THE LABoRER AS AN INFERIOR BEING,
but as one entitled to claim all the dig
nifty of manhood, the rights of free
man, and spiritual identity with himself.
He must ever remember that labor is a
necessary and honorable agent in the
worlds advancement. Indeed, through
every state and territory ofthe American
Union the workingman has left upon the
land the impress of his toll, as indelible
as the footprints of a. Titan.
Every city that rises with its glittering
spires, every railroad that is laid, every
mine that is developed, and every fur
mace that transmutes with its fiery
breath the dull ores of earth into masses
of shining metal, is monument to the
genius of labor Without the strong
arms of the workman the enterprises of
the capitalist would be idle schemes and
fanciful dreams. 1t is labor alone that
gives
"To airy nothings
A local habitation and name," :
and embodies in myriad shapes not only
the plans of capital, but the conceptions
of art.
Hand in hand labor and capital have
traversed our continent, and, following
the sun in his course, extended the do
mains of civilization from the Atlantic
to the Pacific. Before their resistless
march the wilderness has disappeared,
and in their, train beautiful arts and
manifold industries have sprung into ex-
All lHdb VIC udNO vi SOlhlOlN
and material prosperity we can trace to
the union of labor and capital. The
progress of the United States illustrates
the identity Of their Interests. They
are governed by the same laws and are
injured by the same causes.
If labor is idle it suffers; if capital is
unemployed it is worthless. In the last
decade the history of our country has
proved, if proof were needed, that any
injury which strikes at the prosperity CT
the capitalist recoils. with equal force
upon the working classes.
In the fall of 1878 a great banking
house in the city of Philadelphia failed.
Its failure was result, and the first de-
cided indication, of the reaction which
succeeded the undue initiation that had
for eight years previously pervaded the
country, leading to extravagant expend1-
ture, wild speculation and prices far in
excess of any real values. Then came a
crash in the.-fnancial and mercantile
circles of the union. The gilded fabrics
which had rested on the false basis of a
fictitious credit crumbled into dust.
Manufactures were closed, many i'm
provements which had progressed near
to completion were arrested, and all spec
ulation ceased. Banks contracted their
circulation, while coin was drained from
the country to pay the interest on our
securities held in Europe, and discharge
the Indebtedness created by excessive
importations. During the year 1877
S,S72 failures occurred, representing IN
the aggregate $190,000,0OO. Many saw
their fortunes swept away and were re-
duced in day from af1uence to poverty
often restitution. The material losses
of those who suffered from such. reverses
we can estimate, and figures can repre-
sent, but who can estimate the happy
dreams vanished, the bright hopes with
-ered, the unspoken sorrows or even the
crimes which sprang from these calam-
itles? While the wealthier classes suf.
fered the poorer did not escape. In all
sections of the union the cry of anguish
arose from the habitations OF the poor:
A million of strong men were discharged
from employment. A majority OF them
remained at their homes and earned q
,precarious livelihood by such work as
shey happened to find, while thousands
wandered in enforced idleness over the
country. 1
yAGRANTs THRoNGED THE STREETS ANI
HIGHWAYS,
and crimes against property increased in
a fearful ratio.
These troubles, like other trials an6
perils which preceded them have passed
over, yet thy teach lesson that should
not be forgotten They show us how in
separably the interests of capital and labor
are blended, and how suicidal contiic
between them must ever prove to those
who wage it. There is not only no ne
cessary antaganism between the owner
of capital and the men of toll, but ther'