The Labor enquirer., 1883-11-17
PHILOSOPHER MEDILL.
Is it the Penny Saved or the Dollar
@.'& Stolen that Inhicts the r
.~ara Wrong? ... .

/ The would-be philosopher, Mr.. Medill,
editor of the Chicago Tribune, in testi-t
flying before Senator Blair's committee,
said that "the chief cause of the impe-
cuAious condition of the wage class is.
their want of thrift" XII 5.......t.s.'
Furthermore, he said that "on small
wages man can still save something"
He quoted good old Ben Franklin's
saying: "a penny saved is penny
earned" -. s.., j NJ; .a.ss ..-1
He gave statistics showing that "work-
ingmen have spent enough for whisky
and tobcaco in the last ten years to have
provided home for every family in the
United States" E-. a.:. ......
We are not going to do as some of our
excellent exchanges have done-turn in
and abuse Uncle Medill on account of his
peculiar notions concerning the proper
method Of improving the condition of
workingmen. We propose to make al
lowance for his excessive philosophy and
lack of common sense, and proceed to
point some of the fatal defects in his
theory. ~.. -..s..
We cannot defend needless extrava-
gance nor any kind of wastefulness ; and
we wish that the money that has been
spent for whisky and tobacco had been
invested in comfortable homes for work
ingmen. :.
But the point is right here: Suppose
that not dollar of this money had been
spent for whisky and tobacco during the
last ten years, does Mr.. Medill imagine
that it would have gone into homes for
workingmen?
He would be superficial observer of
affairs indeed who would conclude that
SUCH would be the case.
The moment that wageworkers as a
class cut down their expenses, that mo-
ment accumulated capital demands
decrease in price.
The wage worker may save-but the
penny which he saves goes into the cof-
fers of his employer.
The point at which the workingman
makes resistance to the demands of cap
ital is the point of starvation and naked
ness.
He yields his "comfor table home" he
yields his Sunday suit, he yields his pew
in church, he yields the time of his
children in school and the expense of
sending them there, he yields the wifes
request for new dress, he yields every
thing except just enough to feed. clothe
and shelter himself and family.
If he should give up his whisky and
tobacco for cold water alone, his leather
shoes for the wooden shoes which the
German immigrant wears, his cloth suit
for coarser texture and have it made in
uniform like the Chinamen-all this
would add nothing to his savings, for as
soon as capital saw him living in his own
comfortable home," it would say to
him: You can afford to work for less
wages; you are living too well
Capital had rather make fifty cents per
day off the labor Of whisky-drinking,
tobacco-smoking workingmen than to
make twenty-five cents per day off the.
labor of men who neither drink nor
smoke, for capital is selfish-and so, for
that matter, is labor; but capital is never
troubled with hungry stomach nor the
cry of houseless children.
The workingman's love of whisky
and tobacco being as irresistible almost
as the pangs of hunger itself, he refuses
to certain extent to yield to that in
diligence the wage classes may
have spent enough in ten years TO have
purchased comfortable home for every
family in the United States. -
*"*
We would suggest to philosopher
Medill of the Tribune that he should set
his face in another direction, viz: that of
paying workingmen better wages.
Instead of saving from what they now
have, give them something more from
which to save. ".f# r.+
Temperance and sobriety come from
having comforts. A man in comfort
able, pleasant home is ten times less
liable to become a drunkard than one
who lives in hoyel.
Compel a man to live like beast and
he will act like beast.
Lift him into the better atmosphere of
respectable surroundings and he de-
yelopes pride of character enough to
keep him well.behaved.
There are two conditions in which