Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1883-08-29
THE LABOR QUESTION.
Important Evidence showing the
Evil Tendencies Of MOnOp0O1es.

Subcommittee on Labor and Educa
ton resumed their session to-day. A
G. Moody, of Brooklyn, author o
LAND and Labor" was the first wit
ness. He called attention to the fact ha
many foreign capitalists were purchas
ing vast tracts of land in the South am
West. In 1860 there were ZIG farms o
over /. 900 acres, and in 1S7O.there wer.
/, 1856 farms of over 900 acres. He saiG
that H. r. Disston, of Philadelphia
owned a tract of 4,OOO, 900 in Florida
and that a corporation is possessed o
3, 500, 900 acres in Texas. Witness, con.
tinuing, said that land generally wa,
falling into the hands of foreign capi
talists, who were introducing their own
system of working it.
English Lords and French Counts
were dominating over a territory that
was three times larger than the King.
dom of Great Britain, and by their sys
ten of wholesale farming they had
driven the American farmer from his
homestead, and into tho ranks of wage
slavery. Our railroad despots, he said,
had more power than the feudal Mon.
archs OF Eurobe, and were in possession
of 25s, 600, 900 acres-an area larger than
Austria, Italy and Switzerland com
bined. The wage workers, he continued
were crowding the cities, and in New
York city there were 800, 900 people oc-
cupying the square mile. Most of the
small farmers were not able to secure a
decent competency, rs their farms were
mortgaged, and they gradually fell into
the hands of the great capitalists. The
only remedy for this was the abolition
of private property in land.
He said further, that the prices of
products were greatly enhanced by the
continually growing increase of middle
men who were recruited from the ranks
Of those who have no regular occupa-
ton, as they had been driven from
their business by the prevailing system
of mechanical labor. If the present
system was not abolished prices finally
would reach such height that the
wage laborer would BE- unable even to
secure the absolute necessa res of life.
The witness contended that the small
farmer could not cultivate his farm
and protitably dispose of his produce,
for the reason that he was overridden
by men of greater capital, who could
supply mechanical labor and had
greater facilities for getting their pro-
ducts to the markets,
After recess several members of the
Central Labor Union were examined
James j. Finer,y, a brass worker, said
that fourteen wears ago a man would
finish an entire piece. Now the same
i
men. Fourteen years ago they got SIS
TO S24 week, while now they received
from Sl3 Sls, At the present rate of
wages the brass workers were unable to
Law M any money. Years ago a man
might open a shop with a capital of S4OO
but now it would take 81, 900. and then
he would have "A hard lob. The aver
age life of the moulder was about "a,
and many took to drink to counteract
the effect of the impure matter they
breathed.
j. l.. Miller, a clothing cutter, testi-
fed that their wages average ST. q week
for nine months in the wear Witness
described how the in reduction of cut
ting machines, for which 81, 900 ROYALTY
on each was paid, had done away with
a great deal of skilled labor. The con-
lition of tailors now was 200 per cent.
worse than in 1874. From 1863 to 1874,
men who were then at work succeeded
in accumulating real estate. Now they
could save nothing. 1t took seven men
to operate machine, and the machine
did the work of l,OO0men. There were
between 5000 and 10000 men and
women engaged in this city in making
mn clothing. MANY of them were Polish
Jews. ard the most miserable class of
working people in New York. Some