Morning journal and courier., 1884-10-30

O ministration of the United States govern ment, and it is eminently proper that we as worklngmen, as men who are depending for our livelihood upon our labor, as men who are enjoying to the fullest extent the prime val curse, to examine carefully and intelli- gently the claims of the two great parties for our suHrages, and to vote for that which, in our Judgment, shall be for the best interest of the country, without respect to person or favor of any man. To depart from this principle is perjury; and we, as workingmen separated from the intricate maehinations of politics, should adhere religiously to this principle.
 'tBy their fruits ye shall know them, is an axiom everywhere accepted as a trust worthy criterion; and with this idea in the foreground, we shall very briefly look into l the actions of that party which claims the support of the working classes with a jeal- ousy bordering on actual ownership.
 A few days before the meeting of the Democratic convention the Central Labor union of New York city, an assembly rep l resenting over fifty thousand organized work l ingmen, adopted the following resolution: Resolved, That the labor representa- tives | of the city and county of New York protest 1 solemnly against the nomination of Grover | Cleveland for the. Presidency, and we pledge ourselves to oppose his election, ,ifnominated, | by every means in our power, Soc. Here are | men who have been watching Governor | CleYeland's career in his relation to their in terests, and although the great major ity of them were Democrats, yet they | shuddered at the thought of this man | being possible President of the United 1 States where his vetoes against their cause 1 would be more effective than as Governor of ! New York. Those workingmen, as well as | others throughout the country, have noted | the doings of Congress during the past few 1 years-a Democratic Congress, who were 1 supposed, or expected, to do little 1egisla-
 ton ,0,. in xf favor of the toi1ing masses
 ported to the House, at the opening of the 1 Forty-eighth Congress, bill to establish a
 Bureau of Labor Statistics They had re-
 ceived encouraging letters from all parts of
 the. Union and were sanguine of success. l Now, kind reader, notice, if you please, the | section from which the opposition to the bill
 came: Bitter and sometimes very sarcastic ! speeches were made against the bill by Vol ford of Kentucky, Young of Tennessee, Aiken of South Carolina Bland and Buckner l of Missouri, Blount of Georgia; all southern | Democrats.
 When the ayes and hayes were demanded ! by Mir Bayne, of Pennsylvania, only seven
 teen members recorded themselves in the negative; the whole number were Democratic
 as follows: Aiken, s. o.; Ballentine,
 Tennessee; Bennett, N. O.; Bland, Mis-
 souri, Blount and Buchanan, Georgia; | CHdLu1eI, Od, O10LuenGS, Ud.' CTlSp, Oa.; l DibreIl, Tenn; Dunn, Ark; Evans, s. C.; 1 Hemphill, s. O.; Rogers, Ark; Scales, N C.; Tillman, s. O.. Turner, Ga.; Turner,
 Ky.
 It does not require very great amount 1 of thinking on the part of the average work ! ingman to see where his enemies may be \ found. With Cleveland president, and a cabinet composed of such material as the above (fo1 the "solid South" must be recog- l nized and rewarded), we must consider the
 cause of laber forever lost
 It has been pointed out to us with consid- l erable emphasis that many we'll known and influential Republicans have declared in fa- l vor of MT. Cleveland. MT. J. B. Sargent, a very extensive manufacturer, who gives em- ployment to vast number of workmen, is 1 cited as one whose example is worth consid-
 ering, if not following. Throughout the
 length and breadth of these United States l the name of J. B. Sargent is synonymous
 with low wages, and since the establishment
 of his business in New Haven no other em- ployer has had more trouble with his men, or
 has had more strikes to contend
 with. Through want of organized l unity among his workmen, Mr Sar- gent has them in position to-day
 equalled only by that assumed in the halcyon
 days of slavery! They dare not protest
 against the injustice done them; their man
 hood has a mere nominal existence; they have
 not the moral stamina to assert their rights I
 their very lives in the desperate endeavor to
 gain livelihood. Let anybody who imag-
 ines that this picture is overdrawn visit ! either of MT. Sargent's iron foundries and see for himself the amount of work that
 must be accomplished for a dollar,
 and then consider how far this dollar
 will go in providing family with the neces-
 saries of life. What noble example is this
 man to hold up to the workingman! The
 writer is personally acquainted with @ great | aJor,,1 z LII
 the Democratic party for no other reason | than because MT. Sargent has joined it! | Knowing him as they do and that nothing | but selfinterest is his sole end and aim their
 very souls revolt at the idea of being con I nected by party ties with such a man. TEev l look upon the matter as did the farmer whose l horse became manageable. It was an even l thing for some time as to who should obtain the mastery; but when the animal sent the
 dashboard flying over the farmers head the ! latter quietly remarked, ''Well, if you are | going to get in I'll get out"
 ! Henry Ward Beechers name has been ! sounded in our ears as man whose opposi- l tion to Mir. Blaine will have great effect upon the general public. Workingnen however
 have not yet forgotten his ever famous bread. 1 and water sermon and they are reasonably of | opinion that if MT. Beecher is coming to the 1 support of Cleveland it is for the purpose of
 mutually atoning for their past misdeeds and 1 both conjointly living on bread and water 1 for the remainder of their natural lives Let | Parson Beecher furnish the bread and Mr I Cleveland find plenty of water up Salt | river after November f.
 \ But what a happy combination would
 Brooklyns great preacher and New Haven's | great manufacturer present to the working
 men! Only let MT. Beeeher preach bread | and water as sustaining food" for us and MT. Sargent will guarantee that our wages \ correspond with the bill of fare
 As workingmen we expect nothing in the ! way of emoluments or sinecures from either party; we should be very willing to support
 the Democratic candidate were he put on rec \ ord as doing anything in our behalf; but the party which he represents have made but the 1 slightest allusion to labor in their platform We can best judge of how much importance | our cause was held at the convention when
 we consider the overwhelming vote by which | the labor plank offered by General Butler \ was rejected; and in the nomination of Gro | yer Cleveland over the united protest of the | various trade unions of New York, thereby | adding insult to injury.
 In view of these facts, then, where | is there shadow of reason why | any workingman should support Mr. Cleveland or the party of which he is | the standard bearers Should they do so, it l IS not according to their conscience, accord ! ing to their honest convictions. There must | be some influence at work which impels | them, almost blindly, to vote the Democratic ! OASNOos OOSt1uS0 GA1Gy nave ANYWAYS uOn0 so, and many of them regard it as rank heresy to do otherwise!
 But we are proud to say that we have men,
 thinking men, who are no longer led away by
 the sophistries and illusions of petty politi- ! clans. Workingmen are becoming educated: 1 they begin to see the drift of all the promises
 made to them before election, and they are
 henceforth to study their own interests, and l support that party which guarantees to pro
 tect them against any and all enemies to
 their cause. As workingmen we have no op-
 Portunity, nor have we the ability, to enter into discussion of ''Free Trade,h s'Protec-
 tion, or the many other issues agitating the political community: but we do know that
 we are not receiving just equivalent for our labor. In other words, we are not get ting fair share of the wealth we produce.
 In concluding this nasty and necessarily ! imperfect sketch it is the earnest hope of the
 writer that every workingman will ponder
 well upon the issues involved in the coming 1 election. So far as our immediate interest is
 concerned the Democratic party has been ! weighed in the balance and found wanting. They have given us no encouragement what I 41 1T