Sword and shield. (Clinton, Miss.) 1885-1888, 1885-02-28
Labor and Tenn erance.
BY DANIEL wALF0RD.

fail to use wisdom in the proper ex
penditure of their capital; all the
capital that wOrkin s-men possess
consists of the little money they re-
ceive for their labor. Each has a
knowledge of his trade. Bui that is
not money; it's capital which keeps
the machinery Of busi less i'll motion.
And for this amount Of money which
you and | get on Saturday night, il
we do not expend it I,diciously, we
can not get as much a, We ought to
of the necessaries aSd comforts OF
life.
In the manufacture of rum in this
country there is vast amount OF
money expended. An advocate Of
the rumsellers has stated that there
is more capital embarked in The man
ufacture Of rum than III the manufac-
ture Of anything else and by looking
at the returns Of our Government,
we can ascertain what that liquor is
worth ,after it is manufactured.
They state It's value at Si39 ,J00, 900.
That is great deal Of money.
Everybody knows that nearly all the
crime and destitutlon IN ctr midst
proceeds from people drinking.
Bat taking it as an article of com
merce. we find it one Of the IN ost dan
gerous things that the workmg-man
has to contend with: and yet the
large majority Of the working-people
spend more money on it thin any
thing else. | once knew mechan
ic who used to boast that he had
spent fifteen dollars every week out
of what he earned for liquor. Well,
according to the Government re-
turns, the duty was paid on s739, ,0O0,-
900 worth of rum manufactured in
the United States in one year. Now,
look at some of the other items re-
turned, and contrast this with artl-
cles and manufactures that are use
full. In my experience during the
last forty We lrs, | have satisfied my
self that rum is not necessary for
any purpose so far as | am con-
cerned. lhave not touched drop Of
it during that length of time, and
have worked every day when | had
anything to do. and | have proved
tat working-men do not need it.
My experience proves that it is un-
necessary; and even if it was neces-
sary tor us, still it ought not to alb
s0rb any more capital than other nee
essaries of life do. But when We
take into account the other articles
of manufacture, you will see what a
fatal mistake the working-men have
made in this country. l want 70
show the relative value of capital
and labor-to show that If the capt
tai used in the production of ram
was used IN other calllngS, It would
be much better for all concerned.
There would be no crime or poverty,
and nobody would ever need to be
CRYING for work. And | could show
you, from the history OF other coun-
tries where this principle has been
put into operation, the amount OF ben
efits winch have res:;lted. In COLI
trast with those figures (S739,0OO, |
O00.) let me instance the amount Uf
capital expended on other manutac-
lures Flour and meal, S224, ,OO0,
900; cotton goods, 15,OOO,OO0;
boots and 81 oes, $90,000,O00; cloth
ing, 70,O00,00U woollen goods, S69,- |
100000; books. newspapers, and JOB
printing, S42, 100000. Here are SIX
of the leading articles Of manufac-
ture and industry, involving an ex-
penditure of 100000, 900, and the
value of rum alone, not taking in-o
account its uselessness, is returned at
S739, 900, ,000-a dlff.re..ce OF Sl29,-
100000 worth Of rum made in one
year more than there was of all the
SIX leading productions oflife.
Now ask every working-man and
worklng-woman if this S739, 100000
worth of rum which was made IN
one year could not be done away
with? team easily be done without,
as thousands of us have proved that
we do not need it to enable us to do
our work, have proved conclusively
that it is not necessary. But take
the manufacture ofrum, for instance,
and compare manufactured (and rum
material should make the same re-
turn), YOU will find that the average
throughout the trades and commerce
amounts to about thirty-two per cent.
returned to the working-man and i'll
some branches ofindustry, as high as
ninety per cent. Even in the manu-
facture of pins and needles, it is said
that there is ninety per cent. given to
the hand that works for their produc-
tion. But taking the leading trades
and manufactures throughout this
country to-day, and there is about
thirty-two per cent. of the value of
the articles given to the laborer for
the amount of work perfomed in
their production. Now, take man
ufactory where they make rum, BRAN
DIV. or gin and we find that there is
only two and half per cent. return
du duction, ii m and sl25, 100000 worth
more Of liquor made in the United
States than of six other leading ar
ticles manufactured in the country
and out Of all this vast production, on
ly two and half per cent. of its val
ue is returned as wages; and two
and half per cent, means that, al
lowing the same amount of capital to
be employed in each Of the other
trades and eallings. only one man Is