The Labor enquirer., 1885-03-07
pension he was expectlng-but neve,

pension he was expecting never
got-that the government was good and
wouldn't do anything wrong. And be
was considerably shocked when sug-
gested that ] had seen very little it bad
done that was not wrong. Now. as gov
ernment does 50 few things right, what
Is the best and most reasonable thing
! for us to do in the matter? Ny idea il
that we should reduce its functions to the
fewest possible. Az you know, my mind
has changed considerably on this oint
within the last two years. / did think
once that the remedy for this inequality
was for the state to take control, not only
of natural resources, but of capital a.
well. Ny actual experience with poll.
ticians and office-holders has given me
| a very poor opinion of state Institutions
and has set me positively against them
The number of parroN, bieoted sieno.
rant and mean Ilttle cnsses that worm
themselves into the employ Of the state
| is really remarkable. Out of the 200 OF
300 that are connected one way and an
other with the state government Of
Michigan, not 10 per cent of them are
such as you would employ in the same
kind of work were you to pay them out
of your own private purse. They are
employed, the most of them, because
they or some of their relatives can
manipulate caucusses and conventions
and who have adhered to the party, right
or wrong. Their whole and sole object
is to get an Office under the government
and then work it for all it is worth.
There are not half dozen in the whole
lot but think that "these labor dema-
gogues" ought to be put in prison. Now,
the more you enlarge the functions of
government, the more power you put IN
the hands of these little political pimps
the worse off we are in the end. Look
at the eight-hour movement as an ex-
ample Werkingmen agitated for years
to have the national government estab-
lisRan eight-hour work day in its own
establishments, $50 as to set an example
for private EMPLOYERS and workingmen
outside of government employ" Well,
the eight hour-law was passed, and those
who had political influence enough to
get to work for the government got the
benefit oft, not those whose energies
and ceaseless agitation had brought it
about. You remember few years ago
an elght-hour committee was stationed
at Washington to push eight-hour legis-
lation further. This committee was sup
ported by contributions from labor or
ganizations and self-sacrifcing agitators;
but do you suppose those who were
profiting by the eight hour law gave any
thing to the support Of that committee7 7
get it directly from a member of that
committee that the benefciaries Of the
eight-hour law never gave cent to-
wards the support of the committee or
to the agitation. And not only this;
but by reducing the hours there was
given the heads of departments an ex-
cuse for employing more of their hench-
men to assess for political purposes. l
am creditably informed that in this
state during the last campaign nearly all
the clerks and other employees were
assessed, and the next month their sala-
ries were raised the amount of the
assessment. A gentleman also told me
that friend of his who is a postmaster
was surprised to get $3.50 with the news
to him that this was for clerk hire. A
few days after he was assessed $3.50 for
political purposes. Another postmaster
was allowed so much for clerk hire. He
hired boys and cheap men and put the
balance in his pocket. ,
Where is the government institution
that is not reeking with corruption :?
One would naturally suppose that 1t
would not cost as much per capita to
govern 10000 people as IT would 1000.
Look at the expenses of government and
you will find that as population increases
the government expenses to each person
increases In view of these alarming
facts what is the plain path for labor
reformers to pursue? To turn our backs
upon the governmental idea and put
more dependence In our own efforts for
our own economic and social liberation.
To tell you the truth, I am getting tired
agltating for eight hours, lien laws, mine
and factory laws, school laws, child labor
laws, and lot of other things that we
have spent our energies in Advocating
Let rs not, waste the best of our lives
striving for those things that even we're
we to get would leave us but very little
better off than we are now. Let US bend
every effort TO the land, money and
transportation questions. These, itseens
to me, are the three essentials. If we
abolish land monopoly, establish an
equitable system of exchange, and reduce
freight and passenger traffic to cost, all
the other things we ask for we can put
into operations ourselves without the
intervention of government or even "by
your leave" JOSEPH A. LABADIE.
LANSING, Michigan, Feb. Is.
If you want "a good labor neaOs paper
subscribe for John Swinton's Paper. If
YOU want a good labor PRINCIPLES paper