The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1885-03-20
LABOR CAPITAL.

Rev. Dir. b. F. Da Costa. in a neisbor.
ing city, devoted his sermon on a recent oc'
casion to a consideration ofthe relations o.
labor and capital. He said: Side by SD
with the vice and immortality that is ruin.
ing society is that equal evil Of e~Sactlhs
too many hours of labor of the poor. Ex-
cess oflabor breaks up the moral welfare OF
man. What kind Of morality have yon &c
expect from %ioiners, who work hard for ter
hours on the roof-tops, exposed to the
wintry weather; or from the car drivers
who face the blasts or endure the cold
standing at their posts fourteen or sixteen
hours a daya How much less can we ex-
pect of the young shop-girls, Who stand
from early morning until late at night,
nearly sufiocating in the pent-up air? All
this is demoralizing-nay, it is worse than
that. 1t is treating human beings like am
mails. The time has come when tue ques-
ticn of labor and the number of hours it
should be employed should be considered
by the Church. 1t is its duty to doso. In
the labor question is wrapped up that OF
the soul. Men and women whoa are obliged
TO toll for a living are treated as if they
had no souls. But it is said thai if the
laboring classes nave more time to them
selves they will abuse it. if they work on
shorter time they will make bad use of it.
Probably there would be included i'll that
class those who make bad use Of theirtime
now. who take to stimulants to kill time,
who fly to vice and immortality as a relief
for hours that hang heavily Oh their bands.
Whether those who are oyerworked now
would. were they given more time to them
selves. make good or evil Use of it is none
of your business or mine. That is their own
business entirely. All that we can dois to
see that they get the time. Short hours of
labor result in the elevation of people, as
they have more time for improvement.
They certainly have none when their vitali-
" is gone and they are overworked. Church
and society would be all the better if this
were remedied. The car drivers are only
one class of many whose rights should lie
given them. When they present their griev-
ances to the Superintendent they are in
formed: IF you don't like the work and
the hours of work. get out. There are
enough men ready to take your places.
This is a very cold, heartless and even in
fidel way of treating the men. man who
calls himself a man ought to be ashamed of
such talk and treatment. The company
saws it cannot treat their car drivers and
conductors better. This is simply false
and they know it. They understand per-
fectly well that they can get all the men
they want and so they make their employees
work as hard as they can. They are less
careful of their men than they are OF their
horses. If they owned the mcn as they do
the horses they would treat them better, as
they do not like to lose their property.
Simple injustice is one thing, but sin against
the bodies and souls of men is another.
The stakeholder don't care a sixpence for
the soul of another. He settles back in tie
luxurious cushions in his pew and keeps
easy Lent. This uverwork is an evil of
great magnitude. If the Church expects
the working man to become a christian, she
must see that he has a fair chance to save
his body at the risk of saving his soul
The Church must come to the front and
speak, she must show herself the friend of
labor, as she is. She must show the stock
holder that she is the Church of the me
chanic, the Church of the Son of a Carpen-
ter, else she is not the Church of the liv-
ing God. She must point out that such
things cannot exist, and come to the front
and rescue the Holy Day and give it to the
poor working men. Don't speak of your
oppression until you remember whom you
are depressing.