The Labor enquirer., 1886-08-28

| GiiCuthS1duCco. NoW, CdA toh you q
fact. In London, the other day, it was
found that one club of gen tleman, 1000
strong spent 500, 900 at the club house
during the year for drink. Well, I
would allow them 500, 900 more at home
for liquor. making in all $4,000 year
These men were all. men of education
and leisure they had books and paint
ings, opera, race course and regatta. A
thousand men down in Portsmouth in a
shipYard, working under a boss, spent
at the grog shops at that place, in that
year, $50, ,000-double that of their rich
brethren. What is the explanation of
such fact as that? Why, the club men
had circle of pleasures and of com-
pany. The operative, after he had
worked fourteen hours, had nothing to
look forward to but his grog.
That is why say lift man, give him
life, let him work eight hours day,
give him the school, develop his taste for
| huolC, Rlfo ulu SdIuou, SlNO AluA
beautiful things to see, and good books
to read, and you will starve out those
lower appetltes. Give man a chance
to earn good living, and you may save
his life So it Is with women in prosti-
tuition Poverty is the road to it; it is
this that makes them the prey of the
wealth and leisure of another class
Give 100 men in this country good
wages and eight hours work, and ninety
nine will disdain to steal Give 100
women good chance to get good liv-
ing, and ninety nine of them will disdain
to barter their virtue for gold. You will
find in our criminal institutions to-day a
great many men with big brains, who
ought to have risen in the Hcrld, per-
haps gone to congress. You may laugh,
but tell you the biggest brains don't 60
to congress. Now, take 100 criminals !;
ten of them will be smart men. but take
the remainder and eighty of them are
below the average. body and mind they
We're, as Charles Lamb said, never
brought up; they were dragged up"
| They never al fair chance; they we're
starved in body and mind. 1t is like a
chain weak in one link; the moment
| temptation came it went over. Now,
Just as long as you hold two.thirds of
this nation on a narrow, superficial line
you feed the criminal classes. Any man
that wants to grapple the labor question
must know how you will secure a fair
division of production. No man answers
that question.
hail the labor movement for two
reasons and one is, that it is my only
hope for democracy. At the time of the
antl-slavery agitation, l was not sure
whether We should come out of the strug-
gle with one republic, unless the labor
movement succeeds. Take power like
the Pennsylvania Central railroad and
the New York Central road, and there
is no legislative independence that can
exist in it's sight. AS well expect green
vine to flourish in a dark cellar, as to ex-
peCt honesty to exist under the shadow
of those upas trees. Unless there is
power in your movement, industrlallY
and politically, the last knell of demo-
cratic liberty in this Union is struck !;
for, as l said, there is no power in one
state to resist such giant as the Penn
sylvania road. We have thirty eight
one horse legislatures in this country,
and we have got man like Tom Scott
with $35O,O0O,OOO in his hands and if he
walks through the states, thev have no
power. Why, he needn't move at all.
If he smokes as Grant does, puff of the
waste smoke out of his mouth upsets the
legislature.
Now, there is nothing but the rallying
of men against money that can contest
with that power Rally industriAlIy If
you will. rally for eight hours, ior little
division of profits, for cooperation
rally for such banking power in the
government as would give US money at
per cent.
Only organize and stand together
Claim something together, and at once ;
let the nation hear united demand
from the laboring voice, and then, when
you have got that, 60 for another; but
get something.
| say let the debts of the country be
paid abolish the banks and let the gov
ernment lend every Illinois farmer Gf
he wants it, who is now borrowing
money at 10 per cent, money on the half
value of his land at 3 per cent The
same policy that gave 100000 acres to
the Pacific railroad, because it was a
great national effort, will allow of our
lending Chicago $2O,OOOOOO. at 3 per
cent, to rebuild it.
From Boston to new Orleans, from
Mobile to Rochester, from Baltimore to
St. Louis, we have now but one purpose
and that is, having driven all other
political questions out of the arena,
having abolished slavery, the only ques-
ton left-Iabor. The night before
Charles Sumner left Boston for Wash
ington the last time, he said to me, 81
have just one thing to do for the negro
to carry the civil rights bill, and after
that is passed shall be at liberty to
take up the question of labor"
claw and Order" Journals.
nonhts O yist in Chicapn "a tn W hather