The Labor enquirer., 1886-05-29
PROBLEM.
ne HIeoDAHnAs
Continued from first page, |

no morning newspaper. That he tray-
eled on mule or IN wagon and knew
nothing of oleomargarlne; but he is
doubtful whether he has got his share OF
the progress and wealth. 1t is not
enough that he has the opportunity of
wearing collars and cuffs, shoddy suit
of diagonal, the use of toothpicks and a
10-cent opera once week.
He has learned the rights of man y
has heard of RuskIn, and if he doesn't
read Foes Clavigera knows that it treats
of the rights of laSor.and attacks inter-
est, rent. and profit. Karl Marx las
been partially translated to him and has
many commentator, and if he is un-
able to follow the subtle analysis Of
what constitutes value he has caught on
to the idea of surplus value.
Proudhon, who taught us that the
equality of conditions and equality of
rights are one and the same, and that to
deny the one is to deny the other, if he
is less known to the masses haS had none
the less influence over the minds OF d
growing school in this country. The
laborer has long been acquainted with
the fact that the master minds of eco
nomic science" are at variance, even as
to their so called axioms, and that the
best of them have jumped the'fence, or,
lii Macleod, have dubbed the science"
with new name, calling it now "The
Theory of Exchange. They remember
that John Stuart Mill has given his yer
dict for Communism even rather than
the prevailing system, and that his most
promising pupil CAirnes (the student Of
his school sees no hope for the laborer.
Besides, it is a question whether he is
altogether better off tha- his ancestor
before, who lived before the age of
machinery.
Harold Rogers has told us that the
golden age for the laborer was from the
end of the fourteenth to the end of the
fifteenth century in England, at which
time the laborer obtained substantial
comfort on eight hours work day, just
after decline of serfdom vittenage. 1t Is
true he attributes the change to the
tinkering of the currency ty Henry
VIII, and to various her causes which
undoubtedly had much to do with it i;
but as middle class special pleader be
has passed over causes equally as re-
sponsible.
When the laborer takes up his LABOR
ENQUIRER and finds recorded from week
to week the records of the industrial
war the number of killed and starved
or reads in every evening paper the
stereotyped telegraph form: Reports
received from Y indicate that the back
bone of the strike is broken" etc.. "The
men are returning TO work in large num-
bers at the operators terms" ETC., he Is
not so sure that life is better living now
than then. Two Thousand hands are
out Of employment and the militia are
called out" twenty strikers in the
coke regions were evicted from their
homes to day February 3) A furious
snow storm was raging at the time. The
operators claim that the backbone" etc
1t is getting tiresome.
What is the outcome of all this
What is the remedy? Professor R. T.
Ely, political economy lecturer at John
Hopkins University, was lately invited
to address a congress of ministers at
Cincinnati on Socialism, on which he has
written and lectured great deal His
address scared the parsons, and he rec :
commended the reading of a list of books
on the subject. But have you no books
on remedies?" they demanded NO"
said Professor Ely. the remedy will de-
Velope itself as your knowledge of the
subject increases. Study the cause and
not the effect" know that Knights of
Labor and trades uuions and other Or
ganizations have VI hat they think "a
remedy bu l fail to find in any oftheir
declarations, constitutions or platforms
one single paragraph that deals with
causes. They are all tinkeriug-up eff
fees; attempting to modify results but
leaving the source Of the evil untouched.
AS trades unionlst myself | am the
freer to Critlcise their methods.
1t ls amusing to observe how the aver
age trades uniOnist will deny both pre-
misses of an argument, yet accept the
conclusion, or deny the conclusion while
accepting both premises. For instance :
When in a conflict for wages the news
paper economist informs him that labor,
like any other commodity, must be reg
ulated by law of supply and demand, he
wakes lndig Gant and says it is false,
pernicious and damnable doctrine"
Eight hour tract No. y and IN tract No.
will call upon those who have "se--
vices for sale" to unite and then ALLOW
the law of supply and demand to regu-
late wages" when they have organized.
The objection to foreigners and Chinese,
the protests against convict labor and
women's labor is that it takes away our
work and is a corollary Of the fallacY-
in which they have the support of the
whole protective school-that anything
that makes work is good for the la
borer, whether it be war or pestilence.
But all this is the natural outgrowth of