The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-08-25


the vastly greater mass Of workingmen in Eng
land, ireland, Scotland and Wales, the whole
United Kingdom, all working under free trade,
have less than four hundred millions OF dollars
in the aggregate both in savings banks and
rostal banks. These figures and these dollars
are the most persuasive of arguments. and the
conclusion they teach is so plain that the run
ming man may read.
THE LABOR QUESTION.
The leading feature in the industrial field OF
1855 and 1886 is the discomfort among the men
who earn their bread by skilled and by unskiiled
labor Uneasiness and uncertainty are found on
all sides; there are wise aims among many and
with not few there is aimessness with its inev-
liable result Of disappointment and discourage
ment. The man who could by any prescription
remove this discomfort. and at Once restore har-
mony and happiness would be philosopher pa
triot and statesman. The man who processes to
be able to do it will generally pn5ve to De COIN
pound of empiricism and ignorance. But in the
end, perhaps oy toilsome paths, with many blum
ders and some wrong, no one need doubt that
sound, and just, and righteous conclusions will
be reached Perfect freedom TO test the virtues
and secure the advantage of organl-
cation, to exert strong power through
combination, are certainly among the
common rights of all men under a republican
government Labor associations have the same
sanction and the same rights that any form of
incorporation may assume-subject, as all must
be. to the condition that the persons and prop
erty of others shall be respected. 1t is well for
every citizen of free government to keep be-
fore his eyes and in his thoughts the honored
maxim that 'the liberty of one man must
always end where the rights of another man
begin"
have no new nostrums to offer for the cure
of labor troubles. have no quack remedies to
propose. / am firm believer in the efficacy OF
the protective tariff, and / can look back with
serene satisfaction to my record in Congress as
never biotted by single vote that was not
friendly to the interests of American labor. /
never promised anything when was acandidate
for public Office, and now, as a private citizen
have no temptation to fiatter any man or state
anything else than the simple truth as see the
truth. 1t is in this spirit that offer some sug-
eestions which seem to me worthy of attention
under the existing situation of the labor cues
ton.
In what may be termed the political creed of
the various labor organizations have observed
some singular omissions of pertinent and, as |
think, controlling facts-facts which in a spirit
of friendship and candor beg to point out. |
read, few days since. in creed put forth by an.
association of Knights of Labor, in another
State, a recital of eighteen distinct ends which
they desired to have secured maintained by
national legislation. Among these there was not
the slightest mention of a protective tariff
That might have been accidental; or it might
have implied perfect sense of safety in regard
continuance
| meant that those who proclaimed the creed are
Indifferent to the fate of protection.
In any event it would be well for the labor
CARNATIONS to diligently inquire and ascertain
how the wages OF labor in the United States can
be kept above the rate of wages in England,
Germany and France on the same articles of
manufacture without the intervention OF pro-
tective duties. With the present cheap modes
of interchange and transportation Of all COM
modities, inquire of these gentlemen how, I'M
dart ho ry1lo Of fraa trad UaO in tho
United States be Kept above the general stand
ard of European wages2 do not stop for the de-
tail of argument; only desire to lodge the ques
tion IN the minds of the millions of American la
borers who have it in their power to main
tain protection or to inaugurate free trade who
have it in their power uphold the party of
protection or the party of free trade.
Another portentous fact has been omitted-so
far as / have observed-from the consideration
and Judgment of labor organizations. They
seem to have taken little no heed of the exist
ence of more than million and half of able
bodied laborers in the South with dark skins, but
with expanding intellect increasing intelligence
and growing ambition. While these
slaves working in the corn and cotton fields, in
the rice swamps and on the sugar plantations of
the South the skilled labor Of the Northern
States felt no competition from them. But since
they became freemen there has been great
change in the variety and skill of the labor per-
formed by colored men in the South. The great
mass are. of course. still engaged in agricultural
work, but thousands and tens of thousands. and
in fact hundreds of thousands, have entered
and are entering the mechanical and
semi mechanical field. They are making
pig and bariron in Tennessee and Alabama.
They are manufacturing cotton in Georgia and
the Carolinas. They are brck-layers and pas-
terers everywhere; they are carpenters and
painters; they are blacksmiths; they make
wagons and carts; they make CIGARS they tan
leather and make harness. they are firemen and
pilots on river boats they cauk vessels in South
ern ports; they lay railroad track; they are
switchmen and section men on the line and fire.
men on locomotives. In fact they are generally
entering all the avenues and channels of skilled
labor. OF course they are underpaid They re-
ceive far less than has been paid In years past
to Northern mechanics for similar work. They
are able to take no part in making laws for their
own protection, and they are consequently and
inevitably unable to maintain fair standard of
wages or to receive a fair proportion Of their
proper earnings
l do not dwell on this subject at length,
though it could easily be presented in aggra.
waiting detail l mention it only to place it be-
fore the labor organizations of the North. with
this question addressed to them-Do you sup
pose that you can permanently maintain in the
Northern States one scale of prices when just
beyond an imaginary line on the south of us a
far different scale of prices is paid for laborl
The colored mechanic of the South is not so skill
full a workman nor so intelligent as you
are, but it he will lay brick In new cotton fac
tory in South Carolina at half the price you are
paid, If he will paint and plaster it at the same
low rate. he is inevitably erecting an industry
which, if the same rate of wages be maintained
throughout will drive you out of business or
lead you to the gates OF his own poverty.
The situation is therefore plainly discernible
and demonstrable, viz: First-It the Demo
cratic party shall succeed, as they have been an
nually attempting for twelve years past, in de-
stroying the protective tariff the artisans of tie
United States will be thrown into direct compe-
tition with the highly skilled and miserably paid
labor of Europe. Second-If the Democratic
party shall be able to hold control of the nation
al government the colored laborer in the South
ern States will remain where the Southern Dem
ocrats have placed him politically, subject to the
will of the white man, and unable to fix the
price or command the value of his labor. The
| colored man will, therefore, under those condi-
tions and influences, remain a constant quantity
in the labor market. receiving inadequate COM