National Republican., 1886-08-05
A CAUsTIC REVIEW.
Mrs. Charlotte Smith ventliates Car
roll ID. wrights Report.


United States by my efforts in behalf of
the female industrlans OF my country, aud
by our Legislators and law makers person
ally for my zeal in obtaining legislation
friendly to our wage earners and bread win
ners without regard to sex.
IL is natural that the laborer should ex-
pect the reward for faithful services ren-
dered, and should feel disappointed at find.
ing services Of great public utility ignored
by those In authority. There is consola-
ton, however, In having performed good
deeds, whether reward follows or not
What | have done is matter OF public
record, written as part Of the history OF
the times which no enemy OF mine can ex-
punge, With this | rest content so far as
am individually concerned.
The labor bureau appropriation was
worked for and personally agitated by me
during the session which passed it-for 1
conceived that the formation OF such n
bureau was demanded by the industrial
element of the country, male and female
and although against my solemn protest IL
has been subverted from its original pur-
pose by the present commissioner of labor,
and turned by him into a mere scientific
bureau for compiling English statistics for
his own amusement and Of those who en-
JOY the salaries and cater to his edi-
fication, i am not indifferent to the
welfare OF the bureau, and still cling to
the hope that there is redemption for the
bureau In future, provided the right man Is
made chief thereof, and the female indus
trian is allowed q voice and place In It's
rule and government.
We already have bureau OF statistics,
and II is not necessary for the commissioner
OF the labor bureau to give long CONNER
clal tables unless he is working for free
trade. Let the bureau Of labor attend to
re tFnn IL ,N,.I IaN .. k... -
statistics alone. The bureau Of statistics
has been ably conducted for years, and
under such q chief as Joseph Nimmo, jr,
was quoted and honored throughout the
land.
will first ask the public question. What
good result has this labor bureau achieved
since its organization, and what benefit has
1t conferred on the industrial element OF the
country j don't expect an answer, for
none can be given.
What the female industrians Of this couu-
try insist upon is that the law originating
the labor bureau shall be enforced, aud they
solemnly protest against the course pursued
by Carroll ID. Wright In ignoring woman in
the formation Of the bureau; In leaving her
out OF the working Of that bureau; In not
forming woman's department, to be pre-
sided over by woman, to promote the
cause OF the wage women and her interest
as bread winner In the battle OF life.
view the annual report OF Carroll d. Wright,
commissioner OF the so ocalled labor bureau,
and IL will be no herculean task, on my part,
TO show that the bureau, as well as the re-
port, is a miserable failure and is so re-
garded by the people Of this country who
were lead to believe that some great lesson
of practical utility to the wage earners OF
the country would be found IN the report.
In the commencement Of this remarkable
report, remarkable for its lack Of interest
to any American industrlan, but In the in
tereet Of English manufacturers and free
traders, Commissioner Wright says:
"The organic law of the bureau provides
that the commissioner of labor shall collect
information upon the subject Of labor, its
relation to capital, the hours of labor, and
the earnings Of laboring men and women,
and the means of promoting their material,
social, intellectual, and moral prosperity
Taking the above to bc true as to the
purposes for which the bureau was formed,
we find Mr.. Carroll ID. Wright guilty Of
violating the organic law forming and cre-
ating the bureau.
Why, instead Of collecting information
promoting the good OF our working classes
men and womeD-he actually leaves out
all mention Of the industrial woman aud
her interests, and In his former report, If /
remember correctly, he stated positively
that THE bureau was organized for no
practical useful purpose. and II 1t was de.
signed for other than scientific purposes,
more money must be appropriated" Now
did not intend to do anything resulting to
the practical benefit Of the industrial
classes OF this country, and he has kept his
word, and for one, am not disappointed.
There'snothing original in the annual report
30 anxiously looked for by the X. OF L., trades
unions, and industrial masses OF America
except the paragraph congratulatlng Mr..
Lamar, and through him the country, on
his having secured the services of one Oren
w. Weaver as chief clerk of his bureau.
Who Mr.. Weaver is the country neither
knows nor cares.
the commissioner and his man 0ren thought
1t would sound we'll TO quote from old
authors, and consequently, though rather
unfortunately, they selected paragraph
from Sir William Petty, who died just
about 200 years ago. He was known In his
day as q man whose honesty was seriously
questioned, and whose hostility to the poor
laborer was a subject OF public comment.
The paragraph is as much out OF place In
the annual report Of Carroll ID. Wright, A.
NJ, commissioner of labor, as monkey in
china shop, and has no connection what
ever with the subject of which he attempts
to treat. Charity supposes that Oren stuck
this In while his chief was absent, to show
his shook learning and literary research"
had some curiosity to refead my Encyclo-
pedia to find out the history OF Sir William
Petty, and to discover why he was honored
with favorable mention by Carroll aud
Oren. give in nutshell what history
says OF Sir William: t-H
He was trade and commercial writer and
author Of the political Arithmetic he -four
ished in the days of Cromwelrs rule over Eng
land, and was a loud-mouthed psalm singer;
he served as secretary to Henry Cromwell,
then lord lieutenant of Ireland, was made
surveyor general OF Ireland, and was appointed
as one ofthe commissioners to divide the lands
in Ireland taken from loyalists and which were
10 be divided between the officers and soldiers
Of Cromwells army. The old fellow was
honest enough to allot the best and most valu.
able to himself, and on the restoration OF
Charles ii, Sir William changed his religion
and transferred his love TO the merry monarch,
and by hattery and fawning the king was in
duced 70 ratiiy the titles TO him. He was the
progenitor of the house OF Landsdowne, tho
marauises of which now hold titles to the very
best lands In Ireland acquired by their Lhiey-
ing old originator of the family to the scandal
OF Europe and the Injury of the poor peasantry
OF Ireland.
What induced Commissioner Wright or
his man oren to quote from such manp
He gets the $25, 900 and in return gives the
country the stereotyped views Of other au-
thors on iepressions, and copies almost en-
tire tables Of statistics made by consuls In
various lands to the Department OF State.
a schoolboy could have done this. He
,,,5r 5roes through the farce OF sending FIVE agents
v ,nti' Europe for four weeks to perform the
:" .,ork which 1t took every consul In the
United States nearly two years 20 accom-
plish. or course they could do nothing
but copy, which they did faithfully.
1t does not appear, however, that his
fifteen agents In this country did anything.
The report does not show IT, What the In
dustrians Of the United States wish 10 know
is more about our own country aud the
ways and means 10 better our condition,
but England and her industries comes In
for the Hons share of mention In the an