Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1886-07-18
WHITE SLAVERY.


We now come to the greatest economic
achievement of the Coming Common
wealth. Our definition said, that its
citizens would be, consciously and arow-
eddy, public functionaries. That, alone,
is an object worth striving for, worth
dying for,
When reformers call our workingmen
white slaves and speak of their condi-
ton as slavery" many wellmeanlng
persons deem these terms eXtravagant
and attribute them to demagogism.
Now, in all soberness are they extrava-
giant?
We shall entirely omit any reference to
extreme cases of oppression on the part
of employers toward their employees, and
coniine ourselves to what all wage-work-
| ers must submit tO--whether they be
| mechanics, clerks or telegraph operators.
| And let us remark here, AS wherever we
have spoken of wage workers, we have
excluded and do exclude domestic serv-
ants of every sort We have already
seen that these workers are obliged to go
into the general market with their labor,
which is their ware, and there sell it for
price, vibrating now little above, now
little below, what is necessary to their
subsistence
Now, what does this selling their
tabor" amount to?
We know a man who, though he is far
from being a Robert Owen, may very
well in regard to sincerity, kindness and
hatred of all shams, be compared to that
philanthropist. He was prominent
Aboltionist, but is not particularly averse
to the present industrial system, which,
indeed, has enabled him to gather in
quite a respectable fortune by the simple
process of buying and selling. We think
he is good sample of the best kind of
. employers, TO his clerks he is fond of
remarkng: "Your time is mine, you
know" and he puts this theory into prac-
| WV w NO iuiiSpl 'htNIi' II any oIC
, should suggest to him that he, the model
Of an employer, was a-slaveholder, he
would be very much surprised.
Yet, what does this phrase imply?
"Your time is mine means ''your body
is mine, your actions are mine for SO
? many hours out of the twenty four.
+ You must do nothing, say nothing, go
nowhere as go" please, but as l please.
lwant you to do this thing now" or, of
course it. is understood, II discharge
D YOU" His clerks are subject to his indi-
: vidual, irresponsible will their prefer
ences are not SO much as thought Of
What in the name of reason is that
but slavery? Was not "your time is
mine the very essence, the definition of
negro slavery: True, master could
) sell his slave; but there certainly were
many masters who did not dream of ever
II selling their negroes; We're these there
e fore less slaves? True, a master could
q whip his slave; but our employer can dis
v charge his clerks whenever it takes his
fancy, which probably would have worse
consequences for the clerks than whip
d ping would The fact is, these were
p mere accessories. Slavery is not yet
T. abolished. The very principle subsection,
# which ruled under ancient slavery, I'M
j. der serfage, and negro slavery, rules yet
n under the wage system. That makes the
y system essentially immoral; it democrat
:" ICES the employer as well as the en-
ar ploye.
he And this relation becomes absolutely
DE- unbearable, it, as very often is the case,
20 the employe has more knowledge, more
" brains, fuller head, in short, than his
to employer-for it has rightly been said
" that all that is necessary to success in
NJ business is great concentration, contin.
~ uous application and an absurdly exag-
d. gerated idea of ones own Importance
80 it IS unbearable, when the employe feels
o. that III social system where position
depended upon merit he would be the
one in authority.
There is no hating place between Sub.
-, lection and lnter-dependence. mdepend.
," ence cannot be had for all. The employ.
III er we referred to boasts of being indie
IS. pendent. The trouble is he is too ind.
of pendent; one man cannot be independ
I'd ent, without making others dependen,
= on him. The wage system is only Sub