The Labor enquirer., 1888-03-24

the accumulation of wealth in til,
hands Of those who refuse to be
come the benefactors of the peo
pie. To seek to improve the con
dition of workingmen and working
women bw all lawful means
whether the effort be made By
themselves or by national anc
state legislatures enlightened by
the wisdom ofthe best and faires,
minds, is to do patriotic work, is
Ito labor for one of the principal
objects for which such a govern.
ment as our exists,
But will the labor organizations
be able to promote the interests
of workingmen7 He who bears
the burden best knows how heavy
it is, and it surely cannot lead to
harm that they who contribute
most to our material well-being
should tell US at what cost of suf-
fering and sorrow we have COM
fort and indulge in luxury. We
profess to believe that men are
brothers and equal, and we there
by commit ourselves to labor to
make them SO. As yet the masses
of those who toll are Christian,
and believe that obedience to law
is inseparable from their own and
all mems welfare; and popular
government, if it would last, must
leave nothing undone that may
keep such faith from becoming
impossible. = =
The modern industrial system,
in spite of the philanthropic
efforts of individuals, churches
and governments, is sacrifice of
human beings to capital, "a con-
sumption Of men, which, by the
wasting of the vital forces of indi-
viduals, by the weakening of whole
generations, BY the breaking up
of families, blythe ruin of morality,
and the destruction of the joyous
ness Of work, has brought civil
lied society into imminent peril" !"
The evils which Henry George
and others ascribe to our system
of land tenure are in fact the re-
suits of modern industrialism, and
hitherto human wisdom and in
genuity have failed to discover a
remedy for what seems to be a
vice of constitution. Capital,
steam and electricity, organized
and controlled by shrewd and ca
pable men whose one object is
gain, act upon population of op-
eratives like malarial poison.
How else shall we account for the
fact that under popular govern
ment, in a country whose immeas-
urable resources we have hardly
begun to explore. pauperism has
become a chronic disease, while
in all our great cities and manu-
featuring centers what seems to be
an irrepressible conflict between
the rich and the poor rises like a
cyclonic cloud on the horizon?
A democracy where the millions
own nothing and the few own mill
ions, must fatally fall a prey to
socialistic, communistic and an
archie turbulence; and though SO
far there is no proper soil here for
such germs to sprout in, the policy
which uses all the powers of gov
ernment to build nests for paupers
who, like. unAedged birds, shall
eat only when capitalists dror
food into their mouths, will soon
supply the lacking conditions
Where the is apparent danger we
are timid;; where. there is real
peril we are blindly confident
We forget that democracy is bu'
a form of government, and a form
which in the worlds history ha.
been little tried and generally
tried with poor success. If W.
have been able to found durabl,
state with what elsewhere ant
hitherto has been the least stabl,
kind of government, our success.
is to be ascribed to causes som,
of which have ceased to exis
while others are disappearing
Our enormous growth in wealth
and population blinds us to tn,
truth that the end of popular gov
ernment is not to make a country
IL l-%-..1>,., l..xx~ >.k.lI.l