Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1890-02-22

men. and some or those formulated by
the workingmen of New England in
1916, led finally to the formation of the
small but celebrated Free Soil and Lib
erty parties, which in turn led 10 the
great movement for the abolition Of
chattel slavery. The workingmen them
selves felt that before undertaking to
pass from the wage system into the CO.
operative or Socialist system, it was
right and necessary TO extirpate from
the soil of this country the last vestige
of ancient barbarsm. This is stated
nowhere, There is no written declara,
ton to that effect. But in the facts of
history we find the real sentiments of
classes or nations far more positively
expressed than by any written or verbal
utrerance of their most eloquent mouth
pieces.
And SO the white wage slaves OF
America gave their labor and their blood
for the emancipation of 1900, 600 black
chattel slaves, although they knew that
under the wage system the people they
were going to free must at some time
prove tremendous factor in the reduc-
ton of wages through the competition
of the unemployed and for the first
time in history q lchOle race rdS 6Oday
lifted By another race from chuttel SldU.
cry into rage siarery, aoath0M passing
through the intermediary stage Of serJ-
dom.
While they were thus engaged in the
most stupendous enterprise of freedom
that the world ever saw, capital at the
North was strengthening It's position,
appropriating public franchises, steal
"A
crediting itself on the national books
to a double amount of the labor values
produced by workingmen on the farm
and in the factory for the support of
other workingmen on the field Of battle.
And when the scared veterans were ut
last dismissed with wave of the hand
more expressive of contempt than of
thanks, they found for the most part
that they had no home and could get
no work but by warning as 'scabs' against
their brothers, fathers, sisters, whose
toll had supplied them food and raiment
during the war.
The army of liberators had been
turned into an army of tramps for the
enslavement of labor, and the wage
system was complete.
Then began an organization for the
mightiest of all conflicts
First, in lrade-unions, for further
reduction of the hours of labor. The
economists, the humbugol0gists in the
pay of Capital, were teaching that
everything was for the best in the best
of possible worlds; that there was no
remedy for lack of employment and
low wages; that under wise dispense
ton of Providence, things commercial
and industrial were always adjusting
themselves in the end, and that the
apparent evils of the so-called law of
supply and demand in its brutal appli-
cation to human labor were actually
blessings in disguise. Organized labor
laughed at that nonsense. "Give us
eight hours" said the unions. 1T is
not all we want, but it will do now. By
cutting the workday one-hfth, one more
man in five can get employment. Is
not this good arithmetic! Supply and
demand, ehf Here Is supply and de-
mand for you" Aye replied the
humbugologists, arthmetically this
looks true enough. But unless you
work for lower wages either all things
will be one,tifth dearer or profits will be
cut down one third. To cut profits !!
Murderw And many employers bound
themselves in the sum of one thousand
dollars each to break up the labor or.
CARNATIONS. That was III 1872.
In 1878 the capitalistic machine broke
down. Speculation, luxury, reckless
waste of the country's wealth, carried
away the lofty structure. Eight hours
for all? Bah There was now work
for none, early or late. The workday
was reduced to naught-and the wages
also. Tramp fellow
Strange it seemed to many that the
hard and unremunerated labor OF years,
by piling up SO much wealth in barns,
factories, warehouses, stores, every
where, in fact, above and under ground,
had only produced misery and starva-
ton. Some of them called a meeting.
"Under the constitution" they said,
"we can meet and petition our officials,
who are, as everybody knows, the mere
agents of public authority Of the peo-
pie; in other words, our public servants.
We feed them, we grudge them nothing
and seldom inquire into their character
or doings. Surely they will devise some
means for the relief of the people"
1t was cold day of January 1874,
The police gave them warm clubbing.
For the first time in this country
the fundamental right of the people
had been ignored, violated, tram
pied on and broken into minute frag-
ments by policeman's club. Of all the
powerful voices in the land none was
raised against the outrage but John
Swinton's.
OF the Pittsburg riots three years
later, and of the hasty retreat of the
militia when confronted there by an in
dignant populace, do not propose to
speak. Neither shall | speak of many
other violent conflicts, IN which it was
was shown that no consideration of hui