The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1892-01-12
THE ROOT OF THE PRESENT SO,
CIAL Discomfort.

a common argument used by the OPP
pOnentS of the radical industrial refOr-
nation demanded by natiOnalism, is
that the condition Of the working
classes IN this country Is better than it
vas a generation or 50 ago. This, it is
argued, ought to be enough to satisfy
reasonable wOrkingmen and teach them
cOntentment. AS we have often before
remarked, this sort of logic entirely
misses the point OF the industrial re
form agitation. 1t does not turn on the
question whether the lot of men is bet
ter or worse than It nee was, but
whether it Is as satisfactory as it might
be made under entirely new conditions.
The workers of the world have at last
reached the point Of believing and de-
Clarlng that the best the world can be
made to yield Is none too good for them.
But N 4lvlng the general demurrer to
this line of argument, let us inquire
what the facts really are as to the o
diLiOns Of labor i'll New England fifty
years ago as compared with the pres
nnt day. 1t is an uuQUeStiOnab!e fact
that the hours of labor IN the mills
which now in Massachusetts, have been
reduced to II, were then II and even
Is, the operatives going to work n the
morning on empty stOmachS, having
an lntermiSSIOn for breakfast, and keep
ing up their toll till after dark. 1t Is
also Il fact tn 1t the tencmentS for Ope
ratives are generally better nov than
then. and that operatives are as q rule
much better clothed and prOpOrtiOnally
better paid. What IS true in these re
spects of the relative condition of the
factory operatives 50 years ago, and
now, is also true OF workers in general.
The conditions of life in all respects
were harder, rUder and more tullSOme
then than now.
How then account for tbs fact that
so years ago there was not a whisper
of social discomfort among the tOllers,
while nowadays they are fairly seethlng
with it. Can any One possibly be so
foolish as to suppose that there IS no
cause for this? FEat-wltted editors and
economists are wont to attribute the
| present discomfort to agitatOrs. This
is getting the cart before the horse.
Every intelligent school boy is historian
enough to know that agitators are the
products. not the causes OF popular I'm
rest. Fifty years ago the social aglta-
tor in New England had no audience;
now there are not aglJatOr8 enough to
supply the audiences,
In view of the fact that the average
operative and working man in general
works less hours, and is, On the whole,
better paid, housed and clothed than
fifty years ago, how shall we account
for this extraordinary change in his
temper!
The answer we believe to be found
chiefly in the growth of social Unequal
ity and the consequent disintegratiOn
Of society into classes, animated by
mutual jealousy and hostility. Fifty
years ago there was no such term as
1.-THE working class" Everybody
! worked, and everybody worked very
hard, There was little social distinc-
ton between employer and employed.
1t used to be SAID of NapOleOn's army
that every private carried the baton Of
a field marshal in his k~napsack, where
by it was meant that he knew the way
of promotion vas absolutely open to
merit. In like manner fifty years ago,
every clever workman felt himself a
future employer. There were few
wealthy families, and the Wealthiest
were poor compared with the poorest
Of the modern p~lutOCracy, while of
ostentation in living there was very
little.
A profound change has taken place
i'll these respects within a generation.
1t has become impossible for a man to
start a business or become an emDl0ver
on the easy terms it formerly a
Capital has the call everywhere. and
without It's backing there is little oppor-
tunlty for talent to raise a man to the
position of employer. With the in
creaslng inequalities of wealth. social
inequalities have come in, and the old
sympathy and comradeship between
master and man has given place to an
opposition of interests and feeling.
Young. men no longer feel that the
world Is before them; their world they
now see to be the class they were born