Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1893-09-19
ALTGELD TO WORKMEN .
THE GOVERNORS LABOR DAY
SPEECH AT CHICAGO.

ship of Capital and Labor.
You are to be congratulated on the
success OF your celebration; two great
demonstrations in Chicago alone are Wy
ing with each other in honoring Labor
Day. TLese vast assemblages represent
sturdy manhood and womanhood. They
represent honest toll of every kind, and
they represent strong patriotism and de-
| sirable citizenship, The law has set apart
this day in recognition of the nobility of
| labor and, as the governor of this great
state, have come to pay homage to that
force which lays the foundation of empires,
which builds cities, builds railroads. de-
velops agriculture, supports schools,
POUNDS industries, creates commerce, and
moves the worli. 1t is wisely directed
| labor that has made our country the great
| est ever known, and has made Chicago the
wonder OF mankind. say wisely directed
| labor; for without wise direction labor Is
fruitless. The pointing out and the doing
areinseparably connected. More than this,
ahead of the directing, there must go the
| genius which originates and conceives,
the genius which takes the risk and moves
a league forward. All three are necessary
to each other. Weaken either, and there
are clouds in the sky. Destroy either, and
the hammer of in lustry ceases to be heard.
Glance over this majestic city, see its
workshops, it's warehouses, its commercial
| palaces, its Office temples, and the thou
! sand other structures that show the posi-
bilities of human achievement and tell who
| did all this You say the laboriug men
yes, that is correct, but tell you that if
| the gods keep a record of our doings, they
have set down the men who originated all
this, and then dared to make Il forward
! step in building, as among the greatest of
1 laborers. We are at present in the midst
o. a great industrial and commercial de-
press.ol. Industry is nearly at a stand
i'll all over the earth. The consumptive
power, or ia her The purchasing power, of
the world has been interfered with, pro
ducing not only arrangement but a
paralysis, not only stopping further pro-
duction, but preventing the proper distri-
| button of what there Is already created, so
| that we have the anomalous spectacle of
abundant food products on the one hand,
! and hungry men without bread on the
other Abundant fabrics on the one hand
and industrious, frugal men going half
clad on the other. Employer and employee
are affected alike. There are thousands of
honest, industrious and frugal men who
walk the streets al day in search of work,
and even bread, and there are many hun
dreds of the most enterprising employers
night trying to devise means TO keep the
sheriff away from the establishment. You
are not respons BILE for this condition.
Men here and in Europe who call them
selves statesmen have inaugurnted policies
of which this is the natural result. Con-
slderlng the increase in population, the in
crease in the industries and commercial
activity OF the world, as well as the in
creased area over which business was done
there has in recent years been a practical
| reduction in the volume of the money of
the world of from 81 to ~ per cent, and
there had of necessity to follow shrink
age in the value of property to a CORE
spending extent. This has been going on
for number of years, and as it has pro-
crossed it became harder and harder for
the debtor to meet his obligations. For
the value Of his property kept falling
| while his debt die not fall. Consequently
every little while a lot OF debtors who
could no longer stand the strain sue
| cumbed. The res ult was that each time
there was furry in financial circles By
degrees these failures became more fire.
quent, until final y people who had money
took alarm, and withdrew it from clrcula-
ton. This preci plated panic and with
it harvest of bankruptcy. No doubt
there were secondary causes that con-
| bKAOObcN, DuL Wis Otlt cause WAS suIUCleNL
to create the distress that we see. If for
some years to come there should not be
sufficient blood il the industrial and com
mercial world tC make affairs healthy
then you must console yourselves with the
thought that oUr country with all the
other great nations has been placed on a
narrow gold basis, and you will not be
troubled with any of these cheap dollars
that the big news papers claim you did not
want. The present depression, resulting
from a lack of ready money in the world,
shows how indispa capital is to labor
all the wheels of industry stand still the
moment it is withdrawn. 1t also shows
that while the interests of the employer
and the employe may be antaConstic on
the subject of wages, they are the same in
every other respect; neither can do any
thing without the other-certain it is that
the employe cannot prosper unless the EN-
ployer does. On the other hand, if the
purchasing powe- of the employe is de-
stroyed, the empi oyer must soon be with
out a market I his goods The great
American market was due to the purchas-
ing power OF the iabUring classes If this
should in the end be destroyed it will
change entirely the character of our insti-
buttons. Whenever our laborng classes
are reduced to a condition where they can
buy only few coarse articles of food and
clothing, then our glory will have departed
Still another thing has been made more
clear than before, and that is that the en-
ployers as rule are not great capitalists
of the country. AS a rule, they are enter
prising men who borrow idle capital, ard
put it to some use. and whenever they are
suddenly called on to pay up and are not
able to borrow elsewhere, they are obliged
TO shut down. There are many advanced
thinkers who look forwardto a new indus
trial system that shall be an imp. cvement
on the present, and under which the la
borer shall come nearer getting his share
of the benefits resulting from invention
and machinery than under the present
system. All lovers of their
kind would hail such system with
joy But we are forced to say that it is
not vet ut hand. As we must have bread