The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1899-10-26
$1.OO A YEAR In ADVANCE.

""eo VI eA0 oCOuOulC 1dCL LnaC wages
are regulated by the standard of SUBJ
sistence; SO that the more abstemioua
the poor become, the smaller the share
OF the wealth will be left to them by the
rapacity of the rich.
"A Certain Agitator,' my lord, ond
Frank Fairman, reminds us that where
as the HindoOs are the most thrifty and
abstem1ous race on earth, their wages
are lower than those of any other peo-
pie; and your lordship may observe that
the immigrant Jews, whose industry,
thrift and sobriety are frequently point
ed out as models to our workers, are
paid miserable wages for long hours Of
labor
In all foreign nations where the
standard Of living is lower than in Eng
land, your lordship will find that the
wages are lower also.
HAS not your lordship often heard
our manufacturers tell the English
workers that if they would emulate the
thrift and sobriety of the foreigner they
might successfully compete against for
eign competition in the foreign market?
MY lord, what does that mean but that
thrift would enable our people to live
on less, and SO to accept less wages?
Your lordship knows that our shirt
makers Of Manchester are miserably
paid
"This is because capitalism always
keeps the wages down to the lowest
standard Of subsistence which the peo-
pie will accept.
so long as our Englishwomen will
consent to work long hours, and live on
tea and bread, the law Of supply and
demand will maintain the present con-
dition OF sweating in the shirt trade.
III all our women became firmly con-
v1nced that they could not exist without
chops and bottled stout, the wages must
go up to price to pay for those things.
Because there would be no women
offering to live on tea and bread, and
shirts must be had
But what, my lord, is the result OF
the abstinence of these poor sisters of
ours? Low wages for themselves and.
for others
A young merchant wants dozen
shirts. He pays 10s> each for them.
He meets friend who only gave IS. for
his. He goes to the Ss. shop and saves
24s. This is clear profit and he spends
it in cigars, or champagne, or in some
other luxury; and the poor seamstress
lives on toast and tea
But although I say that sobriety and
thrift, If adopted by all the workers,
would result in lower wages, you are
not to suppose that advise you all to
be drunkards and spendthrifts.
No. The proper thing is to do away
with competition. At present, the en-
ployers in the scramble to undersell
each other, actually fine you for your
virtue and self-denial by lowering your
wages, just as the landlords fine a ten
ant for improving his land or enlarging
his house or extending his business
hne him by raising his rent.
And now we may. l think, come tc
the question of imprudent marriages.
The idea seems to be that a man
shou. d not marry until he is 'in posi-
tion to keep a WIFE," And it is a very
,ormon thing for employers and par
soIs, and other well-to-do persons, to
Ell the working men that they have no
light ITO bring children into the world
antil they are able to provide for them"
Now, let us clear the ground little
before we begin to deal with this ques-
ion on it's economic side-that is as it
'nec's wages ~
1t is bad for men and women to mar
y too young. 1t is bad for two reasons.
'1rstly because the body is not mature.
md secondly. because the mind is not
settled. That is to say an over early
marriage has bad effect on the health.
md since young people must, in the ma
ure of things, change very much as
hey grow older, an over early mar
iage is often unhappy.
| think woman would be wise not
Q marry before she is four-and-twenty:
nd | think it is better that the husband
hould be from five to ten years older
han the wife.
Then it is very bad for a woman to
ave many children, and not only is it
ad for her health, but it destroys near
Y all the pleasure of her life, SO that
ne is an enfeebled and weary drudge
1rough her best years, and is old before
er time.
These points being done with, we
ome face to face with the main uues-
on. 1t is very like the question Of
obriety and thrift. OF two poor work.
IS the one who is single is better of
ian the one who is married and has
rge family. That is to say, the mar.
ed man with many children is poorer
nd has more anxiety and trouble than
le single man. Again, the man with
le wife and the children is in a more
sspondent state than the single man.
e is less able to change homes or to
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