Year: 1879

MEssRs. EDIToRs Your issue Of tn,
14th brings to the surface FRIEND
seeking for light, and from his quota
tioIs OF scriptures we are led to believ,
that he is seeking for the truth. HI
desires to treat the question Of Supply
and Demand frem moral stand point


He refers to the third chapter Of Gene
sis, nineteenth verse. :" In the sweat o.
thy face shalt thou eat bread" HI
must not forget that this was curse
pronounced against man; also, Six
days shalt thou labor, &c." and YET
he is inconsistent enough tc admit that
he Is conscientiously opposed to work.
ing longer than he can help. How can
he reconcile this action Of conscience
with his quotations Of scripture. Does
he think 1t right to attempt to escape
the curse Of God in this way? How
ever, aside from all joking, he admits
that he has conscience, and that his
conscience rebels against too much Ia.
Dor; he is not like our friend who wrote
some days since, who would take us
bak >to the fourteen hour system to
keep us out of crime. In order that
We may fully understand the question
We are agitating 1t would be well for us
to define what we mean by labor. Our
friend seems to suppose that labor
means especially the use Of the limbs
and the body. Now there are two
kinds Of labor, as we all know, namely,
physical and mental. That which !
desire to accomplish is better balanc-
ing Of this question Of labor, or, in
other words, to lessen the hours Of the
physical laborer. for pb bysical labor, and
to increase his hours for mental labor ;
and "vice versa" to lessen the hours
of the mental laborer, for mental labor,
and let him do q portion of physical
labor. Notwithstanding the hopeless
condition Of our friends mind, who, to
quote his own words, thinks We are
I" assuming to usurp supreme power, "
and "as we'll might We talk about
modifying the laws that govern light,
&c. " l repeat, Notwithstanding his
hopeless state Of mind, he would find
encouragement If he would take look
down along the isle Of the ages, and
view the wonderful changes that have
taken place in the affairs Of man. II
not too young he would, perhaps, re-.
collect when tender girls and boys, as
we'll as persons Of mature years, labored
fourteen long hours each day, and
now they work ten hours. This
much of the curse Of hard ply
sical test has been removed, and If
our friend will have patience and be
hopeful, he will live to see the day
when eight hours will be the legal Pc
riod for days labor, and we will have
two hours more taken of from that
which he admits his conscience rebels
against. l do not agree with him that
honorable labor Is that which the con-
science should rebel against ; it is the
want Of proper division of labor, the
want Of a proper equilibrium that am
agitatipg, and, as said in my original
article, believe the times are oppor-
tune for this agitation and change. l
know that will be set down ny the
ca pitalist as an agitator and disturber
of the public peace, but cannot help
that, right is right, and If it be
right 1t should prevail. Tho question
might we'll be asked why are we pre-
pared for this change? My answer is
that the extraordinary development
and improvements Of our day have Gre
ated a supply that far exceeds the de-
mand, and that under our present
system the supply is accumulating, so
that in the nature Of things there is no
need that man should perform SO many
hours of physical labor each day. In
the providence of God the body of man
is being relieved from the servitude Of
excessive toll, in order that his mind
may have an opportunity to expand
and develop so that he may reason with
him over the questions that pertain to
eternal life. Was there ever time in
the history of the world that the land
was so ioverfowed with plentyf The
granaries and store houses are groaning
under the weight Of their burdens, the
earth is pouring out its supplies in
su perabupdance, the old lard and
whale oil lamp is supplied from ma
ture's heretofore hidden resources, and
thousands of gallons Of oil are daily
going to waste for the want of con.
sumer, &c. Come now and let US reason
together over this question, and think
We will b. able ts discover that a great
changeis is coming in the affairs OF men,
and whether VIZ will or will not lend a
helping hand, the great car of progress
will roll on. Peacably if we will, for
chilly if we will not. Yours Truly,


q. w. w