The Labor enquirer. [volume], December 23, 1882, Image 1

About The Labor enquirer. [volume] (Denver, Colo.) 1882-1888

Image provided by: History Colorado

                
THE LABOR ENQUIRER.
I
Are and the Way j
!cme of the
ling
<aws Which Ezist
s a Blot on
nity.
is of Toil and to!
I
and of the
.
•ire Assembly 142-1 j
bor bf This
liy document was
ry Benevolent. As
it-; of Labor, of this
rkman of that body
tains some valuable
tit suggestions as to |
remedying the ex
entire :
1 Brothers —When
lg accounts of the
noble and holy
lb new assemblies
lr grand organiza
lires me with new
of the oppressed,
[lid growth of the j
t, I am moved to j
. - question of labor. !
nportant subjects)
s to us as Knights j
cult to say wincli |
■st consideration,!
be differences of
edged that labor 1
i h ; without labor !
then, is it that (
i labor are almost i
r, if not in want, :
rerv few of them 1
and luxuries*ol'!
all th»i is unjust j
stems/'and J say
• country.
)ii that presents;
ire unjust laws i
is the lar#e ma- •
hem? and why,
cl to exist in a 1
d States, where
< 1 t'* make the
t \\ e have been
o long, and that |
n t<• us through
we are ignorant
ice is. 1 f siune
ithropisl. seme
he cause ot nu
a man as .1 nhu
i>rge, or i'eter
>
is some of the
• rubbed : it he
i eight < >r sold ;
e, is legal roh-
I usam of the
u a living tnr
ou r own ranks
•eat him with
seoildat bis
e have been
•e than j notice,
'.doe ideas are
It litarv disease,
»' -.4 troth is always
Id he told,
ain by the ex
d men behold:
ing to the old
1 1 S MS
s’ antipodes.” i
, - ing we must 1
always just. '
hat the laws j
•ong and un
jF because our j
ws they may
• , e must also
of learning,
ike the lead
i
•tion of fiu
ions begin
ig advanced
he appear-
B )u find the
L king in as i
7 - Again I i
r NO. 2.
TUATION.
“HE WHO WOULD BE JPREE, HIMSELF MUST STRIKE THE BLOW.”
DENVER, COLORADO, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1882.
repeat that the first and most important
thing we must do is to learn to admit
that the ideas now taught and practiced
; are false, and that we are the victims,
i As the Trish World says, correct ideas j
j must proceed successful action. We must I
j study the ways in which labor is robbed.
J Nor can we engage our time in the study
lof any object so important. Why is it
i that the man who plows and should
I fear the xant of bread? Why is it that
the man who works ten or twelve hours j
a day in the cotton or woolen mill, or j
in the shoe factory, cannot afibrt to wear.)
plenty of good clothes and shoes? Why |
is it that the men who toil all their lives 1
I
j in the erection* of dwellings—the men j
! who build both the palace and tne cot- j
: tage —for men to live in. hardly ever own 1
I one? or, if they do, it is a peer cue com- )
! pared with the houses occupied by those 1
i who labor none
These are questions that I think we i
have reason to asK ; and to these ques-
I tions it is to our interest to find a c< >rreet ;
i answer. ! »av bad laws are the cause of i
i ’ i
! all of this. We will not see or admit ail I
these unjust laws at once. If we did, j
;we would wipe them all out at once.
The history of the world shows that it
is only necessary for the people to know. ,
in order to act. We read of the Pilgrims .
landing ai Plymouth ; we find the causes j
that coin pel led them to leave the land!
I of their birth, the land where lived all 1
| those who were near and dear to them, ;
and to embark for a wild, uninhabited
! land, trusting in the mercy of Proyi
I deuce and the wild Atlantic, to he unjust !
laws which persecuted them. The laws,
of their nation prescribed in what way
they should pray to the Supreme Being.
They disputed the right of any king to
say how they should address the Uni
versal God ; because they knew he had
|no such right. But they admitted the
j right of that despotic power to rule over
[their worldly destinies, ft remained
, for their more enlightened descendants
jto rise up in their manhood and deny
I the right, of any king to rule over any
people. Whv did the descendants of
i these pilgrims declare man s indepen
dence and his right to life and liberty
i and the pursuit of happiness? Why did
j they declare that all men were created
free and equal? Because they knev, tne
( rights of men heiter than their fathers
j did. Yes. they shocked the civilized
world by declaring that all men were
[created free and equal—that the king
was no better iliau the peasant. I'iie
! men of learning smiled .sarcastically at
1 the idea of a people living without the
| paternal care of a king. But they did;
and to-day the signs of the times go to
i show that the days of kings in the world
are numbered. 5 os, the colonies de
clared that all men were created free
and equal. But to show the impressions
that false ideas make, the colonies up
held slavery ;• they did uot give the col
ored man 1. is liberty. Why? Because
the slave sc.-bun was maintained by the
government under which they lutd lived
as a divine institution. They did not see
the true light. Had they know n better
they would have done so. When they
were drafting that grand document the
constitution, in which they left tliechains
,of the colored man unbroken, could
they have looked j n q, t ] lL . future. it tin v
Could haw \iewed the battles ol Bui!
Kun, Gettysburg and the W iidernoss, it
they could have seen their desendants
wipingout slavery with the blood of a mil
lion men, do you think they would have
alloy,cd that inim >r?al document t Heave
their hands without adding that fifteenth
amendment, which was afterwards writ
' ten in so much blood ? It is not thirty
I years since men of intellect and educa
tion adveated slavery through the press ,
and preached it in the pulpit. They at
the same time boasted in the declaration
; that all men had the right to-life, lib- 1
erty and the pursuit of happiness.
Tlie child of to-dav .looks back with
! scorn and contempt upon the ideas of
Ith ose learned men. So will the child of i
; thirty years hence look on the ideas of
i the so-called learned men of to-day. j
For to-day laws are believed in and up- j
held which are as unjust and oppressive j
as were the slave laws : and to abolish [
such laws is our dutv.
W e must begin with the laud. We I
must admit that everyone who comes I
into this world has a right to live on the
earth, and that any law that gives to any
individual the right to buy, take or ap
propriate to himself more land than he
needs for his own use, any law that
sustains him in buying the land that one
or ten thousand could live upon, is an
unjust law —is the law that enslaves men. i
He buys that land, not because lie needs 1 :
it, not because he intends *:o use it him- <
self, but because he knows that those | 1
| who have no land are coming, that the ' 1
I rising generations are coming, that the
children unborn are coming and must
have the land,'must come to his tetrms. y
They cannot have bread to eat mil ess 1
they have access to mother earth ; kind j
what is the result'? They are his slaves j
I for perhaps the best part of'their lives,
j The 100 acres that he paid. SIOO for} he
i asks them 82,01)0 or $.">,000- lie mikes j
j that man and woman, those little, 4alf- j
1 fed children toil and sweat and drudge j
j eight or ten years —for what ? WThatl
l service has he returned them for their
! eight or ten years bf labor? He ‘ gave !
l them permission to go onto mother earth j
1 and labor—a right they had when they |
! were born : but a right that man’s unjust j
i laws deprived them of, the same as his;
1 _ # j
unjust laws deprived the colored man of
i his freedom a few years ago. Another
| man will buy or appropriate 100 or 1,000
[ city lots, not because lie needs them, but
[ because he know> others will need them. |
[ lie, is aware that they must slave and j
toil a portion of their lives for him, be- i
: fore be will allow them to make a home ;
ion the lots. This is one of the grand
! secrets whv those who labor none enjov !
| all the: luxuries, aud those who labor are |
! destitute. The many are slaves to the \
few and don’t know it. This is the j
! reason why one man owns one thousand |
j houses and homes, and one thousand !
! men do not own one.
•j The people must next abolish interest 1
ion money. How ? By baying otf all
! the national debt with money issued by ;
1 the government and thereby throwing;
i that money into circulation, and saving!
one hundred million dollars a year inter
jest . by abolishing national banks, and
jbv the government Establishing loan
I banks from which the people could bor
row money at 1 ner real by givingthe
1 same security they now have to give to
I other banks when borrowing at U> or jQ
; per cent., which per cent, labor has 1o
pay.
! The government, which means the j
i whole people, must ow n and run ali rail- 1
roads and public highwavs in the inter- :
i
esl of the whole people, and not g.vo to :
a lew men the chartered right to rob and
plunder the people as is now done. The
new railroads must be buiit by the gov
ernment, and the grading let. in con- .
reacts, not to otic or two non tractors, and
‘thereby make them the slave-drivers of
twenty or liliy thousand men. who do the
work. No. a few men must not get the |
work that w ni<] employ 50,i lUfi men om .
year. A few men inns’, not have the
pow'■-)• to stand between the workn’ien
: and the labor, tike the d >g in the man- >
. gcr. who uoifiii no* oat hay himself nor I
i allow the horse t,o cat it. The poor man I
or a dozen m ui who can lake only one
fourth ora half mile of the grade, shall j
[ receive the same consideration as the
man. who can take But miles. Then the |
men who do tin- work shall, n -eive the •
1 money and not. tin- bloated contractors |
who do no w ork. and in many cases d .n't !
understand how the work should hei
|-lone. I
Tne-e roads are and shall be" t*• r tin* !
.service an 1 ! -mefit of the people, and |
run only to pay expenses, and then the [
iminan ailbr-l u> ride in well a> ;
i the wealthy. \1! the eoal. iron. - -re and
oil that 'Bid and Nature put in the earth j
for til- benefit of ad the people who
: dwell in the nation, must be owned by j
■ the go - - emm-mt and worked in tin- .in- j
1 1 1 rests ■; tie.* pe-mle. i ; leust not be
left in l!i- power of a fe>\- to get control 1
of the coal in I’emiey! vaiiia or whatever ,
'state it may he in. \ few men must
1 not have til- 1 jM-w’er to say to the people
: iif the nation “we Imve the -•oril—w.',
-Inn't need it. tii“ people mod it, nut
j they must pay us tribute: they are at i
our piei cy-; wo have the power to damp
en the lire on every hearlh-sf-me in the 1
nation. Snell is now the ea.se. A wav i
with such barbaric laws!
I Another of the thousand laws bv
! which labor is robbed, is the patent right
j law. Labor saving machinery is - every
day being invented. The government
Isays to the individual whose invention
! first reaches the Patent Office, " We give
! you the right Lq tax the people of the
United States for a certain number of
years to whatever extent you wish, and
we will *punish with fine or imprison- ;
ment any man who will dare to make -
this machine. The sewing machine is j
about the most familiar illustration of
- patent right law ; a machine of which ;
the labor and material cost sls, was sold -
for sbo. The workingman who pur- ]
chased the machine paid out $75 more 1
than the workingman who made the ma- <
chine received. At $1.50 per day, which i
i i about the average wages in the eoun- 1
try, it would require the man purchasing 1
the machine to give all he could earn in i
two months into the hand of the man i
who did no work! See how labor is i
robbed. And this is the ease with all
inventions, large and small, and one Qt
the reasons why labor does not benefit
by labor saving machinery. What is the
remedy? Abolish the patent right law,
and as an inducement to the inventive
mijid, let the government buy inden
tions, giving premiums rangingfrom $lO,-
i)ii(i to SIOO,OOO. according to the estimated,
value of the invention. Let the governs
ment, after buying it, throw it to the
public, giving every man the right to
| make it and sell it as cheap as he can,
i and thereby--let the whole people enjoy
the benefits And blessings of labor sav
ing. machinery.
1 refer to the land swindle, the railroad
| swindle, usury swindle and patent right
| swindle only as illustrations of thethou
i sand swindles by which labor is robbed
; by laws.
| I shall m‘l be surprised if some of my
| brothers present may think unfavorably
of the ideas of justice which 1 have
! tried in this article to advocate, because, j
! as 1 said in the start, we have hereditary |
[ ignorance of our rights to combat. 1 ad
; init that the remedies 1 prescribe may be
[ somewhat crude. 1 am willing to cgn
sider any remedy which any brother
may oiler. But one thing is certain ; a
revolution is needed, and is coming. It
iis a revolution, first, of ideas. We will
have the educated snobs to deal with,
[ who will tell us it is freedom of contract,
jand legal. They will call us socialists,
j communists and nihilists, who want to
i confiscate the property. of respectable
people. But brothers, I" tell you, that
j when the tevolution comes, when the
people stop to think, all the assertions,
i misrepresentations and calumnies will
avail not —will be as chair in the wind—
! when the iords of creation, the men who
I create everything that is called wealth. [
when they look upon the man who ae- i
! cumulates a million dollars a year and
consider how iie got it, they will say,
" Had 1,000 of us worked every day
in the year, and had we saved all we re
ceived for our labor, we would not now
j- j
j have half as much as that man. Law
! has enabled that man to accumulate the j
labor of our hands. That law we will:
wipe out.” .fustice must be done, broth- j
! ers. What can he more unjust than the i
contract of luxury and want?
Some may say 1 make propositions j
that are unjust. Will you talk of injus
tice when men must beg leave to’ work j
•in mud and rain at $1.5() per day?!
When women must choose between :
want and worse? When children are’
growing up under Auditions that eon- '
| demn taem to lives of ignorance and I
vice. J ustice demands this revolution : j
, a justice that cannot be put off —a justice
j that with the scales carries the sword.
And it is coming! 1 lie glow of the dawn ;
is in the sky! Whether through the!
i ballot box or the roll of the war-drum, j
:it wit! '*om6. fhe standard isYaised. It j
j may be torn by prejudice and blackened
!by c;i' any : it may move forward and
; again be forced back : but once unfurled i
, A can never again be furled. Self-j
J ishness and ignorance will try to beat
! down and cover up the truth, but 1 think i
1 •- . I
tne times are ripe |or reform. The,
ground is plowed ; the seed is sown ; the ,
l good tree- will grow and develop, and in |
■ Mine the weary shall find rest beneath its j
shade. .1 ustice shall be established!
ami the child shall sec plainly that im- ,
in' ..->e wealth can be obtained only by
■ .Were, aud that under just systems it is
i ui} I'sible for the toiler t.<> be without,
plenty or to fear want; and when people
! see justice it will be as Byron said, were j
■ tilings but on IF. called by their right!
! name. < Vsar himself would be ashamed |,
of fame. - j
Icxtermlxiuting the Sandwich.
From Peck s Sun.
1 Bob Burdette,_ ot the Burlington 1
Jlawkeye, has the following" cheering I
remarks to make about the railroad 1
sandwich: “The date burned in the
bottom of the Cincinnati indestructible j
railway sandwich has led eminent arch- ,
apologists to infer they were originally i
cast for the “Mayflower” supplies. They ‘
are four inches thick each side and linpd *
with apparent traces of ham. The assay j
also shows up some indicatians of butter i
«
PRICE, FIVE CENTS.
of the Queen Anne but not in
paying They can be reduced
by strong acids or intense heat, but
cannot be crushed by friction. As food
they are not nutritious, but are perfectly
harmless. Doremus, who has subjected
them to a careful analysis, says there is
not enough ham in 2,000,000,000 of them
to endanger a two year old baby from
trichina 1 .” The Sun learns there is to
be a national convention of eating house
proprietors to adopt some new* article of
food in place of the sandwich: something
that one can eat without blasting it off
in sections. What the travelling public
needs is something simple and appetiz
ing, that is cheap and handy, which can
be eaten without carrying a set of bur
glars’ tools along. Of course, if a person
understands the combination of a sand
wich, he can get into it, but half the
people might as well try to eat an express
messenger’s safe. At the proposed con
vention, we understand a Chicago pro
prietor of an eating house will exhibit a
new article of food, composed* of one
part of codfish ball, two parts of liver,
ope part bologna sausage, one part cheese,
and two parts stale bread, the whole
elapboarded up with building paper or
strawberry shortcake crust and roofed
with hard tack. The ground plan and
front elevation of the new railroad food
looked well, as we saw it on exhibition
at the morgue in Chicago on Tuesday,
and it seemed as though it ought to take
the place of the sandwich. The contents
of the new ammunition can be reached
by a scuttle in the roof, or a door can be
made in the side, and the stuff can be
dug out with a cork screw. A Cincinnati
| railroad restaurant keeper thinks he
| could improve on the new Chicago food
I iby placing it ifi a percussion shell, about
ith e size of a cocoanut, which could be
, j exploded by pounding it on the arm of
'-a car seat or hitting it against a boot heel,
: j though we think it, would be difficult tq
. j regulate the charge to. explode it, and
| there might be danger of blowing out
| the eye of an innocent passenger. Some
people who travel are nervous, and thev
would crawl under the seats if an ex
plosion of such a sandwich took place.
, Some of the old eating house keepers are
so wedded to the old sandwich that they
| do not want to give it up, hoping to com
promise at the convention by having the
sandwich put together with a hinge, and
open hv a time lock; This, however,
would be dangerous in the case child
ren, who would be continually getting
; their lingers caught, in bet ween the shut-'
■ (ers of the sandwich. Those who favor
retaining the sandwich are no doubt
j men v ho .have a stock on hand sufficient,
j to Inst eight, or ten years, all painted and
j grained and varnished, and they think
it will be hard to get rid of them, but
we understand the government is readv
to Like the sandwiches ofl the hands of
; the restaurants, to use by the ordnance
i department for exterminating the In-
['bans. By tiring the sandwiches at the
Indians the government can prosecute
| the war and issue rations to feed the sur
j vivors at the same tune. If" a sandwich
j struck an Indian it would kill him, and
! the family could pick up the missle that
■ had laid the father low, and eat, it. The
j sandwich would not be a total loss, by
i any mean's, and we hope the convention
will decide to replace it by the new cen
tral lire food.
He«< and Peace.
1 The fluieral(services of the late James ,
I K. Smallwood, Jr., were held at the
I family resld ijnce, -No. G]o Curtis street
at 2:5a o’clock last ( Sunday afternoon,
j The sermon was delivered by the Rev.
| Mr. Bush, pastor of the M. L. church
; South!, It was necessarily short, as the
number of sorrowing friends and ac
quaintances assembled was so great that
it was impossible for all of them to enter
the house, and a large proportion stood
outside, near the windows, listening to
the eloquent and beautiful remarks of
the reverend gentleman. After he had
finished the services closed with the
singing of “Nearer, My God, to Thee.”
The casket was then placed outside for a
few moments while the Typographical
Union, of which “Jimmie” was a most
popular member, filed' past and looked
for the last tim* upon the face of the
departed friend and brother. The casket /
was placed In the hearse and the long
procession formed and slowly wended
its wav to Riverside cemetery, where, in
a lovely, sunny spot “Jimmie” will sleep
until the coming of that last day, when,
arising, he will take his place among
those best fitted by a nature fhll of
nobleness and a life replete with acts of
kindness, t<r share the brightest honors
in the great hereafter.