The Labor herald., May 22, 1886, Image 1

About The Labor herald. (Richmond, Va.) 1885-18??

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VOL. I-IsTO. 38.
TWO PICTURES.
LOOK ON THIS ON"E.
Around the gay and festive board
With song and laughter loud;
A reckless, free, carousing horde
Of magnates, rich and proud,
Assembled there, in all their might.
From wine and liquor mad.
The cry, "to us the world is bright,"
We care not who is sad.
"Fill up and drink! Here's to your health:
No laboring slaves are we.
But masters—strong in power and wealth,
Who laugh at poverty.
Though paupers cry, in deep despair,
We heed not what fhey say,
Their sufferings bring to us w> care,
So long as we are gay." -
AM> OK TiftSf 1
Near a dying child, who's sleeping.
Kneels a mother worn with care;
And her eyes are sore from weeping
And she upward looks in prayer.
Watching, waiting and entreating.
But no friendly help is near
For a heart that's quickly beating
With its anguish and its fear.
Then the noise of great carousing
Breaks upon the sleeper's rest;
And the frightened child, arousing.
Nestles close to mother's breast.
"Oh ! I'am dying, mother, dying,
Give me just one crust oi bread." |
Then the mother ceased her crying.
Through the open doorway fled. (
Soon we find her standing, sobbing, 1
There before a lordly home. I
And with pain her head is throbbing, ,
For its last bright hope is gone.
"What care we for want or sorrow y"
This is what she heard them say,
"So let others beg and borrow, '
Just so long as we are gay."
Homeward, on her way returning,
With a slow, unsteady tread,
And her cheeks from fever burning. J
Burning for the want of bread. (
When at last the door she reaches — (
Read the balance of our tale ,
In a mother's frantic screechs, ,
In a widow's piercing wail.
— Southern Industry.
HEE"EOBDT ADAIR."!
■
BY HARBY BOCKWOOD.
" And that is Amy Ross—your Amy (
you used to call her last winter. She
is quite different from the ideal I had
formed from your description. Very
pretty and modest, to be sure, but so
artlesa"
Miss Blanche Chetwynde arched her
pretty brows quite critically, and her
soft tones betrayed just the suspicion
of disapproval And somehow, Charlie
Hayden could not speak up for Amy
as he would have done if someone else
had spoken those words ; indeed Amy
did not look to him to night so beautiful ,
as he had anticipated. Perhaps it was
because Blanche seemed so regally
lovely and flashed upon him such be- ,
wildering smiles. l
Yes, Amy Ross was artless, he had
called her so many a time, and had
prized the quality above all others. So
it was not the remark itself that made
him close his lips when he ought to
have uttered words of praise. No, it
was the tone, and the expression, and
because Blanche Chetwynde had said
it.
For Blanche was a belie, and an
heiress, and she had the loveliest face
of any woman in the metropolis, with '
eyes that outrivaled in brilliance the
diamonds flashing upon her boson.
Amy Ross was a heiress also, and
sha was as pretty, in a modest, unpre
tentious way.
Charlie Hayden had known and
loved her for a long time, and they j
were soon to be married, it was said.
The previous winter he had spent in
New York, and through a business ac
quaintance he had met Miss Chet
wynde. In the course of the season
they had become exceedingly good
friends, and he had felt highly compli- '
mented by the evident preference of so j
great a star in the social firmament.
Charlie and his brother dwelt in the I
picturesque little town of Argyle, under
the shadow of the Alleghanies.
Of course he
to include Argyle among the stopping
places of the next summer's trip ; and
so it came about that near the first of
September Blanche Chetwynde became
a guest of the Hayden residence, there
to remain urtil her friends should come;
for her.
Mr. Chetwynde was recalled to the
city by business interests, and could
not return for his daughter for two
weeks. But Argyle was a delightful
place in which to spend the interim.
It was a bright, cool evening, with
fresh mountain breezes, and the air
ringing with the songs of the night
birds outside. And within all was light
and music and gaiety.
It had been only a croquet party to
begin with, but the air was too chilly
to admit of playing after sunset, and
so the entire party repaired to the
drawing-room.
Amy Ross had been taken quite un
well that morning, and consequently
had not arrived until a few minutes
ago. So this was Miss Chetwynde's
first opportunity of meeting her.
Blanche fanned herself languidly, for
it was quite warm even in that.spa
cious apartment. She smiled in her
bewildering way after her remark, and
added, half apologetically:
THE LABOR HERALD.
OFFICIAL ORGAN OF DISTRICT ASSEMBLIES 84 AND 92, KNIGHTS OF LABOR.
" You must not infer that I do not
think Miss Ross very charming, for no
doubt she is. She is very unlike you,
however; pardon me—but she seems
to me less brilliant than I should ex
pect your choice to be."
The young man bit his lip, and did
not reply at once.
•' Perhaps not brilliant," he returned
at last. " But she is a true heartedj
little woman, and I have known her for i
a long time—from childhood in fact.
We were sort of plighted to each other
when we were children, and our en
gagement came about as a matter of :
course. She calls me her Robin Adair; !
because she says I have been*fcfuc to i <
her so many years. Sometimes 1 iCHi, <
of late, that I am not so true at heart 1
as I ought to be."
He spoke in a half soliloquizing tone. 1
Miss Chetwynde placed one white i
finger upon his arm, and her words !
and glance thrilled him strangely. i
"Do you believe, Mr. Hayden, that! c
we should be bound by duty to anyone ! j
before marriage? I would not marry c
one whom I did not love, if we stood
at the altar. Duty makes more un- 1
happy unions than any other cause, in i
my opinion." <
" There is much truth in what you c
say, Miss Chetwynde. At times I fear j
that I have been too hasty. But why j a
am I saying this to you ? It is a trifle ; 1
out of place, is it not?" i
She smiled in her bright way again, | \
and returned in her most velvety |
tones: c
" Perhaps it is out of place. But' t
you know you told me something j a
about it when you were in New York, i
[ think there is no danger of betraying ; v
sach other's confidence. But here
3omes your Amy again, and we must j
aot give her grounds for jealousy, r
Remember the first waltz is yours! " I
She arose and walked away as Amy j 1
;ame up. Her last words came to the [ t
jars of the latter, and she looked up! 1
nto Charles' face with a slight expres- i
iion of surprise. i
" I thought you always claimed me I
'or the first waltz, Charlie," she ex-j I
flaimed. j«
His face flushed with the first pang j I
)f anger he had ever felt toward her. [ I
" And is it necessary that I should 1 1
lever deviate from that rule because Ii t
lave not before ? She is a guest, Amy,! v
md she requested the favorT 1 thought [
fou would not care." I
His tone softened toward the last i f
part of the remark, for he noticed a s
sensitive tremor of the pink lips.
"Of course I shall not object For- I
jive me for speaking of so little a
thing. But you know I came too late
for the croquet, and I have scarcely
seen you to-day. I'm silly, I suppose, '
but I- do not quite like Miss Chet
wynde !''
She spoke hesitatingly, and he gave ■,
a quick glance of surprise.
" Not like Mis'sJChetwinde, Amy! : .
And what, pray, can you find in her to ,
dislike ? I find her a very charming .
woman indeed."
1
Amy Ross only turned away her face
to hide the look of disappointment that ,
flashed across it.
" I received a letter from papa this
morning, and he is to come for me to
morrow. And it may be a long time .
before I see you again."
Blanche Chetwynde's soft tones
sounded very regretful, almost tremu ■
lous, and they caused Charlie Hayden
to face her in his impulsive passionate .
way.
" And it will be like taking away the ';
light and life of Argyle for me! j
Heavens! have I made a mistake ?"
" I fear we have both made mistakes, '
Charlie. But mine is the greater one,:
for we have only learned to care for
each other, while you are bound to an
other. If we had only known each j
other a year or two earlier! "
They were upon the veranda, and
the shades of the evening were casting
their witching twilight around them. '
' —Anil ft ■beeuib Jto irim~iiiaTT"mj Kaor
seen Blanche Chetwynde so beautiful
as to-night.
In that brief moment he forgot Amy,
forgot himself, everything save the fact
that this queen of beauty loved him
and would become his wife for the ask
ing- »
" Blanche, it is not yet too late, for
I will wed you in spite of the chains
that bind me to another. She would
not wish me to keep a pledge that were
better broken, for it would only make
three unhappy in the place of one. I
will follow you to New York upon the
next train and we will marry each
other, after all."
He spoke rapidly, impulsively, and
she listened, while a triumphant glow ;
came into her cheeks. And Charlie
Hayden clasped her in his arms and
showered kisses upon her face—hot,
burning kisses, very different from
: those he was wont to bestow upon the
! fair, cool cheek of Amy Ross.
"And you will consent, will you
not?" he asked.
" Consent! And why should I not ?
Love rises supreme with me, and all
that I desired was the assurance that
i mine was returned. How happy we
j shall be! "
"THAT IS THE MOST PERFECT GOVERNMENT IN WHICH AN INJURY TO ONE IS THE CONCERN OF ALL."
Happy! Yes, he thought so, too,
in that hour of his blind intoxication.
And they separated with the promise
to meet in New York twenty-four hours '
hence.
The next day came, and with it Mr.
Chetwynde. And the twain left for the
I great city upon an afternoon train.
Charlie Hayden had hardly seen her
| that day, and as for Amy, he had not
j the courage to meet her, for he had re
solved to leave without informing her
of his object. Once in New York he
would write her a letter, telling her all
about it.
Those were his plans; and so, with
! out speaking of his destination to
one, he packed his vaKee and
the depot.
The train was a little late, and he!
had to spend half an hour in the wait
ing room.
While there he overheard two gentle
men, evidently residents of New York,
conversing together, and he was sur
prised to hear them mention the name
of Blanche Chetwynde.
" I wonder what new deviltry she
has been cutting up in this quarter.
She tries something new in her line
every year. It is not generally known,
even in New York, but she married a
young banker in Detroit two years ago,
and he got a divorce from her lately, I '
have heard, but upon what plan I could
not learn. But her father's millions
will cover a multitude of sins."
This and "much more came to the
ears of Charlie Hayden as he awaited :
the coming of the train. And when it
at last arrived he turned-his back upon '
it and returned to his house, half wild
with shame and self-reproach.
Now that the glamor cast by her
presence was gone he remembered
many inconsistencies in the behavior of
Blanche Chetwynde during her stay in
Argyle, and he felt devoutly thankful '
that he had been warned ere it was too '
late.
The next day he went over to see '
Amy Ross. She met him with one of
her arch smiles, and upon the instant '
he wondered how he could have been '
untrue to her even for a moment. That
he loved her now he was certain, far
better than he could ever have loved I
Blanche Chetwynde. That other sen- :
timent had been but a rash infatuation, I
which served to teach him a lesson.
He did not confess all to for ■
he dared not then. But he told her a '
few things which he and Blanche had '
said to each other.
And she forgave them all, and called
him her " Robin Adair " as of old.
♦..».-•»
Friends of the Workingmen. ,
Another one—the professor from |
college. By him no truth is apprecia- |
ted, except it be mouldy and musty ■
with age, endorsed by the faculty and
written down by a duly trained and
harnessed scholar of books. The pres- •
ent " discontent and irritation caused
by " uneducated agitators " among the
lower classes hurts his refined and cul
tured mind. He approaches the sub
ject of social enconomy with the "scien
tific method" and is bristling with
" hard, stern facts." Human misery he
measures by the metric system and di
vine truths he weighs in scientific
scales. He is a true believer in the al
mighty dollar and has unshaken faith
in the immortality of interest. To him
human misery is a disagreeable and in
convenient fact, to be cured by " Ricar
do's iron law" and—death. Inven
tions and machinery have made mil
lions of human beings useless and su
perfluous, and "they ought to organ.
j ize " and consider the best way to get
' out of the world of trouble and tears.
j "These are hard lines." The strong
| are fit to survive, and the weak will
; have to suffer and die. He is one of
the strong! He disagrees with the
j teachings of the carpenter's great son !
I of Nazareth, as dangerous, sentimental
and socialistic, and as opposed to the
teachings of Adam Smith and Ricardo.
I He agrees with Robespierre that we
to have a religion. His-, tbgj,
■ " religion of ethics." He, aB high priest I
to teach the workmen humility, self
sacrifice, economy, and to worship with
reverence in the gilt temple of capital,;
the stuffed and tinseled idols of mam- i
mon. His advice to the laborer: Work, j
pay interest, pay rent or—death. And |
the laborer! the creator and sustainer J
of all social life—-just come to con
' sciousness—how much he can learn
J from his enemies! For friends he has
! none but himself— The People.
The New York World, in a keen and
i incisive article upon the Chicago affair,
I says: " Th« Chicago anarchists are not,
as a rule, American citizens, and are
[ not workmen. They never did a day's
: honest labor in their lives and they
j ■ have no sympathy with the labor move
[ ment of the present time. They do
not want eight hours for a day's work,
, nor any work at all except that of riot
and bloodshed. They do not want four
dollars for a day's wages; they prefer
to take their chances of plunder in a
; general overthrow of law and in the
horror and confusion of burning cities.
' Labor creates; they destroy. Labor
brings life and happiness, while they
, spread death and misery in their track.
B ( They hate government, police, law and
j property."
va, 22, isse.
! AIR, POWDERLY YS, WALL ST,
LABOR'S REPRESENTA TIVE VIGOROUS
LY CRITICISES A BROKER'S
CIRCULAR.
THE GENERAL MASTER WORKMAN'S VIEWS OS
MARGINS HE HAS SOMETHING TO SAY OF '
SPECULATION AS AN ANNEX TO " REGULAR
BANKING "-STOCK BOARLs AND THE GKAIN
CROPS THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR ARE NOT
ANARCHISTS AN UtUIROH LETTER.
I have before me the ' Monthly
Financial Circular of Henry Clews &
Co.,'' bankers and stock brokers ef New
York. Expressing disappointment thajj
"" the hopeful tone of tfac hrat
Hias not so far been realized,' it gives
as one of the reasons "the retjition of .
agricultural products at the interior
owing to their unprecedently low
prices." Men not accustomed to the
manner in which "agricultural pro
ducts " are brought to market may say
that the agriculturalist is responsible
for that, and that he is simply holding
back for a rise in wheat or corn. The
reader has only to turn to the fourth
page of the circular in question and he
will find one of the keys which when
turned in the lock shuts off the supply
of wheat and corn as effectually as
though a blight had fallen on the
crops. That part of the circular says:
"In addition to our regular banking
business we are prepared to execute
orders for investment or on margin in
stocks, bonds, grain, provisions, cotton
and petroleum."
Grain and provisions are counted
among the things to be put up and
kept up until the gamblers in the neces
saries of life have realized a handsome
sum on the investment secured for
them by the firm of Henry Clews & Co.
The workingmen of the United States
have not complained of the unprece
dently low prices of agricultural pro
ducts ; they are not to blame for the
retention at the interior of these pro
ducts. The farmer, whose labor goes
to bring forth the grain is, by the aid
of labor-saving inventions, prepared
and can sell his produce at a profit for
less money than formerly; he may be
willing to sell the grain that is yet to
grow, but that which grew last year is
no longer in his possession. The
granary of the agriculturist is not now
the repository of last year's grain! if
you visit " the interior you must gsil!T*
access to the inside of a grain elevator
if you would find the grain. Before
the agricultural product leaves the " in
terior" it is bought and sold a half
dozen times. It dances to the tune of
speculation through the hands of as
many buyers, each of whom must have
his "margin." In Europe, in olden
times, it was a prison offence to buy
wheat to sell again, and the man who
violated the law was mobbed and im
prisoned. Times have changed since
then.
Adam Smith said that wheat was
least liable of all commodities to be
absorbed "by a few great capitals
which buy it all up," for the reason that
" its owners can never be collected in
one place." But such an institution as
the Chicago Board of Trade gathers
the grain in from the farms, and •' own
ers " give way to owner. It is no
longer necessary to collect the owners
in one place; to collect the grain is
quite sufficient. That can readily be
done to-day.
The house that "in addition to its
regular banking business" buys and
! sells grain and provisions without han
dling them should not constitute itself
a censor of the action of others, as is
done by the firm of Henry Clews & Co.
when they say: " The Knights of Labor
have undertaken to test, upon a large
scale, the application of compulsion as
a means of enforcing their now enlarged
demands." That statement is false.
I The Knights of Labor have not under
taken any such test, and it comes with
an ill grace from any business house to
make that statement when it is a known
fact that over four thousand Assemblies
the Knhrhts of Lahor have volnnta-.
' lily pledged themselves not to press
their demands at this time in order
that business may not be further de
pressed. The circular throughout
classes the Knights of Labor with the
! Anarchists. If Henry Clews & Co.
I were firm believers in the truth of the
1 assertions made in their circular, they
would not think of inviting the wrath
of over 5(10,000 Anarchists and their
"sympathizers." The statements made
in their circular do not bear the im
press of sincerity, and the business
men to whom they are sent must not
be misled by them. The Knights of
Labor are in no way identified with the
Anarchist element. The organization
has not applied compulsion as a means
of enforcing "their now enlarged de
mands," nor have the demands been
enlarged.
The strikes now progressing in
\ many places for shorter hours did not
originate with the Knights of Labor or
' with any of the trades unions of the
: United States. The " Federation of
Trades" at its annual convention
recommended the first of May as a
suitable date on which to begin to put
the eight-hour plan in operation. That
I ; body did not vote to hurry the project,
I nor to spring it upon the country, noi
yet to strike for it. It was the inten
tion to begin on the first of May to
put the eight-hour plan in operation,
and to continue the work peaceably
and lawfully until it became universal.
Few men object to the reduction of
the hours of labor; on the contrary,
jvery thinking man, every man who
ias watched the rapid advances made
n labor-saving machinery, will admit
hat a reduction of working hours is a
lecessity. The employment of muscle
n the world's development is rapidly
giving way to the use of machinery
vith its tenfold powers of production.
rcectal capacity of man is now
Jk| i its ntniL . It..
remitted that the brain-worker cannot
£and the strain of 1«» a». hours of toil.
Does it not seem strange that such
nen as Herr Most, Jay Gould, August
spies and Henry Clews should unite in
iondemuing the Knights of Labor!
)ne party denounces the Order because
ts members will not submit quietly to
ivery injustice or imposition that may
>c practised on them. The other con
temns the Knights because they are
00 conservative. Let me quote the
anguage of the Anarchist who spoke
it the meeting in Chicago last Monday:
1 Quit the Knights of Labor, they will
t9ver do any good. * * * Anarchy
8 the only way for the workingmen to
ireak the chains of- slavery in which
hey are bound by the capitalists. * *
iYith revolvers in one hand, your knife
n the other and bombs in your pockets
narch on to revolution and freedom."
That speaker did not voice the senti
uent of the Knights of Labor or of aay
ither labor organization in America,
le would as readily use his revolvers
md bombs upon the workingmen whom
te addressed as Jay Gould would
vreck a railroad or swindle the honest
lapitalist who might be deceived by his
ecent long talks upon public morals.
Che honest, stalwart American work
uan, whether native or naturalized, is
to more to be compared to this sho:rt
ighted villian than the darkest night
sto the brightest |day. The Knights
if Labor are an army of peace a:ad
,nd good will, and those who quote
hem as anything else grossly misrepre
ent our order.— World.
■♦-• m m —i
Signs of Progress.
lit is very refreshing to us working
nen to follow the change of ideas which
s taking place in the minds of various
Ben. Not many years ago the pro
essors in the collegiate establishments
if the country joined with the teachers
a the pulpit in asserting thai there
fas no such thing as a labor movement
a the United States, that such a thing
pas unnecessary, and, furthermore,
hat it is impossible.
We have seen with what diligence
he divines of all denominations, in al
ections of the country, have lately
.pplied their inactivity to the "labor
[uestion ;" that is, to the very question,
he existence of which some years ago,
hey pronounced an impossibility.
We have an instance of collegiate
gentry taking the question in hand,
md, of course, we shall surely find
iomething new—something that the
workers have never conceived of—in
ivhat they have to say upon the ques
tion. Since the professors possess the
'superior minds" of the world, we
must listen in all veneration and all
submissive deference to their oracular
axpressions.
The Phi Beta Kappa chapter of the
sollege, New York, met ai d listened to
a paper on "trades unions." Mr. Mac-
Adam took the ground that the trades
anion question was above everything
else. It was the embodiment of the
idea that land and capital take more
than belongs to them, and labor conse
quently receives less. If trades unions
were combinations against organic law,
then they must fail, since organic laws
were immutable. The points in dis
pute are s First, wages; second, hours
of labor ; third, workmen's rights. The
speaker then referred to the burning of
tUe xound-house in Pittsburg during
the railroad riots of 1877 and to the
strike of the Western Union employ
ees in 1883, and briefly stated his posi
tion as follows : The trades union is an
organized resistance against the en
croachment of capital. The strike is
its weapon of last resort, without which
appeals, protest and denunciations
would be an empty waste of matter.
The measure of the efficiency of the
strike is the injury which it inflicts upon
the capitalists. And when men over
leap the bounds of law snd order, and
work destruction with club 3 and fire
brands what is there to say but injus
tice breeds violence? Many political
writers advise workingmen not to strike,
but to resort to arbitration. Arbitration
amounts to nothing unless backed up
by a threatened strike. Trades unions
are objected to by those with trade
proclivities; but although mistakes are
sometimes made, yet the unions had
their uses, and as such deserved to be
encouraged.
Now all this is of course entirelj
new to workingmen, and we thanl
these "professors'' for having bestowec
such a vast amount of elucidation upor
our dull and benighted minds. Truly
| are they "second Daniels come k
judgment ?" What a gigantio amount
off elucidation do these professors not
enjoy? Could ever such a superb
array of knowledge be displayed by
workingmen—who said all this, and far
more, over a century ago? Truly, as
the professors say, "knowledge is pow
er.''—Laborer.
Throw Off the Party Collar.
God never intended that the honest,
intelligent workingmen of America
should be the slaves of any masters,
whether corporations or politicians. It
was never designed that they should
wet\r a political party c iDar. They are
Mm '-■ b «—-:, -'----'
and act for themselves.
TJae K. of L. recognize this truth in
their platform of principles. So far
as the public knows, all K. of L. mem
bers are instructed to keep out of party
politics as an organization, but it is
their duty to study and learn all they
can of true political matters, that is,
the science of government. No man
in connecting himself with the K. of L.
is asked to abandon his old party rela
tions. If he is a Democrat, a Repub
lican, or a St. John man, he becomes
none the less such by becoming a K.
of L. member. But he may honestly
desire to change some of the laws now
in force, and to have new and better
laws enacted, and this case he must
study politics. He should study what
is for the best interests of the people
and act accordingly. Party politicians
do not always make laws for the good
of the people, and it is the duty of
every good citizen, whether he belongs
to any organization or not, to go to
the ballot-box at every election and
select the best man to carry out his
political views, without the slightest
regard as to the political name he is
called by, or the party he has acted
with.
All good citizens should shake off
the political collar and all the prejudices
that go with it, and be men, acting in
an independent, honorable and fearless
manner for the greatest good to the
greatest number. Let men and not
party be what is voted for and sup
ported. What do we care what the
color a man's hair is, to what church
he belongs or what political party he
affiliates with, if he is an honest, up
right, sturdy friend of justice, equality
and "the rights of labor ? Let us be
men and support all such, entirely re
gardless of political predelictions.
What love can any true friend of
labor have for either of the old political
parties? What has the Republican
party, in its rule of twenty-four years,
ever done to ameliorate the condition
of labor? What more than it has
done have we any reason to expect will
be done by the old Democratic party ?
There is precious little difference that
can see between the principles,
leaders or rank and file of the two
old parties. If one has had its Belk
naps and Robesons, the other has also
had its Floyds and Tweeds. If one
has been smirched with army contracts
and star route rascalities, the other has
had its Pan electric scandals and whis
key ring control. If there have been
Democratic rebel brigadiers in the
South, there have been Republican
thieves in the North. Southern Demo
cratic tissue ballots have been offset by
Northern Republican corporation in
timidation and open vote-buying. In
matters of principle, there is also but
the slightest difference between them.
Both are divided on the money ques
tion, the tariff and everything else that
is of popular concern. The chief ob
ject of both is simply spoils, spoils,
spoils, and all their efforts for suprem
i acy have degenerated to a mere scram
j ble for place and official pap.
The Budget puts this question to
every candid, thinking workingman in
the country: "Now, honest injun, isn't
this so ?" Then, how can you justify
yourself in longer following them,
blindly, like a sheep led to the slaughter,
a bull with a ring in his nose, or a dog
wj!& T a collar on his neck ? Shako off
: that collar. Do your own thinking
and voting. Don't vote for any man
i at another's dictation. Don't vote for him
at all, unless| he is an honest, fair and
upright man and a true friend of labor
whom you know will stand right up
with a good, stiff backbone and fight
i the labor battles twenty-four hours
' every day of his life. When you find
such a man as this, give him your vote
and your whole solid support, and for
, God's sake don't to ask whether he is
a Republican, a Democrat, a St. John
man or an old-line Whig. He is the
man you want, and jou can elect him
: if you give him your solid vote.
It is the duty of all workingmen to
act as a unit of force to repeal the ag
, gressions, to punish the injustice, and
to prevent the autocracy of organized
capital, as represented in corporations
which are practically above the law,
and which are notoriously omnipotent
|in every legislative conclave, from
Congress down to the Council Chamber
of the petty borough. They can only
do this effectively by throwing the par
ty collar to the dogs, becoming men
and supporting good men and true
principles at the ballot-box. In this
way they can easily win a bloodless,
grand and everlasting victory, and sur
, prise will be occasioned if they do nol
i do it— Budget.
Henry George On Eight Hours.
The movement for the reduction of
the working day to eight hours deserves
earnest support. It is a step toward
securing to the benefits which advan
cing civilization ought to bring and
making human life fuller and higher.
That a creature so wonderfully en
lowed as man, placed in a world so
ivell stored with all the material his
aeeds require, should spend the greater
sart of his conscious life in the effort
;o maintain existence is a thing so mon
itrous that only long habit blinds us to
ts folly and wrong. The highest mali
car ~>ri •■ develop when
the njawßtai wants are satisfied "ie
most precious flower of existence can
uuly bloom in leisure, and yet, to the
jreat majority of men in our highest
civilization, real leisure is a thing un
known, for the few hours of the work
ng day which remain to the man
vhose faculties have been on a strain
or ten or twelve hours are not at leis
ire ; nor yet is there leisure in the days
md weeks and months of involuntary
dleness which the vicissitudes of our
ndustrial organization force upon hun-
Ireds of thousands idleness accompan
ed by wearing uncertainty and racking
tnxiety more exhausting than toil. For
;rue leisure the faculties must be fresh,
md care must be absent.
According to such authorities as
Prof. Therves Rogers, the working day
n England six centuries ago was only
right hours; yet, even in the absence
)f all the inventions and improvements
;hat since that time so enormously in
creased the productive power of labor,
she working class enjoyed a rude com
fort and an exemption from the harass
ing dread of not being able to make a
living, which despite the low level of
civilization in all the essentials of
Healthful and happy human life, far su
perior to that of millions of their
Jescendants in this wonderful nine
teenth century.
What, indeed, we may well ask, has
the material progress of which we are
so boastful, really dene for the masses
rf men, if to get what is after all only a
bare living, they must work longer than
their fathers, six centuries ago? Surely
it is time that the great body of people
should, in increased leisure and lessened
care, begin to get some advantage of
all that the, generations have done to
render matters plastic and force obedi
ence to hman will.
Without this our civilization is but a
delusion, our advance but a toil of
Sysiphus. Aye! it is worse. The ten
dency of the minute division of labor
that is becoming more and more charac
teristic of modern industrial methods is
to make the task of the individual
workman more monotonous and less to
bring into play those higher qualities
of judgment and skill whose exercise is
necessary to intellectual health and de
velopment. The workman is becoming
a mere tender of machinery, and his
work the doing over and over again of
some single one of the many processes
required for the production of a single
article.
This tendency, which is of the nature
of modern industrial improvements,
would not be of itself regretted if the
gain in leisure to the workman was
anything like commensurate with the
gain in productive power. But if it
involves no reduction of working hours
its effect must be to degrade the work
er, and in spite of public schools, to
lessen popular intelligence.
Even if the reduction of the working
day involved a temporary decrease in
the production of wealth, it would still
be a measure of wisdom and prudence.
But it does nothing of the sort.
When glut and stagnation are popu
larly attributed to "over production,"
when hundreds of thousands who
would gladly be at work stand idle, a
reduction of hours, even if it propor
tionately lessened the efficiency of labor
a reduction of the working day must
increase it. The great agent in pro
daciioiteis-aot muscle, but mind.
The proposition to reduce the work
ing hours is a proposition to secure the
masses more leisure, and is thus a
proposition for the increase of populai
intelligence—that faculty which ie
alone competent to remedy the glaring
injustice which now attends the distri
bution of wealth, and from which in
creased power in the production ol
wealth must proceed. Its effect will be
not only to equalize in a better mannei
work and leisure, but to increase the
efficiency of work, and thus make more
leisure possible.
The reduction of the working day tc
eight hours involves no reduction oi
wages. Under the conditions that ex
ist, wherever land has been made
private property and men who have
nothing but the power to labor are
consequently found in • a cut throal
competition to sell their labor powei
to some other human creature who car
give them " leave to toil," the genera
note, wages must be content to live on
If the working day were increased tx
sixteen hours wages would not rise. I
it were reduced to six hours thei
would not fall. But the longer th<
working day the less the ability of thi
workers to discover the remedy, th<
wrongs of which they all are conscious
PRICE 5 CENTS
The shorter the workingday thegreater
the power.
In the attempt to limit the working
day to eight hours the labor associations
are taking the most hopeful step they
ever yet attempted.
Henry George.
No sane man believes or ever believed
that the Knights of Labor have any
connection or sympathy with the or
ganization of Anarchists. The monopo
listic press did not dare to charge such
&, thing, its nearest approach being a
demand that organized labor disclaim
any connection with the authors of
the effect of
denying complicity in the murder be
fore the crime was charged upon them,
many Assemblies swallowed the bait
and now find themselves defendants at
the bar of public opinion, with these
same monopolistic newspapers in the
roll of prosecutors. The man who
doesn't know that it is the mission of
the Knights of Labor to build up and
not pull down, to save life and not de
stroy it, isn't worth enlightening. Such
men as McCormick, the Stude
bakers, and the coal barons are respon
sible for the presence of Anarchists in
this country. The Knights of Labor
never imported a single one nor edu
cated them in their hellish doctrine. If
the public desires to visit its wrath
upon the co-partners of the Anarchists
in their bloody work let it first take in
hand the Government officials who
taught them how to disregard law by
winking at the violation of the statute
against the importation of foreign
labor under contract, and then turn
its attention to the monopolists who
gulled these ignorant people into the
belief that they could support their
families and live like princes in this
country on eighty-five cents per day
Let the men who are responsible take
any action they may see fit to set them
selves right before the public, but inas
much as the Knights of Labor are in
nowise to blame for the presence of
Anarchists or the bloodshed in Chicago,
and the public knows it, let the work
of grinding out exculpatory resolutions
cease before we make ourselves ridicu
lous.—Labor Signal.
m i »
500 pairs Men's High Cut and Low
Quarter Sample Shoes, at half their
value, at Kaufmans 1539 Main street
The present strikes are of such a
general character in all the laboring
centers of this country as to indicate
that workmen have grievances, which
leads them into frenzied commotion
when they debate their actual condition
and the stealthy tread of capital to fur
ther debase and enslave them. They
see that the hard hand of monopoly
penetrates the United States from
ocean to ocean, and that society is rap
idly drifting into two strats—-the very
rich and the very poor. The most
careless and stupid observer realizes
that there is a radical wrong somewhere
in our political economy, without being
able to define the course or propose a
remedy.— Ex.
Dowden's Dental Fluid, endorsed by
all Dentists. Try a bottle. For sale
everywhere. H. M. Sheild & Co.,
Proprietors,
Fifth and Marshall St
The national bankers are a set of
favorites or middle men who borrow
money of the Government, at one per
cent., with which to speculate upon the
necessities of their neighbors by re
loaning the same at six, eight, ten and
twelve per cent. Why this class legis
lation, why not permit individuals to
borrow at the same rate on good real
estate security ? Echo answers, why !
Corporations and individuals should be
put on an equality in this respect, there
can be no just reason to the contrary.
The enemies of labor have influenced
the Knights of Labor to ignore politi
cal actiocjiLtljf! redress of their griev
ances. The idea is absurd. All labor
troubles have their origin and basis in
class legislation. A good remedy will
be found in the repeal of old laws and
the enactment of new ones for the ben
efit of the whole community, the great
army of workingmen in particular.
It was a great triumph for liberty
when the last shackle fell from the last
slave, and all men owned themselves.
It will be a grander triumph for free
dom when the last galling fetter is
broken from the limbs of industry, and
all men can say they own the profits of
their own labor.
——♦•-».-•»—
Over-production is impossible while
multitudes are suffering for need of
| said production. The idea is absurd
i and preposterous. A sensible remedy
! consists in measures affording constant
employment and liberal wages. Al
leged over-production will then be con
sumed.
The owner of a gambling house with
a fixed percentage in his favor is not
more certain ultimately to absorb the
money of all players than is the money
lender to absorb the capital of all busi
ness—under the present facilities to
extend nsnrv.