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Miscellany: Evils Which Oppress The Mass

Miscellany: Evils Which Oppress The Mass image
Parent Issue
Day
8
Month
August
Year
1842
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

■Itts time, no matter irom wJiat sourccin coinca, tbat eontething should be done íor the eJtvution and happiness of the labonng classes, who coinpose the great majority of mankind. The press and polhicians neglect this question entirely: tlie party strile, and the corporate feeling whicli is engcnd'Jicd by bvlonging to a party, prevent them eutirely innn würkingconsistently íor the good of the people, and trom searching arduously ior ■the meaiis oí uset'ul and practica! ieionii6. We Jwmlcave the idol öf party politics aside, which ib bewildering the country and is the worst enemy of real social progress, and labor íor a deeper refb.m. The practical steps to bc taken are - First. To uo away witli tho present lalse, repug unit and ill roquited system oí' labor, and repluee it by attractiye industry. Sccond. To do away with disunion, opposition and i'reo competition, - particularly between the working classes, which lead gradually to a reductioii of wtiges and a miseratile pecuniary dependency, and establish associatioji, ■combi iiaiion and union in tlicir place. These questions ought to be broached ar.d dis■cussed; but thr heralds of publieity, authois. ncwspapei s, &c, are only occupied with the rich and the great, and their interests. Banks. Commerce and electoral intrigues, the f;:shions, landers and chronieles ot the iashionable world. are fertile, and, as it would appear, the only interesting subjects of conversatiun. There is nothingagreeable in penetraling iuto the work-shojs and nianufaetories of our falsc societies, with 'heir nionotony, dirt and miasms. In the vexal'on8 and anxieties of the laboring mass, there is a poor field for üterary display; but it should be entered, and the evilsand suileringsof our toiling 'Howcrfiatures. who free us Irom the brutalizing "irihen of repugnaut labor, should be e.xanrned, and means ol reform earneslly sought for. Ino rich, and those whosa pens and imaginaone ?re at their service, should remornber that_ _ - ■ " -icir wealiii,- the material comlort. which tliev njoy are ereated by tbè Wil of thiiaburing mufuuide. and tliat tbe lile-blood of iheir brotliers is Sbed; drop by drop, frptn their worm-out trames to supply thom wuii ilie enjoymenis and luxuiies of lile. Living with their iinuilies in easc, nnd posscssing abundance. tliey siiould ribt Itbink that this weülth is given to them to le enjoyed si-!iishly, and that they are dispermed from evot thinking of iheir uniortunate icllow crerftüres. Lei them imagine that they hd to undergo for but oneday the toil and wretchednesa ui nulüons oi the wörking classes, and they wouid shudder with disgust at it; and yet multitudes pa6 their lives i-nder such circumatances, and with no prospect of relief bui the grave. Wcwill pointouta few evils whieh oppress thetnass. and which. although far from bíing among the most intense, shouíd excite cornmiseration. and fire evcry generous soui with a desiie to labor fbr their social ctevntion and the improvemont of their condition.lst. The laboring classes are frequently forcee! to 101I whilfj sick or indisposed. to obtain food for their families. Tl;ey are obliged also 10 work ohen in a contíned aid mëph.ticaj atmosphere. al unwholesurno occupations, and at a labor wliich they know is kïlling lliom by dogrees. 2d. They have io encounter suspicion nnd distrust: the more they are in want, the more ter tain they are of being refused credit and aid to enable ihem to tura their labor and skill to nc count. 3d. They areharrnsscd by the fear of want for the present, - by the dangers of being thrownoui of employment. and they have the gloomy prospect ol poveny for the future before them - ol suflering in oíd age without any mearts of escaping from it. 4th. They have in s:ckness and poverty no oth er nsylum than ihe poor house, to whieh they are uiten retused ndniitfar.ee. 5th. They are n most cases deprived of the protection of the law: how ofien is ihe poor man, who cannot go to the expense of a íáwsuit vvitha rieh rival, crushed? 6th They see theír w; ves suffer - their helpless chütkeo nskinjj for ibod, witiioui being ablc to relieve them. 7ih. They are harrasscd and tantalzed by the displny of luxuries and elecancies nrouiul them. ion: whicU they are iorevcr sbui out. 8ih. Tney must subnut to prolonged and monotonous labor, which deadens their iiitellectual nature, and weais out their fiames. üih. They mus: see :he profits of their lnbor go to wthers. - to capitalists and employers. who can give them work.I nero are a huiidreu other evüs more intenso which we c;ulc! inscribe, hut let llie ricli, and poli! ical leaders refiect íbr a monieiu liow thcy wouÜ ice I ií thcy wcre subjected to such an existencu. and thej will aeknowledge, ve trusi. hat coiscientious cndeavois should be made to :i;c dio poor and toiling masa. Iu Aniiquity man was the slave íif bis ftüou man. and 18 still i.i many countries; in (lióse where the population is free the laborei is th'i slave of poveriy and want. - is the shve of' an) one who cnn buy his labor, and must work fron twelve to sixtecn hoais per day íbr a bare subsist er.ce. Such is the condi'.ion of the laboring classes o a!l civiüznd coxuuncs. wheye time has producer! í tliick populatioru With this s'aie of things before us, not one proposition is made by politicians and thc iníluential. or the press whicJi is undei their control, tending to real and eiiective ameliorations. The more intolerable the evils unter which the geat niass labor, rhe more violemlv are they engaged in their coníroversies. The question is not liow to introduce reforma in industrV; which would serve the interests of all classes, or how to guarantee our populations against suffering and want; but it is the triuinph of" a party, by which a few leaders only are to be benefitted. - the chances of war wilh a neighboring rmtion, or the brenking down of some coun try which is a commercial rival.

Article

Subjects
Signal of Liberty
Old News