Labour's Wrongs and Labour's Remedy

clozen times in tl~c year-that they had neitl~er books,Iiewspapcrs, nor Itno\r~ledgc, antl llatl to eitl~er worlc orfight as their masters and owners tliol~ght fit. If all thisbe true, and tlie worltitiq"" class be now n~ucli better off thantheir predecessors were, lt is no reason ~vhp they should notbe still better off, and eqllally as well off as tl~osc whotell them to 11oltl their tongues, and be contented with the1)osition n~l~ich they now occupy. All 11ap1)iness is comparative; and it is not irl human nature to remain satisfiedwith any station, so long as it is cognizant of a better ; norwill men submit to be mc:~suretl by A low standard, so longas there is a higher one in existence. Wl~y should enorlrlousmasses of n~ealtlr be in tllc possession of the itllc ant1the pndlig;~tc, ~vhen tl~c in~lustriorls and the Itonest arctvitho~~t il penny ? TYlly sl~oultl ~vcll-fed ant1 ~vcll-clotltctlinsignificar~ce roll slothfully along in its splendid vehicle,in ~wrsuit of ne\v ~IC:ISIII.CS to tcnlpt its ~)nllcd appetite,ill111 tile toil-111orn ;~rtiz;~u 1)c compelled to plod to llis dailyorlc, wit11 half-clothe(1 back antl lln~~gry belly ? There isno reasotl given, for there is not one to be found. Theimmaculate Spirit of Justice trltich exists throughout creation,tells mcrl, in accents of eternal truth, that He neverinstituted these most u~ljust distinctions amongst them.The productive classes of the Unitetl Klngdom are\reiglted to the earth by sue11 a variety and multiplicityof burthens and wrongs, that enumerationant1 description both fajl in bringing into view the,sun^ totitl. The ills they suffer are brought hometo them through every sense ; for sight, Ilearing, smel!,taste, ant1 feelirlg alilte proclaim the wrong, and tell menthat a remedy is neetlcd. These evils are so intermoveni~ito the preseut systetn-so ramified and entangled-soitssirnilated into every social and political institution-thattlre productive class can o111y free tl~emselves by cuttingthrough all at one blow. Erery mere governnientai remetlyhiis been proved fallacious and useless. One remedy yetremains to be tried, antl one only-that of changing thevery conrse of human society, antl sweeping away, at once,the accuniulatetl wrongs of tl~ousands of years. Someanlongst us may start at tlte magnitude of the remedy pro-~)cseed, but the change is no more than will be necessary totffect tlie gigantic evil which consnmes us. Let those ~vhnthink that less will do, turn over the page of history-letdiem loolc back to the working inari of all ages, nnder allforms of government, nutlcr :dl s'ystems of religion-andtl~ey will find that the \vroligs ant1 the crils of which wenow coniplain have always existed. Has not every effort,petty or mighty, moral or physical, been insutficient tos]iaI;e off that cnlshing incabus ivliich has for so many agesrlcadened the sold of the producer of wealth ? Docs notevery struggle of tlie working man fail to subvert t11;tt nnseenpower which chains Ilis prostrateii energies to tlicevcr-moving oar of capital, and gives him up, bound bodysoul, to every ill that the governmental ant1 ecclesiasticaltyranny of class ant1 c;lSte may C~OOSC to inflict upon? If despotism, or the esercise of unde1eg;ttcd autllorityby I,nrticular indivi0l1:ils ;uid clnsses, -conld havedone it, tliere 111,s been despotism enougli-if liberty, eitheras into licentiousness, or as ~011n~~tctl lvitll ohtlienccto political :~uthority self-i~npos~d ant\ srlbjcct topol>lllnr control, coultl 11avc (lone it, tlicrc llas at times heenliberty enougll-if prayers, a11d sacrifices, and burntofferingscould ]lave done it, the shouting and the incense-smol