230 LAND AND LABOR. 



Do not the true interests of society, industrially and 

 socially, require that " extras " and " luxuries " shall 

 be used and consumed by the workingman as well as 

 by the millionaire ? Shall not the makers and builders 

 of these things have the benefit and pleasure of their 

 use, as well as those who trade in and distribute 

 them ? Can not the users and consumers of these 

 " extras " and " luxuries " do without them with less 

 damage to themselves than can their manufacturers 

 and dealers do without the custom and consumption 

 of the masses of the people ? Does not the general 

 use or nonuse of "extras" and "luxuries" by the 

 industrial classes mark the periods of prosperity or 

 adversity ? Shame to the official of Massachusetts 

 who raises such questions, and by implication declares 

 that the rich only may have refinements. 



The great facts in the whole matter are, that 

 eighteen and nineteen years ago, when all the people 

 were employed and in receipt of wages at least double 

 the amount of those now received, though the product 

 of the laborer was then only about one third of that 

 which is now produced by each workman, both em- 

 ployer and workman then prospered, and society made 

 rapid progress in every useful development. But now, 

 when the product of the labor of the workman is three 

 times greater than it was at the close of the war, and 

 wa^os are not half what they were then, neither em- 

 ployer nor workman prosper, and society makes no 

 advance in useful development. Everything except- 

 ing food and rents is cheap, cheaper than eve'r before, 

 and the masses are less able, far less able to now buy 

 and use the cheap product, than they were formerly 



