BOOK FIRST. 



CHAPTER I. 



LABOR. 



AT NO time, perhaps, in the world's history, certainly 

 at no time in the history of the American Republic, has 

 the question of Labor received as much of the public 

 attention and been the theme of so much political contro- 

 versy as at present and for the past few years. To enter 

 into a detailed account or discussion of all the causes 

 which have led to the present wide-spread labor agitation 

 would result in filling the pages of a larger volume than 

 is at present proposed by the author. 



Perhaps one of the greatest causes though some- 

 what remote in its nature that has contributed to the 

 present condition of labor throughout the world, is the 

 false theories advanced by certain accepted and influential 

 statesmen in relation to that branch of political economy. 

 To affirm that labor constitutes the most important feature 

 in the science of political economy, is but to state a truth 

 that has been proven by experience, and emphasized by 

 some of the most eminent authorities. 



While this is true, however, it does not follow that 

 the relation which labor bears to civilization, progress, and 

 a higher state of general prosperity, has been given the 

 prominence which its importance deserves, or been the 



