This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1910 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER VII LABOR "J DEGREESTOWHERE in the world, avowed the correspondent of -i-1 the London Times, was the. laboring man so prosperous as in the United States before the war. Americanlabor at that / time wasjicasge, precious, independent, and fastidious; who- I ever condescended to work wasjiurg not onhjpf his daily bread j but also of a certainamountrof jjaceBt DEGREESlimfort; the very hedger and ditcher had it in his powerj to raise himself. He knew how to strike the best bargain, hpw to stand on his rights and interests, and how to put by a penny for a rainy day. "If ever there was a country in which labor was in clover, in which it was looked up to, petted, and humored, it certainly was this North American community." 1 Suddenly with the introduction of paper jnojiey_this was changed. Peace in the industrial world gave way to discontent; labor indeed remained scarce, even more scarce than before, but the laborer was no longer sure of his daily bread and of decent comfort; the ability to lay by for a rainy day was threatened, and instead of being petted and humored labor came to regard itself as aggrieved; it assumed an attitudeof hostility toward employers and took concerted measures insetf-defe While there were many causes for this revolution, there was one of far more influence than any other, one in fact that created the atmosphere through which all other possible grievances quickly loomed large. This was stationary wages in the face of rising prices of commodities. 1 The London Times, December 1, 1863. Employers were wont to appropriate to themselves all or nearly all of the profits accruing from the higher prices, without being willing to grant to the employees a fair share of these profits through the medium of higher wages. The situation...