House Unpassed Legislation 1864, judiciary committee - leave to withdraw, SC1/series 230, Petition of Rufus Wyman

Petition subject: Labor and wage laws Original: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:13906092 Date of creation: (unknown) Petition location: [Danvers?] Legislator, committee, or address that the petition was sent to: Samuel Little, Roxbury; committee on the judicary Selected signatures:Rufus Wyman Legislative action: Referred to the committee on the judiciary Total signatures: 1 Legislative action summary: Referred Legal voter signatures (males not identified as non-legal): 1 Female only signatures: No Prayer format was printed vs. manuscript: Manuscript Additional non-petition or unrelated documents available at archive: additional documents available Additional archivist notes: ["To the Senate and House of Representatives of Massachusetts. The undersigned believes, that the "cruel war" now in progress, begun by the slaveholders and those in their interest, is in danger of being changed into a war between capitalist and laborer, to determine which of them shall rule. That we may not hope for peace, until all the useful industries are esteemed by law and by public opinion, as worthy of equal respect and reward; whether the labor of the sewing girl, wash woman, merchant, hod carrier, architect, gravel digger, lawyer, judge, scavenger, wood sawyer, nurse, physician, sexton, singer, clergyman, railroad president, switch tender, or hostler. That God has made hewers of wood and drawers of water; but that it is not at all plain, that he intended that they should eat poorer [bread, crossed out] or less bread than the learned professions or the speculators; nor that they should be made to work so many hours in the vocation, that they cannot have a chance to become 'learned.' That while we make one commodity as gold, or while we make a representative of particular industries (but not of all industries) as the 'legal tender note' or 'green backs,' to be the measure of value, solvent of debt, legal tender, a circulating medium, those who control the gold or greenback, can easily control the price of commodities and wages. Therefore the undersigned prays, that a law may be enacted, establishing a rate of wages (above the average say ten dollars) and the time (say six hours) for a day of work. And that in all suits for wages, the only enquiery by the court shall be, has the plaintiff performed the work as well as his capacity admitted; and in and in the absence of an express agreement, the amount due shall be found by the legal rate. And that a law may be enacted, which shall provide that note shaver, usurers and other tampers with the circulating medium, speculators (shoddy a other kind) may be treated as forgers, counterfeiters, cheats, and theives ought to be treated. It is not expected that the legislation prayed for will remove all the wrong and affronts to which labor is subjected but it is believed that it will help to do it. The undersigned has been prompted to offer the foregoing petition, by reason of the action of certain capitalists, contractors, "bosses" and manufacturers, who seem to have become dissatisfied with the working of the law of supply and demand for labor to regulate wages, now that labor has become very scarce. Some of them propose to import from Europe, its ill paid laborers; and when they have imported enough, there is danger that they will attempt to push down wages, because labor will then be plenty, and the law of supply and demand will work well. Some of those engaged in this movement were a few months since quite anxious lest the effect of emancipation of slaves in the south might reduce the [rate of, crossed out] wages of the laborers in the north. Rufus Wyman"], [religious] Location of the petition at the Massachusetts Archives of the Commonwealth: House Unpassed 1864, judiciary committee - leave to withdraw Acknowledgements: Supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-5105612), Massachusetts Archives of the Commonwealth, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University, Institutional Development Initiative at Harvard University, and Harvard University Library.