Excerpt: “[W]e have organizations ... which claim that the laborer is in a condition far worse than at any time in the past; that the use of machinery throws m

Excerpt: “[W]e have organizations ... which claim that the laborer is in a condition far worse than at any time in the past; that the use of machinery throws men out of employment; that capital is oppressive; that the rich are growing richer, and the poor poorer; that the cause of the present distress is largely due to the power of capital over labor.... The demand is made for a reduction of the hours of labor; for the abolition of the patent laws, on the ground that patents are monopolies.... A bill recently advocated in the house of representatives made provision for the removal of the unemployed of the cities to the unoccupied lands of the frontier, and for the erection of houses.... Socialists and communists demand the enactment of laws limiting the amount of property that an individual may acquire, and the division and distribution of what has already been acquired.” Also available here: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1879/05/labor-and-the-natural-forces/631715/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1879/05/labor-a...