By 1853, the
cost of living had risen so high that the length of the working
day was quite forgotten because of the utter inadequacy of the
wage to meet the new altitude of prices. Hotels issued statements
that they were compelled to raise their rates for board from a
dollar and a half to two dollars a day. Newspapers raised their
advertising rates. Drinks went up from six cents to ten and
twelve and a half cents. In Baltimore, the men in the Baltimore
and Ohio Railway shops struck. They were followed by all the
conductors, brakemen, and locomotive engineers. Machinists
employed in other shops soon joined them, and the city's
industries were virtually paralyzed. In New York nearly every
industry was stopped by strikes. In Philadelphia, Boston,
Pittsburgh, in cities large and small, the striking workmen made
their demands known.
By this time thoughtful laborers had learned the futility of
programmes that attempted to reform society. They had watched the
birth and death of many experiments. They had participated in
short-lived cooperative stores and shops; they had listened to
Owen's alluring words and had seen his World Convention meet and
adjourn; had witnessed national reform associations, leagues, and
industrial congresses issue their high-pitched resolutions; and
had united on legislative candidates. And yet the old world
wagged on in the old way. Wages and hours and working conditions
could be changed, they had learned, only by coercion.
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