Lesson 6 Document 37
Southern Congressman Mike Walsh compares slaves and northern workers.
The only difference between the negro slave of the South, and the white wage slave of
the North is, that the one has a master without asking for him, and the other has to beg for
the privilege of becoming a slave . . . The one is the slave of an individual; the other is
the slave ) of an inexorable class . . . If a dozen of us own a horse in common, we want to
ride him as much as possible, and feed him as little as possible. J3ut if you or I own a
horse exclusively, we will take good care to feed him well, and not drive him too much to
endanger! Health, but just enough to keep him in good traveling order.
Congressional Globe. Washington. 33rd Congress, 1st Session (1854), 1224.
Reprinted in Viewpoints: USA Bernard Feder (American Book Company, NY) 1967
P 125