The Sun.
London, England, 1867-04-04 00:00:00

Strikes.

Strikes show the unsettled state of the relations
between labour and capital. The law is Divine that
man must live by the sweat of his brow. In warm
latitudes it takes little work to produce that
" sweat." In cold climates the labour is harder to
obtain the result, but in all that effect is decreed.
The question between the employers and the em-
ployed is how the workmen are to live. High
wages mean good food for the labouring classes,
good shelter, a better and more enlightened condi-
tion. So far the result would be beneficial. But
high wages to the employed mean low profits to the
employer ; low profits end in the withdrawal of
capital. The withdrawal of capital means the ces-
sation of employment, eventuating in widespread
beggary and starvation. The problem now work-
ing to a solution is intricate and dangerous, and
might result in disaster to all concerned—which
means the whole nation. When the gold of Cali-
fornia and Australia began to lie heavy in the vaults
of the Bank of England abstruse questions of poli-
tical economy were eagerly discussed in the columns
of newspapers, periodicals, and pamphlets. What
was to be the effect of an indefinite addition to the
stock of gold, the accepted standard of measure. It
was asked if the quantity of gold was doubled,
and its value fell in proportion to its in-
crease, how were other matters to be adjusted?
Was the national debt of England to be paid off in
the depreciated ratio, and the holders of Consols to
be deprived of half their incomes? This question
gave rise to a hot dispute, and people were warned
that if they lent their money for years it would come
back to them worth less than when lent. They were
told that land, houses, railways, ships, and such
property, would retain their value while the standard
fell, and that people whose incomes remained sta-
tionary would in the lapse of time discover that what
was sufficient now would become insufficient here-
after. '['he process being slow the effects were not
immediately perceived, and the subject which then
created much alarm passed out of mind. We be-
lieve it to be a fact that we are now experiencing
what was then predicted. The value of money has
in
comes
feel and is falling. Persons with fixed
feel this painfully, in increased rent, in the price of
food, in a rise of almost all the necessaries of life.
Since these gold discoveries England has been well
governed. Many excellent laws unshackling indus-
try and giving free scope to capital and labour have
been passed, which have tended to cheapen all
kinds of produce, and neutralise the natural
law in operation. But no legislation can
in the end beat nature. What legislation did
for England was made strikingly manifest to the
traveller. Not long ago England was the most
expensive country in which to live, but England is
now among the cheapest. Wander where we will
increase
in complaint is universal of the enormous
in the cost of every requisite for the sustenance of
mankind. The greatest difficulty to which the
gradual change has given rise is found in wages.
Though the process has always been in operation
since men in Britain ceased to paint their bodies
and rove through their forests like Red Indians, it
was so slow as not materially to disturb existing
relations. But lately we have been galloping on,
and the rapid change requires prompt measures.
The increased cost of living necessitated an in-
creased rate of wages. Once rudely unsettled,
where is the process to end? The workmen feeling
the pressure, in self-defence organised associations,
which have by degrees grown into powerful com-
binations. The individual workman was nobody,
and could speak with no effect. The workman who
spoke on behalf of an establishment was listened to
with respect by the proprietor, for he knew there
was a meaning in what the man said, and a power
at his back. The secretary who spoke on behalf of a
trade carried terror over England ; and the president
who spoke for the United Trades, startled the Go-
vernment. We cannot wonder at the effect pro-
duced on the labouring classes when the results of
combination became apparent. Trade Societies are
now a power in the land, and they are likely soon
to be a power in Europe which may astonish and
disconcert some despotic Cotrts. The object of
these societies is to bring up the price of labour in
proportion to the rise of the real measure of value,
which is corn and meat. So long as this new power
is used with moderation, and is confined to enforcing
the just demands of the labouring classes, it will
tend to good. It is far better that discontent should
appear openly, and in legitimate channels seek its
redress, than foster beneath the surface, and end in
convulsion. Through these organisations the skilled
and unskilled workmen of England put forth their
representatives on a platform which commands
national observation. The tailor in a Liverpool
alley, the shipwright in a Blackwall lodging, and
the " navvy" working in a tunnel, instead of enun-
ciating their own crude sentiments, know that what
they complain of is spoken in good language into
the ears of the rulers of the kingdom. Thus
the men are satisfied, and cease to trouble them-
selves about their grievances, knowing that the
the proper man is doing this for them in the
proper place. Indeed, they virtually cease to
think, allowing those they elect to think for them,
while they act as they are directed. They are told
to strike, and woe betide the man who neglects the
order. When the object is attained in the opinion
of the elect, they are told to work, and they do so
cheerfully. Of all the Conservative creatures the
most conservative is a good, steady British artisan.
The power in the hands of the leaders is immense,
and we earnestly hope they may use it with discre-
tion for the true interest of those they represent,
both politically and materially. We believe it may
be made the means of vast good if they only
recognise this truism that the interest of the em-
ployers and employed are not antagonistic, but
identical.—Anglo-American Times.