The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1860-03-27

In accordance with previous notice a
meeting was held in Temperance Temple, on
Friday night, at which resolutions were passed
expressive OF the sympathy of those present for
the Lynn strikers" and providing for the col
lection of funds in their behalf. 1t is natural
that the unhappy condition of the shoemakers in
mat town should excite the commiseration OF
their brethren elsewhere, for they cannot procure
remunerative wages for their labor, and it is
through no fault of theirs that this is So large
number of them have been living for some time
past on three or four dollars week, and toll as
they may, they can obtain no more, while many
OF them have been thrown out of employment
altogether If there were no other facts in the
case than these, the Lynn operatives would he
entitled to all the sympathy and pecunia-y aid
they might receive. But as they have taken the
very step which, of all others, is least likely TO
lead them out of difficulty, and are engaged in an
obstinate and foolish struggle which will inevita-
bly, plunge them into greater distress, we con-
ceive the workingmen of Baltimore to be under
no Obligation to contribute their earnings in sup
port OF such cause. We leave out of view for
the present those considerations which are appli-
cable to strikes generally and con6ne our
elves to an examination of the position of
the Lynn mechanics in particular The least
intelligent man who reflects upon the subject.
must admit it TO be utterly untenabe Mr..
ALoNzo DRAPER, who is the recognized leader of the
movement in Massachusetts, addressed the meet
ing held here on Friday night, and he thus ex-
planned the causes and objects of the strike which
he is endeavoring to conduct to successful issue,
He says:
"n the crisis of 1857 the Western dealers in shoes were
compelled to ask for extension of their paper and
most OF 1t was extended period of twenty months
Last fall those merchants again unable TO meet their
liabilities, and, as consequence could their
purchases The trade became depressed-the working
men, for the sake of employment worked for under.
Wages-the supply became immense and the strike
lowed 1t was not movement against the manufactur.
ers for most of them sympahzed with engaged in
regulate the quantity of goods manufactured and thus
prevent the supply from exceeding great an extent
Mr. DRAPER may be very worthy individual,
and iirst-rate workman, but it is impossible that
those who have submitted to his guidance could
nave chosen worse adviser. The method by
which ne proposes to remedy the unfortunate dis
parity between ''the demand and "the supplyn
In the shoe trade is simply absurd. He does
not pretend that the business is prosperous
and that the capitalists are reaping enor-
nous profits, by forcing those whom they en-
ploy to work at starvation prices; but he adj
mits unequivocally that the whole trouble is
caused by the dlminution of the demand for the
manufactured article. There are, he says, more
boots and shoes in Lynn than people will buy.
Now 1t matters not whether this state of things il
attributable TO the poverty of t'the Western
dealers, " or whether it is referable to the fact
that too many shoemakers having crowded into
Lynn and too much capital having been embarked
IN the trade, more boots and shoes have conse-
quently been made than consumers have need of
In either case the result is the same. for the
'bo sses'' have an immense stock on hand which
they cannot sell at remunerative rates. Now no
one could expect the latter to continue to employ
as large number of hands on full wages as thew
did when business was brisk, for they would
thereby sink their money merely to produce an
unsaleable article. Theyare clearly going behind
hand, and they must therefore discharge most of
their hands, or give them all occupation at such
reduced wages as they can afford to pay while
boots and shoes bring comparatively so little in
thu market All this Mr. DRAPER and his friends
acknowledge, and they expressly admit that they
find no fault with the capitalists But If is never-
theless necessary that the worlmen should take
some steps to improve their condition. The shoe
trade may be dull and those who have invested
money in it may be losing but Notwithstanding
this the operatives must gain q livelihood. In
this critical state of affairs Mr. DRAPER comes for
ward with suggestion which is as novel rs il is
preposterous. He tells his deluded followers to
rest from their labors altogether until the supply
OF shoes is greatly diminished and then their SER
vices will be much wanted and will be rated
at II proportionate value. When the world is
nearly barefoot the shoemakers will bestir
themselves, and as orders will be pouring in from
all quarters they will be fully occupied and
handsomely paid at last. This plan may seem
at ilrst sight calculated TO produce some such
ENDS rs its advocates anticipate but thew have
unluckily overlooked hundred objections to if,
which will readily occur to those who are more
familiar with the laws of trade To enumerate or
to analyze these would require more time and
space than could now devote to the subject
and 1t will answer our purpose to point out the
inevitable results of persistence in the measure
the Lynn strikers have so blindly adopted. As
they constitute, in point of numbers. but an insip
hiilcaht proportion of the artisans engaged in the
same branch of trade throughout the country,
Ihey can produce no perceptble effect upon the
business outside of comparatively small circle.
Mechanics elsewhere will continue to work, and
VIII manage to keep up supply nearly equva-
lent TO the demand, while these strikers are idle
In the meantime the interests of Lynn will suffer
'earfuily. Capital will either be withdrawn from
the place, or will find other occupation and the
workmen will discover that while they have
squandered their own savings they have cut off
forever many Of the sources from which they had
hoped to repenish their little boards. The
bosses will be such heavy losers by the tempo
rary stoppage of their business that when trade
does revive they may not be able to give empIoy-
ment to halfas many men as heretofore, and num-
bers of those who now refuse small wages will be
at last compelled to seek work in other towns or
States, which they will also find pre-occupied by
those who have been steadily making Roadway
while their brethren were idle in Lynn. Does not
the bare statement of Mr.. DRAPER's proposition
carry with it its refutation? five thousand shoe
makers can turn out twice the quantity of shoes
needed in the course of the year, is it not the
height of folly to tell them TO keep together, and
regulate the supply by declining to work at all
for six months? Yet this is precisely the advice
that Mr.. DRAPER gives them.
For the disastrous situation of the strikers the
remedies were plain enough, though perhaps pain
full Whenever there is a gut in the market, be
it of merchandise or labor somebody must make
sacrifices. In the former case the merchant must
wait or sell his goods for less than they may have
cost him, and in the latter the laborer must take
what he can get in his particular vocation.
or seek TO do better in some other field of
industry. His lot may be hard, but it is
no worse than than of the miner who has
worked out an Improbable vein, or of
the fisherman who fruitessly casts his nets
through an unprosperous season, or of one of the
many thousands on whom the doors of the factor
ries they have always toiled in, are closed in q
calamitous commercial crisis. But if the artisan
neither chooses TO change his home or his occu-
patton, he has no alternative but to struggle on
as he best can, and hope for better times. Such
would assuredy come, especially to those engaged
like the people of Lynn, in the manufacture of ar
ucles OF prime necessity If the demand for shoes
increased oil would be well, but if not, then some
OF the capital engaged in creating the supply