The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1860-03-01

The shoemaler's strike at Lynn is progressing
amid much dangerous excitement, and it is not
improbable that the example thus set will be fol-
lowed in other parts Of the country. The method
to which these misguided men have resorted TO
obtain better wages is, unfortunately, not novel
one, and we may anticipate its consequences from
our knowledge of the results of similar under
takings. 1t is now generally conceded, by politi-
cal economists, by capitalists, and by the more
intelligent workmen, that strikes, in nine cases
out of ten, not only fail to accomplish their pro-
posed end but inhict irretrievable damage on
most of those who participate in them If the
mechanic receives insufficient wages, it is either
because the labor market is overstocked, and the
competition for work beats down wages, or be-
cause the price obtained for the manufactured
article is not such as to enable the manufacturer to
pay more for making it. and at the same time realize
profit To say, under these circumstances that
the capitalist must regulate his business not with
reference to the eXigencies of the trade but ac-
cording TO the wants of those whom he EMPLOYS,
would compel him to close the doors of his fac
tory; and to prohibit artisans from under
bidding each other, would be to impose upon
them an insupportahe tyranny. Now admitting
that the ''strikers" of Lynn are receiving even
less than they can manage to live on. we may as
sumo their unhappy condition to be owing to one
or perhaps both, of these causes. The boot and
shoe trade must be in depressed state, or there
are more men seeking employment in it than it
can support. BY way of remedyng matters, the
dissatisfied workmen demand an increase of
wages, and this not being granted, they unani-
mously refuse to work at all. Nor do they simply
stop here, but resort to every secret and open
expedient that be devised, to threats and in
timidation, as well as TO Establishments and
promises, in order to prevent those who are so
disposed from pursuing their avocations Having
resolved to maintain the ground they have taken.
they are not content to remain quiet and bide
their time, but having effected among
themselves such an organization as rem
ders the physical force at their command,
available for any purpose and at the shortest
notice, they have proceeded TO acts of lawless
violence Threatening letters have been sent to
some of the prominent men in the trade; boxes of
goods which the owners were endeavoring to send
out of Lynn have been forcibly seized by the
srikers" in the express wagons and at the railroad
station; the stores of some of the ''bosses' have
been marked for attack several citizens have been
savagely assaulted, and the police have been
assailed several times with volleys of bricks, and
some of them seriously hurt. This is but the be-
ginning of the great strike in Lynn, and unless
its supporters checked by the authorities it
cannot be doubted that these outrages will be
multiplied hundred fold. We presume none
will defend these proceedings, and no one is so
unprincipled or ignorant as to need arguments to
convince him that they wholly without justi-
fcation, as well ruinous to the cause sought to
be advanced by them.
But, supposng the strike to be peaceably and
>lawfully conducted, is it any the less mistake
and misfortune for those engaged in it We
think not. The questions involved in this case
are happily relieved from the embarrassments by
which similar occurrences in Europe are surround
ed. The problem which a strike in ENGLAND
sometimes presents is one, we confess, difficult of
solution. When the teeming population of Glas-
gov or Manchester, during financial crisis or a
foreign war, from any other cause, fails to find
adequate remuneration for its work. it is in posi-
ton of which the American mechanic can form nc
conception. The English artisan earns but a pit
lance at best, and when he is deprived of the op.
portunity of obtaining it in his native town be
knows not where TO look; for the neghborne
cities are as crowded as his own, and the whole
country is swarming with willing and able labor
ers. No untitled plains or virgin forests invite
him, when other resources fail, to betake himself
to agriculture, and gain by the hoe and axe the
livelihood which the awl or chise refuse. II
would be offering harsh and senseess advice to
the mechanics of the cities we have named to tel
them in season of distress to go elsewhere and
seek employment, for turn where they may, theil
hungry brethren are there before them But
among the many blessings bestowed upon us, thu
chief is the bouudess continent we call our own
There is field enough here for The industry of all
and though trade may languish, and the anvil
and loom stand idle, no man, for many ay t.
come, need beg his bread, In dealing, then
with such issues as this strike present ART
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