New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1865-07-15
rotary Stantono order to Ford even more fa;5
tous, if possible, than the order ITSELF
STRIKES.

1t is quite time it were understood and prac-
tically established that Liberty is the exclusive
possession of no class, however numerous-that
rights and duties are reciprocal-that an assault
on the just munments of any is essentially a
wrong and peril to all. We are learning this
as a nation at terrible cost We shall have
to learn it also as individuals and as local com
munities at whatc~er cost may be found neces-
sary.
We believe in Free Labor, uphold it, practice
it, live by il. Its essential proposition is that
erery man ,rho has laJor (or anything lse) to sell
shall sell ii TO uhOmSOcrer he may, with a corre-
spending liberty Of purchase to the buyer.
Wherever this liberty is invaded, whether from
the one side or the other, there Right is deticd
at the expense of the Public as well as of the
individuals specially aggrieved and outraged.
He who has labor, or skill, or anything else
to sell, has perfect right to name his terms
and insist on them. Should they be exorbi-
tant, he will usually not be employed, and so
will be more harmed by his rapacity or folly
than will any one else. 4 day laborer, being
free, has perfect legal right to say 81 will
have three dollars per day, and will work but
eight hours even at that" and to stand idle till
he gets it, He has further right to combine
with other laborers in common pledge not to
work for less, nor work more hours per day.
So far, he and they keep within the boundary
of their own rights. Their compact may be
very foolish, very short-sighted, very pcrnl-
cous; but they are their own mas ers in the
premises. and must In allowed to judge for
themselves. If you don't want their help on
their terms, you have only to LET it alone.
Bnt the moment they pass the line of volun-
tary agreement, aud deter Others by force or
terror from doing the work or accepting the
terms they reject, they become trcspasscrs and
law.breakers, exposed to and richly deserving
punishment. Whenever they undertake 10
NEEDLE with the voluntary engagements OF
others-to say that man, White or Black
shall not do the work another hires him for, and
which he chooses to undertake, they become
disturbcrs and robbers. They have no more
right 10 interfere between the hirer and hired
than to supply their wants or satiaic their
awless appetites from the stores Of those who
have earned and saced while they have stood
idle and wasted.
All this will seem very obvious; but when Z
read that the miners Of ores in the Lake Superior
Iron region, HAVING struck for higher wages
than their laic employers saw fit 10 pay, pro-
cecdcd 10 take possession Of the railroad whcreon
said ores are sent TO market, and dictate what
trains may be run and what shall not be til
their demands are complied with, and when we
sec the Streets Of our City kept filthy 10y u
powerful combination OF swcepers and
car.men who will not work Themselves and
do their best to Obstruct working by others
until the Contract System prescribed by
law +. abolished, We feel that the truth,
however manifest 10 the intelligent
and thoughtful, needs to bc rcstatcd and
enforced. If il be true, as We sec stated, that
those now trying to clean our streets can only
work under the immediate protection of tie
Police. and so can accomplish less than half
that they otherwise might-being exposed to
stonng and other violence il they are dispersed
through the streets as they must be 70 work
efficiently, then it is high time our citizens,
but especially propcrty-holders and AL who de-
sire freedom 10 work, not from it, should look
sternly into the matter, resolved that the Law,
not its contcmners, shall be master.
Our Street Cleaning was costing at the rate
of $l,200O00 per annum prior to the 1T inst,
when The new contract went into operation, by
which the cost is 10 be Si9s, 500 per aunum-a
sum we hold much too high. Those who
pockeied the better part of the Sl,20o,ooO for
precious little WORK have resolved that We shall
90 back rather than forward, and are trying 90
carry their point by violence and terrorism. 1t
behooycs every responsible citizen to take care
that they DO not succeed.