The Portland daily press., 1867-03-18

Profits are the product Of labor and capital
combined. Mere capital is worth only the
current rate of i-terest. Invested capital,
not secured but risked and managed by the
owner, ought to pay more. 1t ought to pay
the interest which might be obtainedby simp-
ly loaning it, and reasonable compensation
for the time devoted to its management, with
a margin for extra risks. The two latter ele-
ments are difficult to determine and capital
lists are accustomed to estimate them very lb-
orally. What is left, after these deductions
frem the gross product of labor and capital. is
wages. People sometimessay there is no real
conflict between employers and employed.
and in certain respects there is none; but in
other and very important respects there is an
irrepressible conflict, which in some countries
is assuming portentous dimensions The div
ision of the profits is question upon which
these two classes have always been and al
ways will be at variance, SO long as they re-
main distinct classes. ta at
In England, where large proportion of the
workingmen look forward to no change in
their condition, expect reither in their own
persons nor in the persons OF their children
to become employers, the conflict is orsaniz-
ed. The employers are and have long been
in close alliance. The tactical maneuyIe bv
which they usually seek to compel submis-
sion to their terms, is called Lock -out-tLaf
is to say, they lock the doors of their mills
and factories, and try to tame their opponents
by starvation, just as the keepers of wild beasts
deal with their troublesome animals. But the
workingmen, gaining slowly in intelligence
through centuries, have discovered the advan-
tages of combination, and the United King
dom is at last covere d with Trades Unions
Their favorite maneuvre IS the Strike, which
needs no explanation. There are 200 OF these
Unions in London, 81 in Manchester, 81 in
Liverpool, go in Sheffield, AZ in Birmingham
50 in Glasgow, 45 in Dublin. One of these
societies, the Carpenters and Joiners', was
founded in June, 2s6o, and rose within a year
to membership of 6lS, distributed in 80
branches, with capital OF 81 1,6O0.a In 1866,
the Society OF Carpenters and Joiners num-
bered 194 branches and 500 members and
had a fund OF $4,000. 1t was represented in
"a towns, and in 52 of those towns 1t had gain
ed important advantages for its members
within the year, sometimes an increase OF paw,
sometimes reduction of time, sometimes
both. The Trades MONS in the kingdom
number now over half million of members,
with an annual revenue OF s5,O0U,0OO and
reserve amounting to very nearly the same
sum. These funds are chiefly used to sustain
workingmen on a strike, or TO enable them to
hold out against lockout aeiina3 'i.i efa
Now men who have the capacity to organ
ize so effective resistance as this to what
they consider unjust treatment, are surely ca
pable of organizing tor other purposes. Bod
les of men, able and willing to raise such q
fund as we have named, to be frlttered away
In squabbles about wages and time, are Ger
tainiy able to raise money for some better
purpose. In this country, where employers
and employed are continually changing pIa-
ces, where almost every employer remembers
the time when he was dependent on his daily
labor, and every workingman who has any
special capacity knows perfectly well that
within few years he will probably be paying
instead OF receiving wages, the parties are ca
pabie OF regarding questions at issue between
them with more equanimity than could eth
erwise be expected. Nevertheless strikes are
not uncommon among us, and lock- outs are
beginning to be talked about. Is there not
some way in which these wasteful methods of
adjusting conflicting claims may be avoided
What would be the result, for instance, if
workingmen should employ themselves?
The experiment has been tried in various
places, and notably by the iron moulders of
Troy, New York. A little more than a year
ago, prompted by a lockout of eight weeks
duration, the mouiders opened their subscrip-
tion books, raised the money to putt new
foundry, purchased machinery and tools, coal
and iron, and the right to manufacture one or
two patent stoves, all for cash, and went to
work on the 10th July last. The number OF
stockholders and employees is A. All who
can, work by the piece, and their wages aver
age S25 or $50 week. They have paid off
regularly every Saturday night, have paid
worth $4,000 or S31 900. During the dull
season IN winter, these establishments are
usually closed for three or four months. The
Troy foundry has not been closed. These
men have an advantage over most stove found
ers they can afford to aoork ata loss Work.
ing at loss with them means only slight
reduction of their wages; with employers
who are not also laborers, it means ruin and
bankruptcy. This, after all, is the cheapest
and most satisfactory way of harmonizing the
relations of labor and capital. 1t is in this
direction that intelligent workingmen ought
to look. 1t should be added that the Other
founders In Troy have shown no jealousy o.
the new foundry, and have not suffered by lis
competition. hr. 1i' tsdaI