The McArthur enquirer. (M'arthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1873-1884, 1873-09-17
2 Strikes. L
BY PROF. J. d. BUTLER.
strife but hear ThemIstOeles.
LINooLN, Nebraska, 1873.

strike but hear Thcmistocles.
LINCOLN, Nebraska, 1873.
Employees have Alright to get for
their labor Al Snuch as they can by
lawful means. 1t is lawful for
them to refuse workout not to
stop others from working. No ty-
rant so bad as the petty tyrant. "a
poor maj that oppresseth the poor,
is n sweeping rain which leaveth
no food" On the other hand, en-
ployers have II right to hire as
low as they can. ,u,
Strikes--showing that laborers
aspire to better their condition
are a good sign. They have often
secured higher wages, or fewer
hours of work. Yet they usually
cost more than they come to.
While they last, laborers must live
on their own savings, or those of
their fellows. But these are small
amounts compared to Che wealth of
capitalists with whom strikes bring
them in collision. When the roos-
ter contends with the horse IN
treading on toes, the result cannot
be doubtful.
No set of workmen are so indis-
pensable as they fancy to their en-
ployers. How soon their places, if
they quit them, are filed bylothers
from other localities, nationalities,
or the other sex. Twelve or fif-
teen thousand London carpenters
are now locked out" DIS,
If strikes persist in any unreal
sonable demand-they may loose
employment altogether by forcing
capital TO seek new investments
where it has no need of them. They
will kill the goose that lays their
golden eggs. So long as q strike
lasts, it stops earnings, but not out
lays; and thus it leaves the work.
ing class daily poorer.
A century ago Europe was crazy
for a balance Of poorer, John Bull
fought for it till--pEus the National
Debt, and minus q million paupers
he was nicknamed John Bulldog.
nor did continental fighters fare
better. The end was:
slow Europe balanced-neither side prevails
For nothing's left in either of the scales.
The longer strikes last, the more
they tend to similar notification.
The right to strike is, then too
much like the right to shear your
h~og--"great cry little wool"
After much ~squealing and strug-
Cling there is little gain.
English farm laborers are talking
of strikes. But what can they get?
Landlords now obtain little more
than two per cent. on the money in
their estates. Can they lower rent?
But tenants declare their profits
small, and decreasing through com
petition with the produce or cheap
land in America, which yearly
reaches English markets, more east
ly and abundantly. Rather than
pay higher wages, tenants will en-
igrate to Nebraska, where they can
buy an acre in fee simple for less
..
than their present annual rent.
Not q few, both tenants and land
lords, have already bettered their
condition by passing from Great
Britain to Greater Britain. More
will, Nor is it surprising that asso
Citations of farm laborers, after
struggles to sell their labor higher,
have devoted their funds to assist
emigration to the rich and cheap
lands of the West as the true way
Of carrying labor to it's best market.
Such an emigration whether
from old England or New, or any
Old State, if one has money enough
to make q new start, is twice bless
ed. 1t makes laborers scarce, so
that they can demand and command
higher prices. 1t also gives him
who goes abroad a chance to rise
where no tall trees keep down the
underbrush. Landing in Nebraska,
the emigrant treads on q stepping
stone to higher wages-to owner
ship Of the, and to elbow room for
his children, where the labor mar
ket is never glutted.
The best strike, then, is to strike
for a region where good land is
cheapest, where inhabitants are
fewest, and where railroads outrun-
ming settlement, bring markets
nearest. No wonder then, 25, 751
homesteaders, or pre-emptors, have
lied claims to Nebraska farms, and
about 5000 have bought of Burling
and Missouri River railroad,
llOnp its track nm tan xao,.. o,od;A