Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1873-10-16
STRIKES.
Strike but hear. Themistocles.
BY PROF. j. d. BUTLER.

LINCOLN, Nebraska, 1873.
Employees have right to get for their
Iaboras much as they can by lawful means.
/. is lawful for them to refuse TO work, but
not to stop others from working. Noty-
rant SO baG S the petty tyrant. "a poor
man that oppresseth the poor is a sweep
ing rain, which leaveth no food" On the
other hand, employers have right to hire
as low as they can.
Strikes-showing that laborers aspire
TO better their condItion-are good sigr.
| They Rave often secured higher wages, or
fewer hours Of work. Yet they Usually
cost more than they come 10. v hile they
last, labOrers must live on their own saw
ings, or those of their fellows. But these
are small amounts compared to the wealth
of capitalists with whom strikes brlng
them in collision. When the rooster con-
tends with the horse in treading on toes
the result can not be doubtful.
No set of workmen are so indispensable
rs they fancy to their employers. How
soon their places, if they quit them, are fill
ed by others from other localities, nation
alities, or the other SEX Twelve to fifteen
thousand London carpenters are now
locked out"
If strikers persist in any unreasonable
demand-they may lose employment alto
geth + by forcing capital to seek new in
vestments where it has no need of them.
They will kill the goose that lays their
golden eggs. So long as strike lasts, it
stops earnings but not outlays and thus 1t
leaves the working class daily poorer.
A century ago, Europe was crazy Tor O
till-plus the National Debt, and minus a
million paupers-he was nicknamed ohm
Bulldog. Nor did continental fighters
fare better. The end was:
80 Europe balanced-neither side preyails
For nothing's left in eiue- OF ,he 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 hog-"great
cry-little WOOL" After much squealing
and struggling there is little gain.
| English farm laborers are talking Of
strikes. But what can they get? Land
lords now obtain little more than two per
cent on the money in their estates. Can
they lower rentsg But tenants declare
their profits small, and decreasing through
competition with the produce of cheap land
| in America, which yearly reaches Eng.
lish markets, more easily and abundant
ly. Rather than pay higher wages, ten.
ants will emigrate to Nebraska, where they
can buy an acre In fee simple for less than
| their present annual rent.
Not few, both tenants and landlords.
have already bettered their condition by
passing from Great Britain to Greater
, Britain. More will. Nor is it surprising
that associations OF farm laborers, have de-
voted their funds to assist emigration TO
the rich and cheap lands of the West as
the true way OF carrying labor to its best
market.
| Such an emigration, whether from Old
England or New, or any old State if one
has money enough to make new start,
is twice bi .ssed. 1t makes laborers scarce.
so that they can demand and command
higher prices. II also gives him who goes
abroad chance to rise where no tall trees
keep down the uDderbrush. Landing in
Nebraska the immigrant treads on STEP
ping stone to higher wages-to owner
ship of the soil, and to elbow room for
his children, where the labor market Is
never glutted.
The best strike, then, is to strike for a
region where good land is cheapest, where
inhabi tants are feWest, and where railroads
outrunning settlement, bring markets
nearest. No wonder then 25,751 home.
steaders, or pre- emptors have filed claims
to Nebraska farms and about 5000 have
bought of the Burlington & Missouri Riv-
er railroad, along its track, on ten years
credit, and o per cent. Understanding
on contracts since 1872, othing Of the
principal till the end of four years, and
sometimes by prompt Improvement, get
ting 30 per cent. thrown off from the price
of their land. Strike, then for the great
West. As the best throw of cards is to
throw them away, so the best strike for
home in the Missouri Valley. Ho tor
Nebraska!