The New York herald., 1874-06-01

ana past earnings VIII compel to do rs 1ustlco
demands are compiled With, ana the state OF the
labor market Ia such that you cannot supply our
places" In cases OF this kind employers cannot
always refuse to accede to tine mems demands.
Tneir aclng SO would entail serious loss by cosng
capital. which should be ali the time earning un-
employed ~ period when 1t ought TO be most
profitable. II the master builders under such CIR.
cumstances employed less sk1Ilul labor at old rates
they would stlll be losers.
II strikes were local, employers might let their
men 90 and NIL their places from otner locanties;
but EN- pl0yers in such cities as Boston, Philade-
phta or Chicago would compete with the New YORK
TO the prejudice OF those places, believing that
capitalists there could AFFORD TO pay rs much a.
their competitors in New York Hence II mus. ,Ss be
laborers higher wages whenever exceptional cir
cumstances enhance employers profits 20 any
combine capitalists need not give any advance
upon current rates. and therefore, secure to them.
selves all the advantages ol trade, which would DC
great injustice to the laOorer Employers can
not resist strike without positive loss but Htney
relative, ior they stu possess the prots OF an
proved business, the difference being that. IN
place Of pocAesing all che gains themselves they es
are Obliged by combination TO snare them with tue
worsingmen. Wnen circumstances do not JUSTLY
q strike
THE MxN THEMSELVES ARE THE PRINCIPAL suP-
Their savings in common are spent, and the the
operatives. time and experience % viii teach socl.
ETY. men when TO risk and when to avoid the sac.
ritces necessary 70 carry on strike. strikes es
serve as q pretext to denounce their leaders as
ueslgning rascals; but mere accusations unsup-
ported by facts prove nothing. principal ooJec-
ton against strikes is thai they require thousands
to sacrifice their Individual Interests blindy for
the supposed good OF others; but such sal rhce is
OF the first necessity to the ends Of combination
This argument, then, amounts to saying that
strikes are wrong because they are well organ
ICED. Tne friends oi capital frequently assume
that strikes never accomplish anything or bring
voout q rise In wages, and cases OF failure are
prominently paraded before the public while sue
nj a n nF nnr llv
OF sight; SO that people unacqualnted with tue
subject are generally or opinion tna strikes must
proved oy long series OF successful strikes,
both in the United States and Europe. In the
great Preston strike Of 1854 H. 900 men subsisted
ior thirty weeks at the rate OF 81 week each.
The sum Of $3.50. 900 was collected and distributed
for their support yet they Jailed TO Obtain an ad-
after losing $l,250 600 in the aggregate. But they
Inspired capitalists with such wholesome re-
they had displayed that employers would pause
and count the costs before again consentng TO
Every new discovery ana invention has the
eject Of cneapening the article which It affects:
but, for all thar, employers would not alter thelr
Laborers know all alterations in prices, and, with
past experiences before them, would hardly ven-
ture upon the hardships OF strike without good
STRIKES WILL NOT CONTINUE
to bA used Tor, being injurious alike to employers
and employed, when 1t shall be acknowledged that
organization enables workingmen to claim what is
tnelr que, anu tneSe snail nave learned Oy exPe-
rlence Just how mucn to expect the capitalist and
the tradesman Will mutually act upon such an
equitable line OF conduct as may make them more
like partners than anything else. Capitalists
might scout this idea Of partnership with their
men, bnt 1t has been tried with eminent success
In France and other places. The effect was that
the identity OF interests created between employ
ers and employed wrought q complete change tor
the better in the demeanOr and actions OF the lat
ter, who, contrary to former habits, were now
careful, earnest and dillgent at work. such part
nership has also been tried among the miners in
Cornwall.
The aggregate earnings OF capital should be di-
vded into TWO equal halves one for the capitalist
and the other Tor the lab0rer. The aim and
object OF strikes are to make capitalists divide
more equally tnan heretofore with the laborer.
When depression OF trade happens, lab0rers and
employers suffer together Should great
change come about In the wOrkingmans condition
as would enable him to save and work at the same
time, he would IN his own person be capitalist and
workman, condition that must be looked forward
to with ervent hopes by every lover OF republican
institutions. the establishment In several parts OF
grocery and other stores, and their excel
lent results, prove how much the working
men OF that cOuntry-who are far inferl0ry
situated when compared with our Own-can
accomplish. These establishments have done
business to the amount OF $h000,OO0, anu
earned profits at the rate OF thirteen and half
per cent. 1t may, therefore, be asserted that in
cooperation labor and capital wSfs. together
most efficiently and with the utmost attalnaDe
economy. Intelligence among the laborers pro-
duces combination. and this again brings about q
community OF interests or partnership between
the tw forms OF capital represented by employers
and employed.