The workingman's advocate., 1874-12-05
STRIKES.

STRIKES
Many Of our contemporaries have lately
been airing their views on the subject Of
Strikes, and indulging in philosophical
philanthropical articles on the necessity Of
a reduction i'll the prices If labor. This,
of course. is no new thing with the press
of the country, which is ever o. the side
of power and against the weak. IL is es-
pecially true of the money -cringing and
subsidized portion uf it and also of that
class of Journals which, having tried to
dupe the workingmen and failed, have, in
their last throes, turned, as q means Of
succor, 10 the side of the labor employer.
and, like other quacks, attempt to pres
crihe for disease they do not understand.
Ii is these self-constituted ministers Of
Peace % who are first to condemn, and
last To cDndole with the workingmen in
their trials. Thus it has been for years,
in the case Of many Of the so-called
strikes, which were, properly speaking
only suspensions of work, either against a
reduction of wages. OF to obtain wages due
them for months previous. But suspen-
sion NJ work, no matter from what cause.
in the eyes Of the press, is . strike,
and should be censured. whether justiha-
ole OF not.
A 81.
necessity and utility, are too well under
stood to require new declaration or reit-
Grafton on our part.
Lest, however, We should be nisunder-
stood. and our motives construed to mean
a condemnation Of strikes, We here repeat
our faith and belief in them, as an alter
hdtire. They are the war power Of the
Labor world aud workingInen, OF work
inga omen, have as much right to resort to
strike to enforce their demands a.
nation has to resort To- war TO obtain
Naturalization for a real or supposed
grievance.
Rut. while We acknowledge and uphold
the right and justice Of strikes, as last
resort, we hold that common sense and
good Judgment shonld be exercised in the
selection Of the time, and surrounding cir
cumstances, at which, and under which,
strike should take place During the past
year, and especially within the last SIX
months, there have been many, what We
have considered, very ill-advised strikes
among working people. However justih-
able they may have been, or whatever the
cause that .'rompted them, neither the
time nor surrounding circumstances we're
taken into consideration.
In the life Of all nations there are times
when, through the mismanagement or cor
ruption Of their officers, and the legti-
mate results of false monetary system,
trade and commerce become pAralysed,
and those who are engaged in the indus
trial pursuits Of a coantry are generally
the first to suffer a collapse
In sLch times the banks contract their
loans, capitalists are more cautious IN the.r
Investments, manufacturers lessen sEeir
productions, and business men Glntract
their outgolngs in general. In. Such tunes
the employers Of labor resort to one OF
two policies, viz. cease t. employ labor,
or reduce wages. OF tae justness or un-
justnesss of such policy, we do not nov
propose to speak. IL is with the imms,li-
ate effect Of suoh ACTIONS We are dealing.
Where the latter course, a reduction Of
wages, is proposed, in districtA oE sections
where no organization of ls psss exists, the
laborers reluctantly accept but, where
labor j. organized, it is generally resisted.
and sometimes lopg and protracted
struggle between capital and labor is the
result, generally ending in the defeat of
labor. II is in such cases, we maintain, che
surrounding circumstances should be taken
into consideration, and well weighed before
any definite action lis agreed upon. "Make
haste slowly" ia a sound maxim by which
to be guided, and in times Of general d.
preston cannot be too strongly impressed
upon the attention of labor organiza.iens.
when reduction of wages is pro-
posed. Notwithstanding the fact that the
employer is taking advantage of surround
ing circumstances, may be, and is well un-
derstood, would it not be wisdom for the
to consider the circumstances
in the case, aud for the time being, submit
to the reduction, rather than enter into n
strike, which must inevitably prove futile
and, instead Of preventing the proposed
only tends to make 1t more Der
nanent entailing suffering and loss upon
many Of their best men, and. in many in
stances, compelling the breaking up
Df home and changes Of location.
If it is the part Of wisdom, and business
'agacity req uires on the part If employers of
abor to keep their factories and machinery |
'unning as long as it pays, is it not equally
70 on the part of labor to work az long nm |
I pays. But, and here We are brought 20 !
! very important "but :" but when does
abor pay Taking the question in the ab-
tract, We answer when it is employed, for
is the laborers' capital, and is subject TO
he same laws that govern other capital,
ence, when unemployed, it IN snprc-
uctive. But labor s physieal capital.