The New York herald., 1875-10-02
The Conflict or Capital and Labor.


to say few words on the great underlying
question of the modern relations between
labor and capital We think most persons
who have examined this interesting subject
\ will agree with US that the machinery by
which strikes are managed-by which. we
mean trade unions-is natural outgowth
of the state of modern industry. OF course
there is nothing novel or peculiarly modern
in associations of laborers for mutual protec-
tion. The guilds of the Middle Ages and the
Masonic lodges in their origin are among the
examples that might be cited of the opera
tion of the associative principle the Masonic
Order having been at first a mere trade union
I formed among the builders of the old cathe-
drals and other great structures in stone.
Such associations grow out of circumstances,
and it lies in human nature that they will
always reappear when similar circumstances
recur They spring up whenever large
bodies of workmen are assembled for
some length Of time in the prosecution of
the same industrial undertaking. The build
ing of the immense cathedrals, which are
still objects of curiosity to European tour
lists, collected large numbers of masons, first
in one place and then in another, and, for
the sake of mutual protection, they entered
into what in modern parlance are called
trades unions, but were then designated as
'slodges
The present trades unions have grown up
| as a consequence of the concentration of
manufactures in large establishments by
the application of science to industrial pro-
cesses The wonderful new inventions of
machinery for the production of goods, ex-
emplified in that model and marvel of the
application of mechanical invention to
industry-a great cotton mill-and in other
similar establishments, have concentrated
manufactures in large towns and revolu-
tionized modern industry In the middle
Of the last century weaver, for example,
could set up his trade with as much facility
and less outlay than village blacksmith.
But the introduction of modern machinery
has put almost every branch of
manufactures beyond the reach of small
owners. 1t has so cheapened production
| that individual workmen or small knots of
workmen can no longer compete for the
|
lays for buildings and machinery as TO make
Q complete separation between capital and
| labor in all the great branches of production
except agriculture, in which, from the nature
of the case, laborers are scattered over large
| areas.
| The divorce of labor from capital conse-
| quent on the use Of expensive machinery and
have made artisans more dependent as a
| class, and it is in the natural course of things
that they should enter into associations for
| their own protection. As isolated individu-
ais they are powerless, and lie at the mercy
Of their employers; but acting together as
one body they can exact conditions because
the employers, after having fixed investments
of capital which cannot be transferred to
other undertakings are almost as dependent
on their workpeople as the workpeople are
on them. 1t is absurd to expect
the laboring classes to relinquish this
great advantage, and therefore perfectly
Quixotic to think that the trade unions can
ever be dissolved or broken up in the pres
ent state Of modern industry. Not only is
there strength in union, but union is the
only means by which the artisan classes can
enforce their rights and shield themselves
against oppression.
But this great instrument of protection
! and defence may be an engine of mischief
as well as of benefit, according as it is i'll or
well employed. Unless directed with intel
| ligence it is as dangerous as a locomotive in
charge of a raw hand, who is as likely to pre-
cipitate the train down an embankment as to
bring it to its destination. Such q result is
no reason for declaiming against the utility Of
steam engines, but very good reason for
taking security against putting them in
| charge Of incompetent engineers. Abortive
strikes are huge wasteful blunders but no
/ strike ever need be abortive if managed with
trained intelligence. The success of o strike
does not depend on mere persistence and
resolution, but on the condition Of the mai
ket at the time it is attempted-nott the labor
market merely, but the market for the kind
Of goods which the strikers are en-
/ gagged in producing. There are laws of
| trade and production which a COM
bination Of laborers cannot successfully
resist any more than they can make a
stream flow upward to its fountain against
the physical law Of gravity. There is no
method by which owners can be forced to
run their establishments at loss, and
strike should always be based on accurate
and authentic knowledge Of the present
state and immediate prospects Of the mar
ket. In such matters nothing is 50 costly as
ignorance. The operatives at Fall River
have sacrificed at least three-quarters of
million Of dollars to say nothing Of the un-
certainty, suspense, anxiety and suffering
which have attended their fruitless strike.
Estimating their average wages at the low