The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1875-03-30
Strikes and Strikers.

IT is indeed surprising that men whose
Intelligence is sufficient to enable them to
become skilled workmen. so frequently
cherish the delusion that by means of
combinations among themselves it 10 pos
sible to counteract the natural laws Of
trade-based, as such laws must always
be. upon the extent Of supply and urgen-
cy Of demand, That instances do oc-
cur in which employers seek to obtain un-
due advantages over their employees is
undoubtedly true, but occurrences Of that
kind are, we expect, much less frequent
than is alleged. Manufacturers who are
doing prosperous business will seldom
run the risk Of deranging their affairs by
entering upon causeless conflict with
their workmen about wages. 1t is only
when trade becomes slack and unprofta.
BILE that attempts are made to reduce the
cost Of labor, as rule. Seldom indeed,
does it happen that the proprietors Of es-
Establishments in which large numbers of
operatives are needed, announce a reduc.
ton OF wages except under pressure re.
sulting from an overstocked or falling
market; and when such conditions exist,
resistance is usually, if not always hope.
less.
Strikes will not avail in maintaining
high scale of wages when both present
and prospective loss to employers is
certainty in the event of their yielding.
Men do not incur the perils and anxieties
attendant upon the prosecution Of exten-
sive enterprises, without reasonable
prospect Of gain, or at least Of holding
their own. The circumstances surround
ing the business Of manufacturing con-
Germ are commonly easy of attainment, and
consequently there ought to be no diff
Guilty in reaching an adjustment of dis
putes involving the compensation of work.
men and this might be done at first as
we'll as last, thus avoiding the emba:rass.
ment and loss involved in protractcd
strikes, which, as the Erening Post per.
tinently remarks, can never result in ac.
tual gain to either party. In nine cases
out Of ten the strikers suffer more than
the employers, though sometimes the latter
are subjected to considerable embaraass-
ment. The inadequacy Of strikes as rem.
edes for controversies respecting wages,
has been so often demonstrated in prac.
tice that it is a wonder men of ordinary
capacity can be induced to resort to them
nowadays. Again and again, to 90 no
further back than the last twelve months,
have we seen large bodies of men in va
rious lines of employment combining to.
gether to quit work, on the ground that
insufficient wages were offered, but 10 not
q single instance that we now recall to
mind did the result prove satisfactory to
them. On the contrary, in every case,
they sustained large losses, and many Of
them were reduced to destitution. 1t is
not necessary to 60 out of our own city to
find Illustrations Of this folly. Hundreds
of families are suffering the pangs Of ac-
tual want to. day, in consequence of this
short'sightod policy on the par. Of those
who should be their bread.winners, and
the mischief extends to many who would
gladly have kept at work. but whose op-
portunities are destroyed by the obstinacy
OF others. All this might have been
avoided by resort to common sense
methods Of dealing with the matters in
dispute. The day is not far distant, we
hope, when men will cease to cut off their
noses to spite their faces. Arbitration
and other processes in which reason has
place will be substituted for the sense.
less practice of striking, which benefits no.
body and Injuries most severely those who
resort to it.
Two parties are necessary to the con.
summation Of bargain. 1t very rarely
happens that one can put his own price
upon commodity which he wishes to
sell, especially when the transaction is OF
vital Importance to the seller and of com.
paarntive Indifference TO the buyer, or
when the supply of the article offered for
sale is in excess of the demand. The
'longshoremen of New York learned this
to their cost not long since. and similar
lessons are being taught to others. 1t Is
astonishing that so many people are found
who fail to profit by such examples and
insist on testing the question for them.
selves, by means which must inevitably
result to their OWE disadvantage.-[Troy
Press.