New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1875-04-09
THE LABOR QUESTION ELSEWHERE.

n THE LABOR QUESTION ELSEWHERE.
>" In Pennsylvania the strife between
S. labor and capital has been for months
smoldering like fire in one of their
IS. own coal mines. At last, like the whisky
- instruction, it has assumed the condition
- of open opposition to the laws. The
State government has therefore sent a
force of policemen to the scene of contest,
and this force, having been Kissed by the
Or. women and children and driven from the
country, has returned. The next step of
~ the State government will be to send an
adequate military force to execute the
a. law, in the same manner that the draft
riot Of New York was quoted.
er Upon this state of facts we have to
make two comments:
l. Upon the relations between capital
and labor in Pennsylvania and in Louisi-
ana, respectively.
n 2. Upon the indispensable importance
of referring all cases of domestic discon-
r. tent to the only power which can settle
them, the laws of the country.
We have heretofore repeatedly called
o. attention to the fact that the manual and
mental labor of Louisiana surpasses in
is many respects any other in the world. 1t
is docile, contented cheap and efficient.
That it deserves these epithets is shown
y by the fact that there has been no conflict
between capital and labor in Louisiana
t upon the rate of wages We except and
|. exclude the trouble with the longshore-
men, because it has arisen with
those interested in shipping or dis
. charging the commerce of the port.
: We treat of the legitimate relations be-
tween the planter and housekeeper on one |
hand and the field worker and domestic |
on the other. The contentment of the
laborer comes from the facts heretofore |
adverted to. The simple wants of the
laborer, the capacity of the laborer's fam
lily to aid in their own support, the mild
ness of our climate and the abundance of
food. Passing over the bread riots of
Europe and in our own larger Atlantic
cities, we find the employers in Pennsyl.
vania at war with their laborers. On the
one hand is capital, with the law and
its executive forces. On the other is
combination and endurance 1t is a
terrible fight. Capital risks its mines,
galleries, perishable structures, rail- {
roads and stock on one hand Labor q
stakes the life of men who may be shot s
down for an imprudent resistance to law, q
nd IF on1 o1,i1Arov No W. |
long be supported by the means of the O
| union, and who, in case. of the death or a
discharge of the men, must suffer in O
tensely. Capital and labor comes into a i,
conflict as terrible as that described by
Frenchman between two tigers which he a
witnessed at the Court of Tippoo Sahib
The blood flew and the bone cracked at
every spring Of these ferocious animals, G.
and the teeth of the victor had to be a.
pressed apart with crowbar from the Il
throat Of his defeated antagonist. This u
process of separation is about to be ex- "
ecuted with the bayonets of the State u
soldiers of Pennsy lvania. Capital and g
labor will then retire to their lairs with a +
uCdUly duu uIcIuluHDlc uuluOSlVY. | -
1t is very strange that with this I'M &c
doubted superiority Of the labor OF Louisi- W
ana in the important attributes mentioned, "
that conflict scarcely less serious in its Iii
character should have arisen between p
capital and labor here. This issue is "a
nominal as between these elements, but d.
the real issue is political and social. These r
last having been eliminated, there will -
remain for Louisiana the best body Of "a
iaborers and the most satisfactory rela- ~
tons between capital and labor which ex- va
lists. The social relations between the ~
races will adjust themselves just as those pt'
between Gentle and Jew and among the -: ~
Christian sects and persuasions have =,
done. There are old men living in
this city who remember in Germany =.
the seclusion of the Jews in separate -
quarter. History tells us of hatred and -.
persecution of these people, perhaps of 49,
the purest Caucasian blood, by people ~:
whose belief in the existence and attri- :,
butes of God were derived from the Bible Wy
,f .hoso J 1Y:..-uc an,
- 'ASoS 'O"S' AA-otOIy VI SLrlle De-
tween Christians believing in the same
God, Son and Holy Ghost, yet torturing CO. co.
Staying and abhoring each other to an wa
extent uncomfortable at this day. The W
social relations of the races will, in like o..
manner, adjust themselves in the South, '.r'
IS they have done in the infinitely more wy
ntolerant and shameful antagonisms of '0~
hose who had no difference of color or 10
aste to excuse them wv
Tn
The Pennsylvania emeute corresponds ber
omewhat with our own during last sum- Go
ner. 1t is a case in which the miners as ind
Individuals undertook to redress their =,
wn grievances The local authorities nv,
ither wanted the force or the disposition roc,
punish those who were destroying the tho
property and interfering with the rights +ril
other laborers. This strike and strife ind
as continued until a superior authority sid,
as invoked. In this case it was that of tho
he State of Pennsylvania, one of the most war
opulous and powerful in the Union. 1t her,
ppears that military force is on its way r
} the scene Of disturbance, and there can ner
g no doubt that it will be adequate the