The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1875-10-09
Arc Trades Unions Conspirac,e.,

In the SINEY and PARKS case which has
been on trial al Clearteld during the past
week, Judge ORVIs according to the As
soclated Press reporter, charged the jury
that "auy agreement, combination, or
confederation to increase the price Of any
vendible commodity, whether labor. mcr-
chandise, or anything else, :" was indictablo
as conspiracy under the laws OF Pennsyl-
vania. We presume that Judge ORvGs
limited his statement to oonfederacies en-
ploying illegal means else he would be
holding that the coal operators are iudict-
able for conspiracy whenever they pro
mulGate II circular announcing al advance
OF ten or twenty-five cents "A ton.
The old English courts held confedera-
cies that wrongfully prejudiced third
person 10 be criminal ut common law.
They were considered wrongfully TO pre-
judiCe, who brought to bear upon a work
ing man any argument or moral influence
tending to make him dissatisfied with the
price he was receiving for his labor. A
conspiracy among working men 10 refuse
TO work under certain wages was an III
dlctable offence. Masters could even be
indicted for showing too great indulgence
TO their worlSmen by raising wages above
the current rates. Let the coal operators
Of Clearhcld county fancy, II they can,
grand jury bringing in true bill against
the proprietoTs of Derby colliery for pay
ing miners sixty cents a ton when the
other collieIIes OF the region were paying
fifty.
Such laws were the blind struggles OF
feudal masters to keep their men in vas
salage. There has been progress since
then, but 1t has been exceedingly slow
In the United States 1t used TO be indicta-
bic for workmen to conspire to raise wages
by combinations To regulate the price OF
labor. In 1872, in the Massachusetts case
of the Commonwealth against Hunt aud
others, certain journeymen bootmakers
were prosecuted on this charge. 1t was
not claimed that violence or intimidation
was employed, but simply that there was
conspiracy to impoverish the boss boot
makers by combination against unsatis-
factory wages The journeymeu were de-
Tended by ROBERT RASToUL; and the
great Chief Justice SHAW ruled that there
was no ground for the charge of conspiracy.
In Pennsylvania the labor unions have
long been problem and "A perplexity TO
the law makers. Nowhere has the issue
between employers and employed been
more distinctly defined; and In no other
State has legislation gone so far in its at
| tempts to regulate their relations. The
| Legislature of 1869 passed bill legaliZiug
trades unions, and recognizing the right of
their members to strike. Explicit eXcop-
ton was made Of the counties of Clearflcld
~ a.
trades unions were not legal, and work.
men had not the right to strike. Why this
singular provision was Incorporated in the
net does not appear. Statute and proyi-
sion, however, have both been superseded
by the act of 1872, upon the text OF which
the present case has turned. The statute
makes it lawful for any laborer or labor
ers workingman or workingmen, journey
man or journeymen, acting either as indi-
| viduals or members OF club, society, or
association, to refuse to work or labor
without subjecting themselves TO pTosecu-
ton for conspiracy under the criminal
laws of the State; provided nothing shall
prevent the prosecution and punishment
OF any person who shall, In any tpdy. him
der persons who desire to labor for their
| llolil bO uolHE, VI OlHtT pSIbOus
from being employed rs laborers."
Pennsylvania is, we believe, the only
State which has attempted TO define by
statute the right to strike. Although it
would at first appear that the act just
quoted covers the ground fairly and fully,
the present trial shows that the whole
force OF the law lies in the Interpretation
which may be given to the phrase " in any
way" II the old theory be maintained
and If the policy of combination bo held
to be one of the ways provided for, then
the phrase stultiies the law, and the law
has no more significance than an identical
equation in algebra.
At this time there Is no need to urge, to
others than those blinded by selfish inter
est, the broad principle that q working
man has right to put his own estimate
upon his labor and to get oil no can fol