The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1877-07-31
Tuesday. July 81. 1877.
HIGHER LAW.

About the most rlotculous and foolish |
article published on the strike is the
Union's higher law" article. Possibly it
did not occur to the writer that this is
America, and that America is wonderful
country, and not in the least like England,
or some of the European countries where
riots of half the magnitude of the one just
ended would have unseated and changed
the government. In Europe the Spaniard
and the Basque are ready to cut each
others throat any day. The Mussulman
and the Christian on the Balkan peninsula
20 to disembowling each other whenever
they get the slightest chance to do So
The Poles would poison every Russian if
they could, and the Russians would hang
every Pole if they were not ashamed The
English and the Irish are only waiting for
ft opportunity to break each others ribs
and skulls. The Neapolitan hates the
Piedmontese just as much as the Bavarian
hates the Prussian. Here less than ten
days ago hundred thousand closely allied
men become at given moment masters CT
ell the communications Of the continent
and had property to the value of two
thousand millions at their mercy. What
would they not haYe done in Europe under
similar circumstances? With the facilities
these men had to arm themselves, one-ffth
of their number would have been enough
in opv Euronaon nounfr,, to r,nrob ~, tb
capital, upset the government, and estab-
lish general chaos. The men who started
the great French revolution, who bcheaded
kings and mobiles, redistributed property
all over the country,a and became the terror
Of the whole world, counted their ranks by
the hundred, not by the thousand. Here
the rising Of hundred thousand men re.
suits in dozen or two killed, few build
ings burned, aud slight impeachment to
business for a day or two. Why, the beer
riot of Frankfort few years ago, or an
Anglo-Irish riot was never settled cheaper.
And when the thing is over, there is no
court-martialfng, no shooting, hanging or
banishing people. In few days there
will probably not be even any ill-feeling
between the two opposite camps.
The author Of that higher law" article
evidently imagined himself an Engishman
and writing for European workmen instead
of for exceedingly practical Americans who
act first and think afterwards, and whose
action is therefore, determined By purely
practical, business considerations of the
moment. If they construct any theory e.
all, they construct it poSteriori, and in
Analysing the results of their action, they
are just as ready to acknowledge that they
acted like fools, as they are ready
to take credit to themselves. They will
not fight for an idea They fight fol-
a concrete, tangible expression Of it
They fight fercely, but not fanatically.
and are ready at any moment to accept 1
reasonable compromise. The rioters anC
striker here did not bring forward an!
vague general principle or any socialist
theory. They simply wanted an increas
of ten per cent. on their wages. Tn
struggle could therefore never have be
come as fanatlcal one as it would hav
been in Europe, for there theoretical me
and doctrinares would come to the front
would have stuffed peoples heads with a
sorts OF ideas and theories, and made Q
have told them that the glorious struggl
was over two thousand years ole
Agrarian laws, the socialistic legislature {
Lycurgus, and the communistic theorie
Of Plato would have been explained
them in magnificent language Ever
socialistic authority, from CampaDelIa I
Fourier and Robert Owen, would hav
been disinterred, and the workingmeI
brought into a state of delirium tremen
they would have started to organize ne
Paris Commune and displayed degrt
of bloodthirstiness and ferocity exceedin
everything which savages or religion
fanatics ever showed themselves capab
Of The most thoroughgoing socialis
and Communists here do not seem to cal
straw for what Plato, Campanela, {
anybody else thought or said All the
seem to want is that the governmer
should take possession of the railroads,
has been done in Belgium and German
and as viii! undoubtedly soon be done
France and England, and that the wor
iugmen should be admitted to partial C
partnership in great industrial concern
Nothing could be more moderate in Il
socialistic claims, and the country has I
troubles to apprehend. Socialism ar
communism can evidently gain no footir
here till this continent is overpeope,
aud it will take five or six hundrt
millions Of human beings to overpeople
and we fear the Union may change han
before that time comes around.