The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1877-09-28
THE ,EGZ,S.
BEL AIR, FRIDAY, SEPT. rs, 1877.
Capital and Labor.

capital anu Labor.
Mr. EDITOR: 1t would be presumption il
me, to attempt to solve the problem relative t.
the position which capital and labor should oc
cupy, in the political economy and science o
government, inasmuch as the solution of thi
question has occupied the minds and bafiled thu
wisdom, of the greatest men in this or any othe
country down to the present time. | merel,
propose to speak Of some facts directly under oui
observation, the results of which conclusivey
prove the direction in which we are drifting
In the first place, capital is rapidly concentra
ting, and as natural consequence, (under oul
present laws,) power surely follows AS ar
illustration, 1t is only necessary to look back O
few years, when individual enterprise was sue
cessful in any business. Now almost every bust.
ness of any magnitude must be conducted by a
company. In fact companies monopoliZe every
thing, from railroad down to an odorless eX-
cavating machine.
The manner in which gentlemen go into bust,
ness in this enlightened age is simply this: A
few of them combine their capital, elect q pres
ident and directors, and perhaps obtain char
ter, (if they desire it,) from some patriotic leg
islators, lprovided the company will make it all
right, under the style of the Great North
American Boot and Shoe Manufac turing Com
pany or something else. The first point they
endeavor to make, is to drive off competition,
that is individual enterprise. They invariably
succeed but frequently at n loss, and in order
to gain the asccndancy, they issue a few thous-
aud additional shares of stock, which they
politely call watering stock. When the water
ing process has been consummated, and the
stock inflated to their satisfaction, a difficulty
arises which somewhat disturbs the harmony of
the happy family. They discover that the egiti-
mate profits arising from the actual bona Tide
capital of the company are not sufficient TO
make satisfactory dividends on the whole amount
of inflated stock, and unless this matter is rec.
titled the credit of the company must suffer-
But they are equal to the emergency They
issue to their employees circular, somewhat
i'll this style: "Owng to unforeseen circum-
stances, occasioned by the great depression in
business circles, we are unable TO meet our obi
cations unless we economist We therefore
painfully announce to you that we are compel.
ed to make reduction of ten per cent. in your
wages" not word about watering stock.
This is the commencement of the grinding
process, and frequently some of the same men
are in their employ which they have driven from
competition and now being made to pay for
their own downfall. They have this grinding
process reduced to such fine point that il de-
serves to be classcd among the fine arts. They
can ascertain by mathematical calculation the
amount, within cent, necessary to keep man
in breathing condition, but they occasionally
overstcp the bounds, and pass that point beyond
which forbcarancc ceases to be q virtue. This
point was passed by the b. ~ 0. railroad, on a
memorable occasion, which produced its bitter
fruits, and the same cause will most incvitively
produce the same effect. When you reduce a
man to the starvation point there is not statute
laws enough in existence to restrain him. When
laws or corporations become so oppressive that
men are unable to live under them, they do not
violate the laws of God, or the organic laws of
man, when they resist them. They exercise the
right of revolution, as George Washington and
your ancestors did when they resisted the op-
prcssions of the government to which they owed
allegiance.
Some of the champions of capital who desire
to assist in grinding the laborer to the dust,
although they propose to be advocates for a
n unV Mt 10, 1F
singular arguments to sustain their course
They tell us we should keep an army for the
purpose of holding the mass of the people in
subJectlon. Gen. Sherman, among others, en-
dorses this idea The only light in which | can
discover in this argument is simply this. If it
is necessary to have an army to keep the people
in subsection, ii is clearly an Acknowledgement
that we are incapable of selfgovernment. If
such is the fact, and we must have an arstocra-
cy would prefer blue blood to Goldfish.
Although | have scarcely passed the thresh-
hold OF this question, the length of this paper
admonishes me that would be trespassng upon
your time and space, if | should continue the
pursuit through those devious windings and
complications erected by those financial mag
mates to shield their operations from the public
will conclude for the present, by referring
you TO an operation now in full blast in Hartford
county, which will admit of ocular demonstra.
ton, to verify the position have assumed in
this article. l allude to company of men who
have banded their capital together und er the
name of the Inland Transportation Company,
and are now waging war on an upright and hon
est citizen of the county, who has by pcrsever
ance and economy built up a little business by
which he has been able to support his family
In connection with this matter there is dark
feature which deserves to be noticed, viz: This
company is assisted in its nefarious designs by
the Railroad Company, with which it connects
They authorize this Inland Transportation Com
pany to issue round trip tickets from Bel Air to
Baltimore and return for $3.50, the Railroad re-
ceving Sl.O0 as their portion, thereby giving
privileges to company alien to the State that
they refuse to grant to her citizens who gave
them their charter with all its valuable fran
chises. They refuse to grant to the citizens of
this county, which has within the present year
made them princely gift by reducing the basis
of their taxation over one-half 1t is to say the
least, ungrateful in them to assist in breaking
down an humble citizen merely to crafty the
ambition of few magnates but believe the
people will rally to his support, and enable him
to sustain the unequal contest in which he is
compelled to battle in order to give his family
bread. IyuRos