New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-08-03
TIE HEST QUESTION 70 BIZ SETTLED

TIE !TRST QUESTION 70 BIZ SETTLED.
II does not need 10 he said that the questions
arising out OF the present labor troubles will
enter largely into curron; politics, and AFFECT IN
a greater or less degree parties and elections.
That is inevitable. 1t remains to be seen with
what wisdom TIE subject will he handled:
whether, in the hands Of sagaciOus stat smcn,
we shah have such settlement 0i relations
and definition Of principle a. shall bring pros
peii,y and pcacc; or, IN the hands OF dema-
gogucs. il shall be made Il permanent ana IN
durable evil and perennial source of mischief
and misery. one thing is very evident, and
that Is The duty of both pirtes-0i iaw-abid-
M citizens OF all paIties-t0 agree upon the
limits beyond which the trades unions shall
not 20 i'm asserting whit they claim To- De
their rights il defiance OF law, in violation 81
public order and utter disregard OF the rights
or the convenience OF the community. II any
brotherhood OF mechanics, or union OF trades
men, or combination of any sort, has the right
to compc the suspension OF Ill traffic,
the stoppago of business Of every k.Hd.
or, indeed OF any Kind, TO await the al
jishncrt OF wages or settlement OF grcv-
ances with employers, We may n well
~
know where she rights belong and by whose
grace il is that We are permitted TO en-
gage in trade carry on manufactures and On
i0y the facilities ior travel and transportation.
1t would b. casy--Wcre thcrc not scJundIc!ly
dcmacogues in botn parties VINO fall naturally
to base AMI m;schicy0us catering 10 the pas
sions End prrjudices Of the mob-tO settle this
cue ,!;on at once permanently ami beyond Iii
tGrhancc. Net the whole question between
capital and labor-ihat is woTld-od, and runs
with timc-but the question of primary I'M
portancc as concerns the peace and order Of
the community where the legitimate functions
Of d t!al union ends and mob law begins.
Tho men who organized and Carried on those
strike. we've either asserting their own nShts
when tncy refused 30 work themselves or let
others bc put in their places, OF else they were
violating law. hat is u direct issue, and it
would seem that rot even an ordinary political
convention cOad fail TO comprehend 1t with
reasonable cltaincSs.
Let his taen be squareiy met, and the q1as-
ton settled hero and now. There is ut present
great confusion il the public mind upon this
subject If John Smith being Soker at work
for one dollar a day demands a dollar and
u half, and refuses either to work himself Oh
let any one WORK in IN, place unless his demand
is complied wish, The average intelligence Of
the community very soon settles that issue be-
tween capit1l and labor by lmttlpg up John
Smith IL Il 0istuIber OF the peace, aud no one
questions the justice OF prOpriety OF It. If a
hundred stokcrs make the same demand. aud
refuse either to work OF le5 others AXE their
places until il is complied with, there begins to
be Il varied notion of rights involved in the
matter. and the becr-puSherS who muse on
the infinite" say it is phase OF the great
problem Of the relations between capital and
labor, and that the one hundred striking st0kcrs
who refuse 10 let the other hundred st0hers
earn theirlyng are "elcyating labor" IL there
is a general movement of this kind set on foot
by trades unions through travelling agents who
never do any wO,k at all-e-ccpt with their
chills, and very poor work with them-and car
ried into violent operation by tramps, thieves
and rioters OF all degrees, then Ill the
! Mu,ers on the InGnite-whO have been all
| Their lives soaking in beer and pcddling
/ to Predetermined inebriates parcel OF inco-
/ bcrent mental processes on government and
property and common sense and other things
/ they never lad-break out with the assertion
| that The irrepress'ble conflict has begun and
a new order of things is about to be estab-
/ lished Then, through all the riot and confu-
sion of the Iaw-breakers and the "talkee-
"talker" Of the Anticipated, a thorous no.
| ton begins to get hold OF the public that per-
| haps this is n genuine outbreak OF oppressed
labor against the tyranny of capital, and. ia a
dull wa, they talk OF compromising with the
rioters, and entering into negotiations with
them to secure them their rights by legislation
aud all that sort OF cOWardly stuff. Let's be
shut of all this nonsense. Either John
Smith the striker has the right to
dictqte to his employer whom he shall en-
ploy, ard at what wages or he has not. II lac
has not then ton thousand John Smiths,
though they be organized and chartered and
Differed with constitutions aud bylaws and
plans and purposes without and have not
If John breaks the law. 80 they all do.
1t is with this question OF the sacredness Of