The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1877-08-16
Who Paysl

| Maybe we snail not succeed IN geltlng y
the wages we ask, say some oi the strik
ers; but at any rate we shall have taught
the railroads good lesson. IL is cheap
or for them to- surrender than to fight"
Is that true2
Railroads are not making much money
in these days. Some Of them are running
at loss. Ii is the dull season, when the
profits of the freight traffic are SO small
AS to be hardly worth estimating certain
lily not worth fighting fori and il a Road
is sound the loss Of business through
strike at the end of July need not involve
it. in very serious difficulties. 1t is only
the actual destruction Of the railway
materiek and private property that need
be taken into consideration; and we
should like to know who pays for that ?
By the laws of every one OF the States
the charge fails upon the City or County
in which the destruction occurred. In
PIttsburg the damage to the property OF
the Companies is placed at five and
half million dollars This is a low esti-
mate. The conhagration involved one
hundred and twenty-five locomotives. a
large proportion of which were the heav-
lest and most costly machines made in
America, worth about $4,000 apiece.
There were 800 or 900 cars, from the
cheap platform car to the Pullman palace
on wheels. There were three miles OF
machine and repair shops. with their val
uable tools. aud oi sheds, platforms,
yards, round houses, etc, etc. There was
costly depot building, and large. ele
CANT and wellfurnished hotel. which will
be gratefully remembered 10y all travel
eis who know what q meal at PIttsburg
used to be five years ago, and what IL be
came after that establishment was open
ed. The loss by the destruction of all
this property and by the damage to the
permanent way might easily reach. It
seems TO US, six seven millions Then
there is the loss On the contents of the
freight cars burned or pillaged by the
mob. OF this no estimate can be made
but il must be enormous, and whatever
il is. the City of Pittsburg has got to pay
for it. as well as tor the mammoth grain
Elevator, and for all the injury to priv ite
houses and persons. Ii will be a pretty
addition TO the burdens Of a small city,
and il will be all the heavier because, in
the depression of the railway industry
which must follow these disorders, Pitts
burg, the creature and dependent OF rail
ways, will be one of the foremost suffer
ers. And, to complete the punishment
Of the unfortunate City. the Pennsylva-
MIA Railroad Company resolves that its
shops shall be rebuilt somewhere else
Fourteen years ago there was great
riot in New York. 1t will long be re
membered for scenes of brutality. but the
destruction of property was far less than
at Pittsburg the other day. Yet for that
riot the taxpayers of New York We're
held liable to the amount OF nearly
$2.OOOOO0 Bonds were issued to meet
the charge. On these bonds We have al
ready paid more than million and half
Of interest. This year we have to pay
the first instalment of the principal,
amounting to half a million. The an
nual interest thus far has been nearly
$4,000. Every penny Of these large
sums has come out Of the pockets OF the
laboring men Of the Metropolis. Every
penny of the much larger sums payable
on account OF Pittsburgh, Baltimore
Reading. bonneville. and other scenes
OF the present disturbance. must likewise
come out of the pockets OF the working
classes. 1t is idle TO imagine that in this
age OF the world any burden can be laid
upon Capital which Labor will not be H.
nally forced to bear. The tax which the
rich man pays to the collector is paid
again by the poor man in the form OF
house-rent, tailors' bills, butchers bills,
and the price OF bread All charges up
on the community are paid by the whole
community. Nobody can get rid OF his
share.
Nor is this all. The strikers have a
direct pecuniary interest in the prosper
ity OF the very railroads they are trying
to cripple. The business OF the whole
country is bound up with the fortunes Of
the railroads. and it is the condition of
business which governs the market price
of labor. When the railroads are par
alyzed, all our commercial operations are
stricken as if with death; our factories
stand idle, our ships lie empty at the
wharf, our warehouses are vacant. And
the strikers finally must learn that it is
the railroads that feed them. They can
not stop thecattle and grain cars without
raising the price of beef and bread.-lN.
Y. Tribune.