The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1878-06-21
SEEKING REDRESS By VIOLENCE,

SEEKING REDRESS BY VIOLENCE. 1
The dire antagonism that exists be-
tween capital and labor, neither of
which could be maintained or, indeed,
created without the other, eliminated
last week in a great riot at Quebec. The
scenes that disgraced portions of the
United States last year were there en-
acted over, though with less destruction
TO property and stores. An occasion of
this kind, engendered without doubt in
the first place by real hardship and per
haps injustice being visited upon the
laboring class, is an opportunity waited
aud longed for by myriads Of thriftless
idlers, men who never work, yet feel
that in some undefnable way other
men injure them by obtaining by labor,
thrift, economy, trade, OF barter, a COM
potency. Carried forward and in great
measure protected by the temporary
frenzy Of the populace, this class Of per-
sons swell the ranks if they do not form
the main body of the unreasoning mob
that, under plea of destitution, destroy
by fire and pillage the very bread for
which they rend the air with their in
sane demands.
That those who are compelled TO eat
their bread in the sweat of the face have
many and carzing cares that are un-
known to the rich is not more true than
that means Of violence never yet made
the rich understand them. Every con-
test Of this kind, however firmly
grounded in justice in its incipiency,
leads but to the still further oppression
of the laborer, and causes the chains
of poverty that bind him to be but more
firmly riveted. Capital neither eats nor
wears, and can afford to close its mills
and work shops; suspend operations in
its mines and manufactures for few
weeks, while labor however deter
mined, however oppressed by scanty
wages, looks on with hollow-eyed i'm
potency, compelled sooner or later by
gaunt famine to yield the point and ae-
cept the reduction which caused the
suspension Of work.
The "primal sin Of selfishness" and
the love Of money, declared by holy writ
to be the "root of all evil, are the great
Molochs which hold as in a wise the
coDsciences Of capitalists, and give birth
to the oppression that causes constant
outbreak which learns nothing by ex-
perience. These inseparable elements,
pampered by prosperity and increased
by gain, cause the capitalist, who per-
haps never labored an hour with his
hands, to promulgate through his facto-
ries a ten per cent. reduction of wages,
which before barely sufiiced to keep the
operatives families in scant raiment
and meager food.
True philanthropy, disinterested be-
nevolenee are extremely rare qualities,
aud are seldom indeed found in bulk. A
solitary example once in a while arises
to prove the possibility of these ele-
ments existing in human form. Strikes,
bread riots, and mob violence do not
seem to engender or increase these traits
of character in the monied aristocrats Of
the world, but quite the reverse, max
ing them heartless where before they
were but thOughtless. Therefore, TO en-
courage such proceedings, even when
sympathy for the condition that begets
them is deep and sincere, is most IN
wise, as precedent proves that violence
and lawlessness in such cases defeats its
own ends, and turns the tide of popular
feeling against those who have all need
Of sympathy, the tOiling poor.
Brute force without reason can ac-
eomplish nothing that will be perma-
nent for the good Of mankind. To call
IL out in unorganized mass is madness,
and to rely upon it to redress wrongs
when taking the characteristics Of a
mob is death to the reform it cham
pions. The man who, finding himself
out Of fuel in bitter weather, should
burn first his barn and then his dwell
ing, that he might bask in the tempo
rary warmth, while depriving himself
Of permanent shelter, would be equally
wise with those who raise the cry for
increase Of wages, and accompany il
with destruction Of property, shout for
bread while they apply the torch to the
warehouses that contain the seasons
supply Of grain, or, as was the case in
Quebec last week, pillage the ware
houses of the flour therein stored, and
make free delivery Of the same, taking
no thought Of the morrow.