Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1879-09-26
Strikes.
It has ALWAYS appeared to us

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under any ordinary circumstances, q
strike among mechanics and laborers is
bat living suicide. In not one
twentieth of the cases on record, has q
strike accomplished its object. The
most fortunate of them have, as q rule,
resulted only in a compromise. The
complete victory of striking company,
is one of the rare things in history.
Even in these cases, the loss of time
and money while the strike is in pro-
gress, generally outweighs the triumph.
That capital controls labor, is an alb
solute truth, but one which the class of
Men who lead strikes, however intelli-
gent they MAY be, do not seem to APP
preciate. They do not reflect that they
work for money, and therefore money
controls their labor. They can see very
clearly that this same money, when in
their hands, controls the people who
work for them-the landlord, the grocer,
the butcher, the tailor and the servant.
In other words, all labor is merchan.
disc, and is necessarily reciprocal.
Every man sells his work. Dollars are
merely the links of the great chain of
universal labor.
In our own country, the laboring
man." so called, (which is a misnomer,
for every mau, except he be an actual
vagrant, is laborer, whether he works
as president or bootblack) is in far
better circumstances, even at the low
est wages paid, than the same class of
men in any other land. This fact is
clearly shown by recent reports of the
United States Consuls throughout
Europe, which have been carefully ex-
amined and arranged for publication,
and the result is to give an exceedingly
valuable statement of the situation.
The reports clearly prove condition of
things which will be surprise to most
people in this country. They show:
First, That wages in the United
States are double those of Belgium,
Denmark, France and England; three
times those of Germany, Italy and
Spain, and four times those of the
Netherlands.
Second, That the prices Of the neces-
saries of life are lower in the United
States than in Europe, and that the Ia
borer in the United States, were he
satisfied with the miserable and scanty
fare upon which the European laborer
must live, can purchase like food for
less money than it can be purchased in
Europe.
Third, That the French working peo-
pie, with far less wages, are happier
than the working people of Great
Britain, who receive the largest wages
in Europe, on account of the steadiness
and economical habits of the former,
and the strikes, drinking habits and
consequent recklessness of the latter.
Fourth, That more misery results
from strikes, drinking. socialism and
communism ia England and in Ger
many than from all other causes com.
bined.
From these statements it will be seen
that the man who merely works for
wages in the United States, receives
better pay than any other man in the
world: that he Is able to live more COM
fortably, on less money, than any other
man in the world-that sober, indus
trious and clearly habits do more for
health, happiness and contentment
than money can, and that the chief
causes of suffering are those which
arise from idleness and discomfort.
Congress provided for the publica-
ton of fifteen thousand of these reports.
They should be widely distributed.
Intelligent workingmen who read them
cannot fail to be benefited thereby,
Not having been put forth in the inter-
est Of any party or any system of "re-
FORM" they ought to have great in
fuence for good in this country. The
facts and figures there given will show
the force of good old Izaak Walton's
maxim: "Study to be quiet. Bur-
lington HaUk-Eye.