New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-05-11
FALSE LABOR ETHICS.

Tho littlo trouble at the Wayne County (O) coal
mine has been SO promptly met by the state militia
that 1t does not promise to be much greater Tho
story is n short one The proprictOrs OF tho Silver
Crock Mine proposed to employ cOlored miners from
Virginia. So they brought about 200 laborers of
that complexion to the mine and set them to work.
The aggrioved white men OF the neighbOrhOOd held
n meeting, and voted to drive these sable miners
AWAY. Could there be anything moro absurd ! any
thing more wIckedf anything moro brutalr The
owners had perfect moral and legal right to select
their employees Tho persons selected had an equal
right to accept the proposal There is absolutely
nobody in tho wrong except the white wOrkmcn,
who are NIL wrong. 1t docs seem strange that men
of common sense and ordinary conscience can be
so deludcd. They claim what they are unwilling
TO conccdc. They assume to act with perfect III
dcpcndcncc, regardless Of the interests OF others
Yct they refuse to those others the privilege Of
EMPLOYING whom they please and of paying thcm
what they please. They do not or will not see that
il they have q right to look after their own ill.,
tcrcsts every other man, be he employer or labOrer
has right to look after his also. Instead OF con-
ccding This. rs logically he must the artisan who
wants all that he can get assumes that ho is en-
titled to moro than his employer sees fit to pay
him: and that the employer has no right to look to
chrapcr markets for labor, which is much Il conf
moditv rs iron or cotton. Going further still, lie
also claims that nobody has q right to work for
less than some clique association has declared to
be fit and proper, and if anybody appears who is
willing TO do so he proceeds to break that offenders
head, or to shoot him from behind fence, or to
burn his house, or otherwise to damage him or his
wife or his children.
Tyranny is tyranny, whoever may exercise it
and il man cannot enjoy his personal freedom in
working for whom and for what he likes ho might
lust as well be scrf under autOcrat citizen
OF the United States. These despOtic persons
show an ability to take care of themselves, or evil
IDENTIFY think that they possess it. Let them take
care of themsevesl Let them loaf. or labor, as to
their proud souls may the best! But we deny
their right to coerce their fclowmen into following
their example. We specially deny their right TO
maltreat and impoversh cOlored persons. who arc
specially guarded against such cruelty by pro-
vision OF tho Constitution of the United States.
Until they have succeeded in amending tho Amend
ment, do not let them undertake to dictate to their
fcllow-crcaturcs, and to compel them to be idle
against their will.
These ardent souls have mistaken the persons
whom they should try to coerce. They should
mob the Legislatures They should hang the judges.
They should extcTminate tho militia. They should
abolish the sheriifs They should tear down tho
iails And having done ali this they should de-
clare not an equal division of property, for that
would be a great mistake. What they want is such
n readjustmcnt of the present arrangements that
they shall be rich and everybody else poor. This
is evidently their cardinal notion. For this did