Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1881-10-08
THE miners will read the following

CIB Will ditsTndte ivy anu eoiAo"'
To begin fHs. 4rt
The greenbsckeIs of the Western Mary
land coal regions must be very blind il
they do not see the supreme righteousness
of the platform adopted by them at Cum
berland on Thursday. Yet he goes astray
who believes that the miners of that re.
gion are illiterate fellows, easily led by the
nose and without ideas OF their own. just
the reverse is true. The mines are work
I'd by as intelligent body of laboring men
as can be found the world over. They are
men who own their houses and the little
plots of ground upon which these houses
stand who subscribe for newspapers, and
read them with care and judgment; who
form, as rule, intelligent opinions of their
own, and who can argue bravely and
strongly for these opinions. 1t may,
therefore, seem the moro remarkable that
they cling so tenaciously to the stupid
greenback craze and fondle the rag baby in
their brawny arms SO long after its DEATH
The greenback miners, as such,
must really take care Of themselves,
but for miners, as miners, we dissent
from the following:
The truth ofthe matter is this: theminers
of the Cumberland coal region, as well as
all other miners, look upon their lives IS
q persistent and continuous struggle with
capital Capital, to them, means the com
psnies which own the mines. Between
these companies and the miners there is
q constant war over prices, and the miners
have become so thoroughly organized and
so powerful that the companies cannot af-
ford to be harsh or tyrannical in their
action.
We do not credit that statement as
.'the truth of the matter" 1t is
rather the ancient trouble between
buyer and seller grown to wholesale
proportions. Since human history
began the purchaser Of labor has Sc
cured it at the cheapest available rate
and he has never knowingly paid too
high price. His aggressive negotia-
tions and intolerance Of social equal
ity have for ages overborne, subdued
and kept down those striving to Sc
cure the prime needs of food and
raiment. The head of labor has
been broken by clubs made of the
necessities of labor. Upon this policy
dynasties, monarchies and aristoc-
racies have been founded and rerpet-
uated. Otherwise, there would have
been successful republics before that
which sprang from kingly imposition
upon the American colonies. No
wonder, then, that men "who form,
as a rule, intelligent opinions of their
own" regard capital as force an
tagonizing their most cherished inter
ests. The wonder is there are not
more such men.
When the greenback labor party started
1t laid its claim to support en- the ground
that 1t was organized in the interests OF
labor as opposed to capital, and SO the
miners hailed lis advent with joy and raj
lied to Its support, and the temporary sue
cess that it gained in some parts of the
country convinced them that it was to be-
come ruling factor in American politics,
and would furnish n happy solution OF
their struggles with capital. So charmed
were they with it that they failed to see
that 1t rested on no substantial founda-
ton, and they have become, it would
seem, totally blind to the fact that i; is
dead and buried beyond the chance of
resurrection. You cannot make miner Of
the Cumberland qtgion belieue that the Interests
of capital and labor are identical.
This is a mistake also. Somebody
with broader views than the Amera-
can entertains of the relations each
bears to the other can do so. From
the narrow side the argument pro-
ceeds upon the assumption that with
out capital labor could have no en-
ployment; on the other that labor
produces capital. Both are partially
correct; but to weigh them in the bal
ance, tho one against the other, the
philosopher, if it were possible to find
one without interest, must ascertain
that the preponderance Of fair state
ment is with labor. He will discover
that under all systems capital has
been able to reproduce itself, mostly
by usury and monopoly; labor never
has and cannot in the nature of things
create or multiply itself profitably in
any inactive way. Now, it is an hon
est study of the disparity Of the re-
lations spoken of, and an earnest
search for relief from the burdens
which that disparity imposes, which
evokes ungraoious comment such as
the american makes. 1t is a desire,
not 10 take from money any inherent
value or cripple its legitimate repro
duct;va force hnt that labor ahould