Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1882-03-18
GOOD INFLUENCES OF GOOD
WAGES.

there ought TO be needless. An AZ
gument to prove that two and two
make four is p wo,k Of supererogs-
ton. Even to infant minds the pro-
mise is given as a mechanical one,
the why and wherefore being deferr-
ed 10 development through incidental
and oft .repested operations. The
same is true in morals and ought to
be in political economy Never:hs-
less, throughout the range of philoso-
ply, covering both the exact and,
may we say iue1act sciences, the ma
cessity of "line upon line and precept
upon prscept" is called in to arrest
and hold in check the constantly
recurring sggressions Of rebellious in
novators.
The good influences eIsrted BY
good wages is proposal so manifest
ly true that no proof is needed here
to establish it. In fact, it is the log-
10 Of cause and effect over and over
again. No reader Of this paper, be he
operator or miner, who has ever tass-
ed the sw,ets Of good compensation
for his industry, can deny it. Nor
can he say that he is not IN MAORI
ty of respects a happier and better
man for the personal satisfaction OBJ
tanned and the worldly standing award
ed him on account of his worth as
producer and his value as citizen.
The superintendent, for instance, who
earns twenty-five hundred year.
cannot affirm that his home life is less
pleasant than if his worth was rated
at merely living salary. He knows
the pleasures of a home comfortably
equipped arc supplied of the posses,
sion Of power to entertain handsome
ly and Hospitality, and of ability to
educate and rear his children for yet
higher walks in life.
How is this achieved for him?
Simply because his employers elect
to divide literally with him the prof
its accruing from his responsibility
and services, and by so much be is
endowed with an interest in the pros
perlty of his company.
From the direction Of this consider
atior las been shed the brightest rsy
of hope hich has ever fallen upon the
labor problem.
From the arrogance xhich despisea,
OF cupidity which overlooks tee award
to la' OF OF fair share Of Tia earnings.
falls discomfort, tumult, the mildew OF
idleness and the nightmare Of hard
times.
In our own region stoppage has
been precipitatsd upon the spscous
claim that rival field is, through
lower wages, supplanting our coal in
market. Outside of tho known sla-
vishness and squalor of Clear6eld, our
operators unwittingly attest the sub
jugaiing tendency of low wages, and
all tho nameless degrsdations and
distinctions of manhood which that
prcclivity suggests.
But whatever Clear6eld conditions
and usages may he, legitimate or lille
gitimate in an enlightened age and
free country, the submission of the
miners over there to fierce, hydra
headed system of domination is pre-
sented for imitation here with the tone
and force of an imperial ediat. Let
us set agsinst it few pertinent san-
fences from McCulloch's Political
Economy:
The examples Of surh individuals, or
bodies of Individuals, as submit quietly TO
have their wages reduced, and who are
content If they get only the mere necesss-
ries of life, ought never to be held up for
public imitation. On the contrary, every.
thing should be done to makesuch apathy
be esteemed as disgraceiul. The best in
terests OF society require that the rate of
wages should lie elevated as high as posi-
ble that taste for the comic is, Injuries
and enjoym rnts of human rife should be
widely diffnsed and, If possible interviewer
with the national habits and piejudices
A low rate Of wages, by rendering 1t inn
possible for increased exertions to obtain
any considerable increase of comforts and
enjoymenls, effectualiy binders any such
exertions from ever being made, and is of
all others the most powerful cause Of thai
idleness and apathy that conttnts itself
with whas barely continues animal exist
ence.
We understand the miners in CT ar
field and other eoft coal regions will
be out for incre ased wages in less
than a month. Thus sta, ement IS Liv-
en- AZ au, horita,ive. We ,rus, i, will