The Labor enquirer., 1882-12-23
THOUGHTS ON LABOR.
Presented by Kicker" in Strong and
Undeniable Thoughts and = J.
Argument.
TO the Editor of The Labor Enquirer


The capitalists and their parasites of the
preseut day denounce and ridicule trades
unionists. They wilfully confound them
with communists and condemn them as in
eendiaries, because they ask modest but
fair share of the profits their own hands
have created, and because when united they
present formidable obstacle to the tyranny
which is so easily practiced upon isolated in
diYiduaIs
Employers often assume to feel insulted
and aggrieved at what they are pleased to
call dictation. An employer who has oc-
caSion to hire but one hand makes a bargain
with him directly, so much money for so
much muscle and skill. There are but two
parties to the contract. The relation is. not
altered if the boss has twenty working for
him. If these menare wise they will agree
among themselves something in this manner:
'We will form an association of good work
men in our trade ; we will admit none who
have not served a sufficient apprenticeship
to render them fairly competent for all Ordi
nary work; we will not labor for less than a
uniform rate of fair wages, allowing each
member the right of receiving more money
for superior skill: we will assist to employ
ment our members in preference to strangers,
and for these purposes we will unite and
strive to build up this association. These
in brief are the principles of every trades
union in the world. We extend open arms
to every fair-minded and competent me-
chaniC in our different branches and aim to
advance the interests of every honorable EN-
plOyer We strive to give honest, competent
man has not the right to set price upon his
work, we are slaves, not freemen; and if one
man has a right to fix price, one hundred
men have the same right to agree upon one.
They are still parties of the first part, no
more or less, with full power to sell and con-
Yey their labor, and no SOphistry or COnspir-
acy laws can make them otherwise If the
members of firm have the right to consult
and fix the price of a pound of sugar or
yard Of calico, so have their employees all
equal right to name the wages that firm shall
pay. And this is what men. well meaning
and intelligent in other respects, but preju-
diced and int0lerant in this regard, call "dir-
tation." Why, you are 'dctated" to every
day of your lives. The landlord, butcher,
baker and merchant establish the price ~
their wares, and who thinks of passing laws
against them or indicting them for con-
spiracy. But we, when we come to sell youa
piece out of our lives, which can never return
and never be replaced, which we must sell
that we may live, must not dare to ask and
maintain fair price, under penalty of the
wrong me by selling his day for less money,
the law of New York can fine and imprfSon
me. And yet the same wire which brought
the news of the enforcement of that uu-
righteous code, carried to us the news Of
railroad pools formed to maintain freight
tariffs. Must the rich and the poor have a
different vocabulary as they have a different
currency? Shall the coalition and cOmbna-
ton of the capitalist and corporation lead to
wealth and eminence, while the conspiracy
of the working man leads to the dungeon
Shall partial legislation tear down the last
defenceS of the needy and helpless and erect
new safeguards around the rich and power
| full?
A days labor is different from the other
commodities offered in the market There is
fixed number counted out to each man.
The spring shower and the summer sun will
not increase his store, and part of his blood,
strength and life goes with every stroke; the
storms of the plains, the blasts of the mine,
the dust OF the workshop may cut them
short, but at best, like the sands in the glass,
they lessen, at every heartbeat. After years
of training they assume negotiable form, and
it is hard to have them then claSSed btlOW the
dull, lifeess metal, or the rude products of
the soil.
Fair wages means comfortable lodging, re-
spectacle clothing, wholesome and palatabe
food, with margin for saving; for the mar
ried man sufficient to rear his family in eco
nOmical comfort and give his children the
advantages of schooling. And every honest,
industrious and skilIful workman has a
right to claim this. Good wages means gen
eral prosperity. Ten well paid mechanics
buy more thanO one millionaire, and what the
latter purchases he usually imports. The
IabOring classes keep the money in circula-
ton, and on their condition the welfare of
the nation depends.
Let the coming legislature be careful how
it deals with the rights and demands of labor
and remember that obligation comes only
}, nd oh St
go together. The militia. lien and exemption
laws are oppressive and unequal, and our
alleged friends will be judged by their fruits.
KICKER.
AN INCONSISTENCY