Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1882-06-21
frsm our regular eeussPeaasal'
WASHINGTON LETTER,
W.shinglOn, June 10, lss4I

NsnHlhktNhi 'HHN W. '"TNt
IN the minds Of those Congressman
who have ~ idea above and beyond
political turmoil and the spells Of Of
dco there are just now serious rellee'
tions concerning the strikes 50 Preya'
lent over the country and the various
aspects Of the conflict between capital
and labor, The proportions Of the
present strike are already sufficient to
cause sollcltude, aud 50 complete Is tho
organization Of trades unions that those
familiar with tho subject contend that q
hundred thousand men III many differ
ent trades may still be moved 10 strike
simultaneously or IN platoons' II Is
the belief Of several we'll informed men
that oyer-producllon aud the continued
deprivation Of foreign markets will, bc'
fore next December cause tho sloppage
Of many industrial works and that
the suffering aud discomfort entalled
thereby viii tend seriously To Increase
the feeling Of dissatisfaction among OPP
crailves everywhere, The first qucs'
ton Il not whether these strikes ARE
proper remedies, or who will suffer
most by them, Undoubtedly the strlk'
crs got tho worst of Il, aud II may he
that workingmon will learn IN time that
Il does not pay to cut of ones nose 10
sprite his face aud that some Of the
arbitrary features Of their unions could
be prodtably eliminated, But the real
question for legislators TO first consider
Is; "What are the causes leading 10
this condition Of things
The republican majority in Congress
has so far entirely neglected to reduce
the burdens Of taxation or reform our
unequal tax system, A glance at the
situation shows that nearly $40, OOO,-
900 year are collected from the pco-
pie more llnn the Government laS
need for, Alouopolics, burdcnsomc to
many industries, are continued IN tho
face Of exposures which are read by the
people all over the country, and eagerly
r,pd, When Mr., Hewitt proved The
other day from official documents that
II Pennsylvania Bcssemcr steel COM
pany had made II dividend Of seventy
seven per cent and had left over and
above that II surplus of l2j per cent on
their capital stock Congressman listened
to him with languid interest. But let
them not suppose the workingmcn and
farmers do not read il eagerly and talk
it over among themselves. None of
tic propositions entertained by the
Ways aud Means Committee for lop-
ping off internal taxes have offered any
material relief where it is most needed.
Mr.. Kelley proposed to remove the tax
on bank capital and bank checks; but
what good would that do the laboring
people whose every article Of domestic
consumption is taxed in the interest of
some corporation or capitalist? The
party caucus has finally decided that it
would not be good policy, in view of
the coming congressional elections, to
remove the tax on bank capital. The
whole tendency of the republican party
is in favor of monopolics and capitalists
against the common people, and the
sooner the aggrieved workingmen find
out that they cannot serve their own
interests by supporting every bugbear
Of protection brought forward to catch
their votes, the sooner will they stand
some show of relief from the ills en-
tailed upon them by the extravaganza