Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1882-08-30
ALosT BATTLE
Failures Of the Great Strikes at the
North.
Mutually OF Interest the Only
solution of the Labor Cues
ton.
Philadelphia Ledger, %,

experience to all intelligent members
of labor unions to hear such express
sions Of angry disappointment with the
organizations as the repentant freight
handlers at Jersey City delivered
themselves when returning to work.
Despotic as the decrease Of some of
these associations may be, there is
still something just to be said on the
other side. They have proved one
thing at least. They have shown
that large bodies of working men
agreeing to live on the fund until
starvation sets in, have been for the
most part, and SO largely, as to give
a stqmD to the whole number, self
controlled, and in the main orderly.
When a strike for wages has this
feature about it, however misguided
it may be as to the reasonableness OF
the strike, or tyrannical the organiza-
ton may be to the individual mem :
bers, 1t is very sure to have a large
share Of public sympathy. In the
long strikes of this summer there has
been a great deal of this element; dis
order has been the exception, not the
rule. We do not propose, this morn
ing to go into the enormous cost Of
these experiments. A strike is like
a lire, it destroys utterly; and a long
strike is so fearfully destructive Of
saved earnings, that no rise of wages
for long years thereafter can make
matters even, and put the working
people and their funds forward where
they were before. 1t is the doctrine
OF those who have studied STRIKES"
not merely local and for this year,
but extended over different countries
and for a long period OF years, that
they never pay" Some local or oc.
c~asional rise in wages, or demand
granted, seems to disprove this, aud
in the early strikes Of this season, it
certainly did appear to be disproved.
But that was only for the time; and
the philosophy Of the strike question
must cover a mans lifetime. When
the employer gets out of his strait,
and a supply himself with unor-
ganized labor-then it is his tu a.
and human nature, besides, to take it.
Except in reducing the hours oflabor,
says a massachusetts, authority, no
wages strike can be said to have ben
Gifted the strikers in the long run.
When the time comes to drop, the
drop falls.
Especially must this be true in a
country where sturdy labor from
Europe is pouring in at such a rate
OF immigration as this year and last
year have shown. TO the new arrivals
the pay which the strikers refuses ap-
pears like riches. Ii the new corners
can be got hold of by argument, NOT Of
fist or pistols, he may be induced to
wait and hold out a little. But he
will not wait long. Is there then no
future for the unions but to make
matters more uncomfortable and get
themselves put down another time?
Very much of a future, we should say,
but not precisely on the old methods.
They mrst give over calling names to
begin with. "Scabs," BLACK Sheep
BLACK legs, may be very expressive of
contempt, for men who prefer to take
poor pay rather than live off the pub
lie and be subject to imperative orde,s
But they are not arguments, and the
whole ground must rest on reason IN
stead Of physical force. No violence,
evenin talk, itmay as we'll said can con-
quer and run either manufactures or
trade in this country. Arguments and.
proofs are the only running gear that
will serve. Working men are not the
only ones interested in the argument,
however. Capital is boInd to
listen. 1t might have been crippled,
injured, far more than have been done
by business losses in stoppage at this
time. A mandatory can never be
run or directed by violence, it is true;
but it may be caused ruinous loss.
That is the other side of the strike
the manufacturers side. Between a
power that can suffer but cannot be
guided, and a power that can damage
but cannot control there is room for
only one system. Frank conference,
arbitration and mutual confidence.
Working men this summer, to their
credit, have earned the right to be re.
specially listened to in the future, to
be consulted and taken into account.
They are not to be looked upon as de
leated foes, for, though they
have lost their battle, they
have not rebelled against the
authority Of law. They have not sue
ceeded because they did not estimate
the market rightly. To be right in
such a struggle means to be on the
side of trade necessities. These always
control. Mutually Of interest is the
only way to get on the winning side
for the workmen certainly, and even
tie employer, will come to admit thil
in reckoning up the Inconvenience
and anxieties and losses Of the strike
Mr.. james A. Weatheriord, o
Springfield, Ohio, says: Browns IroI
Bitters cured me Of the worst case o
dyspepsia man ever had. The muscles
OF my stomach, liver and bowels nov
seem so strong, | believe l coulC
almost digest petrifed cheesel | REQ
ommend it to all who suffer as did t.
s. Mansfield & Co., W. N. Wilker
son 4 Co., and G. w. Jones q Co.
! wholesale agents.
The Telephone and the Torpedo
N. Y. Commercial Bdlletin.
Tho diooovar;ao nc mnJo,n os.n