The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1882-06-08
STRIKES.

quite generally discussed and the iaDorer
who takes means to enlarge his wages
artifcially is denounced as a law breaker
and violater of principles upon which
| all commerce is based. In the abstract
strikes are indefensible. They are an
interference with the natural right OF
manufacturers TO secure labor where 1t
can be had cheapest. They are an un-
warrantable means of raising wages above
the standard fixed by the unerring laws
of supply and demand. They lessen
production, prevent capitalists from real
izine On investments and unsettle trade.
They are in direct opposition to those
laws of economics which can not be
amended without destroying their whole
structure.
But strikes are the only agency through
which labor can retaliate on capital for
the latters viola ion of economic laws, to
the detriment of labor particularly and
commerce generally. The organization
II3lcS-uulOLS
to the combination of corporations to
stop competition and artifcially increase
the price of manufactured articles. Ii
manufacturers withhold their products
from the market so as to cause an artif-
cial scarcity and thus increase price,
wherein are they less culpable than the
laborer who refuses to work so that
scarcity of labor may bring an increase
of wages? Going still further in the phi
losophy of strikes: How can we justify
the capitalist in preventing his workmen
from purchasing articles in those mark
cts where they can be had cheapest; and
pronounce indignant protests against Ia
boris assuming to dictate to capital that
labor can not be had where it can be OBJ
tanned cheapest? Capital has made a
; tool of the law to serve its purpose, to
violate the principle of supply and de
mand in its interest. Labor cannot pur-
| chase law but it tries to secure the same
end for itself through Drawn and muscle.
Will our casuists exalt capitalists for Sc
curing through shrewdness, wealth and
indirection that which labor asks for
boldly and not through the euphemism
of protection?
What defense can be made for capital
lists, by those who have committed them
selves to the principle that interference
with laws which are the legitimate issue
of commerce, for shutting down factories
so as to limit production and thus in
crease prices? Are their sensibilities
stirred by the condition of the poor la
borer thrown out of employment that the
wealthy manufacturer might add to hi;
riches by limiting the means through
which the wants of mankind are sup
plied2 Production is stopped and the
muscle of the laborer, his capital which
time impairs, is forced to lie idle. There
is no means which labor takes to protec
itself or to add to its income that doe:
not find counterpart and precedent il
the action of capital. But capital brides
legislatures, courts, administration
generally. Capital hes organs and syco
plants. Its evil is called good. But la
GENERAL WALKER, one of the few mel
who reduced science to art in government
position, is now president of an institute
of technology, position ia which hi
practical knowledge cannot fail to bt
productive Of much good. He is pro-
tectionjst and in a late lecture advanced
arguments which have the merit of being
new and indeed all must admit of being
forcible. The following is an epitome O.
Walkers argument:
Wages are determined by the products
of the SOIL The farmer receives higl
reward for his labor but has wants which
the farm cannot supply and which are
immediate. He must then pay man tt
supply these wants sufficient sum t.
keep him from agricultural pursuits. |
would be cheaper for the farmer to ge
his nails from Norwegian artisan, be
cause in Norway agriculture holds out M
great promises of reward and the price
paid to induce the artisan to quit agricul
tural pursuits for the workshop in Nor
way is less than in America.
But the American farmer wants skilled
labor near him. He must then pay IL
protection, or as o bonus to the manu-
facturer, a sum as much greater than the
Norwegian would ask, as agriculture
pursuits in America are more remunerat
i've than in Norway. This is placing pro
lection on the most tenable grounds Il
has ever occupied. Among our ex-
changes the Argus (Minn) is the mos
outspoken for free trade. Will it pune
ture the bubble to which General Walker
has given the apparent strength of 6
solid globe?
Thus far Reed has been beaten or