Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1883-07-21
CAPITAL AMI LABOR

" Vi NoHhbot aDo w ~
cipIocal and mutual, and any effort Of one
TO destroy the other would be but the blind
vengeance Of q Samson, involving himself
aud his tormentors in q common doom.
This being 30, it is strange that there should
be any a~ntagonism between capital and Ia
bor. But the conflict has been going on for
centuries, and it seems irrepressible. The
extreme views Of the agrarians aud Com
munists, led by such foul-mouthed vsgabonds
rs Dennis Kearney, who never did an honest
days work in his life, have dirgusted the
public with the war between labor and capital.
But the contest has broken out in a new
phase between the capital Invested in the
telegraph monopoly and its employees. The
issue is squarely made, and il will do much
toward solving the Intricate problem. The
telegraph operators, who have struck for
higher wages, are men OF integrity and intel
~ligence. They repudiated the methods OF the
labor combinations and will make no effort
to destroy the capital which would starve
while working them to death. Strikes are
often ill.advised, and generally result in suf-
fering and crime. But the APPEAL has al
ways taken the position that it is eminently
wise and proper for labor 10 unite for the
advancement of its own interests. Capital
is as heartlsss as its corporations are soul
less, and if labor did not combine for self
protection the laboriug classes would be
nothing but paupers and beggars. Strange
to say that there are on the statute books Of
several States in this Union laws which make
it indictsble for conspiracy il workingmen
are guilty OF the heinous crime of combining
for the purpose Of increasing their wages.
Such a law is infamous. II was inspired by
thar barbarous legislation in England, be.
ginning 10 l349, that lasted over 200 years
which bound ali workingmsn "to serve
him which should him ~ require
under severe penalties. Any Law
which indicis aud Furnishes labol
for combining for self-protection is a dis
grace to our civilization. In England, tn
very country from which this Oppressive
law was borrowed, has long since abolishet
it. Although there are, 10 that country, a
might be exp.cted, stringent laws for the re
preston of strikes, even the severest o
those acts, passed about 1925, provided tina
its penal provisions should not subject Il
punishment any persons meeting, or agree
ing together, for the purpose of consulting
upon and determining the rate Of wsges o.
prices which they should demand for theil
work, or the hours, or time, for which they
should work. An English judge, speaking
to an English jury in 1847, declared thu
law which was In force in that country to b.
this: "Those who are 10 employ labor maj
meet and say, we will moi give more thar
such and such a rate, or we will stipulste fo
such and such q number Of hours work
We will make, in short, regulations bsne
fcial TO ourselves az employers; ant
We agree thHt we will not take AM
workiugmen that require more On tn,
other hand, the workman may meet and say
We will not work for less than such and such
sums, and, If anybody thinks to employ III
on low wages, we will agree we will not worl
for them; and we agree to form a. fund ant
support one another until we get them tc
come TO proper termr.'" 1t was decided, a
the same time, that when there is no othel
object in a combination of workir gmen, ex
cept to persuade people that it is their in
terest not TO work, except for certain wages
and not to work under certain regulations, i
il not illegal. These sensible rules were en-
forced by statute in England in 1876. 1t i
the settled law of that kingdom shat work
men have Alright 10 combine for their owl
protection, and to obtsin such wages as the,
choose TO agree 10 demand" They may ex
e%rcise, collectively, the SAM freedom Of will
and action which each individual amopl
them POSSESSES, and which their employer
possess. This principle has been ~asserte,
over and over again in many of the courts o
this country. Within the last year, it wa
decided by q judge of the Supreme Court o
the State Of New York that where a body O
lsborers, acting in concert, fixed a price 70
their labor, and refused 10 work at a les
price, they did an act which violated no Law
and subjected them to no penalty. But il
several of the States in free and tolerau
Americs, il is still made an indictable Of
fense for lAborers to ~copspire among them
selves to rsise their wager. We remembe
til at the printers of Richmond, Va, were in
dicted under such a law because they or
gained a strike for higher wages. Tn,
strike Of the telegraph operators will incou
v niencs the public and especially the pres
OF the country; but the sympathies of thu
sPzAL are with the men who only ask o
C pital a fair compensation, and that res
" .ich ia necessary to life and health.