The Labor enquirer., 1883-02-03
JEKE BLACK ON CONSPIRACY.

JERE BLACK ON CONSPIRACY.
AS possible precedent for the action
of the Hon. R. S. Van Yalkenberg in
his recent introduction of the odious
conspiracy bill, we give an extract from
letter written by Judge Jere S. Black,
Americas ablest jurist, and agentleman
whose opinion on such a matter of i'm
portance it is not likely was hastily
formed. The letter was addressed to
Mr.. D. R. Jones, secretary of the Penn
sylvania Miners association, IN regard to
the arrest of several miners for cOnspi-
raCy, in connection with an attempt to
secure an advance of wages. We re-
spectfully, but earnestly call the atten-
ton of the members of Colorados legis-
lature to the opinion of this eminent
jurist when having under consideration
the conspiracy bills which have been in
reads as follows:
"Any number of employers may COM
bine together and act in concert to re-
duce the wages of their workmen, and
nobody has ever called that aconspiracy.
But if the labOrers in a shop unite to in
crease their wages, and threaten to quit
work unless they are better paid, this,
according to the old decisionsin England
and America, is a criminal Ofense. More
recent cases, however, lay down the rule
that body of laborers may as lawfully
say what they will take as employers
may determine what they will give.
Somewhat slowly and with evident re-
luctance, capitalists have suffered the
judicial mind to reach the conclusion
that the employer does not exactly own
the workman. If, therefore, the aim
of your association was nothing more
than to out up the price of your labor to
a satisfactory standard and to counteract
the natural tendency of other interests
to reduce it, you are innocent people and
the court will say so. infer from your
letter that you solicited others to join
with you and make demand for wages
as high as your own or else stop work
That was not wrong either. If you had
right, to form the association, you had
an equal right to get as many into it as
you could, so that outsiders might not
defeat its purpose by cutting under. But
you did not confine yonr membership OF
you influence to your immediate fellows
working together with you in the EN-
plovment IF the same master. You wen
to another mine, owned by other parties
and persuaded, or tried to persuade, the
underpaid coal diggers there that justice
to themselves as we'll as to you, required
them to lay down their tools unless they
got the rates generally received in the
neghborhood. At first blush this looks
like intermeddling with matter which
did not concern you. But, in truth, yoU
had fair interest in it, because the ac
ceptance of smaller compensation by ont
man always tends to depress that of an
other. Your resistance to low wages was
no doubt, weakened by the admission o
others near you. This principle is un
derstood by employers. If Scott, anc
Garrett and Jewett wouldiagree to reduce
the wages of the laborers on their rail
road S0,per cent Vanderbilt's refusal t
\ do likewise would be,a thing of evil ex
ample in their eyes, and they woul(
. exert all their influence to make hin
come down to their level Persons en-
Gagged in common cause, whether it b.
to raise or lower wages, are entitled t
the support of others if they can get i
by fair means. They charge you, how
ever, with getting or attempting to ge
the concurrence you wanted viset armi
that it is to say by force and with arms
If your association went to the othe
mine in a,body or sent very large dele
CATION, it was not worse than any othei