Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1884-02-08
THE GREAT STRIKE.
The Ten-Mill Strike i'm Full
Blast and Thousands of
Men Idle.
The Tariff on WooI---Why
Mr.. Converse Will
Not Win.
Presidential Gossip--A Reported
Combination Between Arthur
and Blaine.
Other Presidential Aspirants.
THE TEN-MILL STRIKE.

Thousands of Men Idle who are
Flocking the Streets In Dissatis-
fled and Angry Crowds.
FALL RIVER, Mass, Feb. 5.-The
strike continues There has been no
serious disturbance yet but the appear
auceS are omiEouS and the citizens
ore apprehenSive The men are inn
.atIent and angry aud are on the
streets III crowds discussing the situa-
ton.
The claim is that selfish, unscrupu-
lous men, having forced their way to
the head of the corporations, have
perverted trade fron its legitimate
channel and repeatedly y reduced wages.
The spinners' fund will support the
present strike about five weeks, and if
no lockout occurs the struggle can
be continued indefinitely But che
5000 to 5000 other operatives thus
deprived of work have no fund to
rely on, and few of them have any
savings.
FALL RIVER, Mass, Feb. 5.-The
striking spinners complain of an an
noying surveillance and tonight had
an interview with Mayor Reed and
entered complaint. The spinners
will issue an appeal for aid to the
trades union of New England.
A New York Opinion.
NEW YORK, Feb. 5.-The Herald
has this editorial comment on the
great cotton operatives strike at Fall
River: 'The strike is to be greatly de
plored. But it seems quite clear that
the employers are in the wrong and
the strikers are in the right 1t is
stated on very good authrity that the
wages of the cotton operatives in Fall
River have been reduced forty-on per
cent since 1873, and in one instance
only was the reduction restored. Sec.
Howard, of the spinners' union, who
is man of moderate views and weighs
carefully what he says, recently stated
that the condition of the cotton work
ing classes of this country will never
be bettered except by revolution. They
are being ground and oppressed, and
the tendency is toward further de-
gradation for them" This is certainly
something to be thoughtfully consid
cred by those who never tire of
SINGING OF THE DELIGHTS
and substantial advantages the Amer
,can workingman enjoys over his
foreign competitor.
Is there not something radically
wrong with our industrial system2
Strikes are of frequent occurrence in
nearly all the large industries of the
country, and are conducted on very
large scale The disturbance is not
local but general, and while this may
in measure be accounted for by the
combination among workingmen,
there must be
SOME CAUSE
for creating relations between master
and men which from time to time re-
quire the extreme measure of gen
eral strlke-equivalent to and as de
structive as a war-to remedy dis
putes. The window glass workers
have Just resumed work after an en-
forced idleness of seven months and
at cost to themselves in wages alone
of half million dollars. The cotton
operatives are about to take the same
road,
THE TRUTH IS,
this difficulty is only another illustra-
ton of the folly aud cruelty of pro
lection. Folly, because no healthy
industry can be built up by such an
artificial stimulus; cruelty, because it
rous the workingmen of their wages
and III great measure Of their means
of obtaining wages.
The great curse of our present man
ufacturlng system, as every good
workman knows, is the uncertainty
of employment. Thousands of men
find employment in our mills and fac
tories now only for from six to eight
months in the year A greater mum
Der than you imagine have work for
only less period than six months in
the year. Mills, furnaces and factor
les of all kinds close up TO check over
production; you read of such things
almost daily in some parts of the
country. When prices get to GER
tain point the lame ducks hold up be-
cause they cannot afford to go on, or,
if they desperately run at a loss, they
attempt to cut down mems wages, and
then comes a strike, which is secretly
regarded as a godsend by the manu-
facturer, while it is heavy curse to
the workmen and their families.