The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1885-09-16

"sAA OAHS HAO0RSNV0 " " AAOS
BILE, the w~orkingman is usually notified tina
his wager must be reduced. Railroad an
other great corporations whenever q falhn
off of business renders it necessary for theI
to divide one or two per cent. less anon
the stockholders, in many cases cOmp'
their employees to submit to q reduction {
! from Is to IS per cent in their wages an
salaries. This is unfair and unjust to tn
~workingman. One OF h largest railroa
companies in the East, during the depre
sion in business commencing in 1873, graz
ually reduced the salaries and wages OF a
the officers and other employees until
amounted to 80 per cent, and when u r
spectful remembrance was nent to the pre-
ident he. in his reply, stated that the
ought not to be any complaint, because /
had to submit to the same reduction in h
salary. He could well afford to submi
without nmurmuring, because 30 per cen
deducted from his $685. 900 salary left hil
SIT, 500 per year for his services. But no
did the same rule work with the poor Il
borer who had q large family to care for
He only received $1.25 per day for his te
or twelve hours Of incessant toll, and ate
the reduction was made his days wage
amounted to only S7h cents. The rule ma
have been regarded rs equitable with thos
receiving princely salaries, but it was a ty
rannical one to apply to the Vanishing o
man.
This unfair and unwarranted reduction Q
the wages of labOrers and locomotive en-
gineers and firemen, left them without sui
ficient means to provide their families Wit
the necessaries OF life. This condition o
affairs brought about II series OF strikes
which resulted in the destruction OF an i'm
mense amount of valuable property ant
| many precious lives. All this could hav'
been easily averted If the management o
| that great corporation and others that in
! aueurated the same unwise policy, haC
| only displayed common 'horse sense by
enforcing their economy and retrenchmen
where such were most needed and where
they would not nave caused any %privations
or suffering. The stockholders would not
nave been reduced to II condition bordering
on starvation, il they had received l or 2
per cent. less dividend on their stock, nor
would the president and the great army OF
~extravagantly paid officials have been re-
duced to beggary if their princely incomes
had been cut down to a fair compensation
for the duties performed by them. By
this means the company's balance sheet
would have exhibited a much larger credit
and the difficulty would have been avoided
and thousands of women and children
would nave been spared from the anguish
of hunger.
1t is Just such unfair determinations
against the wageworkers that cause. in
nearly every instance, strikes and lockouts
and widen the breach between capital and
labor. LabOring men know full well that
they bear the entire strain, physically and
a full proportion OF the mental anxiety in
the prosecution OF every human enterprise
where their services are required. They
cannot enjoy an hours relaxation during
the work day without pecuniary loss, for
they are docked for the time that their
hands and arms are idle whether from the
elements, sickness Or pleasure, while the
official receives his salary punctually and
fully, no matter how frequently he may be
absent from his desk or other post of duty.
The railroad employee, the miner and those
engaged IN various other laborious pursuits
are continually risking their lives to carr a
livelihood, whilst the capitalist whose wealth
is constantly increasing through their in
dustry and imminent danger, sits in safety
in his coy and sumptuously furnished
parlor or whites away his leisure hours in
the fashionable club room.
The knowledge OF these things is what
conduces most to make the condition of la
boring men irksome, d~iscouraging and dis
heartening to them. Their intelligence
teaches them that capitals, in theinflexible
Law Of trade and business, essential, to pro-
vide employment for them, hence they en-
terrain no feelings of hostility against the
rich when they receive a fair compensation
for their work, kind treatment from their
and are assured that their ser
vices are properly appreciated, The great
mass OF laboring men ask nothing more,
and their employers should make a study
OF the very best plans to accord them the
little they ask for. The labOrer is worthy
81 his hire, therefore he should always be
to an honest days pay for
an honest days work. The work
ing man was created after the same
image of Him who created and rules the
universe, hence he stands upon an equal
footing with the richest and those highest
in authority among men, and therefore is
entitled to kindness and courtesy in his in
tercourse with his employers as well as
all Others with whom he may come in con-
tact. The wage worker has wrought all the
works from the greatest to the least on this
earth, and therefore his services. being the
most valuable and indispensable, are en-
titled to and should always be fully appre-
ciated. By this means the chasm between
the rich and the poor can be bridged over,
the GOODNESS between employer and en-
ploye disappear, and the ~antagonism
between capital and labor will cease to ex-
list and in it's stead there will grow up a
telling of amity which will ripeninto a bond
OF enduring fellowship such as should exist
between those massachusetts are so closely
interviewer.