The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-04-05
OF THE TROUBLES.
DR.. Gilbert Discusses the Labor Problem
and the Causes of the Troubles.
tation of Pauper Labor and the Greed of
Capitalists to Acquire Wealth.

Rev. Dr. Gilbert discussed 1.-THE Causes Of the
Labor Troubles" at Meridian-street Church, last
evening to a large audience. "For many
weeks" he said, ''the American people have had
their attention drawn to controversies between
employers and employees, all over the country,
embracing the stopping of wheels, ordering out
of militia, riots and bloodshed. The country is
On the verge of a great crisis The worst is not
over, and may not be for years to come. There
may yet be more bloodshed and more danger
than any can now foresee. but everything will
be adjusted in time. 1 am not speaking
from the standpoint Of an alarmist, and am not
one of those who think we are in danger Of
universal uprising of labor against capital.
What is the cause Of all this2 Until we know
the cause there can be remedy.
Look at the area covered by this trouble.
Has it ever occurred to anyone that of the entire
population of China, $50, 100000 souls; of the
200, 900 people of India, and in Africa, or
South America, or in eastern Europe, there is
none of this troubled Commencing on the
Baltic, go down through Berlin to
the boundary of France and then
to the ocean to the boundary of the
British possessions, taking in all northwestern
Europe aud then across America on the bound
airy between the United States and Canada
taking in the United States only, and we cover
the entire area in which there is any labor con-
troversy. Who live in this area2 They all
Anglo-Saxon. Then, as to the period covered
by these troubles when did they commenced
First, in the fifteenth century, and they have
continued until now In the year l440 printing
was invented by John Faust Then Wycliffe be
gan preaching in England. He preached that all
men were alike, and no one should be
slave to another. This sentiment spread
itself northwest over Europe, and the people in
servitude came to believe they should not be
servants. At the exact spot where this was first
preached the trouble commenced, and where it
has spread the trouble is found Also In Eng
land it was first met by arbitration and more
liberties allowed, but in Germany it was not so.
There the peasants got together and passed a
preamble and resolution containing twelve
articles, which said sit is found in holy writ
that are free and we desire to be free, and to
have all men as our brothers, and by our own
work earn and hold our own possessions and sup
port our own families" Then came the
thirty years of the peasants against
the burgomasters No final agreement was
ever reached. Then came Martin Luther and
widened the breach, and after him other men,
until the discovery of this continent. Then from 4
Germany Holland, Sweden, England and Dem
mark population came to this country and
said, after the fashion of the peasants, eve
Lord" ETC., and framed government to suit
their notions. Wherever the gospel had been
preached. it was like putting match to gun
powder, and finally this Republic was founded
after the notion of those who heard this gospel.
Up to this time everything was favorable to
the progress of these down -trodden masses who
had come to this country, but no sooner had our
government got we'll under way than the original
idea of religious freedom and the notion that all
were equal was diverted from its course and
Ayrari aoyo1a xuifh ha hat |
all were free, gave to all classes desire for ma
terial wealth. Commerce spread in every direc-
ton, and the one idea of gaining wealth and the
acquisition of property reigned in all minds
alike. The Nation entered into hot chase after
wealth. much so as to be distinguished by
that desire from all other nations of
the globe. Competition commenced in
all departments of business; q competition
of different line of influence. Capital invested
had to have certain return Competition made
the profits small and the margins close. Each
man had to be careful in buying and sharp in
selling. Then the capitalists began to cut down
wages, and the producer to cut down prices The
man who goes to buy boots at the cheapest
price acts on exactly the same principle as the
man who cuts down his employees wages.
Another phase is the alarming immigration
from the country to the cities. In Erie county,
New York, in which Buffalo is situated,
the population of the city in twenty
years has increased from $1,000 to
225,0c0, while the outlying townships of the same
county show very slight increase, if any. This
only increases the struggle of the rich and poor
alike for riches, and they go TO the city because
there is more business transacted there, and
there is a show to get these riches sooner.
This desire for riches has created the invent
i've spirit. In the last thirty years the United
States has produced more inventions of all kinds
than all the rest OF the known world ombined.
This has two-fold effect A man who thirty
years ago employed thirty or forty men to make
boots in factory can now turn
out more work in the same time by
half as many boys through the use Of
labor-saving machinery, and thus lessen his ex-
penses but at the same time the men formerly
employed to do this work must now turn to
some other field. In this way the principles of
the reformation have been lost sight of. Fort
unes often made in surprisingly short
time. In the oil regions immense amounts of
wealth are sometimes amassed in a year. Jay
Gould has, in short time. risen from poverty.
These facts are calculated to array the two
classes against each other
The influence exerted from Europe is another
point In 1880 the immigration to this country
was 10000 people Why do they comet Pau
pers used to be gathered up in London and Ger
many and shipped over here to get rid of them
Criminals used to be banished, and they came
to America or went to Australia. Others come
because they are oppressed and wish to enjoy
the privileges afforded here. Contractors of
late years have imported many to work at cheap
wages than men already here The charac-
ter of the people who come now is not the same
as those who founded the Nation. The paupers and
criminals have increased taxation. All this has
combined to make the knottiest question ever
presented to this people for solution. aud has
all come from the perversion of tie spirit which
prompted the founders to seek refuge here
Capital is simply surplus earnings, and every
American is more less capitalist, and every
capitalist laborer; and so this antagonism
should not exist. The capital is not all gained
and held, but in a generation millionaire may
become pauper and poor laborer the capital
list. OF the physicians, lawyers, merchants and
business men in general, 95 per cent. started in
life poor boys and worked themselves mp.
An injury. by our social system, to one is an
injury TO all, and the good of one is the good of
all. / think if all men who are out of work
would go to work for whatever they could get.
the spindles would all run. the storehouses all
ha filed and this Nation start nm an ara ha