Morning journal and courier., 1886-03-23
A word of Warming.


 It is no longer possible to deny the fact that the carriage strike in this city has as- sumed serious proportions. The manufac- turers, feeling their inability to concede to the demands made, have decided to shut down if compelled to. The strikers, on the other hand, insist that their original de- mands are just, and that unless they are complied with they will refuse to work Both sides appear to be determined, and the indications of the hour point to a serious de- pression in the carriage business, which, in the course of time, will have it's serious ef- feet upon business in general.
 One effect of this strike has already i'm posed itself upon the manufacturer. He has ceased to accept further orders from his patrons. His statement is that he dare not risk his capital in a venture of which the most important element-the price of laber-is an unknown quantity. For the immediate present, of course, he is the worse sufferer in this loss of trade In time, however, when this loss of business begins to make itself felt upon the community at large, the wage earner, the butcher, the baker and candlestick maker will begin to experience suffering and priva- ton, compared to which the manufacturers suffering will be light In all times of de- pression the worse sufferer is the man of small income; the smaller his income the greater his suffering. If J. E. Sargent and the rubber shop, for instance, should shut down tomorrow their incomes from their business would of course be shut off at once, but what would be their temporary privations compared to the privations of two three thousand families dependent upon their prosperity for their existencea So with the
 
 mean absolute want to those formerly in it's employ These facts are to be borne con- stantly in mind by those who risk the dan gers of strike.
 Again the drift of affairs during the past few years has been to build up the carriage business of the West at the expense of the New Haven industry. The western manufacturer has the necessary coal, iron and lumber almost at his factory door with which to build and sell his goods at a lower price. In fact it is all ready possible fer western carriage manu- facturer to undersell his New Haven compe- titor right here in the latter's own market, even after paying the transportation rates Thus far, however, the reputation New Haven carriage has always had in points of style, durability and finish has suc- ceeded in weakening the force of this competition and keeping up the annual product. At the same time it has cut uOWn GAo pIICc IOE dt tuO COSG Ol the manufacturers profits. A strike of the New Haven carriage workers, there fore, allied with the tendency of the trade to drift towards the West, has the direct eff feet of breaking down the industry here by throwing the trade of to-day into the hands of the westerner, who can be relied upon to make the best of his opportunity in retain ing the advantage he has gained. In short, if the strikers insist in their demands one of two things must happen. Either the New Haven manufacturers must shut down en- tirely and throw their workmen on the world, or else they must change their style of manufacture and by the adoption of new methods prepare themselves for that day when the greater advantages enjoyed by the western manufacturers must inevitably work the final destruction ot their enterprise.
 Now, then, is it for the interest of car riage workers in New Haven to hasten this day? The facts, we have stated them, are 1ncontrovertible and the result inevitable. Are the strikers beneftting themselves by demanding that which, while it might afford an apparent increase of temporal blessings, in the end would only leave them high and dry on the shoals of idle Are they not conspiring to break down one of New Hayens most important industries, the death of which means a loss of capital to the city and less wealth to every man, woman and child in the community? We appeal to the intelligence and sense of justice of the individual strikers, and exhort them all to compromise their difficulties in some such way as will adjust their real grievances and at the same time not discourage the New Haven carriage industry.