The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1886-11-20
THE KNOT IN rHe LABOR QUESTION.

THE KNOT IN tn LABOR QUESTION.
The N. Y. Sun; The new Labor party is
slowly building platform for itself. It
went into the election for Mayor with no
principle but that of the taxation Of land
without regard to the improvements upon
It. The Saturday after the election IL
added demand for the Government own
ership otrailroads and telegraphs. Now
its Executive Committee comes forward
with third proposition, formulated in
these words:
"The diflcuty which everywhere confronts us
in our efforts to raise wages and secure leisure Is
the existence OF an impoverished mass forced by
their necessities to accept work on any terms.
Until we can lessen the intensity of that struggle
for existence which makes so many men and
women ready TO do anything TO provide the mere
necessities oflife, the work Of our labor associa-
tlons must be conducted under tremendous dis
advantages Men who cannot ilnd employment
are everywhere the force which those who op-
pose us utilize to resist our just demands. 1t Is
therefore necessary that we should make war
upon the great wrong which causes poverty-the
primary injustice which makes the land on
which and from which we must all live the ex-
elusive property of individuals and denies to the
rest of us the right to live and to work unless we
pay backmail for the privilege"
That the committee have mere struck the
real difficulty which not only their party
but all mankind have to encounter in the
effort to solve the problem of work and
wages Is beyond dispute. Werkingmen
| who combine to ''raise wages and secure
leisure are rarely defeated except by the
competition of other vorxingmen who are
willing to accept less wages and less leisure
than they are. 1t was this which caused
the collapse of the Iron Mountain railroad
strike, of the Third Avenuerailroat strike.
of the Steam Heating Company strike. and
only just now that of the Chicago butchers
strike. In all these cases the competing
workers had to encounter not only moral
obstacles, but physical violence, in secur-
1 ing the work refused by their brethern. and
that they persevered, in spite of the terrible
opposition they met with. proves the re-
sistless strength of the impulse which drove
them on. The Labor party's committee
well say: "Until we can lessen the intensi-
tv of that struggle for existence which
makes so many men and so many women
ready 10 do anything to provide the mere
necessities of life, the work of our labor as
sociations must be conducted under tre-
mendous disadvantages "
The committee express their conviction
that this intense struggle for existence is
caused by the private ownership of land,
which being removed, they think the evil
they complain of would also vanish. How
little ground there is tor this opinion ap.
pears from the simple fact that within
twenty miles OF New York there is an
abundance of unoccupied land which can
be bought for a trifling price, and which
goes begging for purchasers. Besides,
statistics show both here and in Europe
that the tendency of population is to flow
from the country TO the cities, and that
every year the cities increase at the ex.
pense of the country. No reform of land
tenure could cure this congestive tendenc,
nor abate one jot of the impulse of human
beings to go where they can live with the
most satisfaction to themselves.
This knotty point of the labor question
has therefore only heen stated by the Labor
party; the solution of it remains to be dis
covered. As we said the other day il
speaking of DIR. McGlynn's lecture at Jer
sev City, they have reopened discussion
which has occupied the greatest intellect
of every age, and We look with interest
though not hopefully, for the result.