The Republican journal., 1886-04-08
The Labor Problem.

| accept the situation as it is.
Many talk of the labor agitation as being
only craze. or the clatter of demagogues, or {;
periodical fever that will soon subside. 9th
ers look upon it as strange and dangerous
| phenomena with no ends in view hut likely at
any moment to develop an end then 90 for il
in blind fury. We can best understand the sit
uation by first recalling some of the causes that
| led to it.
a manufacturer, no matter where he is To-
Gated, puts his goods in the hands of a runner
who carries them all over the country and puts
them i'll competition with every other like
manufacturer, thus forcing a uniformity OF
wages and prices throughout the country. \
| laborer, 90 when and where he will, finds the
| same conditions and wages that he discontented-
| ly left at home. He remembers when by walk.
| ing ten miles he could better himself; and used
to say ''If don't like the boss or the wages !
shall go where | can do better" That free
| dom and those opportunities tended to keep
prices up because he who did not pay enough
to satisfy his men lost the men and could only
get them back by raising the wages.
| To-day wages cannot rest to any extent with
| the rising and falling whims of Il single EN-
ployer. BY the use of railroads, teegraphs
| advertising and commercial travellers, each
employer finds himself in Il close and sharl
competition with every other employer. This
condition of things offers premium to every
employer for every cut-down he will make
This is what first told the laborerS they must
unite and resist this cutting down tendency on
they would be reduced to Chinese labor.
The fact that steam, electricity, printers ink
and drumming We're equaIizing all prices, was
not all the laborer found to complain Of
To illustrate: There are eight railroads rum.
ming into Boston and this is the hra,quarter,
of all in that state All the men ON these eight
roads are employed by eight men, namely, the
master mechanic of each road.
1t is the rule with these master mechanics tC
| hire no man who has worked on another roaC
| unless he brings an honorable discharge from
his last employer. If the workman. because
his pay has been reduced too much, on his hos,
| has been abusive, or his work is too hard ol
unhealthy, or for any other cau>e sees tit tC
| leave the company, no other road will employ
him if hc does not bring his written discharge
which his last employer will not give him if hc
doesn't want him to leave or has IA spite again>
| him. As Il result the workmcn find thrm>elyc,
unable to change masters Many of these met
| have given years to perfect themselves in thciI
business. especially the engineers, and expect.
ing to live like independent workmcn find
| themselves in practical slavery. without even
the power TO change masters.
amy one State or TO the railroads. II j. practic-
ed bv mining and manufacturing cnmuaIti,.,
This has bern a strong reminder to workmcl
that they must unite The ..truck->torc'' Ina,
been another important factor driving men t,
| union.
The cqualiling of prices that was destroying
the advantages formerly offered the lahorcr hy
changing places, and the biarklI>tln@ process
That was destroying ms power TO change mas
terS' amt the 'ruck-Stofe that was rohhh@ nm
81 just earnings were h"' all the Iaoofer t"un'
TO complain OF. lhr iat"hl once htId out IN
| duecmrntS that Were fioodln@ the country Nltl
lahor->aNlh@ machinery. y boss bought 4 Ia
hor->aNln me mAchhh ana discharged Il part {"
ms men. inc men went TO another boss A'l'
ne 100 lh'H It hia'i'lht an" was r'auH /" ~
th'tfGe men instead 0l hift' ih'N went lhl'
another khd OF business hut th'rc To" the If
por-HaNlhS nafhihff! was ahtad OF lhehI. A.
" iticl 'Il'>e ihch "'9ah y" oh'I themselves i"I
Tess wages 'hus undertaking thrT fellow Ia
borefS' lli~ made "hI"h more necessary. h'
machines began To &in' the markets ana the
li''l'lS WAGES "'Sa'' l" W'lhHh lh' p'frha>Ih-
power VI 'i'' country ana mus thc 'l'l' 2I'N
worse III >p'l' "i 1'' 'hc patent hl'o'clltS o"'f
eel ny 'h' P"IItl'lanN. 10 mehtlo" some @
lhe>" patent rrlhrdlo>' suggested ana par'E''l
ac'ed upon VIII enable the reader 10 see Nll,
the country became befog-ed ON the labor 4ue>
ton.
FIRST thrN wanted more charity institutions
then an increase o1 pensions, then >rNrrrr law
! against the Increasing army uf tramp>. Get
ting tired of telling one person to take adyau
tage of another u the true gospel Of prosper
ity, they began to see the "trrlc and only sue
cess" in encouraging one nation to take a,lNall
ta%e of another. To do this they said we wan
ed high tariff and cheap immigration; low tarit
and no immigration and little of both. IIigI
wages by aid of tariff that the lahorers mich
live we'll; and low wages bv aid of tariff tha
his products might catch foreign markets an,
he live well. The foreigner was running tn,
country bv sending his earnings all out of it
and the FOREIGNER WAS hlrS>iu,r the couu1,l h,
sending his money where if u,yr n, fprpi,sl
markets and TINS enabled lis tu send out Good
and brine the money all back and more too
And thu, th,.y have zone ON mill nearly Al
heads SWAN in the general whirlpool. u,Nc
once realizing that all other collutri,. were il
a worse iN than ourselves, and for the sam,
general reasons. ana thai tbp difficulty was D.
local ORIGIN and NOT imuortcd.
| Each bas been ~triliuo tn n,iut ont ..Tb,
s,raiuht and narrow v,v', barL tu tI,. ..Goo,
| old dars, before modern science made CONNIE
titiontoo sharp to endure. and turned the v;.t.
Labor system into =, hoomrrano
Each thoughtful pcr>on now realize, that ",
must introduce "A system of dealing brtwerl
man and man that will bc consistent with ouI
new advantages. No human beings have, plan
ned fine present conditions of thinus Neither
| have any human b.iurs nI,nnrd the f,tttIrr bu
by resisting coming event, We shall Get our
selves into war by so ,oinr
Under the law of business competition tin,
ambition Of man and the poycr of bic capitaI