Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-06-23

charity to society sooered oy Jusuos'
and when justice shall be reasserted'
then may We hope to see the last oil the
gaunt faces and withered forms which
are now both . reproach and . threat.
DR.. Lorimsr then proceeded to Illus
trate and enforce his theme, " Justice
the hope Of Society,"" by wsll-chosen
examples from history, apt quotations
from ancient and modern authors, fine
illustrations we'll presented, able argu-
ment, and chaste and eloquent appeal.
He thus puts the case between labor
and capital-monopolies and boy
cotte-s:
In South Framingham two or three
years ago an efficient artisan was
obliged to remove because his fellow
workmen would not tolerate his pres
ence among them on account Of his su-
perior skill and industry. They in
sisted that he must come down to their |
level or the master must discharge him. |
Similar high-handed proceedings We
have had OF late in the effort made 10 |
drive all nor-union men out Of employ |
ment. This is an outrageous proce-
dure. A so.called voluntary society |
sends a committee to boss " and
says, "You have half dozen persons
in your shops who are not members |
with us, and we demand that you dis
miss them The "boss " calls the |
men to him and asks if they wish to
Join this particular organization, stating
that so far as he is concerned it is a
matter Of indifference. They answer,
"No." What follows? The union
men are commanded to strike, and the
master is deprived of the means neces-
sary to fulfil his contracts, and the |
only way be can purchase peace is BY a
manifest act Of unfair dealing with the
non. unionists. Such methods, in their
essential nature. are criminal, and
are unworthy the lovers Of lib
erty. This sort Of compulsiOn |
is as tyrannous as any similar act com.
mitted by Kings or popes, and is just as
reprehensble in American citizens as
in eastern despots. Again are we re-
minded Of Proudtron's paradox: " No
one is less democratic than the people,
Hugh Miller veriGes this sentiment
when he exposes the cruelties perpe-
trated by stonemasOns and it is every
day illustrated by the spitefdlness.
harshness, and petty cruelties Of fore
men and forewomen in large establish
ments. Yet these same foremen, aud
the toilers who suffer and cause suffer-
ing in turn, are clear-eyed enough to
detect injustice in their superiors.
THAT is true" these superiOrs will
doubtless respond "they are as bad
as we are." That may be; but have
you who possess your millions ever
really stopped to find out how bad you
are? You cry out against the demands
of labor, you characterize its friends as
ignorant agitators, and YOU see nothing
sacred but capital. But you are blind,
fatally blind, to your own Shortcomings
and inhumanity. The president If the
Wabash system Of railroads has recently
waxed eloquently indignant against the
Knights Of Labor, and has shown how
these marauders have q" killed engines
and interrupted traffic. Well, they are to
be blamed but how about Mr.. Gould
himself? 4 Mr.. Mcdowell gave before
the House committee as one cause OF
the Southwestern strike the unlyer-
sal system Of watering railroad stocks,
which made it necessary for railroad
managers to screw down the wages of
labor as much as possible" Indeed
and in this business Mr.. Gould is nOtO-
rlously efficient. With remarkable
unanimity the press of the country has
characterized him as "a railroad
wrecker." Now, If it is unjust TO
"kill " an engine, what is it to destroy
an entire road for ones personal ad-
vantage? But this man is not alone in
his sin. The Current, March 20, 1885,
has this astounding statement, " The
ethics Of business for a generation has
been enough to Eake GOmorrah OF
this nation" Is it so: Startling "a
this statement is, We can believe It, and
if for no other reason, because the
third annual report Of the Bureau OF
! Statistics Of Labor Of the State Of New
YoIk-ls85-sadly confirms it. Com
missioner Peck, its author, tells US Of
women toilipg eighteen hours for -
cents; of the hard, grinding policy Of
the " sweaters" or middle-men, whose
only aim is 10 make as much as
possible out Of the wretches they en-
ploy. The scenes of horror portrayed
! in this official document are as pitiable
and dramatically thrilling as anything
in Victor lIugo's " Les Miserables."
Not far are we from SodOm, these
things being true. We all seem to
have gone into oyerreaching. The riots
in Belgium were in part caused by the
system Of compelling miners to pur-
chase their food on credit from their
employers. If the accounts are mac
curate they have no remedy, and the
| least complaint ends in immediate dis
missal ard starvation. Not dissimllar
the custom in the West for some rail-
road corporations to sell few acres TO
their brskemen, which they are to pay
for in instalments, and when they have
nearly paid to discharge them for some
imaginary fault, thus deprlylng them OF
the means wherewIth to make the final
payments, the property in case of fail
ure reyerting TO the company. Such
practices on the part OF mOnopolists and
capitalists are quietly passed over as
involving no moral qualities, or at least
none of O serious kind; and yet eyi-
dently they are charged and surcharged
through and through with black injus-
tice. When We think Of such things
we are painfully reminded Of that old
form of punishment known in the times
Nv hen wretches swung that Juryman
might dine " as the pe,ae forte et dure.
This penalty consisted in pressing the
accused to death for refusing TO plead.
The "press-yard " at Newgate, though
not now used for the purpose denoted by
| its name, bears silent witness still 70 the
frequency Of this torture. The victim
was laid out on his back with his hands
and feet secured a plank was put on
bin, and then weights were piled on
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