Signal-Copiahan. (Hazlehurst, Copiah County, Miss.) 1885-1888, 1886-06-24
A worklngmnn ON the Labor Question.
WEssoN, MISS, June l4th, 1856.
EpIroRs SIGNAL CorIAuAN:-

"""s w $3.50 ~
ger of working men when they 60
into strikes. The majority of them
mean well, but knowing nothing
about universal laws they injure the
people at large. There are laws per-
vading every department of nature
which governs all mundane things
with an iron hand. There are also
laws in connection with the manage.
mcnt of human affairs which seem
TO be as Interchangeable rs the laws OF
gravitation or other great natural
laws. The law of supply and de-
mand governs every nation OF the
world. When there is an album
dance of wheat, for instancc,or more
than the usual supply,whcat is cheap;
when there is q short crop, wheat is
dear. No human power can change,
for any considerable time, this law
of supply and demand. 1t applies to
every understandable product aud 1T
also applies as well to labor OF ali
kinds. When there are more men
desiring to work at paticular line
of industry than are required, wages
must be low; when there is II scarcl.
" of help in any particular line oil
industry wages must be high. AT
tempts have been made repeatedly
by combination Of workmen to in-
crease wages beyond the market
price, and for a time these efforts
have been more or less successful,
but like corners in wheat or corners
in pork, which sometimes arise and
disturb this great trade law, these
combinations of labor sooner or later
fall to pieces. These remarks are
not inspired by q desire that mcr
should work cheap, but for the pur-
pose of showing that there is APPOINT
beyond which wages cannot so with
out disturbing the industries OF the
country in disastrous manner.
The recent strike Of the sugar
men in Brooklyn had the effect III 4
short tin c to put up sugar cent
and half a pound. When this ris,
took place it was aSccrtaincd that II
sugar had gone up 81 of a cent {
pound more it would have been me-
ccssary to close the rctncrics entire
~, because sugar then could have
been imported cheaper than it could
have been refined in this. country
This fact shows the danger of work
men, unfamiliar with the courses OF
trade, attempting to regulate mat
tcrs which they understand nothing
about. We would be glad to sec
every man in the country getting
big wages all the time. The more
money people earn the more they
spend, but looking back over the
history OF atlons, we ascertain that
rs countries grow old aud become
more dcnscly populated wages inva
riably decline. In China, the oldest
country on the globe, n few cents
day is sufficient to support a family
This is, of course, because everything
there is cheap and because the den
sity of the population has compelled
the people to learn by experience
the cheapest way of living. or else
not 10 live at an. Those -WN are
growing because some men become
rich. should bear in mind that com
parativcly a few only of the whole
population of the United States ever
become millionaires.
A statistical writer sometime
since, who had studied the subject
atten,ivcly. cstimates that there were
less than $4,000 people in the Uni
ted States worth $4,000. This state
ment, if accurate, is certainly start
ling and shows very clearly that the
charge that wealth is being At cumu'
lated in the hands of a few people is
untrue. Itcannot he expected that
men will put capital and the bust
ness ability required to manage 1t
into any line of trade unless they are
likely to realize more than ordinary
wages. Let us consider the matter
of "A cotton factory for instance. The
original plant of machinery for Il
tirst-class modern cotton factory is
costly, but this machinery, rs soon
ms it goes into use, deprcciatcs very
rapidly in value. 1t is doubtful II
it would be possible to realize even
% per cent Of the cost of the cotton
machinery necessary to equip large
factory, il the owner We're compell'
ed, within q year after purchasing
ii, to dispose of it for any cause.
It will be seen, therefore, that il
is absolutely necessary to make q
fair profit on goods in order to COW
or the loss caused by the deprecia
ton in value of the machinery ne.
cessary for manufacturing purposes.
Then again, there are numerous loss
cs connected with manufacturing,
not to mention bad debts; and if a
man has capacity to manage q fac
tory, there is no reason why he
should not profit by his abilities. In
the nature of things, the bulk of the
population must always he wage
earners. We cannot all be managers
of factories, but every workman has
an opportunity, if he has the ability,
to rise to the position of an employ
er. Few men, comparatively, have
the business capacity to manage a
factory; a large number of Others
are too indolent, and many more do
not want the worry and trouble con-
nected with so doing.
1t is possible, of course, for bodies
of workmen who are dissatisfied to