The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1886-05-28

Il. Il IL the hand cursing the eye, or the
eye cursine the hand. want II under.
stood that the laborers are the highest
style Of capitalists. Where 10 their in.
vestmeutl In the bank! No. In railroad
stockl No. Their muscles, their nerves,
their bones, their mechanical skill, their
physical health, are the highest kind of
capital. The man that has two feet, and
two ears, and two eyes, and ten fingers,
owns machinery that puts into nothing.
ness Corliss' engine and all the railroad
rolling stock, and all the carpet, and
screw, and cotton factories on the planet.
I wave the flag of truce this morning be.
tween these contestants. demand q ces.
sation Of hostilities between labor and
capital. What is good for one is good for
both. What is bad for one Is bad for both.
Again: Relief will come to the working
classes Of this country through CO. opera
tive association. am not now referring
to trades unions. We may hereafter dis.
cuss that question. But I refer to that
plan by which laborers become their own
capitalists, taking their SURPRISES and put.
ting them together and carrying on great
enterprises. In England and Wales there
are 765 cooperative associations, with
600, 900 m embers. with q capital of $14 900. :.
OO0, doing business in ono year to the
amount of $a7.OOO,OO0. In Troy. N. Y,
there was a cooperative iron foundry as.
sociation. It worked well long enough to
give an idea of what could be accom-.
plished when the experiment is fully de.
veloped. Thomas Brassey, one of the
first Of the English Parliament, declared:
Incorporation is the one and only solution
of this question; It is the sole path by
which the laboring classes "a whole. or
any large number of them. will ever
emerge from the hand to- mouth mode oe
living and get their SHARE in the reward,
and honors of our advanced civilization y
Thomas Hughes, the ablest aud the most
brilliant friend of the workingmsn; Lord
Derby, John Stewart Mill. men who gave
half their lifetime to the study of this
question, all favor cooperative associa.
ton.
Again: remark that relief will como
to the working classes through more thor.
ough discovery on the part of employers
that it is best for them TO let their employ
es know just how matters stand. The most
of the capitalists Of to-day are making
less than six per cent, less than five per
cent, less than four per cent. OH their in.
vestmen.s. Here and there is an anaconda
swallowing down every thing. but such
are the exceptions. It is often the case
that employees blame their employer he.
cause thew suppose he is getting along
grandly. when he is oppressed to the last
point of oppression. knew a manufacture
er who employed more than thousand
hands. I said to him:
"DO you ever have any trouble with
your workmen? Do you have any strikes."
"No," he said.
what! in this time of angry discus
sion between capital and labor, no
trou,le!"
"None at all-none."
said: "How is that"
"WeIl," he said, 81 have a way CT my
own. Every little while call my em.
ployes together, and I say: Now, boyI,
want to show you how matters stand.
What you turned out this year brought
me so much. You see it isn't as
much as we got last year. can't
afford to pay you as much as l did.
Now, you know put all my means IN this
business. What do you think ought to he
my percentage. and what wages ought l
to pay you. Come. let us settle this
And" said the manufacturer, two are al
ways unanimous. When we suffer we all
suffer together. When we advance. we
advance together, and my men would die
for me-"
But when a man goes among hts em.
ployes with a supercilious air, and drives
up to his factory as though he were the
autocrat of the universe. with the sun and
the moon in his vest pockets, moving amid
the wheels of the factory, chiefly anxious
lest a creased or smircl,ed hand shorld
touch his immaculate broadcloth, he will
see at the end he has made an awful mis-.
take. think that employers will find out
after a while that it is to tn cir int crest, rs
far as possible. to explain matters to their
employees. You he frank with them, and
they will lie frank with you.
Again: 1 remark, relief will come to the
classes through the religious rec
Of the country. Labor is appre.
ciated and rewarded just in proportion as
q country is Christianized. Why is our
smallest coin penny, while in China it
takes six or dozen pieces to make one
penny, the Chinese carrying in his own
country the "cash." as it is called, around
his neck like string Of heads, a dozen OF
these pieces necessary tn make the value
Of one of our pennies: In this country for
nothing do we want to pay less than
penny. In China they often have to pay
the sixth Of q penny, or the twelfth of .
penny. What is the difference! Chris.
tianity. Show ME . community that is
infidel and will show you q
where wages are small. Show
me Q community that is thoroughly
and will show you
, community where wages are compare.
lively large. How do account for it?
The philosophy is easy. Our religion is q
democratic religion. 1t makes the owner
ali the operatives in that mill. Born of the
same Heavenly Father, to lie down in the
same dust, to be saved by the same su.
preme mercy. No putting on Of airs in the
'epulcher or in the judgment. I do not
ARE how much money you have, y on have
not enough money to buy your way through
he gate. do not care how poor you are.
L you have the grace Of God in your beart
no one can keep you out. If the
shining gate-keeper, smitten by some
Injustice, should try to keep you |
but, all Heaven would fly from !
heir thrones, and they would cry:
Let him in! Let him in" NV friends, |
you need TO saturate our population with |
he religion of Christ, and wages will be |
arger, employers will be more considerable,
Ill the tides of thrift will set it. 1 have
he highest authority for saying that busi-
less is profitable for the life that now is. |
t pays for the employer. It pays for the |