New-York tribune., 1886-04-28
TABOR AND ITS LEADERS,

LABON AND 1IS LEhDEHo'
Mr.. Arthur, chief Of the Locomotive En-
gneers' Brotherhood, delivered an address Oh
! Monday at Hartford which the workingmen OIL
! this country ought to study. III they wonId
make its principles their own, and be guided by
them instead of fhe advice of labor agitatOrs Oi
political demagogues they would be richer anu
| HAMMER What a contrast between the three
| The labor vgItator who gets a living from the
pockets OF other laborers by keeping them In
constant broils with employers, stirs them up
| to demand that half dozen drivers shall be
deprived of work on the Third Avenue Kali
way or that six switchmen at Chicago snail not
be permitted to earn an honest living. Orea'
strikes follow. The men sacrlhce lnliIlons'
Literally it would be better for the workers II
they had put the twelve persons aDout whom
they make all this fuss into elegant rooms at
the Windsor or Fifth Avenue Hotel, and had
boarded them and their families there f"r the
rest of their lives at the expense of organized
labor. Instead, suffering comes to the families
of the laborers. Not few forget their duties
as citizens of a free country, and violate the
law and find a lodging in a jail. That is the
teaching of the ag!tator and Its fruit.
Then comes the demagogue. He loudly be-
preiudice OF the poor against the rich. He
repeats the many times exploded falsehood that
the rich are growing richer. and the poor grow
ing poorer. When challenged to produce a
remedy, he moves tn create lot of new offices
to be supported by taxation of the people.
More fat offices is his remedy; arbtrators at
fat salaries and all the clerks and officials of a
new Labor Department. also at fat salaries.
Larger burdens for labor to bear, and more fat
places for demagogues-that is the politicians
remedy.
But Chief Arthur tells the workers that
"There should be no antagon SIN between capi-
tai and labor. There is no occasion Tor IT..
And, though / want every lab0ring man to
hold up his head and look his employer
"squarely in the face. want him to remember
athat capital as well as labor has rights which
we must respect. We should strive to bring
them closer together. No man has the right to
say to another Thou shalt OF Thou shalt
not and in the violation of this principle is
where the trouble lies among the wOrkngmen
to-day. We have no business to say that any
employer shall employ or shall not employ
this man. We have no right to go to the COM
Apany and say, You must not employ that man.
we oppose this way of doing things on
principle" Concerning the eight hour law, he
saws. If the masses want eight hodrs for Il
illegal DAYS work, give il to them for a fair trial,
but fear there are a large number Of men who
will not profit by it. Many of these sometimes
called workingmen do not make good use OF
their time. believe in working. Since was
"twelve years old have worked" Then he hits
a nail Oh the head, and very hard, by saying,
"When man is looking up rs the leader OF an
organization, just 80 soon as he begls to dabble
in politics, then it is time for you to request
him to resign and put another man in his place.
They care for themselves far more than they DO
for those whom they represent" After reading
such counsel, by worker to workers, one is
not surprised to learn that for twelve years
past every time the Brotherhood of Locomo
tive Engineers has been met by the officers OF
the road, there has been no strike and differ
ences have been amcably adjusted.
Leaders like Chief Arthur arc a blessing to
the cause of labor. Those who follow the ad
vice of such leaders find their wages steadily
rising their circumstances an condition stead
y improving and they are never driven to
starve their wives or children or led into law
breaking that ends in prison cell. Bat the
men who follow such az tatOrs as Martin Irons
find it both an expensive and Il disagrceabe
burden. As for those who rely upon political
demagogues, and more fat offices and depart
ments to increase the burdens of labor, they
deserve only what they get.