The Republican journal., 1886-05-20
will be noticed that the road he is interested in

will be noticed that the road he is interested in
never cuts down wages while he is interested
in it. So he can truthfuly say he always pays
the highest going wages. While this may be
true we can see how he can be the actual cause
of every cut down. And whether this is true
or not the railroad men in the country charge
much of their shrinkage on wages to the
schemes of these railroad kings and as directly
connected with their sudden rise to fortune.
OF course | have only called attention to one
of the many schemes reSorted to to get lands,
build railroads and buy those already built
without the slow process of first earning the
moneyto buy them. BY the same method that
they buy an eastern railroad they also buy
line of ocean steamers and by the competition
between railroads overland and by the COM
petition between steamship lines all waged for
the mere purpose of giving few ambitious
men chance to get control and ownership in
them, all freight rates are so reduced that near
" all commerce is carried on at a loss, thus
severely injuring all and especially its COM
mcrce in sailing ships, coastwise and trans
atlantic. People throughout the country claim
the right to complain of this, but these are
only the great teachers that are teaching the
people that the great properties of the country
should be owned and managed by the whole
people for the good, the equal good of all and
not be left in the hands of few to be used as
weapons against each other for their particular
good and to the consequent disadvantage of all
the balance Of humanity. Nearly every busi-
=
laborers are suffering to-day by being cramped
in their industries and yet the earth was never
50 well equipped before or had such an abund-
ance of food, clothes and shelter on its surface.
This shows us that all the fault is with us and
with our arrangement of things and not with
the Creator. 1t teaches palmer than any thing
else that we are trying to sustain wrong princi-
pies, principles that are not consistent with the
mutual helping brotherhood of man. 1t is
easy to draw truthful and very dark picture
1yl,,,
ing men have been reduced that they are
forced to unite and demand halt in cut downs
and demands a raise. Machinery is so abundant
that they are forced to demand shorter days or
all cannot have work, and in doing these things
they meet business depressed where it cannot
afford shorter days or even to sustain the
present wages. Capital is tmid and dare not
invest but is continually Y withdrawing its out
reaching arms and as Il consequence is con-
tnually increasing the number of unemployed
and increasing their misery and DESPERATION
and as labor becomes more and more destitute
and desperate it more and more forces capital
to make the condition of both still worse.
Each is by very force it has no power within
itself to resist constantly contributing TO the
disadvantage of the other. This tells us too
plainly to he misunderstood that we have
reached point in the competitive system that
is become too severe to endure. We must
change OF lose We must give up the compct-
tive system and unite as one body in the CO.
operative system. Human ambition and inven-
tons will then benefit all as one person and not
as now benefit the few at the expense of all
others. We have reached Il crisis and should
wisely and calmly make the most of it. Capital
says labor is to blame and labor says capital is.
Two cats tied together would represent them.
Let us understand the cause and remove it and
not content ourselves with examinations and
recriminatons. All are to blame and none are.
We are brought to this condition by power
beyond our control, and we must make the
most Of it..