The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-05-16
EFFECT OF LABOR TROUBLES.
0pinionsOf Leading New York Thinkers
and Business Men Upon the Subject. :.
Business Very Seriously Impaired Already,
and Workingmen the Greatest Sufferers
No Fear of Permanent Disaster.
specia, TO the indianapolis Journal.

corning the prevalent labor agitation and its
results. All are men whose opinion will be
| listened to with Difference and interest The
| questions asked them were:
Are the labor troubles a serious menace the
| peace of the countrya
| Has the workingman been benefited by the agta-
Win the business of the year 1886 be seriously in
jured?
! Do we need larger standing armyl
How we TO deal with Anarchists
| Charles A. Dana, editor of the New York
| Sun-The question is a very large one, young
man, but | think we can sum it all up in few
words. The labor troubles are not a danger to
the country at large. We do not need bigger
| standing army. There are no labor troubles
now; they have all settled themselves and are
over. The business of 1856 is seriously injured
already. The workingmen are not benefited.
Jay Gould-I have not yet thoroughly exam
ined the effects of the late strike upon the in
dustries of the Eastern part of the country, and
am therefore unable to speak except in general
way Business is very seriously injured, and
the workingmen are the losers. They cannot
improve their condition by means of boycotting
and striking At present the labor organizations
have higher aim than to lay In walt until
their busiest season, and then seize them by the
| throat and threaten to ruin them if exorbitant
concessions are not made. More intelligent and
just principles will have to be adopted by the
workingmen before they can better their condl-
| ton. We don't need bigger standing army.
The militia and police can take care OF those
who do violence.
| Henry Ward Beecher-The heart of the peo-
pie is in the right place. They on the side of
! justice and equity and opposed to injustice and
wrong. no matter whether it be the workingman
| or the capitalist who does the wrong. And let
me tell you that healthy public sentiment is
better than ten standing armies. The interest
OF our citizens in supporting law and Order would
be lessened if we kept uniformed force of pro-
| fessional fighting men to subdue rights We are
better off as we are. don't know whether or lot
labor has benefited itself by these great strikes
l don't believe that it has done so, though be-
| lieve that it has injured itself. AS Powderly
| says, workingmen must do justice If they would
obtain justice for themselves When the work
ingman takes advantage of his employers diff
cultes to say to that employer; You must grant
me great concessions or will ruin you," he does
| very foolish thing and hurts himself more than
| any one else / am in sympathy with working
men and | want to see them better their condi-
tiop but | don't like some of the methods
adopted, partly because those methods are mis-
| taken and partly because they are unjust.
Vicar general Keegan (R. c. Ill think that
ultimate good will result from the labor agita-
ton, although business has been hurt quite se-
! riously. I like the idea of arbitration between
| labor and capital Some workingmen undoubt-
eddy are deprived of all that tends to make life
sweet. Fourteen hours is too long for any man
| to work at manual labor; it is a grinding
slavery. At the same time / think eight hours
| too short and I'm afraid that the Saturday half
holiday system, if adopted, would result in
| injury to poor families, for boys whose mothers
are dependent on them for support frequent
race tracks and spend their money if let out on
Saturdays. / know several of the kind.
AOYt 1onlyr1y fhc1 abn
menace to the peace of the country. There is
no socialism or anarchy among the English
speaking workingmen in this country | have
been talking with many priests on this question,
| and found some who think we need larger
| standing army. don't think so. Our reliance
| is on the good sense of the Nation, and l am
sure that will not fail u.s.
Father Thomas Ward-Fm not in a position
| to speak authoritatively concerning the position
| of the Roman Catholic Church in America.
gee that in Canada it is hostile to the Knights of
Labor, if dispatches correct In America
the church, as l understand It, has taken no DO
sition except that it is always friendly to the
workingman and wants to see justice done to
him. At the same time it does not want to see
him do injustice, and [ think that some of the
strikes have been unjust Others again seemed
to be entirely proper and necessary. We don't
| need bigger standing army.
Donald Mckay, senior partner of the banking
| firm of Vermilye & Co.--Th business of 1886
has been seriously injured by the labor troubles
and the workingmen will be the sufferers The
| strikes are subsiding, though, and better times
| are near at hand. STILL trade has received Sc
| we're blow. Anything which interferes with the
smooth running of the great machinery of com
merce is bound to hurt trade, and that hurts the
workingman. friend of mine, who is in the
building business, told me that the year opened
with the brightest prospect he ever saw for
| building stone. The strikes have killed the
| trade for tho year. And so it has been in many
other trades.
| A. Abraham, of the great retail dry goods
house OF Wechsler 81 Abraham. Brooklyn--If the
| labor troubles are not very soon terminated Sc.
/ rious disasters, from which the workingmen
| will be the chief sufferers will happen can
| scarcely estimate the damage, but know that
| spring trade has had very serious blow We
| don't need bigger standing army; the vast ma
| jority of our workingmen averse to violence.
Anarchists are all FOREIGNERS, and when they
! abuse hospitality by preaching bloo6shed
and incendiarism they should be treated just as
| if they had set fire to houses or attempted to
| commit murder. Ii these strikes continue the
first thing we know there will be big influx of
foreign goods, and then the big factories of the
| East will be compelled TO shut down because the
| market will be overstocked. If the workngmen
| force the cost of production up too high, mer-
chants will find it cheaper to buy foreign goods,
1 and the workngmen will suffer pretty severely
| till Congress puts duties up.
| Mr. Acker, the senior partner of the firm of
Acker, Merrill Il Condit-The labor troubles
| have not hurt US yet. / don't know whether they
will or not. ! can't tell what will be the outcome
| of the labor agitation. The workingman NAV or
may not be benefited As to the Anarchists, our
courts are the ones to deal with them / do not
attempt to solve the great problems of the age.
III. K. Thurber, of I'll. X. Thurber & Col
don't think you will find that the trade in food
products has been affected nearly as much by
| the labor troubles as those other trades which
depend more largely upon the season of the year
for their success and also those large enterprises
| in which people have to look ahead for long
time. and in which the question or the cost of la
| Dor is very important one. l do not know
| whether or not labor troubles are q serious
| mace to the peace of the country. Are the work
| engmen benefited by the strikes2 WE'LL yes and
| no. Legitimate agitation for lettering the con-
| dition or the laborng man is undoubtedly wise
and proper, and leads to good results. Violence
/ and bloodshed will do more to set back the in
| terests of the wage-earner than anything which
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