Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1886-05-29

is only a step. and the laborers here
will cross over and become capitalists,
and the capitalists will cross over and
become laborers. Would to God they
would shake hands while they are
crossing, these from one side and those
from the other side.
The combatants in this great war
between capital and labor are chiefly,
on the a side, men Of fortune who
have never been obliged to toll, and
who despise labor, and on the other
hand, men who could get labor
but will not have it, will not
stick to it. 1t is the hand
cursing the eye, or the eye cursing the
hand. l want it understood that the
laborers are the highest style Of cap.
i~talists. Where is their investment
In the bankp No. In railroad stockp
No. Their muscles, their nerves, their
bones, their mechanical skill, their
ply steal health, are the highest kind
OF capital. The man who has two
feet, and two ears, and two eyes, and
ten fingers, owns a machinery that
puts into n%othingpess Corliss' engine
and all the railroad rolling stock. and
all the carpet, and screw, and cotton
factories on the planet. l wave the
flag OF truce this morning between
these contestants. / demand a cessa-
ton 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
a cooperative association. l am no,
referring to trades unions. We may
hereafter discuss that question. But /
refer to that plan by which laborers
become their w capitalists, taking
their SURPRISES and putting them
together and carrying on great
enterprises. In England and Wales
there are 765 CO operative associations,
with three hundred thousand members,
with a capital of fourteen million of
dollars, doing business in one year to
the amount of ffty-seven million dol
lars. In Troy, New York, there was h
cooperative iron foundry association.
IL worked well long enough 10 give an
idea of what could 90 accomplished
when the experiment is fully devel-
oped. Thomas Brassey, one of the
first of the English parliament, de-
clared: 'Co-operation is the n and
only solution of this question; it is the
sole path by which the laboring classes
as q whole. or any large number OF
them, will everge from the hand to
mouth mode Of living, and get their
share in the rewards and hCnors of
our advanced civilization" Thomas
Hughes, the ablest and the most bril-
liant friend OF the working man; Lord
Derby, John Stuart Mill. men who gave
half their lifetime to tue study Of this
question, all favor cooperative asso.
citation.
The principle was illustrated in Ire
land. Ore day q mail coach traveller
found IA man standing in the water 70.
pairing n dam. "Are YOU wol king by
yourself?" inquired the traveller. Yes
was the answer. Where is your
stewardP" I'VE have no steward
''Who is your masterp" 1--WE have no
master. We are on a new system
Then who sent you TO do this work.
The committee" WHO is the com.
m~itteee' ''Some OF the members
What members do you moane" asked
the visitor. 1.-The ploughmen and
laborers who are appointed by us as 8
committee. l belong to the new sys'
temiteS."
You say that there have been great
failures in that direction. | admit it.
Every great movement at the start is 8
failure. The application of steam
power a failure. electro-telegraphy q
failure, railroadipg a failure, but after
awhile the worlds chief success.
hear some say: why it is absurd tc
talk Of a surplus to be put into this co
operative association, when mon car
hardly get enough to eat and wear and
take care Of their families" | reply
Put into my hand the money spent il
the last five years in this country by
he laboring classes for rum aud to
bacco, and l will start u cooperative
institution of monetary power that will
Snrpass any financial institution in tho
United States.
Again; 1 remark that relief will.
come to the working classes through
more thorough discovery on the part
of employ ers that 1t is best for them tC
let their employees know just how
matters stand. The most OF the CAPT.
taliJts of to-day are making less than
six per cent, less than five per cent,
less than four per cent, or their in
vestments. Here and there is an ana
conda swallowing down everything,
but such are the exceptions. 1t is Of
ten the case that employees blame
their employer because they suppose
he is getting along grandly, when he
is oppressed to the last point of OPP
preston. l knew a manufacturer who
employed more than a thousand
hands. SAID to him: "Do
you ever have any trouble
with your workmsnp Do you
have any strikesP' NO" he said.
What! in this time of angry discus
sion between Capital and Labor. no
troublep" None at all-none." l
said: "How Is thatp" well" he
said, Il have a way of my own. Every
little while l call my employees togeth-
or, and 1 say: Now. boys, I want to
show you how matters stand. What
| you turned nj this year brought g,
much. You see it isn't as much rs we
got last year. l can't afford to pay
you IA much as did. Now, you know
T mt All nv means in this businass.