The Arizona champion., 1886-02-06

duct of lissom fingers, brawny arms or subtle brains, must have it's recom- pense, regulated precisely by the same laws that govern the rise or fall of pork. There may be irregularities Ind inconsistencies at times and in places, for there are opportunities tor bulls and bsars in ,he labor market as we'll as on the produce exchange, bu, in the long run things even themselves up, and the labor of most men viii reaiize about as much as il is worth
 The trouble in tho labor market i,, that men, themseives, wapt!o fix the price of the commodity they have to sell, regardless of its value to the pur- chaser. There Is no reason why eln- ployeS should not b. as independent as their employers. If the latter says
 "we cannot pay more than a certain
 rate ol wages," the former have inc right to reply i've wont sell you oui labor at that price" Then unless , compromise can be effected there ought to be an end of the matter,
 But the labor organizations have knocked the bottom out oi this far trading, They combine and say to the purchaser "You shall give us the price we demand for our labor. l. you refuse to acceed to our claims. we are strong enough to make you com ply with them" This is not an idle threat. Almost every week sees it car ried oIt in some part of the the coun. try. Strikers on railroad, on mines, or in manu(actories, will fJrciOly pre- vent other workmen from taking their places. More than this, they will commence system of "boycot,ing," prevent freight being taken over any particular railroad, if there are com. peting lines, prevent merchants from buying goods from any particular manufacturer or dealer they may be sighting. They will go into store and command the owners not 10 buy | certain line of goods If no heed is taken Of their orders, the store is "boycottcd," which in some instances means flnan4isl ruin to the proprie,ors. What difference is there, morally. be- tween this crime and larceny? None. Except that instead of stealing mems goods, their profits are stolen, which is their living. Labor strikes have been the cause of large amoun, of misery and crime. They strike at the business prosperity of the country; they strike at the solvcncy of trades men; they strike the bread from the mouths of starving wives and'child. rcn, and they strike at the marliness aud honesty of the strikers them selves.
 In the past, when labor combiEa- .tions have been arrayed against capi, tai, in large majority of cases, labor has finally sustained defeat, but We must not shut our eyes to the fIct that labor and trades unions arc growing numerically stronger every day and more effective in their organizations. The larger proportion of them are now International with the object of preventing imported labor from be- coming a factor in their contest with capital It Is calculated that out oi the 2, ,ooo, 900 workmen ia this coun- try that are employed in industrial and mechanical work (th's excludes agricultural and other labor pertain ing to land) at least 65o, 900 are mem bers oi trades unions. Oae organiz, ation alone, the Knights of Labor, number ISo,ooo, and these numbers will grow larger. as men who have hitherto stood aloof from all organiz alions of this kind are finding them. selves drawn into them, and a very large percentage ot the boys who are approaching manhood will rapidly augment their strength. As the for ces on each side increase in power, the contests between labor and capital will become more fierce and the con sequences more disastrous, unless some means can be adopted whereby such disputes can be amicably settled.
 As stated at the commencement of this article, the price of labor will be finally decided by i,s market value but witf such qrel, cohcfeEe powc' ss i''c labor oFg2a!zll.on5 are nov