The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1886-02-15

the other.
THE MOST SERIOUS Evil OF CORPORATE oWN
gRsHIP.
The absence Of any personal relation be
tween stockholders and employees is prob
ably the most serious evil connected witt
corporate ownership. 1t may sometimes
happen that the investors Is u body vii
sympathize with the laboreIs as body
and yet be- forced into an attitude ot.oppo
sltion by the conduct OF the managers
More often such sympathy will fail to CONT
into play at all. The law oil limited liza
bility is made to shut out moral respO 81
bilieies IS well Us legal ones. The stock
holder is liable to the extent al his hold
ing; beyond that he TOO often troubles
himself not whit about the duties Of tht
concern. The act exempting his pocket
from further liabilities is made to exempt
his conscience also.
The case is especially bad when thC
stockholders Cf i conCgh live in ont
locality, its employees in another, aud 1t!
customers in still another. A conflict o.
local interest ID created, involving the
same dangers as the Gbsenteelsm Of irish
landlords The worst case Ol all-unlor
tunately by no means rare-is where U
corporation Is run IN the interest oil III
managers, independent alike oil st0ckhold'
ers, employees or customers, Where
concern ia honestly managed with view
TO the personal interest OF the BLUCkhold'
eIs, the policy adopted will generally be
good Tor the permanent interest OF elm
ployes and customers, however much
their temporary interests may seem 10
diyerge. But The interests oil IN inside
rlng are almost always opposed to the per
naHent interests OF the property, and liz
Y0ly1 harm and danger IN every direction,
In our anxiety to facilitate corporate in
ytstment we have failed to provide safe
guards against corporate mlsmausgepent,
We have allowed irresponsible borrowing,
questionable contracts, evdsiYa and even
fraudulent bookkeeping, and We are pay
lug the penalty, Probably lhree'quartcrs
Of the popular hatred of corporations
nave been due to acts which hurt the
IloCkhQIders ~ much as anybody else.
Thus, while the existence ut large per
nanenG Investments made labor aud cap
Dlal more and more dependent upon one
another the Why in which these invest.
menIs were owned and managed tended
70 separate IaborerB Gnd capitalists more
aud more completely.
WHERE LABoRERs HAVE THE ADVANTAGE Z,
The consumers where the peIaors who
get the most constant bentli. rom all
These changes, and the labOrers, COnsum'
ing as they do 80 large pait OF tho pro-
,luCls OF industry, were thus enabled tn
gain in material comfort. But in their
capacity US laborers they lost power and
independence; and what they lost III
power the managers gained, The reason
ID not dilliculttO ind. "lh0 arrangements
OF modern society" says Mr.. Jevons in hg
excellent chapter on "rhe Law of Indus
thai Conspiracy" "are based upon the 9s-
sumption that individuals will act as indt.
viduals" This 10 generally true, but rs
regards corporations II doea not hold good,
Corporations are organized Oh the Nsslmp,
ion that the Individual stockholders can.
not and will not GpL as individuals. The
manager OF guuh corporation represents
q limited power, at once too strong aud too
weak for the best interests OF the CommuA-
ity. II he is bud man, he is strong
enough TO pursue Il shOrt-aighted policy.
If he is u good man, hO is generally not
strong enoush to prevent rival managers
from forcing such g policy upon him, at
Tines, against his will. In either Gaze the
workman 10 likely to suffer.
REASON ron PREVIOUS LABOR FAILURES.
The attempt has been made with vary.
ing sucsDss ~ form labor organizations
which should meet organised capital Oh
equal terms. But ouch organizations have
generally be0n ut disadvantage. In tue
lirat place, tho employer was az IL rule
more accurately informed as to business
conditions, and knew better where he
could afford TO fight. SECOND, tho organ
igipg power is mainly on the side Of the
employers. As modern industry Is ar.
ranged, o man who has this power has
the chanCe to make money, and - at.
uacted into lines Of employment which
enlist him on the side Of capital. 1t is d
sort OF automatic bribery, acting where It
ia most needed without moral odium or
loss Of seli.regpeCt. Third, the number
Of workmen TO DO held together in GuCh
contest is enormous; and any gerioua
break in the ranks IL fatal 10 the success
OF strike. To succeed at all, 1t must be-
practically universal. With all these o.
stacIes againrt them, strikes were often
hopeless from the OUTSET Justified per
haps chiefly by the fact than u man who
lIhts anu Is beaten ls in some respects
better of than Z man who will submit Ia
anything rather than hight.
LABoRs ADVANTAGE IN A boycott.
But by organizing rs Consumers instead
OF "a producers, the workmen have trans
terred the battle from l8ld where every
thing Is against them to one where every
thing is in their favor. 1t 10 this which
gives Significance TO boyColting, and power
TO the Knights Of Labor. A boycott ditIerl
from strike in the fact that 1t may moi
have 10 BIO universal in order 10 be over
whelmingly successful. ltone-half OF tht
customers OF merchant, A say TO him
ave will not deal with you unless yor
refuse to handle the goods Of y, a manu-
iaCturer to whom We object" A will prob
ably prefer to conhne himself to the goodl
OIL ElNhl llhuuIhCLuIeIg ; IhtuBl
than lose half his custom. Anc
thus Il, q, and all other dealers
may be led to refuse the good
of \, wh1 will thus find 1t impossible Il
place bis products on the market, ever
though half his customers might still b,
glad 10 buy them. But y cannot afford Il
DO driven out Of his business. Tho larger
his plant the larger the loss involved IL
stopping. What was All element fstrengtl
in d contest among tho producers Is an el
ement OF weakness In a contest agains
consumerB. What has made the public
dependent upon him has made him de
pendent apof the public. And he for
moment imaginGs that he can bring TIT
public to terms by an arbitrary sLoppagt
in these lines where he has virtual mo
nopoly, he finds public opinion and pub
lie authorities arraygd against him in suCt
a way Rs to render this Impossible.
This is the condition Of things to-day
and this Is why boyCoLting has such I'm
limited power. Its not a power which
can be lightly used. The leaders OF til,
Workmen themselves begin to see thil
clearly. II may react iesrfully on thu
community which tries 1t in the gradua
withdrawal Of capital and destruction o
business. The margin Of profit Is no
in.,,n nnntUh IN hp huFHpnad with pYtri