The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1886-03-25
BOycOtting.

To THE EDITOR OF THE JOURNAL: Boycotting
is a principle of boodless warfare between labor
and capital not fully understood.
A landlord in Ireland by the name of Boycotter
was very severe on his tenants, so much so that
they all agreed to yacatc his tenements, and they
and their friends did all they could to keep others
from renting of him. They refused and induced
others to refuse to deal with him in all other mat
tiers. The plan succeeded in putting rich land
lord at the absolute mercy of poor tenants. When
this was tried on another person it was called boy
cottlng, or serving him as they had served Boycott
ter. This the origin of the name Of boycott
ting. The principle though not part of the plat
form of the knights of Labor has been used by
them and by other labor organizations. The man
ner of working it at present is something fol
lows: \ certain manufacturing company dscharg
ed every man in its employ that was Knight of
Labor, and refused to employ any man who be
longed To Il labor union of any kind The various
labor organizations then decided to boycott the
company; all the assemblies throughout the
country were notified and through them the deal
crs in that class of goods notified that if they
offered any of that company's goods for sale the
union laborers would not trade with them at all.
The railroad employees refused t. move trains with
any goods from that company upon them Truck
men refused to haul those goods, and stevedores
refused to load them into vessels. As result the
company was forced to surrender and employ un-
ion men
AS the labor unions throughout the country have
refused to smoke any cigars not made by union
workmen Il large manufacturing company recently
ordered all its hands to join the knights of Labor
that the house might catch the union trade.
Boycotting a manufacturers goods that have
been purchased and are ON sale by an innocent re
taller is serious business, and is likely to force the
retail traders to handle all goods commission;
that when the manufacturer is boycotted it will
not injure innocent retailers. 1t is likely to make
other revolutions i'll business. Cooperative manu-
featuring companies established and worked by
the unions not being liable to boycott, their goods
will have a preference among retailers. This
course will operate to make the capitalist of less
Importance to the business world.
II to-day each Knight of Labor would invest just
one cent in manufacturing enterprise it would
give it a capital of ten thousand dollars, and this
TOO without Il single capitalist one cent from
every Iaborer in the United States would make
capital of sl700dO, and ten dollars each would make
Sl7O,000o00, and all without capitalist Multiply
this by Il hundred and it makes greater than
all the United States was worth in 1850. Yet this
is only Il thousand dollars tor each laborer. $l7,
000.0o0 900 of capital and no capitalist These
figures suggest wonderful possibilities for cooper
aive labor, hut what they viii accomplish remains
to be seen. We have been in the habit Of saying
that "labor and capital must 90 hand in hand"
without once dreaming that could get along
without the capitalist
The labor unions and the capitalists both have
something at stake in the pen'iing contest and We
may congratulate ourselves if no weapons more
bloody than the boycott are made u-c of. Certain
y that is sufficient and il cannot be used with too
much discretion. G.. ;. GRIFFIN.