Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1886-06-10
Count the Cost.

Count the Cost.
When the strikes now dWindling ART
over. one of the first things done, in the
interest of the workingmen even more
than for the information of the public
should be to count the cost of these
movements. The men who go on strike:
without making any calculations to as
certain what the chances for success may
be are usually to set in their opinions tC
take the good advice that is offered them
They have been taught by the people
who lead them to suspect all the coun+
sci that comes from without, and to look
upon it as being somehow in the interest
of capital" alone. But the figures which
show what the unsuccessful strikes of
this year have cost cannot be put aside
in the same way. There they will be,
stubborn facts, for all to read and to
ponder. The labor bureaus, in the states
possessing them, cannot employ their
time to wiser purpose than in collecting
statistics of the recent strikes. The les
soa of such exhibits can hardly fail to be
learned by the most obstinate and sus-
picious, and it is lessen which all labor
organizations will have to grasp before
they can become really useful to their
members.
Unsuccessful strikes involve destruc
tiOn of capital. Even successful ones if
maintained long may do the same. may
cost more than can possibly be got out
of them, even though every point de-
manded be conceded by the employers
The method of drawing contributions
from employed labor to sustain that
which is on strike may tend to confuse
the outcome somewhat, but the general
result cannot long remain obscure to
those who can comprehend plain facts.
To maintain these strikes large amounts,
being the savings of labor. have been
sacrificed. Not only the strikers, but all
who contributed to their support, are so
much poorer. Nothing of this lost cap
iGal will be restored, because the strikes
have failed. The net result, therefore,
is that the condition of the. strikers is
worse than it was, and that the power
of the labor organizations tC protect their
members is diminished. AS most of the
strikes were not justified by existing
conditions; as many of them were little
more than wanton. attempts to display
the power of the organizations; the con-
sequence of them were at no time doubt
/ ful. What the inevitable results must
be the press pointed out frankly and
faithfully, but its warnings were disre
garded, and now it remains only to COM
mend the study of the bill of costs to
those chiefly concerned.
Perhaps no work is more demanded
| just now than Clear and concise histOr
ry of strikes. Such a record would dem
onstrate to workingmen the untrust>
worthiness of most of the leadership to
which they have submitted themselves,
for it would prove that on an average
two strikes out of three fail. Now these
failures are the result, nine times out of
ten, of peryerse recklessness. The most
unpropitious seasons are commonly cho-
sen for action, as when trade is depresst
ed, when production is overdone, when
prices generally are declining. AT such
times there is no hope of success, simply
because employers find it cheaper to stop
work altogether than to yield to the de-
mands made upon them. Apparently
everybody but the strikers can see this.
but they shut their eyes to the truth,
and allow bluDdering leaders to threw
them out of employment. So they waste
their substance and that of their friends,
and weaken their organizations for any
useful purpose. If they can be got to
look the facts and figures in the face fer
once they will, however, be compelled to
realize that striking blindly and reck-
lessly is suicidal work, and that to get
any real good out of their organizations
they must first cease to put faith in
tonguey demagogues and blatherskites,
and must make up their minds to follow
the advice of sincere and sensible lead
ers when they have chosen them.--N. Y.
Tribune.