New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1889-05-01


down of the mems wages, one cent an
hour called out the decided opposition
Of a majority of the Minneapolis people
WHO became enlisted with the strikers
and sympathized with them. The men
were getting but $1.35 per day and
worked in most cases II hours for this.
The reduction, therefore, would make
their wages about $1.19 per day and to
support family on this allowance in a
city would be impossible where the cost
of living is necessarily large, and as
most of the men have families they saw
they were working for starvation pay
and consequently decided to stop work;
and OF itself this was right enough and
proper. But the occurrences of Sum
,saher the strikers or their
threw several street cars
some of the drivers by so
yoing altogether too far and
7erstepping the bounds of
law, they lost that fellowship
g which had before been given
by the citizens. They had a
to stop work whenever they
ed but when it came to keeping
RS from working or to destroying
lvate property the line should be
'rawn and this action of the strikers
'ked down upon by all fair minded
eople. But how best to regulate the
rouble between Mr.. Lowry and the
laboring men, is no doubts puzzle of
huge proportions. MIR. Lowry is run
ming the street car system as a private
business matter; his capital is invested
in it and he naturally expects fair
dividend on his money invested and he
is supposed to know what his earnings
are and what he can afford to pay his
employees. What these receipts are,
of course, is sealed book to the out
side world and any law that would
compel him to turn his books over for
PUBLIC inspection would be at variance
private rights and be fayrant
ton of right and justice. The
-,z-,. 90 cars on the other hand are for
the convenience Of the travelling public
and it, more than the two other parties,
is suffering on account of this unpleas-
yantness. When the franchise for q
street railway was given to Mr.. Lowry
its main object was to give to the people
Of the cities means of conveyance which
would be all that could be expected of it
in every particular and it would GER
tainly seem that it was in the province
of the legislature to see that the people
should not be so seriously discommod-
ed for SO long time or for any time;
it might have ordered that the cars be
run and i1Ssarlner wages could not have
been paid, let those who are willing to
work for less wages do so but give them
ample police protection. A man in any
private business is allowed to call into
his employ whoever he can obtain at
II ADJUST such wages as he can, or thinks
he can afford to give; no one will say
that what he pays his employees shall be
nominated by the general public. But
the street car franchise must be looked
at in the light of a public gift and
coupled with conditions and provisos
which if not lived 8, to, should be act
4 ed upon by state or perhaps by NUM-
cipal authorities in so far that the gen
eral public may not suffer at the hands
Of either the hasty and unwise action
Of the strikers or the independence of a
d Mr.. Lowry, People have been grie-
viously wronged and business of many
kinds has suffered an unnatural stag.
nation while no apparent remedies
for a setting up of the dispute have
been called in. Mr.. Lowry has gone
rather too far, when he issues the order
to his employees that none of them shall
belong to any labor organization. In
this he is wrong; he may reasonably
expect that they are sober, industrious
men and do, what in its nature, belongs
to the duty which they are paid to do,
but what they shall do nights or what
church they shall attend or to what
order they shall or shall not belong is
simply not in his province to say or de.
eide. He owns them perhaps as ia,
as to their mechanical operations blu,
he should not expect to control thei,
thoughts, nor dictate to them civil o.
religious belief. But what shall come
in to supply the missing link between
the troubles which Of late years ARK
arising between Capital and Labor is 8
subject for the study Of modern politi
cal economists.