Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1889-02-21
Why 1t Failed.

Students of the Labor Prohlemn are
respectfully requested to study the
history Of the recent car-drivers' and
car-conductors' strike in New York.
1t tea ches, in plain and comprehens-
ible manner, an interesting lesson. It
is, IN fact, compendium of informa
ton, from which the citizen who walks
to his business when the horse-car
roads are ''tied up" may learn o valu-
able lesson. Let us state the facts.
On Tuesday morning. January Goth,
almost al of the car-drivers and car
conductors of New York refused to
perform their duties, and prepared to
assault any other men who might offer
| themselves to attempt the performance
of those duties. This refusal to work
was q serious matter. 1t interfered
with the business of the whole city.
1t was the cause of delays, postpone
ments and defectlons involving a loss
in money none the less great that it
can not readily be compu ted. It dis
turbed the order, peace and comfort of
the whole town. 1t made weak wom-
EN- walk where they should have rid
den; and bore heavily upon the sick
and the crippled. 1t was wrong to
the whole public that called, at the
least. for an adequate excuse.
| What was the excuse? What was
| the occasion for the whole disturbance
for the refusal of five or six thou
sand men to their duty by hepublic-
for their determination to let no other
men do that duty for them? Listen to
| it. The answer is interesting and in
structive. One man, not a working
man, but an ex-convict, character
less adventurer, was able to persu ade
these five or six thousand men to take
this most serious step, to the discom-
fort and absolute injury of thousands
of their fellow citizens. And OH what
grounds? Because they were over
worked? Because they were unpaid?
Not at all. Some of the men had rea-
son, or thought they had reason, to
complain on these scores, but these
plaint. These thousands of men stop
ped their work and took to illegal vi0-
lence solely and entirely to establish
the rule that their employers should
deal with them through this same ex-
convict and characterless adventurer.
That was the one solitary idea Of the
strike. This rascal representatives,,
| in fact-the Executive Board of the
| knights of Labor which assumed to
| own all these employees of the var
| ious car.companies of the City of New
York. The strike was begun that he
| might be "recognized."
It failed, of course. The fellow who
began it probably knew that it would
fail. Fail or succeed, 1t meant money
to him. He comes out of the fight
with whole skin, and pocket filled
with whatever he has been able to
get OF the savings of the poor wretches
who have permitted him TO "managen
the strike. They are out weeks
pay: he is IN weeks pay such as he
never earned in his life at any honest
job. And he can go from here to
Philadelphia or to Boston, or to Gin
cnnati or to Chicago. and do the same
thing-stir up honest workingmen to
ideness and violence. make them
pay him for his time and trouble, and
walk off to leave them to fight starva-
ton as best they may. All the work
his trade requires is done by his un-
der-jaw.
Well, what is the lesson of the whole
business? The strike failed because
the most Of the companies concerned
were willing to fight for their rights.
When their employees We're not will
ling to work for them, they found
other employees. When the strikers
orga nizeu themselves into band of
rioters, attacked the property of their
kill the men who had taken their
places, the police stepped in and insis-
ted on the strict observance Of the law.
And the law being observed, there
t as 10 difficulty in finding men TO take
ffle places of those who had struck,
The strikers and rioters called these
men "scabs." They were men who
were trying to earn money to support
themselves and their families. They
found employment where other men
threw up their jobs.
Ard in this TACT we may find the
lesson of the strike-and the lesson Of
many other strikes like unto it. On
the face of it, 1t is evident that these
men struck for reason which seemed
entirely insufficient to other men.
similarly placed. Only by violence
could they have attained their end.
They would have attained it. had
their violence been unresIsted, TWAS
resisted wholly in the maintepance of
the system of law and order on which
the whole community relies for its dsi-
ly and hourly protection.
In plain English, 1t is not possible to
make work pay more than work earns.
80 long as there are more men ready
to take given job than the Job calls
for. 50 long Will the pay for that job
oe INV. % loHG as men prefer en-
ployment as unskiiled laborers to em-
ployment as skilled laborers, SO long
will there be enough of the unemplov-
ed to control the labor market agaiIs
the employed. So long as the m1lori-
ty confines itself TO doing such work
as may be done by any healthy man
with an ounce of brains in bis skull,
SO long will minority be able to fix
prices for the majority. And so long
as men are willing to tie theinselve
down for life to one particular form of
employment, giving up all possibilities
of change or Improvement, SO long
will they be the prey Of any clever
scamp who chooses to assert bis au-
| thoIity over them, knowing that they
have yielded up their own indepen-
denee.-PucE,