Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1890-11-03


Depew, 'when the employees in any in
dustry shall not be arrayed in hostil,
camps over the whole country agains
their employers in the same business
when the combinations will not be Of
the workers on the one hand and the
officers or firms on the other as against
each other, but with good sense, friendly
feeling and kindly tempered dispositions
they shall meet upon common grounds
for the common good and an overwhelm
ing sense of common interest" There
is a very pretty jingle in this, but it il
only words. words" So long as the
competitive system prevails employers
will be compelled to use every means al
their command to attain their aim of
money making, and as wages must come
out of the product, the smaller the pro-
portion the worker gets the greater the
employers gains. This being SO it can
not be gainsaid that the very natural
disposition isto pay as little to the work
man as possible. A dollar saved in wages
is dollar made by the employer. 1t
would be absurd to expect him to give
up that dollar without asUrEggle. Where,
then. is your common ground Mr..
Cepew?
The writer Of q recent communication
in New York paper sees the situation
clearer than Mr.. Depew, though he ap-
parently does not understand the causes
any better He says, Every year of
late has witnessed the drawing more and
more taut of line Of delnarbation be-
tween the interests OF employer and en-
ployed, and IL corresponding growth of
bitterness in their relations" This
writer finds the principal cause for such
q condition in the formation Of labor
unions. He does not see that the unions
are an effect and not cause. He evil
IDENTITY is not I. railroad president, for
instead Of toadying to any branch of or
ganized labor he denounces the whole
scheme. lie says, Labor organization
of any kind and uuter any name is a
curse to the county, That's the way
to talk. If we can only get the line
clearly drawn once there will be some
chance to come to conclusion.
What will Mr.. Dercw say to this from
one of the champions Of his class? ITO
assume That any man can feel other than
a suspicious contempt and cold disre-
gard for the comfort or condition of an
employee who he knows is liable at any
critical moment, and at the mere beck
of walking delegate, to So on strike,
would be more than ridiculous. The
simple fact is that the more the laborer
attempts to assert his alleged rights
and independence the more the en-
ployer or the capitalist will assert his
opposition" If these are true statements,
and | rather think they are. then so long
as employer and employe exist as at
present common ground" lies buried
under an ocean of measureless depths.
AS the time for the annual session of
the general assembly draws near the
Knights of Labor are being discussed in
the public prints, and, as usual, these
discussions are full Of errors. have no
wish to consider at any great length this
subject at present, but there is one point
on which the mistaken ones should be
put right. l refer to the numerical
strength of the order, past and present.
and the reasons for the falling off in
membership during the past four years.
1t is a common belief. created by the
rtterances of the newspapers, that the
chief cause of the depreciation has been
strikes, especially strikes which were
lost. think this is mistake, and call