Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1890-09-11
Labor and Capital.

A few days ago a dispatch from
London announced the formation in
that city Of shipping union, with
the avowed object of dealing with
labor questions throughout the
world, land especially to resist the
tyranny Of trades unions, to protect
employees from terrorism and to
generally promote shipping inter-
ests." This union represents a cap
ital of $500, ,OOO,O
On Saturday New York dispatch
said that q number of the richest
corporations in the country, embrac-
ing Westinghouse system, the Yale
Lock Company, the Colt Arms
Company and Others, had formed
an alliance against strikes. The
parties to the compact employ be-
tween $4,000 and $4,000 workers,
and directly support from $50, 600 to
S0O,0OO people. Under the regula-
tions adopted by this alliance all
work is to cease in case OF a strike,
and no factory is to employ any
worker who may have left factory
on a strike, nor Is any associated
factory to seek workers during q
strike from any of the federated
works.
1t is condition which confronts
US, not q theory. In the eye of the
law, whether we speak of natural or
human law, the man who employs
labor is exactly on the same footing
with the man who is hired. He has
the same legal rights and the same
duties, no more and no less, and
whatever the laborer may do for his
protection the employer may do for
his. To put it another form-if
combinations Of wage workers are |
lawful, combinations of wage payers |
are equally lawful. Each is selfish |
and devoted to his own interests,
but one has just as much right to |
exist as the other.
This being sO-and no candid per.
son can deny tit is apparent |
that there must be some
urgent proximate cause for these
unions of capital in the two countries
in which labor is more highly
favored than anywhere else in the
world. The desire of gain will not
account for 1t, since by such com.
binations a portion Of the individual
profit of each member must be sur
rendered for the maintenance OF the
whole, thereby lessening the net
gain Of each. There must be some
strange impelling motive, and it is
clearly to be found In the continued
and increasing aggressiveness Of
labor organizations. Capital finds
that 1t cannot protect itself against
combined labor without adopting
the plan of aggregation and union;
and hence this entirely new phase
Of the question.
When 1t comes to u comparison
of equities, 1t will he found that cap
ital, on the whole, is no more desir-
Gus to oppress labor than labor is to
oppress capital. The man who
hires gets his labor on the best terms
he can; the man who Is hired gets
all he can for his labor; aud that is
the whole question Of labor and cap
itai In q nutshell. The contention Is
and must be never ending one, but
If at any stage Of the controversy one
party arms itself with new aud i'm
proved weapons 1t certainly cannot
blame the other for doing the same
thing.
The practical solution of the prob.
lem IL mutual concession, and, in ex.
treme Cases, arbitration. IL Is be-
lieved that in most cases "A strike
cannot result successfully for the
strikers. A few men may gain an
advantage, but the rank and file will
be losers. Certain II Is that a strike
makes 1t net only necessary but
proper for capital to combine, aud
combinations Of capital must be in
time too strong for combinations of
labor, because they can outlast them.