Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-10-17

THE MORALS OF STRIKES
|
Rev. j. Berry's Paper on the Labor Oues-
ton.
Rev. j. Berry Of the Australasian Methodist
church read paper before the conference yes
| terday on "The Moral Aspects of Labor Com
binations and Strikes" which attracted much
| attention. As our fathers were SO generally
mistaken about the moral tendency of the
| Chartest movement. he said we may be mis-
taken about the labor movement now. Eyes,"
| he went on, ''this question must be faced and
mastered. The position Of Methodism in the
twentieth century will depend very largely
, upon her attitude toward the labor movement
| in the last decade of the nineteenth. We lost
great opportunity half century ago
because we did not adopt and lead the great
| temperance movement, and l often fear that
| we are In danger of repeating this folly now
| that another great opportunity lies at cur door.
The church exists for the people. not the people
| for the church. Among our constituency OF
80. 600 there are multitudes of workngin
| and their children. They are defined as the
army of the diseontented. This discomfort
rests upon the belief that they are the victims
| OF social and economic injustice. Are they
mistaken? TEen il is our duty TO tell them so
and, If We can, to bring them to Il better mind.
| Have they good reason for this discomfort?
| Then We ought to espOuse their cause and to
smite their oprressors, even though these op-
pressors be our richest pewhoiGers ami cur
| largest contributors.
I'm considering the morality Of strike there
are two questions at least which must he an
! swered:
Il. Is the cause sufficient?
Y. Is the method justifable?
THE CAUSE.
"As to the cause. the speaker said, there is
abundance of faachipu in, fba Oh, 81,
duty OF meekness, forbearance. forgiveness and
long suffering that seems to forbid strike
and even to discountenapce the organi-
cation which makes strike possible
Yet these very texts used to be quoted
| in support OF slavery. They supplied am-
| Bad as war is, cowardly conniv-
! ance Mt wrong may be still worse Are
| strikes necessary and always wrong? l point
for answer TO one of the most recent and no.
torious OF these, the dock strike. Oh, there was
cruel and shameful wrong in connection with
that strike-it was that in the heart of Christian
England men should have found it impossible
| In any other way to wiring more than cents
an hour for hborious and intermittent and IN
certain work from the selfish grasp of capital
The time will come, as Mr.. Arnold White puts
it, when the hon Of capital and the lamb OF
labor will lie down together but Holy Scrip.
| ture does not mean that the lamb shall be in
side the lion 1t is necessary for labor to Or
fights and is generally the stronger OF the two
| He referred to the improvements made in the
condition Of labor during the last fifty years
but said we had not yet reached the point
where the working CLASSES have economic JUS
| tice.
PROFIT sHAaINa.
There can" he said "be no peace between
the employer and employed until the principle
OF profit sharing is recognized as the equitable
settlement OF the wages question and adopted
wherever practicable. There are difficulties
OF detail, know, in the way Of its adoption.
but such difficulties have wonderful way Of
| making themselves scarce when we really want
| to do thing. The greatest difficulty know
| IL the fixed idea in many employers minds
which finds expression in such phrases as my
business. my shop No, my brother, ii YOU
are Christian your business is Gods. You
manage 1t FOR him and you must take care not
| to steal any part of the wages the work people
| have earned and that God means them to have.
The husbandman that laboreth must be frs,
partaker Of the truits-partaker OF the ruits and
| first partaker. Tom Mann or Ben TiI.et did not
| put that into the New Testament and no ty-
rannical capitalists, thank God can put it out.
Your own Mr. Piilsbury has set good example
| III profit sharing. and has given the clear.st
| testimony that IN the Washburn Company's
nour mills the plan answers perfectly. Our
| system, he says, not only makes our men more
happy and contented. but results in more and
| better work, to such an extent that the amount
distributed to the men probably costs us moth
| ing at all. We have been able to run with
no small percentage OF other mills have gone
| to the WALL Iquote Mr.. Pilisbury because he
| leads Ill the right direction, but not rs . COM
piete example Of equity.
WHAT THE Discomfort MEANS
THE discomfort Of the working classes" said
the speaker. lis not to me withered leaf wit
Messing that our civilization IL in the autumn
and thas winter is near; 1t 10 rather snowdrop,
sweet harbinger Of summer. A great historian
has observed: When people are overwhelmed
with misery they are resigned and dumb.
heads and look above them, that they
are impclled to instruction In the
| franchise the workingman has secured political
Justice; the free. school gives his child educa-
Justice. Whatever may be the attitude Of others
| toward the new unionism, there ought to be no
doubt as to the sioe which Methodists will take.
lhe demands OF unionism when just are only
the application OF the doctrine VI Armenian
ism to the affairs OF this lite. instead Of rele-
eating them to the life to come"
THE METHODS.
| The speaker admitted that the methods en-
ployed by labor combinations were not always
such as the church can encourage and bless
The boycott. he said, was q mean and often
| immoral weapon. but" he said ..as working
men are becoming better trained and organ
ized their methods OF warfare are becon,ing
less objectionable. They want TO do the right
thing. The pity Is that they are so often ILL.,
advised and isd Few things shout the work
Ing man are so pathetic ~ his loyalty to his
leaders. have seen Thorn throw down their
tools and so ON strike 1T tho word OF command,
when they knew that some one had blundersd
and that defeat and humiliation and possibly
| semi-starvation awaited them, but they would
not harbor for . moment the thought Of dis
loyalty to theft leaders, The crimes and blum
ders OF trades unions are due, not to their con-
stitution or purposes, but TO the designing and
Erasped the reins Of powsr. ~. Pa Tiis"t
appeals 70 the church aud Gays: You cay wsi