New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-08-20
THE BRUSSELS CONGRESS.

The workingman may well pray to be saved
from his friends. Nothing could much more
discredit the cause of organized labor than inc
present proceedings at Brussels 1t was
omnorls, to begin with, that what was orlg-
naly intended TO be congress Of induStllai
unions should have been captured by extremists
and converted into congress of Socialists anu
political aeitatOrs; so that political intrigue
rather than industrial economy was mace inc
dominant topic for consideration. BIT having
sounded this keynote, the congress seems 10 Dc
straining every nerve to keep all its utteranceS
up to the pitch. What should be serious
delberative body, that might result in tanSioic
good to the industrial world, bids fair'to become
a mob as wild and as impractical as those OF inc
Haymarket and Trafalgar Square.
Note, for example, the rawlings on IueSu,S
of one Of the delegates from this country VINO
is so much esteemed by the congress that ne
was made its presiding officer for the day,
He is reported to have said that &" in the United
States $4,000, 10000 we're anpually stoleh
from the hands Of those who produced theln'
By what extraordinary reckoning ne arrived ao
such a conclusion we cannot imagine. Usually
it is considered charitable to regard man as
sincere, though mistaken, in making state
ment that is obviously far from the trulh' Dun
in this case it is more complimentary to him
70 think him a deliberate falSifier. Most men
would rather be liars than such fools as to be-
lieve that sum is annually stolen from Alheil-
can wolkingmen Amounting to conSldefaoiy
more than the value of all property OF all xmas
in all the c0untry-that seventy bllllohS are
stolen where there are only siXty-sX billions
all told to steal! And yet this wlld-worded
agitator poses as a representative OF American
industry, and his rantings were applauded to
the echo. 1t is not surprising to learn that
after such conspicuous disregard for truth he
displayed an equal disregard for decency Oy
saving of this country that misery increases
50 fast that the i land OF the free and the nome
of the brave is in reality hell" lie Is, we
believe, an adopted citizen, who came here VOL
unfairly to better his condition, and who has
so much bettered his condition that he not only
remains here voluntarily, but probably could
not be persuaded to make his home elsewhere.
1t is strange that he should have such a fond
ness for a "hell,r and that hundreds OF thou
sands Of his former compatrotS should every
year migrate to the same hell"
Such men as Mr.. Sanial do not, of course,
actually represent the workingmen OF America
any more than the "calamity wailerS' OF the
Farmers Alliance represent the farmers OF
America. Yet they put themselves forward as
such representatives, and by their rabid words
and works arouse distrust and animosity where
only confidence and friendship should prevail
1t is not by faisehoOd and abuse that reasoning
men are to be influenced, nor is any good cause
to be advanced by such means. The real work
nemen of the world can do themselves no
better service than to repudate, openly and
emphatically, this Brussels Congress and all It's
doings. They cannot afford, even by their
silence, to acknowledge the leadership OF such
a body.