, 1891-06-09
Especial Corrspondenoe.l

Who Set Worker Against Worker-But
There Is a New Light In the Heavens.
Especial Correspondenoe.l
One of the questions mp for debate re-
lates to the Inauguration of a policy in
the United States which shall establish
on a permanent basis amicable relations
between employers and employees
These relations, as a general PROPOSE
ton, to use a common phrase. ars
''strained"-that is TO say, instead Of
mutual confidence there exists mutual
suspicion, the result being Widespread
unrest. forebodiugs OF evil too often
realized in industrial affairs
Annually a certain amount Of surplus
wealth is created. Statisticians present
the figures, and demonstrate tina this
added wealth mounts up to billions
sums 50 vast as to bewilder the mind.
The automatic truth Is stated that la
Dor, and labor alone. creates this wealth.
In looking abroad-in taking a wide
survey Of the situation and Of conditions
the conclusion is arrived at that in the
distribution Of this surplus wealth labor
has never been justly treated
WHERE THE LINE Is DRAWN.
Il is just here that the controversy be
gins, and the longer it is continued the
more sharply defined become the lines
that separate those engaged in the dis
cussion.
Usually. on the side of tho capitalists.
there is great impotence with those who
seek 10 demonstrate that labor does not
receive its Just share Of the wealth 1t Gre
ates, and, refusing 70 call TO their aid ar
gumeuts based upon facts demonstrated
by figures, they At once begin TO pile cpl
thets upon those who advocate the rights
Of labor. They prefer defamation to
logic, and their policy in the past has
been 10 them fruitful OF success.
OF late years, however. tho tactics OF
capitalists have not been exempt from
intelligent and caustic criticism. which
has yielded reformat0ry influences ex-
tending far beyond the boundaries Of
labor, and have entered the domain Of
economics, political economy, states
manship and politics Everywhere, on
all sides, there is 10 be seen a mighty
mastering OF the mind forces Of the
country, the purpose being to find a so
luton OF what Is called the labor prob
lem"-such an adjustment Of equities re
lAtinE to the distribution Of the wealth
MAAIn AhboA AAthAta hA Will EAtllAlN JUST
demands
This new departure has been brought
about by the organization Of working
meu-not only the organization Of num-
bers, physical force. but moral and n
tellectual force; aud the amount OF this
force, its discipline and power, has
amazed the country and alarmed CAPT
talists.
Il - kaVI - -4-.F.. - -. F.
anarchists, socialists, communists, what
ever such terms are supposed to mean,
hat something must be done to greatly
modify present conditions if the country
is to have industrial peace, based upon
justice.
ARMED PEACE"
As things exist now, industrial peace
is. to use an European term, armed
peace" Where a semblance Of peace is
found it is patchwork. a combination Of
fear and force, strategy on one side and
starvation on the other. The industrial
class Is hungry. the employer class is
venal, a condition fruitful of enmities
which, steadily deepening into hatred,
must inevitably be productive of results
which cannot be thought Of with the
least degree OF composure.
In tho discussions OF the a~ntagonisms
found in industrial circles, the central,
the pivotal point upon which every ar
gument turns, radiates and conyerges
is hat the producers of wealth are cease-
lessly impoverished, while the capital.
istic class is as steadily growing richer.
On the one hand, the most conservative
writers, the ~profouudest thinkers, to
whom the pages Of the best publications
Of the period are open, present the facts
n support them by arguments so CO.
gent that the public no longer h~esitates
to render the verdict that complaints Of
producers are just, and that remedies
must be sought and applied If the wide
spread unrest is to be abated
II FARMERS ARR IN IT.
The farmers Of the country feed ALL"
not onl the home population, but the
surplus product of the farms Of America
is the principal item Of our foreign com
merce. These farmers declare the rates
Of transportation 50 high that, as a gen
eral proposition, the profits of farming
are swept away, and worse still, that
their capital, their investments in farms
and their equipment, is steadily absorbed
until bankruptcy and ruin stare them in
the face. This grievance, II is shown by
state and national statistics, is not
trumped up, is not q vaRary, but n grim
fact, and the farmers are organizing for
the purpose Of finding a remedy. Moth
ing within the entire realm Of prudence
could be more natural.
These farmers start out upon the prop
osition that railroad rates OF t~ransporta-
ton are to them ~ruinously exorbitant.
They show the fgures, and demonstrate
that their products, their investments
and toll bring no profits, but, on the CON
traTy, plunge them further and still fur
ther into debt. They say-and they dem
Onstrate the truth Of their de~claratious-
that the rates Of transportation are too
high, needlessly eHorbitaut. because rail
road corporations, not content with col
lecting revenues based upon actual in
vestments, double such investments by
the addition Of water, and thus compel
the farmers to bear a double burden.
That the farmers tell the truth in this
arraignInent is no longer debatable.
The proof Is overwhelming: it is no
longer e~ategoHcally denied.
The farmers say: we have tried all
the great political parties. but they have
turned a deaf ear to our complaints, to
our entreaties and TO the facts We will
no longer trust them Hence. the Farm