Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-09-06
POPE LEO'S SOLUTION.
Rev. m. N. Sheedy Explains the En-
cyclical on the Labor Problem.
SEVERAL REMEDIES SUGGESTED.
Complaint From California Against Pitts
burg Pickle Men.
MISCELLANEOUS INDUSTRIAL ITEMS

! author of "The Encyclical and American
Iron Workers and Coal Miners published
in the current number of the Catholic World.
Father Sheedy very peculiarly discovers,
early in his paper, as the majority of writers
do, that the labor problem is the 'puzzle of
the age" He says: "It has taxed the best
| minds in two hemispheres and the highest
craftsmanship to find an adequate solution. Z"
Referring to the proposed labor congress
to be held in Chicago during the Worlds
| Fair, the writer predicts that peaceable
and satisfactory solution may be reached of
the grave questions in controversy between
employer and employed, and better in
dustrial system established.
FATHER sHEEDY's WAY OUT OF IT.
"But the clearest light comes to us, says
Father Sheedy, "on this important subject
through the "Encyclical Of Pope XIII. on
the condition of labor Men must be
brought to see that the Papacy is the only
international power in existence possessed
of sufficient authority and strength, stiff
ciently sure of itself, and rich in light and
energy, to attempt the supreme task of
reconciling the contending forces of So
ciety." He adds:
What specially strikes one in studying
this Encyolical is the fatherly tenderness
and sympathy that is displayed by the Pope
He deals with the problems nearest the
hearts Of the common people: the right of
private property in land; the limits of the
States rights in relation to the higher
rights of parentsj the relations Of capital
and labor; the sacred rights of the wage
Garner; differences between employers and
employed; strikes; the proper regulation of
the hours Of labor; and, lastly, worktngme9's
dc ir,u1r nrad han 6afsa nnfa
ties Apart from rates of wages
the causes of these differences are legion.
Trouble may arise concerning the basis OF
mputing wages; the method, time, or fire.
Quency of payment; the store system; hours
of labor; the holidays and weekly half holi-
day. apprenticeship; administration and
methods of work, such as shop rules, labor
'workmen; trades unions and their rules, and
a thousand and one cIuses that we daily
hear Of Notwithstanding their number,
however, 1t will be found that all causes of
difference readily group themselves into
three general classes:
First-Differences as to future contracts.
Second-Disagreements as to existing con-
Third-Disputes on some matter of senti-
ment.
HOW DIsAGREEMENTs ARISE.
In the first division would be classified diff
ferences as to future rates of wages, and
those arising from attempts to change or abb
rogate existing agreements, customs, or
methods, or to introduce new ones. Disa-
greements under the second class arise
either upon matters Of fact or construction,
having in view existing agreements, GUS
toms, or methods, and not necessarily in
selves, nor any change in their terms. Un-
der the third head are included those quar-
rels that grow out of the offended amour
saseion. uRoU e-'ef u '''' 0'iuuA' 0f 'ne 0sAn
Let US take, for instance, the iron and
steel business, the glass trade, or the coke
shall see at once how easy 1t is for difficult
ties to arise. The competition of trade, high
or low tariff, the facilities and cheapness Of
transportation, the methods of production,
and other conditions imply tho necessity for
frequent revision of agreements as to rates
Of wages. Here in Pittsburg the Amalgam-
ated Association of Iron and Steel
to determine the scale or rate OF wages for
the ensuing year. When the scale is agreed
upon by the workers it is then submitted to
found they are eventually adjusted by con-
ferences Of both parties. This arrangement
has worked successfully for years, there
being only one notable instance, nine years
ter and prolonged fight. The miners, coke
and glassworkers, have much more trouble
in settling the question of wages. With them
strikes and lockouts are much more frequent,
and are attended, as in the case OF the terri
BILE strike recently in the Pennsylvania coke
region, where many lives were sacrificed
and valuable property destroyed, with pain
full and disasterous results"
WAGES OF LOCAL MINERS.
Father Sheedy takes up the wages of the
miners in Western Pennsylvania where, he
says that in Allegheny county, the sum of
IS, ,497, 1893 was paid last year to 9, 1856 miners,
or an annual average wage to each miner Of
1n1 ~, flao fona Iry y Grya
persons, it allows each S75 or 81 80 week.
'Ot course, reasonable and frugal comfort |
of which Pope Leo XIII. speaks as due to
the laborer, is out of the ques-
ton on such compensation as this"
says Father Sheedy. The writer |
proceeds to condemn in vigorous terms the |
''pluck-me" store SYSTEM. he urges the |
formation of working mems associations or |
societies to be fashioned after the Catholic |
guilds, and he believes in the fullest free |
dom of industrial workers to organize for
mutual protection and support. In the
spirit of the encyclical, he insists upon ar |
bitration as q means of settling disputes. |
He says:
By this means strikes are averted, and it |
would be well If this plan for oradjusting labor |
differences were more generally adopted in
States. AS long as the present wage-system |
exists it is the simplest and most effective |
mode OF settling labor disputes; and should |
and conference fail recourse |
ought to be had to arbitration. Better, too,
to arbitrate in the beginning than at late |
stage of a prolonged strike or lockout
Strikes are no sufficient remedy for a labor
grievance. They are rather II means, and |
oftentimes if not in all instances, drastic |
means of directing attention to q grievance
In the great maj jority of strikes the strikers |
lose. They are either starved into submis-
sion, or provoked by the capitalist into
deeds of violence and unlawful conduct; |
then the state steps in and helps TO end the |
strike. They are relic of barbarism.
FRIEND OF THE LABoRER.
Father Sheedy closes his paper as fol-
lows:
The enoyclical casts a strong white light
on all these points that are now raised In |
the industrial world. 1t Is message of
peace and goodwill to all men. It lays
down the eternal principles of right and
justice for the guidance Of rich and poor,
class against class. 1t rather points out the
line of duty for each to follow, while it aims
to establish and strengthen right relations
between labor and capital. It is a reassur-
ance, II there be need of it, that the Church
over; and a declaration that 1t is part of her
divine mission to teach justice aud charity
to all men.
PRESIDENT BARNES OPINION
OF the Now Builders Exchange and It's