The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1892-09-03
it is such a tickl

wright 10 nanule.
The strike is quite IA modern affair.
IL the olden time the workmen were
actually or virtually slaves. a strike
was IN instruction, and i~nsrrrcction
meant death certainly and torture prob
Ebly. Nevertheless, though they had no
strikes. they got up some very respecta-
bic limitations, as for instance that Of
Spartacus.
With Il motley army OF gladiators and
slaves he held the Romans at bay for
TWO years, defeated four consular armies
and only failed Of final success because
OF h lntractablc nature of his troops.
Tho French revolution first took active
form III IL strike. When the workmen
IN paper manufactures in Paris struck,
early ii 1883, a wealthy capitalist told
them they could live as we'll as they de-
; served Uu fifteen cents q day. There
upon they mohbed his works ard burned
them, and tine example was contagious.
Labor movcmehts IL England are usll-
ally dated from Wat Tylcr'S rebellion.
The movements Of Jack Straw. John
Ball and Jack Cadc are also counted
NV llotiDltN, bltlllR dill me sLtS Oh
~despotism it was the custom to send
such agitatCrs and conspirators rs were
not executed TO labor IL the mines. and
tugitives often ven there for conceal
ment. They continued their planning
ana plotting under ground, and the re-
suit was that the Miners were first and
most thoroughly organized Of all la
horers.
Thus did Ctustavus Sasa organize the
miners Of Sweden who helped restore
him to mower. In England the miners
Of Cornwall were so early and so thor
Oughly organized that q Cornish mob
was long n national terror. Ii is be-
lievcd that some of these organizations
centuries old continued with only a
change of name till thcy became the
Alollie Maguires Of Pennsylvania. In
1850 the British parliament passed the
famous statute of laborers"-the first
Of II long series Of acts to prevent q rise
IN wages.
After the great plague, ali old con
tracts being ut an end and lands calling
for cultivators. the wages Of men rose 30
lNl III Nv tiIpNt VI NpfIIfH wv tltI
cent. III a few years. Then a LONE and
in the end terrible struggle began. The
first rage of laborcrS seems to have been
directed against machinery, and the first
sawmill set up in England was torn
Town by the whip sawyers. This move
ment against machines Went to such
lengths after the Napoleonic wars that
If ntDn1tnfnl t, tnl,.1lta,, ,n,i Nn nln
'i.uddites' were III ranks mt one time.
a half witted lad named Judd. whu
had been leased by some boys, pursued
them into a shop, where they took refuge
behind ii lace mill. In his rage he broke
the machine 10 pieces, so the proprietor.
IN order to till his contracts, had to re-
employ the ONE who had been dis
placed by the new invention. There
upon the other women of the lace dis
trict gathered i'll mobs and smashed the
rest Of the lace mills. the men followed
it up OH all machinery wnich had dis
placed their labor. and the once famous
"Luddite war was begun. One fact
must be acknowledgement the advance
!aborers have secured has been the re-
suit of their combining and resisting.
It is humiliating, but it is II fact.
In 1884 the great strike of the London
tailors occurred, but they We're beaten.
The next strike, in the StatfOrdshire pot
teries. was won by the men after IA des-
perate struggle. The great Preston
strike of 1913 attracted the attention of
the world. F%orty-nine cotton and other
mills We're closed. and before the strike
ended l4,012 paupers were added to the
liSf INC Mnn Mnrn lnInnlnl