Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1892-09-02
TaELvssON OF HOBEsTEAD.

show you one hundred thousand and
more who have had their wages reduced.
TIE LESSON OF Ho8EsTEAD.
In the Forum for September the Hon.
CHAUNcEY +. BLACK hes lengthy and
most forciSle paper on the subject Of
the present labor troubles in the United
states and the general discomfort among
American woIkingmen. The writer
deals with the subject in detail in his
peculiarly interesting and analytical
style. He draws a strong comparison
between the lights and shadows Of our
national prosperity, between what the
conditions promised and the existing
conditions. Speaking particularly Of
the labor trouble at Homestead, Mr..
BLACK says:
The Missouri strike, the New
York Central strike, even the portentous
riots of 1877, when we narrowly escaped
universal collision between the forces OF
organized society and the aggrleved classes,
AEQ OCN4 4QA kU~AIlAr nAAA ~ w.
calmly along, complacently estimating the
increase of our National wealth, counting
the deposits 10 the banks, pointing TO the
''pOOr Bows" who were becoming million
aires bv the hundreds as the Oest evidence
of our wonderful prosperity, felicltaung
ourselves upon the prospect OF another
good crop and the possibility OF smau
percenta ze Of the mortgages being paid,
whom the red sky above Homestead, IN the
very heart Of this hollow prosperity, where
the tpo0r boys were rolling up, more rap
idly than anywhere else, the millions al
forded them by tariff bOunties, summoned
US to look not merely upon a local scene
of blood ana misery, present and antlcl-
pated. bit 60 90 to the bottom OF our pa
tsrnal industrial system, to consider the
cause Of the man whose brawny hands
were on the machines turning out the
vast product Of which we were so proud,
and 10 determine whether or not he also
was worthy OF the protection Of the law.
HAS the workman" asks Mr.. BLACK,
made this situation at Homestead in
pure wantonness? Has he imperilled
the livelihood Of wife and child for any
light or trivial reason? Had he any
legal recourse for the settlement Of
what he deemed his wrongs?" He adds:
What had be, then, done which put him
bevOnd the pale of law when his request
for reasonable concession in wages was re-
fused; when he was shut out; when he was
told that be must abandon the right OF as
sOciat on, which he held most sacred, and
which alone in all the controversies Of the
past had secured him any consideration,
and must thereby disarm himself OF all
power Of self protection II he would keep
his home and work at that place and IN the
only trade he knew Where was he, with
the thousands like him and In the same
evil case, to turn for legal relief TO what
tribunal was he 10 resort for the adjust
ment OF his rights and the redress OF his
WRONGS Was there any adequate tribunal
provided by the highly civilized state,
which owed him peace and security as
much as it owed them TO the proprietOr5 OF
the fortified mills, to the service Of which
be had adapted his life ana his labor;
Shall the complaints Of men IN his COndl-
ton be met forever only with the police
mans bludgeou or the militiaman's mus
kett
LISA delicate subject which Mr.
BLACK deals with, but ne is not afraid
OF it and goes into it boldly. His arsu-
ment is against the violation Of law by
striking or lockout workingmen, and he
seeks the cause Of it and the remedy.
Speaking of the Carnegie Steel Trust
he says;
Nobody disputes their title 70 this
wealth or their right 70 use IL as they see
fl, within the limits Of the general public
p Il tod hon u hta
greater part Of 10 is but the tribute which
UBIQUITOUS tariff laws have enabled them
70 levy upon the domestic consumption OF
their product. They have, during long
period enjoyed al enormously profitable
monopoly. The State has stood over their
vast Accommodations and their huge opera
tons with all its police power,
anordirg them every possible Sc
curitv. But neither the Union,
which granted them the unconstitutional
bOunties, nor the Commonwealth, which
gives them its peace, has imposed upon
them sny obligation 70 share with their Cr-
skilled laborers or even their operatives
ever so small proportion or tae join,
earnings of the capital ana labor employee
in the business. Accordingly when the
men look out upon these vast establish
ments and note the swelling millions roll
ing into the account Of the propriat0rs
under favor of government, they feel that
they have 8 strong moral right 20 On az
iustmsnt of wages which shall not be die
Jated entirely from the employers side.
And moral right IN the common mind is
very. readily transmitted into legal right.
After going at length into the points
of dispute in the matter OF wages be-
tween the Company and the Aualga-
mated Association, aud the points Of
law involved in the Homestead trouble,
Mr.. BLACK speaks in favor of State
arbitration law. he says:
It is true that some Of the greater en-
ployers. aud among them those mcss highly
''protected,n deny the right Of the pu0hc
20 regulate their business in any wGy what.
ever. They would naturally prefer 70
pursue unmolested the course which has so
enriched them st the common
expense Of Consumers ard w0rhiugmen.
They have cultivated the feudal spirit mn
I'll IL has become the master passion. They
will be naturally reluctant, like the barons
which in many respects they are-to
Weld the privilege OF private warfare.
They VIII, beyond question, prefer the
Pinkertoas and the soldiers 20 the milder
and faircr methods Of the proposed Garbi-