New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-10-22
A STRIKE IN FRANCE.
SOME PROBLEMS RAISED BY coNTEM-
poRARY SOCIALISM.
Paris. October Z.

~,.,. brings forward. in their acutest form,
s..r,v all the problems raised ty contemporary
socialism What is more. II is here plain TO see
49, those problems urg.ntly demand a solution
in the near Iu'ure'
rho mining REGION of the Pas-de- Calais to be-
,r with is complete example Of nineteenth
,,urv speculation based concentration or
..r,taI In the hands of giant companies able 10
.,,,l themselves Of the perfected means OF trans
ortation and machinery brought In by the use
=. stean power. The speculation has been sue
ce.sful and the leaders Of the strike do not 1aii
~ nubl,sh the details. The Company of Lens
NAV be taken as an example. II Is the MEMBER
:, The new Chamber of Deputies from Lens NJ
ns,y, who has put himself at the head Of the
rssent agitation rs president of the syndicate
Or union OF the miners Of the Pas-de-Caais. Ten
,oars ago he was himself a miner, fnc IN 1894
10 was largely responsible fer the unsuccessful
s,rike in the neighboring mines Of Anzin' with
all its attendant bitterness and misery lie was
,fer,yard a saloon keeper, and So BY the opera
,ion Of n natural law not unknown In America
worked his way up to political eminence
The Company Of Lens was FOUNDED III lo'o'
with a nominal capital of 3oOoooo rincs heiu IN
shares OF 1000 francs each. These shares were
actually paid in only 800 francs apiece the prof.
its from the first being sufficient 10 carry Oh 'he
work. At the end of last year the snare was
ouoted at $4,000 francs. and the last oiVioeho
was 900 francs per year. In these thirty-seVeh
years therefore. concludes the report of the
NJ ners' Syndicate the increase OF Vaiue per
share has been 27.7oo FRANCISCAN average Of $50
francs ($150) a year--over and above the ui'i-
dends received. This may we'll dazzle the minds
Of those who contemplate only the seV oiisii"''
paid for the share.
The company of the mines Of Lens. on It's side,
b,ames the signers Of the report for presenting
thus crudely to the workingmen staustcs "hich
10 say the least are far from being complete
II declares that II has devoted nearly oo'ooV'VoV
francs to the establishment OF its pits, railways
and the like and to schools and worKingmeh
houses as we'll as to the necessary material ana
machinery Now the 100000 francs which IL
pays yearly to the stockholders Is only per cent
on this 'immobilized capital" while the annual
wages paid 10 miners and to other workinsmeh
On materials and transportation amount TO fun
Is 900 900 francs per year. III Is CURIOUS ~ ho'e
that the company should feel obliged to make
q statement Of this kind under pressure from
the Miners Union. 1t is a significant comment
ary on the terms Of equality on which organized
capital in France is now obliged &c treat Win
organized labor.
The Company presents It's conclusion with
some feeling Has the union the pretension 10
reproach the company with knowing how TO give
value to the mineral riches which II mas as
covered under the barren plains OF Lens WIFI
contributing largely to the enriching OF couh-
try once so poor, with giving to It's industr! SO
greet development that to-day II supports
A. 900 inhabitants and pays s.4OO workmen wages
which have a general average dor pit ana sur
face workers. big and little together That mas
risen IN 1892 and 1893 TO 4 francs IS centmes
do a nd
age does not comprise the side advantages Of
lodgings at reduced prices. of free heating of
pensions for the invaded, aid for the families
of those In the army reserve etc. ETC.
All this gees to show that there Is much to be
said on both sides The risks Of the speculation
have surely to be taken into account or the
twenty-one companies which have engaged IN
working the coal basin of the Pas-de-Calais
nine have already been put in the hands OF re-
c.ivers after swallowing up more than SooOoooo
francs in establishing Themselves and exploring
the ground. In all France. in the year 1sSs, Ia
mines were worked at i loss 20 165 that brought
some profit TO the companies. In Belgium, IN the
same year out of 2G0 concessions made by the
Sttte only 1873 mines were actually worked and
of these forty-two were worked at loss. IT
must also be remembered that only this concen-
tration of capital and of the means of rroduc-
ton with all its attendant risks. makes IL pos
sitle to supply constant work and to secure
fairly assured livelihood TO the workers
In feet the present strike does not profess to
be based on any harsh and intolerabe cohdl-
tiors of the miners life. Its demand IL not FOR
compassion but for a certain strict equity in the
relations between the employers and the en-
plcvcd This is precisely the weakness or tn
strike and 1t gauges we'll the effect which purely
socialistic demands produce on the average in
eh..,c M ~ "a
snon-pure Socialism that can thus lead the
unions. which now all but rule labor, TO throw
A. 600 miners out Of work indefinitely. Here is
q. nopulat ton we'll fed. well housed. we'll paid
and vel, provid,d for the future, which sudden
l., AT the bidding of few political agitators
talking Of equality Of human conditions, lays
aside work. condemns itself to the evils OF mac
ton 10 the loss of past savings and future pros
pects-and for what? To- secure theoretically
lust ratio between the profits Of capital and the
wages Of labor
This is not all Socialism is a system Of gov
ernmen. that would have society. as organized
into State regulate all the relations OF private
property among individuals. Cntil recen ~ such
Socialism was in France the watchword OF
some revolution Ike the Commune Of 1871 rather
than the programme OF strong "oh-oisa'">e'
and constantly increasing party in the governing
body of the nation But in the new Chainper
of Deputies fcrty-ninc merlbcfs nave been
elected outright as Radical Socialists wnie 'he
100 and more plain Radicals ar. ready 10 JON
with them in making the disputes between cap
it:,l and labor a matter Of government lh'erier-
eyce And this is but one sign among many oil
the slow but steady and spontaneous CROWN OF
tho French Republic into Socialist state
II scarcely needs to be said that Tor the pres
ent the due proportion OF wages 10 Pio"'S IL W
be determined by the miners own uhiohs' anu
not. as in the past. by the mining co'',P"'"''
under pressure of mutual competition ana TABOR
agitation. nor even. as seems likely 10 DE the
case In the future by compulsory state arbitra-
lion The formal demand of the miners UNION
in ordering the strike at Lens. is that the com