The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1893-04-04

The wage-earners of the United States
are the people. They are able to do what
ever they will. But organized labor does
not meet the response and support ex-
pected, and sometimes is perplexed to
know why. The reason is that some of
it's methods are based on distrust of the
American sense of justice. 1t demands
and tries to coerce. but the people know
that they cannot be coerced.
1t is hard to bring this fact home to the
full understanding of men who feel that
they have been unjustly treated, and
want to use every weapon within reach
to crush opposition. They forget that
their condition is one which the wage
earners of any other land may envy.
They forget that they have attained po-
sition such as the laboring class never at
tanned in any other country on earth, or
in any other age in the worlds history,
by reason of the general disposition OF
the people as whole to see that labor
should have as liberal compensation as
the progress Of civilized society would
permit. Individuals there are, of course,
whose contempt for labor and laborers is
as keen as it was when it found express
sion in the phrase, Northern mudsills. +"
Employers there are, of course. who are
grasping and deaf to justice. But the
great body of people during the whole
century of the Nations life has been dis
posed to stand by labor, to secure it fair
rewards, to increase its returns and to in
sure it the respect which honest toll de-
serves. 1t is Nation composed of peo-
pie thus fairly inclined that organized la
Dor sets itself too often to coerce.
Men who know human nature know
that this is not shrewd. At the first
symptom of coercion Americans are up
in arms with the same spirit which made
a teapot of Boston Harbor 1t has always
been an easy Nation to persuade, but a
hard one to drive. When man begins
by assuming that Americans will not
grant what he wants except under COM
pulsion, he not only stops the ears of
men to plea for the justice OF his cause.
but he kindles an antagonism which is
hard to resist. Organized labor could ex-
pect tenfold more from the American
sense OF justice than from any coercive
device Yet Mr.. Swinton says that the
strike is the laborer's rife and the boy
colt his bayonet. Then he is poorly
armed. Both are apt to be, and the boy
colts are always. coercive measures. APP
peal to public opinion against unfairness
of employers has sometimes failed, but
not often. Attempts to force what society
W uld not otherwise grant have failed far
more often than they have succeeded.
The strike, if wholly discovered from
efforts to stop others from working by
force or intimidation. is merely an ap-
peal to natural laws of supply and de-
mand. "You must have the work done,"
it says, "can you get anybody else to do
it well on your terms ?" Such a strike
cannot be denounced as illegal, except
in rare instances, where public interests
are unnecessarily sacrificed. But how
many strikes without any force or in
timidation has the country seen in late
years? Labor organizations freely admit.
in form, that they have no right to coerce
or intim idate non-union workers, but the
thing is SO often done that the ordinary
mind understands Mr.. Swinton to mean
and violent compulsion of
men when he speaks of a
strike. The error is not in public appre-
hension. 1t is in the conduct of those
who resort to strikes as remedy.
The boycott is always and necessarily
IN attempt to coerce. 1t threatens thou
sands who have no part in quarrel in
order to make an antagonist suffer. It's
very essence is hostile to American free.
dom. and the disposition 80 often mani
iested to resist the demands of organized
abor is largely due to the fact that boy
,otts and coercive strikes are so often its
York Tribune.