The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-12-05
THE STRIKE COMMISSION.

lutlllctlNtS anu LilE blLllEldiiloAS.
THE STRIKE COMMISSION.
Harper's Weekly is very much incensed
over the report of the Pullman strike com
mission, which 1t condemns as a revolu-
tionary document in the deductions made
from the evidence, and the remedies sug-
gested. In a sense this charge is true, but
it does not necessarily follow that the re-
port is to be condemned. The Weekly
says:
The most momentous stage in every
revolution is that which takes pace Silent
" in the popular mind and Of which al
that fO..ows in upturning Institutions and
reconstituting sociehy is but the necessary
sequence and expression. If the mass Of
our citizens think as these commissioners
think, this first chief stage in a socialstic
revolution Is already far advanced, and the
transformation of our nineteenth century
civilization into something widely different
and as yet wholly unimaglned, is a process
which cannot long be delayed.
Every student of history and OF eco
nomics viii concede the truth of this, and
he will also admit that it is the very best
way in which a revolution can come. The
only exception that will be taken is to the
statement that following the suggestions
would produce a condition wholly IN
imagined" This is an absurdity. The
commission suggests government owner
ship as worthy of consideration. This is
not a thing wholly unimagined," for il is
in actual existence in several of the civil
lied nations. 1t suggests arbitration. This
is not wholly unimagined," for it is in
existence in several foreign countries, and
in some states of this country. And New
Zealand. which is one Of the most ad-
vanced countries on the globe. viii soon
have compulsory arbitration, which goes
beyond the commissions recommendations.
But unquestionably there is a momentous
change Of mind in progress in this coun-
try. and it is in progress simply because
the people are paying some attention to the
.abor question. This country is, in fact,
nations in its labor legislation, and it is
certain to make advances now that the
attention of the nation has been forcibly
called to the necessity for advance.
But while the recognition of the move
ment by the Weekly is not strong. the ar
guments it uses in crlticising this mani
festation of it are weaker. For example,
it says:
one or two examples Of their method of
reasoning will suffice. The report shows
clearly that for about eight months prior
to May /, 1894, the Putnam company had
building cars which cost them, for ma
tera.s ard labor at the yards, $52,069 more
than they received for them. or 1866 per
cent. That is - say, for the sake of keep
Ing its hands employed, it paid them every
dollar their labor added TO the value Of
the material used. and $4,000 besides.
At the scale of wages in use up
to June, 1893 the company would have
paid during the eight months in question
100000 more than it actually paid. What
is the conclusion? Simply that the COM
pany .ost $4,000. but that its men .ost
S60 600, an unfair division Of the loss.
These practical economists deliberately
suggest that the company ought to have
borne "three-quarters of the loss,' instead
Of less than a half; it ought to have paid
wages to the amount of $32, 900 more, and
reduced the "loss'' of it's workmen to $685.
for having given its laborers a pure gratu-
ity Of $50, 600, at a time when its entire
capital was earning nothing, because it did
not give them $4,000.
This is ludlcrous. The company lost
$4,000 not from cost, but from previous
prices, and it lost this $4,000 to whom?
To the purchasers of the cars. The men
lost 100000 to whom? To the company.
Every cent of wage reduction was so much
direct gain to the company. 1t ,ost $50, 900
and gained 100000 by the transaction. 1t
made $4,000 more than it would have made
in the ordinary course of business without
either reductions of prices or wages. 1t
made $4,000 more than it had been making
on the same work in the most prosperous
times. And then it boosted Of its philan-
thropic spirit in reducing prices to keep its
men at work, and the Weekly is evidently
one of the victims of it's false pretense.
The commission does not condemn the
company for not giving the men $S4, 600.
to the amount of $4,000. or one-quarter of
the $4,000 reduction in prices, would have
been more just than the reduction made.
And in view of the high plane of phian-
thropy on which the company pretended
to stand, the commission is clearly right.
The action of the tin-plate manufacturers
in employing non-union men at Demmler
and Pittsburg is simply an evasion Of
contract. A written agreement as to the