The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1894-08-02

Those who today fdE selfish purposes,
and Invested Of patriotism, see fit to decry
the, course of our government during the
last quarter of q century, overlook the fact
that the very goodness of our institutions
are tea large extent chargeable with our
present ills. America has been until
within the last year, as compared with
other countries, the hborer's paradise.
Labor, attracted by better wages, better
living and better homes than elsewhere,
has fiocked to our shores in great num-
bers, and we are today more embarrassed
by this overplus of labor than from almost
any other single cause. We have alb
sorbed much but there is limit to the
digestion even of giant. Could the labor
that has come to our shores within the
last 10 years again find work abroad.
the labor problem would be much
simplified and be much easier of
solution. Granting, what is far from GER
tain, that strikes may maintain or increase
wages, it is quite evident that they do not
tend to enlarge the field of labor increase
the demand for it. Capital may build
railroads, engineers and fremen,
conductors and brakemen may stand
ready to operate them, and yet there will
be nothing to- do, nothing to earn, unless
there are farmers and producers to furnish
the traffic. 1t is q parase of the sea, that
freight is the mother of wages" and so
from the standpoint of the railroads,
freight may be said to be not only the
mother of wages, but also the mother of
dividends" It isn't the saloonkeeper
that pays for the licenses, it is the poor
fellow that takes the drink. And so it
isn't the capital in the road that pays the
wages, it is the farmer who furnishes the
traffic, and he is always pressing, always
cOntending for lower rates. AS an umpire
and arbitrator for such contention, the
state has provided q board of railroad
commissioners to settle and adjust all diff
ferences. The farmers don't strike. As
law abiding citizens they turn to this tri-
bunal or to the courts for relief. On the
other hand, labor contends with capital
for good or better wages. There may be
much Justice in the claim, but to settle it
by strikes or boycotts is too often exhaust
i've and ruinous and demoralizing in the
extreme. Is it not nobler, better and
safer to adjust the contention between Ia
Dor and capital, as between capital and
producer by means of arbitration, through
the board of railroad commissioners or
through some other board or tribunal of
arbitration? The producer is entitled to
reasonable rates, capital to moderate divi-
dends and labor to fair wages. And
whenever disputes arise between these
different interests, such disputes should be
adjusted, not by strikes and boycotts, but
through arbitration or Cancellation, in
some qualified, fair and entirely disinter-
ested board or tribunal, to be established
for that purpose. In these times OF
trouble and distress, we need most of all
confidence in each other, and forbearance
witt, each other, and above all, we must
strive to uphold the integrity of our coun-
try and its well being, for ourselves, and
our posterity, at all hazards. If patriotism
and love of country prevails, the republic
| will ride triumphant .n1ua Oh the Storm.