Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1894-07-20
THE GREAT STRIKE.

4Ah OAHhA DLA1hDs
A calm study of the recent great strike
and its lessons reveal q condition full Of
danger, and yet not without the hope that
we have seen the worst of the 30 called con
hict between capital and labor. An up
heaval 80 intense at the central point and &C.
companied by ominous rumblings through
out the land, ought TO lead TO careful con-
sideration by all persons who are interested
in industrial development, and 70 the appli-
cation of preventive remedies In the future.
The subject is too large TO be exhaustively
treated in brief article, but few OF It's
salient features deserve notice because they
affect the entire people Of the country.
ills not necessary to discuss at this time the
right and justice of the strike Of the employees
of the Pullman company. The scope Of the
movement has passed beyond that quarrel,
which was In fact but the match which fired
train underlying our entire industrial sys.
tenn. Assuming that the Pullman workmen
had Just cause, it does not follow that they
had right to ask others, who had no cause
of complaint against their employers, to
close workshops, to blockade commerce,
and to incommode whole people. This,
In nutshell, is what the Pullman workers
did. Had the suffering and Inconvenience
extended only to the Pullman company and
It's employees the matter would not have
been 80 bad, though it would still have been
foolish. But the suffering and inconVeni.
ence OF the countless thousands Of the In
nocent were precisely what the sympathetic
strike was intended to create, in the hope
that through an outraged public sentiment
the offending company would be compelled
to give way. And this was the sin oil the
movement But it went beyond the mere
demand for sympathy. 1t demanded that
the railroads should break their contracts
with the Pullman company, entered into at
time when there was peace between that
company and its employees, and because they
would not do 80 and subject themselves to
the consequences of deliberate violation of
these contracts-to say nothing Of their OBJ
legations to the travelling public-force was
used 70 compel the acceptance oil an I'M
reasonable demand
The moment the strike assumed this atti'
tude il was doomed TO failure. The vindi-
cation of law then became the first duty of
all public officers, as 1t was the first wish OF
all good citizens. The voice of argument
and reason was drowned by the note OF de-
fiance on the one side and the stern COM
mand for peace on the other.
The danger lay in the possibility that labor
was 80 completely organized as to be able at
any moment to combine for the enforcement
of any demands which might be made by
the employees in particular trade, whether
reasonable or otherwise. The principle OF
sympathetic strikes once established by the
success of this attempt, 1t would be In the
power of a'lew discontinued, aggressive men,
at any time, to bring untold loss upon the
community and enforced idleness upon
thousands of working men who had no in
terest in the quarrel. That danger has been
happily averted by the quick and deter
mined expression of public opinion 10 its
censure OF the strike and its commentator
of the Presidents action. 1t is not proba-
BILE that similar attempt will be made-at
least for many years to come.
But while thus much must be said 10 con
domination of the strike and It's leaders, it is
undeniably true that the widespread die
content in labor circles has more than a
fancied and ephemeral cause for its exist
ence. The rapid and startling multiplied
ton Of corporations, and in some industries
their combination in trusts, have created
organization Of labor in self.defense. No
sensible, fair minded man condemns the
trades. unions rs such. In many of their con-
tentions they have had justice on their side,
and they have secured concessions which
have contributed largely to the amelioration
of the workingmen's condition. AS means
of presenting the laborer's claim, they are
above all praise. The sober sense Of the
people of all classes approves them. 1t is
only when they go beyond the bounds of
reason and strive to obtain their object by
force, that they find themselves confronted
by u united public sentiment demanding
progress in the peaceful channels OF law.
The magnitude of the strike, the wide
range of its purpose, and the character OF
the forces arrayed to combat IL, all combine
TO force the industrial condition of the coun-
try upon the attention of the people and Of
legislatures and executives everywhere. The
machinery tor the full, impartial considera
ton of labor troubles must be provided.
The compulsory arbitration of differences
between employers and employees is out Of the
question, perhaps; but the impartial iuvesti
CATION of their causes Is not beyond the
range of governmental power, and report o
such investigation would form public opin
ion which would go long way towards
compelling the party in the wrong to yield
IL would, we believe, be influential also IL
diminishing class legislation, and in elimi
mating the mere agitater from the trade
unions and the mere demagogue from poll
tics. Nor is 1t improbable that, from thes'
recent stern experiences, both labor ant
capital will be driven to consider NOR,
earnestly their obligations TO the communi
ty. The mercantile spirit which possesse
our people has tended to give us marrow
and one.sided views of life and a selfish US
of faculties in which all have an interest
Ii the views and aims of both Of our grea
laboring classes-the independent working
men and capitalists-are broadened by thi
conflict, the labors of the legislator will b
lightened and simplified, and the conflic
itself will not be without its compensation
for the loss and sorrow 1t has occasioned.
TARDY JUSTICE.