Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1895-04-16

4
success in any branch Of industrial &C
tivity is costly outfit Of machinery.
1t takes capital to buy it. In Massa-
chusetts alone machinery is doing the
work of one hundred million men. 1t
is fast becoming impossible for men
without extensive capital to remain
their own masters. The little trades
man becomes swallowed up in the
mammoth store, and exchanges his in
dependence for the position of an en-
ployee. The artisan of skill and in
telligence who might have hoped in
former years by the acquisition of a
few tools to become his own "boss,'
now must content himself with being
factory "hand" or a mill "hand," with
the prospect of never attaining any
other relation to his work. The con-
centration of capital goes on in a geo
metric ratio, capitalists unite in cor
porations, corporations unite in trusts,
and anything like close personal rela-
tions between employer and employee
becomes impossible. The employer
class becomes more and more contract
ed; the employee class becomes more
and more extensive. The hope of in
dependence becomes vain hope for a
larger and larger proportion Of people,
and the inspiration that goes with that
hope is lost. The sense of individual
responsibility is lost also in large
measure both by the capitalist en-
ployer and the wage earning machine
that calls itself an employee.
Now, what does all this mean? 1t
means just this: That swiftly and
surely we are coming to the pass that
all the avenues through which men
can earn living and keep body and
soul together here upon earth are to
be controlled by Capital. Those who
own the capital can alone purchase
the machinery; and those who own the
machinery control the labor which is
applied to it. Herein lies the secret
of the struggle going on all over the
world-a struggle on the part of Labor
against the absolute control by Capt.
tai of all the opportunities of earning
a livelihood.
What is Labor cOntending for? For
better food, better clothing and better
shelter? NO! The fight is not prima-
rily for these things. The laborer of
today is better housed, better fed, bet
ter clothed on the average than ever
before, and it is where he is best fed
and best clothed that this struggle is
the fiercest. Why, then, this intense,
deepening feeling of resentment? The
answer brings us to the very core and
center of the whole struggle. The
fight is not one for higher wages or
shorter hours or better material condi-
lions, but is for liberty, INDUSTRIAL
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. from the alb
solute dominion of aggregated Capital.
The negroes of the South were, we
dare say, better fed, better clothed
and better housed on an average in the
days of slavery than they are today.
But their craving for themselves and
children was deeper and diviner than
the desire for these things; it was a
craving for freedom. 1t is SO of the
wage-earners Of today. Raising their
wages and shortening their hours will
not alone cure or even diminish their
restlessness and discomfort. The
craving which is rocking civilization is
deeper than is sometimes suspected
even by the workingmen themselves.
1t is an instinct planted by God in
mans very heart of hearts, the love of
liberty.
Men and women of America, we must
face the situation that we have been
brought into by the progress of civil
zation. We must look beyond the tur-
moil and confusion of the immediate
conflict, beyond the strikes and lock-
outs, beyond the vexations, the blum.
ders and even the wickedness of COM
batants on both sides, and realize the
ultimate purpose of Labor's conflict
and the spirit that sustains it. That
ultimate purpose is emancipation from
the impending despotism of Capital.
That spirit is the same spirit of Liber-
ty that has in times past hurled politi-
cal despotism from all the thrones of
Europe and has planted republics and
monarchies in their place. The des-
potism of kings is no more to be fear
ed than the despotism of Capital.
What, then, is the best way to avert
this impending despotism? What is
the solution? Where is the remedy!
The first thing to be done is to Sc
cure popular understanding of the
nature of the conflict and of the real
issues involved, and to that end the
Voice proposes to address itself in the
future more 'assiduously than it has
ever done in the past. The rights of
opportunity must be made as sacred
as the rights of property. We cannot
turn back the hands upon the dial Of
time. We cannot arrest the the pro-
gress of science and invention, and be-
gin backward march toward barbar-
ism. But we can recognize the fact
that the progress which has been and
still must bring us face to face with a
new peril of Liberty.-The Voice.