New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-05-12
LIHfLIi ETHfCX.

Great labor controversies always involve c1u-
ties and duties. In every instance somebody
must have violated n higher than human law,
though possibly through neglect TO no facts which
It was his duty to know. In all the loose talk
about the rights Of labor and the rights OF EN-
ployers men appear persistcntly to ignore their
duties But there can be no right without duties
inscpnrablv connected, and he who demands
what others owe to him, but refuses what he
owes to others, Is morally no better than thief
Unconsclously great many men, In the unspar.
Ing competition Of modern times. come to be rob
bers through their failure to realize or perform
their duties, even while they are strictly honest
and upright In claiming their rights
II Is the right Of the employer to hire such
labor as he pleases, men say, and to pay such
wages as he pleases. The statement OF half the
truth Is usually falsehood The right carries
with 1t duties No man has right to hire labor
at ALL except on the condition that he shall treat
1t Justly No mar has right to hire labor, Tor
instance II he knows he cannot or will not pay
1t. But pay" means great deal more than any
sum in money that may be stipulated. 1t means
more than regular times Of payment, legal modes,
honest measurements and reckonings. 1t means
more than rates equitably proportioned to rates
paid by others In the same market. 1t means
just consideration for employees and their needs
at all times, and especially when occasion arises
to raise or lower rates. And, above ALL since
no employer can possibly pay for the life or the
soul of worker no man has right to hire al
all II he Is not ready to pay enough TO support
life In decency and honesty, and ready to take
upon himself the responsibility OF knowing
whether the wages paid are enough to so support
life.
So the working men and women, who never
tire Of urging their rights. have duties also when
they sometimes forget. But they have no rights
except upon condition that they discharge those
duties One cannot exist without the other. This
Is not so much mere theory as practical fact. and
thus II comes to pass that absolutely the only
labor organizations that live and have lasting
mower are those which make ii as much their
duty to require from their members faithful Ser.
vice and honest performance Of obligations, as
to require from employers full regard for the
rights Of members. Duty toward employers
how many workers In these days take time to
consider how much that means? And yet they
have no rights, II they will not take care to
know and to perform the duties nseparable from
their rights. How many consider what honest
service Is, how much 1t means Of care to promote
the interests Of the employers, how completely
II forbids every kind Of conspiracy against those
interests, or seeking to take advantage Of their
necessities? Hut men who are not ready on their
side to discharge their whole duties have not yet
put themselves into position TO have any rights
The world would he reconstructed throughout,
and the millennium Of happiness and prosperity
would come II men on both sides only put Tho
Golden Rule into the first clause of every written
or verbal contract. II Two agree nt oil. for
muhlai performance Of service II Must be on tho
fundamental condition that each would recos'
nsc his duty M fully ~ hH right and be NJ quick
md M earnest 10 discharge the duty ma 10 claim
the right. Strikes mean. At bottom. that ono
party or both Inns attempted to dcmnnd what
others owe. but to refuse what II owes TO others.