The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-11-28
From the Church Standard.

j
When the Pullman company, for exam
pie, on the ground that business was
stagnant. reduced the wages of It's
working people by one-third or one
half, but made no abatement IN the
| house-rent of those same people. the
sentiment of justice was outraged; ana
| when the Workmen We're hauSht! ny t"id
| that there was nothing in the case
! to arLitrate,' the inSolenCe was more
| offensive than the wrong. 1t was not
| strange that the working people OF the
country should esDouse the cause oi
| the Pullman employees, and there was
nothing strange that "symnaihettc
strike" should follow; but how utterly
| irrational that strike Was 1t was
nothing less than open insurreCtiDn re
| bellion against the nation by way OF
| reprisal for the insOlent injustice OF a
| single company. OF the wrong Gon"
| by the Pullman company there might
! be some question; of its arrogance
| there could be no question at all. The
sentiment Of sympathy for the Pullman
| people was natural and right; hut juSL
as soon as that sentiment degoncrated
| into passion. reason was flung to the
| winds. the original ca use of c"n'roNcr-
| sy was forgotten, u carnival of sense
| less outrage was begun, and the instinct
! OF Self-preserVatiOn arrayed not only
| the power but the conscience of the
nation against the rioters. Here in
America we do things quickly and for
| set them nearly as quickly; but the
| lessons of that terrible disturbance
ought to be remembered. They are
these: first. that employers, whose
| wealth gives them enormous power
! should act with manifestly generous
| justice to their employees ana treat them
| with scrupulously courteous and con-
| sidcrate benisnity: and second. that
| whether they do or not. riotous tur-
| bulence will make nothing better, but
| everything worse. Nor should 1t he
| forgotten that, if some employers are
srasping and arrogant. organized labor
| is also sometimes unreasonable in its
| demands and rudely dictatOrial in its
| temper. The one fault is as bad as the
other. IF the arrogant and grasping
employer were WOrkinSman, he
would be an unreasonable and turbu-
| lent employe; and if the unreasonable
| and turbulent emplOye were an en-
ploycr. he would be sraspng and arro-
giant as any employer in the land. 1t
is for sensible and far-sighted men of
good will on both sides to avoid all
| causes of complaint and irritation be-
! tween their respective classes. 1t IS
| the part of all who have the interest
| of both classes at heart to foster be-
tween them spirit of reciprocal good
will; and in no way can this be more
| eilectually done than by continually
reminding them OF the fundamental
social fact that their true interests
can never be opposed. since the accu-
mulat ton of capital, which is the object
of the employer is the very condition
| of prosperity to the wOrk!ngman.
One of the meanest vices of human
nature is envy; and this vice is often
| insidiously planted in the hearts of
working people by comparing their
| small wages with the large profits
| which they are told. not quite correct
! ly, are produced by themselves alone.
From the harangues of agitators one
| would almost infer that it Is Il crime
! to be rich; but we suspect that, from
| the vociferous orator to his most en-
| thusiastic hearer, there is not one soul
| who would not instantly and willingly
| he guilty of that crime. There Is moth
! ing respectable in appeals of that kind.
| They are essentially insincere, unwor-
| thy to be addressed to self-respecting
men, and degrading to character when
| they are accepted.
There is a curious Inconsistency be-
tween the frank admission of the nee
| cssity of capital on the part of every
| intelligent WOrkingnan and the feeling
of hostility to the capitalist which he
| is urged to entertain. 1t would be well
| if the friends of workingmen would be
| at pains to expose this Inconsistency.
| 1t Is conceded that in all but the
|
| necessary. SO long as every man is
| sufficient to himself, a small amount
| of capital sufticeS: but the moment
| that communities of men begin to exist.
| the division of labor comes in, and then
| no man is sufficient to himself Every
man is dependent upon the labor of his
| f.llowmen. To purchase that labor he
must accumulate ca apital enough to pay
the butcher. the baker. the clother. the
| blacksmith, etc, and these on their
| part. must have capital in order to car
| ry on their respective trades to advan-
| tage. When machinery comes in, and
| ten or twenty different artisans are
needed to produce so simple an article
as needle or a pin, larger amounts
| of capital are needed. 1t would be i'm
| possible for each OF the various crafts
! men to buy the unfinished work from
| the hand through which it had passed,
| to 10 his part in it, and then sell it to
! the next. Some one must employ them
! all: and he must have capital enough
! to provide machinery and to pay them
| all until he can send the finished pro-
! duct to market. 1t is because he can
employ a large capital with advantage
| in that way that he invests it in build
| ing his factory, in purchasing mach
| inery, and in paying his wOrkmen.
| Now. what difference does it make to
! the wOIkinGman whether the capital
| required to employ him belongs to one
| man or another? Absolutely none. The
! important thing to the workingman is
! that somebody shall be rich enough
| or in other words, that somebody shall
| hold capital enough, to invest in q
| factory and employ the wOrkmen re-
| qured. Whoever holds it. holds it to
| the profit of the workingman; and
| whoever he may be. he should be re-
| garded with a friendly eye. since the
| industry in which his capital is used
! & nf iT n Ln tn hi nd m. hnS,
| whom he employs.
| Every intelligent workman knows
| that great Industries require a vast
| amount of capital. For many of them
"a great railway. for example more
capital is needed than one man is like
| ly to possess or to be willing to invest
in single enterprise. Hence. corpora
| tions are necessary, by which vast
| sums of money may be drawn from the
| separate accumulations of many indv-
| idualS. Now, in popular harangues,
| corporations are often Unfortunately
! denounced: but is this reasonable? The
| corpora ton is simply the legal holder
| of the capital which ii employs: and
! again we ask. What difference does it
make Ito the workman on a railway
| who owns the capital by which the
| railroad is operated. and with which
| he is employed? Clearly it makes no
| difference to the wOrkingman at all;
| but it is worth while for him to reflect
| that. but for the corporation system
| it would he all but impossible to aggre-
| gate the capital necessary to the mag
| niicent enterprises by which millions
| of American wOrkingmen are support
| ed. The fact is that nothing i'm the
| progress of modern civilization has
| been so beneficial to trade. commerce.
| industry, and therefore to the working
| man. aS the growth of the (prpOrp