The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-12-07
NIGGER IN THE W00DPILE
BEHIND THE HAMBURG STRIKERS
 ARE THE GERMAN SOCIALISTS.

Their Concern Not for the Laborers, but
 for Their Party-Entire Shipping Inter-
 est of Germany Will Suffer if the Elm
 ployes Win-Bitter Battle for Supremacy Emperor Takes Hand in the Struggle. Berlin, Nov. 6.-Passing from it's in- itlal phase as a mere industrial agita-
 ton in pursuit of higher wages, the strike of dock laborers at Hamburg and elsewhere has become a matter of political importance. Behind the local organizers of the Hamburg strike, as 1t has now been revealed, are the execu-
 tive committee of the socialist party, who are working not so much in the
 interests of the laborers as in the in- terests of the social democratic party.
 The executive committee of the social
 ist party are now established in head
 quarters at Hamburg and they have
 managed to get the trades unions
 throughout Germany to supply funds for the support of strikers at all the Baltic ports.
 What is called a "laNborers' common
 resistance fund" has been formed, to which the socialist associations in every
 great center are contributing. The ob-
 ject of this movement is less to con
 quer the employers than to foster the socialist propaganda. If the dock la
 borers at Hamburg had been left to
 themselves they would have speedily
 settled their dispute with the masters, who proffered to their old employees concessions equal to what the strikers
 originally demanded.
 Since the socialist leaders have inter Vened, however, the demands of the
 strikers have increased, until now the
 employers find themselves face to face with the real issue, which is that the
 entire shipping industry of Germany
 must obey the dictates of the politico-
 social organization or fight out a su- preme battle to the end
 The rejection by the employers of the proposal to submit the dispute to a board of arbitration was due to the | knowledge by the employers of the | fact that the men behind the strikers | would not eventually accept, the deci- | sion of the arbitration tribunal, which
 as proposed conceded only one member
 to represent the employers. It was not
 the absence of adequate representation
 on the tribunal that caused the enn- ployers to reject the proposal, but it | was their conviction of the futility of the whole program.
 | The movement is now seen to be a combined attack upon German com | merce and German capital, in which i the government will soon be bound to interfere. The emperor sent an agent
 to see personally Senator Hachman of | Hamburg, Herr Heinrichsen, the presi- dent of the Hamburger Burgerschaft, and Herr Noack, the president of the | Hamburg chamber of commerce, all of | whom advised the formation of an ar | bitration tribunal to which the dispute | between the employers and the strikers should be submitted for settlement. | The kaiser himself strongly favored
 the earliest possible settlement of the 1 difficulty until he was shown that the
 socialist politicians were managing the | strike, when, it is understood, his ma- jesty advised the home office to await the developments, but not to interfere
 In the meantime General von Schlewitz, commanding the troops at Hamburg,
 has been instructed to take full meas
 ures to maintain order.