Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1897-09-10

/ or bad reasons distractions on the rail
track in front Of midnight express trains
| because the offenders do not like the Prcsi-
| dent % the company, strikes on shipbOart
the hour they were going TO sail OF in the
/ printing Offices the hour the paper was %
/ 90 to press or In mines the day the coal
| was TO be delivered, or on house scanolh-
ings so the builder fails In keeping his con-
| tract-all these are only hard blow on
| the head Of American labor and cripple IT.
arms and lame It's feet and pierce his heart.
! Traps sprung suddenly upon employers
and violence never took one knot out 81 the
| knuckle % toll or put one farthins oi
wages into a callOus palm. Barharism wll
! never cure tho wrongs OF ciyillzauoh'
Mark that.
Frederick the Great admired some land
| near his palace at Potsdam, and he resolved
/ to get il. II was owned by miller. he
| offered the miller three times the value OF
the property. The miller would not take II
| because il was the old homestead, AMI he
| felt about as Naboth felt about his vine
yard when Ahab wanted II. Frederick the
| Great was rough and terrible man, and
he ordered the miller into his presence, and
| the king with a stick in his hand-a stick
with which he sometimes struck his officers
| of state-said TO this miller, Now, | have
| offered you three times the value OF that
property and II You won't sell 1t I'll take il
anyhow The miller said, Your majesty,
! you won't" Yes, said the king, II will
take it," Then" said the miller, ''if your
majesty does take it | will sue you in the
| chancery court" At that threat Frederick
the Great yielded his infamous demand.
| And the most imperious outrage against
| the working classes will yet COVER before
| the law. Violence and contrary to the law
| will never accomplish anything, but right
eousness and according to law will accom-
| plish it.
After awhile crash goes the money mar
| ket, and there is no more demand Tor the
articles manufactured in that iron mill,
and the owner does not know what to do.
He saws: "Shall | stop the mill. or shall
run ii on half time or shall | cut down the
mems wages?" He walks the floor of his
counting room all day, hardly knowing
what to do. Toward evening he calls all
the laborers together. They stand all
around, some with arms akimbO, some with
folded arms. wondering what the boss Is
going to do now The manufacturer says:
"Men, times are very hard. / don't make
$50 where | used to make 800 Somehow,
there Is no demand now for what We manu-
facture, or hut very little demand You
see am at vast expense, and have called
you together this afternoon 10 see what
you would advise. | don't want to shut
Lp the mill because that would force you
out of work, and you have always been very
faithful, and like you, and you seem to
like me, and the BARNS must be looked
after and your wife will after awhile want
new dress. don't know what to do"
There is a dead halt for minute or two
and then one Of the workmen stems out
from the ranks of his fellows and says,
Boss, you have been very good to us, and
when YOU prospered we prOspered. and now
you are in atlght place and am sorry, and
we have got to sympathize with you. |
don't know how the others feel but | pro-
pose that w57@rake of twenty per cent. from
our wages and that when the times get
good you will remember us and raise them
again" The workman looks around to his
comrades and says: Boys, what do YOU
say TO this? All in favor Of my proposition
will say aye.
Aye, aye, aye" shout 200 voices
But the mill owner, getting in some new
machinery, exposes himself very much and
takes cold and il settles into pneumonia
and he dies In the procession to the tomb
are all the workmen, tears rolling down
their cheeks and off upon the ground. but
an hour before the procession gets to the
/ cemetery the wives and the children ofthOse
wOrkmen are at the grave, waiting for the
arrival of the funeral pageant. The minis
ter Of religion may have delivered an elu-
quent eulOgium before they started from
the house. but the most impressive things
are said that day by the working classes
standing around the tomb.
That night in all the cabins Of the work
ing people where they have family prayers
the widOwhood and the orphanage In the
mansion are remembered. No glaring pop
ulations look over the iron fence OF the
cemetery, but, lowering over the scene the
hencdiction of God and man is coming for
! :he fullllment Of the Christlike injunction,
+ Whatsoever We would that men should do
to you, do you even SO to them
oh says some man here that j. all
ttopian, that is apocryphal, that is impos-
sible." No. | cut out of a paper this; "Onc
of the pleasantest incidents recorded il
long time is reported from Sheffield, Eng
land. The wages Of the men in the iron
works at sheffield are regulated by board
Of arbitration, by whose decision both mas
ters and men are bound. For some time
past the iron and steel trade has been OK
tremely Improbable, and the employers
cannot, without much loss pay the wages
fixed by the board. which neither employ
! ers nor employed have the power to change.
To avoid this difficulty the wOrkmen in one
OF the largest steel works in Sheffield hit
upon device as rare as it was generous
They offered to work for their employers
one week without any pay whatever"
But you 90 with me, and will show you
not so far OF rs sheffield, England fac
tories, banking houses, storehouses ami
costly enterprises where this Christlikc in
junction Of my text is fully kept, and you
could no more get the employer to practice
an injustice upon his men. or the men to
conspire against the employer than you
4 could get your right hand and your left
hand, your right eye and your left eye
your right ear and your left ear, into
physiological antagoutsm, Now whore is
this to begin? I'm our homes, in our stores,
on our farms not waiting for other people
to do their duty. Is there divergence
now between the parlor and the kitchen!
| Then there is something wrong either in
the parlor or the kitchen, perhaps in both
Are the clerks in your store rate against
the firm? Then there is something wrong
either behind the counter or in the private
Office, or perhaps in both.
The graat want of the world to-day is the
/ fulnllment Of this Christikc injunction,
that which he promulgated in His sermon
Oiivctic. All the political economists I'M
der the archivault of the heavens in con-
/ vention for 1000 years cannot settle this
! controversy between monopoly and hard
! work, between capital and labor During
! the Revolutionary War there was heavy
! piece Of timber to be lifted, perhaps for
/ some fortress and the corporal was over
| seeing the work, and he was giving COM
mands to some soldiers as they lifted;
! "Heave away, thcrel lo heave!" Well, the
! timber was too heavy; they could not get
it up. There was gentleman riding by
on horse, and he stopped and said to
this corporal: "Why don't you help them
lift? That timber is too heavy for them to
lift mo, he said II won't, l am
corporal The gentleman got off his
horse and came up to the place. Now
he said to the soldiers, "all together 20
heave!' and the timber went to its place.
"Now," said the gentleman tothe corporal,
"when you have piece of timber too
heavy for the men to lift, and you want
help, you send to your COMMANDMENT.
chief" 1t was Washington. Now that is
about all the gospel know-the gospel of
giving somebody lift, a lift out of dark
ness, lift out of earth into heaven. That
is all the gospel I know-the gospel of
helping somebody else to lift.
oh" says some wiscacre, ''talk as you
will, the law Of demand and supply will