The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1897-06-02
LIVE QUESTIONS.
A Series Of Articles Contributed by
Advanced Thinkers.
WHAT is TO EE DONE AND WHO
SHOULD DO 1T?
A Strong and Lucid Discussion of the L..
Dor Question.

A Strong and Lucid Discussion of the Ia
Dor Question.
7.
In every attempt at reform constant
effort should be made to keep before tie
public clear conception OF each orc CT
the factors concerned in 1.-THE factors
which are attempting the reform and
the institutions 70 be reformed and also
their relative share in the problem.
Without this car two steps backward
will be taken with every one forward,
because public opinion is one Of the
strongest Of all forces for or against
progress, and it is being formed much
more By the intelligent but unthinking
public than by the logical thinkers who
give out their views in lectures and
treatises.
The few who hear or read these we'll
planned efforts and digest them intelli-
gently are greatly in the minority to
the unthinking class which has no time
for this and yet expresses its opinions
freely upon all occasions.
But this class is able to think and
would do so if sufficient data were fur
nished in q concentrated form. The
needed data today are this constant 1eit-
Grafton of the factors engaged in the prob
lem under discussion and their share
in it.
In the labor problem these factors are
overgrown and uuprincipled money
power, public opinion, capital, unions
and the nonunion workingman. Il Go
not include money, because a desirable
understanding can be arrived at without
bringing in this factor, to which is given
a fictitious Interpretation much oftener
than the right one.)
Public Opinion.
AS at first stated, public opinion is a
big factor, which criticises right and
left among the others, but never asks
what is its own share in the problem.
Too often also it considers only one or
two Of these others, oftener still only
the unions which tcondemns, without Il
question as to the cause of their exist
ence.
Right opinions cannot possibly follow
from such methods, and wrong opinions
add so much to the complication Of
this question It requires no art to dis
cover that unions are imperfect, as are
all other human institutions. The OBJ
server can detect that they are some
times guilty of acts of injustice, but to
get below this surface and decide wheth-
er an institution has right to live in
spite of defects requires careful think
ing.
Unions are established for the avow-
ed purpose of protecting labor. No crit
icism of their methods can be just, then,
which does not carefully consider these
three questions:
First.-Does labor need protecting:
Second. d.-From what does itneed pro-
tecting?
Third.-Are Unions, in their efforts
to protect, guilty of any more or even as
much injustice as that which they are
fighting?
It will be better to discuss the second
question first, assuming for the moment
that labor does need protecting. ftneeds
this protection, then, not from capital
necessarily, but from overgrown and IN
principled money power, which capital
uay or may not be. Too much time can
not be given to making this distinction
plain. for the careless thinker knows the
great value Of capital better than be
knows anything else, and he will throw
himself inGiscriminately against any
criticism Of it, or any attempt to limit
its power. It must be remembered that
even where capital is gnilty Of gross in
justice it is often because it, tco, is so
driven to the wall by this overgrown
money power; that for the'noment there
is nothing else for it to Go.
And even in criticising this over
grown money power it must be made
plain that it IS only when it is unprincl-
pied and interferes with the rights Of
humanity. There can be no logical ob-
lection to the amaSsing Of any rumber
of millions when it is honestly done, AS
it probably can be. Even if these mil
lions are kept locked rp or dispensed
only for tie selfish pleasure of the owner
provided again this grat;fication does
not interfere with others; rights-there
can be 60 logical crusade against them,
but if this power is deliberately used
against human rights, that becomes an
other and very different question.
The unprincipled money power which
is able to buy up railroads, water lines
and governments, and chooses to do this,
with the result Of crowding or small
industries and making work scarce, IS
the one factor in all the five which Is
always vicious and also the strongest.
But to get the careless public to look at
this power long enough to discover its
eno1mity one must not distract its atten-
tion by railing Ut capital 2r vast but III
offensive fortunes.
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