The Norfolk Virginian. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 186?-189?, 1897-09-07

your cra1t or assist III organizing ono,
IL there Is none In your city.
Five hundred men competing with
each other for situations would soon
bring wages down below the starvation
line. but five hundred Joined together
In an organization would be able to de-
mand and secure fair conditions.
Every man who loves life and would
make 1t stili more enjoyable to himself,
his wife, his children and his fellow
man, owes 1t as n duty to make q close
and conscientious study of the great
the labor problem"
The State cannot make wealth. nor Sc
cure real equality between man and
man but 1t can do u great deal to pre-
vent the minimum being too small, tho
lowest being too low. Once you have
raised the lowest to Il fairly high level,
individuals may be safely left to find
their place. at least until some higher
and more complete social organization
Is reached.
Every attempt to organize trade un-
ions has met the opposition OF mis-
guided toiiers and merccnury employers,
but we organize.
Every failure In strike has been
heralded as q death blow to the union;
but we recovered.
Every crisis has seen us pictured in q
dying gasp; but we revived.
Every decision from some prc]udiccd
Judge against unions has been hailed ns
II dissolution OF all that stands in the
way. of the ever increasing greed of
monopoly against the just demands Of
labor unions. but monopoly is not the
victor.
DEMANDS MUST BE GRANTED.
The demands of labor must be grant
cd. Organization will live. thrive and
be successful The noble men ana wo-
men who constitute its membership can
not be discouraged in their faith, fright
eded from allegiance, or tcrrorizcd by
curt decisions. Aristotle says In his
Politics that the best and most perfect
commonwealth Is that which provides
for the happiness of ali Ills subjects"
SO late rs Elizabeth's time laborera were
spoken OF by Shakespeare as "frag-
ments." Even the Magma Charta. of
which InSlishmcn are so Justly proud,
referred TO about two millions of persons
who inhabited England ut the time of its
PRONUNCIATION. II affected rrccmen
alone. and there is little doubt that
| nearly one-half of the entire populati ion
was then In state of slavery. 50 abJcct
| that in the language OF the old law
writer's. the william or serf knew not in
| the evening what he VAS to do in the
morning, but was bound TO do whatever
| he was commanded. He was liable tC
beating. He was incapable of acquiring
property for himself, and any he got be.
came his masters. He could be sep
nratcd from his wife and children and
| sold To another lord, or he could be pass.
ed with the land upon which he lived. as
If he had been n chattel attached 10 It.
THE time has come when the CONNER.
cial brigands stand not on the highway
! and tilch from paS:ers by, but behind an
| oil faucet and levy toll on his fellow
citizens in The shape of profit. The mil.
| lions thus accumulated creates not one
half the stencil as the millions he con
tributes to colleges and universities, for
the latter is done under the mask of re-
| lgion.
The problem OF to-day, as OF ycstcr-
| day, and tomorrow, Is how to establish
/ equality among men. The laborcr who
| is forced to sell his days labor to-day.
o.: starvc tomorrow. is not i'll equitable
relations with the employer. who can
wait 10 buy labor, until starvation fixes
! he rate OF wages and hours of time The
! labor movement Is the natural effort of
rc-adiustmcnt an cver-continuing at
! tempt foorga niHcd laborcra so that they
miy withhold their labor until the di-
minished Interest or profit or capital of
| the employer shall compel him to agree
| tn such terms as shall be for the time
meaSureably equitable These are the
| forccful methods at all times and may
continue TO develop manhood and wo.
! manhood by peaceful resolution, as la
| borors advance their line, or may cause
| n social earthquake, and become destruc-
| tive by organized repression of labor:
| rights. Before the labor problem can be
solved the nature of the complaint mus
| be understood.
Primarily the responsibilities for the
! strikes and outbreaks rests upon the
| waGe-labor Aystcm--l system that en-
| cOtMagcs cunning above conscience; that
robs the producer and enriches the spec
u!ato:; that makes the employee n dcs-
pot and the employee a slavc-aA system
| thai ehortcns life, cngenders disease, en-
! feebles the mind, corrupts the morals
| and thus propogateS misery, vice and
crime.
| we complain that whereas labor pro-
| duceS all the wealth or the world, the
laborcr receives only as much as will
keep him In the poorest condition of
| life. to which he can be crowded down,
| for the shortest number of years--build-
| ing houses not 10 own them, rarrlast )
not 10 ride In them. growing food that
| he cannot eat and waavuS raimcnt
| that he may not wear; that steam, cleo
! trcity. chemistry and productive ma
| chinery are competitors and not CO.
| operators with him. When at work he
is continually under surveillance, when
| out of work he Is an outlaw, a tramp
homeless in the deep significance Of tho
| term.
The laborers' complaint IS not that
brains rule, or that culture leads, but
| that ccnsc!cncelcss cunning and m!serly
| acnuisitivcness are rewarded better than
| constructive ability, or open hearted
ability. We complain that culture
| huslcs itself with unmaterlal things,
that learning interests itself with the