The times., 1897-05-09
A PLEA FOR LABOR
ORGANIZATIONS
And History of Their Relations to
Industry, Society and Government.
Last Paper.

Last Paper.
Prof. Rogers characterized the contest
between the capitalist and the laborer as
q warfare and il this term is proper
one it is the longest war of which we have
any record. The strike has peen one OF
the means of carrying Oh this war. The
strike is the laborer's weapon, and the
lockout is the capitalists strike Both
are used as weapons to secure a victory,
by so involving the other party in losses
that the dispute viii be abandoned AS u
general rule, the laborer is at disadvantage
in these contests; for. the capitalist is al
ways a small and close organization, fenced
in by law and protected by precedent, hav-
| ing the ear Of the authorities; while the
iaborer is too apt to be a mob; probably
wel,-intentoned mob, but mob never
| thcless, upon which the law frowns. Even
| if the mob is well organized, its member-
ship is voluntary, and it is a much less
efficient tool for the work TO be done
tnan the capitalists organization 1t has
often happened that the skill and disci-
pIine of the few have put the many to
flight The great difficulty with the strik-
ers is to provision the laborers, and often
they have been compelled to abandon 4
Strikes have been opposed more because
Of the violence attending them than for
any other reason Secret and open out
RACES have often been committed toy strik-
ing men; oftener for revenge Than to adj
vance the cause OF the strikers. Every
friend of the working people must deplore
the commission OF outrages, but the wonder
is that there has not been more of them
That secret and open outrages had their
origin in the rcvengeful feelings OF men
who believe they had been wronged and
had no legal redress, is proven by the
fact that when conditions have been i'm
proved the outrages have ceased.
In considering the violence accompany
ing strikes, one must take into account the
degrading and brutalizing effect OF the
long years of oppression under which tae
laborer lived and suffered. For more
than two cen tuIies and a half" says Prof.
Rogers. '-the English law. and those vino
administered the law, Were engaged in
grinding the English workman down 10
the lowest pittance, in stamping out every
expression or act which Indicated organ
lied discontent, and in m,iitipi wing penal
ties upon him when he thoUghto of his natural
rights This was the policy Of the
governing power in England. and that Of
other countries was much more tyrannical
and much more successful in degrading
the people. And il is noteworthy, as show
ing the temper OF the governing authoTi-
ties at all times, that in the fourteen tn
century, Edward, the Black Prince, com
maader OF the English alnIies, and CAPITAL
de Puche commander Of the Frenca armies,
suspended hostilities and joined their
forces 80 put down the revolving peasant S
Of France, and that the Duke OF GHise, in
the sixteenth century, while prisoner Of
Charles V of Germany, with whom France
was ut war at the time, assisted the Ger
man forces in the peasants war; 20
subdae the peasantTy, engaged in as holy
a cause as ever animated man. The con-
test between the nobility and common peo-
pie, between the man made prosperous
through privilege and the favoIitism OF
the law and the slave made to drudge and
support { he prosperous man by law, has left
its impression upon both, and those who
wish to Judge iighteously or deaf Justly
mast take the past into con sideration in
forming an opinion of TIE present conflict
between capitalist and laborer.
When violence has occurred from causes
mitting it were not members of organized
Labor, and when it has occurred during
strikes OF organized laborers, not unset
dom has il been committed by men who
were not connected with labor movements
and often under such suspicious circuu-
stances that may have been led 20 be-
lieve that it was instigatei by capitalists
to bring tire strike into disrepute.
Labor organi cations DISLIKE striking,
and al ways endeavor to avoid strikes
Messrs Thomas Hughes and Frederick Har-
rison. members OF the English Parliament
in 1867, in paper-whioh everyone should
read who wishes to be informed on the is
sues Notwithstanding from the report
Of the royal commissioned which they
were members-that inv estigated the
unions of that day, in England, say; 1t
appears that the strongest, richest and
most extended OF all the unions are TO be
found in those trades in which the wagesand
hours OF labor show the greatest per
manence, and n which, on the whole, the
fe west disputes occur. On the other
hand the strikes are shown to be the most
frequent, and certainly the least orderly,
where the union has acquired no real
commas nd overthe workmcn, Or is isstrugging
into existence
Whatever has happened in the pa st, in
the future strikes will occur less and less
frequently. Cancellation will be more re-
sorted TO, al I'D arbitra ton will come to set
tie disputes if both parties are put upon
equal vantage ground And when the
woringkmens right OF combining is ac-
knowledged, ami disposition is shown to
treat with them, a nd treat them as equals,
having their whole means of living, and
therefore their lives and happiness bonnd
up in the prosperity Of the trades in which
they are engaged, they will pay greater
attention To their employers interests
which are the same AZ their own, and
will unite with him in eliminating waste
from the processes Of production and dis
tribution. George Howell tells us that in
Belgium, 600 years q go, the workers in
the cloth trade, by their delegates had a
voice in making the ordinances Of their
trade, even in the supervision of labor and
fixing the proportion of their pay
And employers might well find il to their
interest to take counsel of their elnployes,
for there are many able men among them,
VINO are capable of reasoning logically,
and whoselnformation in regard to matters
connected with their trade would be of
real value to their employers
Employers have much TO unlearn as well
as 10 learn, and many prejudices to be
got rid Of TOO many OF them have the
blind malice of the treasurer OF d cotton
mill in New England, who. being asked
by has employees to make an alteration ia
the scale paid them to their advantage,
said: Il saw that mill built Stone by