The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1897-07-28
Prosperity and strikes.

SApeNhy aAa
1.-THE IntelllgencerspealSs of our period
of greatest prosperity when the Repub-
llcan party was In full power" Does
this refer to the Homestead period, when
theRepublicanp party was in fun power?"
The above from.the Register is an in
dulry which our contemporary has made
before, and deserves reply:
The Intelllgencer referred to the year
1892, after the Mckinley tarlff policy had
been in effect for two years. and which
year is upon record as being that Of the
greatest prosperity in the history of the
government. 1t was the year of the
greatest volume of business. when labor
was the most generally employed and
when the average rate'of wages was the
highest, all conditions considered This
ia n fact which labor and industrial sta
tistics bear out.
The Homestead trouble did occur in
that year. 1t started with a protest
against slight cut In wages and the re-
fusal OF the mill owners 10 recognize the
union wage scale II the tariff had any
thing to do with theHmatter 1t furnishes
an argument for protection, since the cut
which caused the wage reduction was
upon products on which the tariff had
been slightly reduced In the Mckinley
bill. II was one OF the few instances
where the protection was not high
enough.
But, granting for the sake of argument
that this was not the cause, the Home
stead strike was one of those occurrences
that may happen in the best of times,
and in fact In times of prosperity they
are more likely to occur, for 1t is then
that the workman can ask for better
wages with greater reason. In hard
times the Intelligent workman is forced
by circumstances to accept the lower
wages made necessary by the condI-
tlons.
AT the time we speak Of all the coun-
try was prospering and the Homestead
men wanted their share OF the prosperity.
Il was not merely the protest OF the men
against the reduction that attracted the
eyes OF the country to It and gave the
Democratic politicians and demagogues
IN opportunity to make false but effect
i've capital Of 1t; It was the action OF the
mill owners In bringing armed mercen-
aries from abroad to guard the mill and
provoking bloodshed No tariff policy
can be responsible FOR such an occur
renee. While this was going on the en-
tire country was enjoying a season OF
extraordinary prosperity and our neigh
Dor knows II, for It was right here In
Wheeling all the time, and Wheeling was
sharing in those good times
As an illustration Of the point that
times of general business revival are al
ways appreciated by the working classes,
our nelghbor may take the present great
coal strike. The wage workers are usu-
ally the first to notice an Improvement
and are always on the outlook for bet
ter signs in order to demand their part
OF them. In the very order promulgated
lnauguratipg the present strike the state
ment was made that there were indIca-
lions OF revival OF prosperity, and for
that reason It was deemed an oBportnhe
time to make the demand for the reStor-
alton OF the old rate OF wages. which had
disappeared under the four years of hard
times since the assault on the protective
system began The struggle Is now go
ing on and everyone hopes that the strlk-
ers will gain their point It IL, however,
well known axiom that labor Is not
only the FIRST to suffer from hard times,
but Is the last to benefit from a recovery.
What was lost In years cannot be re-
covered In a day
As to the connection OF our tariff pol
icy with Btrikce, It cannot be denied that
strikes occur under all tariff policies.
over In England the free trade policy
which our nelghbor advocates Tor this
country has prevailed Tor years In pro.
portion to the population England has
had moro labor strikes thnn have ever
occurred In America, This statement In
made by all wricrB on political economy
who have made o study Of the qu'1llon.
II Is also undcnnble that the standard
Of wages aRd llvlug ia this country Is
higher than In England IN that coun-
try having the tnrlff policy our friend
advocates. ut this time there Is o strike
movement on foot which win Involve
10000 workmen, and, considering tho
population " the two countries, its pro-
portions will cnuno our great mine strike
to pnlo Into lnsIgnlncnncc.
our neIgbbor, with lta usual marrow
way Of viewing things docs not take all
thn.. ,uattsra Iuta runeldpTatlOu. II IN