The Washington bee., 1898-12-31
THE LABOR FACTOR IN RACE
TROUBLES.
From The Literary Digest.l

Hostility to negro labor, which has
resulted in denying membership to
the colored men in leading labor or
CARNATIONS, cropped out again last
month at the convention of railroad
brotherhoods held in Norfolk, Va.
Press reports Of an address by Grand
Master Frank P. Sargent, of the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen,
state that his utterances show "that
one of the chief purposes of the meet.
ing Of the brotherhoods was to begin
a campaign in advocacy of white SUI
premacy IN the railway service" A
despatch to the New York San con-
tinueS;
"Mr. Sargent said that no violation
of law was intended and no threats
were meant, but that the white men OF
the South believed that the avenue to
theIocomotive should.be open.towhites
alone, and these claimed the right TO
man the engines upon the highways OF
Southern commerce. He said that
the railway firemen who received in
some parts of the South $50 month,
when they asked for higher wages,
had been told that colored men could
be secured who would work for $25.
The speaker said that if this state OF
things continued more mutterlngS
would be heard now in the CarolinaS.
He said that the South needed civil
ization ofintelligent workmen under
the flag which has now crossed the
sea. Other meetings would be held.
he said, and agitation continued until
the purpose of the firemep was accom-
pliShed."
Certain journals in the South have
discussed for some time the phases of a
negro invasion of the North. We find
an interesting comment upon this al
legged invasion by The TEXTILE Record
of Philadelphia, which says, under the
caption, Cheap Labor"
at is remarked by journal in New
Orleans, that
the invasion of the North by negro
labor has begun. 1t has been trium-
phant, and it will go on. The negroes
can underworld the whites because
they are willing to live in a way no
self--respecting white man would.
Northern employers will use the
cheapest labor they can get, and the
negroes, as soon as they find a fielo
open for them there, will 20 forward to
occupy it."
I'VE are confident that this repre-
sents. in large measure, what may
be called loose talk We assert that
no indications appear of any such in
vasion upon a formidable scale. We
assert, also, that nobody in the NORTH
is considering any extended move
g l. @l- !,
10 the North. But there is an aspect
| of the labor question which is exciting
| some uneaslnesS among thoughtful
| men. As prices continue to press
| further downward, the margin Of pro-
| fit for many manufacturers aud other
wealth-producers become narrower
and narrower. These men, with all
| their resources invested in productive
| industry, are often at their wits end
to make economies in the direction oi
their business which will permit them
10 avoid loss or to pick up few Scant
crumbs of profit. When such a neces.
sity or such an impulse drives, the
time must come sooner or later when
the employed man will be asked to
accept a smaller return for his labor.
Nobody can be blamed for this. The
employer can not 60 on loosing pro-
fits. He will soon reach the limit OF
economy in machine production, in
saving OF waists, in purchases of mate
rial: and when that limit is attained,
the turn Of the workingmen will come,
or else there there Will be complete
suspension of operations Wages in
many industries are already falling,
and they will fall further, and IN still
other lines of business, unless means
shall be discovered to put stop to
the shrinkage Of values, and the con-
sequent disappearance Of profits from
which the nation has so long suffered.
1t is improbable that the North will be
flooded with low-priced negro-labor
from the South; but it is more than
probable, it is certain, that the white
working men in the Northern States
have before them the dismal promise
of less compensation for their toll and
the necessity that they shall live less
comfortably"