The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1899-08-18
CAPITAL AND LABOR.
Industrial Problem the Theme Of DR..
Talmage's Sermon.
Tells How the Continual war ne
tween rhcm May he Ended
Lessons Drawn from Ne
cent strikes.
Copyright. sSs by Louis Kiopseh.I

tSNfN end. The text Is l. Corinthians
iS>Sl. The eve cannot say unto the
hand. have no need ~ thee"
fifty thousand workmen in Chicagr
ceasins work in one day, Brooklyn
stunned by the attempt To halt its rail
mad cars Cleveland in the throcs of 4
labor agitation and restlessnesS among
toiicrs all over the land have caused an
epidemic ~ strikes, and somewhat 60
better things apply the Pauline
thought Of my text.
You have seen an elaborate piece Of
machinery, with thousand wheels and
thousand hands and n thousand put
lcv>. all controlled nv one great water
wheel. the machinery so adjusted that
when YOU jar one part Of il YOU jar all
parts of IL. Wcu human society is a
great piece Of mechanism controlled by
one great and ever revolving force-ihc
wheel Of Gods providence. You harm
one part of the machinery and Won
harm all parts. An professions inter
dependent. All trades interiepcpdent-
All classes Of people intcrdep~ndcnt
Capital and labor in,erdependent. No
such thing rs Independence. Dives can
not kick Lazarus without hurting his
own foot, They who threw Shadrach
into The furnace got their own bC1,ics
scorShed Or 10 come back To the fig
Urc Of the text. what a strange thing IT.
would he II The eve should say; lover
see the entire physical mechanism
dcspise the other mcAbcrs Of the body.
II there is anything I am disgusfc,i
With 10 j. with these miserable. low
lived hands. Or what IL the hand should
say: | am the boss workman of chs.
whole physical economy. have no
respcc; for the other members of the
body. II there is anything despise. il
is the eve, seated under the dome of the
forehead, doing nothing but look
come in, and ] wave the flag of truce
between the two contestants. and 1
say; The eve cannot say 60 the hand:
i have no need of thee
That brings me TO the first surye~-
tion. and that is, that labor and capital
are TO be brought to a better under
standing by a complete canvass of the
whole subject. They viii be brought tn
peace when they find that they arc iden-
teal in their interests. When one GOES
down. they both 60 down. When one
rises. they both rise. There will he an
equilibrium after awhile. There never
has been apeNception 10 the rule. That
which is good for one class of society
viii Le good for all, and that which
Is bad for one class will evrnt-
ually and in time be bad for all
Every speech that labor makss
against capital postPoncs the day of
permanent adjustment. Every speech
that capital makes against labor POSI-
PONIES the day Of permanent adjust
ment. When capital maligns labor, IL
Is the eye cursing the hand. When Ia
Dor maligus capital, il is the hand ours
ing the eve. As far as have observed
tie vast ma iority of capitalists are sue
cesSful laborers. II the capitalists
would draw their glove. you would scr
tho broken finger nail. the scar of an old
blister. the stiffened finger joint. The
great publishers of the country for the
most part were bookbinders OF typ
settlers on small pay. The great car
riage manufacturers for the most part
sandpapered wagon bodies in wheel
wright shops.
Whisc. on the other hand, in Al oar
large manufacturing establishments
You will find men working ON Wages
who once employed 100 or 500 hands.
The distance between capital and labor
Is not a great gulf over which is swung
q Niagara suspension bridge II is only
a step. AID the capitalists are crossing
over to become laborers, and the labor
ers are crossing over 10 become cap
italists. Would God they might shake
hand. laborers are the highest style of |
capitalists Where are their invest |
ments? In banks? No. In the rail |
roads? No. Their nerve. their muscle. |
their bone. their mechanical skill. their /
physical health. are magnificent cap
tai. He who has two eyes, two ears.
.wo feet, two hands, ten fingers, has 4
that puts into nothingDess
,arpet and screw and cotton factory and
~ the other implements on the Pla net
rAe capitalists were laborers. the la
Dorers were capitalists. The sooner ~e
lr dersland that the better.
Again. there is 10 come relief tn the
aboring classes Of this country through
associations. I am not at
h's moment speaking of trades unions.
pa OF that plan by which laborcrs put
J cir surplus together and become their
,En capitalists. Instead Of being de
,cudcnt upon the beck Of this capitalist
~ THAI capitalist. they manage their
'wu affairs In England and Wales
here are Sl3 cooperative associations
They have $4,000 members. They have
apiial % Sls.OOG.0O or what corrr-
ponds TO our dollars. and they do
business annually OF sos 900 600. Thorn
8 Brasscy, one OF the foremost men in
he British parliament. on the subject
ays: Cooperation is the one and the
'nly relief for the laboring populations
Tins is the path" be says. by which
hey are 10 come mp from the hand tn
he mouth style Of living TO reap the
ewards and the honors of our ad-
anced civilization" Lord Derby and
Ohm Stuart Mill. who gave half tsesr
ives to the study of the labor question.
80 cooperative ;sst;:s: -.s~
'he cooPo alive institution forme1 Tn
roy. y. y. stood long enough so al
asJrate ghe fact that great good 1ishs l