Willmar tribune., 1899-10-18

The Cause Of Free Silver.
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AN ERA OF STRIKES,

AN ERA OF STRIKES.
One OF the Brood Of Evils That Has
Sprung Up Under the Gold
u Standard.
There have been strikes of greater
magnitude than any which have taken
place within the last few months in this
country, but rarely, if ever, has it oc-
CURED that there have been so many in
the same period. The larger strikes in
the past have been ON great railroad
systems whose employees are more
numerous than in any other branch of
business, and whose operations extend
over greater areas.
Afact suggestive of reflection is that
strikes have become more numerous as
combinations of capital have increased.
They naturally provoke combination of
labor on the principle that like begets
like. Trusts and combines being for the
purpose of increasing profits to capital,
they are regarded by working people as
menaces to their rights and interests,
and strikes are resorted to as means
OF resistance to acts of actual or appre-
hended wrongs. That trusts and COM
bines on the part of capitalist classes
are for the purpose of enhancing prof.
it's TO themselves, and to the detriment
OF labor and of consumers, is undoubt-
ed, and therefore they are held in gen.
eral disfavor. - -
While strikes perhaps caused en-
Ployers to be more cautious and less
exacting, they have not checked the
growth of trusts and combinations on
the part of capital, which proves that
they are not very effective panacea for
the evils which the working classes
seek to avoid. Strikes are two-edged
sword, and while they may damage the
capitalists, they also injure the public
and the strikers themselves.
Where the ballot is free, there is no
necessity to resort to force to remedy
wrongs. All abuses in free country
are remediAble through political action,
and 1t is for that that government by
the people has been instituted. 1t is
lawful and laudable for labor to oreau-
ize; in fact, it is only through organiza-
ton that effective work can be accom-
Plished. If labor seeks a quantum
meruit share of wealth as it is produced.
that end can be peaceably reached
through the agency of government.
1t is not necessary, and it is not the
wlsest course for working people to
form a party by themselves. A party
based upon class distinction will in
evitably excite the antagonisms of
other classes. No one class of people
in this country has the numerical
strength to carry elections. All that Ia
borers should ask is the enactment of
laws that will give them justice.
Farmers quite as much as employees
of railroad companies and in manufae-
turing establishments, suffer from
trusts and monopolies. The formation
OF farmers party has from time to
time been mooted, but all attempts
have been found impracticable, because
the true interests of all classes are so
lnterwoven that policies and legislation
for the benefit of one work injury to
some or all others.
There will always be at least two po-
htlcal parties, and ordinarily two will
De all that are necessary, and one or
the other as a matter of political in
terest, if not altogether from conyic-
ton of public duty, will concede what
ever is reasonable to the demands of the
farmers and the laboring classes. What
is needed is thorough information on
economical and social questions, and
action independent of party affiliations
and prejudices.
The farmers and working men hither-
to largely supported the republican
party in the expectation or hope of i'm
proving their condition, but they have
been grievously disappointed. They
surely cannot longer be blind to the
fact that that party has fostered trusts
and monopoly, and that it will not Of
fend them from fear of losing their
votes and pecuniary aid. That party is
SO entangled with the money pvwer
that it cannot cut loose. Its leaders are
welded to it in indissoluble bonds.
There will be no reform in policies that
will respect the interests of the masses
until the republican party experiences
the tribulation of crushing defeat.
When it becomes known that the farm
ers and the working classes cannot be
manipulated and deluded, and that they
will act independently, the republican
party, indeed both parties, will respect
their wishes in legislation, and in re-
gard to business methods.
The wisest thing to do is to organize
and hold position of armed neutrality,
and be ready to throw their weight on
that side from which the greatest gen
eral good may be expected. Working
men should watch the changes that are
constantly occurring in Industrial and
commercial conditions, that they may
act intelligently in regard to them. Men
who do not keep themselves informed
are liable to be misled and duped by
demagogues and mountebapks, and, to
use Shakespearean phrase, they are
''as plenty as blackberries.' The work
ing people, including the farmers, have
it in their power to secure the reforms
necessary to the highest general well
fare.-Los Angeles Herald.
No Postponement.
They were talking about the Scrip
a~1 of bo,, 1>-o