The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1899-04-15

iiciarc> WonId be the frs' 10 see tina;
he had played the fool. Several bust
ness enterprises band together into Il
trust. more because they are afraid oi
each other than for any uthrr p,ir-
pose. II is the inevitable consequence
OF The prrsrn, competitive system. :!
rich man should not he atliudecd in
Eumanly mercenHry because he CON
t'nurS the struggle for more. more. ali
the time more. The poor devil can'i
stop. lle dare no1 cease the struggle
He knows that when Il business enter.
prise ceases to go forward If begins Iu
fall behind. because he race belongs to
| he swifttst and there are others in the
game. lie knows that the bank ac.
count dwintlIeS when it ceases to
grow. With him il is a case Of keep
Il pounding or else sink beneath the
waves. Capitalism is the great task
are but slaves. The rich in livery arr
slaves at the Throne, the poor in rags
are slaves in the stables. Blame not
he man who lets fail the task MASTER ;;
whip. but blame the system that forces
him to it,
! The sharp competition between large
business enterprises. each struggling
i for an existence. has forced each 10
economiZc in every way possible. The
reduction OF wages is usually one Of
the first steps taken. They take it i'll
:clr-tlefcnSr. Then organized labor re-
| bells in Stf-lefense. and again union
ism levieS the boycott in ScIf-defensc.
| And so it goes OH and on. the rich
and the poor wriggling and twisting
. in Il horrible struggle for existence be
meath the grinding heel of the most
political economy that could possibly
be invented. 1t is il system under
which combination and trust are the
| inevitable result The trust can never
he destroyed until this system is de-
stroyed. That political party which
proposes to destroy the trust and re-
| tain the present system is one great
big humbug. and its followers are
either fakrS and drpes, Or else prar-
| ti1ioners of eNpediency waiting for
something better. Under this beast'y
| barbarian system the trust is an in
slfferabIe yet Indispensable nuisance,
and labor unionism a jIstitiable neces-
sary evil Capital has boycottet labor
by great Industrial and financial com
hnations. The trust composed OF one
hundred sugar refineries can be more
independent in its arrogant and die
tatoriaI attitude toward labor than
could one Of the component refineries If
operating alone and in competition
with the Others This clearly appar-
,nt fact explains the rapidly growing
u"greSsveness OF capital in its effort
to take away from labor through court
and legislature the very high preroSa-
tive it would reserve to i1self--thc
right Of boycott. Since the great Dcbs
railway faSco. the strike has grown
more and more impotent every yea.
It is no longer regarded, even by labor
itself. as an effective means to an end.
No employer of labor fears it because
there are always a herd of hungry
mortalS who will slip in and fill up the
places Of the strikers. Then the courts
and the militia stand guard while tn"
strikers wander out and away to be-
come bIackIiSted (boycotted by capt.
taU. to think awhile, to count and
feel the cost. then to grow discouraged
before the tear stained eyes of wives
and amid the cries Of hungry children.
The strike having become useless. lab
or resorts to the boycott. What OF
il? Under existing conditions, facts
demonstrate that he boycott is prac-
ticalIN inefficient in the service of
labor. but all powerful in the hands
OF capital. Capital fortified as i, is
by the courts and the law. boycotlS
labor on every hand and does it with
inpunity But when labor attempts
to use the same policy. the law and the
courts forbid.
1t has not been necessary to invoke
he law in order to deprive labor Of 1h''
right to boycott. The modern devtl-
opmrnt Of trn<, and monopoly has, OF
ITSELF made The boycott, useless in the
hands Of labor. Imagine Il boycott or
he sugar trust! What effect would |:
have on the steel. tobacco. nail wire,
whiSkev. or lumber trust? Let lahu'
hovrol1 one large factory Of any kim |
and i, simply closes its doors. 81:
down in compliment gloomine>S. and
allows its associates in the same hl>i
ness to supply the trade. And it can
remain closed for Il century and lose
NOT Il cent. True. labor could boycott:
to death some li,lIe individual shop
keeper. but in doing so it only brings
another hungry wage seeker into lab
ur'> rank<-~Whlc the big department
store grows fa1ter and puts out Il new
,rn1acle.