Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-08-17
CAPITAL AND LABOR.
REV. DR.. TALMAGE DISCUSSES THE
INDUSTRIAL PROBLEM.
Some Lessons Drawn From strikes
In Various Parts of the Country.
A Truce Between Labor and Capt.
tal-Each Needs the other.
toopyrisht, Louis Kiorsch. 1879. !

copyright, Louis Klopsch. 1921
! WAsBINGToS, Aug. l3.-ln this dis
course DR.. Talmage suggests how the
everlasting war between capital and la
Dor may be brought to a happy end. The
text is | Corinthians Xii, q, The eye
cannot say unto the hand, | have no
need of thee"
Fifty thousand worllmen in Chicago
ccasing work in one day, brooklyn stun
ned by the attempt to halt its railroad
cars, Cleveland in the throcS of labor
agitation and restlcssness among toilers
all over the land have caused an epidemic
of strikes. and somewhat to better things
] apply the Pauline thought of my text.
You have seen an elaborate piece of
machinery, with thousand wheels and a
thousand bands and Il thousand pullCys,
all controlled by one great water wheel,
the machinery so adjusted that when you
jar one part OF it you jar all parts OF it.
Well, human society is great piece of
mechanism controlled by one great and
ever revolving forcc-the wheel of God 5
providence. You harm one part of the
machinery Of society and you harm all
parts. All professions intcrdependent.
All trades ntcrdepcndcnt. All classes Of
people intcrdepcndeut. Capital and la
Dor interdcpcndcnt. No such thing as
independence. Dives cannot Kick IaZa-
rus without hurting his own foot They
who threw Shadrach into the furnace got
their own bodies scorched. Or TO come
back to the figure Of the text, what a
strange thing it would. be if the eye
should say: | oversee the entire physical
mechanism. despise the other members
of the body If there is anything | am
Disguised with, it is with those miserable,
low lived hands. Or what If the hand
should say: | am the boss workman of
the whole physical economy. have no
respect for the other members of the
body If there is anything dcspise, it is
the eye seated under the dome of the
forehead doing nothing but look.
come in. and | wave the flag of truce
between these two contestants, and |
say, 1.-THE eye cannot say to the hand, 1
have no need of thee
That brings me to the first suggestion.
and that is, that labor and capital are to
be brought TO better understanding by
complete canvass of the whole subject.
They will be brought to peace when they
lind that they are identical in their inter
ests. When one goes down, they both 20
down. When one rises, they both rise.
There will be an equilibrium after awhile.
There never has been an exception to the
rule. That which is good lor one class of
society and that which is bad for one
class of society will eventually and in
time be bad for all Every speech that
labor makes against capital postpones
the day Of permanent adjustment. Every
speech that capital makes against labor
postpones the day of permanent adjust
ment. When capital maligns labor. it is
the eye cursing the hand. When labor
maiCns capital, it is the hand cursing the
eye. As far as have observed, the vast
majority of capitalists are successful la
horers. If the capitalists would draw
their glove, You would see the broken
finger nail, the scar of an old blister, ale
stiifened finger joint. The great publish
ers of the country for the most part were
hookhinders or typesetters on small pay.
The great carriage manufacturers for the
most part sandpapered wagon bodies in
whecwrght shops.
Not Great Gulf.
While, on the other hand, in all orr
large manufacturing establishments you
will find men on wages who once employ
ed 100 or 800 hands. The distance be-
tween capital and labor is not n great
gulf over which is swung Niagara sus-
pension bridge. 1t Is only n step, and the
capitalists are crossing over to become
labOrefS, ana tue ldDoIeIS are CTOsSlnS
over to become capitalists Would God
they ght shake hands while they cross.
On the other hand, laborers are the high
est style of capitalists Where are their
investments? In banks? No. In the rail
roads? No. Their nerve, their muscle,
their bone, their mechanical skill their
physical health, are magnificent capital.
He who has two eyes, two cars, two feet,
two hands, ten fingers, has machinery
that puts into nOthingness carpet and
screw and cotton factory and all the 9th
or implements on the planet The capital
lists were laborers, the aborcrs were cap
italiSts. The sooner we understand that
the better.
Again, there is to come relief to the la
boring classes of this country through CO.
operative associations. ! am not at this
moment speaking Of trades unions, but Of
that plan by which laborers put their sur
plus together and become their own cap
italists. Instead Of being dependent up
ON the beck of this capitalist or that cap
italist they manage their own affairs. In
England and Wales there are Sl3 coop
eratve associations. They have 100000
members. They have II capital of SIS
100000, or what corresponds to our dol
lars and they do business annually Of
SCi3 600, 900. Thomas Brasscy, one of the
foremost men in the British parliament,
on the subject says: Incorporation is the
one and the only relief for the laboring
populations. This is the path" he says,
''by which they are to come up from the
hand TO the mouth style of living to reap
the rewards and the honors Of our advanc-
"a civilization" Lord Derby and John
Stuart Min, who gave half their lives to
the study of the labor question, believed in
cooperative institutions. The cO-opera-
tive institution formed in Troy, \. Y,
stood long enough to illustrate the fact
that great good might come of such an
institution if it were rightly carried Oh
and nightly developed.
But" says some one haven't these
institutions sometimes been n failureT'
Yes Every great movement has been a
failure at some time. Application Of the
steam power failure, electro telegraphy
failure, railroading failure, but now
the chief successes Of the world.
Tobacco and Liquor.
But says some one, why talk of
ssrplus being put by laborcrs into coop
erative associations, when the vast null
titude Of toilers of this country are strug-
Cling for their daily bread and have nc
surplus" Ireply: Put into my hand the
money spent by the laholing classes OF
America for rum and tobacco, and ! will
establish cooperative associations in all