Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1899-04-26

WIS not right to deprive labor Of any
Of Its privileges under the Law. The
laboring classes OF the country should
be treated as men who have certain
rights which must be respected. 1t had
been asserted that labor is commOd-
ity, but the laborer is not a commodity.
It is said that capital is king. II that
be so, labor is an uncrowned king, and
it is the duty of citizens to place the
crown upon it's head.
God made man in his own image,
we are told. In every breast there is
that spark of divinity which has
claim upon every community and every
man, under the law of eternal justice.
Labor has other rights. One Of these
is the right to an equitable portion Of
the wealth which it produces.
Any system of
POLITICAL ECONOMY
built upon the proposition that all
wealth is produced by labor, is falla-
cious; and equally fallacious is the
proposition that wealth is product OF
the soil. Wealth is a product of the
soil and labor combined. The speaker
did not oppose capital, save when it
is pooled for the purpose OF placing
in eternal servitude the very persons
who help to produce it. 1t has been
said that labor has no right to organ
ize All other classes are permitted TO
band together, and these very organiza-
lions make trades unions necessity.
Mr.. Dryden took up the subject OF
trusts, and defined their purpose-first
to control the price of the manufac-
tured product as it enters the hands
of the consumer; second, to control the
price of labor. He illustrated his argyll
ment by supposing a combination of all
the glass factories of the Ohio valley.
Not only has labor the right to or
ganize for its self-protection, but it is
the duty of an honest man and an
American citizen, who loves his home
and loves his country. The laborer
has right to agree to work at a GER
tain price, or to refuse to work. Labor
has a right to strike. whether indl-
vidually or collectively. His reference
to the .fakirs from the ash-banks of
Pennsylvania and the slums of Chicago
with faces unwashed, and heads I'M
combed," who have taken the places of
the strikers, was vociferously applaud
ed.
RIGHTS OF LABOR.
Among all the rights that labor may
claim. there is another-it has a right
to be considered in framing the legis-
lation of this country. Examine the
statute books, and you'll find law
after law protecting capital and the
corporations, while the laws solely in
the interest of labor are very scarce.
He emphasized the necessity of organ
ization.
Mr.. Dryden then turned his atten-
ton to what he termed the encroach-
ments of the Federal judiciary upon the
other departments of the government.
He referred to the injunction as an ex-
IRENE measure only. He said the
writ of injunction has been abused, not
in the Feredal Court of West Vir-
ginia but in other Federal Courts.
He wanted it understood that he was
not criticizing the Federal Court of
West Virginia. He proceeded to show
how the rights of the people have been
trampled upon by the Federal Courts,
notwithstanding the Constitution guar
antees to every citizen the right of trial
by jury of his peers, after a present
ment shall have been made by the
grand jury. He cited a decision of the
Federal Court in Tennessee, that crime
could be enjoined where property
rights are effected, and proceeded to
hold it up to ridicule. The aggressions
Of the Federal Courts have gone fur
Their, until they have usurped the
rights of municipal corporations.
The strikers are trying their case at
the bar of public opinion. By and by,
we will see what the result will be.
When capital comes to Ohio county,
it does not come as a pleasure trip.
He was glad to see the people on the
right side of the question.
Chairman Tighe announced that the
Bellaire, Bridgeport and Martins Ferry
employees quit work in a body last
night. Then the band struck up a spir-
tied air, and the crowd cheered heart
lily and the meeting was at an end.