The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-04-19

The law does not give the railway COM
pany any right to go into the, courts OF
the country and say to the laborer We
have been paying you sixteen cents an
hour, but you must come down TO
twelve and force them to do 1t. The
courts cannot do that Now, there Is
the whole thing'in nutshell.
II any of the new men engaged In
this strike are within the sound Of the
courts voice, (and have no feeling In
this matter except the feeling that al
ways have for those who feel that they
are oppressed. want to ask them to
weigh well what have said to you
here to-day. This. Is the same charac-
ter OF talk that made upon Il former
occasion In reference'to strike on this
road. have made II for the benefit
Of the community,
What are the results OF strikes? They
demorallZe labor What else do they
do? They interfere with values. The
property of q city may have n value
to-day. and the property Of y railroad
company may have, value to-day. but
repeated strikes by labor organizations
or communlstic associations. or by peo-
pie who have ararchistlc views, reduces
Wharf.-The value Of property. And when
you reduce the value Of property you
reduce the ability OF those who own
property and those engaged In business
TO pay fair, remunerative price for
labor.
Labor and Capital.
Labor and capital must go hand in
hand together. Capital should not be
too exactIng. nor should labor be too
exacting. Capital and labor should
deal with each other In a spirit of fair
ness. but neither SHOULD claim the right
to dictate terms to the other. You go
to your groceryman, and ask him what
tea Is worth. or what coffee Is WORTH
and he tells you. Well you say, I
will go to another place; think can
do better That groceryman to whom
you went cannot compel you to take his
tea or his coffee ut the prices he fixed,
but YOU go to- the other man, thinking
You can do better. and you buy OF him.,
Now, that Is the underlying principle
between man and man In all the ncgo-
tiations of life. You ask q man what
anything you want to purchase Is worth
md he gives You the price. You can
buy OF him or 20 elsewhere You have
the right to elect whether YOU will take
1t or not. You go to railway COM
pany and ask what wages they pay
and they will tell you. You can either
accept their terms or go elsewhere.
Now, you people who have been en-
gagged In running cars on this line and
have been receiving. sixteen cents an
hour, or possibly two dollars day,
have struck for twenty cents an hour.
Your combined efforts cannot force that
railway company to pay the advance
n ct 10, HI r ,.,Jt -,
go out In this great nation Of ours and
get men from any source. II has been
shown that they have already been able
TO get men from other places-from
Philadelphia and Chicago-to take your
places
Advice to Strikers.
Nov, act with some wisdom; be pru-
dent: go home and think and reflect
over this matter. and see II you have not
made a mistake. Appeal. always. to
your employer. when you think you are
not paid fair price, and consult and
reason with him In reference to ii.
Then. II you and he don't agree In your
views. and you can afford to do so,
quit him. But don't undertake to take
his property out of hls hands by strikes:
don't undertake to destroy his property
by the same means. when you are dis
satisfied with the field in which you
are employed. That Is the way to do II.
While coming up on the train yester-
day afternoon from Pariersburg, dc
tatcd to my stenographcr what I con-
slider tho pith of this whole matter, and
l will read It to You:
The court Is here for the purpose of
administering the law relating to this
case. 1t is not here for the purpose OF
sympathy to either the
street railway company or to those
who have been employed BIZ that conf
pany. known now as strikers. who are
insisting upon the company increasing
the wages for their services.
This IL free country. The constl-
tuition and laws of the country guaran-
tee, to every citizen the right to engage
in any business that he is disposed to
enter into. No limitations or restric-
lions are imposed UPON the individual
action of any citizen In regard to this
right. In free country like ours COM
petition in every department Of life Is
open to every citizen. He who by dill
gent and continuous effort acquires not
only n competency but fortune. has
perfect right TO be protected in it. On
the other hand, lab8rer OF the country
who maintains and supports himself
and family by his daily toll. has an
equal right to be protected. Labor can
not. by Individual action. or BY united
action. deprive the employer of his
right to fix the price OF labor any more
than the employer can compel the la
horer to work :or him for price less
than the lahorer feels Is remunerative
The trouble In this case seems 10 be
that there Is an effort upon the part Of
the employees OF this street railway
company to force the employer. the rail-
waT company, to advance their wages
without knowing whether such action
upon their part is justified in any re-
spect whatever. Every employer has Il
right to look into the question as 10
what he can afford to give for services
rendered TO him. the matter to be deter
mined and decided by the revenues de-
rived from the business in which ne Is
engaged. No enploye can determine
that. for the employer alone is possessed
OF all the facts upon which he must base
his decision and action. In this case It
must be remembered by the employe
that the employer Is just as much in
tercsted In maintaining the operation
OF tne road and in obtaining revenues
from 1t, as the employe is interested in
obtaining just and fair compensation
for his labor.
Suppose we reverse the situation up
on this occasion. ard the employer de-
termines to reduce the wages of the
employees In the service OF the company.
The employer cannot compel his en-
ploye to serve for Il reduced rate of
wages. II he cannot Is it right and
proper that the employe. who seeks to
have his wages md compensation In
creased. should take such steps as to
coerce the employer to comply with his
request without knowing whether or
not the employer can afford to do so?
Even II he could afford 20 do so, what
legal rlght-what just right-has an
cmploys 10 undertake TO cocrce his en-
ployer? The cmploye has the privilege
rAr,,1 tt,tt. al a.. Ii.