Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1899-08-18
THE FLAG OF TRUCE.
OR. TALMAGE SUGGESTS A REMEDY
FOR STRIKE EPlDEMlcs.

interests of Capital and Labor Are
Identical. and When They Cease to
| AntagOnize Each other Strife VIII
Cense-Beneflts of Cooperation.
copyright. Louis Klopsch, 1901
WASHINGTON, Aug. 13.-In this dis
course DR.. Talmage suggests how the
everlasting war between capital and
labor may be brought to happy end.
The text Is Corinthians xii, 81, 1.-THE
eye cannot say unto the hand, l have
no need of thee"
Fifty thousand workmen In Chicago
ceasng work in one day; Brooklyn
stunned by the attempt to halt its rail-
road cars; Cleveland in the throes of
labor agitation, and restlessness
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 a thousand wheels
and a thousand bands and a thousand
pulleys all controlled by one great
waterwheel, the machinery so ad-
justed that when you Jar one part Of 1t
you jar all parts of it. Well, human
society is a great piece Of mechanism
controlled by one great and ever re-
volving force-the wheel Of Gods prov
ldence. You harm one part Of the ma
chnery of society. and you harm all
parts. All professions interdependent.
All trades interdependent. All classes
of people interdependent. Capital and
labor interdependent. No such thing as
independence. Dives cannot kick Laza-
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. I despise the
other members Of the body; II there Is
anything | am disgusted with, 1t Is
with those miserable. low lived hands.
Or, what If the hand should say: am
the boss workman of the whole physic-
al economy: have no respect for the
other members of the body. If there
ls anything despise, 1t 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. The eye cannot say to the
hand, L have no need OF thee
Labor and Capital.
That brings me to the first sugges-
ton, and that is, that labor and capital
are TO be brought to better under
standing by complete canvass of the
whole subject. They will be brought
to peace when they find that they are
Identical in their interests. When one
goes down, they both go 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 for one class
of society eventually will be good for
all classes Of society, and that which Is
bad for one class OF society will even
tually and In time be bad for all. Every
speech that labor makes against capi-
tai postpones the day OF permanent adj
iustment Every speech that capital
makes against labor postpones the day
of permanent adjustment. When capi-
tai maligns labor. 1t is the eye cursing
the hand. When labor mallgns capital,
1t Is the hand curslng the eye. AS far
as have observed, the vast majority
Of capitalists are successful laborers
II the capitalists would draw their
glove. you would see the broken finger
nail. the scar OF an old blister, the
stiffened finger joint. The great pub
fishers Of the country for the most
part were bOokbinders. or typesetters,
on small pay. The great carriage man
ufacturers for the most part sand
papered wagon bodies in wheelwright
sbops. While. on the other hand. In all
our large manufacturing establish
ments you will find men on wages who
once employed hundred or five hun
dred hands. The distance between
capital and labor Is not great gulf
over which Is swung a Niagara sus-
pension bridge; II is only a step, ana
the capitalists are crossing over to be-
come laborers, and the laborers are
crossing over to become capitalists.
Would God they might shake hanus
while they cross. On the other hand,
laborers are the highest style OF capl-
talists. Where are their Investments
In banks? No. In the railroads. No!
Their nerve, their muscle. their bone,
their mechanical SKILL their physical
health are magnificent capital lie VINO
has two eyes. two ears, two feet, two
hands. ten fingers. has machinery that
puts into nothingness carpet and screw
and cotton factory, and all the other
indictments on the planet The capltai-
lists were laborers. the laborers were
; capitalists The sooner we understand
that the better
co-operntive Associations.
Again. there Is to come relief TO the
latorjng classes Of this country
through cooperative associations. !
J am not at this moment speaking OF
trades unions. but or tnat plan ny
t which laborers put their surplus to-
cether and become their own capital
= lists. Instead of being dependent upon
y the beck of this capitalist or that capi-
Z talIst. they manage their own affairs.
In England and Wales there are Sl3
0 cooperative associations. They have
u 100000 members: they have n capital
of $1S.O00.O00 or what corresponds to
our dollars. and they do n business
! annually of $63,OO0.O0O Thomas Bras
IS sey. one Of the foremost men In the
y British parliament, on the subject
e SAYS: "Co-operation Is the one and the
e only relief for the laboring populations
This Is the path" he says, "by which
they are to come up from the hand 70
the mouth style Of living. to reap the
rnrnrds and the hOnOrs Of our ad