The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-08-15
"a, a.lessen4er.


Ex-senator Ingalls, interests us. He
is remarkable with the pen, and with
the mouth, too. He lately discussed the
strikes in the north in a New York
paper. He has keen vision, and when
not blinded by oartisanship is apt to
hit the nail quite squarely on the head.
He writes that one of the most note
worthy features of the situation
labor disturbances-"is that these trou-
bles are confined almost entirely TO the
north. They seldom occur in the south.
This immunity is due partly to the alb
sence o. the foreign element. Society
is more homogeneous, and there Is LEGS
inequality of conditions. Great fortunes
are few. The burdens of life are less.
The benefcence of the soil and sky de-
prives poverty of its h~ardships and di-
mfnishes the necessity for toll. Com
petition is more free, opportunity is
less restricted. Trusts n combina-
lions have o absorbed the
and monopolized the activities of the
people" This is aptly put n str.k-
ingly. All observant men in the south
will recognize the correctness of the
statement. Strikes in the south have
been really few and far between. The
north is strikes-ridden, and they null
tiply. The end does not appear, but me
conditions producing them perhaps i'll
tensifies. The marvel is that while the
north is represented daily in the news
papers as prosperous almost beyond
precedent, these fierce and prolono7d
strikes occur. Hear Mr.. ingalls, again:
STRIKES, lockouts, boycotts and disor-
der are ineligible in times of panic
and distress, Of shrinkage and disas-
ter, when wages fall and multitudes
are out Of employment" That is true,
out it is all prosperity now say the
big papers and the little papers up
there Mr.. ingalls, graphically pre-
sents a picture of conditions. He writes:
1.-THE treasury of the United States
is cOngested, our exports are enormous,
and all nations are our debtors. Money
is so abundant and interest SO low that
the occupation of the miSer n uSurer
is gone. The demand for labor has
been constant and remunerative, but
the discomfort Of the employed is more
general, more desperate and more men,
acing than ever before In our history.
1t has apparently passed from the
acute into the chronic stage, and from
being casual has become permanent"
He sees trouble in all this. He draws
a conclusion that doubtless men on
looking in the north are drawing, right
or wrong as it may be, and it is that
1.-The great gulf between employers and
employees yawns wider and more mex
orably every day. Until conditions
change they can never be recOnciled- |
one or the other must be ~subjugated or
both must be destroyed. 1t is an 1rohi- |
cal ~corollary to the brotherhood of
man.
The great American jury must take
Nhe case. It is difficult of solution. |
Prophecy might fail. According to him,
and the newspaper accounts sustain
him in his vivid portrayal, Paris in the
days of the m was not worse
thar Cleveland during the street 1ar
=. strike. The following is a summary
in The Baltimore Sun of what occur
red:
Gar were blown up with dynamite, !
Instructions were placed on the track; !
lIdIl VI pdl Z AN -
across the tracks at a convenient
height to decapitate 'scab' mo-)rmen;
a boycott which paralyZed the trade
and industries of the city was lnstl-
tuted. Cleveland for a time was prac-
tically in the hands of the heteroSe- |
neous mob until state troops were as |
sembled and put to work doing police
duty. In fact, a Veritable reign r ter
rOr prevailed in a prOSp a"OuS northern
CITY of 800, 900 inhabitants, and normal
conditions were restored only Dy a
show of force
What produced all the trouble? What
causes led to sue extraordinarily vio-
lent demonstrations? Was it simply
unmitigated deviltry manifesting itself
without real grievance? Mr.. ingalls,
asks this pertinent question:
"Did it ever occur - Governo~ Bush
nell, of Ohio, % call Duc the militia
to suppress the trusts that have for so
many years defed the laws of Ohio,
successfully resisted the mandates OF
it's courts and inT1icced i~rreparable in
Jury upon multitlieS OF its citizens?
If a corporation hes courts, laughs
at Justice, Expresses the weak and robs
the helpless, let us put a plank against
trusts in the next platform end ask
for a contribution. We applaud GCV-
ernor Mount, of Indiana, for having
his troops ready to shoot rioters, but
what about the window glass trust
that took the bread from the mouths
of 5000 innocent victims and doubled
the price of glass that it might a
dividends upon $50, 900, 900 Of fictitious
capital?"
If there was ever a time when broad
and soundly bottomed craftsmanship
was NEEDED it is now. If there was ever
a period beyond all others i'll American
history when a higa sense If right, o.
Justice, of humonity, of intelligence
was needed surely il is now.
VlhWSAND ACES