The labor world., 1899-05-20

them. They had the disadvantages Of
being in the wrong. They had the
further disadvantage Of being Il weak
and passionate people, the result of Il
hot and encrvating climate. They
had the fight spirit strong enough but
they lacked the intellectual training
and the power Of endurance Of people
who belong to the colder climates"
"What is essential to make strike
a succcss?'
'MoraI right, intellectual strength,
and physical powcr.'
"What do you mean by moral
; right?'
"Thc civilized world has it's idea Of
right and wrong. The object sought
should be right; intelligence must
determine how he strike should he
managed and physical power will car
ry it through
Switch is the most important of the
threc?"
''UndonbtedIy physical power. The
strike might be morally right, and
conducted by very intelligent men and
yet fail because there would be no
physical power behind to enforce it,
''Do strikers ever succeed on pure
moral right?"
eyes. The Cuban cause won on the
ground that it was morally right that
the Cubans should be relieved Of the
continual oppression of Spain. Many
strikes SO thoroughly enlist the sym
pathies of the general public that the
employers cannot stand out against
public sentiment.'
''What about the Pullman strike.
Why was that lost?'
"That failed through lack Of physi-
cal force, ana because the strikers
and their friends-or rather because
the hoodlum element resorted to
such destruction Of property as to
turn public sentiment against them.
The vandalism was SO great as to
compel the United States authorities
to come to the rescue of the Pullman
company, and the strike was lost"
"Does resort to force and destruc.
tion of property and life work injury
to strikers?"
"Ycs, always. We were on the eve
of the general introduction Of the
eight-hour system in 1886 with head
quarters in Chicago when at Il pubic
meeting, held on the Haymar>et
square, in that city: some fool an
archist threw a dynamite bomb in
among a squad of policemen, the ex-
pIosion of which killed several and
''That was terrible injury to the
wounded many more.'
eight-hour cause. 1t delayed the in
auguration of eight-hours probably
twenty years. The friends of shorter
| hours lost the sympathy OF the gen
eral public through that wholesale
killing of the public guardians of the
peace, and it has taken a long time
to recover the lost ground.
"What has generally been the result
| in street car strikes?''
THE strikers generally lose. The
hoodums are liable to resort to de-
struction Of property, which turns
public sentiment against the strikers.
If long continued the Inconvenience
to fhe public becomes tiresome, and
while the company can endure it the
workmen in time are starved out
This is Il case where the strikers may
have moral right on their side but
lack physical force to enforce it,"
"Strikes seem to become more and
more common. What is to be the
end?'
"Therc will be no end as long 4 we
live in a competitive age. 1t will
always be the cndeavor of the pur
chaser to buy as cheaply as possible
and the seller will sell as high as pos
sible. As long as the wage system
continues there will always be Il con-
test. The employer will want to buy
labor cheaper and the seller of labor
will always want more for his serv-
ice
What is the remedy for strikes?
The temporary remedy will be the
establishment of local boards of arbi-
tration. The next step beyond will
probably be the fixing of the price for
labor by the government, in the lead
ing industries. such us transportation,
mining, manufacturing, etc. This
would avoid many labor strikes, and