The labor world., 1899-05-20
WHEN STRIKES WILL CEASE
OBSERVATIONS OF DOCTOR PENROSE ON
THE INDUSTRIAL SITUATION OF TODAY.

BY Paul Williams.

sentiment Of the world was against
them. They had the disadvantage Of
being in the wrong. They had the
further disadvantage of being a weak
and passionate people, the result Of a
hot and enervating 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
success?"
''Moral right, intellectual strength,
and physical power"
"What do you mean by moral
right?''
''The civilized world has it's idea Of
right and wrong. The object sought
should be right; intelligence must
determine how the strike should be
managed and physical power will car
ry it through
(which is the most important of the
three?"
"Undoubtedly 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, and 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?'
Eyes, always. We were on the eve
of the general introduction of the
eight-hour system in 1886 with head
quarters in Chicago when at pubic
meeting, held on the Haymarket
square, in that city: some fool an
archist threw a dynamite bomb in
among a squad of policemen, the ex-
plosion of which killed several and
'"That was a terrible injury to the
| wounded many more"
eight-hour cause. It 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 long time
to recover the lost ground.
"What has generally been the result
in street car strikes?"
'The strikers generally lose. The
hoodlums are liable to resort to de-
struction of property, which turns
If long continued the inconvenience
! to the public becomes tiresome, and
while the company can endure it the
| workmen in time are starved out.
! This is 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?"
''There will be no end as long a we
live in a competitive age. 1t will
always be the endeavor 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 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 as transportation,
mining, manufacturing, etc. This
would avoid many labor strikes. and