The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-09-16
and must be upward. because there are
two forces working In that direction.
UNIONS AND WAGES


may sound strange to some of you, and
may perhaps shock great many or
those who approve what have said be-
fore. Here we come to the question OF
trades unions, and their effect upon
trades industry. Labor unions do not
affect the rate of wages much at all.
who has advanced that proposition. And
yet they are of enormous benefit to the
whole body Of the community, quite as
much to the employers as to the labor
their development, as l hope to show you
before l conclude. that we must find
and. hope for that industry Of peace
which means great industrial prosperity
ieVe, to affect the industrial cost and
conditions in the whole world
IF you will bear with me for mo
ment and consider the law governing
wages. you will find that the one thing
that affects rate in laborers' wages is
the volume of his product, and no agee-
enable the employer. to pay more for the
value of his product. You will see in
this sense that it Is impossible to main
tain for moment the idea SO generally
that good employers pay high wages and
bad employers pay poor wages.
SOME EXAMPLES CITED.
Recurring to the example of the chair
ion over Tommy Tracy, of Australia, al
the laborer any more than his share of
that product, and If bring charity into
the matter, why, in a short while / will
be bankrupt and will not be able to pay
MN anything at all. His compensation
his rate of wages-depends very much
not on the employers philanthropy, but
1t depends upon his own right arm and
MS own productive power. There are two
laws working upon wages which fix its
standard; one is competition between Ia
porers for employment, which operates to
depreciate wages, the other is the COM
hot ff1l
proht, which operates to raise the rate
OF wages. You will see yourself if / am
making chairs and if / am getting my
lapor LOT less than it is worth. the re-
put the moment | show large profit in
my chair making-industry, capital will
give me competition, and the resultant
condition will be that there will be COM
petltlon for the labor of labor and the
only way to. prevent the employer from
bankruptcy from a failure to obtain labor
VIII be to raise wages. Now, the COMPETE
ton between capital and capital is keen
er than between labor and laborer,
though we do not often know it. You
will see that it takes $14 to move a labor
er from New York to Chicago, but you
can send 100000 from Chicago to Hong
Kong for postage stamp Moreover,
capital has no family ties, and all things
are alike to it, but as the Iaborer is at
nome. he has domestic associations which
are deeply implanted in his being. 1t
from here to Boston, but you can send
capital from here to London, millions of
it, in an instant, by a cable dispatch.
1t would take 10 or Is per cent at least
laborer to move from Chicago, where he
had his home. to Boston, but you can
send capital all around the world for
one-e1ghth of L per cent. Now, the COM
er for profit than the competition be-
tween laborer and laborer, explains the
raise In the rate of interest and the fall
In the rate of wages.
There is no rate of agreement be-
tween employer and employee by which
the employer can give the employee more
than he is worth; he cannot give him
much less than he is worth, for the COM
They cannot possibly change the scale
of wages by an agreement between them
selves, but each one can increase mis-
profits; the laborer his wages and the
number of chairs, and, therefore, ladies
and gentlemen, we say that the relation
between the laborer and his employer is
relation of partnership, not Of service
with common interest, prospecting from
the same causes, suffering from the same
caidmitieS.
AS TO STRIKES.
'Now, it is said that this idea of part
'nership is inconsistent with the strikes
and turmoils and the disturbances that
break out at regular intervals between
employers and laborers, but 1 think a
little careful attention to that problem
will satisfy you that the disputes and
troubles have not arisen about the rate
of wages, but rather in the method in
which the discussions have been main
tanned. I have endeavored to follow the
history of every strike in this country
confess the great difficulty about them
is to locate their origin. When they
commence the air is full of clubs and
missiles Then charges and o.
ordinations and imputations of state
ments that the public peace has been
violated, and that tyranny has been per
petrated, but 1 believe a close study and
careful examination will satisfy every
body Of this fact that the great strikes
OF this country have arisen from the re-
fusal of the employers to discuss the
question at issue between them and their
employees with the agents that the en-
ployes select. Great applause.) They
have undertaken to declare various eX-
cuses that they were not speaking to
men outside of their employment, or they
would not speak to their men in body,
or they would talk t. them singly, and
that they would do one. thing and another
except what they were asked to do.
Now concede for argument that 1t
may be foolish for men to join trades
unions, to employ walking delegates, to
organize for their protection. What diff
ference can it make to their employers,
so long as they are free to fix the rate
Of wages to the laborer? Nothing could
compel him to pay more than he ought
to pay. Nothing could compel him to
pay more than the conditions of his trade
would allow him to pay, and that being
So what offense would it make whether
he delegated that duty to one person or
to another so long as he was free to
fix his own conclusions?
when an enterprise goes wrong when
men, who by the law of their being. should
be cooperative and productive, are plac-
ing their hands against each others
upon the bridge. the captain of the in
dustry, should be held responsible to pub
lie opinion, and no excuse should be ever
heard from the man who confesses ;:y
the paralysis of his trade that he is I'M
able to manage human beings or chose
who are committed to his management.
MY friends, these are my suggestions:
Publicity of corpora ion acknowledgements:
prohibition under penalties fer special
faVors; right of, action against any cor
poration whose service is suspended, ex
cep. an absolute defense proved that it
was at all times ready to discuss with
its employees questions. at issue between
them by agents Of heir selection. 1 am
told. however, that if we promote this
cooperation We will destroy Individual
ism. Individualism IS another of those
phrases which have been specially in
vented for the perpeleXity of mankind.
Individualism in its last analysis is saw
agery. A savage depending upon HIM
sell for his supper by mis- club, from
tree, river or ground, picking up by his
unaiGed hand his own subsistence is the
most complete example of individualism
conceivable. A civilized man der ends
upon everyone else Tor his prosperity.
The object Of savagery is to beat men and
XII! and take things away from them
The object of civilization is the employ
ment of the men and to cooperate with
them We are told today that this closer
cooperation would bring around social
ism 1 have no fear of that word If
the greater development of mans energy
and genius bring him far as he will
work as we'll fol-. the common good as he
would for his own, and we have just the
same impetus for industry as we have
had socialism would not brighten me- for,
my friends, / believe that we are bound
together by one common tie in common
industry, in one common partnership.