The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1900-05-26
THE FIELD OF LABOR
Timely Discourse Of DR.. Talmage
on Industrial Troubles.
serRos AiSed to RrlAs Absat Tor
Friendly Relations Between
Employer n E~mplSye-
Dsu Of the FOFaer.

EmploysF and EnPlSys-
Dsu Of he Former.
lcopyrghL no0 BY Louis Ropsehl
Washington. Nay ~
At = time when in various districts
labor troubles are existing or impend-
ing the effort DR.. Talmsge makes in
this discourse To bring about a better
feeling between both sides Of this diff
heult question is well timed; texts,
Galatians 5;l5: But il ye bite and
6evour one another take heed that ye
be not consumed one OF another" and
Philippians ga: Look not every man
on his own things, but every man also
on the things OF others"
About every six months there is q
great labor agitation. There are do-
lent questions now in discussion be-
tween employers and employees. The
present strikes" will 60 into the past.
OF course. the damage done cannot i'm
mediately be repaired. Wsgeswillnotb be
so high as they were. Systematically
they may be higher. but they will drop
lower. Strikes, whether right or
wrong, always injure laborers as well
as capitalists. You will see this in
the starvation Of next winter. Boycott
ting and violence and murder never
pay. They are different stages of an
arehy. God never blessed murder. The
worst use you can put a man to is to
kill him. Blow up tomorrow all the
country seats on the banks of the Hud-
son and the Rhine and all the fine
houses on Madison square and Beacon
street, and all the bricks and timber
and stones will Just fall back on the
bare hands of American and European
labor.
The worst enemies Of the working
classes in the United States and Ireland
are their demented coadjutors. Years
ago assaSsination-the assassination
Of Lord Frederick Cavendish and Mr..
Burke, in Phoenix park, Dublin, Ire
land, in the attempt to avenge the
wrongs Of Ireland only turned away
from that afflicted people millions Of
sympathizers. The attempts TO blow
up the house Of commons in London
had only this effect-to throw out Of
employment tens of thousands Of inno-
cent people In England. In this oun
try the torch put to the factories that
have discharged hands for good or bad
reason, distractions on the rail tracks,
10 front Of midnight express trains be-
cause the offenders do not like the
president Of the company; strikes on
shipboard the hour they were going to
sail or in printing offices the hour the
paper was 10 60 TO press or in the mines
the day the coal was 10 be delivered. or
on house scaffoldings so the builder
fails in keeping his contraet-all these
are only a hard blow on the head Of
American labor, and cripple its arms
and lame its feet and pierce its heart.
Traps sprung suddenly upon employers
and violence never took one knot out OF
the knuekles Of toll or put one farihing
Of wages into a callous palm. Bsrbar'
ism will never cure the wrongs Of civ
ilizaiion. Mark thatl
Frederick the Great admired some
land near his palace al Potsdam, and he
resolved TO get it. II was owned by a
miller. He offered the miller three
times the value Of the property. The
miller would not take II because it was
the old homestead, and he felt about al
Naboth felt about his vineyard when
Ahsd wanted it. Frederick the Great
was a rough and terrible man, and he
ordered the miller into his presence
and the king, with a stick in his hand
a stick with which he sometimes
struck the officers Of state-said to III,
miller: "Now. l have offered you thres
times the value Of that property, and Il
you won't sell it Ill take it anyhow
The miller said; "YOur majesty. you
won't" Yes" said the king, II viii
take H." Then" said the miller, I'll
your majesty does take IL | will sue yoJ
in the ehancery court" At that threat
Frederick the Great yielded his in
famous demand. And the most imperi
Gus outrage against the working
classes will yet cover before the law
Violence and defiance of the law viii
never accomplish anything; bui
righteousness and submission 10 thu
law will accomplish it.
But gradually the damages done tn,
laborer by the strikes will be repaired
and some important things ought nov
10 be said. The whole tendency Of oul
times, as you have noticed, is to max,
the chasm between employer and EN-
ploye wider and wider. In olden timei
the head man Of the factory, the mas
ter builder, the capitalist, the head
man of the firm. worked side by sid,
with their employees, working some
times al the same bench, dining al thu
same table, and there are those her,
who can remember the time when th'
clerks Of large commercial establish
ments were accustomed TO board will
the head men Of the firm.
All that is changed, and the ten
dency is to make the distance between
employer and employe wider and wider
The tendency is 10 make the employ,
feel that he is wrOnged by the success
Of the capitalist, and to make the cap
italist feel: Now. my lsborers ar,
only beasts Of burden; l must Civ
them so much money for so mucl
drudgery, just so many pieces Of silye
for so many beads Of sweat" In othe.
words, the bridge Of sympathy is brok
en- down at both ends. That feeling
was well described by Thomas Carlyl,
when he said: "Plugson, Of ST. Doll,
Undershot, buccaneerlike, says 10 hi
men: Noble spinners. this is the hun
dredth thousand we have gained
wherein ! mean TO dwell and plant M
vineyards. The 10000 is mine, tn,
daily wage was yours. Adieu. nobl
spinners. Drink my health with hi.
grost each. which ] give you over ant
above" Now. what we want is TO re
build that bridge Of sympathy. and
put the trowel to one OF the abutment
to-day. and preach more especially q
employers as such, although what
have TO say will be approi rate TO boil
employers and employees.
The behavior Of q multitude Of Ia
bOrers toward their employers durinl
the last three months may have 10
dueed some employers 10 neglec, thI
real Christian duties that they owe Il
those whom they employ. Therefor
] want TO say to you whom %confron
face to face and those TO whom thes
words may come that all ~shipowneu
all capitalists, all commercial firms, al
master builders, all housewives, an
bound TO be interested In the entir
welfare Of their subOrdinstes. Year
ago someone gave three prescription
for becoming 3 millionaire: "Fir,
spend your life in getting and keepinl
the earnings Of other people; secondly
have no anxiety about the worriment,
the LOSES the disappointmeufgo Of 9th