The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-08-11
Morgan and SChWab
A Character Study Of the Two Great Captains Of
Industry.


ecutive board OF the Amaigamated as
ISOLATION these two famous captains Of
monopoly revealed their characteristics.
SchWab pale, quiet and polite; Morgan.
flushed, excited. abusive. Schws D
stopped after stating the demands Of
the trust. Morgan undertook TO brow
beat. He not only made an ultimatum
and set q limit of two or three hours
for its acceptance, but he undertook 10
define the mems rights. Perhaps il
was TO some extent acting; perhaps 1t
was done with the deliberate, Napole-
Onic intention of subduing the work
mems representatives with awe How
ever this may be, the trust f1nancier's
manner and words were violent. and
they ended all hope of peace on any
terms other than virtually the uncOn-
ditionaI surrender of the men.
One knowing little Of the conditions
in the steel trade might suppose that
the trust had all Of justice on its side,
and the men none. But when one
comes to reflect that what the Amalga-
mated association is trying to dot is
not to get an Increase in wages or a
reduction in the hours Of toll, but mere
~ protection for and a continuation OF
the conditions that now exist-the
workmen's contention cannot seem I'M
just.
As to Wages Of the Workmen.
Nor can their position be weakened
in popular estimation when these work
ms conditions are examined One
might suppose from what Is often said
by the magnates or their representa-
tives that wages in the various
branches of the steel industry are eX-
tTemely high. II is true. that some
men do get very high pay but they are
few and exceptional. The great mass
of men in the steel making or using
vocatiOus do not The average wages
of the anthracite mine workers, taking
one year with another, is, as last years
strike revealed, approximately $3.50 per
annum. Large numbers of breaker"
boys pull down the average, but there
are many parts Of the steel making
and manipulating processes where toll
for the men is no more difficult, dan
gerous or protected than the toll of
the men in the hard coal fields. Since
all men follow the fundamental law Of
their natures and seek 10 satisfy their
desires with the least eXertiOn. they
viii flock to that industry where there
is the highest pay relatively to the skill
required, and the difficulties or disad-
vantages to be borne. AS there is con-
stantly a floating mass of laborers
ready to hOw into a channel that Of
fers any better conditions than those
that exist, wages must of necessity
tend to an equilibrium; the ratio be
tween high wages in one branch or vo-
CaIlOn ana the low wages IN another
being fixed by skill, difficulty and such
circumstances.
This being so. wages in the Wanted
steel industry, taking the mine work
ers' average Of $3.50 a year as a base.
cannot be very great, if the fancy
wages Of the exceptional men be omit
ted. Hence. while the steel magnates
have now declared for a war Of eX-
termination against the Steel Workers
union, the men themselves are fighting
TO protect the wages they now get. low
though those wages be. considering the
heavy and ruinoUs toll they must give
ia return. The OnlOOkeT may properly
ask if morally justice lies with the
money grasping trust. Many are so
busy in talking about the usurpatiOn of
the trade union that few stop to con-
slider the nature Of the trust-hOw
privilege is the very blood of its body
and the breath of its nOstrils. 1t has
exclusive rights to vast mineral fields.
to means of transportation, and to sell
in certain markets Public laws foster
and protect these privileges. which in
turn are making mOnStrOuS fortunes
for the trust managers. if for no one
else Can this be forgotten when the
trust goes to war with multitude of
wOrkmen who must battle for little bet
ter than a bare living?