The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-07-17
i EEeHr OF oRGANIzArIoN.

The prevailing struggle between the
management of the steel trust and it's
employees had not been expected to take
place thus early. That it would come
sooner or later was inevitable. The
struggle is a vital one. It's outcome will
determine the future policy not only of
this but of most of the other trusts to-
ward employees. 1t is a fight of organiza-
ton against organization The capital
stock of one of the contending organiza-
lions is labor; of the other invested CAPT.
tai
Those who have watched with any
great degree of care the progress of
events have noticed the disposition on the
part of those who represent organized
labor in official position to discourage op-
position to trust organization The pur-
pose of these men. whether or not they
may be said to represent the sentiment
of the rank and file of organized labor, is
to secure all the concessions they think
possible from the opposing organization,
and disregard all other considerations,
public and private, save alone the pc
cuniary interests of the organization
they represent
1t is merely an organization fight. The
organization which is the stronger in re-
sources will win. 1t would be a COM
paratively easy matter for the steel trust
to grant all that the labor organization
wants, and charge the resulting cost OF
production to the public in the form Of
Increased prices. But the consideration
remains constantly in sight, that there Is
no limit which can be applied to the future
demands that and other labor organiza-
lions may put forward in case the need
ed concessions are made in this case We
assume, and we think there is nothing
unreasonable in the assumption, the labor
people would not give a moments con-
sideration to any other interest involved,
either public or private, if they could Sc
cure the concessions they seek.
In this view there is not much Of a
choice to be exercised by the disinterest-
ed citizen between the two contending
forces. But public sympathy will Of
course go out to the men. They occupy
the attitude of combating a monopoly
backed by the power of unlimited money
and favored by the laws of the United
States to the extent of destroying all
possibility of foreign competition. Their
struggle is to have their organization
placed on an equal footing with the trust
in the relations between the two This
the trust will not submit to unless it
can't help itself; and if it does submit
1t is not difficult to believe that the
consuming public win pay the full cost
of it's submission.
The machinists have struck for a
nine-hour Gay. The workers of the
steel trust have struck mostly for rec
ognition of their organization by the
trust. The air is filed with the smoke
of industrial battle. The fight will go
on. Suffering will probably be entaled
is closed; but the probability is very
strong that no matter where or how the
several contests end. they will leave the
interest of the general public in the SUBJ
ject matter of the controversy precisely
where it was at the beginning.
Every student in social and economic
subjects must watch this struggle with
the most profound interest, since it in
wolves the settlement more or less de-
cisively and must greatly influence the
final settlement, of many of the gravest
problems which the domination of organi-
cation in industrial life has brought upon
society.