St. Tammany farmer., 1901-07-27
STRIKES AND RIOTS.
A Study of One Phase of the Labor
Trouble.

Rev. Herbert N. Casson, u Prominent
Friend of Labor, Says the Omin-
Gus Problem Has Not Received
CONFEDERATION 1t Deserves.
"The Psychology of Strike Riot
is the title of an article by Herbert
N. Casson, which appeared in recent
number of the New York Independent
Mr.. Casson, who was the founder OF
the first Labor church in the United
States, has for the past ten years been
one of the strongest friends of labor
in the country. He has advised and
conferred with the labor leaders in
many of the recent important strikes
in the east, and in more than few
cases has been chosen. as their spokes.
man. He writes as follows:
Why is there so much popular sym
pathy with the lawless acts of strikers
and their friends? Why are soldiers
Kissed and the police obstructed when
they are called upon to queu the riot
ing caused by labor disturbances?
This ominous problem has not re-
ceived the dispassionate study that it
deserves. It is the general habit to de-
mand, and rightly, that lawlessness be
instantly checked at all costs. 1t is
neither timely nor advantageous to
discuss causes and modes of preven-
ton while the rioting is in progress,
But when order has been restored, it
is very necessary to make an impartial
and thorough investigation.
The average American crowd is law
abiding and averse to hoodlumism in
any form. 1t has no rooted antipathy
to the military and the police, as is the
case in many European countries. 1t
loves excitement, but it is not brutal
in it's instincts. 1t is generally ready
with it's sympathy and assistance when
either are needed, and has always a
strong sense of fair play.
Therefore, when such scenes occur
as those that were enacted in the Al
bany strike, when few wagon loads
of defenseless men were stoned merci-
/ lessly by a large crowd evidently not
composed of the hoodlum class, a prob
lem is presented which is not easy to
solve. By what chains of thought and
feeling do men become lawbreakers
in such social disturbances? What is
the psychology of a strike riot? By
what means does an Industrious wage
worker become transformed into a
violator of the public peace?
To satisfactorily answer these ques-
tions, it is necessary to consider them
from the standpoint of the strikers
themselves. In the first place, it must
be remembered what the outcome of
strike means to wage-earner. The
success of the strike does not mean q
few more superfuous luxuries; it's fail
ure does not mean mere shrinkage
of capital.
The strikers have given up their jobs;
they have become temporary vagrants,
without any means of support. To win
is to secure better conditions for them
selves and their families-better food,
better clothes, better treatment. To
lose means absolute poverty, for a
time at least, and the torturing uncer-
tainty of unemployment.
The wage-worker in the city is land
less, homeless and practically friend
less. His employers do not know him,
and in most cases would not allow him
an interview. He knows that he counts
for nothing as separate individual.
In many cases he has even ceased to
be a person-he has become number.
He has nothing to fall back upon ex-
cept his union.
It is his union which places the city
worker upon higher level than a
horse or machine. Without organized
action the working people would be
absolutely helpless against organized
capital. Their wages and hours of Ia
Dor would be fixed with very little re-
gard for their interests and none for
their convenience. And during strike
the very existence of their union is at
stake. The organization which they
have built up after years of effort and
expense is threatened with complete
destruction.
Is it any wonder, therefore, that the
strikers should feel fierce aversion
to the nonunion outsiders who take
their places? In many instances these
nonunionists are professional "scabs"
men who offer themselves for the ex-
press purpose of breaking up strikes.
The strikers know many of them by
name, and their records are passed
from one to another. For the sake
of double wages or cash bonus these
nonunionists lend themselves tempo
rarily to any employer whose men are
on strike.
These men are regarded by unionists
with the same fear and hatred as is felt
for anarchists by the monarchs of Eu-
rope. Consequently, when one of them
is seen on the streets during strike,
this animosity, intensified into frenzy
by the presence of a crowd, breaks out
in acts of violence and disorder. Men
who have hitherto been peaceable, in
dustrious wage-workers have been
known to join in the attack upon these
strike-breakers.
>,s roo.or ! E..