The Washington times., 1901-07-18
THE STEEL STRIKE.

| 1t is a battle of purely selfish interests.
and is paralleled every day in this strug-
Cling world on a small scale. And since
the strife is TO be fierce and on such a
tremendous scale. it is probable that it
will not be of long duration. which is a
c0nsummation devoutly to be desired
Baltimore HersHd.
The whole thing boiIs itself down to
compulsory unicnism. From that there
| is no escape. If that can win. the strike
will succeed. II that cannot win, the
| strike will fail.-Brooklyn Eagle
Why cannot the two parties now agree
to arbitrate? Arbitration thousand
times rather than a bitter struggle tina
must entail staggering losses upon its
participants and disturb the business and
industry OF the entire coHntry,-New
York Herald.
The question is one which has long
been n menace to the Industrial resources
of the United States and its final solu-
| tion will be welcomed. Let US hope that
the present conflict will be bloodIsss. hut
decisive. and that the principles of jus
tice and individual liberty as set forth
in the Constitution of the United States,
will prevail-Buffalo Times.
Mr. Shafer wishes to show that he is
"a bigger man" than Morgan. and he
thinks this is a favorable time for the
demonstration.-Phila hiladelphia Times
The struggle is against the greatest
trust ever known, and we fear the result
will be even more disastrous to the men
than in the case of the machinists now
returning to work, as in Cincinnati and
Observation-Disclosures Free Press.
The biggest corporation ever formed has
what may become the biggest strike on
record on its hands Is it too late now to
avert the evil?-Boston Globe.
But if the position of the steel combiua-
ton is correctly stated by the representa-
tive it carries with it an inference,
as strong as the direct proposition that
should clear the way to the settlement Of
the dispute. That is. that if the United
States Steel Corporation will not coerce
its employees into joining the union neither
will 1t restrain them from doing so-Pitts-
burg Dispatch
The great struggle thus precipitated vir
tually realizes the expectations OF the
economists who have predicted the forma
ton of a monopoly of labor to oppose a
monopoly of capital. The outcome. it is
true, even though won at great cost. may
not be conclusive. and the same fight may
have to be fought over in other industries
But whatever it may be, there seems
little reason to doubt that the tendency
oily is as inevitable as the tendency to
the extension of the trust organizations
of capital--Chicago News.
Their idea appears to be this. that there
must be labor trust opposed to the great
manufacturing trusts or else labor will be
enslaved. and that in the end the great
trusts will dictate the terms upon which
all men shall work.-Chicago Journal
Should the contestants remain uurecou-
ciled we may repeat Erglands experience
and lose the manufacturing prestige
which we have gained in the last five or
six years.-Chicago Record Herald.
The sole Justification which President
Shafer is able to offer for the course
adopted by the labor men is the charge
that the union mills are Disseminated
against by the combination Of manufac-
turers that the union mills are operated
only when the demand for the steel pro-
ducts is greater than the non-union mills
can supply.-New York Evening Post.