The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1901-09-07
TO AVERT STRIKES
PROFESSOR ELY,s CONTRIBUTION TO
A WELL WORN DISCUSSION.

PROFESSOR ELY,S CONTRIBUTION TO
A WELL WORN DISCUSSION.
He Says an Industrial Warfare Ex-
ists-Society, Whose Interests are
Paramount, Should Interfere.
Prediction and Exchange Now
Social Processes, No Longer Cap
able of Regulation by Individuals
It is a self evident proposition that
II we would avert strikes we must deal
with the causes of strikes; consequent
ly, any fruitful discussion of preventive
measures must be based upon an analy-
sis OF these causes. What, then, are
the causes of strikes Of wage earners?
Many different causes are enumerated
IN reports on Strikes but most Of these
are subsidiary causes.
The main causes are three-namely,
first, desire for higher wages. or an
effort to prevent reduction of wages;
second, desire for a shorter workday,
and, third, a desire to improve the gen.
eral environment under which work is
conducted. The first cause is the one
which appears most frequently in in
dustrial disputes, but during the last
generation many bitter strike conflicts
have been waged with reference to the
length of the working day. In the Un-
tied States especially efforts to secure
a normal working day Of eight hours
have provoked some of our fiercest
strikes.
been a relatively infrequent cause of
strikes. although the matter is one of
great Importance. Efforts to secure
recognition Of labor organization, to
regulate apprenticeship, etc., are SUBJ
sidiary to the main causes enumerated,
and all these causes obviously may be
reduced to the one main cause. a de-
sire on the part of wage earners to i'm
prove their economic position. But this
desire on the part Of wage earners TAX
ing the main directions mentioned does
not lead to strikes until it encounters
opposition. If desire were realization,
conflict would cease.
Now, the opposition to the realization
of desire in the case Of the wage earn
ers is found in the attitude of their
employers. These in turn, have their
own desires, taking frequently an op-
posite direction-namely, desires for a
longer working day or lower wages,
and they also generally find in the eco
sharp limitations of the possibilities of
compliance.
Without dwelling longer or these pre-
liminary observations, it may be said
that as a result 81 Conflicting desIres'
and interests which, in spite of all fine
words, are precisely identical, we find
| arrayed against each other two eco-
nomic classes-namely, the employed
and the employers. The earners Of
wages frequently feel that the resist
| ance to their aspirations is unjust and
| indefensible, and the wage payers feel
| that the demands made on them are
unreasonable and sometimes even i'm
possible of fulfillment. dispute exists
as to economic rights and privileges,
and as, this dispute is looked upon as
matter of private concern chiefly, or
even wholly, no regular public tribunal
for the adjustment of these differences
is provided, or when one does exist it
is not clothed with adequate powers.
That takes place which must, in the
nature of things, happen-namely, an
attempt to secure the satisfaction of
desires by force. economic force. The
wage earners cease work and endeavOr
to induce others to refrain from taking
the places which they have left. Their
hope is that, through the infliction Of
penalty on the employer-namely,
pecuniary loss compliance with their
desires will be forced. The employer,
on the other hand, trusts that the pres
sure of economic need which in many
cases soon becomes hunger, may force
the wage earners to yield to his terms.
This Is kind Of war, and, indeed, is
in popular language so called. It is in
dustrial war, and there is no doubt that
the suffering involved is in proportion
to the number engaged comparable to
that Of military warfare: frequently
it Is, no doubt, even greater. Cripples
are left on the field, both literally and
figuratively. Years after an industrial
battle here and there may be found the
MANNED, wrecked existences. and no
pensions afford them relief. Their suf-
fering continues one of inglorious si-
lence.
But this strike warfare is domestic.
1t is within the nation. 1t is civil war.
1t had been supposed that within the
nation peace was achieved and that we
were moving forward to abolish war;
fare among nations. Our period is tru-
ly one of establishments!
The government has as one Of its
end the preservation of order and quiet.
In early times quarrels Of all sorts were
settled directly by physical force Lat
er, as the interest of society in peace
asserted itself, combats were regulated;
and still later as social evolution pro-
ceeded, physical violence was prohib-
tied and tribunals were provided for
the adjustment of large classes Of cas-
es, especially those relating to rights in
property. The social interest in the