The weekly examiner., 1901-08-24
TO AVERT STRIKES.
PROFESSOR ELYs CONTRIBUTION TO
 A WELL WORN DISCUSSION.

A WELL WORN DISCUSSION.
 l He Says an Industrial Warfare Ex- I ists-Society, Whose Interests Are | Paramount, Should Interfere-some l Suggestions. I 1t is a self evident proposition that l if we would avert strikes we must deal l with the causes of strikes; consequent l ly any fruitful discussion of preventive measures must be based upon an andy l sis of these causes What, then, are the l causes of strikes of wage earners l Many different causes are enumerated l in reports on strikes, but most of these I are subsidiary causes.
 1 The main causes are three-namely, first, desire for higher wages, or an l effort to prevent reduction of wages; 1 second, a desire for shorter workday, l and, third, 8 desire to improve the gen l eral environment under which work 1 is conducted. The first cause is the l one which appears most frequently in l industrial disputes, but during the last l generation many bitter strike conflicts have been waged with reference to the 1 length of the working day. In the l United States especially efforts to se- cure a normal working day of eight hours have provoked some of our l f1ercest strikes.
 The regulation of environment has
 been relatively infrequent cause of strikes, although the matter Is one of l great importance. Efforts to secure l recognition of labor organization, to regulate apprenticeship, etc, are sub- f<1s l 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 taking the main directions mentioned does not lead to strikes until it encoun- ters opposition. If desire were a reali- zation, conflict would cease.
 Now, the opposition to the realization of desire in the case of the wage earn CTS is found in the attitude of their employers. These in turn have their own desires, taking frequently an op- posite direction-name1y, desires for 8 longer working day or lower wages, and they also generally find in the economic conditions surrounding them
 sharp limitations of the possibilities of compliance.
 Without dwelling longer on these pre- liminary observations, 1t may be said thatas result of conflicting desires and interests which, in spite of all fine
 words, are precisely identical, we find
 arrayed against each other two econom-
 ic classes-namely, the employed and
 the employers The earners of wages
 frequently feel that the resistance to
 tbeir aspirations is unjust and inde-
 fensible, and the wage payers feel that
 the demands made on them are un-
 reasonable and sometimes even im-
 possible of fulfllment. A dispute ex-
 isAs as to economic rights and prfyi- leges, and as this dispute is looked
 upon as matter of private concern
 chiefly or even wholly, no regular pub
 lie tribunal for the adjustment of these
 differences is provided, or when one
 does exist it Is not clothed with ade-
 quate powers.
 That takes place which must, in the
 nature of things, happen-namely, an
 attempt to secure the satisfaction or
 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 infiction or
 a penalty on the employer-namely, a 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 l 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 1n- l dustrial war, and there is no doubt 1 that the suffering involved is in pro- | portion to the number engaged com | parable to that of military warfare; | frequently it is no doubt even greater. | Cripples are left on the field-both lit | orally and figuratively. Years after an industrial battle here and there may | be found the maimed, wrecked exist ences, and no pensions afford them re- lief. Their suffering continues one or inglorious silence.
 But this strike warfare is domestic. It is within the nation. 1t is civil war. It 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 truly one of disillusionments!
 The government has as one of its ends the preservation of order and quiet. In early times quarrels of all sorts were settled directly by physical force. Later, as the interest of so- ciety in peace asserted itself, combats were regulated; and still later as social evolution proceeded physical violence was prohibited and tribunals were pro- vided for the adjustment of large classes of cases, especially those relat- ing to rights in property. The social interest in the preservation of order and the maintenance of rights of law came to be regarded as criminal as acts directed against society itself.