New-York tribune., 1901-08-24
THE PROBLEM OF TO-DAv
RELATIONS OF LABOR AND CAPrr,,
LIBERTY DOES NOT MEAN LIR-
ERTY TO OPPRESS


destiny and duty to solve in the New WorIs
questions that the Old World had veur,rs
given UP in despair
First. had the theories of rnonarchv -.
aristocraey. of divine right and despotisr :
which up to that time all the world had :.
quiesced. The early years of our national u,.
were devoted to disproving them. We consisra4
the whole business Of crowns thrones 80,
and titles and privileged classes, with their - .
pings and gewgaws. to the lumber room OF nas.
history. so far as we were concerned. and wh-
stituted for them government by the NAOMI.
through their representatives. in which avar,,
citizen might share and all have equal Isga,
rights. So we disposed of problem No. /
Then came the question OF land ownersb,,
The usage in the Old World had been for m
crown to grant vast tracts Of territory 10 com,
favorites. with governmental powers. undar
which great landed estates were parcelled out
and handed down through successive genera
tions. 70 be worked by tenants and dependapts
incapable of becoming owners. We studied this
problem, and gradually reformed the system hv
abolishing feudaI tenures. manoraI titles. primo
geniture and entailed estates Instead we en-
acted that every man. poor or rich. might be-
come a land owner if he chose-might have and
hold all the broad acres he could earn during
up in perpetuity for his descendants. We knew
that time and the working OF natural laws would
redistribute it among the community So We
solved problem No. ..
Next came the more complex question Of deal
ing with capital and its combinations Men
had already learned that by combining their
energies and capital they could accomplish
great enterprises otherwise impossible. The
Old World practice was to allow court favorites
to organize chartered companies" having the
monopoly o. trade in specified localities at
home and abroad, having also sufficient powers
20 crush out all competition and reduce TO sub
lection the unfortunate inhabitants who came
in contact with them. Even some OF our colonies
were begun in this way We studied the prob
lem long and thoroughly during the nineteenth
century. The outcome was a system Of laws
Ir regard 20 corporations which sought to re-
tain all their powers for doing good and 70 de-
prive them Of their powers for doing harm
It's fundamental principle was that men might
freely combine and organize under general laws
so that all fields Of enterprise should be open
10 competition and none closed by monopoly
a corporation might acquire a hundred mills
or a thousand miles Of railway but any
rival corporation could do the same Under the
salutary system of State and national laws.
in the path OF commercial progress. So we have
solved problem No. g.
Lastly. we have been confronted with the
problem of labor. its relation to capital and
their joint relation 70 the community at large
That problem We are still wrestling with We
began by freeing the laborer from all the Old
World tyrannes and medieval oppression by
decreeing that he should no longer be serf, peon
or slave. He should be free to chose his oe-
cupatton, free TO make contracts TO work
where and how he pleased. Furthermore we
have decided that he has the same freedom
as the capitalist TO combine and organic with
his fellow workmen for mutual protection and
benefit Rich and poor in America We de-
cided, should have equal rights and equal pro-
lection in the courts.
IL is not strange that when news Of this as
founding change in the Iaborer's status reached
Europe newcomers focked over here by the
thousand to better their condition and to enjoy
the advantages Of republican freedom.
But with them latterly have come some ambi-
tious spirits and plausible mischief makers who
under the pretenCe OF revealing new doctrines
are trying TO lead men back into Old World
notions Chief among these notions is the idea
that liberty means liberty to Oppress some
body They play upon the labOrer's isnoranee,
timidtty or Credulity. They tempt him with the
thought that being no longer oppressed, he may
turn oppressor. They teach him methods Of
tyranny against other wOrkmen against which
his better Judgment would revolt They tell him
that while other men are held 20 their contracts
he may break his with impunity-that his per-
sonal freedom allows him 10 deny personal rree-
dom TO OtherS-that the right to earn his HvnS
which he prizes. is that he may deny 10
other labOrers. and that 70 become member OF
organized union gives him the privilege OF
stOning or starving those who DO not belong
70 IL. They demand that, instead Of exercising
his rights as a free man, he shall submit MS
will and judgment 20 the orders OF an ariS-
toCracy composed of grand masters ana
walking delegates and other functionaries
with high sounding names.
All these ideas are so un-American and so re.
pugnant to natural justice that they VIII nng
no enduring foothOld except in minds perVerleu
and demoralized by Old World misgovernren,.; y;
The children OF such blind leaders OF the ohhG
will be wiser than their parents. for they VIII
have the benefit of American schools ana news
papers. They will have the opportunity 70 AZ
Guire American common sense and discard loI-
eign fantasies. They will know that the A1let.. .
can naxin of Live and let live is the keynote
of individual and national progress.
FREDERICK W. SEWARD.
1to,.-o,a. ,r, the Hudson Aug % 1901.