The weekly examiner., 1901-07-20
The Lesson.

hour workday-The Examiner man says
 that this strike-having for this reason
 failed, every one now says that in losing
 it's chief object and the one engrafted on it by the dictation of the national man.
 agement-has ''failed utterly to accom-
 plish anything, and has only proved to
 be two months loss of wages to our
 machinists and heavy individual debt
 for. their support, as well as loss to
 manufacturers of nearly half million
 dollars. And in return for all this loss,'
 they say, ''no one has gained any return
 in any way" Some accountants have
 even gone so far as to estimate in fig
 ures, pretty closely as they arrange fig
 ures, the total loss to the city in money
 which the strike caused.
 This view of the situation, however,
 is hardly correct It rests wholly with
 the machinists who struck to decide for
 themselves whether they will gain a
 substantial victory from it's lessons, or
 not. If they do decide correctly, they
 can surely attain results far better for
 their interests at large than nine-hour
 work day or recognition of the union
 chiefs and their dictation, or that both
 together could possibly have brought
 them. These demands, and others like
 them, do not go to the root of the mat
 ter. They are merely surface applica-
 tions in part, but which leave the hun
 dred other forms of injustice to continue
 to infame and disturb industrial condi-
 tions. No radical, permanent good to
 labor is gained by strike on one or
 two lines of demands only. If it could be Lsus nhta5ned if unl1ld he necessary
 lg60r to c041sll1lz ig,
 each time for new and dRffe4 tional concessions This would mean death to every kind of industry. Labor commits suicide in seeking to destroy capital. The main and only object of intelligent labor is to compel capital to be just, fair, humane. This can only be radically and permanently accomplished by law-by statutory protection of la bor. Capital long ago 1ntelligently rec ognized the fact that for it's permanent safety and protection it must control the law-making power. This it has done for many years. The bulk of the session laws at every meeting of our legislature are in the interests of corpo- rations, monied interests, and rich es- tates, in 8 thousand ways-the general object of our enactments each time be- ing, by charters, grants, corporate priv ileges, etc., to foster rich mems inter ests. While the workingmen are strik- ing to get their officials recognized these rich interests are having laws passed at Hartford to protect the amassing of wealth. A good law of the state in the interest of justice, health, intelligence, civilization, good living, hours of legal labor, etc., is worth ten-thousandfold more to labor than would be of value, if granted, recognition of high-paid union officials in forty seven states Labor will always be disturbed, always be wronged and the under dog'' until, in intelighnt imitation of capital, it ob- tains fair protection of it's just rights by law. Till then, neither strikes nor hoS1uCeAGSiS uOI WdLh1uS u0leSdG0S WILL be of real use. They do labor more harm than good. They but place it in public as an angry beggar for few straws of it's many just rights, instead of as body of honorable human work men protected and granted justice by law. This,s then, reaches to the sugges- tion of thessfrst great benefit to our en- ployedS mechanics, which should be the outcome of the strike.
 It is this. The radical remedy is not union fori.strike purposes against en- ployers and their requirements-how ever distasteful, harrassing and unjust. It is union as citizens with equal rights in free republic for united action at the ballot box. This unanimity of pur- pose and action by workingmen would compelithe candid respect of all. At the polls the vote of Vanderbilt counts no more than that of his gardner. At the polls-the real highest and grandest ! kind of sovereignty in the Republic capital and labor are absolutely equal and l on 8 level. Why should not labor | choose the highest vantage ground | America offers on which to meet cap- 1 ital, that of free citizenship, ballot in | hand, where all are equal? Gan labor | ever win bits right against capital, so long as, throwing aside its citizenship |