The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1902-10-15

President Baef. Is, Inal tile
owners Of the mines will not
recognize Mitchell and his or
ganized labor. Mitchell pro
poses to force this recognition,
and this is where the abstacle
lies.
President Baer. believes that
law cannot reach him, because
of it's inability to interfere with
private rights, and in this po-
sition he is insolent, brutal and
arrogant, and with senseless
tyranny faunts defiance into the
hunger -pinched faces of the
strikers. He refuses absolutely
anv concessions which recognizes
the right Of labor to dictate
terms. He contends, the own
ership of property is a divine
right, and as such, its manage
ment cannot be interfered with
so long as 1t violated no consti
tutional law: the right to own
and manage property is guaren-
teed by the constitution of the
United States, and according to
Baer, it is the duty Of the gov
eminent to protect him in the
lawful management of his prop
ertv. There is some reason in
this argument, but at the same
time. when it appears that own
ership of property is IN the
hands of those who have secur-
ed certain franchises by way OF
charter from the government,
and by this means have combln-
ed these private interests into a
combination which is menacing
to the public welfare, it would
seem to a layman that the spirit,
ifrot the letter of the constitution
is violated, and the government
should exercise the same power
to protect the masses, as 1t
would when it forbids the erec-
ton of a powder magazine on
private property, that would be
a menace to the community. Ii
a contagion breaks out, the pro-
tecting power of the govern
nent is exercised by quarantln-
ING whole section of the coun-
try, even taking a citizen from
his private bed chamber to a
place where the community will
not be endangered; and clothed
with power in such cases we can
not understand whyit is the GOV
ernment is helpless now. we
know law cannot force the strlk-
ers back to work, but the law can
give protection to those who are
forced away from the coal fields.
In our Judgment the government
should give Capital and Labor
to understand, it proposes to
protect both. and that it will
maintain peace and quiet all haz,
ards: if this is done the element
not willing to accept the wages
and hours offered by the opera
tors of the mines will have to
give away to the element will
ing to accept and anxious to go
to work if protection from vlo-
lence is assured them; then peace
will come in short order, but as
long as the corporate-comblnes
are allowd to grind and oppress,
and the labor demagogues are
permitted to impose upon and
hoodwink ignorant foreign la
borers, just so long will Capital
continue it's greed and oppress-
ion and Labor will be disconten,
ted. # our statesmen will ind
a way to make it a penitentlary
crime to combine capital for the
purpose of monopoly and crush
inc out honest competition, then
thew can also find with consis-
tencv a way to unlock prison
doors for those whose profession
it is to throw fire brands into the
camps of men who are earning
their daily bread by the sweat
of their brow, as they are CON-
manded by divine law.
There is no gainsaying it, Cap.
ital and Labor are both needed
for the development of this great
and growing country; the two
must 90 hand in hand, neither
can get along without the other,
therefore it is a matter of our
country's salvation that dema-
gogery and oppression both be
Stamped out, and wise, patriotic
business statemanship take its
place. The country is in a revo-
Iutionary condition, and the
restless condition is not confined
to any one section either: an
outbreak in Pennsylvania will
find sympathetic response in
Texas, and the firing of gun in
New Orleans will have an echo
in Boston. Why is this?
Because the greed Of wealth
is so ravenous and intolerant,
that bad men seek to make vas
sails and slaves of the toilers
of the earth; not alone in Penn
sylvania, but it has also reached
South Carolina. With some of the
owners of this wealth, the dollar
is their God, and in their heart
lessneSS thew are not content