Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1902-09-20

pered the employees knew that they
would prosper also. Because Of their
own prosperity as well as of his they
worked as they never worked before.
Those employees made thousands Of
dollars for themselves. They made
millions upon millions Of dollars for
Mr.. Chllds. The magnificent results
from practlcing the Golden Rule In
the Philadelphia Ledger can be dupli
Gated In every other big business cor.
poration in any part Of the world.
But the trouble with most capitalists
Of the present day is that they refuse
to do as Mr.. Childs did. They shirk
their individual responsibility AS your
moneys are collected into great trust
or corporation and you only hold few
shares you say you are not RESPONSE
bic for what the whole concern, may
do. You are like the members Of an
execution squad who have been de-
tailed to shoot spy caught within the
military lines. You say no ohe individ-
ual Is responsible for the execution, be-
cause twenty-five bullets instead Of
one strike the doomed mans heart, but
every capitalist who has his money in
vested In a corporation where starva-
tion salaries are being paid to it's en-
ployees is responsible for the damage
that his money helps to do. he is re-
spOnsible If child labor be engaged In
his factory. He Is responsible If men
and women, on account OF his indlffer-
ence, go to their mental and physical
and perhaps spiritual doom. He is his
brothers keeper in so far as that he is
bound to see that the man whose toll
adds to his wealth has fair wages.
Cause of Social upheaval.
But the labOring classes as well as
the capitalists have sinned and helped
to cause the present social upheaval
The employee is not any more saint
than his employer. They both at times
seem to be tarred with the same black
stick. Yet the average laboring man
pretends to think that all the cause |
for the present social upheayal is to |
be laid at the rich mans door and not |
Ut lis On III. III lib Wv II CHOllolu
he seems to be almost as contented
with himself and his actions as was
the old Quaker, grumbling against the
peculiarities Of the human race, when
he said to his wife, "All the world Is
queer except me and thee. Mary. and
thou art little queer"
Do the laboring classes always make
their employers interest their own IN
terest? Oh. no. There are thousands
and hundreds Of thousands Of them
who show little, If any. sense of moral
responsibility. When engaging their
services to a man, they do not for one
instant stop to consider the money
which that employer has invested in
his plant. They do not stop to think Of
the financial risk he Is running, of the
seven years Of financial depression
which may come to him when he may
have to run his works at a practical
dead loss, as when the seven years Of
famine came to Joseph In the land Of
Egypt. They do not seem to realize
that when they shrk their work they
are stealing their employers money.
for time means money.
The different labor associations, Ike
the BricklaYcrS' union. the Stone Cut
ters', the Carpenters and Builders. the
Steam Filters. Gas Filters and
Plumbers unions. the Brotherhood Of
Locomotive Engineers. Of Firemen.
Brakemen and Conductors. all have
their beneficent mission They Ough;
to benefit capital as we'll as labor
They ought to be the means Of putting
through the different SlSte legislatures
laws to prevent the employment OF |
to limit the hours Of labor
and to prevent 1agrant injustices
against their members. But the work
Of the modern labor union does not
stop there 1t often goes to the capl.
.alist and tries to dictate what men he
shall or shall not employ 1t goes to !
he capitalists and SAYS: You must
ook upon every one Of our members ,
as an equal and pay all alike. You
must pay just as much daily wages to
he ordinary worker as to the skilled ;
worker" Or the labor union goes to |,
he capitalist who is paying satisfac- !.
ory wages and whose employees are :
Ill contented and says: Mr. So-and-so. Z
We have got to call your men off on q !
strike We cannot make
'our neighbors pay the union rate
Therefore we shall stop work until the
PRESSURE compels your nelghbors to
,ield."
"Well." answers some walking dele
,ate that IL an exaggerated lllustra. L
ion, but uniform wages to all union b
workers. and. when necessary, sympa- t
hetic strikes are absolutely indispen- L
able In their way. and we are only t
ollowng thr example OF capitalists u
nd employers in making such combi- o.
ations. We must look after the inter- I
SITS Of the laboring man and keep our n
abor unions intact. 1t Is only by the L
OF one union. fighting for Il
he interests Of other labor unions, p
hat the pressure Is applied and our Il
,asonable demands are granted. The q
boring man cannot practice the Gold 81
! Rule Of looking after the interests al
his employer or else he will starve
death. The first thought the labor In
q man must have is for himself, and "
mself alone" sr
Mutual Trust. dl
Iy laboring friend, II you cannot n,
'ach the high Christian standard OF W
wing your employer as you would tr
We yourself, you are simply heading
ward the social economic wilderness.
be greatest inspiration for future ma
onal prosperity Is not to be found In bi
e gold bricks which are stored away bi
the vaults Of our naNonal banks; 1t d.
In the mutual trust which the cspi- so
listc and lnboring classes ought to ed
i've in each other. IL the average or
lsiness firm could not trust It's Gus IN
mers or was In such condition that r.
e wholesale business houses could DC