The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1902-08-09

The election Of labor mayor Of the
city of Hartford, Conn, some time
ago has called out g. rather remark
able editorial in Harper's Weekly. We
take the following interesting extracts
from it:
There has scarcely been a more in
teresting event in our political history
than the recent election of a working
man to the mayoralty of the city Of
Hartford. Labor has stood squarely
on it's feet, and matched itself against
the other interests, and beaten them
in fair fight, on ground which was
peculiarly the ground of capital. Hart
ford, is one Of the richest towns in the
land, counting it's dollars and it's citi-
zens, and until now, so the working
men believe, wealth has had every
thing it's own way in Hartford.
For almost the first time the work.
ing people have realized that as voters
they are the majority, and that the
majority. can always change any state
of things If it does not like it. Acting
upon their sense of this fact, they
have given themselves the luxury of
a peaceful triumph, which they have
not paid for with so much as one
broken head.
Some very good people are anxiously
expecting Reign of Terror among
the fire insurance buildings of the
Connecticut capital, and their fears are
not wholly allayed by the declarations
of the mayor-elect that he will look
to the welfare Of the whole city, and
will be glad of the advice of every
class of people,. He was a clerk in a
clothing store, and though he has
shown uncommon ability in the man
agement Of the election, they cannot
feel as sure, of him as they could If
he were one of those solid men whom
we trust so implicitly in politics be-
cause their failures in business are
about IS per cent.
Yet why should such very good peo-
pie feel alarm at what has happened,
and be so eager to overlive it? Why
should not they console themselves
with the reflection that the majority
is always the American people, that
the government of Hartford is as
much in the hands of Americans as
ever, and that the hands being hard
has nothing to do with the fact? The
working people have as yet been so
little trusted with the control, even in
this country, that the mind fnflamed
with the more melodramatic events of
history elsewhere cannot conceiYe of
their behaving sanely and justly.
Yet we do not see why the working
men of Hartford should be expected to
behave altogether 4 foolishly. Why
should not We predicate of them good
will, and self-control, and sense of
justice? The leader whom they have
chosen mayor of the city has expressed
himself with such temperance and
prudence, so far as he has been re-
ported, that only those less American
Americans who really dread the rule
of the majority need be prematurely
troubled in their! minds.
Many people: derive their notion OF
plebian supremacy from the. opera OF
'Masaniello,' = and certainly things
went wrong under the brief rule of
the fisherman. But there +, was
period of Florentine history which
never got into opera, when the COM
monest of the common people were at
the head of affairs, and this was the
happiest period, the peacefulest, the
most prosperous, the safest in the
whole history of the Florentine repub-
lie.
. To be sure, the plebian administra-
ton Obliged the mobiles to 'renounce
their titles and enroll themselves in the
rades unions, or leave Florence, and
if any cidevant presumed to strike a
workingman he was re-enobled and
banshed. But no such extreme of
justice, no such retaliation from class
to class is to be reasonably appre-
hended from labor rule in Hartford.
Probably no bank president or insur-
ance president will be forced to place
his name on the time card Of a fac
tory or foundry, or even clothing
store, and if he should personally
modest one of the dominant class he
would simply be tried for assault and
battery.