The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-31

I8l of the ablest divines of the coun-
l try on the struggle which is now
u&DRl going on between labor and CAPT
tai. The men are especially
noted as thinkers and they are the friends
OF the public. One is Bishop Henry G. Pot
ter. the head OF the Protestant Episcopal
Church, of New York, and the other Is
James Cardinal Gibbons. the chief Of Ro-
man Catholicism on the North American
continent.
1t was In his apartments on West Forth
eth street that met Bishop Potter. Going
up the elevator. was taken into little re-
ception room walled with books and fur
nished in blue as delicate that of the
blue room OF the White House. sawed
of boy in buttons took my card TO the
bishop, and a moment later tall, straight
broad-shouldered man in clerical dress
stood before me. 1t was Bishop Potter. /
should have known that he was preacher
had 1 met him in the midst OF Broadway
instead OF there in his study. He looks the
eminent divine His head is big. his fore
head high and broad, his side whiskers are
cut in formal episcopal style and the words
drop from his lips so clean cut that they
made me think Of copper-plate engraving.
view and In response TO my questions he
began at once.
THE struggle now going on between labor
and capital Is q serious one, said ne, out
have no doubt but that time and the
forces at issue will bring IL TO success
full conclusion. Neither the labor unions
nor the employers seem to regard the great
est factor in II. They forget that the ma
jority Of our people are neither laborers nor
capitalists. The capital class Is small, and
IL IS estimated that there are four million
people dependent on the wages OF organized
labor. We have a population OF OOO0OO,
so that there 100000 outside. That
rs, 900, 5000 may allow organized labor to in
convenience them for a time. but they will
never permit IL to rule. AS soon as the
inconvenience becomes great they will
rise up in arms ard put an end to it In one
way or another: don't think the labor
appreciate the fact that they may raise
a spirit Of antagonlsm to their cause"
You mean that they may make the peo-
Yes. mean just that" said the bishop.
DOES NOT CREATE CAPITAL.
but. Bishop Potter said 1. "the laborer
Is certainly worthy of his hire. II Is labor
that creates the wealth of the country, and
II would seem to me that labor ought to
fight for its rights"
yes" replied Bishop Potter. eft should.
provided IL knows what its rights are. 1t
Is ridiculous, however, to say that the
wealth or the United States has been Gre
ated by mere muscular force. that is, by
the work OF the day laborer. Such work
alone has created no considerable part Of
our wealth The men who furnish IL might
toll thousand years If they could live so
long and have a product no greater than at
the end of the first day or the first week.
They have their everlasting daily wants to
deyour their daily production, and IL Is
only when foresight, extraordinary ability
and the genius of invention come in that
their work can be so directed and used
to create wealth.
THE relations of labor and capital" con-
tinued Bishop Potter. ARE in some respects
like those Of the elephants and their mas
terS in the lumber yards of the far East.
AS you enter the shipyard at Rangoon, Bur-
ma, you may see those huge unwieldy ami
mails loading, unloading and stacking tim
bers. They seize great logs or oak, mahog-
any or teak wood with their tuSkS and
trunks; they balance them carefully and
carry them through winding pathways out
OF the ships to the wharves and place them
Just where they are needed. Their intelli-
gence seems wonderful and their ability be-
yond conception, ,, AS you you, look closer how,
neck of each elephant. He has a stick in
his hand, but he rarely raises II and never
strikes. Watch him closely, however and
you will see that his bare heel rests with an
intermittent pressure on the neck of the
huge animal he rides, and there you have
the secret of the whole business. The
brute obeys the man. The clever intelli-
gence of the Burman's heel guides. directs,
restraints, constrains and energies the enor-
nous living bulk beneath him and con-
verts II from a destroying monster into
faithful and untiring servant That is how
the genius Of capital uses labor-by inven-
ton. construction, organization and direc-
ton"
CAPITALS SMALL PROFITS.
"But the elephant has the right to his
feed" said 1. Does not labor gets Its share
Of the profits?'
1T IS getting more every year and capital
less" was the reply. This is especially so
TO the real profits; that is, the commodi-
ties that can be bought with the money re-
ceived from capital and labor. l don't
think that 1t is generally considered that the
great bulk OF the capital of the country
consists OF aggregation of small sums
owned by people who are dependent upon
them for their living. Take the widow
whose all is the sum OF 5000 which she has
TO safely invest. In 1899 that widow could
put this sum into safe bond which would
bring her per cent. or $3.50 per year. At the
same time suppose man received a dollar a
day for his work and that he worked 300
days in the year. His income would be $500
q year, or $50 less than the earnings of the
widows 5000. Now II is estimated that
since 1850 wages have increased about 60
per cent. so that the dollar a day man of
1850 would now get at least $3.50 or $50 more
than he got in 1860. At the same time the
widows earnings have been reduced to 4
per cent instead of Z. and her income from
the 5000 is only 500 instead of $3.50. She