The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1904-09-09
THE PENDING STRIKES.
They Are 81 No Use a. Del ecratic
CaM paign Material.

After cropping about blindly for some
thing to take the place of the lead is
to l free silver issue Of 1896 and 1900,
the Democrats have apparently seized
upon the unrest of labor as indicated in
numerous strikes in various parts Of the
country as 4 condition which can be
charged to the Republican party. This
is merely another illustration Of the ira
ditional faulty of Democratic issue hun
te-s to monkey with a live wire, when
they are looking for something to win
votes.
Strikes, like the poor, we have with
us always. But unlike the poor they are
not proofs of hard times and misfortune.
More often strikes are the signs and at
tendants of prosperous times. In hard
times wage earners have nothing to
strike for, except against sharing in the
losses which wait on unremunerative
industry. In good times, such as we
have been experiencing under Republi-
can rule during the past eight years.
strikes indicate the natural ambition of
la Dor to secure an increased share in
the profits Of their remunerativ0 indus
try.
Under Cleveland, from 1893 to 1896,
strikes signi6ed the protest OF labor
against declining wages.
Under Mckinley and Roosevelt, from
1897 to 1904, strikes nave marked the
strides by which labor has raised it's
wages to a point never before known in
the history of the industrial world.
No official statistics of strikes have
been compiled later than for 1900, but
the figures for the sixteen years to and
including that year show the follow
ing loss Of wages to employees during
two Republican and two Democratic
administrations:
Wages lost
to employees
by strikes.
1885 to 1883 (Cleveland). .......s 4s, 593,9s4
1898 to 1896 (Cleveland). ....... II, 226, Gil
Total 8 years Democratic
administration ..........$119,c~I,6O 1
1889 to 1892 QHarrison). ........$ 9,S59.1 51
1897 to 1900 Mckinley)........ 61,OO5, I23
Total 8 years Republican
administration ..... .....S11O, 1854 ,S11
Thus it will be seen that employees lost
nearly $9,OOO,O 600 less striking for an in
creased share of the prosperity under
striking against 4 reduced share Of the
uNluulIu6 pIOulS uIucI olcNclduu.
Blu more to the point are the figures
which show the proportion of strikes
succeeding in the respective periods as
follows:
Per cent
of strikes
Inclusive. successful.
1885 to 1888 Cleveland. ............ 50.43
1893 to 1896 (Cleveland).. .......... 53.25
Eioht Democratic n 81
1889 to 1892 (Harrison).. ............ ABA
1897 to 1900 McKinley).............. 90. A
Eight Republican years......... 1884
The banner year for strikes was 1894,
which involved a loss Of $37. Ia, 532 to
employees in wages
1t has been estimated that the strikes
OF 1903 lessened the purchasing power
Of the American people by fully $1,000
100000; and yet, SO universal was the
increase in pay Of wage earners that
the savings deposits of the country were
increased by the enormous sum of $24O,-
795, 1856 in one year. This affords a
striking contrast to the memorable year
Of Democratic adversely, 1894, when
3 7,1S9,677 more savings were with
drawn than were deposited.
There is a vast difference between the
significance Of strikes in years of adver-
sity and years Of prosperity. According
to the annual report of the American
Federation of La Dor the 1904 strikes of
the organizations affiliated with that
body in 1903 resulted in benefits to no
less than 1881, or II per cent of the
249,S19 members involved. In 1894 the
proportion of successful strikes was only
1885.
Clearly the present prevalence of spor-
adic strikes will not serve the Demo-
Gratis as a campaign issue, except as a