Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1907-04-01
REWARD Of ,,nDtjSTnY
Railroad President on neIations
 of Capital and Labor.
POWER OF TRADES UNIGhS.


 labof-The Rieht to Strike.
 ] President X. B StiekHey of the Chi cago Great Western railroad d2livere an address recently on "The Reward C. Industry Produced and Divided" i Mir Stickney's address was given over in considerable measure to the re lations of capital and labor ill prod1lc= i tive industry and contained Hot q few truths that organized employing cap ital has thought proper to ignore or pretend to ignore. After declaring III opening that the doctrine of brotherly love as applied to industrial relations was dream of the sweet by and by the speaker said in part:
 "A single employee entering the lists against great employer stands on no such level ground, for the evident req son that he must sell quickly or starve, while the employer can do without his services with little or no inconven- fence It is a maxim of trade that the trader who can wait has an ad- vantage of the trader who cannot 1 wait. To overcome this disadvantage, or at least to minimize it, is the legitl- mate function of labor organizations In my judgment, the labor unions have been and are of immense advantage to the employee class And. in my Judg- ment. when the labor organizations are as well organized and managed by off ce1s who are as intelligent and as ca pable as the managers of the employ ing capital organizations they will be 1 in position to command more equi- table division of the rewards of indus try under the operation of the natural law of distribution than in any other 1 manner.
 "Sucl disciplined labor organizations thus officered would restore the sub- stantial equality in the trade contest between the employers and employees which existed in this country prior to the middle of the last century, when the distribution of the rewards of in dustry was so equitably made by the natural law of apportionment that the great majority of the American people occupied that sane and satisfac- tory position contemplated by the wise man who prayed, @ Lord. give me nei- ther poverty nor riches.
 But if the natural and unavoidable conditions which surround production and ribution-namely, that no more can be divided than is produced-be called to mind it will be seen that the power of the labor organizations is limited.
 Theoretically the universal organi- zation of employees could demand such money price for wages as it might ar bitrarily fix upon and by refusing to accept less block the wheels of indus try until it's terms were accepted. It is equally theoretically true that the uni versal organization of profit makers could fix such wages as it might see fit and block the wheels until the wage earners accepted their terms.
 "lf such q deadlock should occur be- tween universal wage earners and uni versal profit makers, nature would pun ish the crimes of refusing to trade by various deprivations, the ultimate pen alty being starvation for both. "On the other hand, in the long run it would not materially change exist ing wages if either party acceded to the terms of the other, because busi ness would readjust itself on the basis of higher or lower nominal values. If the money price of wages were higher, the money price of products would be higher, and if the money price of wages were lower the money price of products would be lower and conse- quently the real wages, which are all ways paid in products, would be sub stant1ally the same.
 ''The often repeated assertion is probably justified that the history of lockouts and strikes does not record single instance wherein the direct gain to either party has been equal to the direct loss to either party. While rec ognizing the truth of the assertion there have been cases of pigheaded- ness on the part of such negotiations which have amply justified them. Con- dicts between employers and employ ees are not peculiar to modern times. They are as old as the relation known in the law as the relation of master and servant.
 '"The pages of history are full of rec ords of labor strikes which have been amply Justified by the indire,. benefits they have conferred upon all the gen. erations which have followed them.
 "For myself. I believe in strikes when they are justified by the facts upon which they are based and I be- lieve in using all the force which is necessary to make such strikes effec- tive, but I also believe that the right to strike is like the right of revolution -only justifiable as last resort where important rights are at stake and after all other means have been exhausted.
 "In conclusion let me say that my judgment throws to the winds all the theories of equitable distribution by brotherly love or by legislation. I be- lieve that in economic affairs the only way to get fair share is to be always prepared to fight and when necessary