Evening star., 1908-01-11

contributions from all members of the
labor union a fund which shall enable
them to live during the pendency of the
strike. They have the right to use per-
suasion with all other laborers who are
invited to take their places in order to
convince them of the advantage To labor
of united action. 1t is the business OF
courts and of the police to respect these
rights with the same degree of care that
they respect the right of owners of capi-
tai to the protection of their property and
business.
Abuses of Railway Corporations.
The second class OF corporations-that
is, the railway and transportation COM
panies-have misused their great powers
to promote the unlawful purpose of these
industrial combinations One of the
largest elements going to make up the
selling price of commodity in any part
of the country is the cost of transporta-
ton from the place of manufacture. If
one business concern can secure lower
rates of freight in the transportation of
it's merchandise to its customers than an
other the former will necessarily drive
the latter out of business This is ex-
actly what has happened.
THE largest concerns controlling enor-
nous shipments and able as between COM
peting roads to determine which shall
have induced and sometimes coerced the
ailway companies into giving them either
secret rates or open public rates so deity
arranged with a view to the conditions OF
the larger concern as to make it inpos-
sible for its would-be business competi-
tors to live. The rebate of very small
amount per hundredweight o. goods
shipped by any one of the great industrial
corporations will pay enormous dividends
on the capital invested. The evils of
a Y0n n a 70 All IN 1a6 n
in the words unjust discrimination
Wage-earners are not injuriously af-
fected in their terms of employment di-
rectly by such violations of law by COM
binations of capital as l have described.
But they are very seriously affected in
another way. The maintenance of such
unlawful monopolies is for the purpose
of keeping up the prices of the necessities
of life, and this necessarily. reduces the
purchasing power of the wages which the
detriment to them and a real reason why
they should condemn such corporate
abuses and sympathize with the effort to
stamp them out.
Abuses of Labor.
What are the abuses which not infre-
quentIy proceed from some of the MEM
bers of united labor? They are, first.
open violence and threats of violence to
prevent the employment of other work
ingmen in the places which such mem
bers have left on a strike. with the hope
that they will thus prevent their forme.
employer from being able to carry on
his business. OF course this is the most
effective method, if successful, of bring ing
the employer to terms. If the demand
for labor is such that many persons
of the same craft as those who strihe not
members of the labor union. are idle it
will be easy for the employer to- replace
the strikers. They will be out of job
and he will continue his business.
1t follows. therefore. that The wisest
time for skilled or other labor to strike
is when there is great demand for labor
and It is difficult for the employer TO
replace those who leave him. But ii there
are other laborers available, then there
are only two ways by which the strikci.s
can accomplish their purpose, either by
actual or threatened violence to those
who would take their places, or by per-
suading them in the interest of all lahor
tha. they should join their union, receive
the benefits of the common fund for sup
port during the enforced :dleness ard
join in the refusal to aid the employer
in his extremity. Violence ana threat
ened violence are of course unlawful and
are strongly to be condemned. parsua-
sion not amounting in effect to duress is
lawful
Another method by which wage-earners
sometimes attempt to coerce their en-
is what is called boycott. 1t is meth
cd by which the striking employees and
their fellows of their union attempt -
coerce the whole community into with
drawal of all association from their for
mer employer by threatening the rest Of
the community that if they do not with
draw their association from ,su II en-
ployer they will visit each one of them
with similar treatment. This IS a cruz /
instrument and has been declared to be
,l.x ,f,I in, rrrifh
cisions l am familiar.
Legal Remedies for Abuses.
What are the remedies by which a per-
son injured may be protected against the
illegal acts of combinations of capital
and of combinations of labor? First
IL the injury sought to be inflicted Is
one which will be inadequately compen-
sated for in money damages, one can ap
ply to court of equity to prevent the
injury from being done. and that cour.
can, in advance of the proposed viola
tiop of the plaintiffs rights. determine
exactly what those rights are and advice
the defendant accordingly, or he can wait
until the acts are performed and then
by suit for damages, he AN make him.
self whole if he can.
In cases of unlawful combinations CT
capital as well of such comb.n, ions o.
labor the method in equity by securing
an Injunction seems to be preferred by
those who are about to be injured. In
every statute which has been enacted to
denounce the improper use of capital to
secure illegal restraints of trade and
illegal monopolies, a specific provision has
been inserted enabling those VINO are
injured or affected TO bring equity pro-
cee,ling to enjoin the carrying on of the
improper methods about to be attempted.
In the same way. when labor unions Or
members of labor unions or wo-kngmen
on a strike resort to methods destructive
of the business of their c.:ployer and
his property, the employer deems 1t the