The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-10-10

patient until returns on the invest
ment drop to the bottom limit of
what Is considered acceptable usu-
fruct. III sacrifice must he made. IL
Is In h wage list. The miner, know
Ing that the stringency Is not due tn
any depreciation in his product, labor.
OBJECTS TO bearing the pressure of the
economic burden. Labor, immobile,
rebels; Satan finds mischief for the
idle hands. The sense of a common
grievance leads To organizati,n for
protest: individual bargaining gives
way to solidarity on lab RS side. and
what was originally II more ar less
~paternalistic arrangement becomes u
war for control of industrial policy.
Capital might replace the latorers.
starre them out or compromise with
them: labor could resist replacement
or while itself starving for food, let
capital starvc for interest.
But the greater power lay with the
owners. n when capital began to
consolidate 1t vas possible TO play
on the men employed in one mine
against the men in another" \ mine
where there was trouble could be nut
on short time or closed down. and
the men IN the producing mines made
to know that they were on probation.
hostages for the dissatisfied ones. In
retaliation, 1aborers who had employ
ment might In "a time II depression
share their blessings with their less
fortunate fellows. With the develop
ment of uniOnism M Il monouulistic
conditions In the market as means ,r
transportation improved. the align
ment In opposition took more definite
form and increasingly necessitated de-
vices of Industrial adjustment, looking
t. control of the economic forces
which bring overproduct.on and de-
preston. Working from this "hy-
pothesis" the author brings his COM
pick historical material into order.
If such considerations seem clemen-
tary and Inadequate, II must he re-
membered that they are PREDATORY to
an exhaustive examination of indus
trial history subsequent to the con-
centration Of investment and
the comprehensive organization of
labor. Moreover. Mr.. Suffern's care
ful pages do not gain by %synoptic
compression: some significant shld-
ingS become blurred But such "A reyiew
Is a good Introduction To the subject.
because II establishes the necessity of
hasing adjustment upon the actual cN- !
isting conditions on both sides and the |
10 which they have given !
form. The old order has changed
'indiridualism' has departed from the
fields. and can never. for good
ar bad. hc restored. That the new
order Is the best possible nobody will
maintain. Anything. therefore. tina,
helps To make clearer the needs of
on the one side and miners
On the other. Ia define the desires of
party and clear the way to "A
nal relationship Of mutual fairness
* welcome. Mr.. Suifcru's particular
is the assembling and or
lering of data for the enli shtenmcnt
mi guidance of public opinion. II fac
or whose Importance is apt to Ice un-
lerestimatcd 10y both IF the parties
whose interest in the long and vcNa-
ioiS conflict is immediate.
The book. after reciting the sirrid-
ant chapters in the history of cuncil-
and arbitration. the United Mine
" bfhtIS ana lnt operators asSOcll-
q and the relations Of Government
o the Industry. concludes with "A
forward looking" summary that runs
nto a dignitied protest against con-
'entration of Legislative and judicial
upon property rights as
to distinguished from other
rights and Il calm suggestion
Il some regulation" by the State.
IF "A combined demand is
by the miners and the public
or Government ownership. we shall,
e plunged into a struggle for which :
he workers in the anthracite rcgion /
ave received 10 adequate preparation .
ither in eaceful adjustment or in ,
{; lpts to ampl'orate their condition e,
trough legal enactment" With Mi ,
assemblaGo of source" mate ,
lis plain John Smith can conn" lay
better understanding Of the effect !
cancellation and arbitration between ,
line owners and mine workers ON ,
he price he pays for the coal in his A
ellar at home or the effect upon his d
envelope of what the boss has a
D pay for fuel in the engine room a
{ his factory. and a more intelligent :
eCi.;.on which side he ought to take =
I the lesser disputes that make the "
reat quarrel. q