Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-08-25

'''f ittoIu -! strikes IN the United
states extends over l15 years. 1, is
Of something more than historic in
tHrcst These thousands OF strikes
ana !ockoutS are not scattered and
meaningless instances OF Industrial
had feeling. They are parts Of one
whole, OF one movement that carried
The nation steadily along certain def
mite lines until it brought us to the
very uncomfortable position we occupy
to-day. The story of American strikes
- the explanation Of the present sit
UatioiI. and it is the nations best guide
80 forccasting the future
TN" more cruditc advocates Of i'm
dustrial warfare are fond OF tracing
tho story of labor troubles back CEN
tu!icS before Christ. when the wash
crw"mcn OF Jerusalem refused TO
wash. or the iSraclitcS paralyZcd the
Egyptian brickmaking industry In
protest against AN alleged insui!icicncy
IA the allowance OF straw. Labor
troubles there have always been, Of
course. so long as one man has worked
for another, but these old time di,ilcul-
ties bear no relation to tn. modern
situation. So far as we are concerned
they are meaningless and Negligible
Even the earliest American strikes
have little bearing on the modern prob
l"m except as they show the vastly
different way IN which the position IF
TABOR is regarded nowadays. Labor
has Won its present power ana dignity
by organization and Industrial war
and II is little wonder that many men
believe that both these things are cs-
sentinl to the maintenance OF lis no
Siitou and 10 anyIfurthcr progress.
Two centuries ago, labor had lit
tic organization and less power When
the New York bakers struck. in !T4I,
they only succeeded in getting them
selves convicted OF conspiracy. Sailors
in New York struck in iS02 TO have
"a IA
and for the first time in America in
timidaiion was used 10 make other
mon in The same trade Join the s,rik"
The leaders Of this attempt were jail
ed. \ few years later ~ court decision
declared that Il combination OF work
men. whose purpose is united action 10
raise wages. is CONDEMNED by law.
shortly after that. another decision
stated that j"urneymen confedcratinc
and refusing To work may he in
dict"d for conspiracy. II was AT this
period that tie terms strike" and
'*"ah' came into general use.
The situation was not encouraging
!" labor. American courts were strong
~ under the Influence OF English juris-
prudence. and this was the period when
judges in England We're throwing
wo"'d-hc strikers into jail after lee
turing them strongly for lawicSsncSS
and presumption None the less. the
first signs of the strength Of the new
movement began TO appear in few
minor strikes that were partially sue
ccSStul III spite Of the conspiracy laws.
labor Had Little Chance
The state Of industry in those days
was 50 different from what II be-
came " few decades later that labor
had little chance. Most manufacture
ing was piece work. done ia litti. scat
tered SHOPS or In The home. and when
The employers who gave out the ma
.1.s.. 4
cred ny StrikcS they could usually send
their work to some ucighboring town
ana get IL done for the old price.
lhcr" was no organization Of labor
that went beyond narrow local limits.
The effort to unOnizc spread steadily.
however. and in 1892 the merchants OF
Boston formed a counterorganization,
which was one of the earliest organ
i@ations Of capital on record. Their
platform was Simple--not to hire union
labor. From that time forward the
industrial conflict developed slowly. but
steadily far-sighted economist could
nave read in those beginnings the trOu-
blcs Of the future. and n few of them
ana read the signs of the times I:ut
Inc mass OF the people refused to take
the strike and lockout problem very
seriously. Vt took the great strikes OF
the seventies to awaken the nation.
l;y that time both labor and capital
Though the organization Of capital did
not extend much beyond the individual
corporation and the number of union
workmen was estimated at not much
over Il quarter Of a million all told,
class feeling had begun 10 develop until
the unity on both sides was stronger
than ii seemed.
The great railroad strikes of 1877
were Il remarkable phenomenon i'm
many ways The strike spirit spread
from city TO city with a rapidity and
a lack Of apparent reason that argued
Il highly disturbed state of the public
mind. The strike started in protest
against reduction of wages on the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. hut in Il
few days il was turning san Francisco
upside down in the shape of anti
Chinese riots. Many Of the most i'm
portant Eastern railroads were tied up,
and there was rioting and pitched bat
ties between the public and the mi
lita in most of the big Eastern cities.
Loss Of Life Followed.
Lives were lost on both sides i'm Eal-
timOrc and Pittsburgh and Buffalo, as
we'll as in many smaller cities Chicago
had big riots, and in st. I.ouis the po-
lice advanced on u meeting with cum
non. The general situation was COM
plicatcd by miners strikes and strikes
in dozen smaller Industries.
significant feature OF the situation
was the fact that this was no general
strike. but an epidemic OF more or less
local troubles. The news of what was
going on in one city would reach
another. or tho employees Of one line
would hear what the men on another
limo were doing, and with n rcmarka-