Year: 1877

dividends to the stockholders. The


amount Of business done by them na.


been reduced. and they have been com


PEELED to reduce and have largely reduc


ed the freight charges, from which they


derive the greatest part Of their income


We could pile up any amount Of figures
showing these facts. No one disputes


them who knows anything on the sub
ject. The truth is, there is no interest
in the country that has suffered more Sc


verrly than the railroad interest from
the long depression which has operated
upon all the people No matter now as
to the causes which have led TO this re-.
suit, since il is the fact itself. rather than
its causes, with which railway companies
are concerned and which the public
ought to consider. The stern fact meets
them in the face; and with this they
have to deal. and for il, so far as posi-
BILE. TO find a remedy.


The case admits OF but one remedy.
and this consists in a reduction Of ex
penses. The companies can not with
draw their capital from the business. and
reinvest IL elsewhere; and. hence, they
have, very naturally and very properly.
sought to do the business more econom-
icaliy. This was the only thing they





discretion. And, inasmueh as one very
large item OF exp-nse consists in the wa.
ges they pay TO their employee, they have
very generally proposed a ten per cent
reduction on the rate OF wages, and many
of them have actually made the rrduc-
tion; and this was the occasion Tor the
great railway strike that has swept lar
aud wide over the country aud filled the
land with commotion and rioting The
strikers were not content simply TO Quit
work. and let others take their PLACES. IL
they chose to do so They were deter
miued that the work should not be done
at all except 10y them. aud at a rate Of
wages which they chose TO fix; and. IN
carrying out this purpose, they mads.
Themselves rioters and criminals, aud IL
a goOdly number OF them are not pun.
isbed then the ends Of public just ce will
not be secured.


Was there any injustice in the propos
ed reduction OF wages2 None whatever
The Tribune Of this city showed a few
days since by statistics that the average
rate OF wages paid TO railroad employees.
after the ten per cent reduction, would
be thirty five per cent higher than il
was in 1860, and that the cost Of the sta
pie articles OF living is only seven per
cent. above what IL was in 1860 Accord
ing to this estimate, the purchasing pow.
er Of the wages proposed TO be paid is
tweDiy-eight per cent more than il was
in 1861 There was during the was a
great rise in prices, as computed in green
backs, which continued alter the close Of
the war, and. although wages did not AZ
first rise ss rapidly AS commodities. yet
they followed the general rise. For
years past the proc, IS has been one OF
shrinkage in prices, and such il must
continue to be until the country gets
down to the solid foundation OF spsci.
payment This shrinkage is not an easy
process to nybody. IL wipes out a vast
amount Of supposed wealth and makes
thousands and tens OF thousands poor
who thought themselves to be rich. Il
has already turned more than a billion
OF dollars IN railway securities into waste
paper.


There is no reason in justice why the
sellers Of labor. whether they be railway
employees or workers in any other d..part-
ment OF industry. should not take their
natural proportion OF this shrinkage
The whole country is in a state OF transi.
tion from higher to a lower rate OF pri-
ces, and wages can not and should not
be an exception. They must come down.
with other things, by natural and nee.
essary Law; and any attempt on the part
of the workiBgmen to prevent the result
is simply an effort TO achieve the impos-
sible Their remedy is not in labor
strikes. and certainly not in crim-; but
in a reduction OF their own expenses.
They are not the only persons to whom
this rule applies. The great mass OF the
pt ople have been compelled TO practice
IL IL Is by the practice that the couu
try will finally pass out OF its present
condition. and then gradually recuperate
upon a solid and better foundation.


In saying these things. we do not mean
to say thar railway companies or other
employers have in every instance done
exactly the thing they should do; but
we do mean To say that wages should
and must yield To the general TALL o.
prices. They can not and they should
not be kept up TO war rates. Employers
can not pay these rates without their
own bankruptcy; and laborrrs must &C
crpt reduction or have nothing 10 do.
which will Certainly be worse. The dem
agogurs and knHves who preach To them
"A different doctrine and couns.l them To-
fight natural law are not their iri-nd-.
rs they wall have ample occasion to learn
from the effects OF this strike We sym
pathize with the hardshipI experienced
by labor in such times these; yet they
are not to be mitigated by resort to X
Dorant violence. They admit OF no sud
den cure aud are curable ouly by
change in the circumstances OF the cOun-
try, aud this change can be accomplished
only by time aud the return 10 a stable
standard OF value


fFrnr,, thn f,hin EnrrncrI