| Show STRIKES M Meline the former President of the French Council at a meeting of progrssive Republicans held at Re miremont made a speech In tho course of It ho said Let us see what strikes have cost tho French workmen during tho past year I will not dwell upon the losses In wages although thoy havo been enormous running run-ning up Into tho millions Have they presented compensation In results or advantages By no means In nine times out of ten the strikers gained nothing but what they might have received re-ceived from their employers at first without going on strike And very often as In Marseilles for Instance they gained nothing whatever But these losses arc trilling compared to tho Invisible loss of tho entire body of wageearners strikers and nonunion strikers In the Irreparable damage to French Industry taken as a whole caused by the disorganization of labor That benefits the foreigner and he who rejoices over our discords During tho strikes In Calais the tulle makers of Nottingham received the orders or-ders from Franco The ports of Antwerp and Hamburg benefited by tho strikes In Havre and Dunkcrquo Genoa was enriched en-riched by tho strike In Marseilles and now forefgn coal has taken the placo of French coal The above is as pertinent In America as It Is In France Up to date the strikes In this country coun-try havo wrought infinitely more loss sorrow and anxiety upon workIngmen and their families than upon employ era Tho capitalist merely rests during du-ring a strike possibly his monoy ceases to draw Interest but neither he nor his family are anx us about the possibility of not having breakfast next morning When wo consider strikes In tho abstract ab-stract and the suffering they bring It grows clearer and clearer every day that when the differences between the employer and employee culminate In a strike they are neither of them in a frame of mind to Judge their rights and wrongs dispassionately and then tho time has come when some outside tribunal should make an adjustment In differences whero property values are at stake Individuals appeal to the law and accept the adjustments made by the courts Well there should be a carlo under which the differences between be-tween the employees and the employer should be considered by some dispassionate dispas-sionate tribunal It Is an Impeachment of American Intelligence to say that such a code Just alike to all Americans cannot be framed Tho necessity for such an arrangement arrange-ment Increases dally TheY machinist strike In Great Britain was a national calamity It struck at the very vitals of British commerce It caused Great Britain to lose not only temporarily most Important trade but It took permanently per-manently from England most profitable profit-able commerce The extract quoted above shows that the same evil has been wrought France As tho business of the country Is being brought more and more under the control of the combines thus separating sep-arating further and further the capitalist capi-talist from the worker this friction will naturally Increase and the need of having an adjustment which through the laws can declares what is right Increases Our country Is roarIng roar-Ing with prosperity The most hopeful feature It Is perhaps the sale of manufactured goods in foreign countries coun-tries This must notbo stopped through differences between employers and employees and the question Is one of national Importance Congressmen should study the Australasian Aus-tralasian laws on tho subject and prepare pre-pare a code through which differences may be settled Justly without causing a stagnation in the commerce of the country and the attending losses to all concerned |
