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Show LABORERS AND STRIKES. - 1 1 9 Strikes are shaking the country from sea tosea. 1 1 H They are disturbing the industries of Utah; they f M x M are fostering' a feeling of doubt and apprehension in lUr 9 this state which is disturbing the people exceed- mat B ingly and seriously disarranging much of its busi- I Ji " ness. This writer met a man yesterday who had a i H, 1 1 sick family and nothing to pay household experises, lll'?iiB Avho said he had been ordered to quit work, not be- j p $ M cause of any trouble with his employers, but because j f ' ), a sympathetic strike had been ordered. This, it ifD ; seems to us, is not only the acme of foolishness but ilu of injustice to both employer and employee. Labor IK ! unions are good things in many ways. They are a jj Eg JB help to unfortunate members, they are a protection w rf fB when capital becomes heartless and seeks to- re- j ililB tain" an unfair proportion of the earnings of labor. H SfiiM But when they become, without cause, an appro- B !$iJB hension to their own members, when they demand 1 w k hardships from their own members and entail loss . g jifffl and anxiety upon employers who never had any B jl$ -trouble with employees, then they becomo an unmiti- B 5Pf9 gated nuisance, and if that is kept up, they will wn S break to pieces or disintorgrate of their own weak- af' ncsses. People will not suffer vicarious atonment for IM'B the sins of others. tftitf 19 In this city there never was so general cC demand' !g t for skilled labor as there is right now. But every day W& '"i$9 men who had made arrangements to give to- skilled Hp '?$ labor much patronage this year, are changing their In! ! i'19 minds, lest in tho midst of an enterprise they be" Hwiflfl subjected to grievous delays and losses, and thef 91 fc 19 year that opened with fair promises to labor is', Hliit!S nable to close with disaster. 9SMii9 . W- PIB However, wc do not, at this time caro to threshj flj jff&Q over the old arguments on that subject. Rather, we BB iff desire to present a fact or two which concerns labor-! ' HI t39 ers only. The first is that in this free country every' Iral'ftJW man ought to bo the exclusive master of his ovn BSll'fH time, and ought to have tho full results of his'ef-' SSli V nH forts and ability. When a rapid, capable, skilled) Wm' ! laborer insists that the half trained mechanic shall infv 9 receive the same compensation tnat he receives, hcj HS H'iH discounts his own worth, and if a married mftnprobs IRIf ' 19 his own family. ,., HffliliH Then there is another feature of the case. This isi H$ IH a free country, and the opportunities for the skilled, 9lii9 laborer aro such that he, if unencumbered by'1 'a sllliH - family, can by two years labor and thrift, accumu- I8PJx-9 late enough means to start a small business of his, BbJtmB own. Under such circumstances, why will skilled 9llff9 laborers insist on searching for something to make ll j9 a kick about? 1 Bmlnf9 The most of the rich men of this country were 91119 poor once, and not long ago either. Is there one, of flPri BM them who ever made his fortune or any part '6f It IBP !lH through agitating the labor question, quarreling with fffK ,Jffl .employers about the number of journeymen they JBKifi imi should employ, or by insisting upon five hours pay ffia99i for four hours work, or by leaving avkind and hon- H89 orablo employer with whom he had never any ;fric- lBH tion and going off on a sympathetic strike? ' 9ftfl ' 'J Bfll ) But the real trouble of wcIl, thingsis' notin 'tjio HN9 pecuniary loss suffered by employer or employee, but t HH in the breaking down. of tho sterling self-reliance! 9RbH of the workingmen themselves. When a man begins 99K9 to make it a practice to borrow his ideas from a union, in that hour he takes from himself what he nlost needs, namely, his own clear judgment of what is rHit, his own self-relmnce, and self-respect, and weakens his belief that i clear brain and a pair of strong arms arc all that he needs to forge out for himself a fortune and an honored place among men. The men who succeed and from the sphere of humble hum-ble industry advance to commanding positions are no! me-1 who are seeking for something to kick about. Rather they are men who. when they deem that their reward is insufficient, do not strike or call upon a union to strike, but who work on, seeking redress when needed through civilized methods, and who keep in mind that a reward above expenses is better than the debts which are a supplement to all strikes, and who, so soon as they can, begin to join a little capital with their labor, and so continue until they can, unaided, cease to be employees and become employers, or who, backed by their little capital start out for themselves. In this region many laboring labor-ing men have for years alternated between the free soup kitchen of hard times, and strikes in Hush times when laborers are needed. Is it not time to stop tins foolishness? In what other land under the sun could they obtain such a reward for their labor as right here and now? Almost every man who can, as tilings are, easily lay up an amount per day, that kept up for two years would give each one four H times the average capital possessed by the men who cleared the deep forests between the Atlantic Hand the prairies and raised a race of heroes. Why should men with such opportunities before them, be either suppliants or tyrants? |