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Show LABOR TROUBLES. t Editor Intermountain Catholic: Having read m your last issue a brief review of the labor troubles, I would wish to obtain your views still further on that complex problem. In the question to be solved four parties, whom I shall designate as A, B, C and D, are interested. I. will call A the government, B the people, C Capital, and D labor. la-bor. D refuses to work for C until certain conditions con-ditions are' complied with. These conditions C refuses re-fuses to accept. D, claiming the privileges of a free man, will not be a peon or a slave, and, until his supposed grievances are rectified and his rights acknowledged, he will not-work. C acknowledges all the legal rights of D, and, beyond what he consid- j erg expedient and beneficial to his own interest, will ! not yield to the exactions of D. When the inevitable in-evitable has been reached, and a strike declared, B becomes interested. He apprehends starvation and a- coal famine, and appeals to A, the father of tJie people, to solye the problem. He represents the wants of the people and asks that they be remedied. Xo human government will allow its citizens to die of hunger when its granaries are filled to overflowing, overflow-ing, or freeze to death with superabundance of coal within a few hours' reach of the people. What is the remedy for this disorder and disorganized state of society? JUSTICE. - Salt Lake City, Nov. 30, 1903. The problem suggested by our esteemed correspondent cor-respondent is a .knotty one and its solution seems to be beyond the reach of our wisest statesmen. Our government recognizes and maintains the equality of all men. Its' fundamental principle was.' that equality was a natural right, and the fathers of our country adopted the principle of equality between man and man as the most efficacious effi-cacious means of securing the moral and intellectual intellec-tual growth of its citizens, as well as their material ma-terial prosperity. Social reformers, who still wish to carry this doctrine to its logical consequences, make war on all separation between capital and labor. '"Where is youf government theory of equality," equal-ity," say they, "when 'one class of the community owns the funds, and another class, which is entirely distinct, has to do all the work of production." This class of lefonners see a wide discrepancy between be-tween our theory and practice, arid try to impress on the working classes the injustice, by. showing that capital commands the lion's share of the proceeds. pro-ceeds. The result of this teaching, together with the enlightenment 'of the people, found a remedy' for1 the evils' of which' they complained in uniting their strength to preserve their rights, and advance their cause. - All this was natural and legal, le-gal, and, if universally adopted, would be invincible. invin-cible. When united labor refuses to work and people peo-ple suffer and die because of their refusal, the government gov-ernment cannot compel them to do so, for does not the government maintain their equality? We see, then, no remedy which the government could apply ap-ply to this phase of the case. As long as the, laborerunited la-borerunited or disunited, violates no law or does not infringe on his neighbors' rights, the government govern-ment has no remedy to apply to his case.' No law can compel him to work, if he has means to supply sup-ply his wants' and those of his family. This disposes dis-poses of all remedies or interference with natural rights. But if the laborer is destitute, and his family fam-ily suffers, law and order require that he work. Then the work offered requires first that he sever all connection with the union. What then? Here is the knotty and complex problem which brings both capital and labor before the majesty of the law. Both, viewing the legal aspects of their case, seem to be within the law. Capital, owning the' property, has the right to say who shall do its work. It considers dictation, as to whom it shall employ, a violation of its rights'. Unions it considers inimical inimi-cal to its best interests, and therefore refuses to employ union labor. .-"Unions," said a shrewd business busi-ness man to the writer a few days ago, "have paralyzed par-alyzed business in England and enabled the United States to outstrip her in all modem industrial and commercial undertakings." All this is undoubtedly true, and is the real bone of contention, but it does not solve the problem. The two powerful organisations, organi-sations, capital and labor, are arrayed against each other. Both claim their natural rights, which they also claim to be legal. Our correspondent asks what must be done to remedy this evil in behalf of its citizens who are starving and freezing? Our granaries are filled, out barren mountains are ready to yield their enchanted wealth of fuel to the magic touch of the pick. In the words of Thomas Car-lyle Car-lyle the United States "is full of wealth, of multifarious multi-farious produce, supply for human want of every kind"; yet the people suffer for want of bread and fuel. What must.be done to remedy this evil?" Is the strong arm of the government powerless to save the lives of its citizens? We arc rich and powerful, have extended our domain to the far-off shores of the Pacific, and the sun no longer sets on our glorious emblem, "the Stars and Stripes." But, in all our unequaled victories and triumphs, we must not iorget the coal miner. All our battles bat-tles and victories on sea depended on the production produc-tion of coal. Not only, then, to preserve life itself, it-self, but to perpetuate our national life and great-.ness, great-.ness, we mtist, have coal. But how obtain it? .Labor will not submit to conditions whicV violate its inalienable in-alienable rights. It realizes its legal and natural j 1 rights, and cannot be compelled to work. Capital has received its patent for its coal lands, and. wirh it's final payment, has the assurance of our government govern-ment that it shall be protected in the possession of its property; that no injury shall be inflicted on. those who are willing to work. Capital also claims the right to say whom it shall employ. Here comes the difficult question, which cannot be easily harmonized har-monized with the rights of the contending parties. In theory our government recognizes and maintains main-tains the equality of all men, and is opposed to class distinctions and privileged systems. Is it the same in practice? Coal, like water and air, is an absolute necessity. Can capital rest serenely on its rights, and refuse to have its coal mined until the conditions, which it requires, are complied with t Yes, if it can otherwise supply the public demand. But, if it cannot otherwise have it3 coal mined, can it still say to the government: "I will shut down and remain shut down rather than submit to the dictation of my enemies. I accept no compromise. compro-mise. That is my natural right, and I appeal to you to preserve for me my rights." Here there must be some remedy, for a climax is reached which not only individuals and society, but our national existence, requires to be solvedt The rights of labor la-bor are disposed of. Can the government compel capital io work its mines for the benefit of the people? Does the United States possess the "right of eminent domain" over all lands which it sells to its citizens? Webster's definition of the same implies im-plies that it dees. When, then, ft public calamity arises, the government alone can remedy the evil. In doing so it must be justi It could not confiscate confis-cate property, but, like the granting of. right to make public improvements through private property, prop-erty, there must be a just compensation. The subject presented by "Justice" is not only interesting, but a very grave one. When viewed in its present complications, and tho still greater ones which may arise in the future, it must appeal to every loyal and patriotic American. We are living iu an enlightened en-lightened age; books are multiplied, tho daily press is at every man's door in the morning, and the peo- pie, be they tho representatives of capital or labor, la-bor, aro swayed only by the comments which appeal ap-peal to their, side of the case. This engenders a spirit of individualism which abhors dictation; It makes the relationsship between capital and labor a matter of hard calculation in dollars and cents, and the ambition of both is to look out for Number One. Viewed impartially, and assuming the rights of both to be just, it is now up to the governing powers to disentangle those intricate difficulties which are annually submitted for arbitration. The Intermountain Catholic, in answering its correspondent, cor-respondent, avow3 its inability to solve the difficulty. diffi-culty. It takes an independent and, a3 far as pos sible, an impartial view of the case. It cannot conceal its sympathy for the laborer striving to better his condition in life, but. never at the expense ex-pense of law and order. Let justice be done to all, for justice, founded on truth, is the measure of true liberty. i : . |
