PIRATIANS BEGONE

Chapter 42

contract for work could be made without thestipulation that its fulfillment must depend upon freedom from strikesin that particular trade, and no man could start on a journey with anycertainty that he would be allowed to finish it in peace and at theappointed time.

"To decide how these evils should be remedied proved to be one of thegreatest problems ever presented to the people of that age.

"Political sages had long before promulgated the doctrine upon whichsociety was governed, that every man had a natural right to life,liberty, and his own method of pursuing happiness. Now, both sidesin the conflict claimed to be following closely the spirit of thisfundamental doctrine. The workingmen declared that they had a perfectright to organize and to induce all their number to join the unions.They said the individual relation between them and the employers had hadits day and that experience was proving to them that every concessionand privilege they hoped to get must come through their associations,working through the medium of an agent or committee. As independentcitizens they could not obey laws and regulations in the making of whichthey had no voice, and their love of personal liberty would not allowthem to accept the wages and hours of service which their employersmight, without asking their consent, choose to prescribe. In case ofdisagreement they asserted their right to stop the whole business, atwhatever loss to the employers or inconvenience to the public, and toprevent, if possible, new men from taking their places.

"On the other hand, the employers, while not denying to the workmen theright to form associations for legitimate purposes, insisted that thisright was being abused. They claimed that they should be allowed to hirewhom they pleased and dismiss incompetent men when it was best for theirbusiness, without regard to their membership or non-membership in aunion.

"As time went on the trouble increased and society was fast formingitself into classes with opposing aims and mutual dislike. The timehad been when a workman, by skill and diligence, could rise above hisstation and become a large proprietor himself. But with the new orderthis was hardly possible, and civilization, in this respect, seemed tobe retrogressing.

"You may wonder why the lawmakers did not correct the evil at once, butthe fact was that the legislatures were made up of representatives fromthe two classes, and so were undecided as to what remedies to apply.It was proposed by some to enact a law preventing a man from sellinghimself into s*****y, or, in other words, from giving up his libertyof action into the keeping of others, a thing which had caused muchsuffering. In every strike a large part of the men, earning small wagesand with families dependent on these wages for their bread from one dayto another, would be obliged to quit work against their will. It wasthought, therefore, a fit subject of legislation to enjoin them frombinding themselves to strike at the dictation of others, when it wasagainst their judgment. It was suggested, also, to make the intimidationor coercion of non-union men a criminal act.

"When these measures were suggested the cry was raised that theworkingmen were to be deprived of their liberty and made the slaves ofcapital. The labor parties in the legislatures were assisted by aclass of politicians who were made cowards through fear of losing theworkingmen's votes, and this gave these parties the power to defeatall measures of which they disapproved, and to pass laws in their owninterest. They claimed that they should be protected as well as themanufacturer, and so they made it lawful for the government to inspectall industries and to see that the employees received an equitable shareof the profits. This was radical action, but they went still further,and took away from every employer the right of discharging men for anycause without the consent of the union; and full power to fix thehours of service and the wages was put into the hands of the governmentinspectors and the representatives of the trades-unions. The wageswere to be based on what the inspectors found to be the profits of thebusiness, and the help or advice of the proprietors was not to be taken.As these astonishing rules governed even the farmer and shopkeeperas well as the manufacturer, you can imagine that there was not muchsatisfaction in trying to carry on any business.

"The laboring classes were beginning to discover that they were a largemajority of the community and that there was a mighty power in theballot. Their opponents, on the other hand, having lost the control inpolitics through universal suffrage, now bent their energies still moreto the work of combining large interests under one management, hoping towield in this way a power too formidable to be withstood. Immensetrusts were formed in almost every branch of business, and the syndicategradually took the place of the firm and individual corporation.

"A long time previous to the period of which we are speaking, the peoplehad put part of their business into the hands of the government, withthe idea that it would be done with more promptness and also with moreeconomy. A good example of this was seen in the excellent mail service,which the national government conducted much more satisfactorily than itcould have been done by private enterprise.

"The local governments, also, had full control of the highways andbridges and the common schools, hospitals, etc., while in largecommunities, at great expense, they stored and distributed water fordomestic and other purposes. As the people had received undoubtedbenefits from this state of things, there were few to object to it, andeven their objection was more for theoretical than practical reasons. Itis not strange, therefore, that as the troublous times approachedthese functions of the state should be multiplied. Besides the gain inconvenience and in cost that thus came to the people, they began torely on the strong arm of the government for protection from theuncertainties and interruptions incident to private control of manykinds of business.

"As the telegraph and telephone came into more general use thegovernment found