The
Commoner
rol. i. No. 32.
Lincoln, Nebraska, August 30, 1001.
$1.00 a Year
"j
'Compromise is Impossible."
In a recent issue of Tiie Commoner, rofor-
rag to the steel strike, it was said "It is un-
mbtedly the purpose of the trust to destroy
gibor organizations, and the purpose will bo ro-
mtlessly pursued if the time seems propitious."
?his statement obtains candid corroboration by
10 less an authority than Henry Clews, the
rall Street banker.
In his weekly letter, issued under date of
fuly 20, Mr. Clews discusses the steel strike.
r. Clews refers to this strike as the 'crucial
conflict," and declares: - "
"The strike against the steel corporation is
the boldest challenge with which labor has ever
; confronted capital; and it would seem that the
'last thing that the trust can afford is to show any
timidity or evince any disposition towards conces-
t'slon to the present arbitrary demand, beyond the
fair and liberal spirit already shown. Any spirit
of conciliation shown by capital under present
conditions can, from the very nature of things,
fc-have no other effect than to stimulate aggression
from labor, and the recent large voluntary ad
vances in wages have undoubtedly had that result.
(Compromise between the two sides is impossible;
either the one party- or the other must hold a
; distinct ascendancyo powerrandltiwould'seem
that wo are verging Upon the crisis which will de
termine where the victory shall rest."
This does not resemble the statements made
by Mr. Clews and his fellow banker politicians
in the campaign of 1900. Then we were told
that the interests of capital and labor were
identical, and that the great corporations which
had been permitted to grow fat by the favor of
the republican party and at the expense of the
people of the United States were fully alive to
the requirements of the laboring man. We
were told that the wages of the laborer would
keep pace with the profits of the great corpor
ation by which he was employed. And yet at
this moment when these corporations are thriv
ing as they never thrived before, their employes
find it necessary to engage in a strike in order
to obtain even the right of organization; and
Mr. Clews informs us that "compromise be
tween the two sides is impossible." He no
longer insists that the interests of labor and
capital are identical, but declares that either
the one party or the other must hold "a dis
tinct ascendancy of power."
It is difficult for some to understand why
these great corpqrations after having obtained
at the hands of the government favors and
privileges by which they are enabled to roll up
enormous profits on comparatively small invest
ment of capital refuse to grant to their em
ployes fair privileges. It is strange that in the
hope of maintaining for the corporations the
special privileges they enjoy, the corpora
tion managers do not increase the pay and the
wages of their employes toward at least a frac
tion of the prosperity enjoyed by tho employer
The employer who pays good wages and gives
his employe decent privileges obtains better re
sults from tho investment he makes in wages
thanHho employer who is continually looking
for tho best of the immediate bargain between
himself and his workingmen. And when it is
seen that the special privileges enjoyed by theso
corporations are possible only through acquies
cence of the people when they go to tho ballot
box, some find it difficult to understand why
these large employers of men do not make ser
ious effort to keep their employes in a contented
frame of mind.
Can it be possible that tho same character
istic that prompts men to seek dishonest advan
tages at the hands of a government persuades
them to seek dishonest advantages over the in
dividual whoso labor contributes io their for
tune? Can it be possible that when a man steels
his conscience so that he is enabled to aid in
tho purchase of elections, to buy members of
congress, to bribe men high in authority, to
subsidize those newspapers that will do his
-ttfeJ54iDgwftandk-, destroy through the-powor
of money those newspapers whose editors
refuse to "bend tho pregnant hinges of tho
knee that thrift may follow fawning" can
it be possible that when a man stifles the "still
small voice" in order that he may do theso
things he loses consideration for all other men
and for all other things, overlooks the respon
sibilities that may confront him in the. future
and takes cognizance only of the immense ad
vantages and opportunities of the present?
This appears to be so, and yet those who are
inclined to regard this as madness will realize
considerable method in the madness when it is
remembered that the best possible way in which
to perpetually maintain class advantage is
to keep the laboring men of the country in a
position of serfdom. With the labor organiza
tions destroyed the only hope the laboring man
will hai o for redress will be the tender mercy
of the trust magnate. And in order to put this
"mercy" into operation it will be necessary for
the laboring man to vote as his employer votes.
Those who have flattered themselves that
the advocates of the single gold standard and
of the trust system were sincere when they
claimed that labor and capital should' work in
harmony may have their eyes opened by the
frank admission of Mr. Clews. "Compromise
between the two sides is impossible; either the
one or the other must hold a distinct ascend
ancy of power." This, then, is the doctrine of
those who see nothing but good in the republi
can party, and nothing but evil in every party
that opposes republican principles. The claim
that the interests of capital and labor are iden
tical, and that there must bo harmony between
tho two is a claim to bo urged for campaign
purposes only. Tho naked truth, according to
theso representatives of "national honor," ac
cording to theso "advance agents of prosperity,"
is that tho trusts of tho country must hold tho
whip over thoir employes at all times in order
that the trust may bo preserved and that the
enormous privileges of large corporations may
bo maintained.
And yet in the face of theso facts, in the
presence of these conditions, there arc thousands
upon thousands of laboring men in the United
States who sleep on, and refuse to have thoir
eyes opened to the fact that every election on
which thoy fail to register their protest
against tho republican party is a neglected op
portunity. . v
Emasculating Democracy,
In real Democracy there is throbbing, ever
present life. There is nothing more vigorous
and virile than Democracy when it stands for
the rule of the people the right df Jbhe peoplt
to control their own government ilfdta-
? .i , k !
pacity "of tho people for self-government.
Democracy hranopen fightjne.ed not fear either
aristocracy tho rule of the best (as tho few
style themselves) or plutocracy the rule of the
rich. In an honest fight Democracy can rely
with confidence upon tho righteousness of its
cause and trust tho conscience and intelligence
of tho people. Victory may be delayed, but
it cannot be prevented if the Democratic party
remains steadfast in its support of Democratic
principles. The greatest danger which con
fronts Democracy today is that it will be emas
culated and robbed of its force and vitality by
those who cling to the Democratic name but
constantly give aid and comfort to tho republi
can party.' For tho purpose of illustration
three daily papers may bo mentioned. They
loudly proclaim their loyalty to Democratic
principles and roundly condemn those who
were responsible for tho Chicago platform.
They deserted the party in 1806 and supported
the Palmer and Buckner ticketr a ticket that
polled about one hundred and thirty thousand
votes, all told, and carried one precinct in the
United States. They gave a protesting sup
port to the national ticket in 1900 and ever
since the election have been industriously" at
work "reorganizing" tho Democratic party.
The papers referred to are the New York
World, the Louisville Courier-Journal and th
Chicago Chronicle. Each paper is the best,
representative of its class in tho section in
which it circulates.
On the money question all three support
the republican position; they are mouth pieces