Rich And Poor

Thu relations of cmployer and omployed havo existcd sinoo civilization bogan. Nothing Las been dono witliout capital ; nothing has beon done without labor. To realizo what is regarded as tha ideal oondition, associations of laborers with capital havo been organized; - co-proprietary and co-operative, - with. varying resulta. After all attempts of this kmd, the faot seeins well establishod that industrial unions and partnerships will never become the rule, and that labor and capital will respeotivcly bo at the disposal of different men. Those who have labor to sell, without money to invest in the materials and produots of their own industry, will always bo a largo portion of the csmmunity. If the capital of the world were to be cqually divided to-day, it would not take a month to re-establish the oíd división oí' capitalista and laborers. Thore are organizing directing, controlling minds, which' would manage at once to win capital, and enploy the industry of others ; and even the accidenta of life would make many poor tnen rich. There is no possibility of maintaining equality of condition among men. The capitalists, with money to be employed in commorce, ag-.? „.,1 J ., (1 - r i n T iï+rt f" 11 ytC O Tl il Til L I Cl 11UU1LUIU U.UU JJUiiUitvoi,uiï;o, ttuvi tuu jborer, with various industry and skill to sell, will live sido by side whilo the world stands. The natural wish of tbc rirst will always be to get tho best profit hc eau on bis money, and of tbc othor to get tbc best itíco be can for bis labor. The groat, practical question -with botb classes concerns tho relations that exist between them. Shall tboso relations bo friendly and barmonious, or discordant and iniinical ? Is thore any real gronml for opposition and jealousy 'r1 Tho strike of laborers, the formaüon of trado-unions, tho speeches uttored and the cditorials published on the tyranny of capital, show that at least a portion of the laboring conimunity consider thomselvcs aggrieved by those who eraploy them. To some extont this is undoubtedly true. Thero are men who would ruako their laborers their slaves, and who would gladly obtain the labor at tho lowest price compatible with the rnaintenance of their labor power. There are corporations without souls, which have no moro consideration for the nmscles and the skull which they employ their milis and shops, than they havo for the horses employed outside. It is entiroly natural for a laborer to organizo against such men and sucb corporations, and to look upon them. as enemies. "Where personal rights are unrecognized, where capital rofuses to see in tho laborer anything but its dependent and servan t, where oppositions are practiced, thoro will and must be rebelhon. Tho man or the corporation whoso supremo object is to get the most out of the laborer for the least consideration m monoy, wm do sure 10 have laborers who will aim to got the most money possible for the smallest consideration in labor. Laborers will do this ludependontly or in oombitiation, and their action will be entirely justifiable, though it inay not always be wise. The iniquity of trade-unions is that they make uo distinction betwoen good and bad employers, and breed univsal discontent and demoralization. Even in this day of wide and deep disticss among capitalists, - this day of shrunken values and business stagnation, - when, but for the sake of the poor, capital would greatly prefer to lio idle, there aro bands of mon who quarrel with their wages, and feel that they are badly used. Now we believe that tho majority of employers intend to do full justice to those whom they employ. We believe that in this day of trial and loss, there are men who are doing more than they can afford to do, in order to keep their laborers froin distress. At this time, as at all times, they are tho subjocts of the inexorable law of demand and supply, and no demand, they staggor feebly along with their business, that those depending on them may be fod. They aro men who recognize tho inter-dependenco of labor and capital, and are willing to sharo the trials of tho time with thoso who minister to their prosperity in botter dayi. Now labor stultifies itself and makes itself an object of eontempt when it fails to recognize and reward a just and erous disposition on the part oí capital. A laborer who will join a band of f ello wcraftsmen in the attempt to extort an increase of wages from an employer who uses him well in adversity, surrenders lus manhood, eithor to bis own selfishness, or to the despotism of his fellows. We hope strikes have done good. It would be a pity that the amount of suffering they havo causod should havo been of no avail. If they havo cheeked any tendency to oppression on the part ot' capital ; they have taught tbo holder of monoy not to claim too much of the profits of industry, we are glad. But we are sure there is a belter way, and that now is a good time to enter upon it. It is a good time for capitalists to ask thomselves tho question whether they have always recognized tho rights of labor, and giyen it an appropriato reward- whothcr they havo over tried to win the heart of labor - whethor they have given it brotherhood and endeavored to minister to its comfort, happiness and elevation. It is a good time for the laborer to ask himself the quostion whether he had always suffieiently considered the fact that capital runs all tho risk, while he runs none ; that it is liable to be destroyed by name, or dissipated in financial disaster; and that his ability to feed and clothe his wifo and little ones deponds upon the prosperity of capital. It is a good time, too, for hiin to ber that capital boars tho grcat burdens of society, that it pays tho enormous tax of the time, that it supports all the eharitios, and that, whether thero is labor for the laborer or not, the laborer is fed. It is a good timo for him to remember that in tho last resorts of nocessity, capital does not pormit him or his children to go houseloss and without bread. In short,' it is a good time, In their couimon trouble, for the capitalists and the laborer to learn that they are brothren, and depend in many ways upon one nnother. When this poriod ot' depression passes away, as it must soon, - for tho world moves on,- it is quito possiblo that work will be recommenced upon a moro modest basis of wagos on ono side and protits on the othcr. We hope, then, that employers and employed will lay asido all the old jcalousies and resentments, and learn to be not only just but generous toward each othor. There are commuuities of America, blessed by capitalists who sliare in many ways with their laborera tho fruits of their prosperity. Public halls, reading rooms, librarles, comfortable houses and the best schools, bestowed by employors, have made some manufacturing villagcs a collection of intelligent and happy homos, and ovrn labor itsolf' a dioico privilege. Tliero is nothing that the laborer wants so much as recognition as a man, and a chance for his family. When the employer has the power to give both and gives both, he ought not to be troubled with strikes or jealousies, or tho inefficieney of those