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Second. How are those relations created and established?

Third. In what manner do those relations produce strikes?

Fourth. What, if any, legislation is necessary to remove the cause?

inal cause of this moral war, together with the taking from the one side the implements of moral warfare, will of necessity result in changing the war from one of moral suasion, or pressure, to one of physical force.

Sixth, That while the law permits the original cause of the war to exist, and as a natural consequence a war does actually occur, to disarm and cripple the one side to the advantage of the other, is as mean and contemptible as it is cowardly and unjust.

I will now briefly consider the case from each of these stand-points. The first point is determined by the Commissioners in the negative; that is, they say there was no sufficient cause for the strike. Now, assuming this to be so, is the fact at all material Had the legislature the power to strip the to the purpose of remedy? Surely not. laboringmen of their physical force, as beThe strike on the Boston & Maine Railroad, yond question they have to strip them of whether right or wrong, was, at the time their moral force, the remedy suggested by of the report, a past transaction, entirely the Massachusetts Commissioners, while it beyond the reach of any remedy, and there- would be the very apex of injustice, still it fore the remedy suggested can only affect might possess the virtue of success. But as other future strikes; and hence the correct- the legislature can, by no manner of means, ness, propriety or justness of the remedy strip them of their physical force, then can in no way be affected or established by stripping them of their moral force can rethe fact that, at a time past, the strike oc-sult only in driving them to the adoption curred without cause. Here, then, their and use of the only force in their possesfirst and main determination is quite im- sion. And surely the transformation of the material, and their second, if possible, is wars between capital and labor from moral more so. They say the strike on the Bos- to physical force, instead of being a remton & Maine Railroad was in its conse-edy, is a mischief, which involves the sum quences detrimental to the public. Assum- total of all evil. ing this to be true, is it correct policy, is it wisdom, or is it justice, to compel one set of men to submit to wrong and oppression, because their only manner of redress would necessarily subject others to a temporary inconvenience?

Now, I submit that the fact that a strike has occurred without sufficient cause, forms not the slightest reason for prohibiting the right to strike; and the fact that the public necessarily suffers from the consequences of a strike, is no reason why one, having a sufficient cause, should not occur. If this be true, it necessarily follows that the whole foundation of the report is irrelevant and false.

On these false and irrelevant determinations the Commissioners recommend such legislation as in their judgment will remedy the mischief; and such legislation as in my judgment will aggravate both the mischief and its consequences. This judgment I base upon the following self-evident propositions: First, That so long as the original cause of strikes exists they will occur.

Second, That the legislation recommended by the Commissioners in no manner touches or affects the original cause of strikes.

Third, That the effect of the aforesaid legislation is, when a strike has actually occurred, to cripple and disarm one of the contending parties for the benefit of the

other.

I will now consider the case from the stand-point from which it should have been considered, if the purpose was the discovery of a remedy.

To the first question, I answer: The relation out of which strikes originate is that which exists between employer and employe.

To the second, I answer, that this relation is created and established by contract, made and entered into between employer, on the one side, and employe, on the other.

To the third, I answer: The manner by which this relation produces the cause of strikes is the unequal ground on which the parties meet for the purpose of adjusting the terms of their contract. This unequal ground necessarily causes unfair adjustment, and unfair adjustment necessarily causes strikes; that is to say, whichever party is in the possession of the high ground will invade the just domain of the other, and continue such innovation until the party invaded declares war against the invader.

For a period of many years employers alone were combined; during this time the high ground remained with them, and they invaded the rights of their 'employes with impunity. This continued invasion for many weary years caused no commissions of investigations, no murmurs or objection from official sources. But now, when employes have learned from their employers the great advantage of combination, and when combination on their part has given to them the elevated position, we have a commission of investigation in order that, by some manner of means, a pretext may be discovered for legislating them out of

Fourth, That the crippling and disarming of one side can only result in the encouragement and stimulation of the other to further aggressions and invasions upon the rights of the party disabled, and thus, instead of checking, you aggravate the cause. Fifth, That the aggravation of the orig-existence.

To the fourth, I answer: Additional legislation is necessary to remove the cause of strikes; the nature and character of which is, in my letters on Capital and Labor, fully stated, considered and discussed in all its phases, and a repetition of it here would serve no purpose material to the question now under consideration, inasmuch as I have simply made this statement to show how far short of the true question the Commissioners choose to rest their investigations, and if possible to expose their motives for so doing. Whether this dereliction of duty on their part was or was not intentional, it answers the purpose equally well, viz: it proves their report to be wholly irrelevant, and, as such, worthless and erroneous; and, as a consequence, all legislation upon it must, in the very nature of things, be vicious, bad and defective.

CORNELIUS SMITH.

CLINTON, IOWA, Aug. 6, 1877. MESSRS. EDITORS: During these times of general dissatisfaction between employer and employe, it is not only a great pleasure, but a matter for sincere thankfulness, to hear and know of a road like the Chicago & Northwestern.

We feel that we would like to have every man, woman and child in the Union know how proud we are of our Company. The men on this road know that their officers are among their best friends, and I believe, from what I have heard, that the officers are as well pleased with the men. Those who have had the privilege of meeting and becoming acquainted personally with their officers feel that the tie between them has been strengthened by the crisis through which the country has passed.

In the name of the wives of the employes of the C. & N. W. R. R., I wish to express my thanks and appreciation of the part the Company has taken in the late unpleasantness.

That there are two sides to every question every honest person will admit, and it will require much patience, wisdom and brotherly love to settle all these questions between labor and capital; but the best rule to follow will be the golden one of our Lord-"Do unto others as ye would that they should do unto you."

With kindest wishes for the prosperity of our noble Order (the B. of L. E.),

I remain, sincerely yours,

AN ENGINEER'S WIFE.

THE ANGELS.

A FRAGMENT.

I sat in the mellow autumn,
At the close of a gladsome day,
As over the fields of heaven
Chameleon foldings lay.
All the grand western portal

Was a sea of the richest gold,
And the ships upon its bosom

Were of cloudlets gossamer fold.
The shells of that gorgeous ocean
Were the stars of the coming night,
That lay on its azure coastings,
Unending gems of shapen light.
O, 'twas a time for dreaming,
For gay fancy's entrancing spell
To be weaving golden meshes
Through the soul's most hidden dell.

I sat in the mellow gloaming
Till my spirit lids were raised,
And out in the fancy cloudland
On a real world I gazed.
And up from the sea of yellow

Rose waves in tumultuous glee,
That rolled in burnished beauty
To a blue and cloudless lea.
Away in the mellowing distance,
Beyond eager but mortal reach,
Rose a way of shining brightness
From that enameled beach.
And down its glittering pathway
Came beings than dreams more fair,
And richer than autumn sunlight
The sheen of their beautiful hair.
And down the glittering pathway
They swept to the burnished sea,
And my spirit caught their voices
As they crossed the star-girt lea:
"We'll go to the western portal,

We'll gaze on its yellow tide,
And await the fairy sail boats

That over its billows may ride. For the dear ones of this earth-land, Come over this heaving, restless foam, Seeking the way of brightness

That shall end in eternal home.

"Yes; we will guide them homeward, We'll moor their tiny boats, And sing this song of welcome

In assuring, enraptured notes: "O, loved and redeemed of a distant land, Your elder brother sends welcoming band To guide where many mansions be, By the tree of life and the jasper sea. "And sweet, tiny babes of that world afar, He says you the lambs of his bosom are; And he'll treasure you there with boundless love,

That none fully know but the blest above. "O, redeemed and beloved, hear his welcoming home,

No more to agonize, sorrow nor roam.
Learning sweet lessons of heaven shall be
Your bliss by the shore of the Jasper sea.'"'

I saw the rejoicing angels

As they gathered in bright array.
And with the redeemed of earthland
Ascended the burnished way.
Through glints of ethereal glory,
Came to my spirit afar,
These words of ascending angels,
As the beautiful gates unbar :

"Sing, sing! beloved of the Lamb,

Sing, sing! for you never shall roam. Throw wide the glorious portals,

See, Christ's redeemed, your home."

My eyes were full of tear-drops,

But my heart was thrilling with song, And my lips could not but murmur

As I gazed the bright shore along:

O, beautiful angels, beautiful throng,
Standing on cloud-shore and singing your song!
No sin in your hearts nor stain on your life,
No words of contention engendering strife;
Little you know of the sad, stricken hearts
Toiling, waiting, breaking, in earthly marts.
Yet pitying angels, bringers of love,
So full of compassion you've learned above;
Fit greeters you are of the struggling one
Crossing the death-flood, his earth work done,
So stand on the cloud-shore, lift up your song,
O beautiful angels, beautiful throng.

MRS. J. V. MURCH.

These are the times to detect deceivers and hypocrites. Few of them are so accomplished in wearing the well-fitted mask that their real faces do not sometimes glare through it with a terrible vividness. Any ordinary student of human nature can discover them when the occasion presents itself. The hand that touches ours coldly, rather than clasps it with a warm, firm grip-the stereotyped smile-the vacant look-the precise words, that sound large, but mean nothing-these make an honest soul shudder with a chill like that we feel when a snake glides out from beneath our feet with slow, sinuous motion, glittering beady eyes, and venomous tongue, darting out with spiteful thrusts. What a relief it is to turn from such repulsive combination of unmistakable traits to the man who looks you straight in the eye, with a face eloquent with friendly gladness, and whose every word speaks volumes of ingenuous feeling!

Those who are thoroughly selfish, or thoroughly bad-those who are frivolous and vain-those who harbor beneath a fair exterior a capability for despicable meanness--can have no real sympathy with any prevailing spirit of joyousness. They can smile, indeed, and reach out their hands for the choicest of Heaven's gifts; but, at the best, they only hang upon the remote outskirts of joy, because their lyre is not attuned to its noble chords; they have no innate appreciation of its simple honest

the louder it is the more mocking are its echoes; and there are tears which, fall fast as they may, repulse every sense of bereavement.

THANKFULNESS. MESSRS. EDITORS: There are times when the spirit of joyousness is a sure gauge by which we may test the hearts of those around us. When the faces of the multitude are all alight with the golden sunlight of happiness and gratitude, he who standsness. Ah! there is laughter so hollow that in the midst with a lowering brow, in nine cases out of ten, has a bad heart. He who gives utterance to lugubrious sighs and doleful deprecations is a pitiful misanthrope; and he who slinks away with scowls and ugly eyes is capable of villainy. Joy like sorrow, victory like defeat, try men's souls, and indicate with pretty reliable precision their altitude in the scale of social and individual purity and goodness. There are times for laughter and times for tears, and the good heart recognizes the one with as quick a sympathy as the other; so another excellent test of character is found in the quality of these different emotions, as manifested when they seem to be demanded.

But it is unwise to be even momentarily disturbed by such reflections. Human nature, as a whole, is either tolerably good or exceedingly bad, according to the standpoint from which we are pleased to view it; just as some eyes see the sky always cloudy or threatening storm, while others discern the sunshine resolutely through foul and fair weather alike. On this very principle depends our enjoyment of the various bounties supplied to us by a beneficent Providence, and those innocent pleasures in which it is permitted to us to indulge.

For all these there should be a deep, a sincere, and a religious thankfulness. A thankful heart cannot but be a happy one; to promote thankfulness is to promote happiness; and it is one of the beauties of our nature that we may always, if we will, find something-nay, much--to be thankful for. Since this time last year there have been changes, many of them grievous; bereavements, many of them terrible; few have escaped them-aye, few indeed. But the mariner who is saved from the wreck, when he is safe on shore, warmed, clothed and fed, remembers the fearful night of storm only as a dream. He may have clung all that night to a slender spar, overwhelmed by the great waves, chilled to the marrow, threatened every moment with death; and, despite all this, and the scars and wounds of that fearful battle for life, his heart swells with gladness, and he has no words but those of praise and thankful

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After a thorough investigation in regard to the matter, and, his earnest exertions to find from whom or where the charges originated, and failing to do so, he appeared in the midst of a large body of engineers from all parts of the country around, and made an open challenge for any one who dared to come forward and say aught against his character, to speak there and then, and make the same manifest before the assembly present; but upon the non-appearance of any one to substantiate the charges that had been in circulation against him, he then made the bold assertion that I have used to head this article, which was, "That man does not live." He furthermore stated that his character was all he had to leave his family, and he would vindicate it when wrongfully reproached. Those were the words that have continually harassed my memory; and I have often regretted that I could not stand up and make the same positive assertion before the community at large.

This Brother said his character was all he had to leave his children. Oh, what an estate they are liable to obtain when their

THAT MAN DOES NOT LIVE. MESSRS. EDITORS: If you will allow me a little space in the columns of your valua-kind and good parent shall be called to deble JOURNAL, I would like to say a few part from this world of trouble and disapwords to my brother engineers in regard to pointment and go to his long home, from an assertion made in my hearing by a whose bourne no traveler returns. What a Brother, whom I had the good fortune to comfort it will be for his dear ones who are be associated with at the time. This asser-left to battle for themselves on earth, to tion made a very great impression on my know that their beloved parent could stand memory that time will fail to erase.

up before the world in bold defiance and say, "That man does not live" that could say aught against his character. It is a pearl without price--something that worldly wealth could not purchase for them or from

My object in talking to my fellow laborers is this: that I hope it will remain as fresh in their minds as it has in mine. If it should touch the hearts of as many as I sincerely hope it may, for the benefit of them-them. selves, their families, and our noble organization, I assure you it will be a life-long comfort to us in the many trials and tribulations that we daily encounter in our general associations through life.

The assertion to which I refer is this: "That man does not live." The Brother who made the remark, or rather the assertion, had heard in some indirect way that some person had cast an insinuation that reflected on his character as a worthy Brother; or, in other words, that his conduct was that unbecoming a gentleman or a true, honest and trustworthy man.

In conclusion I wish to say, inasmuch as a great many of us are not sufficiently remunerated for our services, whereby we are unable to provide for their maintenance, when it pleases the Divine Being to pronounce the time when we shall depart and leave them to His care, may we not leave them that other wealth which our Brother so manfully maintained? each and every one of us so conduct ourselves in future that we may stand up before the world in like manner and say, "That man does not live."

Let

J. F., Div. No. 151.

406

HOW AN ENGINEER GAINED HIS

BRIDE.

She's sure to be in on time, sir,

Though the rail is wet with rain:
I know the running of the engineer
Who pulls the Pajaro train.
Fast running he's obliged to do, sir,
To fetch her through all right,
If she sticks to the rail he'll get here;
You'll find him on time to-night.

The time's very fast with the stops, sir;
Jim makes his engine climb;

The curves are bad on the lower end,
But he'll get her here on time.
He's fast more ways than one, sir,
And while we're awaiting the train,
I'll tell you a story of Jim, sir,

If you'll step inside from the rain.
He fell in love with a girl, sir,
When he pulled the San Jose freight;
And often threw her many a note

As the train was passing her gate.
And she, in return, would tie her notes
To a hoop, and hold it high
For Jim to run his arm through,
As the train went flying by.

Her parents had her engaged, sir,
To a man she refused to marry;
And were pressing her very hard,
Their favorite plans to carry.
When the day had nearly arrived

On which they were to be wed,
Jim got a note on the down trip
Which nearly turned his head.

store public confidence. In the present case
one course only can be useful.

Labor has long grown accustomed to re-
gard the press of the country, of all politi-
cal parties, alike, as its uncompromising
enemy, and the sordid pamperer of its un-
relenting oppressor-capital. All threats,
therefore, fall unheeded on its frenzied ear;
because all such threats are considered as
the expressed enmity of the oppressor, and
nothing more.

The present disorder is due solely to those sores long festering in the relations between capital and labor. Labor believes itself wronged, and despairing of redress has risen against capital, with the only power at its command-primitive natural force.

This, of course, is against the law, but in its despair and poverty, what other resource has it, pray? It will not do in this terrible hour to stand on technicality and throw all the blame on the shoulders of oppressed, maddened labor. It will not do to say to the laborer, "We have enough military force to compel your obedience; to control or kill you should you persist; you must therefore go back to your hunger sheds and obey the law."

No, these words won't fit now, for it was

"Going to be married to-morrow?" says Jim, just the spirit of such words produced the

"Well now, I'll see about that!

If I don't get her away from him,
I'll wager to eat my hat!"

So he laid his plans accordingly,

And in passing her house next day,
He gathered her up aboard the train,
And bore her safely away.

He married her up in "Frisco,"

And took her home as his wife.
The fellow who was to have married her
Then threatened to take his life.
But nothing cared he for threatenings,
They couldn't scare him a mite-
Hello! the train has arrived, sir,
Jim Hewitt's on time to-night.

HOWARD DOUGLAS, S. P. R. R.

present disaster. Hunger invokes despair,
and despair knows neither law nor fear: it
is the unreasoning savage, ever inherent in
man's nature, gaining the ascendant and
despising restraint.

Can the press-can the country afford to
crush labor down further into despair, with-
out a word of hope or an inquiry into its
wrongs?

Hitherto capital has been the sole sovereign of America; we are all the liegemen of his domineering sway, and labor has wilted and degraded in the frown of his artificial power. Yet, our truly great Daniel Webster, one of the lights of the civilized world, and the greatest constitutional expounder America has yet produced, declared-and the declaration has never been gainsaid that, "the Government of this

MESSRS. EDITORS: Public opinion is
necessarily the real government of a free
country, and an honest, impartial press is
as necessarily the director of public opinion.
In times of unusual excitement, when law-nation was founded for the cultivation and
less panic assumes national proportions, and protection of labor."
a tremor of terror visibly shakes the social
fabric, the press is looked to as the one ef-
fective agent able to allay feeling and re-

These words prove the profound wisdom of the man, for they carry to-day the force of an axiom. The disregard of their prin

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