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    Untitled Article

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    Untitled Article

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    LAW AND LABOUR

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    Untitled Article

    was generally selected for his admirable impartiality to preside at horse races and fist fights . With these qualifications " old Abe Lincoln , " as he is called , will probably carry all the Western States . . A man with no other recommendation than his power of " ruining" liquor would certainly stand no chunce of high office even in America ; but when a ' party adopts as its champion a politician , who , in addition to political ability and character , can do the things the people like to do themselves , better than

    they can , he is sure to win an enthusiastic welcome . The people of the United States like a hearty jovial statesman , who enjoys their enjoyments and understands their difficulties : and it is much the ' same in this country . Lord Palmebston certainly does not enjoy any great reputation for " ruining" liquor , but lie has the credit of being a hearty man , taking an interest in English sports , and he owes his popularity to that reputation and to his perennial liveliness , much more than to his " spirited foreign policy /'

    The Republicans have a good start , and a good candidate . They have a . platform equally calculated to conciliate the sympathy of the people whose votes they want , combining , as it does * moderation on the Slavery question with rampant Protectionism , and only some great blunder of their own , some intestine squabble fomented by slighted aspirants to the Presidency , or some speedy termination of the divisions of their opponents , can deprive them of the victory . At present , the discord in the Democratic-ranks is as fierce as- ever . The friends of Mr .

    Douglas insist as strongly-upon his nomination , and the adoption on the platform of his doctrine of " squatter sovereignty , " or at least of leaving the whole question open . ; The extreme South , and the personal friends , of Mr .. Buchanan , are just as determined to prevent the nomination , of'Mr . Douglas , and to have the new doctrine which the South has lately taken up , that Congress- is bound to protect Slavery in the territories , recognised

    as the party creed . The adjourned Convention meets at Baltimore on tliGLlSth , and unless by some wonderful management a spirit of unity and concession can be ; infused into its councils , its sittings will be as Truitless as-those held at Charleston , and 1860 will- witness the -complete disruption and discomfiture ot the great Democratic party which , but a short time since , promised itself a long - - . lease of qfttee , and relying- upon that tenure grossly abused its power .

    Untitled Article

    A CASE recently decided-by Mr . Co ijktk places the relation of . the law-making and law-expounding class and the working men in .-a . vt .-iy striking if not novel point of view . Three ' workmen were charged with unlawfully rising threats and intimidation to force , a builder' named PiiTLii' Axley to limit the nnwihf » v nntt description of his -workmen contrary to the statute , &c , &c . It appeared from the evidence that Mr . Ax lev had in his employment two men who had signed the document which

    We are not arguing on behalf of the course taken by the Society ' s men . We think refusals to work with non-society ' s men , ordinarily , if not under all circumstances , amount to an unjust assault upon the rights of the men so persecuted ; but no wrong on the part of the employed can be morally adjusted by a similar wrong oh the part of the employers ; and a constant enforcement of the * law as laid doAvn by Mr . Cokuie—whose sympathies seem to be morbidly one-sided in favour of the capitalists , could not procure one particle of safety or convenience for the masters , but would simply change for the worse the taetics of the men . If the latter in this case had left without giving any reason it is

    probable that no proceedings would have been taken against them ; although by the employment of spies the masters might have picked up enough scraps of conversation to have carried out Mr . Corbie ' s suggestion of an indictment for conspiracy . In domestic life the butler gives warning that he will not live with the cook , and the housemaid vows not to rub any more tables unless the footman is discharged . In higher life a Chancellor of the Exchequer declares he will not serve her Majesty the Queen unless the First Lord of the Treasury can be persuaded to resign ; and throughout society people choose their

    associates without fear of Mr . CoititiK and a barbarous law . Why should the workman be an exception to the enjoyment of this natural liberty , and why should the force of the State be arrayed against him in this preposterous manner ? The workman ' s answer is obvious . He would say , the capitalists make the laws for their own interests , and nominate expounders upon whom they think they can rely , and the workman must submit till his time comes . Tf any one were , to make a morning or an evening ' s tour through regions where the working classes congregate , he would find that such « n intervention as that of which Mr . Corme was the

    instrument has done more to widen the breach between labour and capital than the most inflammatory speeches of trades union leaders . The workmen know that neither the middle class nor the aristocracy would tolerate the application of such a law to their own order , arid that its vengeance only falls upon them because the absence of-political combination and its . attendant power has left . them . dcfenceless _ nnd weak .

    produced so much ill-will and pecuniary loss to all parties concerned in the unhappy builders' strike . The defendants did not choose to work with men who had , as they thought , betrayed the interests of their order by signing the objectionable declaration , and they accordingly gave Mr . Anlkv notice that they would not work for him unless these men were discharged . Thus the only " threat" used was that of leaving an employment they did not like ?; and after carrying it into effect it appears that they and their friends endeavoured to persuade other workmen not to serve Mr . Ani / e y while the document men remained . Mr .

    economy or social science , let them combine to spread a knowledge of such subjects , If they consider the demands of the men unreasonable , let them be ready again and again to argue and discuss , and when practicable to submit the matters in dispute to the test of a fair and actual experiment . If the money fooled away by the men in the late strike would have sufficed to establish half-a-dozen co-operative firms , on the other hand , the money fooled awav by the masters would have built'dozens of

    readingrooms and * libraries , established schools , and replaced the mischievous . pothouse ? bv the civilizing iiillueuoy of thu workmen ' s club . "There is no ' doubt wrong on both sides , but the richer and better-informed capitalist is assuredly the most to blame . If the masters' method of tyrannical law and obsequious police magistrate could succeed , the ' working class must be demoralized ; aiuFon the other hand , if the , law did not punish the Unionists for real oirences aujninst the pmoc , confusion would result . On bothsideslet force be discarded—willingly if possible , compulsorily

    if not ; but let no friend of human progress regret that capital cannot sleep easily while labour is socially depressed . Working for wages ought not to sink a mini in the social scale , and it is a melancholy proof of renl degradation and snobbishness when an employer thinks lu ^ nseliMoo gmiul t <> urguc with . liis . . j ucn We suspect that thu fcur of . argmiiunt' too often aite from the consciousness of ignorance , hut the country will come to no harm from compelling capital to buy a little polite learning ; and it Would bo no duu ' iago to the community , if , in addition to so manv thousand pounds , a manufacturing firm found it necessary to its success to provide so much knowledge of social . science nml so much Christian charity ns part of its stock m trade . We could name large firms who never quarrel with their men ,

    Coiuuk , after citing certain precedents , decided that expressing a determination to leave work was a " threat"' to " "forcv the master to limit the 'description of his workmen ; " and he went further than this , by declaring that the masters' document simply bound the men to abstain from doing that which was illegal , although , in point of fact , it is as much directed against interference by arguments as against interference hy force . The legality of Mr " ( Jok urn'sdecision will , it appears , be disputed , but there is much more , in the question than the . dry technicalities of an oppressive law ; and however much the ill-feeling between masters and men may bo regretted , it is obvious tlmt it ean only

    The claims and counter claims of labour and capital can only be adjusted by argument , by experience , by the spread of information , and by * the introduction of something like Christian principles in the social relations of rich and poor . A few days ago , the master builders declined" to discuss the eight or ten hours' question with the delegates of the men , . and now they encourage one of - their number to prosecute and obtain the con-v viction of two poor fellows , who will be regarded as martyrs by . their class . How would Mr . An'ley or any other master builder like to be committed to prison with hard labour , for refusing to employ , or recommending another master not to employ , members of the Union '? And yet , if justice were even-handed and not iniquit ( nisly HJIm 7 l ^^ penalties with the men . So long as-capitalists . are-enabled , to resort to force , too many of them will neglect' the social and Christian duty of cultivating a-good understanding with . the . men . Tf they complain that the latter do not understand political

    bo increased by such prosecutions and such decisions , whieli go further to violate the principles of justice than any emirs committed by the ' men . VYe nre aware of the inconvenience that capitalists sufFru-throiVglrthe action of trade ' Combinations , but all that cither party ought to claim from the tiiato is protection from actual violence or force ; and their quarrels , thus reduced to limits compatible with , public order , should be solved entirely by moral means . Mr . ( Joruik ' s law may be fortified by an ample array of decisions in a similar spirit , but tho common sense and common feeling of justice entertained by mankind are outraged when tho simple expression of a determination to leave an employment is held to bo threatening the employment of force .

    Untitled Article

    June 16 , I 860 ] The header and Saturday Analyst . 561

    Law And Labour

    LAW AND LABOUR :

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), June 16, 1860, page 561, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2352/page/5/