MONDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1887.

Auckland Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 256, 31 October 1887, Page 4

MONDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1887.

The economic result of strikes is one of the most interesting and momentous questions affecting the relations of capi. tal and labour. Facts bearing upon the subject are also most difficult to collect, because the contending parties are usually very reticent with regard 'to their losses. Mr Charles E. Peck, the manager of the New York Bureau of Statistics of Labour, has, however, succeeded in compiling some valuable returns showing the economic results of the numerous struggles between capital and labour in that State last year. It appears that an improvement in business led to a great increase in the number of strikes in 1886, the wage-earners demanding a share in the better prices. They were ten times more numerous than in 1885. ■ Altogether, 2,661 strikes occurred in the State. Of these, 751 were successful, 524 were unsuccessful, 426 were compromised, 212 are classed as doubtful, the Commissioner being apparently uncertain which side won, and 147 were pending when the report was closed. The following is a resume; of the salient details of these great labour struggles : —

It appears that the workmen carried their point 227 times oftener than the em ployers. The loss sustained by the strikers in wages amounted to §2,638,554; the unions contributed out of their saving funds §329,080 to support strikers' families. Bub hh an offset against this, the increased wages secured by the men in. the shops in which the strikes were successful was 51,420,885. Thus by an investment of $2,881,634, the workmen obtained an increased income of §1,420,885, so that in two years the loss by the strike will bo recouped, and nearly a million and a half gained annually thereafter. On the other hand, a partial return from employers shows losses sustained by capital in consequence of the strikes amounting to §2,695,207, besides the loss of gains which would have been earned but for the strikes ; pud for this, of course, there is no comaensatipn. v Of the 2,061 strikes 1,162 were settled by conciliation. Of these, 511 were settled by the unions dealing directly with the employers and 321 by the Knights of Labour. In 430 cases tho men abandoned the strike as hopeless and returned to work on the old terms.

The trades in which strikes were most frequent where those of carpenters, cigarmakers, plumbers, car-drivers, clothing-cut-ters, furniture-workers, glove-makers, ironworkers, knit goods, painters, shoe-makers and varnishers. Among these the carpenters were successful in about half the strikes they made; the cigar-makers were only beaten in seven strikes; the car-drivers won in every case bub two ; the clothingcutters were beaten in eighty-one out of eighty-six strikes ; the glove makers were beaten in every case but two ; the knitgoods workers" had the like fate; the plumbers only lost in one instance ;_ the shoe-makers were successful -very time. The experience of the Bureau is that the older the union the more likely )',s it to succeed when it strikes. Organisations which have lasted many years an? cautious about, striking, and do not Often resort to that remedy till they have exhausted every other recourse. When they dd strike, they are apt to win. Where£e now organisations, like raw recruits dd not' know what a strike costs, plunge into it jusfc to show their power, and arc qtiite often baffled.

These figures ate suggestive of many unpleasant reflections. It is evident that in very many cases the workmen's demands were justifiable ; in a majority of the strikes, however, the disturbance and loss were fruitless, and, no doubt, entailed much suffering upon individuals. Yet the population of the United States at the present day, though a young nation with vast unsettled territories, is notoriously overworked. Life there for the workman and trader is one continuous grind. The pursuit of the "almighty dollar" is paramount, and if men earn higher wages than in England they toil much longer hours. We cannot wonder therefore that in this great Republic the seeds of socialism grow rapidly, and the rights of labour are being asserted by organisations of annually growingmagnitude and power. The Labour Party, as a political force is becoming a great factor in American politics ; and, apart from the action of the Unions for purely trade purposes, we shall unquestionably see some important social problems worked out during the next twenty years.