Rensselaer Republican, Volume 26, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 April 1894 — SIGNS AND OMENS. [ARTICLE]

SIGNS AND OMENS.

The desperate, hopeless and useless struggle of human muscle against the constant and ever increasing encroachments of labor saving machinery in the various industrial trades still goes on, always ending in the defeat of the laboring man and bringing additional hardships to countless - thresholds and additional wealth to the fortunate few. The last notable case of this character was a riot against a newly patented grading machine introduced in Buffalo last week, which does the work of fifty able-bodied men. One thousand Polish laborers struck against the use of it, a riot ensued, the police charged the mob, the laborers were beaten r the contractors were triumphant and serenely continued on their way, regardless of the fact that by their hasty action hundreds of people were probably brought to the verge of starvation. So it has been, so it must continue. Muscle must surrender to sinews of steel. Human flesh is to-day the cheapest commodity that the world produces. American laboring men have long since ceased to meet these constant inroads upon their only heritage with violence, recognizing the utter uselessness of the struggle. It is none the less certain that each year sees the field for human effort narrowed and opportunities for the illstarred scions of impoverished sires lessened. Thrift and energy can no longer be said to insure a competence to any man who is dependent on his muscles for his material advancement. Many yet will succeed in life, but the outlook for those who are “down on their luck,” who are already under the ban of misfortune, poverty, and the merciless competition of modern machinery in the trades to* which they have been trained backed by the wealth of soulless corporations and the law’l strong arm, is dark indeed. Heretofore these innovations have been largely confined to the introduction of machinery in competition with skilled labor. Now we see that this was not enough, but steam and steel must displace even the lowest grade of human labor. Such occurrences as this one in Buffalo, if carried out throughout the country, mean serious trouble to the body politic. Riots and bloodshed must come as a natural result—Fortunate indeed will the country be if they do not end in'anarchy and revolution.