3 i6 ROBERT H. THURSTON 



This often means a hardship, especially to the man without 

 reserves; but that fact does not change the principles or the 

 right of the question. 



A peaceable strike is entirely legal, though often unwise; 

 a forceful strike is both illegal and impolitic, as a rule, if not 

 always. The nature and the method of the strike, as of the 

 boycott, are contrary to good morals and good manners, even 

 if not directly resultant in crime and infringement of the rights 

 of neutrals. It is sometimes claimed that a strike is war and 

 that, like war between nations, some methods and some acts 

 are proper and right which are not right in time of peace. A 

 strike is sometimes likened to justifiable rebellion, but it is 

 to be remembered that usually a large majority of the other 

 individuals composing the nation are directly or indirectly 

 wronged by strife, and that only the nation can declare war. 

 The courts uphold the right to strike and to combine to 

 strike; but no court upholds the boycott, the strike, or the 

 monopolizing of the right to labor, by the exertion of force 

 against neutral members of society. The economic results of 

 strikes, boycotts, and other irregular interference with the 

 course of trade are always more or less disastrous. It rarely 

 happens that even the side which gains the victory in such 

 strifes secures compensation in full for its losses in war. The 

 losing side invariably sacrifices largely by the strife. The 

 country loses enormously through the interruption of produc- 

 tion, and this is a loss which never can be repaired . Time and 

 work lost are never recoverable. Such economic wastes are 

 a tax on the whole community, and the acts which cause them 

 are in direct conflict with the primary principles of industrial 

 progress. The moral results of industrial strife are even more 

 deplorable than the purely economic consequences. The 

 loss of time, labor, and money is serious and far reaching, 

 and ultimately tells against the best interests of the people; 

 not unusually it leads to sacrifice of health and of life itself. 

 The moral results are demoralization of whole communities, 

 the loss of respect for law, and the promotion of disorder and 

 crime. The subordination of the good to the bad, of the lawful 

 and law abiding to the lawless and law breaking, means the 

 degeneration of the nation and the introduction of anarchy. 



