TRADES UNIONISM NOT AN ADEQUATE REMEDY.
By W. N. G.
WHEN such men as Eugene V. Debs admit that trades union methods fail to solve the problem of harmonious action between capital and labor, it is pretty clear that such is the case. He has practically carried the idea of labor's combination against capital further than any other man in America, and his opinion as to the benefit the laboring classes are likely to derive from such a course is worthy of consideration. His latest proposition is to colonize the unemployed in some of the sparsely-settled western States, and help them to build homes for themselves. We give below an extract from Mr. Debs' recent expression on the subject of the condition of the masses, because it is one of the prominent signs of the times:— "Never were the masses in America so badly off as at present. Menacing the happiness of the country and the continued freedom of its people from turbulence is an army of not less than 5,000,000 persons out of employment. Every passing hour adds to their ranks. We propose to take them where they can, at the worst, find a means of existence and may discover prosperity and have congenial occupation. "Trades unionism furnishes no adequate remedy for the terrible evils which confront the toilers. If all the workers in the country were organized at the present time and engaged in a concerted warfare with capital, they would be beaten. I have deep faith that our project will be successful and will exert a beneficial influence on all mankind. Even if it should fail, it may be the means of opening up avenues toward some other movement that may yield the desired results. "A terrible revolution may be avoided. It has not yet arrived, but it is near enough to be threatening. The unrest and discontent of the idle, which the ordinary citizen does not see, is like the seething of a gigantic subterranean caldron. We seek to remove these conditions, which is the result of want and inaction, by substituting for them occupation and opportunity of subsistence." We do not propose to speculate as to the feasibility of the proposed remedy, but it is certainly more sensible than organized warfare. It may be feasible, and it may meet a measure of success, but that it will draw a tithe of 5,000,000 into its plan is hardly probable. The prophecy of James 5:1-6 is fast fulfilling, and will be fulfilled; yet the scripture does not intimate that the uprising will in anywise remedy the evil, or ameliorate the condition of those who engage in the riotous proceedings. It will be merely an episode in the culmination of wickedness that, in the light of God's Word, is to characterize the days just prior to the coming of the Lord. The condition of things, as stated not only by Mr. Debs but by many other observers, presages events foretold in Scripture, and which are coming on apace. In the face of these fast-approaching events, the "sure word of prophecy" further enjoins the people of God to "be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord." And again, "Stablish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh."