IN putting up one of the large business buildings in San Francisco a dispute has arisen over which of two classes of workmen are to put in the steam-pipes that belong to the elevators. One of the leading union-labor men claims that the job should be done only by members of the steam-fitters union; and the firm that has the contract for putting in the elevators claims that its elevator constructors should do the work. All the men working on the job are "union" men. All are agreed in regard to the wages being paid and the hours of labor and such like things.
There is no dispute between the owner, who is furnishing the money for the construction of the building, and the men who are doing the work for him. The dispute is between two of the unions that are engaged on the job. And the men who are working on the building from these two unions have no disagreement; they would all like to work, but the man who is at the head of the unions in San Francisco thinks that the work of putting in these pipes should be done by another class from the one that the contractors have employed. As a result of the dispute, 463 men are thrown out of employment till it is settled.
The men that are thus thrown out of work assemble each morning at the building, hoping to find that the difference is over with and that they can resume their occupation to earn the money that they need for the support of themselves and families. The men who have taken the contracts have agreed to have the building done within a certain time, and this delay is causing them much uneasiness.
The owner of the building, and the men who have taken the contracts for the construction of the various parts of it, agree to the demands of the union laborer; they have agreed to employ none but union men on the job. But two sets of men representing two different unions, yet men that affiliate with each other, have a difference of opinion, and not only are the owners and contractors put to great inconvenience and loss, but the whole of the 463 men employed are distressed by being thrown out of work. And this fact is further emphasized when it is known that there were only four men employed in the fitting of the steam-pipes for the elevator, and over which all the other 463 are made to quit work.
The purpose in giving the foregoing statement is to call attention to the fine distinctions that are being drawn in regard to how and by whom work shall be done. And the men who are making these distinctions claim that they are doing so because capital has such a strong disposition to grind down the laborer that they find it necessary in order to protect the working man. And while the laborer sets forth these claims, the capitalist on the other hand thinks that they are unreasonable. And so the conflict is on, and is becoming more and more bitter and determined on both sides.
It is not the work of this paper to take sides with either party in this controversy; neither is it our duty to inquire into the merits of the case to see which side is the greater offender. But in view of the conditions that exist in the world to-day we feel constrained to earnestly ask the reader to consider these conditions in connection with the following scripture:
"Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries12of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord." James 5:1-7.
The foregoing scripture plainly tells of a heaping together of wealth; it just as plainly tells us that this is for the last days; it tells of the cries of the laborers; and it also tells of the wanton, luxurious living of those who make a wrong use of their wealth. And this all occurs at a time when the coming of the Lord is drawing near, for we are exhorted to be patient till that time.
The coming of the Lord, then, is the one hope that is before the world. The coming of the Lord is the one thing, and the only thing, that can or will settle these disputes. For any one can see that the strife is growing deeper and more and more bitter. And once the conflict begins in earnest there will be such scenes of bitter strife stirred up that no power this side of the power displayed by the coming of the Lord can put an end to it. The sensible thing to do now is to prepare for the coming of the Lord, and keep clear of being a partisan to the strife and turmoil that is rising higher and higher in the world. For this strife will continue to get worse and worse till the end of time is reached.