LORD DERBY ON CAPITAL AND LABOR.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VII, Issue 307, 26 December 1872, Page 4

LORD DERBY ON CAPITAL AND LABOR.

Lord Derby spoke at some length at thei agricultural dinner at Bury, on the subject of strikes and the general demand fo;' higher wages on the part of the workmen, Having remarked that there were now tw > masters to one man. and that in overemployment, farming included, wages wer j rising, the noble Earl went on to express hia doubt as to the permanence of thin condition of things : — The simple explanation of the economical condition of things around us was that the demand^ for Jabor in all industrial pursuits at present exceeded tbe supply But suppose for argument's sake that a million or even half a million of working men could be suddenly added to the population, he apprehended that we should see a rapid change. There would be no more . talk- of strikes and higher wages. An increase of population could not happen all at once, but it was a question^ whether* there would not be a rapid increase in a few years. Judging from former ex- , per ience, high wages among the population inevitably led to early marriages acd increased- births. Probably the same causes would still have the same effect. In addition to that, the tendency of greater comforts being attained by the poorer ' classes would be to check emigration. With respect to sanitary improvements,/ ther^ would be a great diminution of in-/ fant mortality among the working classesj In the United States and the colonies there would be increased foreign compe| tition, and in some at least of the rural districts the advanced rates of wages might lead now, as they did three hundred years ago, to a substitution of pasture for tillage, especially if the price of meat continued high. It was then uncertain whether the present condition of tne labor market would be permanent, ahd those who might seek to have the comma ad of the market now would do well to xse their power with moderation. On lhe other hand, those who were inclined to complain would do well to think twee before they gave up the game. If he were now talking to agricultural labor jrs meditating either a strike or a demand or a considerable increase of pay, be shot Id, try to im press upon them, in their in teres ts, that it did not necessarily follow becai se they could pretty well make their own terms in harvest time that they would pc equally able to do so in the winter montns. > They could not at the same time stand upon their extreme rights and extort from their employers things which were not la matter of bargain, but of favor. But if he were talking to employers he woulfl tell them that" the very essence of competition -was that every man, withit recognised' limits, had a perfect right to struggle: for his pwn success, eyen7 at tho expense of inconvenience or failure tt others^ Assuming, however, that the !yjpresißDt^.peinandß-'. were excessive, then 7 legitimate and unobjectiony aMe;jwj^ 1 ymet,^ i^CygS'.-.aeai »'; • 4 fault, and retreQchm^^^^H^HHH 77wae always -wise. -«