New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1850-12-17
Lnbor and ats seyvnrtis-wngcs and
their Reduction.

cause OF REDUCTION Oh luelr wages we
cannot become even passivcly accessory tc
the dissemination of false ideas and mis-
chief breeding decisions. We deeply re-
greet thenecessity for Reduction of Wages
anywhere we more than regret any such
reduction lntEom necessity. We have
done and will do all in our favor to
obviate not only the necessity but the prac-
ticability of such reduction. And yet we
know, and all who have candidly studied
the subject o1p8t know, that there are now
existing and actively at work inauencesfar
above the control of any employer or COM
pany which must absolutely constrain a
reduction of wages in many if not most de-
partments Of Manufacturing Labor. Such
being the fact, how can we aid or counte-
nance any attempt to cast odium on the
employers who reduce wages, especially
when it is not even pretended that their
reduced prices are lower than the prices
hitherto paid in rival establishments How
can we say that the employers complained
of in this instance have done wrong, when
we do not know how their prices compare
with those of other manufacturers of SINH
lar fabrics, nor whether the reduction has
not been more than paralleled by reduc-
ton in the selling price of Carpets since
their former rates of wages were estab-
lished We know that Carpets arc cheap
er than formerly-much cheaper-and that
ninety-nine in every hundred purchasers of
Carpets Caborers for wages included) will
buy the very cheapest they can get, never
asking nor caring whether the Carpets can
really be afforded and the labor expended
thereon fairly paid for at such prices.-
Nearly all of US are daily buying the very
cheapest articles (of their quality we can
find and how can we expect that the mas
ter-workers who hire the labor that fabri-
Gates them are to act on principle pre-
cisely opposite to that of their customers,
and pay generous, living prices when they
must sell at the lowest prices or not sell at
all Is it not morally impossible that they
should
We know but one way of keeping up
and increasing wages, and that is by IN
crcasing the demand for and the product
iceness Of Labor. With the Public Lands
Free to Actual Settlers, so as to draw off
as many as possible to Agriculture, and
with an efficient Protective Tariff to secure
stability, experience and Investigation to
our Manufactures, we might look with con-
fdence for an eager demand for Labor of
all kinds and general increase of its re-
wards. Even though the same work--say
Spinning or Weaving particular kind of
Yarn or Fabrc-might not be paid higher
than now, yet there would be frequent OPP
portunities for faithful artisans and opera
tives to take step upward exchanging
their old situation for new and better one.
Let us make at home what Iron, Wares
and Fabrics we consume, and hundreds
now at work as simple hands will be re-
quired as Foremen, Assistants, and in other
responsible and we'll paid capacities, their
advancement giving others also a chance
for step upward Let the demand for
Labor in general or in any branch outrun
the supply, and Laborers may then com
mand better terms; but with large share
of our present FORCES, Furnaces, Factories
and Machine-shops standing idle, and
scarcely any new ones going up, it is NOR
ally impossible that the average reward of
Labor should not decline.
IF our Manufactures are to continue in
their present depressed condition, there
will, there must be reductions of wages,
not merely in few branches, but in many
Whenever carpet-weavers shall be in con
siderable excess of the demand for their
services, some will be driven out of the
trade and others will stay in it by agreeing
to work for lower wages than formerly.
SO with other departments Of industry
To attempt to keep up wages, no matter
how moderate, in the face Of declining
prices of goods, dull market, heavy I'M
portations and diminishing home produc-
ton would be Just as absurd as to think
of keeping the waters of Lake Superior
piled up on the top of the Allegheny
Mountains.
Are these things SO, or are they not
Will those inclined to carp at the foregoing
statements endeavor to show wherein they
are mistaken! And if they arc correct,
wherein are the employers who say, We