Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1854-08-30
LabOr-saylnx Machinery.

Among those VINO derive their support from
manual labor, there exists great but an UNI
founded prejudice against the employment of
machinery as a substitute for human muscles.
This prejudice, however, arises from very
narrow view of the effect of machinery upon
the industry of the world. Within the last
quarter of century the adaptation of ma
chimes to do much of the work which was
previously performed by hand, has not only
lowered the price of every article upon which
machinery could be employed, but has so in
creased the demand for these articles, that in
every branch without exception, more men
are now employed than before the introduce
ton of such machinery.
When broadcloths were made by the hand
loom, the poorer classes could not afford to
wear them. Their homespun cloth was Of
poor quality and of feeble fabric. The manu-
facture of it employed a great many hands, it
is true, but not half so many as are now en-
ployed by the factories which make these
cloths, to say nothing Of the artisans whose
labor is required to build these factories and
prepare the machinery. So with printing
When tho hand was employed, everything
was slow. Newspapers were slow in the pub
LEGATION of events, and expensive. When Ad-
ans came to the assistance of the public, the
weekly gave place to the SEMI weekly, and the
latter to the daily newspaper. But the age
demanded still greatly activity. and then came
Hoe and demonstrated that three or four edi-
tons of daily newspaper could be issued
with his improvement.
Are there any fewer printers than before
Are the wages OF the trade less On the
contrary, is there not more remunerative en-
ployment for this class of artizans than before
any improvements were made upon the old
hand press: The reason is obvious. 1t is a
law Of political economy that if you reduce
the price of an article % per cent. you double
its consumption. We have greatly under
stated the effect of this law, for in many cases
decline of 10 per cent. in price will increase
the sales of the declining article 100 per cent;
but we want to give directors all the adyan-
tage they can. In doubling the sale of an ar
ticle the labor of all who are engaged in its
manufacture is greatly increased
Is there any difficulty, then, in perceiving
why, in the case of the printer, his wages
continue as high as ever, and his employment
as continuous: Let us see. When the hand
press was used one newspaper was taken aud
one book published where there are now a
hundred. Suppose, then, that manual labor
did all that was required i'll getting out the
hundredth part of book or newspaper
Presses acting by steam come IN, and SO re-
duce the price and despatch in printing that
there is a demand for hundred times as
much. We will suppose that labor saving ma
chinery performs seventy five per cent, of this
increased work. The remaining twenty-five
per cent. to bedone by manual labor, requires
twenty-five times as many hands, as were
needed to supply the labor to get out the one
hundredth part of the books and newspapers.
which were issued before the improvement of
machinery, and application of steam to the
business.
Nor is this all. The construction of steam
boilers and printing presses, support several
trades by themselves, and give steady and re-
munerative employment to vast multitudes of
artisans. And what is better still, they COM
pei our artisans to be more slzillful as well as
industrious, and therefore Fit them for employ
ment in quite a number of branches The
competent machinist soon becomes apt in
great variety of trades. Unlike the mere
manual laborer, he is not obliged to depend
upon his hands Alone His head has become
educated, and if business gets depressed in
his particular branch, he can readily transfer
himself to another, somewhat similar. without
being subjected to the diminution of wages
With mere manual labor, on the other hand,
the market is always overstocked and in time
of general depression the competition Of man.
ual labor subjects this class to great hardship.
What we have said in regard to printing
applies equally well to every other business to
which machinery is applied. 1t makes our
cottons, woolens, flour, and even those vege-
tables which are cultivated with the aid Of i'm
proved farming utensils, SO cheap that the
poorer classes can live at less expense and
more comfortably than the middling classes
could twenty-five years ago. If this be the
case, and wages are higher than they were
twenty-five years ago, is not labor saving ma
Io11
have Had we space and leisure we would
demonstrate this beyond peradventure; but
it is unnecessary, for the intelligence of our
readers would anticipate US, and we have
thrown out these suggestions to counteract
hasty and incorrect conclusion in some quar-
tiers against the progress and development Of
machinery, as a means of promoting the well
fare of the working classes.-Procideh.ce MIR
! ror.