The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1866-12-19

The Present Condition OF EIhe Labor
MarEet.--The Supply in Excess of
The Demand----The ReactiOnary
Tendency of Prlces---The Probable
Result.
From u'e Ne.o York BTnuaaetal aud Commercial
'l- ~ QhTpnicIe.s r,si
The present condition of the labor
market presents features of significant
interest. There is no longer that ex-
treme scarcity of hands which was one
of the early results of the close of the
war. By one means or another the
| several branches of industry have OBJ.
tanned as much labor as they r0Quire:
and now we. witness sthe commence.
mentofa glut in the market. In some
| branches of manufactures EMPLOYERS
are discharging a portion of their force;
and i'll sttrades there is such an in.
| creased competition tor employnent
! that it is found practicable to commence
| a reduction of wages.
This changed aspect is due to COM
| oination of causes. The natural re-
suit of high wages is to induce an in.
creased resort to the use of labor.sav-
| log ContrlYances; and this process has
doubtless been in active operation dur
| ing the last three or four years, ena-
| bling producers to realize a given re-
suit with a diminished number of
!
tor some months past, all the returned
soldiers have found their way back
into the ranks of the labOring classes.
forming most important accession to
the productive force of the country.
The devastated condition of the South
has also contributed to drive from that
section to the border States and the
North, large numbers of the more in
| telligent negroes and not Il few of the
! young men of the South, whose for
tunes have been scattered byth yicis-
titudes, of wan, -preferring totsubmIt TO
the necessity Of earning q living in the
NORTH SHheEe they yareStraugerS, 10 DO
ing so among their friends and where
! their circumstances would constantly
remind them of their changed COndi-
tiOn. Again, the high price of labor
has. no doubt, induced many to engage
in the lighter emplOymentS who other-
wise would have Remained inactive /;
and, in this way, minors and women
have contributed more than their won't
ed share TO the production of the cOun-
try.
But the chief accession to the supply
Of labor has come Eftom fmnfigration.
! The arrivals Of enligtans at this port
edurtng the present year have been on u
scale exceeding anything within the
last twelve years. Up to the 18th inst,
235, III emigrant passengers had been
registered at Castle Garden; and unus-
unlly large numbers have arrived at
other ports. During the last three years
662, ,263 emigrants have arrived at New
York; which is about 400, 900 more than
| for the three years next preceding the
| war. This very large accession has gone
far toward supplying the deficiencies Of
| the producing population caused by the
! casualties of war; and one of the most
| conclusive indications that the vacuum
| thus cauSed has been already filled up,
is the fact that the tide of Immigration
has nowg turned backward. Many of
those lately arrived are suffering from
their inability to find employment. We
| learn, indeed, that recently the number
OF emigrants returned from Castle Gar
| den has averaged about 9, 900 per week,
the. majority being destihed for ireland.
The Offices Of the European c6nsuls,
es pectalIy those Of EnglanCls 7Germany
and tSwed den dre stilE beset with crowds
" hose theans~have1 : been exhalsted
while fruitlessly waiting for employ
| ment; which indicates the probability
of n continuance ofthis eflux.
1t is clear, from these facts, that we
have reached Il condition in which the
supply oflabbr exceeds the demand for
it. We do not mean to imply that the
supply exceeds our means IN capital
for employing it; for while there is {,
surplus of labor, there is at the same
time arlargeamounto of idle capital. The
truth rather is that our ability to pro-
duce, exceeds our nbilityitO. purchase.
The yield of goods and commodities
resulting from the labor at present en-
ployed exceeds what the people are pre-
pared to buy at current prices. If all
the producing resources of the country
are to be employed, it must therefore be
i'upon terms which will. admit OF the
products being sold at lower prices
than at present. The moral of the
present surplus of labor is thus very
1 n
lower prices generally That result is
inevitable. The competition for en-
l-pfoyment nusb-necessitate i-reduction
of wages. This consequence is the
more certain from the fact that en-
ployers, in many instances, are losing
heavily upon their productions, neces-
ksitating them either to suspend opera
tions or to reduce wages. The process
is painful to the working classes, and
one to which many capitalists, out OF
consideration for their hands, are re-
luctant to yield. But it is compelled
the sooner it is yielded to the less will
be the suffering to all parties. st,fsy
Legislation may nhOrdi a certain
amount Ofrelier, and should be prom pit
to yield it. The large advance in prices
neCessitated by, the Current heavy tax
alton tends to limit the iconsumptipn OF
goods, and consequently to curtail the
demand for labor. And the derange-
ments and uncertainty arising out OF
the inflated condition of the currency
thaVe "a direct tendency tnTdiscournge
lpre6 ucti ion gen erall 81, which again ppe-
rates against the lhborer' 8 tifftefest. BY
appropriate legislation upon the mat
terS oftaXation and currency tits there
fore within the power of Congress to
afford much relief to the working class
es in their Struggle against the adverse
results of high prices. The interest OF
the operatives lies in yielding, without
rash resistance, to the tendencies in the
labor market above indicated. 1t is
very clear that employers cannot long
er pay the current rates of wages with
out incurring an injury in which work.
men must suffer in common with the
capitalist. If the demand for reduc-
ttionsof wages is resisted, !, the resistance
must therefore BE unsuccessful, and
can only intlict unnecessary suffering
upon the workmen. By accepting
lower wages production will be sus-
. tanned, the demand for labor will be
kept up, few will suffer from lack OF
work, though all may have to partial
ly curtail their enjoyments, and ere
long an important compensation will
be realzed in q reduction of the,costs OF
liVinE;an thatis> ken from thel elabOrer
in the shape of wages being returned
to him in the form of commodities.
-~S~
i Mrs. JANE ADDISON BL4ANDY, relict
OF the'late Benjamin Bland y, who died
at GAINESVILLE, Ohio, on the 2lst of No
Vember,V was the daughter of, Francis
Leonard Addison, connected with the
royal household of George III, and was