The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1868-12-01

| nnndipg raductiOH 10 tue Cutb PensaHoh luI
: gouu'ub ~ There is nothing 10 the Ian
14y 80 ,te act 10 indicate such intention
Huoke This construction seem at all con
ho, ~ with the aim and purpose Of the law
Ssh were reformatory in their character,
, EayinR in view the promotion OF the PhysI
: cal. Intellectual. aud moral welfare OF those
who are engaged in manual labor and Of
the general interests Of society ne theo'
nv appears to have been that the IaOoflng
man, or mechanic, by means 81 increased
physical strength aud Nlor acquired
through a reduction in In hours OF ton
would he enabled 10 accomplish daily, az
much, upon all average, m ei2hl hours con
stant labor as he formerly did in ten hours,
or evan larger period while mt The same
time he would enjoy larger season Tor men
tai and moral improvement. whether bis Is
sound in principle is not, here the question.
Tint il constituted the main ground on which
the act proceeded, q reference 10 the debates
in congress- on It's passage will clearly show.
Acting upon this theory, then, which as.
sumes that the government will receive the
same daily equivalent from the workingmeu
under the new regulation as under the old
the legislation could not have contemplated
| O necessary reduction in his daily compensa.
ton The plain import Of the law is that q
| labOring workman, or mechanic, IN the EN-
| ploy of the government whether hirod by
| the day, week, or month, shall only be re.
quired to work eight hours a day to earn bis
daily, weekly, or monthly wages, whatever
these may be. The rate Of the compensa'
| ton is left to the control Of the same agen
| cies and laws which governed 1t before aud
| the statutory provisions on this subject are
few. and very limited. The eighth section
of the act Of Dec. II, 1861, and the Rmenda.
tory act Of July 6, 1862, comprise all that |
| have been able to find and these are con
| fined to employees in the government yards.
The former act provides that the hours OF
| labor in the public navy yards should be the
same as those in tho nearest private ship
Yards and that the wages Of all employed in
such navy yards should Approximate, AS
nearly as possible, tho average prices paid
employees Of the same same grade in the near.
est private shlp.yards, or workshops to be
determined by the commandant Of the navy
ward Ihis was attested by the latter act,
which provides that the hours Of labor, and
thcrate Of wages Of the employees in the navy
yards, shall conform, as nearly AZ Is conss.
tent with the public interest, with those Of
private establishments in the immediate vi
cinity Of the respective yards, to be deter
mined BY the commanders Of the navy Yards
subject to the approval'and revision Of the
secretary Of the navy.
The effect Of the recent act Of June %,
| 1868, is to repeal so much Of these statutes
as relates to the regulation Of the hours Of
labor, leaving the provisions relating to
wages to stand as they were before, and 1t
has, necessarily, e corresponding effect
| where, in other departments Of the public
| service, the wages Of government employees
are regulated by sinilar mode and stan.
dard But, while do not find in the act
any indication that the reduction of the time
! of a days labor should Of itself work n pro.
pOrilonal, or any reduction Of wages and
while the debate on the hin, IA the senate,
| exhibits u consideration Of this proposed
consequence, and q rejection Of it, must
also say find nothing in the act that re.
| uures an absolute rule that employees of the
! government, embraced within the act, must
receive as high wages.iOr their days labor
Of eight hours, a. similar industry il private
employmcnts receive for u day labor Of 10
or Il hours The act is wholly silent on the
subject Of wages, fixing only the length Of
the days labor. The equality between the
wages Of the employees Of the government
and Of similar industry in private employ
meut, which is so maniiesty just and eXpe
dent az to have been provided for by law il
regard to the employees of the navy depart
rnent. and bv department regulation ia the
: war department. is matter of substance
i. and moi of form. This enuality require,
Il Tint the same worth Of labor should be com
+ pcDs.ted in the public cmuloyment at tn,
! same rate Of wages that it receives ia pri
] vate cmuloymcut.
/ Irit ia rnuudthat the theory on which the nc
) in question was proposed and commendc
to the favor Of congress, to wit: That II
J.. much worth Of labor would be acquired t
5 the Government "A Inv moro hours of dali
labor in the long run, is justified By exper
! ence. then this rule Of equality betwee
J. nublic and private employment requires tn,
+ Iho ai,,Lt bour dav labor If the royernmer
It should he COMPENSATED by IA high waves q
d the tan. bour dav labor in nriya,e cmployn,er
g, receives. II. on the other hand, the eigh
hour daily labor of the government is four
to To produce less worth oflabor to thu cover
re ment than ten.hour day labor produces
ar uriyate EMPLOYERS, the principle of equal
o of CONDENSATION will be surrendered, ifeuu
OF wages were paid for unequal labor. If III
re- disparity in the worth of the two differc
w. measures Of abors WAS found to exist tn
IN the workmen in private employment won
to Justly claim that, if the government pa
k certain wages for eight hours labor, tn
in should receive higher wages for ten hour
in labor.
SIS This increase ofwages for ten hours lab
m being thus estabIisbedin private employmel
lo. the employees Of the government would 1
he mand this new measure of ten hours lab,