The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-05-22
SATURDAY, MAY %, 1859.
TIE ELGHT-HOUR LAW

T.. u,s hoen rumored for some days past that
,ho president was about to issue proclamation
defning the rate of wages in Government work
sboDs under the Eight-hour law of Congress,
approyed June 25 1868. Yesterday the procla-
nation was made, and, contrary to general eX-
pectation it declares that there shall be no re-
duction of wages on account of the reduction of
the hours of labor. This will be a surprise to
both the advocates and the opponents of the
eight-hour system, rs 1t Is in direct opposition
to the opinion of the Attorney-General.
General Grant has followed the example of
General jackson in giving the nation to under
stand that, however ready he may be to ask the
advice of the members of his Cabinet, he reserves
for himself the privilege of acting according to
his own judgment. Congress said nothing def
nitely about the wages that should be paid for
eight hours labor, and it left unrepealed the old
law providing that the Government disbursing
officers should be guided by the compensation
paid for similar labor in private establishments.
And yet, in the language of the proclamation,
the new enactment repealed all acts and parts
of acts inconsistent herewith" and General
Grant has decided, in this conflict of laws, to
strike a bold blow for the eight-hour men.
As matters were progressing, the demagogucs
who voted for the enactment had a capital op-
p0rtunity to surround the administration with
Odium. They could claim to be the especial
friends of the Workingman, and attack the Presi-
dent for Withholding the boon of big pay for
little work. But he has silenced this battery by
a stroke of his pen, and taught Congress that he
will respect rather the spirit of their enact
ments, and their obvious meaning, than the
hair-splittng interpretations made by a
critical lawyer. Attorney Hoar acted
as the counsel of private individual,
would have acted if his client had asked
his opinion in reference to the payment of a
doubtful claim. He denied its validity leaving
those who felt aggrieved to seek redress in the
courts or to substantiate their demand by more
definite legislation. Judge Kelley who an
nounces himself an advocate of the eght-hour
system at the same time sustains the action of
the Attorney General and the Secretary of the
Navy. But Grant has chosen to take a broader
and more comprehensive view of the question,
and instead of assuming the responsibility of an
alleged resistance to the real meaning of u Con
grcssional enactment he has given the Govern
ment employees instead of the Government the
benefit of the existing doubts, and thrown back
upon Congress the responsibility of deciding
whether they desire their law of 1862 or their
law of 1868 to be most stringently executed.
The Importance of this dispute has been
extends only to Government workshops and
Government service, and it can only affect in
an infnitesimal degree, by example, the rate of
wages in private establishments. We hope, how
ever, that since the experiment is to be tried, it
may be made as useful as possible and that
accurate records may be kept, showing the diff
ference in the actual product of the labor of IA
given number of men working respectively
under the two systems. If the loss of time does
not involve clear corresponding loss of pro-
ducton, that fact should be demonstrated; and
if. on the other hand, the clamor for the eight
hour rule amounts to nothing more than de-
mand for increased wages, that fact should be
established beyond all cavil.
In the present position of the country. the
whole American people are morally bound 10
work harder than ever. They must provide not
only for present necessities aud for their future
welfare, but, at the same time, bear the burden
of a gigantic debt. No more inopportune mo.
ment for an eight-hour agitation could have
been chosen. A desire for additional leisure lly
comports with the requirements of period
when increased responsibilities are imposed
upon all the workers of the land. Whatever tn,
Government may do with its handful of aborer,
and mechanics in ship-yards and armories. fort,
millions of people cannot afford, under existine
circumstances, to diminish their productjy,
power.