Eaton weekly Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1866-1875, 1871-07-06
CommerciaI Lesis1asion.


cure to workingman the same wages
for eight hours that he before re-
ceived for ten, and leave all the other
conditions of his subsistence the
same, it would be a decided blessings
And We lay it down as an axiom, that
what is q blessing to yworkrnen is. a
blesgingsto employers: If . legigia.
tive reduction of aday,s work from
ten hours to eight hours will works.
benefcence, there is no reason why
q reduction to six hours would not
increase the beneficence Nor dezWe
see any reason why the benefcence
should stop at days work of six
hours. It is a pretty form of words
to say 'seight hours for labor, eight
hours for mental Improvement,
and eight hours for sleeps" but why
not give more to the superior part,
the mind, when we can just as well.
70 judge whether it will work this
bene6eence, we must inquire what
Z 81 -
effect viii it have ON production. IF
in particular branch of labor the
days work be reduced bylaw to eight
hours, will it reduce the product of
that branch of labor in proportion z
This is. a question of the strain of
the particular kind of labor upon the
average physical capacity II the
strain of ten hours of the labor is
too great for the average physical
capacity, then the hours may be re-
duced without reducing the RESULTS
Natural laws win Workt his adjuse.
ment; forit is no more. for the in
terest of employer than Of workmens
that the strain should be- 50 great
that his physical condition Is deterio.
rated by It. $. yssss< s.-ssssssssiI
Thus the reduction of the hours
of labor to ten in asday in the gen-
eral ranges of mechanical and un-
skilled work has: worked benefcially
70 all; because ten hours Of steady
application in these employments are
about as much as will permit the
physical condition to be kept up.
The reduction so far results in q bet
ter physical condition. more energy
during the days work. and therefore
the results IN the product are abont
the same as before.
There are some kinds of labor so
severe that the strain for ten hours is
too long. These have procured =
further reduction by the efforts of the
workmen. And in cases where the
work is SO hard that the physical
condition cannot be kept up for ten
hour periods, the further reduction
will work well to both parties It is
not the interest Of employers that
the days work should break down
the 1aborers And SO long as the
reduction does notigo below thsaav=
erage physical capacity Il viii not
diminish the products of the days
work, and therefore will make no
change IN other economic condis
tons.
But IN the great branches Of me
ehanical labor; machinery is brought
in to do the heavy work; and alarge
part Of the duty Of workmen is in.
directing these mechamcaI forces
And there are many kinds of manual
labor in which skill takes the place of
any great bodily strain. Inmostzef
these we presume il will not bepre-
tended that ten hours of work IN a
day exceed the regular physical ca
pacity. Where these are the eondi
tons, reduction to eight hours
would reduce the products of the
days work, and thus Woald increase
the cost of production. Indeed, tits
argued in favor of such reduction,
that it would lessen production, and,
thereby raise the price of the pro-
duct, and thus the resulting profit
would be the same, and therefore the
workman would have the same wages.
This might be the case If. one
branch of labor could DE isolated
from all the rest, and the reduction
Of the days work confined to 1T.
But the rule is for general appliea.s
tion, and therefore il is expeetef to
restrict production of all kinds, and
to cause a corresponding advance in,
the prices. How will this affect the
laborer IF laborers sEeres excln
siyely producers, and not CONSUMERS,
the effect would not be bad on them:
But all laborers are consumers, II
the 1aborer out Of his wages saves
ten per cent. over the cost sof his
subsistence, he does well, and is on
the road to wealth. As much as
ninety per cent ofhis earnings goes to
pay for his consumption. Therefore,
where the price of all products has.
been raised, by increasing the eest of