St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1872-06-21
ST. Suhnsburp Galrdunian.
The Case of the Mechanic.
st. bloomsbury. Vt. Friday. June FL. 1872.

al Inc laut~ | mons Tor Inc ltbll'il'H
of Il days Labor To- eight hours. without
amy corresponding reduction OF the
wages. We argued thar II was based
on no requirement of justice, since Ten
hours are not an unreasonable aud over
rNhau>iimg period of Labor. and II" man
can do ia eight hours the same work a.
in ten. Therefore the time should not
b,. reduced. and certainly not without Il
dminution of wages. We argued fur
Their that Il general adoption of the
rigth- hour >chcmc would reduce pro-
dUctiun. and increase prices. 10y twenty
i've per cent. 50 that the Industry OF
the cuuntr, would suffer. and the cost
of living he pr"p"rtiomally increased.
Thus the mechanics would find that
really they had gained nothing. They
would have the same amount of money
H. NOW. with twenty-five per cent.
heavier EXPENSES: and to balance the
latter there would only Ice the TWO
hours per day of leisure time. which.
in the majority of ca>c~. would Ice um-
pInIitahlN employed.
But II is ii natural question I" ask
what the lahOIing CLASSES are to do. to
better their condition. They feel IA
heavy pressure upon them. They may
seem to have fan wages. they say, but
AT the end of the year nothing has been
saved. They have just lived Through
the tvrllcmuuth. by virtue of long
days of work, which leaves little Time
f"r self Improvement. Life, is thus II
mere drudgcrl. and the better cl;t>- of
N"lhIngmcn are FESTIVE under it. and
long for opportunities such a. they
think pertain to other modes of labor
la reply, We confess that We have no
palacca To cure the ills of Il mechanic :
life. We can assure him. however,
that his trials are not IL peculiarly Sc
we're as his complaint assumes. There
are few classes of lahorcrS who escapc
AN average toll of ten hours per day,
while many work twelve and fourteen
hours. This latter holds truc in some
factories. and in the cast. of most clerks
III retail stores. As to employers. they
often he>t"w that amount of time upon
their business: planning. computing
and writing. for hours after their en-
ploIcS have left labor. and not seldom
TIL ten ur even twelve o'cl"ck at night
1t must also bc remembered. that the.
aspirations aud ambitions of men often
"utrun the possibilities of the actual
east. All mechanics would like to rise
I" easy clrclm~tanct'>.and they imagine
perhaps. that unl, the unreasonable
ness of their employers prevents such Il
result. But let them cuolly reflect =,
little. Have the mass of them the tai
cmt~ and the skill. the character and
the habits. which are necessary to en-
sure such success What proportion
Of men III other calling~ rise above
mtdioclity. and Income either rich on
distinguished Not one in ten puSsi-
bly, one IN twenty or thirty. cod has
not given the ability to very many to
hc leaders, "r I" hc largely prosperous.
"r 10 d" more than to occupy the place
of steady work and Il barely >utliciny
livelihood as they gu through the
world. That * probably part of lifc's
discipline: and its countrri,alanciug
good. if it Ice humhlN and contrrtrdl\
accepted. will hc IN the character form
eel and III the endless results in another
sphere hereafter. Plainly. human eli
CunStauCtS are not So shaped H. To- of
fer II paradise below to the multitude.
and We have 40 faith that even the
seemingly favored few tud it, But
the ma>> must lac content To rAtlci>c
their industry. with little prospect of
riches. This l. truc of lawyers. ply 81
ciduS. and merchants HS we'll i> of me
chauicS The exceptions are noted and
remembered. bat the other cases ave
conveniently fnrg"trru. I'm expert
tmcrd merchant said I" us. lately. that
only about three pen cent. of these " no
followed mercantile pursuits were size
cr-stul. And ii the ordinary jouIucN
man mechanic mEikt> little hey omd his
living. he has escaped the heavy Ie-
spon>ihIitjc>. the hcWildrriug cares.
the tortmiug amAictic-. the dread fore
holdings. the overwhelming disasters of
the multitudc> VIII" have attempted
greater things. and. in the end. have
lost their time. their money. and often.
also. their reputation. THEN health and
their life. in the depths of bankruptcy
II is NO small success to go through this
stale of existence. feed. cluthr and rdI-
cafe plainly ones children. till they can
d" for themselves. pay all debts. and
die even with the world.
But take mechanics rs Il class. and
could they do better than they now do.
on an average Let their resources
remain the same. and could they not
improve in their methods of cNprudi-
turc! If We are not mistaken. they
number i'm their ranks man, uutIritty
persons. who spend in some eases Vi
ciouSll. in others fooliShlv. in others
mrconumicaIl\. These are often the
lnudrst conplain,.r>. and they RIM into
debt where their fellow workers save
money. Who can estimate the money
worse than wasted 10y mechanics. am
uually. on liquor and tobacco or the
millions of dollars nwi>rlN spent in
costly retail purchases of articles which.
hy IA little prudent management. couId
he obtained rhcapIv at Wholesale RATES.
Al .........l I'LL. ...... Il.