, 1873-05-31


faots is basod tho proposition that wagca must
from necessity represent tho amount of wealth |
tho n,assos consumes and 1t is expected, that |
Tic grander civilization Of tho fns1iro |
wlll find thom consuming many tlrea Naer !
present products. It Is tho constant
o1ortion uecossary 10 inbpr and produce that !
keeps us In oxcollont phys1ca1 condition; and II
it woro pohbibo to imagine alt classos consuming
a little less than tloy produced, 1t would tnke
but a short time to glyo thom the valuation OF
tho country. Assuming the ab1o-bodiea working
men Of tho country at 1000, 900, md each saving
e1o0 yonr, tho annual saving would DO $780, |
100000, and in thrty-soyon aud ialf yoarB this
would equal tho woalth Of the whole country, |
OF s30, ,00O, 200, 900. But Of what avail would bo
the moro possession Of this wealth. Who would
pay interest on til It is labor that pays inter-
oct. Whom labor, however, becomes tho lendor.
who ia to borrow7 But whom men can-
not obtain intorent on their money, they
will use 1t In incsessod consumption.
progroBa, therefore,, 10 in Increased rro-
duction and consumption. Mon should not
bo wastod that things may bo saved; nor
stomacbs htarvod to sayo food and atomacla
aro not tho only organs TINT can DO atarved."
Wago.1aborora, howcVor, nro at tho mercy OF
those Of their class who arc content with baroly
pay enough to maintain thom, aud tho low wagoa
they get govorn tho price Of nil tho rost. The
remedy for this Is in tho elevation Of this latter
class. These cannot bo reached until vnatth Is
moro bountifu1ly distributed in tho shape Of
ltghor wages, and wagcs must continue to In
croaso until wagc-1abor shnll coaso to bo profit
able. and that system bo aucceodod by the CO..
operation Of tho maaBcs. This report claitns
that 1t is cheap labor BorvinB corporate wealth
intont upon nothing but wealth that Is danger
wages to point where wago-labor will coaso
to DO profitable, and therefore bo aban-
donod, is prosecuted aa tho problem Of
tho day. IA part OF this question, tho report
e]aborately discussoa aud controverts tho doc
trtne TINT ohoap labor produces chonp things.
II this woro truo. high-priced labor would not be
desirable. Ono means OF reaching tie abolition
Of tho wago-labor syatom is sco-oporation, and for
this tho workman must DO cultivated far beyond
1ha present state. THE failure Of cooperation
heretofore has boen Tho want Of capacity, educa-
tion, and especially executive ability, among tho
working class. Cooperation Is OF necessity at
war with competition and monopoly. Tho knowl-
edge and power necessary for tho workingolassea
to cooperate can only bo acquired by SLOW. nnd
natural Btopu.
Ono Of these stora proposed and recommend
cd by the report IL reduction Of tho hours Of
labor. This, while increasing wages, will not in-
creaso tho cost OF production, and 1t ia now tho
moat practicable measure that can bo promoted
by legislation. 1t is claimed that m incroaso Of
wages, Or Of comfort. Inns followed evory roauc-
tiou OF the hours of labor.
Tho report refora to the objections made to
tho reduction in tho hours Of labor as precisely
tho aamo that have beon nado during tho Last
fifty years, when other reductions ssero pro-
posed and claims TINT they have all bcen re-
futed by actual experience. Wages arc regulated
BY tho habits and customB Of tho people, aud
the reduction Of M hour day cannot force poo
pie buck to the stylo Of living and to tho e1-
peuses of twenty yoars ago. People
will continue to live as they do now
until they change for tile botter. Doc
lnrations TINT "it wagoa arc not reduced
the mills will STOP "capital will move e'so-
WHORE" otc., are treated Idle talk, bocauBo, 30
long as capital is dependent on Investment for
its reproduction, there ID no fear of its re-
moval to tho permanent injury Of the country.
Wago-1aborers aro conHumora to tho tu11 extent
Of their earnings. Tho reduction Of hours in
England, twenty years ago, has been followodby
an incrcaao Of production. LikoresultR hayo fol-
lowod In oyory caso In the United States. In
angwor to tho Charge TINT manufacturers cannot
afford to roduce tho houra OF labor, tho report
citea tic caao of tho Union Mills ut Fail River,
which, witha capital Of $4,000 in juno, 1864,
have divided In eight yoarH ono million OF dol
1ars, md tho capital stock Is worth $4,000
share Of $1,000. Th}s corporation declares it
would 10 ruinoua to capital to reduce the
hours of inbor.
Tho report claims furthor that reduction of
the houra of labor Is duo to tho physical condi-
tion Of tho wor}snan, especially in factories. 1t
quotea h1r. Edward Atkinson, who insists that
eleven hours per day is too long for those who
aro ukoly to become tho por1nanont operative
class, and no has no doubt that tho continuanceof
such torn Of labor will cause any population
to coasoto 10 progressive. The report recon1-
monds tho adoption Of tho Efght-Hour law
in all manual labor on public worls and TINT
tho hours Of labor In all manufacturing and mo-
chanica1 establishments DO limited to sixty hours
per week that no child under Is ysars shall
be employed ut all and that hotweon Is and IL
,yoarB they shall DO employed only Aye hours per
day.
ARE SHIRTS LUXURIEH
3 The REASONS given by nlr. Kclley, and by Mr,
Iaaudall and by the othor members OF Congress,
Democrats aud Nopubsicans, for tho ropeAl Of
tho duties on tea and cofoe, WSrc, that those mr.
ticloa wore neeossarios Of life, and that It wns
bottor to retain the tax On cotton shirts anl ro~
mt.