Carson daily appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1873-1877, 1877-04-13
MACHINERY VS.. LABOR.


II the distress mong the lsboring
classes, everywhere prevailing. were
not due somewhat 10 the excessive
production OF machine made goods
All kinds Of fabrics. selling Ut less
than the cost price Of their materials
means an overstocked market. When
coesons are selling at five cents yard
against six cents Of cost at the factory,
steam has not only made Idle vast
number OF busy hands, but IL has
wrought an differentiation Of invested
capital, itself. II means that for the
time being. In = given locality. labor
has ceased to be a standard Of values.
!, IL demons,rable by very simple fig
uriDg that It Is quite rs possible TO
oyerstock the commercial and mercan-
tile wsrld with caiicos and hardware
~ It IL to over supply tho wants Of
household or village. Justice to
mankind demands that q healthy
mans days work should produce
enough 10 support him and his wife
aud children In comfort. Also there
should be enough ~ work for all who
Nre willing to toll with their hands. II
looks "a II there had been too much
invention and perfection aud setting
Ia motion Of ''labor saving machines
Labor saving means, too generally,
labor destroying. A cord Of wood
costs, 10 Virginia city, as much a. the
days wages Of three workiBgmen.
The steam furnaces there eat up many
\ cord OF wood each day. This means
that three mief,'s wages and employ
ment 20 TO make a given amount Of
steam power. Also II means, in Nir.
Rinia CRY, that a certain number Of
mons daily tasks, represented BY .
certain amount OF steam, are required
10 keep the mines sufficiently clear OF
water 10 permit tho thousands of min
ers there employed, to perform their
regular labor. Here, then, steam
would seem TO make hand. work pos
able. hut suppose some ingenious
man should invent machine which
would do tho work Of ffty or a hun
bred miners? Mightnt there DO some
danger Of. a wholesale destruction OF
hand labor In the drifts and Slopes
and at the ore breasts3 Steam looms
and the spinning jenny have driven
out Of use the hand loom and the spin.
ming wheel. Ay, but factories give
work 10 thousands. So they do, until
they glut the market; and then they
bring thousands 10 idlencss aud want
And now, being sufficiently meshed
in our own puzzle, We call the atten-
ton Of our readers TO this following
specimen OF Charley Goodwin's beau.
liful literary handiwork. We quote
from yesterdays Enterprise:
The most beautiful thing IN Gold
llill-sase the ladies--is the engine
over tbe Beicher and Crown Poin,
pUmp-sbaft. We strolled into the
works couple OF days since with Ned
Peako. who, by the way, In one Of the
Ningiciaus who manipulate tho gent.
We are not half sharp enough To des-
cribe the engine. IL Is a vertical, di.
chine, regulated by Patients improve.
men, on tho Dayy diiIerential valve
IL ~ II / 900 registered horse power
more. The piston attaches directly te
the bishop head Of tho pump bob, aud
without y bit OF noise, Ii Lifts two
thousand feet Of pump. rods and one
hundred gallons or water at every
stroke. There n Nltnost absolute vi.
l,'ncc in the enRine-room while thi,
Titan works. OF all tho sententious
isborcrs that We ever saw performing
mighty exploits, this engine IN tn,
most remarkable. While we were
present II was making but three
strokes = minute, and we could no, rc
aiixe that Il was In motion ut all until
we went down the narrow stairs
(which niadc ns feel ns though we
werc ON shipboArd, aud made US lister
ior the sob OF waters against the Ship
beAm,J and saw the work which wa.
being performed. We then went e
the scsfiold above thu engine. wher,
the bright work OF the engine Is ex
posed. There . polished steel hane
would now and then noiselessiy opet
aud close, u lever would raise aud fall
and wa watched The psnto'nilne unit
we could scarcely resist the i'm prcssior
that tho monster was making sport @
us, moving its shining hands shout n
small boys sometimes In cO0te fnpt pu
their nnacrs To their nosea, In token o
disrsspect. Isn't all this In foreign :,
What We commenced 10 say. Anon,
the isArvsls 81 the Constock, there i
mono gssat1ss than the machinery visi
lie here. Whem ono looks uIpou Il D,
is ready "a. belicve that now anything
required n possibis. lsy this mwchi
merry u has bcsu possible To do In M
tcen years on the Coinstock what 4
required . hundssd end ff,y years :,
scco,nl ,llsh In tho mincs OF Mexico
II will make posslbls Developments IL
the coming tiflsen years such ~ wer,
nsysy accomplished either In Mexico
seusA Amosisa or Europe. HIT Will,
We can, with entire admiration. thinI
al .whss thtA power n doing hero, ",
fancy that we can more fully reaiiss
why thew ere hard times In oshcI
lands. This machine, which occupic,
but . few eptare eecs ~ ground, u
equal In power IN live hundred mot
and . thousand borpcs. No wonder
sneW err nile W The East, and sha
there II . sint OF manufactured goods
a . .