The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1878-07-16
Machinery and Labor.

machine has taken the place OF the man
and In 90 much a. 1t has increased III,
rapidity Of production, BY 50 much hs,
it robbed the common toiler oi employ
nent This is the cry just nov Of The
Communists, Socialists and OF many hon,
eat laboriug men. Il is simply the foil
development Of the theory that each new
process for diminishing the cost and Ia
Dor engaged on any given product neces
EARLY reduces The wages ot those employ
ed 10 its production, or, by substituting
skilled for upskillsd labor, throws 4 GER
tain number out Of employment. The
remedy proposed is TO cut down produe
,ion; 70 limit or aunihilate the sources oi
wealth in order 10 add 10 the general
prosperity. When the argument is put
thus plainly it answers itself in q
measure, for man must Be
densely ignorant or prejudiced be.
yond the effect OF reason 10 be
lieve II possible TO nulliiy the effects Of all
The inventive arts and turn the face Of the
world in the nineteenth century toward
the path Of retrogression. Mr.. Ruskin
for instance, considers the most Of our
great modern inventions 10 be an uumiti.
gated curse 10 the human race, but the
Intellectual process by which he reaches
that conclusion Ia sealed book TO the
multitude, and is only couprehensible to
The patient student who deyotes the time
and application 10 following him through
The labyriuthean Eindings ot his presen.
tatiou OF the cAse. But il there were any.
thing sound in this notion II ought TO de-
yeIop itself in the increased general com.
fort and diffused wealth oi regions where
primitive methods are pursued and in
The poverty Of those where im-
proved machines are in constant use
That il certainly not the rule, and
as an ounce OF positive evidence !;
more valuable than ton Of argument, il
is quite fair and proper to point TO the
experiences through which the Chinese
are now passing IS 4 refutatiOn Of all
that is advanced in behalf OF hand labor
pure and simple. Than the Chinese there
!. no people on the face Of the earth more
bitterly opposed 10 labor.saving ma.
chimes. They are the embodiment oil
that conservatism which Ia E prime arii.
Gle in the creed OF the retrogressionists
Their civilization is = petrifsction, and
has not changed for thousands Of years
Just As persisIently as the enlightened
nations OF the world have sought 10
introduce their machinery, the Chinese
have barred il ont. ln their civil
wars they hare consented 10 use
improved firearms because they have
discovered that they can kill each
other of faster with them than with their
old.iashioned weapons Of offence. Against
everything else, however, they have sei
their faces with q stolid obstinAcy. The
English once succeeded in building rail
road few miles in length in China, bul
after il had been few weeks in opera
,ion the natives, on the order OF the gov.
ernment, paid for Il and tore it up, and
they have rejected every offer Of Euro'
pean engineers 10 replace it. The isola
lion and stand still policy Of China ha.
not only stopped railroad construction
bu, il has also allowed the canals and the
sluiees for irrigation TO 20 10 ruin. The
sole means OF transportation left are carts
drawn sometimes BY animas and otlener
by men, or the still more primitive style
Of carrying burdens upon bamboo pole'
slung across the shoulders OF human be-
ings. And in = district ot China en-
bracing one hundred thousand square
miles a. cruel famine As WAS ever
known /. prevailing. Ith no eIaggerA'
ton 10 say that millions have starved TO
death and that millions more are beyond
the possibility Of relief. j. it not per.
fectly apparent that II the Chinese had
labor saving machinery in their heldst
railroads across their country and steam.
boSts on their rivers this terrible cAlami'
" could not have come upon them! Yet
Chinese conservatism il the Arch-type oi
the baekwArdness aud slusgisbness that
our crab like reiormers desire 10 see In
stituted in this country.
Governor Boutwell, ably discussed thi.
very subject in an address which he de-
liyered al Worcester, Massachusetts, The
topic wa, 10 general, the eject ot labor.
saving machinery upon labor itsell, and
the claim made for il wNs that, although
il might for . time disturb labor 10 a
greater or les extent, il vas in the end
beneficial. This Il what observation
teaches, but Il is = truth which the per.
sons uniAyorably Affected for the moment
BY the introduction Of = new machine
can never grasp. As fact, machinery
always draws population towards it-toO
much Of il freq1ently-And 90 causes AZ
overstock OF the labor market; but the
circumstance that tpopulations centre and
grow up around machinery proves that
L has attractions higher and more cheer
iul than those which attend unskilled la
Dor Of any kind. Mr.. Boutwell,, ~ al exam
pie, mentioned the sewing machine, which
has not only eheapened clothing, bat hal
immensely improved the condition ol
those Who make II, giving them easier
work in better ventilated rooms, Al higher
pay, and has, moreover, multiplied the
number Of persons who are engaged IN
making clothing. Hoods "Song OF the
Shirt" was written before the invention
Of the machine. When the eye Of the
needle was put al the point instead oi
the butt, the "Soug Of the Shirt" VA
mealurAbly silenced. The additional
number Of stitches taken by the machine
was the correllts Of the number Of shirt'
made, used and thrown away. ItcreAted
il own market The cotton gin Is an
other familiar illustration. Each gin
does the work Of many men,
and 90 apparently throws a. many
men o1t Of employment Bat re-
ally, It enlArges the plant Of cotton
puts ten fold more hands in the beld, em'
ploys navy for the transportation otths
yield, makes glad the waste places of the
South, and builds up industries all over
the land. These are bot tuo evidence.
Of the rule that labor is 10 be measured
not BY the nominal SAges-so many dol
lars, or shillings, or irGDcs AdAy-but b.
what the wages will boy. AIMr. Bout
we'll stated it, tested In this way, Wage'
have doubled during the present century
AL theories Of What is essential TO tb'
Wellbeing Of labor that presume 70 limit
production or 10 discourage The most frea
nd unrestricted development Of ali thi