The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1878-08-02


that mlgul gel me INTO y lishi place N,ugnterl
Mr. Rock tcriiy)-Yrs IT'S close district
70 work their men only eight hours, as you
desire would the contractors not make ~ up oy pay.
ing the men lcsss A. dont think they could; II
the government would only enforce the hours the
wages would take care Of themselves.
eight hours-of course Congress cannot Iegis'are
specially Tor stonecutIers? A. Yes, sir, and particu-
larry Tor s.onecutsers, whose occupation Is speciay
cutters couldn't be employed more than half the year.
This ended ths examination OF Msssrs KoGS ana
Egap, which had been sharply watched by Messra
Justus Schwub twho appeared IN u w'is straw nat
aud without coiIarh bsrtholomse, :. Bruner ana
section Of the socialist labor party. BarthoIo.
NEE now got up and said the committee appointed
%..ss Whenever they should be ready 10 near them
Mr.. Hewitt appointed eleven o'clock this morning rs
the nouE The committee, which VIII then tell me
ssCalists OF The story, composed Of Robert d.
Bartholomew Frank Skarda, Mr.. p"da, editor Of inc
Bohemian daily paper, Depuke'tsty tworkngmsn's
pspeT), whose ofhco IN Fourth street, between
avenues A aud b, Isaac Bennett and Alexander Frye
hr. Hugh McGregor desired to bs heard as a work
beginning Us roIlows:-"Congrsss has at last recog
nizei the fact that the worxiug people are suffering
He thought that tnis investigations WAS mere OF
time. TO understand the ''disease'' q Ministry OF
Labor must ne es,aoisn.a a. wasn,ns,on ana me
what means Of education they had, what ages they
attained. how iong stonoeat.or ilvsd, now long
between ms hands, with an expression OF suffering.
ana, finally, when Mr. McGregor's oratory mad OK.
haustsd ITSELF asked The dry question :-"Havc you
examined the last census ?"
WANTED A aov.RNMxNT BUREAU
McGregor, rather stupehsd W such question, re-
Mr.. Hewitt (drilyl- Ill you allow me 10 send you
cory Of That work, iorit contains al tho iniorma
tails? Is printed at the government expense, so
that 1t Won't cost me anything except 10 write the
Mr. McGregor empnaticaiy denied that the census
contained all tho Information that he had mentioned
and Mr.. Hewitt responded that as 10 me sauit,ry
phases OF The labor question: the Labor
Bureau was now engaged IN gathering facts on that
particular subject
MIR. MeGrcgor-Do you know that tho Massachusetts
Labor Bureau - sham, fraud that II has no power
TO 40 anything or even 70 examiuea wi'ness under
oath? (At this documentary outburst Mr.. Hewitt
laughed heartiy.) the Government Ministry oi La
Dor should have iull power 70 get u. ai the iacts
When this department Am taking about mas iormu-
lated It's abors In shape OF tables OF statistics II
should make suggestions based thereon ior the con
sdcron OF grssy and the securing OF appropriate
legislation remove those evils under which We urs
su1erIng Take any iabOring man to-day ana TAX 10
MN about his, onuilion and prospects and you will
hna The smoudering fires oi discontept within him,
which may suddenly and At an unexpected momcnt
break form IN obstruction. You cannot 10Y or play
with this ques Ion, because lies ~ tho FOUNDATIONS
OF society aud demands AL tho earnest thought anu
treatment you Can give Il.
Mr.. HewItt-Wbat else would you recommend as
step ascsrtainng the real causes OF The de-
pressioa OF labor and the means OF relieving III
WHAT GOVERNMENT sHOULD DO.
Mr. heterogeneous department We ask for which
might be called the Department OF Industry, should
b. on the sam. ,oouS ."s a M o
should be- able on notice given 10 furnish Congress
with the condition OF any one or all branches OF labor
In the country the OF It's being PROSTATE or the
reverse, as Inc case may be-. II would then DO the
duty OF Congress to apply remedy where iaoor
urushcs and lnboring men starve. Government
should come TO the rescue, for what is the good OF
govsrnment II the people under IL are allowed 10
perish whns the Treasury is iuII OF money. Con
rress should slsste CO mprehensvely ana
ment 10 the constitution might be proposed regula'-
ing the hours OF labor.
MARA n nj Nd n nj IN m n
that purpose. Int were fcasIbe Congress mas the
authority 10 pass The necessary laws.
Mr. Rice-Do you think Congress has o right to
pass u law regulating the hours Of labors
Mr. McGregor-Ycs, sir, Congress- believe, has
right much as Il has TO levy taxes ana nothing
should stop It but the limits OF morality. For tnat
matter the constitution can be amended to this end,
Tor 1t ts as mscn within The right OF the people TO
cnauge that 70 change Que Congress Tor another.
Mr. Hewitt-Ars the workingmen IN aDy way bet.
ter of Today Than they were iormcrI!
Mr. McGrcgor-ihcy are better on IN one way and
worse Oh Ia another. They inteilgcnt ths N
Io.mer,y, aud their social status Is improved, but
they have NOR necessary wants and oss means OF
providing inem want a pair OF SHOES now. bat /
cannot afford them, because have other wants 70
supply.
Mr.. Rice-You say you want par OF shoes. DO
you think you could easily obtain them II
Mr.. McGregor--I suppose they would thcn be
cheaper II Inc production wero donc by machinery.
the So4rp9mon NOW " .h"s means that forery
none but the rich could enjoy Inc necessities OF
men are greater than they were twenty years ago,
and VIC want chance 70 share In these necessities.
BY cutting down the hours Of labor you improve those
chances, ana II eight hours a day wont effect the i'm
provcment then make u SIX hours day When you
have IL down 10 SIX there ~ nil the greater opportu
pty for larger number OF people being employed,
as ten men working eight hours can 10 much work
M thirteen working SIX which be gaiu Tor the
labor market Of three extra hands
DOING MxN's
Mr.. Hewtt-There are more idlo mon now than
formerly IN this countryf
Mr. McGregsr-Ih bore idle men every country
nov. Women aud children, since tho advent oil ma
chinery, aoiug the work oi men. Euglaud's CON-
mercai supremacy Is iouuded on tho inct thut she
been It's cnsct on the worxngmsn? All through
Lancashire thousands oil women and children sup
ported abisboded nee In diensss for thc men would
mot work for the wages paid women and children, and
women and cnldrsn were found 10 be us useful
10 milIowuers then capitalists cry oat that men
will not work when really there Is work tor them
(Hers the speaker Drancned on into an eloquent DIS
scranton tramps iog)-ls IL not libel on
humanity to say that these they call lrsmps viii
not labor n thcy are gwen work to dor The mAn 10
tramp because society has been unjust 10 him. He
the fertile and rolling plaiu, the busy marts Of
commerce and the thriving hives oi nGus'ry, nut
they not alas for him, Tor every avenue cnpioy.
ment IL closed against his wiling hands general
emile passed rouad wnen this outburst ended
Mr Hew,tt-prevous to 1878 was there not general
employ mentf
Air. HswitI--was There not plenty Of work from
'63 10 1872
PROSPERITY DURING rnE
Mr.. McGregor was unwilling to admit II, but the
facts oil history were 20 plainly against him tnat lac
reluctantly yielded assent then 10 the coustsrnA
ton Of the chairman ne asked permission To go back
500 years, and said ever since shcn machinery mas
LABOR, sweeping up multitudes Of
working men and mprsopin tncm In factories that
little bsttcr than j,s. Tho prosperity OF this
country between '03 aud '73 Was all fictitious and In
cidcntaL When The wur broke on. there was gen.
eral demand for labor, hut wnen the wnr ended we
began TO DRIFT to where are now.
kr Hswut-ls there u great differences between the
years from 37 20 ~ ana III 81 anu the present timer
M MaGreyof-less men are being employed now.
There wers less woncn and children employed tnen,
and the result 70 nov that the msiutsnsncc oil families
dsvovss GU women anu chiurcn.
Mr. Hewltt--Do you think women and children are
working more IN Europe TO- day than iormeriyf
MT McGregor--l do. the women and children Tor
merry only wotked 10 the tslds; now ihey work ~
the factories IA ten times as greal numbera
Mr. Hswitt-ls u an advantage that the Held gang
Of women aod children should DO displaced by ma
chinsryf
Mr.. MeGregor- When displacs those who work
under degrading cond,ons VIC want 10 put them under
better laboribg conditions.