Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1878-05-30

An elaborate paper was read before the So
cial Science convention at its session in Gin
cinnati, on the displacement of labor by i'm
prOvements in machinery. A view unfavor
able to machinery was taken, and great va
riety of evils were ascribed to the increased
productiveness resulting from its use. 1t was
argued that its effect has been to break up our
whole system of agriculture as praciiced by
our fathers, which required the whole time
and at ention of all the sons on the farm in
the never ending duties of foOd-production {; to
destroy the whole system of family and house
hold manufactures; to do away with individ-
ual and independent action i'm production and
manufactures to develop so enormously the
power of production as TO far Outstrip mans
utmost power of consumption, and to throw
out of employment substantially One-half of
the working classes. The suggested remedy for
the evils caused by labor saving machinery is
the establishment of a normal day. the stand
ard for fixing whose length shall be the en-
ployment or unemployment of all who will
work and the consumption of all products
The appointment of commission by the gen.
eral government to examine into the Whole
matter is also suggested. This paper has
evidently been carefully prepared, and its
views are entitled to due consideration: but,
in spite of the hard times this is not an age i'm
which a sweeping arraignment of labOr-Saving
machinery can prove successful. Experience
has shown that the increased prOductiveness
brought about by machinery, though accom-
panied by iial shifting of labor, by de-
creaSing the cost of articles produced makes
the same amount of wages more valuable to the
workman land at the same time increaseswages
since the cheapnesS of the articles produced
brings them within the reach of many more
persons and makes them applicable TO numer-
Gus additional uses, thus Increasing the de-
mand for the articles aud consequently the
demand for labor. Those districts i'm which
machinery has be- n most extensively intro
duced are found I'll imately to attract labor
father than to drive it away. If an improve
ment in the machinery for manufacturing cot
ton saves hand labor and cheapens its cost
One-half. some wOrkmen are temporarily
thrown out OF employment; but as the de-
mand for this article increases in proportion
TO its cheapneSS, twice as many llborers
will be engaged in growing cotton, twice a.
many in building ships to transport it, twice
as many in the actual work of transporting.
and additional labOrerS will be engaged in
the manufacture of the new machinery If
prOductiveness be so increased that an unre-
hitting days labor is not required on the part
OF the Workmen to supply the demand Op-
pOrtunity for intellectual cultivation is at
1orded. So much for the producers. Con-
sumers, among whom are the work men them
selves, by reason of increased productveness
get better articles at cheaper rates, and thus
find themselves richer, since they are capable
of buying more. Machines are, all things con-
Sidered, beneficial and not injurious to work
men, and we hope that the time will never
come when labor saving inventions will be
violently destroyed, as they once were,
through an unreasonable prejudice.