, 1879-08-01

1At1 tho hNurB OF tdtlnf III Gil nAtItut0nS n IN
all industries osdr Which It has nny contro', Or
my voice In The management Ol, nltllcr directly
or Indirectly
''Do you mean to s.y," asked Mr. Cowgirl,
"that tho State can controI private contracts be-
"Not Under tic Constttutton Us IL exists. Hut
tile stato can, In fact do anything 1t plcases,.-
pue up = monarchy, If II like, rs soon a. It
stF. CoseIl, thought tho witness l,.l bsttcr
witness did so, md ucnt on to- eav that they Ill
Tended To bnvu hsdcstrcd Eight. Hour law, ltlL,
i they couldn't get It through this Con0rcsss
thny propo.ed TO- aend men there who would
Government CONTROL It would become cus-
tom VI sucscsY, md eight hours would cousti.
tuto day's whrk. and become tic common
ia, aw q tl,c stnte. II W. morally, phvslcaly.
lntolcctuasly, and pectlrfarty Injurious to work.
r. more linn eight hours day tho year round.
Tie ctCht.hotir mon dt1n't propose to prccipi.
late revolution Or ANYTHING OF thnt sort, for
they we're pcaccablc, law.nbiling clslzcns, and
f,ccntlarict, eonsprators, incitcrs TO rebellion.
olc., etc., came from thoAe who Hcre opposed
70 ue wosktng-cfasscs improving their condi-
;1cs,od ioa 0Fdor to improve their condition ueY
LESS WORK AND MORE TAT,
knowing that 1t was only through short hours
alKl l'ah wages that their condition could pos
sfbly DO improved. 70 reduce. the hours OF
labor meant to distribute thu work there wns to
This would reduce competition, and, BY
Lie believed this would DO brought about
ty Congress first and The States noxt, but not
until the working people should meet in Na-
tional Labot Congress, and there decide TINT
the hours Of labor must be regulated. Not TIL
then would eight hours become tho absolute
custom of society.
after submitting to tho Committee sofnc
eieht-hour resolutions adopted BY tho Boston
EIght.1Iuur Lcnguc, and report ot tic Miehi-
gan State Board Of Charities for 1878, which
went to show TINT aversion to work did not
ccl'aracterfzo tramps.-at least In Aitchignn,-
Parsons called attention to the stasaments Of L.
that strccs laborcrs here .wcre getting 81.50
day. Parsoue sald fe doubted Tint when ho
heard It, nlMl 50 be took tic pains 10 mako somc
!nautstes about what tho men wese getting.
headed By Foreman William Ailcru, who tod
him + tlAt " ths men got 1ust Il day, and they
"sc.p,n, interrupted TIC chatrmao. "pay-
"Nover,'' sud ono Of tho professional agita.
tors. ROttO vOcc.
"And u,csp men," continue Parsons, reading
from paper bearing Aaren's name, "wlo say
We arg gettlng 10 day arc tic vcr! men who
buy that scrip Of us ut 95 cents, while the city
tina crout1 rrnwnt ovor sLI. tu.,n ..s..a.
alMt enjoyed 1t hugely.
Ms. shcrwan WAS not satisfied with tic way
TILE hioAH'Hoos hosisRss
bad been dropped: .
9uppose.h asked he, TINT a decreaso Of
the l,ourt Of labor raises prices. Then the rising
price of labor will raise the price OF ali conf.
mod!tfes. 'isicn what what would be the gatu1"
nestns san oa @ 30 ,h s.. ssptsd a, Pa1sSns
In ynllr ntcatjnu ttlnt flanv 'lc to,,uf+ ,voI1la
eesscd universally of two hours more time. IIs
would be Two hours nearer his freedom, nt.d
those Two hours would enable him tn make con.
tracts-to naYo some Tolco III tic regulation OF
contraets. onder t.c long.hour ssstem of ID
nor freedom OF contract IS utterly destroyed"
" don't know that ! understand whit you
mean BY freedom OF Contract" said Mr.. shcr-
~ read definition Of It 10 law look once
myseE." replied rarsots, "blt know pretty
well what it means ttou sad experience.
LAUGHTER from ihe agttators.1 Frscdom OF
contract IS whcfo nc parties stand upon an
gguallty win reeard to the power to contract
EtthSE ct ls free to accept or reject au offer"
and baTins lees flours man woult 20 on bet
Ter i99ips Win nic capitalist III makln!; bis con-
"Tlle reduction Of the hours OF labor would
give employment to more men, md reducing
competition W0lld ennbtu Workmen to make
betteF teFtns viii ttslf employers
"ln ttsnc, would there not be a necessity fur
another rsdnetlonfa asked Mr. shrrwtr., with
cood q, zeal oi shrewulIcss.
"Ih!s eight,lour question Is only a begin
ntng," replied PARSONS, with grent fraukucss.
"Flle roai question is TIC regulation OF thu
hoars ol laDor SO thnt all Will be employed.
l!ien men w! STAND upon an exact equality
win rceara 70 Lie power q accoptlllE or reject
llls o contract. oei'ese tlat II the ctght.llonr
systcm was ADOPTED to'uhY VIC would be work-
tn!t unt!cf 6l1-nour system III live years." [9cn-
satton:l ...
When would tile decrease stopW asked Mr..
sherW!n, IN some aIarm.
When the ingenuity Of man is no longer
ablo to supply bis wants By macbucry,- y,-whcn
hls inventive powcrs arc NJ longer aGfo To In
vent machinery, oy which the motive power Of
steam alld electricity could 30 applied aud sup
ply the wants Of u,an. When the timo comes
tile reduction OF the honFs ol labor will stop. I
ma! add. however, tat ! bellere four hours;
lnbor oaY Is necessary to ltfc."
:, ;, euppose, asReu ar. shcfwin, as c1lncher,
That lhe supply OF labor was such that nen
"Ihen they'd 60 10 EYmnastuul,n rep]tetl
Parsons, unabashed, "and stay thers four hours
q any Just Tor tun:" Laughter
Soa!d ,,.i, Snia,n explained Mr. sherwi1. III
VxHf