The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1879-05-10

THE OltGASI/ATIpN OF LABOR.
This glance at the past shows Ills the h"r-
i"GS of the people, of laborcrS and capital
lists alike, at the time when machinery was
introduced With the invention of machin-
cry for the manufacture of textile fabrics.
there came OF necessity an organization of
labor. Men and women, instead of work
inc for themselves, sold their services to
employers. subjected themselves to rigid
rules and worked in masses. From the
settlement of the country UP to that time,
manual labor had depended solely on itself,
and had made but little progress. In the
factory men gave up, To Il certain extent, |
their individuality, and consented to labor
us others should direct. There was also of
necessity an association of capital. Prior
to that time the farmer. the blacksmith. the |
carpenter. hired lahorerS during summer
and turned them adrft IN winter, Jour
neymen in the different industries were
ever being crowded out by apprentices but
the factory employed no apprentices. and
gave employment through the year. What
wrr" the first effects of this association of
capital and organization of labor Better
wages, the cost of production cheapened |
steady employment. the laws OF demand |
and supply brought into active operation.
Did this introduction of machinery, or
ganizaton of labor, and association of capt |
tai throw men out of employment? On the |
contrary, il created a great demand for la
hor with great increase Of wages. In |
in, I
butter and cheese, spinning and weaving |
could command but fifty cents week, with |
board, while in the Lowell manufactures
their net earnings We're from two to three
dollars per week. More was earned by the |
daughter in the factory than by the father |
upon til" farm, and many homestead mort |
gage was lifted by her savings.
Let Us examine this question more min
utcly.
The man who started the ball WAS the i'll
ventor who contrived the machines but the |
inventor being poor man, could not intro
ducc his mechanism to the public until he
called to his aid men who by thrift and ell
terprSe had accumulated wealth.
HOW CAPITAL EMPLOYS LABOR.
The capitalist in turn called to his aid the
entire fraternity of trades and occupations
a host of skilled and unskillcd artisans and
laborcrS, men who should use their muscles
and brains rs the capitalist should direct, in
rearing the building and constructing the
machinery. Long before it was possible for
the capitalist to receive dollar in return,
broadcast over the land. and all for the bene
fit Of labor. He called for men of Il high
| order of intelligence and executive ability,
after the building was erected, to be super
intcndentS. overSeers, engineers, clerks, ac-
countantS, inventors, chemists. Overs
What were these men doing. and where
were they" On the farm, i'll the WORKSHOP,
| behind the counter of some country store.
! doing ordinary work. but endowed with
| power and capacity to do something higher
and better. Then, when the machinery was
in place, the capitalist summoned the farm
ers' daughters and the women who We're out
| at service, weaving with the hand-loom, to
| Law il aside, To do more work with the looms
driven by the Merrimack. Nor did the
| movement stop there. This calling of la
| borers into new industries had its effect
upon those who remained upon the farm i'll
the workshop by increasing the value of
their labor Hands upon the farm who had
been receiving eight dollars per month
through the increased demand for labor soon
obtained ten and twelve: the girls who had
worked for fifty cents Il week demanded one
dollar for doing the same work
While on the one hand there was Il gen
,.ra advance III wages, on the other there
WAS Il general cheapeuing i'll the cost of manu-
featured goods the cotton prints sold at the
| present time for five cents ward far
superior Ia those that formerly commanded
twenty To forty cents. and 'homcspun
| WOODEN, which before the introduction of
machinery were sold al one dollar Il yard
would be dear now al fifty cents.
Through Invention and the employment
at til" forces of nature. one person does the
! work vi many Il i, asserted by cotton
| manufacturers that hy the Use of macln-
cry Il man may accomplish one thousand
fold more work than he could by the hand
|
the century 1t is estimated that the num-
Der of persons engaged directly in cotton
manufacture throughout the world is from
l. 100, 900 To l,:;Do,00o. If We assume that
the population of the globe is 400, 900, 900,
it follows that the work now done by the
operatives in the cotton manufacture would
require the labor of every human being on
the earth if forced To use the methods of
former days.
What is the Inference? The cotton cloth
annually manufactured is about 10000, 600,
900 wards 1t is cviden, that only Il small
portion of that amount could be furnish ri
by the spinning wheel and loom; that in
consequence there would be less demand for
raw material less demand for labor i'll its
cultivation, less acreage in cotton, less cloth
ing worn. fewer comforts of life, with null
ttude now employed h.""H ont Of empiog-
WcM.
We have seen that to Introduce machin-
cry men were called from the farm and
workshop, end that there was new de-
Inand for labor, and now we see that il ma