The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1880-11-05

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enter into the subsistence OF family are
consolidated and averaged, It has been
officially shown Zee Tenth Annual he,
port Massachusetts Bureau Of Statlsucs]
that, in 1913, as compared with 1851, gro
ceries advanced in price 7 per cent, provl'
sions % per cent, fuel per cent, dry goods
declined 0 per cent, rents advanced 20 pei
cent, and boots Is per cent, and Tor al
these items OF expense The average was II!
per cent higher in 1878 than in 1850.
The consolidation Of average weekly
wages proved that, on gold basis, they
were Oh per cent higher in 1873 than in
1860, clear advantage Of 10 per cent over
the cost ofliving, while the working time
had been reduced 10 per cent.
These statements cannot be coutrover'
ted, aud they positively destroy the value
OF the conclusions Of the American writer
referred to.
The claim OF the pessimist that laborert
are more plentiful now and the demand
for them less than lorlnIrly, is equally I'M
founded. History will set US right on this
point II We will but accept Its teachings IN
place OF the conclusions OF men VINO per
sist in seeing only the dark side OF things.
What to do with the unemployed Is an old
query, but one which rsrely comes up ex-
cept during periods Of industrial depres,,
sion. 1t never concerns any one in good
times. One OF the most beneacienL results
OF the age OF machinery is TO shorten the
duration OF hard times. OF old there were
l. long periods OF industrial stagnation ex'
tending over quarter or half century.
Such periods now occur at shorter Intervals
indeed, but the transition from them ia
rapid. What, now, has become OF the de-
preston Of two years ago, when the blue
school OF writer's were flooding the Coun-
try with theoretical solutions for the dlth-
cultieH OF the times, aud were straining
themselves 10 learn the cause OF the de.
preston? II would puzzle them to-day to
state the cause oil the death OF the depres
sion. During the recent census 1t was al.
most impossible In manufacturing centers
10 secure suitable men for enumerators.
| In fact, in many such centeTs there were
not sufficient number Of applicants, suit
able or unsuitable, for the force required.
But even during hard times the number
OF employed is lar less than ia generally
supposed. Some two years ago, one
OF the leading citizens OF q New
England manufacturing city, OF about
5000 inhabitants, informed us that
there were at least 5000 men out OF EN-.
plovment In his city. This opinion was
confirmed by Others An actual canvas Of
the city showed about 800 out OF employ
ment. II is impossible to tell the number
Of any class in place by what Is seen OF
them on the streets. We believe there
are more people actually employed under
the influence OF inventions than there
would have been under the crude wayH
existing before the sway OF machinery was
felt ....
Mr.. G. O. Coffin, before the Congress
ional Committee on Patents, 1878, gave q
very pat illustration Of the absurdity Of
this line OF argument when he showed
that, in order to shell the corn crop .ni
1877 by hand, there would be needed the
constant labor for one year Of over SOC. 0oO
men. Would the workingmen Of this
country like to paw the price OF corn
shelled in this way? In fact, the crop
was shelled by machinery by about
5000 men. The illustration needs no
comment. Mr.. Coffin, when he made
it, humorously remarked that 1t would re-
quire the entire farming population Of the
GiI great corn States TO sit astride barn
shoveIs 100 days out OF 1856 to shell their
corn by the old process. 1t will not do TO
draw conclusions on vast and important
topics from isolated individual cases, for
upon them only, for basis, any pro-
position can be sustained to the
mind Of any superficial observer. The
question 10, has civilization grown up or
down during the past century, or half or
quarter century, even2 The question Is
easily answered BY the great facts OF pro-
gLels visible everywhere and IN every line
country, the rapid increase in the demand
for higher grades Of reading, prove the up.
ward tendency OF civilization, Inquiry
made in any direction needs but one
answer-progress. The proposition that
a change in an upward direction can oc'
eur, we must leave for future treatment.