The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1884-05-31
BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

Ever since there have BEEF
French people and French govern
ment, the former have gone to tn
latter whenever any trouble ha
arisen, or any industrial depression
has occurred. The people have bee
trained to look to the government t
remedy all ills and provide pan
acea for every pain. Wheneve
the government has failed to exten'
the relief, it has been overturned
and a new one if not a new system
tried. The result Is, there ism
much of any government left. Wha
there Is. is of the weakest and mos
worthless kind, being neither stable
at homo nor commanding respec
abroad. And the people are in {
similar condition. They have beer
governed too much. They cen
tralized all power, and then Deepen
d6d upon 1t TO take care or them, an0
thus have grown dependent.
In this country the struggle OF
one party has been to do as the
French have done, in the matter OF
government, while the other
great political organization has
striven to restrict the government
to the exercise of only such limited
authority and power over the in
dividual as are absolutely necessary
to the well-being Of the whole. The
theory Of the latter is, and it is the
correct one, that the people gov.
erned least are governed best. The
idea 10 to throw the responsibility
upon the individual when it can be
done, making him more independ.
ent and self-relisnt, and OF course
the better citizen.
The Republicans are now endeav
oring to get more power into the
hands Of government, by bureau
or department. OF labor statistics, .
bill providing for which is among
the chief measures in the present
Congress. The plea is that such a
bureau Is necessary in order to asoer
tain the causes for depression in the
labor market and either provide
against or overcome them. Many
years ago there was depression in the
agricultural industry, and a
department Of agriculture was
established. It has since
been maintained, at an annual
expense of millions Of dollars; but
If it has ever done any good to any
body except those who get the ap.
propriRtions, the fellow has not an
nounced himself. It yearly Issues
cords and tons Of books, which are
absolutely worthless 80 far as the
information they contain is cons
eerned, and large proportion of the
volumes are carried to the paper
mill before they are opened and con-
Terted into material that possesses
value. The reports these volumes
contain, even If they were reliable,
which is seldom the case, are too
old by the time they are issued to
be useful. The newspapers have
given ali the information they con-
tain, and 1T the time it was needed
to help the farmer and regulate the
markets. We undertake toI
say the Agricultural Depart
ment of government has cost
thes people one hundred dol
lars for every dollars worth |
of benefit it has returned, placing
the most liberal price up: n all the
good it has achieved. The sooner
it is abolished the better. The tax
payers will enjoy retaining the nils
lions which are being taken from
them to support an army of clerks
and employees, and to maintaia a |!
bureau that is as near useless SIS any
Of the government.
Should the labor statistics bureau
be established it will prove another
expensive nuisance, even If it
were to be conducted honestly and
outside of party politics, which is
aot likely to be the case, for that is
aot the way in which government
bureaus are run. The officials of l.
he Department of Agriculture are
o-day employing their time and
the public money in writ
md publishing partisan defenses of
he protective system of tariff and
axation; and the labor bureau peos
lie would find it proper to issue