New-York tribune., 1886-03-23
TILE I1ROR REPORT.

The first rep0rt of Commissioner Wright, OF
the new Labor Bureau, from the meagre
accounts by telegraph, seems to be a singularly
instructive one. 1t may easily be faulty in
some parts, and yet Of much value as a whole
Perhaps one of the greatest advantages of such
a document is that its statements are likely to
be read by workingmen, wholly or in part, and
NAV thus promote more intelligent ideas i'll
regard to their own interests
1t is believed that 7l2 per cent of all labor in
the country was idle in 1885. Considering the
facts that are know n, the estimate is probably
within the truth. But a suggestion of some
Importance may here be made which is
possibly applicable as a criticism of this report,
as it certainly is to many similar statements of
the number of persons unemployed. For
instance, here are 40S iron furnaces idle March
/, 1886, and only 259 at work is it right to
infer that men required to work the 4OS fur
naces are all unemployed By no means ;
many of these furnaces have been superseded,
and the men are engaged in new and better
works. Many have gone into other employ
ments. But, second, if it were ascertained that
men enough to work 200 furnaces were now
unemployed, would it follow that there had
Deen SuCn II utCItttSc III Illc uuIllDtl dJ N'ih
That would assume that there is ever time
when absolutely all the people are employed
Even in the best of times many who could
work aud who in times of extreme necessity do
work, are supported by others many are lazy.
or fond Of pleasure, or engaged in nOD-prO-
ductive occupations which flOurished in times
of prosperity. Thus the decrease in the num-
Der of persons employed, whatever it may be,
is always and necessarily less than the number
unemployed.
1t is said with truth that the idleness of
1,000, 900 persons means an enormous loss to
trade; a decrease of at least 100000 600 a
wear in purchases. 1t is noticed that prior to
the panics of 1857 and 1873, as in recent
years, railroad building had employed host OF
men, and the curtailment of. that work turned
many ont of employment. At the same time
the railways themselves and all other machines
took the place of much human labor Mr..
Wright calculates that a population OF
227,5O0,O00 people would be required to per-
form without machinery the work that is now
done by the present population, which he puts
at 30, ZOO, ,000-a singularly mistaken estimate,
by the way, for accomplished a statisticiau.
Corporate organization, with the aid of
machinery, develops rapid increase in produce
ton, and thus an ill-directed production,
which, meeting no present requirement and
failing to find demand for its products, turns
out to be a mere wasteful consumption of
resources. Nevertheless the report does not
seem to suggest any restriction of the forma-
ton of stock companies for industrial purposes.
Mr.. Wright believes that immigration is
cause of industrial depression, and points to
the fact that in 1850 1850 per cent of all
Agricultural labor had come to be of foreign
birth and 3l.9 per cent of mechanical and
mining labor. He observes that, prior to each
depression since S37, there had been period
of large immigration. But the fact is that the
immigration was the result of a demand for
labor here more than in other countries, and it
would be a bad day for the United States when
no Swcde, German or lrishman could better
his condition by coming to this country. If
the demand exists, it Is not bad thing for the
country to have it satisfied. But the tide, once
started, does continue to. flow for time after
the demand for more labor has measurably
ceased. The remedy is to be found in more
complete and more promptly published
statistics of the condition of labor, fuch as the
new Bureau should supply. Contract immigra-
tion is rightly regarded as on q different foot