Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-04-09
THE AGE OF DEPRESSION.

Labor Commissioner Wright Gives His
Views as to the Causes of Business Stag
nation. and His Ideas of q Remedy
Prosperity Slowly but Surely Returning.
WASHINGTON, March 23-The first annual
report OF Carroll ID. Wright, Commissioner OF
the Bureau of Labor, has been submitted to
tue Secretary OF the Interior. 1t will make
u volume Of. 500 puges and cOmprehends more
THAI AZ industries. nearly 100 establishments
and over l5AoW employees: LIZ the chapter
d dc sSa t tinted sthe s ,nsastF'a' co@ asnseiSs1ea
Wright estimates that there were in 1885
l.WJ.0W lnen unemployed in tho United States,
engaged i'll agriculture. trade and Transports.
ton, mining industries. and. manufactures
meaning by the unemployed. those who, un'
der prosperous times. would be employed,
Nnd who IN 1885 were seeking employing Mt.
The report says:
A million men out Of employment means a
loss to the consumptive power of the country
the IT. trade isss' Of l the : Country Of over s3s55S.oo5,ooo
pc; ysI M the rh eIas sasn na;acd Of ab tes P Sopis not lni
;5osentins total earnings Of $3.50, ; 7lSGoo;
that !" should m1f1 be empisyed are crippled to the
extent of over $3OJ, coo 600 DER annum. = -
1t is curious to observe, however. that while
the sever ty of the depression causes q Grip
| ping to the extent of several. hundred mill.
ions of dollars per year OF the consuming
power Of the people , the g y9ium !, OF a,o business i1'aIY IS
" a. SO W. W.
The popular idea of the severity of the
fena one aepf re- e%pp nse T shas al say pra INCHES
ana that failures were the order Of
dustrial facts available teaches, the error Of
popular op:n on in this respect: While the
than the number for 1886, the total amount of
liabilities was very nearly double, and the to-
t the a AMOUNT o. Of f1 iiabiIities so for aS0 either Mas 'e Of 't the
years 1857, 81, %. "a, rs, 20, Y, rs. 'S3 or 81.
Discussing the causes Of industrial depres.
causes which produce depressed periods is a
fall in prices. 1t matters not what causes the
fall. The first influence of q fall in prices is
prices pn NAV be regarded as one one of the the chief
trial depressions: Maeh,nery has been
ducing nations of the world to Their present
industrial position. The rapid development
and sdoption OF machinery in all the activities
have brought on ov~eIproduction, SO that ma
chinery and r.pr0duction are Two causes
cuss the one without taking the other into
consideration. In those countries where ma.
ohinery has been developed to the highest
gagged, and in those countries where ma
chincry has been developed to little or no pur-
pose poverty reigns. ignorance is tho prevail
rug oAC ~ ShN AAAuStVN SOuSC4uVuSky
far in the rear. And yet. he says. if the Ques-
ton should be asked: Has the wage.worker
received his his equitable tEn t taableedsahnatTEee Of de the benefits
the answer must be no: That he has shared
greatly as q consumer Is true. and his great
est benefit has come through his being q con-
sumner.
The employment of contract labor of for.
eign Importation, and rapid immigration gen.
ence in crippling consuming. power; The in.
fuence OF foreign immigration Is illustrated
by appropriate tables. The fact is noted that,
in the Omitted States since 1887, there has been
q large increase in immigration. and following
the inception of the depression a sharp fall
number of laborers during the prosperous
years has had its full share 10 Bringing about
the following period of depression.
In his summary the Commissioner says that
the effects of the present industrial depres-
sion are wearing away, and all the indiea.
tions arc that prosperity is slowly. gradually.
but safely returning, and that the extent Of
the depression has not been so great as the
popular mind has conceived it.
between labor and capital, nor between the
laborer and capitalist us such, but there is a
contest between the latter as to the profits of
capital and wages of labor. or. in simple
terms. as to the profits each shall receive for
his respective investment, and this contest
lasts.
In conclusion the Commissioner suggests,
in the way of remedial legislation, that. with
a ucdiGuy puuiC OpIuIOu UCuluu IL, U0C raw.
the unholy speculation in food products. It
can indulge i'll q conservative care in OK
tending railroad building and in facili-
tatlng the organization OF manufacturing
corporations. 1t can restrict the grants
of the public domain. 1t can enact
uniform bankrupt laws. extending the pro-
visions of such laws SO that the poor man in-
debted but a few hundred dollars shall be.
as the larger debtor. 1t can abridge the pro-
visions of laws relating to the collection of
debts to the end that the credit system shall
not be abused. 1t can see to it that the tariff
shall be regulated on the basis of justice and
sc'ence: that a stable currency be guaran-
teed; reasonable and humane regulations
relative to Immigration provided, and see to
or through earnings by the pernicious method
of importations by contract: that every law
full endeavor be made to stimulate Industrial
education in all parts of the country; that the
necessity shall be recognized of the ind
development of all parts of theland. that there
may resuita Legitimate increase in the consum-
ing power of the people. 1t Cali stimulate the
growth of the principl 9 of industrial CO.
partnerships through, methods of protit-shar-
ing and adoption of shorter hours Of labor. 1t
can ask that the contracts of labor be us free
as the contracts of the commodities, under
fair agreements for services rendered, to the
end that the workman shall not he obliged to
make contracts on terms not acceptable to
him, and it can hold the party which
declines to resort to the conciliatory
methods OF arbitration morally re.
Of contest. These remedial agencies, or rene
dial methods, .alleviatory in their design, are
all possible, the Commissioner thinks. BY the
reasonable acts OF men,