The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1886-09-16

that country, while the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries may be called the
golden days" Of English labor After
these came the debasement Of the coin
age and the devious policies Of the Com
mons and Henry the VIII, which ended
in period Of misery and degradation,
in which the labor elements of the King
dom were bound by restrictive legisla-
ton until the reforms of 1924 cut the
Gordian knot and introduced period OF
liberty Of action and freedom of labor
combination. England's great system
OF manufacturing then sprung up, and
she took her place at the head Of the
worlds commerce; but at the same
time the trades unions were initiated,
and the contest between labor and capt
tai became intense and bitter.
At this point the labor struggle as
sumed a more rational and humane
form, and the era of arbitration was
inaugurated. This is the latest phase
that the question has developed, both in
the Old and New Worlds.
The times have changed in both Amer
lea and England, and industrial methods
must necessarily change with them but,
as we stated before, investigation shows
that the present is really the beginning,
and that the conflict still lies before the
world. Touching the present state of
the problem, therefore, as it stands in
the New World, it may be sufficient IL
lustration of the unsettled state of the
labor problem to state that the following
FIVE questions of the present labor dis
cussion, as developed in the United
States, were sent to large number of
economists, manufacturers, workingmen,
divines, labor commissioners, Journal
lists and others:
l. Are strikes and lock-outs a neces-
sary feature of the wage system?
2. Is arbitration the missing coupling
between labor and capital?
3. May we not hope to discover some
more satisfactory and equitable basis
for the division of profits arising from in
dustrial enterprises?
4. Does the remedy lie in the direc-
ton of industrial partnerships mutual
participation of all concerned in the
profits arising from production
3. Is productive cooperation practical
in the United States?
The result of this investigation, which
lately has been carefully edited and pub
lished, shows the following facts, sue
cinctly stated in accordance with our
limited space:
The economists agree that strikes and
lockouts cannot be avoided under pres
ent industrial methods; that arbitration
will not fully cure the defect; that a
better basis of the division of profits
can be found; that industrial partner
ship promises to partially remedy exist
ing evils; that practical cooperation is
doubtful.
The manufacturers are less unanimous
than the economists. They are very
doubtful about the value of arbitration
and cooperation; they hold that a di-
vision of the profits implies a division of
losses; and that the success or failure of
partnership and cooperation depends on
many considerations not embraced in
the question.
The workingmen show differences of
opinion on all the points raised. Some
OF them apprehend the difficulties sug
gested by employers, and many of them
advocate a fully developed industrial
system for the future
The divines argue the questions most
fully from somewhat optimistic stand
point, but generally follow the views ad-
vanced by the economists.
The labor commissioners and statisti-
clans are divided on the second question,
and answer the first, third, fourth and
fifth in the affirmative.
The newspaper men, however, agree
to disagree, as usual, and they are de-
clared to be so ''wordy and indefinite in
their utterances that it is impossible to
strike an average"
This result shows that the labor prob
lem is certainly in an unsettled state in
the United States, and it is fair TO assume
that the same results, in all likelihood,
would be reached by similar investiga-
ton in England and other countries.
We are now in the experimental stage
with the labor problem, and the theory
of cooperation has been virtually fail
ure in both Europe and America, while,
on the other hand, practical industrial
partnership or proft-sharing has so far
given results which are most encourag-
ing to both labor and capital.
A RELIGIOUS discussion is being carried
on in the South Australia Chronicle"
= Tho of1ooovv &c So,