The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1886-06-16
FAILED, OF COURSE.

1 Some weeks ago. .Wnen sse foi ittui
manufacturers OF Grand Rapids, Mich
Iiesn. Welded to. the demand Of their
EMPLOYEES, and accepted the system OF
eight hours work for ten hours pay
THE HERALD predicted that the new ar
rangement would be. short-liyed. II
| didn t require great deal of prophetic
foresight TO foretell failure in the case.
The arrangement was discontinued last
week, the proprietors refusing to longer
go ahead under the system. They
showed The men how the factories were
losing money; that the prices for fur
niture had not increased and could not
be raised because other manuiactur-
ers in direct competition with those OF
Grand Rapids, were working under the
old system and therefore had an ad-
vantage of 20 per cent. in labor, which
was more than the profit on the goods
manufactured, Some Of the wofkmen
were reasonable and returned to work
under the ten-hour rule. while others
declined to 90 back, new men taking
their places.
1t is because workingmen refuse 10
reason or consider the situation intelli-
gently that they so often fail of sue
cess IN their efforts toward anelioratior.
No intelligent, honest person will as
sert that the wages paid to laborers in
any of the fields OF toll are too large.
The hire is notEgreater than the la
borer must have to support himself;
less would cause him to practice too
rigid economy, or suffer. But the trouble
with TOO many OF the workingmen lies
in the fact that they will not under
stand that wages are based upon and
regulated by the amount of work per
formed. Experience has shown that in
ten hours the average man can do a
certain amount of work-that he can
lay so many brick, make so much fur
niture, weave so many yards of cloth
and so on through all the trades
and industries; experience has also
that the products of
ten hours labor will bring a certain |
price in the market. Now, with the |
of what a man can do in ten |
hours and what can be obtained for the /
abor. the employer fixes the wages. If
instead Of working ten hours the laborer
oils but eight. 20 per cent. must neces-
arily be taken off the wages or the
product of the labor increased 20 per
emit. If the wages have been fixed on
fair and Just basis for ten hour
ork, workingmen should understand
Tithout any study that the hours OF
Tork cannoI be lessened without a cor
reduction in the days pay.
The only way by which the
light hour system can be adopted
n any branch of manufacture
T manual labor, is for all engaged in
hat particular field to combine to carry
ito effect the new arrangement. Then
ne price of the product of labor can be
lcreased in the market, and the con-
inner be forced to pay the labcrer for q
lie two hours. Because there was q
ot such a combination, the Grand
apids furniture manufacturers could i
ot raise the price OF their I
ares so as to cover the two bours of I
Dor that were lost, and the result is p
Ie return to the old rule. If the men b
Id been wise they would have under g
God that this must be the result. Il
Eight hours may be long enough for n
man TO toll; but before the eight hour "
stem can be inaugurated there must $
either readjustment of wages or
of the price of products. 9