Workmen's advocate., 1886-12-26
? PER M AK E RS.
PROGRESS AND POVERTY
 HAND IN HAND.
ScNcnty.TwO Hours Week for "Grnb" and Shelter-Making Improvements for the
 the Bosses Fate of
 Petition, Etc.

\ long time ago paper making was in the condition of a limited handicraft; the paper maker owned the paper mill, and as it was also To- Cated near stream of water for She sake of obtaining the power necessa " to drive it, the practice of run ming the beaters all night as well as all day was in some measure work of necessity, lnasmuch as there were no reservoirs in which to store the water, all of it that flowed past the mill during the night was loss of so much motive power; hence the custom of running the paper mill day and night, which is continued to the present. time.
 The invention of machinery and the discovery of better methods changed entirely the condition and circumstances of the trade, mas much that the owner became a man. ufacturor, and the increased produce tion obtained by machinery and the application of the better methods dispensing with much of the labor previously required enabled him to realize large profits and to become q d wealthy mana capitalist.
 This process has been going on for three-quarters of q century, and to-day only q large capitalist or a combination of capitalists can afford to build, equip, and operate mod ern paper mill, and they gain not only good living, but accumulate wealth by means of the unearned in- crcment, which, it is now admitted by competent authorities is due to the workman equally with the capi- talst.
 There is, however, no correspond ing change in the condition of the workman; his condition Is compara- tivcI y no better, and in some res poets not so good, as 1t was before the introduction of machinery. He is still working i2 hours per week, and is doing much harder work than ever before. Every alternate week his days work consists of the l3 hours from 6 ?. III. to 7 Il. m., and the compensation he receives for this is simply food, clothing and shelter sufficient for the day, provided it is carefully and cconomicall y managed.
 Less than this he did not receive in the oIden time.
 Now, in the eternal fitness of things, it would seem that the work man ought to derive some benefit from the development of machinery and improvement of methods. Much of it nay, the most of 1t, is due to his inventive brain and delft hands, and to his ability to adapt himself 1 to changed circumstances.
 The manner in which he takes hold of new piece of machinery, a new apparatus, or new method, IS really admirable, he suggests all m provement here, a change there, de- velops one point, and modifies an other, and finally makes it a grand success
 The capitalist stands by, looking on, and puts the increased earnings, which he did not earn, into his al ready wclI-tilled pockets.
 The new plans enable the work man to do twice or more times as much work as he could do before, f hence he loses fiTs situation, and with 1t his means of living, and this is oftentimes his only reward for his devotion to his trade, and to the in terests of his employer.
 In the paper mill, the labor oi one man now produces as much pa. per as that of three did twenty year: ago, what has become of the other two:
 The one who IS still employed must continue his work until mid night Saturday night, and be up and at it again at midnight on Sun.