Morning journal and courier., 1886-03-22
News by Telegraph FROM ALL QUARTERS. LABOR AND INDUSTRY. One Million Men Idle Last
 Year. RUSSIA IN FIGHTING MOOD. Hoxie's Plan To End The
 Strike. THE SURRENDER OF GERONIMO. Jaehne Given Up By His
 BOndsman.
THE SURRENDER OF GERONIMO.
Jaehne Given Up By His
 Bonds man.
ONE MILLION MEN UNEMPLOYED.

BOndsman.
 l ONE MILLION MEN UNEMPLOYED. 1 A Vast Army of Idle Men I'm This Coun- l try Last Year-The Labor Problem As 1t Appears To Commissioner r. Wright oTThe Bureau of Labor.
 l WASHINGTON March 21.-The first annual
 report of Carroll D. Wright, commissioner of | the bureau of labor, has been submitted to I the Secretary of the Interior and will soon | be reported. The report will make 8 voF
 ume of five hundred pages containing facts, l figures and logical deductions covering in | dustria1 depression and the labor question so novel and interesting and at times so startling that it is safe to predict for the vol l tune wider reading and more discussion than
 is usually accorded public documents. In the chapter devoted to the industrial de- pression in the United States he estimates I that in 1885 there were one million men un- employed in the United States, meaning by the unemployed those who in prosperous times would be employed and who in 1885 l were seeking employment. A million of l unemployed means loss to the consump- | tive power of the country of $3,000,00 per day. An examination of some of the principal commercial and industrial facts shows that while the number of failures for 1884 was but little more than for 1885, the total amount of liabilities was nearly double and the total amount of liabilities for 1885 was less than the amount of liabilities for either of the years 1857, '61, '73, "A, '75, '76, TT, '76, '83 or 'S4. If from failures we turn to production we shall find more satisfying re- suits. Tables are shown ind icating that the volume of business has been fairly we'll pre- served and that prices have constantly fallen. Discussing the causes of industrial depres- sion he says one of the chief causes which produce depressed periods is a fall in prices. That labor-saving machinery so-called, but which more properly should be called labor assisting, machin cry displaces labor tempo rarily cannot successfully be denied. Yet in twelve countries where machinery has been develop ed the greatest number of working people have been engaged and in those countries where machinery has been develop ed to little or no purpose poverty reigns, ignorance is the prevailing condition and civilization far in the rear. And yet if the question should be asked, has the wage worker received his equitable share of the benefits derived from the introduction of ma
 ehinery, the answer must be no. The mod ern system of carrying on great works by stock companies has done much tow ard producing in all countries the bad industrial conditions under which the present generation is laboring.
 The result has been an abnormal organiza- tion of capital and of interest aimed at the development of the industries of the coun- try. Material, labor and capital have been consumed to such an extent that overproduc
 ton stands for over r-consumption. The reckless consumption of all the materials and clements necessary to industrial progress had always been produced in industrial stagnation. Some of the causes which tend to cripple the consuming power of large body of our people are remote indeed and yet have di- rect bearing on the question in hand. Any disturbance in the monetary affairs of our country by which the purchasing power of money is decreased cripples the consuming power of the people, and when the people through apprehension or through real results feel that their consuming power is crippled in ever slight a degree, individual retrenchment begins and corresponding stagnation follows. The same results reached through d lowering of wages from any cause. The employment of contract labor of foreign importation and rapid inn migration are features which have in
 fuence in crippling consuming power. The influence of foreign immigration is iliustrat
 ed by appropriate tables which show the tendency of immigrants to assilnilate with our mechanical industries.>> This increases the supply of labor in comparison to the de- mand, lowers wages and con- tributes to whatever overproduc- tion exists and supplies the consuming power. The fact is noted that prior to each period of industrial depression in the United haa hnan 1arr in crease in immigration and following the in- ception of the depression a sharp falling off,
 This constant augmentation of the number of lahorers during prosperous years
 has had it's full share in bring
 ing about the following period of depression
 Under manufacturing nations considered as group in relation to the present depres- sion" the commissioner says: The scale of wages in the countries named is according to
 the following order, the highest first: The
 United States, Great Britain France, Bel gium, Germany. It is difficult to connect
 commercial systems with this scale of wages,
 and when the broad view is taken that each of these countries has overstocked it. self with machinery and manufacturing
 plant far in excess of the wants of produc-
 tion, and when it is considered also that the
 present period of industrial depression is unique in. its character as not having been
 attended with financial crisis and panics,
 financial matters having been only incident ally involved; and when it is considered further that the condition of these nations has been reached under both free trade and protective policies and under wide range of tariff restrictions, it is readily seen that the family of nations given to me- chanical production has reached an epoch in their existence, and that commercial systems which might have been at one time or under some circumstances necessities are now apparently only expediencies to be used tenn porarily and not as permanent features of national progress. Historically, he says, it must be admitted that the two great sys- tems of free trade and protection have played well their parts in the industrial de- velopment of nations, but the wisdom derived from the experience in the race for industrial success should teach the nation that ultimately that system freest from re- striction will beget generally the best condi- tiops. Meantime expediency has it's favor and must continue to exercise 1t until the evil resulting from changes can be met | through the softening influences which come | from contest and hardship. The struggle so | far has led to ever recurring periods of de- pression The considerations are shown to be valid through the information collected | by the bureau in all the countries involved. Considering suggested remedies for depres- sions, the commissioner says halt should be | made in freely granting land to corporations, ! for, however valuable such grants may be 1 to the public interest in developing great
 lines of railway, the result is that the lands
 constitute a basis to greater or less extent | for speculative purposes. Laws to stop
 speculation if specifically applied would do
 good. It might be we'll to enact
 laws allowing no corporation to put it's stock
 upon the market without the full value of it's capital stock is paid in. Industrial arbitra-
 ton is recommended, but to be successful it
 must be voluntary on the part of those will ing to submit u cir grievances to the decision l Unl, kir,, of hOor 1<.f orIN;-
 tration by law for the sake of having con
 venient; machinery ready. by which parties
 may have their differences adjusted
 by the good offices of arbitrators
 would undoubtedly facilitate the
 growth of the spirit of arbitration and
 in this direction the suggested remedy has
 vital force Imitation and contraction dis
 turb values and thereby industry and a
 sound currency is demanded by labor. Pro-
 duction, whether of agricultural or manufac-
 tured products, increases faster than popu-
 not how shall production be made to keep