Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-05-12
wsOs- sDlY EVENING. MAY u. 1886.
Au Important Tttrrance On the Labor
Problem.

Au Important UeFanct ON lht i@ab"'
Problem.
Lewis Miller. of Akron, i one of the
most extensive manufacturers in America.
He ranks next. perhaps. Ia the Reaper and
Mower men Of this city. in tn" extent ot his
operations and i'll the excellence of his ma
chimes lie is worth about two millions of
dollars. and has earned his money in the
sweat of his face and of his brain. He be
gan. a, a poor boy. at the foundation, and
worked hi way up honestly. lie some
times votes the republican ticket sometimes
the Democratic ticket and occasionally the
prohibition ticket. lie i a Methodist and
a man VIII" mikes his religion with
his daily secular business. He Is
not always right, we suppose. but
it Is quite certain that he always
means to IL. right. and it is also certain that
when he l. convinced that he is right he Is
a. inlmnNahIr ~ the rock of Gibralter.
Mr.. Miller i wrll-kmown Ia our msnufac-
turrr> Mr.. Mast. a fellow Methodist.
'Buckryt manufacturer and Sunday school
man I" Mr.. Warler. Mr.. Bushnell, the
WhitelryS and the FunS,'S corresponds
in ability and experience. Ia the gentlemen
named. has thoroughly studied the labor
problem for years. and has con>cientiously
lived up IA the light he has received.
He has seemed Ia consider the
various phases of the problem not
simply from his own standpoint. but from
-. III.
in the shop. for Mr.. Miller has always been
among them. and one of them.
Recently Mr.. Miller had occasion 10 ad-
dress his workmrn. in mass, in reply Ia
complimentary resolutions adopted by them,
concerning a voluntary advance of wages,
and what |le said was Of general interest.
In his talk he declares that the labor problem.
now in the public mind. is here for solution,
than tno fast. Those who employ labor
and Those who do the manual
work stand side by side. The industries nf
the country are now a helpless a the men
who man the machinery. The manufac-
turers. Mr.. Miller declared. are between
two fires" He derlare them To be middle
men. They stand at neither end of the
situation and are helpless. too.
We quote in full. from Mr.. Miller'S ad-
dress, as follows. and what he says Is
worthy the attention ot all. He says:
ON one SIdr il our desire 10 do well by our
workmrn; on the other IL competition and the
prices t. which We have u adjust ourselves AS
a factor; and assure You now that II is not
brciuS. We have 80 large profit that W
can AT ord L. de- this. There never has been
time IN our history when the margins had t.
be- - closely watched. So aS To have the balance
cnmr out on the right side ! uu know how
imPortant II j. that in this institution or any
Institution which gives employment TO labor
have the bIlaucr on the right side Of the
sheet. The moment you have the balance "n
the wrong side. then your ayocati0n in that
employment IS gone. Aud the margin on any
on person employed lisa very small margin
when you take in the entire field. We must
employ almost As many men {" sell our ma
chimes as To build them. When YOU cunnt tSu
or TJD IT l.npl men in the shop.l will count you
another Thousand men that stand outside, di-
rectly in our interest to sell This product. We
have 10 pay them As well You. So when you
count the cost Of the shop ynu have not count
I'D half what a machine" costs IL might pos
Slhly have been dItirrent-and do not know
whether II could not be-but IL gives employ
mrnt to double the number of men generally
G 'uuted in the works. As | said before. never
was the margin closer than now. Machines
are actually sold in many eases for less than
the c"si Of production and. in the average
IL Is a great question on which side the bal
aucr - Ii depends on the crops. OF the r.
suit oi another year like last year. We are fear
tul. hut We hope for the better. II We are able
ta sell all Of our product. il may come out
right
A. 10 brain and hand work, Mr.. Miller
made this rather novel assertion:
IL is said that there is a difference between
brain work and hand wnrk Now will say
nj her. A kaFa
brain work and hand work. but | think when
y0u are doing hand work. as you all are doing
you use your brain. and when your days work
- done your brain il aS tired as your body AT
least. mine always WAS. And think when a
man works In an office OF IN any profession no
matter what. when he has a done a day of brain
work. hlS body Is tired As yours | have
seen men who were physically exhausted after
an hour : hard brain work. | have seen men
alter half AN hnur : work with their hands have
u ne down and rest themselves s-their brain
tired As well rs their body | do not believe
there iS the difference We think there is be
tween physical and mental work; think il Is
one and the same thing There is this differ
"nce. In Il wurkShip You have definite hours
which You work. Work you have done that
days when your brain has also been Al work
We have only asked a certain amount of labor
and afterWard your brain can rest, from auy
responsibility at least
Mr.. Miller said that if anybody gets sick
over the riots at Chicago. lit will be the
men who inaugurated them"
We give the closing paragraph of Mr..
MillrT'S address herewith:
believe In discussion. II a man in my EN-
plny differs with me. do not think the l~sS of
him Let Us talk IL OUT: not fight IL out. In
that WAY these things can be developed | be
H''hr iherr l. reason enough in the American
pruplr-ryrU thnSp who come from the other
side. after they are here a little while-to solve
this problem without taking stones. clubs and
pistols ' olc-. And dynamite. | believe
W. have the right II We Just stick to IL.
These utteraHces should prove t0 be
valuable factor in the elements employed t"
reach solution of labor problems