Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1886-05-02
EIGHT HOURS.
An Interesting and Instructive Discus.
sion on the Eight Hear Move.
ment by Noted Ven.
History OF the Eight-Tzour Movement Z
views OF statesmen, Manufacturers,
Journalistic and Labor Keformtrs.

TThis discussion will be continued daily In
THE GAzElTk until completed. Those VINO
wish 70 read the views OF all who have CON
I tributed TO thia symposium should not miss an
Issue OF tho papcr, a. we cannot undertake 10
supply baok numbtrs.--Ep. GAHEfrE.i
Ri. HIEToS--M. '. KENT.
lHistory Of tho Eight. Hour Movement, by
l Richard j. Hinton, Journalist, and Mariner j
/ Kent StatiatciSn.
I That statesman, scholar and philosopher,
| Sir Thomas More, who, In the earlier
years Of the sixteenth century, painted a
picture Of the state where justice was
do1e and called 1t Utopia, discourses OF
the trades and manner OF life therein.
The chief, and almost the only business Of
those magistrates whom ne termed
''syphogrants, as he says, "is to take
care that no man may live idle, but that
every one may follow his trade diligentlyi
vet they do not wear themselves out with
perpetual toll, from morning to night, az
II they were beasts Of burden, which, as
it is indeed heavy slavery, 50 tits every
whore the common course of life among
all mechanics except the Utopians, but
they, dividing the day and night into
twenty-four hours, appoint six Of these
for work, three OF which are before din
ner and three after. They then sup, and
at O'Clock, counting from noon, 20 to
bed and sleep eight hours. The rest OF
their time besides that taken up In work,
eating and sleeping, Is left to every mans
discretion; yet they are not to abuse that
interval TO luxury and idleness, but must
employ II in some proper exercise accord
ing TO their various incllnations, which is
for the most part reading"
81. -. \ II
dream Of equality should be read and
pondered by all who are interested in the
significant problems of economic and So
cial life. The gentle "crsnk," who lived
in the dawn of the Elizabethan era, tells,
In quaint yet exquisite phraseology, Of the
regulations and procedure adopted TO in
sure Just dealing with labor, and ends the
division OF Utopia's laws by saying:
"Slnce they are all employed in some
useful labor, and since they content them
selves with fewer things, it falls out that
there is great abundance of all things
among them; so that 1t frequently hap
pens, that for want of other work, vast
numbers are sent out to mend highways
But when no public undertaking is to be
performed, the hours of working are les
sened. The magistrates never engage the
people in unnecessary labor, since the
chief end Of the constitution Is to regulate
labor by the necessities OF the public, and
10 allow all the people as much time as is
necessary for the improvement OF their
minds, In which they think the happiness
of life consists"
In that remarkable contribution to the
social-economic literature of the present
day, Prof. James Thorold Rogers ask
( ~ "a,
In which the history of English
labor Is told In such mastery style,
there is no portion of 1t more remarkable |
than that relating to wages in the nine
teentb century, designated as chapter
nineteen. On pages 1929, American
edition Geo. 7. Putman's Sous), there !
are found statements which those who
oppose the shortening of the hours OF la |
Dor by combination and legal means will |
do well to consider After calling atten- |
ton to the fact that he elsewhere stated |
That eight hours was the regular rule for |
a days labor in the fourteenth and III |
teenth centuries, he declares that "EXtra |
hours, sometimes as many as forty-eight in |
a week, are frequently paid for by the kings |
agents when hurried work was needed.,i |
Even after the Elizabethan poor
law and quarter-sessions of labor regula-
tons came into existence, though the rural
named twelve hours as the
rule for days labor; "Two hours and
a half was allowed for rest, and the dav
was brought down on ON average To nine
hours and half.n But Prof Rogers
calls attention to the fact that labor
must have resisted these hours, he
cause "the quarter sessions ordi-
nances constantly call attention to
the law, and remind artisans of the
penalty they incurred-a penny for every
hour OF absence" Prof. Rogers reminds
his readers OF striking facts he has nre.
Vlously stated regarding the quality Of
work on old buildings he had described
lie adds: 81 am persuaded that such
perfect masonry would have been incom-
patiole with long hours day.n He
luther says; "The artisan who is de.
handing at this time an eight-hour dav
n the building trades Is simply striving
20 recover what his ancestors worked Inv
our or live centuries ago. 1t is only To
De hoped he will emulate the integrity
ma thoroughness Of the work which his
ancestors performed
The modern struggle for shorter
iours Is counter-mincous in Great Brit.
lin and the United States with the enor.
nous development OF productive machin.
,iy anu the organization of labor. 1t /
WI ne found, also, that the craftsmen ,
uosV active IN the agitation, therefore, |
~ Always those employed in trades the ,
o"sV aHecteo oy machinery; yet 1t 4
! Iemarkaole, IN Great Britain, at least, {
ilae TINS agitation mas most directly and I
benefited the factory oners- !
ions. A ten-hour factory law has beer
N English statute books for nearly Gf,r ;
ears, The Saturday half-hollday has nv &,
Established. ,
In the United States there wasnn anita
ion for the shortening of the borrss 80 80 =
ioor until Ia the Oldest connnnitins a.. \
ew economic conditions induced Inv the
ictory system brought about the nrst i
teadmonition OF that pressure nnon in =
ustrial life which often reduces ,ba !
loorer TO the condition of a servant ~ y
ne machine he attends. SO il was loo. a
'al IN the ordered sequences of sncb . :,
iovement that New England-tbe ear,T
ONE OF the American faetory system.
sW the frst agitation for the sbortenino =
tne excessive hours OF labor A mole !,
lterestlng accounted this NAV be forndin !,
n Henry W, Cherouny's "HistorIc De. :,
e,lopment Of the Labor Question y y
lse0) In remarkable contrast ~ k a
resent agitation, Mr.. Cherouny state !,
iat the clergymen OF Massacbuset,s !,
FUSED TO recognize the movement y
lu quantity adds that not ons :,
'ula De mad 10 ask blessing" The Do. y
aua was only for ten hours, which oven =
y mas not been secured in all Inc Nav a.
ngland states. 80 '"e NC" a
from 1850 until 1866 there was nothin, :,
y local "shorthourn movements Thss
,srWhelming nature Of the slavery ae,. ~
,,ioii pro aud con accounts for ,h1s ~