The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-09-17

| OF FORCE greatly TO Improve bheH Circuih-
| stances.
| If we produce less we shall have more, ac-
cording to the theory which demands
less production as a means of getting richer.
According to this theory, the little busy bee
which improves each shining hour, and
gathers honey all the day, makes grand
mistake. 1t should adopt the eight-hour
| system-gather less honey, and have more
| leisure.
| The question of hours of labor as affecting
| the health and the length of life and happi-
ness OF laborers is not under discussion here,
| but simply their bearings upon the financial
! status Of the men who do the work of the
| world. The workers are aiming at an inn
| provomene of their finances and at the
| aoohtlon of poverty, and 1T is important to
! know whether the means proposed are a1e-
! quate to the end, and even whether they
toad to Improvement of pecuuiary condi-
| tons. Under some circumstances and for
! shorts periods in given cases, shortening
OF hours Of labor may not cause decrease
in compensation. For instance, a man
with plenty of money, having made up his
mind to build fine house, may go ON and
| build il, though he pay ten-hour wages for
| eight hours work. A number of men may
do the same thing, and the mechanics who
| are fortunate enough to be in their employ
| Will not be losers in consequence But
these cases are the exception and not the
rule. When it comes to the great body of
mon who would build, the higher cost ope-
rates as prohibition to building, As thous-
ands of men would be unable to build and
| pay so per cent more for labor, and for ma
terials; consequently they would continue
! to live in their old houses, thus reducing
| the quantity of WORK to be obtained, there
| by thro wing hosts of worlSmen out of en-
ployment. and causing surplus of labor to
be offered in the market, to the depression
| OF the wages of those mechanics who have
a chance to work. Further than this, in the
! end, scarcity of houses would enSue, caus-
| ing an advance in rent to the detriement of
all workmen who do not own the dwellings
| they live in and must pay the advance i'll
| rents. The processes would be somewhat
| slow, and be combined with so many OBJ
| scure influences, that men would hardly
know of any change. but after a few years
| they would realize that somehow the num-
| Der of people struggling for a bare living
had in no wise dimir ished, and the hardness
OF their lot had been i'll no way ameliorated.
| That labOring-Inen are gradually coming
| to see the truth in these things is seen in
| their changed views in relation to strikes.
| a few years ago prodigious efforts We're
! made TO get men to strike. 1t was a favor
! tie remedy with the leaders, and large
| promises of grand results were made and
! believed in. The strike was formerly the
| favorite panacea for keeping up the prices
OF labor, but to-day the long-heade1 aud
| wise men i'll the labor movement advise a
| resort to it only in cases Of great aggravA-
| ton, and not then until after all the other
| known remedies have proved Intellectual.
| This change i'll sentiment could not have
| happened if former strikes had met expect
ations. 1t is asserted by labor-men that
there is more distress among them than at
| any former time, and the good old days of
! thirty and forty years ago, when strikes
| were almost unknown are pointed at as the
| true contrast of the present. If strikes had
meaSurably succeeded, there would have
been no ground for the assertion, for sue
cess could be proved only by showing an
| Improvement in the circumstances of the
| classes for whose benefit they were insti-
tuted. If compensation after a strike is no
| better than it was BEFORE it can not be said
| that the strike succeeded in better compen-
sation; and, on the other hand. if compen-
sation has been improved, the assertion that
harder times prevail now than formerly
must be untrue, and there is no reason why
| laboring men should not keep on striking
But it is said, in reply to this, that strikes
are not favored now because the poverty of
| the working CLASSES is so extreme that a
portion will yield before the proper result
can be attained. This is the undoubted fact,
and it is one which settles the case against
inauguratlng strikes. Men can not succeed
|
quate; and so long as laborers are poor,
they can no more cease work long enough
| to make goods scarce than they can build
| ships and gointo the carrying trade. The
circumstance of poverty is fatal to the lux
ury of frequent strikes, and The time lost in
carrying them out so cripples the workmen
that they fail of being remedy for low
prices of labor.
| If we take two families in rather poor
circumstances, and apply the principle of
| short hours of labor to one and not to
| the other, we can get a tolerably clear idea of
| its operation. The families consist, say of the
fathers and mothers and six young children
each, all the children being too young to be
of great assistance. Mrs. A rises at five in
the morning, prepares breakfast, after
breakfast clears OFF the table, washes
the dishes, gets dinner, and tea,
clears up, at some time sweeps
the rooms, sews little, knits little, mends
and darns little, and thus uses up nearly
| every moment of time until 10 or IL o'clock
at night Her house is kept in ordsr and her
| children appear at school and church neat
lY clad, hold up their heads with a self
respecting air, and are able to associate
vita pupils quite superior to them il pecuni-
airy circumstances but it is doe to sixteen
| hours of diligence and well-applied labor
on the part of the mother. On the other
hand, Mrs. B. holds to the theory that eight
hours of labor is enough, and puts it in
practice. She omits the sweeping, and her
house and furniture becomes untidy and
unattractive. She omits the darning and
mending, so that her children can not 90 to
church, and go to school in rags, whereby
they fail in standing and ASSOCIATION, acquire
the manners and morals Of the neglected
classes. and grow up curslng destiny and
preparing to retaliate on society for having
consigned them to a life of ignorance, want,
and degradation. The contrast between the
two families in the matters of comfort,
morals, prospect, and happiness is striking.
But contrasts of the kind are often seen;
and it is generally recognized that the dill
ference is owing to the unremittingj fidelity
and industry of the Mrs. AS as set off
against the lax work of the Mrs. BIS.
Should Mrs A shorten her hours of labor to
eight, permanently, the family, instead of
faring better, must inevitably fare worse;
and what is true of one family is true of
two. of twenty, of hundred, and of all
the community dependent on labor for sup
port. This will remain true until the time
comes when eight hours labor will pay for
the comforts now secured by twelve or
fourteen hours labor.
A Hero Ruined by Success.