The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1888-05-14

In discussing the question US to
whether capital gets too much, Mr.. Ed
ward Atkinson, the celebrated statisti-
clan, says that the price Of an article is
not fixed by the labor alone which is
expended in making it, or the wages
paid for the labor of making 1t, but by,
in addition to the labor or wages, the
capital invested in mills, machinery,
power and raw materials. He, for in
stance, sets up a hypothetical cotton
mill in which 100000 are invested by
its owners. He puts to work in it $50
operatives, who receive on an average
$500 per year. The wages paid amount
to $2G5,OOO annually, and the net profits
to the proprietor are, at 6 per cent,
100000. That is to say, counting the
wages of labor as all clear profit, the
employees OF the mill get nearly five
times as much as the employer.
The Philadelphia Telegraph in com
menting on the above remarks that the
only real question, however, is, Can
there be any Just limitations fixed to the
honestly earned profits Of capital, which
are such profits as are realized after labor
has been paid that which is universally
agreed is a fair, equitable wage? There
is something to be considered besides
the capital, the machinery, and the raw
materials mentioned by Mr.. Atkinson.
Quite as important as these, and for
which there should be the more liberal
reward or profit, are the enterprise and
risk OF the employer and his ability to
extend his operations. It is to be recol.
lected that the $50 men receive their
$500 year each out of Mr..
Atkinson's hypothetical cotton mill
solely because of tho proprietor's
enterprise and courage in risking his
million of dollars in its possible success.
Tho employees take not one cents worth
Of risk in the business. They are not
partners in the losses, but in the profits
only. Indeed, though their wages rep
resent the largest part Of the losses, they
get them all the same. There is not one
OF them who need lie awake at night, to
keep company with their employer, be-
cause cotton goods are drug on the
market and are being sold in great blocks
in the auction rooms ut less than the
cost to manufacture them. Yet in the
cotton, wooden, iron, steel, or any other
manufacturing business that is a condi-
ton OF affairs likely to happen not in.
frequently.
That,thc risks ofcapitalistsare greatmay
be seen from the statistics presented the
other night in apubliC lecture by Joseph
II. Walker, of Worcester, Mass. Wor-
cester, it is to be considered, is an old
town, with old established businesses /;
but Mr.. Walker says that, of every hum
dred men in business there in 1915, %
went out in five years, so in ten years,
and 81 in fifteen years, and in nearly all
cases going out meant simply failure. In
1910 there were 80 prominent manu-
facturers in Worcester, who were the
great capitalists OF their day and neigh
borhood, II OF whom failed or retired
without property, and OF the entire 80
the surviving children OF only three have
any property, or died leavingany..l In 1873
there were l76 persons engaged i'll l6 OF
the leading manufacturing industries rs
owners, and only 10 OF the entire l76
were sons OF manufacturers. OF the 30
manufacturers Of 1910, 2Sbegan us jour
neymen, while ot.sthe l7G OF ISIS, lGl be-
gan MS journeymen. Some of them were
the sons of poor farmers, the others were
the sons OF maChinists, carpenters and
blacksmiths.
There is, no doubt, too commonly
abroad spirit OF antagonism to capital;
but, il capital cannot be wholly justified
in its large profits, at least it should have
full and fair consideration given it for
its enterprise and its courage in taking
such extraordinary risks US it is COM
PEELED to take. 1t should similarly be
given full credit for the fact that it is the
source of employment; and that, while
it gives the means of comfortable living
to the great hosts OF labor by its invest
mcnts in active industries, it is fairly en-
titled to liberal reward. When it is
recolleCted that the capitalists OF to-day,
especially our manufacturers, were orig
inally generally laborers or merchants,
working themselves in mill or shop for
much lower wages than they now payt to
others in their old places, laborers and
mechanics and operatives should be the
last to grudge them the prosperity which
they have gained by their own personal
elTorts-by their intelligence, energy,
courage and thrift.