Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1888-01-21
BOSTON,.
Eight.HOur Agitation by the Central
Labor Union The Speeches.

The second eight-hour meeting man
aged by the Central Labor Union and
held at New Era Hall Sunday evening,
January l5, was well attended by
mixed audience of ladies and gentlemen.
The advertised speakers were c. S.
Griffin and ID. II. Biggs, and after the
close of their speeches several ten-min-
ute speeches were made by members of
the audience. As several reporters were
present before the meeting opened, but
did not stop to report it, sketch of the
principal points advanced may be inter
esting. The first speaker started by
showing that in the matter of food,
clothes and several other neressaries,
the consuming power of the people is
limited-to wit, a man to-day can eat
no more than his grandfather could,
yet with the improved farming tools at
hand one can now produce five times as
much food as his grandfather could.
The same is true of boots, shoes and
buildings. If our consuming power is
limited and our producing power is un~
limited, how can we with the constantly
increasing machinery find ten hours
work for all? The truth is clear that we
must shorten the labor day or all cannot
have work and the unemployed must
starve. With the day so shortened
from time to time as machinery is in
creased, so it will days work each day
to each and every worker, all can and
will prosper; but by sustaining work
day SO long that one-half of the workers
are constantly in enforced idleness, this
army of idle persons act as under
bidders, because they must have and
will take work at any price. 1t is inn
possible to keep up prices with this
army of unemployed in the field. We
must shorten the day until all can have
work, so as to remove these underbid-
ders, or wages will continue to fall close
to Chinese pay, That we must demand
the short day first and take the pay per
hour until all are employed, then we
can easily get an advance of wages
That this is the practical and economical
course to pursue rather than endure an
expensive strike, expensive to employer
and employed, in trying to get short
days and full pay both at once.
1t was also argued that man has linn
tied amount Of energy which he can ex-
pend by his muscles or by his brains,
That the man who works ten hours can
not read his evening paper without get
ting drOwsy. That if a man shonld
study all day and then try to read he
would find himself weak and without
energy, thus proving that we can only
extend our mental energies by being re-
lieved of portion of our physical la
bors.
The speaker said that it was a provis-
ion of nature that the more people in
creased in intelligence the more they in
vented machinery to save labor, and if
they were not allowed to shorten their
hours of labor they could not rise much
higher in intelligence. That it was a
violation of nature for an enlightened
people to work long hours at manual la
Dor. That man without Intelligence is
not so much exhausted by sixteen hours
of manual labor as an intelligent think
ing man will be by working eight hours,
and this is why our grandfathers could
work sixteen hours easier than we can
now work ten. We read, think and get
more new ideas than they did, and
therefore haven't so much energy to
| spare for manual labor.
He also argued that all lazy people,
like lazy horses, were the result of over
4
the mother before the child was born
marked the child with exhaustion and
a longing for rest and dread of labor
That no lazy person ever could be pro
duced in any other way than by over
working the mother before the chilli
was born. And that the oyerwork of
women is the cause of so many lazy peo-
pie in this generation. That only by
shortening the hours of labor or by
| checking the mental activity of the peo-