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

OO'AA
pany, Boston.
Tho Sioiss Cross for September has a
largo amount of valuable scientific infor-
nation. This magazine shows steady i'm
provelnent. n. D. G. Hodges, AZ Lafayette
Place, New York.
Fallacies in the Trades Unions Argu-
mont.
BY j. B. MANN.
The errors which prevail in relation to
certain foundation principles of the labor
movement seem to justify an attempt to
illustrate the subject, in a more common
place way than is customary, by citations
of such familiar Incidents as meet the ordi-
nary experience and thought of men in the
common walks of life. Tho labor question
is like any other, in respect to its depend
ence upon laws which can not be repealed
by man or overthrown by organizations of
classes or individuals Everything in the
world is subject to laws of its kind, from
which there is no escape, whatever we may
wish or attempt. Labor is 10 exception
and we must, therefore, ascertain what the
laws pertaining to labor are, and then con-
duct the discussion in the light of them.
AL Inc beginning, Tue ulOSJ obvious UnlDR
concerning labor is, that it is a commodity
1t is thing bought and sold, and is of little
value except under that condition. There
is no such thing as society where labor is
not bought, sold, or exchanged, and we
can not conceive of a civilization which
does not make labor a commodity and treat
it as such.
The reason why another condition of
things does not exist is, that natural law
comes in and will not permit it, Man has
need of very many things but he has time
to acquire the skill to make only few of
them He can learn and become expert in
only one or two trades, and unless he is ex-
pert his trade will be of little use. The
carpenter who builds but one house in his
lifetime can not be much of an expert, es-
pecially if he has to raise his corn and pota-
toes, make his clothes, his tools, his house
hold utensils, and whatever else is required
while he is building the house. 1t would
take a single man so long to learn the trades
necessary to supply himself With comforts
that he would and could have no amount
of comforts without a division of labor,
under which each man shoul1 give his at
tention mainly to one thing and that thing
the one best suited to his faculty. Necessity,
therefore, compels an exchange of
labor, and thus labor becomes
a commodity, and thing of barter,
The next important item in regard to
the matter is that, to effect the exchange of
labor, capital becomes necessity also. A
man chooses to be a farmer. He can do
nothing at farming without pillow, hoe, a
shovel, and other tools, and these are CAPT.
tai. If he did not have the capital to buy
them, he would have to make them and
have to learn how to make them, and
have to dig the iron-Qre, learn to smelt and
an1 ruOrly II onA laorf, 70 10
the anvils and hammers, and nails, and
screws, and all else used in the construction
of plow. But capital standing at the door
with pillow ready made, the farmer can
commence business the very day he gets
title to his land.
These observations are elementary, it is
true, but they are necessary as all intro
duction. They establish two points: First,
that labor must he exchanged to be of any
avail; and, second, it must be assisted by
capital. 1t will be seen that the laborer
must work along the line of diversity and
development. Men inStinctively do this
generally in the beginnings of a communi-
ty. One man becomes a blacksmith, one a
carpenter, one a mason, one a shoemaker,
and so on, in submission to the laws gov
erning labor-the laws OF diversity and de-
velopment. They know, without argu-
ment, that two shoemakers and no black
rangement, and hence employments are di-
vided spontaneously. As society advances,
the occupations multiply; that is, they di-
vide more and more, and by doing so each
person has a chance to select the one which
best suits his taste and capacity. And in
this way the highest power of the commun-
ity is developed. The best blacksmith takes
the place of the bungler, the good workman
in all branches finds employment, and the
M C,rhaI, Nallinor
perfects himself SO as not to be driven TO the
wall. Society dema nds the best, and, as it
advances secures it more aud more. The
hest tailor, and the best lecturer, and the
best lawyer, are never idle; and they are
produced by the law of diversity and devel-
opment.
1t IS equally certain that capital is pro-
duced by labor and is the natural result
of labor husbanded and taken care
of. The existence of capital Is due to the
previous existence of labor, but its exis-
tence in large quantity is due to the joint
effort of labor and capital. The existence
of the plow, which is capital, has kept the
farmer from starving, and, as all other
people depend upon the farmer for food,
the pillow has kept us all from starving. In
the same way the spindle and the loom have
kept us from freezing; and they are capital.
To sum up this part of the case, we say
that in order to have devel pment we must
have capital, that the amount OF capital
must depend upon the extent Of develop
ment, and the amount of comfort attaina-
BILE upon the union OF capital and labor,
working along the line of development.
The man who can make two shoes in a day
will supply double the needs Of the shoe
wearing community that the man will who
can make but one shoe in the same time,
and, the world over, he will be pronounced
the better man. Obviously. two tnings
will certainly follow the introduction Of
such a workman: the community will get
its shoes with one half the number Of days
labor from the expert workman that were
required when they were made by the mex
pert workman, and it will have citizen
who will accommodating capital, in lieu of
one who could only barely mako living;
for il will cost twice as much to clothe and
feed the shoemaking force Of community
when it takes twice the number of men 10
do the work, and, with double the expense.
only half the capital can be accumulated.
Many years ago distinguished philoso-