Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1887-1890, 1888-07-07
GREAT FALLS TRIBUNE.
SATURDAY. JULY 7. 1888.
Semi " eek|y
COME WEST.

"The unceasing advice of the American
Wool Reporter to its readers will be: II
you can perform skilled labor in Il mill
or shop, New England Or Pennsylvania is
the place for you; but if your mind is sci
upon agricultural pursuits, 60 west
young man! Go westp"
We take the above as our text and rise
to remark that however we'll meant and
disinterested may be the advice of our
contemporary, the first part Of it is I'M
wise. 1t advices those who can perform
skilled labor in mill or shop to stay iu
New England or Pennsylvania, because,
we presume, it considers that they will
receive there better reward for their
labor than they would receive in the west.
We take issue with our contemporary On
the matter Of fact and contend that labor
of all kinds is better paid in Montana and
the west generally, whether measured by
the money rate Or by the savings, which
may be effected, the advantage is on the
side Of the west. If the opportunities for
making money in real estate or other
:'side issues are taken into account the
gains are still greater. Engineers, ma
chinists, carpenters, blacksmiths, printers
all earn more money out here than they
do on the average in Boston or Spring
field, Mass. Such is the case also with
girls who work in the st. Paul and Min
neapolis factories. Their wages are
higher than in the east and they are, as a
rule, healthier and stronger, because
they have more comfortable homes and
more time tor recreation.
All this results from that law of sup
ply and demand, which so much effects
the value of skilled labor. There are.
for instance, towns Of 5000 to 10000 peo-
pie, where there are not more than 20 ex-
perienced machinists, qualified to take |
good care of a steam engine. Most of
these have steady jobs in electric light or
water works. The number who are in |
search of work Is few and probably none
at all are unemployed 1t follows that
the wages of such machinists will be
higher than in Boston where an advertise
ment will bring many replies from men
who want better job or are out of work.
The employer in such case does not ask for
tenders, but competition makes itself felt
on the prices of wages as surely as water
runs down hill. Where there is only one
job and fifty or more apply for it, the in
evitable result is lower wages.
Of course there is not as much demand
for skilled labor in the west as in New
England, which makes hardware, cotton
and woolen goods for Il large portion Of
the American people. But the western de-
mand is large and increasing. It is
is large enough to preclude any serious
reduction for many years to come.
The only qualification we shall add is
that skilled workmen should exercise or
binary judgment in coming west. The ma
chinist will find employment more readily
in the mining and manufacturing regions
Of Montana than he will in the purely ag-
ricultural districts of Dakota or Mime
sofa. He must come prepared to turn his
hand to any useful work until the kind
he seeks can be had If he has been in a
shoe or cotton factory from boyhood, he
must not assume that he is good for no
thing else. That is the fatal blunder
which keeps men of skill and brains in
the overcrowded large cities. It is the
glory of the west that it develops mems
faculties and holds forth endless oppor-
tunities for people of industry and enter
prise. Its farms and cities, its mines and
factories are the property of such men.
They came not to till the soil alone, but
were attracted by the bounteous capital
which the west provides in her vast de-
posts of silver and gold, coal and iron