The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1889-12-10
The Eight Hour Movement.

In view Of the coming movement Of the
Federation of Labor TO force the hours Of
labor down to eight for day, a Boston pa
per has ascertained the opinions of large
number Of employers of labor on the expedi-
ency or the possibility of establishing the
eight.hour day. The Federation of Labor is
q very powerful combination. even more
powerful than were the knights of Labor,
though 1t has not gone about its movements
with such blowings of horns as attended the
campaigns Of that organization; and its
present crusade for the eight hour day is
worthy all the attention that it is receiving
from the employers of labor. Opinion in
Maine is the same as opinion In all the other
States. The business of this world cannot
be carried on In days of eight hours each.
Mr.. E. G. Allen, of August, states the prob
lem in the most liberal form when he says
that. while an eight-hour Gay is an object to
be attained perhaps sometime in the future,
1t is out OF the question to attempt to attain
1t at once. "The person who attempts to
jump even the quarter way up long lad
DER" says he, "simply falls back in his
tracks, if climbed at all it must be step by
STEP" Mr.. Ira Fl. Randall. manager Of the
Augusta Lumber Company, goes into the
practical demonstration Of the inexpediency
OF the proposition. sit COSTS" he says, "for
labor Of saving 100000 feet of lumber
about $500, on the ten-hour basis. II we
should run eight hours c day, and saw the
same per hour, we should produce 100000
feet. at cost of little more than So a thous-
and more than the present cost" This ex-
f. Ill ~,
upon the consumer largely. Agent C. L.
Barker, of the Lewiston mills, says the cot
ton manufacturing business could not stand
the reduction In any way. When the re-
duction was made from II to 10 hours
it was met by adding 10 per cent
to the speed Of the machinery; but
this brought it up to the highest point
that the flesh and blood of the operatives
tending the machines could stand. "Our
mills In Lewiston, In my judgement, by TAX
ing two hours from days work would re-
duce the the product of our plants one-fifth.
With capital Of S1.000,000 1t would mean
the striking out of 100000 of capital" this
is Mr.. Barker's opinion. Mr.. Benjamin
Green, of the Cabot Company of Brunswick,
thinks nine hours had better be tried before
attempting eight, and expresses the opinion
that in his day he shall never see men get
their living in an eight-hour day. Agent N.
w. Cole. Of the Edwards Company at Au-
gusta, thinks any we'll man, woman or child
Ia able to work 10 hours day and is all the
better for It. Shorter hours would, In his
opinion. tend to injurious idleness and dissi-
patton. Few others express this view, most
OF them combining themselves to the econom-
ic points of the question, which are plainly
the most forcible as well as the only logical
grounds Of opposition. We have enough
faith in the mass of the day laborers of this
country to believe that they could dispose of
two more hours of leisure innocently and
probably. But the world has not got along
to tibet point where man can afford this ex-
ira leisure. We venture to say that not q
single one of the men who have given opin-
ions on this question attained his present po-
sition without working hard, either with
his hands or his mind or with, more than 10
or even IL hours day; and there is proba-
bly, not one Of them who would not find 1t
physical relief to exchange his work with its
cares and responsibilities for the 60 hours
net Of work that the operative puts In.