The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1890-04-17
THE EIGHT HOUR DAY.
An Intelligent Discussion BY !. Y.
POEdeFly.
standpOInt Of wOrkInGmen..S1OF oral,
social and Commercial Relations
Between Capital and Labor.

| hfVteW tor April: Ihat the conditlon Ol
the wOrkingman has improved wonder
fully is true, but to no one can the credit
Of this be given save the workman him.
self. He alone sought for the means OI
improvement, and his severy step has been
contested by those for whom lie toiled,
and by others who never gave a thought
to his surroundings. 1t Is true that phil.
osophers and philanthropists have spoken
in favor Of the "man who worked" but
their pleadings and writings had no more
effect on the minds Of the wealth getters
than has a zephyr on the Eifiel tower. To
look back at the sanitary condition Of tile
workman's home and surroundings Is to
learn that. II he had to work on the inside
Of factory walls at that period, he would
have lived but half as long as at the pres.
ent time. II the man who lived In loa
hut, where "the wind whistled through
the chinks," was Obliged to work in the
sitting atmosphere Of the present day
factory, he would die Of lung trouble in a
very short time. Workshop, means oi
transportation, dwellings, and every sur
rounding have changed, and for the bet
ter. Too many advocates Of the eight
hour day are in ignorance Of the vital
principle which underlies the agitation.
They argue in this fashion: II the hours
Of labor are cut down to eight, the idle
men who have focked to this country
will lie employed and we shall be cores
pondinGly happy. Following that course
oil reasoning to its logical conclusion, We
should have to cut down the hours oil
labor still further In few years to accom-
modate tie idle thousands imported to
this country by steam and railway com
panies; and after the number OF the un'
employed increased again, we should
have to reduce the hours OF labor again
and again until the unemployed Of Europe
and OF Asia had landed, when we should
have nothing to do.
On higher ground does the sincere ad'
vocate OF the short hour work day base
his agitation. The final solution OF the
word day problem will come when the
workman becomes Sharer In what he
creates. To-day the laborer Is considered
by his employer to be no more factor in
the held oil production th1n the spade
which he handles. The laborer has no
ether interest in the work he performs
than to draw pay for the work done at
the end OF the week or month. Work
man and employer find their interests to
he identical In but one particular-to get
the most out of each other. Take an en-
ployer who gives work to 100 men. The
value OF their labor will rate " day.
He pays them an average oil u day each.
Ills profits Will equal the total wages paid
and In twenty years he may retire q
wealthy man.
How fares It with his workman They
TemaiG poor and retire only TO the poor
house or the cemetery. What do the
riches Of the one represent? Unpaid
labor. To labor, then, belong the vast
sums that rich men leave after them to
erect poorhouses and charitable institu-
tons, which would not he necessary II
the workmen were paid what they earned.
No one now thinks Of requiring the bank
clerk to work ten hours, or even eight.
His mind would not stand the strain, and
the physical part would also decay. The