, 1891-12-19
a Professors SAY.
He Looks Into the Question and Expresses
Ills Views on Labor Past and Present.


Ills Views on Labor Past and Present.
At the regular weekly meeting of the
Methodist ministers this morning, Pro
fessor F. C. Hicks. Phi. D., of Michigan
university, read a paper on Causes of
Social Discomfort" These he classified
as moral and industrial. Underneath
much of the cutlery against the iniquities
of our present social organization" said
he, Turks the inherent incapacity OF
native v~iciousness, which under
the former head. If the theory of soci.
ETY. which Jesus taught could be prac.
ticed, there would be no cause for com
plant Of injustice. But because it is so
little realized in the church or out of it,
that Jesus teachings require change in
the head as well as in the heart, l shall
at this time speak chiefly of the indus
trial causes for social discomfort.
From an investigation by the United
States department of labor, during the
years 1876 inclusive, it appears that So
cial discomfort as manifested by strikes
is most widespread in those states where
capital and labor are most abundant,
since the five states of Massachusetts,,
New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Hi
nois, containing one-half of all the manu-.
featuring establishments of the country,
three-ffths of the capital invested and
three-ffths of the labor employed, sup
piled nearly three-quarters of the num-
Der of establishments involved in strikes
during this period. 1t is further evident
from these figures that the chief cause Of
this discomfort is a belief in unequal dis
tribution, since II per cent. of these
strikes concerned wages and hours, the
two factors in a laborer's income. The
development of the present phase Of the
old labor trouble is seen to be coincident
with the evolution of modern methods
of production.
Under the household system" which
was the prevailing method of production
up to this century, there was less COM
petition, since every nan was obliged to
learn his business in all its details. Now
the laborer knows bat one step, and if
he will not work for $3.50 per day in
place OF his former s., his place can be
easily filled.
Under the household system only a
limited amount of capital was needed to
set up a business. Every apprentice
might expect soon to be a journeyman;
every ~journeyman to be a master. But
with division of labor has come the in
creasing Importance of capital and vast
accumulations of capital in individual
enterprises. This, while it lessons the
cost of producing articles, makes the
dependence of the laborer who has no
capital.
Close contact between employer and
employed characterized the household
system, while the necessities of modern
production have separated employer and
employee until each is a factor in the
life of the other only as the one contrib
utes to the others sustenance. En-
ployers are not necessarily heartless nor
laborers selfish, but the modern indus
trial system tends to make them so.
Yet let it be remarked, that by stats
tics, in 1880, strikes appeared in only
about / per cent. of the manufactures of
the United States. A study of the rela-
tions existing between employers and
employed in the 90 per cent. of cases
would throw much light on the remedies
for social discomfort.
The local character of the market was
a noticeable feature of the household
system. Its effect was TO place employer
and employed under the censorship of
public opinion. Under the modern sys-
tem the wide separation of consumer
and producer renders such censorship
impossible.
The main causes Of social discomfort
as resulting from these changes in the
industrial system may be summarized as
follows:
/. Dependence of the laborer.
9. Weakening of the ethical forces of
society.
Aside from these should perhaps be
mentioned the increased intelligence of
the laboring classes, which results in
their keener perception of the differences
between their position and that of the
capitalist.
The church must lead the way if bust,
ness and Christianity are to be combined
and the evils of our industrial system to
be remedied Detroit News.