New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-03-31
TAKING THE CHANCES.

The working people of Massachusetts have
vet IN learn whether a law which they are de-
handing with passionate eafnestness VIII do
them more harm than all the capitalists inor out
Of the State could ever do. IL may be that they
are right and that an enforced reduction OF
hours of labor in factories to nine would nlure
no industry but would only provide larger
demand for Massachusetts labor. They do not
know. however. and are much mistaken il they
think they do 1t may be that the employers
are mistaken in protesting against the measure
as one calculated to destroy their industries, but
they cannot know, and the best that can be
said OF such legislation is that it is leap in the
dark.
Some things it is possible TO know which may
help to correct judgment Massachusetts
mills have of late been subjected to closer and
more intense competition than they had ever
known before So many iron works have been
found unable TO stand the competition, with less
advantageous locations and much Interference
from labor organizations and Legislatures, that
persons in that business are found bewaing Its
decline and predicting its speedy extinction IN
Massachusetts,, though in fact the industry as a
whole has been gaining rather than losing. Inc
shoe-shopS have been so badgered and plagued
by demands of labor organizations that the
business and capital of many have been trans
ferred to other States, while others are forced
70 work only part time by the competition OF
establishments in other States. The woollen
mills have to compete with others that are start
ing ND bv the score at the West, and many OF
the Massachusetts mills find that they can live
only by changing the grades of goods produced
The cotton mills find competitors multiplying
at the South, thirteen new cotton mills in that
section having been announcedlin a single week.
There labor is plenty and cheap, the cotton close
at hand and the whole people disposed to en-
courage and help. Within few months many
of the mills in Massachusetts, have begun to
change their modes of manufacture and the
kinds Of goods produced, and to strive Tor eX-
jstence by making finer goods than have yet
been made in this country because III the ola
field they no longer nave an equal chance
Such is the actual situation when it is pro
posed to interfere with the manufacturers by
new law cutting down the hours of labor. NO
man lives who can honestly clam to know
whether the reduction Of tenth in working
hours will increase the efficiency OF the hands
during the hours that remain. 1t will not make
the wheels 90 round any faster. 1t will not
prevent breaks because of the Deficiencies OF
material or the mpcrfectonS of machinery II
is an open question whether it will in any way
or TO any extent improve the quality OF the
work done by human hands That 1t cannot
increase the efficiency Of the mills a whole so
that the goods now produced IN ten hours can
he produced in nine. the workers themselves
admit. because they argue that decrease IN
products per hand would be better for all wage
earners.
How many of the men who petition for or de-
mand this change have ever considered whether
if would close mills in Massachusetts, and open
more mills in Georgia? The employers believe
that il would make their business in the Bay
State improbable. but they may be in error.
Unfortunately, if they think 50 they are apt to
act uDon their thinking. When they believe
that the business in Massachusetts Is gong to
result in loss. and that the same work can be
done ut profit somewhere else, they are likely
TO 90 somewhere else. Those who cannot are
likely TO close their mills before the loss comes
and save what ,hey can. las any worItngman
vet thought it out how many OF the mills IN
Massachusetts will cease 10 exist, in that state
at all events because OF inability to compete
with mills in other States where the hours OF
labor arc not thus restricted? II not, then how
many workers are there in Massachusetts who
can 20 10 Georgia or South Carolina to follow
the capital which they drive out of the state?
Many of them have their homes in MasSachu-
sets and friends engaged in other employ
ments Closing of the mills in which they work
would mean to them irremediablc disaster. But
how many Of them have thought out these
things. and concluded that after all it is safe to
take the leap in the dark