The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1892-1907, 1893-03-18
IGNORANCE AND PREJUDICE.
esoof That They Are the Only Supports a
Opposition to the Etxht.hour ilav.

cs Hnst Ihey Are the Only oapp0rts al
Opposition 10 the Eisht-heus Day.
An editorial In that excellent pewspe.
per, the Cincinnati Times. gives the fol.
lowing illogical reasons for opposing the
S-hour working day idea, 1t being tbs re-
mark OF newspaper man to q working.
man; IF you succeed In your object"
THAT OF reducing the hours Of work TO
eight, says the editor, "you will raise the
cost the manufactured article on which
you are employed fully 20 per cent, and
don't you know that II that particular ar
ticle goes up 90 per cent other necesss-
ries OF life will be apt TO follow In symps-
thy with It. and will you not find at the
end OF the month that 1t will require go
instead OF 80 to pay your current ex-
pensesf The article you are making nd
vanced 20 per cent. the price Of living. Of
rent, OF clothing, Of food, ETC., would he
likely TO advance 20 per cent also. and
70 per cent Of $50 il go. How are You to
De benefited if your opportunity to save
tio month is destroyed Don't you sec
that the burden Of 10 hours pay for 8
hours work viii finally fall on your own
shouldersY''
No. we won't see anything of the kind
and the suggestion 10 another sample OF
the fnlure of the general run Of educated
men TO grasp economic truths. The re-
suit OF a reduction Of the hours OF work
TO eight per day would not raise the cost
OF manufactured articles anywhere near
20 per cent nor anywhere near the extent
It would raise wages.
This can be easily shown.
The cost Ut the labor ON manufactured
articles since the advent Of improved
machinery is hardly 1.-THE of the cost OF
the finished article itself. In the old DAYS
oil hand work the greater factor In the
cost OF all manufactured goods was the
labor put into them. II is not so TODAY.
Take almost anything-boots aud shoes.
clothing. machinery. for instance-and 90
per cent added 10 the cost Of labor would
not raise lie price Of the completed arti.
cle 8 per cent
Take tho labor employed to make n
fypewriting machine. for example. A
machine that sells for fl0O costs about
sis. and Of this COS, not more than tl5 in
Tor labor. Suppose We add 90 per cent
TO the cost Of this labor. and we have q.
which would make the price Of the ma
chine sos instead Of $40, ~ by The
Times reasoning. Take the cost Of shoes.
again. A shop Of 800 hands will make
5000 pairs Of shoes per day. or 20 pairs
to each employee. Suppose the average
wages OF all the hahds-men. women and
boys-were 81 per day. and this is a high
estimate. Twenty per cent on this in.
creased cost Of labor would be 80 cents
uIon each 20 pairs Of shoes. or the sum
OF u cents upon each pair
In the manufacture Of clothing We
have not al hand exact knowledge OF the
cost Of Manufacture. but il Is safe TO saw
that factory employing 100 hands will
easily make 500 suits per day Es,imat-
ing their wages st e. per day high
nrerage-and VIC have about 20 cents per
suit added TO the cost of clothing M a
result Of the increase in cost OF produc.
non there. and If we add 10 cents to the
cost OF tho production Of the CLOTH for the
suit as an additional result Of the de-
CREASED hours Of work We have 80 cents
added 10 tho cos, Of the suit. But we
will willingly allow an additional cost Of
" ~ w. s-'N afA'ia tiAc WOfkllss1uHn could .
Afford 10 purchase IL IL one-ff,h were
added 10 his wages.
Again. the fact that under eight hours
wofkthen would ultimately receive ono
nth more pay will probably puzzle rea
sonois like the one jus, referred 20. Blu,
As the value Of everything depends upon |
The supply q. IL and the demand for II 4
there should lie no difficulty in realizing
that the increased demand for workers
would raise the value and cost Of their
services Eight bushels Of wheat or ap
piles are not worth rs much as 10 bushels.
but when there is no surplus Of them
whoa The demand is equal TO the supply
people are often glad TO pay much more
Tor ciEhi bushels 81 either than they nav
Tor 10 when their is glu, in the market.
There is no; the slightcs, moral or ma
'er'ai reason for opposition 10 a reiuc-
hon O! the hours Of work. All objections
10 1t arise either from ignorance or prejn.
Aksa.a -.