The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1894-04-12
Type Setting Machines.

eN'SuSo VI thS survival VI buo lltI0St'
One hundred years ago manufacturing
of all kinds was done almost entirely
By hand. The housewife grew her fax
and spun it into clothing. sewing this
clothing together by needles Of crude
design in the light Of a suffering tai
low dip; or else knitting it with whit
tied pegs OF wood. Aud the good man
of'the house found little occasion to
seek a crattsman's aid for such humble
Offices as sutliced 10 supply his simple
needs. The invention Of the steam
run loom. of the sewing machine and
otthe countless other great mechan.
islns of transportation. illumination
and trade has greatly amplified the di.
versity OF human needs aud thereby in.
tensified the commercial demand; yet
the supply is still in excess of that de.
manl, whils OF labor there is a grow
ing surplus yet unprovided with EN-
ployment.
There are some parsons who view the
type-setting machine as an instru-
ment Of cruelty. Perhaps it is; but
not more so than was the steam engine,
tine cotton gin, the electric telegraph
and the sewing machine. A society
which accepts machine. made clothing,
machine made transporta tiou. machine
made light and heat and food, without
question as to the consequences Of tho
labor economy thus involved is not
morally prepared to draw a line at
machine.printed newspapers or ma
chine composed book. We are in the
current of great inventions; and the
automatic type-setter is one Of the in
evitahle pastulates of our ingenious
civilization.
These suggestions arise during the
psrusal of an extensive and carefully
prepared article on Modern Type
Composition" published in the April
Issue Of the Inventive Age. This article
itself would fill this page, aud we can
not begin to summarize it in the space
at present available. Yet there is one
paragraph or two which challenges
especial attention. During 1893, one
of the paragraphs informs US, linotype
and type-setting machines were in.
stalled in 1872 printing offices in the
United States. 909 machines in all. Be-
fore the machines were in operation
there were ), 46l regular and /, 16S sub
s;itute printers employed in these same
Offices. After their installation it re-
quired hut 2.2O1 regular and 4l2 sub
stitute printers to perform the work,
thus displacing 1850 regular and 77G
substitute printers, or a total of 2,036.
Throughout the United States where
machines have been introduced. an
average Of A per cent. Of employed
printers have been thrown out of work.
Ara we asked where these men 90,
into what field of activity do they
drift? The answer is not otherwise
than in the case of other industries in
vaded by labor-saving appliances. The
year 1893 saw the establishment in this
country Of 1, 1896 daily, tri-weekly, semi
weekly, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly
and quarterly publications. an increase
in the printing business alone sufficient
TO accommodate many OF the voorhees,
hand compositors. The same year saw
an immense expanse in the quantity of
reading matter contained in the ysri-
Gus publications of the United States,
and a notable increase in the number
of printed books. The business Of pub.
fishing has already doubled itself since
the invention of satisfactory tyne
setting machines. viii it not yet
grow sufficiently large to retain in its
employ all who formerly derived their
livelihood at tine typs-settsr's case?
This question can only be answered
by time, We are as yet simply on the
verge Of labor-saving inventions az ap-
piled to the manufacture OF newspa-
prs. Some momentary friction is to
be expected as new devices disarrange
old customs and necessitats q readjust-
msnt of forces. But the fact that
type aetting machines, even in their
present preliminary stage Of develop
msnt. enable publishers to realize an
average economy Of at least 50 Der
cent. in the costly item Of competition
is a sure guarantee that the machine
type setter has ''come to stay" and
that sooner or later publishing and
printing conditions must adjust them
selves around this accepted fact and
not try to ignore it.