Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-09-09

cred before there can be any mode de-
vised OF preventing them. THEORETICALLY
there can never be too many men at
work, provided the products OF their iapor
are properly distributed. and provided also
that the several trades and occupations
are properly represented In the com'ilu-
nifty. IL would seem 10 be piausipie
theory which assumes that In comihu-
nity OF one thousand persons there ought
TO be a certain proportion OF them en-
gagged In the various vacations. But WIN 10
TO tell us how many shoemakers there
must be In a thousand persons. or now
many blaeksmlths, or how many wneei-
wrights. or how many taliors' OF NO"
many timers. or how many meehani'''
or Iaborers, or professional men or any
sort?
The invention OF new machinery mas
had An influence upon the community
which nobody has az yet been aole W
describe The New York Journal OF com
merce. however, always up to the tihes'
has discussed TO limited extent NV
effects OF machinery upon labor ana 'he
cost Of production. That papers a''e"
,ion was chilled 10 the matter by feso-
ht,on which recently passed both houses
Of Congress, directing the Commissioner u
Labor to report upon the SUBJECT III
voIved in this question. 1t Is a SUBJECT
however in which Commissioner wright
has long been interested, as indeed every
leading man in the community. He Is
,oo sangline. however, we fear seeing
that he expects 10 work out all the uc
tails OF the new investigation IN
month or two" So 1t is reported. But So
Geological problems Of great magnitude
cannot be solved. nor explained, nor eX-
planned away. in "a month or two' Inc
fact that machinery has enormously III
creased the product per capita Is one
that can be easily proved. But the the
ory that machinery has enormously III
creased the sum OF benefits 10 he as
,ributed among the entire community
IS not susceptible Of the same sort OIL
,,oof When we are told that II the ma
chinery used in making shoes were &C.
stroved all the shoemakers IN tho land
would at once be needed, we are con-
frontod with q strange proposition.
This last is, in other words one Oh 'he
nropositions which have been turned over
TO Commissioner Wright as stated ABOVE
He will consider The effect OF the intro
duction of new machinery in throwing
noonle ont Of work" That's what the
workinemen wish TO read about. NO ques-
tion connected with the subject can De
deemed more important than TINS MI
Wright will show how enormously labor
is economical" and production increaseu
bv the use Of machinery. There he VIII
touch the trouble-namely, the economy
of labor and the resulting low prices OF
that labor.
Here are some of the thoughts OF the
Journal Of Commerce:
Society may BE-, and is, largely impo-
tent tn control these new drifts; but II
is manifestly only common prudence 'I"0
each one of US should get the clearesI pos
sible forelook into this new desuhy. Inns
is all the more important because theIe -
a certain class of politico-social theorls.S
who are seeking to reconstruct the "hOIe
social and political framework from per
versions and misconceptions OF the true
significance of these industrial changes
II is not impossible. on the contrary it Is
quite probable, that the new Industrial
conditions may tend towards the crea-
lion Of new social conditions. But II -
the natural order that the latter should
follow the former by free ana uncon-
ventional process OF evolution. II. In the
social world, We are 10 have a new htd-
yens and a new earth ut the foundd-
tions rest not uyOn fauatical theory or
class selhshnezs, but upon the freest de-
veloplnent of human productive effort
Good advice this Is. 1t comes from
New York. but It is just the sort of coun-
sci which all the men engaged III the
study Of these questions ought to heed.
The journal continues:
"Undor these eventful conditions, the
first thing ncedful to an intelligent adap-
tation to them IS a broad knowledge OK
the facts that confront US The work
deputed to the Chief OF the Bureau or
Labor aims directly at that end. In
very broad sense, a more important III
curry was never undertaken by gov
eminent. Il is perhaps doubtful whether
Congress really conceived the magnitude
of the Investigation and the effect that
its revelations are likely to have IN the
formation Of public opinion upon wide
range Of vital questions"
once more:
1.-THE inquiry will throw much needed
light upon the present unsettled condi-
ton of our own industries, and should
contribute towards a better comprehen-
sion Of the question as to equitable rela-
tons between capital and labor. The pre-
Vailing ignorance upon the questions to
be investigated has unquestionably led 10
many radical mistakes in enterprise, II
not to excuses OF industrial plants ana
TO Fl range of prices and wages which
cannot be maintained under the now enor-
mously augmented powers Of production.
1t is 10 be hoped the report may b.
forthcoming at the earliest possible day,
for there is no industry that does not
need the INFORMATION Il will afford; but
IL is stll more to be desired that no con-
sheraton OF time or expense shall be al
lowed TO prevent the most thorough COM
plcteness of the work.
George Fitzhagh wrote Sociology for
the South" Who will write Sociology
for the world? Socialism is false soci-
how 20 4 "A with IL