The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-05-05
ECONOMY OF HleH WAGES.
From the Edinburgh R. view.

From the Edinburgh R view.
Improved machinery stands to high
wages in a twofold relation: il is at
once cause and effect The better the
machine with which a man works the
more productive is his labor and the
more valuable consequently to his en-
ployer. On the other hand, the higher
the wages paid the greater is the in
ducement to the employer to use more
and more productive machinery and so
reduce his expenses Not only il the
labor employed in connection with i'm
proved machinery more highly paid, as
we have seen, than any other. but the
Increased cost of it is powerful slim
| Mus to further improvement Thus. a
strike among the boot and shoe makers
OF Massachusetts, a few years back, re-
suited in the invention of a machine
/ which reduced the numbers employed
in the operation of lasting" by eighty
per. cent And in this connection we
notice curious paradox. viz. that ma
chinery should not be made to last too
long. In times OF depression it is the
firms which use old-fashioned machin-
| cry which are the first to suffer-as,
! for instance. visiting Oldham in 1886,
| Mr.. Schoenhof found that the cotton
| spinners We're making no profits at all,
whereas at Rochdaie a newly built
6ill. fitted with all the latest
and best inventions. was doing we'll,
| the reason being that not only was the
expense of working less, but waste had
been greatly diminished. Such i'm
provements are often resisted, or at
least viewed with little favor, by the
workmen themselves, who see in these
improvements means Of superseding
their own labor. But they have not
grasped the key to the situation, and
have not understood how closely their
own earnings are bound up with their
equipment
On the continent such conservatism
Is far stronger. 1t is matter of pride
TO the manufacturer that his machin-
cry outlasts that in use here; but, SO
far from being an advantage to him.
the fact really handicaps him in COM
petition with his English rivals And
such conservatism is possible only
when large supply of workmen is
available at low wages, for if new ma
chinery is to be employed higher
stamp of worlsmen is needed. In the
industry of silk-throwing, for instance,
there is remarkable difference be-
tween England and America in this
respect, for the wages paid in America
are far higher than with us, and vet
the cost is far less. Now the growth
OF nerve-power necessary for work at
such tremendous pressure is possible
only when the conditions of life are IA
orable-in short, when wages are high.
Let US now summarize Mr.. Schoenhofs
somewhat optimistic views. High
wages cheaper production in two
ways They make the laborer more
etficient-he is stronger, more capable,
more alert, and consequently the prod
uct of his labor is greater increasing
proportionately faster than the rise in
wages. They also provoke, and indeed
necessitate, a constant growth in thu
productive power of machinery, and
give the maximum of stimulus to the
inventiveness OF its makers Short
hours of labor produce similar results,
for employer and employed are under
ton on the one side and economies on
the other, lest the volume of produc- |
ton should be lessened And in pro- /
portion as wages rise, so does the de- |
mand for the products of industry rise |
also; for the working class e., the |
great ma ority of consumers-are able |
to purchase more What, then, is |
needed in the present and the future? |
More light and air for production; the
2 BOLTON OF all restraints, protective or
otherwise, upon exchange of commod-
tiles; the increase of competition every
where. At the same time no agency
should be neglected which will help to
increase the laborer's efficiency. His
home, his food. his surroundings should
he jealousy guarded; art schools, mu.
seums, libraries, all that go to improve
his mind, should be provided without
stint