The herald., 1894-12-09

cut thousands in the man nfacture OF
commodities. has within the last few
years entered the domain OF agriculture,
and the self-suppoiting and respectable
farm laborer of last year is the wander
ing vagrant OF today. Let us examine q
few facts and statistics bearing upon
this point. The writer wss infoT mod
few months ago that in one of the largest
wheat-raising counties of this state, at
least 10 per cent more grain would be
raised this year than Q ver before, and
that at least 1900 men whose services
were required the year before were not
wanted this season, and the same could
be said OF 5000 horses: land that
formerly cost 81 per acre for the use Of
the plow is now plowed at the average
contract price OF 25 cents per acre. The
traction plow has entered the field, and
as this one machine can turn up the coil
of rs acres in "a hours under the guild
ance OF two men, each new plow this
year represents the labor OF 25 men OF
last year.
The cotton picker has passed the
stage OF experiment. and is now being
manufactured by the Wholesale. It is
said that each machine will DO the work
OF 80 men, and, Sc fully half o million
laborers in the south (mostly negroes)
depend TOR their living upon picking
cotton six months in the year. we can
see there an opening for 500, 600 more
tramps.
Fully eight years ago Prof. Atkinson
arranged table of statistics which, to
his own surprise, showed that II all the
mills and manufactures in the country
were in full operation there would still
be- about 100000 unemployed mem in
the country. New inventions have al
most. If not quite, doubled in power
and capacity since then, nor 10 there
any probability OF our mills and mann.
factories resuming in full blast in the
near future. We can also refer the
reader to the late work OF Hon. David
A. Wells entitled Recent Economic
Changes. There he will find that grain,
by the uss OF modern m machinery, can be
produced at one.third tine amount of
!a hor that is nscsssitatsd 20 years ago.
In the face Of these facts and many
others that could be given ii space
allowed, it is certainly the absurdity OF
nonsense to say that any man caa get
work il he rnstles for it. Men like Prof.
Atkinson, Goodwin Smith, and others,
who defend our present economic sys.
tenn, are candid enough to admit that
the working men must learn to live on
lower standard OF wages to meet the
requirements OF machinery and i'm
proved inetbod OF production.
As for the remedy-what?
Alter thinking over the matter long
and carefully, can see but two renee
dies. that will 60 to the root of the
trouble and by insuring perpetual good
nd a ht0h ka II -.
forever the involuntary:tramp. The first
is tho cooperative method of produce
ton; common ownership OF land and
the tools of production. Then when
new labor-saving machinery is invented
the hours OF toll can be shortened aud
the benefit will be reaped BY all our
citizens. "Ohl but this means social
ism." Certainly my dear sir, it does
mean socialism, but it means more than
that. IL means fraternity; it means
Christianity; it means happiness it
means, in q word, q destruction OF tho
modern tramp at one end of the chain
and his complement, the modern mil.
lionaire, at the other.
Let US turnto the other remedy, and I
take some pride in being the first TO
proclaim it, and offer it as the only so
luton possible, If we continue our pres-
ent methods of competitive production.
fail to discover in any of the works of
men like DR.. Strong, David A. Wells.
Atkinson or any other Of our so.called
plutocratic economists who 80 praphic-
ally describe the evils OF the day. any
plan. or shadow of q plan, that will
abolish the evils they com plain OF.
It being conceded that the cause cre-
ating the army of the permanent unem-
ployed, as we'll as the professional tramp.
10 one and the same, and that that cause
is = displacement OF manual labor bv
machinery, the remedy is plain and
simple. We must either DESTROY the
machinery and give the producer more
chance, or We must destroy the prod uoer
himself. Prof. Thorold Rogers, one of
the leading political economists OF, Eng
land, in his recent work, Six Centuries
OF Labor, speaks of the half century fol-
lowing the great plague OF tho sixteenth
century 90 q golden period for the
English! workingmen. At least 40 600
workingmen had perished in London
alone, and when the black death had
paused, the proletariat of England was
sadly diminished. The demand for
labor was q hundred fold great.
or than was the supply. and wages
increased from week to week in almost
arithmeticsl progression, reaching such
. point that parliament was compelled
to pass law making it misd eme amor.
punishable with fine and Imprisonment
to pay or receive more than q stipulated
amount OF wages for days work (think
OF that you army of unemploye ed-con- :
gress having to pass a law to keep
wages below q certain point. Il is true
our modern congress does the same
thing, and it's laws keep wages down.
but they no longer do it in that direct
way.) There is but one way. Let the
United States be proportioned into in
dustrial districts. and Z census taken OF
the number OF men requiring to live bv
manual labor 10 each district. Then. q
board OF experts could. readily deter
mine the number of men necessary to
supply the commodities needed in each
particular district. The surplus labor
being thus correctly determined, the
amount in excess could he shipped to
some central point; (the individuals
could bo determined by lot or any other
msnner, a. this matter 10 one OF trivial
detail.) At . certain deaiRnated
spot the government could erect
- large. air-tiQht building. and