Birmingham age-herald., 1895-04-14
And the Best Blood Purifier.


 1arging field of circulation of the paper in Alabama and other states, the Age Herald expects to have use for the full capacity of It's plant.
 Employment of Labor.
 The introduction of labor-saving ma chimes always confronts both employer and employe with new conditions. The process of adjustment is not always a pleasant one; it certainly is not free from embarrassment to the publishers of the Age-Herald as the machines deprives us of the services of some of our old and valued employees. The expert opera tor on the linotype can do the work of four compositors setting type by hand. The work formerly done by twelve compost tors will now be more easily accom- plished by four operators. It is neces- Sary, however, to employ an 'ad' man who sets. the new advertisements, the type being set by hand and of a style and size not used in the machine It is also necessary to have @ head lne' man. one who sets the headlines of each article set up by the machines and he has an assistant. Another essential person is the machinst, wose sole occu- patton Is to take care of the machines and keep them in running roder. He also has an assistant who cleans the maI chinery and attends upon the operators while the machines are in use.
 In addition to this force is the foreman who has general charge of the compos- ing room. and The has an assistant. Thus In the final reorganization the number of employees is not so materially reduced after all, and judging by the results of labor-saving machinery in other employ bor-saving machinery in other employ ments the final outcome will be as large a number of employees In the near fu- ture as in the past Improved machin- cry results in increased production and one of the first fruits of the linotype in the Age-Herald office is an increased amount of matter set. It Is the transi- tion from the old to the new system that temporarily diSplaceS labor; the ultimate result will be new demands and new av- enueS for labor, increased production of newspapers and of printing and stereo- typing, engraving, press work and all the collateral branches of the business.
 That this will be the final outcome is illustrated in the history of other labor saving machinery, as notably the sewing machine. When first introduced a great outcry arose against 1t because of the erroneous supposition that 1t would de- prive thousands of seamstresses of work. The very reverse happened, and today more women earn livelihood by sewing than ever before and also more men are employed, and we believe like sequence will follow the general use of the lino- type. The secret of the increased em- ployment of men and women as tailors and seamstresses after the invention of the sewing machine was the increased demand for sewing which the machine itself created. Woman's garments now require many times more seams and stitches and appurtenances than the cos tunes worn by our grandmothers. A wonderful variety of work never before attempted except by the very rich has now come in vogue and even the poor mans wife and daughters, as well as the sons, require the work of the needle that was never dreamed of generation or so ago. In other words, cheapened production results in increased demand and supply and the world is the better off by reason of the increased comforts of life. Meanwhile, wages are not lowered; i; the general average is higher than before labor-saving machinery was introduced. The same resultant will come of the lino- type. Newspapers, magazines and all kinds of printed matter will multiply and increase and create new demands for labor. Temporarily some printers will be out of employment, but a decade hence the number employed will be as great, if not greater, than today and meanwhile coincident employments, as press work. stereotyping, proof reading, machinists, electricians, editorial and re- portorial work, mailing clerks. carriers, postal clerks, etc., etc., will be aug mented.
 That our view of the effect upon labor is not confined to the conditions existing at Birmingham we quote the Oakland, Cal. Enquirer: When we come to speak of the effect of this invention upon the printers, 1t Is fair to say that the first effect is serious in large cities, where a great number of compositors are em- ployed on daily newspapers; many print CTS have been. and more will be, thrown out of employment. But as in a long term of years 1t has been found that machinery has generally not been un- favorable to labor, so it is hoped that the ultimate effect of typesetting machines will be beneficial although the first ef- fects have often been unfortunate Sometimes the newspaper introducing machine composition has been so much improved that Its business has greatly increased, and it has been able to en- large instead of diminish the total num- Der of persons employed. That has been the case with the Los Angeles Times, which now employees more persons in the aggregate than it did at the time 1t bought the machines. 1t is the Intention and expectation of the Enquirer, by ob- taining additional work to do. to keep at