Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1895-07-31

Interesting fnVestigstoh NOW being var
ried on by the National Governmental.
Nj. Dewey ON the Result-One Machine
EQUALS Many Men, but Employs More.
Philadelphia Is at present the seat of an
Interesting investigation at the hands of
the national government. The last session
of congress directed the department of Ia
Dor to ascertain to what extent manual Ia
Dor had been displaced by modern machin
cry. For this purpose Carroll ID. Wright,
commissioner of labor, detailed a number
of experts and special agents OF his bureau
last winter, each agent pursuing an inves-
tigation In all industries found In the ter
ritory assigned him. Recently, however,
q new departure was made, and each Off
Ger was assigned to an industry, or group
of allied industries, making technical
analysis of the relations Of machinery to
handwork, as to quantity and quality pro-
duced by the most modern and the Oldest
methods obtainable.
Mr.. A. M. Dewey Is In Philadelphia In
the interests Of the department and recent
ly said to press representative:
"There has been aprevailing impression
that labor was being made to suffer because
of competition with machinery, and there
has beon much strength and energy wasted
by some of the best Of the organizations Of
labor in their efforts to suppress the ma
chine. These fears have proved ground
less.
$50 far as typesetting is concerned, the
machine which does the work successfully
Is of recent discovery, but all papers near
ly and many book offices are getting
them in as fast as the factory can supply
them. AS matter of fact, when all en-
ployees are taken into consideration, the
machines in the printing business employ
more than they displace.
"And this evolution, or revolution, per-
meates every trade. There is book print
ing press now running in Philadelphia
which prints the sections, gathers them
for binding and folds the gathered sheets
ready for stitching, and this, too, at the
rate Of 10, 900 books per hour. am told
that firm at Lowell, Mass, has In opera
ton machine which does all this one can
do and, In addition, prints a cover In two
oolors and puts the coveron tho book, leav-
ing 1t ready for the trimming machine,
and does this twice as fast as the Philadel-
phia press mentioned.
"We have found very few industries in
which all the work is done by machinery.
Most of them still employ good percent
age Of hapdwork. Many machine made
products, 80 called, are moro than half
made by hand. Common grade blank
books are popularity supposed to be ma
chine product entirely, but this Is an error.
They are ruled, folded, sewed and trimmed
by machine, but are bound practically by
hand, the forwarding and finishing occu-
pying more time than all the rest Of the
work together. The finer grades Of blank
books are yet made almost entirely by
hand.
perhaps the most remarkable displace-
ment Of all Is to be found In the wood
working trade. Machinery has rendered
practically useless the big chest of tools
with. which the carpenter and joiner for
merly piled his vocation. A ax panel pine
door, which would require q good man
from 10 to 10 hours to build by hand, Is
made by the hundred in from 10 to -
minutes each. In ironwork the more the
iron Is hammered the better 1t becomes,
and therefore hand work is stronger than
machine work, except In special cases
where the trip hammer Is used to beat the
from well. But almost everywhere ma
chinery lessons the price of the product
and brings 1t within the reach of the
masses This creates O demand for more
of It, and so the opportunity for labor in
CreaSeS.
1.-THE investigation includes everything
During the past winter 1t was my privi-
lege to examine into the corn canning in
dustry In an adjoining state, and ac-
knowledge that what Llearned was o rev.
elation to me. In q single institution this
season 80 people will do the work formerly
requiring over 500. Green corn will be
husked nv machinery for the first time q
cutting machine will cut off as much corn
as could be cut by 200 women with knives,
and a machine which cooks, fills meas
ures, weighs and puts the caps on the cans
of corn does the rest Of the work. 1t is
simply marvellous. And yet in that in
dustry in spite of this most wonderful
machine equipment, 1 was told by the
manufacturer that there were now ten
times the number OF employees engaged at
the time of hand labor, while the goods
had been placed within the reach of every
one.
1.-THE machinery does not displace labor
in the aggregate and is Of great benefit to
society besides. Those who oppose Its in
PRODUCTION from q labor standpoint may
be honest in their opposition, but they are
mistaken.
"The idea that machinery has been the
cause of reductions in the price paid to
labor In recent years is an error. Men at
work on machinery receive better pay, as
q rule, than the hand workmen engaged
in the same business. ."-Philadelphia
Press.
The New Woman In North Carolina
Deputy Collector Alspaugh, who has