The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1895-08-18
THE LESSON ABOUT WAGES

Unhappy indeed are the people who can
gather mo harvest of wisdom from mis-
tortum-. The American people have prob
aoly learned more from two years of dds
aster than they would have learned from
twenty years off prosperity. Best and
most fruitful of all the lessons thIsy have
learned Is this, that the Prosperity Oh
all business depends upon liberal but moi
excessive wages of labor.
The qualification, mot Excessive" needs
careful Interpretation. Wages so high
that works cannot be operated, because
of competition from other domestic or
from foreign works, obviously injurs
those who pay and those who receive.
III the mdIls cannot run, the men gj.
no wages In fact no matter how high
may be the ralte fixed. 1t Is equally true
Jhat many establishments are abb 10
run only part time because wages have
been fixed so high that competition de-
prlves them Of half thu markets Lney
might have secured. When the puddlers
few years ago demanded and oh.alned
wages so high that grsa: quau.iti . %
steel calme TO be used inSteld of ron.
being relatively cheaper, the pudders did
not rhlly gldn anything. 1t Is also trut
that wDges so high as to leave NJ rea-
sonable profit for capital are never Ia
| benefit TO workers in The long run. I'm
| less capital giLs, 1par returns more will
NOT be invited into 1.-THE same work, hn'
| perhaps part of the capital already e.n.
| ployed may be withdrawn. In cJnse.
quence theqn will mot be a larger demand
| for labor in that kind of work, and II
| may be less. Unless profits remaining
for capital are sufficient to attract more
hp g htug futalc ciN hal
It may grow with hhe growth OF the cJun-
try thu conditions cannot be beneficial
either for capital or for labor and labor
must suffer most In the end IL any
brunch of industry lis rendered unproft-
able.
The top line of wages, then, Is that
which leaves thu cost of production low
enough TO Withstand competition, domes-
nc or foreign, and also leaves sufficient
returns for capital no Invite other capt.
tai dnto the same business. But b Tow
that bop line higher wages benefit the
whole couutry, and any'thlng which tends
to depress wages injur the whole coun-
try. This is the lesson which the people
have been LEARNING since 1892. One might
suppose It SO sdmpls and obvious thar
1t must have been understood long ago
wGthou, lhe strain and suffering of ma
tlonhl disaster, but the fact Is that mil
lions OF voters and many employers had
entirely lost sight OF 1t, II they had
twer perceived the truth and its import
ance. Disatser compelled everybody TO
see THAT people earning $4,000 900, 0OO
yearly cannob buy as much as the same
peopis Gun buy when earning $4,000, OO0 0OU
yearly. When general reduction OF wages
was forced in 1898, the actual earnings
.lf 1alt, In =
down FUZZY VI quarter, and there may have
been some employers who thought II
would be 70 their advantage, until they
found ttlt. their sates were cut down
at leliyt as much. The nal5ion DOS its
buying with the wages of labor Re-
duct33n of wages means always and in
evltably reduction of demand for every
thing IlhaIt labor warts. reduction in the
volume of buSinl IS, and since the eX-
penses in any business cannot ordinarily
be cGIsiiied In proportion to the amount
OF business done 1t means relatively
grIaaer reiuodon in profits than in
wagl1@
The wofldenful prosperity Of this coun-
try is due In a great melsurs 10 igle
liberal compensation here given to al
most a.y kind OF labor AT the British
ra'le lof waeIs the earnings of this peo-
pie would be about g. 900, at Ghe
German or French rate Of wages they
would be less than $1,000 900, as COM
pared with about $1,000, 100000 eaned In
1892 From 5000 100000 to $1,000, co., 900
yearly OF buslrls SO done In this country
ir directly due 20 the difference in rate
OF wages between this and otihee coun-
tNJss nhHs iSthe rlason the Profession OF
industries Is so necessary to the prosper