The Meridional. (Abbeville, La.) 1856-1906, 1896-11-28
Eae Old Printer Thrown Down by
N0dern Eachines.
The World Owes Him Living.
and He Deserves 1t.

Among the illustrations OF the cor
fused economic conditions of III
present the decline, or rather TIL
| disintegtation, of the printers trad
IS among the most prominent. I,
the days Of Franklin to be printe
was almost to be q professional mau
and even up to ten years ago tht
printers trade retained much of its
old prestige. A man could then
! obtain q position with ease, and he
generally received st least SIS a
week for his labor. To be an ap-
prentice in printing office was to
| have made start in life in The direc-
tion of most excellent trade. But
these promising conditions have all
in the last ten years completely
changed. Indeea, the printing trade
is not the only one which this NAV
be said, but this particular trade
undoubtedly presents the most strik-
ing contrast Of them all.
The striking character Of the con-
trast between the old and new con-
ditions can be made to appear in
few brief statements. In 1885 there
were in Chicago about 250 printing
houses and about 80 publishing
houses, making in ali a total Of about
500 houses, employing all the way
from five to fifty men, drawing SI8 a
week. In 1896 the number Of print
ing and publishing honses is, on
rough estimate, about three times as
great as in 1885. Place beside these
statements the fact that the number
of men employed has not increased
prcportionally by one-half, and also
the further fact that $l8 week is
now the exception rather than the
rule; that wages have been reduced
all the WY from one-fourth to one.
half their former amount, and couple
with these facts the further statement
that the force OF printers employed
is being every day reduced, and the
state OF affairs can not prove other
than remarkable,
The question might reasonably be
asked, Why this state of affairs?''
Undoubtedly cue of the reasons is
the stringency Of the money market
and of trade in general. Probably
two-thirds of these houses are doing
only about one Alaf OF the usual
volume Of business, but this is moth
ing new, as the same conditions affect
nearly all the various lines CT trade,
nor would this of itself account for
the wide discrepancy between the
increase of employer and employed.
The true reason lies in the fact that
labor saving devices are doing away
with the demand for intelligent and
expert printers that was once SO
in the printers trade.
But even labor-saying devices might
not have such a deteriorating effect on
the trade If it were not for the fact /,
that among the publishing houses, at
least, there has appeared Q device |
that renders The employment Of men
unnecessary, and that is the type !
setting machine. Thousands have I
been thrown out OF employment in
that part of the trade fostered by |
activities, and by tie
overplus iii that department wages
are reduced ana the otherwise active |
demand for these particular work
men is paralyzed.
Thus in the printers line skilled
nen have been thrown out Of employ
nent who, ten years ago, had every
of the lucrative enjoyment
If their trade, and who, through no
ault of their own, are left without
means OF livelihood. They count
among their numbers some Cf the
,est intelligence the country possess
s. They present a sad picture of
mpotent ability--impotent because
he source that fed their strength has
'een taken from them. The question
hat comes with it is, What does soei-
tv owe them in the intelligent soln
ion OF the problem? - Press and
Printer.
y