The Irish standard., 1896-05-30

81 LAY f3Us af8s sssssI
The collectionsof NY Boyhood Days
On the Labor Question. @
John F. Hanily. read the folio wing pa pa.
per before Divislop Neo A. q, II. vi. on 4
the evening, of the 18th, ms, s.f1Es 5.
| In continuing my paper. from the last
regular meeting of this division for this.
evening, I shall read OF my. .recol.e ctions;
of my boyhood days on the Ia boz, ques--
ton and how labor Is done today 1st.e
We will consider the conan labor Of So.
| or 40 years ago, and how labor was done
| in those days. I can remember when all
| our work was done rithS sf1ovels and,
wheelbarrow. The turnpikes and roads. and
canals, and especially on the Morris canai
| in New Jersey. thousands of men were
employed. Then came the dump wagon
with advancement OF civilization and the
great New York and Erie penetrating
the great northwest. Thousands OF men,
boys and horses were employed, to build
| that road alone, which has done more than
any road to settle the west with progress
of mans study and hands. Steam took:
| the. place Of the wheelbarrow and the
horse with the iron horse railroads and
the steam shovel that will do the work
Of so men, and the steam unloader that
will unload train Of fiat cars In 10 mill
| utes that would take so men one hour.
Today in building railroads everything
is done by machinery and can be done
for fourth what it could be done 80
of railroad from Marquette, Mich., to the
Inv ip1lr + IT
cost $50 900 per mile Today it can be
built for $4,000. Machinery and one
fourth of the men can do the work and
do. it cheaper in some instances: Let
us consider another branch Of labor.
Take coal and iron; we will first take
the handling of coal. remember of the
time when the docks at Elizabethport
and Newark, New Jersey where hun
dreds of men and wheelbarrows did the
unloading Of cars and vessels. Today it Is
different. The steam hosting machine
| that does the work of 25 men and wheel
! barrows. go down to the coal docks and
all you can see is a man here and there.
Take another industry, the iron laborer,,
and iron worker! First take the man.
that gets out the iron ore. Thirty years
ago the hammer, pick and the Jimmy
car handled it then. Today go Unto the
mines and the steam carriage and the
steam hammer and break the ore; and
the steam drill will do he.,Work Of 20
men. The politician tells Ills iron has re-
duced over one-half and less than it was
80 years ago. He don't tell us it is be-
cause mans brains and muscle have made
inventions to do away with as little labor
as possible. Everything is simpl.ied and
reduced to science in our time. Is it any
wonder there are tramps and vacant
stores? We will come next to the iron
worker. The trade of machinists 30 years
ago was done with the strong arm of the
tradesman; with the hammer, cold chisel
and file Today the steam hammer, the
shavers and the emory wheel that will do
the work of 20 men. Is there any wonder
there are tramps? I remember the time
when the old water wheel that ground the
farmers wheat and the amount of business
the country storekeeper did those days.
With improvements in machinery one man
can do the work of 10 men 80 years ago.
We will now come down to our own city
twenty years ago. Go down to the falls
then and hundreds of men and teams were
at work in various occupations. Our mod
ern machinery has reduced our flour max
ing down to a science When an order
came for 10000 barrels of flour to supply
our army during the rebellion Ofs,lS8E
1865 the small mills in those -aaystoWeEe,
taxed to their full capacity sand r Ea mein7
Der of the amount of labor it took to get
out those 10000 barrels of flour. Today
let such an order come in, and with modern
machinery it could be got out in "a hours
in our own city. Go down on the fails
today and all that can be seen is dust9
man here and there. And where are the
Z Va 1,yS11 &o1 11yN
press of thirty years ago: the weekly press
Of those days. 1 remember the hand press
of those days; the amount Of labor it took
to get out the paper each week. Type set
ting and printing in those days was
grand trade. Then came, with the great
Atlantic cable, the daily paper. And how
it has improved In twenty years The
type setting machine that will do the work
of five men; and go into some Of our
printing offices and see the empty cases
and YOU will come to- the conclusion there
is something wrong. The farmer is no
richer than he was twenty years ago; the
merchant IS in most cases no better off.
With our present generation we are going
to buy whatever we can buy the cheapest
and sell wherever we can get the most for
our goods. So with the man that has
money. He is going to get the latest i'm
proved machinery, and with competition
he has to buy the latest or his neighbor
VIII beat him IN trade. And SO he has Ito
keep up with the crowd or drop to- the
rear So now politicians this yfa.l will tell 4
us that we want high tariff, y. some low
tariff, some none at all, some gold stand
ard, others free silver, some one thing and
some something else. For my part. if we
go down to the town to buy clothing, fuel,
or lumber, Or grain, we are on the lookout
for bargains. So with the man of means.
He will not invest his money II he can't
see way of getting it back. For my part,
in conclusion, the present generation and
the generation to come want; something
for nothing. without labor and they won't
get it. Time and study and honesty will
work out the labor question. thank you
for the kindness you have extended me. Il
Valuable Information From Reliable
Source. ~
G. P. Mulcahy 6 Co., stock brokers and