The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1897-08-27

army 1t is the army of harvesters,
which. in divisions and in brigades, on
the great farms and in squads and files
on the smaller, stands always ready for
action and at the sound of the harvest
horn. Beginning at the south and pro-
ceeding northward. it moves ON a mill
tary line of battle extending over 900
miles. In front of it are the waving
grainfields; behind it lie the scattered
bundles. When the few months of har-
vest toll are over, the standing army
dissolves into bands of rowing tramps.
A rolling machine has been in use for
some time. Among other things it will
make 10, 900 boat calks day. The en-
tire manufactures Of the country aver
aged A, 900 a day before it was invented.
Two of these machines will make all
the chair screws and letterpress screws
demanded by the trade Of the United
States, and few Of the machines are
capable of supplying, the combined
armies and navies of the world with
spherical and conioal shot.
BY the use Of coal mining machines
100 miners in a month can mine as
much coal in the same time as 800 min
ers by the old methods
The Individual Worker.
We might 60 on almost indefinitely
to show how the machine has added to
the productive capacity Of man and how
1t has destroyed labor. That 1t has
greatly benefited the consumer and
turned what were formerly considered
Injuries into common necessities goes
without saying; but, as to the general
results, they can best be determined by
q consideration Of the fact, 30 great
has been the displacement Of labor, that
were 1t not for the various labor organ
izations, which may rightly be termed
labor trusts, the employee would have
absolutely nothing to say to an en-
ployer in the transaction Of sale and
purchase of the labor Of his hands. And
when the condition exists that the W ork-
or has absolutely no control over the
only thing he has in the world Of any
value-namely, the work of his hands
he might just as well be slave. In
fact, labor can never be free until the
individual worker has as much power to
determine what wages he shall receive
as the employer has to say what he will
pay. Nor is he free while labor organi-
cations fix the price which he shall re-
ceive for his work.
Now, admitting the wrong, the griev-
ance, the disease, which is simply a
lack Of steady employment-enforced
idleness-what is the remedy?
Is it in the governmental control Of
great franchises and industries? No.
Excellent as this idea may be, it would
add little or nothing to the total amount
of work to be done.
Is it in the use of more currency or
in the contraction of what we already
have? No. Because, while it makes a
good deal of difference to the man who
has debts to pay whether he gets many
or few dollars fC- the sale of his labor,
the workingman, per Sc, merely wants
his labor to be high priced i'll compari-
son with that of other commodities.
Is it in arbitration, compulsory or
otherwise? Emphatically no. Arbitra-
ton will not enable an employer to pay
a penny more or an employee to work
for penny less per day than he can
afford to do without arbitration.
Is it in cooperation between employ
er and employed? No. There eau be no
successful cooperation where all share
in the profits and part are compelled
to bear the losses.
Is it in the application of the gospel
or religion or benevolence to the trans
action between the employer and en-
ployed? No. There is no more reason
for religion or benevolence in the pur-
chase and sale Of labor than there is in
the purchase and sale of yard of
cloth. The purchaser Of labor can afford
to pay the market price for it. The
market price is the lowest figure he can
buy it for. There is no more reason for
consuming an employer because he will
not pay more than this price than there
would be in censuring the purchaser of
ham because he insists on getting it
for as low price as possible.
The Real Remedy.
The remedy and the only equitable
remedy for both employee and employer
is to reduce the hours of work SO that
the present enforced idleness shall be
turned into leisure. In no other way
can improved machinery prove bless
ing and not curse to labor.
But, says the employer of labor, you
do not expect us to pay as much per day
for eight hours work as we now do for
ten hours, do you?
We expect the employer of labor with
shorter workday to pay just what the
market price compels him to-no more
or less. The purchaser of wheat can
not afford to pay as much for two BUSH
els as for three bushels, but when the
demand for wheat equals the supply of
1t he can often afford to pay more for
two bushels than he can afford to pay
for three bushels when the demand is
less than the supply. Let the demand
and the supply control the price for
labor as well as for any other COM
modify. 1t would, of course, be neces-
sary for the worker to accept reduced
wages for reduced hours at the outset,
but by lessening the hours of work the
demand for labor would equal the sup
ply, and thus the rate of wages would
rise to a fair level. The increased con-