The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-05-21

(Continueu from Page ID .F
then take into consideration the fact that
all through the New England states, and
through the entire country, for that mat
ter, the gas stove Is rapidly driving the
anthracite coal stove out of use, and YOU
will realize what disastrous effect that
one cause has had, and is having, on the
anthracite coal trade. The gas is made
from bituminous coal, coke and wafer; no
anthracite Is used in making the gas So
that every gas stove put in operstion has
It's effect on the anthracite coal traSle and
has no appreciable effect i'm increasinQ
the demand for soft coal 1t is YredIcted
that in few years there will t,e no anthra-
cite coal stoves in use in r(ew York CITY.
and as that city Is one OF the principai
markets tor our coal th.e effect must prove
ruinous on the coal industry.
. insignificant as the bicycle NAV appear
In connection '~ith the coal trade, it Is
one OF the fLctors In reducing the con-
sumption III coal. Railroad men, in and
around IArge cities, tell me that where
extra 'nains were once required, they are
no longer called into use. Clerks, mer-
Grants professional men and business
men and women generally ride to and
from their places of business in the cIlies.
They once made use of the steam cars;
now they use the bicycle, and with some
100000 Of these smokeless, steamless con-
veyances doing the work that stear, cars
once did, the demand for coal falls off to
that extent.
WORK OF ELECTRICITY.
Powerful engines, propelled by steam
made from coal, were required not long
ago to do heavy work. Now one large
engine drives the machinery which gives
power and life to hundreds of giant cleo
trio motors. Each motor is steam de-
Stroyer, each steam destroyer is a coal dis
penser, and 1t will astonish you to learn
that in most of our cities the electric mo-
tor is doing double the work that the coal
fed, steam-propelled engine is doing. This
is another factor in the reduction Of the
consumption of coal.
If men were employed in every other
trade and calling the idleness and desti-
tuition so marked among coal workers
would not be so noticeable, but in all
trades, in all occupations, men are idle.
The rapid advances made by improved
machinery have more than doubled the
strength of the human arm. Investigation
made by me In that line some eight years
ago developed the fact that improved ma
chinery had displaced from ten to one hun
dred per cent. of hand labor in many call
ings OF course, each new machine called
other men and women into shops and fac
dom found employment at living wages
again. They had learned trades and be-
ing deprived of the opportunity to work at
them, they heplessly and hopelessy
turned away to the road hard beaten by
the tramps who had walked it before.
Each new invention reduced the consum-
ing power or opportunity, rather of the
worker and to the extent to which his
consuming capacity was curtailed, the ef-
feet was felt in the coal trade. l know
that economists tell us that the introduce
tion of improved machinery creates new
occupations and in time gives employment
to other hands. That is true but while
the adjustment is taking place the men of
the hour suffer, and it is to the evils of to-
day that we must turn our attention to
rather than those likely to fall on poster
ity. We can work no good to humanity
by saying that posterity will reap the
gain. Posterity will have a similar con-
dition of affairs to grapple with. for in
ventions will not cease in our day and
generation.
IMPROVED MACHINERY.
With improved machinery capable Of
producing all that the world re-
quires in one-half of the time that was re-
qured thirty years ago, stagnatlons in
business will come in defiance of all the
protests of political economists until the
working hours of those who produce for
the worlds consumption are reduced so
that the idle ones may assist in contribut-
ing their share of the required effort.
There is no occupation in which the brain
Is not taxed more heavily than it used
to ho 1t has always been admitted that
the "a yorker could not stand the
strain of long hours, and since the extra
drain on gray matter is accompanied by
increased consumption, it naturally fol-
lows that a reduction of the hours OF la
Dor should be made. In the interest OF
health, of business, of sanitation and OF
good government, the hours of labor
should be shortened. This done, more
men would be doing the work of the hour
more workers would be earning wages
more money would find its way into circu-
lation, and despite the adverse circum-
stances l have referred to, more coal
would be required or. if not, the idle men
now hanging round the coal fields would
find profitable employment at something
else.
Then, the immigration question is to be
considered in connection with the de-
preston. Some regard it as the sole
cause of the difficulty. l do not. 1t Is
very important, but the other matters to
which l have adverted speak so plainly
that, to my mind they negative the propo-
sition that the immigration question is the
only one. immigration for a number of
years has been stimulated to a remark
able degree. We have altogether too many
immigrants dumped on us each year, and
we suffer from It. That is a question, |
apprehend, you will have nothing to do,
at least so far as enacting legislation
tending to check the evils of unrestricted
immigration. The advice given, or recon-
mendations made, by the legislature of
Pennsylvania may have a salutary effect
ana for that reason you should familiari2e
yourselves with the effects and conditions
produced by unrestricted immigration
NUMBER OF IDLE MEN.
1t has been asserted that there are 2,OOO,-
900 of idle men, Or rather, 2,0000OO of work.
ers men and women, who cannot find en-
ployment in the United States. Since the
depression in business set in, or, TO be eX-
act, since Jan. /, 1892, SO, ,693 Immigrants
have landed in the United States, more
than the number of idle men and women
who now seek avenues through which
TO earn living. That we had idle men
and women in the United States four
years ago cannot be denied; that they
nave not succeeded in securing employ
ment since then is admitted, or at least
others have been driven from employment
until the number reaches up to about
100000. No one will assert that, with our
own citizens seeking employment, there
existed a necessity for so many immi-
grants. Notwithstanding the present de-
pressed condition of the labor market
there are those who assert that immigra-
tion should not be restricted that every