New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-04-04
III

pooaars familiar with Mr. Spencer's method
will easily form for themselves a general ioea OF
his account Of the division OF labor. Supstan-
.,auv bis method is the same with the topics of
odrc+io, distribution and exchange. But in
.,.se cases he makes a special point Of media
rranv times removed from the two extremes OF
the labor formula. namely. the producer ana the
oorsumer Machines to make machines by which
other machines are made that finally turn OUT
the actual tools OF direct production attract MS
attention as the very re1nements or long-con-
tinued evolution. Not so tangible, Dur equally
obvious to thought is the tangled network OF eX-
change. the ultimate threads OF when END IN the
hands of few expert accountants in Lombard
ST Vast as the interval is between the compli-
cations OF modern life and the simple labor and
barter Of savagery. the important steps from the
ore to the othe- be discovered They are In
fact ,mplied. according to Mr.. Spencer in the &C.
tivities of a single individual whenever he at
tennis as he is sure to do to shorten the tina
and increas, the amount Of his labors without
additional expenditure Of strength. Next comes
the regulation of labor and here the author
shows thai. while paternai. patriarchicai AMI COM
munsi regulation follow in logical order the one
after the other all belong to the prmeval state
of society Instead Of troubling himself about the
] Roman law he derives guilds and guild reguia-
ton Of labor from the family group in which the
| rewards Of labor were held as common property.
1T is worth observing that whc, he comes to ofrer
La reason for the breaking up OF the guild systeni
and the emancipation Of labor from traditional
| burdens which the system imposed he returns
again to individuals In the persons OF certain
| "nalefactors reigning by divine right" These
| crowned robbers squeezed money out Of the or
eanized labor Of the municipalities until the or
ganizations simply died under the iniictlon and
| the individual laborer was left to do the best
that he could for himself. In this case 1t is OBJ
vicus that Mr.. Spencer will have to prove that
| the tyrants for example, Englands Henry VII
were the direct product OF the guild system, he
will have to acknowledge that he has introduced
the deus ex ma ma into another canto Of his
| lutionary epic In treating slavery, serfdom and
| free labor he shows how at each stage the inter-
ests OF society in general and Of the employers OF
labor In particular led to the relief OF the laborer
| The decline Of the militant organization has in
every case enhanced the cost of sla> Is to point
where free labor became cheaper, while 1t has
made impossible the earlier cruelties in the treat
ment Of bond servants. The master was sure to
| treat with added care slaves who became more
costly on his hands year by year. When military
| capture practically ceased in the Roman Empire,
slavery gradually lost its value. To this fact
rather than to the influence OF Christianity. Mr..
| Spencer attributes the advance OF freedom. OF
course, 1t does not escape him that the most
| atrocious form Of bondage and slave trafic be-
longs Christian times and, In fact. to the early
years Of the present century. He points out that
| the condition of the labor market and the self
| interest OF employers have often in the past
caused a return to slavery serfdom after 1t had
been discarded
To trade unionsts and Socialists, Mr.. Spencer
says in effect that they all ought to know
what some of them do know. that their specifics
for the advancement OF tho worker were known
ard practised by savage man. Unions and even
the boycott are devices familiar to certain Afri-
can tribesmen Mr.. Spencer's opposition to strikes
and TO trade unionisri is well known. They run
counter TO competition. which he holds to be
the main instrument Of development. They arc
illogical, because the laboring unionist IL to
contradict his own principles as soon a. he falls
! Into circumstances where he can profit by the
competition among people not CT his craft.
| Neverthsless. MI Spencer - not discouraged