The Portland daily press., 1897-11-01
WomAN's COUNCIL.
Mr.. w. NJ. Cole Speaks on Capital and
Labor.

Before the Woman Council, at Frater-
nifty House, Saturday afternoon, Mr..
William Morse Cole delivered very in.
structing and interesting address on labor
and capital. Mrs. George S. Hunt, in
introducing Mr.. Cole, spoke of the good
fortune of the Council in being able to
hear Mr.. Cole who was Il student of eco
nomics, a graduate of Harvard, and had
been an instructor at Harvard and Rad
cliffe. He was now engaged in the Uni
versity Extension work Mrs. Hunt also
referred pleasantly to the fact that Mr..
Cole was the son of one of the active
members of the Council.
Mr.. Cole said that it was very large
subject, which he could hardly nope TO
cover satisfactorily in the time allowed.
The great source or economic 1aAacy was
an ignorance OF what capital is. The
economist defines capital as wealth. APP
piled to the creation OF new wealth. Inc
shovel which laborer uses TO Work on d
railroad. or the flour which he eats While
at work, is capital Money, If 1t we've
obliterated from the world. would not
take away any of the worldly necessarles
or comforts. Money is simply certlncate
of ones ownership in the world S proper
Nv. Therefore money is not capital
The socialists contend that capital is an
unearned property stolen from the labor
er, But il Il certain employer may rob
his employees, even he in The first instance
1nust have worked for his capital. There
lore capital does not begin in robbery.
i's Aside from obtaining capital by taking
S up free land, or by speculation, both OF
which are not the source OF IA great pro-
portion of the worlds capital, labor is
The great producer OF capital Land, labor
and the earnings OF capital are the only
sources OF capital. Labor is the great and
constant source, and Is an honest and IN
nocent source. 1t may be true that later
capital may be misused. But this is not
an argument against capital, as the
socialists would have you believe.
Capital is a great and constant neces-
sity. The messenger boy, who out OF his
earnings expends 70 cents for dinner,
is a user OF capital, for the materials OF
that food had TO be saved from the pro-
ceeds of the last harvest.
MIR. Cole gave other interesting and
simple illustrations OF capital.
Profit is not necessarily robbery from
labor, but may be and often IS pay Tor
past labor. Capital is the stored up labor
of yesterday, and is as much enJlIled TO
recompense ID the form of interest, as
the labor of today Is to its wages.
Capital is both mobile and fixed. A
factory out of style is capital liked and
almost lost. This should be remembered
and offset against other capital that is
more fortunate.
Labor has never yet accomplished any
thing but to move things. We kindle q
ire but we simply more match and shay
ings, while the forces of nature do the
rest. Labor is both move and less nova
BILE than capital but never becomes so
fixed as some capital does. A wood en-
graver may learn another business, but
= an oldfashioned and out-of-date machine
has lost it's usefulness forever.
Labor is necessary to capital. The own
er or stock and bonds is as much an en-
ployer of labor as anyone else, because
only by labor can the interest on that
capital he earned.
This brings us to the question of the
proportion OF profits ana wages. Low
wages do not necessarily mean low pro-
Its, nor vice versa do low profits mean
low wages. The proper division between
labor and capital is often difficult. Ii q
man working with his own simple tools
can make table in two days, ne mani
testify does only ons fifth as much as be
may do in mill where the machinery
enables him TO make five tables in TWO
days. Therefore in the division of the
returns it is plain that only one-f1fth be-
longs to the workman while four-ffths
belong to the capital invested in the
mills.
This is simple ca Sc. But where COM
petition and other elements come in the
proper division is complicated. Upon
some of these complications the lecturer
spoke interestingly.
Speaking Of the improvements in ma
ch merry, he said that the developments OF
til age of machinery had worked hard
shi IS for inefficient labor by supplanting
1t out had offered greater opportunities to
tn more advanced forms OF labor.
Mr.. Cole combatted the idea that the
p ,or are getting poorer. Capital has de
l.yered to labor many things which even
ehe rich could hardly afford in the old
days, especially of the comforts of life.
Mans necessities are largely what he
makes them. If the laborer5 will not live
ind raise families on less than - a day,
capital will have in the end to pay it,
either in one generation or the next.
Whatever aims to raise the standard OF
living of laborers raises the rate which
capital must pay for their work in the
end. This is true in general although in
tina long process individuals must suffer.
Trade unions, cooperation and profit
sharing are three great institutions for
elevating and lettering the laboring men
OF course trade unions have done wrong
and foolish things but in general their
results are beneficial. Cooperation and
profit sharing can operate only under ia
vored conditions. in cooperation enter
prises are liable to be shipwrecked on the
rock of bad management, laborers not
understanding how a skilful business.likt