Evening star., 1898-10-19
BY HAND AND MACHINE.
Their Relative Cost as Applied to
Labor.

The results of a thorough investigation
ordered by Congress and just completed.
showing the effects of machinery on labor
and incidental questions, constitute the
thirteenth annual report of the commits
sioner of labor. The statistics of cost re-
ported involve only the actual labor ex-
pense. The report goes into detail, and
among other things says:
There would be no quarrel with the con-
clusion that machinery has lowered the
cost of products and when il is known that
under the machine method there is an in
creased demand for labor, as a rule, the
bearing of the supply Of labor becomes
problematical. Sometimes there is a lack,
oftentimes surplus, of labor. The statis-
tical method in the effect upon wages,
becomes indicative of the truth. and to
those who believe machinery has in gen.
eral lowered cost conclusive. The statistics
presented make evident that there has been
larger increase in the number of per-
sons required for the production of the ar
ticles considered. in order to meet present
demands, than was necessary to meet the
demands under the hand-labor system.
One interesting result is to show how eX-
tensive is the hand method of production
even now. Hand methods are going out of
use. 1t has been impossible to summarize
general results so as to show the dispace-
ment and expansion of labor in various di-
rections. The statistics presented, how
ever, consider each operation and process
of labor separately.
In Farming.
'In agriculture the figures show among
other things, that under the primitive
methods the time required for plowing one
acre of ground varied from five to eight
hours. and under the modern from five to
seven hours and forty-two minutes, where
l,1r
and four minutes to six hours and forty
minutes with three horses The ten hours
required under the earlier method where
two oxen drew the ordinary steel plow
were reduced to six hours and forty min
utes by one modern method and five hours
under another where horses drew a simi-
lar plow.
"Fertiiizing ground required twenty-five
hours under the earlier wagon and shovel
method, and but one hour by the modern
drnl. In digging trees the machine in gen.
eral reduced the time between cne-eleventh
and one-thirteenth of the old time and in
small grain harvesting the self-binder has
reduced the time for cutting binding and
shocking to about one-eighth of that under
the primitive system. In threshing the
ratio of time used is more than 30 to in
favor of the machine. In corn planting the
old method took nearly six times as long,
One of the comparisons shows the man
ufacture of Loo one-pound loaves of bread
is reduced In cost from $3.50 to 81 So, and in
time from twenty-eight to eight hours:
axle clips, 1000 in quantity, from s2S3 Y3
to s4.27, and from 666 to % hours In maxi
ing 500 pounds of dairy tub butter machi-
merry cut the cost down from SO 66 to ST. IS
and from 125 to II hours In diamond-cut-
ting machinery has reduced the time for
four three carats from 132 to 80 hours. but
increased the cost from sl4S4 to S26 25.
In lithographing the cost is cut from s92 81
per 1000 copies of a specified size to $s.15.
and time from 166 to 30 hours. In making
matches the time is cut from 259 to %
hours and cost from s24 to s.. In printing
and publishing magazines, 10000 copies the
labor re auction cited is from 8, 10 to IA
hours, and from so to 1892. Cigarettes,
10000 in number, manufactured by hand.
In 1880, and by machinery in 1895, cost,
relatively, $9744 and $11.4S; time, 800 and