The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1898-04-28

Ways ooing ~ and More Work.
a paragraph current In newspapers
Is as follows.
"A peculiar feature 81 The labor ques-
tion In Japan is that with the lntrodue.
tion Of labor-saving machinery great
advances have been made IN wages"
Why this phase Of the Industrial de-
yelopment Of Japan should be pc
culIar" does not clearly appear. II Is
.ndisputable that several things. at
first sight resembling contraries. have
Tor decades gone hand IN hand In this
and other countries. Among them are
these. Installation q laboT-savlng ma
chiIery las been taking place at an
eyer-lncreaslng rate: hours Of labor
have been shortened. daily earnings Of
lahorers have been increased. prices Of
necessaries Of life In particular and OF
commodities Of all kinds in general
have fallen. II should not be consid-
cred peculiar" that the lines along
which the affairs Of men are worked
out should be the same in Japan that
they are In America. Britain or Rus
fia. Il would indeed no, only be pc
eullar but startling II they were differ
ent OF course. il Is too clear 70 need
argument that many men are temper
arily injured by the introduction Of
labor-saving machinery: others are
probably permanently reduced 10 a
lower plane. But against this there Is
the substantial and enduring better
ment % the condition Of the many. And
while Il would seem desirable that
progress could be maintained without
lnhictlng hardships upon any. Il Is a
great truth that IL Is impossible 20
point TO any decided advance ever made
IN the material. intellectual. or spir.
itual affairs Of man that has not been
paid for. II the expression Is permits
ible. by the inflction OF an apparently
or really unmerited hardship upon
some one or more persons. Industrial
affairs Of men. like their other rela-
tons, are complex. Il "a generally diff
hcult 10 ascertain with eXaciucss what
combination OF causes Is responsible
for a given result But In trying 10
solve the apparent paradox Why ma
chimes that supplant labor should al.
ways be accompanied. In the long run
By curiailment OF working hours and
an increase In price paid Tor a days
work. II u well 20 remember that IN,
number Of the wants OF men Is llimit.
able, and that hence Il can never bs
truthfully affirmed that the capacity "a
satisfy human wants In general ex
ceeds or possibly can exceed the de-
mand created By them. There Is. IN.
deed, over-production or possibility Of
/ oyer-productlon In certain lines. Thus
the mines Of this country. q operate,
I regularly and 70 their fun capacity
would yield more coal than appears .,
be In demand But that simply meanl
that too many men are engaged IN IN,
task Of supplying one human want
the need for given kind Of fuel. IN,
same Is true Of every other indusirl
where actual or potential oyer-produc
ton exists. But count all these in
dustries. aud their number Is not yer,
great. certainly II Is definite number
And against this put the fact that III
wants Of man are not simply tho.
supplied by these industries. or indus
tries dependent upon them. but are Il
limitable-inorease indefinitely wit
civilization, and often keep men guess
ing how 20 devise the means to suppl
them. This general consideration
which IL true wherever mankind ha
been found to exist. sheds some lgh
on the inquiry AZ to how IL happen
that the displacement Of labor by ma
chinsry ultimately benefits labor.