Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1898-05-14
Wages Going Up ana More work.

Wages Going Up and More work.
paragraph current in newspapers
Is as follows:
A peculiar feature Of the labor ques-
ton In Japan Is that with the introauc-
ton OF labor-saving machinery great
advances have been made in wages"
why this phase of the Industrial de-
Velopment OF Japan should be .spe-
culiar does not clearly appear. II Is
indisputable that several things. Al
nrst sight resembling contraries. have
for decades gone hand in hand In this
and other countries. Among them are
these: Installation Of labor-saying ma
chinery has been taking place at an
eyer-increasing rate; hours OF labor
have been shortened; daily earnings OF
iaoorers have been increased; prices OF
necessaries Of life in particular and OF
commodities of all kinds In general
have fallen. 1t 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
STA. 1t would indeed not only be pc
culiar but startling IL they were differ
ent. OF course, 1t Is too clear to need
argument that many men are temper
arily injured by the introduction OF
iaoor-saying machinery; others are
probably permanently reduced to a
lower plane. But against this there il
the substantial and enduring better
ment OF the condition of the many. And
while It would seem desirable thar
progress could be maintained withont
inficting hardships upon any. II IL a
great truth that 1t Is impossible 10
point to any decided advance ever made
In the material, intellectual or snfr-
ituai affairs OF man that has not been
paid for. Ii the expression Is permits
IDLE, by the infection OF an apparently
or really unmerited hardship upon
some one or more persons. Industrial
aHairs OF men, like their other rela-
lions, are complex. II Is generally DIFF
hcult to ascertain with exactnegs what
combination of causes is responsible
Tor a given result. But In trying to
solve the apparent paradox why ma
chimes that suppiant labor should al
ways be accompanied, In the long run
by curtailment Of working hours and
an increase in price paid for a DAYS
work, 1t Is well to remember that the
number OF the wants of men IS illimit-
able, and that hence it can never be
truthfully affirmed that the capacity to
satisfy human wants I'm general ~
ceeds or possibly can exceed the do
mand created by them. There fs in
deed. oyer-production or possibility Of
oyer-production in certain lines Thus
the mines Of this country, IL operated
regularly and to their full capacity.
would yield more coal than appears to
be in demand. But that simply means
that too manx men are engaged In the
task Of SUPPLYING one human want
the need for given kind Of fuel The
same Is true of every other industry
where actual or potential oyer-prod,,c-
ton exists. But count all these in
dustries, and their number is not very
great; certainly 1t Is definite number
And against this put the fact that the
wants OF man are not simplv thoae
supplied by these industries. or indus
tries dependent upon them, but are Il
iimitable-increase indefinitely with
civilization, and often keep men guesa-
ing how to devise the means to sunnIv
them. This general consideration
which is true wherever mankind had
been found to exist, sheds some ltpbt |
on the inquiry as to how IL bappena
that the displacement of labor by ma.
chinery ultimately benefits labor