The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1899-01-25
SQUEEZED LEMONS
We Are q Nation of Hustlers-We Be-
Here in Getting There but Are We
Not GallOping HeadlOng Toward an
Industrial Crash.
(HERBERT N. CASSON.)

military shoemaker could work in case
Of war. A kind of general rehearsal
was held to which 1900 shoemakers
were hidden and were installed in the
| workshops Of the First artillery regi-
ment. The trial lasted for month, with
out moment off. The shoemakers were
divided into two bodies, one for day
| work and the other for night-work They
! had in attendance 40 workmen ready to
repair the machines in case of any tenn
pOrary breakdown. During the four
| weeks the 1900 shoemakers produced,
by working night and day, the total of
| $500 pairs of boots per day.
In Harney's shoe factory, Lynn, Mass,
| pair of shoes was made in II minutes.
| At this rate, while a German shoemak-
/ er can make two pairs of shoes day
| IS times as many.
This is one more proof of our belief
that American wage-workers are the
most poorly paid in the world, consid-
ering the speed at which they work, and
the value of what they produce.
The factory workers of Europe have
no conception Of ''hustling" or "rush-
| ing" They work steadily, and do their
tasks we'll; but they do not stand on
! tip-toes and work on their nerve, until
in a few years they become physical
wrecks.
They have not been scourged by the
piecework system, until they have to
| tear their lives out to make two dollars
day.
On the streets of every American fac
! tory city you can see men under 40 years
! of age, who are white-haired and shat
tered in health. They are dyspeptic and
| have to drink a cup of hot water every
morning before breakfast. Their nerves
are unstrung so that they can scarcely
sign their names They are round shoul-
dered, as If a burden of care were crush
ing them to the earth. They are thin
| wrinkles. There is no spring to their
step, nor brightness in their eye, nor
| music in their voice.
Who are these men? They are the
squeezed lemons which the factory sys-
tenn throws on our streets.
Some capitalist has made lemonade
and tossed away the rinds; and you
can see the rinds walking from fac
tory to factory, begging for the privi-
lege of being given another sques Ae
in the profit making machine.
No slaves ever poured out so much
| sweat at their masters feet, as we have.
No slaves ever voluntarily wrecked
their constitutions for their masters
sake as much as we
No slaves ever got so small a pro-
portion of what they created.
No slaves ever made their masters
rich SO fast and created over 1000 mil
lionaires in 80 years.
No slaves ever began in freedom and
worked themselves into bondage SO fast,
voting and shouting for the Industrial
system that was plundering them of
their liberties
No slaves ever before held out their
wrists for the handouts and danced
with such thoughtless glee to the whip
ping post or sprang with such willing
ness on the auction block.
No slaves were ever captured with
such ease or duped with such empty
phrases, Or managed with so little
trouble to their masters.
No slaves ever made the treadmill
turn SO fast or were so deceived into
believing that the chance to tramp on
the treadmill was blessing and a priv
ilege
Yes, we are a nation of hustlers. No
nation ever rushed to plutocracy and
revolution so fast. No herd of stampeded
or panic-stricken buffaloes ever galloped
so fast toward precipice as we are
speeding towards an industrial crash.
We believe in getting there" and
we are in too great a hurry to ask
"where?"
We can manufacture goods faster than
any people in the world, but as soon
as our days work is finished we allow
three-fourths of it to be appropriated
by idlers and unnecessary middlemen,
and carried off before our eyes,
We do not need any more improve
! ments in machinery for several years.
We have already mastered the problem
of cheap production.
Our next and immediate task is to
| enuitahlY distribute what We nrOduca