The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1900-04-04
Labor Saving Machinery.

The effect of labor saving machin-
cry upon the welfare and happiness Of
mankind is the subject Of much dis
cussion, and concerning it there are
very wide differences in opinion.
The discussion Of this question is
growing more general as we'll as more
spirited, and therefore the recent re-
port of the commission appointed sew
cral years ago by congress to investi-
gate the relative productive power Of
hand and machine labor will attract
much attention.
Some Of the facts brought out in
this report and based on reliable cvi
dcncc are very impressive.
1t is stated, for instance, that q
thousand paper bags could formerly be
made in six hours and thirty minutes
by hand they are now made in forty
minutes with the air Of IL machine.
TO rule 100 rcams Of paper on both
sides by hand required 1880 hours;
with ruling machine the work is
done in two hours and thirty minutes
Of one man time. In shclling corn
by hand thirtysix hours and forty
minutes would be required to she'll a
quantity which can be handled by a
machine in thirty-six minutes. A
moving machine cuts seven times as
muck grass per hour as one man can
cut with sythc. These examples
might be extended indefinitely, but a
more forccful illustration is found by
considering the total horse power ap-
piled to machines in this country and
calculating how many men it would
require to do the same work.
For such calculations the census fig
ures of 1890 must be used.
One horse power is equivalent to
power Of six men. Thus, if the work
Of G3, ,48l men in the -four mills Of
the United States is supplemented
with the use Of 1896 horse power,
the power is equivalent to the work Of
! ,3l4, 100 additional men. In other
words, the power does scvcnty.0nc
times as much work as the employees
The ratio differs radically in different
industries. The total horsepower
used in the United States in 1880 was
6,O0D 900; equivalent to the work of
SO. 900 GOO men, while only .i,l76, ,SSi
persons were employed, the two kinds
of power having ratio Of 5 to l. \
force Of 81, 900 900 mcn represents a
population Of $50, 900, 900, so that if
the products Of the manufacturing
establishments were all made by hand
it would require a population Of that
size to do it, with none left for agri
culture, trade, transportation, mining,
forestry, the professions, or any other
occupations.
4 still more striking illustration is
found in our transportation system
In 1890 there were over 30 900 locomo-
tivcs in this country.e 1t would take
81 $40, ,32O horses to do their work, OF
347 .425 800 men
That labor saving machinery is
throwing more and more men and wo-
men out Of employment every year
cannot be denied, and there has sell
dom been time ,when tho improve
ment of machinery was progressing
more rapidly: never time when the
rewards OF the inventor Of more pro-
ductive labor-saving machinery were
80 large, 80 immediate and sure.
These facts make the question
"What are we going to do about it2''
one which is very difficult to answer.
There is not the slightest prospect
but that the use Of labor-saving ma
chinery will increase and extend to
lines of labor which are not yet affect
ed by it.
How the condition of the laboring
masses, especially in densely popula-
ted countries, will be affected remains
to be seen-At7anta Journal.
.