The daily journal. (Salem, Or.) 1899-1903, 1900-02-07
rHE LABOR QUESTION.

= be to that detriment Of labor, reducing
wages and purchasing power Of the wage
earners or throwing them out Of EN-
n ployment entirely. what" says one
= "will be done with all the idle men
that the development OF time will throw
out Of work and with still larger army
growing up behindW
When, toward the end of the last
century, Kay invented the fly shuttle
in England and enabled weavers to do
four times as much work as before, fol-
lowed by the invention Of cotton spin
ming machinery by Hargreaves, Ark
wright and others, the same anxiety
was expressed and labor organized TO
smash all the machinery in sight,
believing that laborsaving devices were
hostile 10 labor interests.
Soon, however, the old looms began TO
be displaced and scores and hundreds
OF textile mills were erected wherever
there was water power, and tens Of
thousand OF people through rural Eng
land, who had been barely making
living, got employment at better wages,
aad the industrial revolution began.
When agricultural implements came
to the aid Of man, labor found that the
more labor-saying machinery is invented
the greater was opportunity for the EN-
ployment OF labor.
IL has been 80 all through this CEN
tury. Compare tho condition Of labor
In France under Louis XIV. and under
the French republic today; In England
today and in England OF the eighteenth
century; Of America today and America
Of 1900. Every new discovery and in
yention has wdened the field Of labor.
II Is true that, at intervals. there have
come periods Of depression following
periods Of oyer-specdlation and there
have been times In this country and ia
others when over.manufacturing with
out pushing for new outside markets, has
engendered stagnation. The century's
industial revolution has raised the stand
ard OF living has raised humanity no.
eially; has, In consequence, largely in.
creased mans wants. The new wants
will increase and the demand must be
met. The end Of production IL not yet
Why2
Ofthe l,60O,OOO, 900 population OF the
earth not less than 900 900, 900 yet re-.
main 10 be supplied with all the ameni.
ties OF modern civilization. This IL a
conservative estimate. The introduc.
tion OF the higher civilization engenders
wants previously unknown.
People In the present highly civilized
countries consume six or seven times as
much food M their ancestors OF the last
century and II is food OF an infinitely
better quality. They wear more clothes
and clothes OF u better quality. They
want and get lar more OF luxury. They
want more OF the accessories OF the mus.
oal and dramatic arts. They want
more books more education and oul-
lure. Our amazing mechanical progress
has stimulated consumption and culture, /,
md, as We have nearly billion human
beings In both hemispheres 10 educate
up to the highest civilized standard. Il Is q
beyond the ken Of any prophetic mind a
when Africa and Asia, Polynesia, the
'astern archipelago, the tribes and kin
ireds scarcely touched by the spirit of
progress as yet in the western hemls.
phere, will reach the measure OF neces.
ilty found IN Europe aud the North
American and part OF ;he South Amer.
can continents. After a century of
production, We have vet =
o supply hundreds of millions In Asia r
md Africa with clothes aud many food I
PRODUCTS aud machinery as they and !.
hey eau use IT, {
We have just reached the other irinao n
new markets which means indefinite e
erms Of activity industrial for the ma.
Ions who capture them. The United
tates Is now intent ON getting ON the
inside In this business Of acquiring mar.
cts. The hordes Of idle men predicted
hay's and Arkwright's and Watts
ay as the result OF the invention of 4
'bor-saving machinery. have not been :
son except in few periods OF depression,
blowing panies induced by over specu. a.
'uon; Not panic or depression has al
cen due 10 the Invention ol machinery. bl
as1 acres OF the earth have yet 10 be Sc
calculated with railway lines, thou. a.
ands OF rivers and chasms have 10 be hu
ndged with mon and steel; Thousands So
steamships have 90 bc built Tor the al
"fid e0inme,Cei millions Of acres of -
ma have 10 be drained and irrigated for {
sfieuitafai purposes. The b0gey Of A tw
at down. WV ,si
A hundred years ago the people lying
what q nov the United States had mn
'mparallNely small consuming powers. ",
oday they have that power i!lilnitably
~ Increasing year by year aud II is 40 q
lfouRhoot the civilized world aud will
10 IA every region opened 10 modern u
shitalion. This consuming poger Of =,
= race ana the annihilatiOn each wear =.
hundreds Of millions oi property by ~
., storm aud earthquake, keep IN ~
aseieas demand for labor 10 meet the
~ occaeiOnod bV Them .,,... oA