Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1900-05-21

face and those to whom these words
may come that all shipOwners, all cap
italists, all commercial firms, all mas
ter builders, all housewives, are bound
I to be interested in the entire welfare Of
i their SubOrdinateS. Years ago some
one gave three prescriptions for becOm-
! ing a millionaire: First, spend your
Afe in getting and keeping the earn
ings of other people; secondly, have no
anxiety about the worriments, the
losses, the disappOintments of others;
thirdly, do not mind the fact that your
vast wealth implies the poverty of a
great many people" Now, there is not
q man here who would consent to go
into life with those three principles to
earn a fortune. 1t is your desire to do
your whole duty to the men and wom-
en- in your service.
First of all, then, pay as large wages
as are reasonable and as your business
will afford; not necessarily what 9th
ers pay, certainly not what your hired
help say you must pay, for that is tyr
amy on the part of labor unbearable.
The right of a laborer to tell his en-
ployer what he must pay implies the
j right of an employer to compel a man
into a service whether he will or not,
and either Of those ideas is despicable.
When any employer allows a laborer to
say what he must do or have his bust
ness ruined, and the employer submits
TO it, he does every business man in
the United States a wrong and yields
to the principle which, carried out,
would dissolve society. Look over your
affairs and put yourselves in magma
ton in your laborer's place and then
pay him what before God and your
own conscience you think you ought to
pay him.
God bless yous!' are we'll in their
place, but they do not buy coal nor pay
house rent nor get shoes for the chill
dren. At the same time you, the en-
ployer, ought to remember through
what straits and strains you got the
fortune by which you built your store
or run the factory. You are to remem-
Der that you take all the risks and the
employee takes none or scarcely any.
You are to remember that there may
be reverses in fortune and that some
new style Of machinery may make
your machinery valueless or some new
style of tariff set your business back
hopelessly and forever. You must take
all that into consideration and then
pay what is reasonable.
The Employers Duty.
Do not be too ready to cut down
wages. AS far as possible, pay all, and
pay promptly. There is a great deal Of
Bible teaching on this subject. NAL
achi, Il will be a swift witness against
all sorcerers and against all adulterers
and against those who oppose the hire
ling in his wages" Leviticus, "Thou
shalt not keep the wages of the hire
ling all night unto the morning." Co
1ossians, masters, give unto your serv-
ants that which is just and equal,
knowing that ye also have a Master in
heaven" So you see it is not a Ques-
ton between you and your employee
SO much as it is a question between
you and God.
Do not say to your employees, NOW,
if you don't like this place, get an
other" when you know they cannot
get another. AS far as possible, once a
year visit at their homes your clerks
and your workmen. That is the only
way you can become acquainted with
their wants. You will by such process
find out that there is a blind parent or
a sick sister being supported. You
will find some Of your young men in
rooms without any fire in winter and
in summer sWeltering in ill ventilated
apartments. You will find much de-
ponds on the wages you pay or with
hold.
Moreover, it is your duty as employ
er, as far as possible, to mold the vel
fare Of the employee. You ought to adj
wise him about investments, about life
insurance, about savings banks. You
ought to give him the benefit of your
experience. There are hundreds and
thousands of employers, l am glad to
say, who are settling in the very best
possible way the destiny of their en-
ployees. Such men as Marshall of
Leeds Lister of Bradford, Akroyd of
Halifax and men SO near at home it
might offend their modesty if l men
toned their names-these men have
built reading rooms, libraries, concert
halls afforded croquet lawns, cricket
grounds, gymnasiums, choral societies
for their employees, and they have not
merely paid the wages on Saturday
night but through the contentment
and the thrift and the good morals of
their employees they are paying wages
from generation to generation forever.
Again, 1 counsel all employers to
look well after the physical health Of
their subordinates. Do not put on them
any unnecessary fatigue. never could
understand why the drivers on our
city cars must stand all day when they
might just as well sit down and drive.
It seems to me most unrighteous that
SO many of the female clerks In our