The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1901-03-23


Mischief For Idle Hands to Do''
Finds Counterpart in ..All Work
and No Play Makes Jack a Dull
BOy.' &c.,
The story that the reduction of the
hours of labor either reduce production
or add to the cost thereof, is fallacious
and cannot be maintained. Attention
is called to the fact that the nations
which are both wealthiest and the
strongest in the markets of the world
are those in which the hours of labor
are shortest, such as the United States
and Great Britain; contrarywise, the
weakest in the markets Of the world
are those in which the longest hours of
| labor prevail. ' -
The theory that we cannot maintain
| our industrial supremacy in the worlds
| markets by working less hours than
other nations, has it's counterpart in
| the reasons often advanced by the
members of labor organizations, who
| insist that the reason why they desire
shorter workday is because it will
curtail production.
| If this were really. true, the reduc-
| tion of the hours of labor would at
best be a doubtful expedient. It would
mean that less wealth always follows
shorter hours, and less the wealth the
! smaller the Wage-nOt actually in dol
! lars and cents. perhaps, but certainly
! in a reduced product, which constitutes
! labor's share.
1o NJ io hot fIo 70 iS
| true. An increased production always
| follows shorter hours. This result. of
course, does not follow at once; but as
soon as the shorter workday is estab-
lished two forces are Immediately set
in motion, each of which tends toward
an increased production and the cheap
ening of the commodity.
| First Necessity is the mother of in
vention," and the great pressure felt
! in the industrial world by the sudden
arrest of the volume of production and
it's increased cost as a consequence of
the reduction of time, stimulates a
thousand minds to overcome the diff
ficulty by labor-saving inventions and
devices.
Associated with this activity in the
| Inventive WOllO,' SIedItI 4I1dHd6C1 Icll
capacities are also brought into play,
and the labor forces are organized and
directed with greater efficiency and
economy. ...E. s.
1t is the universal testimony Of all
! ! observant minds who have had the
I benefitSo International travel that the
! people of b the United States use the
4 Dor saving devices Of any people on
earth; and this is why, that: though
their wages are highest, the product
which is created by their hands and
brains is the cheapest in the world. ::
! Let me :illustrate:,. :: '.... - r.
The traveller in China, who pays from
! one to three cents per day~to number
of coolies to tote him several hundred
miles across the desert: pays an ex-
travagant price for the transit, as COM
pared with the man who boards linn
tied train in New York City for San
Franeisco,. which is operated by an
engineer; fireman, conductor and brake
man.. whose salaries range from SIS to
! $3.50 per month. Aside from the great
er economy in dollars and cents, the
! traveller makes: this trip by our means
of transportation in four days, during
l which he has the telephone and tele-
graph at his service, enabling. him to
keep in touch with his business inter
! ests, giving orders as to, the smallest
details. In China; it would require: $50
days: for him to make the. same; dist
lance: The business man, whose time is
often worth hundreds of dollars day,
would find himself wasting fortune
travelling in China, because Of the loss
of time alone, and be unable to keep
in communication with either his busi-
ness or his friends D -a.
The other force developed by reduced
hours is the great impetus given to the
intellectual and artistic life of the
worker, in consequence of the added
leisure. The old adage that "the devil
finds mischief for idle hands to do,''
finds it's counterpart in 'all work and
no play makes Jack a dull boy
If man is to rise in the. social scale
and be something: more than a mere
} animal, limited to his physical wants
and passions, he must have opportunity
I for improvement. True, some may
waste the opportunity and become de-
generates; but there is no proposition
more clearly demonstrated in social
science than that man in the aggregate
rises in the scale of Intellectual life in
proportion to his opportunities.
1t is for this reason that the short
hours movement is the most revolution
ary and far-reaching in it's consequent
ces of any reform that the trade union
can concern itself with. Not revolu-
tionary from the standpoint Of physical
: force, but in it's unerring certainty of
elevating the wageWorker from the
plane of mere animal life to that of in
tellectual power, moral dignity and So
cial worth. ~ = s,.s.- sr.s s. f. s5s'
While writing this article, T had the
pleasure of meeting my friend, John
Mitchell, president Of the United Mine
tWorkers of America. Jack. said I,
|''what have been the effects of the eight
hour day on the coal miners? Have
4 they benefited by the opportunities
which the added leisure has brought