The weekly examiner., 1901-06-22
HOURS AND WAGES. }
sHoRTslGHTEpNEss AND iNcoNslsT-
 ENcY OF EMPLOYERS.

EtNSv OF EmFEoT EhS.
 The Logic of the Machinists, Strike
 For Shorter Workday-The aTen
 Hours Pay" Nonsense-Is Not the
 Industrial System FauItyg
 In the great labor strike for a shorter | workday a Hartford manufactures and
 official who shut out all his employees on the opening day of the struggle gave his case plainly away in an interview regarding the situation when acknowI- , edging that shorter hours were bound to come and there should be no objec-
 tion to them and then the wages would have to be advanced provided they re-
 mained at the same rate per hour as at present, because the men couldn't live on less than they are now receiving. Here are the words as found in the re- port of the interview:
 "But after the nine hour day the same pay would naturally follow in course of time, as the men would have to have about the same money to live on as when working ten hours"
 Exactly. This is the logic of the sit uation. And, being so, isn't it somewhat inconsistent to object to the demand for ''ten hours pay for nine hours work" as the thought is phrased? If the men will have to have about the same money to live on while working only nine hours a day as they did when working ten, where is the logic in de nying them that amount, as they must live in order to be able to work?
 How much simpler the matter would appear if the question were only divid- ed? First, let the hours of labor be set tied. Is or is not nine hours for a days work sufficient? 1t is generally so con- ceded, and we are told by those who have made a study of the subject that even four hours labor, if all would work who can, are sufficient to give to the world all the necessaries and luxu- ries of life. Now that part of the prob lem settled. the next question is simply. as to the reward in dollars and cents that that days labor is entitled to. And without at all going into the depths of the question it ought to be self evident that he who performs the days labor is at least entitled to decent and com fortable living, and his share of the dollars and cents involved ought to be sufficient to guarantee him as much.
 So when we speak of ten hours pay for nine hours work we only befud- dle the question. There is no such in- congruity in the demand, for there is no such thing in existence as an abso- lute tsten hours pay" The ten hours pay of one man may be one thing, the ten hours pay of another vastly differ ent. And with the same man it may be one amount today and another tomor- row.
 But the immediate question involved is the difficulty of the employers ad- justing prices so as to be able to meet " hat they regard increased cost Of product This may be a reality in some cases, but not in all. Even were it SO, it is a matter for the employers to see to and not for the men to take into con- sideration. 1t is entirely out of the lat ter's jurisdiction However, even with in the employers own immediate con fines, can't the matter be adjusted to some extent? Won't the salaries of some of the officials bear a little modi- fication? If $2 or $3 a day is considered sufficient recompense for the man who works with head and hands to produce the product that brings the dollars and cents to all concerned, why must the man who works with head alone be considered as deserving from 2 to 20 times as much? Or, in other words, if $5. .Ooo. $1o,OOO. S2O.OOO or $30.000 year is only sufficient for decent and com 2 fortable living for one man, how are the others to get along on the compara lively insignificant amount first refer red to?
 Surely the wage question and salary question are all wrong from beginning to end. And the industrial system at the bottom of it must be all wrong too. It is the basic cause of nearly all the sin and suffering in the civilized world, If the word civilized can be properly used in this connection. It begets the pauper and the millionaire, the thief, the drunkard and the prostitute. 1t has millions of people forever on the rag ged edge of suspense for the morrow that the few may roll and rule in luxu- ry if not riot in dissipation. It has the great majority of humanity ever in trouble for the want of enough while the few are in trouble because of hay ing too much. There can be no lasting peace and happiness in the world until better takes its place as the basic structure of our civilization Hartford Examiner.
 Chinese Labor Too Cheap.