The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1901-04-30
RESULTS ARE APPEARING.

RESULTS ARE APPEARING.
The law, apparently, can say how
many hours of service a man may
be compelled to render when engaged
in an occupation believed to be dan
gerous to his health and safety, but it
cannot say, what his compensation
shall be. That is a matter wholly
within the province of the employer
and in which his judgment and pleas
ure are the dominating powers. Last
winter when the legislature enacted
what is popularity known as the
eight-hour law its functions in that
respect ended so far as it's powers as
a legislative body were concerned. It
told the employer how long his men
could be made to work each day while
in his employ, but it did not tell him
what the rate of compensation for
that employment should be simply be-
cause it did not possess the power to
do so. In enacting the law the legis-
lature complied with the demands of.
the employed and left the matter Of
compensation to be adjusted between
the parties most interested-the labor
er and the employer. The statement
was then freely made that when the
time arrived for the law to become
operative trouble, would ensue; that
the smelling and mining companies
would not consent to pay the same
amount of wages for eight hours of
work that they had been paying when
their employees rendered twelve hours
of service. This vas met by the advo-
Gates of the law with the statementthat
because of the better and greater amount
of work that could be done by a man
working the shorter hours the COM
panies would realize that they, as we'll
as the employees. were benefited by
the change. This mode of reasoning
found many adherents and it became
accepted as something certain that no
trouble would follow the attempt at
enforcement of the new legislation
That this was wrong has Deen dem
onstrated during the past few days.
AS the time is neal at hand when
the shorter working day shall go into
effect in. the mines and smelters
trouble is also at hand. At Helena,
the dispatches say, a large number
of men employed in a smelling plant
have walked out because notice has
been served hat with a reduction in
the hours of labor a proportionate
The news will probably not surprise
those who nave been watching events
and who are in the least familiar
with economic conditions. Humanity
has not yet reached that stage of
goodness where men are willing to pay
the greatest amount in return for the
smallest equivalent. The mining and
smelling companies are willing that
certain of their employees shall work
only eight hours a day, but evidently
are not prepared to pay the same
amount of wages for eight hours that
they paid when they received twelve
hours of work in return, The strike
now IN will probably be not the only
one in the state due to the same
cause. Corporations are no%toriously
soulless and the larger and more pow
.erful the. corporation, the smaller the
amount of soul it may be relied upon
to possess, hence if the American
Smelling n Refining company has
decided to reduce wages as a result
of the labor law it is safe to expect
that others of the large and wealthy
corporations operating in the state
will do likewise. The resultant strug-
gle between the employees and the
companies will. probably be a long and
bitter one, but the outcome will prob
ably be marked by the same ending
that has been the principal feature of
all struggles of that kind. The Gaz-
cite is very much afraid that when
peace shall be declared and the trouble
ended victory will not be on the side
of the men.
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GO HOME PLEASED.
The Cuban delegates have finished