The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1901-02-16

The Shorter Workday

+ The theory that the reduction of the
hours of labor adds to- the cost of pro-
duction Is fallacious and can not be
maintained. Attention, is called to the
fact that the nations that are both the
Wealthtest and the strongest in the
markets Of the world, were those in
which the hours of labor were the
shortest, such as the United States and
Great Britain; contrary wise, the
countries that are both poorest and
weakest in the markets of. the world,
are those in which the longest hours
of labor prevail.
The theory that we cannot maintain
our industry 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
a shorter work day, is because it will
curtail production.
If this were really true, the reduc-
ton of the hours of labor would at
best be doubtful expedient. 1t would
mean that less wealth always follows
shorter hours. and the less the wealth
the smaller the wage-not actually in
dollars and cents, perhaps, but GER
tainly in a reduced product, which con-
stitutes labor's share.
Now, the fact is, that the opposite
is true. An increased production al
ways follows shorter hours. This re-
suit, of course, does not follow at once
but as soon as the shorter workday is
established, two forces are immediat-
ely set in motion, each of which tends
toward an increased production and
the cheapening of the commodity.
First. Necessity is the mother of
invention" and the great pressure felt
in the industrial world by the sudden
arrest Of the volume of production and
it's increased cost as consequence of
the reduction of time, stimulates
thousand minds to overcome the diff
Guilty by labor saving inventions and
devices.
Associated with this activity in the
inventive world, greater managerial
N~pe@SASA~o AAC c1AoO OIOu6AI AASO pay
and the labor forces are organized and
directed with greater efficiency and
economy.
It is the universal testimony of all
observant minds who have had the
benefit of international travel that the
people of the United States use the
greatest number of inventions and
labor 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 us Illustrate:
The traveller in China who pays from
1 to cents a day to number of COOL
les to tote him several hundred miles
across the desert, pays an extravagant
price for the transit as compared with
the man who boards limited train in
New York city for San Francisco,
which is operated by an. engineer, fire.
man, conductor and brakeman, whose
salaries range from SIS to 500 per
month. Aside from the greater econ
Omy in dollars and cents, the traveller
makes this trip by our means Of tran
sportati0n in four days, during which
time he has the telephone and tele-E
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 dis
lance. The business man, whose time
is 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 his business or
his friends. 49,.
The other force developed by re-
duced hours is the great impetus given
to the intellectual and artistic life of
the worker, in consequence Of the add
ed leisure. The old adage that Satan
finds some mischief for idle hands to
do finds it's counterpart in "all work
and no play makes Jack dull boy"
If man is to rise in the social scale
and be something more than mere
animal, limited to his physical wants
and passions, he must have opportun-
ity for improvement. True, many may
waste that 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.
It is for this reason that the short
hour movement is the most revolu-
tlonary and far-reaching in its conse-
quences Of any reform that the trades
union can concern itself with it.. Not
revolutionary from the standpoint Of
PHYSICAL force, but in its unerring GER
tainty of elevating the wage Garner
from the plane Of mere animal life to
that of intellectual power, moral dig
nifty and social worth. r. .
While outlining this article. I had the
pleasure Of meeting my friend John
Mitchell, president of the United Mine
Workers of America. Jack" said I,
what has been the effect of the eight
hour day on the coal miners? Have
they been benefited BY the >opportunit-
les which the added leisure has brought
them?" Indeed said he ''you would
be surprised to note the progress the
miners are making since the Inaugural
ton of the eight hour DAY three years
ago. In many places they are organic
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