The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1901-06-08
'TRADE ION
HOW LABOR rs CONCERNED IN AM
6 ERICAN TRADE EXPANSION.

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The Question is Worth CoHsidering,
For Upon Its Solution VIII Depend
the Future Drift OF Opinion ON All
Matters Affecting the Industrial
Classcs-In Chcnpness the Amcri-
can Labor IL Ahead.
7 What is the significance, SO far as la
Dor Is concerned, of American trade ex-
pansion? The question is worth con-
s1dering, because upon it solution will
depend the future drift of opinion
throughout the world on all matters
affecting the welfare of the industrial
classes. II United States products are
displacing those Of Great Britain and
Germany in markets hitherto monopo-
lied by the latter countries solely be-
cause Of the formers advantage in la
bor-saving machinery. public opinion
may be expected to make the adoption
of such appliances, without regard to
their immediate effects. a primary con-.
sideration in the treatment of indus
trial affairs. The. result in such case
would be widespread revulsion, of senti
ment against the efforts of the work.,
tng-class to improve their condition,
since those efforts proceed upon the
theory that economy in production is
subserved by care for the workers in
terests-by care for the hand" as dis
tinguished from the machine.
In whatever respect the chief ad-
vantage of the American worker may
1ia uyhofhor tn f,,r NO
sources, enterprise or native cunning
on one score, namely, his cheapness.
he is ahead of all competitors. He
works for lower wages, not positively,
perhaps, but relatively to the amount
of his products, than the worker of any
other country. The cheapness of AM
erican labor Is not merely that econo-:
my of production which is. associated
with high wages, intelligent application
and labor saving tools; it is the literal
cheapness that results from long hours
and sweating hard graft which, to-
quote one of their own writer's, "stupe-
fiess Europeans" A British authority
places the producing capacity of the
ordinary British workman at / to ~,
that of the SWiss-German at ~, and
that of the American at IN. According
to this authority the American worker
produces twice as much as his British
competitor. When we find out how
much Of the advantage thus accruing to
the American manufacturer is due to
the relatively low wages received by
his employees, or the positively longer
work day, as compared with the wages
and hours of the European worker, we
will be in a. fair way to the truth of
present International commercial rela-
tons.
1t seems obvious that, as between
machine-labor countries, the advantage
in competing must depend, in the end,
upon the value of the individual pro-
duct, which, in turn, will be in inverse
ratio to the value of the producer, /. e.,
to- the value received by the producer
for his labor. AS the working hours
are: long, wages: low and the factory
system organized, IL e., bossed) the
amount OF the product win increase
and can be sold at correspondence low
figures. In the end, therefore,; the
struggle for the worlds markets will
devolve, not upon the inyentiveness, re-
sources, enterprise or cunning Of the
nations concerned, but upon the tract
ability and endurance Of the workers
upon. their willingness to work for
wages based solely upon the subsist-
ence limit. This phase of the question
is recognized, if not as paramount, at
least as essential, by manufacturers at
home and abroad. The British factory
lord declaims' against what he calls the
"organized idleness" of the trade-un-
ions. He sends Populations of work
men to the United States to observe
the methods of the Americans, and
these are taken up by the American
press and directed to the, organized
energy" prevailing in the American
factory system. Thus, from all evil
dences it would appear that the signi-
the disorganized, or imperfectly organ.
lied, condition Of the American work
ers. Such being the case, the advan-
tage of the American manufacturer can
only be maintained by a constant effor:
on his part to keep down wages, to
combat the shorter workday, and in
general to prevent the improvement
of Industrial conditions. Such policy
acting and reacting upon the workers
of all the nations concerned, as it ne
cessarily must, can have but one result
namely, the utter decentralization of la
Dor. It is a. distinctly retrogressive
policy, the ultimate result of which will
far outweigh the superficial and main
ly private advantages of commercial
supremacy.
That the question is Of concern to all
classes may not be apparent at first
blush. But that it is serious mat
ter of public policy is clearly shown by
the following excerpt from "a General
Survey Of the Foreign Trade" recently
issued by the State Department.
"There is food for thought also in the
possible consequences to our European
trade OF rivalry on our part which
may be SO crushing as to greatly impair
the purchasing power of those who are
| now our best customers. If we per-
| manently cripple their chief Industries
we deprive them to a greater or less
extent, Of the means Of buying from
us, and the consumption of our food
supplies and our raw materials, as well
! as of our finished goods, may be great
ly curtailed. The solution of the pro-
blem may perhaps be found In the
gradual specialization Of commerce and
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