The Washington times., 1901-07-21

men were forging ahead of those of
| England. He found out. or at least he
| thinks he did, and the reason which he
| gives is that, besides the natural ad-
vantages of a new country, which are
| perhaps balanced by its disadvantages,
| the American workmen is more intelli-
| gent and enterprising, and takes more
| interest in his work He finds that the
| American mechanic does not stand on
| trfies, that he is inclined to do all that
| he can. and give a little more than he
gets; and that he is paid price which
which would stagger English engi-
neering contract tors" In other words,
the American workingman is worth
more and is paid more than the Eng
lish laborer, and that is why America is
beating England in the commercial
race.
The idea of the English coal miners
who allowed and even compelled the
degradation of men, women, and chill
dren to the level of beasts, was that in
no other way could the work be done so
cheaply. The testimony of this English
engineer is that the American miner
undersells his English competitor be-
cause he makes machines do the work
for him. Some of these machines are
the work of inventors and mechanics
who, had they lived in England, might
have been crushed down to the level of
common laborers, for under conditions
inhumanly hard only brut. strength
survives; brains must go to the wall.
vr,t.
stead of beasts of his employees, the
American employer secures the benefit
of mems brains. and so is enabled TO
distance his English rival, who is able
to command only their muscular
strength. That community is strongest
in which all the power of every man is
utiliZed-in which the laborer has
brains and the intellectual man physi-
cal strength to support his mental ex-
-ertion. How can an intelligent me-
chanic be developed out of man whose
father and grandfather worked in the
dark like rats, and whose mother and
grandmother were little better than an
imals? What sort of working class
can exist in slavery? Initiative cannot |
be looked for in a place where nothing |
is done to encourage it, where the Ia
borer is only expected to do his work |
under guidance. eat his scanty ration, |
and get drunk and beat his wife on a |
Saturday night. English workmen, in |
spite of this, often are intelligent, but |
il will generally be found that the in |
telligent specimens are men who had a |
better chance in their youth than the |
poorest. Something also must be al |
lowed to the innate human tendency to |
progress. Given a fair chance, the chill |
set themselves right.
There are some abuses in American
industrial conditions, and exactly the |
same plea Is made for them that was
made for the unspeakable cruelties Of
the English Industrial system in the
time of Kingsley-that they are neces-
sary and for the good of the whole.
Modern developments in the CONNER
cial world, as shown by this latest in
vestigation, seem to prove that cruelty
is not only bad for the sufferer, but in
the end bad for the aggressor. 1t
should not be forgotten, moreover, that
II people encourage an industrial sys-
tenn which brutalizes a certain class,
they will have to deal with the brutes
after having evolved them; and that is
not nearly SO easy as dealing with rea-
sonable men. even if the latter happen
to make larger demands. 1t is cheaper
in the end to pay in money than in
blood, fire, and outrage.