The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1901-06-01
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MERE MUSCLE COUNTS FOR LITTLE
IN THESE DAYS. S
The Labor Question 10 q Question OF
e duc . IL Q n-Physical Strength
Counts for Little Compared With
Intelligence-How to Earn More.
to Wisely Use 1t. -S.. .-t.s-

How to Get What They Earn-How
to Wisely Use 1t. .y@s:
The century Just closed was in many
ways a. remarkable one, but it's greatest
and most characteristic wonder was
the marvellous increase Of wealth, due
largely to the invention of machinery
and the application of steam and cleo
tricity. Statisticians estimate that the
total wealth of the United States is
now between ninety and ntnety-five
billions OF dollars; twenty-th three bill
lions representing the increase for the
past ten years alone. Stated simply in
figures; We cannot grasp the magnitude
Of this vast sum, but when we are re-
minded that these twenty-three bill
lions, which represent the savings Of
just ten years, are more than all the
people in American were able to ac-
cumulate from the time of it's discovery
by Columbus down to the breaking out
of the Civil War, we begin to appreci-
ate its Significance.
Material wealth is matter of great
Importance in the life Of q nation, but
it is also a matter of great Importance
to have this wealth as evenly and
equitably distributed as possible. Hand
in hand with our marvellous increase Of
wealth has gone its rapid concentration,
until we have on one hand q compara-
lively few families of vast fortunes and
earners who own little or no property,
many Of whom are brought to want
by few weeks Of idleness. Compare
lively few ever cross the intervening
space between these two industrial
classes. Although the wage-earners
toll long hours in the sweatshops and
the stores, in the mines and on the rail-
roads year after year, they find that
they are not sharing in the material
progress of the nation as they should.
It is not enough to say that they are
better clothed and better fed than ever
before In the history Of the world.
This is true; there has been some real
progress, but 1t is also true that this
progress does not bear any true pro-
portion to the total wealth creation.
Under these circumstances it is but
natural that there should be deep Ind
widespread discomfort among the
wage-earners. This discomfort is prov
ing great blessing to us, because it
Is leading us to study the causes OF pre-
sent coHditions, and to east about for
remedy rs ss IT @ s #
No doubt many circumstances con-
tributed to bring about present condi-
tions., but II we search deep enough we
shall find that the real cause Of present
material inequality is due to unequal
labor question is in reality question
of education. Horace Mann says truly,
LET whosoever will sow the seed and
gather the fruit. Intelligence will con-
sumo the banquet" The wage-earner
has too long put his strength in physi-
cal strength. Mere muscle counts for
little in these days. What is needed is
intelligence. It can command the
forces of nature and society to do it's
bidding. 49,.
The question of wealth distribution,
which is the especial problem Of the
century: now before us, should receive
careful consideration for all wage
earners. For them it readily divides
itself into three phases: How to earn
more, how to get what they earn, how
to use wisely that which they get. :
How to earn more.-Before there can
be any problem of wealth distribution
there must be wealth production, 80 the
first great economic question is, how
to secure the greatest number of useful
workers and how to make each one as
productive as possible. At present
when workingmen complain that their
wages are insufficient to meet their
needs, the employers reply by charging
the workingmen with unproductive-
ness; by claiming that they are waste
proper care, of tools and machinery,
and require hige-salaried superintend-
ents to- direct their work. These COM
plants, we must confess, are sometimes
true. This is due in part to a. natural
defect in the wage system which does
not offer to the wage-earner sufficient
incentive to put forth his best efforts;
but it is more largely due to the lack
Of skill and knowledge in the workers
themselves. It IS not enough that we
labor hard. We must make our labor
productive, and what we produce must
be of value to others. The honest work
man will readily see that his first con-
Germ is to render useful service tooth
ers in order to command from them
what he needs. To do this under pre-
sent conditions Of industry q high de-
gree on technical skill and wide know
ledge of mechanics are necessary. AS
workingmen, we should use our best
efforts to extend Industrial education
until the required knowledge is brought
within the reach Of all. ;s5i, II
How to get what they earn.-How to
divide the product Justly between the
three partners in its production-thes
capitalist, the manager and the labor
ers-is very perplexing III question.
Under the prevailing industrial theory.
which says, Take all you can set and
give as little as you must the capital