The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-03-12
AMERICAN LABOR UNIONS,
4 French View of the Conditions i'm
This Country.

! PARIS. March Ill Ecoie des Hautes
| Etudes Sociales is an institution In Paris
! composed of three schools devoted re-
| spectively to the study of morals, jour
nalism, and socialism. The questions
bearing these subjects are of as prac-
! teal and investigative a nature as possi-
| BILE. and several of the lecturers are pro-
| fessors of the Sorbonne.
y short time ago NJ. P. de Rousiers.
| who has spent some time In the United
| States in studying the different work
mems associations. delivered a lecture on
| The Syndical Organization of the Ameri-
can Workmen' to the students of the
School of Socialism. In the course Of it
he said that machinery was not intro
| diced into the United States as early as
in England, but there was an advantage
for the former in this. as she had thus
the choice of the more modern mechauf-
cal appliances. of which she was not slow
to avail herself. Once that machinery had
begun to be used in the United States,
IT'S employment became almost universal.
| and at the present moment no country
in the world could compare with IL In
lis mechanical development and fnvcn-
| tons.
He spoke of the wages of the American
workmen, which. he said. were much
| larger than those of any European coun-
| try-doubling those of England for in
stance. and declared that it was not his
| opinion, as 1t was that of many persons.
that this higher valuation of labor re-
suited from a protective tar/ He re-
| ferred to American metallurgists, who. he
said, at this moment were the redoubta-
BILE rivals of those of England Germany.
and France. and who bid fair to outstrfp
them. These enjoyed no benefit from the
protective law. and yet there was no
diminution in their wages as compared
with other associations of workmen NJ
de Rousiers himself believed that the
| higher wages of the United States were
caused partly, at least. by the independ-
ence to be found in that country He
spoke of the freedom from restraint that
a citizen of the United States and even
a foreigner wishing to become one. en-
Joyed IN stalking claim in the West and
the protection he had from the Govern
ment, once he had become landowner
IN this simple fashion. Another reason
Tor higher wages he found in the general
employment of machinery. Naturally
where 1t was used the force of Workrnen
was always reduced. cnd hence double
the ordinary price of labor could be raid.
one did not see in America hand made
things as in Europe, and 1t would be very
difficult. for instance. there to have a pair
of shoes made to measure.
That which differentiated American
Workrnens organizations from those of
Europe. he said. was their Capitalization
There were no isolated groups as on the
Continent. or in England and it was very
easy for a workman to pass from on,.
great mandatory to another thus d.
Waiting. as 1t were. all rivalry. He spoke
of the knights of Labor as the first or
sanization which worked for the union of
all LABOR organic .ioIs into one great
whole The latter had now been sup
planted by the American Fcd,.I.st ior of
Labor. whose chief purpose was to or
ganize the disorgani2ad.
In spite of the advantages Of this sys-
tenn of Capitalization among the different
workmen's syndicaLes. there were certain
difficulties to be surmountcd NJ. de
Rousiers found. One of these was the off
ferent nationalities represented, which. of
course, did not facilitate always an ANAL
saynation Of forces. Another was, that an
American workman might quit at any
time the rank of wage-faborers. to be-
come an owner of small property in the
West. by means of his accumulated saw
ings. This. of course, seldom. il ev or, &C
CURED in Europe-once Il workman, al
ways a workman. Then there was 60.
that dead weight of immigrants arriv ing
by every vessel in America, who came 20
offer themselves worl1Iuen, and were
almost incapable Of acting as sJch