Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1902-09-17
The Judge D~iscourses in a Very In
teresting Manner on the Evils
OF Child Labor.
A MATTER OF TIME
6etterment Of the Masses by Educa-
ton and the E~lueidation Of the
Social Problem.
CONTINUED from last week..

49, ~
phase. a different turn in human af-
fairs: Perhaps it was necessary at
one time that men should labor ten,
twelve or fourteen hours a day in or
der to earn their daily bread, but II
is not so at the present time. The
forces of production have increased
so wonderfully within even the last
twenty-five years that their growth
has been something without parallel
in the history of the human race. |
presume ii would be a moderate state
mcnt 10 say that the capacity OF pro-
duction in this country has increased
trn.iold within the last fifty years.
When we consider all the improved
appliances that have been broughtin-
to being, the improved farming uten-
sils, the improved mining machinery,
the improved factories, all the vast
application of machinery to do the
work that was formerly done by hui
man hands, ii must be plain to the
dullest man. to the most ayaricious
and the greedicst man, that the nee
essity for ten or twelve hours in daily
toll has passed away; and ! want to
touch upon this point just a minute,
not as an expert. but just simply as
a plain American citizen who has m
or two ideas on that subject. The
fact is that, with our increased facil-
tiles for producing all the necessities
OF life, the grain, the meat, the fab
RIGS which we wear, the materials
which we put into our houses, bridges,
railways and machines. it has been
estimated by very conservative men,
men whose judgment is above any
faint of suspicion, that an average
labor of four hours a day by all the
able-bodied workers of the country,
would produce enough to feed and
clothe and house comfortably every
man. woman and child in these Unit
ed States. There are men who esti.
mate it even shorter; | have taken the
longest estimate which | have ever
seen made by any person who was
really expert in these matters. And
still we find necessity for much long,
or hours than that; | presume 1t Is
a necessity. and here is where the
difficulty lies: England and this
country have been the greatest pro-
ducers in the world; I think in Amer.
lea today that the forces of produc.
tion are more effective than they have
ever been before in the history of the
world: they are trebly and quadrup-
ly effective over anything that has
ever been experienced in the past
but the trouble, gentlemen, is in our
system of distribution. How are
those millions of toilers who
depend upon their daily wage for
their daily bread to get their right
share OF the product? And that. |
believe. is the great question which
confronts this country and probably
every civilized country today. For
two or three generations we have
been educating American children un'
til i~lliteracy is uncommon: their in
telligence has increased and il will
increase. and these problems are
bound TO come home to the attention
of every man who takes any interest
in his country. especially to the at,
tention of every toiler and OF every
employer of labor, and it is the great
question which looms up for solution
before us. The questions of our col
onial possessions, of our foreign pol
icy. the things growing out of the
Spanish-American war, are but trif.
ing in comparison with this great do,
nestle question. How are we going
to do justice among all our citizens !
But | believe that the problem will
he solved. | have so much faith i'm
the genius of the American people
that | believe they will solve it, al.
though | am not expert enough TO
point out the way; but perhaps some
day a Moses will rise among us who
car lead us through the wilderness
and into the promised land which we
earnestly desire. or course many
remedies are suggested; you have
read them, ] have read them and
heard them; | do not feel competent
to criticise them even; some of them
offer CLEANS of hope; others do not
look encouraging. but | believe that
some time, and that not very far from
now, the solution of this problem
will be far advanced. II will have
TO be; 1t is a reproach to the country
that there should be want and idle
ness in the United States Of Amer.
lea. 1t is true that a great deal of the
want and %idleness, perhaps the major
part of it, is the fault of the people
who suffer: IL is true that Americas
drink bill annually is q good deal more
than the bill for all the schools in the
United States, and that has been our
own fault, of course; 1t is true that
we squander money and time in a
great many ways; but after all there
Is something wrong with our system