Waterbury Democrat., 1902-02-15

nOl0ll2 Ol d CO1f GlllOAs A et
 vention is held it will be held in
 Bridgeport.
 The final report of the indus
 trial commission makes the Tol-
 lowing remarks upon the general
 subject of labor" in the
 course of voluminous chapters ln
 which all branches of the subject are. gone into in great detail:
 "The remarkable revolution in busl-
 ness methods and conditions of the
 past few years, showing itself i'll indus
 trial combinations and the so-called
 community of interests. has been ac-
 companied by an almost equally re-
 markable consolidation of labor inter
 ests through the growth and strength
 ening of labor organizations and the increase in labor legislation. What ever may be the ultimate outcome or this growth of organization on both sides, it's first tendency has been to bring about a more definite separation of the two, and in many cases q dis
 tinct confronting of one by the other, l each, relying partly upon the strength of it's organization and partly upon
 legislation and the courts.
 Perhaps the most significant fea- | ture of modern industry is the in
 creasing intensity of exertion, owing to the introduction of machinery and
 minute division of labor. Where for merly the workingman could change | from one operation to another. he now
 is limited to q very small operation
 in large series. He acquires in-
 tense speed, and the force of compe- 1 tition compels employers to select only those who excel in physical wig 1 or To this is added the fact that l labor unions have generally been com 1 pelled to remove the restrictions,
 which often formerly existed. on the amount of work a man shall be per- mitted to turn out. The result is that | the trade life of the workingman has been reduced in many industries. The
 superintendent of the free employment 1 bureau in New York states that The average woman who earns her living as a domestic is commercially dead
 after she is 45 years of age. There l is no place for a man that is 90 years 1 of age, if he is a common laborer, 1f
 he shows his age A general com
 plaint comes from all trade unions
 and from workers in all occupations
 respecting this shortening of trade l life. Plainly, if the increased exer- tion of the wage earner shortens his I period of earnings. there ought to be
 a corresponding rise in the daily rates | of wages in order that he may retain l throughout his life his original stand
 ard Of living.
 'A large amount of testimony has
 been taken by the industrial commits
 sion regarding the movement for few
 CT hours of labor and the effects Of
 reductions in hours upon production
 and upon wages and conditions ot
 workmen and their families. A rep
 resentative of the Chicago Bridge and
 Structural Iron Workers union holds
 that the 8-hour day has so increased
 the efficiency of the laborer that thers
 is actually more work done in eight
 hours than was formerly done in ter
 hours On the side of the workine population there can be no question
 respecting the desirability of fewer = hours, from every standpoint. The, gain not only in health. but also II intelligence, morality, temperance ant preparation for citizenship.
 Furthermore, reduction of hour;
 
 . reduction in the daily rates of pay . Doubtless it is good policy for labo organizations in demanding a reduc 7 tion of hours, to concede q temporar, i. reduction in the rate of pay per day , which might be consistent with an in r crease in the rate per hour. Tn
 granite cutters adopted this plan, an, l when their hours were reduced iron 5 ten to nine they accepted q drop 0 ) 25 cents a day i'll wages One yea s later they regained the wages of tn : ten hour day. Again they droppe, l 25 cents in order to get the eight hou 2 day, and in another year they re t gained the 25 cents. A reduction 0 s hours is the most substantial and Der 5 manent gain which labor can secure t While it has sometimes been mair f tained that the hours rescued fror Q the shop would be put to worse us Q and not to better, the overwhelmin q weight of evidence before the indus s trial commission tends to show ina
 dissipation is q cOncomitant Of lon
 working hours and poor conditions n and that men tend to make better us Q of their opportunities as their oppor n tunities are increased.
 f The department Of labor has CT s deavored to compile figures showin Il the losses of employers and enDlove # as result of strikes and lockout, II According to these statistics the a, if gregate loss to employees in wages q v the result of labor disputes from 1Se q to 1900, inclusive. was S3O6, ,6S3. .223. ( e little over S15.oO0000 yearly. Tn f. loss to employers during the sam 2 period is stated at $142c59 104. ( IS rather less than one-half of tl ,t amount lost by strikers. The aggr s. gate losses thus amount to nearl II S4a0 900 GOO. or an average af abol n S22. 100000 yearly.
 If Tt may be concluded that the oel > eral policy of striking, as q last r It sort, is ecoslomicallv justified. an IS that the advantages secured tbroua h strikes by the worlxlng classes ar Y on the whole. greater than the loss, l. which they suffer. or which are i IT tiictel nDon employers and the gel l. eral community This by no meal rs implies that every strike is econor " icallv or morally justifiable.
 Ig "If the cause of strikes is 2 i'll IS one it seems legitimate for them h. try to peruade the public of that fa