The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-09-07

I r.
! This brother to the man with the hoe.
when you shorten this mans hours of
labor you change him from the animal
| to the thinking, reasoning man. At
| least you give him the opportunity You
change the stupid man of muscle to the
! man of brains and action. You inspire
him with desire to be something more
than newer of wood and drawer of
| water. He becomes a greater producer
and consumer. In. word an active,
progressive citizen.
Political economists agree that the
standard of living is the standard of
wages. The standard of living means
the kind of home you live in, the food
YOU eat and the clothes you wear the
books you read, etc The reason that
| the Russian emigrant is willing to work
for wages below those of the American
| laborer is because he is used to a lower
standard of living. After awhile as he
becomes Americanized his standard of
| living is raised. he comes to demand
better wages.
| If by shortening the hours of labor
we can raise the standard of living,
then we have made the worker a bet
ter man, physically, morally and
mentally. Whenever you have raised
up man a notch higher In the scale of
civilization. you have raised the nation
| just that much. You have only to GO
to the patent office and consult the rec
ords to see the effect of the ten-hour
day ushered in in 1S40
= ~
The last half century has ushered
into the world a new industrial era.
revolution in methods has taken place
| Up until within the last few centuries
| 1t was the woman with the hoe" who
performed nearly all industrial labor.
She it was who titled the land ground
the corn and made the domestic fab
RIGS. She invented practically all the
tools OF industry up to the time when
discovery of steam changed the eco
nomic life of the people. I we'll re-
member when upon the prairies of the
west you would see the wagon makers
wagon maker took the raw material
and himself turned out the Enished
product. He was laborer and capital
ist, distributor and salesman The
| whole Industrial circle was complete
within himself Therefore there could
be no strike. Wherever a journevman
was evolved. he and the boss worked
together on terms of the closest in
tlmacy: they sat down and reasoned
out all differences.
1t now takes perhaps a hundred men
to make that wagon that our wagon
maker made. besides clerks. saFesmen,
distributors and the man who owns the
machine the capitalist Now llnf7er orr
present system there is no personal re-
| latlonship between the capitalist and
the man who operates the machine
The capitalist buys his labor in the
cheapest market. as he would his raw
material. He does not trouble himself
about the responsibilities resting upon
the man operating the machine. He
goes not stop to think how society
holds the worker responsible for feed
ing, clothing and educating his children
and that he cannot. carry out these re-
sponsibilities unless his wages are suffi-
cient.
That famous economic writer. Mr..
Jonn X. commons, writing in the Au-
gust Review of Reviews states that
buns index numbers show that the
general level of prices of commodities
has risen 40 per cent from July. 1897. to
November, 1901, and since remained
stationary. That wages have only in
creased except in exceptional cases 10
to 80 per cent further, that railway net
earnings per mile of line increased SO
per cent from 1897 to 1902, but it re-
quired another year for railway wages
to reach their increase of Is to 20 per
cent, while the country has been en-
Toying exceptional prosperity the share
tof the wage worker has Been small in
comparison with that of the capitalist.
In the main every increase of the wage
worker had to be fought for 1t meant
quite often untold risk, suffering and
hardship. AS a rule the capitalist, even
| in the face of increasing profits persist
ed in buying his labor as cheaply as
possible and to aid him in resisting the
demands of organized labor he has
used the non-union man. Hence his cry
| that the unions are interfering with the
right of the American freeman to work
under any conditions that he pleases.
Let US analyze the position of the nom
union man. / spoke to you about the
Russian peasant and the inferior inn
migration coming to the United States
as q menace to our civilization Now
we do not object to the Russian as
Russian. Race. nationality or creed
| give no room for prejudice.
| We object to these people because
their standard of living is so low that
| it degrades them. The Russian, whose
diet is grease and black bread, is will
ling to work for such wages as will buy
grease and black bread. hence when
brought in competition with our Amer
! lean laborer he compels the latter TO
also lower his standard of living
/ The keynote of organization is the de-
| sire of the American father that his son
shall have superior advantage to him
self He is ambitious to raise his
standard of living, and he organizes 10
1 do So When this man raises his stand
ard of living. he also raises the nation
of which he is a part. He stands for
progress and advancement. Alongside
| of him is man who has no such am,
bitio7: he is willing his children should
work in the factory rather than be in
the schoolroom: he is satisfied with a
lower standard of living: he is mega
/ tive force in the workers economic life.
Like the Russian peasant, he Is con-
slant menace to the advancement of
| the worker. The organized man well
comes him with open arms to a place
| beside him in the union. He gives him
share in the advantage he has gained
by organizations; but if he, the nom
unionist, persists in following a course
that results in the lowering of the
standard of living of the unionist. then
the latter has the right to discriminate
against him by refusing to work with
him. This talk of his right to do as he
pleases, because he is ar American citi-
zen, is the veriest cant. for in civilized
IL he vi,