Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-06-08
The Wage Problem
By LUKE GRANT.

increased demand would bring the wages up again. A rise in wages would result in increasing the num- Der Of workers in that grade and wag es would fall again to level of bare subsistence.
 The unions, therefore. aimed, and they aim today to maintain the high est possible standard of life among the wage earners, and in doing so they increase the productive efficiency on which as already indicated the ques- ton of wages depends A high stand ard of life invariably means high standard of productive efficiency. be- cause 1t means well-fed well-clothed, well-educated and a healthy class of workers. To return to the plain practical point, as to whether there should be any limit to the demands for increased wages. There are times when it is tmpolitic to engage in any movement for wage increase. Not that the worker may not be entitled to the full increase he asks and more, but there are number of simple propositions that it is well to take into account. Strikes for increased wages are usual ly successful on a rising market on 8 falling market seldom if ever are they | successful. This in itself goes to show that there is a limit somewhere be- yond which it is hardly safe to go if it involves a struggle, as nearly every
 wage increase does.
 It the rule of the employer to linn 1 it his profits only to what the trade l will carry. He charges all he can do and meet the competition. Labor has | the same right to charge all it can get, but it is possible to push it too far. The building trades in Chicago furnish l an example. Last spring all the build l ing mechanics received a substantial
 increase in wages. They were doubt
 less entitled to all they got, and the contractors met the increase by charg- l ing more on their comrades. The building industry has fallen of by sev- eral millions of dollars for the year, | investors believing that wages and the price of materials will come down and 1 they can afford to wait for a favorable
 market. If a building investment is
 not profitable capital will seek some other channel. That is another indi- l cation that 1t is possible to tax an i1l- dustry to the limit,
 Take some commodity that is easily 1 TranSpOrtaDle, such IS printed matter,
 shoes. interior finish and so forth, Can it be said that there is no limit l to the demand for increased wages in
 Chicago when employers have to meet 1 the competition of surrounding cities | where much lower rate of wages prevails? If pressfeeder, for in
 stance in Chicago, gets $15 a week and I he gets So la week in Milwaukee would the printing industry stand further I increase here? If shoes can be made
 in Massachusetts, for one-third less than in Chicago. is it not possible to drive l the trade to a cheaper producing cen tre? When it is shown that in the | past labor has been and is being re
 garded as a commodity; can the price of labor rise in a market where other l commodities are falling?
 It is true that the payment of high wages is practical economy because 1t
 means higher efficiency and greater
 productivity, but there must surely be point beyond which 1t is not wise
 to push wages. The question is not as
 much is there such point, as it is
 have we reached that point?