The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1904-07-23
BY Judson Greneit.


The French, are a hard working peo-
pie. What little have seen would in
cline me to the! opinion that as many
women as men are employed In the In
dustrial activities Of the nation. Mar
riage does not end the wife's factory,
field, or store life. She expects to be
! a wage Garner in some way, and to do
what she can in filling the family
purse. In the fields the women seem
more numerous than the men. In the
restaurants they predominant four to
| one; in the ranks Of the street mer
chants-the selling from carts of gar
den and other STUD, and the disposal
of literature from stree stands-they
are certainly on an equality with the
male sex: and in all the factories where
deft manipulation is necessary, 1t is
ducers.
Perhaps this is one of the reasons
| why wages are low in France. The
wants Of the workers are few, and the
employing class, conjunction with
the landowners, so manipulate prices
that the sum total paid in wages Is
just sufficient to procure the necessa-
ries Of life according to the French
| standard.
Long Hours; Low Production.
France is not such an industrial CEN
ter as is England. Her 30,O00,000 in
habitants turn n much greater pro-
portion to agriculture as a means of
living than do the inhabitants Of Great
Britain. She has within her own Dor
ders such a variety of soil and climate
| as to make her practically independent
of other nations and her tariff walls
accentuate this condition, though not
to her financial advantage. There
fore the people feed themselves as well
as supply the other necessaries for ex-
| istence demanded in a civilized coun-
| try.
And yet, while the days work is Ion
ger in France than in England, I do
| not think the years labor will show
as great a credit to the account of each
worker. If the Englishman works
( slower than the, American, then the
Frenchman works slower than the En-
glishman. He may make more mo-
tions, but he dos not produce so great
a.product. ss. The french wv rkman lacks
| that steady application seen" In those
who produce the most with the least
exertion. His energy is not applied
| with so much persistence, and he fails
| in the final result. OF course one can
I have watched those employed both
| indoors and outdoors, and I am salts
| fled that the long hours Of the French
| citizen are a serious handicap to his
! Industrial supremacy. Were he to drop
a couple Of hours from his days labor
| and keep steadily pegging away, both
| himself and the. employer would profit
| by the change.
Trade Unions Are sociatistic.
The General Confederation Of the
Workers Of France is the organization
| equivalent to the American Federation
| Of Labor. It meets every two years
| and legislates for 100000 organized
| men and women. The legislation is
advisory, not compulsory. but the tend
| encies Of the trade union movement are
reflected in it's literature. Emil Pouget,
! editor of the official journal issued by
| the association, is a typical Frenchman
| opinions, his dark eyes lighting up as
| he talked to me of labors rights and
| labor's wrongs, he conversed as coolly
! of revolution ais an American would of
! his supper. -
"The labor movement of France is
| distinctively socialistic." he remarked.
Observation confirmed this at once, for
on the big table In the middle Of the
room was much literature of a social
| istic character. both In English and
| French. Here" he continued, 1--WE
even go so far as to advocate the gen.
! eral strike, in order to at one stroke
| achieve our industrial ends. cfnwpya
achieve our industrial ideals. do not
| think We go SO far as Prince Krepot-
kin. which would compel us to declare
| war, for we think the epoch Of the bar
ricade is past. .Thereare other means
! at our disposal: In fact, it is impossi-
| BILE to fight with powder and shot;
we re not prepared, and cannot re-
| sort to the arbitrament Of war;"
| What the General Strike Is.
What do you mean by the term the
! general strike p" I. asked.
by that we mean that we should
stop all production as long as neces-
sary to destroy all values In exchange"
he nsWered. In fact, everything
would be consumed. Then the work.
ers would take possession Of. all the
means Of production, including lands,
mines, machines, habitations-every-
| thing that contributes to the produc-
| ton Of riches.
This idea was. first proposed in
France at the Bordeauxcongress in 1888
and it has been treaffirrned many times
since: The working class restricted
in the fulfillment of Its most noble as
pirations, furnishes the only sentiments
OF independence This class lis the
| only source from which there Is any
hope Of social betterments.
This complete cessation Of work
would be a sudden and violent change
in economic conditions. It would be
a change of the very base on which is
erected the present civilization. In
partial strikes the workers are divid-
| ed: against themselves and hesitate to
seize. all the means Of productions; but
with the revolution all: respect for
bourgeoise law will disappear; as we'll
as coercive nleanss@which now make
the workingman helpless" ~ -.
| T. Capturing the Army. 81: :.
"And whatowilI the capitalists back
ed by the army. be: doing ~ th's time r
asked. ~ S<*ss *#z.z = =: !: j..
/ when we are united Ne will be
many, they. will be few. e. will tear
! up THE "a lroa ds7 and prevent. food be-
Ing transportedst TO the army if .neces-
mnsa M
l5adopting any shal fSlways1nea such
assarei dvqfat some socia lists: 2S
is. impp ssib I#os1t the en- n
prog con