New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-04-15
COMMON SENSE.
The Book of an Employer Who Is
a Trade Uni0niSt

GETTING LIVING The Problem of % W Tta5a
Facts as 10 the Trusts and the Tariff" svo' PIP
aIi 769. The Macmillan Company.
This is a book full Of common sense. Mr..
Bolen is at once an employer and a trade union
ist The aspiration OF the wage Garner for bet
ter conditions and larger share Of the worlds
wealth has his fun sympathy, but at the same
time he has an understanding % human nature
and economic law. and tests those aspirations
bv their Justice ard possibility. For many years
be was himself 2 wage Garner n various call
tnrs. ana finally in a printing establishment OF
his own. himself cid much OF the skilled work
CT the Office. and retained his union member
ship while employing many men 10 work Tor
him
Much OF his book IS taken up with elementary
discussions Of political economy. He objects TO
tariffs. and, IN general. 20 artificial instruments
10 regulate production and prices; but Wheh IL
comes 20 ne question OF labor union EFFORTS ne
abanSons the theories Of the Manchester school.
and is by no means ready TO let the law OF sup
ply and demand determine hours and wages
He believes in unions. justifes strikes and the
,,ee Of any lawful means to raise wages. and
thinks that in the main. the laborer must
struggle and ought to struggle TO better his
condition such struggle IN the end works Tor
the good OF society and even Of employers. for
within certain limits short hours and high wages
are more profitable than long hours ana low
wages Mr.. Bolen. however. keeps ever before
the eyes OF unionists their duty 10 obey the
law of the state and their inability 10 circum-
vent the law Of nature. The theories OF the So
cialists are completely riddle5 and the interest
Of the workingman in a reasonably. regulated
indiyiduahsm demonstrated. He declares:
N1s.ura does not abhor vacuum IN physics any
han he as a
The certainty Of employment dilated upon uH
kind hearted dreaners can never come 70 men
a. fbair T-eecrt nature without endangering civil
izatou. Only small proportion or the human an -,
do really good and perhaps fewer 90 IhsI
best whether that is good or not although extra "a
reward is usually certain either IN WAGES 81 ~
workers EMPLOYERS and all-is barely passabe with
The person paying for X yet upon no i{S oy
patrorace from which they live il thar IS me
s9nqio4 n9" wa1a be 6e condition If employ
ment and living were assured by the state a. =
co-5i,r ID some Dlan of socialism, And how Wouia
n i,e 1ossblc for state official to inspec. work
product justly as il is INSPECTED no" Dy ne
workers accomplished less than at present. theIe
,IS he "a smaller OUTPUT Of goods TO divide: and
~ crr3~ts 81 he few most industrious would be
share of their product 10 the huge army OF stare
supported incompetents.
Spch wholesome truths as this abound in the
volume Mr.. Bolen demolishes the notion OF
huge profits being kept from the workers, ana
shows that profits are small especially on staple
articles. which the great body Of the people buy
and out OF which large fortunes are made merely
by the vast extent of business. He believes that
the unions should push their demands TO the
limit OF economic law. and holds that in many
trades that is by 10 means reached. But he
likewise holds that anything beyond that means
harm to The workers themselves by raising
prices: or mere charity. and that OF vicious
kind. on the part Of an employer who pays more
FOR labor than IL win bring back.
The use Of injunction by the courts in labor
disputes. so much denounced by labor leaders. is
vigorously defended by him. and one Of the
most interesting and sound chapters in the
book is that prison labor. The agitation
against the sale of prison made goods is shown
10 be nothing but a demand for largess by
few workers at the expense OF their fellow cit
tzens The state ought to use its convicts to
get the most benefit from their labor. to con-
tribute most TO the sum Of the community s
production. instead of deliberately trying TO
waste their labor That waste not only hurts
the convicts but it puts an unjust burden on
the whole body of taxpayers for the benefit Of a