The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1906-04-21

Diminishing Returns is the natural
| refutation of the popular fallacy that
because a thing is good you cannot
get to much OF it.
Labor unions we'll illustrate the
Law Of Diminishing Returns.
Labor unions have increased wages,
| shortened hours, introduced Govern
ment Factory Inspection, have done
| partially away with child labor, and
done other useful, excellent and beauti-
full things.
But when labor unions go beyond
the Pivotal Point and attempt to die
tate the amount Of output-forbidding
any man to earn but so much; decide
on the proportion Of apprentices to
Workmen-that is, who shall advance
and who shall not; tear out work that
has been done by non-union men; in
sist that you join union or else be
deprived Of the right to work; that the
union has passed the Pivotal Joint and
| has ceased to give an equitable re-
! turn.
| when your children do not 20 to
school for fear Of the cry Of 'scab';
| when your wife dare not hang out the
| washing in the back yard for fear Of
the cry of 'scab'; when you hesitate to
go to your work knowing that you may
| be carried home on a shutter; when
! brick bats take the place Of reason,
and the walking delegate says: Garry
| a union card or take an accident pol
ICY; then things have gone so far that
in elf-protection the union must
TO NIL 1o 1o;I :~oI-
| pin.
THE people Of America cannot af-
| ford to let any combination Of men
become an engine for the destruction
! Of liberty, be it labor union Molly Nc
CURE, Ku Klux or church."
The fashion in which Hubbard pre-
fers his indictment of labor unions,
and his manner Of stating his various
heinous offenses. Of which he would
have his readers believe they are
guilty Of anything but ingenious-his
readers are expected to accept as be-
yond controversy the statements he
makes, and, granting that, of course
they can only agree with Hubbard that
the union must be laid low with
link-pin.'
Is 1T not a pleasant spectacle to see
man Of Hubard's undoubted ability
| and influence over the minds and ac-
lions of thousands Of people Of many
walks Of life prostitute that ability and
abuse the confidence Of his followers as
he has in this article.
He says:
But when labor unions go beyond
the Pivotal Point and attempt to die
tate the amount of output-forbidding
any man to earn more than so much
~
Limitation Of output is one Of the
hoary llbels that labor unions has been
aff1lcted with so long that it seems al
mos tsuperf1uous to give it attention,
however, 1t is not altogether out OF
place DO dignity the charge with at
tent1on IN this instance. In the quo
tat1on given Hubbard expects his read
ers to be lieve that labor unions gen.
orally are committed IT, the policy of
permitting their members to perform
only certain amount of work daily
and prevent the ADLER members from
earning what their skill entities them
to receive. This accusation is mere
ly bald lie, and it is uncomfortable
such. Were Hubbard and others who
have made similar charges to attempt
to give details to substantial the
CHARGE, hey would undoubtedly assert
that certain labor unions have des-
ignated the amount of work that shall
be deemed the standard of the day,
and from this argue that these unions
thereby limit the output AS mat
ter Of fact but few unions have any
regulation whatever Of this nature,
| and those organizations which have
legislated on the subject have invar-
iably acted wisely. Take, for instance,
the Typographical union. Very many
| Of the several hundred local brancehs
| of that organization have adopted
| laws which fix a certain amount Of
| type as minimum that a member
may set in a day and be deemed COM
| petent. They do not declare that a
man shall set no more than the amount
designated as the standard-they
simply say that a certain quantity Of
type is an average days work, and, in
fixing the scale Of wages, they ask that
at least a certain sum be paid for a
days Notwithstanding that the mimi
| AAulil dinouHl VI work Wnlcn must be
| done by the workman to enable him to
be classed as competent is worth the
amount Of money fixed as the mini
mum days wage. A maximum wage
scale is never made by a labor union.
AS the skill of the workman is a
primary factor in securing continuous
employment the man who possesses
the ability to do more work in a. day
than the standard calls for naturally
performs more than the amount called
for In the fixed standard, and thereby
secures and retains a decided advan-
tage in the matter Of obtaining reg
ular employment over his fellow
craftsmen. No printers union has