The Cairo bulletin., 1906-12-05

eral introduction Of an e'ght-hour day
There are industries In which II Is
no. possible that the hours of labor
should be reduced Jus, as there are
communities not far enough advanced
for such a movement TO be for their
good or, If In the Tropics so situated
! that there Is no analogy between their
/ Isthmns Of Panama, for instance, the
conditions are In every way so differ.
ent from what they are here that an
eight hour day wonld be absurd inst
| as IL Is absurd, so far as the lsthmus
| is concerned, whore white labor can
not he employed, to bother as TO whe-
Their the necessary work is done by
alien black men or by alien yellow
men. Put the wagewOrkers of the
! United States are OF so high grade
that alike from the merely industrial
standpoint and from the civic stand
point II should be Our object 10 do
what W. can in the direction OF Sc.
curing he general observance OF an
eight.hour day. Until recently the
eight-hour law on our Federal statute
books has been very scantily oh
served Now. however largely
through the fundamentally OF the
bureau of labor Il is being rigidly
enforced and | shall speedily be able
to say whether or not there IL need
of further legislation in reference
thereto; for Gus purpose is to see IT
obeyed in spirit no less than in let.
ter. Half holidays during summer
should be established for Government
employees il Is rs desirable for
wagcworkers who toll with their
hands as for salaried officials whose
labor is mental that there should be
a reasonable amount of holiday.
Corporations.
The present congress has taken
long strides in the direction OF secuc,
ing proper supervision and control by
the National Government over cor
porations engaged in interstate bust
nesa-and the enormous majority OF
corporations of any size are engaged
in interstate business. The passage
of the railway rate bill and only TO a
less degree the passage of the pure
food bill, and the provision for in
creasing and rendering more effective
national control over the beef-packng
industry, mark an important advance
in the proper direction. In the short
ession it will perhaps be difficult 20
do much further along this line; and
II may be best to wal until the laws
have been in operation for a number
Of months before endeavoring to in
crease their scope, because only opera
ton will show with exactness their
merits and their shortcomings and
thus give opportunity TO define what
further remedial legislation Is needed
Yet in my Judgment II will In the end
be advisable In connection with the
packing house inspection law TO pro-
vide for putting date on The. label
and for charging the cost Of inspection
to the packers All these laws have
already justified thor enactment The
Interstate commerce law, for instance
has rather amusingly falsiiied the pre-
dictions, both of those who asserted
that il would ruin the railroads and Of
those who asserted that it did not 20
far enough and would accomplish
n linn Dh,ripy tho 1apt flkyr p.pt, h,l
the railroads have shown increased
earnings ad some of them unusual
while during the same pc.
riod the mere taking effect of the law
unheard of, number of yolun |
tary reductions In freights and fares /
by the railroads. Since the founding
of the commission there has never |
been time of equal length in which |
like so many reduced tariffs |
have been put into effect On Au |
gust 81 for instance, two days before |
the new law went into effect, The com |
mission received notices of over five !
thousand separate tariffs which repre-. |
scented reductions from previous rates |
II must not be supposed, however, ,
that with the passage OF these laws II |
will be possible to stop progress along
he line Of increasing the National |
Government over the uso Of capital |
n interstate commerce. For example, |
here will ultimately be need of en-.
arging he powers Ct the interstate |
commerce commits ion along several I
different lines. so as TO give il I
larger and more efficient control over
he railroads
II can not too of, en- he repeated
hat experience has conclusivoly
shown the impossibiliiy OF securing
)y the actions of nearly half a hun
lred different state legislatures any
hing but Ineffective chaos in the way
II dealing with the great corporations
which do not operative exclusively
yithin the limits of any one state In
ONE method. whether bV a national
license law or in other fashion we
must exercise. and that at an early
late. a far more complete control
han AT present over these great cor
control that will among /
'ther things proven, the evils OF ex. 4
viii compel he dscldsure mmmm
essive overcapitalization, and that