The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1907-09-07

Long Hours Of Labor Did Not
Prevail in Medieval
Times. !.
Evils of Long Hours of Toll Is
Due to the Modern
-. =, Greed,

=. Professor. Thorold Rogers. an auth
GRITTY on historical and antiquarian
questions, speaking on the subject of
wages and hours OF labor in the
thirteenth, century, says: ,:,g- e:
: The winters wages were about 26
per cent less than those Of other sea-
sons: but the winter seems to have
been limited to the months Of De-
cember and January. This fact, which
l have frequently noticed, is proof
that the hours Of labor were not long.
They seem to have been not more
than eight hours day, and at a later
period the eight-iour day seems to
be indicated by the fact that extra
hours are paid at 81 UGH a rate as, cor
responds to the ordinary pay per hour
Tor eight hours, being a little in ex-
cess"
Holiday Observance.
In addition to this, the craft guilds
almost universally prohibited working
at night, as tending to deprive some
members Of the craft of work. Like
wise, work was: usually prohibited on
Saturday afternoons, on feast days Of
the church land on the eve Of double
feasts), and particularly on that Of
the patron saint of the guild, and in
Christmas week and Easter week. The
truth Of the old saying that there is
nothing. new under the SUM-. Is here
exemplihed. The adoption of an
eight-ho1r day with Saturday half
holiday is simply returning to a preva-
lent custom of more than five centu-
ries, ago.
The Golden Age.
In claiming that the working day
In the. Middle Ages was one of eight
hours, Professor Rogers alludes to the
practice Of laborers working more
than the regular hours at harvest and
times, and for which they
received extra pay. It was also GUS
tomary for many of the artisans Of
the towns to go to the country and
work In harvest time. In fact, in viii
lage communities many Of the artis-
ans united the function Of husband
man with that of the craft for which
they practiced. j., =.
Professor Rogers states repeatedly
that the fifteenth century and the first
quarter Of the sixteenth were the
cblden Age Of the, English workman,
II we are to interpret the; WAGES
which he earned by the, cost of the
necessaries of life. ~~~; -.
Finish Of Drama. - s,.
At this period it was truly MERRY
England" The population was, small:
there were no great extremes OF
wealth or poverty; all had, or: could
have, the use Of certain amount Of
arabic land, with pasturage~ on, tho
common land, without stint; there was
q rude abundance of .nourishinx food
for all. and sturdy tramps were UNI
known. That came afterward. The
Golden Age was golden because each"
humblest Englishman was rendered to
some extent financially independent
by the right to the use Of sufficient
land for all hi sneeds. This right ex-
listed even in the days of serfdom,
The Golden Age. ended simply because
the people were gradually divorced
from the land. The barons who held
land for use only, the title to all land
being vested in the King, now began
to claim 1t In possession. They stole
the land from the people. The work
OF spoliation commenced by the
barons was at later day carried out
more fully by Henry VIII. The land
held by the, churches and monasteries
and other religious houses was con-
f1scated and sold to satisfy the rapa-.
city of that much married monarch.
The common people were landless.
The spirit Of the people was broken
and the work Of spoliation was COM
plete. Those who own the land con-
troll the lives and dest1nies Of the peo-
pie, and so it proved in this case. The
invention Of the steam engine. the
spinning Jenny and the power loom
rendered the Inauguration Of the fac
tory system Of production possible In
the latter part of the eighteenth CEN
fury, with its accompanying evils Of
long hours Of toll. child labor, scanty
earnings and physical degeneracy Of
the toilers. The drama played to a,
finish in England is being re- enacted
in this land of ours.