The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-04-18

FIRST ARTICLE

FIRST ARTICLE
Among the reasons commonly adj
vanced in explanation &c th.. present hiHh
co~t Of living are the increased production
OF gold. restriction Of competition incident
- the growth 90 trusts and 'h" rise in
wages. think w. shall find upon in
vestigation that these phenomsnh have
had little or nothing 60 ID with the advance
In prices.
The major causes oG the advance are,
! believe: First. n relative increase of
industrial az opposed to agricultural popu-
lation 10th herr aud abroad; second. a
widely distributed elevation of the stand
ard of living: third. enlargement % credit
In connection with the financing 81 cor
porations, and fourth, a revolution 81
business methods in the real estate mar
ket, including its mortgage loan and
building branches. n revolution which
has oommercialised real property. en-
couragsd specula tive construction on an
;.Aprscedented scale and provided en-
ployment for additional labor in a great
variety % trades directly and indirectly
connected with the binding industry.
To this last mentioned cause ! would di-
rert special attention. a. IL seems to have
been overlooked heretofore in the discus
sion 81 high prices. II offers. for example.
an explanation % the quick recovery Of
prices since the panic. However. before
attempting 20 appraise the Importance %
this UNEMPLOYED influlencs IL will be expedi-
ent TO consider how far the various other
phenomena enumerated may have added
to the cost Of living.
-. "a. 49,
Employers Of labor are inclined To lay
stress upon the increase % the labor cost in
production The unions. IL is claimed.
have not only forced up wages but have
restricted the output Of labor. or in other
words. limited the amount Of work which
the employees will accomplish in a given
number % hours. Some unions have. in
,lsed. tried 20 create employment foE
their members by limiting the number Of
apprentices a. well AZ the output Of work.
However. the policy Of restriction IN theae
respects is by no means universal among
the unions. and in any event il has been
10 negligible Importance. owing 90 our
liberal immigration laws.
Among the strongest unions In the
country are those connected with the New
York building industry. Some OF thee
have attempted % regulate the output Of
labor. hue the attempt has never been
successful. except possibly for q brief
period during the building boom preced-
ing the panic. On the contrary. ssnploy-
srs In the New York building industry
have increased enormously the productiv-
ity Of labor by introducing improved con-
struction methods. by reorganizing their
plants with q view "a obtaining the last
degT,se Of speed in labor processes and
by enforcing the right To select work
men according To efficiency. The average
huilding mechanic in New York IL conse-
quently q picked workman. who's DAYS
labor product achieved under the eye Of .
superintendent and with the aid Of time
saving machinery would astonish his
fellow crRftsmen in the provinces. His
wages have been advanced. bat hls adj
vance in productivity has BEEN far greater
In the Last ten or a dozen years. during the
period OF rising wages and commodity
prices. the average time required for the
erection Of a million dollar Office building
has been reduced by probably on--hAh To
the producer 81 such a building the item
81 wages has become relatively insight
cant in view - the saving Of siN months
the process Of construction and Of half
years rent.
II exceptionally strong unions in the
New York building industry have not
h.en able TO restrict output permanently.
IL il not likely that the great body of the
unions throughout the country have
t..en inst rumental in adding appr-ciably
90 the labor cost q production in this
manner The question then remains;
Have the unions forced up wages sum
ciently 90 account for the rise In COM
modify prices This question too must
IL answered in th. negative. Tor the
greatest advance in prices has been made
ia the case Of hasic oommoditie-- grail
cattle. lumber and farm hands. cUw
punchsrp and mmter men are not union
lied. The rise in wages has been general,
except &c course in ds-caying trades II
has not bsen confined to UNION labor.
nor has II teen confined 20 the United
states II cannot therefore To- RScrih.,d
primarily to union influences. lndeed.
among the unions some 81 the weakest
have obtained the most notable advances
Ia wages. After all. the union member
ship comprises less than ons-tWelfth 81
the labor employed In Rainful occipa-
tions in the United States. and however
much collective bargaining may have
accomplished for organized labor IL would
~ absurd Co credit general rise IN wages
to union coercion.
The relation between trade unionisn
and wages has been dwslt upon h"cau-s
IL 10 important to know whether the adj
vance in wages IL the rp~ult % coercion
on the part 81 workmen OF 81 competitive
bidding on the pan Of employers II
the higher compensation 81 labor ~ due
90 competitive bidding there H. reason
% believe that the wage increase has l.@en
80 med: that labor has grown In pro-
ductivity In the New York building an
dust ~ the productivity ~ lator has been
Increased a. an incident 20 the change
from small scale 20 large seal" produce
ton. but this change has iz.-n con-
sp,cuols feature ia all branches % in
du~try during the period II advancing
wages and commodity prices since 1897
Even on the farm labor has l-,rone more
valuable owing 70 - more general Use %
improved machinery and methods %
cultivation.
When labor Is advancing In productivity