The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-01-30
STEEL Enn9IEs
lRE Ike sllI[s

lConunusd aro@ Asgt DAeAl
method Of living. 10 said. 1Is oaiis6
attention to Judge OAry's cbmmsnt On
this criticism Of the labos policy.
oisrs1Ard Hsnsan Life. 4
His comment shows to me the Ut
ter inability Of lafge corporations -
regard human life." said NJ. Btsndeis.
Judge 0ary says that U The twelve
hour day v excessive, the cDrpora-
tions would b quick TO ohanss Il.
Think Of that situation, that the
members Of the steel corporAtion and
tts eminent chairman are unable 70
recognise the hardships undergone BY
human lives In = twelve-hOur work
day, seven days = week. alternated
only by . twenty -four nour working
day every week or two weeks.
He rdferTed 10 Mr., 0Ary'o oxplAnas
ton that the blast furnace peoceasse
required continuous operation each
day and every day In the week. In
other industries. Mr.. BrAndefe assert
cd, where continuous operation u
necessary. enough men ass employed
to give other men relief. That much
Of the Sunday labor In the steel
three years ago the steel corporation
adopted Q resolution to dispenee with
much Of II, but It has gone on prac-
ticaliy ever since, except recently In.
isolated instances owing to public
criticism
Better IN England.
Mr.. Brandsis declared that while
Judge Gary u waiting to hear what the
authorities Of the United States ny
should b done, the steel industry 10
England has been able 70 eliminate
entirely all these Questionable fsa~
lures"
you don't mean" Chairman Stan-
Icy interrupted, that England has
been able to do anything for labor
that We can't do In thig countryf
Surely you must be mistaken"
Unfortunately. In this case. ! am
not mistaken" Mr.. Brandeis replied.
In England the average working
week OF steel workers was b6.3 hourA
while - per cent. Of the workers
In thin country have an average week
Of ~ hours
Lives bro shossensd.
Discussing the effect OF the long and
continuous work Of steel workers. Mr..
Brandsas assertsd that invs.eicstion
had shown Il to be responsible for
short Me and physical degeneration.
The average steel worker was unable
70 labor after forty years Of ~ASa.
Mr.. Carnegie has sAid the stsea
business was Q case OF feast or
famine. prince or pAupsr. In The early
days To-day. with the steel corpora
ton. II 10 . case Of prince and paupsr-
ising." Mr.. Brandsis continued.
DO you mean TO state Il - fact
that thsss men generally break down
q the Are of forty I" asked Neprsssn-
tativs Young. OF MichigAn.
mot q : general fact N. Bran
dsis replied, ''but thousands OF them
Appalling TO me that % many OF them
do not break down aArlisr.''
The Boston attorney charged that
the steel workers were worse than
slaves.
Worse Than Slavery.
The slave owners were human
he said. and slaves came into per-
sonal contact with their ownerA On
the other hand. the ownsss e this
Steel Corporation are - the position
exactly similar 70 the abssatse land
lords In Ireland. and. through their
stock distribution schssns 70 smploys4
exactly comparable 70 the Appalling
rack rent conditions In Ireland"
The idea that the steel worker -
we'll paid. he said. p one Of the
fallaciea with respect to his condt-
ton, Al the present time ek per
cent. OF the steel workeFS are un-
skilled and the amounted pay they
rsceivs. he aid, u such that no one
could call Il good pay" Rsfsrrtng
to data coneesnine about 81, 900 essa--
pioyes at lsS blast furnaces Mr.. Bran
deis showed that 1916 per cent.
earned between ~ and ~ cents IN
hour: 1895 per cent. earned betwssn
II and 10 cents an hour: lisa per
cent. earned from IL 20 - cents m
hour: 1907 per cent. earned - -