The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-09-30

good to the community that the
community a take them oyer and
manage them itself. The railroad, in
getting it's right Of way is able to con-
denim property through that principle.
and it is so with other things. The
average man fails to realize this, and
the employer cannot see that property
Is only law-created and law-protected
and that its regulation can be chang
cd by society as N conditions OF So
ciety demand"
III conversation here turned to |
some OF the uvel abor questions Of to-
day, and I asked the secretary il he
believed in q minimum wage. He re-
Piled:
II have pronounced views on that
subject, but it would not be wise for
me to discuss them"
DO you think the industries of the
United States can be run on an eight
hour day."
Il have no doubt OF it, and I be-
heve h a there are many industries
in which the workman will produce
as much in eight hours as he did in
ten. While l was chairman of the
committee on labor in the House I
~received a communication from q
large employer in the granite industry
giving the results OF his experiments
in his works as to the product as at
fected by the hours per day per man.
He kept records of the hours n the
output. When he began his men
were laboring ten hours a day. He
reduced them to nine, and found that
the product was greater than when
they worked ten. He then reduced
them to eight hours, and found that
he got more work out of the men at
, eight hours than he did at nine. He
t expected to continue the reduction,
and said that he believed the highest
: out put would be reached when the
{ hours Of labor were reduced to the
point where the workman came back
to his work every morning fully re-
freshed
= "WiIl the time come when we will
y have an ci%ght-hour day everywhere in
the United States?'
That is the condition now in most
e Of the states in many Industrial &C.
equations. In Arizona we have tn
eight-houf-d day law in underground
mines and workings In California
IS the same is true as to mines, smelter'
and public works Of any kind, and !
is likewise so in Colorado. In Con
necticut the hours Of labor are eight
unless otherwise agreed. and eng1
-, neers. firemen and machinists an
At other mechanics employed in state in
stitutions may lot work more thai
ID eight hours except in cases of EN-
ID Urgency. In nearly an the states eigh
a. works, and it is nearly everywhere s.
d. in the mines and snnelters. It is 81
s. in Illinois in all mechanical employ
r ments, and it Is SO on h public high
In ways. Eight hours IL the rule in In
Ve diana. and it is SO in Massachusetts, q
ne to all laborers and mechanics employ
ed by or on behalf OF the state.
might go on and show the same fo
nearly every state in the Union"
How about work on the farms
en- Take your farm in P~ennsylvani,
"a Could you run hat on an eight-hou
day?"
D. Il do not know about that Thel
~ is a difference between the work Q
. the farm and the work in the vario1
Cd industries. The most OF the sta
laws make a difference as to the wor
,es on the farm and in many cases sue
re labor is especially exempt from II
regulations as to other labor. tt
he season for farm work Is limited. al
ed it is 80 affected by rain and other col
Dr. ditions that it cannot be as close
M regulated as the work Of a factory
in the various industries. AS to o.
other industries, however. the
hi ID ~ ouo 80 80
ms prAclicdA anu 49, 2"
employer and the employee
ike do you think we will ever ha
less than an eight-hour day."
THAT is possible. There are SOL
hat industries in England where the d
md is now less than eight hours. tt
has been the case for the past thir
OF years in the coal mines of Mort
cumberland, where the men have be