El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-05-17

less than the, lowest form of labor now
receives for b 12-hOUr day Clearly, if
wages follow hours, the eight-hOur day
is impracticable.
Possible Increase in Labor Cost
Assuming for the moment that the
shift TO an eight-hOur day would not
be followed by an increase in efficiency
which would increase sufficiently TO
compensate for q very considerable in
crease in the hourly rate" The gov
eminent still holds that the change is
desirable and necessary.
Careful estimates prepared by
trained StatisticianS in the federal ser
vice show that the increase in the cost
Of production of pig iron would be
only 20 percent OF Its present cost If
the Workmen were paid the same
wages for s hours that they now re-
Ceive for Il hours, and If absolutely
no variation in efficiency followed up
on the heel OF the change. Sim
increase IN the cost per ton Of the
principal products Of the steel works
and rolling mills would be only 6 per
cent The reason for the small in
crease in the cost Of production as
compared with the assumed increase
Of so percent in the hourly rates Of
wages lies in the fact that labor con-
stitutes only a very small part Of the
of pig iron labor constitutes only Ga
percent Of the total cost, and for the
five principal products of the steel
works and rolling mills, only III per
cent Of the total cost"
No Advance in Price Necessary
An lncresase Of 10 percent in wages
both at the mine and at the blast fur
naces would amount to an increase Of
approximately so cents a ton for pig
iron AS the price Of pig iron regu-
larry fuctuates through a range of 81
or more during the course of the year
such an increase would hardly be no
uceable-' That is to say an increase
IN wages amounting to nearly four
times that which the establishment Of
an eight-hOur day would make neces-
sary, could barely be felt on the mar
keti 1t is a truly astonishing cOnclu-
sion The truth OF it. however, can
hardly be doubted At any rate. the
steel corporation has not contested it
as yet
But the government has gone further
in its brief for the eight-h hour dav than
to enlist the consumer by assuring him
that he need be at any economic dis
advantage as a result Of the proposal
1t has with great detail shown Just
how the steel corporation can put il
into effect, how difficulty after diff
Guilty can be met and overcome, and
how the total result will be not only
boon to the tOilers in the metal.
but to the dividend fund and the pros
per1ty Of the industry as a whole. Says
the report:
There is, however, every reason to
expect that an increase in efficiency
sufficient to at least offset this es-
timated increase in cost would follow
the adoption OF the eight-hOur system.
As a basis for this statement there is
not only the experience in other in
dustries, but in the iron and steel in
dustry there are the statements Of the
English blast furnace owners and the
results Of tests Of the eight
hour system in American steel plants
tlotably that of the Cambria Steel Co.
J ohnstOwn, Pa These tests have
shown that there is not only no in
crease in the cost Of production, but
that where the success of the process
can be readily affected by the atten-
ton and physical condition of the en-
ployes the quality of the product has
been greatly improved as a result of
the shorter working hours and nu-
merous immediate economies have been
which more than compensate
for the cost Of the change