The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1914-10-02


day. Some of our hardest fought bat
ties have been to establish the eight
hour day in some particular industry.
The titanic struggle between capital
and labor in the states of Colorado
and Idaho few years ago which had
it's elimination in the trial of Meyer,
Haywood and Pettibone, had it's origin
in an eight-hour day struggle. The
people of Colorado had by legislative
enactment said that eight hours should
constitute a days work in the mining
industry. The supreme court of Colo
RADIO declared the law unconstitutional
and from that decision arose the reign
of terror in the Rocky mountain states
which ended only with the acquittal
of Haywood and the abandoning of
further legal proceedings against the
Western Federation of Miners. A half
dozen years ago the job printers of
this country struck for the eight-hour
day in their department of the print
ing industry Millions of dollars were
spent by the printers in that fight, the
members of that craft paying for
months, an assessment of ten per cent
of their weekly earnings into strike
fund. That fight was won and an
eight-hour day established in the job
shops of this country. For years the
machinists have been fighting for an
eight-hour day. In many large con-
tract shops the fight has been won
and the machinists will continue the
conflict until eight hours is recognized
as the standard work day throughout
the industry.
Organized labor bases it's fight for
the shorter work day on several prem
ises. The shorter work day removes
the pressure upon the labor market by
providing employment for the idle
workmen. 1t conserves the physical
strength and mental energy of the
workman, creating greater efficiency,
time, strength and opportunity for
recreation, study and observation.
The steel and wooden mills are glar-
ing instances Of the baneful effects
upon the workmen of excessively long
hours of toll. To drive home to you
the advantages of American citizen
ship accruing from the eight-hour day,
| shall use a single illustration and
leave you to draw your own conclus-
ions.
AS a triumph of engineering skill,
the great Catskill aqueduct is second
only to the Panama Canal. Foresee-
ing the time when New York City must
greatly increase its water supply to
provide for the growing population,
the authorities began the construction
of an aqueduct one hundred miles in
length The problem was one of carry
ing half a billion gallons daily from
the Catskill mountains to the city
hundred miles away. Rome in her day
built aqueducts 25 miles in length that
were the wonder of that time but the
ancient Romans never dreamed of any
thing so huge as the present project.
Immense reservoirs and dams had to
be constructed One reservoir is be-
ing built that will hold 127 billion gal
Ions. The great dam thrown across
Esopus creek is % feet broad at the
top and 24O feet thick at the base.
One of the great pyramids of Egypt
was 755 feet square at the base and
4S1 feet high. Yet the material that
has gone into this modern dam and
the accompanying dykes, would make
eight of the Egyptian pyramids with
some to spare. Coming down from its
mountain source to New York City the
aqueduct tunnels under the Hudson
river. A thousand feet below the sur
face through a solid rock structure the
waters of the Catskills will find their
way to the other side of the Hudson.
One hundred and sixty million dollars
is the estimated cost of this great
water system. Lying directly in the
path of the equaduct were villages
which had to be entirely obliterated.
The great Ashokan dam and reservoir
took eight years of time to construct
and the services of three thousand
workmen.
The housing and care of these work
men was made a subject of special
study and here enters phase of the
work which bears directly on this sub
ject of the shorter workday. Those in
charge of the work determined to pro
vide something different than the