The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1914-06-12
SHORT WORKDAY.
Means Greater Production anJ
LeSSene1 Cost.
TENDS TO MORAL UFLi7T

Wherever Hours OF Toll Have Been
Reduced the Result Has BoneGteo
Both Worker and Employer-Raiso-
Standard Of Living.
The success Of organized labor in Ia
crcasing wages of workmrn Las been
brilliant and signal. but has not been
more important than its success in re-
ducing the hours Of Labor. An increaS
i'll the rate Of wages means more II.
the comforts and luXur.cS Of life. de-
crease in the hours of labor. the uprUr
tunity to enjoy these comforts aud IuA
uries. The shortening Of the Wu. kjH.
day, moreover, st0u,S for freedom l.om
toll at the time when it he. ONES IluSt
eXacting. nerve wearing and danger
Gus. Still further, it stands for leisure.
recreation, education and family lie.
Owing to the fact that the work ut
the modern world is hocohing mere
and more natter OF nervous ENERGY.
of skill and intelligence and less il INST
ter of mere hrC;e force. tic reduction
in hours is not only of advantage. bat
of absolute necessity. Even when
work is simply and purely physical It
is not economical to work long hours
but n shorter day of labor is imppra
tive where work is intense or where
intelligence. ingenuity auI inventive
ness are required You can not get
more out of Il man than is in him, and
if you take too much one day there
will be just so much less to obtain on
succeeding days.
The most curious feature about the
history of the reduction of hours is
that in almost all cases the trade
unions have been obliged to force en-
ployers, strongly against their will, to
grant reduction which have ultimately
proved to their advantage. The Eng
fish mill owners in the beginning and
middle of the nineteenth century
claimed that they would be ruined if
hours were reduced, and this complaint
is repeated wherever an attempt is
made to decrease the hours of labor.
Wherever the reduction has been made.
however, the result has been a decided
benefit not only to the workman, but
to his employer.
In so far as lessened hours mean in
creased production and cheapened
cost, there can be no question as to
the ACCESSIBILITY Of shortening the
working day, and in such cases EN-
ployers should be compelled to seek
their own advantage, their own per
manent interest, by adjusting them
selves to reasonable conditions. Even
where the advantage to the employer
is not so apparent, an excessive mum
Der of working hours should not be
tolerated.
Professor Irving Fisher of Yale uni
versity states the whole matter sue
cinctly in his report on national vital
ty to the national conservation COM
mission when he says: The present
working day, from physiological
point of view, is too long, and keeps
the majority of men and women in a
continual state of overfatigue. 1t
starts Il vicious circle leading to the
craving Of means of deadening fatigue
thus inducing drunkenness and other
excuses. Experience in reducing the
working day shows great improve
ment in the physical efficiency of la
borers, in many cases resulting in
even increasing their output sufficient
ly to compensate the employer foI
hn III ~
such result exist, but the real justiti-
cation of a shorter work day is found
in the interest of the race, not the
employer" A reduction III hours
means strengthening of the work
ingman, the growth of keener intel
ligence and an improvement in his
home life.
As to the oft repeated charge that q
reduction in the hours of labor means
more time and more money spent IL
drinking and dissipation, Professor
! Fishers words indicate the true fact
namely, that Overlong hours directly
induce dissipation, and the unanimous
testimony of all competent observers
teachers, ministers, sociOlogists, has
| been to the effect that Il reduction il
the hours of labor almost invariably
means an Improvement in the whole
moral tone of the community, rails
| ing of the standard of living, a growth
of self respect of the workingman anC
IA diminution. not an increase, il
! drunkenness, violence and crime. II
the American workman can be intrust
ed with the suffrage it is certainly
safe to intrust him with a few hour,
| - r,io InlAt, AIitnhnll