The Washington socialist. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1914-1915, 1915-04-29
MACHINERY AND LABOR

One of the characteristics of the
wage worker is that when he has a
full stomach, he seldom stops to think
whether or not he will always have
the means whereby to fill 1t.
Does the average worker know that
the productive power of labor applied
to machinery is on the increase?
That labor-saving machinery Is CON
stantly being invented and improved
upon?
Does he even stop to wonder why
1t is that with all the up-to-date
machinery, steam engines, electricity,
,telegraphs, etc, that the working class,
as class, are no better off than their
ancestors of one hundred and fifty
years ago?
The wage worker thinks he Is better
off because civilization has reached a
higher plane, and because his master
the apitalist-through the press,
pulpit, school, etc, tell him So BE
hold" say the masters, I'VE have
electric light, where previously we
had candles; we have luxurious Pull
man cars, in place Of stage coaches
and miserable roads; we have swell
autos and fine horses; we can travel
and visit the beauty spots of the
earth" Yes, verify, 1--WE" are better
off.
or course, they are, but the wage
worker very rarely has these things;
hence the condition of the wage
worker is hardly better than that of
the workers before the advent of
| steam, etc.
You have heard your grandfather
talk of the good old times" History
tells us that the workers that lived
during the transition period did not
care for the change. 1t took many
police and many soldiers to hold them
down, and even then they smashed
the machines and burned the factories.
Do you think that If they had had a
ballot that they would have voted for
the system that they hated? Not on
your life; they were men!
The. working class of one hundred
years ago smashed, burned and buried
the machine that was doing their
work We know better now; we know
that the machine does not get the
profit that is displacing workers; we
know that the owner Of the machine
gets it. So If we wish to benefit our
selves, we must ourselves own the
machine, not smash 1t. We must de-
stroy, not the machine, but private
ownership of social necessities, social
utilities.
Is machinery still displaying labor?
Yes, the process is continuous. We
give below few examples of the ex-
tent to which the invention of labor
displacing devices has increased the
capitalists army of unemployed:
Labor DispIacins Machinery.
Today one man can spin as much
cotton as LOO spinners could in 1907
In weaving, one weaver does as
much work now as 81 could in our
grandfathers' time. $50 hands can
turn out as much cloth today as $4,000
could 100 years ago.
One man today can produce wagon
in the same time that it required 81
men to construct it only IS years ago.
In shipping one man does the work
Of 1000.
In the making of horseshoes 499
men out of 500 have lost their jobs.
In 1897, by reason of a new machine
81 men were replaced by one boy in
the making of tin cans.
During the past half century, IS per
cent of hand labor has been displaced
by machinery In the manufacture of
watches. In 1852 it required 1876 hours
to make size Is, key wound, brass
hunting watch movement. In 1896,
five hours saw the same job finished.
| Wheat Is now cut, threshed and
sacked at a labor cost of loss than 21h
cents per bushel.
The link belt electric coal mining
machine only requires five men to op-
crate it, and it will mine PIP tons of
coal in one day.
By the foregoing you will see that
the question of production has been
solved and the only question before us
now is, who shall own the products,
and this the workers can determine
by the ballot.