The labor advocate. [volume] (Cincinnati, Ohio) 1912-1937, 1916-10-28

was no higher than in the southern
plants where stalWart negroes worked
ten hours for $1.25, and where the lat
est machinery was used, while our mix
ing was done with hand shovels and
screens. This experience proves that in
creaslng wages and shortening the hours
OF labor do not necessarily increase the
cost per unit of work accomplished"
we reprint, the statement of the Ford
Motor Company upon "The Advantage.
of the Eight-Hour Workday Over the
Nine and Ten" 1t is as follows:
"A certain group of men working nine
hours under the old system assembled
$50 radiators. The same group working
eight hours under the new plan as
sembled 1,3OO radiators. A group of
men working nine hours under the old
plan turned out SO tenders. Under the
new, working eight hours, the same
men turned out so tenders. A group
OF 65 men working nine hours under
the old system turned out 500 gas
tanks. Under the new, working eight
hours, the 65 men turned out 1000
Hours were reduced, wages increased
and cost went down."
In addition, it may not be uninterest-
ing to recall statement which Mr.
Henry Ford made in Detroit, August
81, 1916, in a conference with Judge
Henry Neil, father of the mothers pen
sion system. Mr. Ford said that if he
had control of the railroads he would
cut the freight rates to one-third the
present rate, double the pay of the
railroad workers, and by cutting out the
iniquity of the railroad management,
make more profits for the stockholders
than are earned at present.
What happened in the Armour plant
and the Ford Company has been dupli-
Gated in many others. Whatever ele-
ment in the processes of production is
expensive or demands particular con-
sideration becomes the pivotal factor
with reference to which other factors
are adjusted. When the workers force
consideration for the indispensable hui
man labor power, then the workday,
mechanical and material equipment, san
itary provisions and arrangements are
all made to conserve human life
When the workers have made human
labor more costly than machinery, then
the latest and best machines, the best
management of materials will be pro-
vided in order to secure the best results
from the lesser hours of human labor.
Managerial skill can accomplish much
but it is never invoked until workers
present and force demands. The New
York Times, in commenting upon the
probable attitude of the railroads to-
ward the eight-hour law, comedies this
fact:
Between now and January 1, when
the eight law takes effect, the
railroad men of the country will give
a great deal of thought to their new
problem. Officers in charge of opera
ton will not depend entirely on the out
come of the work of the railroads legal
departments. They will consider the
possibility that the eight-hour law will
stand and will consider how it can be
met. New incentive is given by this
law to eliminate all waste time, for the
crew which can complete its run of 100
miles or less within the eight hours
would not get any more under the new
rule than the old. Possibly there are
many runs which are taking more than
eight hours now which railroad inge-
nuity-and it is very great-can con-
trive to complete within that time. Pos
sibly there are ways of coming much
nearer to giving the members of the
railroad unions an eight-hour day than
lllcN tIllnk possible or want
A valuable and authentic contribution
to the eight-hour day discussion is the
announcement that the United States
Navy Department announced on Sep
tember Is that the superdreadnaught
battle ship Arizona was completed on
schedule time and that Notwithstanding
the eight-hour workday prevails in the
government shipyards and that nine
hours generally prevails in private ship
wards. the cost of construction of the
Arizona was $1,OOO,OOO less than the
lowest bid of the privately owned ship
yards.
This fact is of significance with ref
erence to both humanitarian welfare and
economic progress-the eight-hour work
day, now universally approved, would
never have been established without the
organized labor movement. 1t was the
labor movement that advocated and
fought for eight hours when the princi-
pie was considered neither reputable nor
honest. It was the labor movement that
bore the brunt of struggle and suf-
fered. starved. sacrificed and fought that
the shorter workday might exist
1t is the labor movement that is back
of every new advance for eight hours
or for aught else and it is the labor
movement that alone can maintain the
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