The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1917-06-29
RELATING TO RESPONSIBILITY
OF EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES
(By C. H. Younger, Commissioner of Labor)

IHe llTSI IWo years VI IIS wal, III
dustries were operated at a break
neck pace with the intent of maxi
mum in production regardless of all
other considerations such as the
health of operatives, men, women
and children. The result is that a
halt has been called upon this and
suspension of such high pressure,
and the exhaustng influence it had
upon the people thus employed, has
been promulgated by law. At the
earlier period of the war, law re-
strictions in behalf of labor were
either removed or suspended and the
result was worn out and broken
down condition in the health of the
laboring masses. This emphatically
established the necessity of normal
hours of work, good and sufficient
living conditions and an abundant
! time for rest and recreation. These
lapses between work and rest must
be regular and normal if the stabil-
ity of the worker is to be maintain
ed and the product of his labors be
up to the high standard of American
production. This thought brings us
back to one of the first and cardinal
principles upon which success is
! founded and that is that the race is
not to the fleetest of foot but to
those who remain longest in the race,
those who keep everlastingly at it.
A British authority treating on the
matter of hours of labor during the
existence of the war, and up to
year ago, speaking in particular of
overtime, says: "Overtime, by which
is meant lengthening of the nor
NAL hours of work, was the most
commonly used and most absurd ex-
pedient for increasing production,
especially in case of skilled men who
were difficult to recruit in large
numbers. Night work was resorted
to but was discouraged because it
was uneconomical, because of highe~
wages and lower output, and because
workers could not secure necessary
sleep in the day time and because of
digestion being endangered through
unwonted meal hours"
There is abundance of evidence to
prove that it does not pay to burn
the candle at both ends, and our
country should profit from the mis-
takes made by other nations in the
emergency that we must now face
and share alike. 1t resulted in
broken down industrial population.
These lessons from across the sea
should come home to us with their
| full force and the result should be
that we would profit from their ex-
perience and example by avoiding
both.
There is some clamor in this coun-
try for cheap labor to help solve
the problems of scarcity; Coolie or
Oriental labor has been mentioned.
! Whether this is from real necessity
or subterfuge with other ends in
view is matter for conjecture. At
all events it will be we'll to go very
slowly along such lines as these.
We have laws protecting against
such innovations as this proposed
Coolie labor and it is to be hoped
that governmental consent will not
be given to such proposition. 1t
has taken years to dignity American
,abor to the height it has attained
today and surely it is not consonant
with good citizenship that we let
down the bars and permit complete
decentralization of our present condi-
tions that it has taken 25 years of
intelligent action on the part of
working men to secure and the be-
nign influence of good laws to fos-
ter. But there are those who evil
IDENTIFY seem to be extremely anxious
that we have a decided condition of
free trade in this respect and who
are ultra -protectionists in so many
other views they seem to have of
! the economic situation. Organized
labor should look we'll to themselves
to see that there is no just cause
for such a drastic charge being made
in this the supreme hour when de-
mocracy is more at stake than ever
before in our history. The doing of
your part fully and perfectly is the
great obligation that is labor's re-
sponsibility at this time.
Regarding the rushing in of min
ors and children to fill the ranks,
there is no crying need for such a
crime as this. That is but another
excuse to establish a great emergen-
cy. 1t means lowering of standards,
that must be maintained it means
the decentralization of trades unions