The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1917-01-05
Solution is Pressing

l.
last generation the problem confront
ing the United States as an industrial
nation, was how to increase the pub
lie wealth. Now, the question is how
to distribute the vast riches which |
have accumulated, very largely as a !
result of the efforts put forth by
workingmen. In this evolution, So
ciety has reached a stage where, in |
return for his days toll, it is possible
to give the workingman a wage upon
which he may live with reasonable
comfort and decency, and with which
he may obtain the necessaries and
some of the pleasures of life, which
in the past, society was too poor to
provide for him. The enormous in
crease in the productivity Of labor of
all sorts, due to the invention of ma
chimes and to the increased intelli-
gence of the workers, has now made
possible a condition which should per-
nit the wage Garner to enjoy small,
but fairly comfortable home, and to
secure an abundance of wholesome
and nourishing food The standard
of living of the year 1916 is differ
ent, a better and higher standard
than that which obtained half CEN
tury ago; the workingman is bet
ter workman, more intelligent, more
Industrious and more efficient than
his forefathers of fifty years ago.
Moreover the productivity of the
workman of the present day is, by
reason of better organization and the
use of machinery, enormously in ex-
cess of the productivity of the work.
man of half century ago. In every
department of activity men have be-
come increasingly able to perform
! more work and to obtain greater out
put. While the standard of living has
risen, it has not by any means kept
pace with the increased productivity
of labor. The larger product which
society now obtains from industry is
more than sufficient to enable the
workingman of the present time to
maintain a higher standard of living
if he were but getting just proper
! ton of the products of his labor. The
workmen of the Lead Belt have been
receiving fairly good wages fer the
past two or three years, but they. are
receiving far less than they should re-
ceive when we consider the price of
lead which, at the present time is
eight dollars per hundred, but as we
understand it, the employees of the
mining corporations receive about the
same wage at present that they have
been getting for several years, but
with their regular wage check they
also receive what they call bonus
check, thus receiving two checks for
the same time and the same work.
Now, with lead selling at $500, would
it not look much better for the COM
panies to raise the wages of their en-
ployes instead of sticking "bonus"
checks in their faces every two weeks.
When we set out to find the cause for
the companies paying with two checks
when one would do just as well, our
mind wanders back to a statute in
| this State that was enacted a good
many years ago. Sec. 1922, Revised
Statutes of Mo-, reads as follows:
l"And railway, mining. express, ele-
i graph, manufacturing or other COM
pany or corporation doing business in
| this State and desiring to reduce the
wages of its employees or any of them,
shall give to the employees to be at
IeCCeu CI10TeDy thirty udyo hoIiSS
thereof" There you are. There we
have the whole thing in nutshell.
Under the "bonus" system the "bonus"
may be cut off without notice or warn
ing but if the companies should raise
the wages of their employees to equal
the bonus, then the little statute l
have quoted would step in and say to
them, don't you reduce the wages of
those men without first giving them
thirty days notice. Taking into con-
sideration this statute, it is very plain
to any one why the companies will
go to the great trouble and expense of
issuing "bonus" checks. We hope the
companies will in the very near fu-
ture do away with the "bonus" check,
raise the wages of their employees in
proportion to the price Of lead and
thereby show to the world that they
have some confidence in their country
and mankind and a due regard for
'Ne WORKER