The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1918-12-12
The Readjustment of Labor.

less than the average Just as ,bers
are Others that have enjoyed mara
out speaking generally. there ia a
good deal of leeway between tho 20
'ios OF Lo l and l. The motor.
ious iact that so many men have has,
ap'e 10 earn their living by the work
oi only four days per week has h.e,
ocular evidence of this. Every indus
.r'aiist knows that the output of pro.
oue's IN quantity per hour of labor
mas been much less during the last
year or two than in pre-war times. We
hearo the rate of production put at
only 66 2-S per cent by an experienced
observer, speaking only a fortnight
ago That is a very difficult general.
'zation to make with even approxim.
ATE accuracy, and We are disposed to
regard the figure of 66 % Der cent as
100 low for an average of all indus
try, but that it has been far below
loo per cent there is no question
, we have no doubt that there will
pe resistance by labor to any changes
II is not unlikely that there will be
an attempt to unionize the labor in
industries more extensively than Is at
present the case and keep the Jobs
within the unions. Some employers
may acqulesce to such a plan. Others
may refuse and there may be dis
putes about it. But the one thing
that is certain is that the wages for
labor are going to be determined by
the economic law The classic doe.
trine that labor is the residual claim
ant upon the product of industry,
l. e., that after rent. interest, and pro-
flts, which are determined and limited
by competition, have been deducted
from the produce Of a community Ia
Dor gets all the rest, may not hold true
during such period as the last four
years, but under natural conditions it
is generally true Now, more than
ever, should labor be taught that its
real interest Is to produce more, which
is to earn more, and employers should
not attempt to diminish labors re-
sidual claim by abolishing COMPETE
ton among themselves or artificially
enhancing profits by other means. And
just as it is the interest of labor to
earn the maximum. SO it is the duty
of the employer, which means that he
should ever be alert to improve his
methods of production. Wide differ
ences of plant efficiency, administra-
ton, ETC., are really the inspiration of
social unrest among workers, rather
than conditions that are Intentionally
designed to be evil. The social re-
former, who does not understand pro-
duction, is a far less important per-
son in the promotion Of human well
fare than the engineer, who does.
But, for the immediate question of
reimbursement, we submit to Washing
ton that shipbuilding, locomotive
building, and some other things must
go right on, for the world is going to
be short of those things for long
time to come The world is also go
ing to need an immense quantity of
steel rails, structural steel, sheet
metals and other things that may be
produced now and piled up until
needed There are some things, sui
phuric acid, for example, that can not
be stocked extensively, owing to the
lack of storage capacity, but even in
such a case there might be such an
expedient as taking acid to the phos-
phate works and accommodating acid
phosphate that some day will be
needed.
The economic question in such pro-
cedures is how much money should
the government, i. e., the whole peo-
pie, contribute to stocking up, charg-
ing off the expense to the war The
same might be said as to housing
plans, public improvements, etc
without any doubt, strenuous eff
forts should be made early next spring
to transfer the maximum number OF
men to the farms, and now is not too
soon to begin arranging for that. Do
nestle service offers a ready haven
for many women who are now oper-
ating trolley cars. working in factor
les, etc. But the immediate problem
Is to discontinue the production OF
shells, cartridges, rifles explosives,
etc. and to take care of the thous-
ands who will be thrown out of EN-
ployment at Bridgeport, Bethlehem,
Lowell, Hopewell and similar places.