The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1920-12-17


tuation Of the labor mraket. When
therefore we are considering the re-
muneration of the worker, we must
bear both problems in mind. 1t would
be little use to invent an "ideal
wage" if for any considerable part
of his time the worker had no oppor-
tunity of earning it.
For the moment we may take these
problems separately and ask what are
the factors in the "ideal wage" if we
may so speak of it. ! think there are
three: First, the guaranteed mini
mum of which we have Just spoken;
second, variable quantity according
to the output of the individual; third,
variable addition according to thc
result of the undertaking-to put it
shortly, PIECE WORK WITH A
GUARANTEED MINIMUM AND A
BONUS ON PROFITS. This if real
lied, would secure the worker against
falling below the poverty line, put a
premium on his individual effort ami
give him an interest in the result of
his labor. 1t would follow logically
from the last condition that he
should, like other interested person :
have some voice in the management
of the concern and the distribution Of
its profits. And this would be the
great steadyng factor. 1t should en-
list him on the side of just and peace
full settlements and the avoidance of
strife, which would be pl1inly n
furious to the industry. Trc first
factor, the guaranteed minm NJ
wage, is row TO some eNtAnt recog-
nized and operative. Some Of the la
Dor unions are active in their en-
deavors to XII all piecewofk which
they should not be allowed to 10. 1t
is doubtful if without piet ework the
great industries in this country can
nernanentle flourish. "One ci the
happinesses of life is the contcntfnent
arising from good work we'll done"
We now come TO the third factor. lie
bonus on profits, and it presents con-
siderable difficulty. The worker is
renerally not in position to engage
in the business as a shareholder He
cannot embark other capital than his
own labor. or run the risk of loss
There have been many schemes for
partnership, or as it is sometimes
called in England, co-partnership, in
industries. Allowing the wage ques-
tion to be settled there remains the
question: question which at the
moment is growing in our midst
that of Unemployment which is one Of
the chief, if not the chief cause of la
Dor unrest. 1t Is the lack of security.
the fear that he may any day lose his
job, which, more than anything else
leads the workman to question the
existing social system He has an
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state is his employer. and that the
state will be obliged to take care that
he is not suddenly deprived of his
livelihood by the whim or arbitrary
decree of an individual or by the
fluctuations of supply and demand. It
would appear from the experiences of
other countries that the labor unions
are just as ready to hurl defiance at
the state as at the capitalist; this,
however, does not get us away from
the fact that little dullness may
throw a large number of men into a
stage of half employment which
quickly reduces them below the pow
erty line and inf1icts anxiety on 9TH
ers lest they should be brought into
the same position or entirely thrown
out of work. Labor unions cannot
prevent men from being discharged
or works shut down, and the remedy
it seeks to prevent this is the most
dangerous and ruinous one, of trying
to get the largest amount of employ
ment out of a given quantity of work
in the fear that there may not other
wise be enough to go around. This
"go easy" policy lowers production
and increases costs with the inevitable
result that demand is checked, and
the total of employment diminishes,
though in one trade or. in one area it
may be artifcially maintained. Many
remonstrances have been addressed
to the labouring classes during the
past year on the subject of output,
but mere lectures which do not real
ize their point of view are likely to
be futile. Until we seriously sit
down to the question of unemployment
and attempt to give to the working
class life, the security which it now
lacks, these uuack and extremely dis
astrous remedies will continue to be
applied, and the economists will re-
montsrate in vain.
To sum up, we have fallen into the
habit of thinking and speaking as if
the wages problem, the problem of
the remuneration of the worker. were
bound up with the revolutionary
changes in the structure of society.
the overthrow of capitalism, the es-
tablishment of socialism, communism,
bolshevism. in its place. That is not
really so. These new forms of soci-
ETY., even if successfully established,
would be faced with essentially the
same difficulties as face US now in
distributing the products of hands
and brains Justly between men and
women of differing capacities.
If we reject the Bolsheyist solu-
ton of forced labor and distribution.
at the fiat of small number of die
tators. who suppress all protests, the
controversy is merely transferred
from one pair of disputants, from
workmen and employers, to workmen
and the State. or the public So
whether we are individualists, or So
eialists. or communists or capital
lists, we have to tackle this problem
on its merits and endeavor to solve
it as a human problem raising ele-
mentary questions of justice and fair
ness between man and man. At pres
ent there is no solution to this ques-
tion that is satisfactory or final, and
since those who are called CAPITALISTS
are in possession it is for them es-
pecially to exert themselves to find
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