Evening star., 1929-06-30
MASS PRODUCTION AGE
HELD BEST FOR LABORERS
Present Improved Conditions of Working
Class Cited in Reply to Joseph Caillaux,
Who Decried HOnOrs Paid Science.
BY JAMES ]. DAVIS,


TN reading the recent brillian
article of M. Joseph Caillaux. al
article that attributed the grosse
II evils of our time to the honol
paid Of science and its applica'
ton to society, I am reminded of {
prophecy made by Lord Macaulay many
years ago, in a letter written to q
gentleman in New York In depreciation
of Thomas Jefferson.
at is plain,'' wrote Macaulay, thai
your government will never be able tc
restrain a distressed and discontentec
majority. For with you the majority is
the government, and has the rich. who
are always a minority, absolutely at its
mercy. The day will come when
a multitude Of people none of whom
have had more than half a breakfast, OF
expects to have more than half din
ner, will choose the legislature.
"Is it possible to doubt what sort OF
Ia legislature will be chosen? On one
side is a statesman preaching patience
respect for vested rights, strict obServ-
ance of public faith. On the other
hand is a demagogue ranting about the
tyranny of capitalists and usurers
and asking why anybody should be per-
mitted to drink champagne and to ride
In a carriage, while thousands of honest
people are in want of necessaries. Which
of the two candidates Is likely to be
preferred by man whose children cry
for bread?
Felt Apprehension.
"T seriously apprehend that you will
In some suchS season of adversity as
have described, do things which will
prevent prosperity from returning =.
There will be, fear, spoliation. The
spoliation will increase distress. The
I kok~ xr,f1I f{OH1
There Is nothing to stay you .. AS
said before, when society has entered
on this downward progress, either civil
lization or liberty must perish. Either
some Caesar or Napoleon will seize the
sreins of government with a strong hand
or your republic viii be as fearfully
plundered and laid waste by barbarians
In the twentieth century as the Roman
Empire was In the fifth; with this
difference, that the Huns and Vandals
will have been engendered within your
country by your own institutions"
Now, If you compare the point OF
view expressed by M. Caillaux in his
recent article with the point OF view
expressed by Lord Macaulay in his let
ter to the New York gentleman you
will find that the cancel each other
Nacaulay thought that American civil
lization was in danger of being over
DtlTOWn DeCduSS tLlc WOLkClo WOu40 Ch-
Joy too little; M. Caillaux thinks that
American civilization is in danger be-
cause the workers are destined to en-
joy too much.
Contradictory Positions.
Macaulay had a vision Of workers
rising in rebellion because they did
not get enough to eat: M Caillaux
has a vision of workers rising IN rebel
lion because they are bored with .
civilization that enables them to live
ike lords and kings-much better, IN
fact, than kings and lords lived 300
years ago.
The prophecy of Macaulay has not
come to pass and If he were living
today he would say, have no doubt
that his prophecy was falsiled by the
very thing that M. Caillaux fears
namely, an extended application OF
science to industry which has culni-
mated, largely through mass production
in high wages, shorter hours and ar
almost infinite degree Of improvement
in the general condition of the working
classes. 1 think, too, that Macaulay
who has been dead for 20 years, would
rejoice at the outcome, for his instincts
were kindly and he was, so far as he
dared to be, a liberal.
M. Caillaux speaks Of the machine
maton to the detriment of the COM
munity and himself" Never was
description of condition less apt
M. Caillaux apparently forgets that
for thousands of yearS-untl yesterday
so to speak-al1 the producers Of
wealth were slaves or serfs, and thai
the machine became their emancipator
So long as it was possible to consider
the needs only of small class slave:
could do all the work and the machine
would have been nuisance.
Mass production, he thinks, works te
the disadvantage of the community be-
cause "many modern inventions were
made and prepared by worknen in the
anonymity of their daily tasks"
Inventions Unexpected"
The truth is that most of the great
inventions are the creations of the
last men from whom we should ma
turally have expected them. 1t Is
neither the humble worker nor th'
professional engineer to whom we art
indebted for the revolutionizing ma
chimes. James Watt, the inventor o.
the steam engine, was maker o
mathematical instruments, to whom {
body knows as the Incorporation o.
Hammermen refused permission u
work in any capacity in the town o
Glasgow. Fortunately the jurisdiction
of these men did not extend as far a.
the University of Glasgow, which gav'
Watt a workshop; and to this fac
humanity owes the steam engine.
Richard Arkwright, the inventor o
the spinning frame was barber; VII
liam Armstrong, the inventor Of tn
hydraulic engine, was solicitor, or
as we should say, lawyer; Edmunt
Cartwright, the inventor of the powe
loom, was a clergyman; Robert Ful
ton. inventor of the first commercial,
successful steamboat, was portrai
painter. One could give an extremel,
long list of similar examples. Nobod
would have predicted in advance tina
clergymen, lawyers, BARRIERS, portrai
painters and the makers of mathe
matical and musical instruments woul'
be the creators of an industrial revo
luton, but they were, Just as George
Grote and Walter Leaf, two of tn
greatest Greek scholars Of moderl
times, were London bankers, and q
the author of the greatest work writ
human win is free, Rowland Hazard
was a New England manufacturer Il
the small Rhode Island village o
Peacedale.
part of Animals"
Mr.. Caillaux says that mass produc
ton compels workers Ito play the par
of animals" I should answer, tina
for the first time in history it ha
raised them above playing that par
snd made human beings of then
Does he know of any time in the pas
when a worker had the dignity Of a.
American worker of today?
1t means nothing, apparently, t
some men that the workers of Americ
receive higher wages for less work tina
men have ever received in the pas
They speak with scorn Of the day whe
every worker will have a motor ca
and enjoy the charms of the Gin
ena, etc.