Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-03

Yesterdays celebration Of Labor day
marked q high point in the development
Of organized labor in harmony with
general prosperity and unity Of inter-
est between Capital and Labor In
America. Only the radicals. carried
away with the holshevistic prejudice
that teaches antagonisn between the
worker and the employer. forget that
both parties need each other for eco
nomic progress.
In the present state Of labor. wherein
greater recognition lis given to the wage
Garner than had ever been known In the
history Of civilization. It Is hard to
realize the contrast between today and
yesterday for the workingman. the
skilled artisan. the farmland and the
common laborer" untaught In any
trade.
The whole theory of legislation re-
Rarding the control and benefit Of hui
mainly. in days but q few centuries
back. was based upon restraining the
workingman from too much prosperity.
To pay wages above the fixed legal rate
was crime, in the days Of Edward III
in England.
In the middle of the fourteenth CEN
fury the black plague. within o few
months, wiped out third Of the popu-
lation Of England and so reduced the
number Of workingmen that the sur
vivors found themselves in position
enabling them to demand better wages
and conditions Of work.
King Edward III issued a proclan1a-
ton directing all officials to see to 1t
that no higher than customary wages"
were paid, with penalties for evasion of
the decree. But the King was defied
by the laborerS, who fled into forests,
rather than accept the old pittances-
3 or 4 pence day. without board. When
they were captured, they were held in
prison until they would pledge them
selves not to accept higher than Gus
tomary wages"
Men were not free TO refuse to work.
Parliament passed law O347 ADJ
providing
"a No person under 90 years Of age.
whether serf or free. shall decline to
undertake farm labor at the wages
which had been customary in the Kings
twentieth year. except they lived by
merchandise, were regularly employed
in some mechanical craft. were pos
sesSed Of private means or were occu-
piers Of land. The lord was to have
first claim to the labor of his serfs. and
those who declined to work for him or
for others were to be sent to the COM
mon gaol.
t2) Imprisonment for all persons who
quit service before the time fixed in
their agreements.
t3 No other than old wages to be
given and those who seek more will be
tried IN the lords court.
az Lords Of manors paying more
than the customary amounts are liable
to treble damages.
t5) Artificers are liable to the same
penalties II they accept higher wages
etc.
Nevertheless. 50 scarce was labor that
the landlords were obliged to conspire
with their workers to evade the law, by
secretly paying higher rates than were
entered on their books and thus was
demonstrated that Law cannot fix
maximum wages without relation to
supply and demand.
y II X
In the sixteenth century GOOD Queen
Bess" tried to benefit workingmen, who
were suffering both from low wages and
debased currency, but even her govern
ment decided that legal restraint Of
wages was . necessity or a benefit, or
both. Also restriction of labor was en-
acted, making q penalty OF 40 shil-
lings q month II anybody undertook to
practice any manual occupation with
out seven years apprenticeship. Wage
rates we're fixed by decree of local mag
istrates, therefore not uniform.
X \
It was not until the middle Of the
nineteenth century 1850 that England
repealed the ancient laws against the
association Of workmen for the pur-
pose of raising their wages. and then
for some years the hours Of labor be-
came less in England than in any other
country considerably less than In the
United States.
Yet that was the country In which
the lawmakers Of the time of Edward
III had attempted to restrain poverty
and vagabondage by reducing all land
less and destitute poor to actual slav-
cry, branding them and forcing them
to work in chains. The atrocious at
tempt lasted only two years before Its
failure was 50 obvious that it was given