Library Institute of Industrial Relations University of Cal i fc rr ia THE AMERICAN WORKMAN THE American Workman BY E. LEVASSEUR. MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE. PROFESSOR IN THE COLLEGE OF FRANCE AND IN THE CONSERVATORY OF ARTS AND CRAFTS An American Translation By THOMAS S. ADAMS, Ph. D., Johns Hopkins University Edited by THEODORE MARBURG, of Baltimore BALTIMORE THE JOHNS HOPKINS PRESS I900 Copyright 1900, by N. MURRAY Z$i JSoro Q^afttmorc (press THE FRIEDENWALD COMPANY BALTIMORE, MD., U. S. A. lost. Indus. CONTENTS Editor's Preface ...... Author's Letter to the Translator Preface ........ Chapter I. — The Progress of American Industry in the Fifty Years ..... II. — The Productivity of Labor and Machinery III. — Labor Laws and Trade Regulations . IV. — Organizations of Labor V.— The Strike VI. — Wages of Men ..... VII. — Wages of Women and Children VIII. — Factors Determining Nominal Wages IX. — Real Wages and Workmen's Budgets X. — Present Conditions and Future Prospects Index Last vn ix xi I 44 104 178 232 276 336 359 393 436 5ii EDITOR'S PREFACE Emile Levasseur, the author of the " American Work- man," is a sincere and earnest man. The position he has occupied for more than a generation in the learned circles of Europe he owes not alone to his industry, knowledge and faculty for expression, but to a penetrating intellect and an unusual quality of final judgment of principles and events. It is valuable to have the vast material embraced in the present study pass through the mind of such a man, and to have his pronouncements upon the important ques- tions raised. It will be found that he has brought to the task an admirable understanding of America and sympathy with it. His comprehensive knowledge of the past and of cotemporary conditions elsewhere and his long experi- ence as a leader of thought in his own country enable him to give to the subject a proper perspective. Moreover the tribute he pays to American ingenuity and progress comes with better grace from him and bears a stamp of greater impartiality than if emanating from one of our own citizens. The translator, Thomas S. Adams, is a thoroughly trained economist. His work has been faithfully and ably done. Added value has been given the study by the degree to which Mr. Adams has enlarged the statistics. So far as possible all statistics have been brought down to date. Where the early figures had no particular significance, they were simply replaced by later ones. In other cases a new note has been added or an old one expanded. The addi- tions of the translator are noted thus: [Tr.] Professor Richard T. Ely brings to the attention of the editor the fact that his " Labor Movement in America " referred to by Professor Levasseur was written nearly fifteen years ago, that not merely have conditions changed since then, but that he has modified somewhat the opin- ions expressed therein. Theodore Marburg. AUTHOR'S LETTER TO THE TRANSLATOR Dear Sir and Colleague: Upon my first visit to America I was impressed from the beginning with the economic activity that appeared on every side. After having spent several months in visiting the Centennial Exposition, schools, manufacturing indus- tries and several large cities, I came away with the convic- tion that the transformation of the immense territory of the United States into a rich and civilized country, settled and cultivated scarcely more than a century, was due less to the natural qualities of the soil, however great they might be, than to the genius of the American people. I felt that the moral causes of this magnificent development contained useful lessons for the rest of the world, and that they mer- ited special study on this account. In 1893 I returned to America with the design of under- taking the present study. " You will find great changes " remarked an eminent historian and philosopher before my departure. And the changes did, indeed, seem very great. It is not in the American character to rest satisfied with past achievement; it is always pressing ahead. New lands brought under cultivation, a prodigious increase of me- chanical power, of industrial concentration, and of products, a multiplication of the means of communication, of large associations of capital, wider organization of the laboring class, and extension of education: in all branches of social and economic activity I found remarkable development. From the great number of subjects presented I had chosen in advance the organization of industry and the condition of the laborer, his relations with the entrepreneur and the state of his well-being considered as a private indi- vidual. The emphasis was placed upon the latter half of x Author's Letter to the Translator the subject, and on my return to France I devoted four years to writing The American Laborer. The United States constitutes the largest and most active laboratory of economic experiment in the world, and the so-called labor questions which agitate it, being the same as those which occupy the attention of Europe, I believed that such a publication would not only further the cause of science but that it might enlighten my own country- men upon problems which they themselves have to settle, or at least to comprehend. I also believed that such a study, grouping in one pic- ture a multitude of facts usually scattered throughout a great number of different writings, and pursued in a spirit strictly scientific — with impartiality, but with sympathy — might be not without value to American readers. A for- eigner sees the movement of a nation's life from a point of view different from that of the citizen interested and in- volved in the movement. The difficulty in the way of interesting an American au- dience was the language and the length of a work in two volumes. To Mr. Theodore Marburg and yourself, my grateful acknowledgments are due for the solution of this difficulty; to Mr. Marburg for editing and providing for the publication of the English edition in the Johns Hopkins University Studies, and to you for the translation and condensation of the work into a single volume. I have read your translation in manuscript, with pleas- ure, and at your suggestion have modified several state- ments of the original study. I am indebted to you also for the introduction of the more recent statistics. If, as I have hoped, the book renders some service to economic study in America, our mutual labors will have been rewarded. Sincerely, E. Levasseur. 26 Rue Monsicitr-Ic-Princc, Paris, September 12, 1900. PREFACE In 1893 tne Academic des Sciences Morales et Politiques entrusted to me the economic inquiry annually assigned to some member, and instructed me to study the condition of the laboring classes in the United States. I had made one visit to America in 1876. I made a sec- ond in 1893, in order to accomplish this mission, and spent five months in visiting factories, workshops and the homes of workingmen. During this time I endeavored to instruct myself by making the acquaintance of manufacturers, economists, and statisticians, to gather information by con- versation and reading, and to collect the literature relating to my subject. Since my return I have devoted more than three years to elaborating this and other material which has been sent to me, as it was published, by my order or through the courtesy of obliging colleagues, I thank them for their invaluable co-operation. 1 1 My acknowledgments are due, first of all, to the Hon. Carroll D. Wright, Commissioner of Labor, who while I was in America had the kindness to place me in communication with prominent manufacturers and with his colleagues, the chiefs of the State labor bureaus. Since my return he has aided me not only by sending me the important publications of his department, but by generously providing for the revision of the proofs of these two volumes. I include in my acknowledgments Mr. W. F. Willoughby, who was in immediate charge of this revision, and whose counsel has been most helpful. I wish to thank, also, Professor Mayo-Smith of Columbia University, who, happening to be at the same watering place as myself, kindly consented to read over the second and third parts; Mr. Sullivan, a member of the American Federation of Labor, who read the proof sheets of several chapters while he was in Paris towards the close of 1896, and gave me the benefit of his wide knowledge of labor problems; Mr. Gerin Lajoie, a Canadian physician whom I had the pleasure of meeting in Nashua, and later, in Paris; and Mr. Schaefer, an Alsatian, now living in Man- chester, New Hampshire. xii Preface Several times while the book was being written, I made the economic condition of the United States the subject of my course of lectures at the College de France, and I thus found it necessary not only to study the subject in detail, but to present my results as clearly as possible. During this time I contributed several extracts from the work to the reviews, particularly American reviews, in the hope of evoking criticisms which would help me to improve the work; several chapters, as they were written, I read before the Academy. I now present, in these two volumes, the complete result of my study of the American laborer. The work is divided into three parts. In the first, the Laborer at Work, I have considered the toiler. I have treated him in connection with the employer, and with the workshop where he spends his working day; in his rela- tions to production, of which he is an agent, and with whose increase his interests are intimately connected; as a member of those associations by which he hopes to regu- late to his advantage the conditions of the wage-contract. I have illustrated and discussed factory legislation, de- scribed the strike, and examined the various questions that arise in this connection ; the rate and variation of wages, non-employment caused by crises and slack seasons, com- petition with American labor created by immigration. From this study of facts I have attempted to evolve the law of wages and discover the causes which regulate the price of labor, purposely confining myself to a statement of the opinions of American writers who have treated the subj< In the second part, the Laborer at Home, I have con- sidered the man. I have described his manner of life, his food, dress, dwelling, recreations, habits. In the first part, the investigation centered around the workshop. Here, the family is the center of the investigation. The Laborer at Work ends with a study of nominal wages. The Laborer at Home ends with a study of real wages — the sum of well-being which the laborer as a man procures with the money he receives as a workman. Preface xiii If the first two parts are devoted to facts, the third part, I may almost say, is devoted to theories. In this part, Labor Problems, I have considered the antagonism be- tween capital and labor, the perpetual contrast between poverty and luxury, the dependence of the employee upon the employer, the precarious livelihood and the scant com- fort of the masses that live by their daily toil; finally, the causes which array one part of the laboring classes against the existing organization of society, inspire generous spirits with the desire of assisting their fellows, and to curious or speculative minds, suggest theories of social transformation by which they hope to eradicate positive evils. This is why I have found it necessary to describe the work of poor-relief, public and private, to examine the various forms of co-operation and employers' relief — particularly profit-sharing and productive co-operation — to investigate the extent to which arbitration and con- ciliation have proved useful in industrial disputes, to dis- cuss the assertion that the protective tariff is the bul- wark of high wages, to describe the experiments of social- istic settlements and depict the diverse theories and work- ing policy of socialism. In the last chapter I have briefly recapitulated the principal conclusions to which the study of facts has led me, and have ventured to cast a glance into the future which presents conditions seeming to promise for American industry and American labor. I have adopted this plan because it seemed clear and logical for a work which is essentially an economic history. Economic truths possess an interest of their own, inde- pendent of the inferences that can be drawn from them. One must have facts to grasp a situation or discuss a ques- tion with authority. The author's task is to gather accu- rately the greatest possible number of facts; to select, soberly and critically, those most fitted to characterize the situation; and finally, to group and exhibit them in an orderly arrangement so as to form, where possible, an instructive picture. xiv Preface Furthermore, these facts have causes and consequences. It is another duty of the author to present them in such a way that cause and consequence will appear in their proper relation, or at least be distinguishable. In economic history, as I understand it, the author is not a mere annalist; he is philosopher as well, who draws a moral from experience and attempts to enlighten eco- nomic practice by quoting the past at the same time that he labors to improve economic theory by investigating the laws which govern facts. Hence, while yielding the principal place to facts, he must review and pass judgment upon them. To be sincere and well informed, to pos- sess the judicial mind and a knowledge of the general prin- ciples of political economy, these are the essential quali- fications for the writer who would treat questions of this nature. The great historian of the revolution and the empire, Thiers, has compared the historical work to a perfectly transparent glass, through which every object is seen as in the plane of a perspective. To my mind, he asks at once too little and too much. The historian cannot show everything, nor should he attempt it. Composition always requires selection and arrangement, and every writer, whether he is conscious of it or not, is a judge. To con- tinue the analogy, I should say that the glass through which he causes the objects to be seen, may distort the images. But if the narration has been sufficiently faithful, the reader will have enough facts at his command, will be able to view them without the lens of the author, and may accept or reject the author's interpretations. There has been, and there will continue to be, much discussion as to the use of the historical method in politi- cal economy. Among economists, as in many other pro- fessions, there are a few narrow minds who are never able to see more than one side of a question. Some, starting from the principles that human society is in a state of un- ceasing evolution and that economic phenomena are mere Preface xv accidents of time and place, tell their story without caring to finish it and without attempting to look beneath the surface for the economic law in whose existence they do not believe. These are the annalists; they are not the real historians of political economy. Equally as unworthy of the title, are those who manipulate their facts as they would an army, bending the lines of history to fit the plan of their own preconceived campaign. Others declare that political economy is a science which has need of only a very limited number of observations to establish its fundamental laws upon a solid basis, These maintain that the essence of phenomena is always the same; they are convinced that a multiplicity of historical detail adds nothing, in fact, that it has the actual disad- vantage of obscuring the process of deduction by intro- ducing differences based upon wholly accidental condi- tions. Holding their views, one would be at a loss to construct a system of natural laws from the conglomera- tion of. abnormalities and economic errors which are so frequent in human societies. Such economists are pure theorists, and regard the science as wholly deductive and rational. There undoubtedly exists a special order of facts known as economic, which, without being the single center whither all the interests, ideas, and passions of humanity gravitate, forms nevertheless one of the pivotal points of the social movement. But this class of facts is intimately com- mingled with other social phenomena, and, after it has been isolated for the purposes of analysis, it cannot be rightly understood until it is studied in connection with the whole social movement peculiar to each nation and each epoch. It may be the subject of special study: it should be and it is, precisely, the subject-matter of eco- nomic science. It may be asserted that this science is at present incapable of complete development, on the grounds that contradictory and irreconcilable judgments often manifest themselves in the interpretation of economic facts, xvi Preface and that the social sciences, in conformity with the society they study, are in a state of perpetual becoming-. But it cannot be doubted that we have here the subject-matter of a science. In general, the economists of the first part of the nine- teenth century were theorists: Ricardo and Rossi, for in- stance, belong to this category. During the second half of the century more attention has been paid to historical research, the observation of phenomena, the condition of the people; and while these researches have enlarged the horizon and confirmed certain laws, they have also shaken the faith that was once reposed in the universality of others. Roscher was one of the masters who blazed the new path, and it was in his footsteps, some forty years ago, that I entered the domain of economic science, through the door of history, by writing the Rccherches Historiqucs sur le Sys- tems de Law, and afterwards, the Histoirc des Classes Ouvrtires en France. In a field so vast as economics, the student may take up the work at many different points and still produce fruit- ful studies. It has been said that political economv is a physico-social science. I add that it is more social and moral than physical, because the content of the science consists principally of the relations established between men in the exchange of goods and services, even though its subject — wealth — is material. Having a definite scope and a number of solidly established principles, political economy seems to be more advanced than most of the moral sciences. The theoretical school expounds the science, or some division of it, by a methodical concatenation of proposi- tions, and arrives at simple and logical conclusions through the processes of deduction. The experimental school presents the subject in a more concrete way by endeavor- ing to found its demonstrations upon positive proofs; but, though resting upon history, it has a dogmatic doctrine of its own. Observation preserves this school from the dan- Preface xvii ger of losing its qualities of reality and fruitfulness, allows it to test the doctrines of the deductive school, to penetrate the secrets of the life of nations, and thus to interpret the diversity of phenomena at a given epoch, or their variation from one epoch to another. As the material interests of society change, the experimental science may extend its researches and the bearing of its doctrines, and show the intimate relation that always exists between economic phenomena and the whole social being. Like all the moral sciences, political economy gives rise to various schools which sometimes succeed one another and sometimes exist side by side, struggling for the su- premacy. I would class myself with the liberal school, the school which is sometimes called classical, sometimes orthodox, though both terms are unfortunate. Orthodoxy in science should be unknown, and there is nothing truly clas- sical but the truth. No sincere effort to clear or cultivate the domain of economics is out of place. There is room for all: the narrator who is content to record facts; the statistician who enumerates them; the mathematician who, at a great risk of failure, attempts to fix in algebraic formulas the relations resulting from exchange. " Each study supple- ments the other; there is no rivalry or opposition between them," Professor Marshall has said. I prefer this attitude to that of those economists who feel themselves obliged to tear preceding theories to pieces in order to call atten- tion to their own innovations. They do not perceive that besides incurring the reproach of undue severity and lack of modesty, they discredit the authority of their own science. A small herb may be planted anew each year, but a great tree, that is to live through the centuries, retains its general form and develops by the gradual addi- tion of branches and the slow renewal of its tissues. Economic history has a prominent part in this har- monious development. It is true that the economist needs no history to establish certain simple notions, such as the axioms that production results from the co-operation of xviii Preface three factors, and that value is a ratio fixed by exchange lift ween two quantities of commodities, although these concepts, like others, were only gradually evolved and formulated in the works of the masters. But to differ- entiate accurately the roles of the three factors in past and present combinations of human industry, or to ascertain the relation of the methods of exchange to the general social economy of nations, we must have recourse both to history and a minute analysis of a large number of facts. The human mind has a natural inclination to simplify and generalize; it is one of its innate philosophical proper- ties. The economist obeys this inclination when he seeks to find the explanation of his phenomena in a single cause and condense its expression in a brief formula. But eco- nomic like all social phenomena are often the resultants of complex and even conflicting forces which do not lend themselves to this reduction. Such, it seems to me, is the law of population. In a theoretical chapter of my work La Population Frangaise, I have criticised the law which Malthus proposed, while eulogizing the author, and have tried to express it by a more flexible and comprehensive group of causes. In conformity with the same method, I have attempted in two chapters of the present work to enumerate and measure the influences affecting wages, and to gauge the interaction of the rate of wages and the standard of comfort of the laboring class. This is one of the principal theoretical subjects which I have proposed to myself in writing The American Laborer. Every economic movement does not necessarily lead to a formula, though the common basis of all is theorv. Many of these movements cannot be ignored by the economist, because they raise questions which are continuallv being thrust forward and which cannot be left unanswered. The labor problems are of this number: they have become social and political questions of the gravest importance. Many of those who concern themselves with these ques- tions regard them as the greatest menace of our times; Preface xix others hail them as the prelude to a social regeneration. I prefer to see in them an evolutionary crisis which con- flicting passions, rather than divergent interests, have in our day rendered acute. In all probability we shall be troubled with them for a long time. But from the very nature of things, the conflicting interests must finally be brought into harmony, passions be softened by a better provision for the contingencies that arise, and this without changing the basis of social organization necessary to the progress of civilization and the economical functioning of society. In this connection, without being absolutely op- timistic, I gladly apply to Europe what I say of America at the end of this work: Fata viam invenient. For although it is manifest that the equilibrium between the political and economic powers of every nation must in time be disturbed, and that the relations between the social classes must be modified by the progress of democracy and the development of industry, it is impossible that the whole civilization of the world should suffer an eclipse so long as science, liberty and individual enterprise exist. The transformation of small manufactures and the growth of the unit of industry, the regulation and inspec- tion of factories, the employment of machinery and manual labor, the work of women and children, the competition between native and imported labor, apprenticeship and manual training, the mode of payment and the rate of wages, the causes and effects of the diversity of wages, profit-sharing and premiums for fast work, strikes and lock-outs, arbitration and conciliation, the conditions of living and the lodging of the working classes, the influ- ence of the standard of comfort upon the rate of wages, saving and foresight in workingmeirs families, pauperism and poor-relief, employers' aid, labor-unions and associa- tions of employers, co-operative production and consump- tion, the propaganda of a spirit of antagonism between em- ployer and employee, the desire for revolution common to all systems of socialism in spite of their diversity: these xx Preface are some of the facts, movements and problems which are to-day presented in the industrial world. They are often spoken of collectively as the labor question or the social question, but they are really distinct problems for the most part, incapable of settlement by a single solution. While we are not to lose sight of the bonds that unite them, we must study them one at a time, trace out the cause, the essence, the effect of each movement, and, where it is pos- sible, the special solution of each problem. As a rule, this group of facts and ideas is the more varied, animated, and important as the industrial centers in which they manifest themselves are freer, larger and more active. In these three qualities the United States yield place to none. Thanks to the number of inhabitants, the spirit of enter- prise and the industrial freedom which characterize them, they have come to be a laboratory for social and industrial experiments, vaster and more active than any other in the world. It is fitting that we should study them; for their own sake, in the first place, that we may know the United States: in the second place, for the inspiring example they offer science in its task of solving similar problems in Europe. This is why I have written The American Laborer. E. Levasseur. CHAPTER I. THE PROGRESS OF AMERICAN INDUSTRY IN THE LAST FIFTY YEARS Brief Comparison Between the Statistics of Agri- culture and Manufactures; the Value of Census Statistics Agriculture is the principal source of wealth in the United States, and, as I have shown in my work, U Agri- culture aux Etats-Unis, it has undergone a notable develop- ment since the Civil War. 1 The progress of manufactures, which develop later than agriculture, has been even more rapid in the last twenty-five years, and although the sta- tistics are not accurate enough to permit an exact measure- ment of the importance of this change, some idea of it may be obtained from a comparison of the census sta- tistics of 1880 with those of 1890. In 1880 the capital employed in agriculture was estimated at $12,104,001,538, the value of agricultural products at $2,212,540,927. In 1 It is noteworthy, however, that at first, the colonial promoters looked to manufactures rather than to agriculture for their profits. In his second voyage to the United States, Captain Newport brought over a number of workmen skilled in the manufacture of pitch, tar, glass, soap-ashes, etc., who were employed in various forest industries. The directors of the London Company having threatened to abandon the colonists unless some return for their adventure was forthcoming. Captain Smith made an immediate shipment of cedar posts, walnut boards, and other products of their industrial experiments. The attempts at manufacturing were but moderately successful. In ten years the workshops were in ruins and the colonists had turned to the cultivation of tobacco. See The Industrial Evolution of the United States, by Carroll D. Wright, p. 23. 2 The American Laborer 1890 the capital had increased to $15,982,267,689 and the value of the products to $2,460,107,454. The capital em- ployed in manufactures was estimated at $2,790,272,606 in 1880 and at $6,525,156,486 in 1890. The respective valua- tions of manufactured products in 1880 and 1890 were $5'369.579- I 9i and $9,372,437,283. The truth of these figures cannot be admitted. It is impossible to believe that the value of the manufactured products is actually four times as great as that of the agri- cultural products, or that the value of the products manu- factured in one year greatly exceeds the capital employed in their production. The valuation of the products is plainly exaggerated. This exaggeration is accounted for by the following facts. Agricultural produce is generally valued at the farms and is counted but once. Manufac- tured products, on the other hand, are counted at each fac- tory and the same raw material figures in a series of values which increase every time the material passes from one manufacturer to another. 2 The figures of one census are not strictly comparable with those of another, even when we confine ourselves to manufactures. Statistics of this kind are always and every- where mere approximations, often vague, often purposely false, and in the United States, the form of inquiry and the mode of grouping the returns vary from one census to another. In the census of 1890, an effort was made to avoid these errors by distinguishing the value of the material from that of the product, and by preparing a comparative table which included only those industries investigated in both ' The American statisticians, and Col. Wright in particular, realize that the estimates of the manufactured product are exces- sive. As Col. Wright expresses it: "No calculation has been made in any case which would eliminate the raw material: so there is a constant duplication, and sometimes a reduplication of values in the value of the product, because the raw material of one manu- facturer is the finished product of another." The Progress of American Industry 3 the tenth and the eleventh censuses. 3 Subtracting the value of the material from that of the product, the surplus created by the process of manufacture was found to be about two billion dollars in 1880 and about four billion in 1890. But this correction — a very delicate one — is in- sufficient. I cannot believe that a value greater than that of the aggregate agricultural product has been added by the process of manufacture, and if some duplication did not remain, we should not find five billion dollars' worth of raw material consumed in the manufacturing industries of a country in which agriculture yields less than two and one-half billion. However, as the same method of com- putation was employed in 1880 as in 1890, the apparently legitimate conclusion is reached that the value of manufac- tured products has increased about sixty-nine per cent, in the ten years 1880- 1890, while the agricultural product has increased in value (a very different thing, it should be noted, from an increase in quantity) only about nine per cent. It will not do to press the comparison too far, how- ever, and conclude that there has been an increase of just sixty-nine per cent, in ten years. In spite of the care taken to compare only those industries which appear in both documents, it is probable that the figures still fail to represent units of exactly the same kind. By far the most defective item in the statistics of manu- factures is that of capital. 4 It is represented to be very 3 Comparative statement of the growth of manufactures (taken from the Abstract of the Eleventh Census): Number of establishments 1880. 1890. oflncrease. reporting 253,502 322,638 27.3 Capital $2,780,766,895 $6,139,397,785 120.8 Miscellaneous expenses $615,337,620 .... Total number of employees (average) 2,700,732 4.476,884 65.8 Total wages $939,462,252 $2,171,750,183 131.2 Cost of materials used 3,395,925,123 5,021,453,326 47.'.) Value of products 5,349,191,458 9,056,764,996 69.31 4 Superintendent Walker of the Tenth Census explained this de- fect and quoted a proposal, made by himself at an earlier date, to abandon this inquiry. " The census returns of capital are entirely 4 The American Laborer much less than the value of the annual product — a very- doubtful proposition if real estate be included in capital. In the censuses previous to 1890 the value of the product averages about twice as much as the capital. In these cen- suses it is known that some manufacturers counted their real property when they owned it, while others omitted the real property when they held it by lease. There were probably some who made false declarations in order not to disclose their real conditions and expose themselves to increased taxation. The rise of capital in 1890 to a figure greater than one-half that of the product, is explained by the fact that in the eleventh census the inquiry concerning capital was modified. The amount, however, is probably still too small. In comparing statistics of the United States for two dif- ferent epochs, or in comparing them with the statistics of France or England, two considerations should be kept in mind: (1) that in 1790 the area of the United States was 827,844 square miles and the population 3,929,214, in 1850, the area 2,980,939 square miles and the population 23,191,876, while in 1890, the area (including Alaska) was 3,558,009 square miles and the population 62,622,250; (2) that consequently, in 1890, the statistics apply to a territory (Alaska excluded) more than twenty-five times as large as that of the British Isles and more than forty times that of France, and to a population which is from sixty-six to seventy per cent, greater than that of either of these states. With the preceding reservations, a comparison of cen- sus statistics may be made very instructive. The compari- son may be carried back as far as 1850, bearing in mind that the methods have been gradually improved and that the figures are less reliable the further back we go. It should also be noted that, when the census of 1870 was untrustworthy and elusive. The inquiry is one of which it is not too much to say that it ought never to be embraced in the sched- ules of the census." Tenth Census, " Statistics of Manufactures," p. xxxix. The Progress of American Industry 5 taken, the United States was under a regime of depre- ciated paper money and prices were inflated. For this reason no valid comparison of values can be made without expressing - them in gold. GENERAL TABLE OF MANUFACTURES. Number Average number Total Tear. of Capital. of employees value of establishments. per year. products. (00O,O00's COCO's (000.000's omitted.) omitted.) omitted.) 1850' 123,025 $ 533 957 §1,019 1860 140,433 1,009 1,311 1,885 1870 2 4,233 1870 3 252,148 1,694 2,054 3,385 1880 253,852 2,790 2,732 5,369 1890* 355,415 6,525 4,712 9,372 1 From 1850 to 1870 only those establishments were enumerated whose production exceeded $500. - Currency values. 3 Gold values. 4 In 1890 the value of products included receipts from repairing. Capital and employees were tabulated according to a classification dif- ferent from that employed in the preceding censuses. From this table, several numerical conclusions concern- ing the development of manufactures may be drawn: (i) The number of establishments seems to have tripled since 1850, and to have increased about 40 per cent, from 1880 to 1890. In reality the increase has not been so great, because the enumeration has become more complete. (2) Since 1850 the value of the products is shown to have in- creased about ninefold, and the rate of increase per decade has varied from fifty-eight to eighty-five per cent, (3) The number of employees has increased fivefold since 1850, the increase per decade varying from thirty-three to sev- enty-two per cent. (4) The difference between the in- crease of the product and that of the employees seems to indicate that the average productivity of the laborer has increased. The comparative statement quoted on page 19 confirms these conclusions, although the latter have little numerical value. They cannot be considered to represent actual relations with any exactitude, because of the inaccu- 6 The American Laborer racy of the returns, but they indicate a real tendency. 5 In his Industrial Evolution of the United States," page 187, Col. Wright justly observes that although the limitations of such inferences are very great, a comparison of the aggre- gate manufactured product in 1790 — vaguely estimated at $20,000,000 — with its value a century later — about $9,372,- 000,000 — furnishes irrefutable proof of a marvellous in- dustrial development. To give an adequate account of this development it is necessary to examine each branch of industry separately. I shall make a brief examination of the more important industries, borrowing the statistics from various, but al- ways from the most authoritative, sources. The practical unanimity of the results will strengthen the general notion of progress derived from the census statistics. Extractive Industries. Fuels. — Excluding agriculture, the most important group of this class is undoubtedly that of mineral indus- tries, since with agriculture, hunting and fishing, it fur- nishes the materials for all other industries. 5 The census of 1890 was more complete in some parts than that of 1880. See Compendium of the Eleventh Census, pt. ii, p. 704. In the decade 1880-1890, for instance, the number of masons is repre- sented as having increased from 16,020 to 119,429, the number of carpenters from 54,138 to 140,120. In these instances, the increase is plainly exaggerated. Col. Wright, who did not take charge of the census until after the material had been gathered, thinks the increase is due to an improved enumeration in the cities and a special enumeration of the hand trades. I shall have occasion to revert, in the chapter on wages, to the estimates given in the re- ports of the eleventh census. It may be laid down as a general truth, that a census of wealth is more difficult to take than a cen- sus of the population, and is exposed to greater errors. Notwith- standing these facts the United States undertakes the former task at each decennial census, and furnishes thereby a store of infor- mation that is not accessible in any other country — precious ma- terial for economic study when it is used with discretion. " A clear and adequate resume of the progress of industry and the conditions of labor in the United States. It is to be recom- mended on account of the author's profound knowledge of the sub- ject. The Progress of American Industry 7 The United States has been very liberally endowed by nature with the industrial minerals, although through ignorance or lack of transportation facilities, they remained undeveloped for a long time. From 1830 to 1850, the pro- duction of coal increased from 1,300,000 to 57,000,000 tons. This was but a beginning; 7 the rapid development of this industry has taken place since the Civil War. In addition to the anthracite fields of Pennsylvania and New England, 8 the following fields have been discovered: the Pacific coast field, the Rocky Mountain, the Illinois or Central and the Michigan or Northern fields, the Triassic field of North Carolina, the western field which occupies a part of Missouri and the neighboring states, and the bituminous field of the Appalachians, underlying almost half of the surface of this great mountain chain for a length of more than 900 miles. The probable area of coal-bear- ing lands is roughly estimated by the statisticians at 200,- 000 square miles. 9 At the Centennial Exposition in 1876, the United States displayed to the world for the first time, its superior resources in this line of production. The an- 7 Anthracite has been mined in Pennsylvania since 1820. at which date the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company began operations at Summit Hill, although only since 1840 has it assumed any im- portance. In 1833, when M. Michel Chevalier was in America, anthracite was in demand for household purposes, but had scarcely begun to be employed in steam engines. See Mineral Resources of the United States, 1883. pp. 11 and 13. 8 The New England beds are graphite. 9 ESTIMATES PER FIELD FOR 1898. Area. Product. Anthracite. So., miles. Short tons. New England ' 500 Pennsylvania 480 53,382,644 Bituminous. Virginia and North Carolina 2,880 38,938 Appalachian 62,690 114,239,156 Michigan 6,700 315,722 Central 47,750 25,816,874 Western 98,500 13,988,436 Rocky Mountain 10,042,759 Pacific Coast 2,103,043 Totalproduct including colliery consump- tion 219,974,667 8 The American Laborer nual production was then about 50,000,000 tons: in 1899 it amounted to nearly 260,000,000.™ Adding to the coal production the production of petro- leum, which has given rise to so much speculation since 1859," and that of natural gas, which is employed for manu- facturing purposes, 12 particularly around Pittsburg, it is found that the annual production of fuels exceeds in value $230,000,000. 10 Mineral Resources, 1898, p. 315. These results are expressed in short tons of 2000 lbs. The following table shows the progress by decades (long tons of 2240 lbs.): Bituminous. Anthracite. Years. (000,000's omitted.) (000,000's omitted.) L830 1.1 0.2 1840 2.1 1.0 1850 1.8 3.9 1860 5.2 9.9 1870 17.6 15.6 1880 41.8 28.6 L890 99.4 41.5 1893 114.6 48.2 1898 148.7 47.6 11 The Indians were acquainted with petroleum, but it was not until after James Young discovered how to extract paraffine from it, and the Colonel Drake well was drilled (in 1859), that the pro- duction of petroleum assumed a commercial importance. In 1880 there were 86 refineries whose total production was valued at $43,000,000. In 1889 there were 94 refineries with a product worth about $85,000,000. The growth of the production is shown in the following table: Years. Barrels. ls,, ° 500,000 ls; " 5,260,745 1 ss() 26,286,123 1890 45,822,672 1 89S 48,412,666 1898 55,364,233 "The natural gas consumed in 1898 was valued at $15,296,813, and the petroleum at $44,193,359. The production of natural gas is probably decreasing in quantity, but the value of the produc- tion is increasing ($13,826,422 in 1897. $15,296,813 in 1898). Petro- leum exhibited a similar tendency in 1897-98; the quantity de- creased from 60.4 to 55.3 million barrels, while the value of the production increased from $40,874,072 to $44,193,359. [Tr.] The Progress of American Industry 9 The production of coke in the United States has nearly quadrupled in the last seventeen years, rising from 3,338,- 300 (short) tons in 1880 to 16,047,209 tons in 1898. In the same interval the number of ovens rose from 12,372 to 48,447. Of the latter number, 27,157 were situated in Pennsylvania, and their output constituted two-thirds of the total production in 1898 (10,715,302 tons). West Virginia came second (twelve per cent, of the total output in 1898). The production in 1898 was the greatest ever recorded in the United States, both in quantity and value. The average price was lower than in 1897 or 1896. Nonmctallic minerals in general. — After the fuels, struc- tural materials are the most important, although in the United States more houses are built of wood than of brick, and more of brick than of stone. The value of the build- ing stones quarried in Ohio, Maine, Pennsylvania, Massa- chusetts and other states was estimated in 1898 at $38,441,- 354 (about $10,000,000 less than in 1892); clay products at $71,597,380; cement at $9,859,501; brick clay at $9,000,000; salt at 6,212,554; phosphate rock at $3,453,460. The total value (spot values at points of production) of the non- metallic mineral products was $353,419,765 in 1898. In 1880 it was estimated at $173,279,135. Total z'alue of metallic products.. — The value of the me- tallic products in 1898 was $343,400,955. In this total, $116,557,000 represented pig iron; $70,384,485, silver; 13 $64,463,000, gold; $61,865,276, copper; $16,650,000, lead; $10,385,910, zinc; $1,188,627, quicksilver; $1,716,000 alum- inum. In other words, there is not a single useful metal or mineral which the United States cannot produce from its own soil. From 1880 to 1892 the value of metallic pro- ducts increased about sixty per cent. The crisis of 1893 checked production and lowered prices to such an extent that the total value of minerals and metals, which in 1892 13 Silver is estimated at its coining value, i. e., 16 to 1. Its mark- et value is more than fifty per cent. less. 10 The American Laborer was $648,616,954, fell to $527,144,381 in 1894. The growth of the metallic and nonmetallic mineral indus- tries, and the temporary depression due to the crisis of 1893, is shown in the appended table. 14 Precious metals. — A little gold was mined in the South in the first part of the century, but for all practical pur- poses the production of the precious metals in the United States is of comparatively recent origin. It was the dis- covery of the California placers in 1848 that made the United States an important factor in the gold supply, and the discovery of the Nevada mines in 1859 made it a no less important factor in the production of silver. From 1834 to 1848 the total production of gold was only $10,536,769. In the ten years 1850-1859 it amounted to $555,000,000, an average annual production of $55,500,000. After 1859 the production diminished, reaching a minimum, $30,000,000, in 1883, but since then it has gradually increased. Omit- ting the three years 1852- 1854, the production of 1897, $57,363,000, was the largest in the history of the United States. The production of silver gradually increased from $50,000 in 1857 to $82,101,000 in 1892. Since that year it has shown a tendency to diminish, the product of 14 The figures given in the World Almanac are larger than the following official figures given in the annual publication: Mineral Resources of the United States: PRODUCTION OF MINERALS. Tear?. Nonmetallic Metallic Total, products. products. 1880 SITS, 279,135 $190,039,865 $369,319,0001 1890 312,770,491 305,735,670 619,506,1612 1891 321,750,171 300,232,798 622,988,9692 1892 339,900,715 307,716,239 648,616,9542 1898 323,219,941 249,981,866 574,201,8072 1894 308,486,774 218,168,788 527,665,5622 1 895 339,715,046 281,913,639 622,62S,6852 1896 335,139,820 287,596,906 623.736,7262 1891 329,113,845 302,198,502 632,312,3472 1898 353,419,705 343,400,955 697,820,7202 1 From Eleventh ' nts; 16,000,000 added for unspecified products. -From the Statistical Abstract; $1,000,000 added for unspecified products. The Progress of American Industry 11 1898 being estimated at $70,384,485, coining value, and $32,118,420, commercial value. 15 Base metals other than iron. — Copper ore is very abun- dant about Lake Superior, particularly in the peninsula of Keweenaw, and it contains a larger proportion of copper than most of the European ores. The metal was known to the Indians and had been worked by them, with their tools of chipped flint, before the arrival of European set- tlers. About 1845 tne Americans took up the work with modern machinery, and by 1870 were extracting from the Lake mines about 11,000 tons per annum, almost the whole amount produced in America at that time (12,600 tons). 16 Towards 1880 the Butte district in Montana began to attract miners. Ten years later it was yielding more than 50,000 tons a year, 17 and the product of 1890 was nearly doubled in 1898. The United States, with a production of 235,050 tons in 1898, now holds first rank among the cop- per-producing countries of the world. According to 15 Tl- le production of the precious metals in every fifth year, ac- cording to the Report of the Director of the 1 Mint, is as f Silver. ollows: Years. California. Other States Total. Gold and and Coining silver. Territories. value. 1845.. $1,008,327 $1,008,327 $50,000 $1,058,327 1850.. 50,000,000 50,000,000 50,000 50,050,000 1855. . 55,000,000 55,000,000 50,000 55,050,000 1860. . 45,000,000 1,000,000 46,000,000 150,000 46,150,000 1865.. 28,500,000 24,725,000 53,225,000 11,250,000 64,475,000 1870. . 25,000,000 25,000,000 50,000,000 16,000,000 66,000,000 1875. . 17,617,000 15,783,000 33,400,000 31,700,000 65,100,000 1880. . 17,500,000 18,500,000 36,000,000 39,200,000 75,200,000 1885 . . 12,700,000 19,100,000 31,800,000 51,600,000 83,400,000 1890.. 12,500,090 20,345,000 32,845,000 70,485,714 103,330,714 1895.. 14,928,600 31,681,400 46,610,000 72,051,000 118,661,000 1898. . 15,637,900 48,825,100 64,463,000 70,384,485 134,847,485 16 In 1897 the Lake Superior mines yielded 66.291 tons, but this was only thirty per cent, of the total production. 17 " To-day the greatest mining camp in the world," Mineral Re- sources, 1891. The Montana production fell off, however, in 1898. The interesting feature of the copper production at present, is the rapid increase in the Arizona output. In 1883 Arizona produced 23,874.963 pounds; in 1893, 43,902,824 pounds; in 1898. 111,158.246 pounds. [Tr.] 12 The American Laborer Mineral Resources for 1898, the world's production was 432,905 long tons in 1898, of which the United States pro- duced 235,050. La Statistique de Vlndusirie Minerale, pub- lished by the French office of public works, estimated the world's production at 458,000,000 kilograms, of which the United States contributed 292,000,000. The world's pro- duction in 1870 was estimated at 94,000,000 kilograms, of which only 12,200,000 were credited to the United States. 18 Lead mining is not conducted on so large a scale, but the growth of the production is remarkable, the output in- creasing from 17,800 tons in 1870 to 222,000 tons 19 in 1898. The production of zinc increased nearly sixteen- fold between 1873 and 1898; 7.343 tons in 1873, 115,399 tons in 1898. 20 The production of quicksilver increased six- fold from i860 to 1880, and although it has fallen off since then, 21 its production has stimulated silver mining. Man- ganese, tin, aluminum, nickel, chrome, antimony and platinum are also produced, but in small quantities. Scarcely a single industrial mineral or metal is unrepre- sented in the catalogue of the natural wealth of this great country, and in the production of several, the United States holds first (V, g. in petroleum, copper, etc.) or second (in coal, etc.) rank. Iron ore. — Iron ore is very abundant, being found in almost every state. The most celebrated mines are those 18 The increase in production has lowered prices considerably, but the price of copper exhibits an unusual amount of instability. In January, 1880, Lake Superior copper sold for 25 cents a pound in the New York market. In July, 1S86, it fell to 10 cents, rose to 17 cents in 1888, and then steadily declined until it reached 9 cents in 1894. Since that year the price has slowly risen, reaching 17 cents in May, 1900. 19 Short tons unless otherwise stated. The world's production of lead, according to Mineral Resources tor 1898, p. 246. was 781.694 metric tons, of which 201.452. the largest amount produced by any one country, came from the United States. ' So,268 long tons produced (by Illinois, Kansas and Missouri) in 1897, out of a world's production of 437.263 tons. 21 60.000 flasks in 1880. 31.092 in 1898. This is about one-fourth of the total production of the civilized world. The Progress of American Industry 13 of Lake Superior, which were known to the Indians before the arrival of the Europeans. In 1845 an Indian chief led a Frenchman to Iron Moun- tain (the red hematite of the Marquette, Gogebic and Menominee Ranges), not far from Marquette." This was probably the beginning of the Lake Superior iron industry, although there was no systematic prosecution of it until after a road, a tramway and finally (1857) a railroad had been built. The Lake region produced almost 14,000,000 (long) tons in 1898. The ore is easily reduced, of superior quality and some of the Wisconsin ores contain more than sixty-four per cent, of iron. Michigan is first in the production of iron ore, followed by Minnesota, Ala- bama, Pennsylvania and Tennessee, in the order named. The United States do not produce all they consume, how- ever; from 500,000 to 1,000,000 tons are imported an- nually. 23 Iron and steel industries. — There was no active develop- ment of the iron manufacture in the American colonies, until after they had been delivered from the industrial servitude of the colonial era, and necessity had made them industrially self-supporting. 2 * 22 The discovery of the Marquette Range is attributed to Dr. Houghton by the Geological Survey. " When Michigan became a State in 1837 and Dr. Houghton was appointed State geologist, the systematic exploration of the Upper Peninsula was begun. On the failure of the State to raise enough money to carry on the work in detail, he persuaded the authorities at Washington to com- bine a geological survey with that of the township and subdivision lines; and it was a result of this work that iron ore was first discovered in 1844." Mr. J. E. Jopling, M. E., in the Nineteenth Annual Report of the Geological Survey, pt. vi, p. 56. [Tr.] 23 The total production in the United States was 19,433,716 (long) tons in 1898. This is the largest amount ever produced in any country. Since 1896 the imports of iron ore have fallen off from 682,806 to 187,208 (long) tons. [Tr.] 24 There were, however, some establishments of modest import- ance during the colonial period. Iron ore was discovered by Ra- leigh's first expedition in 1585, and in 1608 a small quantity was exported from Virginia. In 1619, 150 laborers were brought from 3 14 The American Laborer At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, Pennsyl- vania already held first rank in the manufacture of iron. She possessed at that time " probably sixty blast furnaces and forges and several slitting mills and steel works." The furnaces of Cornwall and Warwick were 32 feet high and heated entirely by charcoal. 20 They each made from 25 to 30 tons per week, which was regarded as a great feat in those days. The discovery' by Hayden in 1789 (or per- haps earlier) of the mines west of the Alleghanies, opened up a vaster field for development. The production grew rapidly after the war. Furnaces, forges, rolling mills and steel works sprang up in the Juni- ata valley and that of the Appalachians. After one unsuc- cessful attempt in 1792, the first foundry was established at Pittsburg in 1803-5. In 1810, out of the 50,000 tons of pig iron produced in the United States, Pennsylvania pro- duced 27,000. In 1 83 1, Pittsburg had two steel works. England and " an iron work " was established at Falling Creek, a branch of the James River; but the Indians massacred the work- men and burned the works. In 1635 a blast furnace, which re- mained in operation until the end of the eighteenth century, was built at Pawtucket, Rhode Island. In 1644 a foundry was estab- lished at Lynn, Massachusetts, and in 1648, a furnace and a forge, at Braintree, largely through the exertions of John Winthrop, Jr. The Lynn furnace ceased operation in 1680 on account of the difficulty of obtaining fuel. During the eighteenth century the iron manufacture was also of some importance in New York, New Jersey. Maryland and Penn- sylvania. In Pennsylvania iron is first recorded to have been made in 1792, and it is certain that a forge was in existence in 1728. The huge steel chain of 186 tons, with which the Americans blockaded the Hudson during the Revolutionary War, was manufactured by the Sterling forge in New York, from ore mined in the vicinity. In Connecticut and other places steel was manufactured. The three blast furnaces of Pennsylvania were operated by English. Irish and a few German workmen who had slaves under them as laborers. Pig iron sold at the furnaces for £3 6s. per ton, and bar iron at £20 per ton on six months' credit. For the origin and de- velopment of the iron manufacture in each of the States, see Iron in All Ages, by Jas. M. Swank, 1892. 24 400 bushels of charcoal were required to produce a ton of hammered bar iron. The Progress of American Industry 15 Until 1840, all the pig iron was made with charcoal. After many unsuccessful attempts between 181 5 and 1840, David Thomas succeeded in running a blast furnace with anthracite, and from the latter year, the use of this fuel made rapid headway in the manufacture of iron. Five years later coke began to be substituted for charcoal, although it was not until after 1850 that the process of smelting with coke and bituminous coal became general. Since that year there has been an interesting contest be- tween these fuels; anthracite coal taking first place in 1855, only to yield it to bituminous, which is cheaper, in 1875. The production of pig iron, classified according to the kind of fuel used in smelting, is shown in the follow- ing table: Years. Anthracite. Charcoal. Bituminous. Total. Short tons. Short tons. Short tons. Short tons. 1840 321,000 1850 632,000 1854 339,435 342,298 54,485 736,218 1855 381,866 339,922 62,390 784,178 1860 519,211 278,331 122,228 919,770 1865 479,558 262,342 189,682 931,582 1870 930,000 365,000 570,000 1,865,000 1875 908,046 410,990 947,545 2,266,581 1880 1,807,651 537,558 1,950,205 4,295,414 1885 1,454,390 399,844 2,675,635 4,529,869 1890 2,448,781 703,522 7,154,725 10,307,028 1895 1,397,989' 247,895* 8,7.45,075" 10,390,9394 1898 1,323,600 326,425 11,301,302 12,951,327 1899 14,892,773^ 'Anthracite plus anthracite and coke. 2 From Mineral Resources, 1898, p. 76. 3 Bituminous, chiefly coke. 4 Statistics for 1895 and 1898 from Mineral Resources, 1898, p. 76. Statistics for 1899 from the Statistical Abstract, p. 357. The remaining figures are from Swank's Iron in All Ages, p. 376. The number of blast furnaces in the United States, ac- cording to the census of 1890, was 400 (490 in 1880), of which 73 were idle and 24 in course of construction; the number of rolling mills and steel works was 440 (397 in 1880), of which 45 were idle or unfinished; the number of 16 The American Laborer forges and bloomeries was 32 (118 in 1880) of which 12 were idle. 20 In the census of 1890 a comparison with preceding cen- suses was instituted which yielded the following results: between 1870 and 1890, the capital invested in the iron and steel industries (though the figures are scarcely com- parable) increased from $121,000,000 to $414,000,000 (242 per cent.); the number of establishments diminished from 808 to 719 (eleven per cent); the number of employees and the total amount of wages each more than doubled; and the aggregate quantity produced increased fivefold (from 3,600,000 to 18,200,000 tons), while on account of the fall in prices, the value of the production increased only from $207,000,000 (about $166,000,000 in gold) to $478,- 000,000. In short, it may be asserted that the production of pig iron has doubled almost every tenth year between 1840 and 1890, being thirty-one times as great in the latter as in the former year. For a score of years the United States held second rank among the countries producing pig iron, far behind the United Kingdom and but slightly in advance of Germany and France. By 1893 she had passed the United Kingdom and was contributing more than a quar- ter of the total production of the civilized world. 27 8 See Eleventh Census, " Iron and Steel Manufactures," pp. 387 and 394. In 1880, 483 establishments with 681 completed furnaces had a daily capacity of 19,248 tons of pig iron. In 1890, there were 2,77 establishments with 559 completed furnaces and a daily capacity of 42,436 tons. 27 The world's production of pig iron (omitting India, China and Malaysia) follows. The figures for 1870 are from M. Juraschek, those for 1893 from the Statistiquc de V Industrie Minerale, and those for 1898 from Mineral Resources, " Metallic Products." p. 101. The production of the United States in 1898 was the largest ever re- ported by any country. The results are given in thousands of long tons, metric tons being assumed to be equivalent to the Eng- lish ton of 2240 lbs. 187 0. 1S93. 1S9S. United States 1,693 7,238 11,774 Great Britain 6,059 7,089 8,631 Germany 1,301 4,400 7,238 France 1,178 2,003 2,534 Other countries 1,774 6,092 5,484 Total 12,095 27,722 35,656 The Progress of American Industry 17 To produce such a rapid development there must be a combination of four elements: the fuel, the mineral, a spirit of enterprise and a demand for the product. The first two have been supplied by nature, the American character has furnished the third, the presence of the fourth is due to the multiplication of railroads and the growth of consumption, productive and unproductive. The enterprise of the American people is indisputable. It manifests itself in the multitude of inventions which ap- pear, in the boldness with which capital is invested and risks taken. The intensity of consumption is a result of the industrial activity, the size of the population, and the high wages which have accustomed the people to a gener- ous style of living. There is no reason to exaggerate the natural wealth of the United States, and take it for granted that nature has treated her more bountifully than any other country. The area of the United States is as large as three-fourths of Europe and nearly twenty-five times as large as the British Isles, but the latter still produce more coal and almost as much pig iron as the United States. 28 The growth of the steel manufacture is more remarkable still, The inventions of Bessemer, Siemens and Martin have caused a revolution in America as well as in Europe, but on a vaster scale. The United States did not possess a single Bessemer converter until 1864 nor a Siemens-Mar- 9S 1868. 18T8. 188R. 1S98. 10 PIG IRON. Long tons. Long tons. Long tons. Long tons. Great Britain 8,631,151 United States 11,773,934 COAL. Great Britain 103,141,157 132,612,063 169,935,219 202,054,516 United States 28,258,000 51,655,000 132,731,613 196,405,953 Preliminary estimates furnished by the Geological Survey show that the coal output of the United States in 1899 was greater than that of Great Britain. The excess was probably not less than 20,000,000 tons. [Tr.] 18 The American Laborer tin furnace until 1868, but since 1868 her production of steel has risen from 13,627 to 8,932,857 long tons. The United States produced much less steel than England in 1872, but she produces very much more to-day. 29 For about a dozen years, during which its quantity in- creased tenfold, Bessemer steel almost completely domin- ated the market. In 1887 the production of Bessemer exceeded 3,000,000 tons, but since then the advance has not been so rapid. 30 Open-hearth steel, however, gained ground rapidly — advancing from 3,000 tons in 1872 to 2,230,292 in 1898. In the manufacture of railway-rails, the principal outlet for Bessemer steel, more than 1,000,000 tons of steel have been employed in each year since 1880. The use of iron for this purpose has steadily declined. 31 Iron and steel are also used for many other purposes, particularly for the manufacture of structural materials, nails and screws; their uses grow as they become cheaper. In 1880, 5,056,600 kegs of nails were produced, all of iron. In 1890, there were manufactured 2,130,086 kegs of iron, 2,893,316 kegs of steel, and 2,893,316 kegs of wire, nails. 29 Steel is superseding iron not only because it has a much high- er resistance and greater strength, but because its manufacture in the Bessemer converter, requires much less hand labor than the manufacture of iron in the puddling furnace. In 1880. iron consti- tuted about 67^2 per cent, of the aggregate product of iron and steel; in 1800, it constituted only 40 per cent. The steel works furnished the rest. In 1872 the world's production of steel was estimated at 1,000.000 tons, of which the United States produced 145,000, England 417,- 000, Germany 189,000, France 130,000, tons. In 1898, out of an aggregate production of 24,126,962 tons, the United States pro- duced 8,932,857, Great Britain 4.665,986, Germany 5,779,570, France 1,473,100, tons. 30 From 1896 to 1898, however, the production increased from 3.919,906 to 6,609.017 long tons. The number of Bessemer con- verters was 24 in 1880, 97 in 1890, 100 in April 1898. The number of open-hearth furnaces was 37 in 1880, 129 in 1890, 238 in April, 1898. [Tr.] 31 In 1880, 1,217,497 tons of rails were produced, of which about 64 per cent, were iron. In 1897, 1.647,892 tons were produced, of which less than 2/10 per cent, were iron. The Progress of American Industry 19 In the two following tables are shown: (i) the production of iron by States in 1890; (2) the value of the products of the principal metallurgical industries in 1880 and 1890, together with the number of establishments at the two epochs, and the number of employees in 1890. GENERAL RESULTS OF THE CENSUS OF 1890 FOR THE PRINCIPAL STATES PRODUCING IRON. (Report on Manufacturing Industries, page 470 and following .) Pennsylvania. . Ohio Alabama Illinois New York .... Virginia Tennessee .... Michigan Wisconsin Massachusetts 1 New Jersey 1 . . . West Virginia 1 Totals. a o a as 0° bJ3. M S£'3 Tears. O to O. o«-d fl»a g|« Sm M fca.2 1831 801 1840 1,240 1850 1,094 1860 1,091 1870 956 18801 1,005 1890 905 1899 5 C. 1,246 (2,284 (3,000 5,235 7,132 10,653 14,188, 17,937, 703 631) 000) 727 415 435* 1034 7355 i a , a %-t . E-2 C '- s- . g 5o . !! a u 5= ** > el- 's is sg OJ °IJ g « CD STS Sf* 13 0=° O.O fco » QJ Materials 1,093,860 3,901,777 7,817,559 22,467,701 51,004,425 Products(dollars) 1,809,474 6,607,662 12,210,080 41,033,045 87,298,454 1 In 1898 there were 38,199 silk looms in the United States, of which 20,964 were operated in New Jersey. Statistics of Manufactures, Massa- chusetts, 1898, p. 262. [Tr.]. 70 The number of hand looms on broad goods has greatly dimin- ished (1629 in 1880 and 413 in 1890). while that of hand looms on narrow goods has remained about the same (1524 and 1334); the total number of power looms seems to have increased fivefold since 1880. No conclusion about capital can be drawn because the classification has been changed since 1880. 38 The American Laborer Many find this speed excessive, however, and prefer ma- chines with a speed of from 7,500 to 10,000 revolutions per minute. Such machines require the best raw material, and because of its quality Japanese silk is being imported in constantly increasing quantities. As a rule the quality of the fabric is mediocre. The principal manufactures are: ribbons, which the Americans consume in enormous quan- tities; dress and cloak trimmings; plain and figured dress goods; n foulards, sewing silk, and handkerchiefs. The last two were for a long while the most important American silk manufactures, but in recent years they have fallen off because of Japanese competition. In the census of 1890 attention was called to the quan- tity of silk manufactured, to the transformation of ma- chinery, and in particular, to the progress that has been made in the variety and cheapness, and in the beauty of the colors and designs, of American silk goods. The American manufacturers have made extraordinary efforts since the Civil War to obtain control — and the sole con- trol — of the home market. Congress has assisted them with exorbitant tariffs, and they themselves have contrib- uted to the result by their efforts toward self-improvement. In comparing the value of the imports, with the value of the home production, of silk goods, it is found that the lat- ter constituted 13 per cent, of the total consumption in i860, 23 per cent,, in 1870, 38 per cent, in 1880, and 55 per cent, in 1890. The American producers are evidently making rapid headway in the home market, and the home market is expanding continually, because habits of luxury are spreading and the population grows apace. It is not so much the luxury of the very rich — who will have im- ported silks at any price — that supports the American in- dustry: it is the luxury of the masses. As I noted above, the democratic spirit prompts the workingman's wife and 71 The production of dress goods increased from $4,100,000 in 1880, to $15,100,000 in 1890. The Progress of American Industry 39 daughter — particularly the daughter — to wear ribbons and silks, and to dress like the wife of his employer. With such trade a very low price is the condition of success. This is why France, the first country of the world in the manufac- ture of silks, has fought with so little success in the Ameri- can market 72 and sees her foothold gradually slipping away, while Japan makes greater and greater inroads and begins to disturb the peace of the New Jersey manufacturers. Before the Civil War the United States did not count, so to speak, among the silk manufacturing countries. In twenty-five years they have risen to the second rank, im- mediately below France. According to the last census the production of silk goods doubled from 1881 to 1890 (from $41,000,000 to $87,000,000). 73 Miscellaneous industries. — It would be wearisome to con- tinue this enumeration of industries one by one. The accompanying table, which includes only those industries whose production exceeded $50,000,000 in 1890, and which have not been previously described, will suffice to confirm the impression that there has been a rapid advance in almost every branch of American industry in the decade 1 880- 1 890. In most industries the value of the production has at least doubled; in some — painting and paper-hanging, plumbing, car manufacturing, coffee-roasting — it has tripled; and if we accept the statistics of masonry as strictly comparable in the two epochs — which cannot be done — the products of this industry have increased tenfold in 72 From 1847 to 1856, according to the French customs returns, the exports of silk manufactures from France to the United States had an average annual value of 83.7 millions of francs; from 1891 to 1894 the average value was about 60 millions. Nevertheless, the total importation of silk goods into the United States has in- creased. 73 The latter amount, equivalent to about 440 million francs, is somewhat reduced by M. Natalis Rondot. Estimating the world's production at 1863 millions of francs, he assigns 610 millions to France, 400 millions to the United States, 305 to Germany, 132 to Switzerland, 90 to England, and 81 to eastern Asia (China, Japan, India, etc.). 40 The American Laborer value. 74 The phenomenon of consolidation scarcely shows itself in this group, because it is composed chiefly of hand trades, such as house painting, printing, masonry and car- pentry. With a single exception the number of employees has increased in every branch,. Value of Number of Employees products establishments. (thousands.) (millions of Industries. dollars.) Boots and shoes, factory S^ i890.~" 1880. 1890? 1880. 1890. products 1,959 2,082 111 139 166 220 Brick and tile 5,631 5,825 66 109 32 67 Carpentering 9,184 16,917 54 94 140 281 Carriages and wagons 3,841 8,614 45 73 64 114 Cars, railroad and street . . 130 166 14 35 27 76 Chemicals 592 563 9 16 38 59 Clothing, men's 6,166 18,658 160 243 209 378 Clothing, women's, factory product 562 1,224 25 42 32 68 Cofl'ee and spice, roasting and grinding 300 358 2 5 22 75 Confectionery 1,450 2,921 9 27 25 55 Furniture, cabinet making and upholstering 5,624 5,633 52 78 75 118 Gas, illuminating and heat- ing 742 ... 14 ... 56 Hosiery and knit goods ... 359 796 28 61 29 67 Leather, tanned and curried 5,424 1,596 34 34 184 138 Marble and stone work 2,846 3,373 21 35 31 62 Masonry, brick and stone.. 1,591 7,715 16 119 20 204 Painting and paper hang- ing 3,968 10,043 17 56 22 74 Paper 692 567 24 29 55 74 Petroleum, refining .... 94 ... 12 ... So Plumbing and gas fitting. 2,161 5,327 9 42 18 80 Printingand publishing . . 3,467 16,566 58 165 90 275 Saddlery and harness 7,999 7,931 21 30 38 52 Tinsmithing, coppersmith- ing and sheet-iron work- ing 7,693 7,002 27 38 50 66 Recapitulation. — The official statistics of manufactures furnished by the United States are more complete than those of any other country. European statisticians, except in a few industries under special supervision, do not ven- ture to ask for or to publish statistics of employees, wages, 74 The apparent exception found in the leather manufacture is explained by the fact that in 1880 an establishment engaged in both tanning and currying made a report for each branch and was counted twice, while in 1890 there was but one report for each es- tablishment. The Progress of American Industry 41 cost of materials, value of products, etc., and where they have attempted to obtain such data, they have not always had reason to congratulate themselves upon the result. The American statisticians are bold enough to make the attempt, and the habits of the people, the general social organiza- tion, and in particular, the administration of the census upon which the government spends large sums, seem to justify it. There is no doubt that many of the figures are mere approximations distorted by personal interest or vi- tiated by the slender basis of fact upon which they rest. Nevertheless they are very instructive, taken as a whole, and the conclusions they suggest relative to the subject which concerns us, are entirely harmonious. Examined as a whole or in detail, they establish the fact of a very rapid development in American industry since the Civil War. In every case, or in almost every case, there has been an increase in capital and machinery, in the number of laborers and the value of the products; while in many instances the number of establishments has decreased. The industrial unit is gradually enlarging. An interesting comparison of the population and wealth at each census since 1850, drawn up by the Department of Labor, is summarized in the following table: Value of the products of the Property real agricultural.fish- Population. and personal. ing, mining and manufacturing £ industries. OS Ogt. °. A <„ £ P.£ II «.« II |S ;| M 33 *3 o§~ ~ « 5 og- 1850 23.1 7.1 l.Oi 44 1860 31.4 35.58 16.1 126.46 1.9> 84.5 60 1870 38.5 22.63 30.0 86.07 6.82 260.4 177 1880 50.1 30.08 43.6 45.14 7.93 16.5 159 1890 62.6 24.86 65.0 49.02 12.1* 52.3 194 1 Agricultural products are not included in this total. 2 Betterments and additions to industrial capital are included. 3 The statistician has deducted certain values which were duplicated in the original publication. 4 This total does not include the products of those industries not enumerated in the preceding censuses. 42 The American Laborer The report on the manufacturing industries of the United States, made by Trench Coxe in connection with the cen- sus of 1810, assigned to the aggregate production of manu- factures in that year a value of $127,000,000. By the addi- tion of certain doubtful articles better classified under the head of agricultural products, Mr. Coxe raised this esti- mate to $i98,ooo,ooo. T6 The census of i860, taken imme- diately before the war, returned the aggregate value of all kinds of manufactures at $1,885,000,000; according to the census of 1890, this total had risen to $9,372,000,000. I have already stated why these figures are not homogeneous enough to yield a numerical ratio, but they may be accepted as a proof of progress. If the production has not quin- tupled in the last thirty years, it has certainly undergone a great increase in quantity. At the same time it has ex- panded territorially, spreading from the Atlantic States, which constituted the only manufacturing region during the first thirty years of the nineteenth century, to the middle and upper basins of the Mississippi, and along the shore of the Pacific. According to Col. Wright, 70 the center of the manufacturing industries was in eastern Pennsylvania, to the north of Harrisburg, in 1850; in 1890 it had shifted to the vicinity of Canton, Ohio. The growth in the number of laborers has been less marked, a logical result of the increased productivity of labor, due to machinery. According to the census it has quintupled in forty years, although, as I noted above, a rigid comparison is not permissible since the later enum- erations have been more complete than the earlier ones. The census of 1850 recorded 957,059 persons employed in the manufacturing industries; that of 1890, 4,712,622 persons. 77 75 The Industrial Evolution, p. 138. 76 The Industrial Evolution, p. 160. " Years. Employees. Tears. Employees. 18401 504,617 1870 2,053,996 1850 957,059 1880 2,732,595 1860 1,311,246 1890 4,712,622 1 Enumeration incomplete. The Progress of American Industry 43 In 1850 this class of laborers constituted four per cent, of the total population; in 1890, seven and one-half per cent. The laboring class seems thus to have increased, not only absolutely, but in proportion to the general population. The industrial development of the United States, by rea- son of its importance and rapidity, forms an unique phe- nomenon in the economic history of the world, and for this alone, it has been interesting to glance over it and fix its landmarks firmly in mind. This development could not have taken place if the United States had not possessed a climate suitable for European colonization and a vast terri- torial domain sufficiently rich in cultivable lands, not less rich in useful minerals, and easily taken from a native race that had no settled place of abode. Neither would it have been possible had not an endless swarm of immigrants, armed with all the resources of civilization, arrived from Europe to fertilize its soil. In turn, the industrial develop- ment which we have been describing has produced a certain social condition that explains, in a large degree, the peculiar status of the American laborer. This is why it was neces- sary to give some account of the industrial development of America, before beginning the subject proper. CHAPTER II. THE PRODUCTIVITY OF LABOR AND MACHINERY j> The movement towards concentration. — American statistics show plainly that a movement towards concentration is oper- ating in almost every branch of industry. Proof of this fact is given by the figures quoted in the preceding chapter. In the iron industry there were 1,005 establishments with a production valued at $69,500,000 in 1880; in 1890, there were 615 establishments with a production of $431,000,000, and prices were then very low. 1 It may be added that seven of the eighteen establishments producing Bessemer steel in 1890 furnished more than ninety-five per cent, of the total product. Five of these (with seven factories) were located in Pennsylvania, one (with four factories) in Illinois, one in Colorado. There has been a double concentration — in ownership and in situation. In the woolen industry there were 2,689 establishments in 1880 and 2,489 in 1890; the average production per estab- lishment was $98,000 in 1880 and $136,000 in 1890. The two states which held first rank in this industry — Massa- chusetts and New York — possessed respectively in 1870, 16.4 and 12.7 per cent, of the total number of carding ma- 1 In spite of the fall of prices the average production per estab- lishment was about $665,000 in 1890 as against $256,000 in 1870. In proof of the fall in the price of these products. Col. Wright states that from 1870 to 1880 the quantity produced increased 99 per cent., while the value increased only 43 per cent., and that from 1880 to 1890 the quantity increased 151 per cent., the value of the products, 61 per cent. The Productivity of Labor and Machinery 45 chines in the United States; in 1890 these proportions had risen to 22.4 and 17.1 per cent., respectively. 2 The districts which profit most by concentration are those which are best equipped when the process begins. In the cotton manufacture there were 936 establishments in 1870, 3 with an average production of $196,000; in 1890, 905 establish- ments, with an average production of $293,000. During this period the number of spindles doubled, and, moreover, each spindle was more productive in 1890 than in 1870. As the prices of cotton goods have diminished greatly, a fairer idea of the concentration that has taken place may be gathered from the increase of spindles, than from the in- crease in the value of the products. In the silk manufac- ture, the number of establishments has increased because of the rapid expansion of this industry in the last twenty years. But even in this industry the average capital per establishment increased from $72,000 in 1870 to nearly $110,000 in 1890. In i860 there were 213 mills engaged in the manufacture of carpets, and the total production was valued at less than $8,000,000. In 1890 there were only 173 mills, but the production had risen to $47,700,000. The number of flouring and grist-mills decreased from 24,338 in 1880 to 18,470 in 1890, their average daily ca- pacity increasing from 194 to 298 bushels. In the same decade 4 the number of chemical works decreased five per 2 Eleventh Census, "Manufacturing Industries," pt. iii, p. 15. [The monograph upon " The Textile Industries " published in the Massachusetts report Statistics of Manufactures, 1898, contains some very interesting information upon the progress of concentra- tion and the decline of the textile industries in Massachusetts. From 1895 to 1898 the number of textile establishments decreased from 593 to 500. while the value of the products fell from $196.- 964,178 to $193,376,168, a decline of 16 per cent, in the number of establishments as against a decline of 2 per cent, in the production. The proportionate numbers of carding machines owned in Massa- chusetts and New York, was practically the same in 1898 as in 1890.] 3 Concentration had begun even at this time: there were 1,240 es- tablishments in 1840. 4 It was pointed out in the Tenth Coisus that the number of flouring and saw mills was greater in 1840 than in 1880. although 5 46 The American Laborer cent., while the value of their products increased almost fifty per cent. 5 The number of furniture factories remained stationary, while their production increased fifty per cent.; the production of bricks and tiles doubled, while the number of establishments remained the same. Even in those indus- tries in which we should expect an increase in the number of establishments and in which the enumeration was more complete in 1890 than in 1880 — c. g. masonry c — the size of the business has increased more rapidly than the number of entrepreneurs; a positive indication that on the average the industrial unit has become larger. If there are excep- tions, such as the manufacture of confectionery, in which the number of employers has increased pari passu with the in- crease of the trade, they are the results of special causes. I shall recur to this industry in connection with the " Sweat- ing System." The manufacture of agricultural machinery ought to spread, it would seem, as the land is appropriated and cleared for agricultural purposes. It has, however, done nothing of this sort. The subjoined footnote 7 shows that the area of the United States was fifty per cent, greater at the latter date. The census of 1890 shows the persistence of this tendency. 1840. 1880. 1S90. Flouring and grist-mills 23,361 24,338 18,470 Sawmills 31,650 25,708 21,011 c In 1880, 49 establishments produced 308.000.000 pounds of sul- phuric acid; in 1890, 105 establishments produced 1.384.000.000 pounds, although the price had diminished about seventy per cent. In 1880 there were 278 establishments making chemical fertilizers, in 1800 there were 392 such establishments, and the production had risen from 727,000 to 1,898.000 tons. The production of glass has doubled; $21,154,571 in 1880, $41,051,004 in 1890. In each in- dustry noted, the average production per establishment was greater in 1890 than in 1880. 6 In 1880, 1,591 establishments with a production of $20,586,553; in 1890, 7,715 establishments producing $204,165,642. 'Tears. Establishments. Employees. Value of products. 1870 2,076 25,349 $52,000,000 1880 1,943 35,580 6S,000,000 1890 910 30,730 SI, 000,000 Tenth Census. " Report on the Factory System of the United States," p. 16. Illustrations of this kind could be multiplied in- definitely. The Productivity of Labor and Machinery 47 in twenty years the number of establishments has decreased more than fifty per cent., while the production has in- creased nearly fifty-six per cent. Twenty years ago Carroll D. Wright used these words in speaking of the adoption of the factory system: " While the inauguration of the factory system in the United States was some fifteen years later than its birth in England, the extension of the system has been more rapid and its appli- cation more varied here than in any other country. As parties engaged in industries other than the manufacture of textiles saw the wonderful results of systematized labor, by its division under the scientific methods of the factory system, they gradually adopted the new order, until now it is quite safe to say that of the nearly three millions of people employed in the mechanical industries of this coun- try, at least four-fifths are working under the factory sys- tem. 8 Most of these industries have been brought under the factory system during the past thirty years [1850-1880]." What has been called " the system of interchangeable mechanism," stands in intimate relation, both as cause and effect, to the progress of concentration in certain indus- tries. Establishments using this system number and clas- sify, by size and quality when possible, the parts of the machines they manufacture, and make them so uniform that any part is capable of being replaced by another of the same number. Under such conditions the manufac- turer finds it advantageous to employ the most powerful and delicate machinery, which, being confined to a single operation, turns out its product in large quantities. The purchaser of a machine made in this way finds no difficulty in securing by correspondence a substitute for any part that gets out of order. Thanks to this system the manufac- turer can produce more cheaply on the one hand, and on 8 This proportion had not increased in 1890. but it was on account of the fact that the enumeration of the hand-trades was much more complete in the latter year. 48 The American Laborer the other, he can enlarge his trade — two very important considerations in a country as vast as the United States. Specialization is the result of this system, which is to-day applied to almost every commodity of large consumption, from agricultural implements and steam-engines to watches and nails." The movement towards concentration is not peculiar to the United States: it is one of the characteristic phenomena of the economic evolution of our time, and manifests itself in every manufacturing country. The principal causes of the movement are to be found in the cheapness and rapidity of transportation, which facilitate the collection and distri- bution of supplies; the application to production of scien- tific processes; the employment of steam and machinery; above all, in the construction of railroads, the growth of capital and the increase of consumption. A large factory is more difficult to establish than a small workshop, but when once established it has the advantages of bringing every process under the eye of the entrepreneur, of giving greater unity of direction while facilitating a rational divi- sion of labor, of economizing space and motive power, of saving time and facilitating the trial of new inventions. Competition is continually forcing new industries to intro- duce factory methods, and impelled by the same force, the industrial unit is rapidly undergoing an expansion that is limited only by the power of one man to superintend his personnel and manage his business efficiently. In the 9 Tenth Census, " Manufactures," vol. ii, " Interchangeable Me- chanism." The Americans excel in this system, particularly in the manufacture and sale of watches, fire-arms, agricultural machinery, steam-engines, electrical appliances, and furniture. In some in- dustries specialization is very highly developed, while in others, several processes, usually disassociated, are carried on together in the same establishment. The manufacture of rubber goods, in which one establishment manufactures nothing but bands, another only hose, a third shoes, etc., furnishes a good example of special- ization. Rubber shoes are never repaired; it is cheaper to buy new ones. The Productivity of Labor and Machinery 49 United States crises seem to possess a peculiar energy, and these have aided in accelerating a transformation that be- comes, at times, brutally rapid. The work is not finished, the transformation continues; in the future it will probably proceed with even greater rapidity. 10 As a rule household industry persists only where wages are low, and it is not in this direction that we should look for improvement. Customs duties, which have been in- creased in most countries during the last fifteen years, restrain commercial expansion and offer a certain amount of resistance to the movement towards concentration, but they cannot arrest it. The household industry of the past and its transformation. — At one period, both in America and Europe, manufactur- ing industries of all kinds were on a very small scale. The fabrication of woolen goods, now manufactured almost ex- clusively in factories may be cited as an example: " Prior to 1790 this industry was almost wholly confined to the household, in this country; and for many years later the great bulk of the domestic woolen goods worn by the people continued to be made in the homes by the hand-card, the spinning-wheel, and the clumsy wooden hand loom inherited from the original settlers of the colonies 10 The following table shows the variation in the number of es- tablishments and in the value of the products of the nine principal industries of Massachusetts, from 1885 to 1895. The results show that the total number of establishments decreased nearly n per cent., while the value of the products increased almost 20 per cent. Nine principal in- Establish- Establish- Value of Value of dustries. ments in mentsin products, products, 1885. 1895. 1885, 1895. Boots and shoes 2,336 2,074 $114,729,533 $122,135,081 Carpetings 46 14 6,536,341 7,447,115 Cotton goods 165 188 61,425,097 93,615,560 Leather 699 649 28,008,851 27,863,217 Machines and machinery. 622 660 20,365,970 33,492,848 Metals and metallic goods 2,732 2,309 41,332,005 40,297,899 Paper and paper goods.. 148 160 21,223,626 27,955,024 Woolen goods 189 166 31,748,278 29,370,963 Worsted goods _23 31 11,198,148 20,975,996 Total 6,990 6,251 336,567,849 403,153,703 See "Manufactures," Census of Massachusetts, 1885 and 1895. [Tr.] 50 The American Laborer " Secretary Hamilton in his report on manufactures [wrote] : ' there is only one branch of wool manufacturing which, as a regu- lar business, can be said to have acquired maturity; this is the manufacture of hats.' Speaking of the household manufacture of fabrics he said: 'There is a vast scene of household manufactur- ing which contributes more largely to the supply of the community than could be imagined without having it made an object of par- ticular inquiry. Great quantities of coarse cloths, coatings, serges, and flannels, linsey-woolseys, hosiery of wool, cotton and thread, coarse fustians, jeans and muslins, checked and striped cotton and linen goods, bedticks, coverlets, and counterpanes, tow linens, coarse shirtings, sheetings, toweling and table linen, and various mixtures of wool and cotton, and of cotton and flax, are made in the household way, and, in many instances, to an extent not only sufficient for a supply of the families in which they are made, but for sale, and even in some cases for exportation. It is computed in a number of districts that two-thirds, three-fourths, and even four- fifths of all the clothing of the inhabitants are made by them- selves.' " u In spite of the efforts made by devoted patriots or ven- turesome entrepreneurs to introduce the English factory system in America, the state of affairs described by Mr. North persisted in almost all sections of the country up to the year 1840, not only in the woolen, but in most other in- dustries. When General Humphrey built his paper mill and his cotton and woolen factories at Humphreysville in 1804, he entertained the project, among others, of improving the lot of the poor by providing them with work. In carrying out his paternalistic scheme he built cottages for his work- men, each of which had a small garden. He also provided teachers for the apprentices. Every act of immorality was punished by instant dismissal. But the prevailing opinion was so unfavorable to the factory system, the horrors of which were fully described in the English newspapers, that 11 A Century of American Wool Manufacture, 1790-1890, by S. N. D. North, p. 5 ct scq. For further information upon this subject, see the Massachusetts report Statistics of Manufactures 1898: W. R. Bagnall's History of the Textile Industries in the United States, and the sketch of the New England Wool Manufacture now appearing in the Bulletins of the National Association of Wool Manufacturers, in particular, the June number, iSqq. [Tr.] The Productivity of Labor and Machinery 51 many parents refused to allow their children to accept em- ployment in his works. 12 At Lowell, the farmers' daugh- ters whose bearing was so admired by Miss Robinson and Michel Chevalier about 1830, decided to accept work in the factories only after great hesitation, In Pennsylvania where the cotton manufacture was estab- lished very early, it was carried on for a long while on a very small scale: the first important company dates from 1844. The same is true of paper; it was made by hand and in small quantities. In 1854 a small mill with " two rag- engines and a seventy-two-inch-cylinder paper machine " was erected in the county of Lancaster, and a second in 1855. But a few years later they were both in ruins, and it was not until 1859, or really after the Civil War, that the manufacture of paper by machinery became at all suc- cessful. 13 In 1820 a Massachusetts cloth mill, the largest in the United States at that time, possessed a mechanical equip- ment of four carding engines, one picker, three jennies, 516 spindles, one roper, six broadcloth looms, and two cassi- mere looms. The company employed 46 men, 23 women, and 23 children. As a matter of fact the industry had not advanced very far beyond this, even in Europe. In 1824 the machinery for wool-making was considerably modified by Goulding's carding machine; after 1840 it was practically revolutionized by the invention of the Crompton and Bigelow looms which made possible the weaving of fancy cassimeres and carpets by machinery. As early as 1845 there was one establishment in Massachusetts that em- ployed 1 ,500 laborers, and another that employed 500. But these were exceptional cases. Most of the industries in the North, including the manu- facture of woolens and worsteds, were keenly stimulated by the Civil War. In 1880 the capital invested in the 13 Old World Questions and New World Answers, 1887. 13 Second Report of the Commissioner of Labor Statistics, Penn., 1875, p. 368. 52 The American Laborer woolen manufacture was estimated at $159,000,000. In the census of 1890 it was estimated at $296,000,000, but the two valuations are hardly comparable as the latter enumera- tion was more complete than the former. The Lowell factories, 1835-1893. — A comparison of the condition of the principal Lowell establishments at these two dates will give a sufficiently accurate idea of the pro- gress and the concentration which have taken place there. In 1835 Michel Chevalier commented upon the importance of these factories. The largest of these, The Merrimack Manufacturing Company, had a capital of $1,500,000 in 1835, thirteen years after it was founded. It operated 34,432 spindles and 1,253 looms; in its printing room and its five spinning and weaving rooms, employment was given to 1,758 operatives; it manufactured 172,000 yards, and dyed and printed 150,000 yards of cottonades weekly. In 1893 the number of rooms was the same, but the capital had risen to $2,500,000, the number of spindles and looms to 158,976, and 4,607 respectively, the weekly output of manu- factured goods to 1,000,000 yards, and the weekly output of printed goods to 1,250,000 yards. 14 In other words, the products had increased sixfold and sevenfold respectively, while the number of hands (2,800) had not doubled. These figures contain in miniature a history of the natural evolu- tion of modern industry; an increase of capital and ma- chinery, a greater increase of products, and the greatest increase of all in the productivity of labor. Further comparison reveals the additional facts that a considerable saving has been effected in the amount of cotton employed, probably because less material is wasted and the fabrics are lighter. The saving in fuel and other accessory materials has been greater still, although much more power is obtained. 18 14 The company dyes and prints goods manufactured by other concerns. 15 In 1885, 40.000 pounds of cotton were used weekly: in 1893, 190,000 pounds. Raw material has thus increased only 375 per The Productivity of Labor and Machinery 53 A comparison of the five other joint-stock companies which existed in 1835 — two of them have now consoli- dated — yields similar results. There are now ten incor- porated companies, four more than in 1835, engaged in the manufacture of cotton; the total number of spindles has been raised from 116,804 to 95 l A7 2 > tne number of looms from 3,933 to 28,583; with their more productive machin- ery they put out 244,500,000 yards of cottonades in 1893, while in 1835 the production barely reached 3,800,000; the number of operatives has only tripled (6,563 in 1835, 20,866 in 1893). Few industries , in Europe or America, could furnish such exact data for a comparison extending over sixty years, although certain figures do not refer to exactly the same things in both epochs. The preceding statistics, which are given in extcnso in the following table, are taken from the Annual Statistics of Manufactures in Lowell and Neighboring Towns, January, 1893. They are instructive from several standpoints and place in a clear light the phe- nomenon of concentration in the United States, The introduction of the giant industry. — With respect to machinery and the general introduction of large manufac- turing plants, the United States is at the present time in advance of the countries of continental Europe and even, I believe, of England. I have visited establishments of many kinds and every 1 - where I have been struck by the pains which the Americans ^/ take to economize labor. At the Maryland Steel Works! . & \ situated on the water-front at Sparrow's Point near Balti- more, the fuels and ores are received by boat and hauled to the blast-furnaces in cars. The cars are then raised by elevators over the mouth of the furnace and automatically emptied through the bottoms. Each of the four blast-fur- Y naces has a daily capacity of about 250 tons of pig iron, and the iron is converted into steel in two converters which cent., while the production has increased 481 per cent. The con- sumption of oil and fuel has increased about 172 per cent. I have not been able to compare the water power employed. 54 The American Laborer u o a o 1 8 8" *3 H S g 01 CO 01 CO CO CO S3 CM IQ CO CM g s a a ^ •«* CS CM IC 01 H I-I r-j, -* co © -» © r-1 -* CO CO i-i i-i i-i i-l CM g g g g g g g a 5 ~ „ o — = c * 6 s = << ^ Eh J S ©=i . ■* j> hjj — C! CO g © o s a 5 a t- CM Ol rt Ol CM CO 01 »o 5, g ,_, CO o -* o •«* li5 "* CO '""' ■* CO cc 01 I a i 1-3 X 5 2 - The Productivity of Labor and Machinery 55 have an average capacity of sixteen tons per heat. The ingot-molds are all fixed on a revolving table which car- ries them one after another to the tap-hole of the converter, where they receive the molten steel. The Maryland Steel Works cover 1,000 acres, and were built in 1889 with the design of utilizing Cuban ores. The blowing engine, the revolving molds, the huge pumps with a daily capacity of millions of gallons, the blast-furnaces rising eighty-five feet in air like the towers of a fortress; everything throughout is colossal. The Homestead Steel Works belong to the Carnegie Steel Company, and are situated about six miles from Pitts- burg, in a village which consists, so to speak, of the works, the workmen and the few stores which the latter support. The company manufactures ship-plates and structural ma- terials. In 1892, the year of the well-known strike of which I shall speak in another chapter, 10 about 3,800 men were em- ployed in the works. When I visited the works business was very dull and the employees numbered only 3,200. This plant has produced as high as 4,000,000 tons of steel in a single year. The Carnegie Company owns in addition eight other works and employs in all about 13,000 men. Some years ago the several plants controlled by the com- pany were valued at $25,000,000, which, it seems, is far too low an estimate. 1 " 3. The two converters in the Homestead works each holds ten or eleven tons. The roll-train, consisting of three superimposed rolls of enormous power, fashions with ease and with comparatively little noise, enormous pieces of steel. In the great shop in which the roll-train is situated, an end- less chain carries the ingots on a revolving table three hundred feet long. 17 The glowing ingot is caught between 16 See chap. v. 16a Capitalized recently, in combination with the H. C. Frick Manufacturing Company, at $160,000,000. The true value was prob- ably very much greater than $100,000,000. [Tr.] 17 Mr. Schoenhof says that before the introduction of these auto- matic tables, from fifteen to seventeen men were required in a 56 The American Laborer the lower and middle rolls, flattened, elevated by a table to the level of the top roll, again lengthened and flattened by several passes, until finally it is twenty times as long as when it started. Six heating-furnaces keep the bloom at white heat while it is being rolled. Much of the heating is done by natural gas and it was to take advantage of this fuel that the present site was selected. The ship-plates are made in another building, over 600 feet long and specially constructed for this work. The trimming and finishing machines, imported from Scotland, are capable of handling armor-plates twenty inches thick. At the time of the strike the company was under contract to furnish the Government 6,000 tons of armor-plate. The Illinois Steel Company, another of these gigantic works, was founded a few years ago by the consolidation of several companies. Situated at the southern extremity of Chicago, it receives by direct shipment over Lake Michi- gan the excellent Lake Superior ore, which is unloaded with surprising rapidity by a few workmen using two ma- chines. The number of employees varies from 3,500 to 3,8oo. 18 The eight blast-furnaces are arranged in two rows, and built upon iron platforms. Each furnace is provided at the back with four blowing-engines, and has a capacity of from 300 to 350 tons per day. Together with the three con- verters, each able to pour 2,000 tons of steel daily into the ingot-molds arranged around them, they produce an im- posing idea of the power of this establishment. The rolling-mill, which is about 300 feet long, produces an impression even more thrilling, because the exhibition of power is supplemented by the crash and roar of enor- mous machines at work. These machines take up the glowing ingots, which are larger than a man, carry them rail-mill which now requires but five. The Economy of High Wages, P- 94- 13 In addition, there are from 4,300 to 5,000 workmen employed in the loliet and Bridgeford works which belong to the same com- pany. The Productivity of Labor and Machinery 57 to and from the rolls, flatten them, and finally draw them out into sections. They are transformed instantly, so to speak, into steel rails, and are then carried by tables moved on endless chains to the end of the room, where circular saws cut them into the regular lengths, with a strident grinding and a continuous shower of sparks. There are few workmen in this vast room. In the center, a roller with three or four assistants directs the machinery by press- ing a button. At the end of the room one sees a few laborers. The machines do everything, and there is much to be done; the rolling alone requires 3,000 horsepower. But they accomplish their work with ease, now giving the idea of might as the rolls exert their power, now that of grace as the cranes grasp and lift the ingots. It is not astonishing that certain employees upon whom the success of the operations depend, are well paid. I was told that the chemist who examined the color of the flames issuing from the converter, made $430 in the month of May. These three are undoubtedly establishments of the first rank and cannot be taken as representative. 19 But if we omit them, it may still be asserted that the average size of establishments of this kind in the United States is larger than in Europe. The aggregate capital of the 645 iron and steel works enumerated in the census of 1890 was $372,- 500,000, about $580,000 per establishment. Every one knows, in Europe as in America, how the capacity of the blast-furnace has been increased, but every- one is not aware how far America is in advance of Europe in this respect. It is not that the Europeans are incapable of constructing the largest furnaces; I understand that sev- eral of gigantic size have been built in Scotland, though they seem to have been unsuccessful. In France 100 tons is considered a very good clay's product. I have just cited 19 Nor the Bethlehem Iron Company with its hammer of 125 tons which has a stroke of more than 16 feet. The hammer was mod- elled after the celebrated one at Creusot, France. The works date from 1857. 58 The American Laborer several furnaces in America which produce 300 tons or more. Mr. Swank has given some account of the development of the blast-furnace in his Iron In All Ages. He cites the " noteworthy achievements " of a New Jersey furnace, 20 by 55 feet, which in one week in 1850 produced 251^2 tons of pig iron, and in another week in 1858, 319 tons. In 1884 a furnace " located at Etna, near Pittsburgh, closed a three-years' blast," during which the average weekly out- put was 1,090 tons. In 1890 a furnace at Braddock, Penna., produced 2,462 tons in one week and 502 tons in one day. 20 There were more blast-furnaces in the United States twenty years ago than there are to-day. The number reached its maximum, 455, in 1881, then diminished steadily to 311 in 1890; meanwhile the production had doubled. It is very evident that the average capacity of the blast-fur- nace has increased. 21 In 1875 it was 19 tons; 24 in 1880; 57 in 1885; 82 in 1890; and 100 tons in 1893. 23 As a rule it is the smallest furnaces which are unable to stand the competition and in consequence have to be abandoned. The introduction of the converter into the United States dates from 1865, ten years after its invention by Bessemer. The Siemens-Martin furnaces date from 1868. Both have 20 Iron in All Ages, p. 452 et seq. 21 Blast-furnaces in the United States: In blast on Total number Tears. December 31. in existence. 1873 410 657 Before the crisis. 1876 236 During the crisis. 1881 455 716 Maximum. 1884 236 New decline. 1889 344 570 New maximum. 1890 311 562 1897 191 423 1899 289 414 22 The annual output of pig iron at the last three census years was as follows: Production Annual production (millions of short per establishment Tears. Establishments. tons). (metric tons). 1870 386 2.0 5,318 1880 341 3.8 11,000 1890 304 9.9 32,587 The Productivity of Labor and Machinery 59 multiplied rapidly, and their output has increased as their capacity has been enlarged. The production of Bessemer has grown from 2,679 ^ on S tons m J 867, to 6,609,017 in 1898; that of open-hearth steel, from 1,339 tons in 1870, to 2,230,292 tons in 1898. I might cite a number of examples, hardware-, carriage-, lead-manufactories, etc., where the machinery and the econ- omy of labor have struck me as remarkable. I pass, how- ever, to others; it would be superfluous to multiply ex- amples from the metallurgical industries. 23 Until about 1850 the farmers of Massachusetts made their own foot-wear, working at home in the dull seasons. By degrees the manufacture was developed on a small scale, particularly at Lynn, and as machinery was perfected, the small shops were replaced by large factories. Of all these allied trades shoemaking is the one in which the transfor- mation has been most complete. In the factories which I visited at Lynn and Nashua, Xew Hampshire, everything is done by machines whose variety, speed, ingeniousness and skill, if the last term be permissible, are remarkable. One factory employing 233 operatives produces daily 2,100 pairs of women's shoes, about nine pairs a day for each em- ployee. There is no place for the all-round workman, as no one makes a complete shoe; the object is to obtain V speed in one operation. One operative cuts out the soles, another the uppers, a third fixes the heels; some of the sewing is done by women, one making the buttonholes, her neighbor, the hems, another sewing on the buttons. Each one uses a separate machine, the common property of which is speed; the button-hole machine makes 4,760 button-holes a day. With the assistance of one of the operatives I cal- culated that each pair of shoes passes through fifty-three hands. This is one of the industries in which the division " For a description of the principal concerns engaged in the manufacture of agricultural and food products, see L' Agriculture aux Etats-Unis, by E. Levasseur. 60 The American Laborer of labor has been carried the farthest, and owing to new inventions a constant tendency toward further subdivision is apparent. A French workingman enumerates ten kinds of machines used in the manufacture of shoes, which were in operation in the model work-room at the Chicago fair. Several of these are in use in France. Low prices, at least, are secured by such machinery. 24 Cigars were originally manufactured by hand. When the manufacture by the so-called " German mold " was in- troduced, the workmen at many places went on strikes and destroyed the machines, in the belief that the new system would make their skill worthless and reduce wages. They were forced to bend before necessity, however, and the ma- chines triumphed, if not everywhere, at least in the manu- facture of cheap cigars. The same results followed the introduction of the " bunch-making and rolling system," and certain machines which rendered other parts of the work mechanical. After numerous strikes the workmen were obliged to yield, and in 1873 the Cigar-makers' Union consented to admit men who used these machines. 25 Cheapness is the principal aim of all these improvements, in whatever industry they are introduced. In order to sup- port their demands for protective legislation, the American manufacturers are constantly repeating that without the tariff they would be unable to withstand foreign competi- tion. But in many industries they meet the foreign com- petitor successfully on his own ground, and at times they boast of the fact. It is well known that they have gained a foothold in the French markets on the strength of their low prices, and they are right in doing so. I brought back 24 The delegate from the shoemaker's union of Paris asserts that the Americans are superior to the French not only in the manu- facture but also in the prices of their shoes, which are from 20 to 30 per cent, lower than in France. 25 Fourth Biennial Report of the Minnesota Bureau of Labor, p. 303. The Productivity of Labor and Machinery 61 from America a stout pair of men's shoes, the wholesale price of which was only eighty cents. Other countries contain great establishments comparable to those which I have just cited; this is just as unquestion- able as the fact that, in America, all the factories are not modelled after those I have described. Every country loves to show visitors the specimens that do it credit, and the visitors themselves are attracted to the large establish- ments. I saw many plants of average size and I realize that there are many establishments conducted on a scale by no means superior to that which we are accustomed to in France. The tendency of new establishments, however, is to operate on a large scale. Visits of the French labor-delegates to the Chicago exposi- tion. — This delegation was divided into a number of groups, each of which visited several establishments in their special trade during the space of a very rapid visit. In almost every instance the impression received was the same. Speaking of a manufactory of machine-tools at Philadel- phia, they remark that the industry is more specialized than in France, the machinery costlier, but by its greater pro- ductivity, more conducive to low-priced products. 26 In the works of a company engaged in the manufacture of iron bridges they note the complete mechanical equipment and in particular a stamping-machine that " repays many times over the $12,000 that it cost." ..." You feel that ma- chinery is expected to do everything," said the delegate from the furniture industry. " With the part of the work- man reduced to a minimum, they produce quickly, in large quantities and at low cost." 2T The delegation also remarked how alert the Americans are for new improvements. " American manufacturers," they say in the preamble to their report, " invariably seem to amortise their capital with the settled intention of replacing their machines by new and improved patterns." 2 28 Rapport de la delegation onvriere, p. 71. 27 Rapport de la delegation ouvriere, p. 144. 28 Ibid., p. 13. 6 62 The American Laborer In reference to a prominent manufacturer of agricul- tural machinery, Messrs. Grille and Lelarge say: " This is the oldest house of the kind in America. Notwithstand- ing this fact, it is impossible to find in it a machine that is old-fashioned or out of date. It is evident that as soon as a machine is worn out or superseded by an improved pat- tern, it is forthwith thrown on the junk-pile." I myself received evidence of this feeling. In Minne- apolis I went through the factories at night, under the guidance of Mr. Powers, the commissioner of labor. We remained more than an hour at one saw-mill on the bank of the Mississippi, whose buildings were little better than sheds. I admired the powerful machinery as it incessantly lifted great trunks of trees from the water, handling them like match-sticks, but with a deafening noise, trimming them, sawing them up, and a few moments after their de- parture from the water, automatically piling up the finished boards. This mill turned out 300,000 feet of lumber in twenty-four hours. " This system is two years old," the commissioner said : " I regret that I am unable to show you one of our newer mills that is not running to-night. This one will soon have to be reconstructed." On our return we saw near the river, a building whose windows were broken. When I asked what the building was, he replied: "a mill that is seven years old. The machinery has changed so much that it had to be abandoned." The delegates representing the metallurgical and me- chanical industries conclude their report in these words: " In ending this account of our visits, we cannot refrain from testifying to the great productivity of machinery in general. In this respect the Americans are certainly ahead of us, and their superiority is primarily due to the fact that their manufacturers do not hesitate to spend enormous sums for machinery. They use the very best steel, what- ever the cost may be; the astonishing speed of their ma- chinery would be impossible if the material were not of the best quality. The high specialization of their machinery The Productivity of Labor and Machinery 63 seems, in many instances, to partake of the marvellous; it is a result of the division of labor on the one hand, and on the other, of a competition between powerful concerns which is much more intense than in France." a The delegates of the labor-unions of Paris returned in exactly the same frame of mind, and expressed themselves even more bluntly. " It is difficult to conceive of the per- fection of their machinery," writes the shirt-maker, " it is marvellous." " By the great development of machinery," said the shoemaker, " the American workman finds his work reduced to the simple task of directing machines. We have particularly noticed the skill of the Americans in manipulating their machines; they know how to get good work out of their machines; we know that they have got the manufacture down to perfection." " The mechanical industry has arrived at such a point in America," says the machinist, " that if we wish to contend against it without a protective tariff, we must relegate our machines to the garret and get modern types." 30 Trusts and the extent of the market. — Among the reasons which explain the importance and number of large estab- lishments in America, it is necessary to include, in addi- tion to the peculiar character of the people, the size of the population and the high per capita consumption. The Americans now possess, within the boundaries of their own state, an unrestricted market of seventy million pur- chasers, provided throughout with rapid and inexpensive means of communication, and totally free from octrois or internal tariffs. The population is increasing rapidly, and on the average, the people spend more in equipping farms and factories, in clearing the soil, constructing houses, and in personal enjoyment, than do the people of Europe. Here we have the reason, to employ one example, why they have "Ibid.. P . 131. 30 Delegation des Syndicats des Ouvriers de Paris a V Exposition de Chicago, pp. 325, 345', 387. 64 The American Laborer built more miles of railroad than the 380,000,000 inhabit- ants of Europe have done. And everything is on the same scale. Knowing that their market will not fail them, manu- facturers are encouraged to carry production to the high- est possible point and thus produce at the lowest cost. The Americans, moreover, to use one of their own phrases, love to act and talk big; it is one of their tricks of speech. Among the superlatives with which they qualify their products and their establishments, one constantly hears the expressions: "the greatest," "the largest in the world," etc. " The American system gives great results in times of active demand and unrestricted outlet, but shows frequently disastrous results when depression sets in," writes Mr. Schoenhof. 31 A French engineer to whom I spoke of the powerful machinery at Homestead answered: "That is all very well; we could do the same in France; but we would not want to do it, because in one month we should have filled the whole year's orders." Another cause of concentration is found in the mobility of the population, and the rarity of caste traditions. Un- like Europe, there is no district where an occupation de- scends from father to son. Consequently the entrepreneur does not have to disturb himself with this consideration when he sets up a factory. The works once open, work- men are sure to arrive, often, if the wages be good, from great distances. There is competition between these great concerns; but in America as in Europe, or even more than in Europe, the competitors realize that they would do better by acting in concert. In consequence, " trusts " and " rings " are formed. Some of these are now very powerful, and have even acquired a certain celebrity in commercial history. When socialists reproach the capitalists with having re- pudiated their principles by forming "trusts," "pools," 31 The Economy of High Wages, p. 56. The Productivity of Labor and Machinery 65 " rings," etc., it is to America first of all that they turn for their examples. They repeat the definition given by the committee of the New York State Senate in relation to trusts, viz. : that trusts are monopolies — " the general pur- poses and effects of which are to control the supply of such commodities and necessities, destroy competition, regulate the quantity, and to keep the cost to the consumer of such commodities at prices far beyond their fair and equitable value." They instance the Standard Oil Company, and the combination of " coal barons," they cite the pool of the steel-rail manufacturers, who, in order to raise prices de- pressed by over-production, paid the owners of the Vulcan works at St. Louis $400,000 annually to keep them closed — a proceeding which assured a return to the capital invested while it deprived the workmen of their wages. Merchants or producers of leather, milk, sugar, caoutchouc, glass, etc., have formed combinations whose effects, while varying in degree, have been similar in kind to those of the larger trusts. In itself the trust is a legitimate form of voluntary asso- ciation. But it is possible for such associations, whether of masters or workmen, to become oppressive, and in these cases the intervention of the government, charged as it is with the protection of individual rights and the general interests of society, is legitimate. Combinations which aim to control the market, and which oppress the merchant, the laborer, and the consumer, are reprehensible; by abusing their powers, some of these have instilled grievances in the American mind against the very principle of competition, which in itself is salutary. It is exceedingly difficult to demarcate the just limits of the freedom of association, but in any event, trusts are very unpopular. The labor-unions are unanimous in protesting against them, and denounce them as one cause of the subjection of the workingman. In one street of Philadelphia I saw what are known as " human sign-boards " walking about with this single ad- 66 The American Laborer vertisement of a certain brand of ink: "Not made by a trust." Consolidation shows itself not only in manufactures, but also in transportation, and the railroads have grouped them- selves, either by purchase or fusion, into systems more ex- tensive than in France. 32 In the cities, the department store flourishes, showing that concentration is also going on in trade and commerce. The tendency is, in fact, general. In the United States competition has free play throughout a territory almost four-fifths as large as Europe. At the outbreak of the Civil War the states of the North and East had a practical monopoly of large manufactures, and the victorious Republicans framed their tariffs with the view of preserving this supremacy by excluding foreign competition. But internal competition soon arose from the states of the middle and northern Mississippi valley, the metallurgical industry and the manufacture of boots and shoes being particularly successful in these sections of the country. In the iron and textile industries, the competi- tion of the Southern States is now making itself felt in the Northern States. Industrial improvements illustrated. — To describe the im- provements in the machinery, agents and processes of manufacture which have modified the conditions of labor in the last twenty years, it would be necessary to write the whole industrial history of that period, and this would make an encyclopedia. I shall confine myself to the bare men- tion of one or two improvements in the textile manufacture and the printing industry. One improvement after another has been made in the 32 The total length of the Paris-Lyon-Mediterranee railway in 1898 was 8.970 kilometers, or about 5,561 miles. In 1809 the Penn- sylvania Railroad operated 9,070 miles, the Northwestern Line 8.275 miles, the Chicago. Burlington and Quincy 7.751 miles, the At- chison, Topeka and Sante Fe Railway 7.414 miles, etc. World Al- manac, p. 205 ct seq. The Productivity of Labor and Machinery 67 cotton spindle. Twenty years ago the average speed 33 of the ordinary spindle was not more than 5,500 revolutions a minute. This was increased by the " Sawyer " model to 7,500 revolutions, and by the " Rabbeth " spindle to more than 9,000. Five " Rabbeth " spindles produce more than eight ordinary spindles, using the same amount of power. Allowing, with Mr. Draper, one horsepower for each hun- dred spindles, and assuming that the number of spindles, new and old, is 14,500,000, it is found that the substitution of new for old machines would effect a saving of 40,000 horsepower; and Air. Draper adds that there would also be a great saving of labor, as the new machinery does not re- quire so much attention as the old. By a hypothetical and probably exaggerated calculation, Mr. Draper estimates at $50,000,000 the reduction in the present expense of pro- duction. 34 The introduction of the ring-spinning frame, the self- acting mule, and the mule spindle improved by the self- centering principle, 35 has not only secured an immense increase of speed without necessitating an increase of mo- tive-power, but it has permitted the substitution of women for men in the factories. 86 The power-loom, of which there are many varieties, has also received many improvements. In the woolen mills, 33 The speed of a spindle varies with the number of the yarn. Spinning number five the " Rabbeth " makes only 5,000 revolutions; spinning number forty, the " Rabbeth " makes 9,200, the " Sawyer " 7,500, and the ordinary spindle, 6,100 revolutions. The average con- sumption of cotton per spindle was 70 pounds in 1880 and 79 in 1890. In the South, where the machinery is newer, it rose to 161 pounds in 1890. See " Manufacturing Industries," Eleventh Census, p. 169. 34 Written several years ago. The number of spindles has now in- creased to nearly 18,000,000. 35 These machines have been made with 1,100 spindles. One spin- ner and a helper mind two. 36 In wool spinning, the substitution since 1873 of the automatic mule with 600 spindles, for the " handjack " which on the aver- age had only about 240, has brought down the cost of manufacture about 50 per cent. 68 The American Laborer according to Mr. North, the broad-looms ran at 45 picks per minute before 1857; in 1890 these looms were operated at from 90 to 105 picks per minute. When I was in America in 1876 they pointed out to me as a curiosity, a woman in the Merrimack mills who tended seven calico looms, four in front and three behind. Most of the oper- atives ran four, or six. I was scarcely believed when I related the occurrence in France. 3 ' In the same factory, in 1893, I saw one whole row of women minding eight looms apiece, four in front and four behind. The majority of the operatives ran four or six. All the larger factories are run in the same way. In Nashua I found the operatives running two, four, or six looms, according to the kind of goods and the skill of the weaver. The three-quarter cotton looms run at about 180 picks and the four-quarter looms at about 145 picks per minute. This is about the same speed obtained in Europe, but in France one opera- tive minds only two looms. In the factory at Lawrence the cloth looms speed faster than in Europe (105 picks per minute). In the investigation made by the Commissioner of Labor I find the following account of the distribution of looms in one factory: 15 operatives ran four, 17 ran five, 126 ran six, one ran seven, and 18 ran eight, looms apiece. 33 In the silk manufacture in Paterson the Swiss loom has been replaced by the American " Knowler " loom. Some of these throw from 80 to 150 wefts a minute, make very 37 In the reports of the delegates to the Chicago fair occurs the following passage in reference to the factory in Pawtucket: " What struck the delegates from the textile industries was the fact, con- trary to French custom, that the operators mind six looms on ordinary goods and four on those which require more care." 38 1 learn from Messrs. Draper's Sons of Hopedale, under the date of September 17, 1896, that in the factory of the Queen City Cotton Co. of Burlington, Vt., twelve weavers each mind 20, and one weaver 28, Northrup looms working on calico for the size 64x64; that in the Merrimack Manufacturing Co.'s works each op- erative minds 16 Northrup looms, that each loom of this kind pro- duces more than an ordinary loom and that the fabrics are of good quality. The Productivity of Labor and Machinery 69 uniform fabrics and are very sensible to defects. The rib- bon-looms are much larger than in France and weave six- teen or eighteen pieces at one time. For several years past, the type-setting machine has been in general use in printing offices. The effect of this machine will be a further concentration of the printing in- dustry at certain points, and it has already had a disquiet- ing effect upon printers by reducing the demand for their services. From a report prepared in 1893 covering seventy cities, it appeared that 999 machines were in operation in 132 offices, and that the introduction of the machines had reduced the aggregate force employed from 3,461 regulars and 1,888 helpers, to 2,201 regulars and 412 helpers. Typographical Union Number 6 has published a statement in which the displacement of labor caused by these ma- chines was estimated at about twenty-three per cent. 383 - The rapidity of composition is much greater than by the old process if there are not many corrections made in the proof. Instead of 1,000, a compositor now sets 3,700 ems per hour. The inventive genius of the Americans. — Among other causes of the great mechanical development in America, I have cited the enterprising spirit and the inventive genius of the American people. They are very proud of these traits. A few years ago one of their economists, Mr,. Jacob Schoenhof, expressed himself as follows in his interesting book, The Economy of High Wages: " If one has made it an object to examine the tools and other automatic ma- chinery and the working methods in the metal and ma- chine industries of this country, and has made parallel ob- servations in Europe, he can hardly help speaking in words of admiration of the genius of our people, who, impelled 38a In his testimony before the Industrial Commission, President Donnelly of the International Typographical Union expressed the opinion that in another year, if present conditions continue, the displacement of labor due to the linotype machine will have dis- appeared, or in other words, that as many compositors will be em- ployed as before the introduction of the machine. [Tr.] 70 The American Laborer by causes already discussed, have worked from the most difficult beginnings into fields never trodden before, where a tariff could hinder, but never could help." : There is, in fact, no other country in which so many patents are applied for, and where, in spite of the severe pre- liminary examination, so many patents are granted, as the United States. In 1890, 41,048 applications were received and 26,292 patents issued. In France 7,634 were granted in that year. As is shown in the following table, the num- ber doubled in the twenty years 1870- 1890: PATENTS IN THE UNITED STATES. Tears. Applications. Issued. 1850 2,193 993 1860 7,653 4,084 1870 19,171 13,333 1875 21,638 14,837 1880 23,012 13,947 1885 35,717 24,233 1890 41,048 26,292 1895 40,680 22,057 1899 41,443 25,527 On the first of January, 1900, more than 650,000 patents, excluding designs, re-issues, trade-marks, had been issued by the United States, most of which were for improvements on carriages and wagons, stoves, furnaces, harvesters, lamps, boot and shoe machinery, etc. In 1894, 16,372 patents became public property, 12,920 by expiring, 3,812 by default of payment. All these are not necessarily American inventions; many of them originate in Europe. But the Americans are quick to take up a novelty and like to believe that it originated with them. Nevertheless they have given the world many beautiful inventions, particularly in machinery and elec- tricity, in which they have the reputation, not undeserved, of being supreme. Their system of preliminary examina- tion seems to give more security than the French system. 30 Page 224. The Productivity of Labor and Machinery 71 They promptly patent the slightest improvement, often with the sole object of forcing its purchase by the inventor of the original machine. 40 The desire to economize human effort by the use of ma- chinery is shown in the smallest as in the largest matters. In all the large residences and factories of recent construc- tion, the elevator replaces the stairway; almost all commer- s/ cial houses and many private individuals conduct their correspondence on the typewriter, and the use of the tele- phone, which saves so many steps and so much time, is far more extensive than in France. I had scarcely arrived in New York when the extent of this feeling was revealed to me by two trivial incidents. I saw two men sanding a street-railway. One drove the wagon, which was running in the car tracks, the other manipulated a lever which opened and closed a vent through which the sand flowed like water from a watering-cart. The same feeling is manifested on the trains of the elevated railroad, on which the stops are very short. The con- ductor, I noticed, opened and shut the doors automatically, by means of a lever, and in this way, one conductor was enough for two cars. Some time ago I found myself at Berne in the company of Mr. Hollerith, the American inventor of an ingenious machine for tabulating statistical returns. He was, watch- ing four men hoist stones by turning a large wheel like squirrels in a cage, and he could not get over his astonish- ment. " I would like to have a camera in order to get a photograph of that," he said; " they will not believe me in America if I tell about it." 40 " The patent system may here be cited as a factor in our indus- trial system. It has been carried to an almost absurd extreme, so that it is not safe for any one to adopt a new method, machine or part of a machine and attempt to use it quietly and without taking out a patent lest some sharp person, seeing it in use and not pub- lished, shall himself secure the patent and come back to the real inventor with a claim for royalty." Ed. Atkinson, in " Cotton Manufactures," p. 10, Tenth Census. 72 The American Laborer The American people have the same superb confidence in the superiority of their civilization that they have in their inventive genius. Some time ago UEconomiste Franqais reproduced a passage from a mining journal of Montana, which, wishing to prove that the United States could adopt the free coinage of silver without regard to the decision of Europe, said: " We are the first nation of the globe; to our inventive genius the world owes the steamboat, the tele- graph, the telephone. Without us, Europe would be grov- elling in the barbarism of the middle ages." 4 This senti- ment, which is a better proof of the national vanity than of the writer's learning, is continually being revealed in the conversation and writings of the Americans; discreetly by those who have visited Europe, brutally by the mass of the people and the newspapers, particularly the newspapers of the far West. I recall having seen at the Centennial Ex- position a painting of sixteen scenes, which represented by as many episodes the history of civilization. In the first group man was seen terrified by lightning, by religious superstition, by feudal tyranny, and the tortures of the In- quisition: this was the part of the Old World. In the sec- ond group appeared Franklin with his kite, and Professor Henry, of Washington, preparing a telegraphic apparatus (with not a sign of Ampere): this was the part of the New World. Success intoxicates; this young nation has grown so much in a century that it may be excused for believing that its greatness is unequalled. The inventive genius of the American is perhaps a nat- ural gift, but it has certainly been stimulated by the rate of wages. We shall see in another chapter that for a long while the rate of wages has been relatively high. The higher the price of labor, the greater will be the effort of the entrepreneur to economize in its use. Moreover, when machinery has made the laborer more productive, it is possible to pay him a higher wage. An increase of one U Economiste Franqais, October, 1895. The Productivity of Labor and Machinery 73 dollar in the cost of labor distributed over ioo units of pro- duct, means an increase of only one cent per unit; distrib- uted over ten units it causes a rise of ten cents in the price per unit. A manufacturer considering the purchase of a machine which will cost $10,000 and replace four laborers, but which must pay for itself in ten years, will not hesitate to make the purchase in a country where wages are $500 per annum: here the machine will effect a saving of $1,000 per annum. A manufacturer in a country where wages are $200 cannot use the machine, however, because it would cause an annual loss of $200. 42 The productivity of the machine. — That machinery makes production more rapid and abundant follows from what I have already stated; these are results not open to con- troversy; they constitute the very raison d'etre of the ma- chine. Adam Smith calculated that one man working alone and without machinery could not possibly make twenty pins a day, while in the small pin-manufactory, which he se- lected to illustrate the advantages of the division of labor, ten men with a little machinery and specialized work could together produce 48,000 pins a day. 43 Mr. Schoenhof takes up the same illustration and cites a Connecticut factory in which 70 machines, directed by one machinist, three opera- tives and one boy, produce daily 7,500,000 pins, all placed in the papers and ready for sale. A hundred years ago, they boasted that in one day a single workman could make 4,800 pins; to-day one man makes a million and a 42 The tabulating machine of Mr. Hollerith, for example, was used with economy and success in preparing the reports of the Eleventh Census at Washington. But the employees were paid $2 and $2.50 per day in Washington. In Vienna and Rome where wages are much lower, the experience with the machine was not so favorable. It seems, however, that there is a future for this kind of machine where the work to be done is very extensive. 43 Although the factory of which Adam Smith spoke was but " in- differently provided with the necessary machinery," it was better than those depicted in the engravings of the encyclopedia of Di- derot and d'Alembert. 74 The American Laborer half. The difference is typical. 44 In a recent investigation made by the Department of Labor, it was ascertained that one pound of pins which cost $5.32 to make by hand, could now be manufactured for a little less than 26 cents. 40 The manufacture of nails, which presents a certain anal- ogy to that of pins, can be followed with more detail. At the beginning of the century, machines had already begun to be employed in the manufacture of nails, in particular the Perkins machine, invented in 1790, and patented five years later. This machine was propelled by the right hand and foot of the operator, while the nail iron was manipu- lated by the left hand. It was capable of producing 200,- 000 nails a day, but a second operation was necessary to make the head. " At the end of the century twenty-three patents had been granted for improvements in nail ma- chines." This number had increased very considerably by 1835, as the manufacture by machinery had developed rapidly and driven out the hand process. The Perkins and the Odiorne machines were soon abandoned, as they cost a great deal to keep in repair. They were both superseded by the Reed machine which was very efficient, especially after it had been perfected by Melville Otis. But another machine, making nails of wire instead of plate-iron, appeared in 1851. Wire nails, however, did not commence to succeed until after the introduction of three machines from Germany in 1871, and they did not seri- ously rival the cut nail until after 1883. In 1883 Bessemer steel began to supplant iron in the manufacture of both kinds of nails. At the present day a workman, instead of laboriously propelling one machine, directs the operation of eisflit without fatisrue. 46 The following figures, taken ** The Economy of High JJ'agcs, p. 99. 45 This is the labor cost only. See Thirteenth Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor, vol. i. p. 63. 48 In 1813, 20,900 four-penny iron cut nails (73 per pound) re- quired an expenditure of 236 hours of work, distributed among three workmen, and the labor cost was $20.24. In 1897, the same The Productivity of Labor and Machinery 75 from the publications of the American Iron and Steel Asso- ciation show the progress and the change that have resulted from these inventions. The production, in kegs of ioo pounds, has been as follows: Tears. Cut nails. Wire nails. Total. 1856 1,834,000 1,824,000 1873 4,024,000 4,024,000 1886 8,160,000 600,000 8,760,000 1890 5,641,000 3,136,000 8,777,000 1897 2,107,000 8,997,000 11,104,000 1898 1,572,221 7,418,475 8,990,696 In 1 886 about five per cent, of American nails were made of steel; at the present time almost the whole amount is made of steel, and the quality has improved greatly. Al- though the total quantity of cut nails steadily declined from 1 886 until 1897 the price also fell. If we carry the com- parison further back, to the period of the Perkins machine, this fall will be seen to be enormous. In 1818 a pound of nails was worth from 18 to 37*^ cents;" in 1892 the price was ^y 2 cents and in 1893 less than 2 cents. 48 In Part IV of his Industrial Evolution, Col. Wright ad- duces various proofs of the superior productivity of ma- chinery. In one western manufactory of agricultural ma- chinery, 600 workmen now produce as much as 2,145 f° r ~ merly produced without the present machiney. In the manufacture of fire-arms a workman could formerly make the parts of one gun in one day; now three men make the parts of 130 guns in one day. Machinery saves 80 per cent, of the labor in the manufacture of women's shoes, 66 per cent, in the manufacture of men's shoes; and one work- quantity of four-penny nails (209 per pound) required less than two hours work, distributed among 83 workmen, the labor cost being 29 cents. Thirteenth Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor, vol. i, pp. 60, 61. 47 Iron In All Ages, p. 449. 48 The price per keg in Chicago was $5-49 in 1872; $3.15 in 1887 and $1.49 in 1893. See Annual Statistical Report of the American Iron and Steel Association. 76 The American Laborer man with the McKay machine finishes 300 pairs of shoes where he would finish but five, working by hand. A large manufacturer of children's shoes in Philadelphia gave Col. Wright to understand that only one-sixth of the former number of laborers was now required, and prices had fallen about fifty per cent A few years ago, seventeen good workmen could make about 500 dozen brooms a week; with modern machinery nine workmen can produce 1,200 dozen, To refer to an example used before, the hand- loom used to weave from 60 to 80 picks a minute; the power-loom weaves 180 and the weaver tends from two to six looms, according to the kind of fabric. 49 The weaver directing six looms produces more than 1.000 yards a week, while the hand-weaver produced about 45 yards. Our grandmothers, with, the spinning-wheel, could make five bundles of yarn, nine skeins each, in a week, working 56 hours; one spinner, with two boys helping him, can now spin 55,000 bundles a week on two self-acting mules. On an average every operative tends two and a half times as many spindles now as in 183 1. In spinning, the difference is prodigious. In the investigation of hand and machine labor made by the Department of Labor, it was shown that the production of 100 pounds of sewing thread required 2,875 hours of labor in 1870, costing $86.85, while in 1896 only 39 hours and 17 minutes were required, the cost be- ing $1.81. In other words, the total labor cost fell from $86.85 to $i-8 1, while the cost per hour rose from three cents to a little less than five cents. 50 In the investigation from which we have just quoted, a most interesting comparison was instituted between the respective amounts of labor necessary to produce certain articles, with and without the assistance of modern ma- chinery. This investigation is the first, to my knowledge, in which a large number of products 61 has been scientifically " I did not see any female operative mind more than 8 looms. 60 Thirteenth Annual Report, vol. i, p. 41. See the same table for the statistics quoted in the immediately succeeding paragraphs. 51 672 products or processes are included in the final report. The Productivity of Labor and Machinery 77 studied with this object in view, and it affords ample con- firmation of what has already been stated concerning the productivity of machinery. It is especially valuable for the light it throws upon the intimate connection between the development of machinery and (i) the further subdivision of labor, (2) the increased rapidity of production, (3) the diminution in the labor time necessary to produce ordinary articles of consumption, (4) and the increase in the price of labor, A few of the results of this investigation are incor- porated in the following table. In many instances, the article as produced by machine and hand methods was not exactly the same; the use of machinery usually introduces slight changes in appearance and quality. But careful efforts have been made to eliminate this cause of error, and where the two articles differed, the one made by machine was almost always superior. The original table contains full descriptions of the articles mentioned, which it has not been thought necessary to include here. PRODUCTION BY HAND AND MACHINE. a <~i a 3 VQ tH O ^ U c si «s2 . +^ EE 0> ■a ay 5« III Time worked. 3 5. u a a *> . 54 25.12 0.099 1866 3 125 10.67 0.085 1897 7 8 7 12 20 t.78 0.14 78 The American Laborer production bt hand and machine — Continued. Time c-ri eg© worked. 8 I s8 Cheese, 1840 Hand 8 1 75 . . 7.50 0.10 1896 Machine 14 3 5 24 .85 0.16 Apples (canned), 1871 Hand 16 95 653 20 35.53 0.054 1894 Machine 14 79 234 ■■ 21.58 0.092 Axles, 1850 Hand 6 2 466 40 56.93 0.12 1897 Machine 24 33 43 25 8.20 0.19 Buggies, 1865 Hand 64 6 200 25 45.67 0.227 1895 Machine 72 116 39 8 8.09 0.207 Wagons, 1848 Hand 37 5 242 .. 35.35 0.14 1895 Machine 63 75 48 17 7.19 0.15 Watch movements, Hand 453 14 241,866 10 80,822.09 0.33 1896 Machine 1,088 . . . 8,243 5S 1 ,799.59 0.21 Coats, Hand 22 6 3,301 43 803.91 0.24 1895 Machine 28 71 1,375 20 261.83 0.19 Cottonades, 1893 Hand 19 3 7,534 1 135.61 0.018 1895 Machine 43 252 84 14 6.81 0.080 Shirts, 1853 Hand 25 1 1,439 .. 180.00 0.12 1895 Machine 39 230 188 .. 34-21 0.18 Boots, 1859 Hand 83 2 1,436 40 408.50 0.28 1895 Machine 122 113 154 5 35-40 Shoes, 1875 Hand 102 1 1,996 40 499.17 0.25 1896 Machine 140 140 173 29 54.60 0.31 Nails, 1813 Hand 3 3 236 25 20.24 0.086 1897 Machine 20 83 1 0.29 0.13 The Productivity of Labor and Machinery 79 •Z2 S3 *! Pi ,8* £§ «4g Bread, t ° £ .vV o 5 ° 1897 Hand 11 1897 Carpet, ... 16 1850 Hand ... 15 1895 Bedsteads, ... 41 1866 ... 15 1897 Bureaus, . .. 35 1866 Hand ... IS 1896 Chairs, ... 21 1860 Hand ... 12 1895 Gloves, ... u 1895 Hand 10 i<§95 Gold balls, , . . 16 1865 5 23S6 Marble slabs, 11 1852 Hand , 1 1S95 Needles, S 1851 ... 18 1895 Doors, , . . 27 1895 Hand ... 12 1895 Cigarettes, 20 1880 Hand 11 1895 Loading: ore, ... IS 1891 Hand 1 1896 3 iXD MACHINE — Contin ued. c a a feS.2 a 5; c 5|a Time worked. § § 5 § B oO ►J u 0> • to O gjS O l 28 5.60 0.20 22 8 56 1.55 0.18 18 4,047 30 270.01 0.06 51 0.55 o.ss 80 The American Laborer These twenty-nine random citations are convincing upon certain points. With a few rare exceptions, the number of operations increased after machinery was introduced; the number of workmen increased in a still greater degree, be- cause the use of machinery almost invariably causes a further subdivision of labor, and in many instances, a hand tool operated by a single workman has been replaced by a machine which requires a very large number of operators. These effects are well illustrated in the manufacture of plows, in which the number of workmen increased from 2 to 52, in the manufacture of shirts (increase from 1 to 230), buggies (from 6 to 116), needles (from 4 to 57), bureaus (from 1 to 36), nails (from 3 to 83). Even more striking, in view of the increase in the number of workmen, is the diminution in the total labor time. In the manufacture of plows the labor time decreased from 1,180 hours to 37 hours, watch-movements from 241,866 to 8,243, cottonades from 7,534 to 84, women's shoes from 1,996 to 173, marble slabs from 6,000 to 11, and needles from 906 to 19 hours. Tobacco-growing constitutes a striking exception to the general rule. Since 1844 the cost of raising 1,200 pounds of leaf tobacco has increased from $5.97 to $30.23, owing to the increase in wages. 52 On the other hand the produc- tion of plows by machinery costs only about one-seventh as much as by hand, nails about one-sixtieth, marble slabs about one-two-hundredths, and the production of watch- movements, an industry that has been revolutionized by machinery, less than one-fortieth. Tobacco and gloves are the only exceptions noted. Machinery, then, is the principal cause of low prices. With modern machinery, to take a single illustration, 10,000 copies of a sixteen-page newspaper can be printed in 4 hours and 39 minutes, while on the hand-press, the 62 It is stated in the report, pp. 92 and 93, that the peculiarities of this return can be accounted for only on the supposition that at the later epoch the nature of the soil and season necessitated much more cultivation. [Tr.] The Productivity of Labor and Machinery 81 work would have taken 766 hours of labor time. In this instance, as the Commissioner of Labor remarks, machinery acts as a powerful educational influence by making possible the publication of the penny newspaper. It is to machinery in particular that we owe that phenomenon which, in my book on Political Economy, I had called " the economic paradox;" the phenomenon of falling prices in industries in which wages, profits, and the price of the raw material, are all advancing. Finally, the results of the investigation justify the con- clusion that the general effect of the introduction of ma- chinery upon wages, is beneficial. Out of 29 examples, selected without any reference to this aspect of the question, there are 29 which show an increase, against 1 1 which show a diminution, in the cost of labor per hour. And in gen- eral, the relative increase is much greater than the relative diminution. Mr. Schoenhof has also gathered a great deal of evidence of the productivity of machines, in his book on high wages. He compares the nail-makers of the English " black coun- try," who make two shillings in fourteen hours, with the Pittsburg nailer who makes $5 in a day of ten hours. " The English nailer earns from 10 s. to 12 s. a week. If helped by a lad, the combined earnings do not exceed 16 s. or $3.87. An American nailer, employed in a Pittsburg nail mill, gave me $5 a day as a fair average of a nailer's earn- ings, and $1.50 for the feeder, or some $30 a week for the nailer alone. But we have here an output of over two tons and a half against barely two hundredweight in England. Twenty times the output against ten times the wages still leaves a comfortable margin of 100 per cent, in favor of the new method . . . and still at his 2 s. a day he [the English nail-maker] does not turn out the work as cheaply by a great deal as this remarkable combination of intellectual and mechanical force does under the American labor system." M 63 The Economy of High Wages, pp. 226 and 398. 82 The American Laborer Productivity of the laborer. — In support of the thesis that " high wages represent low cost of production," Mr. Ed- ward Atkinson relates that a German steamer from Bremen having been badly damaged, was docked in New York for repairs. When the owners in Bremen learned the initial costs, they became frightened at the rate of wages and or- dered " the steamer back to Bremen for the completion of repairs. . . . But it was too late; the work had begun and it was necessary to finish it in New York. When the final account of the sum of wages was sent to Bremen, it proved to be a less amount than the same repairs would have cost in Bremen." 54 From my balcony, while I was in the hospital in Boston, I watched some brickrayers opposite repairing a wall. The bricks were carried to the bricklayer by a hod-carrier, and cleaned below, by a third laborer. It seemed to me that the work would prove very expensive at the rate of wages I knew they were paying. I believe that I was not mistaken in my inference, because they were working at repairs, but it is necessary to avoid hasty generalizations. When I spoke of the occurrence to a French manufacturer in Phila- delphia, formerly located at Lyons, he said: "These work- men work conscientiously and quickly; I have done some building here and I do not believe that my expenses were any greater here than they would have been in Lyons." Afterwards I noticed, in those cities which I visited twice, how quickly the buildings of brick and steel ran up. But there is in every case a limit which is only learned by ex- perience; it is certain that the cost of building has increased in the great cities of the United States. " They pay you well here, but you have to work hard," said an Alsatian iron-worker, one of the head workmen in a large iron-works. I was able to verify the truth of this statement almost everywhere, in the hand-trades as well n as in the great manufactories. The speed at which the 54 The Distribution of Products, p. 61. The Productivity of Labor and Machinery 83 tailors work in the sweat-shops of New York seemed as bewildering as that of the butchers in the Armour packing house, who kill 5,800 hogs a day, or as that of the rolling- mills which make 100 tons of rails in a day The machine is fast and it sets the pace. In one of his reports Mr. v Schoenhof told of an American mill that had changed all its machinery in order to increase the speed from 5,000 to 7,500 revolutions a minute. An English silk-throwster, having read the account, told Mr. Schoenhof that if he in- stalled such machinery in his mills, all his girls would quit. And yet to-day some of the American mills run their ma- chines at a speed of 10,000 or even 13,000 turns a minute." Even when the machinery plays a secondary role the men work quickly and no time is lost. Competition re- quires fast work. The employer, knowing what to ex- pect, demands the worth of his money, and will not tolerate an idler. In the Senate Report upon " Labor and Capital," a mule- spinner of Fall River, who had been a member of the Mas- sachusetts legislature, and who was then secretary of a labor organization, said that he had worked in England for up- wards of seventeen years, and that in his opinion the cotton- spinner was in a far better condition in England than in America, " because the manufacturers there don't appear/ to be so desirous of working the men so much like horses V or slaves as they do in our State — they don't work a{ the same extraordinary rate of speed that we do in Fall River. There they give a man a pair of mules, that is, cotton-spinning frames, and they give a man an assistant to work between the mules with him, and also an assistant to work on the back of the mules ; but in this country it is a very peculiar fact (but I know it is so, with the exception of one or two places) that however large the mules may be, no matter how many spindles they may contain, the em- ployers will not come down to the same policy adopted in 55 The Economy of High Wages, p. 39. 84 The American Laborer England. They insist on one man running the mule with only one little assistant to go behind it. . . ,. There is not as much labor put upon one man there as there is in our city, and our machinery goes at a higher rate of speed." "Question: 'Then mule for mule, Fall River produces more cloth?' Answer: 'Yes.'" In the same investigation a tailor who, as a boy in Eng- land, had been successively miner, farm-laborer, and tailor's apprentice, and who was then secretary of the Working- men's Union in New York, gave it as his opinion that the condition of the miner was better in England than America, / because the hours of labor and the amount of work per- formed in a day are less in England than America. " The same may be said of the carpenters, bricklayers, and plas- terers there. For instance, the number of brick to be laid per day per man in New York, is about 500 more than in London, Manchester, Dublin, or Glasgow. I have lived in all these cities. The hours of labor, too, are shorter in England. . . . And I think I can say fearlessly that the [general] intelligence of the skilled mechanic in England is better than the intelligence of the skilled mechanic in America." Several of the labor-delegates to the Chicago fair also reported that the workmen had a very great deal to do, and had no time to talk or loaf. " In the machine shops," says one, "There is no hurly-burly, no running-about; each workman keeps his place, although the discipline is not harsher than in France," 68 An old pupil of the Ecole d'Arts et Metiers at Aix, who has been working as a machinist in America for several years, gave me the testimony of his experience in this matter. " The American workman," he said, " is consci- J entious, active, will not leave his place to talk, and knows how to use a machine, which he handles like a mechanic, not like a day-laborer. Thus in making cog-wheels, for . 36 Rapports de la delegation ouvriere, p. 418. The Productivity of Labor and Machinery 85 instance, it is not rare to see him alter the drawing he has before him, although he goes to the foreman in this case, who generally decides in his favor. He is given great lib- erty in the mode of executing his orders. If he invents anything, the employer ordinarily encourages him." Some- times the employer buys the invention in order to take a patent out in his own name. Specialization pushed so very far facilitates inventions for the smallest details of produc- tion, because the attention of the intelligent workman is constantly fixed upon the same process." The quality of American workmanship. — The machine does not work like the hand of man. Its power is infinite; its speed, incomparably greater; it has a regularity and pre- cision that the hand and eye seldom, if ever, attain. But its work is monotonously uniform, and lacks the variety, the spontaneity, the meaningful delicacy imparted by the mind of the workman. It remains then to strike a balance between the advantages and disadvantages of the machine, as we have just done with the conditions of labor in America. In the production of ordinary consumption goods, inter- changeable mechanism and articles of great size or weight, machinery has many advantages, and in most cases its su- periority is now recognized. At the present time the Americans are better equipped to produce quickly and in large quantities than any other people, and accordingly, I shall not attempt to refute Mr. Schoenhofs thesis: "that, barring slight exceptions, our labor is as cheap in all lead- ing articles, which supply the necessaries of life, the cloth- ing, implements, etc., of our people, as the labor of any other nation," True enough, the manufacturers of this same country never cease to repeat that it would be impos- sible for them to resist foreign competition if it were not for the protection of the tariff. But, then, America is not the only country in which contradictions of this kind occur. 67 An example of this tendency, which occurred in the Armour packing house, has come under my own observation. / 86 The American Laborer The machine, however, cannot impart character, or deli- cate finish — the seal of the real artist. It is just on this side that American industry is weak. The following opinions were expressed by a French offi- cer who made a special study of arms at the Chicago fair: " Whatever can be made by machinery and in large quan- tities the Americans make well; but their goods lack finish, particularly hand-finish, which they consider too costly. In some of their works they make good steel because their ore is excellent; but in general their steel is inferior to that of Creusot. Their ordinary rifles are satisfactory and no dearer than in France, but their rifled guns, which require a good deal of handling, cost much more." Most manufacturers of machines take great pains with the essential parts, but do not exert themselves to give the rest as high a finish as is liked in France. There are excep- tions, however, particularly in hand-tools, which are dis- tinguishable from those found in Europe by slight differ- ences in form. These, whether of steel or wood, are usu- ally of good quality, easily handled, light, highly finished — too much so, sometimes — and well adapted to their work. Every section of the French labor-delegation commented upon this imperfection of finish, even in articles of luxury."' Speaking of a well-known American silversmith, they re- mark that he makes some very rich designs for his better trade, ornate in the last degree. No labor, they continue, has been spared in their manufacture, because they must be expensive in order to sell. But for his ordinary trade, they add, he keeps a good deal of cheap, machine-made stuff which possesses little artistic merit. They make the same criticism of the cheap jewelry, with much greater reason. The artistic bronzes also failed to satisfv them. " Thev 58 They found some goods to which this criticism does not apply: leadwork, shoes, carriages, common silks, for example. It was the taste which seemed open to criticism. The Productivity of Labor and Machinery 87 are commercial and very ugly at the same time," says one, " but the manufacture is well understood." In the exhibit of a large zinc manufacturer who makes cheap clocks, many of which are copies of stolen French models, they found that " apart from our models, the work is bad, and has but one aim — low price — which is easily attained when the means of production are so great, and the choice of models from which to select, so wide." They saw tanneries where, by the use of chemicals, leather was tanned in six months, whereas it takes from fifteen to eighteen in France; but they are doubtful of its durability.'' They made the same observation about machine-made shoes, 60 and noticed that the saddlery was not so carefully made as in France. 01 They examined pieces of cloth, and found a great number of knots and other defects, arising from imperfections in the yarn. 02 A French manufacturer delegated to study the hat manu- facture expressed himself like the workmen: " The Ameri-j cans," he said, referring to felt hats, " imitate the Ger-^ mans, and would rather produce large quantities at low prices, than make a better grade of goods at a smaller profit." "The American works for the million," said theV' shirt-maker, " and his sole object is a cheap article." Nev- ertheless we learn from the shoemaker that there are ex- ceptions, that the quality of the medium grades of shoes is very satisfactory. In France furniture-making is one of those trades which, besides producing ordinary goods, is distinguished by the ^ variety and taste of its finer products. In America variety is rare and good taste rarer. Exceptions can be cited, there was tasteful work at the Chicago fair for instance, but in general the wood is cut up, grooved and fitted by ma- chinery; the mouldings and other ornaments are cut out by mechanical saws or routing-cutters, the carved-work' 59 Rapports sur I' exposition de Chicago, p. 319. M Ibid., p. 390. 81 Ibid., p. 327. c " Ibid., pp. 292 and 299. 88 The American Laborer itself is most often rough-hewed by machine. This is manufacturing, not art, and one is not surprised to find a certain unmistakable family resemblance in most American furniture. The French delegates could bring in only one verdict upon this point: "The work is nothing above the ordinary, and requires little hand-labor," they repeat sev- eral times. " Everything is superficial, everything sacri- ficed to the cheap trade and quick returns/' w The glass- y/blowers, however, make an exception of molded glass," though the superiority here is due to machinery. The French manufacturers and workmen saw the factories and the exhibits at the Chicago fair; but they probably saw little of family life in America. Had they done so, they would have discovered that this ready-made furniture is well adapted to the American mode of living. The American people know how to adapt themselves comfort- ably to their surroundings, like their English cousins, and certain parts of their domestic equipage — the dressing- rooms, for instance — compare very favorably with those of other nations. In works of art there are certain general canons of taste applicable to all styles and by which the latter may be judged. But in the necessities and conveni- ences of its daily life, every people is free to choose what best suits its own needs. The verdict of the employer. — ■Manufacturers regard the incessant improvement and rapid renewal of their plant, the continually enlarging sphere of machinery and the de- velopment of great establishments, as legitimate conse- quences of economic freedom, and see in them an advance- ment of two of the most beneficent elements of civilization; a cheap and an abundant production. The employer, the consumer and the laborer, they affirm, all realize from them a definite advantage. We must learn, first of all, as the Americans have already V learned, that although the machine begins as the servant, n Ibid., p. 146. M Ibid., p. 167. The Productivity of Labor and Machinery 89 it ends in being the master. Enterprising manufacturers adopt new machinery because of the increased profits which it brings, and the more backward manufacturers must then follow suit or be pushed to the wall. The necessity of locking up large amounts of capital in plant may be very disastrous at times, and it is painful to see expensive ma- chinery become obsolete at the end of a few years, while the necessity of sinking more capital becomes apparent. The aspect of the problem was well expressed by one of the special agents of the Eleventh Census: " So active has been the competition among the different mills, that only those concerns which have been foremost in the adoption of improved labor-saving machinery are large producers at the present time. The destruction of capital in the steel-rail industry during the last decade by the improvements in mechanical appliances has been enor- mous, costly machinery becoming obsolete long before worn out." 65 But a machine becomes old-fashioned only when better results are obtained with a new one. This should be a cause for congratulation; the necessity of changing fre- quently is a proof of rapid progress. The far-sighted manu- facturer includes in his general expenses the cost of fre- quently renewing his plant, and if his calculations have been correct he will not be disturbed over the necessity of throwing aside a machine; it is already paid for, and has, in consequence, rendered the service expected of it. Shall he continue to use it at a loss when he can replace it with another that will yield a profit? What other object than profit has the machine? Among nations, as among individuals, those who secure the best tools and learn how to use them, are the ones who have the best chance of fortune and success. A country that wishes to enter or remain in the front rank of indus- 65 " Manufacturing Industries," Eleventh Census, part iii, p. 413- 90 The American Laborer trial and commercial nations, cannot lag behind in this respect. 6 " The manufacturers consider that the movement has been advantageous to laborers in every way; as vendors of labor, because the general level of wages has risen; as consumers, because they can buy more with the same amount of money; as workmen, because machinery has taken over all the heavy and more arduous work. The laborer, from a mere drudge, working with his muscles, has become a director, working with his mind. He is told that his specialized work is brutalizing, because it is monotonous. Which is more monotonous for the workman: to watch a few auto- matic looms for ten hours a day, every now and then tying a thread, or for fourteen heavy hours to operate a hand- loom, moving the batten with his hand and the treadles with his feet? When an embroiderer of Lorraine makes a stitch by hand, does she develop her intelligence more than the work- man of Saint-Gall when he directs a loom that makes several hundred at a time? " It is an almost universal law," says the Secretary of the National Association of Wool Manu- facturers, " that the more the machine is made to accom- plish, either in speed or in automatic movement, the less there is left for the man to do." He quotes the conclusion of Professor Marshall: " It is the monotony of life, much more than monotony of labor, that is to be dreaded. The social surroundings of factory life stimulate mental activity in and out of working hours, and even those fac- tory operatives whose occupations are seemingly the most monotonous, have more intelligence and mental resource than has been shown by the English agricultural laborer, whose employment has more variety." " M The Parisian delegates think that in several lines it will not be long before the Americans are exporting to Europe. " They will inundate us with their products," said one. "Bulletin of the National Association of Wool Manufacturers. Sep- tember, 1895, pp. 221, 222. The Productivity of Labor and Machinery 91 As more space is required for machinery, work-rooms are enlarged, ceilings heightened, and sanitary conditions improved. With respect to hygiene there is no comparison between the sweat-shop or the cottage of the rural artisan, and the great factory of to-day. And it plainly follows from the study we have made, that the development of ma- chinery and the increase in the size of the industrial unit, has lowered the prices of an immense number of com- modities. This is one of the most praiseworthy results of industrial progress, the end of which is the fullest satis- faction of human want. The zrrdict of the laborer. — The laborer does not share this optimism,. He reproaches the machine with exhaust- ing the strength of the operative, although this only applies to the small number of occupations in which the motive- power is supplied by the workman himself, as with some sewing-machines. He complains that the continual move- ment of the machine affords no respite for the operator and enervates him by requiring his unremitting attention; this complaint is applicable to a greater number of employ- ments, particularly to spinning and weaving, when the operative has to mind more than four machines. He ac- cuses the machine of transforming the workman into an automaton that knows and does but one thing, and claims that it diminishes the number of skilled workmen, permits the substitution of low-paid labor and thus reduces the general level of wages. He charges that the introduction of every new machine, momentarily at least, deprives a cer- tain number of workmen of the means of existence and thus renders the condition of all uncertain. Finally he charges the machine with having a definite and unmistak- able tendency to intensify the disastrous competition among laborers, by restricting the opportunities for work. These grievances merit examination. In one of the special reports of the Tenth Census Dr. Wright examined four other charges which are frequently made against the factory system: (i) that it "necessitates y 92 The American Laborer the employment of women and children to an injurious ex- tent " and consequently tends to destroy family ties; (2) that " factory employments are injurious to health; " (3) that "it is productive of intemperance, unthrift, and poverty;" (4) that " it feeds prostitution and swells the criminal lists." He has no difficulty in proving that these accusations rest upon error or exaggeration. 08 At the sixth annual convention of Labor Commissioners held in Indianapolis in 1888, Mr. Powderly, Grand Master of the Knights of Labor, used the following words in speak- ing of some of the grievances of the laborer: " It is neither profitable nor encouraging to learn a trade when the chances are that some morning the mechanic will awake to find a machine standing in his place doing the work which he performed the day before. Inventions have been introduced so rapidly and extensively during the last ten years that many trades have been almost revolutionized. The rapid introduction of machinery has had a tendency to depress wages; the reduction in wages and the lack of security in workshop management has been the cause of sending many a boy to college who would have gone into the workshop after passing through the routine of the com- mon public school The colleges and schools are full to overflowing, and soon the professions will be as crowded as the trades are to-day." ™ A part of these grievances rest upon certain actual facts which are easily brought home to the workingman, but whose remote consequences we conceal from him when they do not support his indictment against the organization of society. It is wholly wrong to say that the machine exhausts the muscular force of the laborer; on this point the manufacturers are entirely right. They are not so clearly correct in regard to the strain upon the attention, 68 " The Factory System," p. 20. 09 First Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Colorado, 28. The Productivity of Labor and Machinery 93 for although the number of picks that an automatic loom makes per minute would seem to have little influence upon the amount of effort required to tie a broken thread, and the size and speed of a roll-train would appear to have no connection with the labor involved in turning on or off the steam which sets it in motion, workingmen are unanimous in affirming the contrary. 70 The employers are also correct in their assertions that the modern factory, enlarged by the necessities of machinery and governed by strict regula--; tions, is more healthful than the home of the workman, * and that the development of the factory system in general tends to improve sanitary conditions. In America, as in Europe, hygienists have applied themselves to the discovery of maladies peculiar to certain occupations and conditions, and they have had no difficulty in finding them, as hu- manity is not exempt from infirmities. They have rendered a service by evoking reforms, but at times they have led people to believe that they have discovered new evils, when they have merely called attention to old ones. On the other hand it is certain that when a machine en- ters a shop, it is going to do the work of several men. The Massachusetts commission which investigated the subject of the unemployed, reported as one cause of idle- ness " the introduction and improvements of labor-saving machinery, together with the incidental saving of labor due to the specialization of work and the consequent increased efficiency of the individual workman. The precise measure of importance to be given to this cause," the board con- 70 In the Report of the Massachusetts Board to Investigate the Sub- ject of the Unemployed, p. 55, Prof. Dewey writes as follows apropos of the textile factories: " Employers and employees differ as to the difficulty of managing this increased number of machines, some employers saying that owing to the improvements in the machin- ery the work is no more severe now than it was ten years ago, while the employees without exception assert that it is. The man- agers, however, generally admit that the work is growing more intense, which is practically all that the employees claim." The same divergence of opinion is noted on page 62. 94 The American Laborer tinues, " is not universally agreed upon, the effect of its influence has varied in different localities and branches of the trade." " Taking the shoemaking trade as an illus- tration, Prof. Dewey finds a diminution ranging from 15 to 30 per cent, in the number of employees. By estimat- ing on the basis of an " ideal making room " he is able to compare the number of laborers necessary to produce a certain quantity of work in 1895 with the number which would have been required " before the introduction and improvement of the so-called great machines McKay, Goodyear, etc." He finds that 28 workmen in 1895 corre- spond to 44 workmen ten or fifteen years before. This is equivalent to a diminution of more than one-third, and if the comparison had extended over fifty instead of fifteen years, it would have been very much greater. " Some of the labor displaced," says Prof. Dewey, " has been re-ab- sorbed by increased production, but not all; and the ratio V of unemployed slowly but steadily increases." But Prof. Dewey was writing during a crisis.' 2 In 1894 the New York Labor Bureau made itself the mouthpiece of the workmen who accuse machinery of reducing the demand for labor. According to the estimate of the carpenters, the reduction was about fifteen per cent., according to the cloth-cutters about twenty per cent., ac- cording to the shirt-makers thirty per cent., according to the cabinet-makers thirty-five per cent., and according to the stone-cutters fifty per cent. But these estimates seem to be based on the assumption that the introduction of machinery caused no change in the quantity of products; 71 Report of the Massachusetts Board to Investigate the Subject of the Unemployed, 1895, p. 47. The above was written in connection with the boot and shoe industry. Prof. Dewey makes almost the same statement with regard to the woolen industry, p. 61. 72 Careful comparisons made by the Massachusetts Bureau of Sta- tistics of Labor show that in the boot and shoe industry the aver- age number of employees decreased 2.12 per cent, from 1895 to 1896, but increased 5.2 per cent, from 1896 to 1897, and has been increasing ever since. [Tr.] The Productivity of Labor and Machinery 95 they wholly ignore the increase in the demand for labor, consequent upon the fall in prices caused by the use of ma- chinery. Some of the unions admitted that the number of workmen had actually been increased by the introduction of machinery; the piano-makers, for instance, estimated that an increase of twenty per cent, had taken place. 73 Upon which basis do their calculations rest? Their results ap- pear too indefinite to be conclusive, although there seems to be no doubt that, in these industries, less labor is now required to produce a certain quantity of goods, than for- merly. In answer to these complaints political economy puts in evidence the general statistics on the subject, which show that the total number of workingmen has always increased from one census to another, that the average rate of wages has been continually rising, and finally that the variation in prices is directly advantageous to the workingman as a consumer. These three facts are incontestable. And yet the workingman is not reassured by this an- swer. In most cases he rarely consumes the article which he is engaged in producing, and the fluctuations of the av- erage wage seldom if ever correspond to the fluctuations of his own salary. Moreover, when he is displaced by ma- chinery, he has but little chance of finding employment in the same trade, and if he is able to procure other employ- ment at all, it is only after the most wearisome search. Withal, he has a family to support. Labor is more mobile in America than in Europe, but, in either place the passage from one trade to another is difficult enough, and on both sides of the Atlantic disasters of this nature fall with crush- ing force upon individual families, and occasionally, upon the employees of a whole occupation. This fact is also in- contestable. 7S Summary of the Twelfth Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor of the State of New York, p. 15. Out of the 695 unions interrogated, 371 answered that machinery was used in their trades. 96 The American Laborer Machinery and concentration: the future. — I have indicated the feelings of both workmen and employers towards the transformation which the improvement in machinery and transportation facilities is working in every country of the civilized world — gradually in some countries, rapidly in the United States. The result, as we have seen, is an antinomy, arising from the difference in the standpoints occupied by the two observers, the one being engrossed with the abund- ance and cheapness of products, the other absorbed in con- templating the elimination of the laborer, and the misery of non-employment. I desire to attempt, if not the recon- ciliation of the irreconcilable, at least to indicate the path of progress. To do this it is necessary to dismiss particular instances and regard the totality of phenomena and conse- quences. This is the method of economic science. In the first place it is important to keep in mind that production and consumption constantly react upon each other, and that between supply and demand there is a cer- tain equilibrium which, while never fixed for any length of time, is constantly being re-established. As a rule the price of a commodity acts as a regulator, stimulating con- sumption when low enough to attract purchasers, checking production when it becomes too low to be remunerative. The oscillations do not take place without serious dis- turbances: losses, bankruptcies, crises, on the one hand; on the other, displacements of labor, lack of employment, privation of all kinds. When the locomotive has banished the stage-coach, the innkeeper on the high road finds his occupation gone. When the steamer replaces the sailing vessel, the seaman is not immediately transformed into a fireman; we must wait until the next generation before the human forces of industry can be redistributed. In Silesia and Flanders the substitution of mechanical for hand spin- ning produced deep and continued suffering. 7 * 74 Among other testimony see that of Wolowski. Etudes d' Econo- mic Politique, 1848. It seems absolutely necessary to find either remedies or palliatives for these evils. The Productivity of Labor and Machinery 97 Over-production is suggested. Some further explana- tion of this term is necessary. Many examples of exces- sive production at a given time and market may be cited, the condition resulting in some cases from the fact that consumers will not take the accustomed amount, in other cases from the fact that the market will not absorb the supply at the price demanded. But final and general over- production is an absurdity. Production stops when the demand ceases and it is impossible to fix a future limit for the demand, because one cannot tell how low the cost of production may fall or what may be the increase in the number and wealth of the consumers. Hundreds of examples might be cited, from Europe as well as the United States, of the absorptive powers of a people whose wants and means of satisfaction are increasing. In 1830 the per capita consumption of cotton in the United States was 6 pounds; in 1890, 19 pounds. This was not because of any great difference in the price of raw cotton in the two epochs, but because the cost of manufacturing cotton fabrics had been greatly reduced. In 1870 the Americans consumed 105 pounds of iron per capita; in 1890, 283 pounds ; in the same interval the per capita consumption of steel rose from 46 to 144 pounds. The price of these pro- ducts, steel especially, has fallen and this has increased their uses. And yet the flood of products which certain industries pour upon the market tempts one to believe that in these industries the saturation point is being approached, for a time at least. I read in a report upon the Chicago fair that in one year the American manufacturers put out 972,- 375 dozen finished, and 74,006 dozen untrimmed women's, felt hats — about 12,500,000 felt hats for a population of 63,000,000 — to say nothing of the other kinds of women's hats, the silk hats and the immense consumption of straw hats, which are not included. According to Col. Wright, the United States produced in 1890, 179.5 million pairs of 98 The American Laborer boots and shoes, about 3 pairs for each inhabitant."' And the number of workmen required to provide the population with foot- and head-wear is astonishingly small — in 1890, 3,592 employees in the felt-hat manufacture, and about 194,000 in the boot and shoe industry. There are certainly some industries in which the growth of the production has outrun that of the consumption. Possibly this is what will result in the textile industries from the use of the North- rup loom. 70 Even when the increase of consumption serves to keep the old number of workmen employed, the growth of the demand for labor is unquestionably checked by the improvements of machinery, and it is with great concern that American workmen see their families deprived of the benefits of a possible growth of demand, by the immigration of foreign labor; immigration is a more important factor in filling the factories than the native birth-rate. When markets become glutted and goods will not sell, it means only a loss of interest to the capitalist, but to the workman it means lack of work and danger of starvation; the difference is great. The laboring class appreciates its 75 Industrial Evolution, p. 171. The report of the French commis- sion (p. 42) gives the amount at 240 million pairs and in addition 10 million pairs of rubber shoes. 78 As a matter of fact there are industries both in Europe and America in which the number of employees is diminishing. In some cases the production suffers a positive decline, as for example the production of wheat in England. In some, prices decline while the production remains stationary, and the industry is forced both to improve its processes and dismiss some of the operatives; this is illustrated by the iron industry in France which, according to the Statistique de I'industrie minerale, produced an output worth 524,500,000 francs and employed 64,000 workmen in 1881, while its output was worth only 424,000,000 francs and it employed only 59,700 workmen, in 1893. In other cases the production has been increased, without enlarging the labor force, by the invention of new machinery and new processes, the principal result here being a fall in the price of the commodity. Thus, in the sugar-refining industry, the number of employees was reduced 11 per cent, and the wages (of the male employees) about 6 z / 2 per cent, from 1881 to 1894, while the total quantity of sugar doubled and the price fell more than 50 per cent. The Productivity of Labor and Machinery 99 own troubles keenly enough; the scientist and the phil- osopher should take up the problem and strive to ameliorate the suffering involved in this transformation. In the past, American as well as European workmen have resorted to violence, and have destroyed the obnoxious ma- chinery. To-day, I trust, experience has shown them the uselessness of such measures, 17 although they are still search- ing for means to safeguard their interests. Unfortunately the people know little history. If they paid more attention to the experience of the past, they would be less disturbed about the future. During the last half of the present century there has undoubtedly been an enormous increase in the productivity of machinery, and products have multiplied more rapidly than consumers. But at the very beginning of this period the cry that ma- chinery generates disaster by causing overproduction was already familiar. Bastiat, for instance, wrote as follows in attempting to expose the slender foundation upon which this opinion rested: " If a few laborers are temporarily thrown out of work by the introduction of machinery, we look askance at such progress, treat it as a disaster, and take refuge behind absurd but specious catch-phrases: ' produc- tion is superabundant, we perish with plenty,' ' the power of producing has outgrown the ability to consume.' " Long before Bastiat, Sismondi talked about the " super- saturation of commerce " {engorgement du commerce) and " the number of manufacturers, who pour upon the market infinitely more produce than the people can buy." 7 Sis- 77 At least the more thoughtful workingmen. Mr. Stevens, the Chief of the New York Labor Bureau, wrote me in 1894, that the more enlightened compositors believe that although the introduc- tion of the type-setting machine caused temporary distress, the pro- duction of books, magazines, etc., will be greatly increased in a few years, and that this will be attended by a rapid growth in the demand for their labor. The pessimists, of course, do not share this belief. 78 Harmonies Economiques p. 73. 79 Nouveaux Principes d'Economie Politique (1827), II, 326, 402. 100 The American Laborer mondi denounced concentration and the progress of ma- chinery as causes of an immoderate production, and affirmed that " every laborer in England would be discharged if the manufacturers could save five per cent, by putting ma- chines in their places." To-day England has infinitely more manufactures, more products, and more machines, which effect economies much greater than five per cent, on the basis of the cost of production in 1826; yet she has many more workingmen and the wages of these have been steadily rising. Since time has decided in favor of Bastiat and the pretended glut of 1850 has not prevented our gen- eration from consuming much more in 1895 than was pro- duced in 1850, is it necessary to despair of the possibility of producing and consuming even more in the next gen- eration? What would the mediaeval copyists, who wrote probably not more than four pages an hour, have thought if some one told them of a machine that would produce in an hour the contents of twelve million manuscript pages! The scribes have disappeared, it is true, but printing gives em- ployment to far more hands than ever found occupation in the work of copying manuscripts, for the simple reason that more people know how to read. The chief of the Bureau of Labor of New York makes the following suggestive comparison : " The United States and Great Britain are the greatest owners and users of ma- chinery. Compare the general condition of the workers of these two nations, with that of any other country on the face of the globe, where machinery is unknown except in its most primitive form. Where lies the superiority? It seems almost a paradox, but it is a truth, that machinery conduces to employment and to betterment; not only in- creasing production, but multiplying the chances of em- ployment and incidentally the consumption of products." * 60 Eighth Annual Report, p. 685. The Productivity of Labor and Machinery 101 American census statistics show that the proportion of laborers to the whole population has been increasing dur- ing the very period that the machine has been taking the most complete possession of production. From i860 to 1890 the population doubled, but the number of persons em- ployed in the manufacturing industries nearly tripled (an increase of 172 per cent.), and in the same interval the mo- tive-power increased fourfold. 81 Invention has created new industries and occupations, such as photography, telegra-^ phy, railroading, electroplating, the manufacture of bi- cycles, etc., and has given much more work than it has taken away. Even in those ancient trades which have been transformed by machinery, the progress of consumption has in most cases maintained the demand for labor. This progress has not been accomplished with a single stroke, nor has it been regular and synchronous in the different branches of production; it has been accompanied by general and partial crises. Each branch has its history; some have languished, some have withered, but it is by the whole tree that we must judge the growth. One cannot revive a dead branch by cutting the trunk. What the chief of the Bureau of Labor of New York stated with regard to England and the United States, statistics prove to be true of every great industrial region of the world. Thus 81 In England the motive-power increased from 1,290,000 horse- power in 1850 to about 9,500,000 in 1890, and this did not prevent the population from increasing from 27,700.000 to 38,100,000. In France the population was 34,200,000 in 1841 and 38,300,000 in 1896; the aggregate horsepower was 56,000 in 1840 and 5,734,000 in 1893. These figures are scarcely comparable because statistical methods have changed, but they indicate that the introduction of motive-power equivalent to 100,000,000 laborers has not prevented the growth of the laboring classes in a country whose population is reputed to be stationary. From 1836 to 1891 the population was increased by 4,000,000 in the fourteen departments which have the most steam-machinery, and these comprehend the departments in which the increase of machinery has been greatest. In the fourteen departments which have the least steam-machinery the population has slightly decreased since 1836. 102 The American Laborer in France, where the population increases very slowly, there has been a rapid increase in those departments which con- tain the most steam-machines, because the machine creates a demand and attracts labor. There can be no social evolution unaccompanied by in- jury to some one. The forces which impel industry toward the use of machinery and the factory system, seem irre- sistible to me, because their objective point is cheapness, and cheapness is the chief desideratum of the consumer, and one of the goals of economic progress. It is Utopian to believe that we can return, by any modification whatso- ever of the social order, to the regime of domestic industry. Domestic industry as an ideal has been shattered by the sweating system. A French resident of Philadelphia who is very familiar with economic matters said to me that a careful examination of the state of affairs in America revealed an astonishing growth of concentration and large manufactures. C'est la qu'est I'avenir, he said. I agree with my friend, but at the same time I am convinced that the growth of the industrial unit has natural limits, and that there will always be a place for the petty merchant and the small manufacturer. Since the Civil War the manufacturing industries of the United States have moved boldly and rapidly in this direc- tion and they have become very powerful. " They pro- gress, and rapidly," wrote a large manufacturer S3 in a re- port upon the Chicago Exposition, " and in many respects they are ahead of us, not from the scientific, but from the practical point of view." Concentration will be more in- tense in the next century, and the machine, with a still more important place to fill, will continue to stimulate it. It is towards concentration then, and perfected machinery, that the entrepreneur, the wage-earner or the economist must look, who would catch a glimpse of the future. He who 82 Mr. P. Arbel. The Productivity of Labor and Machinery 103 contemplates practical reform must first accept this in- evitable movement of industry which cannot and should not be blocked, and to which it would be unfortunate to offer more than the slightest resistance in the shape of arti- ficial legislative measures. For this reason I have thought it best to show the inevitable trend of American industry, before beginning the study of the condition of the laborer. CHAPTER III. LABOR LAWS AND TRADE REGULATIONS Labor legislation in Europe. — The regulation of industry by public authority is very ancient. In the middle ages the sovereign or feudal lord invested with his sanction the statutes passed by the gilds, and thus assured to the mer- chants and craftsmen the monopoly and regulation of in- dustry in certain localities. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries manufactures began to be introduced into France, and these were protected by the grant of let- ters patent conferring special privileges upon favored en- trepreneurs. Ordinances regulating production were also promulgated, in order to guarantee the quality of the pro- ducts, much as the gilds did, or attempted to do, in their sphere. Similar methods of regulation were common in most of the European states during this period. In France all the regulations of the ancient regime were abolished by the Revolution of 1789 and replaced by a new industrial code founded upon the fruitful principle of the liberty of labor. In England, a gradual abolition of the restrictions upon labor had been going on for more than a century, caused by the development of machinery and the factory system. In most of the countries of continental Europe the emancipation of labor was delayed much longer, until gradually effected by the progress of wealth and ideas during the nineteenth century. Factories multiplied rapidly, but as the machine be- came more and more important, and the people crowded to the factories, the anxiety to protect the manufacturer gave way to an anxiety to defend the laborer against the evils of Labor Lazvs and Trade Regulations 105 the factory system. England was far in advance of other nations in the development of large manufactures and it was the English Parliament that first enacted into law the sentiments inspired by the evils of factory life. The oldest laws of this nature were passed in 1801, 1803, 1819, 1825, 183 1 and relate to the health and morality of workmen employed in the cotton and other factories. The law of 1824 legalized strikes and trades-unions; that of Oct. 15, 183 1, required wages in certain industries to be paid in money. To-day England possesses a voluminous code of laws relating to trades-unions, payment of wages, suits between employers and employees, work in the mines, acci- dents, employers' liability, work of women and children, sanitation, inspection of factories and workshops, arbitra- tion, etc. The act of 1878 relating to factories and work- shops codified and substantially re-enacted the preceding laws bearing on this subject, but it was repealed by the act of July 6, 1895, which considerably enlarges the duty and authority of the inspectors as well as the number of estab- lishments subject to inspection. At different times and with different degrees of determination, the other European powers have adopted the same industrial policy. In France the first law upon child-labor in factories was passed in 1841. 1 The United States have followed in the footsteps of Eng- land. Under the influence of their democratic constitutions they have, during the last twenty-five years, gone quite as far as England in the regulation of labor, and in certain points relating to the inspection and regulation of factories, 1 A law upon unsanitary establishments had been passed in 1810. The law of March 22, 1841 was very inadequate, and was succeeded by the law of May 19, which in turn was replaced by the law of November 2, 1892. In Prussia the oldest law upon child-labor in the factories dates from 1839. It was superseded by the imperial law of July 17, 1878. Child-labor has been regulated in Switzerland since the law of March 23, 1877; in the Low Countries since the law of September 19, 1874 (superseded by the law of May 5, 1889); in Spain since the law of July 24, 1873. 106 The American Laborer they have gone even further. The freedom of labor, how- ever, which is everywhere a constitutional right, has been steadily maintained. LABOR LEGISLATION IN THE UNITED STATES Factory laws of Massachusetts. — Massachusetts must be mentioned first as her laws have served as models for many other states. As early as 1836 the instruction of working children was made compulsory in Massachusetts and in 1866 child-labor was regulated by law, a commission being appointed in the same year to investigate the general ques- tion of the hours of labor. In 1869 the first bureau of sta- tistics of labor in the United States was established in Mas- sachusetts. In 1874 the hours of female labor were regu- lated, and this was followed in 1877 by the first law for the general inspection of factories. The Massachusetts laws are contained in the Public Statutes of 1882, and in a series of subsequent acts. 2 Almost every year has brought to light subjects for new restrictive legislation. At the present time Massachusetts has a corps of inspectors ap- pointed by the Governor, who form part of the police de- partment, and in certain cities there are special inspectors. All of these have authority to enter workshops at any time. The construction of new factories is under the supervision of these inspectors, and the plans have to be submitted to them. All openings of elevators, hoistways, etc., must be protected by trap-doors or self-closing hatches; elevators must be regularly examined, and inspectors are authorized to close them, when dangerous, by posting a prohibitory placard at the entrance. Workrooms must be kept clean 2 See Second Special Report of the Commissioner of Labor, 1896, pp. 428-483. By a coincidence which is easily explained Coi. Wright also selects Massachusetts as an example in his Industrial Evolution. When this chapter was written I had not become ac- quainted with that work. Labor Laws and Trade Regulations 107 and well ventilated. Detailed regulations relating to plumbing and drainage have been enacted, and a sufficient number of toilet rooms must be provided, with separate accommodations for men and women. If in the judgment of an inspector the factory is not kept in a cleanly state, or if nuisances are created by effluvia from drains, etc., it is his duty to order, and the duty of the owner or occupant to make, the necessary changes. Upon the refusal or neg- lect of the latter to comply, it is the duty of the inspector to notify the Board of Health, which in turn must enforce the law. No machine, except a steam-engine, may be cleaned while running. The use of whistles, bells, etc., as signals to employees, is prohibited unless a permit has been secured from the municipal authorities. There has been a great change in the appearance and condition of factories in the last fifty years, although the change has been wrought by machinery and public opinion, rather than by law. The old-fashioned factory was small, the ceiling low, the ventilation and lighting very imperfect; in winter, heat was supplied by stoves. At present, the size of the machinery necessitates larger shops and higher ceilings; steam-engines are so cheap that waterpower may be dispensed with, and in consequence the manufacturer is not forced to locate in some narrow valley of the mountain- ous districts. In America, as in Europe, factory life has become healthier and happier. Precautions against fire. — Inspectors are particularly di- rected to see that sufficient precautions are taken against fire. The doors of workrooms cannot be locked during working hours and, when required by inspectors, must open outwardly. The use of wooden pipes for hot-air and steam is prohibited and no metal pipe may be placed nearer than one inch to any woodwork without being protected by cas- ings of some incombustible material. Every story above the second must be provided with apparatus for extinguish- ing fire. Where steam machinery is used, communication must be established between the engine-room and each 108 The American Laborer room in which a machine is placed. In Boston the fire commissioners have the right of inspecting boilers and en- gines, and of prohibiting their use, if examination seems to warrant such prohibition. Every boiler must be provided with a fusible safety-plug of stipulated dimensions. Fire is a very redoubtable enemy in the United States, and the law in regard to fire-escapes, not only in Massa- chusetts but in most other states, is very strict. 2a All fac- tories, hotels and apartment houses must have exterior iron escapes, provided with landings and railings, easily acces- sible from the windows of the higher stories, and reaching to the ground. New buildings are provided with these es- capes, while they are added to old structures as the police demand. Certain quarters of the large cities, particularly in New York, present a very peculiar appearance. In ad- dition to the factories and stores there is a large number of tenement houses, all with great red-brick walls monot- onously dotted by rows of bare windows, along which bal- conies creep, connected by queer iron ladders painted black or white, and inclined at an angle of forty-five degrees or more. The precautions are not unnecessary, for the papers con- tinually contain accounts of fires. The regular level pre- mium insurance companies — there are in addition about 650 mutual insurance societies — paid out $146,704,582 to policyholders in 1899. 3 It * s true that about nine-tenths of the buildings in the suburbs and country are constructed of wood. 4 But in the cities the buildings are generally of brick, and I have passed through scarcely a single city with- '■' a Twenty-eight states have now passed laws making provision for proper fire-escapes. Report of the Industrial Commission on Labor Legislation, p. 100. [Tr.j 3 In France the insurance companies (excluding mutual or as- sessment societies) paid out about 50,000.000 francs annually from 1878 to 1888. 4 Some idea of the proportion of wooden houses may be obtained from the statistics of school buildings. In 1891 out of 12.072 school-houses in the State of New York, 10,171 were of wood. Labor Laws and Trade Regulations 109 out seeing the ruins of some fire. One recalls the terrible Chicago fire of 1871, which destroyed 17,500 houses and caused a loss of $200,000,000. When I visited Chicago in 1876 I saw whole blocks entirely bare or covered only with blackened beams. In 1893 when I visited Fargo, North Dakota, 150 houses had been burned two months before, but 50 of them had already been rebuilt to the second story and the principal street was so encumbered with building materials that a carriage could not pass through. At first I was very much astonished that houses of brick and iron should so frequently take fire, but I very soon noticed that the interiors were almost wholly of wood and that the brick walls were so very thin as to offer but little resistance. Under the influence of the heat the iron frame- work and floors expand, twist and dislodge all the masonry. I have seen houses, particularly in Chicago, of which noth- ing remained but twisted heaps of blackened iron resting on a pile of ashes. Laws relating to factory employees and accidents. — I now return to the brief analysis of the laws of Massachusetts; I shall speak further on of the regulation of the labor of women and children. Five legal holidays have been cre- ated, and in 1887 a sixth, Labor Day, was added, which comes on the first Monday of September. " Whoever on the Lord's day keeps open his shop, ware- house or workhouse, or does any manner of labor, business, or work, except works of necessity and charity . . . shall be punished by a fine not exceeding fifty dollars for each offense." Among the persons and industries excepted are transportation, the printing of newspapers, the making of butter and cheese, the sale of bread and of milk, and those people who observe the seventh day as the Sabbath. 5 Every employer who requires notice from persons in his employ, under forfeiture of wages, of their intention to leave his employ, must give a similar notice, under equal for- 5 Acts of 1895, chapter 434. 110 The American Laborer feiture, of his intention to discharge them. Every corpora- tion or joint stock company that brings an alien laborer into the commonwealth must give bond of $300 that such employee shall not within two years become a public charge. Every manufacturing, mining, quarrying, mer- cantile, transportation, etc., corporation must pay their employees weekly the wages earned to within six days of the date of the payment, under penalty of a fine not less than $50 and not more than $ioo. c Complaints of viola- tion of this law must be made within thirty days and they can be brought by the employee, the chief of the district police, or by any inspector of factories. If the corporation fails to appear after being duly served with process, judg- ment shall be rendered for the plaintiff. The stockholders of a corporation are jointly and severally liable for wages due to its operatives for services rendered within six months before the demand, and in administering estates wages and salaries are preferred debts, ranking immediately after state and federal dues. In the textile manufacture no weaver may be fined for imperfections in his work unless the imperfections are plainly pointed out to him and the amount of the fines are agreed upon by both parties concerned., All work performed by a married woman is presumed to be performed on her separate account, and wages must be paid to her in person unless there is an express agreement to the contrary. Suitable seats must be provided for female employees, which the latter are authorized to use when not actively engaged. This measure was vigorously de- bated before its first adoption, but it has since been copied in almost every state. 7 Who should be held responsible for accidents incurred in 8 By the amendatory acts chapter 481 of the acts of 1898 and chapter 247 of the acts of 1899, this law has been extended so as to cover practically all manufacturing establishments, contractors of all kinds and persons engaged in the building trades or in public works. [Tr.] 7 Acts of 1804, chap. 508, sec. 30. Labor Laws and Trade Regulations 111 the performance of work, the employer or the fellow-lab- orer? The question is still unsettled, in America as in many states of Europe, but the tendency of statute law and court decisions in the United States is to establish, except in spe- cial cases, the responsibility of the employer. 8 Nevertheless, the employee must assume the risks common to his em- ployment, and he still remains responsible for his own acts and for injuries received from defective machinery which he has continued to use, knowing it to be defective. On the other hand, the employer becomes responsible if the employee could not know the risk, or if he (the employer) has been forewarned of the danger and has not warned the employee. When the victim of an accident is not subject to the orders of the master of the workman who has caused the accident, the employer is generally held responsible; but when the injured party is a fellow-servant of the same mas- ter, the old common law ordinarily exonerates the latter on the grounds that fellow-workmen should look out for the safety of one another. Sa The courts of Pennsylvania have 8 See Stimson, Handbook to the Labor Law of the United States, p. 160. In France the whole subject of employer's liability has been regulated by the law of April 9, 1898. Indemnity for injuries re- ceived in the course of employment must be paid by the employer, the indemnity being graduated according to the gravity of the in- jury and the wages of the workman, and being limited to em- ployees whose wages do not exceed 2,400 francs a year. In case of death, the wife, children and parents of the victim are entitled to a pension. [In the United States, general acts defining the lia- bility of employers have been passed in North and South Dakota, California, and Montana.] 8a Eleven states and territories have passed statutes " which do away with the fellow-servant doctrine entirely, making the em- ployer liable in all cases of accident, whether caused by fellow- servants or not, unless primarily caused by negligence, or by con- tributory negligence of the person injured." Five other states attempt to define who are fellow-servants, and one territory and five states have enacted that " no person shall be deemed a fellow- servant who is in position to give orders to the person injured." In some states these laws apply only to railroad employees. Report of the Industrial Commission on Labor Legislation, pp. 77-82. [Tr.] 112 The American Laborer for many years refused to make the employer liable when a workman is injured through the carelessness of another workman, taking the position that employees will be more cautious if their mistakes are not charged to the employer. Publicists have repeatedly pointed out the absurdity of de- nying damages to a brakeman for injuries received from a switchman who may live a hundred miles from the brake- man, and be totally unknown to him. Several states have passed statutes making the employer liable in such cases. In Pennsylvania the employer is of course held respon- sible if he has not taken all the precautions required by law. But " in the absence of definite proof of some negligence which directly or naturally results in injury to the employee, the accident is regarded as one of the hazards of the em- ployment of which the servant takes the risk and for which there can be no recovery." ' The liability of the employer is increased where the employee is a minor, but it is shared by the parent or guardian who permits a child to accept dangerous work. If a machine is found to be defective, the employee must notify his employer and if it is known that the latter was warned or if he should have known of the defect himself, he is held liable. An employee is not compelled to stay at work in a dangerous place, but if he does remain it is at his own risk. A workman injured while riveting a boiler through the incompetence of his helper, can hold the employer responsible for the conse- quences of the incompetency. 10 " Report of the {Pennsylvania) Bureau of Industrial Statistics, 1883, p. E 2. 10 According to Mr. Bolles the courts have so firmly established the principle of the irresponsibility of employers for their acts of negligence, that damages against them are rarely obtained. Mr. Bolles does not wholly approve of this doctrine, but in view of the fact that the liberty and immunity of employers have constituted a powerful industrial stimulus, questions whether the doctrine has not been more profitable to the laboring class than detrimental to individual laborers. See Reports of the (Pennsylz'ania) Bureau of In- dustrial Statistics for 1890 and 1S93. Labor Laws and Trade Regulations 113 Alabama 11 was the first state to go as far as England in defining employers' liability. When a servant or employee receives a personal injury in the service of a master or employer, the latter is liable to damages as if the employee were a stranger, whether the injury be caused by reason of any defect in the plant or machinery connected with the business, or by the negligence of any person having super- intendence or the right to issue orders intrusted to him, provided the injury resulted from having conformed to these orders; or whether it be caused by the act of any person done in obedience to the rules and regulations es- tablished by the employer. But the employer is not re- sponsible if the employee knew of the defect or negligence and failed to notify him. However, the responsibility does rest upon the employer if he was already aware, or if by taking proper precautions he would have been aware, of the defect which caused the injury. In 1887 12 the legislature of Massachusetts enacted a law very similar to the one passed in Alabama. In 1890 this law was amplified upon the showing of a commission that out of ten cases involving the law of 1887, only one em- ployee had received any compensation. On the other hand, statistics published by the railroads show that out of eighty- three deaths, seventy-seven resulted from the negligence of the victim,." The present law of Massachusetts requires employers to send to the district chief of police written notices of every accident in their establishments, whenever the accident results in the death of an employee or so injures him that he cannot return to work within four days after the acci- 11 Code of 1886, part iii, sec. 2590. 12 For this law and the Alabama statute mentioned above, see the Fifth Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor, pp. 48-52. 13 See among other documents the Eleventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Statistics of New Jersey, " Employers' Liability," and the Report of the (Pennsylvania) Bureau of Industrial Statistics, vol. xix, " Liability of Employers." 114 The American Laborer dent. When an employee is killed or wounded in the ex- ercise of his work and the cause can be shown to lie in any defect of " ways, works or machinery," or in the negligence of a co-employee, damages may be recovered which shall not exceed $4,000 in cases of personal injury, nor $5,000 when death results and the action is maintained by the widow or relatives dependent upon the deceased for sup- port. Notice must be given the employer within thirty days, and action commenced within one year, of the date of the accident. I shall stop at this point, as it is not my intention to write a legal treatise and the tendencies of the court de- cisions in the various states are exceedingly diverse; a mere indication of the law and its interpretation is sufficient here. Most of the states have passed a law nullifying contracts between employees and employers in which the former re- nounce their right of compensation for personal injury. But none of them have furnished statistics from which to judge the results of this legislation. Laws upon the payment of wages. — How often and in what form should wages be paid? Weekly payment seems best, because the temptation to extravagance is less when expenditure closely follows receipt, and this would satisfy the labor unions. However, there is no reason to believe the weekly payment indispensable, and in certain industries it is very inconvenient to pay more than once or twice a month. The important thing is to have the payments regu- lar and not too far apart. And in manufactures, if not in agriculture, it is also im- portant that wages be paid in current money, as the labor party demands. For the laborer it is one condition of his freedom. This mode of payment does not exclude certain forms of remuneration in kind, such as coal to miners, nor even company stores, where the works are situated at a great distance from commercial centers. But the direc- tion of these stores requires great prudence and presents difficult problems. If the management sell at wholesale Labor Laws and Trade Regulations 115 prices, it is of course advantageous to the employee, but where a profit is charged there is usually a sort of dishonest speculation and an underhand confiscation of wages. Cash payments ought to be the rule from which no deviation should be made except in urgent cases: to do otherwise is to charge the laborer interest without permitting him to contract a debt. An advance made by the employer, whether it be of money or in kind, is a bond of servitude. Payments in kind can also become oppressive. " Now, we claim," said a stone-cutter, in his evidence before the Senate Committee on Education and Labor, " that there is more than one way to rob the workingman. One way is by paying him but little for his labor. Another way is by paying him when they please to pay him, keeping him waiting one, two, or three months behind, and actually working on his money; now this state of things existed in Rhode Island, in Connecticut, and in the State of Maine; hence such oppression led the men to organize together in a band. . . ." 14 According to an old custom which lasted in many places, New England, for instance, until after the middle of the present century, laborers were paid off at the end of the year both in agriculture and manufactures, the employer making advances before the day of settlement, according to the needs of the laborer. 15 Strangely enough the laborer was charged interest to the end of the year on these ad- vances. 18 Among other concessions won by the laboring 14 Labor and Capital, Investigation of Senate Committee on Education and Labor, 1885, vol. i, p. 662. 15 F. A. Walker, The Wages Question, p. 123. In 1886 the Com- missioner of Labor of Connecticut made a special report upon this question, in which he recites the arguments pro and con, and gives the usage in various states. He concludes that the money payment is preferable for the laborer, that weekly payment is not as diffi- cult as has been supposed, though exceptions have to be admitted, and that in no event should wages serve as a security for debts. Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics of Connecticut, p. 10. 18 General Walker explains this anomalv by the scarcity of capi- tal. 116 The American Laborer classes between 1847 and i860, Mr. McNeill cites the sub- stitution of weekly and monthly, for quarterly and semi- annual, payments. 17 Inspired by the English law of 1831, many of the legisla- tures have recently passed laws which require wages to be paid frequently and in current money. New York in 1889 and 1890, and New Hampshire, Illinois and Rhode Island in 1891, made weekly payment obligatory by law; in Ten- nessee, Missouri and Wyoming certain industries are re- quired to pay at least once a month; in 1896 fourteen states had made weekly or fortnightly payment obligatory. 18 Whether these laws are not unconstitutional as infringe- ments of the freedom of contract, is a question which has not been definitely decided. 18 * 17 The Labor Movement, p. 123. Most of the states have made un- paid wages preferred debts in cases of bankruptcy. In the states in which coal-mining is an important industry, the question wheth- er miners should be paid according to the amount of screened or according to the amount of unscreened coal, has given rise to much legislation. 18 See Stimson's Handbook, p. 87. These laws are not exactly the same in the several states, applying only to mining companies in some states, and in others to corporations only. According to the different laws, payment must be weekly, semi-monthly or monthly; it must be in money or it may be in checks; in Kansas, it may be in orders upon stores, provided the employer is not in- terested in such stores. The Rhode Island law which applies only to corporations has been upheld. In all other states in which these laws have been tested, except Massachusetts, they have been held unconstitutional when applied to natural persons. Mr. Stimson says, p. 97: " Such laws are probably valid only as to corporations, in states which have a provision that their charters may be amended, except in those states which, like Illinois, provide that it shall only be done by general law." Laws regulating the medium of wage-payments have also been declared unconstitutional in several states. (Ibid., p. 105.) 1Sa Twenty-two states have passed laws requiring wages to be paid weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. In Connecticut only 80 per cent must be paid weekly, in Maine the law applies only to employers having ten or more employees, in a few states it applies only to corporations, and in others it applies only to mining and manu- facturing industries. Weekly payment laws applicable to all classes of labor have generally been held unconstitutional, except in Mas- Labor Lazvs and Trade Regulations 117 In certain parts of the West and South the custom of paying at long intervals is still in vogue. It is here that one finds the " company store," stocked with clothing, food, and all kinds of provisions for the use of the employees. On pay-day the men are paid partly in money and partly in " trade checks," good only at the stores of the company, and it is customary to charge a profit on the goods with which these checks are redeemed. In one case, not the worst which was called to my attention, this profit ex- ceeded four hundred per cent., the company thus withdraw- ing with one hand what it gave with the other. These stores, known in Pennsylvania as " pluck-me stores," and in fact the whole truck system have the additional vices, when the employer is accommodating, of inviting extrava- gant expenditures on the part of the laborer and of binding him to the employer by debt, like the Mexican peon. " In very many instances," says Col. Wright, " the workmen of such an establishment never saw any money from one year's end to another. The pay for the goods purchased was se- cured by the pay-rolls, and the debts and credits left no margin on pay-day." 19 In a report to the Ministre des Affaires Etrangeres, M. Bruwaert, who was then consul-general at Chicago, ex- pressed himself as follows: "Abuses are still common. A workman may not be paid until the last of August for work done in the first part of July; this is the practice of a number of mining companies, for instance. If the work- man has need of a payment on account in the interval, he is paid with due bills redeemable in two years,. Both the company and certain friends of the company discount these sachusetts, and similar laws applicable only to corporations or special industries, while usually sustained, have been declared in- valid in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Missouri, West Virginia and other states. Industrial Commission Labor Legislation, pp. 55-57. [Tr.] 19 Carroll D. Wright, " Value and Use of Labor Statistics," En- gineering Magazine, Nov., 1893, P- J 39- 118 The American Laborer bills, and the workman must either discount them in this way, at a loss of twenty-five per cent., or present them at certain specified stores which receive the bills as cash but charge about fifty per cent, extra for goods furnished on the company's account." 20 The laws which have been passed to prevent this practice in Illinois, Washington, Pennsylvania a and elsewhere, seem to have had little real efficiency. Managers evade them by running stores under other names. In 1875 Mr. Gunton found the truck-system in operation in many of the small towns of New England, except in Vermont. Many families, he says, had been in debt ever since their arrival, and others never touched a dollar in money. In his opinion the system was still in common usage in the central part of the country as late as 1893, and indeed, still existed in certain parts of the East." The cen- sus of 1880 showed that out of 773 manufacturers who re- plied to the question concerning the mode of payment, twenty-two per cent., situated mostly in thinly-settled dis- tricts, paid partly in kind. In spite of a multitude of pro- tective laws, the settlement of disputes concerning wages is often difficult in the United States. Wages are not pre- ferred debts in all states, there are no special courts for these questions, and justice through the regular channels is too costly for the workingman. In most states wages are protected either in whole or part against attachment for debt, although in some states the debtor is exempt only when he has a family. 20 Recueil de rapports stir les conditions du travail dans les pays etr angers addresses au Ministre dcs Affaires Etrangeres, p. 80. 21 See Stimson's Handbook, p. 109. [In Maryland (applicable to mines and railroads only) and in Pennsylvania and Illinois (appli- cable to mining and manufacturing corporations only) employers have been forbidden by law to run general supply stores. But in Illinois and Pennsylvania the laws have been declared unconstitu- tional. Industrial Commission .... Labor Legislation, pp. 59. 60.] 22 Gunton, Wealth and Progress, p. 103. Labor Laws and Trade Regulations 119 II. THE WORKING DAY Origin and history. — At present the agitation for a shorter working day is perhaps even more active in America than in Europe. In studying the question it is well to distin- guish, as far as possible, the fact, the theory and the law. The fact consists of the actual length of the working day and the efforts made to reduce it; the theory consists of the claims of the labor party and the objections of employers; the definite action taken by governments to settle the ques- tion, constitutes the law. In running over the records of the past we find that in 1806 a body of ship-carpenters formed a union with the ob- ject of reducing hours from fourteen to ten, but their de- mands were dismissed by the ship-builders as a capricious attempt to dictate the conditions of employment. In 1832 an association of carpenters in Boston struck for a ten- hour day, but without success; similar attempts in New York and Philadelphia, however, were more successful. In 1834 the trades-unions of New York made a grand demon- stration in which banners were displayed inscribed with the motto: " Ten hours a day." At that time, according to Mr. North, the day consisted of fourteen hours or more in the textile factories of Massa- chusetts. In summer, work began at sunrise and ended at sunset, in winter it lasted until nine o'clock, but there were three stops for meals, so that there were only about twelve hours of effective work. In 1855 this was reduced in some factories to eleven or eleven and a half. 2 * In Baltimore, however, a ten-hour day had been obtained as early as 1840. In June, 1845, several thousand operatives met in conven- 28 Bulletin of the National Association of Wool Manufacturers, vol. xxv, p. 283. An ordinance of 1841 fixed the legal day's labor at eleven hours in summer and nine in winter, without counting time for meals. See the Report of the Bureau of Labor of Connecticut, 1887, p. 156. 120 The American Laborer tion at Pittsburg and in a circular addressed to the manu- facturers of the country, demanded a ten-hour day. Five cotton manufacturers united in the following response: " The undersigned manufacturers . . . beg leave to say that although they do not admit the right of persons interfering between them and their operatives, . . . yet they have no hesitation in saying that they believe it entirely impracti- cable to adopt that system here whilst in places the twelve- hour system is continued. They would inform you further that at present our mills run about sixty-eight hours per week, whilst the eastern factories of our country make seventy-two hours per week. Believing, therefore, that the enforcement of such a system here would drive all cot- ton machinery from our borders, we cannot favor it." ' This reply was followed by a strike in which 4,000 opera- tives participated, but the reduction was not secured. In the same year, 1845, petitions were addressed to the legislature of Massachusetts praying for a reduction to eleven hours in manufacturing corporations which rested upon charters granted by the state. The petition was re- fused because, they said, it would be unjust to treat cor- porations differently from private persons, and the law " would close the gate of every mill in the state." : The first public action in this matter dates from the year 1840. On the tenth of April, 1840, President Van Buren issued an order directing that ten hours should thereafter constitute a day's work in all public establishments. The first " industrial convention," an aftermath of the Pitts- burg convention, was held in New York in 1845 an d a second in Chicago in 1850. The object of both was to se- cure a ten-hour day. " Such persistency was not without effect, and by 1853 eleven hours became the general custom 24 The Labor Movement, ed. by G. E. McNeill, 1887, p. 103. At the passage of the law of 1874 in Massachusetts, the manufacturers asserted that they would be unable to withstand the competition of neighboring states unless the latter passed similar laws. 25 Wright, Industrial Evolution, p. 269. Labor Laws and Trade Regulations 121 for artisans. In some places factories still ran for more hours, but by 1865 strikes had brought eleven hours as the general maximum in factories." : Air. Danryid might have mentioned in particular, the cotton factories of New England, in many of which the work lasted only ten hours. In California a Mr. Kearneay^ became impressed with the distress caused by the lack of work, and started an agitation which resulted in the convocation of an assembly of 5,000 workingmen in San Francisco in December, 1865. A reso- lution in favor of an eight-hour day was there passed and a bill embodying the sentiments of the convention was drawn up and presented to the legislature. In February, 1868, after the next election, the bill was enacted into law by a unanimous vote. But it soon became plain that the difficulty was one which could not be settled by legislative action. 21 The year 1866, in which Massachusetts passed its well- known law restricting the hours of labor of children, saw the formation of a huge association of laborers — The Na- tional Labor Union — which devoted itself among other labor reforms to the task of reducing the hours of labor. This association went to pieces during the crisis of 1873, but new unions were formed in several cities. One proces- sion in New York, organized to show the strength of the eight-hour movement, contained twenty thousand men. After a number of petitions had been presented to Con- gress, and several bills upon the subject had been intro- duced, Congress finally passed the bill drawn up by Mr. Ingersol of Illinois, and it became a law on June 25, 1868. It provided that eight hours should constitute a day's work for all laborers, workmen and mechanics employed by the United States. The law was not regarded by the heads of the various departments, and in 1869, and again in 1872, 26 Lemuel Danryid, History and Philosophy of the Eight-Hour Move- ment, p. 5. 27 Employers evaded the law by hiring their men by the hour, and not by the day. 122 The American Laborer President Grant issued orders directing that the statute be observed, without reduction of wages. In spite of these orders the law was disregarded and a second statute was enacted in 1872. About this time the Columbia Typo- graphical Society of Washington complained against a reduction of wages which had been made in the Navy Yard. The President submitted the question to the Attorney- General, and the latter decided that the reduction to eight hours did not imply that the wages per hour should be greater than in private employments of the same nature. 28 The Secretary of the Navy, fortified by this opinion and by a law of 1862, directed the commandant of the Navy Yard to make the wages of the employees conform, " as nearly as is consistent with the public interests, to those of private establishments in the immediate vicinity of the Navy Yards," The success of the labor party was thus very modest, but the members were not discouraged; public meetings were held, strikes organized, the " Grand Eight Hours League," the " Boston Eight Hours League," * and other associations were formed, to secure the eight-hour day. A more de- cided success was achieved in 1874. After a great strike had been organized by the spinners of Fall River, the legislature of Massachusetts passed a law limiting the labor of women and youths to sixty hours a week. The bill was passed only after a long debate, and it applied to youths 28 McNeill, The Labor Movement, p. 132. :9 In 1872 this league adopted a resolution which described the reduction in the hours of labor as the first step in the emancipation of the laborer and demanded that every manufacturer working his employees more than eight hours a day should be deprived of his license. They demanded in addition that the charter of every city and town should enjoin the day of eight hours in all public works, that corporations should be compelled to accept the eight-hour day or forfeit their charters, that no person of legal age should be employed more than eight hours, and finally that eight hours should constitute a legal day's work in the absence of a written agreement to the contrary. Labor Laws and Trade Regulations 123 under eighteen and to women of all ages, employed either by corporations or by natural persons. 3 " The Knights of Labor, organized in 1869, had already made the eight-hour principle a part of its programme. A little later the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada and its successor, the American Federation of Labor, entered into an enthusi- astic propaganda of the same principle. In 1866 the first National Labor Congress, held in Baltimore, had passed a resolution in favor of an eight-hour law. By 1888 the Fed- eration believed that the cause was far enough advanced to vote that the general inauguration of the eight-hour day should take place on the first of May, 1890. In spite of the propaganda and the victory won by the carpenters in 137 cities, the eight-hour day has not become universal. But the first of May remains a landmark in the history of the labor party. The eight-hour system has, nevertheless, gained ground in the last ten years. Many unions have secured it by spe- cial agreements with individual employers, and several states have legalized it to the extent to which they believed themselves competent. In the study of this question I shall distinguish five sub T heads: the movement of opinion and the action of labor- unions; the agreements between private associations, prin- cipally in the building industry; the laws upon labor in manufacturing establishments; and the laws relating to public works. 30 In 1845 a committee of the legislature of Massachusetts had reported adversely on a petition praying the legislature to limit the labor of employees of corporations to eleven hours a day, one of the reasons being that the change would necessitate a reduc- tion of wages. In 1866 another commission reported that they were favorable to the day of ten hours but did not believe that it could be secured by legislation. In 1867 the commission refused to recommend a law limiting the hours of labor of adults. The ten- hour law, presented again and again, particularly after 1870. was not successful until 1874, when with the assistance of Gov. Wash- burn, it at last secured a majority. 124 The American Laborer The movement of opinion and the action of unions. — The movement of opinion is at present very marked among the laboring classes.. The school which, since the time of Ira Steward, has taken as its motto " Labor Movement," has undertaken the mission of propagating and directing the eight-hour movement. Many young economists engaging in this work as followers of various philanthropists have helped to accelerate the movement. Enthusiasts boast, sometimes wildly, of the results that have been or may be obtained. Mr. George Gunton in reviewing the progress of the workingman since 1850, is struck with the fact that the hours of labor have diminished during the same period. He then proceeds, arguing cum hoc ergo propter hoc, to attribute the first phenomenon to the second. Speaking of eight-hour laws, he says: "There never was any legisla- tion adopted in any country in the world that has yielded such good economic fruit." The workingmen themselves, when questioned, give an- swers very similar to the following extracts which I have culled from the expressions of employees published in the first Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics of Colorado:" " I am in favor of eight hours being established as a day's work, equal pay for equal work, half-holidays on Saturday afternoon, co-operation and arbitration for all labor diffi- culties," wrote one. " In regard to the eight-hour system," wrote a second, " I think it one of the best movements that could be inaugurated for the working people. I have worked eight, nine, ten, and even fourteen hours a day, and my experience teaches me that eight hours a day is plenty for any man to work, no matter what his pursuit. For two reasons it is a great thing — education and health. I find, working eight hours, that I can get time to become ac- y quainted with my family, and plan things that will interest them, which I never could before. I make just as much money, and even more, and hope to increase my wages in 31 Pp. 255-269. Labor Laws and Trade Regulations 125 the future. As for health, I have improved wonderfully. When I worked ten hours, I weighed one hundred and twenty pounds; now I weigh one hundred and forty- five pounds, . . . Ten hours' work is pure slavery and noth- ing more." The third is more modest: " Meat-cutters and butchers work fifteen hours daily. The time ought to be shortened at least to twelve hours. For years I have had no time to read newspapers nor attend meetings of organi-/ zations. As for going to church on a Sunday, I couldn't^ think of it." In 1890 the New York Bureau of Statistics of Labor pub- lished the results of an investigation of the eight-hour question. To the inquiry: "Do you approve of eight hours as the standard working-day?" 531 labor organiza- tions answered " yes," 25 answered " no," and 34 made no reply. " It will give employment to more men," " will afford more time for study and recreation," " would abol- ish overproduction," the organizations answered. Many affirmed that the reductions already secured had increased the number of workingmen, though they made no attempt to discover the other causes of this increase. The question: " How would an eight-hour working-day affect wages in your trade?" brought out a great variety of opinions, but a large majority of the organizations thought there would be no unfavorable effect. 32 In 1885 the Wisconsin Bureau conducted a similar investigation with the result that 437 firms, employing 22,646 workmen, answered that they were not in favor of the eight-hour day, 68 employers, repre- senting 2,698 workingmen, returned a favorable answer, 233 firms made no reply, and 20 firms gave indefinite an- swers. 58 In the Eighth Annual Report of the New York Bureau of Statistics of Labor, 3 * Mr. Peck, the Commissioner, thus summed up the principal arguments upon which, in 32 Eighth Report, p. 516. 33 Second Biennial Report, p. 360. M 1890, pp. 13-16. 126 The American Laborer America, the eight-hour theory rests: "The grand effort of the workingman through all his generations has been less work and more pay. It is a perfectly lawful and reason- able ambition. , . . Better wages, healthier workshops, shorter hours, are only incentives to another effort after im- provement. This time it is an eight-hour work day. . . ." "The eight-hour advocates argue that: (i) Labor cre- ates all wealth; (2) The productive capacity of society is superior to the consumptive capacity of society; (3) Eight hours of labor per day will furnish the maximum of pro- duction with the expenditure of a given amount of physical or mental force; (4) The worth of production does not de- pend upon the rate of wages ; (5) The amount of production does not depend upon the number of hours of labor per day; (6) The production of wealth is in proportion to the intellectual and moral development of producers, and this development would be helped by a reduction in the hours of labor. . . ." Six propositions, each containing a grain of truth expanded into a generalization so broad that it be- comes positively erroneous. In an article in the Quarterly Journal of Economics?* written from the standpoint of an economist, Air. Charles Beardsley, sets forth what he believes would be the results of the adoption of the eight-hour day. Starting from the principle — which is true enough — that the shares of the three factors of production are not rigidly fixed, he en- deavors to prove that the laborer may increase his share at the expense of the other two by restraining the competi- tion which results from an abundant supply of labor. As- suming that the consumption of commodities and the pro- ductivity of labor remain the same, the reduction from ten to eight hours would necessitate an increase of one-fifth in the amount of labor employed, and this, by furnishing em- ployment to the idle, would remove that destructive ele- ment of competition which is most potent in depressing the "July. 1895. Labor Laws and Trade Regulations 127 rate of wages. He believes that with a better organiza- tion the workingmen will be able to secure the reduction, and that in all probability the price of labor per diem will not be ultimately affected. " Laborers are not willing to accept the shorter day along with a heavy reduction in, wages. Therefore, it is likely that in the first instance a reduction in hours will be obtained in lieu of a rise in wages. . . . But however the economic effects of a reduc- tion in the hours of work might be obscured, they would be none the less real. Daily wages would tend to fall, owing to a diminution in the output per worker, and tend to rise because of the increased demand for labor as compared with the supply. The net result of these counteracting tendencies would be different in different occupations." There is a certain amount of truth in this argument, and I shall recur to it in the chapter on the determinative causes of wages. But Mr. Beardsley assumes, when he says that the labor-unions wish to regulate the demand in order to secure the benefits of a monopoly, that the number of laborers will remain invariable; he has nothing to say of immigration, nothing of the development of machinery which, in certain cases, replaces the skilled workman by the day laborer. Many of the American politicians have come out in favor of the eight-hour system, and many others question whether the time is just ripe, but dare not openly attack a theory which pleases the people. Politics makes demands of its own. In 1886 the Governor of New York, speaking before an agricultural congress, said that although the farm laborer, living close to his work, might put in a longer day, four hours in the morning and four in the afternoon, seemed as much as should be asked of the city laborer who often works miles away from his home.. The rest of his time, he,, thought, should be employed in going to and from his work, and in reading or enjoying the society of his family and neighbors. The American Federation of Labor has been the most 128 The American Laborer prominent labor organization in the fight for an eight-hour day. According to an address delivered by President Gompers at one of the congresses held during the World's Fair, the theory which labor organizations ought to follow is that as long as there is a man or woman unemployed who needs employment and is able and willing to work, the hours of labor of those who have employment are too long. The limits of the reduction would be reached, he claimed, when non-employment was abolished and the mass of those who want work and can not find it, is a thing of the past; even then the greatest possible reduction will not have been attained. I agree with Mr. Gompers ; the limit may be con- tracted indefinitely — in theory. 36 Hundreds and thousands of unions are associated in this movement. The development of machinery having brought about over-production, they announce, the remedy is a re- duction in the hours of labor, and they assume the credit of bringing about an eight-hour day in many trades, while under the ancient regime of hand labor the day lasted from ten to fifteen hours. " All the labor organizations of the State of New York," said the Commissioner in 1894, " are naturally unanimous in their efforts to reduce the hours of labor in proportion to the increase in the productivity of machinery." 8T We have seen that the unanimity was not as complete as he supposed. Experiments have been made in England with the object of determining the relative productivity of labor under the eight-hour and the ten-hour systems, but they were not decisive. Two large constructors of Salford, Messrs. Mather and Pratt, reduced the day from nine to eight hours in 1893, and in the following year asserted that their pro- duct had been greater than in any one of the six preceding years, that economies had been effected in lighting, the wear 88 See Chicago Daily News, September 31, 1893. 87 Summary of the Twelfth Report of the Bureau of Statistics of Labor, p. 15. Labor Laws and Trade Regulations 129 and tear of machinery, etc., that the piece-workers whose earnings were sensibly affected at first, were at that time making practically as much as before. But the director of a colliery, Mr. Bainbridge, who made the same experiment, reported a diminution both of wages and production. 38 The expression " eight hours " marks a tendency. Some trades have secured the reduction, but what the others really want is any reduction whatsoever, so long as they are free to demand a second when they have secured the first. In England, as in America, the workingmen are unanimous in condemning work overtime, even at higher rates of pay, and in a majority of cases they also condemn piece- work. 39 Some years ago the president of the American Federa- tion of Labor addressed a letter to the President of the United States, Congressmen, professors, etc., asking whether the laborer should be obliged to work more than eight hours a day and what would be the effect of a reduc- tion to eight hours. The President excused himself on ac- count of his official position; most of the politicians pro- nounced in favor of eight hours; the professors were more 38 See Les Classes Ouvrieres en Europe, by R. Lavollee, iii, 389. 39 Overtime, they say, takes the workman from his family and be- gets an abnormal productivity one moment and idleness the next. Others assert that the moral and bodily inconveniences of working overtime have been exaggerated: the employer has no object in working his men overtime, as their efficiency decreases after the regular hours, and moreover, the entrepreneur cannot divide the time and work as he pleases; this depends upon the orders. And if there is any advantage in keeping the machines at work, it is more than overbalanced by the higher rate of wages paid for extra work. In England, as in America, many trades-unions are opposed to piece-work because, they claim, the employers arrange the rates in accordance with the earning capacity of the best workmen, be- cause it leads the workmen to exhaust themselves, encourages the manufacture of trashy goods and, they add, the more one produces the less work there is for the rest. Nevertheless, the labor com- mission was inclined to prefer piece-work, either for individual workmen or gangs of workmen, where it was feasible. Fifth Re- port of tlte Royal Commission on Labour, pp. 12, 15. 130 The American Laborer divided in opinion, probably because they did not feel so keenly the necessity of flattering the electorate. One pro- fessor favorable to the eight-hour day, expressed some con- cern about the result, his anxiety having been aroused by conversations with builders who testified that the introduc- tion of the eight-hour day had not increased the speed of the workmen. In the United States then, as in western and central Europe, there is a systematic agitation for the eight-hour day. Each party conducts its campaign in accordance with the peculiar circumstances and the national character of the country to which it belongs, but all of them — unionists, co-operationists, and socialists of every sect — have the same slogan: less work and more pay. It is plain that the social- ists who aim to impose the eight-hour system by force of law, have gained upon the unionists who, for a long time, particularly in England, have advocated the plan of secur- ing reduction through agreements with individual em- ployers. 40 The effective hours of labor. — The building trades of the United States, in virtue of their effective organization and the general activity of construction, are in a better position to enforce their demands than most of the other trades. The reduction has already been secured in many depart- ments. Out of forty-two building trades investigated in New York in 1894, seven worked on the nine-hour (eight hours on Saturday) and 34 on the eight-hour, system, 41 while 40 See the reports of the congress of textile-workers which met at Ghent in 1895. The French. German and Belgian delegates de- clared in favor of political action; the English delegates, in view of the depressed state of their industry, thought they ought to avoid aggravation and stated that they would demand an eight- hour law when the Continental workingmen should have won the privileges which they already possessed. A resolution was passed at this congress calling for political agitation in favor of the eight- hour system. a From a manuscript table communicated to me by the assistant chief of the Bureau of Labor of New York. [In 1898 the labor Labor Lazvs and Trade Regulations 131 the wages, which are among the highest paid, had under- gone no reduction. But the cost of construction has in- creased about 40 per cent, in the last fifteen years. In 1894 the New York Bureau of Labor began an inves- tigation in which inquiries were addressed to 695 labor organizations. Of this number 404, a good majority, re- ported that the hours of labor had decreased; six reported an increase; the rest replied that there had been no change, or made no response at all. In a total of 155,483 workmen, 48,411 (representing 169 unions and 42 occupations) worked eight hours, 18,925 (142 unions) worked nine hours, 32,534 (180 unions) worked ten hours, and 10,922 worked more than ten hours. In some occupations the hours are very long; in breweries the work often lasts fifteen hours and bakers sometimes work as high as twenty-two hours. In Ohio, in 1892, most of the building trades worked on the ten-hour system. Out of 15,141 workmen, 13,619 re- ported that they worked ten hours except on Saturday. A table covering 48 cities prepared by the Journeymen Bakers' and Confectioners' International Union of America in 1890 gives the average length of the day's labor for the first four days of the week at ten hours thirty-six minutes, and that of Friday and Saturday at eleven hours forty-nine minutes. The maximum for the first five days (San An- tonio, Texas) was thirteen hours thirty-seven minutes, and the minimum (Ouincy, Illinois) nine hours thirty-four minutes. But the length of the day varies greatly from one workman to another, even in the same city. Thus, in 1892, bakers worked from seven to eighteen hours, seven hours being the exception, while the average day was from eleven to twelve. On Friday the day was prolonged, to twenty-four hours in some instances, in order to provide organizations in the building trades reported as follows concerning the working-day: 145 unions, eight hours; 106 unions, more than eight and less than ten hours (97, nine hours); 23 unions, ten hours or more.] 132 The American Laborer for Saturday and Sunday. 42 In 1893 the general average was reduced to about ten hours and a half " ; In 1886 at the instigation of the Federation of Labor, the furniture-makers of ten cities made a concerted demand for the eight-hour day and won a temporary victory. But the employers in turn organized and re-established the day of ten hours except in New York and San Francisco, where nine hours is the rule. 44 According to the report of an investigation made by the Commissioner of Labor of Michigan in 1891, which cov- ered 13,436 female employees, the number of hours of labor varied from three to eighteen and one-half. The majority, however, 7,161, worked ten hours, and 2,000 worked only from nine hours to nine hours and three-quarters. 45 Among the seamstresses of New York the working-day begins ordinarily at eight in the morning and ends at six in the evening. Allowing forty-five minutes for lunch, it lasts nine hours and a quarter. It often happens that the length of the day varies among the different employees of the same industry. Thus in the furniture manufacture in New York, the carvers and mod- 42 This investigation covered 586 first-class, 802 second-class, 476 third-class, 43 fourth-class workmen, and 33 helpers. Tenth An- nual Report . . . New York, 1893. 43 The changes which have taken place in some of the occupations in New York are worth noting: In 1872 at New York city ma- sons worked eight hours; this rose to nine hours, then to ten. and finally in 1884, after a strike, nine hours was adopted by three- fourths of the employers. In 1885. by the decision of a committee of arbitration, nine hours through the week and eight on Satur- day became the rule, no diminution in wages having occurred. In 1891, eight hours was adopted. Carpenters in New York city: ten hours, 1880-85; 1890, eight hours. Painters in New York City: 1860-70. ten hours; 1871. eight hours; 1872-73, ten hours; 1885, nine to ten; 1886-90, nine hours. Plasterers in Brooklyn: 1879-83, ten hours; 1884-89, nine hours; 1890. eight hours. ** Rapports de la delegation ouzriere a V Exposition dc Chicago, p. 710. "Ninth Annual Report, 1892. Labor Laws and Trade Regulations 133 ellers work eight hours, while the cabinet-makers, joiners, turners, and varnishers, work nine hours. The Brotherhood of Painters and Decorators have secured a reduction of hours in many places. At the St. Louis convention in 1892 the secretary of the organization stated that during a period of two years 246 unions had obtained some reduction, that only 18 had failed in their attempts, and that the number of unions which worked not more than 54 hours a week had been increased by 59.* 1 In 1893, after a month's discussion, the cabinet-makers of Boston consented to accept without reduction of salary, the nine-hour in place of the ten-hour day. The carriage- makers, copper-smiths, tin-smiths, shipwrights and farriers also won the same concession. On Saturday a part of the stores and shops close early, 46 In England the Royal Commission on Labour reported that either as a result of restrictive laws upon the labor of women and children or because of a change of custom, there had been a con- siderable diminution in the hours of labor during the preceding fifteen years. The trades-unions have contributed largely to modify the custom and to secure pay for overtime, so that at present fifty- four hours a week is the general rule for factory employments. In the cotton manufacture it has been shown that, owing to the im- provement of machinery no diminution of production has resulted from the reduction of hours. Long hours are not unknown; in some localities the puddlers and molders prefer two shifts of twelve hours to three shifts of eight hours, because of the larger pay, and the bakers and confectioners, among whom competition is very intense, work long hours without the inducement of high wages. But it may be stated as a general rule that the day is not much over nine hours. Long hours, the workingmen say, exhaust the indi- vidual physically and morally, and enfeeble the race; by permitting an excessive production at one time, they bring about idleness at another, and thus deprive the laborer of the means of existence. To which the response is made that upon investigation the extra work is not as much as some would like to make it appear, that the employers have no interest in making the hours too long, that shut-downs are caused by other forces, that individual employees, where they are not constrained by unions, like to work overtime because of the extra pay, and that it is an error to suppose that the amount of work can be determined with precision by employers or that it can be distributed according to their wishes. Fifth and Final Report of the Royal Commission on Labour, Nos. 12 to 14. 134 The American Laborer as they do in England, and in certain occupations the work- men also stop at an earlier hour. The custom is by no means universal, 47 but almost everywhere the labor-unions are working to secure this privilege. To the question — what is the average length of the work- ing-day in the United States? — it is impossible to give a precise answer because in this, as in other economic mea- surements, there is no intelligible mean; what we have is a number of heterogeneous quantities massing themselves more or less closely about a common point. At present this point, representing the length of the day's labor, seems to be somewhere between nine and one-half and ten hours, and probably nearer ten than nine and a half. The Aldrich report give ten hours as the general average. 48 Legislation. — General democratic influences have led American legislatures to adopt, more or less decisively, the policy of legislative restriction. Up to 1880, omitting the federal law relative to public works, Massachusetts was the only state which possessed a law limiting the hours of labor of women and children. To-day at least twenty states have limited the hours of labor of children under 16 or 18 years, and fifteen or more have followed the example of Massachusetts in regulating the labor of adult women. So far as it relates to minors, this legislation seems just; with respect to adults, it appears to me unjust. Several states have fixed the hours of labor of workmen employed in public works. The Revised Statutes of the United States, title 43, contains the following section: " Eight hours shall constitute a day's work for all laborers, workmen, and mechanics who may be employed by or on 47 In 1890 the Bureau of Statistics of New York made an investi- gation concerning the half-holiday on Saturday afternoons: 96 unions answered that they had the holiday; 404 that they did not have it; 94 made no response to the question. Eighth Annual Re- port, p. 464 et seq. 48 The Report on ll'holcsalc Prices and Wages, vol. i. p. 178, gives the general average working day at 11.4 hours in 1840 and 10 hours in 1890. Labor Laws and Trade Regulations 135 behalf of the Government of the United States." This is the law which was signed by President Johnson in i868. 4 " A more recent law, passed in 1888, completes this legislation by bringing letter-carriers under the eight-hour system." However, as we have pointed out, the Supreme Court has decided that this law does not deprive undertakers of pub- lic works of the right of making agreements with their employees to work more than eight hours. 01 The People's party is evidently not of this opinion, as is shown by the resolution adopted at the Omaha convention in i892. 5 ' a In 1889 Massachusetts limited to nine hours a day the labor of workmen employed in public works, and Texas has a similar law; New York in 1870, Idaho in 1890, Cali- fornia in 1885, Wyoming in 1886, Kansas in 1890, Colorado in 1894, Utah in 1894, and other states have fixed the limit at eight hours. Most of these laws are very recent and apparently do not overstep the bounds of justice since the state, just as any individual, may fix the conditions on which its work shall be done. As a matter of fact, how- ever, they constitute an imprudent obligation on the part of the state: if they are not executed, they furnish the spec- tacle, always demoralizing, of violated law; if they are exe- cuted, they are taken into account by contractors, increase the cost of public work, and give leisure to a limited num- ber of workmen at the expense of the whole body of tax- payers. The state is still within its rights when it merely defines the length of the working day without making this length 40 The eight-hour law was introduced in 1866 in a bill presented by Representative Rogers. 50 England took similar measures in 1892 and 1893 when the gov- ernment decided that the men employed by the ministers of war and marine should work not more than eight hours. 51 See Stimson's Handbook, p. 53. 51a " Resolved, That we cordially sympathize with the efforts of or- ganized workmen to shorten the hours of labor and demand a rigid enforcement of the existing eight-hour law on government work and ask that a penalty clause be added to the said law." 136 The American Laborer compulsory in private contracts. Thus in 1881 Florida enacted that ten hours of labor should be " considered and regarded as a legal day's work, and held to be such by the courts of this State " and that unless a contract to the con- trary was signed by the employer and employee in the pres- ence of at least one witness, the employee should " be en- titled to extra pay for all work performed in excess of ten hours' labor daily, if so required by his employer." Ex- perience will probably show that the signature, the wit- nesses, and the extra pay for " all " work in excess of ten hours, are superfluous. 52 New Hampshire since 1878, Michigan since 1885, Maine since 1888, and Nebraska since 1895, have had the ten-hour day. Seven other states have fixed the legal day's labor at eight hours. These laws do not apply as a general rule to service rendered by the week or month and they allow longer hours to be stipulated in special contracts. 53 The constitutionality of some of these laws is very doubt- ful. In Ohio, New York and New Jersey, 54 railway em- ployees are limited to ten hours M and they must be paid extra for overtime. In several states — California, Louisi- ana, Pennsylvania, for instance — the conductors of tram- ways and omnibuses are limited to twelve hours. In order to allow workmen time to vote New Jersey has passed an eight-hour law applicable only to election days. 68 52 The clause requiring a witness was omitted from the Revised Statutes of 1892. [Tr.] 53 In Indiana longer hours without extra pay is punishable as a misdemeanor. " The ten-hour law, applying to steam-railroads now exists in Ohio, New York, Michigan and Minnesota, and applying to street- railways, in New York, Massachusetts and Washington. Industrial Commission .... Labor Legislation, p. 27. [Tr.] 55 In England a law of July, 1893. upon the hours of labor of employees of railways gives to the Board of Trade the authority to compel a company to reduce the hours of labor of its personnel. 56 In 1894 the machinists of the State of New York complained that the law which gave them two hours in which to vote had been injurious to them because the employers closed the shops during the whole day and thus made them lose their wages. Summary of the Twelfth Report, p. 21. Labor Laivs and Trade Regulations 137 Finally, there can be no doubt that the legislatures ex- ceeded the bounds of their authority and infringed the lib- erty of the individual when ttfey placed an obligatory limit upon the hours of labor of adults, imposed penalties upon infractions of the law, and made no provision for exceptions by private contract. This is what was done by Massachu- setts in 1874 when the labor of adult women was limited to sixty hours a week, and in 1892, when this limit was again reduced to forty-eight. It is what at least ten other states have done in imitation of Massachusetts. It is the course pursued by Wyoming and New Mexico in regard to mine laborers," and by Illinois in 1893, when that state prohibited clothing manufacturers from working female employees more than eight hours a day or forty-eight hours a week, although a recent decision of the Supreme Court of Illinois has established the unconstitutionality of this restriction. The legislature of Georgia did the same when they restrict- ed operatives in the cotton and woolen mills to sixty-six hours a week, declared all contracts in contravention of this law null and void and authorized " any person " to institute suit against any cotton or woolen manufacturing establish- ment which made such a contract. It is what was done by Maryland when she prohibited companies engaged in the manufacture of cotton or woolen goods from working chil- dren or female employees more than 10 hours a day, either with or without contract. Nebraska went even further in 1891, under the influence of the Populists, and enacted that eight hours of labor should " constitute a legal day's work for all classes of me- chanics, servants, and laborers throughout the state of Nebraska, excepting those engaged in farm and domestic labor." Public officials who evaded this law were to be BT The constitutionality of the Utah law prohibiting the employ- ment of any person in a smelter or an underground mine for more than eight hours a day, has been sustained by the Supreme Court of the United States. 18 Sup. Ct. Rep., p. 383. [Tr.] *o 138 The American Laborer deemed guilty of malfeasance in office, double compensation was to be given for all work over the specified time, and a fine was to be inflicted for infractions of the last-quoted sec- tion. Although the prohibition was by no means absolute, the Supreme Court of Nebraska declared the law unconsti- tional in 1894. The constitutionality of tliis legislation. — The constitution- ality of such laws, when they apply to persons of legal age, is still an open question in the United States. In order to test their constitutionality the Federation of Labor has even supplied workingmen in Indiana and Illinois with means to bring action based upon them. Such cases have, however, not been numerous. In 1876 a Massachusetts judge condemned a manufacturer for violating the ten-hour law, but much more recently the Supreme Court of Califor- nia annulled an ordinance of the city of Los Angeles which prohibited the employment for more than eight hours of any person engaged on work done by contract with the city. In 1894 an inspector of Cook Co., 111., arraigned a manu- facturer before a justice of the peace for violation of the law of June 17, 1893, which provided that " no female shall be employed in any factory or workshop more than eight hours in any one day or forty-eight hours in any one week." The justice imposed a fine and the judgment was confirmed by the criminal court of the county. But on appeal, the Supreme Court reversed the decision in March. 1895, and declared the above section unconstitutional. " The manner in which this section discriminates against one class of employers and employees, in favor of all others," said the court, " renders it invalid." The court then quoted the con- stitution of Illinois which provides, in section 2 of the second article, that " no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law," and decided not only that " labor is property," but that " ' liberty ' includes the right to make contracts as well with reference to the amount and duration of labor to be performed as concern- Labor Laws and Trade Regulations 139 ing any other lawful matter. Hence, the right to make contracts is an inalienable one, and any attempt to un- reasonably abridge it is opposed to the constitution." The court moreover denied the argument that the law was a valid exercise of the police power, designed to protect wo- men on account of their sex and physique, and declared that " inasmuch as sex is no bar under the constitution and law to the endowment of women with the fundamental and in- alienable rights of liberty and property, which includes the right to make her own contracts, the mere fact of sex will not justify the legislature in putting forth the police power of the State for the purpose of limiting her exercise of those rights, unless the courts are able to see that there is some fair, just, and reasonable connection between such limitation and the public health, safety, or welfare proposed to be secured by it. B?a The opinion of the manufacturer. — Although its constitu- tionality is doubtful, the economic desirability of legal regulation is at least certain? Not at all, responds the manufacturer; it is inaccurate to say that workingmen are exhausted by their work, because in general the improve- ment of machinery has removed the necessity of severe muscular strain and has brought about a more wholesome regime in the workshops. Ten hours' work is not exces- sive, it is beneficial to both the male and female laborer, and when their labor is reduced by law from ten hours to eight, their pay generally declines in about the same pro- portion. Statistics are paraded before the people to show that wages have not fallen in the states in which the work- ing day has been reduced, but if there has been no reduc- tion, these wages would have been increased, because more productive machinery has been provided for the work. Mr. North, the Secretary of the National Association of Wool Manufacturers, thinks that a comparison of the censuses of 1880 and 1890 justifies the conclusion that wages de- 7a Bulletin of the Department of Labor, January, 1896, pp. 203-205. 140 The American Laborer clined in the cotton and woolen industries in that interval/' 8 but his argument is not convincing.' 9 As Mr. North says, no one denies that the operative who works fifteen hours wears himself out and in the end produces less than the operative who works ten hours a day. There is a reason- able limit, dependent upon the time, the place and the in- dustry, but it is for private individuals, not the legislature, to ascertain this limit and abide by it or not, as they see fit The status of the question. — The theoretical advocates of legal restriction can hardly be charged with disregarding its future consequences, but they survey the future more as philanthropists than as practical men. Wages, they as- sert, will not suffer: "The only reduction of hours which merits a serious consideration," says Mr. Gilman, " is that which involves no reduction of wages." e He claims, as Mr. Gunton does in Wealth and Progress, that production will not be impaired, and affirms that industry is ripe for nine hours — Mr. Gunton says eight — because experience proves that as much can be done in nine hours as in ten, because the workman does not have enough time with his family, and the leisure time will be employed in the profit- 58 Bulletin of the National Association of IVool Manufacturers, p. 267. °* While Commissioner of Labor of Massachusetts, Carroll D. Wright, made an investigation of this subject in which he con- cluded that under the ten-hour system, introduced into Massachu- setts for women by the law of 1874, Massachusetts produced per spindle, per loom, or per operative, as much as, or even more than, any state in which an eleven-hour day was general, and moreover, that wages were at least as high in Massachusetts as in any such state. He says, in effect, that average weekly wages in Maine were $7.04 for 66 J /& hours of labor, while in Massachusetts they were $8.32 for 60 hours. But the figures themselves are not very convincing as the conditions of labor and living are different in the two states. See Report of the Bureau of Statistics of Labor for 1885 80 Nicholas Paine Gilman, Socialism and the American Spirit, p. 265. In an investigation of 100 establishments made by the labor bureau of Connecticut, 57 reported that there had been no reduction of wages: 31 reported a proportional diminution of wages: and 13 answered that there had been a reduction, but not a proportional one. See the Tenth Annual Report. Labor Laws and Trade Regulations 111 able occupations of reading, social relaxations, etc. The Federation of Labor demands eight hours because leisure is good for man. But where shall we stop, and how shall we keep wages at the present rate? Some theorists have vainly protested that with our perfected machinery, two hours labor a day on the part of everyone would be suffi- cient to maintain the present production. An actual demon- stration would be necessary to confirm the truth of this assertion, and then, if by some miracle its truth were con- firmed, it would be necessary to decree that mankind should not increase its consumption. Because the conditions of employment are diverse and variable there can be no advantageous regulation by law of adult labor; because the liberty of the individual is involved, there should be none. 61 Political economy — a science of observation leading in practical affairs to the principle of the freedom of labor — should not take sides in this contro- versy: it is not charged with the duty of fixing the hours that shall be spent in the workshop, which are determined by the requirements of particular industries, times and places. The science does show that the ordinary duration of the working-day is not arbitrary, that usage has fixed it in accordance with the surrounding social and economic conditions, and that it undergoes normal and permanent changes only after corresponding changes in these condi- tions. If political economy recognizes as legitimate the regulation of the labor of minors employed in manufac- tures, it also declares that adult persons should be left free to dispose of their own labor according to their personal interests and that the public authority should intervene only to enforce the execution of private contracts. The question of the hours of labor is one of expediency 62 not 61 General Walker has examined the question in its different as- pects in an article in the Atlantic Monthly, June, 1890. 62 Prof. Marshall questions whether two shifts of eight hours each, thus utilizing the machinery sixteen hours out of twenty-four, would not effect an economy. The question can be decided by 11 142 The American Laborer of ethics, and from the point of view of theory, political economy has no business with it, although as a science of observation it should follow closely the movement of facts and ideas and put in evidence the results, favorable and un- favorable, of its studies of fact. And it is by this study of existing facts that the science reveals a certain general and limited connection between industrial development and the reduction of the hours of labor. Comparison with France and England. — The question un- der consideration, as I have said, is not peculiar to the United States. It is actively discussed in European labor congresses as well as in America, and in both places the same arguments are heard and the same party division ex- ists; one wing of the party aims to secure reduction through the action of labor organizations upon individual employ- ers, the other wing advocates the passage of laws making the eight-hour system compulsory. At the international labor congress held in Paris in 1886, the English delegates refused to endorse the resolution calling for an eight-hour day, not wishing to impose, and particularly not by law, an absolute rule in this matter. Party discipline alone led the Australian delegates, who at that time were in favor of a six-hour day, to endorse the resolution. At the London congress of 1888, in which the old unionists found them- selves in a minority, the system was endorsed, as it was in Paris in 1889 when the plan of making a demonstration on the first of May, which originated in St. Louis in 1888, was accepted. In England three parties can now be distinguished: a radical party that demands a compulsory eight-hour law fcr all industries; a conservative party that desires to se- cure reduction through the medium of free contracts be- tween labor unions and employers; a party that demands "trade option" or "local option," i. e., the right to pass actual trial, but an experiment would be necessary for each line of industry. Labor Laws and Trade Regulations .. 143 obligatory laws for specific industries or in limited dis- tricts. The leaders are not wholly in accord, and the ma- jority has vacillated in the labor congresses. Thus, in Belfast in 1893, a general eight-hour law, with some ex- ceptions, was endorsed, 63 but when a bill limiting work in coal-mines to eight hours a day was presented in the House of Commons, the members representing the labor party voted against it; at Cardiff in 1895 the demand for an eight- hour day had grown, and although the miners held aloof, the majority voted for the presentation of a new bill lim- iting labor in all industries and trades of the United King- dom, mines excepted, to eight hours per day. As a matter of fact the hours of labor have been very much reduced in England during the last fifty years, the improvement having been secured at first through laws passed to protect women and minors and afterwards through the natural channels of contract and agreement. So thoroughly has the change been accomplished that for a good many years skilled workmen have not worked more than nine hours a day and fifty-four hours a week. These reductions have been secured in part through strikes and agreements made by the trades-unions; in part they are due to other causes. In some cases they have involved a reduction of wages, but more often this has been prevented by the improvement of machinery. Bakers, day laborers and some other classes have not benefited by the reduc- tion which has taken place in most of the trades. In France the hours of labor have diminished a great deal since Villerme estimated the average working-day in the textile industries at from fifteen to fifteen and one-half hours, of which thirteen hours were actually consumed in effective labor. The decree of March 2, 1848, limited the hours of labor to ten in Paris and eleven in the provinces; the law of September 9, 1848, fixed the limit at twelve hours; the decree of May 17, 185 1, which suspended the 63 Lavollee, Les Classes Ouvricrcs en Europe, iri, p. 315. 144 „ The American Laborer law has been modified by the decree of April 3, 1889, by which it has been revived. Recently, an investigation con- ducted by the Office du travail brought out the fact that the average day in the Department of the Seine was ten hours and a half. In 1891, out of 100 occupations, 86 had a day of from nine to eleven hours; 8 worked more than 12 hours; and six less than seven hours a day. 64 Australia, with its deep-rooted democratic tendencies, is unquestionably the first country in which the eight-hour system obtained a firm foothold. In 1856 the system was introduced by the " United Trades " of the colony of Vic- toria, and it has now ceased to be discussed and has be- come a general custom throughout the colonies. In the investigation of the conditions of labor in foreign countries carried on a few years ago under the direction of the Ministre des Affaires Etrangeres, it was shown that the average working-day was less than ten hours in Eng- land, from ten to twelve hours in Germany, about eleven hours net in Austria, from eight to thirteen and one-half hours in Hungary, from ten to twelve hours in Spain, and in Russia from eight (in iron- and steel-works) to fourteen and sixteen hours. I cite these few figures, without going into the minutiae of a comparative study, in order to show: first, that there does exist a connection between the indus- trial wealth and the hours of labor of a country, because in general, productivity is low where the industrial wealth is undeveloped; second, that democracy exercises an in- fluence in this matter; third, that the United States, with an average working-day which seems to be about ten hours or a little less, holds one of the highest ranks, in this re- gard, after England. 94 Salaires et Duree du Travail dans Y Industrie Francaisc. vols, i, ii. Labor Laws and Trade Regulations 145 III. CHILD-LABOR Number of children employed in factories. — The census of 1870, which was the first to give any information on this subject, estimated the ratio of children between 10 and 15 years of age to the total number of employees at 1:17; the census of 1880 at 1: 16; the census of 1890 (from 10 to 14 years) at 1:38. In spite of the change in the age group it is evident that there has been a diminution. The propor- tion is highest in agriculture, in which some occupation is found for every member of the family. In manufactures there was one child from 10 to 15 years of age in every 35 employees, in 1870; one between the same ages in every 29 employees in 1880; and one child from 10 to 14 years of age in every 57 employees in 1890. The total of youths below 16 and of girls below 15 years of age, employed in gainful occupations, increased from 115,000 to 180,000 between 1870 and 1880, or about 55.6 per cent., while the total number of employees increased only 42 per cent. In five states — Illinois, Ohio, Iowa, [Maine and Maryland, the increase was more than 100 per cent, in the decade 1870-1880, while in those states in which the law obstructed their employment, Massachusetts and Connecticut, for example, the increase was very much smaller (from 20 to 50 per cent.). From 1880 to 1890, however, the number fell from 180,000 to 120,000. This diminution occurred almost wholly in the Eastern and Cen- tral states, in which restrictive laws were applied more vigorously than in the preceding decade; in many other states there was an increase. 65 In certain industries the relative amount of child-labor is a good deal above the average. In cotton-spinning mills 65 From 1870 to 1890 there was an absolute decrease of 14,585 in New England and the Central states: in the ether states there was an increase of 20,842. 1-16 The American Laborer one out of every six employees is a child, and the propor- tions are nearly as high in the woolen, card-board, and boot and shoe industries. In the tobacco manufacture one child is found to every 12 employees, and in the mines, one to every 20. In an investigation made by the United States Depart- ment of Labor a few years ago, it was found that in the cotton industry, 2,582 out of 6,804 children belonging to the 2,132 families investigated, worked; 1,291 went to school; 2,364 remained at home; and 567 were not accounted for. 1,081 families, i. e. a little less than one-half, put their chil- dren to work, and on the average had 2.4 children so engaged. This was somewhat higher than the figures for the cotton industry of Europe, as ascertained in the same investigation. 66 In the woolen industry, the percentage was a little less, 2 children per family. 67 In the glass manufacture, in which wages are high and there is but little place for children, the proportion was only 1.5; in the steel industry it was 1.9; in coal-mines and blast-furnaces, 1.6; in the coke manufac- ture, i.4. GS Objections against child-labor in manufacturing industries. — Omitting household industries, which will be treated in connection with the sweating system, it is in the textile in- dustries that child-labor is most extensively employed. For many years American economists, socialists, hygien- ists and philanthropists have given themselves much con- cern about the number of children employed in manufac- tures. For this condition, which they claim constitutes a social peril, machinery is partly responsible. The manu- facturers are also responsible in part. Wishing to lower 08 In England 2.1; in France 1.8; in Germany 2; in Switzerland 1.9; general average 2. In the United States the proportion for American families was as large as that for other nationalities. Sev- enth Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor, p. 1706. 87 Ibid., p. 1716. For American families, 1.7. 68 See also the Sixth Annual Report, pp. 1286, 1293, 1300, 1307. Labor Laws and Trade Regulations 147 the expenses of production, they have substituted children for adults wherever it was possible. A few having intro- duced the practice, all the rest were forced to follow by the pressure of competition. Philanthropists have repeatedly warned parents, who among the lower classes are opposed to legal restrictions, that the net income of the family is not increased by putting children to work. The children, they say, grow up in ignorance with stunted faculties and blunt- ed morals; the race retrogrades, becomes habituated to " starvation wages," and in many instances the child does a man's work in some factory, while the father idles in the streets, unable to obtain work. 69 " My attention has frequently been called," wrote the Commissioner of Labor of Ohio in 1887, " to the alarming growth of women and child-labor in the gainful occupa- tions. . . . Children are crowded into workshops at twelve years, and at fifteen they are able to do a man's work, but their wages are fixed at thirty, forty and fifty cents a day. They are given work at meagre wages until they reach the years of manhood, when they are thrown out of employment to make room for some other boys who will work cheaper, and who have been crowded into the works behind them." ' The laws of Massachusetts. — At present most states have laws upon child-labor. Massachusetts, which has always 09 Col. Wright in the Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor of Massachusetts, p. 51, says: "The rates of wages, after a little time, will readjust themselves to the new state of things and the same amount of money, or a somewhat near approximation to it, will be earned by the head of the family as is now earned by him in conjunction with his children." I think it hardly safe to affirm that the same equilibrium will be re-established. Mr. Bemis (cited by R. T. Ely in his Introduction to Political Economy, p. 221) states that the iron-workers of western Connecticut, whose children do not work, have as large incomes as the textile operatives of eastern Connecticut whose children do work. But this proves nothing, as wages are universally higher in iron-works than in textile fac- tories. " In the case where a man is assisted by both wife and chil- dren he earns the least," Col. Wright adds. But ate they forced to assist because his wages are low, or are his wages forced down because they assist? '" P- 9- 148 The American Laborer been solicitous about education and moral progress, 71 took the lead in the laws of 1866 and 1867 which prohibited the employment of all children under ten years of age and limited the employment of children between ten and fif- teen years to sixty hours a week, prohibiting the employ- ment of children of the latter class altogether, if they had not attended school at least three months in the preceding 72 year. A commission was appointed, a board of inspection es- tablished and two years later, a bureau of statistics of labor was created. By the law of 1874 which I have cited several times, the labor of youths under 18 years of age was lim- ited to ten hours per day. More recent laws (1882) prohibit the public exhibition, as acrobats, dancers, or singers, of children under fifteen; (1884) prohibit manufacturing or commercial establish- ments from employing any youth under eighteen years of age more than ten hours per day or sixty hours per week; (1880) prohibit the cleaning of any machine while in motion by children under fourteen years, and prescribe a penalty for any employer who regularly employs a child under four- teen years whom the employer knows cannot read and write English and has not attended school the preceding year. A law of 1888 establishes the following rules ap- plicable to all establishments in which five persons,' 3 or two 71 The first law of this kind in Massachusetts dates from 1836. In 1842, through the efforts of Horace Mann, the great peda- gogue, the labor of children was restricted in order that they might attend school. 72 The labor of women and children has been the subject of fre- quent legislation in Massachusetts since 1832, and since 1836 there has existed some law requiring school attendance from children employed in manufacturing establishments. The law of 1866 lim- ited the hours of labor of children under fourteen to eight per day and required that such employees should have attended school at least six months during the preceding year. The law of 1867 re- quired that children under fifteen should have had three months' schooling in the preceding year and fixed the labor limit at sixty hours per week. 73 The Pennsylvania law does not recognize as factories estab- lishments in which less than five persons are employed. Labor Laivs and Trade Regulations 149 women or children, are employed; no child under thirteen 73 * years of age shall be employed at any time in any factory, workshop or mercantile establishment; no such child shall perform any work for wages or other compensation during the hours when the public schools of the vicinity are open, nor be employed in any manner during such hours unless during the preceding year he has attended school for at least thirty weeks as required by law; no child under four- teen years of age shall be employed before six o'clock in the morning or after seven o'clock in the evening, or be employed at all in any factory, workshop or mercantile es- tablishment, except during school vacations, unless the employer procures an official certificate attesting that the child has attended school at least thirty weeks during the preceding year; no minor unable to read and write English shall be employed unless he is a regular attendant of an evening school. Employers and factory inspectors must keep on file a complete list of minor employees, and employers must post in workrooms a notice stating the hours of labor, meal- hours, etc. Truant officers when directed by the school committee may visit workshops, require certificates to be shown for all employees under sixteen, and bring prosecu- tions against employers violating the law. Parents and employers violating these laws are punishable by fine. Laws of other states. — Between 1882 and 1895 twenty states followed the example of Massachusetts in fixing an age minimum for minor employees, many of them copying the Massachusetts law almost verbatim. In 1895 four states — California, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Ver- mont, fixed this minimum at 10 years; six others have adopted 12 years; eight, comprising Massachusetts, have fixed it at 13 or 14 years. Louisiana has fixed the mini- mum at 12 for boys and 14 for girls. Six states absolutely " a This limit was raised to fourteen years in 1898. Mass., Acts of 1898, ch. 494, sec. 1. [Tr.] 150 The American Laborer prohibit the employment of children in mines. Almost all require employees under 14 years of age to have attend- ed school from twelve to thirty weeks during the preceding year, and limit to ten, some even to eight, hours per day the labor of minors under 16 or 18 years of age." Several states prohibit the employment of children in certain occu- pations dangerous to health. Finally, in the session of 1890-91, Congress passed a law applying to the territories, which expressly prohibits the employment of children un- der 12 years in the underground workings of any mine, under penalty of a fine not to exceed $100. Application of the lazv. — There are many manufacturers who approve of the principles underlying this legislation and conscientiously endeavor to abide by it, but there are many others who regard it as a burden upon their busi- ness and attempt to evade it. To these must be added the numerous body of parents who through necessity or other- wise seek to evade the laws. In states which do not main- tain a corps of salaried inspectors the law is openly vio- lated; it is often violated in the states which have such in- spectors. In many establishments, even at Boston, one notices children under 13 years of age. 75 Certain inspectors' reports return the relative number of operatives under 14 years of age at less than one per cent, in Fall River and about two per cent, in New Bedford, but one cannot help wondering whether the number of chil- dren is not concealed when the inspectors call, and whether the ages given in the certificates are always correct. " I have myself known parents," says George Gunton, " who actually changed the ages of all their children in the regis- 74 See in this connection: Stimson's Handbook, and "Child-Labor," by W. F. Willoughby, Publications of the American Economic Asso- ciation, vol. v. 75 Out of 125,942 persons employed in the textile industries of Massachusetts in 1888, there were only 1,616 under fourteen and 7,845 from fourteen to sixteen, about 7 l / 2 per cent, in all, under six- teen. Child-Labor, by Clara de Graffenried, p. 66. Labor Lazvs and Trade Regulations 151 ter of their family bible, dating their births uniformly two years earlier in order to evade the law and get their chil- dren into the mill two years earlier." u Other parents use the certificates of older children to get employment for their younger ones. There is even a traffic in certificates; Canadians about to return home often sell the certificates of their children. Cases often occur in which a rigorous application of the law would cause great hardship. Miss Clara de Graffen- ried cites the case of a little girl of twelve years who earned about $1.50 a week. When questioned by an inspector " she burst into pitiful weeping and between her sobs told a sad story, afterwards verified in every particular, of her mother with uncertain employment, three little sisters, aged grandparents, one of them blind, and nobody able to work. ' So, as I am twelve, could read very well and had been to school five years, my mother thought I might help her a little. We have been so much better off since I came here. Oh, don't send me away.' " 77 In the matter of schooling, the masters of the Irish and Canadian parochial schools have been accused of being en- tirely too accommodating in the giving of certificates; at any rate, it is well known that some children evade going to school altogether. In Massachusetts, for instance, the census of 1885 showed that 13 per cent, of the inhabitants between 5 and 14 years of age were illiterate. In the South ignorance is much more general, and the law less respect- ed. In Georgia, a few years ago, an investigation of 304 white employees revealed the fact that 35 of them were children, the average age of whom was between 8 and 9 years. More than 30 per cent, of the white employees of American parentage employed in the cotton mills of \ ir- ginia, South Carolina, Georgia and Louisiana are without education and have never srone to school for anv length of 76 Child-Labor, Publications of the American Economic Association. vol. v, p. 105. " Child-Labor, p. 89. 152 The American Laborer time. A part of those who know how to read were taught in the Sunday-schools. We must content ourselves with a partial enforcement of laws such as we have been consider- ing, though this is no reason why we should dispense with the services they can render. IV. APPRENTICESHIP. A few words upon the history of the subject. — The question of apprenticeship is concerned with the employment of children, although it is quite distinct from the general sub- ject of child-labor, in which the child is treated as a small workman with a permanent occupation. Apprenticeship / is an education, not a livelihood. In any event it is one of those questions which in America as in Europe hold the attention of the industrial world and at times array the laboring classes against the employers. Out of 22,304 strikes and 2,214 lockouts which are recorded between 1866 and 1881, 213 strikes and 169 lockouts were caused by some difficulty about apprenticeship.' 8 This was the cause of the great strike on the Chicago, Burlington and Ouincy railroad in 1888. America is too young to have known the regime of the trades companies. In the first part of the nineteenth cen- tury the population was almost entirely engaged in agricul- ture, and manufactures were conducted on a very small scale. The apprentice system existed at this time as it did in England, but public opinion paid little attention to the 78 The number of such strikes in the United Kingdom was 58 out of a total of 16,731. Fourth Biennial Report. . . . Minnesota. 1803- 94, pp. 158-163. For the general question of apprenticeship see, among others, the study of Mr. Bolles: "The Law Relating to Workingmen in Pennsylvania " in the Report of the Bureau of Industrial Statistics for 1888. cf.. First Biennial Report, . . . Colo- rado. 1887-88, p. 31. Labor Lazvs and Trade Regulations 153 fact. The modern transformation of industry has changed the regulation of the workshop. 79 The causes of the decline of apprenticeship in America and Europe, are various. Children have become more in- ^ dependent and submit less readily to a protracted period of obedience: like the rest of the family they are anxious to be drawing their wages. Modern industry with its machin- ery and division of labor no longer requires the protracted period of initiation; the modern manufacturer has neither time nor inclination to pay attention to apprentices. There are young helpers, but there are practically no apprentices, in the textile industries to-day. The chief of the bureau of industrial statistics of Pennsylvania found only two trades, the baker's and the barber's, in which apprentices lived with their masters, and he explains this by the fact that bakers' apprentices must be at work very early, and barbers' ap- prentices are not paid. He cites several large establish- ments, however, in which apprentices are still taken, al- though they are not fed or lodged; and he instances a large number of trades in which apprentices are taken in this way and paid a certain salary during the four or five years which they spend learning the trade or some part of it. The formation of labor-unions in connection with the de- 79 The Royal Commission on Labour in England stated that ap- prenticeship had declined with the introduction of machinery, the division of labor and the establishment of large manufactories. The custom of binding out lads for five or six years still exists in some trades, but is fast disappearing. The workmen themselves desire the establishment of a law upon this subject. Some of the best organized trades-unions have secured an apprenticeship of five years, in their trade, and a limitation of the number of appren- tices to one-third or one-fourth the number of workmen. It is desirable, the workmen claim, that good workmanship should be assured by long education, that employers should not be able to reduce the productivity of labor by employing incapable workmen in busy seasons. The employers respond that less time is re- quired to learn a trade than formerly; that to fix rigidly the num- ber of apprentices is to prevent the development of an industry; that restrictions are almost always prejudicial to the public inter- est. Fifth and Final Report of the Commission on Labour, p. 16. 154 The American Laborer velopment of machinery and the evolution of the huge mod- ern industrial establishment, have elevated the question of apprenticeship to the dignity of a social problem. In the building industry, for instance, up to the Civil War, there was scarcely anything but small builders with a few work- men and one or two apprentices who lived with their mas- ters. After the Civil War came the regime of the large contractor, and when his position made it impossible for him to look after the apprentices, they were turned over to ordinary workmen who had little authority and no pe- cuniary interest at stake, and in consequence, bothered themselves very little with the apprentices. In place of ap- prentices then, the employers began to increase the number of low-paid helpers. This touched the workmen at a very tender spot and the labor-unions, many of which were founded at this period, realized that they ought to solve the question of apprenticeship themselves, and above all, that they ought to limit the number of apprentices. The labor organizations had inaugurated their movement before the war, and they conducted it with some success until about 1875. Since then their efforts have been para- lyzed by the employers, who have a formidable weapon in the immigrants who still come to America of their own ac- cord, and who used to be imported from Europe under con- tract. It was about 1875 that the Populist party, directed and encouraged by the Knights of Labor, obtained the first law restricting immigration. The transformation of the apprentice system is far from complete, and harmony between employers and workmen has by no means been secured. It is in the small manu- factures and the building industries, rather than in the large manufactures, that regulations have been formulated by labor-unions, and more or less adopted by employers. Apprenticeship in the building trades. — I shall note first some of the rules which have been handed down by custom or which the trades-unions now attempt to enforce. The stone-cutters for instance have ancient customs of Labor Lazvs and Trade Regulations 155 apprenticeship to which they have remained faithful and which their association — the Journeymen Stone-Cutters Association of North America — intends to consolidate. The apprentice begins to learn his trade when he is between 15 and 18 years old, and finishes in four years; he is bound out to a master, but he remains under the control of the branch of the Association in which he is enrolled, and the latter in turn takes care that he does not work longer hours than the journeymen, that he is given work which will teach him the trade, that the employer keeps him the whole time for which he was engaged, and, in case the employer goes out of business, that he is bound over to another master. Each branch of the Association reserves the privilege of fixing the number of apprentices in each establishment within its jurisdiction, although this number cannot exceed two in any shop employing less than 100 workmen, nor four in other shops. The stone-cutters of Chicago, who have an independent organization, observe almost the same rules. They stipu- late in particular that difficulties between masters and an-,/ prentices shall be adjusted by committees of arbitration, that apprentices who leave their masters without permis- sion shall be excluded from all union shops, and that after having served his time, an apprentice must show a certifi- cate from his master before he can be admitted as a mem- ber of the Association. In the National Union of Granite-Cutters the length of the apprenticeship is only three years and after having/ worked at his trade for three months the apprentice be-/ comes affiliated with the union, though without a vote.' The quarry-men have a labor-union which enrolls and in- structs apprentices, and fixes their number, age, and time of service. It is only by degrees and not without resist- ance that the employers have renounced their ancient right of directing and being responsible for apprenticeship. The International Union of Bricklayers of America is one of the largest associations of this class, because more V 156 The American Laborer building is done with brick in the United States than with any other material, except wood. This association extends over several of the American republics and for this reason, among others, no uniform system of apprenticeship has been adopted. The by-laws permit each affiliated union to regulate apprenticeship in its locality, though the unions are specially directed to register the entrance and depar- ture of apprentices, to find new masters for apprentices whose first masters have gone out of business, and to debar from all affiliated unions any apprentice who leaves his master without a legitimate reason. Several of the branch- unions have made agreements with associations of employ- ers by which a common regulation is established. The contract drawn between the Association of Building Contractors and the Bricklayers' Union of Boston is worthy of further notice. It provides that no apprentice shall be taken who is unable to read and write English, or who is less than 16 or more than 21 years of age; that the con- tractor shall keep apprentices three years and give them a suitable instruction in the trade; that at the expiration of his time the apprentice shall receive a certificate of apprentice- ship, upon presentation of which he shall be entered as a member of the union; that the register of apprentices shall be kept regularly and that a mixed commission of employ- ers and workmen shall be instituted to superintend the ap- prentices and adjust differences. In Minneapolis a similar contract was signed in 1892 which provides, among other restrictions, that there shall be but one apprentice to each contractor, whatever number of workmen he employs. At St. Paul the employer is authorized to have one apprentice for each eight workmen. At Duluth it had been the rule to allow a contractor two apprentices irrespective of the num- ber of journeymen employed. As advantage was taken of this by several employers to keep no workmen beside ap- prentices, the two associations, wishing to rid the trade of such encumbrances, it is said, decided to suspend the ad- Labor Laws and Trade Regulations 157 mission of apprentices altogether, during the two years 1892-93 and 1893-94. 80 The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America officially declare one of the objects of the associa- tion to be the encouragement of " an apprentice system and a higher standard of skill." The local union remains free to make what regulations it sees fit on this subject. In a convention held in Detroit in August, 1888, the following resolutions were adopted: The length of the apprentice- ship shall be three years; no apprentice shall, without just cause, leave his master before the expiration of his time; the number of apprentices shall be controlled by the local union, but should be proportioned to the number of jour- neymen; unions are recommended to admit apprentices as probationary members one year before the end of their terms, in order that they may prepare themselves for the privileges and obligations of the brotherhood. 81 Among the plumbers, apprentices must have received a common school education, must enter the trade between the ages of 16 and 20 years, remain five years as an appren- tice, including in this term the trial period of six months. Apprentices should be used as helpers during the first three years and during the last two years as petty journeymen. Employers are entitled to one apprentice for each four workmen. In New York the workmen have made an agreement whereby the employer is entitled to one appren- tice for every three journeymen, although no one establish- ment may have more than five apprentices. 82 After he has served five years the apprentice takes an examination be- fore a board appointed by the union, by which he is classed for six years as a workman of the first or second grade and his salary thereby fixed. Between the journeymen and the master-plumbers there have been, and still are, long and animated controversies over the number of apprentices, the 80 Fourth Biennial Report .... Minnesota, pp. 208 and 209. 81 Fourth Biennial Report .... Minnesota, p. 213. 82 Ibid., p. 225. 12 158 The American Laborer employers declaring that they need more assistants, and in consequence, more apprentices than the journeymen wish to concede. In several of the building trades, the employers have es- tablished, or have endeavored to establish, schools of ap- prenticeship of which I shall speak further on. The work- men as a rule are not in favor of trade schools which, they claim, are incapable of turning out good workmen, and they look upon the schools as a means whereby apprentices will be taken from their control. This control they strongly desire to retain, and it is admitted that in the last twenty years the unions in the building trades have made progress in this direction. The regulation of apprenticeship in other trades. — A few examples from other trades follow. The International Brotherhood of Blacksmiths whose members work for the most part in railroad shops, have fixed the period of apprenticeship at three years, one ap- prentice is allowed for each five workmen, and no helper is allowed to take a fire unless he receives the wages of a journeyman. But this association has met with little suc- cess and apprentices have been almost entirely replaced by helpers, who are now employed in great numbers. 83 The International Brotherhood of Machinery Molders reserves the right of determining the number of appren- tices, fixes the apprenticeship at four years, excludes from all shops under its jurisdiction an apprentice who has de- serted his employer without good reason, and gives to an apprentice who has been maltreated the right to leave his master. But many of the large foundries will not tolerate this interference and make their own contracts with the family of the apprentice. 84 The International Brotherhood of Brass Workers has fixed the minimum term at three years, and certificates are granted by the officers of the local unions. Each local "Ibid., p. 268. "Ibid., p. 268. Labor Lazvs and Trade Regulations 159 union is authorized to make regulations upon apprentice- ship and to fix the number of apprentices, but all regula- tions should be submitted to the International Union. 8 " In the manufacture of machines, three classes may be dis- tinguished: the large establishments which for the most] part pay little attention to the rules formulated by the/ unions, take as many apprentices as they need, train them) carefully, providing instruction in arithmetic, drawing, etc., and in fact make their own rules about apprenticeship; small shops conducted by men who have learned the trade themselves, and who look after their few apprentices in person; finally, the construction shops of the railroad com- panies and certain other large works which take a great number of boys as helpers, and keep them constantly at the same work under the direction of a few skilled workmen, without caring whether they learn the trade or not. The last system of training is encouraged by the use of machinery, and tends to reduce wages, a fact which has caused the system to be fought very bitterly by the two labor organizations in this trade, the International Associa- tion of Machinists and the International Machinists' Union. The Association was founded in 1888 and draws most of its members from the South, although it does not admit negroes; the Union was founded in New York in 1891, and makes no discrimination on account of color. Both or- ganizations require four years apprenticeship beginning be- tween the ages of 16 and 21 years, and demand that there shall not be more than one apprentice for every five journeymen. Only those candidates are admitted to the order as practical mechanics, who have served the regular term of apprenticeship or who have worked four years at a suitable salary in some workshop and who have complied with the other requirements of the local lodge. Their by- laws provide that any member introducing into a shop, or working with, any person who is not a member or an ap- 85 Ibid., p. 251. 160 The American Laborer prentice of the order, shall on the first offense be punished with a heavy fine, and on the second offense be expelled. But these are pretensions which are not always respected. The unions are not strong enough to prevail against the regulations of the great companies, and it is not at all rare to find more than one apprentice to five workmen. 88 The Knights of Saint Crispin, an association formed about the time the manufacture of boots and shoes was passing from the condition of a domestic industry, showed themselves very jealous of the control of apprenticeship. " No member of this order," said the constitution, " shall teach or aid in teaching any part or parts of boot or shoe- making unless the lodge shall give permission by a three- fourths vote of those present," and the only exception made was the permission accorded fathers to instruct their sons. But machinery has proved to be more powerful than the organization; old methods have been revolutionized by the division of labor; the union which had 40,000 members at one time has ceased to exist, and although it has been suc- ceeded by other organizations, the regulation of appren- ticeship is to-day practically extinct. Almost the same statement may be made of the cigar manufacture. The foreman of a large factory in which the "bunch making and rolling" system was used, said: "We have no system of indenture in our factory. We hire girls and teach them the different branches of the trade and when they show sufficient aptitude we advance them to other branches. Their wages are raised accordingly. . . . About ninety per cent, of those engaged in the trade are foreign- ers or of foreign descent. The union still insists on an ap- prenticeship of three years We are compelled by Eastern competition to employ this kind of help at cheap labor We do not teach boys the trade." s; 88 Mr. Powers states in his investigation, that in the 28 construc- tion-shops in Minneapolis, there were 209 workmen and 60 ap- prentices, most shops having more than five apprentices. One es- tablishment had 15 apprentices and 12 workmen, p. 260. "Fourth Biennial Report .... Minnesota, p. 311. Labor Lazes and Trade Regulations 161 The Journeymen Tailor's National Union of America au- thorizes each journeyman to have one apprentice, but the privilege is seldom exercised. Most of the work is given out by piece. If it is ready-made work it must be done with great speed; if it is custom work it has to be done with great care; in neither case is there any place for the apprentice. Moreover, American youths seldom take up this occupation: it is filled almost entirely by immigrants. 83 The International Typographical Union has concerned it- self with apprenticeship for many years, and since 1850 has attempted to limit the number of apprentices with a view of maintaining wages; the further regulation of apprentice- ship, however, is left to the local unions. The latter have uniformly adopted the four-year term, 80 and insist both that there shall be a contract of apprenticeship and that the ap- prentice shall serve out his full time. The number of ap- prentices is limited. In shops employing union workmen, the proportion of apprentices to journeymen varies from one-tenth to one-fifth, according to the city in which the shop is situated. In the general assembly of 1893 the Fed- eration of Typographical Unions of California resolved that apprentices should be required to pass an examination be- fore being admitted into the organization. The examina- tion had been adopted by some unions before this time. In the cities, the large printing houses seldom have the full number of apprentices allowed by the union. They re- cruit their personnel chiefly in the towns and small cities, where many master-printers assisted only by one or more apprentices, do their own work. When these apprentices have finished out their time and are not needed in the offices in which they learned their trade, they go to the cities in search of work. The use of the linotype machine, of which I have spoken in the preceding chapter, has introduced many changes in the trade. In view of the diminution in 88 Ibid., p. 293. 89 At first the national union required a five-year term, but this was afterwards reduced. Ibid., p. 276. 162 The American Laborer the number of compositors which will probably be caused by this machine, the unions have been led to demand a re- duction in the proportion of apprentices, and to require that the latter be taught the use of the machine in their fourth year. In the textile industry the dyers guard the secret of their art, which is very well paid, with great jealousy and refuse almost universally to train apprentices. The association of iron and steel workers has renounced such secrecy and has adopted by-laws regulating apprenticeship. Mr. Bolles, who has reproduced a number of these regulations in one of his reports, 90 thinks there is a tendency to reduce the amount of restriction in most trades, as its disadvantages are well-understood by the workmen. Two of its gravest consequences are found in the facts that it virtually closes some of the best trades to the children of workmen and stimulates the invention and introduction of new machin- ery. School of apprenticeship. — In the building trades the em- ployers have finally become convinced that in order to main- tain their position they must oppose federation with federa- tion, and in 1887, after having founded several local associa- tions, they formed a national association. In their public declaration of principles they reaffirmed the principle of liberty and the absolute right of each individual to work or not to work, to employ other individuals or not to employ them; they recognized the right of laborers to organize and expressed a desire to confer with them when disputes arose; finally, they declared that a uniform system of apprentice- / ship ought to be adopted and that it had become necessary to establish evening and manual training schools. The old apprentice system, they continued, could not be revived: the time had come for technical schools under private con- trol, and certificates of ability conferred by the employers' association. 90 Pennsylz'ania Industrial Statistics, 1893. 20 D. Labor Lazes and Trade Regulations 163 They were not the first to endorse the trade-school. The General Master of the Knights of Labor, Mr. Powderly, in a memoir addressed to the general assembly of the commis- sioners of labor in 1888, had declared that the remedy lay in the establishment of a system of industrial schools in which the sciences, the arts and the trades should be taught, and he had announced, with rather too much opti- mism, that thanks to this system the American youth would become skilled in all kinds of trades. 91 United in their de- mands for schools, employers and employees are divided on the question of the control of such schools. Schools of apprenticeship were rare in 1888 and they are still rare. The most important of these was the school founded by Col. Auchmuty, which the Association of Con- structors took as their model. But the Association did nothing itself, and was compelled to acknowledge that ap- prenticeship was still in the hands of the workmen, or at least, that the control of this matter was divided between the constructors and the workmen. They want to get con- trol of the schools and monopolize everything, said the workmen. However, other efforts have been made. I may mention, as examples, the School of Industrial Arts in Philadelphia, which is subsidized by the government and has had a well- organized textile school since 1882; five or six schools of horology, the most important of which is that maintained by the works at Waltham; and the Manual Training School of St. Louis founded upon an original plan by Mr. Wood- ward. I visited this establishment, which is said to be the oldest of the kind in the United States and was present at one lesson in which the scholars, after a theoretical demon- stration and an example given upon the anvil by the teacher, reproduced in lead the model which had been made before them. Similar schools have been established 91 The delegation of the labor organizations of Paris mention with praise one institution of this kind. 164 The American Laborer throughout the whole country, modelled after the Manual Training School of St. Louis. In Philadelphia the Build- ers' Exchange maintains an evening school in which man- ual training is given, and at Williamson there is a day- school, the School of Trades, which gives a technical edu- cation in three years. The Drexel Institute of Philadel- phia, with its remarkable equipment, is designed for more advanced work than the training of apprentices. In New York, free evening courses have been instituted through the munificence of Mr. Cooper, in which mathematics, chemistry, physics, designing, modelling, etc., are taught. In 1893 the membership of some of these courses was more than 300. 02 Laws upon apprenticeship. — Most of the older states have had laws upon apprenticeship for many years. The Penn- sylvania law, which I shall take as an example, goes back to the colonial period. The statutes of 1770 provide that the parents, guardians, or, in the absence of these, the over- seers of the poor shall have power to bind out as appren- tices boys under 21, and girls under 18, years of age. The courts have decided that except in the case of charitable in- stitutions apprenticing inmates, the consent of the minor must be obtained. The master must teach the apprentice his trade, send him to school if possible, see that he attends religious exercises, without constraining his liberty of con- science when he has reached years of discretion, and act towards him as a father. The apprentice in turn owes obe- dience to his master. The courts have annulled inden- tures because of insufficient training given to an apprentice. Fifty years ago it was necessary for the apprentice to live in the house of his master; but this is not the case at pres- ent. The master may not take an apprentice out of the state unless this power has been expressly granted him. " 2 Ten years before, there were 43 state institutions, with 6,000 scholars, in which technical training was given. But these were almost entirely agricultural colleges or agricultural departments of state universities. Labor Laws and Trade Regulations 165 In most cases the contract is annulled by the death of the master, but the executors may endeavor to secure another place for the apprentice. These rules, established by law and custom, and others which are too lengthy to reproduce here, are still in force in Pennsylvania. 93 In the 44 states and territories which had laws upon ap- prenticeship in 1896, a minor can be bound out by his or her father, mother, guardian, or the officials of charitable and reformatory institutions; in some states, e. g., Massa- chusetts, California, Colorado, Kansas, minors can bind themselves out although the contract must be confirmed by some authorized person. The age limit is usually from 18 to 21 years, though in some states it is lower. The term may be one year, it cannot be more than five years. These contracts are sometimes made in order to secure transpor- tation from one city to another, or even from Europe to America. According to the several laws of the different states, the apprentice is or is not freed by the death of the master or by his departure to another state. The master may, in certain cases, correct an apprentice in the manner of a parent, but he must treat him humanely, give him some education, teach him the trade, feed and lodge him, and at the end of the apprenticeship provide him with cer- tain articles, usually a new Bible and suitable clothes. 04 The American apprentice, — The trade of the mechanic re- quires considerable skill and the wages are good; in Min- nesota the apprentice receives 70 cents a day in his first year. Young Americans are very favorably disposed to- wards this occupation and in Minnesota, at least, the ma- jority of the apprentices in this trade are of American birth, while in the rougher and more laborious trades, such as stone-cutting or molding, the Americans are in a minority. 63 See " Apprenticeship and Industrial Schools " in the Annual Re- port of the Secretary of Internal Affairs of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pt. iii, Industrial Statistics, 1893. 94 Second Special Report of the Commissioner of Labor, " Digest of Apprentice Laws." ) 16G Tlic American Laborer In many occupations which are somewhat disagreeable or difficult to learn, the children of American parents do not hold the rank, in point of numbers, to which they are en- titled. They are too anxious to be making money and, it is said, are not stable. It is interesting to listen to the tes- timony of an iron molder upon this point: " The question often presents itself to the uninitiated, Why are there so few really skilled native American mechanics in our fac- tories and workshops? .... In nearly every foundry I have worked in I have found that not only were the leading molders foreigners, but in the most cases the foremen were Scotch, English, Irish or Germans " As a whole, the average American molder to-day will not com- pare favorably with the foreign element in point of skill or good workmanship. It is not because the American is the inferior of his European brother in natural ability or mechanical ingenuity, for it is a well-known fact that the Americans are the greatest in- ventors and originators of any nation in the world, but rather that the young men of American birth and education fail to use their y/ opportunities, or make use of a trade only as a stepping-stone to what they consider something better " The duty and oftentimes disagreeable work of a molder is dis- tasteful to a large majority of our American young men, and when he has finished his education he is generally looking for something which appears to him to be more genteel, such as book-keeping or a clerkship. . . . " I have often heard it asserted that the reason there are so few good American mechanics turned out was that the trades-unions opposed any system that would increase the number of competent workmen. . . . To say that the trades-unions oppose an apprentice- ship system because it would increase the number of competent me- chanics, is to assert an ignorance of all the principles of trades- unionism and the reasons for their existence." The testimony of this workman is undoubtedly sincere; but are his conclusions correct? 95 The preceding testimony is partly confirmed by the edi- tor of the " Age of Steel." " Much has been said and written of the reasons why the aver- age American youth is not so prominent as he ought to be in American workshops and trades. He has been declared the victim of trades-unions and alien handicraft, and his absence from na- tional industries not so much a matter of volition as of tyranny. 95 Fourth Minnesota Report, pp. 252, 253. Labor Laws and Trade Regulations 167 All this in certain instances and localities may be more or less true, but that it wholly accounts for the missing American ap- prentice no man conversant with the details of the situation can conscientiously assent to. The fact is that while our native youths are both mentally and physically fitted for any and every branch of trade, they have a keener eye for immediate returns of labor, rather than those obtainable in the earlier processes of apprenticeship. In certain specialties where a few weeks' familiarity with a certain I machine or process insures a rapid rise in wages, there is no lack of applicants. The candidates are, however, missing where pa- ^ tient and thorough shop education are insisted on as a preliminary of being an efficient mechanic or artisan. . . . The specialist or simply automatic mechanic, whose apprenticeship is not worth the name, is an escape from what would be manifestly disastrous if old-time apprenticeship was insisted upon. The all-round and thoroughly trained mechanic is perhaps yet to be among the miss- ing in the next generation." 96 These two articles were in response to a statement, dis- seminated by the press and widely believed, that the labor- unions were composed largely of foreigners, and wanted to I control apprenticeship merely in order to exclude Ameri- I cans and keep the trades to themselves. A paper by Mr. Powderly read at the convention of labor-commissioners in 1888, contained the following statements: "An apprentice in 1888 does not enter upon the trade as the apprentice of 1858 did. In 1858 the apprentice learned all the 'arts and mysteries ' of the trade, while the beginner of to-day is placed at a machine and is apt to be kept at it during his entire term of apprenticeship. If he is skillful, and manipu- lates that machine to good advantage, he is more likely to be of better service to his employer than if he were allowed to take turns at all of the different branches of the trade; but when his term expires he is of but little use as a me- chanic, for should he apply to another employer for a situ- ation he may not be lucky enough to find employment at a machine similar to the one at which he served his term." ' There is a very large element of truth in the testimony which we have cited, but there is some exaggeration also. Ibid., pp. 254, 255. Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics of Colorado, 1887-8S. p. 27. 168 The American Laborer In spite of their tendency to choose other careers, native Americans are very numerous, often in a large majority, in the more remunerative trades. A recent investigation made in Pennsylvania has even established the fact that al- most all the apprentices in the 35 occupations studied were Americans. " These figures," says Mr. Bolles, " completely refute the assertion that Americans do not care to learn trades." 98 The parties to the controversy about regulation. — In the shape it has assumed since the Civil War the dispute about apprenticeship, like so many other social questions, is still pending. As I have said, it has given rise to many strikes and lockouts. 90 In the building and many other trades, the struggle has been going on for twenty years or more between the un- ions and isolated employers or groups of employers, al- though most of the large establishments have been able to maintain their independence. In certain mechanical indus- tries the development of machinery has obviated the neces- sity of long technical training, and in this way has grad- ually brought about a negative solution of the problem. In other industries most of the minor establishments have been forced to yield the control of apprenticeship to the unions, in whole or in part, and consent to tacit or formal compromise. In a word, the labor party has gained ground, and it will gain more. It is most desirable that in those industries in which the question has not been settled, some agreement should be reached by the two parties to the controversy. In a number of these trades such an agreement is possible at once or will become so by the force of things. 100 98 Report of the Bureau of Industrial Statistics of Pennsylvania, 1893, p. 181. 89 First Biennial Report . . . Colorado, 1887-88, p. 31. 100 Apprenticeship is on the decline and the labor-unions aspire to control it, in Europe as well as America. See Final Report of the Royal Commission on Labour, p. 17. Labor Laws and Trade Regulations 169 Whether the subject be the rate of wages or the hours of labor, whether it concern itself with apprenticeship or the work of women and children, one finds in America as in Europe a perpetual antagonism between two parties and two systems: the employer and the employee, individual liberty and state intervention. To-day, while he accepts certain responsibilities and admits the desirability of certain sanitary regulations, the entrepreneur still warmly asserts his independence and his right to remain master in his own industrial household. The laborer seeks to draw authority unto himself, as in the matter of apprenticeship, or, feeling himself too feeble to impose his pleasure upon the employer and knowing his own political power, invokes the authority of the state and in the name of the consumer, the general welfare, and that of the labor party, demands legal regula- tion. 101 In Europe as in America the labor party believes in the success and efficacy of the policy of state regulation. The democratic nature of the American constitution favors the designs of the laborer and gives him a power which he does not possess in most European states. Legislators take sides in this controversy, according as they regard production as a private right or a kind of public function. To me it seems unquestionable that existing industrial conditions and the development of manufactures necessi- tate sanitary and police regulations in certain cases which are already, or in the future will be, recognized. Among the legitimate subjects of regulation we may include venti- 101 In the United States, as in France, the labor party demands public employment-bureaus, and one of the recent conventions of the commissioners of labor endorsed this project. (See Fifth Re- port .... California, 1891-92.) Montana has possessed a public bureau since 1895. Ohio now has agencies of this sort in five cities — Cincinnati, Cleveland, Co- lumbus, Toledo, Dayton — which in 1893 received 27,000 applica- tions and secured places for 13,000 persons; in 1894 there were 29,100 applications and places were secured for 9800 applicants. [In 1898 there were 25,000 applications, and positions were secured for 17,208 persons.] 170 The American Laborer lation of buildings, child-labor, protection from machinery and precautions against fire. On the other hand, the con- viction is settled among those who recognize liberty and property as essential principles, that adult persons, male and female, are and ought to be free to make whatever con- tracts of sale or hire they please, provided these contracts be not immoral. They feel, moreover, that legislators are incapable of foreseeing, and hence are incapable of limiting, the forms which these contracts may take, and that each in- dividual has the right to dispose of his property as he sees fit, whether it consists of material or immaterial capital, on the condition that the equal rights of others are not im- paired thereby. This dual right, they hold, is a prerequi- site of that untrammeled play of economic forces upon which the growth of wealth depends. To establish a just balance between the duty of provid- ing security, which is incumbent on the state, and the right of action, which belongs to the individual, is a very deli- cate problem whose terms vary within certain limits in ac- cordance with industrial conditions. The present tendency of democracy is to adopt an authoritative, rather than a liberal, settlement of the problem, and socialists favor inter- vention because they regard it as the beginning of the confiscation of private property. But however freedom be restrained, legislation will hardly reach the point of sup- pressing industry, because production must go on, and there will always be a party of opposition. But legislation can clip the wings of industrial enterprise, and we can never afford to forget — I shall speak of it again — that wages are in a great measure dependent upon the productivity of in- dustry and the abundance of wealth. V. INTERNAL REGULATION Discipline in workshops and factories. — The internal regu- lation of a workshop is different from that regulation es- Labor Laivs and Trade Regulations 1?1 tablished by law, and American manufacturers have not waited for the law or the trades-unions to establish rules for them. Speaking generally the industrial discipline in force has been formed naturally by American custom which, in turn, have been derived from English customs. The Anglo-Saxon is essentially a " business man," he busies himself with his own affairs and takes the shortest route to the desired goal. As an employer he expects his men to work, and he rids himself without hesitation of those who are unsatisfactory in this particular; as a workman he is exacting in many respects, but realizes that he should work hard during working-hours. Both the rules established by local law and those framed by individual employers, are usually placarded in the work- shops: this is required by law in most states. These rules of work, which are naturally different in different indusV tries and establishments, I shall illustrate by a single ex- ample taken from the largest locomotive works in America. In this establishment every workman must begin work j when the signal is given; one hour's wages are deducted if the workman arrives after seven o'clock in the morning, if he is late after the noon meal-hour, or if he quits work be- fore the signal is given at six o'clock. Those who have to leave before this time must notify the foreman and the time- keeper, under penalty of losing a day's wages. Workmen are paid each week for the amount of work done up to six p. m. on the preceding Saturday. The rate of pay for Sun- day is twenty-five per cent, higher than the ordinary rate, but no advance is given for ordinary night-work. Upon entering, every workman or employee must have his name registered. Piece-workers, as well as time-work- ers, must furnish the time-office with a detailed account of their work and assure themselves that the account of the office is similar to their own. Every Saturday after hours, the workman receives an envelope containing his money and an account of his time. The work is given out to the foremen at prices fixed by 172 The American Laborer the establishment, and the foremen themselves settle with the workmen in their respective gangs. Any piece-worker who begins a piece of work must finish it, whether he is working alone or with assistants. Defective products and spoiled materials are charged to the workman. The latter is held responsible for the tools entrusted to him and must return them in good condition when he leaves the com- pany. Materials must be used economically and the ma- chinery and shops must be kept clean. Workmen are not to call upon the ordinary laborers for work which they can do themselves. During working-hours, smoking and read- ing are prohibited. The youngest boys make about $2.16 per week, from which point their wages gradually rise. At the age of sixteen or seventeen years they may be put in charge of a machine in the department in which they have been trained. From this position they rise by degrees. Mr. Baldwin has been dead more than thirty years, and in 1893 the members of the firm, with one exception, had all been apprentices in the works. It seems that it is not rare, in Philadelphia, to find workmen who have thus elevated themselves to the ranks of the employers. There has not been a strike in the Baldwin Locomotive Works since 1832, as good wages are paid: $65,000 each week for 5,000 persons, or about $13 per workman. The prime wages of foremen are not very high, but at the end of the year they receive a sum proportioned to the work done under their direction. The company acts as a sav- ings bank for their employees and pays five per cent, inter- est on deposits, with the privilege of withdrawal at pleas- ure. Workmen who use obscene or profane language or who quarrel and fight are immediately discharged. There is nothing in the internal regulation of these works which would be strange or out of place in any establish- ment of the kind in Europe or America. There is no smoking and, as I have said, no useless talk- ing in American workshops. One of the French labor- Labor Laws and Trade Regulations 173 delegates found one regulation which read : " Conversation is prohibited, except with the foreman and for the good of the service " ; ltc and he remarked that the rule was strictly observed. I may add that this is the case all over the ' country. The speed of the machines and the activity which it is necessary to display, leave no time for leisure or dawd- ling, even if the Anglo-Saxon temperament were favorable to these diversions. Even in times of excitement the American laborer pre- serves his composure. The French delegates visited one establishment just as the men were leaving to go on a strike. " The men were leaving the shops," they write. " having identified themselves with a gang of weighers whose wages had been reduced. They quit without any noise or tumult; one felt that each man was weighing the consequences. The act seemed to be one of mature re- flection, not of passion." 103 I myself noticed the silence in the workshops which I vis- ited. I noticed it even in the mids"tT13fpoptrlar disturbances./ In Chicago I witnessed a riot created by a crowd of unem- ployed workmen, most of whom were probably foreigners. There was a good deal of jostling and a few blows were struck, but there was no hubbub. The French workman has a different character. He is a hard worker and always ready to put his shoulder to the wheel, but he does not like to be gagged. The bronze- worker of the French delegation compares the American workman with the French. 104 " Work in the American 102 Rapports de la delegation ouvriere, p. 297. 103 Ibid., p. 13. 104 1 find the counterpart of this opinion in an article published in the American F ederationist (Indianapolis, vol. iii, No. 3), by Mrs. Eva McDonald Valesh, who was present at the congress of the Union des Chambres Syndicates Ouvrieres at Marseilles in 1896. "The Frenchman does not work very hard. He takes life rather leis- urely. There are a multitude of industries in which hand labor still prevails. While there are many large factories, machinery has not so generally supplanted hand production as in the United States. Even when operating a machine, the workman does not 13 174 The American Laborer shops is altogether different from what it is in France. No- body talks, nobody sings, the most rigorous silence reigns. The men come and go by the clock, a half-hour is given for the noon-day meal; the week's work is fifty-eight hours in summer and fifty-nine in winter. To get off for a while one has to go through with the greatest amount of red-tape. The French workman is isolated in the midst of a crowd of workmen who do not try to make life pleasant for him; the foreman surrounds him with young Americans who spy upon him. But the American artizan is in his element: conversation and the noise of laughter would distract him." 105 Most American workrooms are well-kept, especially in buildings which have recently been erected. This is an- other point with which the French delegates were impress- ed. " We have discovered in our visits to industrial estab- lishments," says one of them, " that hygienic precautions are the object of constant attention on the part of manu- facturers. This attention to health is general, the differ- ence among different works being one of degree only. It would be desirable to see our French employers observe their minimum at least; this would be a large step forward. In addition to the attention to hygiene, we have also no- ticed the precautions taken against fire. Buckets of water, together with axes and saws are found inside the buildings, on each story. Even in railroad cars these articles are found. It should be said that these precautions are obli- gatory and form a part of insurance contracts. On the exterior the different stories are connected by iron stair- ways." m rush. He will stop the machine while he chats with a fellow- workman. Occasionally he takes ten minutes off for a cigarette or a glass of wine. If a workman were deprived of this privilege the whole factory would strike. They particularly object to any importation of American high-pressure rates of industry. They ask me why our people do not make a stand against the hurry and rush of our factory system." American Federationist. vol. iii, No. 3. 198 Rapports, etc.. p. 177. loe Ibid., p. 31. Labor Lazvs and Trade Regulations 175 I might multiply illustrations. The delegates who visited the great works of Brown, Sharp and Co. at Providence, say: " In all our visits in the United States, it is certainly here that we have seen the best organized shops, the im- proved machinery and the special disposition of the build- ings permit the work to be done under the most economical conditions. 10 ' The foundry excited our admiration, as much by its cleanliness as by its perfect arrangement. The floor was paved with iron plates." The delegates add that bath- and toilet-rooms were at the disposition of the workmen. 1 " 8 In one electrical power-house, the delegates explain, each workman has a locker in which he keeps his clothes: when the key is inserted in the lock it automatically registers the hour of his arrival. Ordinarily the rules provide that the fines imposed upon workmen shall accrue to the employer as damages. In some cases a small part of the wages is retained in order to provide medical attendance in case of sickness — a practice which would hardly be permitted by French custom. Nevertheless, in America as elsewhere, the rules are not always enforced and the condition of the workrooms is not everywhere beyond criticism. It is the large establishments and the model workrooms which are shown to the visitor, and it is only occasionally that he finds his way into the inferior establishments. Defective plant is not at all rare in old factories. Thus the French workmen representing the goldsmiths and jewelers report that " in the old factories the most ele- mentary precautions against accidents are rarely taken. We have seen dangerous machines, crowded one upon the other, without separation, with no guards around the ex- posed gear. ... So much the worse for any one who comes in contact with it." 10 * Testimony from American sources is not wanting on this subject. I quote from the Third Report of the Commissioner 107 Ibid., p. 78. ™Ibid., p. 418. ™Ibid., p. 249- V 176 The American Laborer of Industrial Statistics of Rhode Island, a few remarks of working women upon the condition of factories in that state. " There are very young children employed in the mill where I am employed " said a weaver, " and I think in all factories in this section. Some of them, I am sure, never see the inside of a school house." Said another weaver: "In regard to mills they differ very much as to rules. ... One mill that I know of expect women weavers to produce as much as a man, and refuses to let either wo- men or men out in case of sickness. The fines in this mill are heavy; . . . the help cannot wash up before or after the bell rings." A winder wrote: "In case of fire we could not get out of the mill, because there is a heavy wire screen nailed upon all the windows." " I work in a room where there are 273 employed," said a shoemaker, " there are but four escapes to get out on, and they are impossible to reach on account of the railing around the ladder and the distance from the windows." Another weaver: "The refuse remains in the vaults all the week, being emptied on Saturday only. . . . There are no rules against the help sit- ting down, but there are no stools to sit on." A drawer-in: " The laws regulating the employment of children are openly defied. It is shameful and degrading to human kind to witness the spectacle presented to the eye in the carding, spinning, and mule rooms." A cardmaker: "The child- labor laws are totally disregarded, as is the ten-hour law." It would be unjust to close the chapter with these criti- cisms, because they fail to give the characteristic note of American methods. I choose rather to conclude with the words of a competent French authority, Mr. Arbel. to whom the organization of the labor force in the Bethlehem works seemed very practical. " They act upon the princi- ple that a workman should never be taken from his spe- cialty, and that as far as possible he should be kept mak- ing the same thing. The result is an extreme rapidity of production. Moreover the tools are never repaired by the workmen who use them, but by a special corps who work Labor Lazvs and Trade Regidations 177 according to fixed rules. . . . On entering the shop each workman receives a set of the tools he must have, and more than ten checks with which he can obtain fresh tools when the first ones get dull or out of order. There is not a grind- stone in the general workshop, and the men thus have no excuse for leaving their work. This system is carried to such an extreme in shops which I saw, that a squad of boys is kept to carry tools to the men; each machine has a regu- lar number and an electric bell, and when the man in charge of the machine wants a new tool he sends a check to the tool room in exchange for which the new tool will be given." 110 110 Rapport sur I'Exposition de Chicago, by P. Arbel. CHAPTER IV. ORGANIZATIONS OF LABOR J- Early American Unions. — Traces of associations of la- borers have been discovered as early as the beginning of the present century. Thus, the ship-carpenters of New York or- ganized a strike in 1803, the tailors had formed a union as early as 1817, the hatters organized in 1819, and in 1822 an association of shipwrights and calkers received a charter of incorporation in Boston. Actual proof of the organization of unions, however, is not to be found earlier than the period 1825-1830 in which the Evans brothers advocated the dis- tribution of the public lands in the Workmgman's Advocate of New York. In 1830 trades-unions were so numerous that a general convention was called, and this assembly was fol- lowed by several others of the same kind. As a rule, the employers regarded these attempts to organize with dis- favor, and most of the unions disappeared during the crisis of 1837. But new ones were soon formed. In 1845, f° r example, the New England Workingmen's Association, which advocated among other reforms the amelioration of the condition of women and children, held its first annual convention in Boston. The crisis of 1847 played havoc with the unions as the crisis of 1837 had done. But there was a second revival, and it was during this renais- sance that the unions grouped themselves into national and international organizations, which, after they were formed, turned themselves to the organization of branches in those districts to which the spirit of solidarity had not penetrated. These associations passed through the crisis of 1857 with great difficulty and with greater difficulty still, through the Organizations of Labor 179 crisis of 1873. When work is scarce, the workmen have but little inclination to discuss the wage-problem and but scant means wherewith to support their unions. The War of the Rebellion, far from discouraging the or- ganization of labor, stimulated it, as it did the general pro- gress of industry in the North. The National Typo- graphical Union had been formed in 1859, the hatters' union in 1854, the association of blacksmiths and mechanics in 1859, that of the locomotive engineers in 1863, the cigar- makers' union in 1864, those of the bricklayers and tailors in 1865, and the organization of shoemakers in 1866. The latter year saw the convocation at Baltimore of the first great labor-congress, brought about by the trades-unions which at that time existed in about forty trades and indus- tries. 1 The International Workingmen's Association, founded in London in 1864, had not been without influence upon this movement, but its effect was very limited and ceased altogether after the Paris Commune in 1871. Great disturbances followed the crisis of 1873, and strikes occurred all over the country. A very prominent part in this agitation was taken by the textile workers of New Eng- land, who had had no organizations up to this time. Dur- ing the struggle many unions were formed, but they disap- peared with the occasion which had called them into being. 5 Before this time a number of important unions of iron-work- ers had been formed: The United Sons of Vulcan in 1858; in 1872 the Associated Brotherhood of Iron and Steel Rail Heaters, which succumbed to the opposition of employers and internal dissensions; and in 1873 the Iron and Steel Roll Hands' Union. In 1876 these and other organizations were united in the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel-Workers of the United States, which after passing through many initial difficulties seems now to rest upon a solid basis. 1 A list is given by Mr. McNeill in The Labor Movement, p. 128. 2 The Labor Movement, p. 153. 180 The American Laborer Such has been the history of a number of other organiza- tions. Many are still struggling with the maladies of in- fancy. Many, on the other hand, have become very im- portant. As a general statement, it may be asserted that the labor-union has made great progress in the United States during the last twenty years and that it is now strongly rooted in the customs of the laboring people. Thus, in 1880, the carpenters' union of Chicago contained only 400 out of the 6000 carpenters of that city. In 1893 the membership numbered 12,000, a very large majority of the whole body of carpenters. In the State of New York, out of 695 unions responding to an inquiry of the Commissioner of Labor, only 88 had been founded before the year of 1880, while 507 had been founded between 1880 and 1894. In the West, where the democratic movement has not been counterbalanced by other influences, the union is particu- larly popular. In Colorado, for instance, where there was not a union until i860, the proportion of labor-unions to the whole population was greater in 1888 than in any other State. England has been the model. English immigrants have always brought with them the spirit of organization; often they have remained affiliated with the trades-unions to which they belonged at home. The union has sometimes been denounced as the creation and the creature of immi- grants. That they have favored the immigrant at the ex- pense of the native workman is untrue; at least there are many unions which furnish evidence to the contrary. Thus, the glass-workers charge an entrance fee of $100 to all ex- cept American-born candidates. As for the rest of the ac- cusation, it is not denied that the ideas which circulate among the working classes cross the ocean with the tide of immigration. But America is now such an active center of social movements that she, in turn, may lay claim to the distinction of rousing old Europe. In Philadelphia in 1870 an association was organized in Organizations of Labor 181 an obscure way, which has from the very beginning affected the charms of secrecy: the Order of the Knights of Labor. The active career of this organization did not commence until three years later, and for a dozen years or thereabout, until it had been discredited by political defeats, by religious differences and by quarrels with other organizations which it had tried to subject or supplant, its career was very ac- tive and even brilliant. But another organization with a different platform, the American Federation of Labor, took its place. It musters on its roll thousands of local unions, and counts its adherents by the hundreds of thousands. In 1893 a third great federation was planned by the employees of railroads. In the organization of labor in America, several stages are presented which it is necessary to differentiate: (1) local unions, which are usually composed of workmen following the same trade in the same locality; (2) national or interna- tional unions 3 which include all or a large part of the local unions of one trade, though they are sometimes formed of the local unions of a group of allied trades; (3) district unions; (4) councils of the building trades which in several large cities effect a combination of the local unions of the building trades; (5) the two great federations — the Knights of Labor and the Federation of Labor — and the five asso- ciations of railway-employees which, with the object of con- certed action, have united or are uniting a great number of assemblies, lodges, and national or international unions. Liberty and the law. — In the United States the freedom of association is unrestricted; it is one of the rights guar- anteed to each individual and is entrenched in the customs as well as the constitutions of the country. Workingmen have no trouble on this score; they can unite and organize as they please. But the privilege of securing corporate 3 National when they do not extend beyond the United States; international when they include local branches in another country. The foreign unions are usually Canadian, but sometimes Mexican. 182 The American Laborer rights is not granted to labor organizations in every Ameri- can State. 4 Massachusetts passed a law in 1888 which confers corpo- rate rights upon associations of seven or more persons united for the purpose of improving by lawful means the condition of employees, either in respect to their employ- ment, or by the payment of benefits to members when sick or unemployed or to persons dependent upon deceased members. This law specifies certain provisions which shall be clearly determined in the by-laws of incorporated labor- unions, and instructs the commissioner of corporations to approve the certificate of organization when he is satisfied that the by-laws contain no provision contrary to law and the purpose of the association is a lawful one. The law further provides that no by-law shall be changed or re- scinded unless notice of the proposed action has been given at a previous meeting of the union, and that no such change shall take effect until it has been approved by the commis- sioner of corporations. In 1880, Iowa granted the right of incorporation to tem- perance societies, and to trades-unions and other organiza- tions of labor; Michigan passed similar laws in 1882; and in 1887 Wyoming expressly included the Knights of Labor among those associations entitled to corporate rights. A similar law was enacted by Louisiana in 1890 and later, by several other States. A majority of the States have for- mally guaranteed labor-unions exclusive property in the labels or trade-marks adopted to designate their own pro- ducts. In 1892 the legislature of Ohio passed a law which made it unlawful for any employer or the agent of any firm or cor- 4 On this subject see Stimson's Hand-book, p. 168. " While the general corporation acts did not expressly mention such associa- tions, they could not, of course, organize as corporations or joint- stock companies; but the association, regarded as a voluntary asso- ciation for whose obligations each member might become liable, was always perfectly legal in all the states of this country " Organizations of Labor 183 poration to prevent an employee from joining or belonging to any lawful labor-organization, and provided that attempts to prevent employees from connecting themselves with such organizations, by discharge or threats of discharge, should be treated as misdemeanors subjecting the offender to a fine not to exceed $100 and imprisonment for not more than six months. A number of other States, including New York, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, California, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana and Missouri, have made it unlawful to discharge an employee for affiliating with a labor-organization or to exact contracts in which the employee pledges himself not to join such organization. Wyoming even makes it a misdemeanor to discharge an employee because of his nomi- nation for public office. The Missouri law was approved March 6, 1893. Shortly afterwards, George Julow was fined $50 by the St. Louis court of criminal correction for discharging an employee because of his refusing to withdraw from a union. He ap- pealed the case to the Supreme Court of Missouri which in a decision handed down on the eighteenth of June, 1895. declared the lav/ unconstitutional. " If an owner .... obeys the law on which this prosecution rests," said the court, " he is thereby deprived of a right and a liberty to contract or terminate a contract, as all others may; if he disobeys it, then he is punished for the performance of an act wholly innocent, unless, indeed, the doing of such act. guaranteed by the organic law, the exercise of a right of which the legislature is forbidden to deprive him, can by that body be conclusively pronounced criminal. We deny the right of the legislature to do this." ! In the session of 1885-1886, after having been petitioned by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers as early as 1 87 1, Congress finally passed a law for the incorporation of national trades-unions, which 'defined the term " National Trade Union " as " any association of working people hav- 5 Bulletin of the Department of Labor, Jan., 1896, p. 207. 184 The American Laborer ing two or more branches in the States or Territories of the United States for the purpose of aiding its members to be- come more skillful and efficient workers, the promotion of their general intelligence, the elevation of their character, the regulation of their wages and their hours and condi- tions of labor, the protection of their individual rights in the prosecution of their trade or trades, the raising of funds for the benefit of sick, disabled, or unemployed members, or the families of deceased members, or for such other ob- ject or objects for which working people may lawfully com- bine, having in view their mutual protection or benefit." Upon filing their articles of incorporation such a national union becomes a corporation with the right to sue and be sued, to grant, receive, and use real and personal property, provided that only so much real estate is held, as is re- quired for the immediate purposes of incorporation. The headquarters of an incorporated national trade-union must be located in the District of Columbia. This legislation has been enacted in the United States within the last twenty years, and was synchronous with the movement which led to the formation of the great federa- tions of labor. Little by little it enters into the customs of the people and in several cases the courts have ratified acts of labor-unions done in conformity with their by-laws. 6 If it be the object of law to voice the needs and em- body the customs of the people, the legalization of trades- 6 In 1896, Lucien Conterno, a master-musician of New York city, engaged for his troupe a cornet and a clarionet who were non-union men. Having refused to discharge the men at the command of the musical union to which he belonged, he was first fined $100 and then suspended. He brought suit against the union for $5000 dam- ages. The court decided that trades-unions are authorized by law and possess the right of regulating the wages and hours of labor of their members; that such unions may prohibit members from working with non-unionists and enforce their prohibitions by fines: that a court of equity will not revise the judgments of such associations when these judgments have been rendered in con- formity with their by-laws and after the offenders have been heard in their own defense. American Federationist, March, 1896. Organizations of Labor 185 unions has now become a necessity, and it is probable that sooner or later all the manufacturing States will follow the example of the federal government. But it is regret- table that the law which furnishes the model should confer a privilege without demanding an equivalent return. Na- tional unions may acquire a legal personality by merely fil- ing their articles of incorporation; no other declaration is required, and no responsibility seems to be imposed upon any one. National unions may change their regulations at pleasure, they are not required to report their financial con- ditions, a dozen people are enough to constitute the two necessary branches, and as no names have to be published, the leaders are absolutely irresponsible. Such laxity simply opens the door to schemes and schemers. 7 Local unions. — There is probably not a single town of any importance in the United States, which does not contain one or more labor-unions. In Chattanooga, a southern city whose manufacturing industries are of recent introduction, I counted twenty-two unions of various kinds. A national union often has several local unions in the same town. Among the carpenters of Chicago, for example, in 1893, there were 23 unions of the United Brotherhood, 5 branches of the Amalgamated Society, and 4 assemblies of the Knights of Labor. In December, 1892, the American Federation of Labor included 7031 local unions united in 79 national or inter- national organizations, and 1500 local unions not united in a national association. 8 The report of the Federation stated that there were in addition several thousand local unions in the United States, unaffiliated either with the Federation or with any other national association. Other authorities place the number of local unions in the United States at 12,000. Local unions that belong to national organizations make 7 Such is the opinion of Mr. Edward Cummings. See Quarterly Journal of Economics, July, 1895. 8 In December, 1899, it included 71 -national unions, 11 State branches, no city central unions and 674 local unions. [Tr.] 186 The American Laborer what rules they please, provided they are not contrary to the general law of the national union. Their revenue is made up of entrance-fees and members' dues. Most of them act as mutual aid societies, paying sick-benefits and, in case of death, the funeral expenses, together with a cer- tain sum to the family. They also insure against strikes and non-employment, most of them having funds reserved for these purposes. The Brotherhood of Painters and Decorators recom- mends local unions to procure a permanent office and a library, to have meetings at stated times, and to establish amicable relations with other organizations. Unions are instructed to have a president; a vice-president; two secre- taries; a guide, who among other duties must demand the pass-word from each member participating in the evening exercises; a guard, who is placed at the door and takes care that no one enters without giving the pass-word; and in case it is necessary, a sentinel to remain outside of the door. There must be at least three trustees to whom is entrusted the property of the union. These dignitaries — the number seems rather excessive — are elected for six months and re- ceive stipends. The members of the committees are ap- pointed directly by the president, in imitation of congres- sional procedure. In illustration, the following items may be cited from the accounts of the New York Typographical Union No. 6, which is one of the most important and best organized local unions belonging to the International Union. This union, which possessed 4936 members in 1896, is administered by a staff consisting of a president, a vice-president, a secretary, a treasurer, a sergeant-at-arms, three trustees, three auditors, an executive council and other committees. It is divided into as many " Chapels " or small groups as there are typo- graphical establishments represented." Each year the sec- retary and treasurer present a detailed report of the monthly 8 190 Chapels in May. 1900. [Tr.] Organizations of Labor 187 receipts and expenditures, which is printed and distributed among the members. The gross receipts for 1891-92 amounted to $38,304, of which $27,005 came from the regu- lar dues, $606 from special assessments, $1800 from be- quests, etc. The expenditures amounted to $38,700 of which $9783 was paid to the International Union, $8969 for funeral benefits, 10 $4315 for the Childs-Drexel Home, $3350 for salaries, etc. 11 The number of women in the unions is still relatively small. But it is increasing. In New York for instance, in July, 1894, there were 7488, and in July, 1895, 10,102 fe- male members, distributed among 180,231 unions. There are some unions composed exclusively of women. 12 The councils of the building-trades. — In America, as in England, there are in certain cities " district unions," federa- tions of all the local unions of a particular trade within cer- tain territorial limits, and in several of the largest cities there are councils of the building-trades, which connect the local unions and exercise a certain amount of authority over them. Thus the Council of Boston has under its ju- risdiction 45 unions. Every three months each member of these unions is presented with a " working card," which he must carry with him, and be ready to exhibit at the demand of any other member. A sufficient idea of the nature of this institution may be obtained from the brief account of the Building Trades Council of Chicago and Vicinity, which follows. 10 The death-benefit is $150. 11 The total receipts for the year ending July 25, 1899, were $92,- 357.83. of which $33,565.34 came from dues; $43,57379 from assess- ments; the remainder from fines, initiation fees, etc. The disburse- ments amounted to $89,035.55, of which $14,935.11 were for general expenses, $32,925.27 for " out-of-work " benefits, $10,950.60 for funeral benefits, $18,808.04 for the tax paid to the International Union, $1461.90 for the hospital fund, $165.26 for strike benefits, etc. " These unions are most numerous in the manufacture of cloth- ing, shirts, and cigars. See Summary of the Thirteenth Annual Re- port of the Commissioner of Statistics of Labor, New York. 188 The American Laborer The objects of the council, says the constitution, are to centralize the efforts of the building-trades, and to form a compact body which shall oppose common foes and pro- mote undertakings of common benefit. The council is composed of five delegates from each trade, who are elected for six months, prohibited from holding political office, and who must be workmen. The dues are ten dollars, payable at first as an entrance-fee and afterwards in case of need. The staff includes a president, a vice-president and seven other officers, not more than one of which can be elected from the same trade. No officer can vote on matters exclusively affecting his own trade. When a trade desires an increase of wages or a reduction in the number of hours, it must present a detailed statement at least two weeks before it in- tends to take action, and the matter is then laid before the several trades represented by the officers of the council. If the demand is approved by two-thirds of the trades, all must unite solidly in the effort to enforce it. Unions, however, have the right to undertake such movements at any time on their own responsibility. If a difference arises grave enough to cause a strike, an effort should be made to settle the affair with the employer by consultation or arbitration. In case this fails the mem- bers are called together, and if two-thirds are in favor of the strike, it is declared. Affiliated trades ought not to interfere in the affairs of outside trades, and the assistance of the council can only be given to affiliated trades. However, members must make every effort to induce unaffiliated workmen to join some union. Every three months the council delivers to the unions the working-cards, marked on one side with the stamp of the council, on the other, with the stamp of the union. A chief inspector and two assistants look after the shops to see that only union men are employed. 13 One of the most prominent features of this kind of organization is the sympathetic strike. 13 Constitution and By-Laws of the Building Trades' Council of Chi- cago and Vicinity, Chicago, 1892. Organizations of Labor 189 There are also State federations, very similar to the dis- trict councils, which serve to confederate the unions of a single State. National and international unions. — The national or inter- national union is a federation of local unions of the same trade. It is called " a national union " when it does not extend beyond the boundaries of the United States, an " in- ternational union " when it extends to another American country. The most numerous connections of the latter sort are with Canada. I shall note as the first example, the asso- ciation of typographers. The International Typographical Union is one of the oldest of this class. 14 Its existence as a national union dates from the year 1850, when it was formed at New York by the local unions of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Kentucky, several of which had then been in existence nearly twenty years. The formal organization was effected at Cincinnati in 1852. The objects of the asso- ciation were to establish " an understanding in the regula- tion of scales of prices in different localities," to enforce " the principle of limiting apprentices," to issue " traveling certificates " to craftsmen journeying from one place to an- other in search of work, to exclude disgraced members of the profession, and gradually to collect enough money to enable the union to hold out successfully in case of " a con- tention for higher wages." In 1869 the organization ad- mitted a women's typographical union and adopted the title The International Typographical Union of North America; since that time at least two of its sessions have been held in Canada. In 1893 the organization was composed of 332 local unions, almost all printers' unions, but some of type- founders and binders. The total membership exceeded 26,ooo, 15 about nine-tenths of the total number of typograph- 14 See The Labor Movement, ch. vii. 15 It was only 15,000 in 1883. In 1892 the exact figure was 26,612. There were 3886 male and 1404 female printers in localities in which there were unions, who did not belong to a union. There 14 190 The American Laborer ers in those localities in which there were unions. In 1896 the membership was nearly 32,000. The International Union is administered by a president, who receives an annual salary of $1400, three vice-presi- dents, a secretary-treasurer, and sixteen organizers — one in each of the districts of the United States and Canada — whose duties are to secure new members, and to aid with advice the local unions of their district. In some States the local unions are grouped in State unions. 18 The local union, which must have at least seven mem- bers, is autonomous to a large degree. Its revenue is em- ployed in paying dues to the International Union, in aid- ing other unions, in paying benefits to the families of de- ceased members and to those who are sick or out of work, etc. In the fiscal year 1892-1893 the International Union collected about $126,000, of which $120,000 were expended in sustaining strikes and lockouts, supporting the Childs- Drexel Home, assisting old and infirm printers, paying fu- neral expenses, and in publishing the Typographical Jour- nal. 1 ' were 706 women in the union, and 306 machine-compositors, of which 61 were not ordinary printers. The number of deaths in the year was 433, about 16.3 per thousand, which seems rather high as the union is composed of adults. [According to the President, Samuel B. Donnelly, the member- ship was about 38,000 in 1899. The International Printing Press- men's Union, with a membership of about 12,000, and the Interna- tional Brotherhood of Bookbinders, with a membership of 8000, act in conjunction with the International Typographical Union in important matters, thus bringing the aggregate membership to nearly 60,000. Hearings before the Industrial Commission on the Re- lations and Conditions of Capital and Labor, p. 268 et seq.] 16 The International Union now has six vice-presidents, and an additional organizer in the West Indies. [Tr.] 17 The receipts of the International Union for the fiscal year 1899 were $155,718.52: about $27,000 balance from the preceding year, $110,000 from the per capita tax upon members, $8000 from a special five-cent assessment, etc. The total expenditures amounted to $123,502.80; $27,000, in round figures, for strike and lockout bene- fits, $26,000 for burial benefits, $38,000 for the Childs-Drexel Home, $10,000 for the Typographical Journal, etc. [Tr.] Organizations of Labor 191 The International Union holds an annual session whose proceedings, together with other collateral papers, are pub- lished. I have before me the report of the fortieth session held in the Drexel Institute at Philadelphia in 1892. The session opened on the thirteenth of June. After the bene- diction had been pronounced by a clergyman and the ad- dresses of welcome from the Governor of Pennsylvania and the Mayor of Philadelphia had been read, delegates were presented from 317 typographical unions, and the 18 unions of pressmen, 18 stereotypers, binders, etc., which are admitted to the general assemblies without participating, however, in all the benefits of the union. 1 " The committees were then appointed by the president, in accordance with a procedure similar to that followed in the Congress of the United States. Finally the work of the Assembly was op- ened by an address from the president, which was followed by the reading of reports from organizers and delegates. The proceedings lasted six days: American workmen, like the English, are very fond of deliberative assemblies. When a difference arises between employers and a local union, the latter must notify the organizer of the district who hastens to the scene to make an investigation and if possible to effect an amicable settlement. If the attempt is not successful, he immediately informs the officers of the International Union, who decide, after an examination, whether a strike should be authorized. No subsidies are granted unless this approval has been given. Union Num- ber 6 and a few other important unions have reserved the right of ordering strikes on their own account. The International Union is very powerful, but not all- 18 The pressmen and binders have since formed independent, but friendly, international unions. [Tr.] 19 In 1899 the Typographical Union included 429 chartered locals — 355 typographical unions and 77 unions of various allied crafts. The paid-up membership was 30,646, although the president assert- ed that it was " safe to estimate the entire number of persons who consider themselves members of the I. T. U." at 38,000. Report of the Proceedings of the Forty-Fifth Session, p. 63. [Tr.] 192 The American Laborer powerful. Probably nine-tenths of the male typographers belong to the union, but a majority of the female typograph- ers are still outside the union, and in addition there are rival organizations. The National Union of Typographers of the German Language, founded in 1873, counts about 1400 members and has a larger budget than the Interna- tional Union. 20 There are also rival associations, such as the small union of pressmen which is affiliated with the socialistic federation. The Cigar-Makers' International Union was formally or- ganized at New York in 1864 by the combination of twenty- three local unions. 21 This association has passed through periods of great difficulty — in the great strike of 1877 more than 1000 families were dispossessed of their homes by the sheriff — but since that time the union has become very strong; in 1893 it included 316 local unions and 27,100 members. 22 This organization authorizes no strike unless it is approved by two-thirds of the local unions. As the dues are high (25 cents per week, and more than $1 a year for death-benefits), it can afford to pay $5 a week as a sick-ben- efit; $3 a week, for six weeks, to strikers; and from $50 to $500 at the death of a member; in addition it makes loans to " the traveling fraternity." No member of the union is allowed to work in a shop in which non-union men are em- ployed and persons of the white race only are taken into the organization. Successful struggles have been made against Chinese and tenement-house labor, which reduce the cost 20 But, in addition to the quotas of the local unions, the national union also receives 25 cents a week from each member. Moreover, the budget is not always a measure of the power which a union can exercise. Thus, Union No. 6 can greatly increase its revenue in case of a strike by levying extraordinary assessments. 21 The first union was formed at Baltimore in 1851. In 1854 a State convention was held at Syracuse by the cigar-makers of New- York, in which an attempt was made to establish a uniform bill of prices. Many manufacturers were present, and took part in the deliberations. 22 See Labor and Capital, i, 449. The membership numbered about 15.000 in 1883 and 30,000 in 1896. Organizations of Labor 193 of manufacture, and in behalf of the eight-hour day, which seems to have been obtained in the year 1886. The Brotherhood of Painters and Decorators was formed in Baltimore in 1887. The objects of the organization, the constitution states, are to elevate the workmen, strengthen their position by union, revive the apprentice system, culti- vate the feeling of fraternity, aid members to secure em- ployment, reduce the hours of labor, and provide assistance in cases of death and infirmity. About 20,000 workmen, a very small percentage of the whole number in the United States, belonged to the brotherhood in 1893. 23 I have before me the by-laws of this organization, revised by the general assembly held in St. Louis in 1892. At least seven members are necessary to form a local union, which secures certain supplies and a charter of incorporation from the brotherhood on the payment of $10. There may be sev- eral local unions in the same city, and these are competent to form a district union. To become a member it is neces- sary to be more than twenty-one, and in order to obtain full rights, less than fifty years of age; persons of bad health or character, and workmen who have been expelled from an- other local union, are not admitted. Merchants and em- ployers may be admitted if they do not belong to another association, and during the last year of his term an appren- tice may participate in the exercises, although he has not the right of debate. Every application for admission is ex- amined by a committee of three members and the applicant is admitted if two-thirds of the votes cast are in his favor. The initiation fee is $2, and the minimum dues are 35 cents a month, of which 10 cents goes to the brotherhood. Every member must be provided with a receipt for his monthly dues, signed by the secretary, and a card bearing his name, 23 There are also other organizations in this trade. Quarrels have occurred more than once between union and non-union work- men. In the winter of 1892-1893 certain members of the brother- hood in Chicago attacked a body of workmen who were not mem- bers of the union, and killed two of them. 194 The American Laborer the date of his election and his entrance number. In cases of sickness and accident the benefit is fixed and paid by the local union; in case of death or permanent disability it va- ries, according to the length of membership, from $50 to $150, and on the death of the wife of a member, from $25 to $50. The brotherhood holds a general assembly every two years. The officers consist of a president, a vice-president, a secretary-treasurer, and an executive council. When a difference with an employer arises, the case is first referred to the president of the local union involved, who appoints a committee of arbitration to confer with the employer or employers. If an agreement is not reached in this way, and the union decides, by secret ballot and a two-thirds ma- jority, that the workmen should be sustained, the president sends a report to the executive council of the brotherhood, which in turn decides whether a strike shall be declared. It is illegal to maintain more than one strike at a time. When a strike is regularly declared the executive council fixes the contribution to be made by the local unions, and orders them, under penalty of expulsion, to send this quota each week. From the fund thus created $5 per week is sent to each member of the striking union. By means of special levies the brotherhood has already amassed a " pro- tective fund " reserved for extraordinary emergencies. Any member of a union who works at his trade while the union is out on a regular strike, is subject to a fine of not less than $5. The Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Work- ers, founded in 1876, has grouped in a very strong union the organizations in these trades which existed prior to that year. In 1892 the association included 292 lodges and 45,000 members." The supreme authority rests in the cen- tral organization, and no independent lodge is admitted. Every subordinate lodge names a number of representa- "42,000 in 1883; 40,000 in 1896. The central office is at Pittsburg. Organizations of Labor 195 tives proportional to its membership. Every third month the president gives the pass-word, which it is necessary to have, in addition to the card, in order to enter a meeting of the lodge. With these exceptions there is nothing secret in the association. A subordinate lodge cannot declare a strike, but when the executive committee of a district au- thorizes a strike in one shop the workmen in all other shops of the district must stop work. " In Union there is strength," reads the declaration of principles of the associa- tion. "Single handed, we can accomplish nothing; but, united, there is no power of wrong we may not openly defy. .... Nor can injustice be done to any one; no undue ad- vantage can be taken of our employers. There is not, there cannot be, any good reason why they should not pay us a fair price for our labor. If the profits of their business are not sufficient to remunerate them for their trouble of doing business, let the consumers make the balance." 2 It is much easier to dictate terms to a small manufacturer or an unorganized body of builders than to the immense establishments with which this association has to deal, and at times the struggle has been maintained only with the greatest difficulty; not a strike was held between 1882 and 1892, the year in which the Homestead strike was declared. Six dollars a week are allowed to workmen who have been discharged for connection with a union, and four dollars a week to strikers, from the third to the fifteenth week. Though the efforts of a mixed committee of employers and workmen there has been established a piece-rate scale of wages which has been revised several times by common con- sent. 26 The association concentrates its activities upon the relationship between employers and workmen; its pays no sick- or death-benefits. 25 " The Associated Iron and Steel Workers," by Carroll D. Wright. Quarterly Journal of Economics, July, 1893. 26 Col. Wright, in the article cited, quotes a scale of prices adopt- ed in 1865 by the iron-boilers and their employers, which is per- haps the earliest agreement of this kind in the United States. 196 The American Laborer The workmen affiliated with a union usually obey the or- ders of their leaders without demur and at the signal quit work and strike. But it must not be supposed that trade- unionism in America has escaped the democratic spirit which animates the American people: there are unions which employ a certain form of referendum when they have to decide an important question. Mr. J. W. Sullivan " mentions ten national or international unions which have adopted this method, among which are included the Typo- graphical Union, the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and the Cigar-Makers' Union. The constitution of the United Garment-Cutters' Association of America provides that the general executive must submit to a vote of the local unions, all questions in which this procedure is demanded. The Cigar-Makers' Union also have a similar provision in their constitution, adopted in 1877 when the constitution was revised. This union has gradually extended the refer- endum until at present it submits to a vote of the separate unions all amendments, all executive orders, and the reso- lutions passed by the conventions. At the Indianapolis convention of 1891, 147 motions were adopted in Septem- ber, printed in the official journal, and voted upon by the local unions in October. The Knights of Labor. — From its very beginning this or- ganization has been essentially a secret society. It was founded at Philadelphia in 1870 by seven members of a gar- ment-cutters' union which had finally dissolved after strug- gling along for seven years, and had been unsuccessful, the men said, because their employers had always managed to learn their plans. The leading spirit of the new organiza- tion was Uriah S. Stephens, a freemason, who had become convinced that in order to enfranchise labor it would be necessary to form a universal union of laborers. " And while the toiler is thus engaged in creating the world's "Direct Legislation by the Citizenship through the Initiative and Ref- erendum. 1893, p. 87. Organizations of Labor 197 value " (an erroneous statement borrowed from Karl Marx), " how fares his own interest and well-being? We answer, ' Badly,' " (a proposition that experience contradicts). " The hours of labor are too long and should be shortened. . . . There should be a greater participation in the profits of labor by the industrious and intelligent laborer " (an end that in certain cases can be attained). 28 In the organization of the Knights of Labor the Masonic order served as the model. Members were initiated with mysterious rites, including an oath upon the Bible, and even the name of the order was kept secret, the public know- ing it for a long time as the " Five Stars." The order is composed of lodges, called " assemblies," which are desig- nated by numbers. These assemblies are composed entirely of workmen, but there is no differentiation of trades; work- men of all kinds are admitted. There are two classes of assemblies: the local assemblies and the superior group known as State or district assemblies. The ultimate au- thority is vested in a General Master Workman assisted by a dozen other officers. At least one general assembly must be held every year. At the outset the order was opposed by the reorganized association of garment-cutters, whose members called the Knights of Labor the " Teapot Society," because at their 28 From the address of Mr. Stephens at the Assembly of 1871. For the origin and history of this society see chapter xv of The Labor Movement, written by Mr. McNeill who was then the secre- tary-treasurer of D. A. 30, Knights of Labor. Speaking of the meeting of December 23, 1869, when the seven founders took the oath of obligation, Mr. McNeill says, in the tone of an apostle: " And from this humble beginning in the house of a garment-cut- ter, within sound of the old ' Liberty Bell ' that rang out the war against the monarchal system of government, and proclaimed lib- erty to the people, there went forth a new declaration of war against the monarchal system of labor, and the proclamation of a new era of liberty, of peace and plenty. " Here, in this house, these seven men founded an organization in whose power now rests, perhaps, the destinies of the Republic," P- 399- 198 The American Laborer mysterious meetings on Thursday evenings the Knights drank nothing but tea. The plan of the order was to ex- tend itself over the whole country by forming local assem- blies everywhere; the lodge formed by the founders was known as Assembly No. I. Into this a number of plumb- ers, paper-hangers, and painters had been admitted, but the first outside lodge, Assembly No. 2, was not formed until 1872. By the end of that year, however, twenty assemblies had been organized in Philadelphia. The crisis of 1873 was not favorable to labor-organizations, but by this time the Knights had acquired a certain prestige from their myste- rious ceremonies. After several years of tentative organi- zation a general administrative committee was appointed, and soon after provision was made for the formation of dis- trict assemblies, which were thought to be necessary to ob- tain the proper cooperation between the local assemblies. At least five local unions were necessary to form a district assembly. In 1878 the general assembly of the order was formed, and afterwards, provision was made for State as- semblies to be composed of at least ten mixed local assem- blies. Thanks to its air of mystery which is so attractive to the multitude, and the dazzling prospects which were held out to laborers, the order succeeded in attracting an enormous number of members. In 1878 at the first general assembly held at Reading, a declaration of principles and a constitu- tion were adopted and the secrecy which had so long en- veloped the order was formally discarded. Influenced largely by this action, the founder and first Grand Master Workman, Uriah S. Stephens, resigned his position in 1879 and was succeeded by T. V. Powderly, a mechanical en- gineer. In the declaration of principles which precedes the con- stitution the order declares that: "The alarming develop- ment and aggressiveness of great capitalists and corpora- tions, unless checked, will inevitably lead to the pauperiza- tion and hopeless degradation of the toiling masses." One Organizations of Labor 199 of their aims, the declaration continued, was " to secure to the workers the full enjoyment of the wealth they create, sufficient leisure in which to develop their intellectual, moral, and social faculties, all of the benefits, recreation, and pleasures of association," and that this was to be accom- plished " only by the united efforts of those who obey the divine injunction, ' In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.' ' Nevertheless, by means of a special fund, and as a first step toward legal reforms, the order supported many strikes between 1878 and 1883. It demanded among other reforms, the referendum for all laws, the taxation at full value of all lands held for speculative purposes, legislation protecting the health and conditions of labor of factory hands, limitation of the hours of labor of children, payment of wages by the week and in lawful money, the emission of paper money in the quantities determined by the needs of the circulation, prohibition of the importation of contract-labor, and the establishment of a system of arbi- tration. This was indeed a platform: a patchwork of pro- posed laws, good, bad and indifferent. The General Master Workman gave people to under- stand that these demands would be fulfilled if the working- men were strong enough to impose their will by law and, he claimed, they would be strong enough so to do if they were all united and obedient to their leaders. The most perfect form of government, the order teaches, is that in which a wrong to one individual becomes the affair of afl. Having divested itself of many of the forms of secrecy, the order assumed under the direction of Mr. Powderlv a more militant aspect; it published an official weekly — The Journal of the Knights of Labor — and succeeded in inducing the New York Assembly of 1892 to sanction the use of strikes, although that body had previously condemned the principle. The order grew apace. In 1886 it numbered 9000 assemblies, local, district and State, and the member- ship, it was claimed, reached 730,000. In one investigation the Grand Master estimated the membership at 500,000, but 200 The American Laborer report credited the order with many more, some estimates of the membership reaching 5,000,000. The order originally had great faith in cooperation as a means of demolishing the wage-system and made great efforts to establish cooperative associations of consumers and producers, founding 72 such societies in 1886. It had also established, even built in some instances, cooperative stores for the sale of its products; charged the local assem- blies to see to it that members dealt with them; and regu- lated the distribution of the profits: a third to the general treasury, a third to the establishments themselves, and a third to their employees. 30 At one of the meetings held at the Paris exposition of 1889, the representative of the Knights of Labor asserted that the number of cooperators exceeded 30,000 and that the monthly sales reached $500,- 000. But even at this time the order had begun to wane; cooperation had failed to transform the lot of the laborer, and his faith was shaken. The order tried to impose its conditions upon employers by placing its label or trade-mark, as a recommendation, upon goods manufactured in " union shops," and by boy- cotting those who resisted. Its orders were issued in the journal and the workmen were there exhorted to make themselves master by the ballot. But the leaders having in- sisted upon going into politics, this spirit of domination re- ceived a great set-back and became a source of discredit. On the other hand the rapid extension of the order had introduced elements of insubordination, and many strikes were declared by local assemblies without the approval of the executive board by which missionaries were continually sent out to preach the gospel of obedience. General Master 3Q See Congrcs International des Societes Cooperatives. Sept., 1889. These proportions are not invariable. A cooperative shoe-factory started by the Knights in Duluth in 1885 (shares $5, payable in five monthly installments) gave 40 per cent to the capital, 40 to the labor, 10 to salesmen who owned stock, 5 to salesmen who owned no stock, and 5 per cent to a school. See the report of M. Bruwaert in the Rccueil de Rapports sur les Conditions du Travail. Organizations of Labor 201 Workman Powderly, who seems personally to have had little faith in strikes, tried to discourage them, counselled arbitration, and granted subsidies only to those strikes which had been officially authorized. On their side the local assemblies claimed that the general officers were too far from the scene and could not decide for every trade, whether or not a strike was expedient. Many members held that local assemblies composed of workmen in dif- ferent trades were ineffectual, and the system of " mixed assemblies " became unpopular. At the beginning the old secret order had recruited its membership without regard to trade distinctions, and the assemblies were really " mixed." But later, when it became evident that this type of organization was faulty, " trades assemblies " had been formed, which drew their members largely from non-unionists and thus came in direct compe- tition with the existing trade-unions. This was a prime source of antagonism, and a stumbling-block in the path of the order. The trade-assemblies received their orders from a superior authority, and upon questions of wages, strikes, etc., these orders did not always harmonize with the deci- sions of the trades-unions who governed themselves and had no thought of relinquishing their autonomy. The order set itself the task of inducing the trades-unions, by persuasion or by violence, to fuse their individuality in the grand free- masonry of labor. A conflict was inevitable. At the Richmond session of the general assembly held in 1886, the discussion of the relations to be established with the trades-unions was made the order of the day, and the executive board was disposed to conciliate the unions by certain concessions. " We recognize," said a circular letter recommended to the general assembly by a committee on legislation, " the service rendered to humanity and to the cause of labor by trade-union organizations; but believe that the time has come, or is fast approaching, when all who earn their bread by the sweat of their brow shall be enrolled under one general head, as we are controlled by 202 The American Laborer one common law — the law of our necessities; and we will gladly welcome to our ranks, or to protection under our banner, any organization requesting admission. And to such organizations as believe that their craftsmen are better protected under their present form of government, we pledge ourselves, as members of the great Army of Labor, to cooperate with them in every honorable effort to achieve the success which we are unitedly organized to obtain." But the general assembly was less conciliatory; 31 after a stormy and violent debate it voted down the motion and virtually declared war against independent unions, which the Knights accused of selfishness and impotence, because the strike, their principal weapon, could lead to nothing but misery. The only thing to do, the General Master declared, was to go into politics, and this he thought could be done with success. But their political ventures have not been successful: certain declarations of Cardinal Gibbons and other American prelates caused the General Master to be suspected, quite inconsequently, of having joined forces with the Catholic clergy, and although this was a matter of secondary importance in the minds of the workingmen, the influence of the General Master was weakened. The domineering conduct of the Knights has brought on quarrels with a great number of unions. 32 For example, the glass-cutters' union was about to amalgamate with the order in 1886, but suddenly changed its purpose when it found that the Knights were taking into their organization glass- cutters who had not paid their dues in the union. 33 31 The history of the Knights of Labor though recent, is full of obscurities, because each historian, presenting it from his peculiar point of view, has left lacunae which at times are intentional. Cf. The Labor Movement, ch. xv. 32 In 1886 the assembly at Troy, N. Y. struck to obtain the dis- charge of certain carpenters who belonged to the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners. 33 Rapports dc la delegation ouvricre, p. 705. The Federation of Labor has made similar charges more than once. Thus, an address published by the Federation in 1889 containing the following stric- Organizations of Labor 203 The furniture-workers charge the Knights with having sent men to take their places at Pullman, 34 and the same charge was made in 1892 by the coopers' union of New Or- leans. 35 The shoemakers also attribute the failure of one of their strikes to the hostile intervention of the Knights of Labor. 36 The quarrels between the garment-cutters and the makers of ready-made clothing, the first of which belong to the order and the other to a union, date from the very be- ginning of the Knights of Labor and still continue. In consequence of these conflicts and the failure of the glowing promises made by the leaders, the membership of the order, which was so large in 1886, fell in 1894 to 65,000 according to one authority, or 150,000 according to another. The order now has 200,000 members, if we may accept the state- ment furnished for publication in several almanacs. As a result of the dissensions which have divided the members, a new society was formed at Columbus in 1895 under the name of " The Independent Knights of Labor." This so- ciety also has a " General Master Workman." In July, 1893, when Mr. Powderly made known his in- tention to resign the leadership, the budget showed a deficit and it had become necessary to draw upon the reserve. Mr. Powderly gave way to Mr. Sovereign and the socialistic ele- ment applauded the change. What will be the future of the order under its new management? Secret societies which promise to put an end to iniquity and bring about happiness in the near future, have always exercised a powerful fascina- tion on the masses. The American Federation of Labor. — This organization has fallen heir to a large part of the membership of the Knights of Labor. In addition to the latter organization several federations of labor were organized between 1866 and 1872, ture: "Too often the national trade has been made the dumping ground for men who have been branded as unfair by the trade unions." 34 Ibid., p. 714. 35 Mid., p. 728. 36 Official Book of the Am. Fed. of Labor, Dec, 1892. 204 The American Laborer among them being the National Labor Union, which disap- peared during the crisis of 1873, and the Federation of Or- ganized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada. This federation originated in a grand congress held in 1881 at Pittsburg, one of the first acts of which was to protest against the despotism of the Knights of Labor. In a manifesto published in 1882 the federation declared for the autonomy of each trade-union, and asserted that it would confine itself to the laborer in his capacity of workman, without demanding of him a profession of religious or po- litical faith. An unsuccessful effort was made to come to an understanding with the Knights of Labor and in the contest which followed, the Federation succumbed. The formal dissolution took place at a convention held at Co- lumbus in 1886. But it was succeeded by the Federation of Labor which was organized at the same meeting. 37 To encourage the formation of local unions and the com- bination of these into State and municipal groups with the object of securing favorable legislation; to establish and stimulate the development of national and international unions based upon a recognition of the autonomy of each trade; to maintain newspapers devoted to the interests of American labor: such was the programme of the new fed- eration; its motto, Labor omnia vincit. The plan has been to unite the unions into a harmonious whole without at- tempting to dominate them or to violate their individual traditions and creeds. 83 In accordance with this plan the leaders have endeavored to bring under their direction all the labor-unions of America, to found unions in unorgan- ized trades, and to influence legislation and public opinion by the press and by public meetings. In particular, they 37 For the history of the Federation of Labor, see the Official Book of the Amer. Fed. of Labor; the Report of the Proceedings of the Annual Convention; Trade Unions, their Origin and Objects, Influence and Efficacy, and other pamphlets published by the Federation. 38 Trade Unions, their Origin and Objects, Influence and Efficacy, by W. Trant, p. 41. Organizations of Labor 205 have undertaken the mission of advancing civilization " by procuring for laborers a reduction in the hours of labor." Under the caption " Unionists Federate," the American Fed- erationist of October, 1894, says: "On every hand we see the capitalist class, the corporate and moneyed interests con- centrating their efforts for the purpose of despoiling our people of their rights, encroaching upon our liberties and endeavoring to force the workers down in the social, eco- nomic and political scale. ... In view of these circum- stances it must impress itself upon your minds, as it has upon ours, that the toiling masses, the wealth producers of the country, should unite for their common advancement." The entrance fee for a union is $5, to which is added $5 for supplies. The dues of an independent " local " are one cent a month for each member; of national and international unions, one-quarter of a cent a month for each member; and of councils in the cities, $25 a year. Seven members, male or female, are sufficient to form a union, and it is not neces- sary that they should be all of the same occupation. During strikes and lockouts the union affected is entitled to receive a subsidy, after its own funds have been exhausted, which is secured by levying a tax of two cents or more a week upon each member of the federation. This subsidy is con- tinued for five weeks and may be prolonged by special vote. The officers of the federation, who together form the ex- ecutive council, consist of a president, three vice-presidents, a secretary and a treasurer: they are elected for one year by the convention. These conventions, or " general assem- blies," are held each year on the second Monday of Decem- ber at a place selected by the preceding assembly. The as- semblies are made up of delegates sent by the affiliated unions: from each union not embraced in a national or- ganization one delegate; from national and international unions, one delegate for each 4000 members, although every such union is entitled to at least one delegate. From the members of the convention the president selects ten com- mittees which consider the questions and resolutions pre- 15 206 The American Laborer sented by the delegates, and report their conclusions to the general assembly. Under the direction of Mr. Samuel Gompers, success has been rapid. The official book of the federation published at the twelfth general assembly, December, 1892, reports 79 affiliated national or international unions, comprehending 7031 local unions and 652,300 members: in addition there were 1500 local unions not embraced in any national or in- ternational organization. 89 In the succeeding assembly held at Chicago in 1893 more than 800,000 workmen were repre- sented. The federation has held thousands of meetings in favor of the eight-hour day, scattered hundreds of thousands of pamphlets, worked for the repeal of laws condemning combinations of workmen, and led the affiliated trades one after another into open revolt. In 1890, 46,000 carpenters representing organizations in 137 cities, entered into a cam- paign under its leadership for a reduction of the hours of labor. And they won their fight. The federation professes neutrality in political matters and pretends to confine its operations to the field of labor inter- ests. In accordance with this policy admission was refused to the central federation of labor of New York because the latter included a socialistic section. Efforts have been made by the federation to effect an un- derstanding with the Knights of Labor. But the stand- points of the organizations are too antagonistic. In 1882 the federation distributed a circular announcing that the non-secret trades-unions would be able to march side by side with the Knights of Labor, if the latter did not contain over-ambitious men who destroyed existing unions in order 89 " Tribune Almanac," 1895, p. 226. About the same membership was claimed in 1896, i. e.. 7000 unions and more than 650,000 mem- bers. [According to President Gompers' report for 1898 there were in direct affiliation with the Federation of Labor for that year 67 national and international unions with 10,500 local unions attached; 10 State federations; 82 city central labor-unions and trades-assemblies: 315 local unions which belonged to no national organization; and 109 federal labor-unions.] Organizations of Labor '.'<>; to serve their own personal ends. This was not calculated to conciliate the Knights, and as we have seen, the latter repulsed the advances made by the federation in 1886. In the latter year some of the unions complained that the Knights of Labor had recruited assemblies in trades which were already organized, and that these assemblies had imitated their labels. The Knights responded by expelling the cigar-makers' union, which had affiliated with the fed- eration. But as we have seen, they were unable to give the workingman all they had led him to expect, and in the con- test which ensued, the federation came out ahead. At the Philadelphia convention of 1889 the federation affirmed the absolute right of trades-unions to occupy the legitimate field of " trade-unionism," declared that the Knights of Labor ought to revoke the charters of the " trades-assemblies," and promised, if this condition were complied with, to invite the members of these unions to affil- iate themselves with the mixed assemblies of the Knights. The latter refused to assent, and the war was continued. The federation then accused the Knights of attempting to subvert the movement of trade-unionism, denounced their policy as a mask and their leaders as unscrupulous men who sought to use the workingmen as instruments of their per- sonal ambitions. 40 In return the federation was violently attacked by the socialistic press: it was a tool of the employ- ers, the socialistic papers said, whose purpose was to hood- wink the workingman by a sham attack on the tyranny of capital. " One of the greatest results of unionism." a publica- tion of the federation states. " lias been, and still is, the elevation of wages or, what amounts to the same thing, the reduction of the amount of work done for a given wage. This is the principal object of the federation. Working- men who have once experienced the pleasures of prosperity 44 See the publication of the federation entitled: Relation of the Trade Unions to the Knights of Labor. 208 The American Laborer will not willingly return to their former poverty." 41 This feeling is very natural, but after having promised to improve the condition of workingmen in this respect, the federation now finds the path obstructed by economic difficulties which their publications wrongly persist in describing as trifling. For some years these difficulties have been growing in all lines of production, and the consequent lack of success has engendered doubts and turned the energy of those who are still hopeful, into other directions. In the election of 1893 President Gompers had a majority of only two votes; in the following year he was defeated, and it was not until De- cember 14, 1895, that he was again made president. Statistical summary. — Col. Wright estimates the number of unionists in the United States at a little less than 1,500,000: 800,000 members of the three great federations — the Knights of Labor, the Federation of Labor, and the American Railway Union — plus 600,000 representing the members of unions not affiliated with the organizations named. This is about 30 per cent of the total number of workmen enumerated in the census of 1890, although the census figures include the workmen of small towns and vil- lages. As the labor-organizations are recruited almost ex- clusively in the cities, and from skilled labor, it seems that the organizations possess a majority of the workingmen of the United States. It is probable, however, that in the L T nited States as in France the number of members who take an active part and pay their dues regularly is percept- ibly smaller than the number claimed by the organizations which like to appear important in order to become im- portant." " See Delegation des Syndicats Ouvricrs de la V Me de Paris a V Expo- sition de Chicago, p. 119. 42 In 1894 an investigation showed 58 unions in New Hampshire, with a total membership of 3294 (2980 men. 314 women). This was but a small minority of the 71,408 persons engaged in gainful occu- pations who were recorded in the census of 1890, and the propor- tional amount was much below the average for the whole United States. In the State of New York, in which the returns are made Organizations of Labor 209 The budget. — After this historical sketch it seems proper to give a few statistics in order to show how the labor-or- ganizations manage their business. Almost all local unions have a double object: resistance to employers and assistance to their own members. I shall return to the subject of mutual aid in another chapter;" in this chapter we shall confine our attention to the former question. A few examples will suffice. Typographical Union No. 42 of Minneapolis gives a sick-benefit of $6 per week for thirteen weeks and a death- benefit to the families of deceased members; subsidies are often granted to other unions when they are on strike. The cost of administration represents about 25 per cent of the aggregate expenses. Members pay dues both to the local union and the international union. Painters and decorators contribute 35 cents a month, of which 5 cents goes to the strike-fund, 20 cents to the pay- ment of sick-benefits and other local expenses, and 10 cents to the brotherhood which pays benefits upon death or per- manent disability. Many of the national and international unions also have this double object. Their receipts come from the local unions or from the members direct. In 1892 the Interna- tional Typographical Union published its ordinary budget. It was divided as follows : 20 per cent for administrative ex- by the unions themselves, the Commissioner of Labor was very much pleased in 1895 with the growth that had taken place: 860 organizations with 157,197 members in 1894, 927 organizations and 180,231 members in 1895. He added that this number would prob- ably reach 225,000 by January, 1896. Although New York is one of the States in which labor-organizations have met with the great- est success, the total membership had not reached a third of the employees, 850,000, in 1890. [In the first quarter of 1897 there were 927 labor-unions in New York, with an aggregate membership of 142,570; in the last quarter of 1898, 1087 organizations with 171.067 members, of which 7505 were women. The Commissioner of Labor estimates that about ten per cent of the persons engaged in gain- ful occupations, were members of unions.] 43 See L'Ouvrier Americaiii, chap. v. part ii. 210 The American Laborer penses including the publication of the Typographical Jour- nal, 30 per cent for the resistance fund, 30 per cent for death- benefits, 20 per cent for the home for aged printers." The American-German typographical union (1366 members) ex- expended in 1891-1892: $9358 in ''work-benefits," $4819 for strikes, $997 for " travelling benefits," $3564 for admin- istration and propaganda, $2251 for death-benefits. 45 The International Union of Bricklayers and Masons, with a membership of about 35,000, does not concern itself with insurance of any kind, but confines its attention to the sub- ject of resistance. In the eleven years 1882-1893 it expend- ed about $500,000 in strikes which had been authorized or approved by the general organization. Strikers receive from $5 to $7 a week, the necessary funds being secured at each strike by special levies upon the individual members. The union never authorizes more than three strikes at once. The International Brotherhood of Brass-Workers uses 40 per cent of its receipts for administrative expenses, a rather large proportion. The other 60 per cent is divided equally between the funds for strikes, propaganda, and sick-benefits. The money necessary to maintain their journal and pay fu- neral and death-benefits ($100), is obtained by special assess- ments. In the Brotherhood of Iron Ship-Builders the members pay 50 cents a month to their local lodges; the local lodges pay an initiation fee of $15 on entering the Brotherhood and 50 cents per quarter for each member. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, which had 26,000 members in 1892, is composed of a great number of lodges. The minimum dues are $5 a year to the local lodge and $2 to the brotherhood. The lodge pays the sick-bene- fits and maintains an employment bureau; by a two-thirds "The distribution of receipts at present, is as follows: one-sixth to the fund for general expenses; one-fourth to the defense fund; one-fourth to the burial fund; one-third to the Childs-Drexel Home. Testimony of President Donnelly before cited. [Tr.] 45 See Official Book of the Federation of Labor, December, 1892. Organizations of Labor 211 vote it can impose special assessments. Counting these supplementary contributions the brotherhood costs each member not less than $16 annually, although the official journal alone requires about $25,000 a year and there are more than $70,000 in the strike-fund. All the railway or- ganizations are on amicable terms with the Federation of Labor, though they are not affiliated with it. In twelve and one-half years (1878-1891) the Cigar-Mak- ers' International Union expended $1,426,028: $469,158 for strikes, $439,010 for sick-benefits, $109,608 for death-bene- fits, $372,455 for traveling benefits, and $35,795 out-of-work benefits. 48 The Federation of Labor has a regular income which is made up of the dues of the affiliated unions. As noted above, each union, on admission, pays $10 for a charter and other necessary supplies — seal, registers, etc. — and in addi- tion the federation undertakes to furnish office furniture, pamphlets, etc., at specified prices. The direct dues are one cent a month from each member of an independent union, and one-quarter of a cent per month from each member of a national union. In general the dues are high, although they vary accord- ing to the trade. The American workman considers the labor-union a necessary item of expense, and does not hesi- tate to give it a relatively high place in his family budget. As we have just seen, the dues of locomotive firemen amount to about $16 a year, and the conductors probably contribute $30 a year as a result of the high benefits their organization pays. But the union has its advantages and American workmen 48 According to the testimony of the president of this organiza- tion, G. W. Perkins, before the Industrial Commission, the union expended in 1899: $25,118 for strike benefits, $111,283 for sick bene- fits, $94,939 for death benefits, $70,197 for "out-of-work" benefits, $70,085 for salaries, $27,379 for labor agitation, and $25,237 in ren- dering assistance to traveling workmen. Since 1879 the union has paid out $4,045,464 in benefits of various kinds. Industrial Commis- sion: " Labor and Capital," p. 170. [Tr.] 212 The American Laborer rate them highly. The first of these is the regulation of the labor-contract; the second is the insurance feature; the third, the means of resistance it provides. In several trades the unions and the employers have drawn up tariffs of piece- rates; in other trades in which the piece-rate system has been rejected by the workman as one cause of the depression of wages, the contract is made for so much per hour during a fixed number of hours. Strikes constitute the favorite weapon of resistance, and all the unions, local and national, spend a large part of their receipts in supporting them. They even support strikes declared by other unions, some- times by subsidies, sometimes by going on a sympathetic strike. Insurance against non-employment caused by lock- out or business depression, is also frequently undertaken by the unions. 47 A number publish journals in addition to the regular reports of the officers. The national unions provoke strikes, support them, and even aggravate their severity by making them more general, but they frequently act as checks and restrain the local unions when the demands of the latter appear unreasonable. The national unions naturally have more information than the local unions and their officers are abler. If there were fewer labor organizations there would be fewer strikes, but if the existing organizations were less efficient there would probably be more strikes. The unions demand arbitration, and in some cases it has been provided for in contracts with employers. Arbitration for the workman is as politic as it is wise, because in the long run it promises more for the workman than the uncontrolled decision of the employer does. The unions keep their hold upon the workingmen by lib- erally advertising the victories which they claim to have won, by strikes or amicable agreement, in disputes concern- 47 In 1894. during the recent depression. Typographical Union No. 6 of New York paid $30,858 to members out of work; Cigar- Makers' Union No. 90, $9405: the carpenters, $6059. etc. See Sunt' vwry of the Twelfth Report .... Nezv York, p. ill. Organizations of Labor 213 ing changes in the rate of wages, reductions in the hours of labor, etc. Out of 661 unions who were asked by the New York labor bureau whether the organization had improved the condition of their members, 621 responded "yes." 48 The cost of administration, at least in those organizations from which I have been able to obtain data, is relatively high, reaching 20, 30, and even 40 per cent of the total ex- penditures. The laws of the American Federation are not explicit, except in regard to the emoluments of the treas- urer. 49 This official was formerly allowed the modest sti- pend of $100 a year and was required to give bond in the sum of $5000 f° in 1893 the salary was raised to $300. The president now receives $1800 and the secretary $1200. n The statement of receipts and expenditures for the year 1890 shows an expenditure of $3569 for salaries and clerk- hire, one of $1216 for organization and traveling expenses, and an aggregate of about $4000 for rent, printing, office expenses, etc. Out of a total expenditure of $21,073, $12,060 were charged to strikes: the latter is almost the only item not embraced in the expenses of management. 62 48 In New York in 1894, 554 organizations declared that they had prevented reductions, 33 declared that no reduction had been at- tempted in their trade, and 96 answered that they had been unable to prevent reduction. In response to another inquiry 401 organi- zations answered that since their foundation wages had been in- creased, 62 that wages had fallen, 74 that there had been no change. 19 Mr. Powers in one of the reports of the bureau of statistics of Minnesota attempts to show that the expenses of management of unions are not excessive because they are proportionately less than the cost of running a railroad company or an industrial establish- ment. But there is no comparison between these enterprises: the union manufactures no product, has no raw material to provide, no expensive personnel to maintain. 50 See Report, 1890. 51 Rapport de la delegation ouvriere, p. 603. [The secretary now receives $1500 a year, and the treasurer $100.] 62 Report of the Proceedings of the American Federation of Labor, 1890, p. 17. [The total expenses in 1898 were $19,197.17. The American Fed- erationist cost $2541.75 (the receipts from the same source being $2287.83), and a little over $1500 were spent in supporting strikes 21 i The American Laborer The International Typographical Union pays its presi- dent $1400 a year and $3 a day when traveling for the union. The vice-presidents receive $1000 and $300 respectively, and the secretary $1700. The Order of Railway Conduct- ors pays its president $5000, its vice-president and one other officer $2000, its secretary $3000, although a $25,000 bond is required in each case and it is probable that there are few organizations in which the officers are so highly remuner- ated. In this order the expense of management is about 20 per cent of the total expenditure and the dues per member are about $30 a year. 63 As a rule these salaries do not exceed the wages of a first-class workman and the officers, who are fully occupied with their official duties, find no time to work at their trades. Moreover, certain extraordinary expenses are often involved in maintaining the dignity of the office. As we shall see in the second part of this work, American workmen do not like to stint themselves, and their leaders, who are fond of asserting that the wealth of the people increases with their power of consumption, are not exceptions to the rule. If you wish to be well served, they say, you must pick out the best men and pay them well. It is certain that some of the presidents of these organizations are men of distinction. Whether extravagance does not creep in, and whether the management is efficient enough to keep the unions in po- sition to meet all their financial obligations, are questions which I am not able to answer. I have seen only a few financial statements of labor organizations. No such state- ment was contained in the reports of the unions to the Fed- eration of Labor in 1892, which were printed in the official book of the session. The instability revealed by the forma- tion and dissolution of local unions, indicates that the and assisting similar movements. All the expenses, with the ex- ception of the two just mentioned, may properly be classified as expenses of management. This is not at all remarkable, however, when the scope and character of the federation aims are taken into account.] M Rapports de la delegation ouvriere, p. 629. Organizations of Labor 215 unions often have little solidity. On the other hand, most of the great national unions are not old enough to permit a judgment to be made concerning their value from the standpoint of financial stability, particularly when their pen- sion provisions are taken into account. In France, a few years ago, complaint was made by the central administration of the laxity exhibited in the dis- tribution of medicines and the payment of sick-benefits. What is the situation in the United States where there is no control of unions? Should not the federal law which con- fers corporate rights upon national unions, compel them, as a condition of incorporation, to publish annually their own accounts and those of the affiliated unions? Incorporation, however, is not desired by all unions; some prefer to remain under the common law, in order to preserve the freedom and even the secrecy of their operations. Some American publicists, while favorable to the principle of unionism, complain that many labor-organizations do not offer guar- antees solid enough to justify employers in treating with them." The proscription of non-unionists. — The unions have given a fatal stimulus to the movement towards monopoly. They pretend to control their respective trades, or at least they re- fuse to accept the rules of the employers, and they are in- clined to regard as their enemy everyone, employer or workman, who does not belong to a union. When there are two organizations in the same trade, war frequently arises between them, as we pointed out in describing the Knights of Labor; one might begin at once to write the history of these rivalries as has been done in the case of the mediaeval trade gilds." Unionists firmly believe that or- ganization is their only available weapon against the power of the employing class, and that to gain all that it is pos- 54 See the article of Mr. Cummings in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, July, 1895. 3S See my Histoire des Classes Ouvrieres en France avant 1789. 216 The American Laborer sible to gain, they will have to fight. The consequence is that they consider every non-unionist a traitor, outlaw him, and try to intimidate him. Instances are not wanting in which the unions have employed violence. I note a few examples. A New York printing house which employed German printers, came to the conclusion that their trade required American printers and applied to Typographical Union No. 6 for workmen. But the German union claimed the sole right, as in the past, of supplying the printers, German or American, and went on a strike. Their contention was totally unjust. 56 In 1890, 120 workmen quit a building contractor because he refused to discharge his non-union workmen, and main- tained a strike for five weeks. The official board of arbi- tration of the State of New York succeeded in restoring har- mony by persuading the employers to agree to employ none but union men, while the non-unionists were admitted to the union on the payment of one-half the usual entrance fee. In September, 1893, while I was in Chicago, eight non- union painters were at work for a contractor on Wells Street. The union workmen were at that time on a strike against a reduction of wages, work being slack on account of the crisis and the reaction following the completion of the expo- sition buildings. The strikers attacked the eight painters with clubs and bricks, despite the intervention of the po- lice. One of the non-unionists by the name of Schultze was pursued by the strikers for more than a mile and was at length caught, cruelly beaten and wounded in the head by a brick. Schultze fired a revolver at his assailants and a policeman, who had arrived upon the scene without know- ing the cause of the disturbance, fired at Schultze and wounded a woman who was passing. By this time the crowd had taken up the cry " kill the scabs." and the police did not get it under control until after the arrival of a ^ De la Conciliation, publication of the Office du Travail, p. 344. Organizations of Labor 217 wagon-load of officers. Some of the non-unionists and strikers were arrested, but escaped almost immediately in the tumult. Schultze, who had again started away, was pur- sued by the strikers and attacked with bricks which they secured from a pile in front of a house that was building; all this time the strikers were yelling: " arrest the murderer." Weakened by his wounds Schultze leaned against a wall and returned the attack with his revolver. A police officer came up as Schultze fired, and in turn opened fire on the painter, who surrendered when he recognized the uniform of the officer. The strikers still persisted in their attempts to take him from the police, and in order not to lose their prisoner the police hurried him into a post-office, maltreat- ing him, it seems, as badly as the strikers had. 57 Agreements with employers. — Such conflicts are unfortu- nate incidents, not the ends, of American trade-union- ism. The object sought is to be able to treat with the em- ployer on terms of equality. And it is certain that in some industries, the building industry in particular, the unions have partly succeeded, and at times impose their own con- ditions. I was told by certain French residents of Phila- delphia that in the glass manufacture the workmen, rather than the employers, were the masters. The stone-cutters are for the most part, it is said, affil- iated with the Paving Cutters' Union of America and Can- ada. This organization has a great number of branches which have made agreements with the employers in differ- ent cities. I have before me twenty-three contracts of this kind. In them are specified the dimensions of the paving stones, the manner in which they should be laid, the price of the work, etc. In Colorado, in 1891, it was stipulated that wages should be paid by the month, that workmen should give at least ten days' notice before quitting, that the contract should be binding for one year, etc. From Chicago I brought away some fifteen contracts of 57 See the account in the Sunday Herald of Chicago, Sept. 3, 1893. 218 The American Laborer this kind. That concluded in 1893 between the carpenters' union and the association of carpenters and builders con- tains the following provisions: The joint committee of ar- bitration shall continue to hear complaints from employers and employees, and adjust differences; pending the judg- ments of this committee, work shall not be interrupted ex- cept by the express order of the president of one of the associations; the workmen may quit work to go on a sym- pathetic strike without violating the agreement; the work- ing day shall consist of eight hours, commencing at eight o'clock in the morning and ending at five in the afternoon; wages shall be 40 cents an hour from April 3, 1893, to April 3, 1895; the men shall not be required to work over- time except in cases of necessity, in which event they shall be paid fifty per cent extra; wages shall be paid every fifteen days; piece-work shall be prohibited; union workmen only shall be employed; after having signed this agreement, workmen shall work for members of the employers' associa- tion only. I subjoin the complete text of one of the shortest of these agreements, that of the lathers: ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT. Chicago, 1893 party of the first part, and the Chicago Journeymen Lathers' Independent Un- ion, party of the second part, hereby agree to the following articles: Article I. That eight hours shall constitute a day's work. Article II. That the wages shall be four dollars ($4.00) per day for first-class, and three dollars and fifty cents ($3.50) per day for second-class men until December the first, eighteen hun- dred and ninety-three; and that on and after December the first, eighteen hundred and ninety-three the wages shall be Organizations of Labor 219 three dollars ($3.00) per day for first class, and two dollars and fifty cents ($2.50) per day for second-class men. Article III. That all employees shall be paid in full each week; but when an employee is discharged he shall be paid imme- diately. Article IV. That all overtime shall be paid at the rate of one and one- half time, except Sunday, which shall be paid at the rate of double time. Article V. That the employer holds the right to employ such lathers as in his judgment are best fitted for his work; also the right to discharge such men at his option, without any interfer- ence from the Lathers' Union. Article VI. That there shall be allowed on each job a steward, who shall represent the union. Article VII. That one apprentice shall be allowed to every six journey- men. Article VIII. That it shall be the duty of the employer to ascertain the class of his employee's card within one day after their em- ployment, and on his failure to comply with this rule he shall be responsible for the class of wages demanded. Article IX. That no employee holding a first-class card shall be al- lowed to work for second-class wages, nor shall any em- ployee holding a second-class card be upheld in demanding first-class wages. Article X. That any and all disputes arising as to the construction of this agreement, or any part of it. shall be settled by arbitra- tion. 220 The American Laborer Article XI. That the Lathers' Union shall at all times carry on an ac- tive and ceaseless warfare on all contracting lathers who re- fuse to sign this agreement. Article XII. That no strike shall be declared openly or secretly on any contracting lather signing this agreement until the cause of the complaint, if any exist, is brought before the arbitration committee and the contractor. Article XIII. That a sympathetic strike on any building shall not be considered any violation of this agreement. Article XIV. That this agreement shall go into effect upon the first day of April, eighteen hundred and ninety-three, and hold good until March the fifteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-four; and any changes to be offered to be on or before March the first, eighteen hundred and ninety-four. Signature, For Chicago Journeymen Lathers' Independent Union: It should be said that it is almost exclusively in the build- ing trades that the workmen have been able to enforce such conditions, and that the contracts which I have just cited were signed at a time when the task of erecting the build- ings of the World's Fair made the contractors helpless. As one of them said to me, it was necessary to submit, or the work, which was urgent, could not have been completed. They were not even allowed to employ non-union men when the unions could not supply enough labor, the unions claim- ing that all the unaffiliated workmen had to do was to pay the initiation fee of $10. The crisis of 1893-1894 naturally relieved the pressure upon the contractors. In the coal mines, on the other hand, it is usually the Organizations of Labor 221 employer who determines the provisions of the wage-con- tract. Mr. Schilling, secretary of the bureau of labor of Illinois, has published one of these contracts which had been signed by the miners. During the term stipulated in the contract the employee promised not to leave the em- ployment, not to participate in any strike or combination of workmen, and not to conspire with other workmen to obtain a higher rate of wages than that agreed upon; in case he violated the contract, the workman expressly agreed to for- feit all wages due to him at the time of violation, and in event of his discharge at the end of the term, to move from the dwelling he had occupied without demanding the cus- tomary written notification. It was further provided that if he did not move, he should be deemed guilty of having retained the dwelling by force, and should be entitled to no back wages until he had removed his possessions and turned over the keys. The workmen might appoint a weigher at their own expense, to verify the work of the company's weigher, but their appointee had to be a work- man in good standing, selected from the miners employed by the company. 68 Employers' associations. — It is very plain that in each case the stronger party rudely imposes his pleasure upon the weaker. And each party strives to be the stronger. In the mines and the great manufacturing works which are formed into corporations with a capital stock divided into shares, the employers are usually strong enough to resist the unions. Some will not employ union workmen; others do not discriminate against union men but refuse to treat with their organizations; others again treat with the unions without yielding to them. It is much easier for a few great manufacturers to come to a secret understanding, than for a large body of work- ingmen to form a temporary coalition. And the manu- facturers did not postpone combination until the develop- °* Statistics of Coal in Illinois. — Bureau of Labor Statistics, p. 105. 16 222 The American Laborer ment of the trade-union. " We have long since learned that it was the capitalistic organization of modern industry which was the aggressor, not the labor organizations which took the first step in combination." 59 Paradoxical as it seems, the statement can be sustained. For generations, individual employers imposed their own conditions and took advantage of their superior position to dictate the terms of employment. It was to resist this that the workmen formed unions; in order to present a united front to organized labor, and also to put an end to certain abuses for which the workmen were responsible, the em- ployers in turn formed their associations. For example, the enormous growth in the output of the anthracite mines between i860 and 1870, increased wages and attracted laborers of all sorts by the thousands. In this promiscuous horde, lawlessness was common; not only strikes, but brutality and crimes of every description were frequent. As a measure of defense the employers formed in 1867 the Association of Mahanoy Valley and Locust Moun- tain, which was followed by similar associations. These associations finally appointed a joint committee of the an- thracite mines of the Schuylkill, which played an active and useful part during this trying period. 60 Toward the latter part of the year 1892 the iron-heaters of Kewanee, Illinois, formed a branch of the Brotherhood of Iron-Heaters. The employers retaliated by declaring a general lockout and closed their works. Three months later the workmen, who had not been properly sustained, abandoned the brotherhood and went back to work. 61 In America as in Europe the workmen in the hat-manu- facture are strongly organized. In America the employers have also formed a national association of hat-manufactur- 59 Edward Cummings in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. ix. p. 364. 00 See De la conciliation et de Varbitrage, a publication of the Office du Travail, p. 220. 61 Rapports de la del. ov.vricrc, p. 672. Organizations of Labor 223 ers. Committees of arbitration composed of representatives from the two classes have been constituted, with power to adjust differences and, in case of disagreement, to call in a third arbiter from some other occupation. Above these committees is a permanent mixed commission which su- perintends the execution of contracts made between the two parties. 62 Nevertheless the workmen have a great deal of power in the hat manufacture. At bottom, associations of employers to raise prices or resist advances in the rate of wages, are not different from associations of workmen to raise wages. But the American courts are in general more severe upon the former than the latter. The " trusts," which I mentioned in the preceding chap- ter and which are in some instances a legitimate outcome of industrial freedom, have been developed for the most part by the necessity of securing united action against strikes and strikers, although the protective system has also stimu- lated their formation and abuse. The president of the American Federation of Labor attacked them in the con- vention of 1890. In the last few years, he said, the move- ment towards combinations has proceeded with a speed un- known before. We often hear of associations formed with the express purpose of opposing the working classes, but efforts have been made to extend this movement beyond our country and give it an international character. They had nothing to fear, the president assured them, if they were strongly organized in their own country, although they ought to unite their power with that of foreign labor-organi- zations. In his testimony before the Senate Committee on Edu- cation and Labor, Mr. Hewitt, the well-known manufac- turer explained how labor-unions and employers' associa- tions had been developed by mutual antagonism. L"p to this point, he said, the struggle had been marked by innu- 62 See L'Ouvrier Americain, part iii, chapter vi. 22 i The American Laborer merable disasters. " But one good result has been achieved. Labor is thoroughly organized and marshaled on the one side, while capital is combined on the other. . . . The great result achieved is that capital is ready to discuss. It is not to be disguised that until labor presented itself in such an attitude as to compel a hearing capital was not willing to listen, but now it does listen. The results already attained are full of encouragement: the way to a condition of perma- nent peace appears to have been opened." ,!3 In a later address delivered while he was president of a society of engineers, Mr. Hewitt repeated these ideas and declared that the doctrine of freedom implied the right of individuals to dispose of their property or their labor and to combine to dispose of them. 64 He also held that the or- ganization of workingmen should be encouraged so long as they confined themselves to the protection of their own in- terests. We have no more reason to fear combination than competition, he asserted; both are necessary forces. But he added that the Americans lived in a country in which the toleration of certain abuses would engender conflict and intensify the differences between capital and labor. Comparison between America, England and France. — The progress and practical importance of labor-organizations in .America are evident. As in several countries of Europe they have assumed the triple function of educating the labor- er, assisting his family by mutual insurance, and protecting his interests against the employers. The first two functions 03 Labor and Capital, i, 457. 64 Mr. Hewitt, in his inaugural address (page 15) formulates the following propositions: (1) That the employers and the employees have an equal right to form associations with a view of increasing or reducing wages; (2) That neither party has a right to force the other party to submit to its conditions, except through the inter- position of tribunals legally constituted: (3) That strikes and lock- outs are unjustifiable from the standpoint of justice and cannot be tolerated except in the absence of some means of submitting the difference to legal decision: (4^ That no person has the right to force another person to associate with him in any organization whatsoever. Organizations of Labor 225 they perform with some measure of success, but it must be acknowledged that the education they give is in many re- spects false. The doctrinaries of their party possess, with a smattering of economic science, a fund of theories about the production and distribution of wealth which are almost always derived from Karl Marx or Henry George and, be- ing Utopian, cannot help deluding their devotees. And yet in the older organizations, as is the case in England, there is a large majority of practical, and even conservative, men. It is a rare thing in these associations to find a revolutionist preaching the violent destruction of society in order to re- mold it according to his dreams, and in this respect Ameri- can unions are distinguishable from the socialistic schools which dominate the labor party on the continent of Europe and which through the channel of immigration are making headway in America itself. The trade-unions of England are older than those of America: many were formed during the latter part of the eighteenth century and the first law legalizing their exist- ence dates from 1871. The English unions have the ad- vantages of a riper experience and many are more strongly constituted, yet notwithstanding these facts, the strongest English union, that of the carpenters, contained only 90,000 members in 1893, and the Amalgamated Society of En- gineers 73,500, while in the United States the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners numbered 60,000 members, the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers 45,000, the Iron Molders' Union 35,000, the International Union of Bricklayers and Masons 33,500, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers 30,000. The Knights of Labor boasted, at one time, of being 730,000 strong 85 and, in 1893, the American Federation of Labor claimed 800,000 mem- bers. The statistics of the department of labor showed in the year 1892 nineteen English unions with a membership 65 Carroll D. Wright estimates their maximum membership at 1,000,000. [Tr.] 22G The American Laborer of more than 10,000; in the same year the register of the Federation of Labor contained precisely the same number of national unions having more than 10,000 members. In England 594 unions reported 1,237,000 members, more than 2000 for each union, and an aggregate expenditure of 1,763,000 pounds sterling, this enumeration being incom- plete. In 1894 a competent witness before the Royal Com- mission on Labour estimated the total membership of the English unions at 2,000,000, which is equivalent to nearly one-half of all the laborers in England. 06 As in America the unions have the double object of resistance and assistance. Subsidies to strikers and discharged workmen, assistance to other trades when on strike, contributions to federations, funeral-, work-, and traveling-benefits, assistance to wound- ed members, insurance against loss of tools, publication, education, sick-benefits, cost of the meetings and the pro- ceedings, those are the principal objects of expenditure. For more than twenty years the trade-unions have held an annual congress. Here they discuss labor questions and •pass resolutions which in latter years have been inspired in an increasing degree by the socialists. For several years past the unions have shown a tendency to form federations of unions in the same or in allied trades, and in several im- portant centers trades-councils have been created. During these years a disposition known as " new unionism " has manifested itself particularly at the congresses, and from England it has spread to America. 67 New-unionism, which some publicists state originated during the great strike at the London docks, connotes 66 The official figures for 1807 are as follows: The total number of unions was 1287 (567 registered unions and 726 unregistered unions); the aggregate membership 1,609,909; the total receipts of 100 principal unions 1,981,971 pounds, total expenditures 1,896,072 pounds. In the six years 1892-1897 these 100 unions expended 23^ per cent of their total disbursements for dispute payments, 59^2 per cent for unemployed and other benefits, 17 per cent for work- ing expenses. [Tr.] * 7 See L'Ouvrier Americain, pt. iii, ch. vii. Organizations of Labor 227 vaguely a form of organization in which the insurance feat- ure is to be relegated to the background and all efforts con- centrated upon the attack. It calls upon united labor to support successively every body of workmen that brings is- ( sue upon a specific point and in this way hopes to give to the lower classes of labor that power of resistance which until now has been possessed by the higher classes only. It addresses itself less to the employer than to the State and demands the settlement of the labor problem in accordance with the views of the labor-organizations. The means pro- posed are laws for compulsory arbitration, inspection and regulation of factories, etc., which will destroy the authority of employers over their own workshops. The new union- ists are closely associated with the collectivist party, but do not merge their identity in it, because they regard their own programme as the more politic and, in reality, the more practical. 68 Between the old and the new unionism there is a diversity of tendency if not an open quarrel. The secretary of the national cigar-makers' union gave voice to this difference in his report for 1894, 69 and many other evidences of the same feeling could be cited. In the joint conferences of the American Federation and the English trades-unions, social- istic measures prevailed so long as the vote was by unions, 88 For England see the first volume of Lavollee's Classes Ouvrieres en Europe, chap. x. 68 The secretary expressed himself as follows at the Milwaukee convention of the Cigar-Makers' International Union, in 1894: " The system of the subdivision of labor, employed under modern means of production, renders it impossible for the individual to assert his independence. Each worker is dependent upon the other, hence the only means whereby labor can defend its rights is by organization. It is impossible for one man singly to enforce the fulfilment of his desire for shorter hours and more compensa- tion, yet it becomes an easy matter to attain both objects by uni- form cooperation and concerted action upon the part of all the workers." Mr. Perkins adds that while he had no desire to dis- courage an independent political movement, the economic or trade- union movement should not be lost sight of. American Federation- ist, October, 1894, p. 169. 228 The American Laborer because the new unions, with relatively small memberships, were in the majority. But the complexion of the legisla- tion has changed since the system of apportioning the rep- resentation of the unions in accordance with their respective numbers, has been adopted; the older and larger unions are more intelligently governed and have a greater respect for property rights. In France, according to official statistics, the number of unions in 1893 was 1926, with an aggregate membership of 402,000 (about 208 per organization). In addition, there were 61 federations of unions, of which only three had more than 10,000 members and only seven between 5000 and 10,000 members. This showing is very inferior to that made by the English and American organizations, and it may be stated as a general fact that in respect to numbers, the organization of labor in France is far inferior to that in England and the United States. In this country the pro- fessional interests of the workingman are too often subor- dinated to politics. 70 Labor statistics in the three countries are neither exactly comparable nor wholly trustworthy, but they justify the fol- lowing conclusions:' 1 In the last fifteen years, labor-organi- zations have increased greatly in all three countries; those of France are the least developed, not in respect to the num- ber of unions, but in regard to the number of members, the size of the budgets, and probably in regard to organization and the practicability of their programmes; the English 70 The returns for 1898 show 2361 unions in France with an ag- gregate membership of 419,761. Seventy-six federations of unions had been formed, and in addition, there were 1965 associations of employers and 1824 agricultural unions. Many of the unions are small, but in view of the fact that they were not legalized until 1882 notable progress has been made, with respect both to the number and the size of the unions. For a comparison of the trade-union with the French mutual-aid society, see L'Ouvrier Amiricain, part ii, chap. v. n See the Journal OfHciel of Jan. 4, 1894, the Report of the Work of the Labour Department of the Board of Trade (1893-1894), and the Official Book of the American Federation of Labor, Dec, 1893. Organizations of Labor 229 unions are the richest and probably the best organized, but the moral and political conditions of America are favorable to the organization of labor, and at present the American federations and unions — international, national, and local — are pressing the English unions very closely in these re- spects. The labor-union as now constituted is a comparatively re- cent form of association. It differs essentially from the old craft gild as its very raison d'etre is the limitation of the em- ployers' authority, while the gilds protected the masters in their ancient privileges. The gild was a combination of masters and workmen for the benefit of both; the unions institute strikes against the employers and at times resort to violence, a very rare occurrence under the old regime. The ancient masters cherished a deep affection for the gild — the bulwark of their privileges. Modern workingmen feel the same affection for the labor-union: it is the citadel which protects them, and from which they go forward to the attack. The New York Commissioner of Labor made himself the mouthpiece of the workingmen when he said : " It is clear that the working people of the State have reaped innumerable benefits through the influence of the associations devoted to their interests. Wages have been increased; working time has been reduced; the membership rolls have been largely augmented; distressed members have received pecuniary relief; general conditions have been improved, and labor has been elevated to a high position in the social scale." 72 Hitherto, American law has failed to suppress the abuses of the union and confine its activity within the proper bounds. And yet, the legislature is plainly charged with such a duty; it arises not only from the necessities of in- dustry and civil liberty, but from the interests of the insti- tution itself, for the union will persist, and it is incumbent upon the law-makers to direct it as far as possible in the n Twelfth Annual Report .... New York, pp. 15-16. 230 The American Laborer proper path. The organization of labor will elicit combina- tions of employers to an increasing extent in America, as it has done in Switzerland, and it is a serious question whether industrial liberty will not come to grief in the midst of the hostile associations which have sprung from its loins. One thing is certain: unionism imparts to the laboring class a power that it could not have so long as it remained a mere heterogeneous mass of isolated laborers. This power may be used for good or evil. When the union, in virtue of its tendency to monopoly, restrains the freedom of industry and impedes its progress; when it persecutes labor- ers who will not join or excludes those who desire to join; when it uses violence against property or intimidation against persons; and when, under the inspiration of false or Utopian theories, it declares systematic war against capital and capitalists and thus paralyzes the progress of produc- tion by discouraging enterprise, its works are evil. In so far as it fosters prudence by providing insurance against sickness, old age, and infirmity; or aids workingmen to se- cure — with or without the strike — the most advantageous conditions of labor and the highest possible reward for their toil, its effects are beneficial. The labor-organization sets in motion a great mass of men under the control of a few leaders. If the policy of the latter is practical and conserva- tive and the laws against violence are applied with enough firmness to discourage its employment, the union is capable of producing much that is desirable for the working classes. If these conditions are not fulfilled it must inevitably check the growth of national wealth. In the United States the evils of the union would be greatly reduced and the benefits not diminished if the State and Federal laws demanded satisfactory guarantees of re- sponsibility from labor organizations desirous of securing the privilege of incorporation. 73 In a country in which asso- 78 In England every incorporated trade-union must have a code of by-laws which are open to the public, a legal residence, and must furnish the government every year with a statement of its receipts and expenditures. Organizations of Labor 231 ciation is entirely free there could be no objections to a law which imposed conditions such as the designation of the meeting place and the officers of the society, the annual pub- lication of the financial condition and a deposit of the state- ment in the public archives, the liability of the society to the extent of its property and the liability of the officers in their persons and possessions. The union which enjoys the benefits of legal personality should bear the burdens neces- sary for the security of the public. 74 74 " The commission note that trade unions (chap, ix) have rarely, if at all, taken advantage of the statutes permitting them to incor- porate. Under the national act (U. S. Stats., 1886, chap. 567) not one prominent trade union has, in the thirteen years since its en- actment, been incorporated." Industrial Commission .... Labor Legislation, p. 8. [Tr.] CHAPTER V. THE STRIKE Strikes of the past. — For many years it was said in the United States, and repeated in France, that their social conditions protected the Americans from strikes. This statement would certainly not be made to-day, and it was an exaggeration even when made before the development of the great industries which followed the Civil War. 1 At every period, whatever the institutions and customs, dis- putes have arisen between workmen and employers in the United States, just as they have in Europe. The present is distinguished from the past by the gravity and frequency, not by the mere existence, of combination. A record of the strikes and combinations of laborers in the United States has been published by the Department of Labor. The list is not complete but it runs back to 1 741, the probable year in which the combination of bakers in New York took place, and from 1796, when a combina- tion of the shoemakers of Philadelphia ended in an increase of wages and the punishment of several strikers, there is a continuous series. Michael Chevalier visited America in 1835, when combination was prohibited in France, and ex- pressed surprise at the American customs. " Here." he said, " the laboring class feels its power, and combination is open." He mentioned public assemblies held in New 1 Mr. Albert S. Bolles, in his excellent little manual, Chapters in Political Economy, said as late as 1874: " In this country we have never been troubled by this question. . . ." " Strikes in this country have not been very serious nor long protracted," pp. 31 and 33. The Strike 233 York and Philadelphia, the latter of which, a meeting of seamstresses, was presided over by the economist, Carey, assisted by two clergymen; at another place the bakers struck against making bread on Sundays. He noted also that violence sometimes was used — strikers chasing the workmen who would not quit work with sticks and stones, and carpenters in Philadelphia setting fire to houses which their employers were building; he noticed also that the municipal authorities were favorable to them. 2 Some years later, however, a well-informed American writing in French and for European readers, said that, owing to the very freedom which existed in America, it was " excessively rare that a collision occurred between society and the labor- ing class." 3 Nevertheless a series of strikes occurred in the first third of the nineteenth century, beginning with that of the sailors, whom the constables dispersed by force, at New- York in 1803. At Dover, N. H., in 1827, the female hands of a weaving mill struck on account of being questioned and fined for lateness, .and in 1829 the immigrants who had been brought from Europe to work on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal went on a strike, were arrested, and released only after a writ of habeas corpus had been sworn out. Since 1830, hardly a year has passed without a strike be- ing recorded, although there were only three years before the war in which the number exceeded ten. 4 Strikes were thus very infrequent before the war, but they increased rap- idly afterwards: the Sons of Vulcan alone supported 87 from 1867 to 1875, an d the Cigarmakers' International Union 78 from 1871 to 1875. There was a sudden increase to 762 in the year 1880. Most of these strikes were short, but not all of them; the iron-workers' strike at Pittsburg in 1842 lasted five months, for example, and the shoe- * Lettres sur FAmerique dti Nord, II, 160. * De la Puissance Americaine, by Guillaume Tell Poussin, ch. xxiii (2 vol., 1843). * Eleven in 1835, thirteen in 1853 and the same number the fol- lowing year. 234 The American Laborer makers' strike in Massachusetts in 1850, cost the workmen at least $200,000 in wages. 5 Out of the 1491 strikes and lockouts recorded from 1741 to 1880, 1089 were caused by differences about wages. According to the official sta- tistics, 316 resulted favorably for the workmen and 583 unfavorably, 154 were compromised, and in 438 cases the result was unknown. Statistics of strikes from 1881 to 1886. — During the six years, 1 881 -1886, for which the Commissioner of Labor has given detailed statistics, the recorded strikes number 3902, and the lockouts 2214; the former affected 22,304 establishments and 1,323,000 persons; 6 four-fifths of these disputes occurred in Massachusetts, New York, Pennsyl- vania, Ohio and Illinois. The principal causes were de- mands for higher pay and a shorter working-day.' The declaration of the strike necessarily comes from the work- men, upon whom it entails hardship from beginning to end. " The strike," said one of the Commissioners of Labor of New York, " is a present positive sacrifice for a future possible good, and it is an assertion of the work- ingman's freedom in his business relations." s Strikes are sometimes instigated secretly by manufacturers who are over-stocked. 9 ° The World Almanac and Encyclopedia, 1895, p. 96. "88.4 per cent male, 11.6 per cent female. " 7 The proportional distribution of causes for the period 1881- 1886, was as follows: Cause. Per cent. For increase of wages 42.32 For reduction of hours 19.48 Against reduction of wages 7.77 For increase of wages and reduction of hours 7.59 For reduction of hours and against being compelled to board with employer 3.59 For change of hour of beginning work 1.61 For increase of wages and against the contract system. 1.07 For other causes 16.57 Third Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor, p. 17. " Annual Report of the Bureau of Statistics of Labor of the State of New York for the Year 1890. Labor is not always at fault. It is a Godsend sometimes to have a strike when there is an overproduction. The Strike 235 These strikes with that of the telegraphers in 1883 and that of the railroad employees in the Southwest in 1885 and 1886, created great disturbances, besides being very costly; the loss to employers was estimated at $34,000,000 (30,- 700,000 on account of strikes and $3,400,000 on account of lockouts by employers), and that to employees at $60,000,- 000 ($51,800,000 on account of strikes and $8,200,000 on account of lockouts). The Commissioner calculated that in cases where the strikers obtained the increase demanded, or a part of it, 99 working-days were required on an av- erage to make up for the wages lost during the strike. 9 * Statistics show that only about one-half the strikers are benefited; in every 100 persons involved, 39.2 participate in successful strikes, 49.9 in unsuccessful strikes, and 10.9 in partially successful strikes. The proportion of strikers seems greater in America than in France or England. After the dispute, the number of employees is found to be reduced about 3 per cent, on an average, and about 6 per cent of the old workmen have been replaced by new em- ployees. 10 The strike and the lockout are dangerous weapons, and although they sometimes bring victory, they invariably wound those who use them. Strikes since 1887. — Since the investigation of the De- partment of Labor, 11 strikes have continued to occur, and have increased rather than decreased in number and gravity. From 1881 to 1887 there were on an average 765 strikes a year; from 1888 to 1894, 1292 a year, while in 1890 the number rose to 1833. The number of work- men involved has increased, reaching an average of about " Question. — You think capital may then stimulate the strike? " Answer. — I think it is done very frequently. " The Chairman. — Some other witnesses have testified to that effect." Labor and Capital, ii, 219. 9a Ibid., p. 191. 10 Ibid., p. 13. 11 The original investigation has been brought up to the \ • ar 1894 in the Tenth Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor. 236 The American Laborer 271,000 per annum, while at the same time the proportion of successful strikes seems to have fallen; only about 43 out of every 100 strikes succeeded between 1888 and 1894. The evil effects of some of these strikes were felt even in Europe. An examination of the strikes and lockouts between January, 1881, and June 30, 1894 — the period covered by the official records of the Department of Labor — shows that about 15,000 strikes were held which involved 70,000 establishments and 4,000,000 employees. The latter were successful in a little less than 45 strikes out of every hun- dred, but they suffered a loss of $190,000,000, while the employers lost about $95,000,000. For some years after 1885 tne Bureau of Labor Statistics of the State of New York published annually a statistical account of strikes and boycotts in that state. In the special report upon strikes published in 1873, tne Com- missioner of Labor stated that a better feeling- undoubtedly prevailed between employers and employees than in pre- vious years, and mentioned that only 2398 strikes had occurred in New York in 1892, while in 1891 there had been 4519, and in 1890, 6258. He estimated approxi- mately, that the employers lost $353,915 in 1892, and the employees $81 5,75s. 12 Nearly 2000 employees had been unable to secure their old positions after the strikes, and many manufacturers had been unable to resume business. In New r York in 1892, of the 35,824 persons involved in strikes, 8486 struck for an increase of wages, 4503 against a reduction of the hours of labor, 2313 against the em- ployment of non-union workmen, 2266 against a reduction of wages, and 2836 on account of refusals to renew agree- ments; the persons engaging in sympathetic strikes num- bered 6948. These are the principal causes of strikes in all the states of the Union. The results of the New York investigation seem a little 12 Tenth Annual Report, p. 3 The Strike 237 more favorable to the workmen than those obtained in the wider investigation made by the Department of Labor. Considering all the strikes in New York during the eight years 1885- 1892, it i s found that 531,000 persons and 22,559 establishments were involved, of which 15,280 establishments yielded to the demands of the strikers; the gain to workmen resulting from the increase in wages was $9,800,000, the loss to employers $6,400,000, and the total loss to industry $9,800,000. The report for the year ending October 31, 1895, records 417 strikes, of which 313 occurred in Brooklyn and New York city. Demand for higher wages (151 strikes), or the discharge of non-union workmen (94 strikes), and refusal to accept reduction of wages were, as usual, the principal causes. According to the statistician, 67 strikes out of every hundred were successful;" the pro- portion seems very high. The sympathetic strike. — The sympathetic strike is pecu- liarly American; it has been more frequent in the United States than elsewhere, probably because labor is more strongly organized there than in any other country with the exception of England. It is not at all essential in this kind of strike that there should be a difference between the workmen who strike from sympathy and the em- ployers against whom the strike is directed. The feeling of solidarity is the sole motive that inspires it; the work- men voluntarily sacrifice their wages in order to support the demands of some other body of workmen who have gone on a strike; their object is to coerce the employers by aggravating the annoyance which results from the ces- sation of labor in one industry. It is apparent that an un- dertaking of this nature can be concluded and maintained only where labor is thoroughly organized. One of the Commissioners of Labor who seems not always to have 18 In the 381 strikes of which the results were known, the strikers succeeded in 259, failed in 82, and compromised in 40. 17 238 The American Laborer observed a strict impartiality in his judgments upon these questions, says : " The sympathetic strike is one in which the strikers, having no grievance of their own, take action out of belief that another body of workers is not treated fairly, and so take up the cause. The effect is prodigious; greater, indeed, than that of the strike direct." 14 Statistics upon this species of the strike are given in the New Ycrk report from which we have just quoted. 15 In 1890, 8534 persons engaged in sympathetic strikes; the cost to employers was $25,076, and the loss in wages $250,- 393; 114 strikers were not reinstated in their old positions, but 644 out of the 732 establishments involved were com- pelled to yield to the strikers. The most of these com- binations had occurred in the building trades, but the most important sympathetic strike in 1890 was that of the cloakmakers and allied operatives, 2603 of whom quit work in order to support the demands of the striking cloak- cutters; they lost in wages nearly $183,000, but compelled all their employers, 109 in number, to yield." In 1892, in the same state, 738 establishments and 6943 employees were involved in sympathetic strikes which, according to the report, cost the workmen $206,513 and the employers $64,861 ; 377 of the 738 strikes were successful." These figures are fairly representative of the course of events in other states. On the other hand, the follow- ing description of an agreement entered into by the builders and carpenters of Chicago, through their re- spective committees of arbitration, will give an idea of how the workmen regard the sympathetic strike; the agreement was adopted February 20, 1893, at a most fav- u Eighth Annual Report of the Bureau of Statistics of Labor of the State of New York, part ii, p. 935. 15 Eighth Annual Report, pp. 936-949. 16 Ibid., p. 938. 17 Tenth Annual Report, . . . part ii, pp. 134-138. [In American statistics, a separate strike is usually counted for each establishment involved.] The Strike 239 orable period for the workmen on account of the building necessitated by the Exposition. The work will continue without interruption, one of the articles provided, and all parties will submit to the decisions of the joint-committee of arbitration. It is stipulated, however, that the work may be stopped at any time by an order signed by the presidents of the two organizations, the stoppage to con- tinue until the joint-committee of arbitration has made known its decision. But it is understood and agreed that if it becomes necessary for the contracting parties to take part in a sympathetic strike upon any building, in order to assist another trade, the presidents of the two associa- tions shall order all work of carpentering upon the build- ing to cease, until the difficulty is adjusted. Such strikes shall not be considered acts of hostility against any mem- ber of the employers' association, and in event of their occurrence it is agreed that the union of carpenters will guard and protect the property of builders signing this agreement, so far as in their power, against all damages which such strikes entail. The same stipulations, in terms very little different, are found in the agreements of other trades. 18 A sympathetic strike on any building, says the agreement of the Lathers' Union, shall not be considered a violation of this agree- ment. That of the painters and decorators is more ex- plicit: It is understood and agreed that in case it is neces- sary for the workmen participating in this agreement to take part in a sympathetic strike on any building, in order to defend the principles of union, the agent of the district council of painters shall order all work of painting to cease until the difference is adjusted, and this interruption shall not constitute an act of hostility towards any contractor or other signer of this agreement. If such a strike occurs, it is agreed that the painters of the union will guard and 18 1 have before me ten agreements of this kind which I brought back from Chicago, and the collection is far from complete. 240 The American Laborer protect the property of the contractors, so far as is in their power, from all damages incident to such strikes. 19 The Homestead Strike and the Pinkerton Detective Agency. — In 1892 the corporation entitled the Carnegie Steel Com- pany possessed seven or eight establishments situated in the vicinity of Pittsburg; the capital stock representing these establishments was $25,ooo,ooo, 20 and the employees numbered about 13,000. Of this number, 3800 worked at the Homestead Steel Works, situated about six miles from Pittsburg. In several of their establishments the company had refused to treat with labor organizations be- cause of strikes that had occurred, but at Homestead an agreement had been made with the Amalgamated Asso- ciation of Iron and Steel Workers in 1889, by which wage? were adjusted to a piece-rate sliding scale of prices; under this scale, according to reliable testimony, wages varied from $1.40 to $12 a day. This agreement, adopted for three years, covered only about 800 workmen, who were members of the Amalga- mated Association; the other 3000 workmen, among whom were many Bohemians, Hungarians, and other foreigners, worked by day or under individual contracts. The agreement being about to expire, the association proposed a higher scale, and the company a lower one, the latter justifying the reduction on the grounds that the price of steel had fallen, while newer machinery had been introduced which increased the productivity of the work- 19 I have been unable to obtain copies of the original agree- ments, so that the text is a retranslation of Professor Levasseur's French rendition. [Tr.] 30 Their actual value was very much greater than this. The new Carnegie Steel Company, which includes the old limited company and the H. C. Frick Coke Company, is capitalized at $160,000,000, of which Andrew Carnegie owns $86,379,000. It is stated on good authority that the company intends to issue bonds to the amount of $160,000,000, which would bring the total capitalization up to $320,000,000, of which $250,000,000 is represented by the assets of the Carnegie Steel Company Limited. [Tr.] The Strike 241 men. 21 The workmen contested the claim resting upon the introduction of new machinery and refused to accept a reduction of the minimum or base of the wage-scale, on the grounds that they had no voice in the fixation of the price, and did not wish to accept the possible consequences of a depression which they would be powerless to pre- vent. Several conferences between representatives of the company and the association having been held and no agreement concluded, the company declared its intention of enforcing the new scale; this would have reduced the wages of 325 workmen of the higher grades from 15 to 30 per cent, probably about 18 per cent on an average. 12 The workmen having been told that Mr. Frick's special aim was to destroy the Amalgamated Association, he was hung in effigy, together with the superintendent, who had managed to conclude a three years' contract with a great majority of the workmen. On June 28 the company began closing the works, and on the first of July the strikers took possession of the gates and even induced the foremen to quit work. The following events occurred in rapid succession: On June 24 the eight lodges of the Amalgamated Association each named five delegates, who with ten other delegates constituted an " Advisory Committee." M This committee of fifty managed to enlist all the workmen, who, without regard for the contracts which they had just signed, joined 21 The President, Mr. Frick, estimated that the production of the 119-inch (armor) plate mill had been increased from 2500 to 5000 tons a month by the introduction of new machinery. 22 During the strike the association spread the report that the new scale reduced the wages of unskilled laborers but did not affect the higher workmen. See the report of the special committee of the Senate entitled Investigation of Labor Troubles, p. 114: Senate Report No. 1280, 52 Cong., 2 Sess. 23 The president of this committee, Hugh O'Donnell, was an iron-heater who had made $199.18 in the month of May; under the new scale, according to Mr. Frick, he would have made $120.75. O'Donnell testified that his own wages would have been affected but slightly. 242 The American Laborer forces with the Amalgamated Association. The com- mittee secured complete control of the works and town, and the strikers were organized in three divisions, each of which kept guard for eight hours; there was also a reserve corps of 800 Slavs and Hungarians under the command of special chiefs. Guards were placed at the gates of the works and the strikers encamped in an enclosure of about forty acres, bounded on one side by the Monongahela river and surrounded on the other three sides by a high plank fence which the company had erected a short while before. The terminus of the railroad was occupied and the order was given not to allow any person to get off who did not have a pass from the committee; outposts were sta- tioned on the roads leading into Homestead; a small steam- boat and row boats patrolled the river; a code of signals by flags, steam whistles and fires was adopted. It was in reality a military occupation. The employees of the company at Pittsburg, the legal residence of the corporation, no longer had access to the Homestead works and the action of those who lived in the town was completely paralyzed. On the second of July it was reported that smoke had been seen coming from one of the chimneys of the works, and the committee suspected that the company was about to begin work with non-union labor. They immediately sent a message to the superintendent informing him that unless the fire was immediately extinguished, they could not be held respon- sible for any act that the men, who were greatly excited by the smoke, might commit. In popular outbreaks of this kind it is either anarchy or despotism, and in this case it was despotism; to prevent dissensions, the committee had placards placed in the hotels and other public places, which read: " By order of the advisory committee, all discus- sion of the question of wages is absolutely prohibited here." As early as the twenty-sixth of June, the company had warned the sheriff, through their attorney, of the immi- nence of the strike and of their intention to import 300 The Strike 243 "Pinkertons" to guard the works; they asked that these men be swcrn in as deputies, and on the fourth of July repeated their request, stating that they had brought men from the Pinkerton agency, whom they desired to be in- vested with the official character of deputy sheriffs. The sheriff came to Homestead in person and conferred with the committee. The latter proposed that a number of workmen be deputized to guard the property of the company, but the sheriff replied that this was impossible, as it would simply put the association in legal control of the works and aid them in keeping out any non-union work- men with which the company might try to renew opera- tions. He had proclamations posted prohibiting disor- derly assemblages and any attack, threatened or overt, upon the property of the company. These proclamations were all torn down and destroyed. On his return to Pittsburg the sheriff tried to collect a posse of ioo deputies, but was unable to secure more than twelve who, under the direction of a chief deputy, pro- ceeded to Homestead. Not only were they prevented from entering the works, but they had to invoke the pro- tection of the advisory committee to escape violent treat- ment. The company seems to have been convinced that the sheriff did not manifest all the energy and good will that they had a right to expect. 24 "* " Have you found the sheriffs, constables and other township officers insufficient for that purpose? " asked the chairman of Mr. Frick. " Yes, sir," the latter responded. Senate Report, p. 161. Mr. Pinkerton in his testimony before the Senate Committee (P- 255) said: " I think the trouble in connection with strike mat- ters has been that politics has had too much to do with the ques- tion. I believe that almost any section of this country is abundantly able to take care of itself if the officers will do their duty, but the trouble has been that many of these officers join labor organizations themselves for the purpose of promoting their own interests in a political way, and you take it in certain sections of the country and it is utterly impossible for the sheriff to get a posse together that will not be in sympathy with the strikers and whom he can control." 244 The American Laborer The report of the House Committee on the same sub- ject contains this condemnation: "We quite agree with him that the sheriff, Mr. McCleary, is a very inefficient officer." * President Frick had learned a lesson by an experience with striking workmen in 1889, and as early as June 25 he definitely engaged 300 guards from the Pinkerton Agency at a cost of $5 a day per man. 26 The men arrived secretly, some from Chicago and others from the East, while the agency hastened from Chicago 250 Winchester rifles, 400 revolvers and as many batons; everything was done secretly and many of the men did not know the nature of the mission upon which they had been sent. Two barges towed by tugs conveyed the men and the weapons, which had been supplied to them en route, from Pittsburg to Homestead, on the night of the fifth of July; the super- intendent of the company and the chief deputy sheriff accompanied them." An accident to one of the tugs caused a delay, so that instead of landing and taking pos- session of the property under the cover of night, they ar- rived at four o'clock in the morning. The strikers, who had been forewarned by friends at Pittsburg, were aroused by the whistle of their little patrol boat. A crowd of armed men, women and children rushed to the river and received the boats with cries and threats. I have seen the place. The river is not wide but its banks are steep. By the side of the landing stands the pump-house from whose windows the strikers could fire; a steep road, almost parallel to the river, runs from the landing to the works. The Pinkerton men were not experienced in such affairs. 21 House Reports, 52 Cong., 2 Sess., vol. iii. Report No. 2447, p. II. M The wages of these men seem to have been $2.50 a day with board and lodging. Seuate Report, p. 137. 2 ' The correspondence between the Carnegie Company and the Pinkerton Agency may be found in the Senate Report, pp. 161 and 235- The Strike 245 In his testimony, Mr. Pinkerton repeatedly asserted that it was his custom to hire only men about whom he had sufficient information, but this does not agree with the testimony of a witness who had been enrolled one night after a few moment's conversation on a Chicago sidewalk, 28 nor with that of one of the detectives in charge of the men, who declared that they were a parcel of cowards." One thing is certain: Mr. Pinkerton cannot flatter himself with having collected a very elite force, measured accord- ing to the standards of his profession. Besides supplying guards for property threatened by strikers, the agency undertakes to introduce detectives into labor organizations as spies. Mr. Pinkerton naturally spoke as little as pos- sible of the latter, but the testimony upon the point was positive, and the prospectus of the firm mentioned this kind of work. 30 One workman testified that there was scarcely a labor organization in existence which did not number Pinkerton men among its members, and these, he said, were usually very active in fomenting strikes. 31 The Pinkerton agency was founded in 1850 by the father of the present Pinkerton brothers, and previous to the 28 See Senate Report, p. 137. 28 Mr. Pinkerton: "A large number of these men were our reg- ular employees who could be thoroughly trusted for integrity, prudence and sobriety. The remainder were men whom we em- ployed from time to time or who were known and recommended to us." Ibid., p. 235. Charles Nordrum, sub-chief in charge of the Pinkerton force, in reply to the question: " What was the quality and character of the men sent out on that expedition, so far as you observed?" an- swered: "There were some of the worst cowards on that barge I ever saw in my life." Ibid., p. 143. s0 "The Pinkerton Protective Patrol is connected with Pinkerton's National Detective Agency, and is under the same management. Corporations or individuals desirous of ascertaining the feeling of their employees, and whether they are likely to engage in strikes or are joining any secret labor organizations with a view of com- pelling terms from corporations or employers, can obtain, on ap- plication to the superintendent of either of the offices, a detective suitable to associate with their employees and obtain this informa- tion." Senate Report, p. 62. 31 Ibid., p. 113. 246 The American Laborer Homestead affair had furnished guards in seventy strikes." It is not astonishing, then, that the Pinkertons are in bad repute with the unions. In the Congressional investiga- tions Mr. Powderly made himself the vehement mouthpiece of their hatred and attributed to the agency numerous out- rages which Mr. Pinkerton in turn denied. 33 The latter thinks that the police and regular militia, when called upon to suppress mob violence, are quite as unpopular as his men. On this question, however, the investigating com- mittee of the House of Representatives expressed a con- trary opinion, and the general sentiment has been that the intervention of this hired police aggravates the evil by the irritation which it produces. One member of the com- mittee, Mr. Ray, made express reservations upon this point, 34 but the committee, as we have said, declared that the employment of Pinkerton men was contrary to no law of the State of Pennsylvania, that the practice had " grown very largely out of the sloth and dilatoriness of the civil authorities to render efficient and prompt protec- tion to persons and property," but that it was " well cal- culated to produce irritation among the strikers, frequently resulting in hostile demonstrations and bloodshed." They were of the opinion that corporations should be denied the power of using this agency without the permission of the state government, and that it was much preferable to rely solely upon state officers. " Exasperated strikers will not molest or resist the officers of the state, when, under ex- actly similar circumstances, they will assault the watch- men or guards hired by corporations." M 33 Ibid., p. 259. Mr. Pinkerton said that in all these strikes they had only two men killed. This was flatly contradicted by one of their old employees, who testified that in 1886 in an affair in Wyom- ing in which he was concerned, sixteen Pinkerton men had been killed. " One witness said that a strike in the Chicago stockyards in 1886 would have been settled by arbitration had it not been for the interference of the Pinkertons. Ibid., pp. in, 112. " House Report, p. 49. " House Report, p. 15. The Strike 247 However this may be, before the barges carrying the 300 men reached the landing, they were fired upon from a small boat belonging to the strikers; a moment later, when the first barge threw out its gang-plank, the crowd arrived on the high bank opposite, while a part rushed down to the landing and met the Pinkertons with a fusilade of stones and bullets that wounded their leader and killed a number of the men. The Pinkertons answered with a volley, but although a part of the mob fled, none of the Pinkertons landed. 38 According to the testimony of Captain Heinde, it seems that only twelve men had been furnished rifles." The two barges drew back from the bank and rested in mid-stream, while Col. Gray, the deputy sheriff, took the wounded to a hospital in one of the tugs. When he re- turned a few hours later, the crowd reappeared on the bank; they had built a breastwork along the shore out of iron girders and scraps, occupied the opposite bank, and even brought up a small copper cannon; the strikers fired from behind their rampart, while the Pinkertons fired from portholes which they had made in one of the barges. The tug was received with a fire so severe that Col. Gray could not approach the barges, but was compelled to steam on to Pittsburg and leave the Pinkertons to their fate; the action could hardly be called heroic. The strikers then tried to blow up the barges with dyna- mite, and to burn them by throwing oil into the river and firing it; but the oil did not reach the barges. Finally, about five o'clock in the afternoon, realizing that they could not get away without the tugs, the Pinkerton men hoisted a white flag and made terms with the advisory committee. Seven had been killed and twenty or more wounded. They were allowed to retain their clothing, but their arms and everything else were taken away. The two barges were burned. The prisoners were led up to 6 See among other testimony, that of Charles Nordrum, ibid., 141. " Ibid., p. 269. 248 The American Laborer the skating-rink between two ranks of infuriated men, women and children, and on their march were outrage- ously maltreated. " I must say that they were subjected to very inhuman treatment," said the chairman of the ad- visory committee, who got the Pinkertons out of town as soon as it was dark. Of the strikers, according to one witness, eleven were killed. The following day the committee made desperate efforts to remove all traces of the battle, and the chairman visited the Governor to assure him that all was calm at Homestead, that the property of the company was being respected, that there was no necessity of calling out the militia, and that their presence would have an unfortunate effect upon the minds of the workmen. The town re- mained in the power of the advisory committee for several days, during which arrests were made and decrees of exile pronounced; no suspected journalist was allowed in the hotels and all outgoing telegrams were censored. The agitation reached Pittsburg, where the life of Mr. Frick was threatened. Finally, martial law was proclaimed and Major General Snowden arrived with a force large enough to overawe resistance. He occupied the town and arrested several strikers while many others left town. But most of them remained, and a deep feeling of irritation lingered for a long while in the minds of the laboring classes; the events of the strike had intoxicated them and they had come to regard the works as their own, so that they looked upon the reinstatement of the owners as an usurpation and the introduction of new workmen who accepted the new scale as an unpardonable offense. Those who were arrested were tried before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania on the charge of inciting civil war, and several were convicted of treason. 33 18 See the brochure entitled: In the Supreme Court of Pennsyl- vania. In the Matter of the Insurrection at Homestead. Application for Leave to Present an Information to one of the Supreme Court against the Insurgents for Treason. The Strike 249 " Do you think it (the strike) has benefited the cause of labor in any way? " was asked of a workman testifying before the committee. " I think it has learned labor a lesson, as all strikes do. Question. — What lesson? An- swer,. — It gives them more knowledge, teaches them how to prepare for the next, and makes them more cautious in the future. There has never been a strike since we knew anything about labor at all that has been injurious alto- gether. They have resulted in some good. They have stiffened the backbone either one way or the other. They have made us more intelligent. They have taught us to get nearer to arbitration." 39 The House Committee was not unanimous in its report upon the employment of Pinkerton detectives. The ma- jority reported that the strike at Homestead had no con- nection with the tariff; that the employment of Pinkerton men was not illegal; that notwithstanding this, Mr. Frick was censurable for not having brought greater pressure to bear upon the sheriff, and for not applying earlier to the Governor for official protection; that the workmen, on their side, had not committed an illegal act in stopping the fore- men at the gate and persuading them to strike, but that they afterwards became violators both of private right and public peace when they refused to allow the sheriff to take possession of the works; finally they recommended that every state should pass a law prohibiting or regulating the employment of Pinkerton guards within its jurisdiction. " If the washerwoman of Burgess McLuckey or Hugh McDonnell refuses to wash for what he is willing to pay, that is her right, but she has no right to stand in front of his door and fling stones at another woman who comes to take her place and do the work under the new scale of wages which he is willing to pay." 40 The result has been that many states, including New York (in 1892), Arkansas, Colorado, Minnesota, New 89 Senate Report, p. 114. "House Report, p. 16. 250 The American Laborer Mexico, and Wyoming, have passed laws prohibiting the employment of deputy sheriffs, armed guards, etc., who are not American citizens and residents of the State." However frequent strikes may be, events and lessons of this kind are rare in the history of the laboring classes of the United States.. The strike at Pullman City in 1894. — The Pullman strike was one of the most important known to history in the extent to which it engaged the press and public opinion, and particularly in the astonishment which it caused among European philanthropists whose confidence in the sover- eign efficacy of industrial patronage had been too serene. It is not necessary to describe here the organization of the city of Pullman, which is now a part of Chicago. The land upon which the city was built, it will be remembered, was owned by Mr. Pullman and situated some distance from the city of Chicago; here Mr. Pullman erected his vast shops for the repair and construction of railroad cars which he both sold outright and operated on his own ac- count by contracts which he had made with most Ameri- can railway companies. Mr. Pullman had built a veritable city, the houses of which he owned and rented to his work- men. The place contained about 14,000 inhabitants. 43 In 1892 and the first half of 1893 business had been very brisk at Pullman; five or six thousand workmen had been employed and wages were high. The railroads were increasing their rolling stock for the World's Fair. But a crisis which had been threatening for a long time sud- denly manifested itself and work fell off, the situation be- ing worse because the railroads had previously laid in an extra supply of cars. The works were kept busy for a while in repairing Pullman cars, but business languished and Mr. Pullman finally reduced wages. It was winter and the men murmured, complaining that while wages had 41 Regulations of similar import have since been enacted in at least thirteen other States and Territories. [Tr.] " See L'Ouvricr Amcricain, part ii, ch. iii, and part iii, ch. iv. The Strike 251 been reduced a third and in some cases a half — the real reduction seems to have been about 25 per cent — rents were not changed. 43 Several workmen were ejected. " There will be trouble in the spring," people said to them- selves. The demand for the old wages was denied, and the workmen appealed to the newly-formed American Railway Union; the president, Eugene V. Debs, advised them not to strike until the union was in a condition to support them. The workmen had two interviews at the City Hall of Chicago with the company; the first on the seventh of May with a manager, the second, two days later, with Mr. Pullman himself, who described the situation of the com- pany, asserted that he had accepted orders at a loss in order to give the men work, and that, consequently, it was impossible to raise wages; he promised to examine their grievances and not to discharge the workmen who had led the movement. Notwithstanding this, three of the leaders were discharged on the following day, and the com- mittee which examined the complaints decided, without having heard the workmen, that they had no basis. Upon this news the ill-feeling became very intense. As- sembling secretly on the following night, the delegates of the local unions of Pullman City decided unanimously to strike at noon the next day. In the morning, while the men were in the shops, the news spread that Mr. Pullman had decided upon a general lockout, to take effect at noon. The majority decided to anticipate the lockout and quit work immediately; others waited until the appointed hour. A small number, about 600, attempted to return to work in the afternoon, but found the doors closed by order of Mr. Pullman, and placards posted announcing that work was suspended for an indefinite time. The procedure of both sides led to the same result — idleness. 43 One champion of the workmen claims that certain workmen had to use a whole half-month's wages to pay their rent. For the facts, see The Pullman Strike, by William H. Cawardine, p. 72, although this brochure itself is a brief in the workmen's behalf. 252 The American Laborer The peculiar organization of Pullman City was calculated to complicate the affair. It had seemed hard to- the work- men that rents had not been reduced when wages were cut, but it was still worse when they received no wages at all. The management did not demand bi-monthly payment, as before the strike, it is true, and during the strike no workman was ejected for non-payment; but the rent was due and the debt kept rolling up, to the profit of those who withheld the means of canceling the debt. Mr. Pullman defended his course by saying that he had not compelled the workmen to occupy his houses, and that wherever they were, they would have to pay rent. True enough, the workmen answered, but it is notorious that workmen who do not live in the company's houses are held in suspicion and, in spite of the denials of Mr. Pullman, are the first to be discharged when work becomes slack. Rents, more- over, Mr. Pullman to the contrary notwithstanding, are higher than in neighboring places, and though certain superficial luxuries are supplied, they have to be paid for; water and gas, for instance, impose heavy additional bur- dens upon the inhabitants." Mr. Pullman presented a statement of the financial con- dition of the company: the capital stock was $36,000,000, and there was a reserve of $24,000,000; in the year ending July 31, 1893, the receipts had been $11,400,000, of which $3,800,000 had been spent for materials and labor, $2,500,- 000 in dividends, and $1,100,000 for miscellaneous items: it had been a prosperous year. But things were less satisfactory in the next year;* 5 if orders had not been ob- tained by bids which involved a loss to the company, there would have been no work and no wages for the employees. It seemed just, in consequence, to Mr. Pullman that the ** According to The Pullman Strike, by Rev. W. H. Cawardine. 45 The employees, according .0 this statement which differs from that of Mr. Cawardine, numbered 14,636 in 1893, an d the wages amounted to $7,751,000; in 1894, the employees numbered 10,858, and the wages amounted to $4,968,000. The Strike 253 workmen in whose interests the work had been accepted, should bear a part of the loss.' 6 He was willing to prove by his books that there had been a real loss, but he was unwilling to resign his rights as proprietor by submitting to arbitration a question whose decision was his alone. But Mr. Pullman is not an ordinary employer, said the workmen. It is true enough that he has built up a gigantic industry by his intelligence, but the company has accumu- lated a reserve equal to two-thirds of the capital, part of which it owes to the labor of the workmen, and it seems only just that the surplus accumulated in the years of plenty, should be levied upon first in the years of famine. 47 This argument, which is not wholly irrelevant, made a great impression in America. But it raises a grave ques- tion: who has the best claim to the surplus profits of an undertaking after all the expenses of production, wages and other charges have been paid? Carroll D. Wright, whose authority is great and whose independence is above suspicion, expressed the opinion that this strike marked an epoch in the history of labor. Society, he said in a lecture upon this subject, had by its laws and customs contributed to the building up of the great fortune of Mr, Pullman. Have we not reached the point, he asked, where we ought to recognize that labor has rights? The question is " ethical and not economic." The thought of the speaker crystallized in the proposition 16 Even if the new contracts did involve a loss, the workmen ob- jected, the repairs made in accordance with existing contracts were at the old prices and while the reduction of 25 per cent in the piece-rate scale caused a loss of $60,000 to the workmen in wages, the reductions made by Mr. Pullman, in order to obtain new orders, amounted only to $50,000. 47 In a lecture delivered at New Haven to the students of the Wesleyan University of Middletown, Conn., Carroll D. Wright drew a parallel between the capital of the company with its $26,000,- 000 surplus and the capital of the workmen with their $600,000 laid by in the savings banks; was it just, he asked, that the latter, relatively so insignificant, should bear the whole burden of the crisis? 254 The American Laborer that when a company wishes to reduce wages it should first show its books to a committee of the workmen. Otherwise the workmen have no confidence in the em- ployer, as they know well enough that although he is will- ing to share the burdens of hard times, he is not usually very anxious to share the profits of prosperity. Moreover, when the workmen cannot move their homes or when em- ployers have made an agreement or understanding between themselves, it is untrue that the workmen derive any benefit from competition between the employers. Col. Wright dismissed all measures which would tend to repress the activity of the individual, but he demanded the creation of a national strike commission with powers wide enough to educate public opinion, and hasten the development of strikes which could not be wholly averted. The sympathetic strike of the American Railway Union and the Chicago riot. — The strike went on quietly for several weeks, and despite their irritation, the strikers offered to guard the works; an offer which was unfortunately sug- gestive of a similar one made at Homestead. On June 25, the American Railway Union held a meeting in Chicago at which 465 unions were represented, and it was here resolved to declare a general strike in sympathy with the Pullman workmen. This interference, which shortly after- wards was endorsed by the Knights of Labor, transformed the affair from a strike into a civil war. Under orders from the president, Mr. Debs, the union boycotted Pull- man cars, all railway employees affiliated with the union refusing to couple or uncouple the cars, or handle them in any way, so that their circulation was rendered impos- sible, The employees of the railroads terminating at Chi- cago joined in the strike, but the most important union, that of the engineers, under the leadership of Mr. Arthur, refused to take part. On the other hand, the powerful Railway Managers Association, which had been formed in 1886 by the mana- gers of the twenty-four Chicago terminal lines, and which The Strike 255 in 1892 had adopted an agreement to pay uniform wages, sustained Mr. Pullman; they threatened the employees with a lockout, refused to negotiate with the committee of investigation appointed by the President of the United States, and caused the arrest of the leaders of the sympa- thetic strike who were released under heavy bond. The strikers set fire to the exposition buildings and, while the fire department was occupied in putting out this fire, burned cars and materials belonging to about twenty dif- ferent companies. Troops occupied the city; the militia to aid the police in reestablishing order, the federal troops to regulate interstate commerce; 14,000 men were put in movement without establishing order. Violent disturb- ances occurred throughout the whole of Illinois and in a number of Western States; traffic was interrupted not only at Chicago, but at St. Louis, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and throughout the West; trains were stopped; freight yards were filled with loaded cars that could not be moved; the transportation of merchandise and mails between San Francisco " and New York was interrupted for fifteen days. A great amount of property was destroyed and a number of persons killed; armed mobs took possession of the trains and roadbed of railways, and even organized for a march to Washington. After a conference of labor leaders, Mr. Debs obtained the cooperation of the General Master Workman of the Knights of Labor and the heads of several other federations of labor, and using their dicta- torial authority in these matters, they decided upon a gigantic sympathetic strike, to involve not only the rail- roads of the East, which had not yet been drawn into the fight, but the great industries of the country as well. This project was not carried out. In Montana and Washington strikers drove the police back with guns in order to take possession of trains; in 48 The loss to California fruit-growers during this time was esti- mated at $50,000 a day. 256 The American Laborer Iowa, all the wagons and carts of the farmers were drawn upon to transport an " army of the unemployed " to Wash- ington, and one of the bands, under Coxey, reached the Capital. The situation was extremely grave. To for- eigners it seemed graver perhaps than it really was, and French readers, who got the facts with a high journalistic coloring, might well have believed that the existence of the great republic was in danger. The state government either shirked its duty or was unable to perform it, but President Cleveland realized his responsibility, and although he was greatly restricted by constitutional limitations found authority for federal in- terference in the clause of the constitution charging the central government with the maintenance of the postal ser- vice; the latter had been interrupted by the strikers. Martial law being declared, the railroads were brought under the protection of the highest courts and the federal government. In other states the United States marshals gathered posses, prohibited the people from collecting or discussing the strike on the territory of the railroads, and arrested trespassers without warrants and in spite of the local magistrates. " Pay no attention to local officers or magistrates," said the marshal of Colorado. " If they in- terfere with you, arrest them." 4 ° The Governor of Colo- rado protested against what he declared to be a violation of state right. Notwithstanding this, the federal troops were employed from the eighth of July on, and both Houses of Congress approved the course of the President. After quite a while order was finally reestablished. The American Railway Union abandoned the strike in August, and towards the end of September the Pullman employees accepted the reduction of wages and went to work. The total loss occasioned by this great double strike, accord- ing to a most trustworthy source — Bradstreet — was at 43 Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the State of Colorado, p. 245 et seq. The Strike 257 least $80,000,000. Many strikers were indicted by the courts and some convicted. During July, at the most acute stage of the strike, Presi- dent Cleveland appointed a commission of inquiry which immediately went to Chicago. More than one hundred witnesses were heard, and the report of the chairman, Car- roll D. Wright, was very severe upon Mr. Pullman. The report of the United States Strike Commission. — " As a result of the Pullman system and its growth," says the re- port of the commission, "when the depression of 1893 came, morally calling for mutual concessions as to wages, rents, etc., we found on the one side a very wealthy and unyielding corporation, and upon the other a multitude of employees of comparatively excellent character and skill, but without local attachments or any interested respon- sibility in the town, its business, tenements or surround- ings. . . . The company does not recognize that labor organizations have any place or necessity in Pullman, where the company fixes wages and rents, and refuses to treat with labor organizations. The laborer can work or quit on the terms offered; that is the limit of his rights. This position secures all the advantage of the concentration of capital, ability, power and control for the company in its labor dealings, and deprives the employers of any such advantage or protection as a labor union might afford. In this respect the Pullman Company is behind the age." B Speaking of this strike in his book, The Industrial Evolu- tion (p. 317), Col. Wright says that it aroused a vast deal of bitter feeling — so bitter that neither party would recog- nize the rights of the other — and as is usually the case, each side employed whatever means seemed advantageous, without regard for the welfare of the public. The strike was a rude lesson, Col. Wright concludes, which should teach society to protect itself. However, it did not teach the Americans to renounce the strike altogether, as the 50 Report on the Chicago Strike, pp. 22-27. 258 The American Laborer crisis of 1893-94 gave rise to other very grave strikes, among which were the strike on the Lehigh Valley Rail- road in December, 1893, that of the miners, and that on the Great Northern Railroad in April, 1894. The total number of strikes in 1894, of which the results for the first six months only are known to me, probably passed 1700. Opinions and theories upon the strike in the United States. — In America many economists are disposed to hold that the strike is the most practical means by which the labor- ing class can enforce their claims. They condemn vio- lence, but this, they hold, is more often due to vagabonds than workmen. Professor Ely, one of the leaders of a recent school with leanings towards state socialism, expresses himself as fol- lows in a work which has become classic: "Strikes pro- duce harm, and every effort should be made to avoid them. They are, however, successful in more cases than is ordi- narily supposed, and when occasionally a decided victory is scored the gain is immense. An agitation of a few weeks and a strike of a few days, together with an act of legislature, established a reduction of the hours of labor from seventeen to twelve for the hundreds of street-car em- ployees in Baltimore. This is probably an advantage per- manently secured. Other illustrations might be given, and nothing is gained by shutting our eyes to such facts." " But employers think otherwise, the American like the European. They like neither combinations, strikes, nor the unions which foster strikes, and they endeavor to free themselves by substituting machinery for labor wherever it is possible. The chief of the bureau of industrial sta- tistics of Pennsylvania in 1893, Mr. Bolles, remarked that many of the inventions of the preceding fifteen years had been due to strikes and other difficulties caused by work- men. 52 51 Outlines of Economics, p. 191. 1 Industrial Statistics, Pennsylvania, 1893, D. 29. The Strike 259 In the Boston salons, as well as in those of Paris, regret is expressed for the situation in which manufacturers are placed by the strike and the opinion is often heard that the people have become ungovernable and their minds per- verted; that the strike will ruin industry. This is why great manufacturers refuse to employ workmen affiliated with a union. They may be debarred as judges, because they are too interested in maintaining their own supremacy to be impartial; but they must be heard as witnesses be- cause they represent an important current of opinion and have had personal experience in these matters. Carroll D. Wright thinks that the responsibility for strikes rests as much upon the employers as the employees. Testifying before the Senate Committee on Education and Labor in 1883, he asserted that in general neither side was disinterested enough to discern the truth. " But this much is true, that when the wage receivers are satisfied of the moral integrity of their employers in the conduct of the affairs of the establishment they accept the situation asked of them generously and loyally. . . . The truth may be presented to a man in such a way as to antagonize him; and on the other hand it may be presented to him in such a way as to win his support. There is a great deal of hu- man nature on both sides of the question. The fault I find with managers of establishments where strikes have oc- curred is that they consider human nature to be about all on one side, and not to be recognized as existing on both." BS There is much truth in these remarks, but we must be- ware of generalities; in this as in many other matters, the absolute, which takes no notice of the complexity of hu- man affairs, is sure to lose itself in some Utopia. There undoubtedly are employers who have the art of conciliat- ing their personnel; illustrations might be supplied from the investigation just mentioned. But is there a single 53 Labor and Capital, iii, 420. 260 The American Laborer employer who can be sure that he is completely beyond the danger of strikes? A few ivords upon the relation between wages and profits. — The fundamental theory of Mr. Wright is that wages should be proportional to profits and vary with them ; M the idea is seductive, as it seems to realize the ideals of justice, but it is not the true theory of wages. The wage-earner is very different from the entrepreneur: he has not the same chance of gain because he does not run the same risks. This theory was discussed in the Senate investigation just mentioned. A witness who had been engaged in the woolen industry for twenty years admitted that one of the most frequent causes of strikes was the opinion of work- men that their wages were not proportioned to the value produced by their labor. But they are often deceived, he added; a mill may be very actively employed and yet not be making money. American workmen, he thought, were not so well informed upon the profits of manufacturing as the English workmen, whose trades-unions were much more advanced. Col. Wright's estimate that the manufacturers of Massachusetts had made 10 per cent profit in the pre- vious year, after making every allowance for preserving and maintaining the plant and paying all expenses of pro- duction, including six per cent interest on capital, the witness thought excessive; no such calculation, he stated, could be safely made; in any event, the workman had had a generous share in the progress made since 1862.°° The level of wages may be closely connected with the general productivity of industry, but it is not a function of productivity, especially when productivity is measured by the gain of some one establishment, or the temporary M Mr. Wright expressed this thought in his first report as Com- missioner of Labor (Industrial Depressions, p. 293): "Public opinion can . . . demand that after capital and labor shall have received fixed and reasonable compensation, each for its invest- ment, the net profits of production shall be divided under profit- sharing plans or methods, or through industrial copartnership. . . ." 55 Labor and Capital, iii, p. 438 et seq. The Strike 261 profits in some particular industry. Wages are relatively stable compared with profits, which are speculative in nature; the former precede or accompany production, while the latter follow the sale or, more correctly, the payment, and at the moment of production both sale and payment are uncertain. Out of a thousand manufacturers who, at the same time and in the same country, make and sell practically the same articles, there are from twenty to forty perhaps who make fortunes, hundreds who just hold their own, and a large number who completely fail; yet all of them pay the same wages. Shall those who fail demand that their employees work for nothing? Since we cannot admit this proposition, why admit that the employees of those who prosper have a right to a part of the ultimate profits? The employees of both classes have sold their labor at the market price, and this was practically the same in all establishments; the probable regulation of their labor by machinery only secured its more equal and conscientious application. Whence arise the differences of result? Evidently in the skill or fortune of the entrepreneur. To whom, then, does the profit legitimately belong? The profit is ordinarily un- certain and indeterminate until after a purchaser has been found and payment received. But the workman receives his part in advance, the amount being determined when the wage-contract was made, and that was the time when he should have exploited his personal value. He is justi- fied in employing organization, as Col. Wright advises him to do, in order to maintain his own interests and secure a higher valuation upon his industrial worth. But when he has accepted the contract he has no right of action until the contract expires, just as the employer has no right of recovery upon the wages of his workmen when his opera- tions result in a loss. This does not imply in the least that the benevolent and far-sighted employer, in times of pros- perity, will not make it advantageous to his employees to interest themselves in the continued prosperity of his estab- 262 The American Laborer lishment. But the present section is devoted to the rights of the wage-earner, not to the liberality of the far-sighted entrepreneur. 56 The strike is one of the means employed by workmen to secure a favorable wage-contract. We may attempt to persuade them to use it with great caution, not to be led away by sudden impulses, to examine carefully whether they are not misinformed by interested leaders, and we may show them the cost of defeat or even of victory. But in the existing state of institutions and customs, they cannot be denied the right of employing it, just as in the political sphere, nations cannot be denied the right of waging war. The regulation of strikes upon railways and tlie anti-trust act. — Strikes upon railroads have seemed graver to Ameri- cans than strikes in other industries, because they interrupt transportation and thus disarrange the whole economic movement of the country. This feeling has prompted several states to pass special statutes upon such strikes. Thus, the explanatory preamble of the law passed in Dela- ware upon this subject in 1877 reads: "Whereas, strikes by locomotive engineers and other railroad employees, and the abandonment by them of their engines and trains at points other than their schedule destination, whereby the safety of the passenger is often jeoparded, and shippers of fruits and other freights are subjected to great incon- venience, delay and possible loss, have lately become so frequent and extensive as to render it imperative that the rights and interests of the public should be guarded and protected in this respect by some proper legislation. Now, therefore, be it enacted, etc." This law inflicts a fine of from $100 to $500 and imprisonment for a term not less than six months upon every engineer or conductor who violates its provisions; upon every employee who in a sympathetic strike or boycott refuses to handle the cars of another company; and upon every person who obstructs " See L'Ouvrier Americain, ch. iv, pt. iii. The Strike 263 a railroad track or injures or destroys the rolling stock, or other property of a railroad company. 67 Similar laws, with some differences of detail, are found in Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, New Jersey, Penn- sylvania. 58 Congress has also legislated upon this subject; being charged with the regulation of interstate commerce, it decided that means should be taken to prevent the interrup- tion by railway strikes of the transportation between the several states of persons, goods and mails. The Interstate Commerce Act, passed in 1887 and amended in 1889, gave federal authorities the power to regulate unreasonable rates, prohibit special advantages to favored individuals, and pre- vent in general all obstruction of interstate transportation. Strikes of railway employees are thus brought within the jurisdiction of the federal courts. Thus, in the case of the United States vs. Cassidy et ah, in the United States Court for the Northern District of California, in 1895, the court said: "A strike, or a preconcerted quitting of work, by a combination of railroad employees, is, in itself, unlawful, if the concerted action is knowingly and willfully directed by the parties to it for the purpose of obstructing and retarding the passage of the mails, or in restraint of trade and commerce among the states." w The Anti-trust Act of 1890 has greatly augmented the power of the courts in this matter. It provides that every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy in restraint of trade or commerce among the several states, is illegal and punishable as a misdemeanor. This law, which was primarily aimed at combinations of producers, has been extended so as to cover combinations "Laws of Delaware, vol. 15, ch. 481. 03 Mississippi must now be added to this list. References to the latest statutes upon this subject may be found in the Report of the Industrial Commission on Labor Legislation, pp. 132-134. See also the Second Special Report of the Commissioner of Labor of the United States, title " Strikes of Railroad Employees." [Tr.] 50 Labor Laws, second edition, p. 1346. See also pp. 1348, 1353. 264 The American Laborer of railroad employees." It was under this law that Mr. Debs, the leader of the railway employees in the Chicago strike, was summoned before the court. The laborers have never acquiesced in this legisla- tion; they fail to understand why, if they have a right to strike, the right does not exist in all relations between employees and employers. The argument is not without force, but it should be completed by the statement that responsibility, like the strike, is a logical consequence of the freedom of labor; in consequence, when strikers who have contracted to work for a given time jeopardize the lives of travelers or damage the property of third parties by deserting their posts, they should be compelled to make pecuniary restitution. As it is ordinarily impossible to obtain damages from workmen, it has been thought neces- sary, in the general interest, to protect such an important social service by preventive measures and by corporal penalties directed against those who obstruct it. The variation of American legislation upon combination. — The American laws upon combination are not uniform, and they have been modified by time; the attitude of the courts in the last seventy-five years has changed more than the laws. But public opinion in the United States seems never to have been strongly pronounced against strikes, 61 as the testimony of Michel Chevalier proves. And yet, scarcely fifty years have passed since judges in the United States, as in England, classed strikes in the category of conspira- cies and punished strikers as conspirators. 62 60 See Labor Lazvs, second edition, pp. 1348. 1353. 01 Mr. Bolles, in his Chapters in Political Economy, published at New York in 1874, said: " So far as the National and State Gov- ernments are concerned, workmen have no just cause of complaint. They have always been placed upon the same footing as the capi- talist, and have enjoyed the unquestioned right to form trade- union societies." " An English law of 1799 declared " contracts entered into for obtaining an advance of wages, for altering the usual time for working . . . illegal, null and void." The laws against combina- tion began to be repealed about 1825. The Strike 265 In 1806, in an action brought against a number of journeymen shoemakers in Philadelphia, the recorder said: " A combination of workmen to raise wages may be considered in a twofold point of view: one is to benefit themselves, the other is to injure those who do not join their society. The rule of law condemns both." e The jury returned a verdict of guilty. In another case at Pitts- burg, in 1815, the presiding judge instructed the jury that it was lawful for an individual to fix what price he pleased on his labor, but that to extort this price by combination was a criminal conspiracy; the jury convicted the prisoners. In 1823 the master hatters of New York formed an agree- ment to employ no workman who had left his last position on account of wages. The workmen responded by organ- izing a society whose members were pledged not to work in any factory employing workmen at rates inferior to those of a wage-scale adopted by the society. This was carried out, but those who struck were arrested on the charge of having caused the discharge of another workman, and were declared by the jury guilty of conspiracy. 04 Says an American author in a recent work upon strikes and lockouts: " The history of labor from the earliest time shows that workmen had practically no rights at all. . . . Therefore it is not astonishing in the light of this history that the common law made a mere conspiracy criminal." ' But mere combination has now become entirely legal, even in states which have no special law upon the subject. Thus, in Pennsylvania: " It shall be lawful for any laborer or laborers, workingman or workingmen, journeyman or journeymen, acting either as individuals or as members of any club, society or association, to refuse to work or labor for any person or persons, whenever, in his, her or their opinion, the wages paid are insufficient, or the treatment of f ° Cogley on Strikes and Lockouts, p. 47. e * First Biennial Report, Colorado, p. 45. " Tlie Law of Strikes, Lockouts and Labor Organizations, by Thomas S. Cogley, Washington, 1894, P- 98. 266 The American Laborer such laborer or laborers, workingman or workingmen, journeyman or journeymen, by his, her or their employer is brutal or offensive, or the continued labor by such laborer or laborers, workingman or workingmen, journeyman or journeymen, would be contrary to the rules, regulations or by-laws of any [lawful] club, society or organization to which he, she, or they might belong, without subjecting any person or persons so refusing to work or labor to prose- cution or indictment for conspiracy, under the criminal laws of this commonwealth." ee The state of New York passed a law as early as 1870 in which workmen were expressly permitted to assemble peaceably with the object of obtaining higher wages; and in 1883, in a revision of the penal code, peaceable combina- tion was legalized, although penalties were prescribed for violence, actual or threatened. Almost exactly the same law was adopted by Minnesota in 1886, and at short in- tervals afterwards by New Jersey, West Virginia, Mary- land and Colorado. A large number of states, such as Connecticut, Michigan and Wisconsin, confine themselves to penalizing violence, threats and intimidations, without expressly legalizing combinations of workmen; while in some states boycotting and blacklisting are specially desig- nated as illegal. North Dakota confers upon the com- missioner of labor the power of acting as arbiter when called upon in labor disputes. 67 All these laws are of recent date ; they have resulted from the labor movement which has taken place in the last twenty years. They have not yet secured a place in the code of every state, but it would be wholly wrong to infer, as do some of the publicists of the labor party, that com- bination is illegal where it is not expressly authorized by law. 48 Arrests may be made in connection with strikes M Brightly 's Pur don's Digest. 12th Edition, p. 2017. 87 See the Special Report of the Commissioner of Labor entitled Labor Lazes, second edition. 68 See a reflection of this opinion in the Rapports dc la delegation ouvriere a V Exposition dc Chicago, p. 380. Mr. Stimson in his Hand- book to the Labor Lazv of the United States says of strikes, p. 194: The Strike 267 which may or may not be justified; the court decides. But the mere fact of association, permanent or temporary, or of combination to obtain an end, is so regarded by the American mind that there is no need to-day of a written law to legalize strikes. " Twenty years ago," said J. W. Sullivan, a delegate from the American Federation of Labor to the Trades Union Congress, held in England, in 1896, " the courts punished conspiracy by virtue of laws which have to-day lost most of their force, except in a small number of states. In general, our combinations have ceased to be illegal; strikers in ordinary cases are no longer conspirators." As in all questions of fact, there are still doubtful points ** upon which the law is uncertain. But the right to combine is no longer in doubt. In this, as in many other matters, American courts and legislatures have followed English precedent. " It is just as evident," says Mr. Bolles, " that laborers have a right to combine in order to get their dues, as capitalists have to combine for the purpose of resisting an advance of wages." T0 But in the exercise of this right workmen must be careful not to violate a superior right — that of individual liberty. In protecting the latter, many states have passed special laws against preventing persons by force or threats from continuing to work for another person. 71 " There is no subject connected with labor law about which there has been so much disagreement among judges and jurists, and about which there is still so much doubt. A recent text-book upon strikes and boycotts goes so far as to say that there can be no such thing as a legal strike. The truth is probably the exact opposite. Instead of saying no strikes are legal, we should now say all strikes are legal. • . ." 80 Mr. Stimson treats several in his Handbook. Thus, it is unde- cided whether workmen who break a contract with their employer to go on a strike are liable in damages (Mr. Stimson thinks they are), and whether a sympathetic strike is illegal or not, combina- tion of this kind not having for its object a direct advantage to those who combine. 70 Chapters in Political Economy, by A. S. Bolles, p. 30. 71 See Stimson's Handbook, p. 24, and the Report of the Industrial Commission on Labor Legislation, pp. 130-132. 268 The American Laborer Mr. Cogley, after having described the legislation of the principal states upon this subject, concludes by saying: " It may, therefore, be laid down as a general rule in the United States, that employees have the right, either singly or in bodies, to quit their employment,. provided they do so peaceably, and, in doing so, do not violate their con- tracts with their employers. But that if in quitting their employment, they either singly or in combination resort to violence to the person or property of either employer or co- employees or persons seeking employment, or by threats, intimidation in any form, molestation, obstruction, or inter- ference, to compel an employer to increase their wages, to alter his mode of carrying on his business, to discharge employees, to employ those he does not wish to employ, or to compel, against their will, employees to quit their em- ployment, or to prevent those seeking work from accepting employment, to join a club or association they do not wish to join, then their acts are illegal, and they become liable criminally. Violence and intimidation are abhorrent to the law, and the moment they taint the acts and purposes of employees, that moment their acts and purposes become unlawful." " Carroll D. Wright expresses his opinion in these words: " Peaceable organization for peaceable and lawful purposes is no longer conspiracy." ™ Yet there is one exception to this, as we have seen above, that of railway employees. The persistancc of the strike. — Like war, the strike is an evil. Dreamers like Bellamy may imagine a society in which a perpetual and fraternal harmony prevails, where men are content with their lot and the strike forever aban- doned. But in real society, with its selfish interests and human passions, the strike, it may be asserted, will not disappear. For a certain time, at least, there is more likeli- hood of an increase than of a decrease in strikes. Combination, that is to say, the collective action of work- 71 Cogley, op. cit., p. 264. " The Industrial Evolution, p. 286. The Strike 269 men, with the object of obtaining the most suitable condi- tions upon which to dispose of their labor, is a right, and the strike, that is to say the concerted refusal to work, is a consequence of this right. The laboring classes have become a power, particularly in democratic governments like the United States. It would be well-nigh impossible to deny them a right; it is enough if they are prevented from encroaching upon the rest of society. They are strongly organized in associa- tions of which but few existed in former times, and the number and power of these associations will probably con- tinue to increase. Experience has taught them that although the strike is sometimes costly it occasionally suc- ceeds, and like all who play at games of chance, they firmly believe when the game is on that luck is with them. Official statistics show that about forty-five strikes out of every hundred succeed in America, and from twenty to twenty-five in France, but the labor leaders hold out much more encouraging results than this. Mr. Gompers, for example, in his report to the general assembly of the Fed- eration of Labor in 1890, announced that 1163 strikes had been authorized by the Federation, of which 989 had suc- ceeded, 98 resulted in a compromise, and only 76 failed. 7 * The laboring classes are in general better off than they have ever been, and they are particularly well paid in the United States. It is undeniable that strikes are carried on, in general, not by the weaker classes, but by the higher classes of workmen, and it is not hopeless misery, as - General Walker asserted, 75 but increasing ambition that causes them. Some of the leaders who incite and guide the laboring classes sincerely believe that the latter are victims of a cruel and unequal contract from which they should emancipate themselves by vigorous action, while others merely seek support for their own ambitions. Neither species of leader will be absent in the future. Report of the Proceedings, p. 14. Publications of the American Economic Association, vol. iii. p. 14. 19 270 The American Laborer Boycotts and blacklisting, justly prohibited in some states, and the sympathetic strike, which is a perverted form of the strike as it is not a combination of persons to defend in common their particular interests, are in reality extensions of the principle of combination which workmen will not easily renounce because of their extreme effective- ness, just as states have never ceased to contract offensive and defensive alliances. But they are evidently excesses that infringe the liberty of some to satisfy the passions of others; blacklisting, particularly, which crushes the victim while it costs the persecutor nothing, seems to me especi- ally reprehensible. It is well that law and custom repress these abuses, but when there is no superior power which can decide in the name of justice and enforce its decision, the only resort is force, and to acquire power each party gathers all the resources it can command either of itself or from its friends. The law in America permits free speech, and custom would not now allow any authority to shackle it. Distinguished economists have tried to show that the state of wealth of a country being given, the strike can give nothing to one class of laborers that it does not take from other classes. But it is impossible to prove scientifically that wages figure in the cost of production or that the increment to wages must come from the general fund of wages rather than the fund of profits. And in spite of their talk about solidarity, the labor-unions pursue their own ends in America without disturbing themselves about what will be left of the wage-fund for others — assuming that there is a definite fund of this sort; they are satisfied for the time, they say, when they have obtained the specific concession they demanded. Statistics of strikes in France and England. — In the new world, as in the old, the strike has become one of the condi- tions of modern industry, in the same way that disease is a condition of human life. I shall not compare it to the tunic of Nessus, because I do not believe that industry will perish The Strike 271 from the suffering it inflicts upon capital; but it is a de- structive pest which must be continually fought, one whose activity seems the more intense as the democracy of the country is more powerful 70 and the development of great industries the more advanced. In France, the number of strikes of which the adminis- tration has knowledge 77 has greatly increased. In twelve years the average annual number increased from 131 to 368, while in 1893 there were 634 with 170,000 strikers; in 1894, however, there were only 391 strikes and 54,576 strikers. 78 In the latter year, 21 per cent succeeded, 33 were compromised, and the rest failed. 79 In the United Kingdom more than 500 strikes have been recorded by the Board of Trade in every year since 1888, the great majority being in the building trades, mines and quarrying, and the metallurgical and textile industries; in 1889 the number rose to 121 1, involving 360,000 persons.* 78 Here again it is necessary to beware of generalizations: strikes are relatively scarce in Switzerland. 77 The average estimate of 18 strikes a year, from 1856 to 1870 (see Annnaire Statistique de la France, 1892-1894, p. 416), is in- sufficient, as from 1853 to 1862 the ministere public prosecuted 749 combinations of workmen and 89 combinations of employers. See Histoire des Classes Ouvrieres en France, by E. Levasseur, ii, 333. 78 More than fifty per cent were carried on by groups of more than 100 workmen. The mean duration may be estimated at fifteen days; in 1894 six lasted more tnan 100 days. See the publication of the Office du Travail: Statistique des Greves, and the Etude sur les Coalitions et les Greves, by M. Crouzel. 79 In 1898 there were 368 strikes, of which 20.4 succeeded; 46.2 failed, and 33.4 were compromised. 82,065 strikers were involved and the time lost amounted to 1,216,306 days, or about 15 days for each workman involved (5900 workmen being thrown out who were not strikers). 242 out of the 368 strikes lasted not more than one week. Statisque des Greves for 1898, pp. 7-9. [Tr.] 80 Out of 721 strikes in 1899 (preliminary results), 177 were in the building trades; no in mining and quarrying; 145 in the metal, engineering and shipbuilding trades; and 121 in the textile trades. In English official statistics no labor dispute is counted which in- volved less than ten work-people, or which lasted less than one day, except when the aggregate duration exceeded 100 working days. See Sixth Annual Abstract of Labor Statistics of the United Kingdom, p. 58 et seq. [Tr.] 2?2 The American Laborer Although in 1893 there were only 782 (strikes and lock- outs), 636,000 persons were involved owing to the strike of the coal miners, in which 500,000 persons participated. 81 Since 1888, in more than one-third of the cases (from 31 to 48 per cent), the result has been favorable to the workmen, while in about twenty-five per cent a compromise has been effected. 82 In 1893 it was officially estimated that the loss in wages — so far as this could be estimated for 215,000 strikers — was 1,849,000 pounds sterling, to which should be added the expenditures of the trades-unions in support- ing the strikes. Mr. Giffen observed that although this amount was very large, it represented scarcely one per cent of the total annual wages, and while the strikers often have to submit to a reduction of wages after the strike, they frequently obtain an increase. Mr. Burnett has esti- mated the reductions in 1893 at 320 pounds a week and the advances at 8182 pounds. 83 There have been strikes in England in which people were wounded and killed, but the trades-unions have been edu- cated beyond violence or at least have rendered it much less common. The English strike of to-day is ordinarily peaceable, as is shown by the strike of the cotton operators in 1892-93, which threw 120,000 people out of work for four months, but aroused no disorder and was terminated by an amicable agreement. The old trades-unions have be- come convinced that the multiplication of strikes is preju- dicial to the prosperity of England : in the separate congress which they held at Newcastle in 1895 m opposition to the general congress of that year, it was resolved as the opinion S1 Out of the 115.397 work people affected in 1899. more than one-half lived in Scotland (60,165) and Wales and Monmouthshire 552). Ibid., p. 61. " 2 The proportion of compromises has varied from 17 to 3*4 per cent; that of failures from 17.3 to 35.5 per cent; that of indefinite or unsettled cases from 7.9 to 18.4 per cent. Ibid., p. 60, and Report on the Work of the Labor Department of the Board of Trade. 1893-94. w See Fifth Report of the Royal Commission of Labor, p. 39, and Report by the Chief Labor Correspondent on the Strikes and Lockouts of 1893, P- 58. The Strike 273 of the congress that the time had come when a national agreement should be established between employers and employees, of such a nature as to prevent the decay of British industry which, in consequence of strikes, it was stated, was passing into the hands of foreign competitors. The question of remedies. — There can be no doubt that the destructive upheavals produced by strikes entail a great waste of the national wealth. But, surely, something more can be done than to stand by in open-mouthed helplessness and prophesy the increasing number and seriousness of these economic drains. I do not wish to foster the vain hope that the evil may be abolished by law. But I cannot endorse a policy of indifference. I shall speak in another chapter of preventatives such as profit-sharing and of regulators such as the labor-union. As for the strike it- self, I believe that the Americans are on the right road when they endeavor to oppose it with conciliation and arbitration, applied either after the strike is declared or when it is on the point of being declared. Whatever difficul- ties may be met in the practical application of arbitration, it will probably constitute one of the partial remedies of the future. 84 Meanwhile, all the American laws, as well as those of Europe, condemn threats, violence and intimidation; it is rightly so, since they could not be tolerated without deny- ing the principle of liberty which constitutes the very essence of combination. But it is difficult to distinguish threats from persuasion, violence from collective authority, and in America, as in France and England, the attitude of the courts is a wavering one. Yet it is necessary, in the interest of industrial peace, as in that of the laborers who wish to work, that no man be morally coerced to engage or persist in a strike against his will. It is the courts rather than the legislatures which must maintain the bal- ance between the right of association and that of individual liberty. 84 A more detailed treatment of this question may be found in the original work. ch. vii, pt. iii. [Tr.] 274 The American Laborer To this the workmen oppose the argument, which is not without weight, that a few employers can get together in an office or private room and plan a lockout or concerted resistance, while the strikers are compelled to control thousands of men and to conduct their campaign in public, often in the streets. But the difficulty of their task offers no excuse for the tyranny strikers often exercise upon those who do not wish to join or remain in the strike. Every strike entails money losses: the support of unem- ployed workmen and often the destruction of property; cessation of wages for the workmen, stoppage of produc- tion for the entrepreneurs. When a strike is conducted legitimately, each participant should bear his own loss; but when illegal means are employed the offender should be liable in civil damages in addition to being prosecuted criminally; thus, the workmen might have a right of action against their leaders or their employers, or on the other hand, the employers might be able to get damages from every union or individual striker who aids or abets violence. Liberty of action implies responsibility for acts. A great step in the direction of industrial peace will have been taken the day when public opinion becomes convinced by experience that the courts must not hesitate to apply the principle of responsibility in all cases. This day may possibly be at hand, but the time seems much further off when workmen and employers, educated by their own and the accumulated experience of time, will take greater account of the economic wrong involved in the violent interruption of production by strikes, boycotts and lockouts; when they will understand that their highest in- terest after all lies rather in submitting their differences to peaceable arbitration than in attempting to crush their adversaries in a conflict which impoverishes all. Then, perhaps, the compulsory arbitration which I cannot now endorse 8S may become effective, because superfluous. 86 See the chapter on arbitration in the third part of L'Ouvrier Atnericain. The Strike 275 But till then we must confine ourselves to voluntary arbitration, which educates the mind, slowly, it must be admitted, but without furnishing the demoralizing spectacle of impotent law and of abuses committed in its name. Then, perhaps, the labor-unions, more numerous and better organized, will have acquired maturer ideas, the em- ployers will have exchanged their masterful tone for one of explanation, and when a difference arises will be more willing to discuss their affairs with their employees than was Mr. Pullman. But that time has not arrived; neither in the United States, nor in France, nor even in England, in spite of the many examples of the sound common sense of the English people in this regard. CHAPTER VI WAGES OF MEN The general increase of ivages. — That the general level of nominal wages — the average sum gained by the laborer for an hour's work — has increased in the last seventy-five years, is beyond reasonable doubt. In America as in most Euro- pean states, the fact is so patent that to dispute it, one must be blind with prejudice or completely engrossed with a few abnormal details of the general movement of labor. One of the economists who has studied the subject most carefully expresses himself as follows in regard to the movement of wages in America: "In 1830, when the first statistics in my possession are dated, the average earnings of all the operatives in a large cotton-mill, who then worked thirteen hours or more a day, and among whom were comprised a much larger proportion of men than at the present time, while the women were older and there were fewer children, were $2.50 to $2.62 per week. 1 The quantity of machinery which each hand could tend was much less; the production of each spindle and loom was less ; the cost in money of the mills per spindle or loom much greater, while the price of 1 Prof. James in The Labor Movement, p. 70. has cited an earlier example, a maximum wage-list established by the selectmen of \ T e\vburyport in 1777: Carpenters .". shillings 4 pence per day. Calkers 6 " Day laborers, not found 4 " Day laborers, found '■> " Joiners 4 " 8 Masons (J These were maxima and undoubtedly higher than the rates ac- tually paid. Wages of Men 271 cloth was at times more than double the price at which it can now be sold with a reasonable profit. The average earnings of all the female operatives in what purports to be the same factory, at the present time, on the same fabric, working ten or eleven hours a day, under vastly better sani- tary conditions, both in the factory and in their dwelling- houses, are $5 per week, and in some cases even $6 — or more to the most skillful. That is to say, women only now earn about twice as much in ten hours as men and women combined averaged in thirteen hours a little over forty years ago." 2 The same author, basing his calculations upon the pay- rolls of two New England factories, estimates that the aver- age annual wage was $175 in 1840 and $287 in 1883. He also gives figures from other industries: in one piano-factory, $562 per year in 1843, an d $824 in 1880; in another piano- factory, $11.33 P er week in 1853 and $17.50 in 1880; in an edge-tool manufactory, $1.60 per day in 1850, $2.26 in 1880. 3 I have cited here merely a few illustrations. All the docu- ments that I have myself consulted confirm the opinion of Mr. Atkinson. 2 Ed. Atkinson, The Distribution of Products, fifth edition, p. 64. In his special census report entitled " The Factory System of the United States," Col. Wright gives several sets of wage-statistics including the figures of Mr. Atkinson. I subjoin a few quotations. WAGES PER WE1CK. L840. IS 50. 1S60. 1870 1 . 1875 1 . L880. Dollars. Dollars. Dollars. Dollars. Dollars. Dollars. Laborer (New Hampshire) "..00 4.50 5.00 7.00 6.50 6.00 Weaver (New Hampshire) 5.00 5 . T 5 6.00 7.00 6.33 6.75 Weaver (Massachusetts). . 4.20 6.00 5.68 10.00 9.78 8.07 6.00 5.40 7.70 6. 75 6.00 Laborer (North Carolina. . 2.25 3.00 4.50 3.00 3.90 3.00 i Amounts expressed in gold, except in 1S70 and 1875. Col. Wright corroborates these results by adding statistics which he had prepared while Commissioner of Labor of Massachusetts. According to these figures wages in the cotton manufacture had increased 19 per cent between i860 and 1878. and 9.1 per cent be- tween 1878 and 1881. Report on the Manufactures of the United States at the Tenth Census, pp. 527-610. 3 The Distribution of Products, pp. 118, 126 ct passim. 278 The American Laborer We may first examine agricultural statistics. They show a marked increase in wages during the interval 1815-1860; an inflation during the paper-money regime, followed by a fall; and finally, a recovery which again raised the general level — different in different sections of the country — as high as it had been forced by the depreciation of the currency.* As I pointed out in V Agriculture aux Etats-Unis? the farm laborer received $9 a month and his board fifty years ago; in 1892 he received $12.54 and board. If at present the wages of farm-laborers are stationary or perhaps declining, it must be attributed to the low prices of agricultural pro- duce. 6 In the second place we may obtain a general notion of the upward movement by observing the number of persons employed in manufactures in the several census years, in connection with the total wages paid to them. These sta- tistics are given in the following table, accompanied by a representation of the wage-level at four epochs, quoted from * In Connecticut the farm-laborer received (board not included) from $18 to $20 a month during the period 1850-1855; 1860-1865, from $22 to $35 (paper) a month; 1870-1875, from $35 to $40; 1885- 1890, $35 to $40. In Washington county, New York, the pay (with board) was $.55 a day, 1840-1850; $1.37 (paper), 1860-1870; $1, 1880-1890. In Massachusetts the pay (with board) was $8 a month in 1815, $11 in 1825, $11 in 1835, $14.37 in 1845, $14.67 in 1855, $32 (paper) in 1865, $31.87 (paper) in 1875, $28.75 in 1885, $29.70 in 1892. See Fourth Triennial Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the State of Colorado, 1893-94, pp. 66, 83 et seq. This volume contains other statistics which confirm those quoted. Thus a farmer of Butler county, Ohio, paid (with board) from $6 to $8 a month in 1836, from $10 to $12 in 1845, from $12 to $14 in 1855, $13.25 in 1865, and from $15 to $17 in 1875. Since that time the rate has varied from $15 to $18; in 1892 it was from $15 to $17. 5 L' Agriculture aux Etats-Unis, p. 61. Since the publication of that volume Mr. Powers has shown in one of his reports that in the Mississippi valley agricultural wages have increased from 60 to 75 per cent in the last 35 years; a greater increase, Mr. Powers thinks, than in the Eastern States. See Fifth Biennial Report .... Minnesota, p. 508. 6 In France agricultural wages apparently decreased a little be- tween 1882 and 1895. [For agricultural wages in the United States since 1895, see note 36, p. 296.] Wages of Men 279 Col. Wright. The wages are from ioo establishments in 22 different industries, the average rate of i860, represented by 100, being taken as the standard of comparison. 7 Average number of employees. Total wages (millions of dollars). Average annual wages per em- ployee (dollars). Index-number of wages (from CD. Wright). 82.5 958,079 237 247 1,131,246 379 335 100.0 155.6 2,053,996 776 375 2,732,595 948 346 4,712,622 2,283 484 168.6 1840 1850 1860 1866 1870 1880 1890 This comparison which includes men, women and chil- dren, all kinds of employees from superintendents down to day-laborers, is too general to be exact. Statisticians have criticised it; they have pointed out that the inquiry about wages, like the inquiry about the cost of materials, has changed from one census to another; that in 1880, for ex- ample, the enumeration of agricultural laborers, who as a general rule receive smaller wages than other employees, was more complete than in 1890; that on the contrary the employees engaged in manufacturing establishments were much more thoroughly canvassed in 1890 than in 1880; that if the wages of government employees were eliminated, the average for 1890 would be less than $484; and finally, that the total amount of wages paid during the year divided by the average number of hands employed during that year does not necessarily give the average annual wages per em- ployee. " Therefore," writes the superintendent, " the av- erage annual wages per employe as obtained from the re- ports for the two censuses are not comparable, nor should the amounts be used to ascertain the percentage of in- crease." 8 Those publicists of the labor-party who pretend that the condition of the wage-earner goes on growing worse and worse, also challenge the truth of these figures. However the comparison is not wholly destitute of sig- nificance. An impartial examination leads one to conclude that there has been an increase in nominal wages — an in- 7 See The Industrial Evolution, p. 223. 8 Abstract of the Eleventh Census, second edition, p. 139. 280 The American Laborer crease which between the years 1850 and 1890 is very close to 100 per cent — ; that this growth, in all probability, has been by gradual stages; and that if this last conclusion be not confirmed for the year 1870, it is because at that epoch prices were inflated by the depreciation of the currency. The analysis by groups of the employees who averaged $484 in 1890, shows that male officers, firm members, and clerks received on an average $890, the females of the same group, $462 a year; that among time-workers the men aver- aged $498, the women $276, and the children, $141 a year; while among piece-workers, male operatives averaged $500, female operatives $255, and children $117 a year. 9 The figures show that the highest wages are paid to officers and clerks; that among piece-workers the male operative — usu- ally a good workman who does his work at the shop of his employer — makes more than the workman paid by the day, while among workingwomen the conditions are reversed — women often doing piece-work at home in connection with other work; that the respective earnings of children, women and men are related nearly as 1 : 2 : 3 or 4. These are re- sults so intrinsically probable that they establish the general validity, for our purposes, of the statistics we have been con- sidering. And yet these figures do not represent the real average income in the several groups. American statisticians have called attention to the fact that the real mean is higher than the one given because certain trades such as bricklaying, lumbering, etc., are exercised during only a part of the year: the wages furnished by employers to the census enumera- tors in such cases do not include the earnings made by the workman in other occupations during the time that he can- * The group of officers, firm members and clerks contained 418.081 men and 42,928 women; the time-workers, skilled and un- skilled, 2.881,795 men, 505.712 women, and 104.522 children; the piece-workers, 445.247 men, 297.974 women, and 16,363 children, on an average. The word " men " as used here denotes males above 16 years of age, the word " women,'' females above 15 years. Re- port on Manufacturing Industries .... Eleventh Census. Part I, p. 20. Wages of Men 281 not work at his regular trade. Other writers endeavor to prove that the real mean is less than the figures given be- cause the average number of persons employed is less than the maximum number employed at certain seasons of the year. The census estimate of the average annual wage in 1880 was $346, which Mr. Atkinson thinks should be increased to $415 because of the fact that establishments created dur- ing the year did not furnish a true estimate of the whole year's wages. He attempted to obtain exact results by cal- culating the mean for several occupations according to the census of 1880; I have treated the returns of the eleventh census in a similar way, and in every instance have found an increase. 10 In the third place the progress of wages may be shown by illustrations from special industries. A comparison, for instance, of wages at Manchester, New Hampshire, in 1850 and 1883 shows an increase of something more than 50 per cent. 11 At New York, painters who had received from $1.50 10 The Distribution of Products, p. 109. In the 125 occupations in which I was able to make a comparison, there was not a single one in which the per capita earnings were less in 1890 than in 1880. from those in the manufacture of liquors ($468 in 1880 and $815 in 1890) and marble and stone work ($477 and $723), to those in the manufacture of woolen goods ($300 and $358) and hosiery and knit goods ($232 and $298). 11 See the following list of wages paid in the " cotton and wool mills " of Manchester, N. H., in 1850 and 1883. As the occupa- tions have changed somewhat during the interval, the comparison is not exact. men.— 1850. , 1883. Overseers $2.42 Overseers $3.40 Wool sorters 1.25 Wool sorters 1.90 Pickermen 0.90 Harness pickers 0.95 Carders 1.00 Cotton carding 1.55-0.65 Shearer 0.92 Machinist 1.19 Machinists 1.89 Carpenters 1.19 Carpenters 1.89 women. .. \ males .. 1.15 Laborers $1.00 Q . . \ cotton ] females 0.84 Spinners 0.32 fe P lnmn ^ ) j males . . 1.80 Spoolers 0.40 ' { females 0.80 Warpers 0.40 Warpers 0.95 Weavers 0.44 Weaving 1.79-0.77 Labor and Capital, iii, 238. 282 The American Laborer to $2.00 for a day's work of ten hours in i860, received from $3.50 to $4.00 for eight hours' work in 1893; during the paper-money regime their wages had risen as high as $4.00, but afterwards had fallen to $2.5o. 12 Fluctuations of this kind are noticed in several occupations. In this and other cities of New York wages seem to have increased generally, WAGES OF COMPOSITORS AT NEW YORK. [From Twelfth Annual Report, Nevj York, p. 92.] Compositors, afternoon newspapers, time-work, per week Same, piece-work, per 1000 ems. . . . Compositors, morning papers, time- work, per week Same, piece-work, per 1000 ems. . . . Compositors, book and job, time- work, per week Same, piece-work, per 1000 ems. . . . Typesetting machine operators, morning papers, per week 12 In 1860 $2.00- Inl862 In 1864-1870 In 1871 In 1872 In 1874-1878 In 1880 In 1885 >rdinary painters fresco painters In 1893 (01 Wages before organization in 1852. ) V- Wages in 1894. $12 $24 25 to 28 cents. 40 cents. $14 $27 32 cents. 50 cents. $9 to $10 $18 37 to 43 cents. $27 ?1.50 for a dav of 10 hours. 3.00 " < 10 (i 3.50 " < 8 11 4.00 " c 8 11 3.50 " < 10 " 2.50 t 10 (i 3.00 " t 10 " 3.50 " ' 9 C( 3.50 c 8 11 4.00 " ( 8 II 1891, p. 149 et seq. The data Report .... State of New York, for 1893 was furnished by the assistant commissioner of labor. On the other hand compare the data for New York city fur- nished by the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners who say: " It has been a continual struggle to maintain that rate." In 1867 $4.00 for a day of 10 hours. In 1871-1872 3.50 After the crisis of 1873 . .$2.00-2.25 In L880 3.00 In 1S81 3.25 In 1885 3.50 In 1890 3.50 " 10 « " 10 " 11 10 « 11 9 11 (S on Saturday). " 9 hours (8 on Saturday). The Italian masons received from $2.50 to $3 in the period 1880- 1889: since 1890 they have received $3.50. Plasterers in Brooklyn received $2.50 in 1879; since 1884 they have received $4.00. In 1893 3.50 Wages of Men 283 the increase taking the form of a reduction of hours in some cases, in others, appearing as an absolute rise. The work- ingmen attribute the advance to the influence of their or- ganizations. Col. Wright has furnished statistical proof, in his Indus- trial Evolution, of the increase in the wages of carpenters, shoemakers, spinners and day-laborers. Some of the quo- tations go back as far as the last century and show that the advancement has been general although not uniform. In the Massachusetts cotton-mills, in 1831, the weekly wages of men ranged from $4.50 to $7.00, those of women from $2.20 to $2.60, and those of children from $1.50 to $2.00. In 1880, in the Massachusetts mills, male operatives aver- aged $6.37, female operatives $9.05, and children $3.30 a week. In the United States as a whole, in 1890, men re- ceived from $3.21 to $6.42, women from $5.17 to $10.44, children $2.65 per week. In 1633 master-masons made 33/<3 cents per day; in 1790, $1.00 a day; in 1891 from $5 in Colorado to $2.25 in North Carolina, in the summer season. The statistics of carpenters, shoemakers, day-lab- orers and spinners, follow: 18 From diverse statistical sources I have calculated that the average annual wages of men, women and children in the woolen industry were $115 in 1820 {circa); $216 in i860, 13 The Industrial Evolution, p. 215 et seq. Carpenters. Day-laborers. Shoemakers. Spinners. 1790. .§0.60 1790.. $0.43 1790) 1820 ) 1800. . 0.70 1800.. 0.62K to 1800 ] ■ $0.73X to 1830 ) • 80.44 1810. . 1.09 1800) to \ 1810 ) 1820. . 1.13 0.82 1820") to . 1.00 1830) to | • 0.90 1840. . 1.40? 1830 J 1840 ) 1850. . 1.40? 1810) to [ 0.90 1860. . 1.70 1840 ) 1850 ) 1820 ) 1880. . 1.16 to . 1.03 to 1860 ) ■ 2.03 1840 ) to [ 0.82^ to 1850 \ 1850 ) 1880. . 2.42 1860 ) 1.00 to [ I860) 1880. ■ 1.03 . 1.40 28 l The American Laborer $333 in 1870 (paper), $294 in 1880 and $350 in 1890." Mr. North cites one Massachusetts factory which in 1820 gave employment to 46 men, 23 women and 23 children who were paid on the average $115 per annum — wages as low, says the author, as were paid in England at that time. Towards 1830 the weekly pay of weavers who operated one or two looms was from $2.50 to $3, that of children, from $1 to $2: laborers made 80 cents a clay and machinists $1.50. The rapid de- velopment of the woolen industry during and after the war, increased these rates. Basing the calculations upon census statistics I find, as stated above, that average wages in the woolen industry were $216 in i860, $333 (currency) in 1870; $294 in 1880, $350 in 1890. Mr. Steinwav, who between 1850 and 1883 rose from the position of an ordinary German piano-maker to that of one of the greatest manufacturers of pianos in America, stated before the Senate Committee on Education and Labor in 1883, that when he came to America the piano-makers saved very little: since that time, he continued, wages have doubled and many of them have accounts at the savings-banks. He added that most of the dangerous and painful work was now done by machinery and that, as he had a factor}- in Hamburg, he could assert with some authority, that piano- makers in New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Baltimore made three times as much as they did in Germany. 15 But it would be superfluous to multiply illustrations; there can be no doubt that wages have increased in the last forty years. There are exceptions, wages have declined in certain departments of the iron, silk, and clothing indus- tries, for example, but these cases are rare and often of doubtful authenticity. Nor have all the publicists of the labor party, who as a rule are fond of dwelling upon the in- creasing misety of the laboring classes, closed their eyes to the evidence. Many of them admit the improvement and A Century of American Wool Manufacture, by S. N. D. North. Labor and Capita], i. 1085. Wages of Men 285 derive from it an argument in favor of strikes and labor- unions. During several years an investigation of this subject was conducted by the New York labor bureau in connection with the labor-organizations of that State. Out of 695 unions interrogated in the year 1894, a large majority, 402, answered that wages had increased since their formation, and claimed the increase as one of the results of organiza- tion; 62 answered that there had been a reduction of wages; 174 that there had been no change, and 57 failed to respond. A similar investigation in Illinois, covering 114 occupa- tions and the period 1882-1887, showed that in 19 occupa- tions wages had not changed, that in 72 occupations they had decreased — about 13 per cent on an average, and that in 23 occupations they had increased, about 16 per cent. 1 " The general result seemed to show a diminution in the earn- ings of workingmen, but the period was one of commercial depression. 17 At the convention of the Federation of Labor in 1890, the unions reported that 1163 strikes had been declared, all of which, according to the Official Book of the Federation, 18 had been successful, securing advances ranging from 7 to 25 per cent. There was a single exception which was ex- plained by the bad state of business. The most extensive treatment of this subject which has been published in America is the report upon Wholesale Prices, Wages, and Transportation presented by Senator Aid- rich during the second session of the Fifty-second Con- gress. The statistician in charge calculated the average rate of wages in twenty-two industries for the years 1840-1891, expressing the results in terms of the average rates of i860, 16 Report of the Bureau of Statistics .... Illinois, 1890, p. 361. 17 See L'Ouvrier Americain, chapter x, Crises ct Chomages. 18 December, 1892. [In 1898, 260 strikes were declared, involv- ing 22,311 workers, of which 160 were won, benefiting 19,367 per- sons. Report of the Proceedings of the International Typographical Union, p. 113] 286 The American Laborer which were each represented by ioo. In no industry was the average rate of the initial year (1840, where the quo- tations could be carried back that far) greater than ioo. 1 * In 1891, however, the lowest average among the twenty-two industries was 137.6. In the carriage and wagon industry the ratio had risen from 100 in 1840 to 202.4 in 1880, and it remained at that point until 1891. The total index-number of wages for 1891 was 160.7. 20 In the half-century covered by this investigation it is con- venient to distinguish three periods: 1840-1860, 1861-1878, 1879-1891. During the first of these the increase in wages was inconsiderable. In the second, during which values were greatly disturbed by the depreciation of the currency, nominal wages were suddenly elevated to a great height, al- though not so high, as we shall see later, 21 as the prices of commodities. During the third period which extends from the resumption of specie payments to the end of the investi- gation, wages again increased while the value of money steadily fell. 19 85 in the building trades; cotton goods 86; illuminating gas 927; lumber 59.1; metals and metallic goods 84.6; railroads 89.5; stone 80.4; white lead 90.7; carriages and wagons 100; total average 87.7. 20 Breweries and the building trades are among those industries in which the increase was greatest, the wages of slaters in 1891 being represented by 280, those of brewers by 375. In the 543 series of wage-quotations 6 showed no change, 16 showed a de- crease, and 521 showed an increase, in 1891 as compared with i860. The total index-number of wages for every tenth year between 1840 and 1890, is given below. The simple arithmetic average of the several wage-variations is given in the first column. In the second column weighted averages are given, the wage-variations in the several occupations being weighted in proportion to the number of employees represented. v Simple Average according 1 ear- average. to importance. 1840 87.7 82.5 1850 92.7 90.9 1860 100.0 100.0 1870 (currency) 162.2 167.1 1870 (gold) 133.7 136.9 1880 141.5 143.0 1890 158.9 16S.2 " See chapter ix. Wages of Men 287 This increase of wages has not been perfectly uniform nor has it taken place with mathematical regularity. That the wealth of a country is increasing does not imply that every man is getting rich; the shiftless and the spendthrift we have with us always. So with wages. While they have in- creased in the great majority of industries, there are trades in which there has been a diminution, particularly at piece^ work. Certain localities have been more favored than oth- / ers; certain periods of depression have seen the working- men lose part of the gains made in preceding periods of prosperity; in certain industries skilled workmen who re- ceived high wages because of their scarcity have now been replaced by ordinary laborers. 22 The laboring classes re- ceived painful proof of the severities of a crisis in 1873; they underwent another painful experience in the crisis of 1893- i894, 22a which in some industries resulted in marked reduc- tions of wages, in others, in prolonged periods of non-em- ployment. In the Population Franqaise I said, speaking of wages: " The doubling of wages in France in the last sixty years is an average estimate based upon figures which we have col- lected, and which we believe to be correct. Like most aver- ages, however, it may be disputed. It is not difficult to find conflicting instances here and there But the diver- gence of extremes does not invalidate a mean when the latter is based upon a majority of the returns." And what 22 In a visit made by the commissioners of labor to the Sparrow's Point Steel Works, near Baltimore, the remark was made to the manager that at the Harrisburg works many of the workman had been able to buy their own homes, whereas the Maryland Company would not sell its land. The manager replied that while the work- man might be able to do this when they made from $4 to $10 a day, they could not do it when the average wage was $1.75 (aver- age of skilled and ordinary laborers). However, this statement cannot be accepted as conclusive evidence of the change indicated. See Fourth Biennial Report .... Maryland. 22a In 1898 and 1899 there was a noticeable recovery from the decline noted in the text. The following table showing the course of the wages of railway employees, is taken from the 288 The American Laborer I have said in speaking of the greater part of the States of Europe I now reaffirm in speaking of the United States." The rise of wages everywhere accompanies the progress of industry — which is due particularly to the development of science, machinery and manufacture on a large scale — and both are contemporaneous with the growth of wealth; the three are intimately connected and dependent upon one an- other. The growth of the right of association which now permits laborers, formerly isolated, to combine in defense of their own interests, has not been without influence in raising wages." Bulletin of the Department of Labor for July, 1899, p. 693. The vari- ous rates are expressed in terms of those of 1892. [Tr.] RELATIVE AVERAGE DAILT COMPENSATION OF ALL RAILWAY EM- PLOYEES IN THE UNITED STATES FOR THE YEARS ENDING JUNE 30, 1892 TO 1899. OCCUPATIONS. General officers I Other officers ( General office clerks Station agents Other station men Enginemen Firemen Conductors Other train men Machinists Carpenters Other shopmen Section foremen Other track men Switchmen, flagmen, and watch- men Telegraph operators and dis- patchers Employees (account floating equipment) All other employees (including laborers) 1892. 1893. 1894. 1895. 1896. 1897. 1898. 100.0 102.9 111.5 102.5 103.8 96.1 97.8 100.0 101.4 106.4 99.5 100.5 99.1 102.3 100.0 101.1 96.7 96.1 95.6 95.6 95.6 100.0 98.2 97.0 96.4 96.4 96.4 95.8 100.0 99.5 98.1 99.2 99.2 99.2 101.1 100.0 98.6 98.1 99.0 99.5 99.0 101.0 100.0 100.3 99.0 99.0 99.3 100.0 102.0 100.0 101.1 100.0 100.5 100.5 100.5 103.2 100.0 101.7 96.5 96.9 98.7 97.4 99.6 100.0 101.4 97.1 97.6 97.6 96.6 97.1 100.0 102.3 98.8 99.4 98.8 100.0 99.4 100.0 99.4 97.2 96.6 96.6 96.6 96.0 100.0 100.0 96.7 95.9 95.9 95.1 95.1 100.0 101.1 98.3 98.3 97.8 96.6 97.8 100.0 102.1 100.0 102.6 100.0 98.4 99.5 100.0 94.7 95.2 92.3 93.7 89.9 91.3 100.0 101.8 98.8 98.8 98.8 98.2 100.0 1899. 98.0 100.0 96.1 95.2 101.1 101.4 102.0 102.6 100.0 97.6 100.6 95.5 96.7 99.4 100.0 91.3 100.6 " La Population Francaise, vol. iii, p. 97. ~* The maximum list established by the Selectmen of Newbury- port in 1777, quoted in this book, shows that at that time wages were relatively high in America, and that, as in Europe, the legis- lature was prone to interfere in opposition to the workmen when wages showed a disposition to rise. Wages of Men 289 The local variation of wages. — In the United States as in Europe, wages vary from one occupation to another, and from one place to another at any given time, because they always adjust themselves approximately to the importance of the service and the cost of living. In 1890 the census office published a table of average wages arranged by States. The table shows that the lowest ranks are held by the old slave States whose average rates vary from $211 to $395 per year; 25 that the highest wages are paid in the States and Territories of the far West in which the population is sparse, artizans rare, homesteads easily acquired, and where, finally, the customs are more democratic and the labor-organizations more powerful, per- haps, than in the rest of America. In the scale of agricul- tural wages this section of the country is also at the top. In California, Montana, Colorado, Nevada, etc., the mining industry furnishes another cause of higher wages. That the rate in California is not higher must be attributed in part to the effect of Chinese labor. A French mine-owner told me that in his mine most of the laborers made $3 a day, only a few as low as $2, while the Chinese, who did as much work as the whites, received just half-pay. The great manufacturing States occupy a median position, the general average of the United States being $484, that of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, 25 $211 per annum in North Carolina, $267 in South Carolina, $307 in Georgia, $310 in Mississippi, $329 in Virginia, $387 in Maryland, $360 in Arkansas, $374 in Alabama, $379 in West Virginia, $395 in Tennessee. A comparison of wages in the North and South may be drawn from the investigation of the textile industries made by the United States Commissioner of Labor in 1891. It was found that on an average spinners made 49 cents a day in the North and 43 cents in the South; weavers, $1.03 in the North and 86 cents in the South; that the general average in the North was 97 cents as compared with 73 cents in the South. This is another proof of the fact that in general wages are slightly higher in the North than in the South, although a few exceptions may exist. See Seventh Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor, pp. 383, 460. 290 The American Laborer Ohio, Indiana and Illinois being $493. 20 As the farm-hand receives less pay than the factory-hand and as the agricul- tural population is relatively smaller in the great manufac- turing States than in many others, we may conclude that, thanks to immigration, the manufacturer does not have to pay very high wages. We may also gather from the table that protection does not make high wages, nor the pro- ductivity of labor fully explain them. For there is no country whose industries are more completely protected and, thanks to machinery, none in which the productivity of the laborer is so great." 26 AVERAGE State8. Alabama WAGES Average wages. $375 258 678 359 582 720 506 451 625 470 307 419 549 416 456 435 497 423 412 349 387 494 404 4 79 310 534 BY STATES, IN 1890. States. Average wages. 721 Alaska 544 Arizona 718 383 516 Colorado New Mexico 564 Ohio 549 211 542 478 36S 613 Illinois 462 441 267 487 395 Maine Texas 470 Utah Virginia 545 405 329 621 Michigan 379 392 768 Missouri 484 17 The railway statistics are more trustworthy, although they are composed of diverse elements. The average daily compensation of the fifteen classes of railway employees (officers and office clerks excluded) differentiated in the reports of the Interstate Commerce Commission was $2.09 in 1898, $2.00 in 1897, $2.01 in 1896, $2.01 in 1895, $2.00 in 1894. The average daily compensation in each of Wages of Men 291 The census figures can be used for purposes of compari- son, but they do not represent actual wages. It should also be pointed out that the average rate of a State conceals a great number of local variations. Brooklyn and New York, for instance, furnish an illustration of this species of varia- tion. Although in many industries, such as bakeries, gas- works, plumbing, etc., the rates were the same in both cities, carpenters, joiners, and cabinet-makers received a little less in Brooklyn than in New York. The explanation is found in the facts that in New York the population is denser, the cost of living higher, and the trade wealthier. 28 In Chicago in 1890, according to the consul-general of France, carpenters received from $12 to $20 a week, masons from $21 to $30, butchers from $9 to $30, cabinet-makers from $7 to $16, shoemakers from $9 to $I2. 29 The consul called attention to the fact that the time lost each year would I sensibly reduce these nominal rates and that the annual earnings divided by the number of days in the year would 1 only give about $1.70 (8 fr. 90) for painters and workers in the building trades, $1.30 (6 fr. 65) for cigar-makers, $1.20 the ten territorial groups distinguished by the statistics of the commission was, 1897 and 1898: 1897 1898 Group I (New England) $1.98 $2.00 Group II (Middle Atlantic States) 1.95 1.96 Group III (Ind., Ohio, Mich.) 1.91 1.93 Group IV (Va., W. Va., N. C., 8. C.) 1.57 1.69 Group V (Ky., Tenn., Ga., Fla., Ala., Miss.) 1.81 1.82 Group VI (N. Da., S. Da., Minn., Wis., Iowa, 111.) 2.03 2.03 Group VII (Mont., Wy., Neb.) 2.28 2.30 Group VIII (Mo., Ark., Ind. Ter., Ok., Kan., Col.) 2.24 2.21 Group IX (Tex., La., New Mex.) 2.28 2.30 Group X (Pacific and Rocky Mountain States) 2.62 2.62 See Statistics of Railways, 1897, p. 41 et seq., 1898, p. 44 et seq. [Tr.] 28 Joiners in New York, $3.50; in Brooklyn, $3.00 to $3.25. Car- penters in New York, $3.20 to $360; in Brooklyn, $2.50 to $3-33- Cabinet-makers in New York, $1.66 to $3-66; in Brooklyn, $1.56 to $2.66. "The rates stipulated in the agreements between contractors and labor-unions in Chicago in 1893, were higher: 27 l A cents an hour for electricians, 35 cents an hour for painters and tin-roofers, $3.75 a day for plumbers. 292 The American Laborer (6 fr. 25) for tailors. These are lower than the rates in New York. 30 I should not be surprised if these local variations in the United States, particularly in the old free States, were less than in France, although the distances from place to place are much greater in the former country. The mobility of the population, the high state of education and, in certain trades, the development of the labor-organizations tend to equalize wages, as water tends to come to the same level in communicating vessels. These generalizations, however, are subject to some exceptions. Piece-work and piece-work rates. — The piece-rate system is employed in a great number of industries, although in a smaller number, particularly in iron-works and the mines, sliding-scales have been established by mutual agreements between employers and workmen. The first agreement of the latter kind was adopted at Pittsburg in 1865 between a body of iron-manufacturers and the puddlers in their em- ploy. Before this time there had been great fluctuations in the rate of wages. Puddlers had received as high as $7 a ton before 1850 but successive reductions, accompanied by long strikes, had brought the rate down to $4.50. During the following decade reductions and advances alternated until in i860 the rates varied between $3.50 and $4. The schedule adopted by the manufacturers and puddlers in 1865 estab- lished a rate which varied from $9.00 to $4.00 a ton accord- ing as the price of iron was 8y 2 , 8*4 • • • • 2 /^ cents per pound. Shortly after the adoption of the agreement the price of iron fell from y l / 2 to 4 cents per pound, the work- men became dissatisfied, terminated the agreement and ob- tained a rate of $8.00 a ton. One year later this was in- creased to $9.00 a ton, but at the end of the year 1866 the employers gave notice that thereafter only $7 a ton would be paid. The result was a strike, which resulted in the work- men securing the old $9 rate. Realizing that this arrange- ment did not provide for fluctuations in the price of iron, the 80 Recueil dc Rapports sur les Conditions du Travail, p. 78. Wages of Men 293 employers and employees signed a new agreement on the twenty-third of July by which wages ranged from $8 a ton when iron was selling at 5 cents a pound, to $6 when the price of iron was 3 cents. In 1874 the manufacturers de- manded a revision, but the changes they suggested were not accepted and an extensive strike followed which closed down all the iron-works in the vicinity of Pittsburg. In April, 1875, tne manufacturers accepted the terms of the puddlers and work was resumed, but owing to the confused state of trade caused by the fall in the price of iron, general agreements were soon afterwards abandoned and each em- ployer made terms with his own workmen. It was a change in the scale at the Carnegie works which led to the strike and riot at Homestead in 1892. In 1869 a similar scale was adopted by the miners and mine-owners in the anthracite coal fields, the wages varying in accordance with the price of coal at the mine. 31 The agreement was not maintained very long and it did not pre- vent strikes, but it served to introduce the sliding-scale which is now employed in almost every Pennsylvania mine. It would serve no useful purpose to multiply illustrations of sliding-scales and piece-rates. It is very much harder to get an idea of the daily earnings of workmen from piece-J rates than from day-wages, although the two are closely con/ {/ nected. As Mr. Gunton says : " For the same reason tha\ potatoes would be neither cheaper nor dearer because they were sold by the peck or by the pound are wages ultimately neither higher nor lower because work is done by the day or by the piece." 32 This relation has often been noticed by economists. Karl Marx, who emphasizes it in his work on AkJ capital asserts that the laborer gains nothing from the piece- ly^Jf^f work system while the employer reaps a great advantage from it. In reality both may be gainers if the tariff is care- fully drawn up by mutual agreement. It should be ad- I 81 This schedule is reproduced in the Twelfth Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor of New York. 32 Wealth and Progress, p. 179. 294 The American Laborer justed, at first, so as to yield about the same remuneration as that received by day-workers in the same trade, and after- wards there should be no objection to reducing the rate if the workman is supplied with a more productive tool or machine. This is only just; the seamstress does not receive as much per yard now as she did when all her work was done by hand; both the selling price and the cost of produc- tion must fall as the effort required to produce a given result grows less. But the seamstress makes more to-day than before the invention of the sewing-machine and among those who operate machines, the more skillful receive the higher wages. Piece-rates are based upon the productivity of the average workman, hence they put a premium upon superi- ority. The sliding-scale, which is much more difficult to establish on a sound basis, seems to be a species of coopera- tion by which the workman participates in the gains and losses of the entrepreneur. Wage-statistics. — Occasionally one finds an American who will give you to understand that his compatriots are fond of show, that they like to quote both to themselves and strangers the highest rather than the lowest wages that can be found, and that it is necessary to take current statistics, and even official statistics, with a grain of salt. One of these gentlemen mentioned to me a large Massachusetts lock-manufactory with which he was familiar, in which the workmen had made only $1.25 a day in 1892 and $1 in 1893; he added that notwithstanding this fact the stat- isticians claimed a higher rate for day-labor in this district. Partizans of protection are particularly open to suspicion in this matter because they like to make it appear that labor is more highly paid in America than in other countries, that the rate of wages is a function of the general level of prices, and that if the tariff were reduced, both wages and prices would necessarily fall. The republicans naturally introduce this argument into their party platforms to attract the votes of the laboring classes, but this does not prevent them from introducing the cheap foreign labor that debases wages. Wages of Men 295 But it is only just to add that the statistical inquiries are often addressed to the wage-earners themselves and that when one questions them with the view of bringing out the woes of the proletariat, their replies are less apt to embellish the situation than to make it out worse than it really is. The application of statistical methods to the wage-prob- lem requires skill and judgment, and however delicately the operation is conducted, the results are merely approxi- mate. This fact is well understood by the economists who have studied the question closely. An example may be quoted. During the Congressional investigation of the Homestead strike, the president of the Carnegie works pro- duced the pay-rolls for the month of May, with the object of showing that the wages of the rollers of 119-inch plates had been from $10.79 to $12.65, an d those of the shear helpers $4 a day, on an average 33 The document was authentic and the testimony unimpeachable, but the workmen denied that the figures were sufficient to yield a representative aver- age. Taking the figures for the thirty-two preceding months, one of the workmen calculated that the average output was only 1300 tons a month, which would give aver- age rates of $7.60 and $2.98 respectively for the two classes of workmen. 34 These were high wages, but notably less than those resulting from the May output, because the works had been shut down during parts of the year. 85 33 See the House report: Investigation of the Labor Troubles at Homestead, House Reports, 52c! Cong., 2d Sess., vol. 3. 34 Mr. Frick estimated the production at 2500 tons before, and 5000 tons after, the introduction of the improved machinery. Whence came the difference of opinion? 35 In the Massachusetts investigations of 1894 the Boston tailorsi testified that they made from $20 to $30 a week in the busy season! and from $15 down to nothing in the dull season. In their testi- mony, the employers asserted that the workmen made from $20 to $25 on an average of the whole year, but they said nothing of the fact that the tailor often had to employ a helper, usually a woman, who sometimes cost as much as $9 a week. The cotton manu- facturers testified that there had been no marked reduction in the cost of production during the crisis of 1893-1894. This statement was denied by the workmen. See Report on the Subject of the Un- employed, XIII, LVII. 296 The American Laborer Agricultural wages. — In my U Agriculture aux Etats-Unis I have devoted one chapter to the wages of farm-laborers. I shall confine myself here to a resume of that chapter. At the end of the war in 1866 the monthly wages of farm- laborers were about $26.87 in summer, not including board. This rate decreased as the paper currency gradually ap- proached par value, until in 1879, at the resumption of spe- cie payment, it was about $16.42. In 1882 it had risen to $18.94 and in 1892 was substantially unchanged ($18.60). The estimate in paper money produces an illusion which still deceives many people in America. After 1892, how- ever, a real reduction occurred. 38 Agricultural wages are 38 This reduction appears in the following statement of average wages in agriculture, prepared by Mr. Henry A. Robinson of the Department of Agriculture. Without board. With board. 1890 $18.34 $12.45 1892 18.60 12.54 1893 19.10 13.29 1894 17.74 12.16 1895 17.69 12.06 Agricultural wages advanced in 1898 and 1899, although they did not return to the highest points reached in 1892 and 1893. In the Bulletin of the Department of Labor for July, 1900, pp. 694 and 695, may be found the wages of farm laborers, with and without board, in and out of harvest time, by the day and month, for various years since 1866. The monthly rates, board not included, follow. Ex- cept for Oregon, the wages of 1866, 1869 and 1875 are expressed in currency. [Tr.] WAGES PER MONTH WITHOUT BOARD. Vermont Pennsylvania . North ( arolina Texas I own Oregon 29.91 13.46 19.00 88.34 35.75 1869. 1875. 1879. 1882. $32.40 $29.67 $19.00 $23.37 58.68 25.89 19.92 22.88 12.76 13.46 11.19 12.86 18.83 19.50 ls.27 20.20 28.39 24.35 22.09 86.2] 38.25 35.45 33.50 1885. 1888. $23.00 $23.25 88.58 22.24 12.85 13 41 is.>: 19.20 25.33 25.60 34.00 32.56 1890. $24.80 22.80 12.83 19.85 25.41 31.60 1892 1893. Vermont Pennsylvania ■• North Carolina. Texas Iowa Oregon $24.67 23.00 13.30 is.;.-, 2(1.20 34.25 $25.55 82.84 12.56 is. rate was paid only in Brattleboro, Vt., and Springfield, 111.; 310 The American Laborer Textile industries. — In both the United States and Eu- rope the cotton manufacture is one of those industries in which the pay is moderate. Thus the great investigation of the cost of production 82 which was carried out with so much accuracy and scrupulous care for details, showed that in the cotton and woolen manufactures three-fifths of the opera- tives made not more than $i a day and that only three per cent received more than $2. In the iron and steel works about 17 per cent made $2 or more a day. According to the census of 1890 the average weekly wages of male opera- tors in the principal States were as follows:" 3 States. Cotton. Wool. States. Cotton. Wool. Massachusetts . $8.05 $8.79 New Jersey. . . . 10.44 8.51 Maine 7.52 7.56 8.79 8.67 Pennsylvania . . 9.71 5.75 9.84 New Hampshire 7.35 Connecticut . . . 7.68 8.93 North Carolina. 5.25 7.56 Rhode Island . . 7.99 8.98 South Carolina. 5.17 New York 7.62 8.09 The general average calculated in the Aldrich Report is somewhat lower than that indicated in the table, being $1.13 a day in the cotton, and $1.17 in the woolen, industries. The special reports on the textile industries at the census of 1890 contain several tables which furnish precise data. In the woolen industry the average wages of skilled work- men were $9.02, the extreme average rate being $12.89 in Oregon and $6.02 in Arkansas; women averaged $5.94; children $3.34; unskilled labor $8.41. In general the rates in Pennsylvania were higher than in other States and those almost all the others ranged between $10 and $12. In the non- union factories, the witnesses claimed, the rates varied between $5 and $8. It seems that in Pennsylvania they were as low as $2.00 to $6.00. In one large tobacco manufactory in St. Louis, which I visited, the average daily rate (for men and women) was $1.25. The carpenters made $5 and the engineers $3.50. " Sixth and Seventh Annual Reports of the Commissioner of Labor of the United States. 63 Taken from the Bulletin of the National Association of Wool Manufacturers, vol. xxv, p. 267. The inferiority of wages in the South shows itself here as in other industries. W ages of Men 311 in the carpet manufacture higher than in other branches of the industry. In the cotton industry skilled workmen made on an average $7.62, the various rates ranging from $8.68 in the Central States to $5.49 in the South. In the silk in- dustry, spinners and weavers made from $6.00 to $15.74; women from $4.71 to $11.28. In general the highest wages were made in the ribbon manufacture. 64 To these general figures I append, as in the metallurgical industries, a few more specific statistics which I have gathered from various sources." In the woolen mills at Chelsea, Mass., the overseers made from $2.50 to $5.00, and on an average, $3 a day. The wages were: $1.75 in the carding departments, $1.75 in the spinning departments, $1.33 in the weaving departments (from $.90 to $2.00) . M These statistics although more than fifteen years old may be utilized here as were the corre- sponding figures in the metallurgical industries. They are instructive in connection with the following more recent statistics. ** Report on the Manufacturing Industries of the United States at the Eleventh Census, pp. 134, 174, 220. 65 At the Amory Manufacturing Co.'s works, in which half of the operatives were Irish, and a third Canadian, the weavers averaged $1.08 a day in 1883. {Labor and Capital, iii, 28.) In the Stark Mills the workmen in the carding department made on an average about $1.25 a day; in the weaving department the men made $1.56, $1.10, $.91; the women $.84 and $.74; the children $.69. Mr. Henri Schaeffer has had the kindness to collect and send to me the wages in these two factories in 1896. At the Amory Manu- facturing Company the rates were as follows: carding department, $1.15 men, $1.05 women; spinners (frame), $.80 to $.95; spinners (mule) $1.95, and 75 and 45 cents respectively for the two helpers. In the weaving department the rate varies from $1.15 to $1.42 ac- cording as the operatives tend from 4 to 8 looms, while weavers using the Northrup loom make as high as $1.66. During the month of July the average earnings of the 1150 employees were $29. In the Stark Mills which manufacture principally cotton duck and bag- ging, the wages varied from $1.66 (weavers) to $1.02 (carders) and $.91 (spoolers). It may be stated that wages in these two estab- lishments had undergone no substantial change for ten years. 68 Labor and Capital, iii, 319. 312 The American Laborer From very accurate data which a woolen manufacturer of Lowell was kind enough to gather for me by questioning his foreman and employees it appears that the average workman made about $300 a year which, with the wages of his children, brought the annual income of the family up to $825. The wool-sorter made $624 and this increased by the wages of one child, made the earnings of the family $749. The foreman received $1250, but he was the only wage- earner of the family. In another typical woolen factory in Lowell the workmen (by day) made from "$1.25 to $1.50 a day; the average weekly wages of weavers (by piece) were $9 for men, $7 for women. In another well-appointed dyeing and bleaching establishment of Philadelphia the average rate varied from $5 to $18 per week for time-workers and from $5 to $22 for piece-workers. In the former class the average wages of men were $12.57 and of women $7.43; in the latter class the men averaged $11.90, and the women $6.80. In a finely equipped spinning mill in New Bedford, Mass., in which the employees work ten hours and a half except on Saturday when work stops one hour earlier, most of the operatives are Irish or Canadian. The following wages are paid: in the spinning department; from $14.40 to $19.59 a week (av- erage $16.47) to men, from $6.00 to $7.50 to women, from $4.80 to $5.15 to children; in the carding department from $11.25 to $16.38 to men, and $8.25 on an average to women. In the Howland Mill one " mule-spinner " made as high as $19 a week, but the other employees made from $4.61 to $15.00. On the books of one of the largest cotton factories in Massachusetts I found the following rates of wages: weavers, $9 a week on an average; spinners (men), $11.15; engineers, $12.75; firemen, $10; teamsters, $9.00; laborers, $7; children, from $10 to $16 a month. In one of the prin- cipal Rhode Island firms I found almost exactly the same rates: $12.75 f° r engineers: $11.15 f° r spinners; $9 for weavers; $7 for laborers. The scale runs from $2.10 to $1.15 in both places. Wages of Men 313 It may be worth while, without going into detail, to con- trast the rates in the South and the extreme West with those in New England. In California, according to the Fifth Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor of that State, the scale runs from $3.50 to $.60, with an average working day of ten hours and three-quarters. According to the Fifth Report of the Bureau of Labor of North Carolina the rates in that State van- from $3 to $1.50 for operatives, with an average rate of 75 cents for helpers and laborers. The working- day in North Carolina is from eleven to thirteen hours." A print-cloth factory in Lowell which I inspected, and whose workmen are of the highest grade, pays the engravers which it employs from $25 to §2j a week and the printers $28 and more, but an apprenticeship of seven years is re- quired before a workman makes more than $20 a week. 6 * These workmen belong to the Calico Printers' Union which requires employers to pay half-wages during periods of non- employment. The laborers in this factory, as elsewhere, make from $6 to $9 a week. The normal working-week is fifty-eight hours, and overtime is paid twenty-five per cent extra. Clothing. — In America, as in Europe, the members of this occupation receive comparatively small wages. In New York before the Civil War tailors made from $8 to $10 a week, working at home and assisted by their wives. They " Mr. Henri Schaeffer has communicated to me a detailed state- ment of the wages paid at the Manchester Mills, New Hampshire, in July, 1896. During the month the 2770 employees received $70,455, an average of about $25^ for men, women and children. The working-day was ten hours long and the average time made in July, 23 days. In the carding department the men made $1 a day; in the spinning department, the spinners made $1.35 and the help- ers 80 cents; laborers made $1.15 and overseers $3.49. In the printing department the wages were high, $36 a month on an aver- age with an average working-day of g 2 /i hours. In the latter de- partment the overseers made $5.62, the engravers $4.16, the print- ers $4.47, and the dyers $1.75. 88 During the first year printer's apprentices receive $7 a week; during the second year $9; during the third $11, etc. 314 The American Laborer do two or three times as much work now as they did then, but the rate per piece has been considerably reduced: a fine child's jacket which cost $3 to make in 1873, cos t or, ly $* in 1883. At the latter epoch tailors made $8 or $9 a week and women working at the machine made nearly as much, while button-hole workers working by hand could only earn about $3 or $4. Although money-wages were as high in 1883 as before the introduction of the sewing-machine (about 1854), said a witness before the Senate Committee on Education and Labor, this amount of money would only buy about half as much in 1883 as in i854. 09 But the wit- ness did not specify the commodities which were so much cheaper at the earlier date: it would be something of a task to show that prices had risen in this proportion during the interval in question. In 1883 cutters made $15 a week. Before the invention of the cutting machine and while prices were inflated by the depreciation of the paper currency, cut- ters had made as high as $30 a week in New York. 70 However, wages in this industry do not seem to be lower than in previous years. In Philadelphia in 1893, as I was informed by a French resident of that city, union tailors made from $18 to $20 a week, and non-union tailors from $10 to $15. A contract signed in 1893 by the ready-made clothing manufacturers of Chicago and their workmen, pro- vides that cutters shall receive from $15 to $24 a week, ac- cording to the kind of work, for fifty-eight hours. Cutters, however, have always received the highest rates in this in- dustry. 71 Printing and engraving. — The members of this trade are more highly remunerated than those of the clothing trades, although the scale of wages is not the highest in the United States. The International Typographical Union enforces a slid- ™ Labor and Capital, i, 414, 417. 10 Ibid., p. 748. 11 For further information upon the wages and conditions of labor in this industry, see L'Ouvrier Americain, chap, vii, pt. i. Wages of Men 315 ing-scale whose rates vary in different places. The lowest rate for compositors, from $9 to $11 a week, obtains in 35 localities; the average rate which applies to 167 localities is between $12 and $18; in 37 localities it is higher. In Bos- ton it is $15; in Philadelphia $16; in New York, Chicago and St. Louis, it is $18. Compositors in the government printing office in Washington receive $19.20 a week.™ When I was in New York, and went through the press rooms of the World and Tribune, the hand-compositors on these papers received 50 cents a thousand ems; compositors working with the old machine were paid a rate equivalent to 2y cents a thousand, and those who used the new machine about 21 cents a thousand. The fixed rate for night work and overtime was 85 cents. The compositors on the World who worked six nights a week, eight hours each night, re- ceived $27. Work on the type-setting machines is usually paid by the day — $5 or $6, at a rate determined by the earnings of the hand-compositors. It is not paid by quantity because the workmen did not care to reduce the tariff and the employ- ers on their side did not wish to pay the usual rates per thousand ems. Until the present time union workmen have steadily refused to work in shops in which more than a cer- tain number of machines per workman were used. 73 Com- positors working by the day receive on average about $3.50. 72 Rapport de la delegation ouvriere a l Exposition dc Chicago, p. 61. According to the Aldrich report the average wages of compositors were $2.53 a day in 1891. [Compositors in the government print- ing office now receive 50 cents an hour.] Between 1864 and 1890 the variations in the rate of wages of book-compositors at Troy, according to the bureau of labor of New York, were as follows: 1864 $11.00 1876-1877 $17.00 1865-1867 13.00 1877 17.00 1868 17.00 1878-1885 15.00 1874-1875 18.00 1886-1890 16.00 73 This statement is hardly correct at present. While testifying before the Industrial Commission President Donnelly of the Inter- national Typographical Union was asked: "Do you think there are as many printers employed to-day as there were before the in- 316 The American Laborer In 1883 the representative of the federation of typograph- ical unions, then assembled in Chicago, stated that wages had decreased in the preceding decade. He attributed this diminution to the crisis of 1873 and complained that the workmen had found it impossible to restore the old rates, in spite of their strikes. They used to get 55 cents per thous- and ems, he said, but at that time the rate was not over 40 cents, or about $2.50 a day. But this delegate probably took no account of the change in the value of money." At the same period a first-class printer at Cincinnati made $4 a night, but he missed four nights a week on an aver- age and in addition had to throw in his case during the day — a requirement that was almost universal at that time. But this testimony must have referred to an exceptionally good workman because many compositors at Cincinnati did not make more than $2 a day at that time. The low rate which was said to obtain at Boston must have been brought about by unusual competition, as the typographical union had fixed the wages of union workmen at $15 a week. The lowest wages were paid to varnishers who made from $7 to $9 a week in 1883." At present 70 the wages of printers in Massachusetts vary greatly according as the work is ordinary or difficult, on books or on newspapers, during the day or the night: the troduction of the Mergenthaler linotype?" He answered: "Not so many to-day [May 9, 1899], but with a continuation of present conditions one year from now there will be as many." [Tr.] '* In Cincinnati the rate was then 37 cents for day-work and 40 cents for night-work. Another workman stated that in Cambridge, where there are two of the largest book-printing establishments in America, the compositors had made only from $7 to $9 a week (which seems very low) until May. 1883. when they were given an increase of $1.50 per week. Labor and Capital, i, 567, 658. 75 Labor and Capital, i, 407; iii, 582. '* The following quotations of average daily wages of composi- tors in Boston, are taken from the Labor Bulletin of the Common- wealth of Massachusetts, January, 1899, p. 2: 1870 $2.26 1890 $3.65 1S96 $2.64 1880 2.57 1895 2.61 1898 2.63 [Tr.l Wages of Men 317 scale extends from $8 to $25 a week. Some workmen receive 39 cents per thousand ems; women make about 27 cents per thousand. At Chicago the rates for union work- men were as follows in 1896: hand-work, 45 cents a thous- and on morning papers, 40 cents on evening papers; on the machine, 15 cents on morning papers, 13 cents on evening and Sunday papers or on books. The rate on the machine by the hour was 55 cents for morning papers and 50 cents for evening papers." The range of wages. — One would be at a loss to give com- plete statistical data of wages in a country so vast and in which the occupations are so diverse, as the United States. It would be equally impossible to calculate any accurate general average, not only because wages are different in different occupations, but because in any given occupation the rate of pay varies with the rank and role of the workmen. The equality of wages is a chimera belied by facts and, as a doctrine, condemned by equity and common sense. Rates vary in the same factory as they vary from trade to trade, in accordance with age, sex, skill, and employment. We have already seen several examples of this diversity. " Proceeding on the principle that average rates are too in- definite to be useful, Mr. Wadlin, Chief of the Bureau of Statistics of Labor of Massachusetts, made a special investi- gation in 1889 of the number of workmen in the different classes of each trade. Even the workmen of the building trades are far from securing a uniform rate of wages, al- though their agreements with employers usually call for the same rate in any given class. Thus, out of 18,919 workmen in this group, 6j per cent received from $12 to $20 per week, 5 per cent received more than $20 and 28 per cent less than $5 per week. This investigation covered 24,820 persons, more than 60 77 The average daily wages of compositors in Chicago, as given by Bulletin of the Department of Labor No. 18, p. 673, were $2.88 in 1870, $3.11 in 1875. $329 in 1877, and $3.00 from 1879 to 1898 in- clusive. [Tr.] 318 The American Laborer per cent cf the laboring population of Massachusetts. It revealed the fact that i6y 2 per cent (9 per cent of the men, and 34 J/2 per cent of the women) made less than $5 a week ; 78 283/2 per cent from $5 to $8, 26 per cent from $8 to $12, 15 per cent from $12 to $15, 14 per cent more than $15. In the first rank came the building industries; after these the boot and shoe, edge-tool, watchmaking, jewelry, tobacco, and toy industries are those in which the largest propor- tions of workmen receiving more than $12 a week were found.™ The following classification was made by Mr. Wadlin in 1891 and covers all the industries of Massachu- setts .' Per cent, of Workmen. Wages. < " »«. 1891. 1898. OT Under *5 8.1 15.7 $5 but under $6 4.7 10.4 6 " 7 8.0 11.8 7 " 8 8.8 10.9 8 « 9 8.2 9.0 9 " 10 13.2 9.8 10 » 12 14.3 10.7 12 " 15 16.9 11.2 15 " 20 13.4 8.0 20 and over 4.4 2.5 100.00 100.00 As shown in the above table nearly one-half of the work- men received between $9 and $15 a week. In Wisconsin two similar investigations covering nine-tenths of the labor- ing population show that one-half of the wage-earners in that State were included in the $6 and $12 classes:' 1 Per cent, of Workmen. Wages. * , 1891-1892. 1895-1S96. More than $4 a day 2.2 1.8 Between $3 and $4 a day .... 6.6 3.4 Between 3 and 2 a day 18.5 15.9 Between 2 and 1.50 a'day . 28.6 23.0 Between 1.50 and $1 20.1 37.5 Less than $1 a day 15.0 18.4 Totals 100.0 100.0 '• This class is found principally in the textile industries, and the manufacture of jute goods, cordage, and jewelry. '* Twentieth Annual Report, p. 403 et seq. ** From Annual Statistics of Manufactures, 1898. p. 183. [Tr.] M See Report of the Bureau of Statistics of Wisconsin, 1891-1892, Wages of Men 319 In his interesting work entitled Industrial Evolution of the United States Carroll D. Wright states that 35 per cent of the 59,784 hands employed in a number of representative establishments, earned from $1.00 to $1.60 a day. The av- erage rate was between $1 and $2, and he adds that the number earning more than $2 was greater than the number earning less than $i. 82 An interesting illustration of the difference of wages in / an establishment in which the conditions of work and thev rate per piece were the same for all, is found in a Massa- chusetts manufactory of cottonades. Of the 177 weavers in this factory some tended four looms, others six, others eight, and the daily wages varied from 60 cents to $1.49, very nearly in proportion to the number of looms that the work- men ran. 83 In other mills making slightly different grades of goods, the operatives directed from two to six looms and the scale varied from 52 cents to $1.60 for men and from 74 cents to $1.39 for women. In classifying the 687 work- men in these establishments, 90 are found at one extreme p. 101; 1895- 1896, pp. 370, 371. The second investigation covered 76,339 men and 7696 women. For similar statistics of New Jersey see the Report of the Bureau of Statistics of Labor and Industries of New Jersey, 1885, pp. 1-37; 1888, p. 246. [The following table shows that in Wisconsin in 1896-97 just about one-half of the working population earned from $7 to $12 a week] : 1896. 1897. $20 and over 2.6 2.5 15 but under #20 5.6 5.5 12 " 15 10.0 11.4 10 " 12 9.1 9.5 9 " 10 17.8 14.5 8 " 9 9.7 10.6 Y " 8 14.7 15.2 6 7 9.7 9.0 5 " 6 5.3 4.6 Under #5 15.5 17.2 100.0 100.0 Eighth Biennial Report .... Wisconsin, pp. 683-684. n P. 221. K Seventh Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor, vol. i, p. 370. 320 The American Laborer with an average remuneration of $4.26 a week, 8 at the other extreme, making on average $11 a week; the general aver- age was $6.46. 34 Going a little more into detail we find from the same re- port that the children under sixteen years of age, back boys, band boys, etc., made from 21 cents to $1.20 a day, a large majority making from 40 to 60 cents. Further classification of the employees in the 64 establishments from which the above figures were secured show that warpers made from $.21 to $2.80; weavers from $.21 to $2.60 with an average of $1.00; weaver's apprentices about 50 cents; washers from $.41 to $2.00; spinners, frame and mule, from less than $.21 to $2.60; carders from $.21 to $3.00. Of the other craftsmen employed in textile factories carpenters made from $.61 to $3.60; engineers from $1.20 to $5.60; masons from $1.01 to $3.60; day-laborers from 21 cents to $2.8o. 80 A still more extensive range of wages has been shown to exist in the building industries, by an investigation made in Wisconsin in 1891. Out of 2813 craftsmen, 4 made from 60 to 70 cents an hour; 174 from 40 to 60 cents; 1120 from 25 to 37 cents; 572 from 20 to 24 cents; 1013 from i2 J / 2 to 19 cents; 30 from 5 to n}4 cents. The mean rate was 22 cents; the extremes, as we have seen, 70 and 5 cents. Fore- men were counted as workmen in this investigation. 88 84 Earnings per week. Weavers. A "W* Under $5 90 $4.26 *."> and under $6 148 5.54 6 « 7 223 6.44 7 " S 129 7.42 8 « 9 69 8.33 9 « 10 20 9.24 10 " 11 6 10.34 11 " 12 1 11.75 13 and over 1 13.12 Totals 687 6.46 Seventh Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor, vol. i, p. 372. ^ Seventh Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor, vol. i, p. 822 et seq. ** See Report of the Bureau of Statistics .... Wisconsin. 1891-1892. Wages of Men 321 The report of the commissioner of labor from which we have been quoting furnishes a classification of wage-earners in the cotton and woolen, glass, and mining industries simi- lar to that which has been quoted in the section on mining and metallurgical industries. The latter scale is repeated here for purposes of comparison: 87 Wages. Mixed iroD and steel. Glass. Bituminous coal. Coke. Cotton and wool. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. 10.79 34.12 12.74 20.81 63.92 From $1.01 to $'2.00. . . 71.32 28.95 71.98 67.65 33.44 3.01 to 3.00. . . 10.02 9.74 15. 16 11.17 2.07 " 3.01 to 4.00. . . 5.08 10.64 o.os 0.37 0.44 " 4.01 to 5.00. . . 1.44 9.06 0.04 0.12 » 5.01 to 6.00. . . 0.32 4.36 0.01 More than $6.00 1.03 3.13 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 The glass and steel industries, although they employ a large number of workmen, pay very high wages, 15 per cent of the employees in the latter industry earning from $2 to $4 a day; 36 per cent in the glass manufacture making more than $2 a day. Miners and coke-makers occupy a middle rank; the employees of the cotton and woolen mills form the lowest class. In each industry the employees are spread out in a long series and some workmen are found who earn five or six times as much as others. But it is the great majority which determine the mean and this majority varies; in the metallurgical group there is only one work- man in ten who does not make more than $1 ; six out of every ten in the textile industries make $1 or less. Resume. — The preceding enumeration of wages has been lengthy and might have been indefinitely prolonged since almost all of the three hundred odd reports which the labor commissioners have published contain statistics of wages. It seemed necessary to me, however dry it may prove, to present these quotations to the reader. My object has not 87 Seventh Annual Report, vol. i, p. 841. 322 The American Laborer been to calculate a mean; an average is impossible, and if secured, would be meaningless. What I have aimed to do is to furnish abundant and irrefutable proof that amid the diversity arising from differences of place, occupation, and individual capacity, wages are in general high in the United States. There are exceptions, of course, rates cannot be high in all classes because immigration continually supplies a mass of low-grade labor, and there is a multitude of day- laborers who have no special skill — nothing but their hands to depend upon — and consequently are subjected to an un- limited competition. Nor have wages advanced in every' calling: in many industries skilled workmen have ceased to be as scarce as formerly; in others the development of ma- chinery has made the skilled workman less indispensable than before. I have already cited some of these exceptions and will speak at greater length of others in the two following chap- ters, but in the case of men's wages at least, these deviations are completely obliterated by the general trend. The wage- scale starts with small boys who make from 33 to 66 cents, passes to farm-laborers who receive from 33 cents to $1.33, to spinners and weavers who earn on an average from $1 to $2, to laborers who make from $1.25 to $2.00, to crafts- men who receive from $1.50 to $3.00, to machinists who re- ceive from $2 to $3, to members of the building trades who make from $2.50 to $4.00, and finally to the highest-grade workmen of the glass, iron and steel industries who make from $5 to $10 a day. To these it might be necessary to add a certain class of artificers who, in reality, are artists rather than artizans. Between these extremes which can be indicated only in a very rough way, the wage-earners of all other occupations range themselves. If it be asked what is the general mean, it must be an- swered first of all that no such result is obtainable; the ele- ments are too incomplete and heterogeneous to afford the possibility of a precise calculation. If some answer be in- sisted upon, one might hazard the guess that during the Wages of Men 323 period 1890- 1893 the average rate of wages of men em- ployed in industry in the United States was somewhere be- tween $1.75 and $2.00 a day. 88 This seems to be the most reasonable estimate. By way of verification I have gone through the four volumes of the Aldrich report and calcu- lated that the average rate in 207 distinct occupations was $2.07 in July 1891.*" The result is entirely confirmatory of the estimate just given. Another verification is found in the paper of Mr. Ethelbert Stewart on the hourly rate of wages in four large cities in 1895, published in the Bulletin of the Department of Labor for November, 1896. This was a year of low wages, and yet the calculations show that the mean rate for nine hours' work was $1.93 in Baltimore, $2.61 in Boston, $2.53 in New York, and $2.43 in Philadelphia.*" 98 The average daily wage in 25 occupations for the largest twelve cities of the United States in 1898 was, as reported in Bulletin of the Department of Labor No. 18, $2.43. An investigation of average wages was also made in Missouri in 1898, covering 39,320 males and 11,457 females, exclusive of clerical help. "The average daily wages paid to skilled males, for all of the industries, was $2.25; un- skilled males, $1.23; skilled females, $1.32; unskilled females, $.78, being a slight increase over the previous year." Tzventy-First An- nual Report .... Missouri, p. 12. [Tr.] 83 The result is based upon the returns in Table XII covering 88 establishments, and Table XIII of the Aldrich report. In comput- ing the mean I arranged all the rates paid in July, 1891, in groups, the number of recipients in each case being ten or more. A simple average was then taken by dividing the sum of the average rates of these groups by the number of groups. A similar estimate was made by the Connecticut Bureau of Labor in 1896. The average rate of 83,051 workmen, calculating on the basis of a ten-hour day, was $1.66. But this calculation included men, women and chil- dren. In the trades pursued only by men the rate was much higher as a rule; in the manufacture of fire-arms, $2.15; machinery, $2.04; silverware, $2.15; lumber, $1.76; iron $1.92. In the manufacture of hardware, however, the rate descended to $1.64. The highest rates paid to men were between $5 and $6; and the lowest, 50 cents. Twelfth Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the State of Connecticut. 80 The statistics of each city rest upon returns from at least 75 occupations. The average rate per hour was 21 Yz cents in Balti- more, 29 cents in Boston, 28 cents in New York, 26 cents in Phila- delphia. The returns are from private industries; in the public service the rates are in general higher. 324 The American Laborer Brief comparison zvith other countries. — The scale of wages we have just quoted is superior to that of any other country. Although the fact may be self-evident so far as France is concerned it will be useful to support it with a few statistics. One of the witnesses in the Senatorial investigation of 1883 was Mr. Steinway the piano manufacturer. As he was born in Germany and had at that time a factory in Hamburg, he was fully competent to speak about the condition of work- ingmen in the two continents. Mr. Steinway asserted that the workmen in his line of industry made three times as much in New York as in Europe. This proportion is cer- tainly not applicable to all occupations, and the workmen mentioned, being younger at the time of their emigration, had never received full wages in Europe. But the superi- ority of American wages is incontestable, whatever its de- gree may be. With respect to England the superiority has been denied. In the investigation of 1883 a tailor who had been born in England and was then a resident of New York testified that from an intimate knowledge of the labor question in Europe and America he was convinced that the condition of work- ingmen was substantially the same throughout the civilized world, that the masons, carpenters and joiners of England would compare favorably with those of America, and that English miners were in a far better moral condition than American miners. This witness may be suspected of a little exaggeration as he had taken a prominent part in the labor movement in Europe, 81 but another asserted that the work- men in the Clyde shipyards received better wages than those in the Delaware yards. 92 A third, however, an engraver of rollers, who had worked in two countries, said in response to the question:' 3 " which on the whole is the most prosper- ous and happy and contented class of people, those there [in England] or those here?" — " I think they are decidedly better off here than they are there." " Labor and Capital, i. 841. K Ibid., i. 839. "Ibid., iii. 148. Wages of Men 325 It is not as easy as might be supposed to establish a com- parison from the testimony of interested witnesses. The Commissioner of Labor of Michigan furnishes another proof of this statement. He made inquiry of the miners and quarrymen of Michigan who had worked in England, about 400 in number, and all of these without exception an- swered that they had received more in America than in England, the average monthly rates having been $16.61 and $19.07 in England and $48.76 and $56.66 in the United States. The difference is so great that it should not have been accepted by the statistician as a correct expression of the facts in the case. If the answers were sincere their sig- nificance at most does not extend beyond the trades in ques- tion, as not all the workmen I questioned were unanimous upon this point. Dr. Gould in a paper read in Paris before the Societe d'Economic Sociale summed up one of the reports of the com- missioner of labor, in the composition of which he himself had taken a prominent part, and showed that the average annual earnings of bituminous coal miners were 2133 francs in the United States (508 quotations), 1833 francs in Great Britain (508 quotations) ; that in the iron industry of Ameri- ca the average workman made 3492 francs a year (623 quo- tations) while in Great Britain he made only 2195 francs (114 quotations); in the steel industry, 2892 francs in America (183 quotations), 2436 francs in Great Britain (166 quotations). From these averages he concluded that the typical European workman's family (averaging returns from England, Germany, France and Belgium) had an an- nual income of about 2355 francs, 1841 of which were brought in by the head of the family; while in America the average income was 31 11 francs, of which 2672 francs were earned by the head. These calculations applied only to the mining and metallurgical industries. A further investiga- tion of three cotton mills led Mr. Gould to conclude that cotton-spinners made $1.02 a day in the Northern States, England. Germany, 16 to 18 cts. 8i^ cts. 16 7X 14 to 17 6 4.3 to 5.2 326 The American Laborer 79 cents in the South, and 66 cents in Great Britain." Such figures are only approximations, but they indicate the su- periority of money wages in America. 95 Mr. Schoenhof in the comparisons of wages in America, England, and Germany, which he made, places America in the first and Germany in the third rank, in all the trades which he investigated. The following table, for instance, he believes substantially accurate for the kinds of wages in- cluded : " Wages per Hour. United States. Masons 45 cts. (New York) Carpenters 30 to 35 Spinners (male) . . 15 to 16 (Lowell) Spinners (female) . 8.4 In the report presented by the committee of the House of Representatives appointed to investigate the Homestead strike it seems to be demonstrated almost beyond doubt that at that time the wages paid in the iron works of America were twice, and in some departments four times, as much as M See La Reforme Sociale, 1893. The number of quotations of wages in Germany and Belgium is not large enough to justify the reproduction of their averages here. M Seventh Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor, p. 374. [In Bulletin of the Department of Labor No. 18, the results of an in- vestigation of wages in Great Britain, Paris, Liege (Belgium), and the United States are published. While the quotations are such that no comparison between average wages in the several countries may be drawn, the general averages do constitute, in the opinion of the statistician, trustworthy indices of the courses of wages since 1870 in the respective countries. In Great Britain, and Paris wages rose steadily from 1870 to 1896. being 14.6 per cent higher in Great Britain, and 25.5 per cent higher in Paris, in 1896 than in 1870. In Liege and the United States the movement was very irregular, but in Liege the maximum increase occurred in the year 1896 (11.3) per cent, while in the United States wages were lower in 1896 than in any previous year after 1882. The increase in the United States was very regular until 1896 (16. 1 per cent), when it began to decline, falling to 10.3 per cent in 1898.] " The Economy of High Wages, p. 10. Coal miners (ibid., p. 200). made §337 a year in Pennsylvania, $253 in Staffordshire, $225 in Saarbruck. Wages of Men 327 in those of western and central Europe. The report con- tains a comparative table of wages in the steel works of Europe and America. At the time when the rollers and second shearmen at Homestead refused to submit to reduc- tions from $7.60 to §6.33 and from $4.61 to $3.71 respect- ively, rollers were paid $2.96 at Newcastle, $1.29 at Brus- sels, and $1.08 at Antwerp; shearmen received $1.26 at Newcastle. Laborers received 92 cents at Hull, 73 cents at Leeds, 58 cents at Brussels, 32 cents at Witkowitz (Austria- Hungary), while at Homestead the better class received from $1.50 to $2.oo. 87 The official statistics of England do not cover as wide a variety of topics as those of the United States, but in certain respects their wage statistics are more precise than the American. In an investigation conducted by the Board of Trade in 1886, 8108 replies were received giving statistics of 824,000 workmen. The following results were estab- lished: (1) The average annual earnings per laborer were 47 pounds sterling. Only 66,400 — about 8.6 per cent — earned more than 70 pounds a year (gas, steel, ship- building industries); while 272,600 — 33.08 per cent — earned between 50 and 60 pounds (public works, printing, leather, tin, iron and steel, etc.). In the lowest rank about 126,000 persons were recorded whose yearly earnings averaged less than 30 pounds. The most of these were employed in the cotton, silk, woolen, and needle-work industries. (2) The weekly average was 24s. 6d. for men, from which it follows that the average workman lost a good deal of time, since the annual rate is not fifty-two times the weekly rate. At the bottom of the list, in the mines (metals), the aver- age was 16s. 6d.; at the top of the scale, in the tin manu- facture, it was 33s. 5d. : in the cotton industry, which occu- pied a median position with an average of 25s. 3d., more than half of the workmen made between 15 and 20 shillings. Mr. Giffen employed these returns to estimate the average 97 House Report 2447, 52 Cong., 2d Sess., p. 35. 328 The American Laborer scale of wages in Great Britain and Ireland. This estimate includes agricultural wages which are lower than those paid in the manufacturing industries: Per cent, of Average workmen. weekly earnings. 2.7 less than 15s. 20.9 from 15 to 20 35.4 " 20 to 25 23.6 " 25 to 30 11.2 " 30 to 35 6.2 more than 35 " The general impression left by the information before us is that the level of wage-rates has risen considerably dur- ing the last fifty years both in respect of their nominal value and (with the exception of house rent in large towns) their power of purchasing commodities. At the same time it ap- pears that the daily hours of labour have during the same period been in most cases shortened, and the sanitary con- ditions of work improved."- 88 In the third volume of his interesting work Les Classes Ottz'riars en Europe M. Rene Lavollee has devoted a chapter to English wages, in which he finds some fault with the sta- tistics of the Royal Commission and points out how difficult it is to secure exact results in this question. Mr. Lavollee comes to the conclusion that, as nearly as can be ascertain- ed, the weekly average was 50 francs in the coal mines, from 40 to 42 francs in the blast-furnaces, from 47 to 38 francs in the filatures, from 37 to 21 francs in the manufacture of cotton goods, and from 16 to 18 francs in the boot and shoe industry. Among tailors, he remarks, the rates vary from 19 francs in Scotland to 56 in London. He recognizes that there had been beneath the innumerable fluctuations of the surface a steady tide of progress in the preceding thirty years, but points out that in the immediately preceding year or two a recession had taken place, not only in agricul- w Fifth Report of the Royal Commission on Labor, pp. 9-10. See also. Report on the Work of the Board of Trade, 1893-1894. p. 74 et seq. Wages of Men 329 ture, but in certain other industries like the cotton manufac- ture, whose outlets had been contracted. It would not be far from correct, in all probability, to place the average rate in the manufacturing industries at 5 shillings a day. This would bring English wages about 35 per cent beneath American. The difference between wages in France and America is more considerable. According to the French labor delegation, for instance, bronze molders made from 7 to 8 francs in Paris; bronze-platers from 6 to 9 francs; turners from 7 to 8^ francs. In New York the highest class in this industry received from $3 to $4, others from $1.75 to $2.33. At one point at least an exact, if not an extensive, com- parison of French and American wages can be made. At Havre the captain of the Tourainc paid laborers 5 francs a day or night. In New York the same work cost $2 a day and $4 a night. It is true that these laborers claimed they had work only a part of the week, and it is possible that the work may have been more constant at Havre. But the French labor delegates to Chicago, those who went in the name of the Paris labor-unions as well as those sent out by the commission in charge of the French exhibit, all recognized the superiority of American wages. " In every branch of the trade the men make more than they do in France," writes the hatter. 89 In France, a report of the Office du Travail covering the year 1891 contains the latest official information which we possess upon wages in manufactures. In the department of the Seine the wages of men in private industries was on an average 6 fr. 15 ($1.19) for a mean working day of ten hours and one-half. The average reached 10 fr. 20 ($1.97) for dec- orators and 9 fr. 30 ($.179) in the manufacture of tapestry; it exceeded 7 fr. ($1.35) in the looking-glass, marble-cutting, type-founding, printing, silverware and jewelry, furriery, fur- "* Several however declare that the American laborer loses more time than the French. See Rapports de la delegation ouvriere, p. 330. 330 The American Laborer niture, turning, tinware industries, etc. On the other hand the rate was less than 5 fr. ($.96) in the starch-making, glue- making, book-binding, rope-making, dyeing, industries. As in America the range of wages is very wide: 1.3 per cent re- ceived 2 fr. 50 or less (48 cents), 1.2 per cent received 10 fr. ($1.93) or more, 16 per cent received 5 fr. (96 cents), and 10 or 11 per cent were grouped at each of the rates, 5 fr. 80, 6 fr., 6 fr. 50, 7 fr., and 7 fr. 50. The great majority in the textile industries were found between 3 fr. 25 and 5 fr. 25 ($.62 and $1.01), and between 5 fr. 75 and 7 fr. 25 ($1.11 and $1.40) in the manufacture of gold and silverware. 100 In the other departments wages were lower, the general average being only 3 fr. 90 (75 cents). Only three indus- tries, the manufacture of glass, explosives, and clothing, ex- ceeded 5 fr. (96 cents), while sixty-six industries paid be- tween 3 and 4 fr. (58 and yy cents), and five industries, less than 3 fr. (58 cents). Cabinet-makers averaged 4 fr. 20 (81 cents); wood-workers made from 3 fr. to 4 fr. 50 (58 to 89 cents); 101 iron-workers about 4 fr. 10 (79 cents). In gen- eral the rates varied between 3 fr. 80 and 4 fr. 60 (73 and 89 cents) in the metallurgical industries, 1 " 2 and between 3 fr. 90 and 5 fr. 50 ($.75 and $1.06) in the glass manufacture. 102 100 For the period preceding 1891 see La Population Frangaise. by E. Levasseur, vol. iii, p. 85 ct seq. 101 The average rate for joiners, who made the highest wages, was 4 fr. 70 (91 cents), although many worked more than ten hours. The rate varied from 6 fr. 45 ($1.24), the average for Seine- et-Marne, to 2 fr. 20 (42 cents) in Ille-et-Vilaine, where the pay was least. 102 The average for draughtsmen was 5 fr. 20 ($1.00) for ten hours; for blacksmiths. 5 fr. .05 (97 cents). In iron foundries the wages varied from 5 fr. 40 ($1.04) to 2 fr. 10 (40 cents); the laborers in this branch made from 3 fr. 10 to 3 fr. 90 (60 to 75 cents). The car-works at Lyons (Syndicat des Industries dc la Voiture) pay 7 fr. ($1.35) to blacksmiths and the Association Metallurgique du Rhone. 7 fr. 50 ($1.45) to loaders and weighmen. This was the highest aver- age outside of Paris. The labor-unions returned no rates higher than 6 fr. ($1.16) except for rollers at Sedan (6 fr. 50, $1.25) and molders at Nouzon (7 to 8 fr., $1.35 to $1.54). 03 In the glass industry the average of the melters rose as high as 6 fr. 50 ($1.25): laborers received 2 fr. 75 (53 cents). Wages of Men 331 In the same industry the rates were often twice as much in one Department as in another. In the manufacture of paper, for instance, the mean rate varied from 4 fr. 15 in the Department of Orne to 1 fr. 95 in the C6tes-du-Nord, with- out taking into account Seine-et-Oise and Seine-et-Marne where the rates, from 5 fr. to 5 fr. 25, were largely in- fluenced by the proximity of Paris. In the cotton mills the rate was more uniform, but it varied from 5 fr. in Aisne to 2 fr. 40 in Mayenne. 104 Averaging the mean rates for the Department of the Seine with those of the other Depart- ments, I would venture to assert upon the authority of these figures that in America wages are more than twice as high as in France. 105 It will not be without interest to extend the comparison by including a few figures from countries other than France and England. According to an investigation of the condi- tions of labor made by the Minister e des Affaires Etrangeres of France in 1891 the average rate of wages in Germany is almost everywhere lower than in France, and it sensibly de- creases as we go from western to eastern Germany. Thus the general average for adult workmen was found to be 1.77 marks in Rhenish Prussia, 1.59 in Hanover, 1.50 in Bran- 1M See Office du Travail: Salaires et Duree du Travail dans I'ln- dustrie Frangaise, vols, i, ii, iii. 106 The fourth volume of the above-mentioned investigation, Re- sultats Generau.r, has been published since L'Ouvrier Americain was written. The investigation covered 2957 establishments and 674,000 persons. The average length of the effective working day was found to be between 10 and 11 hours, the average wages of working people, in private industries, without distinction of age or sex, 3 fr. 75 a day (72 cents). For adult male workmen the aver- age was 4 fr. 20 (81 cents), for adult women 2 fr. 10 (42 cents). Be- tween i840-'45 and i8c)i-'93 the nominal wages of men rose a little less, and those of women a little more, than 100 per cent. An examination of prices showed that while rents had risen more than 100 per cent in the last 50 years, the cost of food and lodging together had increased only about 25 per cent. As nearly as can be expressed in round figures, wages have doubled, and the cost of living has increased one-quarter in France since 1845. Op cit., pp. 24-28. [Tr.] 332 The American Laborer denburg, 1.17 in eastern Prussia, wbile in Silesia it was only 1.02. The cities naturally paid higher rates. Berlin held first rank with an average of 2 m. 40 (58 cents); Leipzig paid 2 m. 10; Munich 2 marks (49 cents). In Spain, for a day of 10 or 103/2 hours, skilled workmen in the building trades make 4 pesetas (yy cents) and laborers from 2 to 2.25 pesetas (37 to 43 cents) at Madrid. In this city the cost of living has been increasing in the last twenty years, in company with the population and the burden of the octrois. At Seville laborers also receive from 2 to 2.25 pesetas, but rents are lower than at Madrid. At Cordova the coal-miners make from 2.50 to 6 pesetas; at Valentia where wages have increased in the last fifteen years, black- smiths make 4.50 and carpenters 3 pesetas. At Barcelona masons get 4 pesetas for 9 hours' work, laborers from 2 to 2.75; in the woolen mills spinners make 4.40 pesetas for 11 hours' work, laborers 3, ordinary weavers 2.75. and power- loom operatives 4.50 pesetas. 106 Russian wages, which vary greatly from place to place and from trade to trade, have been vaguely averaged at 10 kopeks per hour, nominally equivalent to about 8 cents but in reality worth only about 5^2 cents. 107 In the cotton in- dustry, according to M. Combes de Lestrade. spinners make from 8.50 to 9 rubles ($4.40 to $4.70 cents) per week in Poland and from 4 to 7.50 rubles at Moscow; weavers from 4 to 7 in Poland and from 2 to 3.80 at Moscow where wages are much lower than in Poland. The real average is prob- ably below the level indicated by these figures, for the author in speaking about wages further on states that the annual earnings of the average weaver are about 175 rubles, and of the average spinner, about 158. These figures relate to the cotton industry; wages are higher in the woolen industry, and in the metallurgical industries higher still; wool weav- ers make 214 rubles and the average in steel-works is about 108 Les Salaires dcs Ouvricrs en Espagne, by Andre Barthe. 01 These valuations are based upon the gold value of the paper ruble in 1896. 52 cents in American money. [Tr.] Wages of Men 333 524 rubles a year. The last quotation is equivalent to nearly $1 a day. The workmen, or at least a majority of the fac- tory-hands, live in a peculiar way, dwelling in large buildings which belong to the employers and grouped together in communities whose standard of comfort is low. 103 Among this people who have no traditional antipathy to personal service, domestics (male) receive from 20 to 25 kopeks a day; at Woronetz good servants receive 4 rubles, about $2 a month. However, a manufacturer established in New England told me recently on his return from a trip through Russia, that in the factories in the Moscow district it took ten Russians to do the work of five American workmen. In Australia, 109 as in the United States, the rate of wages 108 See Combes de Lestrade: La Russie Economique ct Sociale, chapters on wages and the cotton industry. An interesting account of wages in Russia is found in Minister Breckenridge's report on money and prices in Russia, published in the series of Special Consular Reports, vol. xiii, pt. ii. Mr. Breck- enridge quotes from the pay-rolls of the Petroff sky Oil Works Com- pany of St. Petersburg, owned by the Boston firm W. Ropes and Company. The following rates had not been changed for 17 years: 4 foremen each received $26 a month, 1 head fitter received $39 a month; the average rate of the other 265 employees was about 55 cents a day. " All our regular staff," wrote Mr. Ropes, " are sup- plied with lodging, fuel, and light without making any deduction for these from wages. This has always been so since the com- mencement of our business in 1879. The rate of wages has also remained unchanged during the seventeen years. Wages have, of course, always been paid in paper currency, and no fluctuation in the value of this currency has made any change in the rate of wages," pp. 393, 394. [Tr.] 109 Note the following quotations taken from the Australian Hand- book for 1895. The rates are for Victoria in the year 1894: nurses, from £30 to £35 a year; cooks, from £40 to £75 with board and lodg- ing; compositors 1 shilling per thousand; machine-compositors, from £2 10s. to £3 10s. per week; book-binders, from £2 16s. to £4 per week; watchmakers and jewelers, from £2 to £4 per week; blacksmiths, from 9s. to 10s. a day; house-painters, 5s. to 10s. a day; ship-carpenters, £5 to £8 a month; masons 7s. to 8s. a day; laborers, 5s. to 6s. a day; cabinet-makers, £2 to £3 10s. per week; tailors, £2 to £3 10s. per week, etc. In New Zealand: nurses, from 10s. to 15s. per week at Wellington and Canterbury, from 6s. to 12s. in other places; blacksmiths, from 7s. to 12s. per day; ma- sons, 8s. to 14s.; painters, 6s. to 9s.; tailors, 7s. to 10s. ; seam- stresses, 3s. to 6s.; watchmakers, 8s. to 15s. [In the year 1897 23 334 The American Laborer is high, though not so high in the former as in the latter country. In Mexico where the currency is silver the workmen took their pay in kind until a few years ago; at present almost all are paid in money. In the last twenty years there has been a slight increase in the wages of skilled workmen em- ployed in new industries, but there has been no apparent change in the wages of ordinary laborers who make from 25 to 30 cents a day and in some places receive an additional ration of corn or beans. In the mines the rate rises as high as 70 and 80 cents but there workmen receive no food. The same is true of factory-hands w r ho make from 18 to 37 cents a day; in some cases as high as 62 cents. 110 From the remotest boundary of the East an Asiatic na- tion which has recently established exceptionally favorable relations with China is now making itself felt in the markets of the world and causing some uneasiness to the manu- facturing nations of Europe and America by reason of the advantage it secures, in the international struggle for trade, from its low level of wages. Japan has recently been made the subject of a report by the Department of Labor at Wash- ington, from which the following facts have been gleaned. In the factories the average daily wage was 20 cents, esti- mated in gold: 111 carpenters and masons received on an average about 30 cents; compositors 29 cents; pressmen 26 cents. The highest wages are received by stone-cutters and the tailors who make European styles of clothing, 35 and 49 cents respectively: among the least-paid are the weavers, who make about 15 cents on an average. At Yokohama in New Zealand nurses made from 5s. to 10s. per week in Wellington and Canterbury, from 2^s. to 10s. in other districts; blacksmiths from 7s. to 10s. per day; masons from 8s. to 12s.; painters from "s. to 10s.; tailors from 7s. to 10s. ; seamstresses from 3s. to 6s.; and watchmakers from 7V2S. to 12s. per day.] 10 For wages in Mexico and other countries see the Special Con- sular Report: " Money and Prices in Foreign Countries," 1896. 11 The monetary unit of Japan is the yen which contains a little more silver than our silver dollar. The yen in this study is valued at 50 cents. Wages of Men 335 some of the wages are higher, but in the factories they are as a rule lower. An important tea-exporting house which employs a large personnel pays its most experienced work- men 21 cents, children 7 cents, and the average laborer 12 cents a day: these employees work from five in the morning to six o'clock at night, with three intermissions of thirty minutes each for meals. The Japanese are poor and live sparingly: they can save a little on a salary of ten cents a day. In the last few years there has been an increase in wages, one estimate placing it at 14 per cent between 1889 and 1894. But it is due principally to the depreciation of the silver currency, and prices, particularly of daily necessi- ties, have risen more than wages. In the period noted rice rose 62 per cent and wheat 37 per cent in price. The fall in the value of money has been prejudicial to wage-earners. 1 " Not less sparingly live the Berbers, the Arabs, and the African blacks. Their wages are very low : in Tunis the col- onists pay native laborers from 20 to 30 cents a day; in Da- homey the government pays negro laborers 1 fr. a day. I shall not attempt to draw numerical comparisons from these figures, nor to classify the countries according to their rates of wages: the figures are too incomplete, too dissimilar, to justify a calculation of this kind. But they prove plainly the fact I wish to put in evidence: namely, that the sum of money which economists call the nominal wage is with some exceptions greater in the United States than in any country of Europe, and much greater than in France and Germany. 112 In 1897 carpenters and masons received about 25 cents a day (49 and 55 yen respectively), compositors 18 cents, pressmen 18 cents. The highest rates recorded were those for tailors (European styles), bricklayers, and stone-cutters, who received 29, 28 and 27J/2 cents a day, respectively (58, 56 and 55 yen). The above rates are expressed in gold. A comparison based upon statistics of 51 trades and occupations shows that wages in Japan increased uni- formly from 1894 to 1897, the average rate of increase being 37.8 per cent. Forty-five of the 47 prices listed in the same publication rose between 1896 and 1898. Resume Statistique de L'Empire Du Japon, 1900, p. 29. [Tr.] CHAPTER VII. WAGES OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN J- The employment of women. — There are many industries such as the building trades, glass manufactures, the metal- lurgical and mechanical industries, which are unsuited to women, and in consequence give employment to few or none. In forty occupations which I noted in the reports of the Eleventh Census, the total male employees outnum- bered the total female employees about 52 to 1. In the quarries, for instance, there were practically no women employed. On the other hand I found thirty-five important occupa- tions in which the female employees outnumbered the male in the proportion of 2.2 to I. In the first rank come the textile industries with 190,000 female employees. 1 The combined industries of clothing, shirts, collars, cuffs, and millinery hold second rank with 123,295 female employees; in the shirt-manufacture the male employees form only about one-fifth of the total number and in the manufacture of millinery, lace goods, paper boxes, etc., the proportion of men is very much smaller. These statistics moreover are incomplete, since establishments of less than ten per- sons are excluded, and in those occupations specially suited to women a large percentage of the establishments do not come within this limit. The manufacture of cards for combing cotton and wool seems to have been the first industry in which American 1 Including carpet-making. The male employees are in the majority in the woolen industry. Wages of Women and Children 337 women found employment in large numbers; in 1784, for instance, one factory was said to have employed about 1200 hands, most of whom were women. With the invention of the spinning machine and the power-loom women were hnally drawn into the textile factories. An English woman who visited America in 1840 wrote that she had found but seven trades open to women: teaching, needle-work, keep- ing boarders, work in the cotton-mills, type-setting, book- binding and domestic service. In reality other occupations were open to women at that time, but there is no doubt that the field for women has greatly enlarged and that it will continue to enlarge as machinery removes the necessity for muscular strength. In 1850 the census returns showed 225,922 female em- ployees fifteen years of age and over, and 731,137 male em- ployees sixteen years of age and over; about 3.3 men to each woman. In i860 the proportion was 3.7 to 1 ; in 1870, 4.9 to 1 ; in 1880, 3.8 to 1. The census of 1890 gave a total of 3,745,123 men, 846,614 women and 120,885 children em- ployed in the mechanical and manufacturing industries as officers, firm members, clerks, and operatives by day and by piece, or 4.4 men for each woman. From 1850 to 1890 the number of women increased 270 per cent, and the num- ber of men 412 per cent. From these figures one would not conclude that the women are supplanting the men. 2 2 Figures taken from the Statistical Abstract for 1895, and origin- ally compiled by the division of manufactures of the Eleventh Census. The census statistics given under Occupations are somewhat different: in 1880, according to the latter authority, there were 2,783,459 males and 630,890 females engaged in manufacturing and mechanical industries; in 1890, 4,064,051 males and 1,027,242 females. According to this statement the male operatives increased about 46 per cent, and the female operatives about 63 per cent, during the decade. The census of 1890, Report on the Manufacturing Indus- tries, furnishes the following information concerning the number of persons engaged in manufacturing and mechanical industries: Males, Females, 16 years of age 15 years of age Children and over. and over. Officers, firm members and clerks, 418,081 42,028 Operatives, skilled and unskilled, 2,881,795 505,712 104,522 Pieceworkers 445,247 297,974 lfi.363 338 The American Laborer A very careful but more restricted enumeration shows that in a number of textile mills in Lowell the male opera- tives numbered 15 12, and the female operatives, 5051, in 1835; m l &93> the two classes numbered respectively 7691 and 13,158. As the statistics show, the women greatly out- number the men, but the increase has been greater in the latter class. In 1835 the female operatives formed 79 per cent of the whole personnel, while in 1893, they formed but 63 per cent. The evidence, however, is quite conflicting, as might be gathered from the discussion of this subject in the news- papers. In 1885 the chief of the Massachusetts labor bu- reau drew up a report on the employment of women in that State. Out of 301,000 female employees, 50 per cent were engaged in household service, 37 per cent in manufactures, and the remainder in a variety of other occupations. 3 The female employees formed 30 per cent of the whole female population of the State and 33 per cent of the whole popula- tion engaged in gainful occupations. Ten years before, in 1875, they represented only 21 per cent of the female popu- lation and 26.8 per cent of the whole body of wage-earners. According to this authority, then, they have increased not only in actual numbers but in proportion to the male wage- earners. It is, however, necessary to remember that do- 3 The Fifteenth Annual Report of the Massachusetts Bureau of Statis- tics of Labor, 1884, contains a study on the work of women in Boston, which yields proportions somewhat different. Out of 1032 women who responded to the inquiries of the bureau, 83 were servants, 123 were employed in commercial houses, 826 in factories. Of this number 594 lived with their families, 271 in boarding houses or furnished rooms, the rest kept house or lived in private families; 917 were unmarried, the remainder were wives or widows; 603 were born in Massachusetts, 149 in other parts of the United States, 137 in Canada, and 146 in Europe. A recent investigation in Michigan brought out the facts that of 13,436 workmen, 9108 lived with their families, 919 boarded in private families, 730 with their parents, 1066 had special lodgings; and only a very small percentage, 28, lived in " boarding houses." Ninth Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor, 1892, p. 153. Wages of Women and Children 339 mestic servants have been included in this investigation and that Massachusetts is the home of the textile industries in which the male operatives are in a decided minority. 4 The most of these women were young: 41 per cent were between 20 and 29 years of age and the number between 14 and 39 years was 78 per cent of the total number investi- gated. 6 " The daughter," says Mr. Wadlin, " wishes to help her father and mother, to keep her brothers and sisters at school, to live better and dress better than she otherwise could, and to lay by some money for the proverbial rainy day, or to supply her part of the common fund when she decides to get married. 6 The wife sometimes enters in- dustry to support an invalid husband and, too often, a lazy or intemperate one, or to aid in the bringing up of a large family. The widow, thrown upon her own resources, and not wishing to become a burden upon others, works to support herself. In 1875, there were 73,527 widows in Massachusetts, or 8.57 per cent of the entire female popula- tion. In 1885, the number of widows reached 97,158, or 9.63 per cent of the female population." 7 Inferiority of the wages of women. — Women's wages are 4 In England as well as in America there is a widespread opinion that the number of female employees has increased and that they are driving out the men. A comparison of the English censuses of 1881 and 1891 hardly confirms this opinion. Out of every 1000 female residents more than 10 years old, there were 340 wage- earners in 1881 and 344 in 1891. The increase is wholly within the ranks of unmarried women betweeen the ages of 25 and 45 years; there was a diminution among married women and among those of advanced ages. See the Board of Trade Report by Miss Collet on The Statistics of Employment of Women and Girls, 1894, p. 72. The Boston investigation noted in the preceding footnote revealed the fact that out of 1032 female wage-earners, 917 were unmarried, 70 married, 45 widows. The great majority were be- tween 17 and 30 years of age and almost all of them had gone to work between the ages of 14 and 16 years. 6 As a rule she does not marry young; 25.5 years is the average age in Massachusetts. 7 " Women In Industry," Report on the Statistics of Labor, Massa- chusetts, 1889, p. 587. 340 The American Laborer lower than men's in every country, and though the differ- ence is very marked in America it is seemingly no greater than in France and England: it is probably somewhat greater in Mexico. Being less robust than men, women are debarred from many occupations which require strength and endurance — itself a certain form of skill — and these trades are just those in which the pay is highest. The sphere of activity open to women being thus restricted, competition between them is more intense and their labor consequently commands an inferior price. This is a truth of general application though probably less applicable to the United States and England 8 than to France and Switz- erland. In the first two countries married women ordi- narily make no attempt to get work outside of their own homes and the market, in consequence, is not so well stocked. In her report on the Statistics of Employment of Women and Girls (p. 71), Miss Collet says: "The industrial posi- tion of women varies with the degree of material prosperity of the men in the class to which they belong. The wives and daughters of men of small producing and earning power have at all times been obliged to be breadwinners. As men's earning power increases, it becomes possible for the family to be supported by the husband's earnings, and the greater comfort thus obtained in the home creates a general feeling that the wife at least should abandon bread- winning. With increasing prosperity and a rising standard of comfort the services of the daughters can also be retained 8 The Royal Commission on Labour advanced as explanations of this inferiority, the general competition for needle-work arising from the fact that practically all women know how to sew; the special conveniences of home-work: the unfavorable reaction of the demand for home-work upon the wages of factory labor; the fact that most married or unmarried women receive some measure of support from others — and this simply makes the position of those women who are dependent upon themselves, the more pain- ful; the character and isolated condition of women which does not permit them to form unions as easily as the men. Fifth and Final Report: " The Employment of Women,'' p. 91. Wages of Women and Children 341 in the home. In England during the last hundred years the great increase in productive power through the intro- duction of machinery, has largely increased the number of men able to support their daughters while the need for the services of the latter at home has decreased. In the middle class, therefore, a high standard of comfort, a smaller field for domestic usefulness, a diminished proba- bility of marriage, apprehension with regard to the future, have all combined to encourage the entrance into the labour market of middle-class girls." The American workingwoman usually lives with her family and whether she does her work at home or at a factory is apt to consider her earnings as an extraordinary increment rather than a regular part of the family income. This is another reason why women are less exacting in the matter of wages. Working girls, who are more numerous than married women in the factories, 9 often keep all they 9 A general confirmation of this fact is found in the following statistics taken from the Seventh Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor, vol. ii, p. 1588, ct seq. FAMILIES. Cotton Industry. Woolen Industry. ■6 With income from 73 With ncome from States. c! 593 as "boarding and lodging house keepers." 354 The American Laborer instance, colored servants were paid from $7 to $10 in 1883, the latter rate being paid in the hotels. A young" American woman who was asked why she pre- ferred the poor and irregular wages of factory' work to those paid for domestic service, replied: " It's freedom that we want when the day's work is done. I know some nice girls, that make more money and dress bet- ter and everything for being in service. But they're never sure of one minute that's their own when they're in the house I couldn't stand that a day." " Women are always harder on women than men are," said a fur-sewer. " I got tired of always sitting, and took a place as cham- bermaid. The work was all right and the wages good, but I'll tell you what I couldn't stand. The cook and the wait- ress were just common, uneducated Irish, and I had to room with one and stand the personal habits of both, and the way they did at table took all my appetite. I couldn't eat and began to run down; and at last I gave notice " The following sentiments were expressed by an Irish- American : " We came to this country to better ourselves, and it's not bettering to have anybody ordering you round I tell every girl I know, ' Whatever ycu do, don't go into ser- vice.' " A girl who worked at a stationer's had given up house- old service at the end of a year because of the lonesome- ness : " except to give orders they had nothing to do with me," she said. Another objected that nurses have to stand on their feet from six in the morning till ten at night, and then are accused of laziness if they sit down for a moment. A young teacher who had " lived out," resigned her place because she was expected to wear a cap and apron. An- other said " We were poor at home, and four of us worked in the mill, but I had a little room all of my own, even if it didn't hold much. In that splendid big house the servants' room was over the kitchen — hot and close in summer, and cold in winter, and four beds in it. We five had to live there Wages of Women and Children 355 together, with only two bureaus and a bit of a closet, and one washstand for all." The author who collected this testimony 27 expressed the opinion that the character of domestic service has radically changed in the last fifty years, that there is no occupation at present which covers so much licentiousness. " It is this state of things which makes many mothers say: ' My girl shall never run such risks. I'll keep her from them as long as I can.' " The Americans do not like to expose their moral infirmities, and I shall not dwell upon them. I ought even to point out that the author wished to prove that certain classes of women " are prisoners of pov- erty," and chose her illustrations accordingly. Several of the objections against domestic service ex- pressed in the above testimony would be less readily under- stood in France, and in themselves they have little weight. Every kind of work or service has its obligations and dis- comforts. The substance of all of them is contained in the simple statement that American women dislike the calling both on account of its duties and the general standing of servants in public opinion. Most girls who take up a trade expect to work at it only until they have found a hus- band and the young workman would much rather have a working girl for his fiancee than a household servant. " Caste prejudice," we say, but prejudices of this kind are powerful forces in all classes of society and the one of which we have been speaking prevents many a girl from going out to service. It is necessary perhaps to tone down a little the state- ment of the dislike of Americans for domestic service. Ac- cording to the census of 1880, 819,651 of the 1,075,655 ser- vants enumerated were born in the United States, 28 and in Massachusetts in 1885, 62.3 per cent of the female servants 27 Helen Campbell, Prisoners of Poverty, 1887, pp. 221-232. 28 122,194 born in Ireland, 43,444 in Germany, 19,477 in Great Britain, 22,050 in English colonies, 29,762 in other countries. 356 The American Laborer were born in the United States. But workmen whom I consulted in regard to this matter thought that most of the native-born domestics were the children of immigrants. Wages of children. — In the United States children em- ployed as aids or helpers are always paid, and in most cases, the same is true of apprentices. I have described the pay of apprentices in certain establishments, in the chapter on men's wages. In the mechanical industries apprentices usu- ally receive 70 cents a day during the first year, 80 cents the second, 90 the third, and $1 the fourth. 29 Horseshoers' apprentices begin at 50 cents a day. In the manufacture of artificial flowers and feathers apprentices make from $1.50 to $4 a week while regular hands make from $6 to $9. In 1888 an investigation was made in New Jersey cover- ing 22,478 workmen, of which 2626 were children. The weekly wages of the children varied between $3.50 and $5.95, that of the men from $8.17 to $16.72, that of the wo- men from $4.20 to $9. 30 From these returns it seems that the wages of children are almost two-thirds as much as the wages of women and less than one-half those of men. In Rhode Island, in 1891, the average weekly wages of chil- dren ranged from $2.45 (girls employed in the silk mills) to $3.83 (in printing houses). 81 In Pennsylvania an investi- gation covering apprentices in thirty-five trades showed that during the first year the pay varied from $1.75 to $4 a week, in the second year from $2 to $5, in the third from $2 to $6, in the fourth year from $2 to $9. Comparison with other countries. — As in the case of men's wages so with those of women; there is no general average; we must be content with approximations. In America it can be shown that a very great majority of the adult female wage-earners make from $5 to $7 a week. We may then say in a general way that women are paid about half as M See Report .... Minnesota, 1894. p. 261. *° Eleventh Annual Report .... New Jersey, 1888, p. 309. a Fifth Annual Report .... Rhode Island, 1892, p. 181. Wages of Women and Children 357 much as men, although this exact proportion will not hold in every industry in which men and women perform the same kind of work. Women receive less in England, as is shown in the pro- ceedings of investigation conducted by the Board of Trade in 1886. It was shown in this investigation that on an average women made about 12s. 8d. (say $3.10) in the fac- tories. One quarter of those enumerated received less than ios., about one-half received from 10s. to 15s., and a small number, engaged principally in the manufacture of cotton goods, made more than 20s. It was in this industry, in di- rect contradiction to the state of affairs in America, that the general average of women's wages (15s. 3d.) was the highest. It was lowest in the mining (metals) industries (5s. iod.). Sir R. Giffen concludes that in general the wages of women are not much more than half those of men. The wages of children were very much less: about 7s. for young girls and 9s. 2d. for boys. 32 The following scale which is quoted by Miss Collet in her report in 1894 was originally prepared under the direction of the Board of Trade. WAGES OP WOMEN IN THE TEXTILE INDUSTRIES. Cotton, Wool, West Wool Wages per week. Lancashire Lancashire of vr.virov.ira and Cheshire, and York. England. , oritsnire. Less than 10s 10.7 10.6 45.3 36.6 From 10s. to 15s 44.9 64. 54.7 62.8 " 15s. to 20s 32. 25.3 ... 0.6 « 20s. to 25s 12.1 0.1 More than 25s 0.3 In France, according to the statistics of the Office dn Tra- vail (1891), women make 3 fr. (60 cents) a day on an aver- age in the Department of the Seine and 2 fr. 10 in the rest of France. Taking the State industries into account we may say that the general average for the whole of France is about 2 fr. 35 a day, or 14 francs a week. This is about 32 Abstract of Labor Statistics, 1894, p. 82 ct seq. 358 The American Laborer one-half the average rate received by male workmen. Omitting gem-cutting in which the average rises to 5 fr. 15, it is in the textile industries that women's wages are highest — 2 fr. 45 in the spinning mills and the carpet factories. On the other hand the average sinks as low as 1 fr. 30 in the manufacture of certain preparations for painting. The average earnings of dressmakers in cities range from I fr. (La Rochelle) to 4 fr. (Versailles); nurses make from 75 centimes to 2 fr. a day. In the book-binderies of Paris women working on the editions dc luxe average 5 fr. 80, but the rate descends to 1 fr. 60 in the fertilizer factories. Great variations are found among the different departments: in printing houses, for instance, women average 3 fr. 55 at Paris, 3 fr. 45 in the Department of the Loire, 1 fr. 15 in that of the Mayenne. 33 33 See Office du Travail: Salaires et Duree du Travail dans V Indus- trie Francaise, vol. i, ii, iii. CHAPTER VIII. FACTORS DETERMINING NOMINAL WAGES Preliminary. — We must be careful not to confuse the gain or profit of an undertaking with wages — the price received by a person in return for his services. In this chapter I shall speak of wages only, and before considering what regulates wages, it will be advisable to answer the prelim- inary question: Is it true that the wage-system is a mere transitional form of the organization of labor and is des- tined to disappear? If so, it would be idle to study it at length; we should be better occupied in considering its successor. Slavery, serfdom, the wage-system: this is the succession which certain schools think they perceive in history, and from it they argue that the last system will have a succes- sor too. Socialists from the time of Saint-Simon and Fou- rier have denounced the wage-system as a form of slavery, and in their apocalyptic dreams have caught sight of a fourth phase of civilization, one of whose conditions will be the freedom of labor and the complete or partial suppression of private property. This is a conviction based upon faith rather than upon observation. Those who really have the faith are simply deluded. Those who lack the faith and yet declaim against the wage-system must be held guilty of fomenting social strife and of diverting the laborer from the practical means of improving his condition. In general socialistic schools profess this doctrine more or less openly. The two great American federations of labor incline towards 360 The American Laborer it in theory, but in practice and while the present wage- system remains an established fact, they endeavor to in- crease the gain and the leisure of the wage-earner. 1 The truth is that there has always been a class of wage- earners, even at the period in which the laboring class con- sisted chiefly of slaves. The system may thus be said to be inherent in human society; its development has taken place pari passu with that of individual liberty, or what is the same thing, it has been contemporaneous with the pro- gress of industry; and it will remain one of the necessary forms of social organization so long as liberty endures. As M. Beauregard has so well said: "The wage-contract in- heres in the very nature of things, and it will remain, of necessity, the contract par excellence, the principal form of the distribution of wealth. It is a mistake to turn the laborer against it by illusory promises." s The contract is not only legitimate in principle, but in most cases it is bene- ficial to the two contracting parties and indispensable to the cooperation of the factors of production. The management of any form of business is a difficult and delicate task at which many fail and for which not every- one is adapted. State operation of industry would by no means do away with the wage-system, and the present ten- dency towards industrial concentration, far from conducing to the extinction of the wage-earning class, is increasing the number of wage-earners in proportion to the number of employers. The office of the employer, then, is not only one which exists by right as an outcome of the freedom of labor, but it is an economic necessity, whether it be exer- cised by the directors of corporations or by individuals act- ing in private capacities. Instead of disappearing, it tends 1 In the American Federatianist (March, 1896) I read of " the sys- tem of economical brigandage known as the wage-system." I prefer the philosophy embodied in Bastiat's social harmony, and his derivation of the wage-system from the necessity of association and insurance against risk. 1 Essai sur la Theorie du Salaire, p. 408. Factors Determining Nominal Wages 361 to become more important, if not with respect to the number of employers, at least with respect to the number of work- men they direct. An organization of labor such as the Saint-Simonians projected would make the wage-system universal instead of destroying it, while it would guarantee the wage-earner neither the right of discussion nor the choice of occupation. And all the communistic plans which have been proposed, with the exception of those which abandon all organization and frankly accept anarchy, would lead to the same goal. Such would have been the result of Fourier's system, for instance, had it been applied in all its rigor. Only one form of association — productive cooperation — of which I shall speak later, would really take the place of the wage-system. In certain cases, as I have explained several times, this is a very praiseworthy and desirable form of organization, but at present it is within the reach of only a small number of workmen. And it should be added that the cooperative societies themselves employ a form of wage-payment, which the more intelligent theoretical advocates of cooperation in France now endeavor to prove is wise. Bastiat, presenting only the favorable side of the wage- contract, held it up as a form of cooperation advantageous to the entrepreneur who is thereby enabled to produce more, advantageous to society which profits by the increased production, and advantageous to the laborer who would make less if he worked alone on his own account. The reason given for the last statement is that the workman would net accept employment unless he expected to gain by it, but the alternative suggested is undoubtedly a fiction; in reality the laborer has no choice. It contains, however, a certain amount of truth. Under his direction the employer must have collabor- ators, and the number of these in any given enterprise in- creases as the industry becomes more concentrated. And the plain tendency of industry, I repeat, is towards concen- tration. 302 The American Laborer The services of these collaborators are paid for from time to time at prices fixed in advance, and the wage-pay- ment is a much more regular and convenient form of re- muneration than a share in the ultimate profits, the arrange- ment that would ordinarily be adopted in a system of co- operation. It is more equitable also than distribution at the arbitrary pleasure of one of the factors, a method fol- lowed in certain industrial communities. We must bend our energies, not to the quixotic task of abolishing the wage-system, but to the discovery and application of meth- ods by which the wage-system may be employed to the bet- ter advantage of both those who sell and those who purchase human labor. In pursuit of practical aims such as these, American workmen have justly demanded the weekly payment of wages, and have exercised their right of association by forming unions whose common object is the improvement of the present conditions of labor. We may denote by the comprehensive term services all those returns made by wage-earners for the wages they re- ceive. When services take the form of " productive labor " — which is ordinarily the case with the workman — they con- tribute to the creation of a fund of riches which is the result of the collaboration of the entrepreneur, the capitalist, and the laborer; or to be more exact, the result of the directive labor of the entrepreneur and the directed and salaried labor of the employee, the two conjoined making capital effective. In general the entrepreneur conceives and directs the work, the laborer executes it with tools and materials sup- plied by the entrepreneur, and the latter in turn delivers or sells the product. It is upon this selling value that the re- muneration of each factor is determined, and by a distribu- tion of this value that each receives the share which is al- lotted to it either before or after the sale. The proportion of each is not the same in all cases and it is not invariable: each factor must look out for itself in the distribution of the product. Whether the laborer gets a fair share, then, de- pends largely upon himself, upon the skill and fidelity he Factars Determining Nominal Wages 363 displays in his work, and upon the manner in which he util- izes his rights in the drawing up of the wage-contract. Not all services are applied to the direct production of wealth. The wage-contract by which one party furnishes his money in return for the time and labor of another, is entered into not only by laborers, but by all kinds of em- ployees, officials, domestics, etc. The labor of many such employees does not ordinarily result in a tangible, material product, and it is very necessary to recognize that in these cases, wages cannot be measured by the value of the pro- duct. By a singular misconception of facts the socialistic schools which proceed from Proudhon and Karl Marx lay down the principle that labor creates the whole value of the pro- duct. On the strength of this theory they condemn the wage-system because it allots to the laborer only a part cf the value of the product, and ordinarily allows interest on capital and profits to the entrepreneur. But their analysis of production and their theory 7 of value will not bear close examination and the pseudo-principle they deduce from them is in contradiction both to economic science and com- mon sense. Moreover they have great difficulty in adjust- ing their theory to those services which do not result in a material product. Their condemnation will not destroy the wage-system. The wage-system is not a transitory phenomenon in free societies, and we have every reason to believe that under the influence of machinery and concentration the proportion of wage-earners will go on increasing, as it in- creased in Europe and particularly in France by the sup- pression of the craft-gilds. There is place, then, after the recital of the facts concerning the condition of the American laborer in the preceding chapters, for a study of the causes which determine the rate of wages. In the present chapter I shall treat of nominal wages only, the payment in money or kind which the wage-earner receives. I shall speak only incidentally of real wages, i. e 364 The American Laborer the quantity of necessaries, conveniences and luxuries which the nominal wage will purchase. The latter aspect of the question will be treated after I have described the laborer's mode of living. 3 The causes of nominal wages which I am going to con- sider are of varying importance and more or less interre- lated. As I am dealing with the American workman I have confined myself practically to the doctrines and opinions current in America. They are, in the order cf treatment, as follows: custom and institutions, supply and demand, cost of living, competition, industrial capital or the wages fund, the general state of wealth, the intensity of consumption. Custom. — In any district or any industrial establishment wages at a given time are fairly well fixed and most work- men and employers do not inquire beyond this simple fact: they accept the customary rates. In many instances it is this existing or customary rate which determines the assemblage of workmen or the construction of a proposed factory at a given place. Custom, then, has a great influence in fixing the rate of wages, although it may be objected that cus- tom explains nothing, that there is no fact corresponding to the word. Every phenomenon has its cause and the cus- tomary rate, like other rates, is doubtless regulated by the general law of wages. But the very fact that a specific rate does obtain at any point, proves the existence of a certain inertia which is often great enough to preserve the rate in- tact long after the strictly economic conditions which pro- duced it have disappeared. This is why custom must be numbered among the causes which determine wages.* Cus- 3 See ch. ix. [The chapters on the laborer's mode of living have not been translated, and may be found in the second part of L'Ouvrier Americain.~\ * It is something akin to what Miss Collet calls " an unconscious trades-union " that fixes the natural minimum which each member of a social class is willing to receive, and which, by strengthening the laborer in his demand for this minimum, diminishes the resist- ance of employers. "The visible trades-union is impossible." Miss Collet says, " unless this unconscious trades-union already exists." Factors Determining Nominal Wages 365 torn acts as a preservative agent, and if wages are more stable than prices, it is to custom, at least in part, that this relative fixity is due. The influence of custom is universal, although it is less potent among the higher than among the lower classes of labor, and in countries in which the people are free and edu- cated than in those where the opposite conditions prevail. Where the laboring class is qualified by organization and intelligence to take care of its own interests, tradition loses its force and the interaction of supply and demand becomes of increasing importance in the regulation of wages. Cus- tom may also be modified or solidified by law or adminis- trative measures. When the public authorities establish maximum rates, as Charles XI and the Convention of France did, they modify the prices and natural movement of labor; and when they publish official tariffs of prices, as was done by the city of Paris, they exert a modifying in- fluence which up to a certain point is effective. When by education or a rise of wages, the extension of the suffrage or the progress of democracy the laboring-class rises to higher political and social levels, the wage-earner becomes less humble, less resigned, and finds in himself or in or- ganization an increased vigor whereby to exert an influence upon the wage-contract. The democratic spirit of the American people has assist- ed materially in preserving the custom of high wages. The testimony of de Tocqueville upon this point, given some sixty years ago before the development of the labor union, is still worthy of citation : " I think that, upon the whole, it may be asserted that a slow and gradual rise of wages is one of the general laws of democratic communities. In proportion as social conditions become more equal, wages rise; and as wages are higher, social conditions become See The Quarterly Journal of Economics, April, 1891, p. 367. John Stuart Mill emphasized the influence of custom, and Emile Cheval- lier devoted to it a chapter of his work Les Salairies an XlX e Steele. 25 3G6 The American Laborer more equal In the constant struggle for wages which is going on between these two classes, their strength is di- vided, and success alternates from one to the other." ' Wage-scales. — The wage-scale might be called a con- ventional or written custom, but when there is enough har- mony between employers and employees to secure the adop- tion of one, the scale becomes more binding than simple custom because it constitutes a contract which is in force for an extended period of time. The term is not ordinarily longer than six months or a year in the United States, as the American does not care to relinquish his freedom of choice for a long period. The scale may be individual or collective, that is to say, between a workman and his em- ployer or between an association of employers and an asso- ciation of workmen. The collective scale, which is com- mon in America and particularly in the building and metal- lurgical industries, presupposes a strong organization of labor. Wages regulated by scale are more variable and more rigidly conformable to the value of the product than those regulated by custom. The scale should be beneficial to both parties. To illus- trate: in an industry which pays $2 a day and the workmen make 10 articles daily, the employer may offer 18 cents per article and the workmen accept, making under the piece- system 12 articles a day and earning $2.16, while the em- ployer reduces the cost of production 2 cents per unit. This is what takes place ordinarily. But the workmen fear that competition among themselves will finally lead to re- ductions of the rate per piece which will bring the daily wage down to $1.80 or less: this is the path that leads to the sweating system. The scale may be fixed or movable, the latter species being known as the sliding-scale. In the sliding-scale a certain standard piece-rate is taken as the base, corresponding to a certain average price of the pro- 1 Democracy in America, Bowen's edition, third book. ch. vii, pp. 230, 231. Factors Determining Nominal Wages 367 duct, and the piece-rate increases or decreases as the price goes up or down. The sliding-scale is only practicable where the product is sufficiently simple, and its price well understood in the open market. The unions also fear that the final result of the sliding-scale will lower wages, as it destroys much of the employer's interest in maintaining high prices. " What would have happened," they say, " if wages had been rigidly regulated by the price of steel or calico?" Supply and demand. — Here we have the efficient cause and the supreme law of value, the law which fixes the rate of wages as it fixes the prices of commodities. Most econo- mists since Adam Smith have expounded it more or less clearly. But the socialists and some economists contemptu- ously dismiss it as a truism, though thereby they but demon- strate their inability to comprehend it. It is indeed true that the phrase means little in itself; we must show the con- ditions which regulate supply and demand, which establish different classes of wages and maintain differences between them. For the law embraces and sums up all the causes we are considering: productivity which puts a commercial value upon a laborer and stimulates the demand for his labor; competition of laborers which increases the supply as the competition of employers increases the demand; the cost of living which curtails the supply when the demand- price is inadequate; the abundance of capital which swells the demand; the consumption of commodities which acts in a similar way when it is active; the improvement of ma- chinery which first deadens, then strengthens, the demand. if the diminution of price sufficiently stimulates consump- tion; immigration which augments the supply; education which closes the gap between the different classes of labor and which in the end may affect unfavorably the highest classes of wage-earners; labor-crganizations which may en- hance wages by concentrating the supply, as associations of employers may concentrate the demand. Productivity. — Among these special causes the produc- tivity of labor must certainly be placed in the first rank. 3G8 The American Laborer The wage-system is a method of distribution by which the laborer receives a share of the value of the good in whose production he collaborates, which share is fixed in advance by an anticipation of the probable value of the product. It is plain that the labor which creates no value produces no fund from which wages may be paid, and that the person who would reward such labor would end in bankruptcy. It is just as evident, on the other hand, that where the labor- er adds some value by increasing the quantity or improv- ing the quality of the product, there we have the material for a remuneration to which the laborer is entitled. Wages. said President Walker, are determined by production; they are paid out of the product of industry and are equal to the value of the product minus interest and profits. That wages are a " residue " — what is left of the product after in- terest and profits have been deducted — is a very doubtful proposition; in reality wages form part of the expenses of production. But whether wages be a residual, or on the contrary, an anticipated share, it is essential that the laborer should know and maintain his rights, for the entrepreneur will not voluntarily offer him all that he can obtain. " If the wage laborer," says General Walker in another place, " does not pursue his interest, he loses his interest." 8 In piece-work the connection between wages and pro- duction is more apparent than in day-labor. The chairman of the committee which investigated the Homestead strike asked the director of the Carnegie works upon what basis he fixed the maximum and minimum rates of wages. " Upon the selling prices of our goods," the director an- swered. He might have added that every variation of prices could not have been reflected in wages and that the fixation, preceding both production and sale, must neces- sarily have been an approximate one. Productivity is the principal cause of the wide range of " The Jl'agcs Question, ch. x. Factors Determining Nominal Wages 369 wages, from those of the apprentice to those of the fore- man in the same shop, from the wages of the navvy to those of the sculptor. The proof of this is seen in the practice some employers have of offering certain extra compensa- tion, premiums on production, on sales, on extra diligence, or economy in the use of material; the incentive to profit- sharing is also found in its effect upon productivity. On the other hand we have the fine or forfeit in piece-work, but this virtually transforms the wage-earner into an entre- preneur. The causes of productivity are of two kinds: causes im- personal to the wage-earner, on the one hand, such as the organization of plant and machinery; on the other hand, those individual qualities or personal causes which Fourier has called collectively le talent, but which most economists know by the word " capacity." The former are predomi- nant in a large textile factory for instance, where the work- man is a sort of machine. The latter are predominant in a bank cashier or a bronze-worker. Following General Walker a number of American econo- mists, notably Mr. Jacob Schoenhof, 7 have defended the productivity theory as the supreme law of wages. The erection into a principle of the proposition that wages measure productivity is very pleasing to the self-love of the Americans. They argue that since wages are higher in the United States than in other countries, the American laborer is the most skillful and the American nation the most pro- ductive in the world. Mr. Atkinson finally adopts the same explanation as Gen- eral Walker — productivity — but in his words: "Wages are held to be a consequence — a result — a remainder over after capital has received such profit as will have induced it to undertake the work; the rate of wages cannot therefore be 7 " A high rate of wages expresses a high rate of productiveness, and its converse a high consuming power." The Economy of High linages, p. 63. 370 The American Laborer considered a true measure of the cost of production. Wages are a consequent result, and their measure or rate is, and must be, determined, in the long run, by what the product will bring, and not by what the capitalist may either prom- ise or be willing to pay for a given time." Further on the author justly says: " Low wages are not essential to a low cost of production, but on the contrary usually indicate a high cost of production. . . ." 8 The American laborer is a hard worker, without doubt. It is just as true that the American entrepreneur, who pays high wages because it is the custom, provides him with the best tools and equips the factory in which he works with the most powerful and economic machinery. But the entre- preneur is eager for profit and after having provided the best equipment possible, gets all he can from man and ma- chine.* In his Elements of Political Economy Professor Laughlin adopts Mill's doctrine of the wage-fund in an amended form, and accepts the general productivity of labor as the deter- mining cause of high or low wages. He adds, very justly, that wages oscillate above or below this level up to the moment in which the demand and supply of labor fix accurately the point of understanding between the employer and the employee. 10 Before the publication of President Walker's book on wages, several European economists, particularly Thornton in his book On Labour, had spoken of the influence of pro- ductivity. Leroy-Beaulieu, who had emphasized its im- portance in his Travail des Fetmnes an XIX Sicclc, also lays claim in his Traite Theorique et Pratique d'Economie Politique to part parentage of this doctrine. I, myself, have always 8 Edward Atkinson, The Distribution of Products, pp. 53. 63. ' Even at piece-work the rapid workman is cheaper than the slow one in industries in which costly machinery is required. The cost of production is less with fast workman because the interest on capital per unit of product is less. Cf. Marshall, Principles of Economics, third edition, p. 628. 10 Vol. ii, pp. 268 and 280. Factors Determining Nominal Wages 3?1 placed productivity in the first rank among the causes of wages. Twenty-five years ago I taught the doctrine at the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers and in my Precis d 1 Econo- mic Politique wrote that between labor and its product — both are commodities u — there exists an essential difference, which consists of the fact that the product tends to sell for, what it costs while labor tends to sell for what it is worth. In other words the price of the product tends to fall under the influence of competition, as the cost of production de- creases, while within certain limits wages tend to rise in proportion to the productivity of the laborer. 1 * Under the title " the economic paradox," it has even been my custom to demonstrate in my lectures how manufac- turers could pay more for their labor and raw material, sell their products cheaper, and at the same time make more profit than they are now doing. All that is necessary is machinery powerful enough to produce much more per unit of time with the same labor force. It is a simple illustra- tion of the productivity of labor. 13 But I have always been careful to add that we cannot re- gard the productivity theory as the only law of wages, or indeed as a law without exception. Domestics, for instance, are paid higher wages in America than in Europe, and yet they do less work. In both continents they do less work and receive higher wages now than they did fifty years ago. Nor can it be held that in all times and industries the 11 This word applied to labor wounds the sensibility of certain publicists who, without understanding its usage, prefer to be vague and sentimental rather than scientific in their use of terms. 13 Mr. Hewitt expressed almost the same idea in his speech de- livered upon accepting the presidency of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, in 1800. He speaks of " the law which Edward Atkinson discovered, and which he and Robert Giffer have demon- strated, to wit: Tbat labor is receiving a steadily increasing share of a steadily increasing product; and that capital is receiving a steadily diminishing share of an increasing product, still insuring for it an adequate remuneration " Many others have expressed the same idea; it has been current among economists for a long time. "Precis d' Economic Politique, p. 35. 372 The American Laborer wage of the laborer increases in proportion to the value he produces. As the product is finally sold we may admit that the laborer receives a share of the selling price. But what share? Certainly not one which bears an invariable ratio to interest or to profits. Moreover, the value of the product is uncertain, it is not always commensurate with the quan- tity of the product. Production, therefore, cannot be taken as the measure of wages. The mule-spinner who spins ten thousand times as much yarn as her great-grandmother did with the spinning-wheel, receives more pay than her great-grandmother received, but not ten thousand times as much. When an entrepreneur sets up a cotton mill he does not say: a hundred years ago a woman could spin 5 hanks of yarn a day on the spinning- wheel; the workman who minds two self-acting mules can spin 55,000 hanks to-day: I will give him and his two help- ers ten thousand times as much as they used to receive. What he really does is to ascertain the customary rate of wages in the locality, calculate what his product will prob- ably be with the machinery he has, and estimate what this product will bring on the open market. Then if he de- cides that he can manufacture at a profit, he offers the cus- tomary wages, confident that workmen will respond. If he believes that his machinery is superior enough to enable him to produce at a lower cost than his competitors, he may offer a little more than the ordinary rate in order to attrac: the best workmen. In this way wages rise as productivity increases. But the increase of wages is not necessarily pro- portional to the increase of product. As a matter of fact the wages of spinners have risen in the last fifty years. But the value of yarn has fallen in a much greater ratio and it is the consumer who has received the greatest benefit. It is well to remember, however, that the laboring class forms a most important part of the body of consumers. It is now more than thirty years since I first attempted to clear up this economic phenomenon in a pub- lished lecture on the Role of Intelligence in Production. Factors Determining Nominal Wages 373 At the time when few laborers understood the working of machines, good mechanics made higher wages than at pres- ent, when this species of skill is common, yet they do as much work as they ever did. The reason is that an increase in the productivity of labor affects wages in several ways. At first it usually increases both wages and profits, because better results are secured with the same amount of effort and there is a larger income to divide. But under the in- fluence of competition prices soon fall and wages and profits are reduced to the ordinary level. Wages, however, are sel- dom reduced to the point from which they started. The productivity of machinery (which is one cause, in fact the principal cause, of the productivity of labor) also affects wages in diverse ways. If before the invention of the machine the commodity was difficult to manufacture, it was necessary to employ skilled labor at relatively high wages. If the machine makes the work easy, ordinary lab- orers can be substituted for the skilled workmen, and aver- age wages fall in the occupation in question. This process has often been noticed in the United States; in nearly all manufactures in which new machinery has been introduced or the old machinery greatly improved, the workmen com- plain with more or less justice against the displacement of the laborer by machinery; it is one of the grave questions raised by the progress of invention. It may happen then, in America as in Europe, that the wages of the laborer de- crease while the quality of what he produces improves, and its quantity increases. We have cited at least a few in- stances in which the facts are contrary to the law that wages bear a fixed ratio to the product. We may cite one or two other illustrations which go to prove that even the value realized by the sale of the product is not a reliable measure of the rate of wages. The prices of farm products have sensibly decreased in the United States since 1879, tne Y ear ^ n which the European demand for cereals was so heavy: the average price of wheat, for 374 The American Laborer instance, was 54 cents in 1893 as against $1.10 in 1879. Taking the prices of 1872 as standard, represented by 100, Mr. Powers has calculated that the prices of vegetable and animal products in the Mississippi valley would be repre- sented by 124 in 1879 an d 106 in 1891-94; and in the North Atlantic and Central States by 96 in 1879 an< ^ 83 in 1891- 94. In 1892 the farmer received much less for the same quantity of products than in 1879, although he paid his hands, on an average of the whole United States, $16.42 a month in 1879 and $16.80 a month in 1892. Some other cause than increased productivity must be found to explain this rise in wages. In certain industries, to choose another kind of example, men have been replaced by women who do the same work for less wages. Here again productivity fails as a measure of wages. A study of the facts, then, discredits the absolute theory that would make this cause the sole regulator of wages. 1 ' Yet it may confidently be repeated that productivity is one of the principal causes of the high wages which characterize America. As I have shown by numerous examples, idling is almost unknown in American shops and factories; the laborer works energetically, and the machinery, while it en- ables him to produce more than the laborer of any other country, England excepted, requires of him more attention and greater activity. Two important consequences follow which should be clearly noted. First, there is no fixed relation between the rate of wages and the cost of production. Second, the cost of production and the selling price — the important 14 Among the American theories is that of Henry George: " Wages depend upon the margin of production, or upon the pro- duce which labor can obtain at the highest point of natural pro- ductiveness open to it without the payment of rent." I mention this in a footnote because it cannot be advanced as a determinative cause of wages in civilized countries. For a criticism of its validity I may refer the reader to the chapter on "Henry George's Theory" in Mr. Gunton's Wealth and Progress. See also L'Ouzrier Amerieain, pt. iii, ch. vii. Factors Determining Nominal Wages 375 fact for the consumer — are not necessarily proportional, and although under a regime of free competition the two tend to approach, the actual divergence has a very wide range. Wages constitute one element in the expenses of produc- tion. In those industries in which the products are made chiefly by hand, they form the predominant element; this explains why the cost of building, for instance, has increased so much in the United States. But in the industries in which machinery, or in general, in the industries in which capital is more important than labor, wages and the cost of production cften display opposite tendencies; wages may rise as the value of the product falls. This divergence, well illustrated in the textile industries, constitutes that " eco- nomic paradox " which is one of the happiest consequences of industrial progress. Only one other aspect of this question can be noticed here: does the product of the laborer furnish a just measure of the remuneration due him? The common laborer who with pick and shovel removes iooo cubic feet of earth in a day, toils far harder and accomplishes much less than the man who runs a steam-dredge. Can the dredger, who suffers less fatigue and is not necessarily more intelligent or more industrious than the laborer, rightfully demand a greater wage than the laborer? He may obtain, and it is desirable that he should obtain, a higher wage; but he is not robbed if he fails to obtain it. As all the superiority lies in the ma- chine, equity would demand that the surplus should revert to the man who really created it, the inventor. This is what actually happens, in part at least, immediately after the in- vention of the machine. But when the invention has be- come common property, this surplus falls to the general treasury of industrial art and the whole world profits by the fall of price. And this is the " role of intelligence in pro- duction." Cost of living. — The cost of living, which I shall treat at 376 The American Laborer greater length in the second part of this work, 1 " is another cause of prime importance in the determination of wages. The workingman's family has but one fund to live upon — that secured from labor — but there is an immense difference in the livings secured by different laborers and it is plain that the cost of living is without limits, either inferior or superior. 10 From the cost of living of the steel-roller who makes $10 a day, down to that of the sweat-shop tailor who is reduced to $i or less, there is a long series descending from affluence to misery. " The American lives on all sorts of wages," a laborer of French extraction said to me. The Hindu carpenter or mason who makes 8 annas (less than 25 cents) a day, 17 or the Japanese workmen who aver- age about 20 or 25 cents a day do not live of course like the New York mason who receives $4 a day. There does exist in each stage of wealth and civilization a kind of minimum wage, but it is very difficult to express by a concrete sum of money either what it is or what it should be. It would be impossible to frame a general law on this subject. Local custom, based upon the prevailing state of wealth, affords the best indication of what it is. Mr. Gunton has given a clear account of the theory which makes the standard of living " the economic law of wages." 18 By the standard of living, or to be more exact, by " the so- cially accepted standard of living," Mr. Gunton understands the ordinary state of material comfort and social refinement which is required in the social class to which one belongs. 1 * With great ingenuity and completeness he assimilates labor to ordinary commodities, and after having shown that com- 15 See L'Ouvrier Americain, pt. ii. 16 See F. A. Walker, The Wages Question, ch. vii, " Necessary Wages." ' Estimating the silver at its par value. The carpenters working on the canals in Arissa received from 5 to 7 annas a day in 1892. In other places they received on an average 15 rupees (less than $7-50) a month. See Prices and Wages in India, Calcutta, 1893. 1S Wealth and Progress, p. 96. 1B Wealth and Progress, p. 88. Factors Determining Nominal Wages 377 petition forces the price of a commodity down to the cost of production of the most expensive portion necessary for con- sumption, he concludes that the price of labor also tends to approach the cost of maintenance, not of an isolated labor- er, but of the most expensive family whose labor is required in production. Mr. Gunton adds as a corollary that the so- called " iron law " is a fallacy because in every class of labor it is those who live best and not those who live cheapest, who, by their cost of maintenance, determine the rate ol wages. It is the Ricardian theory of rent applied to wages. Those families whose cost is highest are always on the border-line of want, but those whose cost is lower enjoy a surplus. The author of this theory thinks that it, and it only, ex- plains the differences among the wages of the Hindu, the German, and the American, the city workman and the farm laborer. The theory really throws a good deal of light upon one side of the problem, but is it the cost of living which makes the wages of the farm laborer greater in summer than in winter, when his need is greatest? Basing their argument upon certain statements of Ricardo and other economists who hold that wages tend to sink to the minimum of existence, the laborers of the United States, as a class, accept the " standard of living " 20 as the true de- terminative cause of wages. Demand, they argue, deter- mines production ; and as the wage-earning class, because of its numbers, is the most important factor in demand, high wages form the most powerful stimulus that can be applied 20 As Mr. Gunton clearly explains {Wealth and Progress, p. 96), there is a sharp distinction between " cost of living " and " standard of living." The standard consists of the sum of commodities or the quantum of satisfaction procured by the representative person or group of persons of any social class. The cost is the total price of this quantum of satisfaction. If prices fall, the cost of living decreases without having any effect upon the standard of living. Vice versa, the standard may change without affecting the cost. There are also other differences. See L'Ottvrier Americain, pt. ii, ch. vi. 378 The American Laborer to industry. Large consumption in the families of the work- ing people, necessitates high wages and in consequence is a cause of general prosperity. " Wages have been and will be regulated by existing conditions of living, and whatever tends to raise ' the standard of decency and comfort ' will inevitably affect the standard of wages. Therefore, 21 the great problem is not so much to increase production in an overstocked market as to increase consumption and thus enlarge the demand." 2i In these words one of the mouth- pieces of the American Federation of Labor, Mr. Lemuel Danryid, expresses himself in a pamphlet designed for the instruction of working people. Another of their pamphleteers propounds the question: " Why does a wage-worker receive more where the cost or standard of living is high than he does in a place where the cost or standard is low?" He answers: " Because in one place the cost or standard is high and in the other it is low. This is the great law. The standard of living affects wages. It is true that in some places and at times wages are advanced beyond the standard of living, but such an advance is necessarily brief in duration, and proves the rule by wages soon falling to the standard of life, but if the standard of life reaches to the level of wages the wages remain fixed. " Question. — What affects the standard of life? " Answer. — As a rule, in all countries and in all times the de- mand for higher or more wages is consequent upon the increased 21 " As wages are governed by the standard of living, and the standard of living is governed by the social wants of the laborer . . . ." reasons a third publicist, Mr. George Gunton, in The Economic and Social Importance of the Eight-Hour Movement (Publica- tion of the American Federation of Labor, Eight-Hour Series, No. 2), p. 11. In his book Wealth and Progress (p. 6), Mr. Gunton attrib- utes to Ira Steward the first enunciation of the theory that the standard of living is the basis of wages. " Accordingly, while the central thought presented in this book belongs to Ira Steward, its development and presentation is the work of the present writer. By the central thought, I mean the idea that the standard of living is the basis of wages and that social opportunity or more leisure for the masses, as expressed in less hours of labor, is the natural means for increasing wages and promoting progress." 22 History and Philosophy of the Eight-Hour Movement (Eight-Hour Scries, No. 3), p. 9. Factors Determining Nominal Wages 379 pressure of new wants created. If a man has learned to read and is surrounded by reading men he will want to read, and will de- mand such wages as will enable him to satisfy this want. If there was no such day as the Sabbath or rest-day, and all wage-workers were employed the seven days of the week, not only would wages not be advanced, but they would be reduced, because the present wants of Sunday would be lost. . . . " Hovel life gives hovel wages; tenement-house life gives tene- ment-house wages; shabby clothes give shabby wages; good clothes, good eating, good homes mean good wages; you cannot have the best till you want the best." ** In support of his argument the author cites garbled ex- tracts from economists whom he believes share his opinions, and it is a fact, moreover, that there are distinguished American economists who profess this doctrine. The author concludes this popular catechism by saying that the most powerful human incentive is the desire of men to im- prove their conditions; that organization is the surest means of accomplishing this end; that leisure creates wants, hence men must secure leisure; that time is money, hence the laborer should make every effort to obtain the most money for his time or at least to give the least possible time for the money he receives. The reason why women so often sell their labor for less than it is worth, the labor party maintain, is because they usually do not have to support themselves entirely by their own earnings. This is partly true, and the argument is very specious because of this fact. But the general theory is based upon an incomplete survey of the facts. As with those economists who make productivity the sole regulator of wages, so with the labor party: their theory is much too rigid. The labor party abuses the doctrine of the cost of living by trying to prove that the laborer is paid in proportion to his need, whatever that may be, and that to obtain higher wages he must increase his wants. The socialists, such as 38 Geo. E. McNeill, The Eight-Hour Primer {Eight-Hour Series, No. i), pp. II, 12. 380 The American Laborer Lasalle and Marx, abuse the doctrine in an opposite way, by asserting that wages have an inevitable tendency to descend to the lowest possible minimum cost of living. It is this perversion of the doctrine that the labor party calls the " iron law of wages." The real law is less rigid than both parties suppose. Eco- nomic science, fortified by facts, explains the antinomy by showing that the minimum is not a fixed plane but a shift- ing level which varies considerably as the state of civiliza- tion changes. And at present the American minimum is at a very high level. The standard of life, that sum of wants which it is cus- tomary to satisfy, exercises an undoubted influence upon wages, but in the direction of maintaining, not in the direc- tion of elevating, them. Nor is this standard to be fixed at the arbitrary pleasure of its beneficiaries; it is originally an effect, not a cause of wages, and it continues to be more an effect than a cause. 24 As effect, it is determined by the gen- eral state of wealth and the productivity of labor in the country in question: it is a direct result of the rate of wages itself, the laborer conforming his mode of living to his in- come. As cause, it prevents the laborer from accepting under ordinary circumstances a rate of wages lower than that customarily paid in his trade, because this rate corre- sponds to the mode of living of people in his walk of life. Expenditure follows income. A New York compositor would be in sore straits if he had to regulate his expenditures according to the income of a cotton weaver at Nashua. Both in France and America the needs and the cost of liv- ing of the laborer have changed since the eighteenth cen- tury. When the wages of workingmen have once risen and their wants and satisfaction have become adjusted to a higher plane, it is exceedingly painful for them, as for other " It is evident," says Leroy-Beaulieu, " that the resources of the workman determine his style of living, and not the style of living his resources." Traite Theorique et Pratique d'Economie Politique, ii, 261. Factors Determining Nominal Wages 381 people, to accommodate themselves to a lower plane; they make every effort to avoid the change. This gives rise to one species of the strike which I have illustrated several times. Custom, acting as a preservative agent, may maintain the level for a time. Nevertheless, as it is better to eke out a bare existence than not to exist at all, the workman after having made what resistance he can with the assistance of custom, ends by yielding to the pressure of necessity. When an industry deserts a place, for instance, the workmen often have no choice but to emigrate or starve. I quote an instructive anecdote upon this point from the Blair Report: " In 1842," said a witness from Massachusetts, " the mills had to stop. Mine was a small mill, but it will perhaps illustrate what others had to do as well as any illustration that I can give. I found that I could not run the mill and hold my own. I had not capital enough to run through and afford to lose anything. I sent to my help and asked them whether, if I could manage to run the mill through the winter, they would be willing to work for less wages, and they said no. One man said he had a family of five or six children, and he said he would take his family to the poor-house before he would work for less. I said very well, I would not run the mill. I shut it up and went home, myself and my wife, and stayed there through the winter with my father. " In the spring I went back and found that these people had been idle through the winter. I went into the mill building and lit a fire and the smoke began to curl up and go off through the chimney, and it was seen throughout the neighborhood, and they all came flocking to the mill to inquire if I were going to start. Among the others who came to make that inquiry was the man who said he wouldn't work for less than his own price. When he said, 'Are you going to start?' I said, 'I don't know.' 'For God's sake,' he said, ' start this mill and give us just what you can afford to pay for our work.' Said he, ' I have had no work through the winter, except occasionally a job at chopping wood at 50 cents a cord, and I couldn't do more than one cord a day, and with that 50 cents I have got Indian meal to feed my family on.' I said to him, ' I told you last fall it would be hard for you, and you said you would rather go to the poor-house.' ' Well,' said he, ' I was mistaken, and I am willing to go to work now.' When help find that they cannot do any better, and learn that they have to go to work for a certain price or get nothing, they will go to work." : 25 Labor and Capital, iii, 289. 26 382 The American Laborer Competition. — The competition among laborers for work, and that among employers for workmen, must be placed among the most important elements in the determination of wages: properly speaking they constitute the demand and supply of which we have spoken. In this connection Amer- ican workmen labor under a peculiar disadvantage: that of immigration. Every year from 200,000 to 600,000 immi- grants arrive, swelling the supply of labor and creating a competition which is unusually disagreeable because the im- migrants come from countries where wages are low, and consequently have an inferior standard of life. They con- stitute a reservoir of cheap labor which is never exhausted because it is continually being replenished. The effect of immigration is particularly felt in the Eas- tern States, where the immigrants disembark. This is cer- tainly one reason, though not the only one, why wages are higher in the West than in the wealthy manufacturing States of the East. American workmen feel it keenly. Hence the hatred and exclusion of the Chinese, the universal distrust manifested towards Italians and Russian Jews, the efforts of the labor party to restrict immigration by law, and the sup- port given to this policy by the Populist party. Of the laws which restrict immigration, some are justi- fiable from the standpoint of ethics, ethers are to be con- demned in the name of liberty. It is true that the tariff takes but scant account of the principle of liberty, and that the laws which exclude wheat or cloth with the purpose of increasing the rent of the landlord or of swelling the profits of the entrepreneur, are less excusable than those which turn back the immigrant to protect the welfare of the native laborer. But no law of this nature is inspired by the feeling of equity. They are dictated by a preponderant political in- fluence or by the selfish interests of a majority. Labor is, in general, more mobile in America than in France. When the laborer has a chance of obtaining better wages in another place, he moves there, changing his resi- Factors Determining Nominal Wages 383 dence and even his trade with great facility. This mobility is certainly a great advantage as it tends to make wages equivalent in all parts of the country. General Walker held that it not only tended to equalize wages, but that it served to elevate the general level. 20 I share the opinion that it helps to maintain the level, as it tends to drain off an excess of labor from points where a superabundance would other- wise depress wages. In the opinion of the American laborer there is another form of competition to be met: that arising from machinery. The machine is a competitor without doubt. When it enters the factory there is a practical certainty that several work- men will go out and that they will have no chance of re- turning until consumption has been sufficiently increased. American laborers are in consequence very apprehensive, the employment of machinery being so widespread there. But we have seen that the machine is an ally as well as a competitor, inasmuch as it increases the productivity of labor. The American laborer, though somewhat uneasy about the matter, recognizes that the machine is necessary. Another opposing force is found in the concentration of industry which facilitates concerted action and diminishes competition among employers. Professor Marshall has called attention to the fact that labor is now bought in gross, instead of at retail, as it used to be. Formerly there was a multitude of small manufactures in which the mas- ters were almost as numerous as the workmen. But in the large manufactures of the present the employer commands a much greater labor force, and finds it much easier to dic- tate conditions. We have seen how rapidly concentration is progressing in the United States. The workmen endeavor to counteract this influence with that of their unions. These unions concentrate and restrain the supply of labor by uniting a multitude of isolated com- petitors in a body which acts as a unit in the labor market. 26 See The Wages Question, pt. i. ch. iv and x. 384 The American Laborer In America these organizations perform their offices openly; they are contrary neither to law nor to general opinion. The courts have not penalized striking per sc for many years; they punish only specific acts of violence. As moderation in the use of one's own rights and respect for the rights of others are difficult to maintain in a state of freedom, indus- trial disputes of great violence occur in the United States. In certain branches of industry, the building trades for in- stance, the workmen have become masters of the situation to a large degree and often dictate terms to the employers, the result being an increased cost of building. In the manu- factures on the other hand, the employers are strong enough to control the union workmen and in some instances to de- bar them altogether, or at least, to refuse to treat with the unions. An investigation of the results accomplished in Europe and America during the last fifteen years leaves the student convinced that the labor-organization has become a power in the industrial world, and that by strikes or amicable agreements this power — which is largely the result of union — has exercised a notable influence in elevating and main- taining wages and upon other conditions of the wage-con- tract. In those industries in which they have become an important factor, the unions have succeeded in modifying somewhat the distribution of wealth, but they do not in- crease the sum total of wealth. On the contrary their dis- turbances may retard production. Moreover it is not neces- sary to believe all the publicists of the labor party tell us about the omnipotence of the labor-union. Wages may go up without the slightest action on their part, as is clearly shown in the movement of the wages of domestic servants and farm laborers. The union can make wages high and maintain them only by increasing the productivity of labor and the general wealth of the country. If their strikes, which constitute an attack upon this wealth, increase in numbers and animosity, Factors Determining Nominal Wages 385 they will drive capital into hiding and discourage the spirit of enterprise. In this event, wages must fall. It does not seem probable, however, that these conditions will be ful- filled. Prof. Laughlin, one of the most distinguished American economists, has advanced the theory that labor-unions per- vert the natural course of wages by exerting an undue pres- sure upon the market in the direction of enhancing the wages of their own members and depressing the wages of non-unionists whose natural outlet is closed by their ex- clusiveness. " The strikers gain at the expense of other workmen." The theory, though open to discussion, is partly true. But it will not turn a single union from its attempts at monopoly, because in the conflict of interests each individual or group of individuals, whatever theory it may hold, looks to its own interests, perfectly sure, in most cases, that its cause is the cause of the profession, and by extension, the cause of humanity. The laws which regulate, with great benefit in certain cases, the length of the working-day or the labor of women and children, restrain competition and the labor party is correct when it maintains that they tend to increase the hourly rate of wages." The assertion that such laws will not diminish the wage for the working-day, abridged in this way, nor interfere with the accomplishment of certain kinds of work, is more doubtful, however. The wage-fund and trade-capital. — The old theory of the wage-fund, suggested by Adam Smith, developed by Ri- cardo, and defended by John Stuart Mill, assumes the exist- ence of a fixed sum of capital set aside for the remuneration of a fixed number of laborers. If these two factors did not change, wages would be maintained at a fixed level; if one class of laborers secured an advance of wages, the increase 27 Upon this question, see the article of Mr. Beardsley in the Quarterly Journal of Economics for July, 1895. Mr. Beardsley's article contains some very sound and some very doubtful proposi- tions. 386 The American Laborer would have to be taken from the fixed fund and in conse- quence the wages of the remainder would undergo a propor- tional decrease; if the number of laborers increased, wages would fall in proportion to the increase. In America sev- eral distinguished economists have accepted the theory, in the bare form just outlined, or with slight modifications. Others have shown it to be inadequate"" — an insufficient reason, it may be noted, for rejecting it in toto. We may admit that in no country is there a fixed sum of capital set aside in a special fund and reserved for the pay- ment of laborers. But it is very plain that the man who em- ploys laborers must have buildings, machinery, raw ma- terial, and that for this, fixed and circulating capital is re- quired; that before the product is bought and paid for it is almost always necessary to pay the wages of the workmen, which makes it necessary to have a fund of circulating capi- tal. It is this which has been called the wage-fund. As a rule wages are advanced from capital. But even in those industries, railroads for example, in which the entrepreneur receives the price of the service before paying the wages of the employee, the capital fixed in road-bed and rolling- stock must have been advanced. During the first half of the present century farm hands were paid off only once or twice a year in certain sections of the United States. Even in this case the farmer had to possess a certain working capital. The more abundant capital is, however it may be employed, the greater is the demand for labor and the higher are the wages of the workman. This also must be admitted. Prof. Simon Newcomb has given a very keen analysis of the wages question in his book A Plain Man's Talk on the Labor Question'"' " Suppose, then," he says, " that the fac- tory is compelled to pay higher wages. Then it must either lessen its force or it must charge a higher price for its pro- 28 See inter alia The Wages Question, by F. A. Walker, pt. i. ch. ix; and Traite Economique et Pratique, by Paul Leroy-Beaulieu, ii, 261. 28 Page 158. Factors Determining Nominal Wages 387 ducts. In the latter case it will be bad for everybody who has to buy cloth, especially for laborers. In fact, the chances are that fewer people will buy the cloth, and thus the result will be, in the end, a diminution of production. What is true of this factory is true all the way through so- ciety. All ether conditions being the same, one class can- not get an increase in money wages except at the expense of other classes." A general increase of wages would neces- sarily result in an increase in the price of everything, if pro- duction remained the same. I have taken occasion once before to remark that this ar- gument makes no impression upon the laborer who, like any other vendor of goods, tries to get the highest possible price for his stock in trade. The attention of the laborer is fixed upon the distribution cf the product. Whatever the latter may be, either in quantity or value, he demands a larger share for himself and smaller shares for the entrepreneur and the capitalist, and sees no reason why the new arrange- ment should not continue indefinitely, other things being equal, since he is familiar with instances in which the cost of raw material has increased without producing a corre- sponding advance in prices. As Prof. Newcomb claims, if a universal advance of wages suddenly takes place, unac- companied by an increase in production, prices must rise. But the hypothesis is gratuitous; there is no magic wand at whose touch wages rise en bloc; those laborers who ob- tain the first advance reap a real advantage and each one tries to be among the first. If the advance in wages is de- ducted from the shares of the other two agents, a simple re- distribution occurs, consumption is not increased and pro- duction consequently is unchanged. But if production is increased, either in quantity or value, essential differences are introduced; the share of one agent may be enlarged without encroaching upon those of his collaborators; there is more wealth, the agent who makes more can spend more, and by stimulating production may call forth an entirely new increase of wealth in other industries. 388 The American Laborer Production and consumption. — One other factor must be taken into account. The quicker the production and con- sumption of products, the more rapidly capital is renewed. A given amount of circulating capital that is rapidly re- placed will command more labor, pay more wages and, by increasing the demand, pay higher wages, than an equal amount that is turned over less frequently. The wage-earner himself is an important element in this process of renewal. By the employment of his wages in consumption he is incessantly returning to capital a part of that which capital paid him; he accelerates the circulation. 30 This phenomenon is well illustrated in the United States. Compared with certain countries of Europe the amount of accumulated capital is relatively small perhaps, but the con- sumption is large and capital boldly and quickly launched in industrial enterprises. The United States to-day are comparatively wealthy be- cause they have experienced, thanks to the natural richness of the soil and the activity of the people, an almost uninter- rupted economic development in every direction. This de- velopment has engendered a demand for labor that grows greater every day and has sustained production by a con- sumption which is superior to that of Europe. Recapitulation. — It is a mistake to attempt to explain wages by any single cause, except supply and demand which comprehends all causes. The attempt invariably results in one of two things: we either violate certain facts by forcing them into conformity with our formula, or allow them to escape by proposing a formula which in order to be simple becomes too narrow. " If production furnishes the measure of wages, then the wages class is entitled to the immediate benefit of every improvement in science and art, every discovery of resources in nature, every ad- vance in their own industrial character. Surely it is not a small matter that the laborer should find a measure of his wages in the present and the future, rather than in the past." Here, in brief, is the whole theory of General Walker. See The Wages Question. P- 44- Factors Determining Nominal Wages 389 Many economists have made this mistake. Like the pur- suit of absolute truth in general, it is very seductive. But the penalties are many. Such a law not only invites criti- cism because of its inconsistency, but it brings the whole science into disrepute. I would place the science beyond the reach of such criticism by proposing the more moderate formula: Wages are determined by complex causes, 31 which act diversely upon supply and demand, and thus fix the rate peculiar to each industry and each individual; from these separate rates the statistician attempts to deduce the general average rate of the country. These causes are: productivity, which is the principal agent in the graduation of wages ac- cording to the merit of the workman and which must be credited with the greatest share in the general elevation of wages which has taken place in the nineteenth century; com- petition, which from the laborer's standpoint is affected dis- advantageously by immigration, advantageously by the de- velopment of industry, and in opposite directions by the association of employers and the organization of wage- earners; cost of living, which, though a result of wages, in turn assists the laborers to resist reduction and tends to maintain his income at the point required by his mode of living; industrial-capital, fixed or circulating (the last practi- cally coinciding with the wage-fund), whose influence varies in accordance with its quantity and its rapidity of circula- tion; activity of production and the general state of wealth, which exercises a general influence upon the rate of wages; consumption, which animates and directs production. The wages of domestics are not paid from the same fund 31 In the Quarterly Journal of Economics, July, 1895, P- 45 2 . ^ r - Charles Beardsley correctly says: "According to the theory that wages are limited by capital, wages might rise if capital increased. According to the doctrine that wages depend on product, wages may rise if the product increases. Both theories ignore the fact that a change in the volume of the national dividend may be accompanied by a readjustment of the relative proportions of the shares in distribution. . . ." 300 The American Laborer as those of industrial laborers. The wages of the latter de- pend, in main, upon the value of the product, those of the former upon the income of the master. If the workmen de- mand and obtain double wages in a factory that was just paying expenses before the advance, the firm will soon go to pieces. If a household servant demands twice as much pay, the employer may discharge the servant or pay the ad- vance if he is able; but in either event the family will con- tinue to exist. All these forces are at work in every country in which the wage-contract is free. 3 " But many of them act with greater intensity in America, a new country, than in Europe. Of the forces making for low wages, immigration may be cited : among those making for high wages are the circulation of wealth, which is very rapid in America, and the productivity of labor and the standard of living, which are both higher in America than in Europe. In the study of wages in America two facts are particu- larly noticeable: the increase in the volume of wages during the second half of the nineteenth century, and the elevation of the average rate of wages, which is higher than in any other country. The former phenomenon is common to Europe and America; the second is the distinguishing char- acteristic of American wages. The principal causes of the latter phenomenon are: first, the progress and the increasing productivity of industry; second, the uninterrupted settle- ment, appropriation, and cultivation of the soil in the last hundred years, and the continuous development of trans- portation facilities, manufactures, and the national consump- tion ; third, the great increase of wealth and in particular the rise in the value of land and mining property. Other causes are found in the organization of labor, the democratic spirit 32 French economists for the most part admit this complexity in the causes which determine wages. See. among others, Beaure- gard, Essai sur la Theorie du Salaire; E. Chevallier, Les Salaires au XIX e Siecle; Leroy-Beaulieu, Traite Theorique ct Pratique de V Econo- mic Politique; Maurice Block, Les Progres de la Science Economique. Factors Determining Nominal Wages 391 of the American people, and the ease with which land is acquired and a fair income secured by its cultivation. The progress of industry is not peculiar to America. But the productivity of the laborer is greater than in Europe, with the possible exception of England, because employers sup- ply their workmen with the most improved tools and ma- chinery which the workmen are intelligent and energetic enough to use to advantage. The same statement cannot be made of the workmen of all countries. And yet a large proportion of the immigrants, after they have been brought under the influence of the same environment, gradually ac- quire this characteristic. Except in Switzerland the senti- ment of equality is nowhere so general as in the United States. This feeling emboldens the laborer in the defense of his rights and at the same time preserves him against revolutionary excess. It has also been favorable to the formation of labor-unions which in turn have served to keep wages high. Mode of payment. — The wage-problem is often compli- cated by secondary causes. Wages may be paid in money or in kind. In the United States wages were formerly paid partly in money and partly in food products, and the custom is still preserved in some places. This system may be justi- fied in some cases by the scarcity of money, but it makes the value of the wage uncertain, leaves the laborer less freedom, and becomes detrimental to him when the employer charges an extortionate profit upon the commodities with which he pays oft'. Wages may be paid at short or long intervals. For a long time, in certain parts of the United States, it was the custom to pay off only once a year, the workmen being vir- tually bound to their employers, and the wages subject to a certain time-discount. Since money has become plentiful and the labor-unions powerful, the more normal course has been generally adopted, of paying once a week or twice a month. Weekly or bi-weekly payments are vigorously de- manded by the unions. 392 The American Laborer Wages may be paid in good or in depreciated money. The payment in depreciated money is misleading, as the workman nominally receives a larger wage than before the depreciation, and in many cases he is deceived by the change. As prices are higher he is really no better off, and usu- ally is worse off, because the rise in wages ordinarily comes a good deal later than the rise in prices. The Americans received strong proof of this during the paper money regime which existed during and after the Civil War. The illusion produced by the high wages of this period is responsible for an error of judgment that is frequently made by American workmen, who often affirm that wages have fallen because they see in statistical tables that money wages were greater before than after the resumption of specie payments, and in some occupations, greater than to-day. They would avoid this error if they would take the trouble to compare money wages with the cost of living during that period. CHAPTER IX. REAL WAGES AND WORKMEN'S BUDGETS Real and nominal zuagcs.—Oi the two forms in which wages are presented — as a sum of money, and as the quan- tity of ordinary consumables purchasable with this sum — the former alone is capable of fairly exact quantitative in- vestigation. Even in the study of nominal wages it is easy to go astray. The amount of lost time complicates the problem; the great diversity of wages, as we have pointed out above, prevents the calculation of a real average; and when part of the wage is paid in kind it is almost impossible to avoid mistakes. Real wages on the other hand are essen- tially indeterminate. The form and extent of consumption vary in accordance with the country and the time, and at the same time and place, in accordance with the income and habits of individual families. The sum of money that the workman receives may be calculated from the books and the pay-rolls of industrial establishments. But this tells us nothing about the use he makes of the money. Nominal wages may constitute an essential datum in forming a judg- ment of the condition of the working classes, but they sup- ply only the first term of the equation. Real wages, which imply a knowledge of the purchasing power of money, con- stitute the final result. If nominal wages are the same in two countries, but prices twice as high in the first as in the second, real wages are only half as great in the first country, and the working classes are far less prosperous. Whether or not the laborer manages to live upon his wages and keep out of debt, is a question which I am often called upon to answer, in relation both to France and the 394 The American Laborer United States. I answer that the receipts and expenditures of the laboring class, considered as a class, necessarily bal- ance in every country of the world. There are publicists who make a point of quoting statis- tics or writing papers to show that the average working- man does not live within his income. They have no diffi- culty in finding illustrations. When they present these in good form they render a service to science; they supply cer- tain colors which must be used in painting the true picture of social conditions. But they are mistaken when they claim that these should form the predominant tone of the whole canvas. That there are laborers who fail to make ends meet is no justification of the statement that the whole laboring class is in debt. 1 A little reflection shows that it would be impossible for so numerous a class to live in a condition of permanent insolvency. This would mean that the laboring class was living, in part at least, upon the earn- ings of the other classes, and one cannot imagine a free society in which millions of men are supported at the ex- pense of a minority. The laboring classes then are self-sup- porting. The important question, however, is not whether, but in what manner, each class supports itself. The increase of comfort and the social power of money. — To fully understand the condition of the laborer it is necessary to know something more than his real wages — that is to say, the quantity of commodities his earnings will command. We must know how effectively he spends his wages, and what his family is accustomed to consume. Wants are not the same in all times and places; they differ in cold and warm climates, in rich and poor countries, in different states of civilization. It is plain, for example, that seventy years ago our fathers felt little need of riding on railroads. Wants are aroused by the possibility of satisfac- 1 In Connecticut in 1888 it was found that out of 611 families of workmen. 352 earned more, and 259 earned less than enough to pay expenses. Real Wages and Workmen's Budgets 395 tion. For many years I have insisted upon a distinction be- tween the social pozver and the commercial or purchasing power of money. The latter, like real wages, depends upon the quantity of commodities which may be secured, the for- mer upon the social position that may be maintained, with a given amount of money. Whether prices have fallen, or what is the same thing, whether the purchasing power of money has risen, is open to debate. But there is no disputing the fact that in all classes of society in Europe and America more money is now spent in maintaining social position than was the case fifty years ago. The laborer is no exception to the rule. New wants have arisen and have so fastened themselves upon us that every man would think himself disgraced if he did not make place for them in his budget. As a conse- quence the social power of money has diminished, since it is necessary to spend more under penalty of losing caste. Prof. Newcomb has borrowed the machinery of Dante to illustrate the increase of comfort among the working classes. The archangel Michael introduces an eighteenth-century farmer into the household of a present-day laborer. The old countryman marvels at seeing paper upon the walls, the woodwork painted, the chairs easy and comfortable. In one room he sees an organ, photographs upon the mantel, lace curtains; in another, white bread, sugar, china, upon the table; in a closet a pile of snowy linen. On the second floor he finds the beds covered with fine spreads, the house- wife clothed like a great lady, and two small children dressed like fairies. " It is the house of the governor," says the farmer. " No," responds his guide, " it is the house of a bricklayer." In due time the bricklayer comes home, changes his working clothes, and sits down to dinner, eating raisins from the Pacific coast, and putting lumps of sugar into his tea without so much as counting them. The visitor inquires for the spinning wheel, and is greatly sur- prised that the wife does nothing but attend to her house- hold. He is still more astonished to learn that the brick- 396 The American Laborer layer is not satisfied with his lot." Prof. Newcomb does not add that the unsatisfied ambition of the bricklayer is as natural as the wonder and admiration of the old farmer. It would be foolish to concern one's self about this change which is merely a state of increased comfort resulting from the general growth of wealth. But it is important to dis- tinguish between the two properties of money, because with- out this distinction it is impossible to explain the sayings, originating probably with emigrants or travellers, which are heard everywhere in Europe: "Living is very dear in the United States," and " The workman may earn more than in Europe, but it costs him more to live." In fact the laborer does spend more than in France. But it is because he desires to, and because he must adjust his life to a higher standard of living in order not to be looked down upon by his fellows. The income of the workman's family. — This is usually to be ascertained by multiplying the daily rate of wages of the workman by the number of working days in the year, allow- ance being made for lost time. In some cases the earnings of his wife and children must be added. These three forms of income have already been treated separately. We have only to unite them in order to gain an idea of the family income. 3 2 A Plain Man's Talk on the Labor Question, p. 113, ct scq. 3 See ante, ch. v and vi, and LOuvrier Americain, ch. x. In those chapters it was pointed out that nominal wages are higher in the United States than in England. To the evidence given in chapter v the following may be added. In 1896, Mr. Kiaer, official statistician of Norway, made a careful investigation which covered 957 factory operatives. The average yearly earnings were found to be from 600 to 1000 crowns in the cities, and from 400 to 600 in the country. A study of the large cooperative societies published in the United States in 1896 showed that the employees of these associations made $609 on an average in America and $377 in England. A comparative table of wages prepared by a factory inspector of Russia shows that weavers made 60 rubles per month in America, 35^ in England, 15 in Russia. M. Schulze-Gaevernitz. who quotes these figures (Circulaire du Musee Social, seric A, No. 12), Real Wages and Workmen's Budgets 397 The bureau of labor of New Jersey from an investigation covering 319 families of workingmen found that the average family was composed of 4.8 persons, of which 1.45 persons were engaged in gainful occupations, i. e. in every second family the wife or one child was at work. The average total income per family was $680, of which the husband brought in 87 per cent or $594. The higher the wages of the husband the less frequently does the wife accept outside employment. This was clearly shown in the investigation made by Dr. Gould, in which it was found that among the higher classes of laborers the husband earned 89 per cent of the entire income, while among coal miners the proportion brought in by the hus- band was only 77.5 per cent. In the cotton industry, in which wages are low, the Commissioner of Labor of the United States has ascertained that in a mean income of $657 (based upon 1934 families) $400 or about 60 per cent were earned by the husband; that in 1081 households the children earned $390, and in 332 families the wife earned $182, on an average. 4 In the woolen industry it was found that in each 100 families, 95 men, 28 children, and 9 women worked in the factories. Mr. Gunton holds that the factory hand is paid less than the bricklayer or the mason because of the very fact that the says that wages are low in Russia because the workman, as a rule, does not support his family, which remains in the village at the expense of the mir. He adds that the condition of the laborer is very humble: he works from 12 to 15 hours in the government textile factories at Wladimir, and 12 hours (a night and a day shift) in the government spinning mills at Moscow. He is frequently fined, irregularly paid, subjected to a very oppressive truck system, and sometimes cuffed and beaten. We have here a good illustra- tion of the relation which exists betweeen the material and moral condition of the workman. 4 In one group of 911 families, 867 men, 82 women, and 260 children worked. In New Jersey an investigation of 85 families showed 85 men, 1 woman, and no children at work. In this study it was estimated that in every 100 families there were 22 women in France, and 10 in Great Britain, engaged in outside employment. This estimate is, however, based on a small number of cases. 27 398 The American Laborer wife of the former usually works in the mills and thus con- tributes to the " cost of living " or the expense of maintain- ing the family. This explains, he asserts, why among work- men employed in the building trades there is only one per- son (excluding the husband) in every four families who contributes to the family income, while among factory op- eratives there are 1% persons (besides the man) per family who contribute to the family expenses. This is also the reason why in the former class the man contributes 97 per cent to the support of the family, while among factory opera- tives this proportion is only 66 per cent. 5 In my opinion Mr. Gunton confuses cause and effect: the wife would not 6 The table quoted by Mr. Gunton in support of his theory is instructive enough to warrant reproduction here. It is taken from the sixth report of the Massachusetts Bureau. (Wealth a>id Progress, p. 171.) Trades. 8 60-3 a s >>o In _ c tc c£-S 1-1 S3 S ■a s d £ the price of i860 being represented by 100). This increase is attributed mainly to the rise in the price of codfish, about 200 per cent. Cheese, sugar, fruits, pork, and salt beef had fallen in price; cod- fish, mackerel, coffee, butter, bacon, eggs, mutton, and beef had risen. 25 Building materials had risen 22. per cent, but 28 Tenth Annual Report .... New York, 1892. 24 See The Industrial Evolution, p. 225. 25 According to the Aldrich report the average relative price of food (that of i860 being represented by 100) was 96.6 in 1840; 85.05 in 1850; 153.8 in 1870; 107.6 in 1880, and 104.6 in 1800. [According to Prof. Falkner's continuation of the Aldrich report, the average price of food was considerably lower in 1809 than in 1890. The relative average prices of the food group, given in the following table, cannot be compared directly with the preceding figures taken frcm the Aldrich report, as they are reckoned upon a new basis. But they do show the course of prices since 1800. " It is to be noted," says Prof. Falkner, " that in the general upward movement Real Wages mid Workmen's Budgets 411 they are comparatively unimportant in the consumption of the laborer. Average prices had fallen in five of the seven groups of commodities considered. These five groups were: cloths and clothing; fuel and lighting; metals and implements; drugs and chemicals; house-furnishing goods; miscellane- ous commodities. This fall of prices, I repeat, is not due, or is due only in a small degree, to an increase in the value of money resulting from a relative scarcity of gold, be- cause the laborer receives a larger quantity of gold in re- turn for his labor that he did fifty years ago. It is due to the abundance of products and, in particular, to the pro- gress of industry which has cheapened production. I have given abundant testimony of this fact in the first and second chapters of this work. I quote another striking instance from Mr. Schoenhof's Money and Prices, page 17. England. Prices United States. Prices 1854. 1889. 1854. 1889. Raw cotton. . . . 100 lbs. 53s. 7d. 53s. 1 lb. 11 cts. 11.5 cts. Cotton thread. . 100 lbs. 12s. 1 lb. 24 cts. 22.3 cts. Figured calicoes 100 yds. 25s. 19s. 1 yd. 6 cts. 4.6 cts. Printed calicoes 100 yds. 34s. 25s. 1 yd. 8 cts. 6.1 cts. Calculating the net variation in prices according to the consumption of the various commodities, the cost of living (rent included, but assumed to be unchanged) was found to be about four per cent less in 1891 than in i860 (96.2 as compared with ioo). 28 of prices, since October, 1898, food products have played an incon- spicuous part." Average Average Tear. relative Year. relative price. price. 1890 99.0 1896 79.8 1891 102.2 1897 79.2 1892 96.0 1898 83.4 1893 100.9 1899 (first quarter) 86.6 1894 90.7 " (second quarter) 87.1 1895 88.9 " (third quarter) 85.9 Bulletin of the Department of Labor, March, 1900, pp. 266-267.] 28 Wholesale Prices, Wages, and Transportation, pt. i, p. 9. The variation between i860 and 1891 in the several lines of expenditure 412 The American Laborer It was found possible to carry a large part of the quota- tions as far back as 1840 and thus establish a comparison between that year and 1891. Comparing these two years the rise in wages appears very great. Retaining i860 as the standard of comparison, wages are shown to have risen from a level represented by 88 in 1840 to one represented by 160 in 1890. Nominal wages have thus increased al- most 100 per cent in the last half-century. From 1840 to i860 they increased slowly; very rapidly from i860 to 1873 (though the increase was more apparent than real); from 1873 to 1878 there was a decline; in 1879 tnev again com- menced to increase, but at a slower rate. By a similar calculation average prices were found to be 1 16.8 in 1840; 100 in i860; and 92.2 in 1891. A supple- mentary report showed that in the month of October, 1891, the average was represented by 91.0, while in Oc- tober, 1892, it was only 89.3. In the period noted, then, average prices fell. The resultant of these opposite movements may be des- cribed as follows: (1) in 1840 the laborer received a nomi- nal wage represented by 88 units, each of which would purchase |ff of a certain set of commodities; (2) in 1890 he received 160 units, each of which would purchase ^ of the same set of commodities; (3) consequently, if this set of commodities is of exactly the same composition as the consumption of the laborer, the real wages of the latter have risen about 130 per cent. The rise of real wages has not taken place without inter- ruption, and it has not been so marked as the figures indi- cate since the laborer buys at retail, and in consequence does not reap the full benefit of the fall in wholesale prices. Nevertheless the laborer has profited in two ways; wages was as follows, the expenditure in i860 in each case being repre- sented by 100: rent 100.0; food 103.7; fuel 98.1; lighting 48.1; cloth- ing 75.1; all other items 95.3. Excluding rent, the cost of living was represented by 94.4 in 1891 as against 100 in i860. Real Wages and Workmen's Budgets 413 and the purchasing power of money have both risen. This is but another demonstration of the falsity of the theory that wages are regulated solely and inflexibly by the cost of liv- ing. Movements of a similar kind have taken place in Europe, but the gain of the laborer has probably been greater in America, because an important group of prices which were formerly lower in France than America are now higher in France. There was one period also, 1861-1868, in which the labor- er retrograded instead of advancing. The enormous emis- sion of " greenbacks " depreciated the currency and pro- duced a general rise of prices. But while prices rose 116 per cent from i860 to 1865, wages rose only 44 per cent, so that with respect to his power of earning the necessaries and comforts of life the workman was one-third better off in i860 than in 1865. As one of the most prominent publicists of the labor party says of this period: "the cost of living had more than kept pace with the wages of workers, and discontent was general." 2T Happily for the laborer wages continued to advance while prices soon began to fall under the influence of several forces, chief among which were the return to sound money and the development of machinery." When workingmen assert that average wages have fallen 27 G. E. McNeill, The Labor Movement, p. 125. 28 Prof. Simon Newcomb is in error when he makes a general increase of wages equivalent to a diminution of purchasing power and says that to the laborer one would be as beneficial as the other. The two phenomena are distinct although there is a certain con- nection between them. A diminution of the purchasing power of money is of no advantage at all to the laborer. But experience shows that wages have increased in the last fifty years and that the laboring class has received a real advantage; they have received a double benefit in the fall of prices and the rise of wages. More- over, Prof. Newcomb himself admits (A Plain Man's Talk, etc., pp. 165-166) that the demand arising from the capacity of purchas- ing on the part of wage-earners stimulates production. " There is work enough to be done, but people have not the money to pay for it. It is not the work to be done which is limited, but it is the wages which people can afford to pay for that work." 28 414 The American Laborer since the end of the war they fail to remember, or do not care to remember, this rise in the purchasing power of money. It is evident that unless this is taken into account, no valid estimate can be made of the evolution which has taken place in the conditions of life during the last fifty years. When the budgets of French and American laborers are compared item by item it is found that the purchasing power of gold is about the same to the laborer in the two countries. The American laborer pays less for most articles of food, particularly meat which he consumes in large quantities, and if he does not frequent the saloons his drink costs him little, as it is principally water. His clothes are not more expensive, and his coal and coal-oil cost less; if he pays more rent it is because there is no comparison between his dwelling and that of the French laborer. The visiting Frenchman finds a commodity here and there whose price seems exorbitant, but it is usually an article of luxury not included in the ordinary consumption of the laborer. I repeat here the conclusion arrived at in a preceding chapter: it is the social power of money and not its purchasing power which is responsible for the higher cost of living among American workmen. Workmen's budgets in the United States. — American statis- ticians, particularly the commissioners of labor, have made numerous attempts to secure accurate family budgets: but the undertaking is a difficult one and we cannot expect more than approximate results. 2 * In the report upon conditions of labor drawn up by the French minister of foreign affairs, the budgets of American 24 See on this subject the Massachusetts report for 1875, the Ohio reports from 1877 to 1886, the Illinois reports for 1879 and 1884, the Missouri reports for 1880 and 1891, the New Jersey report for 1885, the Wisconsin report for 1895-96. the Maine report for 1887, the reports of the Department of Labor for 1885, 1890 and 1891, and the analyses of Prof. Falkner in the two Aldrich reports on prices and wages. Real Wages and Workmen's Budgets 415 workmen were furnished by M. Bruwaert, one of the French consuls-general to the United States. One was the budget of a miner born in France, whose family earned 1759 francs and expended 2074 as follows: 240 for rent, 79 for heating and lighting, 365 for clothing, no for sickness, 135 for miscellaneous items, and the remainder for food. The other was the budget of a French cigar-maker in Chi- cago, who earned 3950 francs which he spent in the follow- ing manner: 41.4 per cent for food, 17.4 for rent and lodg- ing, 5.6 for heating, 21 for clothing. The delegation of French laborers which visited the World's Fair included in its report the budget of a typical New York laboring family (father, mother, and two chil- dren), which had been communicated by an American " of great experience in social questions." The income was estimated at 3570 francs and the total expenditures at 3506 francs divided as follows: rent 780; food 1226; clothing 665; heating and lighting 147; miscellaneous expenses 687; sick- ness, furniture, amusements 125 francs each. But the budget furnished by the American authority is evidently not a typical one since he has based his calculations on an aver- age daily wage of $3.50 and allowed 102 days for lost time. Both of these estimates are too high. In addition no allow- ance has been made for the earnings of children. In contrast to this are the following budgets prepared by the New York Bureau of Labor in 1892. 30 The first shows the receipts and expenditures of a young mechanic, 29 years of age, who lived at Auburn with his wife and one child. His receipts during the year were $853, his expenditures $705. The latter were distributed as follows: $135 for rent, including light and heat; $242 for food; $104 for clothing — $45 for himself, $48 for his wife, $11 for his daughter; $224 for miscellaneous items, among which were car-fare $109, amusements $25, books and periodicals $18, religion $15, tobacco $10. The other budget was that of a cooper living 80 Tenth Annual Report, New York, 1892, pp. 297 and 311. 416 The American Laborer at Syracuse, who was forty-five years old and had a wife but no children. In this case the total revenue was only $394, and was expended as follows: lodging with heat and light $83; food $167; clothing $61 ($36 for the husband, $25 for the wife); insurance $13.50; miscellaneous expenses $70 (in- cluding $15 for wine and liquor). As I have remarked above, the size and composition of workmen's budgets vary greatly from family to family, ac- cording to incomes, tastes, and habits of thrift. This is well illustrated in the Seventh Annual Report of the United States Commissioner of Labor, which covers a variety of trades and occupations. 81 Maximum. Minimum. Rent $109 (glass). $33.1 (iron ore.) Fuel 35 (cotton). 14.6 (coke). Lighting 6.6 (bar iron). 2.9 (coke). Clothing (husband) 42.2 (glass). 24.7 (cotton). " (wife) 34.5 (glass). 16.7 (iron ore). « (children) 64.8 (cotton). 38.3 (iron ore). Amusements 28.7 (glass). 9.4 (cotton). Taxes 13.3 (bar iron). 3.4 (iron ore). Insurance — property 9.7 (steel;. 2.0 (iron ore). " life 24.7 (bar iron). 4.0 (iron ore)- Labor organizations 20.5 (glass). — (iron ore)- Great variations often occur in the same occupation, where one might expect to find a substantial uniformity. The following illustration, taken from the Third Annual Re- port of the Bureau of Industrial and Labor Statistics of Maine (p. 36), covers 83 quarrymen of that State, whose in- comes ranged from $245 to $1044. Rent $75 to $30 Food 450 to 100 Clothing 150 to 25 Light and heat .... 55 to 20 Societies 22 to 1 (0 for 8 families). Life insurance 100 to 10 ($10 for 33 families). Miscellaneous 158 to 8 31 Pp. 854-855. Real Wages and Workmen's Budgets 417 The wide range of these irregularities raises the question whether it would not really mislead the reader to calculate a mean from such data. Would not such a mean be purely fictitious? We answer no, provided the meaning of the average is made perfectly clear to the reader. A mean of this sort is merely an approximate expression of the prob- able point towards which the individual returns gravitate. The description of individual cases is very interesting be- cause when it is done by a skillful hand it adds life and in- dividuality to the subject under consideration. But the in- dividual case may be as far removed from the type as the tail of a comet is from its centre of gravity. The best idea of the condition of the laboring man will be obtained when both general and individual views are taken, monograph and average being mutually corrective and supplementary. The human mind naturally seizes upon the type, or aver- age, in such conceptions. The following table contains the average proportional expenditures as calculated at various times by the labor commissioners of several States, and by Mr. Edward At- kinson. The contents of this table may be summed up by the simple statement that in the United States one-half, or at least two-fifths, of the income of the laborer is spent for food, about one-sixth for rent, the same proportion for clothing, and the remainder, about one-fifth, for other ex- penses. Rent is always an important item, from 12.5 to 21.4 per cent of the total expenditure. The former percentage rep- resents the proportion paid by coal miners, whose dwellings are probably comfortless and distant from any town. The latter represents the proportion spent for rent in New York city. Families containing a large number of children often crowd themselves into relatively cheap lodgings because of the increased cost of feeding and clothing so many people. Among the textile workers for instance families consisting of man, wife, and five children spend on an average only 418 The American Laborer FAMILY BUDGETS OF AMERICAN WORKMEN. ESTIMATES f Iron and Coal Industries. [Sixth Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor of the United States.] 1 Glass and Textile Industries. Based upon returns from 2,562 normal families. 1 [Seventh Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor of the United States.] Massachusetts. Cos nec I CUT. 1888. Character of Expenses. "3 o a o u "3 02 6 to S3 M O S3 s c ® Families of Families of husband, wife & three children. 1875. 1875. 1883. CO C e'g II Approxt' result! based up s'> ss ■5-G CO fl 3 -A X £"© ■a? — "3 o ■ a u 3 aj-O X a . gs * — 2-3 Bq Oc5 e . - — *** go o? X sg '"as- S3 B© 09 t-H S . 2S So Co C3 O Is §» CM O V QkO a 6 * CO TO t 1 ! i * 1. Rent 12.5 41.7 17.5 28.3 13.0 41.3 17.7 28.0 16.3 44.7 15.3 2 23.7 15.1 41.0 5.0 15.3 0.9 22.7 16.1 38.5 5.0 13.8 0.9 25.7 13.9 45.1 4.9 17.2 0.8 19.1 16.0 44.7 8.3 15.2 1.1 14.7 15.2; 45.9 5.4 15.5 0.9 17.1 15.5 35.4 4.2 15.8 0.7 38.4 •26.0 64.0 7.0 3.0 17.0 56.0 6.0 15.0 J 6.0 19.7 49.4 4.3 15.9 '10.7 20.0 50.0 20.0 2 10.0 8.0 46.6 6.7 11.9 20.4 6.4 1 4 1 1 2. Food I 4. Clothing " 5. Lighting 6. All other expenses ■:• 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 K :< 1 Statistics quoted from Mr. Gould's article in La Reforme Sociale. 2 Includes heating and lighting. 1 Proportions quoted in the Aldrich Report on Retail Prices and Wane*, page xli, and the Report on Wholesale Prices, pt. I, p. 86. 1 c S 11 . GO GO e 3 3 "3 a c Real Wages and Workmen's Budgets 419 THE PROPORTIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF EXPENDITURE. New York. New J H O Missouri. 03 Colorado. Wisconsin. 55 en 1891. 1885. S5 [Eighth Report.] J •0 00 ft* 1890. 1887. Laborers. 1 Puddlers. 2 Plumbers 3 1895-96. I 3 00 1894. >> CO O CO *°" s o § a a 0) 3 O w co 3 00 93 CO a 3 M 3 O GO a 03 8 3 00 CO 1 00 u co 3 'u ® +? S3 S3 03 U U m s i: OJ S3 O -'1.4 3 19.2 17.3 15.1 13.9 17.4 16.6 15.4 18.3 14.6 14.9 15.3 15.1 15.1 16.0 16.5 14.3 173 4:5.2 34.3 53.2 61.9 49.2 41.4 42.9 38.2 47.4 44.3 45.6 45.1 43.8 43.9 ' 38.1 42.2 59.5 46.2 '6.3 ^ J 5.8 5.6 4 7.5 «7.1 4 6.6 4 6.6 4 6.7 4 5.5 6.2 6.5 6.5 15.7 14.7 16.5 14.4 20.9 21.0 13.6 18.6 16.4 14.3 14.1 14.4 15.3 15.3 15.0 13.3 13.4 13.9 19.7 31.8 6.8 2.1 10.2 '14.6 J 26.9 '27.8 >17.9 19.3 18.3 18.6 19.2 19.0 22.9 21.8 6.3 16.1 00.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 bo bi bi s a s a -w +J -u JS Si 3 3 3 2 i § c 5 9 a a a C a bo bo £ aj O «* ^ ~ .. +3 5 it bo 33 ,3 bd ,4 be bj .3 bo a 3 a •=" " j i 1 53 " H co a ^ " P 3 *2 os-c'^U S Z3 ^ _ ;c ^ 03 o3 S eS = £•3 3 m 2" ® * 3 u g«*3 0. » • CO 8 CU 00 0> in . ® O O •0 "O 3 3 •a 3 •3 3 ■3 3 3 S3 3 . 3 •" 3 . *i a ■S S*- bCT3 m J? ?5 , c S =»g a 1— a M 3 H-t a a >— 1 a a IB 3 9. 3 '/j ■- " .s * S3 m CO 3 S3 S3? 420 The American Laborer 12.9 for rent. Heating is another costly item, from 4.2 to 9 per cent, although fuel is not dear. But the winter is severe in the north. The expenditure for light — about 1 per cent — is small. The relative expenditure for clothing varies from 20.9 among the glass-workers of New Jersey, to 11.3 among the laborers' families of Connecticut. It is not difficult to find an explanation of the most char- acteristic differences that are noticed among the various budgets. The highest percentage for food, 61.9 per cent, occurs among the weavers of New Jersey. The reason is that their wages are very low, and food is the first necessity of life. They make it up by using only 2.1 per cent for mis- cellaneous expenses, among which amusement and saving occupy prominent places. In the same class are the mat- tress-makers of Wisconsin, who spend 59.5 for food, and 6.3 for miscellaneous items. At the other extreme is the Colorado plumber who earns more than $800 and spends 38 per cent for food and 22.9 for miscellaneous items, or the New York laborer who brings in $853 a year, and spends 34.3 for food, and 31.8 for miscellaneous items. When there are no children in the family the expenditure for food is relatively small as a rule. According to the Seventh Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor, 38.5 per cent is spent for food when there are no children, 45.1 per cent where there are five children. The earnings of the Massachusetts laborer were practi- cally the same in 1875 and 1883, but the expenditure for food fell from 56 to 49.4 per cent. How are we to account for this fact? Was it because food had become cheaper? That this is the true, explanation seems to be demonstrated by the budgets of the puddler and plumber of Colorado." Taking 1875 as tne basis of comparison, I would not hesi- 32 Food was higher in 1891 than in i860, but as shown in Prof. Falkner's continuation of the Aldrich Report "Wholesale Prices: 1890 to 1899." was lower in the years 1892-99 than in 1891. Bulletin of the Department of Labor, March, 1900, pp. 266-267. [Tr.] Real Wages and Workmen's Budgets 421 tate to accept this explanation, because the inflation of prices resulting from the issue of greenbacks, was, on the whole, unfavorable to the workman. And yet, the fall of prices from 1869 to 1891, according to the Aldrich report, seems to have been only about three per cent. The correspondence between the increase of income and the increase of miscellaneous expenses, is very marked in the statistics published in the Seventh Report of the Commis- sioner of Labor: with the increase of income the miscella- neous expenditures rise from 14.7 to 17.1 to 28.4 per cent. The miscellaneous expenses also rise as the size of the family diminishes. Families with five children spend 19.1 per cent for miscellaneous purposes; families without children, 25.7 per cent. The cost and standard of living. — I have shown in chapter VIII that the standard of living is an effect rather than a determinative cause of nominal wages: it is much easier to spend all you make than to make all you wish to spend. This truth is so apparent that there would be no necessity for repeating it, were it not for the fact that there are a number of American theorists who maintain, not without ability and a show of reason, that the rate of wages is de- termined by the standard of living. In order to come to a clear understanding upon this point, let us repeat our definitions: (1) By nominal wages we mean the amount of money received by the laborer as the price of his time or labor; (2) real zuages may be defined as the quantity of commodities, in ordinary consumption among the laboring class, which can be purchased with this amount of money; (3) the standard of living is represented by the aggregate of consumables which the laborer ought to en- joy, in order to live in conformity with his social rank; (4) the cost of living is the sum of money required to obtain this aggregate of goods and services. If nominal wages are high, the labor can, not only maintain the customary stand- ard of living, but can lay a little money aside. Again, if prices fall, he can maintain his rank with a smaller expend i- 422 The American Laborer ture, and the cost of living decreases. It is true, however, that if the lower level of prices becomes permanent, the laborer gradually acquires new wants which are satisfied by means of the surplus, and in this event the standard of liv- ing rises. It may also happen in the latter contingency that nominal wages fall. At any given time the standard of liv- ing is nearly the same for all laborers of the same class, but the cost of living will not be the same for a family having six children and a family having none. Mr. Gunton, who proposes the standard of living as the regulator of wages, attempts to explain what determines this standard. He cannot say that what the laborer buys is de- termined by what he has to spend. According to his theory this would be taking effect for cause, and in consequence he is forced to invoke usage, habit, education by social environ- ment. 83 Mr. Gunton is right in a way. These conditions do exercise a great influence upon the establishment and maintenance of the rate of wages. But what creates cus- tom? The customs of civilized people have undergone a radical change in the last century: Prof. Newcomb's fable of the archangel Michael gives us an idea of the change in the habits of American laborers. Among the many causes which have contributed to produce this change, the princi- pal one is the general increase of wealth. And the wealth of the laborer is his wage. Mr. Gunton believes that his theory explains the exist- ence of that class of working people who are continually involved in the direst struggle to make ends meet. He maintains that in certain families, because of poor manage- ment or unusually heavy expenses, the cost of living has risen to the exact level of nominal wages, and that these families determine the general rate of wages in the group to 33 Wealth and Progress, p. 187. The opinions maintained here were first presented in the Yale Review. They have been criticised by Mr. Gunton in an article published in Gunton' s Magazine, Febru- ary, 1897. Real Wages and Workmen's Budgets 423 which they belong. 34 The author thus makes an ingenious application of Ricardo's law of rent to the wages of labor, by assuming that in every class of labor wages are fixed by the maximum cost of living of the laborers necessary to produce the required output. But he takes no account of the elasticity of the laborer's budget. At any given time and market the price of wheat may be substantially rigid. But this is not true of the cost of living which is more elastic and contractile. As an American said to me: "Whatever his wage, the laborer lives." Mr. Gunton might have added that there are families whose earnings are at times, or indeed as a general rule, insufficient to provide them with the bare necessities of life, whose poverty amounts to actual indigence. They find a market for their labor, but they do not regulate the rate of wages. The standard of life undoubtedly operates, but it acts rather to retard and soften a precipitate fall of wages, than to force wages up. A comparison will help to make my thought clear. If we plunge a cork into a stream, it promptly ascends to the surface: but the surface may be higher or lower, relatively to the bank of the stream. In a similar way the rate of wages naturally tends to seek the level required by the standard of living, and if it accidentally falls below this level, exhibits a strong tendency to find it again. But the standard of life itself may vary like the gen- eral level of the stream. Surely it is unnecessary to repeat that the variations of the standard are dependent upon the general state of social wealth, upon the rate of wages itself which is intimately connected with the state of wealth, and upon consumption, productive or unproductive, in which this wealth manifests itself. Prof. Simon Newcomb has endeavored to show " that it is physically and mathematically impossible that higher wages should enable the great masses of people of the country to get more or better food or clothes, unless more 34 Wealth and Progress. Section ix, " The Standard of Living." 424 The American Laborer or better food and clothes are made," and that " if all these improvements are made in production we are sure to get the advantage of them, no matter whether our wages are increased or not." a I have already pointed out the weak- ness of this argument. 30 No one denies that if the volume of production expands, prices will fall, and, other things remaining the same, the laborer will profit by the fall of prices. On the other hand, if a restricted group of work- men secures an increase of wages, other things remaining the same, they will either save more money or buy more commodities, and for that particular group the standard of life will be elevated. Either result is a fortunate change for them. A sudden increase of wages does not always produce good results. Employers are sometimes heard to say: " High wages cause drunkenness and vice." These men mistake the exception for the rule. A sudden lucky wind- fall frequently turns the head of the happy recipient, and is frittered away in idle extravagance or something worse. It is very possible too that a few of the better paid workmen acquire unnecessarily expensive tastes and habits. But it is wholly misleading to pretend that the steel-roller who makes $6 a day is more vicious than the day-laborer who makes only $i ; on the contrary his life will probably be more refined in every respect. There is a great deal of justice in Mr. Gunton's remark: "When the dollar comes before the want it is very liable to be wasted; when it comes as a result of the want it is sure to be utilized." In other words it is necessary that the standard of living should have time to develop if advances in nominal wages are to be ab- sorbed and utilized. Comparison with the budgets of European workmen. — Prof. Engel made a study of this question forty years ago in Sax- ony, and as a result of his investigation published estimates of the proportional expenditure of workmen which have 35 A Plain Man's Talk, pp. 155, 160. 36 Supra, ch. viii. Real Wages and Workmen's Budgets 425 become classical. Among the higher classes of laborers, one-half of the income is spent for food: the lower classes spend about three-fifths for this purpose. 87 In the United States where wages are high the latter pro- portion, or less, holds good, and except for the New Jer- sey weavers and the mattress-makers of Wisconsin, this statement may be accepted with practically no qualifications. In one of the reports of the Commissioner of Labor of New Jersey a table of this nature for New Jersey is pre- sented, and compared with a similar table for Great Britain (1883). The differences between the two are slight. A little more was spent for rent and lighting in the latter country, the difference being made up from the miscella- neous expenses, and clothing cost as much as in America within two per cent. 88 In the investigation conducted by the Commissioner of Labor of the United States, the European section of which was in charge of Dr. Gould, the comparison of budgets be- tween $400 and $500 showed almost exactly the same re- sults for clothing, heating, and miscellaneous expenses in the United States as in Europe. The proportion devoted 37 Relative expenditures according to Engel: Workmen with incomes ranging Incomes from from $225 to $300. $750 to $1100. Food 62 50 Clothing 16 18 Rent 12 12 Heating and lighting. 5 5 Education 2 5.5 Taxes, etc 1 Health 1 3 Amusements 1 3.5 100.0 100.0 38 Relative expenses of the laboring family in Great Britain in 1883: Food 51.4 Rent 13.5 Clothing 18.1 Lighting and heating 3.5 Miscellaneous 13.5 100.0 426 The American Laborer to food was a little lower, and that devoted to rent a little higher, in the United States than in Europe. The rent item is a still greater burden in America among laborers with smaller wages. 88 So much for relative expenditures. It is also interesting to compare the actual expenditures. In the investigation of the textile industries made by the commissioner of labor, the average earnings of 1585 American families were found to be $514. The mean income of 334 European families was $352. 40 The average expenditures were as follows: American laborers. European laborers. Food $211 $156 Rent 75 38 Clothing 69 47 Heating 31 16 Lighting 5 6 Miscellaneous 90 69 $481"' $332*1 Assuming that prices are the same in the two continents, the only possible conclusion seems to be that the American workman lives more comfortably, is better fed, better lodged, better clothed, spends more for sundries, and neces- sarily more for fuel, than the European. The Belgian workman, 42 whose food and pay are both 39 Results of the investigation for " normal families," i. e families consisting of husband, wife, and five or more children, living in a rented house. The investigation covered 2562 American, and 703 European families. Incomes from $400 to $500 assumed to be representative. United States. Europe. Food 45.0S 48.20 Rent 15.29 11.42 Clothing 14.3S 15.0S Heating and lighting 6.62 6.24 Other expenses 18.63 19.06 Seventh Report of tJte Commissioner of Labor, p. 864. 40 Seventh Annual Report, p. 1932. " There was a surplus of receipts over expenditures. ** Average wages according to this investigation were 4 fr. 10 c. per day for male workmen, and 1 fr. 15 c. for women. Real Wages and Workmen's Budgets 427 poorer than those of the American, spends more for food in proportion to his earnings than the latter. This result, quite in accordance with well-known laws, is brought out in the Belgian investigation of 1891. The relative expenditures of the average Belgian workman's family," based upon 188 families, are shown in the following table. Only those in- dustries are mentioned in which some one of the expenses is at a maximum or minimum. Maximum. Minimum. Per cent. Industry. Per cent. Industry. Food 65.6 Cotton. 52 Clothing. Rent, clothing, heating, lighting 39.0 Clothing. 27.6 Mining. Luxuries 7.7 Woolen. 2.2 Cotton. Tor moral, religious, and intellectual needs 3.5 Glass. 1.0 Woolen. In 1853 a similar investigation was made by M. Ducpe- tiaux. A comparison of the two studies shows that there has been an improvement in the material condition of the Belgian workman during the last forty years. He con- sumes more than three times as much meat and one and a half times as much vegetable food as in 1853, and yet he spends a smaller proportion to-day upon education, period- icals, and insurance — with the possible exception of mutual- aid societies, to which most Belgian workmen belong — than the American workman. Among his luxuries beer and liquors occupy a much too prominent place, and this place unfortunately has increased in relative importance since 1853. In 1890, under the title Cent Monographics dc Families, Cheysson and Toque published a summary of those inten- sive studies of individual families made by Le Play and his disciples. Nine of the fourteen Parisian families — not all workmen's families however — spent more for food than for everything else combined. Twenty of the thirty-eight 43 Salaires et Budgets Ouvriers en 1853 et en 1891, by E. Nicolai, chief of division to the Ministere de L'Interieur, 1895. 428 The American Laborer French families outside of Paris and thirty of the forty-eight families outside of France did the same, the proportion de- voted to food being in excess of 70 per cent in some cases. One metayer farmer in the province of Rome, a vine- dresser, devoted 75.9 per cent to food." These are indi- vidual cases of which no general average is taken, though the majority are quite in accordance with the. general pro- portions ascertained in wider statistical investigations. All of the cases are not typical however, by any means; the day-laborer of Paris, for instance, spent only 54.5 per cent for food, although his family was very large (11 persons). The proportion devoted to lodging seems to be lower in general than in America, and to vary much more widely — from 2.1 to 14.4 per cent. Clothing on the other hand seems to occupy a far more important place, exceeding 15 per cent on the average, and rising in a few cases to more than 20 per cent. In one of his latest studies " Dr. Engel has endeavored to show the growth of certain expenditures in the following way: Starting from the Belgian statistics prepared by M. Ducpetiaux in 1853, he represents each item of budgets less than 600 francs by unity, and from this basis calculates the relative growth of each item as the income increases. The items in which the increase was most marked are as follows: " Details concerning the different kinds of food are given. In general, the cereals play a very important part. 48 Die Lebenskosten Belgischer Arbciter-Familicn Friihcr und Jetzt. See Bulletin dc I'lnstitut International de Statistique, vol. ix, part i, p. 41. Dr. Engel's method consists in gathering as many family account books as possible and calculating his results from these alone. He considers the books more trustworthy than viva voce answers to an investigator, because they cannot be specially pre- pared for the occasion. This data Dr. Engel uses to calculate the cost of rearing an adult male — a very doubtful calculation. He takes as his unit the cost of an infant during the first year of its life, and increases this geometrically by one-tenth each year, stop- ping at the twentieth year in the case of females and at the twenty- fifth year in the case of males. Taking 100 francs as the expense during the first yea~, he finds that a woman twenty years old has cost 4200 francs, and a man twenty-five years old. 5850 francs. Real Wages and Workmen's Budgets 429 Less than 600 600 to 900 900 to 1200 1200 to 2000 More than francs. francs. francs. francs. 2000 frs. Insurance 1 7 12 13 112 Drink 1 3.1 5.9 12.1 27.8 Guarantee of rights 1 2.7 8.5 19.1 25.0 Miscellaneous 1 14.5 8 17 21.5 Intellectual needs. 1 2.5 6.8 20.7 17.8 Health 1 1.5 3.2 5.4 9.8 Clothing 1 2.1 2.8 4.4 7.0 Meat 1 1.7 3 4.9 6.8 It should be noted, however, that several of these items represent only a very small part of the aggregate expendi- tures even in the higher budgets. Thus, while ly per cent is spent for meat in budgets of 2000 francs or more, and as much for clothing, insurance absorbs less than I per cent." The difference becomes more pronounced as the income in- creases. Thus, the head of a bourgeois family whose ex- penditures exceeded 20,000 francs, published his family budget in the Journal de la Societe de Statistique de Paris. Scarcely 30 per cent of his total expenditures went for food, but the miscellaneous expenses absorbed 28 per cent, al- most half of which was spent in the satisfaction of intel- lectual wants." 40 It is worthy of note that in Dr. Engel's statistics the food index is very much higher than in most of the budgets I have cited: 71.5 per cent in the lowest class (incomes less than 600 francs) and 64.8 per cent in the highest class (incomes more than 2000 francs). 47 The budget was as follows: Amounts. Per cent. Food 6158 29.4 Clothing 2630 12.7 Lodging 3391 16.4 Furniture 379 1.8 Heating and lighting . . . 888 4.3 Servants and workmen . 1495 7.2 Miscellaneous, to wit : Culture 2715 13.4 Travel 965 4.6 Amusements 396 1.9 Gifts 920 4.5 Medicine and medical at- tendance 665 3.4 Sundries 70 _0\4 20,672 100 430 The American Laborer Real wages, nominal wages, and the general well-being of workingmen in Europe and America: conclusions. — The ques- tion of the excess of receipts over expenditures is one of great importance in the study of the workman's family, for it is this surplus, generally speaking, that enables the work- man to improve his social standing or to live comfortably during his old age. But this surplus as we have shown is not the only index of the well-being of the workingman. The sensible man lives for the present although he does not forget the future; his wants increase with his income, and in all classes of society he augments his pleasures in ac- cordance with the increase of his wealth. This development of the comfort of life, I might almost say of life itself, is per- fectly legitimate so long as the wants work no injury to others and are kept within the means of satisfaction. Wages are higher in America than in Europe, and as a consequence the American workman develops more wants, and enjoys greater comfort than the European workman. Mr. Gunton has explained why the American workmen find it almost impossible to live on wages that enable the Italian immigrants to save money. The explanation is found in the simple fact that the two classes regulate their lives by different standards: the American standard leaves a large margin for the Italian laborer. 48 I called attention to this fact at the beginning of the chapter, and now before summarizing the results of the chapter, I repeat it, in order that it may be perfectly clear. i. Political economy teaches that real wages are equal to nominal wages multiplied by the coefficient of the commer- cial power of money. 2. Food, fuel and kerosene are cheaper, or at least no higher, in the United States than in France; cloth and clothing are probably as cheap, and rents are quite as low when the size of the lodging is considered. The objects of ordinary consumption, then, quality and quantity being the 48 Wealth and Progress, p. 95. Real Wages and Workmen's Budgets 431 same, cost rather less in the United States than in France, and the prices paid by laboring people in the great cities of the United States are certainly as low as those prevailing in the larger French cities. Consequently if nominal wages are nearly twice as high in the United States, real wages must be -fully twice as great. 3. Their high rate of wages has created among American workmen a standard of living that is superior to that of French, and probably to that of English, workmen. The life of the American workman is broader, his comforts far more numerous. This superiority shows itself in almost every line of expenditure; in his food which is more sub- stantial and abundant if not more varied; in his expenditure for dress; in the conveniences of his dwelling; in the amounts devoted to travel, amusement, and moral needs, to trades-unions and insurance of various kinds. Another in- dication of the same fact is found in the relations between the several expenditures of his budget; he spends less than one-half of his earnings for food, while in other countries about three-fifths are spent for food. It is true that he is occasionally wasteful; this is one of the defects of his edu- cation. It is also true that he spends nearly all he makes; but this is merely his right. If in one way or another he manages to make some provision for the future, he has saved himself from the reproach of prodigality. 4. One frequently hears the remark that it costs the American workman a very great deal to live, and this is true. The social power of money is lower in America than in Europe. But this merely signifies that the American workman must satisfy a greater number of wants if he would retain the high social position in which he is placed. His wants being more numerous he must spend more money. If a reduction of wages or the loss of his place forces him temporarily to retrench a little, he thinks himself very un- fortunate and feels the privation keenly, just as everyone does in any class of society who is obliged to dispense with some of his usual comforts. With a dollar a day the 432 The American Laborer American workman is in distress; the French workman gets along nicely on five francs, or even less. 5. Beneath the average class of workmen — those that earn two dollars a day — there is a mass of laborers who cannot attain this standard of living because they are without spe- cial training and have nothing to offer but their labor. Their life is painful because they cannot live like their fel- lows. 6. Below this class in turn, there are in America as in Europe, a great number of people who are unable to sup- port themselves in any way, and in the great cities one can find the most distressing misery. Here, poverty becomes the most painful pauperism. 7. The nominal wages of American workmen have risen almost without interruption since 1830. The interruption caused by the regime of paper money was apparent, not real. 8. From 1830 to i860 wholesale prices increased, but only about one-fourth as much as wages. From i860 to 1891, disregarding the inflation produced by the issue of paper currency, prices fell 9 per cent. It follows that from 1830 to i860 real wages increased a little less, while from i860 to 1891, they increased a little more than nominal wages. A Philadelphia workingman told me that a laborer could save money on $9 a week if he had a wife who was a good manager, while at St. Louis another workingman told me that it was very difficult to support a family on $10 a week. In the familiar table talk of several workmen, which I once overheard, the men cited instances of fellow workmen who owned two or even three houses, and debated whether a weaver or cigar-maker on $15 a week could buy a home. One answered " no," another, " yes, if he stints himself, although the American workman is not given to that." How many French workmen are there who would regard 45 or 50 francs a week as the minimum upon which to sup- port their families, and who with such wages would think Real Wages and Workmen's Budgets 433 it impossible to acquire real estate? The difference in the standard of living lends a different aspect to the question. This does not imply that it is impossible for the French workman to make both ends meet, to use a popular phrase. It would probably be impossible for an American workman suddenly removed to France, and in any event he would feel the hardship very keenly. The European removed to America, however, thrives upon the change. At first per- haps he accepts a reduced wage, but he quickly puts him- self in touch with the new conditions. Here we have at once the explanation of immigration and of the antagonism which it arouses among Americans. Neither does this imply that the American finds it an easy matter to live within his income. He must live as his neigh- bors do, and this requires practically all he earns. Let something happen to reduce his earnings or increase his expenses, and immediately there is a deficit. Such inci- dents are common enough in the lives of laboring men. The American purchases about twice as many useful and agreeable things with his wage of $2 as the Frenchman does with his 5 francs; but he is far from appreciating the dif- ference. He gives no more thought to what the French- man receives than the Frenchman gives to the Hindoo and his earnings. With him, as with most men, enjoyment has dulled the edge of appetite. If on the contrary he suddenly finds himself reduced to $1.50, he feels the privation keenly because a number of his wants must go unsatisfied. But we must not conclude that the uplifting of the standard of life is a matter of indifference, because the appreciation of the change is not permanent. Man lives by wealth, and although wealth is not the sole end of life — indeed it is far from being the only practical end — it conditions his material existence, and facilitates the development of his moral life. Comfort is an end in itself, independent of the subjective pleasure it connotes. It becomes the more important po- litically and the more interesting to mankind as it descends into the lower strata of society where want and misery are 29 434 The American Laborer perennial, and where it ameliorates the condition of the masses who live from hand to mouth, always exposed to the loss of their small earnings by physical accidents, such as sickness, and by economic accidents, such as loss of work. The increase of real and nominal wages, and the growth of wealth showing itself in an elevation of the standard of living and in a diminution of the social power of money — two expressions of the same fact — are conditions not pecu- liar to America. The improvement is due to the progress of agriculture and manufactures on the one hand; and on the other, to the abundance of capital, the demand for labor, the spread of education, the formation of trades-unions, and the increase by modern machinery of the productivity of labor. I have described this movement and attempted to give an estimate of its ultimate destination in my work on the French population. 4 ' In England Sir Robert Giffen and other economists have done the same, and more recently the Royal Commission on Labor adopted the same view as the final conclusion of their last report. 60 48 See La Population Frangaise, vol. iii, p. 86 et seq. 50 The passage is worthy of citation here: " The impressions left by the evidence as a whole is that among the more settled and stable population of skilled workpeople there has, during the last half century, been considerable and continuous progress in the general improvement of conditions of life, side by side with the establishment of strong trade customs adapted to the modern system and scale of industry. Experience may fairly be said to have shown that this part of the population possesses in a highly remarkable degree the power of organization, self-govern- ment and self-help. Work people of this class earn better wages, work fewer hours, have secured improved conditions of industrial and domestic life in other respects and have furthered themselves through trade unions and friendly societies. . . . " The classes who compose the lower grades of industry, re- garded as a whole, have probably benefited no less than the skilled workers from the increased efficiency of production, from the advantages conferred by legislation, from the cheapening of food and clothing and from the opening out of new fields for capital Real Wages and Workmen's Budgets L35 and labour. Of the mass of wholly unskilled labour part has been absorbed into higher grades, while the percentage of the total working population earning bare subsistence wages has been greatly reduced. . . . " There is still a deplorably large residuum of the population, chiefly to be found in our large cities, who lead wretchedly poor lives and are seldom far removed from the level of starvation; but it would seem that, not only the relative, but even the actual, numbers of this class also are diminishing." Royal Commission on Labour, Fifth and Final Report, Part I, p. 24. CHAPTER X. PRESENT CONDITIONS AND FUTURE PROSPECTS The point of view of the author. — In the series of chapters comprising - this work I have described in their various aspects the material and moral conditions of the American laborer, showing him first at his work and then in his family, describing the relations existing between him and his employer, and voicing his aspirations for social better- ment. I have tried to draw a portrait which, if not com- plete, is at least honest. To complete the portrait little remains but to collect here the many and at times incongruous characteristics which have already been separately sketched. Economic history, like history in general, is seldom characterized by the uni- formity of the monograph. It is a drama in which move an infinite number of figures, isolated and united, har- monious and opposed, pursuing ends which are varied and variable, swayed by passions which arise both from their interests and their feelings. Everything cannot be put upon the stage, and what to select is as delicate and im- portant a question for the economist or historian as it is for the dramatist. I have chosen without partiality and, I trust, without national prejudice. The inclination to misjudge people of another nationality is general. We imbibe, with the very air we breathe, a spirit of national vanity that leads us to believe ourselves better than others, and growing accus- tomed to a certain manner of living and thinking, we feel a certain surprised contempt for those whose habits are Present Conditions and Future Prospects 437 not like ours. Neither the French nor the American peo- ple — I refer to these nations only at this point — are free from this fault. The Frenchman, workingman or bourgeois, finds American life little to his liking. When he travels through America he thinks the hotel fare poor, for the most part, and the service costly. When he settles in America, he is apt to complain of the selfishness of business men and the lack of sociability, and it is with difficulty that he accommodates himself to the great freedom which children, particularly the girls, enjoy. Yet the young girls, particularly in the better classes of society, are much better than he imagines; and in their business dealings the Ameri- cans are as punctilious as other people. In America, on the other hand, the opinion prevails that the French are frivolous, noisy and dissolute. This is, of course, a mis- take, to be accounted for by the fact that most Americans who visit Paris frequent the public places without entering into the family life of the middle classes;' while those who judge France without leaving America — perhaps I should say the women, for it is the women who do most of the reading — read little except our novels, and their choice of these is not always the most wholesome. There are Frenchmen, perhaps, who think my picture of American industry and the condition of the American laborer far too flattering, because it does not agree with what they have imagined or with what their favorite social theories have led them to expect. There will undoubtedly be American critics also who, in their anxiety about the difficulties which now retard and at times threaten to re- verse the march of progress, will accuse me of undue optimism in my treatment of American industry, and of undue leniency in my treatment of the American laborer. Other American critics, on the contrary, will find me too distrustful of their aspirations. I have given the facts. It is quite possible, however, that unintentional errors have crept in, and I am ready to revise my judgments in every case in which it is demonstrated to me either that the facts 438 The American Laborer are inexact or that they have been so grouped as to be misleading. Part I. — Present Conditions: A Recapitulation. The first part of the present chapter consists of the con- clusions established in the preceding chapters. With a few slight changes, this resume follows the arrangement of matter in L'Ouvrier Amcricain paragraph by paragraph. I. American industry has undergone a magnificent develop- ment in the last century, and particularly in the last fifty years. Production increased almost fivefold in the thirty years i860- 1890, a record that is unequalled by any other of the great nations of the world. This industrial growth has characterized New England, where American industry was born and where it still keeps its firmest foothold; it has kept pace with colonization in the Mississippi valley, which in some lines now disputes the supremacy of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts; and now it is beginning to transform certain sections of the south. At the census of 1890 the manufactured products for the year 1889 were valued at $9,372,000,000. II. Concentration is one of the marked tendencies of Ameri- can industry. In large manufactures the number of estab- lishments decrease while production increases; in the manu- facture of agricultural machinery, for example, there were 2076 establishments in 1870, with an output valued at $52,- 000,000, while in 1890 the establishments numbered 910, and the production was valued at $82,000,000. Small manufactures are losing ground and even those of moder- ate size are scarcely holding their own. Economists have raised the question whether some means will not be found, like the distribution of electricity, in small quantities, to Present Conditions and Future Prospects 439 check this movement and give the advantage to the small producer. It is certainly possible for electricity to prove serviceable in domestic industry, but economy of power is not the only advantage of concentration, and it is prob- able that the next generation will see a fuller development of this tendency which has already become so pronounced. The abundance, speed and cheapness of transportation facilitate the ease with which enormous capitals are col- lected in the form of shares or stock, the necessity of machinery adapted to cheap production, and the rapid in- crease of a population that consumes a great deal, and in numbers now approaches 75,000,000, are the principal causes of this phenomenon. But machinery and transpor- tation facilities will not be lacking in the twentieth century: on the contrary, they will be improved, population will in- crease, although the rate of increase will probably diminish, and it is more than probable that capital will increase. On the other hand, nothing justifies the supposition that there will be an abatement of that spirit of enterprise which has characterized the American people so long, and con- tributed so much to the formation of vast enterprises. Nor will the trust and the various forms of association that attempt to control the market by the power of combination be abandoned. The laws against trusts have, and will be, practically impotent; as futile as the warning given by President Cleveland in his message of December 7, i8o/>. in which he denounced these colossal combinations as in- jurious to the development of trade. There is a reason for their existence, as they undoubtedly result from the free- dom of industry, a freedom they now threaten to subvert. The same necessity for combination — T do not say mo- nopoly — imposes itself on all the great manufacturing na- tions which desire to meet competition and hold or enlarge their place in the markets of the world. III. The inventive spirit is characteristic of the American ; the annual number of patents awarded by the government is 440 The American Lab&rer proof of this. He is always in search of improvements With the possible exception of the English, no people use machinery so freely in small as in large industries, nor is there any people more eager to find, or more prompt to adopt, any improvement, mechanical, physical or chemical, which has for its object economy of labor or the accelera- tion of production. Invention is stimulated by the char- acter of the people, by the pressure of competition, and by the high rate of wages. The machine begins as the servant, but it ends by being master, and its general adoption is hastened by the fact that although the first to use it do so for the increased profit it brings, the mass of producers must adopt it to avoid bank- ruptcy, cost what it may. The frequent renewal and rapid amortisation of plant are consequences of the intensity of competition. The result is cheap and abundant produc- tion. As for wages, the higher the rate, the more economy in substituting machinery for labor; and again, the greater the productivity of machinery, the higher the possible range of wages. IV. Skillful, rapid and accustomed to work with powerful machinery, the American workman is generally diligent and active. He is paid well and his employer will not tolerate indolence. The productivity of labor in America may be considered high in comparison with that in most European countries. V. Does machinery drive out the workman? The prevalent opinion among the people is that it does. The people judge by appearances, and there is no doubt about the apparent effect of machinery upon the workmen: the machine does the work of a man, often of a great number of men, and it frequently happens in a factory that the labor-force is reduced when machinerv is introduced. It is no consola- Present Conditions and Future Prospects 441 tion to the workman to know that society is being benefited by the cheaper production when he is without work and wages, or when the competition of the unemployed lowers the rate of his wages, and he sees day-laborers filling the former places of skilled artisans. All economic developments destroy capital as well as displace labor and inflict suffering upon individuals which social sympathy strives to mitigate. It would be unjust to judge them by a single, temporary consequence; they must be judged by the sum total of their effects, good and bad, over a series of years. To appreciate the mission of the machine it is necessary to remember that it began with the first tool man learned to fashion, that it is impossible to assign it bounds and limits, that we must not only accommodate ourselves to it as a necessity, but welcome it as a boon. Looking beneath the surface, it becomes apparent that in spite of the diffi- culties of the transition, machinery increases the demand for labor by stimulating and cheapening production; the increased demand may occur in the industry in which the machine is introduced, or it may arise from the creation of new industries, but nowhere is there so much money paid in wages as where machinery is common. Experience proves this in Europe and America. In the United States, the censuses show that the number of work- men is increasing, not only in absolute numbers, but in pro- portion to the whole population, and that consumption has developed sufficiently to absorb the whole surplus created by the increase of labor-force and the improvement of tools and machinery. As I have shown, the fear of the laborer that machinery will supplant him dates from an early period. In France, in 1829, the Saint-Simonians bewailed the idleness for which they believed machinery was responsible, and repeated the cry of Sismondi: " While we wait, what is to be done with the thousands of starving men? "' Since that time not only 1 Exposition de la Doctrine, p. 91 (Edition of 1866). 412 The American Laborer thousands, but millions, have found employment in factories equipped with machinery. The specific compensations which the working class has received for temporary periods of enforced idleness are these: a greater demand for labor, higher wages arising from the greater productivity of labor, and cheaper com- modities. In the last benefit the whole of society partici- pates. The constant improvement of tools, machinery and the processes of production, and the adoption of these improve- ments in industry, are certain; it is a simple application of the principle of maximum return for minimum effort. One does not have to be an economist to understand this. We but turn our backs upon progress and attempt the impos- sible when we try to block this movement, for the competi- tion of producers and the industrial rivalry of nations brush aside the impediments which law or custom set in the way of progress; all this is involved in the principle of minimum effort, which is advantageous to the general welfare and one of the laws of political economy. There is no incongruity, therefore, in congratulating humanity upon the benefits of the machine; the reasonable thing is to seek some means other than its suppression, to mitigate the temporary hard- ships which it often causes. VI. The question whether supply determines demand or de- mand determines supply is a disputed one in economic theory because in reality they react upon each other. The Americans pride themselves on having a higher con- sumption per capita than any other people, and several of their economists regard this high consumption as an in- dustrial stimulus and the cause of high wages. We shall return later to the second proposition, which the labor party has adopted virtually as an axiomatic truth, although it would be more logical to reverse the terms or to say that it is the abundant production of wealth which is responsible Present Conditions and Future Prospects 443 for the high wages. As for the first proposition, it is un- deniable that a high per capita consumption stimulates pro- duction by absorbing products. With high wages, with habits of comfort among the masses that are fostered and developed by the prevalent democratic spirit, and with a population of seventy-five millions that increases more than a million and a half every year, the United States call forth, and for a long time will continue to call forth, an increasing and, above all, a cheap production. As stated above, machinery is a powerful factor in pro- ducing this abundance, and its net effect upon wages is beneficial. But does machinery cause over-production? It can bring about a certain congestion at a fixed time and place, as any sudden increase of supply may do; but so long as there are buyers, one cannot say there has been over-production, that is, production that is superfluous or unsuited to satisfy a want. The number of buyers of a commodity will increase, if not indefinitely, at least in a proportion that has no definite' connection with the decrease in the price of the commodity, and the manufacturer usually has such a diminution of price in view when he adopts new machinery. If his cal- culations have been correct, he creates his own market; if not, he ceases to produce. The equilibrium between pro- duction and consumption is always unstable; it is estab- lished one moment, displaced the next, and is then re-estab- lished of its own accord. As the actual needs of humanity are far from being fully satisfied and are always capable of indefinite extension, we must conclude, in a general way. that there is never too much wealth in the world. VII. The American entrepreneur, as a rule, takes the shortest path to his goal — business gains. This is why he em- ploys as much machinery as possible and exacts from his workmen all the service they are able to render. He him- self, in many cases, has risen from the ranks of the work- 444 The American Laborer men, or from even humbler employment, 2 and frequently has never had leisure to acquire the most elementary educa- tion; often he has passed through various trades before becoming settled; his knowledge is in proportion to his experience, he calculates, and when he wishes good men and machinery, he pays what is necessary to get them. Intent upon his own affairs and not those of others, he is in this respect profoundly individualistic; and while this statement does not necessarily carry a reproach with it, I must admit that it is not always without reason that he is accused, often by his fellow countrymen, of being selfish and hard with his fellow men. He performs his part of the labor contract and expects his employees to perform their part. Then, when the work is done and the wages paid,, employer and employees consider their obligations at an end, and in this they are right from the strictly legal stand- point. From a social point of view the result of this exag- gerated individualism is a cessation of all relations between employer and employees at the door of the factory, and institutions founded by employers for the benefit of their workmen are less frequently met with than in some coun- tries of Europe; neither class regard them with favor. VIII. The explanation is found in the great independence of American workmen; he knows that he is the political equal of his employer and he has no intention of subordinating himself by incurring a debt of gratitude. He is in the work- shop by virtue of a business transaction and he does not 2 An American engineer of French descent told me that it seemed to him more difficult than formerly to place young engineers who had graduated from the universities, because they are less tractable and obedient than the apprentices of former days. It is not only in America that comparisons of this kind are made, but although there are plausible arguments on both sides, I feel certain that a solid theoretical education strengthens and broadens the horizon of the practical workman, and that, it is very profitable provided it does not destroy originality. Present Conditions and Future Prospects 445 consider the personnel as a family group of which the entrepreneur should be the patriarchal head. Moreover, he moves from place to place with great readiness, accord- ing as his interests lead him. This is at least the most usual type of native Americans. Various types are found among the immigrants, but all of them tend to become Americanized, more or less rapidly. IX. Immigration causes great offense to the laboring classes. It intensifies the competition for work, and by continually increasing the supply of labor, depresses wages. In actual experience it has not produced a permanent reduction of the general rate because opposing forces are always at work, but it has certainly counteracted the upward tend- ency in some cases. Taking a general view of the migra- tion from Europe to America in the last hundred years, one recognizes that this transfer of men, knowledge and capital has made the fortune of the United States, so that in view of the fact that the workingmen of that country are indebted to immigration for their superior condition, they have no cause for complaint. Excluding Indians, the population of the United States is composed entirely of immigrants and the descendants of immigrants; in three-quarters of a century, 1820-1895, more than seventeen million arrivals were registered. The American people cannot disown their origin and entirely exclude immigrants. The diverse elements of the population have been fused in an Anglo-Saxon mould. For many years the American people has been subjectively, as well as objectively, a distinct nation, conscious of its own individuality, proud of its progress and its power, vigorous enough to absorb ■gradually the flood of immigrants who seek its hospitality, refuting by its very existence the aphorism of Joseph de Maistre: " Without a sovereign, no nation ; without a nation, no sovereign." * ' Du Pape, vol. ii. 446 The American Laborer England, Scotland and Germany have each sent a large number of immigrants who are generally appreciated; Scandinavians are also plentiful and well liked; the Irish are very numerous, but in general regarded with a little less favor, though they wield a powerful influence in politics and many families of Irish descent occupy high positions; the Italians and Slavs are in the greatest disfavor, and it is these immigrants in particular whom the American work- men reproach for being content with low wages. The Canadians form a group that is looked upon with a little suspicion because they attempt to maintain their race in- dividuality by preserving their language and religion, but the employers appreciate their competition for work in the factories. The labor party demands laws restricting immigration. The immigration of Chinese has already been prohibited, although they are good workers; but the Americans can- not forgive them for working at cut rates. Criminals and persons incapable of supporting themselves have also been debarred, and this measure had the support of all enlight- ened people, who agreed that the United States should not be made the dumping-ground of Europe. In the face of the opposition of most entrepreneurs, the labor party secured the passage of a law prohibiting the importation of labor under contract, as it was in this form that the organized importation of " cheap labor " usually took place. X. Nominal zvages are high in the United States, as they have always been in comparison with European wages. They have risen very perceptibly, perhaps doubled, in the last fifty years, although a similar advance has been made in most countries of Europe. Labor leaders in America are divided in their opinions upon this point; some acknowl- edge the advance and the consequent increase of comfort, and they argue from this that the advance ought to con- tinue; others — and these are the most numerous and most Present Conditions and Future Prospects 447 hostile to the existing order of things — pretend that there has been a decrease. The error of those who sincerely believe there has been a decrease is partly explained by the nominal elevation of prices, both of labor and merchandise, which was brought about after the Civil War by the use of irredeemable paper money, and by the return of the value of money to its normal level after the resumption of specie payments. I have shown that this fictitious elevation, far from benefiting the workman, in reality lowered his real wages. 4 On the other hand, the error is partly explained by real, but exceptional, cases of reduction, or by sudden and temporary reductions in times of crisis, as, for instance, in 1893-94. If the misery of the workingman has grown in the last half-century, it must be terrible to-day, for fifty years ago grevious complaints were common. " Lamentable as is the condition of the laboring man, that of women is worse and increasingly so," announced the New England Work- ingmen's Association, founded about 1845. Fi ye years later Horace Greeley said at a meeting of printers in New York: " The laboring class, as a class, is just where it was when I came here eighteen years ago, or, if anything, in a worse condition." 5 The impression brought back by the delegates of the Paris unions to the World's Fair was equally pessimistic, but it is as untrue of America as it is of France: " In a few years, in our opinion, the workingmen of the new world will be as unhappy, even more unhappy, than those of the old world, although the condition of the latter is worse than it has been at any other time during this century."' They are wrong. If their error is involuntary. I refer them to the authorities I have cited in the chapter on the wages of men;' if it is intentional, cast abroad as a firebrand of revolution, facts are powerless. 4 See ch. ix. "McNeill, The Labor Movement, pp. 100 and 117. 'Rapport de la Delegation des Syndicats OuvrUrs de Paris a PEx position de Chicago, p. 157. 7 Ch. vi. 448 The American Laborer Wages have a very extensive range in the United States, varying in accordance with the occupation, and in any given occupation, in accordance with the work and ability of the individual workman; this is true everywhere, but it is more applicable to the United States, perhaps, than to certain other countries. Most wages range themselves between those of spinners and weavers who earn from $i to $2 a day, and those in the building trades which vary from $2.50 to $4 a day, although some workmen receive less than $1 and others more than $4; certain high-grade workmen, steel-rollers and glass-workers for instance, make as high as $10 or more a day. It would not be far wrong to state that the average rate is somewhere between $1.75 and $2, about twice as much as the average rate in France, so far, at least, as it is possible to assign by approximation an average rate to France. XL In America, as in Europe, the wages of ivomen are about half those of men, and the wages of children under sixteen less than the wages of women. The inferior physical strength of women, the fact that their position in the family causes them to be supported in a large degree by the wages of men, and the competition which exists in the restricted number of occupations open to them, are the three prin- cipal causes of the difference noted. In America married women are much less numerous in the factories than in Europe, a fact which indicates a better condition of things. There has been a decrease in the relative number of female employees in manufactures, and a greater decrease, apparently, in the relative number of children. But it is incorrect to pretend that the wages of women amount simply to the difference between the present wages of men and what they would receive if no women worked for wages. It is an illusion to believe that the father or hus- band is alone able to support the family, and it would be cruel to prevent women, either by legal regulation or the Present Conditions and Future Prospects 449 tyranny of labor-unions, from earning something for their own support. Adult women must decide for themselves what is for their best interest in this matter. I do not be- lieve that in the coming generation women will be less eager for gainful employment than at present; on the con- trary, I am led to believe that the transformation of indus- trial methods will tend to multiply occupations for women, in manufactures as well as in office work. XII. Starvation wages, that is to say, wages that will not en- able the recipient to live as well as the common laborer, are found in America as well as in Europe. In this category may be placed the wage of sweatshop workers, who are found in certain great cities like New York, Boston and Cincinnati, and employed principally, but not exclusively, in the manufacture of ready-made clothing. In face of the efforts made to fight it, the sweating system seems to have spread rather than contracted, and it is to be feared that the existing conditions of industry and population will develop it still further, in spite of the efforts being made to restrict it. The evil, which is neither clearly defined, nor clearly definable, fortunately affects only a small part of the working classes. XIII. Real wages have risen more than nominal wages in the United States, because the prices of most goods fell as wages rose. Retail prices have fallen much less than wholesale prices, and rents have advanced, so that the net gain to the laborer has been considerably less than that indicated by the statistics of wholesale prices; but there has been a gain. Taking everything into consideration except rents, the ordinary objects consumed by the laborer's family, quantities and qualities the same, cost rather more in France than in America, and this is particularly true of Paris as compared with New York. In consequence, the 30 450 The American Laborer average American workman enjoys a real as well as a nominal income which is probably more than tzvice as great as that of the French zvorkman. XIV. The use of irredeemable paper money during and after the Civil War disturbed values and for a time confused men's ideas about wages. Wages were very high, in appearance, and workingmen were led to believe that the general reduc- tion which followed the resumption of specie payments was real; an incorrect idea, or at least incorrect in the sense that the reduction was in reality due to the great crisis of 1873. The truth is that during that period the working classes actually suffered from the fictitious inflation of prices, 8 which advanced much more than wages, and they would have suffered more if the intense industrial activity of the period 1863-73 had not created an incessant demand for labor. XV. Real wages being higher in the United States, the Ameri- can workman lives more comfortably than the European, certain grades of English labor excepted. He has acquired settled habits of consumption and enjoyment; his food is more substantial than that of the workman of continental Europe; he dresses better; he is more comfortably lodged, and often owns the house in which he lives; he insures his life, and is provident in his own way; he spends more for s The free coinage of silver would produce an inflation of this kind. Personal interest will explain why the owners of silver mines advocate it, and the same force will explain why debtors, particularly mortgagers, and even farmers whose products would probably be among the first to increase in price, are in favor of it, although the farmers would not gain as much by it as they think. But it is hard to understand how workingmen. whose wages would rise only after the great mass of prices had risen, are led away by it. The probable explanation is that in economic ques- tions most men do not look beneath the surface, and that working- men are particularly exposed to error in such matters. Present Conditions and Future Prospects 451 amusement and upon the societies with which he is affili- ated: in other words he has a higher standard of life than the European workman. Such a condition is one of the most desirable results of civilization, and the American people are justly proud of it. XVI. The American workman spends more than the European because his wants increase in proportion to his income. If the American makes $2 a day, it costs him nearly that amount to live, because the standard of living of his class is based upon this scale. He is obliged, then, to spend his $2, because the wants which are rooted in his family by custom imperatively demand satisfaction under pain of personal dis- comfort or loss of social position. The ambition to main- tain their social rank and to live as well as their peers is universal among men. From this point of view it is correct to say that the cost of living is high in the United States, and although the commercial power of money — that is, the quantity of ordinary consumables purchasable with a stated amount of money — is as great as it is in Europe, it costs more to maintain a given social position in America than it does in Europe; in other words, the social power of money is much less. The American workman has raised his standard of life since the beginning of the present century. But like all men, his desire to acquire the comforts he does not have is keener than his appreciation of those he has, and he aspires to elevate still more his mode of living. He is not alone in making Excelsior the motto of his life. XVII. One of the questions which curious or restless minds have concerned themselves with is that of equality in the increase of comfort; 9 the question whether the laborer ought ' " There has been great progress in the intelligence of the labor- ing classes, and political equality has stimulated the desires of thr 452 The American Laborer to feel satisfied with any increase of wages and well-being, or whether he should not have the right of complaining if statistics demonstrate that the general wealth of the com- munity has increased more rapidly than his own income. Morality furnishes the first reply to this question: it is wrong to stir up envy and needless recrimination in this way. One man receives a gift of $1000 and we congratu- late him; would we approve if we found him growling be- cause a neighbor had received $10,000 the same day? An increase in the income of any class of society should be judged upon its own merits, in accordance with the standard of life of that class, not some other class. We have men- tioned the fact that many American workingmen own their own homes, as a characteristic sign of their comfortable condition; shall these proprietors complain that their houses are not to be compared with the great establishments of the millionaires? And if this comparison does not occur to the workingman himself, do we render him a service by suggesting it? The statistician has great difficulty in answering ques- tions about the increase of wealth because he rarely pos- sesses a series of national inventories sufficient to measure the progress of fifty years and furnish the numerator of a fraction whose denominator would be the whole population. The most complete and, though still very imperfect, perhaps the best collection of these rare materials, is found in the United States, and I have taken from them the figures necessary for such a comparison. 10 We know, on the one masses for a larger share of material riches. The means of pro- duction have been improved in a marvellous manner, and the in- crease of wealth has been enormous. The question the laborer asks is not simply whether he receives more absolutely, but whether he receives as much in proportion to what the other classes of society enjoy. His wants have grown, and he is in- clined to doubt whether he is as well able to gratify his legitimate needs as formerly." R. T. Ery, The Labor Movement in America, P. 304. 10 As an example of the errors which are so easily made in deal- ing with these statistics, I may cite a calculation made by Mr. Present Conditions and Future Prospects 453 hand, that the average annual earnings " of persons em- ployed in manufactures was $247 in 1850 and $484 in 1890 — a gain of 100 per cent in forty years 12 — while the more comparable returns of 1870 and 1890 show a gain of 29 per cent in these twenty years. 13 On the other hand, we know that the value of real and personal property per capita was $303 in 1850, $780 in 1870, and $1036 in 1890, from which it follows that the per capita valuation tripled from 1850 to 1890, and increased nearly 33 per cent from 1870 to 1890. We also know that the aggregate value of the products of mines, fisheries, manufactures and agriculture was $44 per capita in 1850, 14 $177 in 1870, and $194 in 1890, an increase of about 10 per cent from 1870 to 1890. Although the statistics are not accurate enough to furnish exact numer- ical comparisons, the relation between the several rates of increase — 29 per cent for wages, 33 per cent for property, and 10 per cent for production — show that the laborer has not shared so badly as some would have him believe." Powderly (The Labor Movement, edited by McNeill, p. 579) in which he estimates the profits of employers by subtracting from the total value of products, the cost of materials plus total wages. The result, according to the census of 1880, is $1,024,791,847, and Mr. Powderly accuses the employers of receiving enormous profits in comparison with the wages paid— $947,953795- There is probably no economist, as there is no business man, who does not know that other elements beside wages and the cost of materials enter into the expenses of production. 11 Obtained by dividing total wages by the whole number of employees — male and female operatives, children, office employees, superintendents, etc. 12 See ch. vi and the reservations made with respect to the accuracy of these statistics. 13 $375 in 1870; $484 in 1890. "This result is not comparable with the others, as the value of agricultural products is not included. 15 In France statisticians have figured out an answer to this problem from the official records of bequests and gifts inter vivos, which were estimated at about two thousand millions in 1840 and about six thousand millions for each year 1885-95, corresponding thus to a relative income of 100 in 1840 (interest at 5 per cent) and 210 in 1885-95 (interest at 3 Z A per cent). They conclude that if wages doubled in the interval, the income from real and personal 454 The American Laborer These percentages do not tell the whole story, because there are certain essential elements which elude measure- ment. Modern invention, democratic institutions, and the development of highways and public works make certain pleasures far more accessible to everybody, or to nearly everybody, rich or poor, than they were formerly. In the United States, for example, the public schools are free, the public lights, gas or electric, shine indiscriminately for rich and poor, in the cities most people have water in their houses, the street cars and railroads carry with equal speed the laborer who used to walk and the employer who in former times rode on his horse or in his carriage. I have dwelt upon these advantages in my work La Population Francaise;™ I merely wish to call attention to them here. There is one other illusion which it is necessary to dispel. A great deal is said about the right of the laborer to a pro- portional part of the increase of wealth, on the ground that his labor created it. The workman who gives his time and labor for a stipulated wage receives more to-day than form- erly for less labor-time and for work that, owing to the use of machinery, has certainly not become more painful. And yet, with certain exceptions, he has no definite and particular share in the increase of wealth produced in a given time; he may possess a certain skill, but so did his forefathers: he may have better tools, but they were furnished to him; he has even learned to protest against the introduction of new machinery. He is an executive agent working with his muscles as his fathers did a hundred years ago, but working with better materials, and in consequence needing greater knowledge and intelligence. property more than doubled. If their calculation were sound, the difference would not be considerable. But in this form the calcu- lation is misleading, since in order to compare the two terms it is necessary to multiply the rate of wages at each epoch by the number of wage-earners. We do not know the number of wage- earners in 1840, but we do know that it was much less than the present number and that in consequence the comparison should be more favorable to wages. 10 Vol. iii. ch. iii, La Population et la Richesse. Present Conditions and Future Prospects 455 It would be an error to infer from the above that the personal qualities of the workman contribute nothing to the success of the work. I have spoken of these moral and professional qualities in several passages of this work; they are characteristic of the American workman and form one of the most important factors in the productivity of Ameri- can labor. I never fail to emphasize the importance of these qualities in my lectures at the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, where my audience is composed largely of work- men, for I am convinced that they are as efficacious in pro- ducing harmony in the workshop as in augmenting the production of wealth, and I believe it both just to the work- men and profitable to industry to reward them either by increased wages, premiums or profit-sharing. But it is no less true that the increase in productivity is primarily due to scientific discoveries and the application of science to industry. The inventors do not always reap the profits, although many secure a legitimate recompense by exploiting their inventions, which may or may not be pat- ented. But after a certain time these inventions come to be public property, their principal effect having been to lower the cost of production and render wealth more acces- sible to the consumer. Such in short is the role of intelli- gence in production." Next to the inventor, credit must be given to the entre- preneur for the increase in productivity. The technical organization and commercial management of an industry are essential conditions of economic production and of the advantageous placing of the product; they determine in a large degree the success or failure of the enterprise, and, although the present ten-hour day is no harder upon the laborer than the old twelve-hour day, the entrepreneur works harder and deserves more credit when with his heavy load of responsibility he directs a thousand workmen than when he had only ten to look after. One entrepreneur 17 1 explained this for the first time in he Role dt V Intelligence dans la Production, published in 1866-67. See also ch. viii. 456 Tlie American Laborer grows rich while his competitors, with capital and labor secured under exactly similar conditions, stagnate or fail, and the difference in results can be attributed only to the difference in personalities. The socialists, who try to flatter the workman by telling him that he is the sole creator of value and wealth, turn his back squarely upon the truth. Mr. Gunton substitutes another question, without going beyond the subject, however, when he defends in place of right to the product based upon economic grounds, the opportunity for enjoyment based upon the social interest. " It is a fundamental law in all growth," he says, " that it should be symmetrical. The top of anything cannot con- tinue to increase in extent and power without the bottom being correspondingly strengthened and enlarged. 15 So it is with society. No portion of it can continuously improve without the progress of the whole. Consequently, the in- creased wealth, opportunity and freedom of the ' successful classes ' can only be permanently secured to them in pro- portion as the poverty of the masses is diminished and their social opportunities and freedom are enlarged." ' He may reassure himself, not of the acquiescence of the masses in the conclusions we hold, but of the truth of the fact that except in the lowest depths of society poverty has decreased and certain advantages of life and liberty have increased, in America, perhaps, more than elsewhere. Is there, then, nothing further to be done? There is much to be done. I shall return to this question further on. I may affirm here that the amelioration of the lot of the masses is one of the most desirable results of civilization. In recapitulation it may be said that: (i) It is wrong to make ourselves unhappy and lose all enjoyment of our own blessings, because some neighbor is more highly blest: such envy is an injury to civilization and prog- " This statement is correct when applied to a democratic society, but has less application to an aristocratic one. I have expressed my opinion upon this point in La Population Francaise, vol. iii, p. 98 18 Ji'ealth and Progress, p. 4. Present Conditions and Future Prospects 457 ress; (2) it has not been demonstrated that during the nine- teenth century the proportional increase of the income of the laboring class has been less than that of most other classes of society; (3) modern inventions have procured certain advantages which are enjoyed in common by all the inhabitants of a given locality, whatever their social condi- tion; (4) the special contribution of manual labor in the production of wealth is no greater to-day than formerly, although this production is much more abundant; (5) the benefit which the progress of industry and wealth has brought to the laborer is manifested in the elevation of his standard of living. XVIII. The social classes of any country are often ignorant of one another, just as nations misunderstand and harbor prejudices against one another. While it is improper to speak of classes, at least of class barriers, in America, the employers are disposed to judge harshly of their workmen, as indeed, the workmen are of their employers. Although the material life of the laboring classes is inferior to that of the well-to-do in the extent and refinement of consumption, and their intellectual life narrower because of early training and the character of their amusements and environment, their moral life, though often circumscribed in a still nar- rower compass, is not essentially different. In his reason and his ideas, his interests and his prejudices, his feelings and passions that are made up of generosity and selfish- ness, we find man essentially the same in all conditions of life. XIX. Man is animated by two sets of feelings, the one indi- vidualistic, the other social; the former inspired by his egoism and personal interests, the latter by his sympathy and his weakness. The isolated workman finds himself very feeble before the difficulties of life and particularly in contests with employers over the construction of his labor- 458 The American Laborer contract. His need of association is greater than that of the higher classes, yet nevertheless it is more difficult of accomplishment for him because his education and pecu- niary resources are less, and the large number of members which it is usually necessary to combine in order to form a union, increase the chances of discord and dissolution. Labor organizations have two principal objects, insur- ance and resistance, the first assuring by cooperation the payment of a sum of money in case of death, sickness or old age; the second opposing the power of numbers against the power of the employers; at present the second object is often of first importance in American unions. Historic- ally, these organizations date back many years, but it is only in the last quarter of a century that they have spread so widely through the ranks of labor and assumed a political importance. Provident societies bring to the workman's family a certain material security and give him a proper sense of social relations; they are most commendable. Under the titles of Mutual Benefit Societies, Sick and Funeral Benefit Socie- ties, Endowment Societies, etc., and with diverse forms and varying degrees of solidity, they are encountered in great numbers in all parts of the United States, particularly in the manufacturing districts. All of these are not labor organizations by any means, but workmen are found in most of them, and some are composed exclusively of work- men. A very good type of these associations, and one of the most popular, is the Loan and Building Association, to which I have devoted one chapter of the L'Ouvrier Ameri- ca in™ While on the whole these associations are worthy of great praise, one necessarily feels uneasy at times over the management of some of them, because the workingman rarely has the time and ability to exercise effective super- vision over them and he runs the risk of being swindled by managers who arc faithless or incompetent or excessively M See ch. iv, part ii. Present Conditions and Future Prospects 459 careful of their personal importance and profit. Yet a great majority of these societies thrive, and association in itself is a profitable education in democracy; in any event the American people have profited by it. The union almost always has the dual object of insurance and resistance; this is why I have not separated the two subjects. It is in part of spontaneous generation, a result of popular freedom; in part it is of English, and in a smaller degree, of German origin, the German union being more strongly impregnated with socialistic theories than the Eng- lish, Unions have multiplied rapidly, especially since 1880, so that now they are numbered by the thousand, some of them very powerful; a dozen unions or more claim member- ship of more than 20,000. In addition, huge federations have been formed. The Order of the Knights of Labor was modelled on Masonic lines and still remains in part a secret order. At one time it claimed to be uniting the laboring classes for the conquest of society by means of political control and a cooperative organization of produc- tion and consumption. In 1880 it counted its members by the hundred thousands, but it has lost its standing through failure to accomplish what it promised and by having an- tagonized the local unions. The place in the popular favor formerly held by the Knights has been taken by the Ameri- can Federation of Labor, which with more discretion at- tempts to combine the unions without encroaching upon their independence. The American Railway Union, organized in the midst of the troubles of 1893, and at its very formation cast into a violent struggle, occupies a position of but mediocre importance. I have pointed out both the advantages and disadvantages of labor-unions. 21 The former consist of the aid which members render one another as men and the power of organization to serve their interests as wage-earners. American unions pride themselves upon being the cause of M L'Ouvrier Americain, ch. ix, part i, and ch. v. part iii. 4G0 The American Laborer the rise of wages, and although this claim is too pretentious, they have unquestionably played a prominent part in secur- ing certain advances. The disadvantages consist of their efforts to monopolize the labor market, physical and moral violence towards employers and non-unionist labor- ers, and chimerical ideas of social transformation which they entertain in proportion as they approach " New- unionism " and are or are not of recent formation. In their relations with employers workmen are very jealous of their independence, but as unionists they submissively accept the absolute power of the leaders and instantly abandon their work and livelihood when the order is given; such is their faith. In the larger organizations particularly, the leaders pride themselves upon being moderators and heal- ers of differences, but in reality, and especially in the local unions, they are often firebrands and agitators both by temperament and policy, continually awaiting the oppor- tunity for an assault upon capital. It cannot be denied that a state of civil war exists in the industrial world and that most labor organizations are, as institutions of resistance, mere armed bands ready to take the field. The employers' associations make less noise, but they are no less strongly armed; trusts flourish in the United States. It seems almost idle to repeat that this condition results from misunderstanding, that between the purchaser and vendor of labor there is not opposition but community of interests, and that the three agents of pro- duction have the same interest in the prosperity of industry — the common source of the income of each. The state of war exists, and the associations of workmen and employers contribute to render it more threatening. Does the development of these associations mean a per- manent and organized antagonism? Such a prospect almost inspires regret for the disappearance of the medi- aeval trade-gild, in which master and workman were united, although with a rigid subordination of the workmen which the democratic spirit of our times would not tolerate, and Present Conditions and Future Prospects 461 with more or less monopoly which has been advantageously- replaced by liberty. Is it possible that the future will see mixed organizations of employers and employees freely and voluntarily formed, thus retaining the advantages of free contract without the disadvantages of the ancient gild? I desire it more than I dare hope for it. The American Federation of Labor disapproves of such coalition. And yet, association is a right and the labor-union has become a fact against which it would be both narrow and untimely to protest. In England the labor union is already more than a half-century old, while in France and America it is of more recent introduction; its development consti- tutes a landmark and inaugurates a new era in the history of the working classes. In America, where they are in- creasing both in number and power, their growth has been stimulated by the democratic spirit and by the high wages which makes it possible to sustain them. Many large estab- lishments will not employ union workmen and refuse to treat with the unions. On the other hand, there are many employers, particularly in the building trades, who have treated with them and even contracted to employ none but umon workmen. Except in the cities, the unions have not as yet succeeded in drawing into their ranks the majority of workmen; but as their animosity, against what they call the exploitation of man by capital, is active and noisy, they attract attention and appear more numerous than they really are. The union must be allowed to exist. To control the situ- ation, in my opinion, it is even advisable to legalize it in every American state; but at the same time the law must impose conditions that will make the union responsible and prevent it, as far as possible, from degenerating into an instrument of oppression either of workmen or employers. Freedom for all, coupled with effective responsibility before the law and public opinion; this is, I think, the double rule we should adopt. 4G2 The American Laborer XX. There is no doubt that the union has fostered the strike and increased its power. The strike is open war. In many- cases it occurs suddenly and without preliminary negotia- tions, but more often it follows the rejection of conditions proposed by a group of workmen. The strike is as old as the wage-earner, but it has only become epidemic since the development of the factory and the formation of great labor- organizations. It might be said, in addition, that the social- istic or revolutionary propaganda has multiplied strikes by stirring up class hatred. In the past it was an incident; it has now become, so to speak, a social system, characterized by Mr. McNeill, the editor of The Labor Movement in the following terms: " The problem of to-day, as of yesterday and to-morrow, is, how to establish equity between men. The laborer who is forced to sell his day's labor to-day, or starve to-morrow, is not in equitable relations with the employer who can wait to buy labor until starvation fixes the rates of wages and hours of time. The labor movement is the natural effort of readjustment — an ever-continued attempt of organized laborers, so that they may withhold their labor until the diminished interest or profit or capital of the employer shall compel him to agree to such terms as shall be for the time measurably equitable." ** It would be super- fluous to refute once more the economic error and ill- concealed insinuation of the first sentence. I cite the passage merely to show that the labor party regards resist- ance and the strike almost as sacred duties. Carroll D. Wright has said, and justly, that the responsi- bility for strikes cannot always be placed upon the laborer, as they are caused by the refusals of employers as well as by the pretentions of employees; and he adds that the com- munity of interest which characterizes production does not exist in distribution, where one factor loses what the other " The Labor Movement, p. 454. Present Conditions and Future Prospects 463 gains. I might add, in turn, that after the stipulated wages are paid, the laborer has no claim upon the profits of the entrepreneur, whatever they may be, just as the entre- preneur has no right of recovery upon the wages he has paid, when his operations result in a loss. When the con- tract expires the laborer is entirely free to refuse to renew it, and to unite with his fellow laborers in a strike or other combination to obtain better, or defeat the acceptance of worse, conditions. But it is wrong to consider him as a rightful member of the establishment in temporary revolt, and he is wrong when he acts as such. He is a simple workman who has become a stranger to the establishment by the severance of his contract. But is the strike profitable tc the working-classes? A general study covering ten years, which has been made in America, shows that in forty-five cases out of a hundred the strike resulted in a gain to the workmen. This propor- tion is very high, almost double that resulting from similar statistics in France and England. But the striker is like the gambler, who always hopes that chance will work out in his favor; led on by his passions and encouraged by leaders who promise much more successful results, he risks the throw. If he fails, the time missed and the extra expenses are dead losses to him; if he wins, it is still some time before the extra advantage compensates for the expense incurred. Like war, the strike is an inherent evil, whatever its result. It is hurtful to industry, causes millions of dollars to be wasted every year, and its mere appearance may send into hiding large sums of money which in times of industrial peace would have been invested in production. And yet, like war, the strike is relatively a rare occurrence, and in a country like the United States involves only a small part of the laboring population in any one year. To the work- man the strike is a weapon both of offense and defense, and in the present state of affairs and of public sentiment, there is no power which can prevent its use. 464 The American Laborer To the conservative workman it is impossible to demon- strate that the laborer always loses by the strike, since there are times when he gains by it. And with the more violent it is useless to make the attempt, since they count upon such agitation and the destruction of industry to hasten social revolution. In America and England the admission by the courts of the legality of combination has been very gradual. To- day it is denied by none, although the effects of the strike are denounced as extremely unfortunate. Combination is in fact free and the courts do not attempt to penalize it ex- cept in cases of actual or threatened violence towards prop- erty or persons. It is often difficult to determine where violence begins, but it is very necessary that the responsi- bility of those who instigate and of those who participate in strikes should be clearly established, and that in the interests of those who wish to work as well as of industrial peace, no one should be constrained either to engage or persist in a strike against his will. XXI. The liberty to combine being accepted as a right and as a necessity, and the union maintaining a permanent oppo- sition to the employer, the most practical remedies for the prevention and cure of the strike seem to be arbitration and conciliation. It is important to distinguish between compulsory and voluntary arbitration. The former, by coercing workmen and employers to pay or accept certain rates or to accom- plish certain tasks, would bring both industry and labor beneath the yoke of a judicial despotism. It is repugnant to employers because in the substitution of the public authority for the free disposition of the means of produc- tion by their owners, they see an element of confiscation; but for this very reason it constitutes one of the most cherished ideals of the labor party. Voluntary arbitration does not have this inherent vice. Present Conditions and Future Prospects 465 Essentially liberal in origin, it would undoubtedly have a pacifying effect if it came into more general use. It may assume many forms: that of a court of arbiters selected by the contending parties when a difficulty arises, or of a per- manent bureau of conciliation and arbitration upon which both interested parties would be represented. Between 1886 and 1895 the federal government and fifteen states passed laws creating, or authorizing the creation, of such institutions, some of which respected individual liberty, while others authorized more or less administrative inter- ference, and one at least rested entirely upon the principle of compulsion. But up to the present time custom has not taken kindly to this form of regulation; arbitration has been requested in only a comparatively limited number of cases, and the number of disputes settled by arbitration is still more limited. With the workmen, it seems, arbitration is a last resort, to be used only when the strike becomes ineffective, and it is certain that the employers will not permit outside parties to dictate a settlement which is manifestly opposed to their interests. Our experience with arbitration and conciliation is very recent, but it indicates that, however desirable they may be, their application is beset with serious obstacles, not only in the prejudices of workmen and em- ployers, but in the very nature of industrial relations. XXII. To unite for the purpose of opposing the concentrated power of capital with the collective power of organized labor is legitimate; it is a right that has been sanctioned by law and custom. Does it follow that there is a neces- sary conflict of interests between employer and employee? In this debate two opposing tendencies of thought have manifested themselves in Europe and America. The economists, Bastiat in particular, emphasize the harmony of interests: and there is a harmony of interests, since both workmen and employers live by production. The socialists 31 4GG The American Laborer emphasize the conflict of interests, and this manifests its real existence in the disputes over the distribution of the pro- duct. But when the facts are dispassionately examined it becomes apparent that in a great majority of cases the conflict is occasioned by passion and prejudice rather than by a rational self-interest. To say, as I read in one of the journals of the labor party, 23 that the pretended harmony which is used to justify the economic brigandage known as the wage-system, does not differ from the harmony be- tween the serpent and the bird that he fascinates in order to devour, is merely a proof that the speaker has not studied the problem and that, in order to be free to scatter the seeds of hatred, he does not wish to study it. The " struggle for life " is a phrase that has, unfortu- nately, won general acceptance. By creating the impres- sion that the individual thrives at the expense of others and that it is necessary to vanquish or be vanquished in the contest of existence, it gives a misleading idea of the social and economic movement. Men's interests are more often harmonious than antagonistic, and although the highest places are ordinarily to be secured only by the exercise of energy and intellect, it is more fitting to speak of a race over the course of life than of a struggle for mere existence. XXIII. I should not have felt called upon to speak of the pro- tect ire system were it not for the noisy election claim that protection benefits both wage-earner and producer: the former by increasing wages, the latter by increasing prices. It is somewhat singular that employers who denounce the adjustment of wages by arbitration as a violation of right should boast of increasing them by law. Moreover it is not certain that wages are increased by protection. Some of the protected industries pay high wages, like the steel industry: while others pay low wages, like the cotton in- 23 The American Federationist, March, 1895. Present Conditions and Future Prospects 467 dustry; and moreover, one does not find the same kind of labor, carpentering or manual labor for instance, receiving higher wages in protected than in unprotected industries. There is no doubt that if the customs duties were lowered certain establishments would close and that profits would be temporarily reduced in almost every industry. Some workmen would perhaps be thrown out of work, but if the general wealth of the country was not affected by the change, it is hardly possible that wages of the lower grades would fall still lower. I have shown that wages are not necessarily determined by the price of the product, a good proof of which is the fact that farm-wages rose while the value of agricultural products fell. XXIV. I have spoken only incidentally of public charity in the United States, which is organized in accordance with the Anglo-Saxon system, and of private charity, which in form and function is varied and ingenious, and in individual cases very liberally endowed. Charity is a necessity that becomes more obligatory as society grows wealthier or more able to furnish it, and as the activity of the industrial movement causes more failures or leaves a larger residue in the social depths. Relief is even a moral duty for those who can extend it, although this does not create a correla- tive right to relief in those who have need of it. We under- stand now that charity supports and does not suppress poverty; it is a palliative and will never be a remedy. XXV. Real remedies, which if not sovereign are at least effi- cacious, have been discovered in what I have called social and industrial patronage. Animated by a sympathy en- gendered of religion, philanthropy or patriotism, man extends the hand of friendship to some one in an inferior condition and aids him to live, to educate himself, and im- 4 08 The American Laborer prove his morals; this has been called social patronage. Animated also by sympathy, but in the further interests of his establishment and its personnel, the employer directs himself to the creation of bonds of mutual interest between himself and his employees, that will increase their security and comforts and advance his interests by promoting harmony in his establishment and peace in the industrial world; this has been called industrial patronage. Institutions of social patronage are numerous in America, and have diverse aims. I refer the reader to the chapter ** in which I have explained the principal types and shown that social patronage, like charity, is very active in America. There are but few examples of industrial patronage in America, although some of these are very meritorious, and until the present time its success has been very modest where tried. The character of certain European peoples seems more adapted to industrial patronage than that of the Americans. Both workmen and employers in the United States are too independent, too mobile perhaps, or at any rate, too careful about minding their own affairs to form or accept obligations and bonds of this nature. XXVI. Profit-sharing is something more than industrial patron- age, although of kindred origin; it is a wage-contract by which the employer obligates himself, in addition to paying the customary wages, to set aside for his employees a fixed portion of the profits. It is usually adopted with the object of stimulating the productivity of the employees by linking their interests to those of the employer. It is recommended as the most equitable form of remuneration and as the surest remedy for the antagonism between labor and capi- tal, on the grounds that it creates in the employee a pecuniary and moral interest in the success of the business while it leaves the management and authority undivided in the hands of the employer. " See L'Ouvrier Americain, part iii, ch. iv. Present Conditions and Future Prospects 469 The system is certainly to be commended, and its effects are excellent where it is applicable, that is, in cases where the character of the personnel, the nature of the industry, and the tone of the establishment are favorable to its appli- cation. But such cases are rare, and although estimable men have pointed out the path and devoted men have fol- lowed it with faith, instances of profit-sharing are rarer in the United States than those of ordinary industrial patron- age, and until now it has not been America which has fur- nished the most celebrated example of profit-sharing. 25 XXVII. Cooperation is another proposed remedy. In the form of the credit association it facilitates the payment of interest upon very small savings, and is profitable both to the artisan and the workman; the most popular and best organ- ized type of these in the United States is probably the loan and building association. The consumers' association makes it possible to buy the principal articles consumed in the household in a more economical and healthful way than at retail, by which the prices of many commodities are disproportionately in- creased. Cooperative consumption is not practiced exclu- sively by workmen, and although it has been highly recommended by powerful labor organizations, the Knights of Labor for instance, it has made much less progress in the United States than in England, and occupies a very small place in the life of the American workmen. Cooperative production occupies a still smaller place. Is it because the idea has not had time to mature, or because its foundation is faulty, or because — although of possible realization — the conditions necessary for general and last- ing success are too complex, too difficult to unite? The third supposition seems most probable. In any event, cooperative production has been no more successful than 25 L'Ouvrier Americain, part iii, ch. iv. 470 The American Laborer profit-sharing in converting the American mind, which seems too individualistic, in its present attitude at least, for such institutions. Nothing is so alluring to the workman as the prospect of becoming master where until now he has been subordinate, and those who, knowing all this, hold cooperation out to him as the dawn of a new era in which association shall wholly replace the wage-system, are willfully deluding him. XXVIII. Another illusion of which certain innovators of theory, well-meaning gentlemen no doubt, are fond, is that econ- omic progress is due to the growth of consumption. Mr. Gunton, for example, defends this thesis: " Social progress and civilization are promoted, not so much by saving as by consuming wealth. Those who save, especially among the wage-receivers, are enabled to do so, other things being the same, solely because others consume. If everybody saved, who would consume? and if nobody consumed, who could save?" K If there were no consumption, production would certainly be superfluous. But this supposition is entirely gratuitous. The truth is that man consumes in order to live, and that a natural feeling — this is admitted by American as well as European economists — prompts him to consume more freely as his resources increase. The exceptions to this are rare. The economic movement of a nation is a result- ant in which all classes, closely interconnected and reacting upon one another, have participated. Consumption stimu- lates production by absorbing it. But this is no reason why the whole income should be spent for immediate en- joyment or in what has been called, more or less exactly, unproductive consumption. The man who saves and turns his savings to immediate account by investing them, insti- tutes a consumption which is not less but more conducive " Wealth and Progress, pp. 95, 96. Present Conditions and Future Prospects 471 to the growth of wealth than the consumption for personal enjoyment. These are truths repeatedly emphasized in political economy and generally endorsed by the common sense of the people which counsels a wise mixture of com- fort and saving. It is as unscientific to erect into a prin- ciple the dogma that consumption is the efficient cause of wealth as it is imprudent to excite the people to increase their expenditures by persuading them that their incomes will follow suit. As to whether demand determines supply or vice versa, I have stated that if either one can properly be said to take precedence over the other, I am inclined to attach the priority to demand, because at any given moment we have only the existing wealth with which to pay for products. And yet, it is necessary that this wealth should have been created. The laboring class, less than any other, should be encouraged to procure personal enjoyment upon credit. XXIX. Assuming that there is little efficacy in the partial reforms which conservative minds have proposed in the hope of improving without revolutionizing the present organization of society, is there no alternative but the radical transforma- tion of socialism? Some American publicists make an ante- thesis of socialism and individualism, assimilating the former with egoism, the latter with sociability. Mr. Gil- man, for instance, after having shown the benefits of social organization, adds less happily: "What is most needed is not a crusade against socialism in the holy and infallible name of free competition, but a determined reaction against the gross individualism too abundant in our time." s That morality opposes the excesses of an unrestrained individual- ism by the feeling of sympathy is true enough; that Ameri- can employers are particularly in need of having their social sympathies awakened is very possible; that the family, the 27 Socialism and the American Spirit, p. 22. 472 The American Laborer corporation, the state are existing manifestations and ir- refutable proofs of human solidarity is evident. But this does not prevent sound policy and political economy from pronouncing openly against socialism which tends to sub- stitute restraint for solidarity; which aims to suppress individual initiative, and at the very least would emasculate it; which if consistently applied would disorganize society, and if partially injected into American institutions would impoverish certain fruitful sources of wealth. Individual- ism turns a cold ear to communism. Cooperation? Yes; but not absorption. It is no reproach to individualism that it stands for the power of the individual, for this is one of the moral forces that support the social structure of the United States and one of those which has contributed most to the greatness of the American nation. Individualism is bred in the American by the democratic nature of his government and by the democratic constitution of the family, in which children are granted their independence at a very early age. Vague definitions have created a good deal of confusion upon a subject about which it is particularly necessary to think clearly, and in order that the public may think clearly it is necessary for those who instruct them to be very precise in their statement of facts and tendencies. Under the term solidarity, it seems, certain minds in America and a greater number perhaps in France, have grouped a confused mass of projects which threaten to extinguish liberty beneath a flood of new social obligations. It is very necessary to clear up this confusion. Everyone understands that a voluntary solidarity envelops our whole life, showing itself in family duties and affections, in the relations of friendship, in the love of our fellows, in the desire to secure power or win respect; moreover it is plain that the compulsory solidarity, legal and social, of members of the same state is undeniable and necessary, and that it has existed at all times, changing as conditions changed, developing as political liberty developed. " Quidquid delir- Present Conditions and Future Prospects 473 ant regcs plectuntur Achivi " was said in ancient times, and in modern times every nation has had proof, sometimes cruel proof, of how dependent the fortune of individuals is upon the good or evil administration of their government. The political solidarity which defends territory, punishes crime, spreads education, and relieves want, is the moral keystone of government and the backbone of civilization. But to make voluntary solidarity a legal obligation, to regu- late the acts of private life by public authority when such interference is not absolutely necessary to the existence of the community, to confiscate one man's property, for in- stance, because the government thinks good to give it to another, or to compel people to have children 28 and in- dividuals to do a certain amount of manual labor daily, this would be a criminal suppression of liberty that would probably dry up the sources of activity, wealth, and altruism, although the reformers flatter themselves that under their control these sources would become only the more pro- ductive. We must be careful not to abuse the word by confusing the kinds of solidarity. I cordially endorse the words of Spencer: "The society exists for the benefit of its members; not its members for the benefit of the society," " and I add: " Society has duties towards its members, and those members have obligations toward society." The principles of liberty and solidarity are not mutually exclusive; but to suppress liberty in the name of solidarity and with the object of improving the lot of the disinherited, would be to kill the goose that lays the golden egg. We must also be careful not to abuse the word socialism. When people say we are all socialists because we all live in society and all believe that society has certain rights and obligations towards its members, they are playing upon words. Nor can I approve the verbal coquetry by which on both continents state interference is softened into " good 28 This singular project is unknown in American socialism. 28 Spencer, Principles of Sociology, pt. ii, § 222. 474 The American Laborer socialism"; I refer the " good socialists" to what I have just said about solidarity. Those who use the term may sincerely believe it justifiable, or they may use it because it appeals to the ear of the crowd who like the word social- ism; but when one gets to the bottom of their doctrine it becomes apparent that they are simply lending themselves to the socialists without openly professing the true social- istic doctrine. Socialism, as understood by its sincere adherents, in both Europe and America, is not the same as the science of social organization. Nor is it correctly characterized in Schaeffle's definition of its policy, quoted by Mr. Gilman: " The alpha and omega of socialism is the transformation of private and competing capitals into a united, collective capital." M Socialism comprehends diverse and even antagonistic theories, but they have this in common: they all look for- ward to the seizure of private property, or at least, the seizure of the means of production, by the community. This does not imply that there was not a wide difference between the early schools, those of Fourier and the Saint- Simonians, any more than it implies a close resemblance between modern communism and anarchism, although they both accept as a starting point Marx's erroneous analysis of the conditions of production, because it is an assault upon the right of capital. At present one seldom hears of these early schools except in the histories, and the more or less communistic experiments made in America are little more than rare examples of social teratology, without influ- ence upon opinion. The popular schools are either com- munistic, anarchistic, or collectivist. Their dominant char- acteristics, so far as it is possible to seize upon salient features in this tangled maze of vague projects, are the abolition and confiscation of private property, or practically this, in order to give laborers free use of the instruments of production; the suppression of the wage-earning and " Socialism and the American Spirit, p. 10. Present Conditions and Future Prospects 475 employing classes in order to organize production on the cooperative system; the remuneration of each according to his need, his productivity, or the number of hours he has worked; and the assumption that such a regime will eradi- cate indolence and vice and make everybody comfortable. Their most alluring scheme is the suppression of the wage-system. When the International Labor Union of America was founded in 1877, it adopted the following as the first article of its declaration of principles: "That the wage-system is a despotism under which the wage-worker is forced to sell his labor at such price and such conditions as the employer of labor shall dictate." 31 All the socialistic schools agree in declaring that the present organization of society is a crumbling aggregation of iniquitous monstrosities which crushes labor while it exalts capital, and that to attain their ends it must be de- stroyed. The more conservative predict that it will fall to pieces of its own accord as social evolution proceeds, and recommend that its dissolution be hastened by means of the strike and other active measures. The revolutionists maintain that capital will never capitulate, and loudly pro- claim that force must be used and the robbers dispossessed, if the people would come into their own again. Doctrine and tactics are the same in both continents. In former days reform was demanded in the name of liberty and right; to-day it is social transformation they demand, violent or peaceful, and in the name of pleasure. Hatred of exist- ing conditions; this is the lesson taught by socialists in one way or another, and as they are too impatient to await transformation by natural evolution, they usually turn to the propaganda of revolution. With the masses into which a propaganda of this kind niters, it is ordinarily the most violent who secure the last word. Three factors of American civilization are especially favorable to the spread of socialism: immigration, indus- 31 McNeill, The Labor Movement, p. 161. 476 The American Laborer trial concentration, and the immense urban populations. Yet in spite of the unhealthy influence which these exert, and the scurrilous character of certain classes of the immi- grants, the strong individuality and democratic training of the American workingman have bred in him, happily for the United States, an inherent antagonism to the sophis- tries of communistic production. Mr. Gilman thinks ** that the idea of the state being the sole producer, tran- sporter, and distributor of wealth is distasteful to the Ameri- can workman whose optimistic nature recoils at the pessimism of socialism. " The world over, democracy has no more insidious enemy to fear, so surely would socialism issue in despotism." 33 Socialism and revolutionary social- ism in particular seem to have taken little hold on the American people; its followers are more noisy than numer- ous and still remain an insignificant minority. 84 Society's supreme safeguard against the application of collectivism or communism is their impracticability. Yet it will not do to look upon their propagation with indiffer- ence. Whatever his virtues, the American workman prob- ably has a kindly ear for the quacks who tell him that he is badly treated, that the only obstacle is the capitalist, that he clearly has a right to more than he gets, and that he will get more if he keeps hoping for it persistently; all these are ideas which soothe his feelings. In a country where the people govern, when they are fed upon the hatred of wealth and obedience, when agitation in the present and 32 In his opinion, the people who have passed through the Civil War and suppressed slavery can regard with serenity the social difficulties of the future. The Americans, he also thinks, are justified in believing that if the socialistic problems which are now disturbing Europe arise in the United States, they will find their solution in that country. " Our existing civilization in its finest development has not asserted the principle of equal reward, but the principle of equal opportunity for every man and woman." Socialism and the American Spirit, pp. 329, 361. 33 Ibid., p. 189. 34 Mr. Gilman says: " Revolutionary socialism has very little sig- nificance in the America of to-day." Ibid., p. 127. Present Conditions and Future Prospects 477 forceful revolution or the seizure of power in the near fu- ture, are held out to them as the infallible means of securing their happiness and advancement, there is surely a public danger. If collectivism cannot be instituted, the present organization of society may be deranged. And yet in a free country, so long as agitation keeps itself within the bounds of law there is but one weapon with which to oppose the propagation of false ideas, and that is the propagation of correct ideas. But we must not be de- ceived by the hope that the true will wholly exterminate the false. The people are credulous: they can no more be disabused of socialism than the ignorant peasants at our country fairs can be shorn of their belief in the miracles of the side-show. XXX. The great fortunes made in business, by speculation, or by the growth in the value of real estate are logical results of the peopling of' an immense territory, and of the gigantic development, agricultural, commercial, and industrial, of the United States in the nineteenth century: they constitute another motive for stirring up hatred against wealth. The revolutionists, and the peace-socialists also, have not failed to use them as commentaries upon the proposition laid down by Karl Marx that an accumulation of wealth at one extreme of society indicates an accumulation of misery and an excess of labor at the other, and to persuade the poor that, as the distribution of wealth is inequitable, the people would merely be reclaiming their own in confiscating for the benefit of the community the wealth which they have created. The separation between employers and employees, which has been increased by the growth of the average in- dustrial establishment, tends to develop this hostile senti- ment. " If," says Mr. Gilman, " the contrast between wealth and poverty is greater now than ever before — and this may well be doubted — it is not because the poor are poorer, but be- 478 The American Laborer cause the rich are richer." ! In another passage which mer- its the studious attention of the great manufacturers, he adds: "The former feeling of partnership has vanished in the stupendous development of modern industrial civiliza- tion. Master and man too often talk of each other as if they were entirely distinct species, with the fewest possible points of sympathy or contact. . . . The employer is too wont to think of his men as so many machines, or, at the best, as creatures largely irrational. The workman regards the owner of the vast establishment where he works as a selfish tyrant, chiefly bent on reducing wages to the lowest possible point. The masters combine against the men, and the men combine against the masters Workingmen dream of a happy day when all industry shall be purely co- operative, and the employing class be abolished. The capitalist dreams of the time when improved machinery shall have reduced the need of hand-labor to a minimum." ! XXXI. All socialistic parties demand state intervention in the regulation and even in the operation of industry; their tac- tics are those of an army making a diversion in one direc- tion while the ultimate goal — the absorption of all indus- tries in the state — is carefully concealed. By this stratagem they obtain the support of parties whose ideals are different and which would refuse to take the field, perhaps, if they understood where they were being led. The question of state intervention, unlike the proposal to abolish private property, cannot be judged and condemned en bloc. As I said in speaking of solidarity, the state is an indispensable condition of social life and one of the two causes of the progress of civilization, the individual being the other cause. There has been much discussion about the spheres of the individual and the state, but to deny (.ither is logically impossible. The individual acts, thinks, * Socialism and the American Spirit, p. 25. ae Ibid., p. 283. Present Conditions and Future Prospects 479 creates wealth and consumes it; the state prescribes and en- forces rules by which the activities of individuals are co- ordinated in that degree necessary to maintain the society: in certain cases, also, the state limits and directs these activities to a common end. The supreme end, so far as it can be defined in the present state of our civilization, is to ensure justice through the operation of law, and to secure, not happiness — the word is as vague as the end is inde- terminate — but better moral and material conditions of life for the members of the society. The first and most im- portant of these conditions, after men have attained a suffi- cient moral and intellectual development, is the respect for human liberty and the consequences thereof, which, by stimulating self-interest, encourages the unlimited and fruit- ful expansion of individual activity in all directions of thought and action. At bottom there is no conflict of in- terests between the individual and the state, since they have a common end, but disagreeable conflicts have arisen be- cause the government has frequently been in the hands of despots — kings or the transient instruments of some fac- tion — and in other cases, outworn institutions of another age have more or less oppressed the people, who as they gained in intelligence and power, have broken their chains. The varied functions of the state do not necessarily make it an oppressor. To provide an efficient police which will protect the national territory from foes without, and within, furnish security to the inhabitants in their persons, their acts, their relations, their associations and their property, may be the first duty of the state to a free people; but it is not the only duty. In its political laws the state is led to determine the participation of individuals in public affairs; in its civil laws, to decide questions of property and limit individual action; in its fiscal laws, to levy upon individual wealth. The state educates; constructs roads, harbors, monuments; operates certain industries in order to supply its own wants or undertakes to furnish certain services which are used by all; it guards the common interests. The 480 The American Laborer government thus impresses a national character upon the nation which it governs. From this point of view every state has its peculiar insti- tutions. In England and America, railroads are private in- dustries; in France they are organized into great systems by temporary concessions from the state; in Australia and Germany they are to a great extent owned and operated directly by the state; in the United States the telegraph service is private, while the postal service is public. Con- siderations of expediency have determined the intervention or non-intervention of the state in each instance. In Eng- land, the home of individual liberty, the state has greatly extended the sphere of intervention, wisely or unwisely, in the last twenty years, and American advocates of interven- tion have not failed to call attention to the fact. Neverthe- less, the economic institutions of all civilized countries of Europe and America are founded upon the principles of individual liberty and private property. By this I do not wish to imply that the form and limits of state intervention are questions of mediocre importance; far from it. If communism is a Utopia, which may agitate the people, but never be realized, state intervention is a present reality, and projects of intervention such as will de- base the conditions of social existence and interrupt the growth of wealth, constitute an immediate danger; a pass- ing current of public opinion may at any time secure the passage of a law that will transform some wild scheme into a public institution. Although the American character may be unfavorable to communism, there is no doubt that democracies, American and European, are favorable to pro- jects of state intervention. It is very possible that they take this position blindly, thinking that if intervention takes the form of state ownership, it will be so much saved from the greed of capital, while if it takes the form of surveillance, it will be the means of checking the tyranny of capital. Present Conditions and Future Prospects 481 XXXII. Modes of this surveillance are found in factory regulation inspection. In judging these the employer and the workmen are placed at diametrically opposed points of view; it is necessary to hear both sides, remembering dis- tinctly at the outset that the proprietor is the owner, and must remain the master, of his establishment, but recogniz- ing on the other hand that as this establishment employs a numerous personnel who cannot exercise the police power themselves, there exists a necessity for certain rules of hy- giene, protection, and responsibility in cases of accident, as well as for the inspection necessary to the enforcement of these rules. But there are limits which cannot be passed without crippling enterprise, and it is necessary to respect these limits; as John Stuart Mill somewhere said, the pre- sumption is always in favor of liberty and it must be shown in every particular case that regulation is necessary. Under democratic influences, legislatures have more than once ig- nored this maxim and transgressed these limits. A few years ago Mr. Hewitt, the well-known manufacturer of New York, said : " Some of the legislation which has been recently enacted is a positive violation of the . . . Consti- tution in reference to the liberties of the citizens. . . . What we need, therefore, is a recurrence to the well-settled prin- ciples of jurisprudence, a higher order of statesmanship, and the courage on the part of our public men to stand up for the right, though for a time it may involve the sacrifice of personal popularity." " 37 A. S. Hewitt, Iron and Labor, p. 18. The Australian colonies, particularly New Zealand, are more democratic in character than the United States, and have consequently gone further in the regulation of industry. The regulations apply to all establish- ments in which more than two wage-earners are employed. The employment of children under fourteen is entirely prohibited, and women, minors under eighteen, and the employees of retail stores must be given a half-holiday each week in addition to the Sunday holiday. In 1895 it was proposed to make the eight-hour day obligatory in all lines of industry. Pierre Leroy-Beaulieu, Les Nouvelles Societes Anglo- Saxonnes, pp. 174, 180. 32 482 The American Laborer XXXIII. Amcng the most important subjects of regulation is the labor of women and children. Massachusetts limited by law the length of their working-day, and other states have fol- lowed her. Massachusetts had imitated England in this matter, and the question is still agitated on both continents. Those who in common with myself are convinced that free- dom should be the rule, being a right, and regulation the exception, think it necessary to draw a distinction between adult women and minors: the former are legally capable of making a contract and hence should be free to earn their living in whatever way seems most advantageous to them; for the latter the state may legitimately act as guar- dian and protector, on the ground that the premature em- ployment of children is injurious to their own future and that of the state. Instead of restricting the opportunities for self-support in occupations which are now open to them, it would be better to seek new avenues of employment for women. The Americans occupy themselves with this question, realizing that, although it is desirable that married women should not go out to work when their husband's wages are high, it is also desirable that they should be able to contribute something to the household expenses when wages are low, and in the case of single women, that they should be able to support themselves. 87 * s?a [Franklin H. Giddings has recently pointed out (Democracy & Empire) that to enlarge the field of employment for women post- pones the age of marriage in cities; that this is a desirable result inasmuch as it is infusion of healthy country blood and not in- crease of numbers on the part of the lowest class of city popula- tions which makes for increased physical and moral vigor in the cities, and inasmuch as it affords women more opportunity to educate themselves before they assume the duties of a mother. A further, most important, result is that with maturer years the woman becomes more discriminative and the powerful factor of natural selection more active. — Editor.] Present Conditions and Future Prospects 483 XXXIV. The hours of labor of men have also been the subject of regulation. The socialists and the labor-party, who in the case cf women and children were very urgent in their de- mands for shorter hours, are no less insistent in their present demand for the limitation of the hours of labor of men. The eight-hour system, taken in its literal meaning or as a vague demand for fewer hours, has in the last fifteen years become one of the war cries of the labor party, a cause of many strikes, and the subject of manifestos from the socialists and the labor-organizations. The federated building trades have forced contractors to accept it, a fed- eral law and many state laws have directly or indirectly adopted it for workmen employed in the public service, and some states have formally recommended or even imposed it as a rule in wage-contracts between private individuals. The workmen of course do not desire a reduction of hours that is accompanied by a reduction of wages: the movement really amounts to a demand for higher wages per hour. They even insinuate, it seems, that in Massachu- setts wages were increased by a reduction of the working- day, 38 but the insinuation is misleading. It is not the part of political economy to settle this differ- ence by adopting a normal day. Economics teaches merely that there is a logical connection between the duration and the product of labor, and shows historically that as industry has developed, the working day has been reduced; it con- cludes, reasoning from the principle of liberty, that the pub- lic authority should refrain from all interference in this mat- ter and leave the task of establishing temporary agree- ments to the play of private interests in each occupation, place and time. The unions have been, and may continue to be, of assist- ance to workmen in bettering themselves in this as in other 88 Or at least a French Deputy, M. Vaillant, said as much in a speech delivered in the Chamber on June 27, 1896. 484 The American Laborer conditions of labor, and the success of one helps others by creating a precedent which in the end becomes a custom. XXXV. Unsanitary dwellings have also been the subject of regula- tion in some of the large cities, and here, regulation seems to me legitimate. Of course, people may lodge themselves as they see fit, so long as they do not obstruct the public ways. But a city has the right to condemn property gener- ally recognized as dangerous to the public health, and even to stipulate what kind of buildings shall be erected within its bounds. It also has the right of enforcing general sani- tary precautions against the spread of contagious diseases. The housing of the poor has an indisputable influence upon their morality, their health, and their general welfare. But the authorities should be very circumspect in the adoption and execution of these measures; the destruction of a filthy tenement may mean that some family will have to sleep in the streets, and a mischievous building regulation may raise rents among the poorer classes; and these are high enough already in the United States. XXXVI. State operation is an entirely different thing from state regulation of industries. The socialists favor state opera- tion, for reasons given above, and they would like to push their theory to its logical conclusion, until industry, agri- culture, and commerce were combined in one huge unit — the state. The adherents of intervention, the Etatistes and the socialists of the chair as they have been called, also favor state operation, but they would confine it within certain un- defined limits which vary according to their individual tem- peraments. The more conservative economists are un- favorable to the policy, some condemning it unreservedly, others justifying it only when it is demonstrated to be ad- vantageous in practice. In France, for instance, it is cer- Present Conditions and Future Prospects 485 tain that the tobacco monopoly is far more productive than any form of excise upon this article would be, though to- bacco is wholly a luxury, the commerce and home produc- tion of which has been very easy to regulate, while it still remains to be proved that the monopoly is not injurious to agriculture and commerce. On the other hand, it is certain that the monopoly of matches has its inconveniences; it in- creases the price of a necessary commodity and restricts the variety which competition would introduce in the effort to please the purchaser. 38 It is also evident that the alcohol monopoly, which bears upon an article of luxury and often of vice, would lead France into inextricable difficulties be- cause of the immense number of producers and vendors which would have to be maintained under the law. There are industrial undertakings which the state is almost obliged to carry on. In the United States, for in- stance, the federal government surveys public lands, main- tains light-houses, prints the official publications, and makes or repairs war materials ; the cities construct highways, keep them clean — sometimes by contract — and regulate the water supply. As the interventionists demand, the cities might also supply gas and electricity without danger to society, if it was proved — which it is not — that they could do it better and more economically than private companies. XXXVII. Reformers accuse political economy of being negative or sterile because it demonstrates the danger or futility of most of the remedies which they propose as sovereign. When a clergyman like Washington Gladden answers the argument which he puts in the mouth of a capitalist — " Business is business; Supply and demand" — by saying: "Another 39 Large budgets tempt the state to try monopoly. Bismarck took under consideration the advisability of a tobacco monopoly, and I recall that a person in relations with Napoleon III asked me if I could not make some suggestions for the establishment of a monopoly of matches, but I carefully refrained from doing so. 48G The American Laborer law comes in here, a better law; the law of love," 40 I un- derstand it. I also understand how Professor Ely, in the name of his faith, can say that law is powerless to untie the gordian knot, and appeal to sentiment: 41 he is right, senti- ment is one of the bonds of society. But I scarcely under- stand how as an economist he can present laissez-faire as a doctrine of selfish individualism which recognizes neither rights nor social duties, or speak of a political economy higher and more advanced, which proclaims the falsity of laissez-faire and affirms that within certain limits we are obliged to interest ourselves in the happiness of others. Professor Ely seems to me to have confused laissez-faire with political economy. The former is a logical conclusion from the doctrine of economic freedom, and signifies that the individual is the best judge of his own interests and that the surest means of developing the wealth of a state is to give free play to the development of individuals. But this max- im is far from constituting the whole of political economy which not only does not deny the existence of mutual obli- gations, but has for its principal subject the relations be- tween men in the production and distribution of wealth: many economists even define political economy as " the science of exchange " and expound the advantages of the association of capital and labor. Political economy is one science, and ethics is another; nothing is gained by confusing them. Without the recog- nition of social obligation and the feelings of sympathy and love, there would undoubtedly be no human society and man would descend to a level lower than that of certain ani- mals. On the other hand, the moral and intellectual work of society would be sadly crippled without industrial free- dom, the development of education, the respect for private property, and the stimulus of self-interest. It is a mistake to say that political economy is heartless, as reformers are 40 Working People and their Employers, p. 38. 41 The Labor Movement, p. 311. Present Conditions and Future Prospects 487 fond of saying both in America and Europe, because it con- fines itself to the study of economic facts and the discovery of economic laws, without occupying itself with the con- struction of beautiful Utopias. Its subject-matter being wealth, and wealth (I do not say value) being almost wholly the product of labor — the intellectual labor of the entre- preneur, the manual labor of the day-laborer, the labor represented in the capital — nothing which concerns labor or laborers is foreign to it: wages, machinery, strikes, crises, everything that touches the laborer must be studied and made to yield useful lessons. As a science it explains the laws of labor and investigates the ultimate causes of the economic movement: as an art, it seeks to explain the con- ditions most favorable to the productivity of labor and the welfare of the laborer. The science is not ethical, but it is not indifferent to ethics: economists understand how vitally the general productivity of a nation is affected by the morals of its laborers. Who is the wisest friend of the laboring classes: the prophet inspired of socialism who seeks to destroy the wage- system and with his cry of " down with capital " has already succeeded in dampening the spirit of enterprise by which wage-earners live; or the economist convinced by his studies that capital vitalizes production and benefits the wage-earner, and who endorses the wage-system as a legiti- mate and durable institution, at the same time that he seeks the means of improving its conditions: the enthusiastic apostle who rhapsodizes about the virtues of cooperation and tries to enlist workmen in schemes wherein they risk or lose their time and money; or the scientist who after a careful analysis points out both the advantages and difficul- ties of this species of enterprise, and seeks to find a practi- cal solution of the problem by studying the progress of theories and institutions of solidarity in contemporary so- cieties? Economic science is neither perfect nor complete, and it cannot hope to lay down inflexible rules of action for every 488 The American Laborer case that may arise. Nor will it ever be complete. Like all political sciences it is in a continual state of development, because certain conditions of social life undergo incessant modification. Like all sciences of observation, it pushes its analysis into the minutest details, and at the same time rises above them in order to grasp general relations; in these analyses and generalizations, its vision is not alto- gether perfect. Like all moral sciences it has given birth to diverse schools and it will continue to do so because its subject-matter is very extensive, very complex, and up to a certain point variable, so that it may be surveyed from many viewpoints which, moreover, change with the lapse of time: it is not difficult to find in history the raison d'etre of the principal economic schools. The American nation is young and not afraid of economic novelties, as is shown by the economic teaching of some of its universities. The liberal school to which I belong is experimental, historical, and in consequence, progressive. By its studies economic science not only extends its own borders but throws light upon many aspects of social life. It counsels progress and, in consequence, antagonizes that attempt to promote it which consists in undermining liberty and private property — the essential conditions of progress and the dual base of the existing social organization, built up by the work of centuries. If it had done nothing more than demonstrate the solidity of this base 42 and the impo- tence of its proposed substitutes, it would have earned the right of respect; society should be grateful to it for exposing the vanity of the highly colored schemes which are so at- tractive to the multitude. Does not hydrography render " Cf. A Plain Man's Talk on the Labor Question, p. 189. Professor Newcomb expresses an important truth when he says: "It seems to me that the system on which men have gradually been led to work in unison by merely following the course dictated by cir- cumstances in each individual case works better than any which human ingenuity could combine." This is, however, no reason why we should not seek for a better svstem. Present Conditions and Future Prospects 489 an immense service to navigation and commerce simply by its measurements of depths and by marking out rocks and shoals upon the marine charts? XXXVIII. The laws of wages constitute one of the subjects which political economy investigates, and although the phenomena to be explained are always at hand in innumerable quantity, the problem is so difficult and complex that its elucidation has been very gradual; as yet political economy has offered no explanation that meets with general acceptance. I have no patience with those critics who abuse the ten- tative efforts of the early economists by deducing from some respectable but superseded doctrine a narrow and incom- plete definition of wages which they present as an economic axiom, and then glory in the alleged impotence of the science because they are so easily able to demolish their man of straw. That Karl Marx used this process and bol- stered up his thesis with the authority of Ricardo and Adam Smith, goes without saying. But the conscientious critic will have none of it: he knows that every science has its history and that its real condition must be judged by the present, not the past. I have attempted, while making every use of the work of my predecessors, to demonstrate that no single cause can be assigned as the regulator of wages, and have enumer- ated some of the determinative causes of nominal wages, which though united in the general law of supply and de- mand, are very diverse: custom and institutions, produc- tivity, competition, cost and standard of living, industrial capital — including in that the wage-fund — activity of pro- duction, and amount of consumption. In the future, wages, like prices, will have to be modified, diversified, and adapted to time and circumstances; it will be the part of profit-sharing, labor-premiums or of various forms of piece-rate payment to ameliorate the hardships of the wage-system. But the wage-contract implies that this 490 The American Laborer system like the contract of sale will not disappear, and re- formers go very far astray when they solve the whole labor problem by concocting some Utopia in which this feature is lacking. A knowledge of the determinative causes of wages, facilitates a clearer understanding of how, when, and in what measure the wage-system can be modified and im- proved. Part II. — The Future: Twenty or Thirty Years Hence. History opens vistas into the future of nations, but with- holds the right of prediction. The same is true of eco- nomics. Economic science has the right of saying, in cer- tain cases, how things may happen and how they ought not to happen, and economic history has free scope in describ- ing how they have happened: this is what I have tried to do in this work. But neither can forsee with certainty the complicated play of interests, the combinations of phenom- ena and the economic results that will be produced in the distant future. The statistician, when he has at his com- mand a sufficient number of numerical returns descriptive of simple facts, is occasionally justified in attempting to project into the future a curve that he has plotted for the past, but even then the result is merely probable, although examples are not wanting in which time has confirmed the forecast. The elements of labor problems are too diverse and vari- able, and the corresponding statistics are too meagre, too lacking in serial continuity, to justify the construction of such a curve. Nevertheless, it is possible to indicate vaguely, from the experience of the present generation, the direction that the so-called labor-movement will take in the coming generation. I have already indicated some of these tendencies in the preceding part of this chapter. The reader may be somewhat surprised that in my sketch of the future I have not used brighter colors or a Present Conditions and Future Prospects 491 newer design; he may reproach me with not having the acumen to see and the boldness to show that social evolu- tion is leading humanity from the era of selfishness to that of altruism, from antagonism to solidarity, from the wage- system to cooperation, from capitalism to collectivism, from misery to happiness. If such boldness fails me it is because my examination of past experience has given me no faith in this ideal evolution, at least not the absolute faith of the illuminati. I believe as a philosopher, and see as an his- torian, that civilization, to use the phrase of a well-known school, is in a state of perpetual becoming. But I observe that the economic world, while it progresses, rests upon a foundation of principles which though modified in their de- tailed application are in essence invariable, and that indi- vidual initiative, private property, the wage-system, capital and association are integral parts of this foundation. The progress of the nineteenth century is due to the solidity of this foundation, no less than to the discoveries of science, and notwithstanding the slanderous attacks of visionaries and occasionally of legislators, progress has but strength- ened it. Although Fourier predicted in 1803 that the world was about to pass from civilization to a superior phase of its development, we are still in the civilized state and much may yet be done to perfect this civilization. I cannot imagine that it will be greatly different in the early decades of the coming century and I see no reason to believe that the predictions of present-day socialists will come any nearer fulfillment than those of their master, Fourier. Yet all this does not debar one from affirming that nu- merous and probably very important changes will take place in the state of wealth, as in the distribution of wealth and the character of production, in the economic relations of men, as in the customs of civilized nations. I. The force which has carried forward American industry so rapidly and carried it so high is far from being exhausted. 492 The American Laborer Agriculture meets more resistance than it did twenty or thirty years ago, and is forced to become more intensive in order to be more profitable; but industry always has ample scope to expand. It will probably encounter increasing difficulties, as the larger industries do to-day, but the American genius will conquer them. The Americans will continue to found many great indus- trial establishments, to enlarge those which exist, and in en- larging them, to resort more and more to association. As the expansion of the industrial unit necessitates larger capi- tals, greater use will be made of the joint-stock company, with its triple advantage of limiting individual risk, opening industrial investments to small savings, and facilitating the accumulation of great capitals. At the same time American industry will continue to im- prove its equipment by taking advantage of the new dis- coveries of science, by increasing the employment of ma- chinery, and by introducing thus an increasingly intense in- dustrial concentration. Machinery, concentration, combi- nation of^apital: these indicate the line of development of American industry in the first quarter of the twentieth century. So far as industrial development depends upon the em- ployment of human forces of production, the United States enjoy one great advantage over Europe: they have practi- cally no standing army and whatever sacrifice the navy en- tails, war expenditures weigh much less heavily upon them than upon the great powers of Europe. II. Although they possess within their own boundaries what is possibly the most important market in the world, they will take a larger part than heretofore, and with good prospects of success, in the struggle for foreign markets, in order to extend their field of production with the multiplication of their outlets; they will aspire to become a great exporting nation, without relinquishing however the profitable duties upon imports. Present Conditions and Future Prospects 493 There are manufacturers in Europe who deny the pos- sibility of a large expansion of the American export trade, on the grounds that the high wages prevalent in America constitute an insurmountable obstacle and that American workmanship, mechanical and uniform, is too defective. The high import duties have led them to believe that American industry is radically inferior, but they are har- boring an illusion which time will dissipate. We have seen that by the use of improved machinery the Americans have succeeded in producing some articles very cheaply; there is no reason to prevent the application of this system to the production of other commodities. They have also im- proved the quality of some products, and there is nothing to prevent further progress of this kind; moreover, in many markets, the trade is more concerned about the price than about the finish of the goods. .With regard to customs du- ties, there is no difference between the American and the European manufacturers; when a tariff is being framed they affirm their absolute inability to meet competition without protection, and when they are charged with injuring the in- terests of their fellow citizens, they boast about the cheap- ness and quality of their products. III. Some Americans are apprehensive about the influence which the depression of prices of agricultural products may exercise upon the foreign commerce and financial equili- brium of their country. To equip their industries they have drawn from Europe, and particularly from England, an enormous amount of capital upon which they must pay in- terest. In the coming century they will probably continue to draw on Europe, whose investors will be attracted by a difference in the rates of interest, and in consequence the foreign indebtedness will not soon disappear. Their in- terest-indebtedness is settled by the excess of exports over imports, and low prices consequently render their burden heavier: assuming that prices have fallen fifty per cent — it 494 The American Laborer has not been that much, but it might be — it would be neces- sary to export two units in place of one, in order to settle the account. The depression of agricultural produce undoubtedly re- duces the purchasing power of American farmers who have little to sell but cereals, and the general economic condi- tion of the nation is affected thereby. Farm laborers, on the other hand, whose wages have not decreased and prob- ably will not decrease — in any event not so much as the prices of farm products — will retain their present purchas- ing power. Moreover, the farmers will probably overcome a part of their difficulties in the next century, by modifying their system of cultivation. Manufactures and manufac- turers are not at present afflicted with a depression of this nature and it is possible that they will entirely escape it, although the chances are that the prices of most manu- factured products will fall rather than rise. As for the bal- ance of trade, the customs statistics show that the exports exceeded the imports in seventeen out of the last twenty years. 43 America will have to make a greater effort in the future to pay her creditors, but she has done it in the past 43 From 1846 to 1873, w 'th the exception of three years, the im- ports exceeded the exports; from 1874 to 1899 inclusive, with the exception of the four years 1875, 1888, 1889 and 1893, there was an excess of exports. The maximum excess of exports, $615,432,676, occurred in 1898; previous to 1897 the largest excess was that of 1879. $264,661,666, in which year there was an enormous exporta- tion of wheat; the excess in 1809 was $529,874,813. The value of the wheat exports has diminished, and those of cotton and domestic animals have fluctuated, without justifying the statement that they have regularly diminished; in general, the value of the agri- cultural exports has varied rather than decreased since 1880, and is greater than it was between 1870 and 1875, a period that was, however, marked by a crisis. The exports of domestic manufac- tures have increased, both relatively and absolutely; in 1870 manu- factured products constituted 15 per cent of the total exports; agricultural products 79 per cent; and the mines, forests, fisheries, etc., contributed the rest. In 1899, manufactured products formed 28.13 per cent, and agricultural products 65.20 per cent, of the total exports. Present Conditions and Future Prospects 495 and she will discover a way of doing it in the twentieth cen- tury. IV. As a result of the development of industry, gigantic for- tunes will still be amassed, and wealth will continue to in- crease rapidly, although less rapidly perhaps than in the second half of the nineteenth century which has been so pro- lific of industrial improvements. American industry has been stimulated by the importance of the American consumption. This will certainly not dimin- ish in the next century because in thirty years the United States will probably have a hundred million inhabitants. The average consumption per capita is at present greater than in continental Europe, and there is no reason to believe that the standard of life or its derivative, the total consumption, of the American people will fall. But the increase of den- sity will modify the conditions of living of the workman's family. V. As further consequences, the urban populations will as- sume greater proportions, and the influx of European immi- grants will continue, although somewhat reduced by a diminution of the European birth-rate and probably by a decrease in the difference between European and American wages. However, Europe will continue to supply labor for a long time yet, and the attraction exerted by the superi- ority of American wages, even if this grows less, will not fail. VI. That the socialists should persist in describing the con- temporary concentration of industry as the first step in the suppression of the wage-system, is somewhat astonishing. This is exactly what it is not. As concentration proceeds and industry develops, the employers decrease and the em- ployees increase, in number. The character of the employ- 496 The American Laborer er is changed, also, because in most cases the enterprise takes the form of a stock-company and is managed by a board of directors instead of a proprietor; but the directors exercise the authority of an employer over the employees. As I have said, this movement is gathering momentum; it fellows that the wage-earning class will expand. It may happen, however, that the participation of workmen in the management through the purchase of stock, as is frequently seen in the Australian colonies to-day, will be more com- mon. Such a change would entail important consequences and in all probability would exercise a conciliatory influence. VII. The negro problem is one that cannot be settled by law or in a day. A larger proportion of the negroes will probably be found in the workshops and factories, despite the oppo- sition of the whites. In any event, manufacturing estab- lishments having been started and developed at various points in the South, the negroes will become, like the immi- grants, one of the competing factors in the supply of labor, especially if education succeeds in making them more ambi- tious and if their white brethren cease to regard them as a dead weight that retards the progress of American civiliza- tion. VIII. Immigration is another irritating problem that will con- tinue to be troublesome in the early part of the approaching century. No doubt restrictive measures will be taken — and will fail to do their work effectively — but I do not believe that immigration will be completely prohibited while the United States is in its period of expansion. Diverse racial elements with their differing aptitudes and ideas will con- tinue to be infused into the body social, altering and diversi- fying it. But the social constitution of America is robust enough to absorb these elements little by little: by educa- tion and the action of environment and contact she will as- Present Conditions and Future Prospects 497 similate them enough to maintain the American type, al- though modified by time and the fusion of blood. IX. The level of wages being intimately connected with the wealth and industrial productivity of a country, I am con- fident that it will remain high in America. Will it rise higher, or will it have a tendency to fall? This is a delicate question that can only be answered conditionally. If the demand for labor in agriculture and manufactures does not keep pace with immigration, wages may fall, and in a stretch of thirty years, there seems to me about as much chance for a decline, caused by the abundance of labor, as for an advance resulting from a productivity and distribution more favorable to the wage-earner. X. The American workman whose parents have lived in America for several generations, is of a superior type. Rea- sons for this superiority are found in the high wages which have given him more refined habits of life than those of the average workman of continental Europe, in the schools which mould him in the same type as the bourgeois, and in the democratic character of the institutions and customs of the nation. .This type of workman will persist, as the general American type will persist, however great the intermingling of the different and inferior types that make their way into American industry. XI. At the same time that the development and concentration of industry will have increased the number and proportion of wage-earners, the democratic constitution of the country and the public schools — which will doubtless also develop— will have strengthened the political influence and capacity of the laboring classes, both in municipal and federal politics. Legislation and the budget will feel the effects, 33 498 The American Laborer and there is every reason to believe that the system of state intervention will gain ground, constituting probably a certain check to private industry. The labor unions will have increased in number and im- proved in organization, and they will continue the fight for more advantageous conditions: limitation of the working- day, higher wages, etc. They will furnish workmen the means by which combination will be made more effective in the regulation of the supply and demand of labor than it is to-day, and they will constitute a power which will have to be treated seriously, and which, thanks to the improvement of custom and law, will probably work with greater regularity. But in any event, the power of the union will not be equal, nor equally efficacious, in all classes of labor; as at present, the trades in which wages are high will have an advantage over those in which wages are low, and in industries in which concentration is most pro- nounced, the unions will meet much stronger resistance. If wages do begin to fall, the unions will oppose an energetic resistance and strikes will be frequent. Arbitra- tion will be powerless to quiet the agitation, and in the end the laboring classes will have to accept a reduction of nominal wages. But in this event distribution among the three factors would be modified. Before the resistance of which we have spoken could take place, entrepreneurs would be obliged to accept a reduction of profits much greater than the subsequent reduction of wages. The unions will probably have obtained legal recognition in every state, and it is to be hoped that recognition will then imply a serious responsibility. If without detracting from the services which the unions render their members, the courts succeed in preventing them from oppressing non-union workmen, and if education gives them a better understanding of the relations between labor and industrial enterprise, the laboring classes will enjoy at once the bene- fits of association and those of liberty. If these conditions are not fulfilled, the unions will constitute a permanent Present Conditions and Future Prospects 499 menace to industry, and will necessarily discourage en- terprise. Just here is one of the dangers of the future. The labor union is a durable form of association and praiseworthy in principle, but it menaces the freedom of the entrepreneur by assuming to interfere in the management of his business, and threatens the liberty of the workman by attempting to force him to submit to its laws and its leaders, both of which may be tyrannical. Let us hope that liberty itself will correct the abuses of the monopolistic tendency which issues from liberty. But success is entirely dependent upon the firm maintenance by the state of the rights of liberty. XII. Associations of employers have existed for many years. The employers will be led to combine more freely in the future, opposing association with association in order not to be dominated by the unions in the purchase of labor, and restricting competition in order to control prices in the sale of their products. The combination of producers, whether known as trust, ring, pool, union or syndicate will undergo a great development in the approaching century, great enough perhaps to frighten legislatures into threat- ening the freedom of commerce. And yet, so long as law and custom preserve the liberty of labor, we may expect this principle, like the lance of Achilles, which possessed the power of healing the wounds it made, to raise up com- petition when profits become manifestly extortionate. The energetic and inventive spirit of the American people is a guarantee of resistance to monopoly. Association of all kinds — association of consumers with the object of buying more advantageously, association of employers with the object of controlling the market, asso- ciation of workmen with the object of dictating conditions to employers — will all increase in the coming century. May we then expect an equilibrium between the forces of labor and capital, bringing with it social peace? Such a ,500 The American Laborer consummation is to be desired, but not predicted. But we may rest assured that employees will treat with their em- ployers on terms more nearly equal, and it is not impos- sible that this equality will induce the contesting parties to try conciliation, or if not, arbitration, more frequently than at present. A wider use of arbitration is most desirable, and thanks to experience, it will probably be better understood — at least we must hope so — and be rendered more practicable than it is to-day. Ex-Mayor Hewitt believes that the re- sort to arbitration will become an established habit and that joint ownership will be common, uniting the interests of capital and labor. 44 XIII. Doubtless, Air. Hewitt has chiefly in mind some form of profit-sharing, labor-premium, ownership of stock by work- men, or cooperation in production. The labor-premium has been in use for a very long time, is easily applied, and will probably come into wider use. The ownership of stock is of possible realization where wages are sufficiently high and the workmen economical. Profit-sharing is a form of legitimate remuneration which interests the personnel in the success of the business with- out emasculating the power of the management, and it will probably win a more important place than its present em- ployment in America would lead one to expect. The American workman is intelligent enough to comprehend the system, but he dislikes a binding agreement with his employer, and I cannot believe that this place will be as important as the theory would justify us in believing if its application was as easy as its aim is generous. As for cooperative production, its success is problemat- ical. Consumers' leagues, credit associations and farmers' " I am satisfied that we shall not be long in adopting a similar m of settling disputes by voluntary action. . . ." Iron and Labor, p. 17. See also p. 23. Present Conditions and Future Prospects 501 alliances for the sale of their products, will probably be formed, and in my judgment, if they are well managed, may have a very extensive development, as the consumers' society and the loan and building association have already had in England and the United States respectively. Such associations have a much better chance of being organized, and of enduring when organized, than ambitious manufac- turing companies founded by workmen on cooperative principles. XIV. If wages do fall, would not the condition of the laborer deteriorate and a belief in further progress be logically impossible? Not necessarily. I have called attention to the fact that wages fell in California as communication with the rest of the United States became freer, but we have seen that wages increased in the United States as a whole, and the condition of the laborer improved. Communica- tion with Europe may have a similar effect upon the United States, and the wage-level of the civilized world may rise as that of the United States descends — an outlook which though in harmony with the law of progress, is not reas- suring to the American workman. But in all probability improvements in production will be made and the abundance of products will lower their price and thus reduce the cost of living. In this event, if the currency be not debased, real zvages will gain by the rise in the purchasing power of money what nominal wages will have lost. And the important thing is the real wage — the quantum of comfort that the laborer can procure in ex- change for his labor. Whether a rise of real or nominal wages would solve the social problem is another cognate question. From the standpoint of comfort, we may affirm that it would con- tribute to the elevation of the laborer's standard of living. But from the point of view of social harmony, the answer would be negative rather than affirmative, because it is not 502 The American Laborer the poverty-stricken laborer who disturbs himself about higher wages; on the contrary, it is those who have re- sources enough to support organized resistance, and suffi- cient intellect and pretentions to pursue social reformation and take part in politics. XV. It is very probable that new forms of provident institutions — mutual aid, insurance, pensions, etc. — will have been devised, in addition to those we now have, and that these will have been multiplied and consolidated by time and experience. It is certainly desirable that this should be so, and the progress already accomplished in the last fifty years augurs well for the future. XVI. Despite the advantages of education and experience that will be theirs, the laboring classes will retain their suscep- tibility to the blandishments of innovators, among whom will be found honest enthusiasts, malignant pessimists, and ambitious demagogues bent on currying popular favor. In his work entitled The Labor Movement in America, Professor Ely describes the infirmities of society, and after concluding that the situation is unendurably bad, proposes four remedies: the labor-union, the school, the state and the church. I have just expressed the opinion that the union will give greater force to the demands of the workmen and will exert an important influence in determining the equilibrium between the demand for and supply of labor, but it will not settle all difficulties. It will be within the power of the state to do much good by enacting laws for the regulation of workshops, unsani- tary dwellings, immigration and arbitration; four important matters in which the state may rightfully interfere, although such interference has already been excessive at times. The Americans should be careful to avoid this excess. Present Conditions and Future Prospects 503 The state will also be able to monopolize certain indus- tries destined to this end, and the Americans may possibly be led into extremes in this direction. But state regula- tion and ownership will change neither the rate of wages — whatever it may be — nor the prices of commodities, nor the general status of the laborer, if the general conditions of wealth and production are not changed. In America, as in Europe, the encroachments of the public authority upon the domain of private industry will constitute a standing menace. This is a movement of which we must be the more watchful, because the line of demarcation between what the state should and should not undertake is very obscure, varies according to circum- stances, and is in continual danger of being passed from the pressure which democracies exert upon their govern- ments to cross it. It will be the duty of the enlightened citizens and the real statesmen of America, I do not say of the politicians, to resist this pressure. I have been all my life a devoted advocate of the school, and I firmly believe in the power of education to develop intelligence, to increase productive power, and to form a national spirit. The Americans have a keen appreciation of what they owe to their educational system, whose meth- ods and benefits I have described in another work." But the school does not regulate the conditions of labor and the production of wealth. Primary education arouses the intelligence, renders the people capable of doing their work more economically, and interests them in social questions; but it is too elementary to inculcate in the youthful mind sound ideas upon subjects with which the instructors them- selves are often unfamiliar, and it leaves the people open to Utopian doctrines which please their sense of distribu- tive justice and seem to them favorable to the interests of their class. 45 U Enscignement Primaire dans les Pays Civilises, Berger-Levrault, Paris, 1897. 504 The American Laborer The church exercises a powerful spiritual influence upon its members; Catholic or Protestant, it teaches charity and resignation. Charity may be of assistance by inspiring in the higher classes a greater interest in institutions of patronage and relief, but resignation is repudiated to-day by the great majority of workmen; they aspire to increase their material welfare, believe they have a right to greater comfort, accuse the employers of frustrating their efforts, and desire open battle in order to conquer their oppressors. The church is on the highest moral ground when it endeavors to reconcile the classes by teaching the brother- hood of man, when it recalls to men's minds what are the necessary and fundamental principles of civil society, and when it attempts to apply these principles in works or institutions of social solidarity.' 18 But even in the church there are members who undermine the foundations of society in the hope of rearing an entirely new structure upon an ideal plan of human brotherhood. XVII. Thirty years from now the economic principles of pro- duction and distribution will be the same as they are to-day. But customs will probably be modified, and it is to be hoped that employers will be less arbitrary in the expression of their will, that they will assume a more conciliatory attitude in dealing with their employees, that they will permit their employees to associate without interference, and that they will consent to treat with them and their organizations in ** I may quote upon this subject a sentence from the resolutions adopted by the Catholic Congress, held at Chicago, in 1893: "We declare that no remedies can meet with our approval save those which recognize the right of private ownership of property and human liberty." The Congress deplored the antagonistic spirit which has arisen between employers and employees, and recom- mended conciliation and arbitration, the reform of tenement houses and conditions of living in the cities, Catholic societies of insurance and mutual aid, measures against intemperance, corrupting litera- ture, etc. Present Conditions and Future Prospects 505 large as well as in small industries. Authority is not in- consistent with benevolence on the part of the employer any more than political equality is inconsistent with the subordination of political function. There is much to be done in the way of bringing the one class to an understand- ing of the needs and feelings of the other, and in inculcating mutual tolerance. Benevolence and tolerance; these are the ideal solutions, according to Professor Ely, who asserts, not without some exaggeration, that workingmen are dis- trustful and suspicious because they have reason to mis- trust the class which opposes every reform profitable to them. 47 XVIII. Socialism, like the .wage-system, will endure. Its pro- gramme, no doubt, will have changed, because the favorite theories of to-day will have given way to new Utopias after having demonstrated their powerlessness to accomplish the revolution or evolution which is now presented to the workingman as imminent, just as the old theories of Four- ier, Saint-Simon and other reformers, which were stamped with the same promise, have gone out of fashion. 43 But if those evolutionists who predict that the displace- " The Labor Movement in America, pp. 315, 321. 48 In comparing the speeches made in the National Constituent Assembly of 1848 with those made in the Chamber of Deputies in 1896, one finds the same fund of ideas, the same belief that society is on the verge of transformation, and that the precursory signs of this transformation are unmistakable. Saint-Simon and Fourier had said the same thing during the First Empire and the Restora- tion. Louis Blanc, speaking of letters that had been written to him by manufacturers while he was presiding over the Commission of Labor at Luxembourg, said that nothing could be more decisive, that they constituted the " last will and testament of industry founded upon competition." M. Guesde thinks he has discovered the signs of approaching transformation in the grand capitalistic industries of the present. The social organization founded upon liberty and private property outlived the predictions of Fourier and Louis Blanc, and it will survive the speech of M. Guesde, although it will be disturbed by the agitation produced by the socialistic propaganda. 506 The American Laborer ment of capitalism by collectivism is imminent and inevit- able, will not have the satisfaction of seeing their predic- tions realized in the early years of the next century, they will at least be allowed to behold a new phase of the socialistic doctrine, whose different characteristics have recently been set forth by an Italian professor, Achille Loria, who is much too indulgent towards the evolutionistic doctrine of Karl Marx for my taste. 49 Socialism, Proteus like, assumes diverse and even contra- dictory forms, but always remains the same. Its essence is in the desire for greater enjoyment; in the "struggle for a higher standard of living " ; in the affirmation that society, which it calls capitalistic, reserves all the comforts for an undeserving minority and withholds them from the toilers who created them; in the dream of replacing capitalism by a form of association in which all shall be equal, 50 the work- man freed from all subordination to a master, the poor raised up and the rich cast down; in the blind faith that it is pos- sible to devise legal contrivances which will give more leis- ure to those who are overworked to-day and at the same time assure these comforts to the masses — that is to say, practically, increase social wealth without limit. These feel- ings and dreams will continue to exercise a powerful attrac- tion over simple and enthusiastic natures, and they will create grave difficulties in the coming generation: they are too pleasing to the hopes and desires of the laborer to dis- appear. The force of socialism resides partly in the upward move- ment which education, industrial progress, the increase of comfort, and the political influence of democracy have imparted to the lower classes: in the United States this force will certainly be quite as powerful in the next century. 48 Problemes Sociaux Conicmporaincs, by Achille Loria, published in the Bibliothequc Sociologiquc Internationale. 50 This desire for equality is found in contemporary socialism, but Fourier and the Saint-Simonians admitted the necessity of social inequalities. Present Conditions and Future Prospects 507 They will probably be saying there thirty years from now, what Mr. Gunton said a few years ago : " There never was a time when the demands of the labor question were so urgent nor when the failure to adequately meet those de- mands by a scientific solution involved so much danger to the well-being and progress of society as it does to-day. Not because there is more poverty or worse degrees of it in the world than in former times, but because it is more in- tense in kind and dangerous in character." 51 The political assemblies, elected by universal suffrage, will probably contain mere socialists than they do to-day. XIX. Every age has its problems and its elements of disorder. It is not necessary to resort to evolutionist theories, more pretentious than new, to understand that the chain of social phenomena which follow one another in time is composed of links which hold together without being homogeneous, and that the perpetual change which is the normal condi- tion of the world, usually, but not necessarily, implies a progress; this is the moral of history in all ages. The emancipation of the cities in the middle ages and the re- ligious emancipation of the sixteenth century engendered long agitations, but civilization was not extinguished thereby. Contemporary economic society may be compared to a ship whose progress necessitates incessant modification of the rigging as parts of the latter become unserviceable. Wage-labor works the ship and the officers mix but little with the crew, while every now and then mutinies occur. But sufficient order is usually maintained and the ship holds her course, with speed dependent upon the wind. But it navigates waters upon which tempests occur and the ship takes water; charity and sympathy must be at the pumps if the ship is to be kept fairly free from water. 61 Wealth and Progress, p. i. 508 The American Laborer Social unrest will continue, and upon this point I cannot do better than quote the words of Mr. Gilman: "A sober mind is indispensable in considering what may be done to relieve social troubles. The difficulty is not one of yester- day's birth. It is not at all probable that any generation will put an end to it completely. ' There is no social ques- tion,' said Gambetta, ' there are social questions.' There are many of them, and no generation of mankind will answer the last." 52 Our century has witnessed an industrial progress greater, more rapid, and more general than any other in history. It is not astonishing that this progress, by increasing wealth and contributing to the intellectual emancipation of the masses through education and the growth of comfort, should have stimulated the desire for enjoyment and have aroused irritating questions about the distribution of the product of industry. When Karl Marx wrote that the po- litical, juristic, religious, and literary phenomena of human societies depend upon the economic factor, he expressed an idea which is partly verified by the facts, although the idea, whose import he exaggerated, was not original with him. It would have been astonishing indeed, if the United States, where this progress has been more wonderful than in other countries, and where minds are free and interest in such matters keen, had remained unacquainted with the questions which agitate western and central Europe. There will be agitations in the new world thirty years from now. But its vital power is such that I do not believe its vigorous constitution will be debilitated. At bottom, the Americans possess a certain conservatism which does not desert them in the midst of the incessant agitations that occur: " they are like a tree whose pendulous shoots quiver and rustle with the slightest breeze, while its roots enfold the rock with a grasp which storms cannot loosen." 5 " Socialism and the American Spirit, p. 123. M Quoted from Bryce's The American Commonwealth in Socialism and the American Spirit, p. 75. Present Conditions and Future Prospects 509 Nothing is singular enough to astonish the American people and they are very fond of new experiences. But sonorous words, when devoid of real meaning, do not de- ceive them long: in politics, they "love the concrete." 5 The intense democracy that works in their midst has its tumultuous and disquieting outbursts, but till now it has always returned to reason, after a passing ebullition, and continued to prosper. They have faith in their own destiny and are confident of progress; a little intoxicated by their prodigious success, they are prone to believe that the sceptre of civilization is now in their hands. This optimistic faith is itself a barrier against violent revolution. Despite the agitations which may arise, I do not doubt that the twentieth century will witness a further increase in the prosperity of the United States. Chimerical solutions of the labor questions will succeed no better than they have succeeded in this century, but as in this century on the other hand, and particularly in its latter half, the condition of the laboring class will probably be improved in many particu- lars. With the Americans' confidence in their own future, I may say of their industry and its problems what I have recently said of agriculture and its problems in the United States: Fata viam invenient. 54 " ' Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity,' these three great words have had magical power over the French mind. In the United States the formula has had no vogue. The American, according to Mr. Bryce, ' is capable of an ideality surpassing that of English- men or Frenchmen,' but in the political sphere, as elsewhere, he loves the concrete." Socialism and the American Spirit, p. 60. INDEX " Age of Steel," quoted, 166- 167. Agreements between laborer and employer, 217-220. Agriculture (in U. S), principal source of wealth, 1 ; value and growth of products, 1-4, 22- 23; wages in, 296-297; in fu- ture, 492, 493-495- Alabama, factory laws in, 113. Aldrich, Senator, report quoted, 285-286, 298 (note), 310, 410 (note), 414 (note), 420 (note). Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel-Workers, 179, 185, 194-195, 225, 240-250, 301. American Federation of Labor, 127-128, 129-130, 132, 138, 141, 181, 185, 202 (note). 203-208, 211, 213, 223, 225-226, 227-228, 342 (note), 459, 461, (see " Labor Unions.") "American Federationist," quoted, 205, 360 (note). American Railway Union, 208, 254-257, 459. " Anti-trust Act," 263-264. Apprenticeship, 152-170. Arbel, P., quoted, 102, 176-177. Arbitration, 223, 464-465, 500. Atkinson, Edward, quoted, 71 (note), 82, 276-277, 281, 369- 370, 41 7- Auchmuty, Col., 163. Australia, wages in, 333-334- B. Baldwin Locomotive Works, 172, 307. Bastiat, quoted, 94, 465; refer- ence, 361. Beardsley, Charles, quoted, 126- 127, 385 (note), 389 (note). Beauregard, M., quoted, 360; reference, 390 (note). 34 Belgium, workman's budget in, 426-427. Bemis, Mr., quoted, 147 (note). Blacklisting, 270. Blacksmiths, International Brotherhood of, 158. " Blair Report," quoted, 381, 400. Blanc, Louis, 505 (note). Bolles, Albert S., reference, 112 (note), 152 (note), 162, 168; quoted, 232 (note), 258, 264 (note), 267. Boycotts, 270. Brass Workers, International Brotherhood of, 159, 210. Breckenridge, Mr., quoted, 333 (note). Bricklayers and Masons, Inter- national Union of, 210, 225. Bruwaert, M., quoted, 117-118, 200 (note), 415. Bryce, James, quoted, 508. Budgets, Workmen's, see " Wages." Building Industry (in U. S.), value and growth, 23-24; ap- prenticeship in, 154-158; rela- tions between labor and em- ployer, 220; wages, 302-305. Burnett, Mr., quoted, 272. Campbell, Helen, quoted, 343, 355- Capital, statistics of 1890, 3-4. Carey, 233. Carnegie Steel Company, 55, 240-250. Carpenters and Joiners, Broth- erhood of, 196. 212, 225. Catholic Church, relations with Knights of Labor, 202. Cawardine, William H., refer- ence, 251 (note), 252. 512 Index Census of 1890, statistics of manufacture and agriculture, 2-4; completeness of, 6 (note); statistics of iron and steel, 16, 19, 20. Charity (in U. S.), 467. Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, 233- Chevalier, Michel, 51, 52, 232- 233, 264. Chevallier, Emile, reference 365 (note), 390 (note). Cheysson, reference, 427. Chicago Strike, 254-257. Child labor, see " Labor," " Wages," &c. Church, influence on labor, &c, 402-403, 504. Cigar-Makers' Unions, 192-193, 196, 211, 212 (note), 227 (note), 233. Cleveland, President, 256-257, 439- Clothing, wages in manufacture of, 3I3-3I4- Coal, value and situation of coal-fields in U. S. and pro- duct, 6-8. Cogley, Mr., quoted, 268. Coke, value of product in U. S., 9- Collet, Miss, quoted, 340-341, 364 (note). Company Stores, 114-115, 117. Competition, 66; as determining wages, 382-385. Concentration, movement to- wards, 44-103, 438-439, 495- 496. Conciliation, see " Arbitration." Congress (of U. S.), labor leg- islation, 121-122, 183-184, 256, 263-264. Consumption, as affecting wages, 388; growth of, 470- 471- Conterno, Lucien, 184 (note). Cooperation, 469-470, 500-501. Cooper Institute, 164. Copper, production in U. S., 11- 12. Cost of living, as determining wages, 375-381. Cotton, product and manufac- ture in U. S., 29-34, 54- 34i; in Europe, 33 (note). Councils of the building-trades, 187-189. Coxe, Trench, quoted, 42. Cummings, Edward, reference, 185, quoted, 222. Custom, as a factor determin- ing wages, 364-366. D. Danryid, Lemuel, quoted, 121, 378. Day, see " Working Day. Debs, Eugene V., 251, 254-255, 264. Delaware, law concerning strikes, 262-263. Dewey, Prof., quoted, 93 (note), 94, 305- . Discipline, see " Factories. Domestic Service, 352-356. Donnelly, Pres., 69 (note), 315 (note). Draper, Mr., quoted, 67, 68 (note). Drexel Institute, 164. Ducpetiaux, M., reference, 428. Education of laborer, 503. Ely, R. T., quoted, 258, 407 (note), 451-452 (note), 486, 502. Employers, attitude toward con- centration, 88-91 ; and labor unions, 217-221; associations of, 221-224, 499-500; attitude toward employees, 465-466. Engel, Prof., quoted, 424-425, 428-429. England, strikes in, 270-273; trade unions of, 225-229, 230 (note); wages in, 324-329. Entrepreneur, 443-444. 455-456. Extractive industries, discussed, 6-43- F. Factories, discipline and inter- nal regulation, 170-177, 481. Falkner, Prof., quoted, 410 (note); reference, 414 (note), 420 (note). Index 513 Federation of Labor, see "' American Federation of La- bor/' Female Labor, see " Labor," " Wages of Women/' &c. Fines, see " Factories." Food-products., wages in pro- duction of, 308-309 (see " Ag- riculture ".). ■" Fortunes," 477-478, 495. Fourier, 474, 505 (note), 506 (note). France, strikes in, 270-273; trade unions in, 228-229; wages in, 329-331; workman's budget in. 427-429. French labor-delegates. 61-63. 68 (note). 84. 86-87, 88, 172- 1/5, 329, 402. 447- Frick. Mr.. 241-249. 295 (note). Fuels, see " Coal," " Petro- leum." etc. " Garment Cutters' Associa- tion," see " United Garment," etc. " Gas," see " Natural Gas." George, Henry. 22?. 374 (note). Germany, wages in, 326. 331- 332. Gibbons, Cardinal. 202. Giddings. Franklin H.. quoted, 482 (note). Giften, Sir Robert, quoted. 272. 327-328. 434. Gilman. X. P.. quoted, 140- 141. 471, 474. 476. 477-478. 508. Gladden. Washington, quoted, 485-486. Gold, product in U. S., 10-11. Gompers, Samuel, 128, 206, 208, 269. Gould. Dr.. quoted, 325-326, 397, 425- Graffenreid, Clara de. quoted, 151- Grandgeorge, M., quoted, 27 (note). Grant. President, 122. Gray. Col.. 247. Greeley. Horace, quoted. 447. Grille. M.. quoted. 62. Guesde, M., quoted 505 (note). Gunton, George, quoted, 118. 124, 140, 150-15 1. 293. 374 (note), 376-377, 397-399. 42-'- 423. 424. 430. 456, 507. H. Hewitt, A. S., 223-224, 371 (note), 481, 500. Hollerith, Mr., 71. 73 (note). Homestead Steel Works. 55-56. Houghton, Dr., discovery of Marquette Range. 13 (note). Hours of labor, 1 19-144, 483-484. Humphrey, Gen.. 50. I. Illinois Steel Company. 56-57. Immigration, 445-446, 495. 496- 497- Independence of Laborer, 444- 445- " Independent Knights of La- bor," 203. Industries (American), growth and statistics of. 6-42. 43. 438; concentration of. 44-61. 63-69; household, 49-52: improve- ments, 69-71, 73-83; forecast. 492. Ingersol, Mr.. 121. Inspection of factories, 481. International Labor Unions, 189-196, 475 (see "' Labor Un- ions "). Interstate Commerce Act. 263. Inventions in U. S.. 69-73. Iron, ore product (in U. 12-13; industries (in U. St. 13-22. 44. Iron-Heaters. Brotherhood of, 222. Iron-Molders' Union, 225. Iron Ship-Builders, Brother- hood of, 210. J- James, Prof., 276 (note). Japan, wages in. 334-335- Jefferson, Thomas, quoted. 30. Johnson. President. 135. Jopling. J. E.. quoted. 13 (note). Journeymen Tailors' Union, 161. 514 Index Julow, George, 183. Juraschek, M., quoted, 16 (note), 29 (note), 34 (note). K. Kearney, Mr., 121. Kiaer, Mr., reference, 396 (note). Knights of Labor, 180-181, 182, 185, 196-203, 204, 206-207, 208, 225, 254-255, 459. Knights of Saint Crispin, 160. L. Labor (in U. S.), growth, 42-43; displacement, 72-73; produc- tivity of, 82-85; quality of work, 85-88; attitude toward machinery, 91-95; hours of, 483-484; independence of, 444- 445; quality of, 497-498; future progress of, 502-504 (see "Wages"); child labor, 105, 106, 121, 134, 137, I4S-IS2, 152- 170, 176, 482; female labor, 106, 134, 137, 176, 336-358, 482. Labor delegates, see " French labor delegates." Labor legislation (in Europe), 104-106; (in U. S.), 106-118, 134-139, 164-165, 181-185, 229- 231, 262-268, 273. Labor Unions 123, 127-128, 155- 158, 178-231, 457-461, 498-499; origin and beginning, 178- 181; legal aspects, 181-185, 229-231; local unions, 185-189; national and international un- ions, 189-196; statistics, 208; budget, 209-215; non-union- ists, 215-217; employers, 217- 224; foreign unions, 224-231; effect on wages, 383-385 (see " American Federation of Labor," " Knights of Labor," etc.). Lasalle, 380. Latham, Alexander and Co., quoted, 33 (note). Lathers' Unions. 218, 239-240. Lavollee, Rene, quoted, 328-329. Laughlin, Prof., quoted, 370, 385. Lead, product in U. S., 12. Legislation, see " Labor Legis- lation." Lelarge, M., quoted, 62. Le Play, reference, 427. Leroy-Beaulieu, quoted, 370, 380 (note), 390 (note). Lestrade, Combes de, quoted, .332. Living, see " Cost of living." Local labor unions, 185-189. Locomotive Engineers, Broth- erhood of, 225, 254. Locomotive Firemen, Brother- hood of, 210-211. Lodges, 400-401. Loria, Achille, quoted, 506. Lowell factories, 52-53, 54. M. McCleary, Mr., and Homestead strike, 240-250. McNeill, G. E., quoted, 116, 197 (note), 378-379, 413, 462; ref- erence, 120 (note). Machinery (in U. S.), manufac- ture of, 46-47, 159-160; in- crease in, 53-62, 66-69; pro- ductivity of, 62-63, 73-81, 82- 88, 373; new inventions, 69-73, 439-440; attitude of laborer, 91-95; forecast, 96-103; " Ma- chinists' Unions," 159-160; re- lation to workman, 440-442. Machinists' Unions, 159-160. Mahanoy Valley and Locust Mountain Association, 222. Maistre, Joseph de, reference, 445- Mann, Horace, 148 (note). Manufactures (in U. S.), devel- opment, 1-4, 5-6, 50-61, 66-71, 73-81, 85-91, 96-103; official statistics, 40-41; effect on lab- orer, 91-95 (see " Cotton." " Iron," " Textile Industries,"" etc.). Markets, 63-64. Marshall, Prof., quoted, 90. 141 (note), 383. Marx, Karl, 197, 225, 293, 363, 380. 474. 477. 506, 508. Maryland Steel Works, 53-55. Massachusetts Board of Investi- gation, 93-94- Index 515 Massachusetts factory laws, 106-107, 109-110, 113-114, 121, 147-149, 482. Mexico, wages in, 334. Michigan, wages in, 347. Mill, John Stuart, reference, 365 (note), 385. Minerals, value of product in U. S., 9-10; non-metallic, 9; base metals, 11-12 (see " Gold," " Silver," " Copper," " Iron," etc.). "" Mineral Resources of U. S.," quoted, 10 (note), 11 (note), 12, 16 (note). Mining wages, 297-302. Missouri Supreme Court decis- ion, quoted, 183. N. National Labor Unions, 189-196 (see " Labor Unions "). Natural gas, value of products (in U. S.), 8. Newcomb, Simon, quoted, 386- 387. 395-396, 413 (note), 422, 423-424. 488 (note). " New-Unionism," 226-228. New York Bureau of Statistics of Labor. 125-126, 236-237. Nominal Wages, see " Wages." North, S. N. D., reference to, 28 (note), 29 (note); quoted, 49-50, 68, 119, 139-140, 284, 350. O. O'Donnell, Hugh, 241 (note). O'Reilly, Mary A., quoted, 346- 347- " Overtime," 129 (see " Work- ing Day "). Painters and Decorators, Broth- erhood of, 186, 193-194, 209, 239-240. Paper money, effect on wages, 450. . . . Patronage (social and indus- trial), 467-468. Paving Cutters' Union, 217. Peck, Mr., quoted, 125-126. Pennsylvania, factory laws in, 112, 148 (note); apprentice laws. 164-165; strike laws, 265-266. People's Party, " platform " quoted, 135. Perkins, G. W., reference, 210 (note); quoted, 227 (note). Petroleum, value of product in U. S., 8. Piece-work, 292-294. Pinkerton, Mr., quoted, 243, 245-246. Pinkerton Detective Agency and Homestead Strike, 240- 250. Powderly, T. V.. 198, 199, 201, 202, 203, 246, 452 (note); quoted. 92, 163, 167. Powers. Mr., quoted, 160 (note), 213 (note), 278 (note), 374. Printing and Engraving, wages for, 3I4-3I7- Productivity, as determining wages, 367-375. 388: of labor, 82-85. 440, 442-443, 455- Profit-sharing, 468-469, 500. Protective system, 25-26, 466- 467, 492-493- Proudhon, 363. Provident societies, 458-459 502. Public Works, wages of em- ployees on, 305-306. Pullman. Mr., 250-254. 275. Pullman City strike, see " Strikes." Q- Quality of American workman- ship, 85-88. R. Railway Union, see " American Railway Union." Ray, Mr., 246. Real wages, see " Wages." Rent, cost of, 417-420. Ricardo, 385. Rondot, Natalis, reference, 39 (note). Russia, wages in, 33--333- :,l<; Index S. St. Louis Manual Training School, 16V164. Saint-Simon, 441, 474, 505, 506 (note). Sanitation, 484. Schilling, Mr., reference, 221. Schoenhof, Jacob, quoted, 64. 69-70, 73-74, 83, 85, 326, 369, 411. School attendance, 151-152. Schools of apprenticeship, 162- 164. Schultze, 216-217. Schulze-Gaevernitz, quoted, 396 (note). Silk, culture and manufacture in U. S., 34-39- Silver, production in U. S., 10- 11. Sismondi, quoted, 99-100, 441. Smith, Adam, 73. 385- Snowden, Maj.-Gen., 248. Socialism, 471-477, 505-507- Sovereign, Mr. 303. Spain, wages in, 332. State intervention, 478-480. State operation, 484-485. " Statistique de l'lndustrie Min- erale," quoted, 12, 16 (note), 98 (note). Steel, product in U. S., see " Iron." Steinway, Mr., quoted. 284, 405. Stephens, Uriah S., 196-197, 198. Stevens, Mr., quoted, 99, 100, 303 (note). Stewart, Ethelbert, quoted, 323. Stimson, quoted, 116 (note), 182 (note), 266-267 (note). Strikes, 212, 232-275, 462-464; in past, 232-234; statistics, 234- 237, 238; sympathetic, 237-240; " Homestead strike," 240-250; " Pullman City strike," 250- 254; " Chicago strike," 254- 257; report strike commis- sion. 257-258; opinions and theories, 258-260; regulation of, 260-262; legislation upon, 268; persistence of, 268- 270; statistics, 270-273; reme- dies, 273-275. Strike Commission (U. S.), re- port of, 257-258. Sullivan, J. W., quoted, 196, 267. Swank, reference, 14 (note); quoted, 20-22, 58. Sympathetic strikes, see " Strikes." Tariff (protection), 25-26, 466- 467, 492-493- Textile industries (in U. S.) r product and growth, 24-39, 66-69; wages in, 310-313. Thomas, David, 15. Tin plate (industry in U. S.), 20 (note). Tocqueville, Alexis de, quoted, 365-366. Toque, quoted, 427. Trusts, 64-66, 223-224, 263-264. Typographical unions, 161-162, 179, 186-187, 189-192, 196, 209- 210, 212 (note), 214, 216, 314- 315. 349- U. Unions, see " Labor unions." United Garment-Cutters' Asso- ciation, 196. United States, industries in, see "Agriculture," "Iron." &c. ; statistics compared with Eng- land and France, 4; popula- tion and wealth, 41-43. " United States vs. Cassidy," 263. Unsanitary dwellings, 484. V. Vaillant, M., reference, 483 (note). Valesh. Mrs. E. McD.. quoted, 173 (note). Van Buren, President, 120. Vehicles, wages in factories, 306-308. Villerme, 143. Vulcan, Sons of, 179, 233- Index 517 W. Wadlin, Mr., quoted, 317-318, 339, 349, 350-35L Wages, laws concerning, 114- 118; relation to profits, 260- 262; nominal wages, 359-392, 446-448; theory of, 359-364; custom, 364-366, 504-505; wage-scales, 366-367; supply and demand, 367; productivi- ty, 367-375; cost of living, 375- 381, 420-424, 450-451; compe- tition, 382-385; wage-fund, 385-387; production and con- sumption, 388; recapitulation, 388-391 ; mode of payment, 391-392; real wages and work- men's budgets, 393-435, 449- 450; real and nominal wages, 392-394, 501-502: increase of comfort; 394-396, 451-457; in- come of workman's family, 396-399; principal items of budget, 399-400; the lodge. 400-401 ; travel, 401 ; horse and carriage, 401-402; newspaper and church, 402-403; unmar- ried workmen, 403-404; un- married workingwomen, 404; housewife, 404-406; moral and intellectual conditions, 406- 409, 457; prices and nominal wages, 409-414: budgets in U. S., 414-421 ; budgets in Eu- rope, 424-429; conclusions, 430-435; starvation wages, 449; effect of paper money, 450; laws of, 489-490; level of, 497- Wages of children, see " Wages of Women." Wage-fund, 385-387. Wages of men, 276-335; general increase of, 276-288; local va- riations, 289-292; piece-work and rates, 292-294; statistics, 2 94-3i7; range of, 317-321; resume, 321-323; comparison with foreign countries, 324- 335- Wages of women, 336-358, 448- 449; employment of women, 336-339; inferiority of wages, 339-343: in large cities, 343- 347; in Michigan, 347: in large manufactures, 347-348; in small manufactures, 348- 349; by states, 349-352; classi- fication of wage-earners, 350- 352; inadequate wages, 352; domestic service. 352-356; comparison with other coun- tries, 356-358. Walker, Francis A., reference, 115 (notes), 141 (note), 269, 368, 383, 388 (note). Walker, Supt., quoted, 3-4 (note). Woodward, Mr., 163. Wool, production and value (in U. S.), 26-29, 44-45, 34i- Working Day, 1 19-144. 483-484. Workmen's budgets, see " Wages." " World Almanac," quoted, 10 (note). Wright, Carroll D., quoted, 2 (note), 6 (note), 24 (note), 42, 47, 91-92. 97-98, 117. 140 (note), 147 (note), 195 (note), 208, 225 (note), 253-254, 257- 258, 259, 260, 261, 268, 277 (note), 279, 283, 318, 319, 397, 410, 416, 420, 421, 425, 462, 463. PRINCIPAL WORKS OF LEVASSEUR. Histoire des Classes ouvrieres et de l'Industrie en France avant 1789. 2 me edition. 2 vol. in-8°. Tom. I. 1900. Paris. Histoire des Classes ouvrieres en France depuis 1789 jusqu'a nos Jours. 2 vols. in-8°. 1867. La Question de l'or. i vol. in-8°. Paris. La Population Franchise. (Introduction sur la statistique ; Histoire de la population francaise avant 1789; La demographie francaise et comparaison avec les autres nations — statistique morale, les lois de la population et l'equilibre des nations.) 3 forts volumes in-8°, avec gravures et cartes. 1889- 1892. Paris. La France et ses Colonies (geographie et statistique). 3 vol. in-8°, avec illustrations. 1 890-1893. Paris. Precis de geographie (Terre, Europe, France) a l'usage de l'enseignement. 3 vol. in- 1 2°, avec les atlas corre- spondants, 3 vol. Paris. Grand atlas de geographie physique et politique, cartes murales et globes a l'usage de l'enseignement PRIMAIRE DANS LES PAYS CIVILISES. I Vol. Paris, 1 897. L' agriculture aux Etats-Unis. i vol. in-8°. Paris, 1898. Cours d'instruction civique. Paris, 1898. Precis d'economie politique, i vol. in-12 . Paris, 1898. w- Wk\ INSTITUTE OF IfTOSTftAL REUTfCNS LIBRARY W\i \f7 L 006 355 942 1