'Cbc Conservative * 5
pose , see their nearest and most formid
able antagonists in international jeal
ousies and in the system of vast stand
ing armies. Their whole weight is usu
ally thrown into the scale of psace.
Even in England , where this movement
has been much less strong than in
France or Germany , the socialist party
has been almost unanimous in its pro
test against the South African war.
Coming back to our starting point
of a comparison between the friendli
ness of international relations in Europe
now with the same state of things in
1800 , it must be admitted that there is
much cause for disappointment. In
few phases of the life of the world has
this century , so amazingly fertile in
progress , been able to record so little
progress. There is nothing that deserves -
serves to be called friendship between
any two nations , for the effusive senti
ments of France towards Russia are not
very warmly reciprocated by the Rus-
siaus. The legal and formal relations
of states are better than they were in
the last century , but there is probably
as much jealously and suspicion now as
then. Yet after all , things are better
than they were in the days of Napoleon.
The doctrine of statesman and the prao-
tice of states still lie far behind the
ideals which were deemed so near of attainment -
tainment forty years ago. But those
ideals seem to be more and more mak
ing their way , however slowly , among
the masses of the people. James Bryce ,
M. P. , in New York Post.
UNTRUE AS USUAL.
A few days ago the Omaha World-
Herald published a dispatch purporting
to be from the mayor of Oswego , New
York , stating that the starch factory at
that place had been closed by the
"trust. " The following letter discloses
the utter lack of truth in reports sent
out by fusion papers :
OSWEGO , N. Y. , Oct. 29. Joy Mor
ton , Nebraska Oity : The dispatch from
A. M. Hall , democratic mayor of this
city and editor of a democratic news
paper , to the World-Herald , is a delib
erate misrepresentation and is unwar
ranted by the facts in his possession.
Our factory management is as it has al
ways been. The works are temporar-
rily closed for repairs to machinery as
has been our custom for many years.
It will be a shorter shut down this year
than the average. We are now pur
chasing corn and will open on Novem
ber 15 , when we shall employ fully as
many men as heretofore. Many of the
starch factory employees are now work
ing in the Kingsford Boiler and Machine
works , and shall continue to do so until
the starch factory reopens.
The closing was for repairs and for no
other reason whatever. We have made
more starch in Oswego this year than
for a lorg time , notwithstanding the
statements of our democratic mayor
who is fully informed of their falsity.
T. P. KINGSFORD ,
"President Oswego Starch Factory. "
LIMITING THK OUTPUT OF LABOR
The English manufacturers tire being
so badly beaten by Americans when
bidding on large contracts that they are
beginning to look about for explana
tions , and they lay their disappoint
ments largely to the labor unions , which ,
they say , have increased the cost of pro
duction very greatly , not so much by
compelling the payment of high wages
for it is well known that wages are
higher in the United States than in
Great Britain but by limiting the
amount of labor a workingman is al
lowed to do in a day. They say that
even if the American workman is paid
50 per cent more than the English la
borer , this advantage is entirely over
come , provided the American produces
100 per cent more. It is an established
fact that in the United States the pro
ductive power of labor is greater than
in Great Britain , and while a part of
this is due to greater skill on the part of
the workman and to better machinery ,
the labor union rules do interfere to
quite an extent with the natural pro
duct of labor as described by English
employers.
But it is not alone in England that
there is a growing disposition on the
part of labor unions to limit the output
of labor ; the same disposition is mani
fested in the United States , and it
threatens to produce serious consequen
ces here as it has in Great Britain. It
constitutes one of the serious economic
problems of the day and demands fair ,
intelligent treatment. We have heard
Irving M. Scott quoted , though we do
not know with how much correctness ,
to the effect that the average day's work
done in his shipyard today is nearly 50
per cent less than when he began build
ing ships , and we know that in many
industries the tendency of unions is to
curb employees who are disposed to do
more than the average amount of work.
This policy by the labor unions is not
due to laziness on the part of the mem
bers , nor is it to be accounted for by a
desire to hamper their employers ; it is
the result of a mistaken economic the
ory which has been quite generally
adopted.
We may assume that all will agree
that what mechanics and laborers of all
classes should aim to secure is as large
pay as possible for their work and to
labor only a reasonable number of hours.
As industrial conditions improve wages
should advance , and concurrently there
ought to be a gradual reduction of
hours , until no workmen labor more
than eight hours. Bat how is the pay
ment of better wages made possible ?
That is the question in which the whole
matter is unfolded. Unfortunately ,
many workingmen have supposed the
answer to be to diminish the amount of
labor done by each person , BO that more
laborers will be needed , which is a radi
cal misconception and will never lead to
any general and sustained advance in
the pay of labor. The true advantage
of the , workingman is to be sought in the
opposite direction by each producing
as much as he can since both labor and
capital have to be paid out of the pro
duct and if little is produced there will
be little to divide. This fact , that labor
is paid out of the product and not out
of an imaginary "wage fund , " is one
which theoretical economists were a
long time in comprehending and workingmen -
ingmen cannot be blamed if they are
slow in grasping it , but unless they do
apprehend it they will never understand
their true interests and their progress is
likely to be obstructed by their own
acts. It is all very simple if one stops to
think it over. Why does anyone hire a
workman ? Generally to make money
for himself. How much can he afford
to pay the laborer ? Enough to secure his
services and yet leave something for
himself , the employer. Under what
conditions can he afford to pay the la
borer higher wages ? On condition that
the laborer will produce more.
A significant fact of current history
will emphasize this point. In the year
1895 there were employed in Europe
45,000,000 operatives and artisans to
produce manufactured articles valued
at $17,000,000,000 , being an average of
$380 for each operative ; in the United
States , daring the same year , 6,000,000
operatives produced goods worth $10-
000,000,000 , or about $1,666 each. Amer
ican labor was four times as productive
as European labor and naturally Ameri
can labor was better paid. If American
labor had produced only as much as
European labor the rates of pay which
it received would have been impossible ,
because the wages paid to the American
laborer are equal to the total output of
the average European laborer , and , as
before said , the product must pay both
labor and capital. This ought to make it
clear , that , in the long run , the way to
increase wages is to increase product
and the way to decrease wages is to de
crease product.
One of the fundamental errors consists
in assuming that there is only so much
work to be done and that if a few men
do too much theie will not be anything
left for others to do. There will always
be work to do until every human want
is satisfied , and that state of things is
not likely ever to happen. Every im
provement of machinery has resulted
temporarily in throwing some labor out
of employment and permanently in in
creasing the number of laborers needed.
There are now more shoemakers than
there were before 'shoemaking machin
ery was invented and more tailors than
before sewing machines were conceived.
And so it will ever be , the satisfaction
of one human want creating a dozen
others and enlarging endlessly the aven
ues for employment. Oakland En
quirer.
