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The Labor Question

The Labor Question image
Parent Issue
Day
3
Month
August
Year
1877
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

In tho last uuinber of the Korth American Revieiu, Mr. David A. Wells lias a paper in which he compares the number of persons required at present tó produce a given amount of marketable goods as corapared with forty years ago. In 1838, 231 operatives were required to do the work in the Boott cotton mili at Lowell, Mass. By working ïiij hoiirs per Week they were euabïed to work the machinery to its fnl] eapaeity. Iti 1 S7f, by the aid of improvod marliincry, 00 persons, working 60 hours peet weck, were able to manufacture a. larger number of yards of cloth. In tliis instance one person does the work of more thiin three persons, the time being estimated by hours. The same is true of the "boot and shoe industry, only one-half as niany hands being required to manufacture the boots and shoes used in 187G as were iieeded in 18G0. In tact, iu all Ij nes of mazmfactiuiug business, irnproveinents iu labor-saving rnachineiy have dispensed with many hands. This in a mensure accounts for the numbor of unempioyed persons among the skillec artisans ; but offers no solution to the problem of the superabundance of idl laborcrs. In England, whcre pauperism is veduced to an exact scionco, the caus has been traced to the numberless char itable institutions which offer a direc premium to idleness. Witliin the pas years many similar institutions have beo endowed in this country, and they doubloss have their effect in the promotion - through ill-rnnnagement - of pauperism But, with all uneniployed persons t draw from, the farmers are complainin that they have had hard work to secui laborers. Tramps by the hundred lin tlie roads and beg their way from hous to house, but, like the lilies, tbey toi not. Until the tho tramp system i broken up by a stringent law of genera p.pplication the labor question will re maiu in a greatmeafm ■.. _.im iu, mu l ' f FennsylTanin toal-Miners' Strike. News comes from Wilkesbarre, Pa., that a general suspension of coal-mining is imminent, in consequenoe of the strikes of tiie minera. The Schuylkill county coïlierioH havo mostly simt down; the minea of the Reading Goal and ir.n: Company are only partially. open and the Shamokin coal raen recCueed the minors' wages, eausing a strike, iu whieh some thrce thousand are engugcd. Tliis latter strike will most likely result in a " lock-out," as tho operatives seem ueterniinedto have their terms cowplied witb, which wül draw several more thousand workmen to the ranks of the d_á_eeted. The Wyoming región operators liavc followed the exaniple set by the Schuylkill connty producers, and uvery day records the closing of some eolliery. Tlie prominent companies, the Susquehanna and Leliigh, and Wilkesbarre coal companjes have anuounced a suspension of miniug, and by this order some 400 eolliery hands are furloughed. Tlie striking colliers are still conte.sting the reduction of wagee with the operators, and, as extensivo arrangements aro being marde bytheMin.ers' Union, it looks very much as if there would bc a general and wide-spread strike iu tho near future. The entire number of unempioyed miners and laborers in the coal iields is Letween 15,000 and 20,000. Hundreds of these men and their families are in a very destitnte condition, and it is feared their sítuation will cause some of the more desperate spirits to attempt a seriousand riotous demonstration. Lawlcssness has been starled at several pointe, an3 Uoiise anti higliway robberies are of daily oceurrence. The. Sutro Tunnel. A correspondent of the BntriiieeiriAg and Miniug Journal declares' the Sulr'o tuuncl géoond to no enterpiise in tWe Vest. He says, "lts mouth is in the valley of the Carson river, a stream whicli washes the eaetern base of the Wr.shoe range, in which the Comstock lies. It has been driven a total distanoe of 1.7,000 feet up to dato, and is making progri-ss at the rate of 300 reet per month. Not more than 2,800 feet now intervenes between the breavt and the nearest mine on the Oomstock, the Savage, so that, it' the present rate of progression be maintained, abouttenmontlis moi-e wil! suffice to complete the eonaeetiou. The lodo will bo cut at a depth of abont 1,800 feet perpendicnlarly belaw the surface, and very nearly the center, measuring by the exteut of the surl';:ci' workings. It has been proposed, either by the Hutro Oompany or by a combination of owners along tho vcin, to run a drift north and south throngh each claim until the euds of tho veins laterally are reached. This will counect every miue on tho veiu with the tunnel; will drain the cutiré workings; and, slionld thjesè lateral clrifta be put uuder one management and made a common highway, will aflbrd tlie means of working the euüre vciu Uirough one opening. It is now eight years sinee work was first beguu at thé town of Sutro, on the Carson river. Tho expense of proseonting the work has averagt'd about $1,000 per ilay, and, when the Comsioek is reached, tho total oost will have umonntedto about $3,000,000." ________ Upon1 the announeemeut of the arrival of Princo Hassan, son of the Khediw, with the Egyptian contingent of (,500 infautry and 1,000 artillery, tho Sultan ordercd the sacrifico of 100 sheep at the gates of his palaco, in tokeu of liis Qiapks to God. The Prince eoiilonin-d to the old-fashioned etiquette iu preseuce of the Sultan. He tonohed both hands to lus boots, and carried them tö his heod, and crosBed his arms upou his stomaoh while reclininghis body; but to tho high oflieersof the palace, and other dignitaries, ho simplygave a military salute in European style.

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Subjects
Old News
Michigan Argus