Daily Name Industrial Mattmss
Published Daily except Sunday
Nome Mine Worker*’ Union, No. MO, Western Federation of Miner*.
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Entered as second class matter March 1, 1211, at the post office at
Ftrme,• Alastta, ucuer the Act of March S, 187$.
Address ail Communicatlona to Daily Nome industrial Worker,
Box 210 Nome, Alaska. Phone, Black 134.
Nome, Alaska November 0, 1010.
THE EIGHT HOIK LAW.
Whatever views may be held on
other questions not immediately in
volving the betterment of working
conditions, surely there will be no
worker who will view with opposi
tion the proposal to establish a gen
era! eight hour law for men and
women workers throughout Alaska.
That question is to be submitted
on the ballot which will be given
citizens tomorrow, and while it is
technically merely an expression of
opinion. it is obviously the clear
and manifest duty of each and every
worker to vote in support of it.
Tlu-re is no reason why the eight
hour day should not be general.
There are always more than suffi
cient persons to do all the work and
the shorter shift necessarily involves
the increased employment of a
larger number of men. The chief
trohhle with the vote upon the eight
hour day is that it entitles those
who :rc not even indirectly affected
by it to vote just the same as a
man or woman who is. And it is
the main objection to the submis
sion of all labor matters to such an
expression by a conglomerate elec
torate that all except the workers
accept or manifest a tendency to ac
cept. the view point of an employer
in opposition thereto.
The eight hour day is a reform
in working conditions. It is not
the ultimate object of the labor
movement. After a time it will be
wholly accepted as. a necessary im
provement in efficient working con
ditions and will be general.
Where there is any effort made to
conserve efficient the labors of the
workingclass, the wiser employers
long ago have conceded the measure. ,
They know that far from diminish- ,
iug their profits, they increase the j
speed of productivity and the effici
ency of the working operations, and
accordingly the volume of the pro
duct of labor.
Indeed one of the reasons why in
dividual independent firms have
been able to make headway against
the trustified organizations which
tend otherwise to control industry
has been because the wiser inde
pendents have made a study ot the |
labor problems they were called
upon to face. They improved !
working conditions in order to im- j
prove the efficiency of the workers, j
and by this means they obtained a
more efficient and more productive
worker. They did not agree to the
shorter work day because it was an
actual amelioration of the workers'
condition of labor. They did so as
a business proposition because they
got more out of the workers.
That is not why the workers sup
port the eight hour day. They
shorten the workday first in order
to diminish the number of unem
ployed and thus lessen competition
automatically on the job, and they
support it because it actually gives
them more leisure and decreases the |
exhaustion follows from almost all
labor in these days of stress and :
speeding up.
It is an amelioration. But it i« j
merely a step which very soon will
be demanding a more advanced
movement upon the part . of the
workers.
Reverting to the employers
standpoint, the eight hour day is
found to work o-ut in exactly the
same manner as the ten hour day or
the twelve hour day laaor laws
They really do not affect at all th
capitalist situation. They are strong
incentives to improve the quality of
dhe work and the quantity of work
per labor hour. Henry Ford knows
that; the government after most ex
haustive tests found that the eight
hour day had precisely the result
claimed by some of its employer-of
labor advocates, that the efficiency i
of the workers was almost imme- !
diately improved, while with the j
longer day even the steadiest and ^
commonest labor was badly impair- ;
ed.
In fact where the eight hour day j
had come to be accepted and recog
nized. there are few employers who
would willingly returrf to the short
er day. They find that while there
are more men employed, the per
capita production is also increased. 1
The twelve hour shift remains in
but few large concerns and quite re
cently a very elaborate analysis was
made considering at .length why it
was some large trustified firms did
not hold their own with smaller
firms and it was to be explained only
by the insistence upon the part of
the trust of the long twelve hour
day. A notable case of this is the
steel trust. Time and time again,
notwithstanding the enormous plants
and the tremendous capacity ot
equipment, the steel trust, the
United States Steel Corporation, was
beaten in competition with firms ot
one fifth the capacity and one tenth
capital which they out-bid in the
markets.
The steel trust noting this has
sought to maintain the same rate
per capita as the eight hour day
firms, working the’r men twelve
hours, and by simply obtaining a
constant supply of men through im
migration. Hence it is that men in
the employ of the steel trust are
so soon scrapped. They can’t stand
the pace set, and it is a vital neces
sity to the trust that a constant and
unending stream of fresh employees
be obtained.
This waste of human labor has
led to a great outcry. The states
wherein the trust operates has to
foot the bills for these industrial de
relicts that are being cast upon the
labor market in ever increasing
numbers, literally prematurely brok
en down and unemployable.
A New York social worker has
made an examination of the unem
ployable and he finds that most of
these are such industrial derelicts
who were compelled to work long
and unsanitary hours to suffer a
break down and collapse which un
fitted them to labor at practically
any industry.
Taken generally, the idea at the
back of the eight hour day is not
as we have said, to better the con
ditions of the workers for that bett
ermer.t per se. But to conserve
the community; to protect the race;
to make stronger and healthier men
and women, better and healthier
fathers and mothers and to increase
the public health by maintaining
the shorter work day, increased
leisure and less unemployment, and
for employers to improve the effi
ciency of the labor.
Therefore it is, there can be urged
no practical objection to the eight
hour day upon the part of anyone.
The business that cannot stand the
eight hour day is mighty ricketty
any way, and the tin-horn hay-wire
outfit which is sure to break down
if it were operated under a twelve
hour day sooner or later, might as
well break down first as last. The
camp and the community are better
without them. The camp and the
community are always improved
when man and women work under
conditions of labor where their
health is not subjected to the har
assing and unenduring strain of the
longer work day.
To some it is nothing that their
dollars come out of the flesh and
blood of wearied and broken work
ers. Their profits are their delight.
But they are fouled just the same
and profit no community and no
camp.
From the workers point of view
which we have dealt with but casual
ly in this editorial, there should be
not the least question nor any hesi
tation. It has only one side; the
eight hour side. There can be ques
tion that it is to labor's benefit that
the wor| day be cut down. The
more leisure the worker has the
better he feels. Besides, it shortens
the individual shift and increases
the number employed. In increasing
the number employed it eliminates
or lessens competition. It is only a
step, and true enough, a mighty
small step on the road to industrial
freedom. It is one that should be
regulated by the workers them
selves and in cbeir own halls. But
when an expression of opinion is
invited, what worker that is at all
interested in improving his own con
iition and that of his class, will re
fuse to place a cross “X” opposite
:he question on the ballot “FOR
HIE EIGHT HOUR LAW.”
Political Cards.
FOR DELEGATE TO CONGRESS
FROM ALASKA
Chas E. Sulzer
Election, November 7, 1910
FOR DELEGATE TO CONGRESS
FROM ALASKA
Lena Morrow
Lewis
Socialist Party Candidate.
Election, November 7, 1910
FOR ATTORENY GENERAL
TERRITORY OF ALASKA.
George B. Grigsby
Election, Noveml>er 7, 1910
FOR SENATOR:
Thos. M’Gann
For Re-Election.
Election, November 7, 1910
FOR SENATOR:
CAPTAIN
John Sundback
Republican Candidate
Election. November 7, 1910.
FOR REPRESENTATIVE:
Victor A. Julien
Election, November 7, 1910
FOR REPRESENTATIVE:
Charles D. Jones
Independent Candidate.
Flection, November 7, 1010,
FOR REPRESENTATIVE:
T. M. Reed
i
Election, November 7, 1910,
FOR REPRESENTATIVE:
Andy Anderson
Republican Candidate
Election, November 7, 1010.
FOR SENATOR:
Martin Moran
• Election, November 7, 1010.
CITY BATH HOCSE.
Moonlight Spring Water. (Boll
ing Hot).
M. O. SOLBERG.
WBiiiiiiiaaaia<Magia»Pwiw»K»ai
FOR REPRESENTATIVE
Phil. Corrigan
Election, November 7, 1916.
FOR REPRESENTATIVE:
I
Mike Young
Election, November 7, 1916.
! FOR REPRESENTATIVE:
A. A. Allan
(SCOTTY)
Election, November 7, 1916.
FOR REPRESENTATIVE:
James P. Daly
For Territorial Roads. No Poll Tax
Enforcement of Territorial Laws.
Election, November 7, 1916.
FOR REPRESENTATIVE:
Nate H. Coombs
For Re-Eliction.
Election, November 7, 1916.
FOR TERRITORIAL
ROADCOMMISSIONER
John A. Wilson
Election, November 7, 1916.
FOR TERRITORIAL
ROADCOMMISSIONER
W. J. Rowe
Republican Candidate
Election, November 7, 1910.
FOR TERRITORIAL
ROADCOMMISSIONER
Barney Gibney
Election, November 7, 1916.
FOR DELEGATE TO CONGRESS
FROM ALASKA
Jas. Wickersham
Election, November 7, 1916.
VOTE RIGHT.
Appended to Official Ballot (at
the bottom > is the Eight Hour Day
Referendum. Mark your Ballot
thus: —
X | For a General Eight | Place a
Hour Law Cross
i
| opposite
Against a General | your
Eight Hour Law ' choice
| CRANES
i Liner} Lawr)
THE CORRECT WRITING PA PER.
EXPRESSES YOUR OWN PERSONAL TASTE IN TERMS
| OF THE BEST SOCIAL USAGE. WE HAVE THE LATEST
! CREATIONS, THE MOST COMPLETE LINE OF STATIONERY
| EVER BROUGHT TO ALASKA.
SE OUR WINDOW DISPLAY.
HILLS PHARMACY >
ninDimimaijizdRn
We Deliver The Goods.
Direct Rail
Connections
SOUTH AND EAST
VISIT THE
SAN DIEGO
EXPOSITION
1916.
“S. S. UMATILLA”
SAILS FROM NOME
ON LAST VOYAGE SEASON 1916.
NOVEMBER 5 TH.
SCHEDULES SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.
F. J. O’CONNOR, ALASKA L. A O. OO.
Commercial Agent, AGENTS
gaaaaaiaaBafaeiiagaa^^
ALASKA STEAMSHIP CO.
LAST SAILING FROM NOME
FOR SEASON 1916
S. S. VICTORIA
NOV. 5TH.
SUBJECT TO CANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.
R. A. Carroll, Agent, Nome
Kent Transfer Oo.
General Transfer & Freighting
Goal & Qi£
Phone Main 139.
TRY i
PHIL MURPHY
FOR LEATHER VESTS & COATS, THE LOXG KIND OREGON
CITY MACKINAWS. HATS SHIRTS, PANTS, SHOES, UNDER
WEAR, SWEATERS, PUR CAPS, MITTS, WOOL GLOVES,
PARKAS AND ROBES.
MURPHY HAS THE GODDS
T T T V V T V T V V V V
GET THE NEWS RIGHT. READ Anything In the line of Job work
riiE W'Oi.lvEH. Satisfaction assured.
MINERS
Opposite Industrial Worker.
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OPEN ALL NIGHT.
!. Phone Main 153.
;S. H. SIMEON
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INDEPENDENT
MEAT MAMET
Wholesale and Retail Dealer
In Beef, Pork, Mutton, Veal,
Ham, Bacon Poultry and Fish
Game lh Season. All fresh
Stock. No old or damaged.
W. H. Webb prop. Phone M.15