806 THE INDUSTRIAL GROUP 



the other hand it is stated that the average daily wages of agricul- 

 tural laborers who are engaged in those branches of agriculture which 

 require little machinery have actually decreased. 



Even more striking are recent methods in corn culture which are 

 being introduced in the Central West. We have long heard about 

 pedigreed stock and now we are becoming familiar with pedigreed 

 corn (maize). A bulletin published by the University of Illinois in 

 August, 1903, gives an analysis of corn taken from forty ears, each of 

 which represents seven generations of pedigreed corn and each bred 

 with reference to some particular quality. It is not enough to raise 

 corn, but corn must be raised for special purposes in order to achieve 

 the largest success. Stock-feeders want protein in corn, and by 

 breeding it is easy to make a variation of 100 per cent in protein. 

 Manufacturers of starch and of glucose sugar want more starch in the 

 corn. They, however, want less protein. It is stated in an earlier 

 bulletin, likewise of the University of Illinois, that " the yield of corn 

 can be increased and the chemical composition of the kernel can be 

 changed as may be desired either to increase or decrease the protein, 

 the oil, or the starch." The purpose of this reference to pedigreed 

 corn is to bring out clearly the significance of economic evolution 

 with respect to the kind of man who is going to achieve the greatest 

 success in agriculture. 



The use of automobiles elsewhere than in agriculture affords 

 further illustration of the thesis under consideration. Automobiles 

 are not used so much as they would be in retail trade because the 

 employees are so frequently not equal to the higher requirements 

 thereby set. A grocer's boy who can drive a horse may not always be 

 trusted with the automobile. But progress is simply delayed. In 

 the end those not equal to the higher requirements will be pressed 

 down and out and will render existence more difficult in the over- 

 crowded ranks of those with the minimum skill and capacity. 



Let us now seek illustration in certain phases of the labor problem. 

 A good illustration is afforded by a comparison between transporta- 

 tion by the steam railway and transportation by a wagon drawn by 

 oxen or horses. The more advanced kind of transportation carries 

 with it higher physical and moral requirements for those engaged in 

 it. Not only are temperance and sobriety requisites, but eyesight 

 must be tested as a condition of employment for the locomotive- 

 driver, whereas an inferior man may drive a team of horses. 



The minimum wage established so generally by trades-unions has 

 a similar consequence. Those who are not equal to that degree of 

 efficiency warranting this minimum wage are crowded out of their 

 trade. This is a condition for which, in some cases at least, provision 

 has been made by labor organizations, so clearly has it been recog- 

 nized. 



