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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



It thus appears that in the cotton busi- 

 ness the share of the capitalist is only one 

 eighth of the product, while labor gets the 

 other seven eighths ; and, according to Mr. 

 Atkinson, there is no Other industry in which 

 the capital is so large in proportion to the 

 product as in this. 



The author then proceeds to show that the 

 great improvements in the production that 

 have been made in recent times with the 

 consequent increase of capital, though bene- 

 fiting the capitalist largely, have benefited 

 the laborer still more. He remarks that in 

 his judgment " there has never been a period 

 in the history of the world in which there 

 have been so many important new inven- 

 tions or so many applications of previous 

 inventions, all tending to human welfare, as 

 in the last twenty-five years" (p. 109). He 

 adds that during this period, " while prices 

 of the necessaries of life have diminished 

 and while the cost of production has been 

 reduced, the wages or earnings of labor, 

 subject to temporary fluctuations, have been 

 steadily increased." And he concludes that 

 " we are not far away from a period when, 

 either with or without legislation, but, as I 

 myself believe, in spite of meddlesome legis- 

 lation, the arduous struggle for life will be 

 greatly relieved, both in the time which it 

 will be necessary to give and in the inten- 

 sity of the work which it will be necessary 

 to apply thereto" (pp. 110, 111). In evi- 

 dence of these statements he cites a number 

 of statistics showing how great has been 

 the fall in prices in many branches of in- 

 dustry since 1860, while the wages of labor 

 have largely increased. 



Mr. Atkinson is strongly opposed to the 

 eight-hour law, holding that the hours of 

 labor can not be permanently reduced ex- 

 cept by improvements in production ; and 

 this is one of the principal points at issue 

 between himself and Mr. Chamberlin. The 

 latter gentleman, however, in his reply to 

 Mr. Atkinson, takes the ground which many 

 other labor-champions do, that capital and 

 labor are natural enemies ; that labor, mean- 

 ing manual labor, is the sole creator of 

 wealth ; with other views of like character 

 and as little foundation, nis argument for 

 the laborer's cause is, indeed, far from 

 being a strong one, and his opponent has 

 little difficulty in answerin; it. 



Mr. Atkinson's views are given in a plain 

 colloquial style, but often very apt and ex- 

 pressive. He quotes from Emerson the 

 saying that " mankind is as lazy as it dares 

 to be," and tells his hearers and readers that 

 efficiency in work and economy in expenditure 

 are the only means of acquiring wealth and 

 improving one's condition. He estimates that 

 the American people waste on an average five 

 cents a day for each person, which amounts 

 to a thousand million dollars a year for the 

 whole nation. He affirms that the capitalist 

 is the laborer's friend, not his enemy ; and 

 that the prosperity of each is necessary to 

 that of the other. He declares it to be " a 

 great blunder to say that, while the rich are 

 growing richer, the poor are growing poorer ; 

 it is only the poor who can't work well or 

 who won't work well, who grow poor while 

 the rich are growing rich in this country.'' 

 And he adds that " there are two things 

 very much needed in these days : first, for 

 rich men to find out how poor 'men live ; 

 second, for poor men to know how rich men 

 work " (p. 47). Mr. Atkinson's work, if 

 read by those to whom it is specially ad- 

 dressed, can not fail to be useful ; and it is 

 to be wished that we had more books of a 

 similar character. 



Abuse of Alcoholics by the Healthy. By 

 Stanford E. Chaille, of Tulanc Uni- 

 versity, Louisiana. Pp. 36. 



In this paper, which is a part of the 

 transactions of the American Public Health 

 Association, is given one of the most tem- 

 perate, candid, and useful estimates of the 

 effects of alcoholic drinks on the system 

 that we remember to have seen. A brief 

 review of the history of the use of spiritu- 

 ous liquors satisfies the author that we have 

 no reason to be discouraged respecting the 

 progress of temperance principles and prac- 

 tice ; for it " renders it obvious that for 

 many centuries our forefathers 'nave imbued 

 their 'descendants with faith in the health- 

 giving virtues of alcoholic indulgence. Who 

 can expect the results of such long-continued 

 convictions and customs to be eradicated 

 easily or promptly, and what wonder is it 

 that men continue to credit alcoholics with 

 many virtues that they do not possess?" 

 With regard to the physiological action of 

 alcohol " Repeated experiments on robust, 



