TRADE AND LABOR. 247 



of its waters to do his bidding, and relieve his toil, 

 will have been accomplished, and man will then have 

 entered upon his true mission in obeying the com- 

 mands of God, and in working upon those economic 

 principles that are sure to contribute to his greatest 

 welfare. 



Having shown the idleness among our people, and 

 the absolute necessity for all to be employed, that 

 trade may prosper, it becomes a matter for serious 

 consideration to determine what measures may be 

 adopted to secure that end. Inasmuch as the only 

 requirement that there can be for labor lies in the 

 demand for reproduction that is created by the con- 

 sumption of society, it follows that the labor required 

 for the necessary reproduction must be distributed as 

 widely and as generally as it is hoped may be the con- 

 sumption. More than this, there stands the primal 

 law of man's existence, his right and duty to labor, 

 that he may eat and live, not as a beggar or criminal, 

 but as a valuable member of the community, and in 

 response to the requirements of society, which stands 

 largely responsible for all its members. 



As the immediate object to be attained is the dis- 

 tribution among all of the labor that is now performed 

 by a portion only of the masses of society, we are hap- 

 pily helped in the suggestion made by the manufac- 

 turers in Massachusetts in response to inquiries from 

 its bureau of labor, viz., that the hours of labor be 

 reduced to six a day, in order that the mills may be 

 run twelve hours a day, by two gangs of hands. The 

 adoption of this suggestion will meet the whole re- 

 quirement, and a little examination will show that 



