A SIX HOUR LAW. 257 



food required for a given population ; the number of 

 dwellings when the number of families is known ; and 

 the amount of clothing, and the labor required to pro- 

 duce these things. They all come within the realm 

 of calculation. It is labor that provides all the neces- 

 saries, comforts, and luxuries of life, and data may bo 

 collected to estimate the amount that will be required 

 of each individual to provide for all these requirements 

 when a proper system comes into operation, and the 

 study of labor with its relations to society takes the 

 place its importance demands. But now we have to 

 do with things as they are, and leave speculations to 

 be worked out by those who may follow. 



At present we find that fully one half of our pro- 

 ductive power is practically unemployed, and that 

 distress is universally prevalent. The distress among 

 the employed being only a little less than it is among 

 the idle. We also find that one of the most marked 

 characteristics of the present state is a crushing, kill- 

 ing competition among all producers, professions, 

 trades, and traders, to obtain business and the means 

 of living, by cheaper production, less compensation, 

 less wages, and smaller profits, until the point is 

 reached that threatens universal disaster, having long 

 passed the point of general distress. 



The immediate and dominant necessity is to break 

 down this competition. The only way in which this 

 can be done is to remove the cause. The cause is 

 found in the fact that a large portion of the people 

 are absolutely without the means of subsistence, and 

 to get that they are compelled to compete with and 

 underwork their fellows. The movement that com- 



