CHANGES OF FIFTY TEARS. 289 



a corresponding increase and concentration of wealth 

 in the hands of the few ? 



Now the fact stands out bold and distinct, that in 

 the midst of a greater abundance than the world ever 

 before saw, with a greater productive power than man 

 has ever before known, there never before was so great 

 an amount of idleness and destitution. One half of 

 the world in slavery, the other half in idleness, and all 

 in misery because of these two conditions. 



But here comes an alternative proposition from the 

 manufacturers, through the Massachusetts Labor Bu- 

 reau, to reduce the hours of labor to six per day, to 

 the end that they may run their mills, factories, and 

 workshops twelve hours per day, by the use of double 

 gangs, or two sets of hands. 



What would be the effect, if it were done ? 



Evidently the first would be to require double the 

 number of hands that are now employed ; because 

 there still must be produced sufficient to supply so- 

 ciety with all the necessaries and comforts of life, and 

 this would require double the number of operatives 

 working six hours a day, that it would when working 

 twelve. 



This demand for additional hands would create a 

 competition among employers for those who would 

 work, and this would inevitably cause an advance in 

 wages. Adam Smith says that : 



" When iu any country a demand for those who live by wages 

 laborers, journeymen, servants of every kind is continually 

 increasing ; when every year furnishes employment for a greater 

 number than had been employed the year before, the workmen 

 have no occasion to combine in order to raise their wages. The 



