STATISTICS OF LABOR. 313 



In Part V the matter of the reduction of the hours 

 of labor is discussed, with tables and correspondence. 

 If the alleged facts in the report, that the idleness in 

 the country, among the industrial classes, does not 

 exceed three per cent., be correct, all this discussion 

 is inconsequential. No reduction can be made in- 

 deed, no reduction is required because, practically, 

 there is no idleness ; or, at most, but three per cent. 

 To successfully reduce from ten hours to eight, there 

 must be an idleness of twenty per cent., " seeking em- 

 ployment," to meet the additional demand. Why 

 does not that Bureau, upon this ground, stop the dis- 

 cussion at once ? Yet it not only tolerates, but in- 

 vites a still wider discussion. It goes much farther, 

 and seriously considers the propositions from the tex- 

 tile manufacturers to reduce the hours of labor to six, 

 as quoted in the chapter on the Six Hour Law. The 

 propositions are no doubt seriously made, and reasons 

 are given for the proposed reduction. But to do it 

 requires an idleness of fifty per cent, among the skilled 

 and unskilled work people of society, "who really 

 want work," of which neither the manufacturers nor 

 the Chief of the Bureau express a doubt, nor of the 

 practicability of doing for want of operatives. 



All the facts that have been discovered in this ex- 

 amination go to show that the real amount of idleness 

 in this country must be in excess of fifty per cent, of 

 those who are dependent upon labor for subsistence. 

 The following suggestive factors are recommended for 

 consideration : 



First. There is the great amount of muscular 

 labor that has been displaced by machinery within 



