152 RURAL SOCIOLOGY 



the ranks of the workers so that the rural peoples are called upon 

 not only to furnish raw material to feed and clothe the nations, 

 but to fill up the ranks of the city workers and to contribute to 

 the supply of labor demanded by our growing industries. 



A POINT OF VIEW ON THE LABOR PROBLEM 1 



L. H. BAILEY 



IT is a general complaint in the United States that there is 

 scarcity of good labor. I have found the same complaint in 

 parts of Europe, and Europeans lay much of the blame of it on 

 America because their working classes migrate so much to this 

 country; and they seem to think we must now be well supplied 

 with labor. Labor scarcity is felt in the cities and trades, in 

 country districts, in mines, and on the sea. It seems to be serious 

 in regions in which there is much unemployed population. It 

 is a real problem in the Southern States. 



While farmers seem now to complain most of the labor short- 

 age, the difficulty is not peculiarly rural. Good farmers feel it 

 least ; they have mastered this problem along with other problems. 

 As a matter of fact, it is doubtful whether there is a real labor 

 shortage as measured by previous periods ; but it is very difficult 

 to secure good labor on the previous terms and conditions. 



The supposed short labor supply is not a temporary condition. 

 It is one of the results of the readjustment and movement of 

 society. A few of the immediate causes may be stated, to illus- 

 trate the nature of the situation. 



1. In a large way, the labor problem is the result of the passing 

 out of the people from slavery and serfdom the rise of the work- 

 ing classes out of subjugation. Peoples tend always to rise out 

 of the laboring-man phase. We would not have it otherwise if we 

 desire social democracy. 



2. It is due in part to the great amount and variety of con- 

 structive work that is now being done in the world, with the con- 

 sequent urgent call for human hands. The engineering and 



i Adapted from "The Country Life Movement in the United States," pp. 

 134-148. Macmillan, 1911. 



