women and children could perform his work, but the net earnings of his family stand at a higher figure than of old. It is also true that while labor has been displaced apparently in many directions and in many industries, machinery has brought new occupations, especially to women. In the introduction of the telephone, errand boys to some extent were displaced from their regular work, but the vast army necessary to carry on the telephone system is much larger than any possible displacement. This is true in so many directions that this one illustration suffices. The apparent evils resulting from the introduction of machinery and the consequent subdivision of labor have to a large extent, of course, been offset by advantages gained; but it must stand as a positive statement, which cannot successfully be controverted, that this wonderful introduction and extension of power machinery is one of the prime causes, if not the prime cause, of the novel industrial condition in which the manufacturing nations find themselves. The direct results, so far as the present period is concerned, of this wonderful and rapid extension of power machinery are, for the countries involved, over-production, or, to be more correct, bad or injudicious production; that is, that condition of production of things the value of which depends upon immediate consumption, or consumption by that portion of the population of the world already requiring the goods produced. If England, the United States, France, Belgium, and Germany unitedly produce more cotton goods than can be sold to their regular customers or in the world among people that use cotton goods, over-production exists, and it does not matter that the millions of human beings who do not consume and who do not desire cotton goods are unsupplied. So far as the factories and the operatives of the countries concerned are to be taken into consideration there does exist a positive and emphatic over-production, and this over-production could not exist without the introduction of power machinery at a rate greater than the consuming power of the nations involved and of those depending upon them demand; in other words, the over-production of power machinery logically results in the over-production of goods made with the aid of such machinery, and this represents the condition of those countries depending largely upon mechanical industries for their prosperity. Crippled consuming power, ordinarily known as under-consumption, may result from over-production, producing lower prices, or from other causes not connected with production in the ordinary sense. Some of these features are considered separately. An influential cause in producing the condition of things recited as to the abnormal increase of machinery and the development of industrial enterprises has been the facility with which stock companies could be organized. In fact, the modern system of carrying on great works by stock companies has done much toward producing in all countries the bad industrial conditions under which the present generation is la boring. Formerly individual capital and individual enterprise consti tuted the moving power back of industrial development, and only men of considerable means, or two or three such men under copartnership arrangement, could undertake any very great enterprise, such as the building of great factories, the opening of mines, and undertakings in other directions; but now, under the modern system, when old partner ship houses and family proprietors are adopting the joint stock company basis for action, and many men of small means can contribute to the common stock of a great company, the inducement to push undertakings becomes speculative to a large extent. The depositors in savings banks, where such institutions exist, become indirectly associated with the very concerns they often condemn, and depend for their dividends on their deposits upon the welfare of such corporations. Legislatures have in very many, if not all, of the States of the Union greatly facilitated the organization of such companies through the provisions of general laws, while some have been reckless enough to allow such organizations to be created without regard to the actual capital invested or property owned. The result has been an abnormal organization of capital and of interests aimed at the development of the industries of the country. Material, labor, capital have been over-consumed, and to such an extent that overproduction stands for over consumption. The Variation in the Cost of Production.-The question of the cost of production, especially so far as the labor cost relative to other elements of production is concerned, necessarily enters into the consideration of the causes and effects of industrial depressions, not that such depressions are caused by differences which may exist in the cost of producing a given article in different localities to any material extent; still it is often alleged that such differences are influential in producing a disturbance in the prices of things, and to the extent of such disturbance constitutes a remote cause of depressions. One of the most difficult tasks an investigator into economic conditions sets for himself is to ascertain the relation of the different elements in the cost of producing articles of consumption where more than one class of raw material enters into the production. The obstacles in the way are more than those which come from disinclination on the part of producers to state definitely all the cost elements involved; obstacles are met with even whe: the freest disposition exists to give such information. The manufacture of a given unit may require certain expenses through the remoteness of operations from the source of supplies, from condition of living, from cost of plant, from variation in the processes of manipulation, and from other conditions. It is true that if the actual facts relating to such cost of production could be ascertained beyond dispute in various localities, a wide variation would be shown; yet it is also true that the endeavor of all engaged in the production of a given unit to reduce the elements of cost to the lowest possible terms secures an approximate uniformity in the cost of making such unit where conditions are fairly the same. So it was with a view of ascertaining how great this variation is in communities having like conditions or substantially like conditions, and in communities remote from each other with dissimilar conditions, that the facts given in the following table were gathered. This table must be considered to a large extent tentative, because in some measure incomplete; yet it shows clearly what might be accomplished if a uniform disposition on the part of producers could be met with. It was not to be expected in the first work of the Bureau that manufacturers everywhere would freely give information in the publication of which there might be caused an apprehension of injury to be received; but when it is considered that establishments have not hesitated to furnish the required information, and when it is known that no harm results to any industry through the publication of such information, it is to be hoped that in the future work of the Bureau no obstacle will be placed in its way by those most interested in giving full information freely and accurately. The first table presented gives the labor cost, the material cost, the administrative cost, and the total cost of the production of the arti cles described. There are two columns comprehending administrative cost, entitled "Administrative" and "Other." These two columns were made necessary from the fact that some establishments gave administrative cost by itself, meaning the expenses of management, and the "Other" comprehending insurance, taxes, interest, depreciation, etc. In such cases the two elements are separated; but in many cases, while proprietors were willing to give the labor and material cost, they preferred, through some motives of their own, to give administrative cost and the other elements together. Should it be desired to ascertain the wages paid or the number of persons engaged in each occupation in an establishment this can be seen by reference to the table "Occupations, with Number and Wages of Employés, by Industries," Appendix A, page 295. With reference to this table and the one showing cost of production it may be stated that 759 establishments are represented in the two. Of this number, 189 reported wages only, 177 cost of production only, and 393 both wages and cost of production. Thus, wages were reported for 582 establishments, covering 149,182 employés, an average of 256 employés to each establishment. The summarizing of this long, detail table of wages is exhibited in the five tables, pages 143 to 226. The table on cost of production is so full in itself, so far as details are concerned, that no analysis of it seems to be necessary, each industry being grouped by itself, and all the states or countries from which information was obtained relative to the cost of production being brought together; as, for instance, under "Metals and Metallic Goods," all the establishments, wherever situated, manufacturing such goods are placed under that title. This enables one to examine the relative cost of pro duction in different localities with ease, and any text analysis would simply be a restatement of the facts given compactly in the table itself. COST OF PRODUCTION. NOTE. The establishment numbers correspond to those in the table on page 295, Appendix A, show. ing number of employés and wages, except as noted below. See explanation of table, page 91. AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS. Establishment No. State. Description of unit. One 10-horse power thrasher with wagon and stacker One first-class hand-dump hay-rake One combined mowing and reaping machine with self-raking attach One combined mowing and reaping machine a589 Massachusetts. a587 Ohio..... ARMS AND AMMUNITION. One double-action revolver, 38 caliber ARTISANS' TOOLS. One 72-inch circular saw One cross-cut saw, 6 feet in length BOOTS AND SHOES. One pair men's stoga boots One pair men's hand-pegged, farmers' kip boots One pair men's first-class machine-sewed domestic calf boots. One pair men's first-class hand-sewed French calf boots One pair men's hand-pegged French kip boots.. One pair men's machine-sewed kip boots. One pair men's first-class double-soled wired or pegged kip boots One pair men's boots. One pair men's common machine-sewed domestic calf button boots... a The wages of employés in this establishment were not reported; therefore the number will not be found in the wage table, Appendix A. |