Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 8.djvu/544

 524 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

will always displace more workers than can be employed by a reduction of hours. In other words, to them the eight-hour day is a palliative, not a solution, of present-day evils. To this the reply is sometimes made : " If eight hours will not bring the desired result, then six, certainly four, hours a day will employ those out of work."

It is at this point that we may turn to a careful examination of the eight-hour-day philosophy and the questions kindred to it. Fundamentally there can be no objections to the desirability of the eight-hour day ; but to the philosophy and basis of the argument very serious objection may be taken. Under the eight- hour-day movement is an abiding belief in the power of the standard of living to increase wages, and that demand for com- modities constitutes the principal employing force of labor. From this point of view, shorter hours mean increased standard of living and wider consumption, leading to a larger demand for commodities, and as a consequence to extended employment of workers. But "want" and "demand" are not synonymous terms. Want does not develop into demand unless accompa- nied by purchasing power. Hence we must come back to the source of wages upon which the whole question of the eight- hour day hinges. The wage-earner does not influence the market and produce the results noted in the philosophy of the short-hour movement, except as he is the possessor of material things. Undoubtedly the rate of wages does depend upon the demand for labor, but in turn the demand for labor rests upon the aggregate capital of the community, which is determined by the gross production and the demand for commodities, while the gross production is governed by the productivity of labor. Wages are thus ultimately paid out of product.

In this statement of the source of wages it will be noted that the demand for commodities determines the amount of capital that will be used for productive purposes, but in no sense does an increase of wages rest solely upon the cost of subsistence. Increase of wages, as well as reduction of hours, is limited by the producing power of labor. Whether the laborer gets all he is entitled to does not materially affect the arguments advanced