Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 68.djvu/262

 258 appeal to the artistic and esthetic demands of man, as wants of this latter sort develop, skilled workers will he gradually transferred from one class of industry to the other. Successful skilled workmen require clean, commodious and healthy home and shop environment. A demand for skilled craftsmen points toward a revival of village industry; because in the village or the suburbs only, as a rule, can such an environment be found at an expense which is not prohibitive. The use of water power and electrical transmission is especially suitable for furnishing power to small establishments. An authority on this subject has recently stated that about four fifths of the total water-power of the United States is found in falls furnishing less than one thousand horse-power; and that many now unutilized falls may be acquired and equipped to furnish electrical energy at a very reasonable cost per horse-power developed. The economic and industrial advantages are not all monopolized by the large business; but governmental regulation of railroads and of the exploitation of natural resources can also do much toward giving the small fellow and the small municipality a 'square deal.'

The steady increasing attention granted to art, architecture and the crafts movement, and the growing demand for public parks and playgrounds, are not entirely disconnected or distinct from the movement toward the suburbs. This latter movement has, to date, chiefly affected the well-to-do and the better paid class of artisans; but it is destined to persist until the homes and the environment surrounding the poorest are bettered. The cities are indeed growing very rapidly; but the foreshadowing of a new, more hopeful movement is there in their midst. Every demand for civic beauty and cleanliness is a demand for space and rapid transit.

A cursory glance at the worker employed in machine production reveals the fact that he has been reduced to the position of a mere machine tender. Long hours devoted to this kind of work makes a man narrow, it blunts his sensibilities; he finally becomes like unto the machine he tends. Machine production is a necessary accompaniment of our civilization; the machine is to remain among us, nor do we wish to dispense with its services. The machine must be used so as to benefit, not degrade mankind. The hope of the worker is in a shorter working day. If a shorter working day is obtained will the worker, is he able to, improve his leisure time? In other words, is a desirable and beneficial use of leisure time probable in the crowded portion of a city with its dull, monotonous scenery; its noise, hurry and smoke; its foul odors, bad streets and worse places of amusement or debauchery; its lack of natural scenery, fresh air and wholesome food? Amelioration of conditions is possible, feasible and desirable; but a movement of manufacture to the suburbs, the development of