Evolution of Industrial Society (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1903. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER X INDUSTRIAL PEACE It is a self-evident proposition that if we would avert strikes, we must deal with the causes of strikes: consequently any fruitful discussion of preventive measures must be based upon an analysis of these causes. What, then, are the causes of strikes of wage-earners? Many different causes are enumerated in reports on strikes, but most of these are subsidiary causes. The main causes are four: namely, first, a desire for higher wages or an effort to prevent reduction of wages; second, methods of calculating wages, as by the piece or time, by weight or measure, as in case of coal, methods of pay as in money or store orders, etc; third, a desire for a shorter working day; and fourth, a desire to improve the general environment under which work is conducted. The first cause is the one which appears most frequently in industrial disputes; but during the past generation many bitter strike conflicts have been waged with reference to the length of the working day. In the United States, especially, efforts to secure a normal working day of eight hours have provoked some of our fiercest strikes. The regulation of environment has been a relatively infrequent cause of strikes, although the matter is one of great importance. Efforts to secure recognition of labor organization, to regulate apprenticeship, etc., are subsidiary to the main causes enumerated, and all these causes obviously may be reduced to the one main cause -- a desire on the part of the wageearners to improve their economic position. But this desire on the part of wage-earners taking the main directions mentioned does not lead to strikes until it encounters opposition. If desire were realization, conflict would cease. Now the opposition to the realization of desire in the case of th...