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day has been in vogue hardly bears out the hope for such a result. In Victoria the unemployed are still evident in great numbers. The organization of the "New Unionism" in this Australian state is proof of the inability of the eight-hour day to absorb those out of work. It may be boldly stated that no provision such as the one under discussion is able to solve the difficulties which have their root in the whole economic basis of industry. Nevertheless, the eight-hour day has its reward and is worth seeking.
Not, then, as a means of employing the " reserve army of industry," as the unemployed are sometimes called, is the eight- hour day to be advocated, but rather as a means of giving to men a wider interest in life, the possibility of greater culture, and the surety of education commensurate with the problems now forced upon our democracy for solution. It is not, then, as a private measure that this movement is acceptable, but as a public necessity. More important still is the query : Can such a day be attained ? Remembering that wages depend upon the productivity of labor, it remains to be seen how far an eight- hour day is likely to impair production and in consequence injure the wealth-producing power of the country. Experience, however, furnishes an answer, for in many manufacturing plants it has been shown that in the long run the men are able to pro- duce as much in eight as in ten hours, while the proprietors add such eloquent testimonials as " less drunkenness," " greater regularity of attendance," and " better class of men at work." If the eight-hour day is productive of higher intelligence, it must bring better results. In the English coal mines the eight- hour day has been the rule for some years, with no special diminution in the output. This mysterious result, defiant of the "rule of three," is due to the power of greater intensity of work during a shorter time evidence of the fact that the energy of the worker has not decreased from day to day from the long hours of labor.
In the various occupations where no products are created, but exchange alone carried on, there is no reason why trade might not be confined to shorter hours than at present. The
