File:Men and things (1918) (14771154044).jpg

Identifier: menthings00atki (find matches)
Title: Men and things
Year: 1918 (1910s)
Authors: Atkinson, Henry Avery, b. 1877
Subjects: Working class -- United States Christian sociology
Publisher: New York : Missionary education movement of the United States and Canada
Contributing Library: University of California Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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d it is the only propertythat most men possess; when he loses it he is losingeverything. Some years ago the Idaho legislature passeda law which guarantees to every citizen resident in thestate for six months, ninety days public work a year atninety per cent, of the usual wage if married or havinga dependent, and seventy-five per cent, of the usual wageif he is single. Industry has never been organized so asto include the best interests of the worker. There arehundreds of thousands more w^orkers needed in the goodyears than in the bad years. In every business specialcalls arise for more workers to be used for a few weeksor a few days at a time. The reserves of labor necessaryto meet these seasonal or casual demands can be re-duced to a minimum, providing that industry is regu-larized. As it is, the individual worker suffers in themachine, or system, that he has helped to create. Themodern plan of organization provides for managers,superintendents, foremen, clerks, and skilled men—all
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SEASONAL LABOR AND CASUAL WORKERS 147 dependent for their position upon the group of ujiskilledmen or semi-skilled workers at the bottom. It is obvious that we cannot legislate so that lumbercan be taken out of the forests all the year round, norcan the casual workers—farm laborers, fruit-, and hop-pickers and others—have continual employment. Whatwe can do, however, is to mobilize the labor forces ofthe country with the same care and ability that we havemobilized our national army. Through a chain of laborexchanges extending throughout the whole nation wecan bring the man and the job together. When thelumber employees in the woods of Washington finishwith their season they could be brought down into Cali-fornia to work on the farms and in the fields; and thenfarther down as the fruit ripens, following on straightthrough the state. In the autumn they could be broughtback again to take their places in the woods. Another thing that will be required is a changed attitudetoward the me

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