became prosperous and obtained the enjoyment of an advanced scale of living owing to their eagerness to work, Even in some of the countries of Europe where the universal eight-hour day has been established by law it has been observed that there are men who after completing their time in one factory go to another job to eke out the day. The erstwhile 12-hour steel workers may still find opportunities to remain away from their families. Indeed, it appears that they do exactly that and the sociologists have on their hands the job of warning them away from such pernicious activity and wheedling them into more devotion to their families.
Incidentally, I may point out an ugly immorality in this practice. The man who used to give 12 hours of easy work to one employer cannot give four hours of hard work to a secondary job and eight hours to his primary job and show an undiminished rate of efficiency in the latter, which fairness to the primary employer demands. There is nothing new in an employer frowning upon outside work by ambitious employees on the ground that it causes them to become stale and inefficient for the regular job for which he pays them. The steel-makers were confronted by the practical condition that if 12 hours at 40 c. had been giving the worker $4.80 per day, eight hours at the same price would not give him enough. Nor would they be able even to hold him, for he would seek other employment where he could earn more. The steel-maker needed more men, not fewer. Yet the raising of the hourly rate might throw other rates out of balance. In the end it was decided to raise the rate to 50 c. per hour. Obviously this spells an increased wage bill, an increased cost of production, for which some one must
