In the factories of a hundred years ago a working day of fourteen or sixteen hours was by no means uncommon. When the laboring population of England began to demand a universal ten-hour day factory owners protested that it would be impossible for them to remain in business and continue to pay wages if the day was thus shortened. But in spite of these dire forebodings the working day has been shortened to ten hours and in many occupations to eight hours and the threatened peril has not befallen. On the contrary, the working classes are now demanding a universal eight-hour day.

A twofold argument is advanced for the shorter workday. In the first place, say the labor leaders, a universal eight-hour work day would result in furnishing employment to a great many persons who are now unemployed, since there is a certain amount of work to be done and since those who are employed at present would not be able to do so much in eight hours as they could do in ten. The second argument for the eight-hour labor day is advanced by those economists who hold that the shorter workday will increase the efficiency of the worker to such a degree that he will be able to do as much work in eight hours as he formerly did in ten. These two lines of argument are contradictory in that one maintains that the laborer will not do as much in eight hours as in ten while the other states that he will do as much.

The truth of the matter is that the increase in efficiency resulting from the shorter workday will depend upon the character of the work. Where the labor to be performed is light and consists in guiding a machine or a team of horses it is very likely to be true that the longer the workday the greater will be the amount produced, provided, of course, that the day does not extend beyond twelve or fourteen hours. On the other hand, where the work is laborious it may often happen that a greater output can be achieved in eight hours than in ten because a longer period of rest and recuperation makes for a better conditioned workman. The real justification of the movement for a shorter workday lies in the fact that industry is sufficiently productive so that the laboring population can afford to devote themselves to other interests than the mere production of wealth. The shortened workday means more time for rest and recreation, more time for mental and spiritual and physical development. The economic ideal is not that as much wealth be produced as possible, but that human life be made as rich as possible.