The striking machinists at the great packing houses in Chicago resumed their work a few days ago, as the public knows. They left to an arbitration committee the task of determining the justice in their demand for wages of thirty-seven and one-half cents per hour and a working day of eight hours. The board of arbitration has now presented its report, and this report is truly a wonder to behold.

In this report, we are once more met with the priestly admonition, "Be satisfied with your lot." But in order to remove the insult and the 2bitterness of the admonition, it has been clothed in a set of fine phrases, which truly charm the eye and the mind, but which do not satisfy the starving ones, nor clothe the naked ones.

The arbitration board has become satisfied that under present circumstances the machinists must work twelve hours per day, but recommends that arrangements be made as speedy as possible for an eight hour day in case the labor movement were to develop as vigorously in the future as has been the case in recent years. In other words, the board recommends that the employers compel their workers to work twelve hours per day until the workers become strong enough to compel the employers to adopt the eight hour system. A noble board of arbitration, indeed.

Further, the board recommends that the machinists be paid at the rate of thirty cents per hour. The paragraph dealing with this matter runs as follows:

"Thirty cents per hour is to be the normal wage for a machinist who has passed his examinations. Any individual who has received certificate of knowledge concerning the care of a steam engine, and a machinist who is placed in charge of costly machines upon the functioning of which nearly all the work at the plant depends, naturally must be a man with a sense of responsibility, a man of intelligence, sober and loyal--and it is a pleasure for us to state that the machinists who came before us during the negotiations appeared to be in possession of these qualifications and traits of character--and therefore, are entitled to good wages, which, 4considering all interests, we place at thirty cents per hour."

Thirty cents per hour, $3.60 for a twelve hour day, for a machinist upon whose punctuality, intelligence, and knowledge of his work the welfare of the whole establishment depends, is considered by this board of three clergymen to be good wages. A man who knows every part, even the smallest, of his engine; a man who can locate every bolt and every nut in his immense engine; a man who has studied for years to become familiar with the correct technical terms, and who has studied for years, also, to learn to know his steam engine in its practical operation, such a man the board of clergymen accords a wage scale of thirty cents per hour.

Oh, you generous clergymen: Did you ever stand inspecting one of these 5engines, witnessed it in operation, listened to its thunderous noise? If so, did you turn your thoughts for a moment to the man who had charge of the machine, who took care of it, kept it shining? Do you realize that a single mistaken maneuver on the part of the machinist might in a moment send both, you and himself, into eternity? Do you understand that a few pounds difference in steam pressure might mean the crippling or death of many people and property damage of many thousands of dollars? You understand that the work of the machinist requires punctuality and alertness, and yet you recommend that this machinist work twelve hours per day instead of eight hours.

Your work, Messrs. Priests is easier, and, we dare insist, in spite of your objections, is less responsible. You can more easily learn how to "convert" 6a soul than the machinist learns why his engine does not work smoothly. And yet we doubt that you would be satisfied with thirty cents per hour for your work.

The owners of the packing plants are the only ones who gained anything from this decision by the arbitration board, testifying as it does to the utter ignorance of the board members.

Both the members of the board and the machinists were losers. The machinists lost a few cents per day, but the clergymen lost the confidence of the working class.