be that the number of volunteers for any
trade is exactly the number needed in that trade. It must be generally either
under or over the demand.«
    »The supply of volunteers is always expected to fully equal the demand,«
replied Dr. Leete. »It is the business of the administration to see that this is
the case. The rate of volunteering for each trade is closely watched. If there
be a noticeably greater excess of volunteers over men needed in any trade, it is
inferred that the trade offers greater attractions than others. On the other
hand, if the number of volunteers for a trade tends to drop below the demand, it
is inferred that it is thought more arduous. It is the business of the
administration to seek constantly to equalize the attractions of the trades, so
far as the conditions of labor in them are concerned, so that all trades shall
be equally attractive to persons having natural tastes for them. This is done by
making the hours of labor in different trades to differ according to their
arduousness. The lighter trades, prosecuted under the most agreeable
circumstances, have in this way the longest hours, while an arduous trade, such
as mining, has very short hours. There is no theory, no a priori rule, by which
the respective attractiveness of industries is determined. The administration,
in taking burdens off one class of workers and adding them to other classes,
simply follows the fluctuations of opinion among the workers themselves as
indicated by the rate of volunteering. The principle is that no man's work ought
to be, on the whole, harder for him than any other man's for him, the workers
themselves to be the judges. There are no limits to the application of this
rule. If any particular occupation is in itself so arduous or so oppressive
that, in order to induce volunteers, the day's work in it had to be reduced to
ten minutes, it would be done. If, even then, no man was willing to do it, it
would remain undone. But of course, in point of fact, a moderate reduction in
the hours of labor, or addition of other privileges, suffices to secure all
needed volunteers for any occupation necessary to men. If, indeed, the
unavoidable difficulties and dangers of such a necessary pursuit were so great
that no inducement of compensating advantages would overcome men's repugnance to
it, the administration would only need to take it out of the common order of
occupations by declaring it extra hazardous, and those who pursued it especially
worthy of the national gratitude, to be overrun