Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1868-04-17
rur C,psr or LABOR

has the following concerniag wages OF
mechanics in that city aud its rise since
1860:
Much has been said and written rela.
tive to the increased cost Of living since
the breaking out Of the late war. At
tempts are constantly being made to
create q feeling Of uneasiness Ia this re-
gard among the mechanic and laboring
classes. II is hoped thereby to tsrn
the political powero Of the masses against
the party to whose persistence in the
right the preservation OF the Union is
attributable, Add but for whom the
Government would havo been split into
fragments and American nationality
made a by-word. The people are not,
however, to be fooled " by these empty
declarations; nor are they 70 DO turnod
from a sense Of justice by any such
means as are being brought to bear, for
that purpose. The truth is Ia fact, by
the bye, never mentioned by Copperhead
politicians) that while the cost OF living
has very perceptibly Increased, the cost
OF labor has advanced in like ratio. No
mechanic or laboring man works in
1868 for the wages that prevailed in
1860. In many instances tho npprccia-
ltion in labor prices has FIR outstriPped
the relative advance in provisions and
household uccessaries. According 10 n
late report Of the Special Commissioner
Of Revenue, labor value has advanced
in many places in the State Of MassA-
chusetts 81! per centum over the prices
paid before the war. In the city OF
Baltimore aud vicinity 100 per centnm
has been added to the wages Of carpen-
tiers aud wood-workers generally, while
plumbers and tinsmiths' labor has gone
up from IS to 80 per centum over the
values of 1860. Tho average increased
pay for laboring work in the same State
is about 65 per centum. In Western
New York the increase In wages Of
skilled farm laborers has been 10 per
centum /; for month aud day laborors,
from so to G5 per centum for mschan-
ics' labor from so to 100 per centum .
An average Of the increased cost Of labor
throughout the whole country since
1860 may be set down nj from ca to 70
per centum.f In the report Of David A.
Wells, Special Commissioner Of Reve-
L,nue, Introductory to'a bill prepared by
him rs q substitute for the Customs laws
now in force, may DO found the follow
ing, given rs illustrative Of the recent
advance in wages:
4 careful examination Of a rolling
mill in Pitlsburg, Pennsylvania. making
band-iron, showed u disbursement Of
wages, per week, Of $500 in 1866,
against Sl,700 in 1860 and lS6l-the
mill working to the saint capacity and
employing exactly the same number Of
hands in both cases. The average wages
earned by meltcrs, forgers and rollers
employed in the steel works of Pitts
burg, and working nine hours per day
during the month Of October, 1867, was
reported TO the Commissioner Of So per
day. The following rate of wages are
also reported to have been paid during
the past year in the same city, in the
manufacture Of iron and glass: Skilled
hammer men, working on m average
Of FIVE days per week, So per day.
h%ead-nailers, superintending four mt
chimes, Sill per day; blowers Of bottles
and wiudow.glass, $275 per month.
During tho months Of April and May,
1866, the rates Of wages paid in certain
Of the glass works Of Pittsburg arc re.
ported to have averaged $ll 40 per day,
Bricklayery aud masons have received
from s. to 81 per day in different sec.
tons Of the country during the pas,
year.
1t further appears from an examina.
ton of the United States census stats.
tics Of manufactures in 1860, that the
average monthly wages Of employees, in
all branches of manufactures was, Of
males, S27 10, and Of females, Sl2 so
while by the census Of the State of New
York, in 1865, the average monthly
wages in the whole State WAS, for males
$4l, and for females, $40; being an in,
crease over the wages OF lSG0-Gl of c.
per cent. for males and co per cont. fol
females.
All who have had occasion to employ
mechanics or laborers since 1861 know
full we'll how largo has boen the in.
creased prices they have been Obliged
to pay for their services. The follow
ing comparative table, made up from
various sources, shows the averages o.
advance in cost for first class workmcu
since 1860: