Connecticut western news., 1879-07-30
How aacv if ic to bo ,,,;,+ol.o .I L .

How easy it is to be mistaken, and how pleasant and good it is to wake up some fine morning and find that we are not half 80 bad ly off as we supposed we were and that much of our trouble is imaginary. Ever since the panic of 1873 we have heard great deal about hard times, especially among the labor ing classes, but the Boston Traveller has been examining the labor statistics of the country for several years past and finds that the workingman is much better off than he was before the war. It takes three periods before the war, 1860, when prices were low, midway between the war and now, 1872, when prices were high and after the wal, 1878, when we had touched bottom and prices were correspondingly low-the prices at the latter period being about the same as now. It then for the sake of comparison selects ten of the principal trades, to wit: Farm laborer, team. ster, carpenter, mason, cotton weaver, wheel wright, machine operator mule spinner, ma. chinist and compositor, and ten of the princi- pal items of expenditure, to wit: Flour, rice,
 
 and the rent of a six-room tenement.
 Beginning, then, with the year 1860, we find that the average farm laborer was receiv- ing (with board) $3.40 per week, the team ster $5.40, the carpenter $9.92, the stone ma son $11.45, the cotton weaver $7.74, the wheelwright $10.64, the machine operator (female) $5.33, the mule spinner $6.33, the machinist $9.64, the compositor $14S3. So much for the wages, Now for the prices of food in 1860 Good four was selling at STA per barrel, rice at l-2 cents per, pound, tea at 54 3-4 cents, sugar at 1-2 cents, beef at II cents butter at 21 3-4 cents, potatoes at 5S cents per bushel, coal at $6 40 per ton, wood at $649 per cord, while the rent of six-room tenement, such as needed by the l average family in tolerable circumstances, was | $7. 54 per month.
 In 1872 wages had Increased on the above prices 6S pr cent and on the prices of the arti- cles mentioned GO per cent. being per cent. in favor of wages. From this time prices and wages declined and in 1878 the farm laborer was receiving $3.73 per week, an advance on the amount paid in 1860 of II per cent. the teamster got $S, an advance of 50 per cent the carpenter $1l.33, an advance of l4 per cent. the weaver $9.7l, an advance of 20 per cent. the mason $13.37, an advance of 17 per cent; the wheelwright SIS. 7o,a an ad- vance of 30 per cent. the machine operator S5.92, an advance of per cent the mule spinner $7,4l an advance of 16 per cent. the machinist $1305, an advance of 35 per cent. the compositor $1928, an advance of 23 per cent. Taking the average, we find that wages have risen since 1860 twenty-three per cent stT l Again we turn to the other side of the shield. Flour in 1878 was selling at $798 per barrel, rise of 10 per cent. over the price in 1860; rice at g IA cents per pound, rise of P per cent. tea at 60 IA cents a rise of | 10 per cent sugar at 8 3-4 cents, rise of per cent |; beef at 14 1-2 cents, rise of 26 per cent; butter at 25 IA cents, rise of IA | per cent. potatoes at 97 3-4 cents per bushel, a rise of 60 per cent. coal at $6.45 per ton, a rise of per cent; wood at $6.74 per cord, rise of per cent. while the rent of six room tenement was $9.43, a rise of 25 per cent That is, living prices had advanced, compared with 1860, seventeen per cent, while wages have advanced twenty-three per cent.-leaving in favor of the workingman Q balance of seven per cent.
 The conclusion is that the laborer is better off to-day than he was in 1860. To the ques- ton whether the result holds good for the vast number of workingmen who do not come into the above category, the Traveller quotes the latest reports of the Massachusetts bu- reau of statistics, which finds that the average workingman of every grade is receiving ten per cent. higher wages than in 1860, making due allowance for the increased cost of living. A similar result is found in England, notwith. standing. the business depression there and the great agitation over the labor question. These figures and comparisons certainly pre- sent very pleasant and hopeful view of the future and figures won't lie, although they will sometimes stretch the truth awfully.