The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1883-05-27
The Wages Of Paris WOrkingmen.

wages are paid In the French capital than In
other parts Of France or than can be earned
In Germany and Italy. It is mono the less
true that tho average daily stipend obtain
able by manual labor In Paris, while 1t may
suffice to meet tho modest necessities Of the
Individual artisan. Is quite inadequate to tho
support OF large family Of children, al
though 1t is precisely the poor and the hard
working upon whom this additional burden
is observed most frequently to fall. This
whole subject Of the earnings OF labor
viewed In relation to the cost OF living has
been carefully studied by M. OTHENTN
D'HAUssoNvILLE, and tho results OF his per-
sonnl Investigations are published In re-
cent number OF the Repue DIES DUE Mondes.
For the purposes OF his inquiry NJ D'HAUs-
soNvILLE distributes the vacations pursued
by workingmen in Paris into three cate
gories. In relatively small but highly re-
munerated class he places those callings
which exact more than ordinary intelligence
and n special training. but which do not call
for the exertion OF much physical force.
Among the handicrafts here contemplated
may be named those Of the printer, the
wood engraver, tho painter upon porcelain,
and the matchmaker. 1t appears that the
Paris newspapers pay compositors SO for
seven hours work during the day and $40
at night In other printing houses COM
positors earn from 10 to % cents On hour, or,
II they prefer piece work, they receive IS
cents per thousand letters. Wood engraving
is paid for by tho square centimetre, the
minimum price being 8 cents. An ordinary
engraver gains from SLIGO to $l.sO day, but
ho t., alyii II hn oil ,t0it, md
should he be a well-known expert, as much
as So. We observe also that in Paris, al
though an average matchmaker or manufac-
turing jeweller can only earn from 81 to go
daily, exceptional dexterity Is remuncrated
by much larger wages, as, for example,
three or four and sometimes six dollars a
day. But all those employed in these COM
paratively well-paid vocations represent but
n small fraction OF the skilled workmen Of
the French capital
Let us look now at tho data relating to o
class of handicrafts which are numerically
much more important. and which demand
not only some professional training and nat
ural aptitude, but also the exercise OF con-
siderable physical force. Such are the call
ings OF the mason, the stonecuttcr, the
iron worker, the carpenter, tho cabinet
maker, the house painter, and the paper
hanger. The average wages paid in Paris
to mason or bricklayer are $1.7O in summer
and $l.36 In winter; an expert stonecutter
can gain $40 for ten hours work In summer
and sl92 for eight hours work in winter;
tho carpenters earnings also vary according
to the season, from $3.50 to $1.A q day.
House painters and paperhangers receive on
the average SLIGO; decorative painters get
$2.iO, wood carvers from Sl.sO to $3.50, and
proficient cabinetmakers from $3.50 to S225
per diem. 1t should be noted, however, that
all the crafts concerned in the furnishing of
houses have lately suffered from severe
industrial crisis, oil the Partisan products
being undersold by the articles imported
from Germany and Italy, where skilled work.
men can be hired tor from 60 cents to dollar
n day. Taking all the calings together
which are assigned by NJ. D'HAUssoNvILLE
to the second category, wc find the minimum
daily stipend paid in Paris to be about 81 per
diem, and the maximum $40. We must bear
in mind, however, that even when employ
ment Is constant working year means only
800 days, that almost every handicraftsman
Is liable to periods OF enforced unproductive-
ness resulting from Industrial depression,
and that in many of the trades mentioned no
employment can be got during certain por-
tions OF tho year.
Passing to the ruder kinds OF work grouped
in tho third class, we learn that the wagoners
and truckmen earn from 80 to 90 cents day,
but that these arc apparently tho highest
wages obtained In any Of tho callings per-
tanning to this category The railway COM
D{a,v n Ia q.
labor required ut tho metropolitan stations
the street sweepers got 65 cents. Nor is the
last mentioned tho minimum price; equally
hard labor is performed for private employ
ers at somewhat lower rate Keeping both
extremes in view, and bearing in mind the
much greater number OF the poorly paid, we
may say that what Is known US unskilled
and hard labor Is only worth in Paris from 10
| to 70 cents q day. In other words, a man en-
| ployed In the ruder callings here considered
might, II constantly employed earn from
S2lO to S225 in working year of 800 days.
These figures carry no definite meaning
| until they are compared with the cost of the
necessaries OF life. On this side OF the SUBJ
1ect the facts supplied by NJ. D'HAUssoN-
VILE are particularly interesting What,
for instance, Is the midday meal of Partisan
workingman whose earnings permit him to
buy sufficient nourishment 1t costs, we arc
told. just as cents, including cents for bread,
cents for wine, 0 cents for soup and piece
OF beef, cents for vegetables, and cents for
cheese. To the outlay for dinner must, OF
course, be added tho amounts disbursed for
breakfast and supper, meals which, IL no is O
married man, he will take at home with his
family, and which will cost respectively s
cents and Is cents pcr head. 1t is to be noted
that the Paris workman, unlike his brother
artisan in tho greater part Of France and
elsewhere on the Continent, will eat only
white bread Of n fine quality, and considers
wine indispensable; he also insists upon
meat at least once u day, and consumes but
ter and eggs in considerable quantities. We
observe that, although tho price Of wheat Is
much lower, the bakers ask somewhat more
for bread than they did thirty years ago ;
they now get 81 cents for two-pound loaf
or its equivalent. On the other hand, the
cost OF beef and mutton has slightly de-
| clincd, and tho same thing could be said OF
pork so long Us tho importatlons from the