The Labor enquirer., 1884-08-09

NOV 0Ooo it not appear oqlt-ovloent nom
the foregoing that the amount in circula-
tion, per capita, has an important bear
ing on the lives Of these miserable crea-
turssf What prospect of hope, Whist
ray of light. is held out to them to better
their condition, or time left them for
self.culture, or reading for informationf
Is it or can it be source of wonder that
there are riots in the manufacturing
centers Of Austria? There are none Of
their leaders, 80 far as I know, that have
seen or is seeing from whence comes
their suffering. Their leaders see and
know instinctively that there is some
thing radically wrong, but they do NOT
look for the cause where it is to be
found, and that cause is the monetary
system, hidden back of all this distress
and misery, which is torturing them
with gslow and cruel death
{ / might stop right here and claim that
the ergreenbacker sees this, and his theory
would remove all of this evil, but it
might be said that this state of affairs in
Austria Hungary is an isolated case, and
that there are none Others to be found.
What followsin regard to Germany may
not present SO appalling a picture, as to
its effect on wages, but it will show
enough to make anyone desirous of To-
eating the cause to the proper source. do
30. Now, Germany has circulation,
per capita, of about Sic, and let us try
and find out the rate of wages in that
empire:
The regular wages of workingmen av-
erage, in summer and winter, from 1e
cents and 8 mills to "a cents per day; Of
females from s to IA cents per day. Dur
ing the short winter days workingmen
receive for eight hours work from 10 to
IA cents, females, I cents and mills
while in summer, for twelve or thirteen
hours labor, the relative wages are from
10 to 28 cents, and from IA to 19 cents
respectively. The wages of those work.
ingmen in the royal forests average "a
cents day for males, and for females IA
cents and 4 mills. In large cities wages
rise above these rates, especially fol
skilled labor. Men working on railroads
receive in summer from 2S to 36 cant pei
day. Labor is often paid by the hour at
from to 8 cents for males, and from l tc
2 cents for females. The wages of mold
ers and enamelers in iron foundries, O
locksmiths and joiners in machine works
and piano factories, amount to Y cents 9
day. | have before me table of the in
come and expenditure of a mason and
family, consisting of five persons, and 6
laborers', with the same number in >the
family. The mason's income, together
with his wife,s, for one year, $79.72; his
expenditure for same length Of time
$S0.32, leaving a deficiency of so cents
The laborer's income, together with hi
wife's, for one year, $72; expenditure fol
same length of time, $SO,32, leaving de
fciency of 1892. -
I have abridged this, omltting the va
rious items of income and also the price
of the various articles of consumption fol
each family, so as to save space. This il
taken from the royal Prussian statistica
bureau of Berlin. Now these two en-
pires have the lowest amount in circula,
ton, per capita.
Of the following named, France ha.
somewhere in the neighborhood of $3t
per capita; Belgium, $3S; Netherland
$36; Great Britain, $40, and the United
States say the same. Now the two las
named have about the same rate PEI
capita, yet there is quite a disparity as
to the wages paid in each country. This
is to be accounted for from the fact O
the protection afforded the wage-workel
in this country, from the baleful effect O
free trade in the other. The Green
backer recognizes this fact, in keepins
up the rate Of wages in this country anc
advocates strenuously in favor of pro
tecting not only our industries from the
evil effects of free trade, but the abolition
of all kinds and degrees of imported
pauper labor from any other country
With this prov1sio /: let the government
give US cheap money, stable in volume
and $50 per capita with no interest for
money and it may take off the protective
laws tomorrow so far as our industries
are concerned, and we can compete with
the whole world. But, we can not do ii
while the government. delegates its
sovereign prerogative to gang of thieves
known as national bankers, (whose trade
is bottomed on bonds, which can and
ought to be paid off, so that they and
they alone can say how much or how
little we shall have in circulation pei
capita. ? s.
1 hope this is made plain enough SC
that anyone taking the trouble can find
out for themselves without any further
elaboration on my part at present. And
likewise / hopeit is equally plain that
where there is low standard of circula-
ton, there we find misery, degradation
and enslavement mentally and bodily, Of
the masses Of the useful, the wealth
producing members of that country
And the grand mission of the greenback
party is to try and bring about such a