Morris tribune., 1884-12-24
A LOOK AT THE FIELD.
REVIEW OF THE SITUATION IN IN
DUSTRlAL CIRCLES.
Bradstreet Presents Some Instructive
Facts and F1gures-Number of Men
Employed In 1884 Compared
with 1880.

far as reported, Sl6. 900 fewer employees are
at work in twenty-one states-contalnlng ~
per cent Of the manufacturing employees
than have hitherto been required. 1t Is ialr
to presume that moro detailed inquiry
would reveal nearer 35), 00O as the total-ln
part due, OF course to customary stoppage at
this season. The inquiries include twenty-five
states-Marylan3, Virginia. West Virginia,
Kentucky. Missouri, and all north thereof.
There has been general reduction in wages
in industrial lines varying from ~ to %, and
In some instances so per cent, taking the
year through. In some lines the reductl sns
are as low as 10 to l5 per cent. Skilled
workers in specialtios only ars exempt or
partially exempt, from this. The reduced
forces at work range from 50 per cent. at
some points among the 1ron-workerS TO an
average Of 20 per cent against 1850 for the
states reported to 10 per cent. among glass
workers, II per cent. among the tobacco
operatives, woolen goods 10 per cent, boots
and shoes IA per cent, and cotton gools 1913
Der cent The reductions referred to do not
include the shrinkage in clerical forces in
mercantile houses at leading cities
going on at the present time, ana which
is assuming noteworthy proportions.
Among the industrial wage-earnerS reduction
in wages have been greatest where there
have been no industrial organizations or
weak ones Where trade-unioniSm is strong
est contract rate and united resistance have
combined to retard tie downward ten lency
of wages. In tho states covered by this IN
uuiry there were 2 49,, 149 of that number,
CT 40 per cent
The most complete reports are from New
York, New England, Pennsylvania, Ohio,
Minnesota, Kentucky and Michigan. New
York has dropped from the rolls about 16
ler cent. of tue men estimated as employed
in 1882, Pennsylvania about IA per cent,
Kentucky about l7per cent, Michigan about
Is per cent, Ohio about 16 per cent, and
Illinois about per cent. Of the number re-
ported displaced by the depression in trade
less than Is 0J0 are reported due to strikes,
or about 53 per cent The locations, number
engaged therein, and character of the exist
ing prominent strikes, all due to resisting
wage reductions are as follows Number en-
gagged in strikes: Pennsylvania railway pit
miners, 500; Hooking valley and others,
5000; Tennessee, 300; Angus, Iowa, 1000;
total coal miners, 7,100. Cotton-weavers,
Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, 1850; hat
ters, Connecticut, 1900; boots and shoes,
Philadelphia, 5000; Philadelphia weavers,
1000; total striking, 1850.
There is talk of 1000 Pennsylvania bitum-
nous liverpool miners striking on Monday
if cents per bushel is not granted for min
ing instead of 21S cents There is menace Of
also of strike at an early day from tho
Pittsburg machinery holders, of which,
however, there is no certainty. In the
seventeen leading industrial cities the
number reported dispensed with is H.
| lis, or nearly Sc per cent. Of the total re-
Thaf o1 bor H1,ou int riti iac
| in 1880 was 923, 100, or 81 per cent of the
total in the states enumerated in this in
quiry, indicating that the industrial deprss-
sion las shown by the reduced number of
employees has been 50 per cent. greater in
cities than in the country districts. In the
cities themselves the greater falling away in
the numbers employed (preportionate) has
been in Detroit, (Troy and Cleveland
being conspicuous), in Philadelphia, in
Richmond, Va, in New York, Patterson N.
j., Pittsburg, and Wheeling.
Perhaps as interesting portion of the in
quiry as any Is that which points to the ap-
proximate decrease in the number employed
in leading lines Of industry. 1t is to be
regretted that more complete data Oh
this point cannot be given, owing to
want of space. The employees in blast
furnaces, rolling mills, steel-worls, FORCES
and bloomaries, foundries machine and loco
motive works in the United States, in $780,
numbered 421, 600, and in the states reported
8SS, 900. Reports to Bradstreets' indicate
that at least 30, 600 of such operatives have
been dispensed with, or 90. 6 per cent.
OF operatives on clothing in New York
New England, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, al
least IS ,00O fewer are at work than year
ago, or over 81 per cent of those in 1880
On cotton goods the decline in the number
of operatives in New England, New York
New Jersey, and Pennsylvania is 10000, OF
nearly 12N per cent of the total in 1880
On woolen goods the decline in New
England, New York, New Jersey, and
Pennsylvania is "a, 600, or 16 per cent of the
total four years ago. In New England
alone $4,000 woolen goods operatives are
idle las against 1882 and the industry has
suffered much more than that of cotton
goods, in which Tin New England) the tota
idle las against 1882 is 1900 hands. Ii
boots and shoes, so far as detailed
there are $4,000 fewer operatives al
work than four years ago 5000 temporar
fly III New England) or about II per cent
fewer than 1880. This industry is. however
relatively less depressed than others specified
In Paterson, N. j., there are 1000 fewer sill
operatives at work or about 16 per cent. o
the whole number in 1880. In Pennsylvania
Ohio, and in st. Louis about 4, ZOO operative
In the glass factories have been laid off
about 19 per cent of the total in 1880.