The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1885-01-01
EUROPEAN LABOR.
Reports from tho Consuis 20 secretar,
Frelinghuysen.

NepOrts nom tho SOnsuis 10 secretary
Frelinghuysen.
Secretary Frelmghuysen has sent volumi,
nous letter to the House of Representatives
reviving the reports from United States consuls
ia relation to the state of labor in Europe.
Each consular district is spoken OF sepaa ely
and briefly, the wages, habits and customs,
moral and physical condition Of the working
classes being touched upon, ms well us the man
ner of living, prevailing therein, while gem
eral resume for the country at large is given
at the close, the whole concluding with gen.
eral recapitulation for all Europe, in which the
labor elements Of the several countries are COM
raIc with each other, and these in turn with the
conditions which prevail in the United States.
In his remarks, the secretary says British re-
suits are principally selected for COM
Parsons, as English wages are, gen.
orally speaking, the highest in Europe,
and English trade conditions more in
common with American customs and
ussges than those of other countries. He
says: 'It Appeals, comparing cities Of Europe
with those in the United States, that bricklay-
ers and musons in Chicago are paid very near
ly three times the wages, pasterels nearly four
times, skaters three times, plumbers nearly
three times, carpenters twice, blaoksmiths
twice, bookbinders more than twice, brick
and cabinet makers nearly twice. con-
fectioners twice, cigar maker, nearly three
times, coopers once and a half as much.
draymen, teamsters, and street railway
driversnearly twice, dyers more than twice,
engravers nearly three times, furriers
twice, horseshoers 3 IL times, jewellers
more than l IL times, laborers, por-
tiers, ETC., more than twice. lithograph-
ers three times, telegraph operators 2 IL
4 ..,~ta
twice and one-half, saddlers and harness
makers more than one and one-lalf times,
stevedores more than twice and one.fouth
times, tailors twice, and tinsmiths once
and three-fourths the wages pad to
similar trades and callings in London" Rela-
tive to the prices OF the necessnries of life, the
secretary says: at is frequently asserted that
the cheapness of living in Europe more than
equa,izes the lower wages there paid. In the
volume on labor in England, published by this
department in 1873, it was shown that prices
oil food in the United States we're actually lower
than in Europe, and TINT the working classes
in the United States could purchase more and
better aliment, dollar for dollar, than the
working masses of any country in Europe
The contrary impression is probably due to the
fact that the working people of Europe live
more cheaply than the working people of the
United States, from which it is infe FRED that
the purchasing power Of the wages is greater
than the purchasing power OF similar wages
here. 1t appers flom the reports that tho
American workman consumes more and better
food than the mechanic or laborer abroad, and
that the cost Of this food is as small in the
United States as in Europe. In general, cloth
ing can be purchased cheaper in Europe thnn
in the United States, especially clothing of. the
higher grades. AS to relative quantity and
| quality of clothing, the basis fer an identical
comparison does not exist. House rent in Eu-
rope Is apparently lower than here, bnt the
habitations are usually inferior to these in the
United Stntcsn