The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1886-12-09
WAGES IN ENGLAND AND GERM ny


The discussion at the Canton Iyceum
last Friday evening was upon prOtec'
tlon and free trade, and scms very viii
statements, not to say GsITOw, were
made. Surely some of the protection
gentlemen have given the suit jet little
or no atteD Dtlon; otherwise one would
not say that "higber wages are paid In
Germany than In EBglsnd;" or another,
that he, (whO is hep had no patience
with men who dared to differ from him,
they were fanatics, cranks or musty
college professors" What intellectus!
giants these must be.
In Littell'd Living Age Of last Satur-
day, is an article from the Spectator, In
which comparison is made between
Germany and England as to wages, an
extract from which we append:
Nowhere 10 EarOpe is the struggle for
existence fiercer at the present moment
than in Germany. The nation is grow
ing at the rate of 1.3 per cent DER
annum, practically at about the s3me
rate as the English. Allowing for
deaths, there is an addition to the p0gu-
lAtiOn # six hundred thousand yearly,
which deductil G two hundi ed Thousand
who emigrate, leaves an incE ease of
four hundred thousand for whom room
must be made and food provided
Wages, on the other hand, are inCredi-
bly, low, while The prices of cOmmOdi tie>
are not falling prOporti Opately Tail
Ors, working thirteen hOlrs, receive on
an average 15d, to l8i per day; shoe
makers, l3d. to 16i; carpenters and
cpisiels, 1851; mssODs and smiths, from
15d. to l9d. IrODworkers and milI-Opera-
lives fare even worse, Krupp, al Essen,
pays first class hand under 131 a
week, and lsbOrers Of the second class
get only 10S Saxon clockmakers work
Tor less than s., Silesisn naiImakeTs
for less tAan A.. week; and weaVers In
many districts are stated to receive the
meaoTe pittance Of %
y 315 per dny. C0mpar-
Ing generally tne purchasing power Of
II mechanics weekly earnings IN this
Country and ~ Germany, 1t is found
that the average wage Of tn English
man suffices to procure for him either
l176 Id. Of bread, Ut 23.5 10. If meat;
Wnlie the TeutOn wi 70 dtffi 2ulty obtains
the money equivalent Of 555 10, of
oTeai, OF 10 3 -. Of meat. This Is a fair
of the pres ure o. low wages
IN Germany. The 1HsdeQnacy of the
rate Of pay Is glarlDgly apparent when
The consumption of fCOl stuffs In the
~ In
and, the consumption of grain is 80
lectcliire (prObaOly 2 now per head;
u Germany, "a In other words, the
ierman workman can only get one
ihird as much bread as the EnElishman.
although he ought to be taking an b.
'OlujFly greater amount, TO make uD fer
! ifsSened consumption of meat, he eats
SO 10. annually, as against 1874 10. in
ne United Kingdom. Making every
allowance. therefore, for the chespness
" potatoes with which to eke out the
iielary, these dguTes are suggestive of
he systematic undertaking of the
sboring classes In the FatheTland. The
Intensity OF the struggle for life fiuds
Expression, moreover, In two ominOusly
lgDlt1Gant faeta; one, steady and cOn-
tnn0us increase of crime-the number
v convicted criminals doubled between
87l anc 1877. rising from 6 403 to 12,-
'O4, while the number of persons i'm
DrisOued went from sixty eight thou
and to one hundred and two thousand
and the other, snlcide.Tate In the |
manufacturing districts, where the |
PRESSURE is heaviest, that IL ptrfectly |
'ppalling. Suicides In SsxOny have
attained the enormous figure Of three
hundred per million; the rate In this |
country 10 a5out 66 per million.