The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1888-10-24
THE WAGES RACKET.
FaIsS Pretenses Of the defenders Of ths
War FarfE


FaIsS Presenses Of the Defenders Of ths
War Tarln.
We are In receipt of q large number OF
inquiries on the subject of wages, most
of which It Is impossible TO auswet, IS foE
example: What ts the present rate OF
wages In Belgiumf What was the rate Of
wages In Germany under the free trads
policyf What was the rate of wages in
the United States before tho war2 What
Is the comparative rate of wages In this
country and In Australia We desire to
do everything In our power to satisfy
seekers after truth We look upon the
inquiries themselves as very hopeful signs
of the awakening of the people to the
momentous problem that viii, for some
years to come, constitute the chief issue
in our national politics. But In order TO
give any satisfactory answer to any ques-
tion, We must first know what Is the
basis of the inquiry and what does the
answer signify.
Tho rate of wages What wagesf
Wages are of every kind and degree,
from those of the street scavenger to
those of the skilled weaver who can pro-
duce the Lords prayer on silk hRndker-
chief; from the stone breaker ON the pub
lie highway TO the electrical engineer,
from the boy who carries sheaves in the
wheat field to tho gold beater who pro-
duces leaves OF metal the 367 OOOth of an
of wages" Is as impalpable as the milky
way.
But. it may be replied. We mean the
average rate of wages. There Is no
Averages rate of wages. Professor Rich
tnond Smith, without any party bias, and
with only scientific intent. has proved,
| In series ofsarticies in The Political
Science Quarterly, that the current tables
compiled and published by the grand.
mothers of statistics In this country as
average rates are quite delusive. What
is tho average rate of wages of three boys;
four girls, twenty-five women and seventy
hve men, one foreman and two assistant
foremen. all working at different tradesf
The usual way TO determine the average
rate is to add up the total weekly wage Of
all and divide the sum by the number of
persons. But what does this tell uss
Merely that If the whole sum were thus
divided, each person would get n wagp
get. But when we have reached this
useless result. we need to know
how many hours the wage earners work.
and how steady their employment Is, and
whether the unsteadiness of employment
is due to their own choice or 10 the slack
ness of trade.
In order to reach any useful result; we
need to know especially what Is the ef-
hciency of labor-that is, what any given
unit of labor produces. In India, for ex-
ample, grass is cut with n pocket knife by
men squatting on their launches, and
carrying jute bag on their shoulders In
which they put tho hay crop by handfuls.
In America it is cut by hay harvester
drawn by horses, the driver sitting on a
comfortable seat. In Italy plowing is
done by relays of men and women using
wooden mattocks. In England It Is
done by gang plows run by steam
or electricity. An American work
NVoaN gNVTt
shoes with given machine than an Eng;
lish workman using the same machine.
What can the rate of wages do for us In
such cases towards the solution of any
economical problem2 Yet such cases arc
as multifarious as the inhabitants of the
earth.
Again, the rate of wages Is different In
different parts Of the same country. This
variation happens in the same trades
| The variation will sometimes ran as high
as 100 per cent. Mr.. John Jarrett testified
before a committee of congress In 1888
that the wages In western rolling tntss
was from 90 per cent. to 200 per cent.
of Pennsylvania. We have quoted this
testimony once. We will quote IT again:
Now want to say further that tho
wages paid in that concern were In some
instances 80 per cent less than those paid
in the western mills. will go further
l will say, for instance, that in 1882 there
was at least over double the amount paid
In western mills for rolling hands that
was paid In that mill, perhaps nearly
three times as much"
Mr.. Jarrett is q well known high thrift
spouter. Mr.. Blaine is another, and he
told US, In his famous cotton goods re-
port, that the wages of cotton spinners
In Massachusetts, were higher than in
the other New England states and sl1eir
hours of work shorter.
Now, wo asS again, what cun tho rate
of wages" tell us, even if we could resolve
that milky wny and bring 1t into our
arithmetical tablcs2 Nothing at all. Take
the comparative rates of wages that arg
now flooding the country from Washing
ton under the frank of "Bin" Chandler.
Here is a specimen:
Cotton mill hands. siaH1' saeo SsEs
Both figures are wrong, as Mr. Blnina
proved to us in the report already referred
70. But suppose they were right. Would
they tell us how much cloth S4.e0 I'm weges
produces in England and how much in tho
United States2 Would the nine csnts per
day paid to the Fest Indian grass cutter
convince us that the American horse
mower, getting S1.50, could meyer com.
pete with him in tho hay mar3zet7 A few
years ago an American citizen went to
Brazil to restore a ruined sugar pianta-
ton. The first thing he did was TO
double the rations of the hands They
had been half starved and were in con-
dition of bodily weakness and mental
mutiny. The result of doubling tho pay
was to more than double the crop. The
plantation was restored and became profit
able to its owner.
There are signs that che wages racket
has nearly run its course, and that work.
ingrnen arc beginning to see. its hollow
ness and inconsequential character. We
doubt whether it viii hold out thirty days
longer.-New York Post