Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1888-02-23
KANSAS WAGE WORKERS.

/
with Other Places.
topeka. Kan. Feb I4.-The advance
sheets OF the third annual report OF the
| Kansas Bureau Of Labor, prepared by Hon.
! Frank H Bottom Commissioner, swere
issued yesterday. The report covers 337
| closely printed pages and is divided into
ten parts The principal topics treated are
| pauperism, State charities, wage workers,
| Touring mills manufactures, coal Gper-
ators, railroad strikes and labor and edu
cation.
In the introduction the Commissioner
saws:
Regarding the condition of our wage
workers / am inclined TO believe that the
year just passed has been slightly more
favorable than the @fecedfng one Wages
! as a whole have at least not decreased, and
in some Instances possibly slightly ad-
vanced, while employ ment- both with COM
mon laborers and in the building trades,
has been far more regular: This condi-
toR has also affected the miners of tue
State, who as a class during the past
summer received steadler work than
la the summer preceding. In the matter
OF the unskilled laborers in sur cities,
think that as whole, owing To the larges
amount of both public and private i'm
provements carried forward. they have not
only received steadier employment bat, II
any thing, better pay; at any Fa5e, very
| Few OF this class report less per diem
wage than 81 80, while last year y prospect
able proportion earned not 10 exceed $1.25.
AS the principal object in the establish
ment OF this bureau seems to have been
due to a desire Oh the part OF the EegisIa-
ture TO ascertain as accurately possible
the true condition OF the age-recsaving
portion OF oEv people. IL has been the chief
effort of the Comm ssioner to become ihog-
oughly acquainted with them, and aS far
as poss bile to inform himself TO the
| act character Of their surroundings. That
this has required persistent effort and I'M
firing diligencS an examination of the Gor-
respondence and general work of the bu- .
reau WILL think verify
On the subject of pauperism he submits
tables comprising reports from eighty taFc,
counties. showing the number of poor-house
and outside pauper5 who had received. OUT
side assistance during the year. He con-
cludes by saying ~Theseei ghty-two coun-
ties represent total population Of l. $50, 916;
out Of 1,4O6, 1S3-the population of the Slate
on March l, 1SS6-or over 96. per cent, and
they expended during the year total of
S233 52S. IS for the support OF paupers ID
costs Kansas about 1119 cents per capita
yearly to support her paupers. The Unitedi
81 2teS census of 1bSJ estimates that one,
person in each $50 of the, population is an
aAmshouse pauper,. and nearly one person
III each 1O0througneut the country receives
either public or private and Ia some form.
En- Kansas one in evsry ,34Oissa permanent
sane pauper, and one person in every 14+
receives charitable a4d in someform. while
in Massachusetts enc person in every
fifty of the population receives some
kind Of public aid. On November l, 1887,
Kansas had L675 inmates III. her State
charitable institutions, 1,O9z of whom were
insane, 1t costs the State about 81 % per
annsSrn to care for thsse unforlunates. The
several counties paid an average sf Sl3l. 95u
for The maintenance Of each poor house {
pauPer, and S7L 76 to each family receiving,
OutdS9r relief. The total expenses to the
State and counties during the Year was
S5E6.24Z5S'
Part Sof the REPORTS devoted. to-''Wage
Woriiihgs-Their Earnings and Expenses
and is; by far the moet important and in
teresting chapter in the book, covering 16D
Of its 327 pages. Statements of some l,2NC
OF the workingmen OF the State, Baceived.
directly from each individual, ano sub
mittedl Tables showing the daily month
ly and yearly earnings and expenses OF
representatives of every trade employed in
the Stale are given together with the
days worked, as we'll rs the cause Of idle
days, the nationality Of the workers,
proportions of trades union members,
members of renteEs and home own
ers,- size of family, workers to- fhmilv,
children an school, increase or decrease
of wages and in short every detail GO
ingto show all phasessof the workingman's
cOnuaLlOnL LII INC eXpeHS0 Tue
monthly and yearly sum paid by each
family for food, shelter, clothing and edu-
cat ipnal purposes mrs gwen, and c0mpari-
sons made regarding these particulars
with other States ami with other countries.
Probably one Of the most interesting pages
in the book Is hat devoted TO a table show
ing the comparative earnings andieXpenses
during the year Of some twentEdifferent .
trades in Kansas and Ontario, Can. From
these tables we End that in Canada the;
men employed in the trades tabulated
earned an average Of 81 76 per day, against
81 81 tor the same Grades Kansas. The,
Ontario workmen being employed 2501G
days. earning duFiHg the year S453.02 and T.
1921. al saving S3241i; while the,
Kansas represent aGives of the same trades
were employed 2sS days, earning S6l0.95,
S5224s and saving, 1855. 45-the-
craft sInan of Canada working per cenh-
more time, earning 1853 per cent. less
wages, and expending 3H per cent. more for
his fAmily support. This table was made
up from the province Of Ontario labor re-
port recently received by the Kansas bu-
reau, and is the average OF sGS4 returnsOf
Canadian workmen residents of twenty
four of the principal cities OF that province
The average family earnings for The wear
OF the L. OO families reported TO the Kansas
bureau was 4.OS; expenses, S44g. 81
Average days worked, 25Js average wages
per day, $203 About 50 per cent Oh the
number owned their homes; an average OF =
two children to the family attended school
The average rent paid bythose renting waa
$94 % for : 81 rooms, average for noonI
SD %; about one-half were paid weekly
and the rest monthly. The daily per capita
income 1873 cents, expenses 273% cents.
saving 40 cents. The average time OF
daily labor was hours 81 minutes, -
The opinions received from /.
-wage-workers" forulan interesting feat
ure Of this chapter.
Fire at AtchIson-