The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1889-04-12
CLERKS AND THEIR PAY.
A CHICAGO MAN SAYS THEY ARE
SUBJECT TO ECONOMIC LAW

gptNGOi ~ 1OC'NO''''~
Merchants Prefer Three Clerks to Two for
the Same Outisy-Disproportio In
crease I'm the Number Of Distributors.
supply and Demand.
Clerks constitute one Of the most numerous
classes of great city's population, and their
types, manner Of life, duties and temptations
make an ever interesting subject for study.
Thousands Of men and women are today
penned In behind the counters Of innumerable
establishments in Chicago weighing, measur-
ing, answering sensible and senseless ques-
tions, and cultivating habits Of courteous ad-
dress for their own and their employers i'm
terest--and the majority Of them for pitt
lance wholly disproportionntc, 1t Is said. 20
the duties required and the services rendered.
The connection between clerk hire and crime
and immortality, the responsibility of employ
ers for the hardships and slips of their em-
ployes, the physical, mental and moral con-
sequences of what clerks as a class have to
undergo, are thus matters of vital Importance
TO the students of social science Said gen
tleman yesterday in reference TO this phase Of
city life;
SIGNIFICANT FIGURES.
"Most of what people term the abnormal
features of social development find their ex-
PLANTATION in private motives, In the innate
desires Of individual citizens; and hold that
clerks themselves are primarily responsible
for what are commonly set forth as wrongs
and hardships The wages for services ere
not essentially different from tho price OF
commodities. Supply and demand regulate
both. An abundant supply or an unusually
strong demand means invariably a rise in
wages and the reverse means a fall
"Now let me give you few facts From
all appearances there is little or no difference
between the present decade of our history, in
respect 10 popular sentiment, and the decade
preceding. Hence, the facts of the one period
are approximately true for the other From
1870 to 1880 the gross increase of the popula-
tion of the United States was 300S per cent
During this same period agriculturists in
creased in almost exactly the same ratio as
the general increase Manufacturers and
miners increased in number AZ per cent,
while professional men and those engaged in
personal service show an increase OF 81 per
Otuts OuI anu
miners are practically our only wealth pro-
| duccrs, and we find their average percentage
of increase to be &c. Thus we have SO per
cent. increase Of wealth distributors merely
handling the products Of SO per cent. in
crease of wealth producers for a 80 per cent.
general incl ease of population.
These figures, think, are very significant.
| What is more, they only tell half the story.
| During the last decade-and the present will
\ yield equally surprising results when the
| census of 1890 is taken-farm laborers in
creased only Ii per cent, in the face of a so
| per cent general increase, and domestic
servants only 10 per cent, while general
clerks and copyists show n 3l5 per cent in
| crease, cleI KS in hotels and restaurants a 107
| per cent. increase, walters and porters a 80
| per cent. increase, and laborers about stores
| and warehouses an Sl3 per cent. increase.
| Now, from the very nature Of things, what
must be the inevitable result of such state
| of affairs upon a vast number of the popua-
tion of citiesl Simply small wages, irregular
employment, and often privation and conse-
| quent wrongdoing
PREFERENCE FOR CITY LIFE.
| "For the multitude it is proverbially true
that city life is more desirable than country
life, and it is equally true that the work Of
| clerks, despite its annoyances, is less labori-
Gus and more agreeable than that of laboreis.
| Hence, to be with the crowd and have gen
teel work have grown to be little short of a
national evil. That employers are often
criminally negligent of the health and wei
I 70 - haI, ;e l.,
not easy to correct, for, however bad the
conditions of place are, competition and
necessity will bring somebody TO fill it. The
main point is, however, purely business
one When tho supply of those who are
anxious to get genteel employment is SO
standardization far in excess Of the demand
employers need not and will not pay high
wages, and it is a question whether the GU
| pidity of employers or the foolishness of en-
| ployes is more TO blame for existing circum-
stances.
"As rule, the Storekeeper finds il more 70
his interest to have three clerks at 81 "a day
each than two clerks at Sl50, and when
they're to be had, as they invariably are in
cities like Chicago, he will take the three
clerks, irrespective OF whether they receive
sufficient wages to exc out a decent living.
Further, when, as is usually the case in big
cities, there are numbers of people out OF
employment, it is a question whetcr it i.
not good public policy as well as ,'nvat,
interest that large number of clerks shoulf
he employed at a small wage than smaller
number at better pay, Thus many factor,
come into the consideration of every socia
and economical question and make its solu
ton difficult.
| "As look ut the matter, many if not mos
of the evils experienced by clerks and peopI.
similarly employed spring from the senseless
passion of the masses to forsake small town
and rural districts for the metropolitan com
m,mities. "A year and a crust in Chicago i
better than lifetime and roast beef ON tn,
sand heaps of Hammond, seems TO be tn,
prevailing notion. Hence, moral responsi
bility aside-and moral responsibility cuts
small figure in such matters-Chcago EN-
ployers feel little necessity of catering to tn,
needs or desires of employees or of offering
high Inducements in point of wages. TIL,
whole thing practically comes to this: 'Ther,
is the place-so many hours day, so mucl
pay. If you want it, take it; if you don't
somebody will be glad to get it PERSONAL,
think the clerks position anything bu
easy, and his pay anything but adequate
but till we have less disparity in the number
OF wealth producers and wealth distributor
matters will not be much better. n-Chicag,
News
| Various Kinds of Kings.
|