New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-07-20

"a nor week OF sixty hours and the mcn $40 week.
while mule splnners average from gil 10 81 ino
wages of masons, carpenters painters and othcr QUIZ
door Iaborcrs have doubled within the last fifty years.
and their hours Of labor materially lcssened.
Thus il is clear that the wage-earner has
far greater purchasing power than ne had III
former times The question need not here be
discussed whether wages are as high, even now,
as they ought to be, or whether hours OF labor
ought to be still further reduced. The ques-
ton is whether the conditions in this country
have been such as to benefit the wage-earners,
and As respects wages received the statements
given by the paper above quoted correspond
with all other evidence attainable But to
the mode of living in working families the same
journal says
The meat brought on to the table OF the wage-worker
OF that day pork. Coffee, tea, milk and sugar
were used sparingly, and molasses was almost In
vaably used for sweetenng. Satnct for winter wear
and nankeen for were the garments OF men
and boys alike. Cowhide covered the feet of the boys
in winter. During the other months they went bare
foot Their winter garments included neither under
shirts nor overcoats but the wooen comforers served
instead Calico was the ordinary dress for women anu
but few varied therefrom even on sunday. In tle
tenements stoves unknown carpets were beyohd
the occupants means, and the walls wore unadorned
The feather bed was usually for the comfort OF the
parents, and the younger members slept on straw.
one room served for their sitting dining room anu
kitchen, and the garnet was rarely separated ny
partition. The rug before each bed was OF oraueu
woollen rags. These operatives, 1t must be remeni-
bered, native American men and women VINO caino
from country towns.
1t is scarcely necessary to add anything py
way of strengthening the contrast which these
statements so forcibly make. lie who has VS.
tied any of the manufacturing towns OF New
England, though it be for only day, is well
aware that the ordinary condition of the work.
ing people is now far from that described so
graphically in the foregoing extract. The jour
nal from which these statements are quoted says
with truth:
The operatives house, with Its modern convenences'
unknown TO the manor house OF the first nan OF Oo
century, and alike productive of health and COMFORT
though OF much higher rental demands no greater per
centage Of his earnings than did that OF an carrier any
In all else the cost OF living has not materially III
crea sed manufactured goods consumed In the 1aleS
being materially lower in price. Whatever dlheIenco
there in OF the living expenses Is accounted LOT
by the improved quality OF goods purchased Inc lux
urics Of few years ago the necessares OF toohy
1t is not intended to imply that the whole
change, wonderful as it has been, is due to any
single cause. But no one who investigates with
care can fail to be convinced that the large pro-
portion of it is due to that American pOhcy
which has defended the working people of this
country against direct competition with the
laborerS of other lands 1t has enabled them
to ask and employers to pay much higher rate
of wages for labor, and at the same time has
placed within their reach substantially all the
necessarieS of life at a much lower cost than
they formerly paid. 1t is for this reason that
the intelligent and thrifty wOrliingmen of ma
ture age are almost without exception hearty
believers in the American policy of Protection,
and ready to do their utmost to prevent its over
throw.