Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1891-04-18
KANSAS TRADES UNIONS.
THE ANNUAL REPORT OF LABOR
COMMISSIONER BErToN GIVING IN
TEREsTING STATISTICS IN REGARD
TO WAGES PAID TO wORKINGMEN'
NUMBER OF HOURS EMPLOYED, ETC.
The Unions Powerful Influence.

NOthlillboAOhOA 1SSNNO
his forthcoming sixth report
will present TO the public the
most valuable statistics relativ" TO
trades unions that have ever teen com
piled by any labor bureau. The man
ner in which these facts are presented
is as novel Us valuable. This report Is
now in the hands OF the state printer.
or hours OF labor the commissioner
says:
mine hours and fifty-four minutes Is
the average length OF time union man
works for a day, and ten hours and
eighteen minutes is an average day ior
the non-union man. For weeks work
the union man gives an average oil nity-
nine hours and six minutes, while the
non-union man gives an average OF SIX
ty-two hours and fifty-four minutes; q
difference Of three hours and forty-eight
minutes"
The report OF the commissioner fur
Their shows that but 81 per cent OF the
union men work more than ten hours
Der day, but that l0s per cent OF the
non-union men work to exceed ten hours
per day. Eight per cent OF the union
men work but eight hour per day.
It Is a claim OF the unionists that the
unions have in their ranks the best
workmen, and this claim is we'll borne
out by the figures OF the commissioner
He says: 8,
The union men have been employed
in the various trades represented an
average OF IL years and q months, and
the non-anion an average of s years and
I months.
Thus an employer who employs con-
stantly none but union men receives on
an average four years more experience
than does the employer who confines
his help 10 Don-union men.
The question Of wages is one. oil the
most important that enters into the cal
culations OF the wage Garner, and on
this subject the report says: 49,
The average daily wages Tor the AL
Union men is SOD, and for the 5O4 nom
union men S204. a general average for
the g2l men OF SILT
The excess OF wages Is undoubtedly
due to the long and concentrated efforts
of the urion throughout the land Tor
reasonable recompense for the labor
which they performed: and no doubt in
n short time the hours of labor will
show a balance in favor OF the union
man equally fntterinG. But the COM
missioner makes another very interest
ing comparison about wages. Here II
Is:
Thirty-seven per cent, CT more than
one-third of the union men receive from
$3.50 to s2.T4 per day: 1872 per cent or
obtain like sum.
Thirty-eight and three-tenths per
cent OF the union men receive more
than S2.74 per day. and 1873 per cent OF
the non-union men get an excess OF
S.. "A for days work.
Here is difference OF IS per cent in
one case and % per cent in the other in
favor of the union men-and yet some
men will ask, ''Of what use can the I'M
ion be to me?" Here is an answer to all
such inquiries: a material and financial
gain that appeals to that great desider'
alum OF all men-the pocket.
The commissioner has compiled re-
turns OF personal interviews with 925
men. Speaking OF this compilation he
says:
lone hundred and fifty-six, or 81 per
cent of the union men own their homes,
and ITO, or 81 per cent OF the non-union
men are alike circumstanced. OF those
owning homes, 40 per cent OF the union
wage-earners and 80 per cent OF the
non-union have their homes paid for
trihe less than half in each case.
The average amount paid month
lv on incumbered real estate Is
$12.23 by the union workmen and $l1.82
by the non-union."
Fifty-seven per cent OF the union men
are paying for their homes on the
monthly installment plan, while AZ per
the same. Fifty-five per cent OF the nom
union men who own homes have the
same mortgaged. The average amount
of mortgage carried is about $3.50 and
the rate Of interest ranges from to 10
per cent annually-The average being 3
per cent.
The returns to the bureau show that
the trades unions have Increased 131 per
cent and the railroad organizations 113
per cent. At the conclusion Of the
chapter this language is found:
1.-THE trades unions are with us, they
are a part of our social system, they
have an influence upon our body polite
and they are a great and growing factor
in our commercial and manufacturing
interests. They WELD q powerful in.
fluence wherever they concentrate This
is proven by the facts given in regard to
hours OF labor and daily wages For
years these organizations have devoted
their energies largely upon these two
elements Of their welfare, and the re-
suit is shown in the higher average
daily wage of the unionist being so cents
above the non-unionist; and the differ
4, ho,,,.g ,r,ox.lrss6 v,o,. xraalr fhof 4,