Telegram-herald., 1891-09-10
WESTERN woRKINGMEN.
xnterssstng Facts Developed by
Investigation
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YAe report Of the Miehigan sureau
q labor and industrial statistics be-
spsA4s eArelal attention L. may De
s4sd. says tfe ProFi3ence r. IL jour
nal. that Industrial conditions " the
wss< differ from thezs al the east. and
that We Ia this poFtion Of the country
uanst take exception now and LgaIn,
Gor this reason. - the finding CT the
eureaa as detailed "a this report, bat
csrtzizily psinstakiny investigation
over 80 Wide q fieid - the state Of
Michigan cannot but prove Of general
interest," snd value. Moreover. tho
Alehigan bareaa has conducted similar
Investigations tor elsht years. and in
thai tizns h@s acquired nuch expert
enes Ia eoll4ting facts Ike those now
presented
Il wouli nos be fair 10 say that the
daily lifs of the workingnan v
pictured with absolute correctness fog
Ell such csnvasses As the Michigan
bureau has made from home to home
mnss % incomplete But we may be
sure that an approximately correct idea
of that status OF worsingmen. at least
"a certain industries, may be gained
frou study of the bureaus statistics
No attempt TO secure figures for all
varieties Of industry was made. tho
labors Of investigators being confined
chiefly to the agricultural implemens
ard iron working laborerA although .
few establishments Of other character
wcre Visited The two industries
named are among ths best known and
longest established in the stata and il
was considered that an inquiry among
these would be valuable as a6ording IN
k.ea Of how the better paid classes Of
workmen live. IL is said that in these
two branches Of manufacture working
men receive relatively high Wages. and
that they may DO taken To represent
the more prosperous grade Of employees
For the purposes Of this report 4 $50
wcrkmen were visited and confronted
with long list Of questions on many
Interesting subjects pertaining 70 their
homo life. They were asked whether
or not they owned the houses IN which
they lived; il there were encurnbrances
on their property: II they carried life
Insurance and To what amount; how
much wages they received and how
much they saved; whether or not they
owned pianos or sewing machines and
. variety Of other questions 1t was
found that ous OF the s.SSs to whom
thDss queries were put one earned go
. week and i25 from $40 TO $50. while
ct the other end of the psy roll were q
Aozen boys who received bun % . week
snd 81 more with SS or leA About IS
Per cent received SIS or over, and more
than II per cent. less than a, while
the sverage for tho whole number.
married and single men. was 5000. and
thas fuR the married men 311.sa Tho
nxssage total amount for the year was
ssoT, the married men averaging t50S. .
sraall annual income ON which to sup
port . family, In the estimation Of .
good many more favored people. But
with this amount, it il evident that the
families of these Michigan working
men have been prosperous, at Least In
many cases.
As many a. 2,soS Of the employees
who vere visited owned fheir houses
and nearly half this number were un-
burdsnsd with mortgages- Almost all
the householders wcre married men,
moreover, and - per cant Of the fam.
HES concerning whom the state buresa
made inquiries were therefore installed
in their own homes. II Is worth while
TO note, in passing, that Of these house
owners the largest proportion were
Germans. Hollanders, and Irish. with
the scotchrnen and Poles not far be-
hind. The Scotchman's house cost
S2,c25, however. and that of the Poles
$3.50, the average among all nationali-
tics reaching si.3i2-
Nor are the comforts Of everyday life
lorbidden, although the average wages
would not seem, at first thought, to al
ford much margin for these Tho
American laborer looks upon certain
Injuries as necessities, and the Mich
igsn favrres seem 10 show that he Is
able to possess some of them Sixty
nine per cent of tho families visited
owned sewing machines, and il is fair
to assume that these are positive lux
uries ia many . home. where in less
prosperous days there was an inordi-
nate amount Of sewing by hand Sixty
seven per cent. Of all the employees in
trrviswed took newspapers and maya
zines. and half Of them daily papers.
and more than cne-ifth of the e,23S
possessed musical instruments Of one
Kind or snother. while there were
found TOO organs and si4 pianos- A
were insured, the average amount be-
fng nearly 81 500. and 10 per cent. saved
money last ycar. In all, ei7s.47o was
paid out IN that time for homes and i'm
provemenss upon them. and Ssso.ss in
eash was saved This is GOOD general
showing. and may be taken to indicate
fairly the financial status Of . large
body of workin1snes in . representa-
Give state Of the west