Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1891-10-21
HAVE HARD TIMES.
ROLLER MILL MANS OBSERVA-
TIONS in ENGLAND.
The Wages Only Half of What American
WOrkmen Receive-No Material
Difference in the Pur-
chasing Power of
Money.

eff any workingman who thinks that
free trade has really something more
than low wages to offer, will 60 to En-
| gland and visit the iron districts, he viii
soon be convinced to the contrary
said David Morgan, a well-known mil
man Of Bay View, who has recently re-
turned from visit to England.
He will find" Mr. Morgan continued
that wages are not more than hall
what they are here, and that If the
necessaries of life, taking them all to-
gether, dollar will not buy more than
1t will here, though it is true it will buy
| more of some things, wooden clothing
! for instance, and more of the luXuries
which he cannot afford to own He will
find, too, that while there is not much
actual want among the mill men, there
| is not much comfort, and the prospect
| for the future is exceedingly dubious"
Mr.. Morgan has been a mill man all
| his life. beginning in the very mills he
has been visiting, and working at the
| business on both sides of the water
He knows by actual experience what
mill life is, what workingmen's needs
are, what wages are and what they will
| buy. He was therefore qualified to
make comparisons from the stand
point, not of the theorist, but
Of the practical worker. Liv-
ing among the working people
during his stay, and going with them
into the mills, he had an excellent op,
portiinitv of studying the condition o
the WOrklngmen, as compared will
their American cousins.
English puddlers," continued Mr.
Morgan, make about 1925 per day il
our money, about half what the pudI
dlers here earn. Their helpers earn S
day and the common mill laborer II
cents on the average. The wages of th,I
other mill men run in about the SAINT
proportion, with occasional exec ptions
where extraordinary conditions brin,
the wages up to something like the
American standard. The coal min
ers, however, are better paiC
than the American miners since
the importation of Italian labor, and
| went over with several miners who
were going from Pittsburg to work in
the English mines. The best paid com
mon labor I found was where the men
were working by the hour and earning
about 81 per day. Street car conduc-
tors earn $3.50 per week, and locomotive
engineers $3.50 and SIS per week. Or
binary mechanics run from 81 to s. per
day.
II found that laces, diamonds, furs,
etc.-things which a workingman could
not tOuch-were much cheaper than
they are here, but that food and cloth
ing were about the same, taking all
kinds into consideration. Flour was
about the same price, but of a much
poorer quality; good meat was more,
and provisions varied, some being
more, some less. Tomatoes were 20
cents per pound. Tools of all kinds,
but particularly farmers tools, are
dearer, and very clumsilv made For
that matter, few things compare with
the American article in point of finish
The working people are bitterly OPP
posed to the Mckinley bill, and the
American falling into their hands, who
is not prepared to defend protection,
will suffer. They say the American
way, they say. We want other people
their goods in return. Their mills are
shutting down because they have no
market for their productions, and they
long to have the United States opened
to them.
THE outlook for the English mills, in
| the Midland district at least, is very
bad. Competition has cut prices to
such an extent that there is no money
in the business, even with the low wages
paid, and mills are closing, to run no
more, almost daily. There were sever
al failures in the Midlands while [ was
| there, and many more will follow. In
| many instances where there are not
failures, the mills are simply closed and
left to rot. In my opinion the Midland
district is doomed.
&c
among the mill people as yet, notwith-
standing the number of mills shut down,
for the reason that there has been q
scarcity of mill labor, and the skilled
men have been absorbed by the mills
that are still running. The low wages
| paid and the hard work do not make
mill jobs desirable, and the rising
| generation will not 90 into the
mills. The consequence is that the de-
| pletions IN the ranks Of the old work
ers are not made up, and the iron work
ers are decreasing faster than the mills
are decreasing. Such a state of affairs
ought to result in better wages, but il
cannot because of the great number Of
mills running almost at a loss, in conse
| quence Of sharp competition"
Mr.. Morgan said that in the old iron
mills, that did not make money enough
| to warrant expensive improvements
| they were working with the same old
machinery that was in use fifty and sew.
enty-fve years ago, in the same slow
and laborious fashion. In the stee
plate mills, in the Midlands, however
wonderful Improvement has been made
and there is nothing in America now
Mr.. Morgan says, to compare with Sin
Alfred Hickman's "Model MILL" which
rolls steel plate almost without human
agency. The new mill building at Wes
Superior is being constructed upon the
! plan of this model mill