New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-02-25
WAGES OF SILK WEAVERS.
WHAT THE MANUFACTURERS SAY.
sv,,vp,, NJ, THE STATEMENTS MADE By THE
WORKMEN DENIED-LOSSES OF THE
EMPLOYERS.


WoRKMEN DENIED-LOSsEs OF THE
EMPLOYERS.
.'The exact truth regarding the striking silknonon
ueavers ought TO be told" said b. Richardson, the
venerable secretary Of the SILK Association OF Amer
lea No 70 Grand-st.. TO Tribune reporter. and
am very GLAD to have an opportunity 10 make 1t
Lnoun 10 the public through The Tribune The
statement by the weavers that their wages nave
heen reduced 60 to 20 per cent In the last tre'
wears and that they were able to earn only from y
70 81 a week is utterly false. Their wages nave not
been reduced ALL and at the time Of the strike they
were able 10 from 50 TO s. day. according tc
their individual skill and the kind Of weaving they
had 10 do-the finer and more complicated KINDS OF
weaving commanding. Of course. higher rates Of pay
than the coarser and simpler kinds. Several extern
sive silk manufacturers have assured me and au-
horzed me 10 state hat in the very week preceding
the strike the wages earned by their weavers during
that week ranged from SIS TO $50 These manufact-
urers willing to make aidavits to the cerrec'-
ness Of their statements, and will show their DOCKS
In substantation, If desired TO do so. The weavers
are not paid stipulated amount Of wages day or
week. but are paid by piece-work-so much cut
Of ten yards-and the amount earned depends en-
tirely upon the skill and industry Of the weaver.
1.-The statement that the weavers compelled
frequently to consume from two to four weeks
without compensation while preparing their looms
for a new cut is also untrue and 1 would like
10 have you see Joseph 10th, of Joseph 10th Co..
No. s. Greene-st, who have large silk factory
uptown He is a practical man. and can tell you
all about 1t In detail. The weavers In this city and
Paterson receive about the rate of pay. Those
a little less because there is a colony of about
$500 Of them, who derive some especial benefit from
States census OF 1880 shows that the capital IN
vested in silk mills was $510O75S7; number OF hands
value Of product sS7 ,454 and the net profit to
1y eSn w sns and ha on e
count Of excessively sharp competition and hard
times the business Of 1888 will show an, an ACTUAL sdsl
and when there is so much restitution and distress
preysng II is most rnTse ane
of wages. and TO strike because their demand is
mind that there were over 5000 business failures
last year, and that the silk manufacturers cannot
have been steadily increasing. The only way in
which can account for this most unreasonable
strike is upon hypothesis that there is some
sinister influence behind it. believe that the
commissaries of foreign manufacturers at work
with them, you know. and they would not hesitate
to use any means to disorganize American labor
and embarrass American manufacturers"
Mr.. 10th. who by the reporter said:
Any weaver rr who says that he could not earn
drunkard. and unfortunately we have far too
that wages have been reduced from sixty to seventy
per cent in the last three years. There has been
new warp and getting ready to weave new
cut is included in the price paid for weaving, 1t
spase a work for newspaper is paid He is not
to write an article. but when he is paid for the
article the rate is such that he is also Compensated
though indirectly, for his researches and prepara-
tons TO write It, 1t is the same with weavers.
They understand 1t perfectly. and yet, they will
fully mlsrepresent and pervert the facts The time
required In twisting in is nowhere two to
four weeks weaver who cannot twist in ana
prepare his looms for any kind of ribbon weaving
In from seven TO ten days at the longest must be
Any competent silk weaver who is sober and in
dustrtous, can, if he wishes to work easily earn
average. from $3.50 to $3.50 day. cannot un-
derstand why any man who might be earning that
sum while working in warm and comfortable
room, should refuse 10 work. especially a time
when many thousands suffering from en-
forced idlenesS and The weavers know that
the manufacturers are losing heavily. with I'M
mediate prospect of improvement and they ought
10 understand that the manufacturers positively
cannot afford to yield TO their untimely and ex-
orbitant demands"