New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-09-23
RUSSIAN TRADES-UN1ONS.
THE FoRLoRN HOPE OF DowNTRoDDEN
PEOPLE.
wprrcuEp CONDITION OF LABORERs IN THE
LAND OF THE CZAR-THE "ARTEL' sYs-
TEN AND ITS RESI-

LAND OF THE CZAR-THE ARIEL
TEN AND ITS RESI-
Since It Is only In late years In England that free
dom OF combination among worklngmen has been
recognized fully legitimate, surely Russia. with
its absolute despotism. is about TIT last country IN
which one would expect to find trades unions -four
| Ishing Nevertheless they do flourish there. ana
comprise a large portion Of nearly all classes OF
laborers and they are almost entirely free from
Government control supervision. 1t Is well, Tor
the sake OF the laborer that this Is so. For these
organizations all that give him any protection
or assurance Of fair treatment. There are, OF
course laws defining the relations between employ
ers and employees But they dead letters. IL the
whole of them were repealed tomorrow, the result
so far as the well-beng OF the working classes y
concerned, would be almost nil. According 10 nus
sian law, master Is obliged TO take all REASONABLE
precautions to insure the safety OF hi, employees
Yet NJ Yangou. a Government inspector. certihes
officially that In the great majority OF the factories
he visited there Is total absence OF safeguards OF
any description The machines crowded together
in a way to expose TO constant risk those VINO
work them. with the natural result that accidehts
are frequent. Theoretically employers are required
to notify to the authorities all accidents In their
workshops practically. they take Infinite trouble 70
conceal them A doctor who tying some little
time ago to obtain statistics with regard 10 the
number Of casualties in a mil was stopped with
scant ceremony by It's owner. Employees have legal
ly right TO compensation FOR injuries receiVeu While
at work; It Is, however, for such thing to be
granted or even asked for. In one mill 16s persons
were injured in the Of year, and only seven
of them presented petitions for compensation. The
great majority OF workmen stand In far too great
fear OF their employers to venture to formulate
claim against them. They know the risks such
course entails Thus in Russian workshops the law
Is quietly ignored. and employees are completely at
the mercy OF their masters, who. rue, make
It the chief business OF their life to extort the maxi
mum Of labor for the minimum OF pay
WORK AND WAGES
In IS per cent OF the factories in Russia the
poyes work twelve hours a day; and In nearly %
per cent they work more namely, fourteen. six
teen eighteen and twenty hours day. The
factory inspectors report that I'm or two special
uninterrupted work Is conducted for the twen
ty-four hours" In the cloth manufactures at Mos
day work begins at 4:3o in the morning and
lasts until o'clock half hour Is then allowed
for breakfast. after which II recommences at $3.50
and continues until 1880; and then. with an inter-
val OF hour for dinner, is carried on until
o'clock in the evening" In the dye works the day
shifts begin at 4 o'clock and last until u o'clock
Chat Is eight hours without any interval for resO
and continue from las to p. Min all fourteen
and half hours. with but one and three-quarters
hours during the day for food and repose." During
these long hours men only work. but work under
singuary trying conditions, for no care whatever is
taken render their surroundings sanitary; while
the treatment to which they are subjected by their
overseers is Of kind that would be tolerated In
no other country In Europe. No wonder the Rus
slams cling their Saints Days. II 1t not for
the rest they have these fates II is only the ex
ceptonay strong who would be able to continue
their work for more than year or two. AS II Is
1t is no unusual thing for man In the prime OF
life to fall to the ground exhausted when his days
task is done. Old age comes apace; at thirty
workers best days are past; he is in sight OF the
he oIrfft hfa
mune (his fellow-workers) must support him. or he
must starve. In the whole empire there is only one
factory In which approximation scheme Is In
force Russian writers declare 1t impossible to OBJ
tain trustworthy statistics with regard to the aver
age earnings OF the working classes. In some dis
trlcts the wages as low as threepence a day,
and even in the so-caled welpaid regions they Are
hardly enough provide the bare necessities Of life.
According 10 NJ. Yangoul. a skilled cotton-spnner
earns 1914 rubles. SIS 20 a month. In the SILK
manufactures the men receive only some "a ruoes.
or ss4 s. year OF this pittance, too. as much as
one-thrd may be stopped by employers, who levy
fines for unpunctuality. carelessness. neglect OF
work quarrelling drunkenness. card-playng, etc.
Nor does even what remains when the fines have
been deducted necessarily belong 10 the workman
The Government may. and generally does, claim
A per cent Of his earnings In theory the taxes fall
on land owners; in practice they fall largely on
the Industrial population Workers, as a rule. be-
long to some Mir; and though the land they
may have there is worthless. they are not allowed
to leave their commune unless they undertake to
send to II the amount OF their taxes IL they fall
to do SO their passports revoked: and in Russia
n man without a passport is criminal. II II were
not for the little extra money which the people are
able TO earn during harvest they would often be re-
duced to starvation; 1t Is. they are In chronic
state OF want. For the month together their only
food is black bread and Of this the supply Is
scanty.
ORGANIZED LABOR IN RUSSIA.
In such circumstances the working people natural
ly seek to combine for mutual benefit. Tradesunons
pure and simple would of course. not be tolerated.
But the so-called "are.s" permitted to flourish
on a great scale According to recent report
made by Mr. Carnegie of the British Embassy at
ST. Petersburg an "arter' is defined by high Rus
sian authority as IAN association OF certain indi-
yiduals Of the lower classes who Join together to
carry out the same business. labor trade" and
by another ian association Of certain persons who
unite their capital and labor. only the latter for
a certain work. trade. undertaking, and conse-
quenty are mutually responsible" The origin Of
the system is traced back to the tenth century.
among the Zaporozhny Cossacks Of the Dnieper, a
warlike people who banded themselves together I'M
der an elected chief. ataman not only for attack
and defence. but also for hunting and fishing and
trading purposes the profits thereof being equally
divided From these early beginnings the system
has been SO far extended that there are few occu-
pations trades In Russia In which artels are not
or have not been formed. There are artels of car
penters painters backsmths. masons. porters. bar
gees walters, etc: artels OF workmen are employed
I'm making pottery, cheese. percussion caps. boots.
gun carriages and ropes and there artels
OF be ggars, travelling musicians and horse stealers.
They are 1t seems. generally guided by the Old
customs and regulations which have been handed
down for generations, and ARE accepted and
hesitatingly obeyed with that docility and SIM