The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1897-09-06
MANY FORCED TO IDLENEss
More Figures as to the Unem-
ployed in Washington.
THOUSANDS OUT OF A JOB
Lending Merchants and Other En-
ployers Fail to Perceive Indica-
tious of More Prosperous Trade.
On the Other Hand, However,
Prices Are Rising Every Day.

mberofIaechanicsandd day y laborers
uneuaployed this year is larger by several
hundreds than it was last year at this
time; also than il ever has been before.
Tins statement is made after careful in
vestigation among the people themselves,
among the builders, the few manufacturing
wiz officers of organized labor in the
city.
Statistics published in The Morning Times
today have been added 10 and verified COM
lletely in later search. There are among
the organized laborers at least 5000, and
probably thousand more, now outof work.
Among tie ,morgaiized laborers, who are
known as such, there are at least 5000
without work. These figures do not in-
clude people who have been employed as
clerks in the departments. in stores, " iH
have failed in small business ventures or
their own, and large number or colored
people especially, who are subsisting from
hand to mOdthon odd jobs, and who cannot
be COUNTED.
IL may be safely stated that the whole
number os fanil ly-supparters now without
employment in tire city is at least 5000.
These peouIe have from 30, 600 To 10000
mer. women and children dependent ON
them for support, and hence now in various
stages of dss;itution from living Gu saw
in.s to very near starvation.
Fifteen hundred bricklayers, 200 thu
ners, 900 printers, LOCO engineers, 25o
painters. 5u1 carpenters, and 800 plaster
ers are new out of work, or 1000 out of
less than q, coo oil all the men ia these
trades in the city.
Tnis test is a perfectly fair one, as IL
gives tie fil ures on the printers and paint
ers. who are in the best circumstances D!
all ,l,e trades at present. as well as the
hrlcSlayers an'1 plaSterers. who are worse
OF than msst n lie Others. As thus shown.
there are now less than half OF these
people at work.
These bare figures are most startling
in themselves, especially If taken as repre-
sentatioa of lie whole field Of labor.
But the simple number Of the unemployed
goes only littl, way toward telling the
whole I.aLor bay sermon. To taat must
be added the story OF the great accumu.
laiion and accentuation of hard condi
lions for these reople in the many months
that the country has been In trouble. the
The fact that there H. very little Irondse
in any figures that can be obtained for
better times for NEST OF them this COM
iHE season, and the story OF the rise in
prices.
Tne luilding trades, which. owing 10
the nature OF ourcity sinterests and growth
furnish d mcch larger relative field than
in any manufacturing city, may fairly lie
taken as Indicative uf The whole situation
here at present. Outside of the merchants,
the Govern ment departments and she trans
porratinn lines, there is comparatively
Httle busipeSs except building. In this
field the situation may tie stated BRIEFLY
When tie city was i'm fairly good shape
.sur wears ago the building of new dwell
irys aud business houses was carried away
bevond its legitimate limits. For time
the laborers in the building trades Were
nrrsDcrons and men came here from other
cities
Then the blight struck us, and in the
,hree wears since thai tine there has
been comparatively spea king nothing
whatever Of progress At the present tine
there are thousands of vacant residences
and business offices. A few of these will
be taken up later this year, but careful
estimate OF tie whole number now unoc-
cuIied and OF the probabilities for the
coming months leaves almost certainty
that from 5000 TO 5000 dwellings out OF
about 10000 viii remain vacant and a
proportionate number " offices.
The .nducement to build more houses is
small. and he builders are very well aware
OF this There Will be little going on this
fall for the mechanics in the building
trades
As TO prices, the certainty Of rise OF
from Is to 30 per cent during the next six
mon, hs is not di sputed by any one.
A canvass has been made among num-
ber Of business men and m archants for fig
ures on this subject, and not one mer-
chant on the list was found who does not
either tell of large advances already or
predicts them for the near future.
In addition TO those dealers ia the neces
saries OF life, druggists, trunk and harness
makers, tobacconists, paper dealers, jew
elers an d people in very nearly every other
class Of business in the city have been I'm
ter vie wed. Everything is going up il price
except labor.
Ag.DnrEn IN Sf-tNTV ATTIRE