The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-09-18
GERMANY'S PAUPER LABOR.
WHOLE FAMILIES THAT WORK ron
FIFTY CENTS a DAT.

Consul Erdmnn Says That the Effect of the
DinRlsY Tnrih Has Been to Reduce
Wages in GsrmRnv-RssuItinG Hostility
TO America-Undcrpaid Skilled Labor.
LOUISVILLE, Sept. 1~6.-oharles W. Erdman,
United States Consul at Dreslau. lie home on q
short leave Of absence from his post He isa
native OF Bavaria, and his consular appoint
ment rounded out the ambition Of a busy and
successful life: but he was glad to get back to
tho home Of his adoption even for a short time.
The principal object OF his visit was to place
his son In on American school. for he does not
want him to grow up a German. Mr.. Erd-
man 10 loyal to the United States. and his feel
inEs have been deeply worked up by the hos
tllity which the Germans show toward this
country and its institutions. Personally, he
has nothing 10 complain Of. but he says II is
impossible to listen to the abuse Of America
which one hears on every side In Germany
without resentment.
Il do not blame the masses Of the people,
though" said Mr.. Erdman. for they are de-
ceived as TO the purposes and feelings Of the
great American nation. The commercial
classes look upon us as standing In the way Of
their trade expansion. and the working people
are told that our tariff laws have caused the
low wages from which all Germany IL suffer-
ing.
"My.oflcial residence abroad has made me q
bSOboA ALhCIlCd MI u DoLtoE pAOtoCIlOulbt
than ever. Ny experience in Breslau has con-
WINGED me that nothing can protect this coun-
try from being flooded with the products Of
pauper labor except o strong protective tariff.
The DinRley law. radical as Il Is, does not go
far enough. for labor is so cheap over there
that they are still overrunning this country
with their manufactures. Their business has
not been seriously injured. either. for many
factories are running day.and night to keep up
will their American orders.
THE manufacturing industries Of Breslau
have increased wonderfully during the past six
or eight years because Of the very low rates Of
wages that prevail there. Wages are lower in
Silesia- Posen. and that part Of Austria Dor
dering on Silesia than anywhere else In Ger
many. and this has caused many industries
to go there. I myself know Of a firm that
moved q linen factory from Nuremberg to
Silesia for no other reason than this cheap la
Dor. 1t is 30 cheap that you can frequently
flnd,a man. his wife. ssand children all at work
in q glass factory at wages that aggregate
only 80 cents a day. An instance that came
under my official observation shows what dan
600 worth Of printing was let 70 q Silesia
house by q great American nrm-Arbuckle
work was done IN q ~slovenly fashion. but it
would do 1t. This printer told me that he
soliciting such work. and that he can under.
6 6ia any lame American ian Pr printer m|tfed because eSat S,s OF his his
was not 50 good as that done here.
The DinRley tariff has not even stopped the
sale OF sugar to America in spite OF the rabid
e endinns June eng g. Soq i857, f The sugar gar e e9g yesf
from the Brt slau district amounted to $685.
Il Is noW sold at |" $50 S9e Cents Tor rI raw. IL P1 adj.
ton to which the manufaeturer gets an ex-
last fiscal year. but exports were about as
,or The Re OK # glass from Egrth, Bavaria;
spending quarter Of 1851, The. decline is ex-
y. increased In 1897 in order, to eyade the
Dingley law. and also because plate glass was
the rough, This is done to evade part Of the
Increased. for observation-disclosures have reduced
IRsRefb; r %h!Ga i Il s1I sl & 'f g sf e sf n is s q a :aS
s9s.s Of q % s{.i IS t oSss from now s sreBliGiPf e. At s 1rSg IN
The same course that has been adopted In
the sugar and glass factories is followed in
had passed a Bill which would compel them to
or they would stop work. What can the poor
German DO In such cases but su6nitI The,
| ~ 80, anu III lnelr hearts cuTSe Jn0 greed Oh
the Yankees. who make starvation 80 hard to
avoid. II 1t were not for the goods America
buys. these manufacturers could not live. but
we have not shut them out from our markets
by any means. in spite OF what. the German
newspapers and speakers say. Also. by foro-
ing down wages they are enabled to enter
other markets. with equal success. Exports
from NIX district average from S1.lSO.992 to
Mr.. Erdman has submitted the result OF his
investigations In a report which will soon be
published by the State Department. In it he
Will give tables showing the, range Of wages
In q number Of Breslau industries. These are
sufficient proof OF his assertio6bs. In Gl9ss
week; cutters get from $4.29 to SILICA
Rravers and painters get the same; smelters
get from $2.S6 to $4.29; heaters. burners.
sorters and packers. 1886. and binding girls
only $1.43. In glove making. cutters receive
from $2.S6 to $5.71 q week, sorters from $l.10
TO $3.50 and sewing girls from 95 cents to
$1.9O. Even the skilled labor is undergrad.
Railroad engineers get from 1888 to $l1.9Oa
week. switchmen from 1851 to. $500. con-
quotors the game as switohmen: hremen from
$4$7 to $7.o1. and brakemen, from 1897 to
$3.50. street Cleaners. from $3.50 to $4.29.. Ia;
borers from $2.S8 &c. 1851 bakers from S4.29
tricians from $4.28 to $9.52. blacksmiths and
horseshoers from $4.29 to STA. machinists
from $40 to $5.71. boiler makers from $3.50
Mr. Erdman asks how a country where un-
skilled labor Is paid at the rate OF, from $3.50
to ~ q day y to connect with skilled labor
receiving as little as so cents. Only the high
est kind Of a tariff wall can shut out pauper
l nFNhlnfQ IA fhinHn md Mr. ErHUann 1 a In IN