The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1899-12-01
PAINTED PROSPERITY
A POOR IMITATION OF THE
REAL ARTICLE.

A POOR IMITATION OF THE
REAL ARTICLE.
A Report of Close Actual Ohscrva lions
the Pacific Ccast-Prosperity In
California AS Evaresccnt us 1t Is
Here.
A man who has for months been
travelling in California, and whose OPP
portunities for close observation have
been unusually good, reports as fol-
lows upon the unsatisfying character
of the grade of prosperity furnished
by the goldbugs:
Prosperity has not Struck the state
of California with both feet" the pro-
fessional Republican papers to the con-
trary Notwithstanding The man
with the hoe" is left. The rise in
prices Of trust goods has had to come
out OF somebody's pocket. A little in
vestigation will show anyone travelling
over the state that the laboring agr;-
cultural worker and actual farmer is
one who Is left in the wave OF pros
perity" to an extent hardly realized by
the boom editorial writer on the city
dail:es.
Wages are low. In the harvest fields
and canneries men are, or have been,
working for less than has been paid in
the states Of the Mississippi valley.
The writer has seen men working in
the harvest fields of the Sacramento
valley sixteen hours day for the
prosperous sum of one dollar and fifty
cents; sleeping on straw. fed on "sow-
belly" and withered potatoes, hardly
given time to eat that, and working
in the delightful and invigorating tenn
perature Of 10 degrees until Nature
has frequently stepped in and called
a halt; Men have been glad to work
Tor fifteen cents an hour in the can
neries, overtime over ten hours at the
same rate. Hundreds of girls and
women have worked in canneries for
pitiful sums, but their work being
piece work, it is difficult to estimate
Their earnings did not average prob
piece work, some skilled workers, I'M
der exceptional and favorable condi-
tons, made more. Tales are told of
such workers making dollar and
even two dollars a day for few days.
Such prosperity" has always resulted
in readjustment of rates to the point
of endurance by the workers. That
point is very low,
The worst feature about the can
neries and fruit and raisin packing
establishments is the absence of seats.
This alone shows the necessities of the
people when women will work for
hours-sometimes for fourteen hours
day-standing at the reeking tables
earning a few cents an lour ana every
nerve strained to make a record en-
titling them to keep their place, hec-
tored and driven by sharp-eyed female
bosses and gruff-talking men over
seers. Laws? There may be laws to
enforce seats for women employees,
but, il So they are fraud. Necessity
knows no law. The mother and
daughter and growing children, when
driven by the fear Of want, dare not
demand seats. If we had genuine
prosperity not box of fruit would be
turned out unless seats were provided.
In the smaller fruit sheds, where the
most Of the employees are neighbors,
seats are provided, but not in the
larger concerns.
Earn, labor js nt low fpI1re Tho
price for the privilege OF eating in
different fare, sleeping in the straw
stack and putting in fourteen hours a
day following a mule team is $50 a
month. During the hard times of
President Cleveland wages on farms
were s25 and $50. Indications are that
this winter wages will go to SIS. All