The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1901-10-26


Times innumerable it has been said
IN tariff discussion that protection is
necessary In order to maintain the
American scale Of wages It has been
as often answered that there is no
such thing as an American scale OF
wages, but that wages differ widely in
the various parts OF the United States,
as they do also in other countries.
They also vary very greatly in differ
ent occupations in the same part OF the
country The report Of Carroll d.
Wright commissioner OF labor on
Wages In Commercial Countries"
throws a good deal OF light on these
contentious. For exa Die. the daily
wages Of heaters in rolling mills are
reported TO be S6.62 in Ohio. s625 in
Pennsylvania and 1921 in New York.
Rollers Of iron and steel get per day
sl0.69 In Ohio, S675 in New York.
Puddlers are paid S460 in Ohio. 1856
in Pennsylvania and $3.50 in New
York. Coal miners get 5Sia cents a ton
in Alabama and S195 per day in Penn
sylvania Carpenters and joiners re-
ceive S452 a day IN Montana. S3.40 in
Illinois $3.50 in California, $3.50 in
Pennsylvania. s242 in Massachusetts,.
$2.25 in New York. s2.22 in Ohio.
Bricklayers get Sc a day in Montana.
which is the maximum Of those re-
ported for this country. and 1888 in
New York. which is the minimum.
Cotton spinners receive Sl.S7 a day in
Massachusetts,, which Is the minimum,
not alone for this country. but for an
countries mentioned IN the table. It
would be possible TO extend these fg-
ures indefinitely but those here cited
are sufficient TO show that wages vary
very greatly in the different states OF
the union. In some cases they are
more than 100 per cent higher in one
state than in another Now the tariff
is just the same in all the states. so Il
cannot and does not maintain a uni
form scale OF wages or anything ap-
preaching uniformity. The inevitable
inference is that wages are dependent
upon other conditions which are more
potent than the tariff. A compari-
son Of wages in foreign countries
also throws a good deal Of light upor
this question. Great Britain is called
a free trade country, but this does no
apply 10 her colonies, which for tha
reason may be left out Of the question
for the present We find that wage
IN England are higher than in othe
foreign countries where protection 4
the rule Thus rollers Of iron en-,
steel get s249 day in Great Britain
Sl26 to s2.53 in France, AZ cents e
$1.90 in Germany and SO cents in Aus
Hungary Cotton spinners re
ceive s13s TO Sl.62 In England
cents to s1.35 in France, SO to "a cent
n Germany, 80 20 So cents in Italy an
AZ 70 As cents In Spain. In some In
dustries the wages I'm England ar
higher than they are in some part
of he United States. In the case O
cotton spinners wages are higher Il
England than in Pennsylvania.
general, however, the prosperous com
mercial nations pay higher wages tha
the decadent nations. though the lat
ter have laws strongly restricting in
ternational trade. All comparisons Z
wages By the day or week are mis
leading when applied to the questio
OF labor cost The test Of labor COS
/, is what part Of the cost Of a ton {
iron. a yard Of cloth. OF Of the uni
OF any other commodity, represent
labor From this inquiry those VIII
talk most glibly Of the American seal
OF wages usually shrink. They n
serve their comments for the daily ,
weekly wage, which Is beside n
question. Shoemakers In Massachi
{ setts get s2SS per day. while a &c
man shoemaker gets As TO 70 cent
Yet we export boots and shoes to &c
Z many. and though the value Of the e.
ports IS not large. It nearly double
IN 1901 over 1900. and the Germai
are complaining of the competitio
The reason Is that we produce u
shoes more cheaply and the quality
E better.