Missouri Valley times., 1901-10-31
There's a Wide Range Among
Men Engaged in the Same
Trade.

-
commissioner of labor, on "Nages
in Commercial Countries" throws
a good deal of light on these con-
tentions. For example, the daily
wages of heaters in rolling mills
are reported to be $6 60 in Ohio,
S6 25 in Pennsylvania and SO 81
in New York. Rollers of iron and
steel get per day $40 SO in Ohio,
Sc Is in New York. Puddlers are
paid 81 60 in Ohio, $3 Sc in Penn
sylvania and So SO in New York.
Coal miners get 534 cents a ton in
Alabama and 81 IS cents a day in
Pennsylvania. Carpenters and
joiners receive 81 SO a day in
Montana, S3 40 in Illinois, So so
in California, 50 80 in Pennsylva-
mia, 50 42 in Massachusetts, 50 25
in New York, 50 % in Ohio.
Bricklayers get Sc a day in Mon
tana. which is the maximum Of
those reported for this country,
and SIS So in New York, which is
the minimum. Cotton spinners
receive 81 81 a day in Massachu.
setts, which is the maximum, and
Al cents in Alabama which is the
minimum not alone for this coun-
try, but for all countries mention
ed in the table.
1t would be possible to extend
these figures indefinitely, but
those mentioned are sufficient to
show that wages vary very greatly
in the different states of the union.
In came cases they are more than
LOO per cent higher in one state
than in another. Now the tariff
is just the same in all the states,
80 1t cannot and does not maintain
a uniform scale of wages or any
thing approaching uniformity.
The inevitable inference is that
wages are dependent upon other
conditions which are more potent
than the tariff.
A comparison of wages in for
eign countries also throws a good
deal of light upon this question.
Great Britain is called free trade
country, but this does not apply
to her colonies, which for that
reason may be left out Of the ques.
tion for the present. We find that
wages in England are higher than
in other foreign countries where
protection is the rule. Thus roll
lers of iron and steel get 50 40 a
day in Great Britain, 81 26 to
2 So in France, AZ cents to ST 80
in Germany and 80 cents in Aus
tria-Hungary. Cotton spinners
receive 81 3S to l 62 in England,
6S cents to 81 35in France, GO to
"a cents in Germany, 80 to 68
cents in Italy and AZ to 48 cents
in Spain. In some industries the
wages in England are higher than
they are in some parts of the
United States. In the case of cot.
ton spinners wages are higher in
England than they are in Penn
|sylyania. In general, however,
the prosperous commercial nations
pay higher wages than the deca-
dent nations, though the latter
have laws strongly restricting in
ternational trade.
All comparisons of wages by
the day or week is misleading
when applied to the question of
labor cost. The test of labor cost
is what part of the cost ofa ton of
iron, yard of cloth, or the unit
of any other commodity, repre-
sents labor. From this inquiry
those who talk most glibly of the
American scale of wages usually
shrink. They reserve their COM
ments for the daily or weekly
wage, which is beside the ques.
ton. Shoemakers in Massachu-
setts get 1888 per day, while a
German shoemaker gets 48 to 70
cents. Yet we export boots and
shoes to Germany, and though the
value OF the exports Ia not large,
1t nearly doubled in 1901 over 1900
and the Germans are complaining
Of the competition, The reason
10 that We produce the shoes more
eheaply and the quality is better,
Last years vintage In France
was not only tho largest Of the
whole century, but one OF the best