The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1902-07-10
THE DECLINE I'M WAGES.
A summary of the report of the N

summary of the report of the iaan-
ufacturers' division of the census bureau
has been made public. The full report
will be published next month. At FIRST
the principal table of statistics seems
to show gratifying material progress,
says the Burlington Gazette. The mum.
ber OF establishments has increased Al
per cent since the last preceding census.
The capital employed has reached the
enormous sum of nearly 10000 million
dollars-a gain of 81 per cent in ten
years. About 1929 million dollars is
paid in wages-23 per cent more than in
1890. The value of the product is put
at 13, 900 million dollars, or 80 per cent
above that record in the previous census.
But a closer inspection of the figures
revealed some unpleasant facts. One Of
these is the increase in the number of
women, sixteen years old and over, who
are employed in factories, and another
is the large number of children at work.
The census enumerators found million
men above sixteen employed by manu-
featuring concerns. This number is 23.7
per cent larger than in 1890. A million
women wage earners in factories were
,counted-an increase of 2S.4 per cent.
The number of children is not large only
1GS,000-but it is 395 per cent larger
than in 1890. This growing tendency to
employ women and children must be
deplored. 1t seems to mean that fewer
women are to have homes of their own
and that more children are to be sent
to the e.tactory instead of to the school.
Under present conditions the employ
ment of women in factories seems inevi-
table. 10 SOME degree the factory work
merely takes the place of the diversified
labor their grand-mothers would have
had to'do at home. The woman of two
generation ago ofrequently wove the cloth
from which the garments were made
Today the weaving is done in factory.
But work that takes woman from
home after her marriage does not com.
be feared that the census statistics point
in this direction. The increase in the
number of child wage earnersis unquali.
tiedly bad. Every child has right to
common school education, and the state
is justified in insisting, as part of its
police duty, that he have it. The census
9 to t;rfiou ~, ~, 70 fbo ot%ont;o,, ~ l,n;olot
ors to this subject Another unpleasant
fact brought out in the report is that
the average wage today is. slightly less
thanin 1890. The total wages paid have
increased only % per cent while the
number of wage earners is 25 per cent
larger than ten years ago. Of course,
such figures are not definite enough to
be satisfactory. A proper comparison
could be made only between wages of
q certain class of workmen in 1890 and
1900. BUTT may be assured roughly
that the additional workingmen now en-
ployed are distributed up and down the
scale so that there are 25 per cent more
earning ST. a day than in 1890 and the
same additional percentage earning S5
day. If that is the case there has
been decline in tine average wage paid
of about per cent. With the improve
ment made in machinery, the increased
output of factories, and the advanced
cost of living, an increase in the average
wage was to have been anticipated. But,
apparently, the gain has gone to the
| capitalist in dividends. Perhaps the COM
plete volumes Of figures will furnish some
other explanation. But the summary
given out seems to show that the last
census decade failed to secure to labor its
due share Of the profits. even if there
has been great improvement over the
period Gfdepression in the early nineties.
1