The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-01-17
.lnL.abor' FieId
TAKES SELF.DENIAL
What Local Workmen Say Of An
drew Carnegie's Proposition.
CAN A WORKMAN SAVE MONEY?
Some Answer the Question in the
.Afirmative-other In the
Negative. -

Can workman, the master of a trade,
support his family in comfort and put by
enough of his earnings from year Ito
year to assure himself Of competence
in his declining Years? Andrew Carnegie
says workman can. Minneapolis work
men, however, do not uniformly agree
with Mr.. Carnegie.
Last Tuesday at the twenty-sixth an
niversary of the railroad branch of the
Y. M. c. A. of New York city, MI. Car
negie was the principal speaker, and NJ
made the uses Of wealth and the condition
of labor his themes. He declared that
there never was a nation so splendidly
situated as ours is at this moment in re-
gard to labor, and expressed the senti.
ment that every sober, capable and will
ing man finds employment at, wages
which, with thrift and good wife to
manage, should enable him to go far
age. Presumably Mr. Carnegie's remarks
were meant to apply to every legitimate
craft.
The opinion among men in Minneapolis
who naturally would be credited with
good judgment in this matter is about
equally divided, with the preponderance
Of testimony in favor of Mr.. carnegie's
contention. Is
A Plumbers View -.l%.~..
Says John Rogan, business agent of the
Plumbers union: -~-S-z
Mr.. Carnegie overstates the, case, in my
opinion. My observations would not lead me
to any such conclusion, and I believe there
are but few in Minneapolis labor circles who
will support his statement. I do not believe
it Is possible for a man getting wages of from
81 to 81 day to support his family properly.
educate his children, provide for them in
sickness and get the proper degree of enjoy
ment out of life, and at the same time to
save enough money to give him a living in
his old age. l do not know Of any. such
cases in Minneapolis. A man might do this
under exceptional circumstances and with all
the conditions favoring him, but few men do
it. Workmen's families have sickness the
same as other mems, and often the savings
of two or three years are swept away by
single case of sickness. -
J. E. Mullane, plumber and delegate to
the building trades council, takes prac-
tically the same view of the case. Even
a plumber at 81 per day can do very lit
tie better than live comfortably and e&lu-
cate his children under the present con-
ditions of living in this country, he holds.
Opinion OF j. HI. Ellis.
J. H. Ellis, deputy labor commissioner,
takes somewhat different view Of the
case than the above. While admitting
that it is difficult proposition, he be-
lieves that Mr.. Carnegie has stated no
impossible proposition. But 1t is rarely
that workman is met with who has the
grit and the thrift to fulfill the condi-
lions he thinks. It means to much
self-denial to the average man. But that
it can be done, he says, is amply proved by
the cases of some of the old-time workmen
of Northeast Minneapolis. He knows sew
eral there who own their homes and have
money in the bank. ..., r..
cit Can BE Done" ~ /
Says William J. Oker, former president
of the carpenters union and superintend-
ent of building operations at the new city
hall: = r ~-a... d.. "a ., .. ..... 80
Yes, it can be done but there are not many
that do it. Let a man start early to save
money, then marry the right woman and let
both school themselves to self-denial and
thrift, and they can bring up a family in
good shape and save enough money to keep
them in comfort in their old age. But it isn't
often that this is done. The average man
can not stand the strain: He wants to see too
much life and live in style that his means
do not warrant. OF the fifty or sixty men
that have been in my employ the past Year
there are not more than three or four that
even own their own homes. The rest live
from hand to mouth, and that in my observa-
ton is the general rule amorg all crafts But
the right kind of man, given a thrifty wife
A Contractors Standpoint -
H. N. Leighton the we'll known con-
tractor, agrees more nearly with Mr.
Carnegie than any of the others quoted.
He thinks Mr.. Carnegie has stated moth
ing more than the facts SO far as the stu
alton in Minneapolis is concerned. But
he admits that it requires rigid self-de-
NAL as, well as industry and thrift on the
part Of every member of the family to full
fill the conditions. Says Mr.. Leighton:
What have done myself is certainly pos
sible to many others. I began work in Min
neapols at 81 per day and put in the first
five years at that wage I had wife and
three children and lived in two rooms in !.
house in North Minneapolis. But lived in
comparative comfort and saved one-half of
my wages every month. The fact that I had
bought house on the installment plan and
had to pay $40 month on it suppose was
powerful inspiration to me. This, in my
estimation, is what every workman should
do instead Of being eternally paying rent,
But they don't do 1t. OF the $50 or 300