Evening star., 1903-08-22

west and south. but they are lower in the
| east and especially along the Volga.
The highest wages are paid in the en-
gineering and machine shops whero
| the average is $3.50 a month for ten
| hour day. In the textile industries men get
less than 81 per month and women about
81. the woolen hands receiving more than
those working in cotton. In the silk mills
women receive about 81 - a week and men
on the average not more than s. per week
although some skilled laborers on velvets
and brocades have as much as 81 a week.
There are $4,000 hands in the sugar mills
| and their wages average 80 month. I'm
derground coal miners get about 81 a week
and iron miners little less. The govern
| ment figures state that the wages in the
petroleum fields are comparatively high,
the average for all workers being less than
sl2 monthly. while farm hands taking the
statistics for the last fifteen years have re-
ceived on the average 10 cents day for
planting in seed time and 81 cents at har-
vest, with correspondingly low wages when
work was not plentiful.
Understand these are the wages paid to
white men, women and children and to peo-
pie who have natural intelligence great
as our own and who. when educated. are
the full equals of any white people all the
world over.
No Eight-Hour Day.
There is no eight-hour day in Russia
On the government work the laws
provide that the day must not extend be-
yond eleven and half hours, not counting
the recesses, and on Saturdays and days be-
fore holidays not more than ten hours. Day.
time is reckoned here as from a. m. to o
p. m, and those who work at night must be
kept working more than ten hours out OF
the twenty-four. In all cases where the
working time exceeds ten hours day there
must be one interval of not less than an
hour. Men can make contracts for more
than eleven and one-half hours if they wish,
and on the farms fourteen hours and more
nncOmn0n WDman a children a a
not allowed to work at night in the iron
works. and they are not allowed in the
mines at all.
How They Live.
The American workman, who receives ten,
twenty more times much as the Rus
sian, will ask how men can live such
wages. They cannot in our sense of living
The houses of many of them are little bet
ter than our stables. although at some OF
the factories the people live rent free in
homes furnished by their employers. In the
government of Moscow 81 per cent of the
workmen live in such houses, while only %
per cent have their own homes. Rents are
low, and our average workingmanS family
wastes more every day than would keep
that of the average Russian laborer. His
staple food is rye bread and cabbage soup.
He has little meat; ii seldom costs him
more than 81 week. and SO will keep him
for six months or more.
l.
millions of people had to be fed at the low
est possible cest. visited one government
works, where TOO laborers were being board
ed at an average cost of cents day, and
for this each got four meals, two hot and
two cold. Every man received four pounds
of bread day. he had soup, three-quar-
ters of a pound of meat and also vegetables
and mush This was for workingmen. and
indeed / was told that thousands were fed
on half that amount.
labor Insurance and pensions
Within the last few years the government
has been enacting laws favoring the la
boring men. 1t has provided that all fac
tories and mill owners shall contribute to
hospitals and give medical assistance for
their workmen. There are labor pensions
and labor insurances both for death and
accidents. There are also mutual labor in
surance companies for permanent and tenn
porary disablements and one or two old
age insurance companies
The factory laws were revised In 1888.
when the working hours for women ana
children were limited. Now all wages have
to be paid in cash, and there are no such
things as store orders and factory stores.
An employer cannot dismiss his workmen
contrary to his contract with them and he
can infiict fines only according to the rules
of the labor department All large fac
tories outside the towns have to provide
free hospitals, baths. schools and libraries
for their people, and any employer who
mistreats his men can be fined; the
other hand. the men can be punished for
striking without cause. If employer
abuses his employees the government may
close his factory and put him in Jail, so
that altogether the laws are pretty fair.
Russia has fewer strikes than other
countries. Its labor Is not organized as
ours is. and 1t will be long time before
the unions have the power there that they
have in England and Germany
FRANK G. CARPENTER.