The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1903-10-22
FIGHT 70 MAlNTAiNEWAGES
Organized Labor Said to Be Facing a
Crisis.

E - ID SSiiSSN VI AAAA way .T|-T-LEEEI
the struggle to maintain the present
high standard of pay is expected tosfall
on the unskilled men, whose wages arg
held to have been advanced lar our OF
proportion to the value of their sefN-
ices.
{ Indications OF retrenchment are seen
on every hand. The railroads through.
out the country have started to lay OIL
| raen, the mine operators are curtalllnS
expenses. and factories are employing
reduced forces. All big employing con
Germs are refusing to grant any further
increases in a
The labor leaders generally admit
= alarm, those who We're in Chicago at
the convention Of the National CIVIC
federation being free in their express
! sions.
Big Pay for the Unskilled.
The tendency toward retrenchment
is attributed to the abnormal increases
thai have been exacted by the unskilied
workmen. While expert Mechanics,
such as the machinists and the brass
workers, have been able to advanc
! their pay only Is per cent, their help-
/ ers are receiving 20 to so per cent. more
/ pay than four years ago. The same
condition prevails in othe rtrades.
1t has been estimated that before the
close of the year the big employing con-
u ILlS oolAN H - 49, 49,
charged nearly 1000, 900 men, most of
them laborers and general utility work
ers. or this number the railroads are
expected to drop from employment 2o0,-
900 men, the mine operators $4,000, the
machine shops ard iron, steel and tin
plans 250, 600, and the building trades
more than 0,000.
In the case Of the railroads repair
and construction work will be brought
1 n e. E,nor 70 n c{., Nd CT Ill ~ n CT iSL nrHr-
ticable to bring it.
Caughts in Organization Wave.
In the wave of organization that is
now subsiding labor leaders formed in
to unions all the toilers who were will
ing to join. In almost all of the in
dustries the skilled men demanded that
the unskilled be given a new and unl-
form wage scale.
II the stock yards of the country the
laborers who We're being paid from
$1.25 to $3.50 a day until swept into the
labor movement. Then came an IN
crease to Sits, made possible by a
determined stand on the part of the
skilled workers.
For three weeks the skilled men, the
butchers, sausage makers, and can
ners. have tried to get more a for
themselves. They have found, how
ever, that the increase granted the la
DOiSIS-WlllCIl lled1ll Sl,0Uo,VVO a SCdi
to the packers-brought the employers
to a realization that a halt must be
called.
Railroads Reach Limit.
With the railroads conditions are
similar. The engineers and firelnen of
the roads running east from Chicago
are clamorlng for better pay, but the
unskilled men ofSthe business already
have taxed the pay roll of the company
to the limit.
The average daily wages paid by the
railroads in different sections OF the
country Is shown by the following ta-
BILE:
Engineers. Firemen;
Middle Atlantic states. :. .s3.76 s2.14
New England states.... $50 a. l.9S
Southwestern states ...... 4.09 2.42
Pacific states ............ 4.5S- KIT
The eastern workers look with en-
Vious eyes at the western scale, but
when they informally approached the
railroad officials they We're told that the
track men, the repair, e the section
hands, and bridge me- nave been
| raised all the way from 10 to SO per
cent. in pay, and that the pay rolls of
the eastern companies have been lifted
from $610,009,5 $50 in 1901 to s6T6,025, 594
IN 1903.
Building Industry Crippled.
In the building trades the number of
idle men is increasing every week. hi
contractors finding it almost impossible
to do business under the wage scales
adopted last spring. Both skilled and
unskilled men We're conceded better
wages then, but the advances granted
the laborers are causing he greatest
concern to the contractors.
The hodcarriers are now getting 3e7s
cents an hour. or 3 cents more an hour.
than is paid IN expert machi1list and
40 cents a day more tina that paid a
c~igarnaker. The building laboTers are
getting 80 cents an hour, on, 3 cents
more than a clerk or shipping room
employe in the wholesale houses.
The plumbers helpers are paid $3.50
a day, the junior steamfitters $50, the
electrical helpers S2.25. and the ma
| chinists' helpers $l.T5.
A few weeks, ago international Pres1-
dent James G'CouGeHHo OF the
union sent u a notice TO all SHil1ated
locals warning them not to l-iss2sa any
further wage! demands. He inserted
that the National Entail Trades asSocl-
alton already was contemplating a cut.
This notice was sent out in spite of the
/ fact chat the union. so far SIS its sklsled
men are concerned, has been able to
secure hut little more pay tlssT IN duh
Etimes.
Warming From Chicago Leader.
An officer of the Chicago Federation
of Labor yesterday added a warming
that Observation-Disclosures not5asksfor
better wages in h face of a falling
market. TO prove that unskilled labor
has been granted III abnormal wage
increase he gave out the following table
of the, increases already granted SOME
of the unskilled workers of Chicago:
Per year
Stockyard employees y, SgS SiS
Hodcarriers SO. 22s,NN
fIeaInsterS !, !S W. ~
Hotel employees ........., ......... lS0sNt
Miscellaneous ........s.... aV0,CV
ssThe employers are beginning to re.
trench,n he said, and Wehaye feared
such action for some time. What is e
II be done I do not know.1 The skiliel
men will always be in demand, but
capital can ditpense with the unskillec
to a. certain extent lit seems as If We
have paid too much attention to tbs
labolers5 Ind helpers N musIEnearS
consequences If many mer3are laid of
sone unions will probably go TO piece.
and the success of the entire mova.
ment VIII be Threatened. ' vi
Quick Steer SHINING.
Denver, Col..#SOct. Bly, dressing {
II 1,2O0-poufad steersins3 minutes, SO sec,
onds,sl Jacob Baer, employed iii 81 s1oca
packing plant, has reduced he worlds
~ MtE - EnN EAHfE WEHN - NJ. -