Idaho Springs siftings., 1904-10-08

expenditure for food vas $ssG pr fam
lily. or 1854 per cent Of the average
expenditure for all purposes. This data
was corro5orateJ by other information
in less detail form, from 25.S4o families.
and - is entitled 10 be accepted as rep
resentative.
Tue most cursory examination of the
above table reveals the fact that the
purchasing power of wages. measured by
retail prices OF food. was 8 per cent.
greater in 1908 than in 1898. and this
in spite OF the fact that the hours per
week had been reduced 81 per cent.
But more conducive to the wide dis
semination of the prosperity than these
proofs of the increased purchasing pow
er of wages. IL the fact revealed iu the
column giving the relative number OF
persons employed in the establishments
investigated Between 1894 and 1908 the
increas in the number OF employees re-
oeivins these wages with increased pur-
chasing power was 34.3 per cent, while
in the meantime the population Of the
United States only increased Il per cent.
Democracy's Last Resort.
Disheartened and disgusted with the
wide distribution of prosperity in the
homes. workshops and bank accounts OF
axe W
these figures. the Democrats appeal to
railroad labor as affording the most se-
curate barometer of wages" Here. they
say. "a large proportion of the employees
are union men, whose wages are com
paratively steady"
Then uhe compilers of the Democratic
campaign book begin to juggle with the
very averages and percentages they af-
feet GO despise. They institute compari-
sons between 1892. when railway wages
were at high tide, and 1901. when they
bad scarcely recovered from Democratic
recession of 1893 1896. They suppress
the fact that the statistical average O.
railway wages was less affected by the
Democratic hard times than the average
OF other industries, for the obvious rea-
son that as forces were reduced in num-
bers the proportion OF high priced en-
pioyes retained because OF their expert
enee was greater.
They also conclude their comparison.
with the year ending June 30rh. 1902,
well knowing that the statistics of the
Interstate Commerce Commission for
that year only reflect a month or two
OF the advance in railway wages of that
calendar year. which did no; reach food
tide until July. 1908. Not until the
statistics Of the Interstate Commerce
Commission for the year 1903 1904 are
published next summer will ii be pos
sibls to make an authoritative compari-
son of the wages of railway employees
and the cost OF living in tho year 1903.
But the report Of the Commission for
the fiscal year 1908 is availa bic. and II
furnishes the following data, which
throws Light on the rich slice Of pros
perity which has fallen to the share of
railway employees:
NUMBER AND COMPENSATION OF
RAILWAY EMPLOYEES IN THE YEARS
1897 AND 1905;
Year. Number Co,nnens.,ion
lsuS ...............1,3i ,3is,S31 &T7s32l 4iS
1877 --............. s23.41s 4s5 col 5is
Increase ...... 4s9.osi $500. .7le. s34
Increase per cent. se4 66S
Increase OF compensation relatively
over notnoef .-.-.--..-.....-.. I'll
That this relative increase of compen-
sation. compared with that in the num-
Der of railway employees. does not tell
the whole truth is proved by the follow
ing table:
AVERAGE DAILY COMPENSATION OF
CERTAIN DISTINCTIVE CLASSES OF
RAILWAY EMPLOYEES FOR THE
YEARS ENDING JUNE 30TH, 1897.
AND 1903 wide sixteenth annual report
OF the statistics Of railways In the middle
States for 1905. 2. So