The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-10-02
AMERICAN LABOR
AND THAT OF EUROPE.

1 ly@ hears the statement that the dollar
4 of - lhe5 American workingman does not
90 further tlIan the shilling OF the Eng
J lishnlan.s the mark OF The Gerlnan.sor even
the franc oI the Frenchman or Belgian:
| In other words. that the cost fof living
+, Is In proportiont.tOi the wages earned.
| Nothing could be further from the truth.
!. The standard of living Of tho American
| working man Is far from what 1t should
| be In a country Of our surprising wealth
| and great natural resources. but It lis
| higher than the standard OF living in
| England, nnd much further advanced than
on the continent. The European work
| ingmnn spends less on living because he
| has less to spend, and be receives less
| Of the decencies, comforts, and Inquiries
/ Of lie than does the American working
man. He lives on less money, but he
| lives also on less food. II e has fewer
clothes and they are o { poorer quality,
and his lodgings, with GONE exceptions,
| are much worse. The chief article in
Il the budget Of the workingman--food-is
on the whole mot less expensive, and In
Y many cases IS more expensive than In
Il the United States; house rent-whIchSis
the second largest iten,-is not much less
4 expensive. and In some ca ses VI Is moro
Il costly than would be similar accommoda-
Il ton IN places OF the same population In
the United States. On the whole. the
I things which are cheap are those which
co rot enter largely8into the consumption
of the working classes or which do not
have Il grent influence upon the pur-
chasing power Of wages, h
Their Women Work Harder. +
Taking into cons,dera ton So. Whole Of
4 Western Europe. It would seem that
women work more. and. perhaps. at
harder toll than In the United States.
The conditions Bsurroundi ing many women
workers IN our great American CITIES are
so entirely bad that nothing In Europe
could we'll be STYLED worse; but the pro-
portion Of women who aye working es-
pec!ally the proportion engaged in occu-Y.
pations recurring great muscular effort,
seems to be larger In Europe--und cs-
pcciatlly on the Continent--than lii the
United States, It is not many years
since women were taken out OF the mines
Of Europe, rand as late as two years ago
women were still employed inside the
Belgian mines Even al tha present
time there are tens or thousands Of
women engaged attic difficult and tedious
work OF picking slate above the surface
Of the English. Scotch. Welsh. Belgian.
French and German mines, Women are
very largely employed In agriculture. and
In many towns are put to work clea.r-
Ing the streets. or are engaged at other
tolsome and wearylng tasks. In many
countries women Btlll seem ~ 10 De the
cheapest aud most scrvlceable beasts OF
burden: In some they are employed a t,
nccloations from which. IN America they
would be excluded by public opinion.
The prevalence tof bnrmaids In Great
Britain may DO taken rs n ease In point.
Spirit Of Unionism.
The spirit Of union!sm Is stronger In
the limited States than In amy country
on the Continent, but It Is weaker. here
thnn In England IN the Ia tier country
slsbor organizations have existed for 30
many years that the 8nrinci1les Of nnion,5
ism have been transmitted from father
II to son. aud the ORGANIZATIONS can al
ways count upon n logo lty and a love
possible only after such. "A period ~
life. On the Continent the unions while
growing In strength.are neither so pow
erfDl nor SO firmly knit as nre the Amer
loan unions, Tho repressiye# measures
Of the government, the constant clash
OF political and industrial ideals. and the
nnwness of unionism itself, all have
tended to retard the progress Of the or
lganizations, .ss i 81 4,
N, on the Continent, moreover, relation
between employers and employed arc not
81 favorable as In the United States,
There are, perhaps. fewer4 strikes. and
there may even he less direct friction,
sbut In these countries the workingnlall,
whether tnionist or non -llnton'st, Is mot
accorded the social position EniGh me
enjoys In America, and his organ ization15
is rot, Al ~ rule, recognized 4 ar dealt
IIn1ln the fndepcuv