The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1906-09-28

N'H
dred years ago men, women and chill
dren toiled from rs to 81 hours a week
-l3 to IA hours a day. This was the
average, but many employers ground
l6 hours a day out of their jaded wage
slaves. In 1900 every laboring man
and mechanic was at work at 4 a. m.
At 10 they had an hour for lunch, at 8
an hour for dinner, and then on till
dark. As late as 1886 men and women
began work in some factories at 4:30
a. m. and in New England it was the
custom to light the lamps and work
an hour before dawn as we'll as an
hour after, thus stealing two hours a
day from rest. The average laborer
100 years ago had fewer comforts and
less consideration than the horse or
dog has to-day. There was no society
for the prevention of cruelty to wage
workers. The labOrer lived in a house
Of implanted boards. He had sand on
the floor instead of carpet, and his
dishes were made of pewter instead
OF china. If he had fresh meat once
a week he thought himself lucky. A
good share Of his wages was paid In
rum and gin, Then when he got drunk
his employer had him arrested. JEFF
ferson tells US that the topic of CONVEX
satlon at a large dinner party given by
President John Adams was the 'enor-
nous price of labor President Adams
declared that he had hired men ten
years before for $50 a year and board,
while now he was obliged to pay the
enormous sum of $3.50 a year. The
city Of Washington was built by work
ers who got not more than so cents a
day. The diggers, choppers, hodcar-
Tiers, etc, got $40 a year, and worked,
as all laborers did, from sunrise to
sunset. When this century began
wages In New York were 40 cents a
day and in Baltimore SO cents. The
average rate all over the country was
S65 a year, with board and perhaps
lodging. As late as 1885 the BaIti-
more weayers were working u hours
a day for 60 cents. At Great Falls.
n. H, in 1874, the factory girls labored
from . a. n. until 7 p. m, with only
Is minutes for breakfast and 30 min
utes for dinner. What they earned we
do not know, but all they received was
$1.25 to 81 a week"
For the last three or four years the
manufacturers in the metal industry
have been waging a fight on the
unions and in some districts they have
been successful in establishing the
open shop. The National Metal Trades
association two years ago ceased to
make agreements with the unions and
this year the National Founders asso-
citation has adopted the same policy.
Whether the latter is to be successful
depends on the final outcome of the
of iron mOlders which has been
in progress in a number of cities since
May l.,
The strike of the Freight Handlers
union at Duluth and Superior has been
by President D. J. Keefe of the
International Longshoremen, Marine,
and Transport Workers association in
negotiation with the Northern Pacific
railway. All of the old employees are
70 be reinstated without discrimina-
ion regardless of what part they had
aiken in the recent strike. The wages
are to be 80 cents per hour for the |
entire navigation season of 1906. .
An endeaVor is to be made to ANAL
the various unions in the West :
Australian timber industry, so that
hey Will better be able to resist any
to reduce wages when the
present agreement expires.
The first family strike recorded in
chicago was ordered recently when
$50 female j~anitors voted to go to the
lid of their husbands to win an in
'rease in wages demanded by window
washers in large buildings down town. i
The labor agitations in recent years r
n France are said to have had an i'm. .
effect in leading to a "concen. :
ration of industries" In 1896 there r
we're 2~,334,471 independent establish.
nents in France; in 1901 the total
of such establishments was |
,245.356, a diminution in five years |
# nearly 1000 establishments. The L
now is said to be very much =
mailer. The small establishments 4
re reported to have been the ones '
which have largely gone out of bust. y
less. During the period of 1895 to
sol no less than 10" 1855 small firms v
disappeared, while establishments EN-. n
from 81 to 100 workmen in
by 1885, and the number Of |
arge firms, employing more than 100 |
rorkmen each, increased from 3,91S in
1886 to 4,623 in 1901. The present
citation, with a demand for shorter
ours and increased wages, is said to
ave added greatly to this ]concentra-
ion of business in certain lines to the (
arge firms.
The exact date of the origin of trade \
mons in America is unknown. There Il
ave been no medieval conditions, Y
it is believed that there were no
abor unions in the colonies, but a
of journeymen bakers, it is said,
ccurred in New York city as early as [
TAI. 81
The International Association of
'hoto-Engravers at their annual con. IT
ention held in Detroit, rescinded the
pen shop resolution passed at their
lst convention in Buffalo, and adopted ia
substitute, declaring that they will yt
e absolutely neutral in relations with ar
sbor. w
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