The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1906-10-24
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NATIONAL NEWS BUREAU.
Room 45j, Kellogg Building,
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Washington, October IA
bulletin on wages, hours OF Ia,
Dor, and retail prices OF 1000
just issued by the United States
Bureau of Labor Is of interest al
this time for the reason that 1t
shows that wage earners are ob-
tanning a full share of the un-
precedented prosperity of the
country. The Investigations
Of the bureau as to wages and
hours of labor covered all the
principal manufacturing and
mechanical industries Of the
| United States for the sixteen
wears from 1890 to 1905, and the
prices of food are given for the
same period.
The first years covered by the
report were years of a high de-
gree of prosperity when meas
ured by standards Of the past:
Then came the depression Of
1898 and the succeeding years
followed by the wave Of pros
perity that is now sweeping over
the country and that is rising
constantly higher. An excel
lent idea of the effect of this re-
vival Of business on wage earn
ers is afforded by a comparison
of the statistics of 1905 with
those Of 1894. Such a compari-
son shows that the average
wage per hour has increased
21.5 per cent while the average
hours worked per week has de-
creased 3.9 per cent. So that
the average workman, working
shorter hours than in 1894, earns
16.7 per cent more per week.
During this same period there
has been a general advance in
the prices of most commodities,
but the average advance in
prices has been much less than
the Increase in wages. The IN
crease in the price Of food,
weighed according to the aver
age family consumption, deter
mined by the purchases of the
families of 1867 Hworkingmen,
has amounted to only 12.7 per
cent, and the average wage
would purchase ~ per cent
more food in 1904 than in 1894.
Still more important are: the
figures as to the relative num-
Der employed in 1905 rs COM
pared with 1894. These show
an increase Of ~ per cent. In
other words nearly one-third Of
those employed in 1905 were
without work in 1894. AS con-
sequence Of this great increase
in the number employed and the
increase in the rate of wages
the total amount paid in wages
was 65.7 per cent greater in 1905
than in 1894.
An interesting fact III connec-
ton with the increases in the
average prices of commodities is
that it has been most marked in
the prices of agricultural pro-
ducts and raw materials gener-
ally. The average increase in
the direct products of the soil,
forests, and mines. The mean
ing of this is that. despite the
increased cost of raw materials
and the great increase in the
wages paid for labor, the manu-
featuring establishments OF the
country, especially the larger
ones, kave introduced economies
that have enabled them to sell
their products at slightly ad-
vanced prices, and, in some
cases, at or below the prices OF
1894.
Probably the most important
single factor in preventing COM
modify prices advancing at the
same rate as wages has been the
decline in the cost of transpor-
tation-a cost that enters into
the selling price Of practically
every commodity. The Inter
state Commerce Commission re-
port shows that the average
rate per ton per mile for 1905
was 1919 per cent less than the
rate for 1894, and 1905 will show
a still further reduction. When
the steady advance in the wages
of railway employees Of all kinds
and large increase in the cost OF
practically every commodity
used in the construction or oper
alton of a railroad is considered
it is wonderful that the
roads have been able to make
this large reduction in their
average freight charges. It has
been made possible only by the
expenditure of enormous sums
far tie improvement of roadbeds
and tracks, for the elimination
of curves and grades, and for
the purchase of more powerful
engines and cars Of greater ca
pacity, resulting in the average
train-load being largely in