The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1907-01-21
KEEP AT THE
BREAD LINE
Wages Of the LabOrer Never
Above the Bread Line.
FOOD, CLOTHING, SHELTER
Are All That Capital Allows the Worker
-AlI Above Bare Necessities
Are Absorbed by the
Employer.
FOOD, CLOTHING, SHELTER

The thinker has long maintained that
the wages OF the laborer are always
near the bread line-that is, be Is paid
only as much wages as 1t requires 70
reproduce himself In good working or-
der, the employer well knowing that
he must keep his workman supplied
with food, shelter and raiment sufti-
Client to protect him and his family
and allow reproduction Ia order TO
keep the mines, factories, farms and
30 forth running. / say the thinking
man has long recognized the above as
d fact.
have before me d prospectus Isl
sued by the board OF trade Of a south
ern city that ought to convince any one
of the above contentious, If any proof
were necessary This prospectus is Isl
sued for the benefit OF the business
interests Of that city. 1t Is sent to
different manufacturers throughout the
country to induce them 10 locate there.
The prospectus Is well got up; il shows
skill and taste in it's arrangement. 1t
has a number of fine cuts of the prin-
cipal features OF. the city and surround
ing country, giving in detail all that
one might reasonably want to know In
such cases.
But what strikes the writer as being
SO cold blooded Is its article headed
Labor" OF which the following are
the exact words:
Labor at reasonable cost is the
boast Of this city. The source Of the
labor supply is the native white popu-
lation surrounding the city. the most
prolific in family production In the
United States The laborer is capa-
bic and eontented. Strikes are I'M
known. The low cost Of living aad the
mild climate, making the cost of fuel
and clothing less than in many other
cities and permitting Of outdoor work
every day In the year, render II pos
sibIe to maintain lower wage scale
than prevails III like industries in the
north
As an example of some Of the wages
paid the following is quoted: Common
Iaborers, from 81 to $3.50 per day; car
penters. $3.50 to So: printers, $2.75 to
81; painters, s.; plumbers, 50 TO S4;
paperhangers, $3.50 to So; brick ma
sons, $3.50 TO So; piasterers, 80 cents
per hour: teamsters. 81 per day; tex
tile mill hands, so cents day and up
The prospectus boasts Of having one
Of the largest cotton mills in the south
and also the largest wooden mill In the
world, hence the quotation Of textile
mill hands st so cents per day and up
What does the above convey TO the
reader2 Only this that whatever ad-
vantages. nature has given the laborer
in that city are taken from him by the
manufacturer. II the climate is rig
orous. he Is paid sufficient wages to
purchase fuel and clothing. II these
are Unnecessary, they are not furnished
in wages by the employer In other
words. the laborer is not allowed any
benefits that his location make for him
by the reason OF bis living in a mild
climate, but they are absorbed by the
culplo4 CT
If some wizard Of an Edison should
discover food the value Of 10 cents
worth Of which would be sufficient to
maintain the laborer in working con-
dition, do you not know that the wages
would at once fall to the bread llne3
OF course they would, and wages have
remained and always viii remain near
the bread line, sometimes above and
sometimes below. So long as the pres
ent system is in vogue the above CON
dition win prevail.
You viii note in the wages quoted in
the prospectus that those trades which
are best organized receive the highest
wages and that those unorganized re-
celve the lowest. Thomas B, Farmer
in Chicago Record Herald.