The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-05-11
WORKMEN IN FRANCE.
I.OW WAGES AND PRICES
Long Apprenticeships and Meager Salaries for
 Work People.

$4U, U,0U0 year into tho community from every country of the world, the wages paid average higher probably than in any other continental district. Those in the champagne export trade pay their clerks capable of carrying on correspondence in two or three lam guages from S1,OOO to S1,50O year, aaWhen clerks in other lines of business mays~not receive more than half such wages The leading champagne con- cerns are not governed by the market price of labor as regards any of their employees. While the high wages paid enables the champagne makers to secure the most select of the working men, who, as a rule, remain with one firm during their lives, it has little effect on wages in other lines of busi- ness or in other sections of the country.
 Mechanics of all classes in France, such as carpenters, blacksmiths, brick layers, stonemasons. plasterers, etc, re- ceive from $1 to $1.2O day, and paint CTS 80 cents to $1 a day. High-grade machinists may receive little more, and in Paris the wages are somewhat higher than in the provinces, but not much. Common laborers receive from 40 to 50 cents a day. The average price for dressmakers and milliners is 40 cents day Servants are paid from one-third to one-fourth as much as in the United States, and are supplied with inferior living quarters and food. until the new ten-hour law went into effect 8 few months ago the laboring men of France worked twelve hours a day. They began at 6 q. m. and quit at p. m., with one hour at noon. Women are not now allowed to work at night, and child labor under four teen years of age is prohibited.
 All mechanics in France are obliged to serve an apprenticeship of from two to three years, during half of which period, at least, they receive no wages and must board themselves. In addition to this each one must give up two years of his life for military ser vice, for which he receives one cent a day and board and clothes. It will be seen, then, that every mechanic in France must expend four or five years of his life without wages before he is prepared to earn from 97 cents to SLY 6 day.
 Notwithstanding the fact that the slaughterhouses of France are conduct ed under municipal ownership the price of meat averages higher than In the United States. In Rheims, as in most cities, there is an "octroi" tax on all food products except horse, mule, and donkey meat and vegetables. All ar ticles consumed by the poor people are admitted free. With population of 100000 the "octroi' tax of Rheims brings the city a revenue of nearly $250, 900 year It is estimated that but 5000 of the inhabitants of the city pur- chase articles regularly that are sub feet to this tax This means that each of this number of persons pays city tax of $31.25 annually on the food con- sumed There is a tax in Rheims on such articles as American canned meats, as well as the tariff of tho na- tional government. The "octroi" tax on the following named articles Is: Live stock, on hoof, 40 to 50 cents per hun dred pounds; fresh meats, from $15 to $2 per hundred pounds; horses, mules, donkeys, and their flesh, free of tax; chickens and feathered game to g cents a pound turkeys and peacocks, 20 cents each; geese, 8 cents each; ducks, cents each rabbits, cents each; oysters, 40 cents per 100; oranges, lemons, and table grapes, one-half to cents a pound wool, $1 to $1.50 per cord; lumber, 50 to 80 cents per square meter; coal and vegetables free.
 While the price of food products may vary little in the different cities throughout France the following prices ger pound for Rheims gives a fair idea of the average cost: Fillet of beef, 50 to 60 cents; faux f1llet, 30 to S5 cents; trump steak, 27 to 35 cents; veal, 20 to B cents; and mutton, 20 to 55 cents. Some of the very lowest grades of meat, suitable for making soup for the working people, may be purchased at from 10 to 15 cents, but it is prin- cipally bone. Other prices are: Horse meat (fillet de chevaD, 12 to 15 cents; horse meat, cheap quality, to 10 cents; flour, of best quality, all wheat 2 to cents; flour, not all wheat, to cents; butter, 40 to 50 cents; cheese 30 to 40 cents; cheese, a cheap quality for working people, 8 cents eggs, 4 cents each, or AS cents dozen wood, SIP cord; coal, $S to $9 a ton; and gas, 5 cents per cubic meter.
 Those having bank accounts must place 2-cent stamp on every deposit slip, and when one draws money another 2-cent stamp must be placed on the check Every window and door in Rheims Is taxed SO cents each per year. The man here earning S2,0O0 8 year, who lives in style as his neigh bor earning five times as much, pays the same tax, so far as his establish ment is concerned. The assessors meas ure the amount of taxes to be paid by the income and this is estimated by the style of the residence, it's size, etc. There is nincome tax on everything except government rents or bonds. The idea of the French lawmakers is to throw tho burden of the taxes upon the well-to-do people and to relieve the poor in every way possible Educa- tion in the primary schools is free, but in the lycees, or high schools, there Is a tuition charge for those who can afford to pay, but even the rich having more than one child are allowed a re- duction for each additional child, so that the family with five or six chil- dren would pay but a normal rate. Very poor children who are meritorious may be admitted to the lycees free of charge, at the option of the school uthorities.-Consul J. Martin Miller Rheims,