The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-08-24

NGSk@IOI@ IL Civ vi AiOoA -
a day; in 100 the have 81 and %
marks for nine hours. with all the
at the trade in the union. /
recall the fact that a few weeks before
I left for this side Of the Atlantic, and
" hjle or recent tariff bill ~WasSunder
discussion in the Senate, quite a hub
bub of excitement was created an ac-
count Of the letter which a branch OF
the German government had sent TO
our United States Government on the
wages and conditions of1German work
men in certain industries. I am told.
from reliable sources, that the figures
gIver in that communication are cor
rect. but. as one of the active men
significantly remarked, 1.-The docu-
r1ent does not state the Improve
ments were fought by h government
and won by the workers through their
struggles and sacrifices
On the question Of the rise in prices
of food, the union leaders interviewed
by me are of one mind that, while in
some OF the staples of n market
there has been an advance, this is not
the case in general. MOreover, higher
prices, where they have occurred, are
far from overtaking the increase in
wages. Rye bread is nearly as cheap
iE- these times as at any period in
thirty years. Potatoes have in the last
sc overall years been cheaper than on
the long average. Beef is abOut 10 per
= : ~ NAAa 1900
ago. Hog products fluctuate year by
year: present they are comparatively
cheap.I Fruit is cheaper than in
Great Britain. The rent money that
formerly secured a haDitation in the
sums, which are fast disappearing in
the larger cities, now commands a
neat small apartment in an improved
workingman's quarter. It's a-matter
of common comment among them
that tho nttiro nf wartime O. nnn-i
pie is much better than formerly.
Twenty years ago." said one of the
leaders to me, very few of our class
appeared in a frock coat on h Oc-
casion of our festivals. Now large
numbers do. Their wives and daugh-
ters dress much better, and they know
how to dress. Our workingmen in
general take daily newspapers. and
with their families ~patrOnize places
of amusement. In many little ways
show proof that they are living
a higher plane than formerly.
Another feature Of the new life for
the workers in Germany is travel. The
wage-earne4s, especially the
young men, are fond Of going about in
own country from town to town,
"see the world" In itself this is
education. The travelled journey
man returns to his native place. to
visit or to remain with new ideas upon
the questions interesting to his class
to the people. The newest methods
of rad uniOnism are in this manner
spread to the membership everywhere
in the empire. So. also, as to the |
projects Of municipal betterment and
modern social ideas.
The newer features of factory legis-
lation in Prussia, the union leaders
hold, have almost entirely been due
to the increased strength Of the
AS a matter of fact, they
if he unions do not see to it
laws in many cases are not
enforced. The statutes, as required by
he government. may be posted in an
establishment, but that does not cause
them to enforce themselves. Unionists
inform their w officials of infrac-
~whereupon government inspec-
are stirred up and the grievances
are remedied without having an en-
DlOyee obliged to put his situation in
by a protest either to en-
Dloyer or representatives of the law.
until the unions took on their
great power. beginning about fifteen
was it common in the fac
-ories to have the regulations relative
% meal times, payment of wages.
hours of labor, fines and penalties.
pIlIIS1 dIIO put up OH d OulIoClni
BOARD. 1t was the unions which were
foremost in carrying on the long fight
especially against employers in the
,extile tradeS-Which resulted in the
avs now preventing the employment
IF children under thirteen years Of
at all, and Of children between
thirteen and fourteen, more than six
hours a lay The laws, recently pass
I'd, protecting women from night work
md certain forms of overwork. were
Ong discussed in the labor o~rganiza-
ions and demanded of the Reichstag
oefore their adoption.
The government now recognizes the
of organization for all wage
workers, except s%ervants and a~gricul-
-ural 1aborers- The disabilities of these
classes the unions are striving to re-