The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-11-16
'(Copyright, 1909, by F.. S. Ridsdale.
for Samuel Gompers.)

Washington, D. c., Nov. 2, 1909.
where are wages best?" working
men ask me. "Other points in favor
of America don't count for much if
a mans earnings here can't bring him
a better living than in European
countries. Is it true that a mark
in Germany or a franc in france will
go as far as a dollar in the United
States"
In reply some examples Of wages in
Europe may be given and then some
description of the circumstances in
the European workmen's situation in
life. I took note Of them. Precisely
what the differences are in the cost
of living in the different countries
is a question involving many factors
over which sociological Investigators
and tarin-wranglers have long dis
puted. h I "a give is the re-
suit Of visiting in their
homes in various cities, hearing the
statement Of labor representatives
and others as to prices and wages, n
completing this sort Of Information
with comparisons Of wage scales and
trade union reports given me in the
. countries I visited.
In the debates and conferences at
the British Trade Union Congress at
ipswich in September, the national
trade union secretaries ami other
prominent delegates could hardly be
expected to err greatly when referring
to earnings in their own occupations.
Some of their statements are here
with given. Richard Bell, NJ p. Of
the A~malgamated Society of Railway
Servants, speaking for the necessity
for railway men in the Ipswich dis
trict to come into the unions, said
that while working at seventeen shill-
ings G4.25) a week they had re-
fused to assist the union in getting
them an advance of two shlllings. 1t
Is to be kept in mind that the English
shilling is twenty-four American cents
G. H. Roberts, M. P, averred that in
some parts of a Anglia, the eastern
central part OF England, agricultural
labOrers are being paid twelve shill-
ings q week. Will Thorne, II. p,
mentioned that builders laborers in
Ipswich were receiving 4 IL d. G.
cents) an hour. Men in the audience
called out: quite right. and 3 Il
d., sir" A. G. Smith of the London
a Drivers said public motor car
men received twenty-five per cent. on
every pound they took in, but as they
had to pay for their gasoline which
was often wasted, it frequently hap
pened that all they had for themselves
after a fifteen-hour lay was two shill-~
ings. r. Davis of the Municipal En-
ployes, arguing for a recognized min
tmum in all industries, quoted the lpS-
witch trade union minimum for build
ers' laborers as Sd. per hour. A reso-
luton was adopted advocating mini
mum wages Of thirty shillings for a
fOTty-eight hour week for government
workers In the London district and
t~hirty-six shillings in the danger build
ings Of the explosive factory at the
arsenal at Wollwich. These two de-
mands, it is to be observed, which
mark an objective point above what
Is paid. reach only $3.50 and 50 q
week.
In London the present weekly union
scale for men in the binding depart
ment in printig offices is thirty-four
shillings for ffty-four hours, and for
cutters, thirty shillings and girl fold
ers fifteen. In the private %shipyards
doing naval work-those in the Tyne,
Clyde, Mersey, Thames and Barrow
districts-the wages run on the aver
age: Platers, SO 8. 3d.; riveters and
caulkers. "a 8. 3D.; holders-up, 20 s.
Sd. Government dockyards maximum
pay IS: Platers, 2S 8; r~iveters and
caulkers, 28s.; holds-up, 25s. Tho
entire range here is Sc to less than
$3.50.
The long hours worked in some oc-
equations was called to the attention
of the Congress. It was said by AL
derman J. Hayhurst, J. p, Of the
Bleachers' Union, a common thing for
men in the bleaching, dyeing and cali
CO printing industries to work twelve
and fourteen hours a day. Councillor
G. T. Jackson, J. P, Of the Tramway
Employees Union, introduced a reso-
hutton calling for an eight-hour lapse
between the first Of one days work
and the beginning Of the next, and
providing that any one day should
not be spread over more than twelve
hours. He cited an Incident of an
accident occurring at II p. m. through
the exhaustion Of a man who had
begun work at s a. M. E.. Spice, of
n London Waterman, wanted twelve
hours as a maximum day for the
lads under eighteen working at light
er age on the Thames. A delegate of