The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1912-10-12

substance, and not only the shadow
Hubert A. Walraf
WORLD PROBLEMS At
THE PRESENT TIME
Laboring Glass Better Off In the
United States than in England
Wages Lower, Hours Longer and
Cost of Living Higher in England.
written specially for the Catholic
Bulletin by Rev. j. T. Roche, L.. D.
We hear if often said nowadays
that the condition of labouring people
in Europe is more favourable than it
is in the United States l have seen
! it stated in several metropolitan dali
| lies that the cost of living is lower in
London than it is in Chicago or New
York. Now / have. Investigated this
matter somewhat and the figures
out this statement. The United States,
Australia, Canada and the Argentine
Republic provide England with most
of it's food-supply. China sends a great
| great deal of pork-not a very desirable
quality of pork when one has seen the
Chinese pig in his native habitant,
but the poor of England cannot afford
to be too particular. Ireland supplies
a considerable amount of beef, mutton
and dairy products, though Denmark s
butter commands the highest prices.
1t is to Australia, the United States,
Canada and the Argentine Republic
| that England must look for it's food
supply during ten months of each
year. The wheat from the three lat
ter countries has it's price regulated
| by the Liverpool Exchange and by the
time the ocean freights are paid and
it is placed on the market the price
| is always in advance of that paid on
this side of the Atlantic. The same
is true of meat, but the labouring peo-
pie of England do not eat much meat
They cannot afford it, for the scale of
wages is much lower than it is in this
country as can be seen from the fol-
| lowing.
Wages in England.
! In August, 1911, over 259,2SO rail-
trdad employees went on strike. Of
that number more than 100000 were
receiving weekly wage of less than
a pound ($4.86). l have before me,
as I write, the London Weekly Times
of August 18th, 1911. On page of
that issue I find the following state
ment from Mr. Richard Bell, the gen.
eral secretary of the Railway Mems
Association.
There are over 100000 men on
the railways of the United Kingdom
whose standard weekly wage does not
exceed pound week. One-half of
the railway employees come between
the 20 shilling and 80 shilling limit
"a shilling is Is cents in American
money!. Only IL per cent of the total
receive more than the latter figure.
! The figures show that one-half the
men are rated at IL hours day in
Scotland, and almost the half in Ire
land, while for the United Kingdom
one-quarter work IL hours a day and
two-thirds ten hours a day.
From the foregoing it will be seen
that more than two-thirds of the rail
way men of the United Kingdom re-
ceive less than $50 month and only
IL per cent of them over that figure.
And it is generally admitted that this
class of labor ranks amongst the best
paid in the whole country. The wages
paid to unskilled labor everywhere
throughout the United States averages
about $500 day. Our brakemen, fire
men, conductors and engineers are
certainly well off compared with their
English brethren The following is
taken from a speech delivered by
Philip Snowden, the labor leader, in
the House of Commons less than a
year ago.
I'm London alone there are one mil
lion persons, whose family incomes
does not exceed guinea t$5.25) a
week.
/ In London one person in every three
dies in the workhouse, public hospital
or asylum.
In Great Britain 100000 persons
seek relief under the poor law every
year Over 100000 are constant resi-
dents of the aims houses.
/ There are seldom less than mil
/ lion unemployed out of total popu
lation of 36,000,000
i One million married women have tc
work in factories and workshops.
The average wages of agricultural
laborers are from 10 to II shillings q
week.
4 1t is estimated that family of five