The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1915-08-25

thfttYiF " 100 4fI &tHNs
whereas the aggregate income OF
wage Farmers In manufacturing.
mining and transportation has risen
between 1889 and 1903 only 50 per
cent. from 2.51e millions in 1889 to
i,S16 millions in 1909. Further
more. the wage earners' share OF the
product OF industry In the case of
manufactures was only 40.2 per rent
in 1909, as compared with 44.g per
cent in 1889"
Foreign Conditions Not Pertinent.
SIMILARLY, the attempt to discuss
~deplorable labor conditions in the
United States by arguments that they
are better than in European coun-
tries is repugnant. TO say that con-
ditions are better than in Great Brit
ain. for example, is simply to say
that somewhat less than one-third Of
the population are in a state of alb
solute poverty, for that was the rom
dition reported by the last British
commission. 1t should be n matter
of shame also TO boast that the con-
dition of American laborers is bet
ter than that of laborers in the
black bread belt of Germany. That
they are. as a matter of fact, but lit
tie better is proved conclusively by
the almost complete cessation of inn
migration from Germany, England
and France. No better proof of the
miserable condition of the mass OF
American workers can be sought
than the fact that in recent years
laborers in large numbers have come
to this country only from Russia,
Italy. Austria-Ilungary and the back
ward and impoverished nations of
Southern and Eastern Europe.
with the in~exhaustible natural
resources OF the United States, her
tremendous mechanical achieve
ments and the genius of her peo-
pie for organization and industry.
there can be no natural reason TO
prevent every ~able-bodied mar OF
u present population from being
well fed, we'll housed, comfortably
clothed and from rearing a family
of moderate size in comfort, health
and security. How far this ideal IS
actually achieved is discussed in
some detail in the following pages.
1T is evident, both from the in
vestigations of this commission and
from the reports OF all recent gov
ernmental bodies, that a large part
of our industrial population are, as
a result of the combination of low
wages and unemployment, living il
a condition of actual poverty"
Farm Workers Also.
I'm agriculture there is no array
of exact figures which can be quot
ed to show the condition of labor.
But, speaking generally, the avail
able evidence indicates clearly that
while in some sections agricultural
laborers are well paid and fairly
treated, the condition of the
is very much like that of the in
dustrial workers.
Moreover, there is a peculiar
condition in agriculture, which
merits a brief but strong statement
at this point as a preface to a more
detailed discussion later. The o
alarming fact in American agricul-
ture is the rapid growth of tenancy
In 1910 there were 81 tenant
operated farms out of each 100
farms in the United States as COM
pared with % in 1890, an increase
of 30 per cent during twenty years
No nationwide investigation of the
condition of tenant farmers has
ever been made. but in Texas,
where the Investigations of this
commission were thorough and
conclusive. it was found not only
that the eonditloh OF the
tenant was extremely bad, but also
that he was far from being free.
whereas his future was regarded as
hopeless. Badly housed, illl-nour-
ished, uneducated and hopeless.
these tenants continue year after
year to exc out a bare living, NOV
ing frequently from n farm TO
another in the hope that something
will turn up.
without a large family, the ten
ant can not hope TO succeed or
break even, so in each tenant fam
lily numerous children are being
reared in a future which under
present conditions will be no bet
tor ~ no oood MS that of heir