The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-08-24
EIGHT HOUR DAY IS
 IMPERATIVE, SAYS U. s.
 COMMISSIONS REPORT
continued from Page I

ssrf1e wealth of the country between 1890 and 1912 increased from 65 to 2167 billions. or 1S8 per cent, whereas the aggregate income of wage earners In misunderstanding mining, and trans- porfation has risen between 1899 and 1909 only e5 per cent. from 2,516 millions in 1889 to 4,916 millions in 1909. Furth ermore, the wage-earn- CTS share of the net product of indus 3try in the case of manufaeturerss was only 40 3 per cent. in 1909, as com pared with 44-9 per cent in 1889,
 Foreign Conditions Not PeTtinnt .,
 ..SsrnsIarly, the attempt to dismiss deplorable labor conditions in the United States by arguments that they. are better than in European countries Is repugnant> To say that condit1ons are better in Great Britain, for ex-z ample. is simply to say that sofne- what less than one-third Of the popu- latfcn are in a state of absolute pow erty for that was the condition re ported by the last British. Co1nrnis-s Mons # should be nnatf sha me Rlsdto boast that inc aahdzHDn of AInsracan laborers is better an tta1a t nf laborers 1n the black bread belt. If Germany
 That they are as matter or facez but little better is proved concllsively bv the almost cou1pIete cessation of lxza1ni grafton from Germany. England and France <No better proof or the xrlisszabie condition of he mass or Aanif sIcan workers can. bss sought a tiaaTl the fact that in 9eaht years la borexs in large numbers have come to thfs country only from Russia, Italy, A11stria-H Hungary and the backward and Impoverished nations of s1ithern and eastern Europe
 with the inexhaustib1e naturaI xesources of the United States, her kreulendoas mechanical ac11i eveulent Is. and the genius of her people for or gan1za1aon and fhdustrys there can De no natural reason to prevent every able-bodied man Of our present pop sssia don from being well fec. well slnTNgd coxuf fortably clothed, and froxn fearing a family Of noderate sstze In couazort. health and secur1ty- BLOW far this is actua llys achi eyed is id1seuHsed in some detail in the fol- aaW1ng pages
 ssIt is evident both from inc inves- 1lgatsons of tl1is com 1ssion and from Ef1e reDorts Of all recent goyeTnrne en- l4a1 bodies that a large part of our sndue<r1a1 popuation are. as 2 result lsR tne combination of low wages and. fzznerap Ioymant, living fn cond1tlon sof actual poverty.
 Af Least One-Thfrd In Poverty. ;
 HOW large this proportion Is cannot De eartiy deterninA4 but it ta cer- i4afn lat At least on &5saafrd arad possl- f5ly olfe-haif of the Families oG wage earners employed in faetsfrtng ana mining earn irr the course of the wear 1ezs than enough to suppork Them in anything like a comfortable and decent condition. The eetai1ed nv1aenea is presented h separate report which is subrnIttAd for trans- ss1affta1 to Congress At this point 1t 4s s,sfIiezaf4 to ca5l attention to the resnlts oG the most exhaustive and HweeAanE official tnxesti tfon of re- cent years that Of the i'm rlai grafton eress 4n 191s This investigation se- cured detailed tnferzn atIon regar ding fhs daily CT week Is earnings of 619,- B9B elnpIoyees of all classes in our basic n1annfact cturfng industries andFfn coal mining. and 5pferHaati on re gard7 ing fnc04na and living eondttfens for 75,726 fant1fess
 stIt was found that ths annual f1a- comes of almost 4#e thirds of these fannf llaa es q per eent. were less than third 1s1 per cent, were less than 860O, the average for all being $721. 1ss1e average size of these faTni i es was Ab46s xneznbs1s Elaborate studies of 14hs cost ef living made in all parts o1 T Ethe country at the same time have fpaown that the very least that a fam z1v of five persons can live lpo on fn anythtng apprdH ching deeeney Is 9760. IL is probable that ewing lte kKaa faat that the families investigated
 
 to a. IaBEe extent, foreign born, the s1l64l1ss nFa Iowe CT than TOT the av- eEEea 4Tas s1tiRs= 0z4ff p0nHIa- Itfons nexerth e1esss even when eyer5 allowaaas is made for that fact, the faguFes show c0no1usiye1y t1iat be- tween one-half and two thirds. o1 these families were living below the lstandaFds Of decent subsistence, while iabont ena-thfrd were living in aJ state sxhieh aan bas q deaerihed. only as abjeei
 ss s.Aniels Allr. feundsl sand for q long period existed upon the ftheory that the family should derive Hts support from the earnings of fhe Bfafhefs EIew far w6 have de parted lEr0rn this condition is shown by ths I1act that 8 per cent of the fathers Of these families earned less thar ieT0o per year. In brief. only one. aeureh of these fathers could have sapBorted their families on the bares l1sve1 without the earnings of other EznenbeTs of the family or income 9ro1n outside sources.
 eOther facts collected iH this iHves. s4igati0a show concIHsiveiy that vers large pfspertion of these families did hot i've in deeeney and comfort Thirty spsE cent kept b0aEders and l7odgsEs, a condition repugnant t6 3every ideal of American faHaiIys life especially in the crowded tenefnents oE ttnly cottages in which the wage eaFnaFs Of America cflaracteristicaI1s Hive. FHFtheFmere, in TT per cent. o1 fhe families two or mere persons oo 5cHpAed each sleeping room, ia 87 pel keent- three OF more persons, and in t75 per cent feuF er more persoas'' Fauper BuBIals,
 Faask z7sEsE dss 2 sti.1IzilsA e7E1enee of pow. iefty s ffiaSTp pne eportIon of pauBel bzrials. The repagnance of all eiasse, feK wage eaEHeFs Of all races to paupel k7e47xfa1 is s4Ie7a that zVeruff1iI1er ill AF,s IsaortAced and heavy debts incurred Frather than permit any member o the family to lie in the .petters' field IneveEtheless In New York city one GU of 12 corpses is buried at the expens, Of the city or turned over sto p1ysi lcaansfer dissection.
 effse etss safz zazeh pev lerty may be outlined in a few para