Denver labor bulletin., 1916-07-22
U. S. Department Of Labor
Gives the Figures .
Increases Affect Every Industry in
ALI Parts of the Country, and
Are Estimated by Secretary
of Labor Wilson at IL
Per Cent
Especial Correspondence

army OF American iaDoT Is sharlng IN
the nations prosperity. Information
gathered by the Department of Labor
shows a pronounced trend upward in the
wages OF the men who work with their
hands in every industry and gain
full occupation. In every state OF the
Union the full dinner paid is a reality;
there are no bread lines" the calamity
howlers are put to rout. Government
experts are of the opinion that the gen.
eral average wage increase in the last
year will approximate y per cent.
An examination of .4s6 reports indi-
Gates $500, 600 600 added to the annual
pay checks of approximately 500, 900
workmen.
Secretary of Labor Wilson has had
compiled the wage announcements and
reports appearing in such newspapers as
came to the department, and has sum
married the interesting result. The Pc
Rod covered was from July !, 1915, to
May Is, 1916. The publications exam
ined included eighteen dailies, twenty
monthly and emi-monthly trade jour
mails. and 100 weeklies-in all l3s publi-
cations.
Statistics Gathered by Bureau.
OF the l,4s6 wage increase reports, 794
reported the number OF establishments
affected as 2.247. On a similar basis,
the total number OF Establishments al
fcCted by the .4S6 wage increase would
Approximate 1900 establishments
Again, only 4g3 OF the total .4S6 wage
increase articles gave the number Of
wage earners receiving the increased
pay. But these 1913 reported a total Of
1901 ,322 wage earners affected On 8
similar basis, the total number OF wage
earners affected by the 1856 wage in
ereases would reach 100000.
The number OF wage increases reported
by these l3S newspaper and trade jour
mails represent, of course. only a partial
story. Ii the files OF 900, instead Of
l3s publications had been consulted, a
FAR more nearly complete review OF the
labor field OF the forty-eight states
would have resulted 1t Is true, like
wise, that hundreds Of wage increases
are made which do not get press pub
licity.
The rate of Increase ranges all the
way from 5 per cent to 80 per cent /;
from cents to 60 cents per hour; from
25 cents to 5000 per day; from 81 up
to SIS per week.
General Wage Movement Shown.
Here are few OF the interesting
cases, showing how general the wage
movement has been both as to terri
tory and occupation:
Five thousand Arizona miners and
smelters get a flat raise of 20 per cent /;
while 1000 get $ cents increase per
day and 1000 more up to 60 cents per
hour.
California printers and boolbinders
get raises running from - to S25 per
week: while metal workers, foundry and
machine shop operators, and the building
trades get increases of 80 cents TO -
per day.
In Connecticut there were twenty five
wage increase reports in foundry and
machine shops alone. the rate Of in
crease being from 10 per cent to 25 per
cent. One of these increases OF l5 per
cent affected nineteen establishments
employing 23OO0 wage earners, and an.
other 10000 men.
Eight Colorado ca ses increased 10 per
cent the pay OF - 90 miners and metal
workers
Illinois increases reported TO the num-
Der OF eighty-fivc, including bakers,
building trades. clothing. foundry and
machine shops, laborers. printers and
bookbinders, railroads. street railways,
stock yards and packing plants, team
sters and theaters, affecting hundreds OF
establishments and thousands OF wage
earners. Three wage increases in pack
ing houses reached 5000 men
East and West Boom Alike
Indiana. Iowa. Kansas and kentucky
wage increases reached broad list OF
industries as in Illinois; the principal
increases being 10 to 20 per cent, or 81
to So per week.
In Maine the wage gains werc largely
in paper mills and textiles, one raisc
reaching 1000 textile workers; tho the
men also got theirs
Over 200 wage increases werc noted
in Massachusetts,, embracing practically
every industrial occupation. Two cases
covered ninety seven building trade es-
tablishments. There were about fifty
cases affecting foundry and machine
shops; the number of wage carnors be
ing from 80 to 5000, and the rate of
increase being commonly 10 per cent TO
10 per cent. There Were also fifty or
more wage increases in cotton. wool and
other textile establishments One 10 per
cent raise went to $1,000 textile work
ers, and twenty other raises OF to 10
per cent affected 900 to 10000 wage
earners each.
Get Jump of 81 Per Day.
In Michigan, Minnesota and Missouri,
bakers, building trades, foundrymen and
machinists, printers and railway en-
ployes got raises, one 10 per cent Mich
igan raise hitting $4,000. while in Mis-
souri, 81 per week was added to 10000
pay envelopes at one clip.
In Montana the building trades got n
jump of 81 per day, and miners from
25 cents up TO 50 per day.
New Hampshire textile mills report