The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1917-04-06
l,11Oss Ann 0Oer o. HAVING.
n 4 saoliarss x,prih 6k tood bought

g - - 2N10A4SsA ~ II " AS.k<As 0sb44AsS 8
II 1907 weighed the mar1st basket t
down ten pounds. "a 1916 that dol
ixr purchased only ! trifle more
than seven rounds. The retail prices |
81 food Jumped 50 rer cent n 1915.
- compared with 1897, according |
10 the investigations Or the bureau
III labor statistics IA the United
states department 81 labor. As re-
ported Ia the April monthly review
Of the bureau.
Despite IN average increase Of -
per cent III wages per hour IN the
same period and 1 reduction IN
hours worked of per cent, the ris-
Ing cost 81 foods has operated To cut
the pay Of the American working
man about lis per cent expressed IN
terms OF food his wages Will buy.
A working1nan who made IS 4 day IN
1907, working Ten hours. In 1916
worked nine hours mud thirty-six
minutes for day and drew SEAS
for II: but It cost SILT 70 buy the
name quantity of food his SIS would
cover IN 1907. so he really was g.
cents worth worse off.
The bureau of labor statistics
gathers figures from forty-cight
Leading cities Of the United States,
|on union scales Of wages. and from
forty-six cities on food prices. In
these cities live one-fifth f2O.Ooo,-
|00ol Of our people The wage re-
turns come from cIeven groups >cf
organized workers. These figures
are taken from two bulletins giving
scales Of wages and hours OF labor,
and retail prices OF food.
Index numbers. percentages show
ing proportionate rates Of increase
/ or reduction. are shown TOR each
year.
The department has learned that
the abnormal increase id food prices
shown in 1916 is Sill further In
creased in January to Sc per cent.
and in February to 81 per cent above
the cost in 1867. OF course, all
these figures are based on averages,
and may not apply exactly to individ-
ual cases. II an army uniform
we're made on the average measure
ments OF the soldiers it would repre-
sent their average size, but would
aot fit one OF them.
A vital fact should be considered
here. however. these figures do not
account for idle time. Until recent
~ the department could not get sat
isfactory figures on this point. But
it lis a matter of common knowledge
that jobs are now chasing men. In
1907 there were no jobs TO dodge.
The land was crowded with idle
men. At a conference Of workers
held at the department Of commerce
and labor in 1903 to discuss the
problem of unemployment. Samuel
Gompers, president of the American
Federation of Labor. stated that
since October. 1907. nearly 1000
600 workers were out OF jobs" who
had been working steadily prior To
that time Other estimates placed
the number OF men then idle at from
three to four million Nowadays
every man who wants work can find
it, and that is a very important
fact.
To make the difference in living
costs palmer. take the experience OF
Denny O'Neill. Denny worked on the
railroad In 1907 for $40 a day or
ten hours. Denny is steady man
and he kept his work right along. |
He got $40 a week in 1907. DEN
ny's pay now-on the averages found /
by the department OF Iabor--is se.75
= week. He WORKS about twenty /
] yea odd minutes sess each day than /
be did. In 1907 Denny paid So Il
week FOR food. In 1915 Denny had
10 pay ss.95 week for the same /
quantity 81 food. SO Denny's living
was actually cut during these nine
Years Of rising wages. He loses 90
cents a week, not counting rent,
which has not changed for Denny, |
lot counting clothes. which cost him
more.
The averages of food and OF pay
qualified by reductions in hours
worked rose at about the same rate
rom 1912 to 1915, so that during Il
hat time wages would pay ton about
sven quantities of food each year.
Actually, workers enjoyed better
conditions in 1915 than in 1912. be-
,ause they bad more and steadier
sork. But war losses got into the
in 1916 and pushed up
tood prices faster than wages. There
we're some crop shortages aleo. which