Norwich bulletin., 1917-02-10
HOW MILK MONEY IS DISTRIBUTED

(Written Specially for The Bulletin)
 According to a recent statement by Charles NJ. Schwab. the yearly wages of his 22.Ooo workmen at the Bethle- hem Steel works averages $990. from
 superintendent to boys" Of course, some get more and some get less; that is the average Of all, including the higher paid bosses of departments and the lower paid errand and water boys.
 
 derivable from the census bureau, the yearly income of the farmers of the United States averages somewhere around $500. This includes all sorts and conditions, from the Illinois or Missouri planters owning entire coun- ties and having their own private rail- roads, down to the New England far mer with perhaps fifty acres or less, not half of which is cultivable. Some get more; some get less; that is the average.
 This, too. mind you. is for the far mer himself, not for his Workmen; for the farmer who is at once and the same time and all the time snperin- tendent and laborer and errand boy; taskmaster and taskdoer; manager and workman; employer and em- ployee; compelled to furnish all the capital, take all the risks and do a little bit more than one mans fair share of the work; without any un- ion'' hours or union" scale; putting in fourteen hours a day oftener than eight hours. And all the time the constantly peppered target Of angry consumers who assafl him as a shark: of Supereilious writers who criticise out of their own befogged ig- norance; of insincere politicians. un- wOrthily elevated to undeServed office, efficiency; to say nothing of the countless enemies of the animal and basterial worlds who dispute his plans on every square inch of ground and fight with him for every tender plant ling he seeks to fosteri
 don't know what the average wages of farm hands may be, because I haven't any reports at hand to tell me of investigations into their re ceipts. But. if other parts of the country are like that near me, they seldom get much more than their em- ployers. I know perfectly well how Fommon the remark is that the far mer does most of the work and pays most of the income to his hired man. Also, know that there is a good deal of truth in the grim jest. Assuming $40 a month, with rent, that would be S4S0 year in money and at least hundred more ir priv ileges." In my vicinity wages run rather lower than that for winter time l and considerably higher for "hayin' | and harvest But. at the best, they | are only about half what the steel l workers or Bethlehem average.
 Now don't you see why farm labor | Is getting so scarce2 Don't you see | why the men who used to handle the l blow and milk the cows are hunting ] jobs in steel mills or electric plants l or automobile factories2
 Henry Ford brags that he pays no I man less than $5 a day. The lowest | wage on the scale of an electric plant ] Schwab's steel plant, as will be seen, | averages better than that for every | week day of the year. don't know | how many of his 1000 have to work | seven days a week, though some ap- l must have to. If the mum | per is considerable that, of course, | would somewhat lessen the daily rate. l
 So ft goes, all over the country. | What used to be regarded as fair | wages for skilled mechanics are now by scrub-women and win low-cleaners. Last season I paid a girl for some light garden work as nuch,s per day, as I have, within twen- y years. been asked to pay for three