Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1918-08-02

food. including beer TO the extent Of
so cents. Meat, fish. and sausage az
| gregated SOB.
These figures represented the pie ne
of living of n high-Spirited workman,
very much better than the average.
Eggs cost ut the rate of % cents for IL
and coffee was 22 cents pound. He
used butter. cheese. milk, and bacon.
and grew some of his vegetables in his
/ garden. Sometimes the family ate
horsefieSh.
Women Garry the Hod
Food and rent together cost him
more than 50 week. For coal he
/ paid over Sc a ton.
His income taX-and II was time
Of peace, remember-amounted to
about 500 to the state and munich
pality together. while his other taxes
We're between SO and 81.
After paying for his living and for
such meager amusements rs he found
In an occasional visit to cheap show
or concert. or perhaps trip with his
family to the park. he was able To save
only so a year.
Every document found, and every
statement made To me by Americans
who had managed great plants in Eu
rope or had lahored there utterly dis
proved the theory that European
wages were relatively as high as
American. For the average man To
get ahead financially in Germany was
practically impossible.
Certainly we don't propose to have
i'll this country any form of govern
ment contributory to the grinding
down Of our people to the state of
hopeless submergence.
Now glance ut Vienna. where women
were hOdcarrerS when the war be-
gan-and had been all along. / saw
them myself carrying bricks up long
ladders. and was shocked ut the
sight.
In Vienna the skilled artisan usu-
ally lived in a couple of rooms several
floors up. on an income that did not
exceed Sc or 81 a week Most of
these wOrkmen had fair-sized families.
and for n group of five or six the food
cost alone was around $3.50 n week
and even then they sacrificed eggs and
butter, and, To large extent. meat.
All the rest of the income ordinarily
ing for clothing and general expenses.
and it was the custom OF these fam
lilies to take in unmarried men as
dodgers. With the stipend thus re-
ceived and at sacrifice Of all ap-
proach to domestic comfort, 1t was
possible to keep away from abject
poverty.
Difference In America.
In Vienna plasterers earned S1.10 a
day. and plumbers S1.2O; painters.
81. 26 or less; pattern makers, $50
week; leather workers. toy makers. |
bone workers, musical instrument |
makers and tailors. 81 to S. a week. |
earned SO a week brew |
ers and mllers So to 50; shOemakers
In factories, So to 81.
These. remember, were skilled work
ars. There were swarms of unskilled |
hands laboring from 10 to ~ hours a
lay for wages that ranged from 60
20 90 cents.
l might go on citing these figures
The evidence Is over
In America we have risen
20 far above such industrial cOndi-
ions that We cannot compare them.
The American workman, as class.
has asserted himself. claimed his
lights. and proclaimed himself a man.
There are Industries. Of course, where
are not all they ought to be.
tut even here the same truth holds
,OOd. However dOwntrOdden any
workman may consider himself in this
country. he is a free man as compared
With the lower Industrial workers OF
Germany and Austria. His OppOr-
unities to get out Of bondage are al
most unlimited here. and depend on
lis determination to study and make
limself capable Of better things. Over
here, wOrkmen are up against caste
nd customs and against laws that
re wellnigh insurmOuntable.
Let us decide. then, once and for
IL. that we aren't going to have Amer
can industries Germanized.