The public ledger. [volume] (Maysville, Ky.) 1913-1968, 1918-06-07

wages without perqulsites II Is seen
that the farm hand In 1917 was get
ting only 1864 less than the average
railroad clerk and sl7.S2 less than
the section man, station service man
and others rated as unskilled labor
ers. When allowance is made for the
extra earnings of farm laborers in
harvest the difference between the
pay Of the railroader and farm labor
err is lessened.
The farm laborer In many cases
when he works for wages without
board gets house in which to live, a
garden spot and some other perqulsi-
ties, often including pasturage for
COW, and the free occasional use of
horse and vehicle. He enjoys immun
ity from some of the fixed expenses
of working men In cities, including
daily carfare. His expenses for cloth
ing, other than shoes, are less than
those of the railroad clerks, who must
dress presentably at the office and
elsewhere every day. The bulk of his
food which is directly from the farm,
is available to the farm hand at less
than city wholesale prices even if
he does not produce it personally.
This is true of dairy products if he
does not keep COW. The financial
circumstances of the farm hands life
are therefore somewhat easier than
those of the average salariei railroad
clerk or sectionman.
The railroads under Government
control recently advanced wages so
sharply that 25 per cent. increase
Of freight rates and material in
crease of passenger rates was an
nounced forthwith to maintain rev.
>enues, but the Department of Agricul-
ture shows in its bulletin that in 1917
there was an advance of farm wages
over the figures of 1916 of an aver
age of 242 per cent This was made
in the absence of any organization of
farm workers. 1t was responsive to
| the demand for labor and, of course,
to high prices for farm products
which reflected the effect of demand
for those products.
The Agricultural Departments bull
letin says that the farm laborer was
in 1917 getting sos per cent more in
wages than he got in 1910. If the De-
partment issues bulletin next year it
will show still further advances for
| farm labor in 1918, and perhaps
greater advance over the year pre-
vious than was recordedc in 1917 as
against 1916.
1t is evident from these figures that
as compared with the average rail
road employe Me average farm hand
is not as badly off as many persons
have believed him to be. There has
been a great advance of nearly every
thing that Is bought for the household,
but the farm hand still retains means
of getting part of his household sup
plies directly from the earth without
paying any middeman's profits and
freight charges, while the city laborer
has no such opportunities.
The great advances in farm wages
are interesting as showing what oc-
ours between employees and employ
ers in the greatest American indus
agriculture-when prices for its
! products rise. The increase of farm
products has been greater than the
increase of the cost of produce bought
by the farmers The farmers are SELL
ing more than they are buying. With
balance in their favor they are bid
ding high for organized labor and
without strike or any concerted eff
fort against their unorganized en-
ployers the farm laborers are getting
increases proportional to the increas-
ed profits Of their employers.
1t seems not improbable that the
average pay of farm laborers will be
even nearer the average of the rail-
road clerk or sectienman in 1918 than
1t was in 1917, despite the radical in
crease of railroad wages granted by
the Government.
The farms are not offering am
munition factory prices for labor, or
the prices paid in mines, but when
the smaller necessary expense budg-
ct of the farm laborer is considered
the man with a family to support
should not look upon the agricultural
districts as scenes of the starvation
OF labor.
"The South" says the Africulturaf
Department experienced the great
est effects Of the increase Of farm
wages In 1917 over 1916 expressed as
a percentage OF increase"
The conditions OF living still are
comparatively easy In the rural South.
! The opportunity Of any steady and ca