Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1918-07-25
WOMEN CARRY NOD
UP LONG LADDERS
AMERICA FIGHTING own WAR
0y EDWARD MOTT wooLLGv.

oy EDWARD MOTT WoollGX.
Qfom the COMMITTEES on Public Informs.
ton. Washington. d. c.
When I heard 1t said that the United
States is fighting the war for France
Or England I pictured In my mind some
of the things that would happen here
IN America II our industries were
Germanized. Optimism is a mighty
fine thing, and 1t is easy to say that
Germany could never get a fOothold In
this country. Certainly we believe
that 1t never can-and w are bending
all u energies to prevent such a dire
possibility; but a little pessimism at
times may help clinch Dur purpose, 30
let us visualize American industry re.
duced to the German and Austrian
plane.
These countrles-and I am speaking
now Of normal times preceding the
war-are amazingly different industri-
ally from this country Of ours. We
can scarcely deny that the reason for
this lies In no small degree in the
difference In governments. Germany,
with Its autocratic grip on all bust
ness, Its secret as well as open ma
nIpulation Of corporations. Its partner
ship In combinations. and its military
dominance of all industry and of all
men, wculd strange US II she had the
chance over here.
We are fighting to keep her out. We
must keep her out, and in doing so we
fight Dur own war.
Not long after the beginning of the
wal in 1914 I made some studies Of
European wages. 1t was too late then
to get my data on the spot, for Ger
many, Austria and France were on
fire and all industry was upset, but l
spent several weeks in digging
through official European documents
and in getting facts from men who
had been managing factories in Eu-
rope; also from workmen who had
been employed in foreign plants. To
see these men personally I made jour
ueyS OF nunureQS OF miles.
Wages In Germany.
Just before the war the normal
wages In Chemnitz. Germany, were ap.
proximately these:
From SO to SO a week for masons,
plumbers, painters, and bricklayers;
81 to 50 for plasterers; about $3.50
for gas filters; Sc to 80 for machin.
lists; 81 to So for molders; about the
same for pattern makers; Sc for sad
dlers.
Transfers worked for about a dol
lar a day. Tn the textile trade wages
ran from SO to 81 a week, and un-
skilled men generally received less
than 81 a week and seldom more than
50. Municipal employees drew from
their local governments 81 to Sc a
week.
Wages in Berlin were about 20 per
cent higher; also living expenses.
1t Is something Of a shock to the
American mechanic when he reads
such figures as these. Here In our
glorious America the contrast was
amazing at that tlme-and would be
again In peace times. But In war all
opportunities for comparison ara
wiped out. I reproduce below some
New York wages in 1910, four years
before the BEGINNING Of the war. In
1914 some OF these wages were at
least 10 per cent higher. I gathered
the facts from official sources and
they are correct.
You may compare New York with
Berlin, though OF course you must
heavily discount these American
figures when you apply them to
smaller communities. You must also
take on similar percentages when you
compute German wages in the smaller
towns.
In New York then, plasterers were
getting $3.50 n day, and plasterers'
laborers got 1925; cement and con.
crete masons, IS. and their laborers
50; granite cutters, IS; boiler makers,
So. and their helpers $3.50: electrical
workers. $3.50; steam filters, IS, and
their helpers So: painters. "a: ashes.
tos workers, $3.50, and their helpers
$3.50; elevator constructors. IS; stu.