The Elbert County tribune., 1918-07-19
women CARRY HOD
Up. u !. LONG On 6 LADDERS ] [ |
Labor Conditions That Exist In
z0owntrodden Germany.
AMERICA FIGHTING OWN WAR
HnaN NIItilntE 34lfI
Purpess sls ito obyiateJ The kaIser's
Dominance and His Desire to
Germanize Our Industries.
BY EDWARD MOTT wooLLEv.

~ ton, Washington. d. c.
When heard 1t said that the United
States is fighting the war for France
or England pictured In my mind some
of the things that would happen here
in America II our industries wera
Germanized. Optimism is mighty
fine thing, and 1t is easy to say that
Germany could never get foothold In
this country. Certainly we believe
that 1t never can--and we are bending
nll our energies to prevent such a dire
possibility; but a little pessimIsm at
times may help cllnch our purpose, so
let us visualize American industry re-
duced to the German and Austrian
plane. 1
These countries-and 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 busi-
ness, Its secret as well as open ma
nipulation of corporations, Its partner
ship In combinations. and its military
men. would strangle US IL she had the
chance over here.
We are fighting to keep her out. We
must keep her out. and in doing so we
fight our own war.
Not long after the beginning of the
war In 1914 1 made some studies of
European ewages.a-It- was too late then
to get my data on the spot, for Ger
many. Austria. and France were on
fire and alf Industry was upset, but /
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 worSmen who had
been employed In foreign plants. To
see these men personally made jour
neys of hundreds of miles. ia,a.4a. .
Wages In Germany. ,l
Just before the war the normal
wages in Chemnitz. Germany. were ap-
proxfmateiy these: -'---'--'--
From SO to sssa week for masons,
plumbers, PAINTERS, and bricklayers;
ST to SO for plasterers; about $3.50
for gas filters; So to 50 for machin-
lists; 81 to SO for molders; about the
same for pattern makers; So for sad
dlers. rr
Teamsters worked for about dol
lar a day. In the textile trade wages
ran from SO to ST week, and un-
skilled men generally received less
than 81 week and seldom more than
S5. Municipal employees drew from
their local governments 81 to So
week. a. ia4dte rfl
Wages in Berlin were about 20 per
cent higher; also living expenses.
It is something OF shock to the
American mechanic when he reads
such figures as these Here In our
glorious America the contrast was
amazing at that time-and would be
again in peace times. But In war all
opportunities for comparison are
wiped out. 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. tii" t'Hh
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 off similar percentages when you
conVute German wages In the smaller
towns.
In New York then, plasterers were
getting $3.50 a day, and plasterers'
laborers got 1925; cement and con-
crete, masons. IS, and their laborers
SO; granite cutters. So; boiler makers,
$5.g and their helpers $3.50; electrical
workers, $3.50; steam filters, So. and
their helpers 50: painters. "a; asbes- !
tos workers. $3.50. and their helpers
$3.50; elevator constructors. IS; sta |
tionary engineers. $3.50; portable and
hoisting engineers, $3.50; cabinet
makers, IS; decorators and gilders.
$3.50; ironworkers. So; slate roof
ers So.
EEr Long Hours Of Toll.
In Chemnitz about this time news
paper compositors received something
like s14 week. In New York the
union scale at that time on morning
newspapers was S3l a week, while
bookwork paid s21. At the time my /
figures were gathered, In 1915, news
paper compositors In New York were |
getting from So to Sc day, accord
Ing to the shift on which they work I
ed. Book -compositors drew 81 to S5 |
a day. aHt - ssE mr.
You must remember that the New |
York wages have cited were paid for
8 hours work. while in Germany the
day was usually from to 10 hours.
Among authoritative data that had