Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1918-08-02
Labor Conditions That Exist in
Downtrodden Germany.
AMERICA FIGHTING OWN WAR
Purpose Is to Obviate the kaiser's
Dominance and His Desire to
Germanize Our Industries.
BY EDWARD MOTT WooLLEY.


or England pictured In my mind som'
of the things that would happen her,
in America if our industries were
GernaniZed. Optimism Is mighty
fine thing, and ii is easy to say that
Germany could never get foothold in
this country. Certainly we believe
that il never can-and we are bending
all our energies to prevent such a dire
possibility; but little pessimiSm a
times may help clinch our purpose, SO
let us visualize American industry re-
duced to the German and Austrian
plane.
These countries-and am speaking
now Of normal times preceding the
WARFARE 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 It's autocratic grip on eill bust
ness, its secret as well as open ma
nipulatiOn Of corporations, its partner
ship i'm combinations, and its military
dominance of all industry and of all
men, would strangle us if 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 l 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 I
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 made jour-
neys Of hundreds 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 80 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.
Transfers worked for about a dol
lar a day. In 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
s.. 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 Mt 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.
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 of similar percentages when you
compute German wages In the smaller |
towns.
In New York then. plasterers were |
getting $3.50 day. and plasterers' !
labOrers got 1925; cement and con-
crete masOns. 81. and their labOrers
81; granite cutters. So; boiler makers.
s.. and their helpers $3.50: electrical
workers. $3.50; steam filters. IS. and
their helpers So; painters. 81; ashes
tos workers, $3.50. and their helpers
$3.50; elevator constructors. So; sta
tionary engineers. $3.50; portable and
hoisting engineers. $3.50; cabinet
makers. IS; decorators and gilders.
$3.50: irOnworkers. IS: slate roof
ers IS.
Long Hours Of Toll.
In Chemnitz about this time news
paper compOsitOrs received something
Ike Sl4 a week. In New York the
union scale at that time on marning
newspapers was S31 week. while
boOkwOrk paid SCI. At the time nv
figures were gathered. In 1915, news
paper compostors in New York were
getting from IS To Sc a day, accord
ing To the shift on which they work
ed. Book compositors drew 81 10 S.
a day.
You must rememhe- that the New
York wages nave cited were paid for
8 hours work. while In Germany the
day was usually from @ In 10 hours.
Among authoritative data that had
been gathered in Germany in 1905 I
found II canvass of 5046 workingmen's
showing that only 49, had
incomes reaching $40 Il week. To mr.
rive at a fair estimate of wage scales
In 1915. add 81 week. This is not
my estimate, but is official.
Now, we are apt Ia say in This conn
try that Germany lived rs well on b.r
wages as we did on ours. but anyone
who has studied the facts finds thar
this is n fallacy. In 1910 twu-thirdS ~
the people in ChemnitZ lived i'm aparf-
mcntS of three rooms or less. Chrm1
nitZ has n population of - .OOO.
found i'm the New York public H.