Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1918-07-25

- lSlA adj q Q vssk. n = %
~ sstiDate. bst - s0dal.
Nsv. - ere apt - ny n III cesn'
~ TIT Germany llved q veil a ~
wages - Ne did o. suFs. bat anyees
wAs has studied tAs fsets 1s1s ~
ehas b . fallacy. In 1910 tvo-thlrds e
The people IN Chemnits lived In apart
ments oe thres rooms q len CAs0.
nits Aas Q popalatIoa of 2s7Oo0
I found tn ths New Yosk pahlie u.
bsary Interesting 6~oeunDeets- slowing
results Of investieul1oos q Euro
pean costs a living. In Chemnits In
1910 Il was costing Q family a ax
persons between 81 and q q week for
food, including beer to the extent Of
30 cents. Meat. nsh. and sausage g.
gregated $2.25.
These figures represented the plane
Of living Of Q hlgh-spirited workman.
very much better than the average.
Eggs cost at the rate Of Is cents for n
and coffee was % cents a pound. He
used butter. cheese. milk. and bacon.
and grew some Of his vegetables 10 his
garden. Sometimes the family ate
hOrsefesh.
Wensn Garry the He'd.
Food and rent together cost him
more than 50 a week. For coal he
paid over 50 a ton.
His income tax-and It was a time
Of peace, remember-amounted to
about $40 to the state and munich
pality together, while his other taxes
were between SO and SIS.
After paying for his living and for
such meager amusements as he found
in an occasional visit to a cheap show
or concert. Of perhaps a trip with his
family to the park, he was able to save
only $50 a year.
Every document I found, and every
statement made to me by Americans
who had managed great plants in Flu.
rope or had labored 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
in this country any form of govern.
ment contributory to the grinding
down Of u people to the state Of
hopeless submergence.
Now glance at Vienna, where women
were hodcarriers when the war be-
gan-and had been all along. I saw
them myself carrying bricks up long
ladders. and I was shocked ut the
sight.
In Vienna the skilled artisan usu-
ally lived In Il couple Of rooms several
floors up, on an income that did not
exceed Sc or 81 a week. Most of
these workmen had fair-slzed families,
and for a group of five or six the food
cost alone was around $3.50 a week
and even then they sacrificed eggs and
butter, and, to n large extent, meat.
All the rest of the income ordinarily
was eaten up by the rent, leaving moth
ing for clothing and general expenses,
and 1t was the custom of these fam
lilies to take in unmarried men as
dodgers. With the stipend thus re-
celved and at a sacrifice Of all ap-
proach to domestic comfort. 1t was
possible to keep away from abject
poverty.
Difference in America.
In Vienna plasterers earned $1.1O a
day. and plumbers S1.2o; painters,
$1.25 or less; pattern makers, $3.50 a
week; leather workers. toy makers,
bone workers. musical instrument
makers and %tailors. 81 to S. a week.
Biackslniths earned IS q week brew
ers and millers 50 to 50; shoemakers
in factories, SO to 81.
These, remember, were skilled work.
ers. There We're swarms of unskilled
hands laboring from 10 to u hours a
day for wages that ranged from GO
to 90 cents.
! might go on citing these figures
indefinitely. The evidence is over.
whelming. In America we have risen
so far above such industrial condi.
tons that we cannot compare them.
The American workman, as a class,
has asserted himself, claimed his
rights, and proclaimed himself a man.
There are industries. Of course, where
conditions are not all they ought to be,
but even here the same truth holds
good. However dO%wntrodden any
workman may consider himself in this
country, he Is n free man as compared
with the lower Industrial workers Of
Germany and Austria. His oppor.
tunlties to get out Of bondage are al.
most unlimited here, and depend on
his determination to study and make
himself capable Of better things. Over
there. workmen are up against caste
and customs and against laws that
are wellnigh insurmountable.
Let US decide, then, once and for
all, that we aren't going to have Amer
lean industries G%ermanized.
To IAN Amiable Child"