Twin city review. [volume] (Champaign, Ill.) 19??-1929, 1921-01-07
WAGE FARMERS PAYING
Fer TIE WAR. SAYS
RELIGIOUS pUSLtcATIo


From the current issue of Coded
Age. religious publication. he fofs
lowing Is taken While these IgnreA
do not tally exactly With ngures sas
cured b as from another reiiahle
source they are indicative thai there
IS no excuse for a promlscaous siasha
ing OF wages Al this time:
When the purchasing power Of she
dollar in the spring OF isls Was eonk5
pared With the purchasing power o.
the dollar IN the spring of 1880. r.
was found that the dollar of 1871 MaSl
worth Ssli In current money but
an investigation dicloses that tic
wage earners are not receiving 2.l&|
times as much now as IN the spfing
sof 1914. and that the difference be-
tween what they do receive and what
they should receive amounts, In the
total, TO just about the total sum now
being distributed by the corporations
as extra or unusual profits. over and
above the profits which we're made
in normal times. before the war The
Iannuai loss in wages os the worker II
lestimated at s4.7l7,440. .eoo; and the
lannual extra or super-proti OF the
corporations Is estimated at Sa.S0af.
900. 900. We now proceed 10 a denosJs
stration of the facts. first discussing
the income OF the corporations and
then noting what has happeEed 10 The
workers.
In the period OF 1925 the net @lpes
lrome of all the corporations In the.
United states in each OF which the net
iannual income was over Sl,0oo,0o0
was 81 percent on their capital. but
in the period Of i916.iS the net income
OF the same corporations was 23e per
cent on their capital, Thus in four
years the big corporations haye
earned about enough to return their
whole Investment 1t is estimated
that the corporations having each
net annual income Of over 81 ,000.etlV
do about onesixth OF the business of
the country. and that the combined
isnper-profits of all these corporations
during each year from 1916 onward
have been about sf,So0 100000 Now
! let us go back and see what has haps
Ipened 10 the workers, and then we
will discuss this matter OF sunert
profits more at length.
In the year 1914 the average weekly
wage of the seven principal oaeupas
tions in the clothing industry in New
York City was s2oS6 In the year
1870 the average wage in these saine
occupations was $3i93, This seems
| like large increase In pay. does II
not? And We read and hear great
IDEAL about the fabulous wages paid
to workers. do we n0t2 YET. II The,
buying power ofsthe 1914 dollar be
com pared VIA thes bssyinx ko,gsE .11
1the IyzU dollar. the current wa iBe fttte
should be s4s.01, to buy the same
things, and the wages these workers
are actually receiving. S34.9a are only
794 percent of that amount So we
see that, as a matter of fact, IL the
workers were getting S3oS6 In 1914
they are now getting but the equiya
lent of $l656. and. have Sustained an
actual loss in their weekly wages
amounting, in purchasing power, to
$3.50.
In 1911 the average weekly wage Of
the seven principal occupations in the
book and job printing industry IN New
| York City was S222J In 1920 Il was
Si207 This also seems Ike large
! increase in pay. yet when The buying
power of the 1920 dollar il compared
with that of the 1914 dollar we find
that these workers should be reeeiy
ling s47 .03 in order to make their earn
ings equal their former earnings in
purchasing power On the basis OF
1.-THE 1914 dollar the present wages OF
these workers are $i994. and they
| have sustained a net loss OF S2.35 per
week.
In 1914 the average weekly wage Of
the twenty-eight principal occupations
| in the building trades in New York
| City was $26.3S In 1920 il was S45.e6,
Il but when the changed value OF the
dollar is taken into consideration 1t
lshould have been S55.66. Counted on
4 the basis of the 1914 dollar. these
workers are now receiving $2l7S per
week, and have sustained a loss of
| "a so in their weekly wages.
| In 1914 the average weekly wage OF
the thirteen principal occupations Of
/ New York harbor employees was s221l. !
In 1920 ii was s3657; but to make
the wages buy the same things they
would have bought in 1914 they should |
have been Sac Counted on the
basis of the 1914 dollars these workers
are now receiving the equivalent OF
S17.33, and have sustained a net loss
of s47s in their weekly wage
Taking together the clothing, print /
ing, building and harbor Industries. I
we have in New York fifty-fve occu- /
pations whose weekly wages In 1914 4
averaged S2415. The wages Of these I
workers have been raised TO SflSi. !
and according to most OF the news 1
papers they should be satisfied and
more than satisfied But the fact OF
THE matter is that their actual wages
/ have been reduced. not increased. and
III would now take an average wage
/ OF $5096 to give them as much as
ithey had six years ago State in
terms of their 1914 wages they are
now receiving 1888 each, so that
the real wage question in New York
lis whether the average worker having
had his pay cut s4.32 per week should /
/ be satisfied He is now receiving 81 ]
per cent of his former wage His
average annual loss Of wages, based /
on the 1914 dollar. is S22464, or based I
+ on the 1920 dollar, s47399.
! Assuming that the average loss Of
wages the country over is the same /
- a.. ATn,x- Vart+ aul fhe4 4ha~a ara