YoungstownskeÌ SlovenskeÌ noviny = Youngstown Slovak news. (Youngstown, Ohio) 1910-1940, 1922-06-30

studies will strike the attention OF
was now demanded radical slash in K
The pay envelope. The results Of his '
every thinking American. He found b
by great good fortune q complete ac- II
count of the costs and wages paid in n
the building, for example, Of the Tow e
er of London, .Westtiinster Cathedral, .
Windsor Castle, Hampton Court, and
a number ,of fafioas public buildings
in great Britain. These have been pre-
served for $50 years in the British
archives. Tlne record, Of course, only |
building trades, but nothing is 50
typical Of general industry as the
condition Of just these building trades.
This student found from the rec.
ordc at his disposal that 750 years ago
the average wage Of carpenter in
England was 3 cents day. He was
not able to learn the purchasing pow
er of money in those times and what
5 cents would then buy. Probably
cents day was hooked upon as a fair
and Just recof1pense. in 1918, the year
before the great war, the daily wage
of the British carpenter had risen to
$500 day. That is to say it had TAX
en- $50 years to hoist the British Car
penter's wage from s. cents to $500.
This is interesting but it was mot the
most interesting thing disclosed by |
this student. The really important |
fact uncovered was that on the, proof |
of historical record there was no per-
iod Of fifty in this cycle Of seven ceh-
turies and half during which there
was not d wage advance Of at least
20 per cent FOR the British artisan. In
one or two periods Of fifty years this
wage advance rose to 40 per cent, but
most important of all the facts was
this, that at no time during all the 750
years examined was there ever ret
aggression in the matter of wages to
a former period. That is to say that
each period Of fifty years marked
step in advance for the working man.
Every fifty years he had climbed
rung in the ladder. But he no sooner
mounted to higher rung than all the
lower rungs disappeared. As this oc-
Cured steadily over stretch OF 75O
years, the economist who made these
comparisons felt justified in suppos-
ing that the same procedure had prob
lably gone on before the period Of Ms
study and would continue as d settled
course over human events forever af-
!, ter.
I He further found that during every
war in this cycle of $50 years wages
, Of course rose by more than 40 per
r cent. They may afterwards have fal-
: len back. But they never fell back far
: enough to disturb the average Of 70
: to 40 per cent increase for every cycle
: Of fifty years. The wage increase fol-
! lowing the war of 1914 was 800 per
Z cent. This of course is abnormal and
| could not be expected to continue. The
!. Commissioner Of Labor Statistics in
| forms me that taking it over long
.
S crease in the wages in the building
r trades, for instance, in the United
5 States has been per cent year. In
e other words, if there had been no
S war at all wages would be 18 per cent
v higher today than they were in 1918
S Increases above this point if shown to
e be the result of increased prices and
D cost of living growing out Of the wal
J., may be subject of course to mutual
4 readjustments, but not below that
. point. In this connection it is inter
: esting to note that Chicago board
of arbitration in a certain industry
e allowed one per cent increase a year
r as the measure of proper increase
f in American standards of living re-
: gardlessS of price and cost. In other
e words, the war years mark the end o1
= another period. Another rung in the
: ladder has been climbed. The worker
e has gone up step. He is strong
: enough and numerous enough to cling
: to his position on this higher level
It is to be supposed that the rung next
: lower down has been sawed off. The
. worker has mounted and will never
: Sclimb down.
This is historic fact. It merely es.
: tablishes law Of progress. No oht
) need be dismayed by it; no one need
0 regard it as anything but sound hu'
' man advancement and good business
: A great deal Of our industrial unrest
t would disappear if employers recon
: ci1ed themselves to the inexorable
S law represented in the facts about us
n They might as well make the best o.
it, and there is best to be made.
n The best feature of this is that oul
workers are the great buying public
f If they are enriched they are bette
|, buyers, and SO are stimulant both Il
/. consumption and to production. TIL
d manufactures himself is prosperou