Montana labor news., 1934-05-24
Butte Miner Discusses
Butte Mining History
Wages Today Less Than Those of
Sc Years Ago.
ed. O'Byrne)

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employees in Butte and Anaconda.
In order to clear way some of the
fog, let us consider a few Of the fund
amentals.
The original investment of the A. G..
M. Co. in Butte (and Montana for that
NATTER was Thirty Thousand Dollars
($30,000 which was the price paid to
the Hickey Bros. for the Anaconda
mining claims, by Hearst and Haggin
who were backing Marcus DAILY. Since
that time, practically all expansions
and acquisition of new territory were
accomplished by the simple expedient
of an increase in capitalization or an
issue of bonds; said bond issue being
liquidated later, by exchanging one
One Hundred Dollar Bond for one
share of A. c. M. Co. stock as was
done in 1929 by the A. c. M. Co. Board
of Directors. OF course, the stock
was then selling for one hundred and
fifteen dollars to one hundred and
twenty five dollars a share; which was
the lure held out to the bond holders.
Thus the A. c. M. Co. liquidated a
debt Of several million dollars against
one of its South American properties
by issuing a few more stock certi-
~ficates.
We have 10 particular quarrel with
the A. c. M. Co. Directorate for putt
ing over a fast one like that on a bunch
of parasitic bond holders. We merely
call attention to these things to show
some Of the business methods of this
corporation.
So much for the investment. Let US
see if this investment has paid divi-
dends and to whom. The output of
the Butte hill in mineral wealth up to
the present time closely approximates
Two and One Quarter Billion Dollars.
So we find that every dollar of the
original investment has brought forth
Seventy Five Thousand Dollars in
gross output. All OF this vast wealth
has been produced by the sweat and
blood and tears of the working class
engaged in the mining industry in
Butte, Anaconda and Great Falls. The
sweat and blood has been shed by the
men in the hot boxes and dust laden
atmosphere of the mines, and the hell
holes in the smelters. The tears have
been shed mostly by the widows and
orphans of these men. A trip to the
local cemeteries would be much more
enlightening than a trip to Galen, or
even down in the mines.
In the late Seventies there was an at
tempt made by some of the mine OPP
orators in Butte to cut wages below
what was then considered necessary
to maintain a decent living standard.
Butte was troubled with chislers then,
same as now. The workers of Butte
got together and on June 18th, 1878,
organized the Butte Miners Union,
establishing a minimum rate for under
ground work Of Three Dollars and fifty
cents per day, which meant over one
hundred dollars per month for full time
employment. Other occupations were
paid proportionally, according to this
scale. These scales of wages were
maintained without interruption for
nearly thirty years. In 1901, the eight
hour law went into effect, but the
daily wage rate remained the same.
The miners day was reduced from ten
hours to eight hours. Many of the
other occupations had their work day
reduced from twelve hours to eight
hours, without any reduction whatever
in wages.
During the % years from 1873 until
1907 the cost of living was constantly
increasing, making it more difficult
for the wage Garner to make ends meet
Finally, in the winter of 1906-1907 an
amendment to the constitution Of But
te Miners Union No. l was introduced
and adopted, increasing the minimum
wage for underground work from $3.50
to $500 a day. This led to the signing
of a contract between the unions and
the employing companies, providing for
a sliding scale of wages based on the
price of copper. Needless to say, the
membership of the unions got horns
woggled good and plenty. Some would
be wag of this system has said that
our trouble is not the high cost of liv-
ing but the cost of high living. All
right, we will go to the bat on that
definition. Certainly, our standard of
living was much higher in 1923 than
it was 50 years prior to that date and
where $3.50 a day, or $4,000 a month
sufficed to maintain the standard of
living that existed in 1873, it required
not less than $4,000 a month to main
tain a decent standard Of living in 1923,
and the cost of said living standard is
not much less at the present writing.
Many business men, especially those
who swallow the Chamber Of CONNER
ce propaganda, seem to entirely over
look the fact that the prosperity of
Butte and its people depend absolutely
and entirely upon the amount Of its
pay roll, and not upon the amount Of
dividends the company can pay. II is
a notorious fact that the average wage
Garner lives right up to his income.
The higher his wages the more he
spends; and he spends it right here in
Butte not on Fifth Avenue, New York
Palm Beach or the Adirondacks. Con-
sequently, the more wages he gets, the
greater the participation of the busin-
ess people and others in the wealth
produced. On the other hand, of what
benefit is it to Butte, that the Presi-
dent of the A. c. M. Co. pulls down
a minimum salary of about $250,000 a
year, while the Butte miner who pro-
duces this wealth, sweats his life away
for the munificent sum of from $675.00
to about 10000 a year? This being
a reduction OF not less than $4,000 a
year under the yearly rate established
50 years ago; and under the Code pro-
visions it would be still less.
The wage earners of Butte and Ana
conda would be less than men if they
failed to rebel against the intolerable