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a man to live in a comfortable dwelling, and to obtain enough of good, wholesome food and warm clothing for himself and family; and to educate his children that they may be qualified to take their proper place as good, intelligent citizens in the world's affairs. This comfort and education are impossible at the Chinese or European rates of wages towards which the importation of Chinese and Europeans is forcing American workingmen. Surely, considering the immense resources of life supplied by the Creator, and the facilities which man's ingenuity has provided for turning this natural abundance into the forms necessary for man's use and comfort, this is not an unreasonable claim, and it is one that all citizens should be in favor of. Submitting this as a standard, we will see how our present wages supply the need.

At least two-thirds of the men are married, and this being the proper state of mankind, we will estimate the cost of living as follows: We will take a family consisting of five persons. That a family of this size may live comfortably without crowding, it is necessary that they should have at least four rooms in their dwelling, and a comfortable house of this size cannot be had for less than $3.75 Meat and vegetables cost $2.50 per week. per week. Bread and milk will average $1.50 per week. Groceries $2.75, including coffee, tea, sugar, butter, lamp oil, etc. Fuel will cost $1.25 per week. This is not too high, when three meals a day have to be cooked, and the wife does the washing for the family. Clothing, including foot-wear, will average $2.50 per week. Wear and tear of furniture, including cooking utensils and dishes, we will set down at 60 cents per week. Books and other articles necessary for school children must be had, and will cost 40 cents per week. Every workingman should belong to the Union of his trade, or some other mutual aid society, which will in times of sickness or disability help his family during such disability. This, including funeral tax, will amount to about 35 cents per week. In many instances the men live a considerable distance from the workshops.

If they walk to work in the morning, they find it necessary to ride home in the evening, owing to the cold winds and the fact that many of them leave the workshops with their clothing wet by perspiration. We will set the car-fare of the family down at 60 cents per week, and if they desire to ride on the street cars to the park or beach (on Sundays) it is not enough. A man should have some enjoyment, and the laboring classes take most enjoyment in an occasional glass of beer and a smoke. Allow 20 cents per day for beer and tobacco, which amounts to $1.40 per week. If any one thinks these are wrong, let any other recreation be substituted to the same amount. Newspapers and writing materials, 25 cents per week. There is more or less sickness in a family, and he is a lucky man who gets off with less than $30 per year, or about 60 cents per week for doctor's bills and medicine. other expenses, such as hair-cutting, shaving, holiday expenses, church expenses, personal property tax and poll tax, with many others too numerous to mention. We will class these as sundries at 50 cents per week. I recapitulate: Rent..... Bread and milk. Groceries..

Meat and vegetables....

Fuel Clothing

Medicine and doctor's bills....
Wear and tear of furniture..
School books.......
Society dues.

There are

-$3.75 per week. ....... 2.50 1.50

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.... 2.75 ... 1.25

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Car fare.............
Newspaper and stationery.....

Beer and tobacco, or other recreation......

Sundries

Total........

The average mechanic in this city is not employed more than ten months in a year. Including holidays, we will say that he is out of employment nine weeks out of the fifty two; this leaves forty-three weeks in which he must earn enough money to support his family fifty-two weeks. Wages of mechanics in the iron trade average $3.25 per day here. When the strike occurred in this city there were only a few of the best workmen employed, and the wages paid them was slightly above this average. At $3.25 per

day a mechanic earns $19.50 per week, and in forty-three weeks he will earn $838.50, an average of $16.121⁄2 per week for the fiftytwo weeks in the year. A family will have to be very economical to live within the amount above named, and live comfortably, yet the cost of living exceeds the income $2.82% per week, or $146.90 per year. If this is the condition of the mechanic who earns $3.25 per day, what must be the condition of the poor laborers who earn but $2.00 per day? Is it any wonder, then, that the average mechanic and day laborer finds himself at the end of the year heavily in debt to his grocer, butcher, and baker? And instead of New Year's Day bringing joy and gladness, it is a day of sadness bordering on despair.

rare.

Fully two-thirds of all the employés are married. About fifteen per cent. of them own their own homes, or are paying for them on the installment plan; and about five per cent. have small sums of money in bank. The foremen of the shops receive from $5.00 to $7.00 per day. The highest wages paid to mechanics in any of the five branches of the iron trade is $4.00 per day, which is very The lowest that is paid is $2.50 per day, which is the wages paid to those who have finished their apprenticeship. This number is always in excess of the number that receive $4.00 per day. Laboring men, who number about twenty per cent. of the working force, receive $2.00 per day. Apprentices receive $4.00 per week for the first year, $6.00 the second, $8.00 the third, and $10.00 for the fourth year. They work very hard, particularly in the foundries, where in the fourth year they perform as much of the work they are given as journeymen can do. In many shops fully one-third of those who work at the trades are apprentices. This is particularly the case with machinists and machine blacksmiths, where in the latter case at present there are thirty-one men employed and nineteen apprentices; eleven of the nineteen being in charge of fires. In the iron moulding branch the apprentices are not so numerous, on account of the Society having established the pro

rata of 1 to 8; and they are gradually approaching this limit.

It should be added that the foregoing computation of wages makes no allowance for laying up even half a dollar a week, and therefore leaves no prospect for the superannuated workman except charity or the almshouse. It should also be observed that the employers regularly hold back one week's or two weeks' wages, and that some of them only pay monthly. Both these arrangements are hardships upon the workmen, and the former is a fraud, and is particularly cursed as such in the Bible. Why, on earth, should a powerful firm practically embezzle ten thous and dollars of its workmen's money? They would not let the workmen do the like.

Among the reasons given by the manufacturers for the proposed reduction of 15 per cent. is, first, competition with Eastern manufacturers. Manufacturers here have always had to compete with Eastern firms, and at times when they were not as able as at present. Eastern firms have always had their agencies here, and the competition from that point is no more keen now than it was ten or fifteen years ago. If you interview these agents, they will tell you that they are not doing the amount of business they did in former years, any more than our own manufacturers are; and it is rumored that several large firms in the East are compelled to force goods on the market at whatever price they will bring, owing to financial embarrasments.

The second reason given is, that railroad rates are much lower now than formerly. It is true that there have been some slight reductions, but even now the ruling rates afford considerable protection to manufacturers on this coast, as the following figures will show. They claim that the most keen competition they have to contend with is from Chicago and Milwaukee. The rates on agricultural machinery from New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, to this point run from $35 up to $80 per ton; and from Chicago and Milwaukee from $30 up to $65 per ton. On castings for repair purposes, the rates are very nearly the same;

on castings, nails, hinges, kettles, rivets and such like, the rates are $43 per ton from Chicago and Milwaukee, and $50 per ton from New York. On grates, fenders, and fire-sets, the rate is $60 per ton from New York, and $52 per ton from Chicago and Milwaukee. On boilers not over 28 feet long the rate is $80 per ton from New York, and $69 per ton from Chicago. On the best finished machinery for all other purposes the rate runs from $40 per ton up to $100 per ton from New York, and from $34 to $69 per ton from Chicago and Milwaukee. These figures are taken from the new schedule of freight rates, which went into effect on January 1st, 1885, and on which there is no rebate.

as we can in the coast climate here, and there are often periods in the dead of winter in many places at the East, when men can not work at all; while here, the same quantity of work can be performed all the year round: moreover the custom of mechanics here is to work faster than at the East. Many of them are Eastern men, who surpassed their fellow workers in Eastern workshops; and having confidence in themselves, and a knowledge of their superior mechanical abilities, were not afraid to venture into strange cities and distant States. This is true in every trade, as well as in the workshops where machinery is produced.

Now, as to the cost of material. It is said that the coal used for smelting costs in this city $14 per ton, while in the East it costs but $4 per ton. This is about correct as far as this city is concerned, but it is not strictly true for the East, because the same class of coal which costs $14 here is $7.50 per ton in New York, and about the same in Chicago and Milwaukee. It cannot be had at any place for $4 per ton, except, perhaps, at the mouth of the pits where it is dug. They have likewise set the average cost of pig iron in the East too low, and here entirely too high. It has not cost on an average any where near $27.50 per ton in this city within the past year, nor has it been obtained in the East for as low an average as $18 per ton, which facts the following figures will prove. (The "foundry" and "car-wheel" iron is the best grade of iron used inthiscity.)

The third reason given is, that wages are 25 per cent. higher here than in the East. It is true that there has been a great amount of distress among the laboring classes in the East, of late, brought about principally by miners, manufacturers and other employers, who have brought hordes of contract laborers from countries where labor is most poorly paid, and compelled American workmen to accept the same rates as this servile class, or starve. But the effect of this system is felt even on this coast, and the difference between the wages here and there is not so great as the manufacturers would make it appear. Wages are not more than 15 per cent. higher here for mechanics than in the East, and the wages of laboring men employed in foundries, machine shops, boiler yards, and all other branches of the iron trade, are much higher there than manufacturers here are willing to admit. The reason is, that they must possess more intelligence than the men who labor at less skilled work, such as grading in the open air and Hanging Rock Charcoal.......... No. 1, $20 50@21 50—cash.

IRON MARKET REPORT.

Furnished by E. L. HARPER & Co., Dealers in Pig Iron, &c.,
Cincinnati, O.

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CINCINNATI, January 20, 1885.

Strong Neutral Coke......

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American Scotch....

Cold short..

shoveling earth into carts. So that I am
sure 15 per cent. will cover all the difference
in wages of both mechanics and laboring
men. But all men who work by the day Neutral Coke......
here perform fully 15 per cent. more labor
than the same class do in the East. There
are reasons for this. In the first place, in
the hot summer months men can not per-
form the same amount of work in the East

FOUNDRY.

No. 2, 19 50@20 50 .No. 1, 16 75@17 50 15 50016 25 16 50017 00

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GRAY FORGE.

14 00@14 50 ............. 14 00@14 50

CAR-WHEEL AND MALLEABLE.

Hanging Rock, cold blast..
16 warm "

Southern, cold blast..

Virginia, warm blast....

..... 25 00@25 50 ... 22 00@22 50 ...... 22 00@23 00 21 00@21 50 .21 50@22 00

Lake Superior, Charcoal, all grades....

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The present stock on hand consists of 16,864 tons, of which

9,096 tons are Scotch and English, and 7,768 tons are Eastern and Home manufacture. There are 5,164 tons in first hands,

and 11,700 tons among consumers.

Most of the firms here are importers and dealers, as well as consumers, thereby saving the expense of broker's fees. This is particularly the case with Prescott, Scott & Co., who, it is said, control and fix the price of Clipper Gap metal, which is produced in this State, and is of excellent quality. It will also be seen by this card that all, both Eastern and foreign metals, come by water, and most of it comes from English ports. Any way, there has always been the same difference in the cost of material between the East and this point. As high as $25 and $28 per ton has been paid for the same coal within the past fifteen years that is obtained now for $14 per ton. This will not be denied, and the rates of freight on raw material have been reduced in the same ratio as on manufactured articles. It should also be remembered that a considerable expense is necessary in the East for warming the shops, all of which is saved here.

Provisions here cost about the same as in Chicago, while it is well known that houserent, clothing, and fuel are much higher here than there; so that, everything considered, the condition of California workmen is very little, if at all, better than that of the same class in Eastern cities, and there is almost as great a difference in the prices paid to workmen in Chicago and Massachusetts as there is between San Francisco and Chi

cago. As Henry George has said, "Progress and Poverty go hand in hand; they follow each other just as surely as the night follows

the day."

After all, however, the best proof in the world against the necessity for the reduction which I am discussing, is found in the fact that a large proportion of the iron manufacturers did not ask their men to accept it, but declared that they could and would pay the old rates, and that the competition which was most injurious was not with the East, but right here among home manufacturers; and it would be just as keen after a reduction of 15 per cent. as it is at present, the only difference being that the workmen would have 15 per cent. less money to live on, which fact would add to the present stagnation in business rather than relieve it. another proof, perhaps equally strong, of the justice of the workmen's refusal to accept the reduction, is the plain fact that not a single iron-working concern has found itself driven either to the "general discharge of workmen" or the "entire suspension of work" anticipated in the employers' notice of reduction.

And

The Eastern firms that trouble us most are those that have made a specialty of some particular branch of the iron business, such as mining machinery, agricultural work of every description, ranges and stove work, grates, fenders, fire-sets, and hollow ware, pipe and pipe-fittings. By selecting one of these lines of work, and procuring the most perfect plant at an enormous expense, they have, after years of experience, become very proficient in the manufacture of those articles. Their workmen, also, by working on one pattern for years, become experts. Manufacturers here take quite a different course. Each shop takes every job that comes along, and does not make a specialty of anything. Very frequently you will find three or four grades of iron melted in the same furnace, and on the same day, the lightest cast iron ornament being produced alongside of the heaviest mining machinery castings in the world. In this respect, our manufacturers are at a disadvantage; and if it were not for the

fact that the best mechanics in the world are and have been in the workshops of this city for years, the history of manufacturing on this coast would not have been what it is today, nor would its progress have been nearly so rapid. Again, manufacturers here are no doubt at a great disadvantage on account of the high rents, rates of insurance, and interest on money which they have to pay. Neither of these disadvantages, how ever, are imposed by the workmen, nor should they suffer on account of them. The condition of these firms at present, as compared with the past, is the best proof of their prosperity, and is also a guarantee for the future. Their workmen are not unrea

sonable. In good times no organized effort was made by them to raise wages, as they knew that a dull time would be sure to follow, in which, however, they expected to be treated in the same reasonable way; but they were mistaken. Surely the workmen suffer enough in dull times, on account of being out of work part of the time, and employers should not try to make their condition at such times more desperate than it is. Manufacturers and workmen should each bear their own share of the burden. If this were done, hard times would be of shorter duration.

Now, concerning the apprentice question, for I am afraid my paper will be too long. The Iron Moulders' Union has not until very recently interfered with employers concern ing the number of apprentices employed; and if it had not been that about two years ago many of the foundries had more boys than journeyman moulders employed, in all probability the Union would not have en forced the rule. At that time, however, the number was so greatly in excess of a reasonable proportion, that it was impossible for the moulders to maintain their position as a Society, or for their members to find remunerative employment, if some check had not been put upon the increase of apprentices. About that time the following circular was adopted by the Society, and thus a strike averted:

TO THE PROPRIETORS AND FOREMAN OF THE

Gentlemen:

The increase of Apprentices has been so great during the past three years, that at the present time considerable uneasiness is felt by the Journeymen IronMoulders of this city, who see no brighter prospects ahead than hard labor through life for such wages as conditions compel employers to give. The manner in which these Apprentices are being used in many shops has a tendency to keep down the price of labor, and in dull times they are always retained, while journeymen moulders, with families to support, are compelled to walk the streets in idleness, or if employed, forced to work for such wages as bring degradation and poverty to themselves and families.

In view of these facts, the Iron-Moulders' Union of North America, as a means of self-preservation,

has wisely made a pro rata limit of one apprentice to every eight journeymen moulders to be employed in any shop. For years we have seen this mischief afoot, and permitted it to take what course it might, until now we are compelled to act in the matter, or suffer the disastrous results that are sure to follow a

continuation of this evil.

......

From carefully gathered facts, we find that in your foundry there are at the core-bench and on the floors ...apprentices and ..journeymen employed, journeymen. making one apprentice to every Knowing how inconvenient and unpleasant it would be for your firm to make the change immediately, and adopt the pro rata limit established by our Society; and owing to the fact that we desire, if possible, to live at peace and on good terms with our employers, we have decided not to demand the imme

diate dismissal of any apprentices from your foundry, but hope and expect that no more will be employed until time has made the desired change. We will feel in duty bound by our obligation to resist any further increase of apprentices by your firm. This injunction being complied with, the Iron-Moulders' those now employed, and also assist you to obtain Union will do its utmost to make good mechanics of the full benefit of their apprenticeship.

With a sincere desire that in the future, as for years past, mutual good will and harmony may exist between us, and earnestly desiring to know your disposition in this matter, we request that a reply be

given our Committee, through your foreman, at

early date. By order of

an

Iron-Moulders' Union, No. 164, of San Francisco.

A copy of this circular was sent to each firm, and most of them admitted that they did not consider it a hardship to comply with its provisions: nor can they prove it to be so now, for in many instances their

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