DENMARK.

REPORT BY CONSUL RIDER, OF COPENHAGEN,

I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of the labor circular from the Department under date of 15th February last past, and now beg to transmit a report with categorical replies to the several interrogatories contained therein. Let me premise by stating that Denmark has no mining population whatsoever; that her factories are very limited, both in numbers and size, and that, whilst one-half of the population live exclusively by agriculture, the industries and various branches of general trade and commerce afford occupation to less than one-fourth.

PART I.-MALE LABOR.

RATES OF WAGES.

In reply to this question it has to be observed that the annexed statistical table, No. 1, showing the weekly earnings of the laboring classes. in the general trades and fabrics, which have been collected from reliable sources, have all been made on the calculation of six days' actual work, and that the computation of the average is in all cases meant to represent wages paid to the great majority; in other words, the general run of wages, and not on the arithmetical medium of the maximum and minimum rates.

The wages paid the agricultural class of laborers, being of various nature, is not wholly included in these tables. There is, for instance, the constant laborer, living on the farm, who is supplied with board and lodg ing together with monthly wages. Then there is the day laborer, who receives his daily meals, with small daily wages, providing his own house room; and then, again, laborers with small daily wages, who are furnished with a cottage and small strip of land sufficient for the keep of a cow or two and some pigs. Taking this class altogether, their annual earnings may be estimated at about $120 per annum, which can, however, receive some addition through the earnings of wife and children.

In summarizing the earnings of the laboring classes in the towns, it may be said that the ordinary laboring man and operative under the implied condition of constant work may be credited with the annual earnings of $188 to $14 per year, whilst those of the lower grades of artisans and handicraftsmen may reach to $240 to $268. A correct estimate of the higher skilled mechanics is not so easily to be arrived at, but as these obtain the very maximum rates of wages, and in many cases are employed by piecework, it can be said with all safety that their annual earnings are very considerably more than the foregoing.

HOURS OF LABOR.

The day of labor in the fabrics and work shops as a general rule is of twelve hours duration, including a pause of two hours for meals, whilst in the general trades there is some variation, bakers, for instance, working from fourteen to sixteen hours; masons and carpenters, from seven and one-half to ten actual working hours, according to the season of the year; dyers, tanners, and butchers, eleven hours.

Sunday labor, which by law is only forbidden during the hours of church service, as a rule cannot be said to exist in this country. In the fabrics and work shops (with exception of some of the distilleries, gasworks, and flour mills no work is carried on, and in the general trades it may be said to be confined to a limited amount of indoor work by painters and carpenters, and in busy times of trade in the home work of tailors, shoemakers, and the like.

In the agricultural districts Sunday labor is confined to the necessary dairy and household work, and in unfavorable weather during harvest seasons to the ingathering of the crops.

COST OF LIVING TO THE LABORING CLASSES AND PRICES PAID FOR THE NECESSARIES OF LIFE.

To reply to this question, I shall first present the following list of the retail prices of those articles of food in most general use in the household consumption of the families of the laboring classes:

And then, taking the following quantities as a basis of the ordinary consumption of the workingman's family, consisting of himself, wife, and two children, for their morning and evening meals, namely, 4 pounds of rye bread, pound of lard, 11⁄2 pounds of milk, & pound of cheese, pound of sugar, 1 pound of coffee, the cost of these two meals will be about 19 cents per day, to which being added a further sum of 15 cents for the dinner meal, composed, with daily variations, of milk porridge with fish and potatoes, or pea soup with pork or the cheaper cuts of beef, we shall find the daily cost of food to be 34 cents, or about $124 yearly for the lower-waged operative, whilst for the artisan it may be placed at about 40 cents, or $145 per annum.

HOUSE RENTS, FUEL, &C.

In the matter of house-rent great difference will be found to exist in the various parts of the Kingdom. For instance, whilst in the capital the rent of a single room will entail an annual minimum cost of $27, two rooms from $43 to $56, and three rooms from $57 to $75, in the provincial towns a two-roomed dwelling may be obtained at an annual rent of $17, and in the suburbs of those towns small houses with strip of garden spot as low as $10, and again, in the agricultural districts, at still lower rates, a small cottage of two rooms with small strip of land as a rule not costing more than $8 yearly. These last named dwellings are for the most part in bad condition.

Fuel consumed by the artisans in the towns consists of coal, wood, or turf peat, and in the country of turf, heather, faggots, and wood shay

ings. The cost of these may be estimated as follows: Coal, 85 to 90 cents per tub (4.68 bushels); wood, $7.50 per fathom; and turf, $6 to $7 per 5,000 pieces.

For lighting as well as for heating small stoves arranged for cooking purposes, petroleum is extensively used by the artisan classes, and thus they can obtain light and heat at small cost, its retail price being at present quoted from 4 to 5 cents per pot.

It is a matter of greater difficulty to arrive at the cost of clothing. So far as the agricultural laborers are concerned, the wife plays a very prominent part in this department. The husband's woolen vests and underclothing are knitted by her; the materials for the outer garments for herself and children are also woven by her hands; and these, their Sunday suits, being of becoming and durable materials, have a clean and pleasing appearance, and can do service for some years.

Their working dresses, on the other hand, are very homely and meager, whilst the clothing of the lower-paid artisans in the towns is not unfrequently made up by the thrifty wife from second-hand articles bought from the dealers or from gifts received from the wealthier classes.

PAST AND PRESENT WAGE RATES.

In the wages and condition of the agricultural class of laborers no visible change has taken place in this interval of time; whereas for the handicraft journeyman and artisans it may be estimated that an increase in their wages of 10 to 15 per cent. has been obtained. Although it cannot be said that their condition has been actually improved to this extent, as the prices of many of the necessaries of life, such as animal food, butter, fish, &c., as well as house rent, have fully advanced in the same proportion; but when one next turns to the ability or the exertions made by these classes in saving from their earnings against future rainy days, or as a provision for old age, I fear that it cannot be denied that the report will be far from satisfactory.

HABITS OF THE LABORING CLASSES.

Amongst the agricultural laborers and lower-paid artisans of the towns, the condition of their existence is doubtless one of daily struggle for the mere support of their families; but, unfortunately, it must be admitted that in too many cases where extra earnings are made in brisk times of trade, that these are rather spent in the purchase of the luxuries of tobacco and spirits, as well as in taking part with their families in outdoor amusements of tea-gardens, &c., rather than in the exercise of provident savings. These remarks, it must be understood, have chiefly reference to the general run of the laboring classes, and are not intended to apply to the classes of higher skilled mechanics. These may be said to be in constant employment at the maximum rates of wages, and they are better housed, better fed, and altogether of more provident habits.

LABOR ORGANIZATION.

Whilst all labor organization until the seventh decennium of this century may be said to have been confined to sundry sick and relief clubs, without any special trade significance to the working classes, it was only in 1870 that a commencement was made towards the initiation of actual trade-unions, which movement has since been actively carried 92 A-LAB- -84

on and more especially subsequently to 1878, so that at the present moment a considerable number of such associations have been founded. These are so far almost exclusively confined to the capital, which is not only the great center of all the chief industrial establishments, but at the same time exercises a dominating influence in its relations to the whole Kingdom. There are at present in the capital over forty of such tradeunions, the most important of which are the bakers, with 900 members; blacksmiths and machine-makers, with 1,600 members; house carpenters with 1,100 members; ship carpenters, with 300 members; printers, with 500 members; painters, with 600 members; saddle-makers, with 200 members; tailors, with 400 members; tobacco and cigar makers, with 1,200 members.

The aim of these unions is the protection of the so-called trades interests, as also for ameliorating the pecuniary circumstances of their members; the last by means of loans or through assistance in times of sickness or want of work. The chief aim is, however, directed to the attainment of two main points: 1st, higher rates of wages, and, 2d, shorter duration of working hours, whilst the last object has always more or less been kept in the background; the former has been the cause of creating frequent strikes or disputes between employers and employés, no less than one hundred and ninety different strikes in the various trades having occurred since the year 1870. None of these, however, were of any duration, the accumulated funds of these unions being too limited in amount to permit of their affording aid for any length of time to their members out on a strike; neither have these strikes nor disputes been attended by any violent scenes of threat or disturbance on the part of the laboring classes.

Arbitration courts, consisting of an equal number of employers and employés, have been tried in many cases for settlement of these disputes; but few real results were ever obtained by that means. There would appear, however, to be a greater desire at the present time on the part both of employers and laborers in many branches of industry and trade to arrive at some successful issue in the establishment of some well constituted arbitration court for the amicable settlement of similar trade disputes.

It will be fully admitted that the institution of these unions, with the frequent strikes which they have helped to organize, has naturally tended to uproot the former patriarchal relations which existed between employers and their workmen, but at the same time it must not be denied that their influence has so far been of benefit to the working classes.

By forcing them into these conflicts, these classes, from a previous state of blunted and listless indifference to all public affairs, have by degrees become more self-dependent and more intelligent members of the community.

As many of the leading men who have taken a prominent part in the establishment of these unions hold advanced socialistic opinions, they, as might be expected, have tried to implant in the minds of the working classes some of their visionary and utopian problems; but it cannot, however, be said that any dangerous consequences have as yet been visible, or that these classes have in any way shown signs of being tempted to enter upon any revolutionary experiments. The tradesunions have firmly kept within the frame-work of social polity, seeking to strengthen the feeling of self-dependence in the workman, the development of his intelligent public spirit, and by furnishing him with

their pecuniary and moral support in the disputes with their employers, they have sought to act as a counterpoise to the power of the employer, and to relieve the employés from that which in their view was a previous condition of servitude.

As regards the influence which the trades unions have exerted on the rates of wages, it may be observed that while under the old patriarchal relations between masters and the journeymen up to the sixth decennium, the rates of wages were steadily on the decline; that from 1870 to 1875 a very sensible rise of one-quarter and even one-third was obtained, due, without doubt, in great measure to the numerous strikes and disputes which occurred in those years.

Later on, in the years 1877-78, owing to the distress in all branches of trade, the laboring men found themselves to some extent in the power of their employers and had to submit to a reduction of wages, but with an improvement in trade from 1880 to the present day they have again recovered an improvement in their wages from 14 to 15 per cent. as compared with 1878. In addition to these trades unions there are several so-called "Industry and Trade Associations," of which both the employers as well as the skilled mechanics are members.

The aim of these associations is to protect and promote the various interests of industry and trade, and they are the medium for the initiating and presenting petitions to the state legislature on all questions of tariff reform, as also to assist or offer resistance, as the case may be, to the passage of all legislative measures effecting their interests; and these have a central committee, composed of twenty-seven members, chosen from the different associations together, now numbering over 22,000 members, this committee acting as facultative advisers to the legislative and municipal powers on all such industrial matters.

Further, there are a small number of clubs, of which the employers are solely members. In the commencement of the reign of trade strikes, a bitter and somewhat narrow-minded opposition was organized through these clubs, against the demand of their employés, but this embittered tone has subsided, and a much better feeling now seems to exist between masters and workmen since their strength has been tested during the course of the strikes, and their relations between the two parties seem now to be based on a mutual respect for each other's self-dependence and just demands.

NECESSARIES OF LIFE.

The working men may purchase all the articles they may require without any restrictions being placed upon them by the employer in this respect, and the wages due to them, as a general rule, are paid at the end of each week, in the current coin of the Kingdom.

With respect, however, to the agricultural laborers, as previously mentioned in this report, the wages are in many instances partly paid in kind with free house, grazing ground, or potatoes, milk, &c., but it must be observed that these conditions are always optional with the laborer and is rather one that is most valued by them.

Co-operative societies for the supply of the necessaries of life do not exist in this country.

In the beginning of the seventh decennium some attempts were made in this direction, but they were received with so little favor and, in short, met with such indifference from the working classes that they came to a speedy death, and no revival has since been attempted.