GERMANY. BARMEN. Report, by Consul Stanton, on the (1) condition of the laboring classes; (2) rates of wages; (3) cost of living; (4) state of trade; (5) current money of the Empire; and (6) the business habits and systems; and a supplemental report on agriculture and railway labor; for the district of Barmen, embracing Westphalia and a portion of the Rhine provinces. 1. CONDITION OF LABORING CLASSES. The condition of the laboring classes of the mining and iron industries is very distressing; indeed, could not well be otherwise when the price of iron manufactures is so low that nothing can be earned, and the cost of coal is more than 40 per cent. below the average of the last twentyfive years. In consequence whereof wages were reduced and many hands discharged. Many mines were worked but four or five days per week, and miners in an eight hour shift were unable to earn enough to procure the necessaries of life. Many struggle daily with bitter want. Of the hands discharged the less skillful and the communistically inclined were the first to go, but in many districts even the more skillful had to be discharged, and many manufacturers were forced by circumstances to sever a connection with their workmen of over twenty-five years' standing. A fruitful cause of want and ruin among the laboring classes is the enormous increase of the drinking saloons and dancing halls, and the complaints are universal as to the disposition of the laborers to indulge in excessive drink. In general, the present condition of the laboring classes in Germany is an unenviable one. Notwithstanding the efforts made by manufacturers to retain them, and the great sacrifices to the factories running, the long-continued depression has put a limit even to the greatest generosity, and large numbers of laborers are without work. In this district it is at present difficult, if not impossible, for a workingman to earn more than he needs for his individual support, and his weekly receipts are, on the average, by no means adequate for the support of a family. It is, consequently, essential that every member of the family should contribute to the common fund, and hence, from their earliest years, each member is raised to incessant toil and every privation. The diet of the workingman is scant, and meat is a luxury seldom indulged in more than once a week, whilst the daily allowance for beer and spirits too often curtails that which should furnish a wholesome meal. The workingmen are also inveterate smokers, and the pipe or cigar is seldom out of their mouths. So wide-spread has this habit become, particularly among the youthful members of society, that the authorities of a number of cities have passed ordinances forbidding the use of tobacco in public places to youths under sixteen years. Whatever be the characteristic of the laborer in other parts of Germany, in this and the neighboring districts he is, as a rule, improvident and quarelsome. The towns are, in consequence, heavily burdened by poor-rates; the municipal assessments within this consular district ranging from 5 to 7 times the amount of the imperial rates. 2. RATES OF WAGES. German Empire.-For agricultural laborers the rate of wages varies greatly throughout the German Empire, rising or falling according as the locality is near to or remote from manufacturing centers. To exemplify this, I give below the present (1878) rate of wages for various parts of Germany, viz: The wages now paid throughout this consular district, embracing Westphalia and a portion of the Rhine provinces, are as follows, viz: Cooks, with board and lodging (male), from $107 on (yearly), ac cording to merit. Housemaids, with board and lodging. Painters and glaziers The Rhenish Railway pay the following wages for work now (1878) in course of construction: Mechanics, blacksmiths, and miners. Carpenters, bricklayers, and plasterers. ..daily.. $0.65 ..do... $0 70 to 85 Painters Shoemakers are paid by the piece, and can earn with 12 hours daily work per hour.. per week.. 3 60 05 38 60 (The present rates are about 20 per cent. under those of former years.) Silk-weavers earn from $2.15 to $2.85 per week per loom. Married weavers have generally more than one loom, and in such cases receive one-third of the earnings of the extra looms for their supervision, the other two-thirds being the wages of those working the looms. The wages of silk-weavers are at present extremely low, they being able to earn double the present amount in good times. Female operatives in factories earn weekly $2.15; children, $1; in good times the earnings are 80 per cent. higher. The cost of the various articles of food are shown in the following table during the years 1865–1877, in the district of Barmen-Elberfeld: Average food-prices in Barmen-Elberfeld during the last thirteen years. Article. 1865. 1866. 1867. 1868. 1869. 1870. 1871. 1872. 1873. 1874. 1875. 1876. 1877. Butter Hog's lard per pound.. do.. .do... For a man and wife, with two or three children, the yearly cost is about $275. Such a family would live in two or three rooms, and would naturally live in a poor and comfortless manner. As many of the family as are able would be obliged to work ten to twelve hours daily. The following detailed estimate of the expenses of a family of six persons, viz, man, wife, and four children, is, I think, rather high; for, as will be seen from the accompanying tables, few families would be in a position to gain a weekly income of $7. Estimate of the expenses of a family of six-viz, two adults and four children—per week. Flour and bread $0 90 Fruits, green and dried $0.07 Meat, fresh, corned, salted, and Fuel 23 smoked Lard. By way of comparison, I subjoin the estimate of a factory inspector in Silesia of the expenses of a family of five persons, two adults and three children under fourteen years, which I think is more correct than the preceding one, viz: This estimate is as low as it is possible to make it, and, as will be seen by a reference to the table of wages, few of the men earn enough to pay the expenses of such a family. The amount allowed for rent in the above estimate is much too small for Barmen, where for $14.28 only two small garret chambers could be obtained. Here, according to the location in house, the rent of one to three rooms would be from $14.28 to $60. For the purpose of comparison, I inclose the following tables of the wages paid in Barmen during the eleven years, 1865-1875. The tables are full, and explain themselves. The cost of living has not varied much in the last few years, the chief difference being that the weekly receipts of the laborer do not suffice to meet his expenses, not because the wages are reduced, or living costs more, but owing to the extensive depression in all branches of trade, which prevents him doing a full week's work. |