PRICES AND WAGES.
HY BYUON W. HOLT.
Wo are hearing a great deal lately
of the "economies of production , " of
trusts , of lower prices for goods , and
of higher wages to employees. Thus ,
on January 15 , Andrew Carnegie , ad
dressing the Railroad Branch of the
Young Men's Christian Association ,
said :
"It is one of the most cheering facts
of our day that under present condi
tions the wages of lahor tend to rise ,
; iud the price of the necessaries of life
tend to fall. There never was a na
tion so splendidly situated as ours is
at this moment in regard to labor.
Every sober , capable and willing man
finds employment at wages which ,
with thrift and a good wife to man
age , will enable him to go forward
toward laying up a competence for
old ' '
ago.
This is but a sample of hundreds of
similar statements that might be
quoted from prominent men and news
papers. Whether or not the most of
these statements are inspired by men
interested in deceiving the public is
not important. It is , however , im
portant that the public should learn
the facts or , at least , such facts as are
furnished bytho probably very im
perfect statistics of today.
The census bulletins on manufac
tures have been published for thirty-
three states and territories. They in
clude all of the Now England and
southern states , except Massachusetts ,
Virginia , and Kentucky ; and all of
the states west of the Mississippi
river , except Texas , California , Wash
ington , and Minnesota. New Jersey
and Delaware are also included.
According to the statistics of these
thirty-three states , 1,004,590 wage
earners received an average of $418.48
each per year , or $1.89 per day , in 1890
and 1,403,805 wage earners' these
same states received an average of
$387.58 each per year , or $1.29 per
day , in 1900. The day wages of the
average earner , in manufacturing in
dustries of these states , then , declined
from $1.39 to $1.29 , or 6 per cent , from
1890 to 1900. That is , for every dollar
the 1890 wage earner got , the 1900
wage earner got only 92.4 cents. The
comparison is fair , because both 1890
and 1900 were considered prosperous
years.
The last and largest manufacturing
state reported is New Jersey. Its
120,090 wage earners , in 1890 , got
average day wages of $ ' 3.24 ; while its
241,681 wage earners , in 1900 , got aver
age day wages of only $1.52. These
figures , if correct , show a phenomenal
decline of 82.2 per cent in wages in
Now Jersey from 1890 to 1900.
Such statistics do not bear up Mr.
Carnegie's statements on "Rising
Wages and Cheerfulness , " as some of
the newspapers headed his speech.
But perhaps Mr. Carnegie , though
wrong as to wages , may bo right as
to falling prices ; for , after all , it is
the purchasing power of wages , rather
than the money wages receive. ] , which
determines actual wages. If prices
have gone down faster than wages , the
wage earner may be benefited by the
change. Have prices , then , declined ?
If Mr. Carnegie had read Dun's Ro-
-
view of Jan. 4. 1902 , before ho made
his thoughtless speech , ho might have
avoided his error in regard to prices.
This high authority contains tables
based upon quotations for 850 articles ,
with due allowance for the importance
of each , showing that the cost of liv
ing is now greater in this country than
over before. The following are some
of Dun's "index" figures :
Jan 1. July 1 , Jan. 1 , Jnn 1 ,
1800. 1897 1000. 1002.
( low. )
Breadstuff * $18,705 $10.587 $18,254 $20,002
Mont 7,620 7,529 7.258 O.OiO
Dairy and garden 12,075 8,714 18.702 16,240
Other food 9.935 7,887 9,200 8,952
Clothing 14,845 13,803 17,484 15,547
Metals 10.240 11,042 18,085 15,875
Miscellaneous. . . 15,111 12.288 10,812 10,793
$90,191 $72,455 $95.295 $101,587
The totals show that the cost of liv
ing was 6 per cent greater in 1900
than in 1890 , 81 per cent greater in
1900 than in 1897 , and 40 per cent
greater in 1902 than in 1897.
Dun's Review says of the table that
"this establishes the cost of living at
the opening of the new year above all
recent records. ' '
If , as most trust promoters and de
fenders proclaim , trusts cheapen pro
duction and lower prices , the cost of
living should bo lower now , instead
of higher than ever before. It is
rather unfortunate for the trusts and
their friends that the great rise in
prices should correspond exactly with
the great growth of trusts. Census
Bulletin No. 122 contains information
concerning 183 "Industrial Combina
tions" having a total authorized capi
tal of $3,607,589,200 , over f8,000,000-
000 of which lias been issued. Of
these 183 trusts , 63 were formed prior
to 1897 , 7 in 1897 , 20 in 1898 , 79 in
1899 , and 18 in 1890 , prior to Juno 80.
More than half of all were chartered
between Jan. 1 , 1899 , and June 80 ,
1900. Nearly half of these trusts were
formed during 1899 , the year of the
greatest advance in prices. The index
number for prices which stood at
80,428 on Jan. 1 , 1899 , rose to 95,295
on Jan. 1 , 1900. More trusts ( includ
ing the greatest of all ) have been
formed since June , 1890 , and prices
have still further advanced.
These facts should silence forever
the claims that trusts justify their ex
istence by the lower prices which they
ive us. Trusts may , and probably
§ o , lower the cost of production , but
this is a very different thing from
lower prices to consumers. It is
undoubtedly true that these trust are
selling their products to foreigners at
unusually low prices. They are , how
ever , protected in our markets by tariff
duties averaging , on manufactured
goods , including prohibition duties ,
about 75 per cent. The trusts , seeing
that wo have put this high tariff wall
around ourselves and presuming that
we , therefore , prefer high prices ,
have decided to mark up prices to us
to the highest possible notch. Often
they charge us 50 to 100 per cent more
than they charge foreigners for the
same goods.
The census statistics of manu
factures also show that the average
value of each wage earner's product
in the 88 states reported increased
from § 1,938 in 1890 to $2,148 in 1900.
Why , wo may ask , should wages go
down 7 per cent when the value of
each wage earner's product has gone
up 10 per cent , and when the cost of
living has increased 6 per cent ? Are
these some of the "Blessings" of
trusts and signs of permanent prosper
ity. The fact that the census figures
for 1890 and 1900 were made on a
slicrhtly different basis may change
these percentages somewhat , but not
enough to change the general results
materially.
Again , apparently the 1900 wage-
earners got in wages less than one-
fifth of the valuu of his product. De
ducting , however , the cost of ma
terials used and salaries and miscel
laneous expenses , and making allow
ance for interest on capital , deprecia
tion of plant , and cost of selling the
products , the difference between the
wages of- each earner and the value
of his product is greatly reduced ,
though it is probably still very great.
As the wage-earners constitute the
great bulk of consumers , it is evident
that if wages and prices got so far
apart that the wage-earners cannot ,
with their wages , buy back more than
half of their product , a great surphis
of goods will soon be created. This
surplus must bo sold at greatly re
duced prices , such as rule during
times of so-called "business depres
sion. ' ' Perhaps the Napoleons of in
dustry in charge of our protected
trusts will succeed in upsetting the
old and apparently natural order of
economic events , and in establishing
a now order which shall contain only
prosperity , unalloyed , unadulterated ,
and everlasting. We shall see.
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