Wages and employment of labor. only to the country itself, but also to enhance the material advantages which Germany derived from the war of 1870-71, and led to a complete change in the financial condition of the country. The interest, for instance, on the whole of the national debt, and for nearly all the municipal loans issued at 41⁄2 and 5 per cent, could without difficulty have been and was reduced to 4 per cent. It may be fairly concluded that at the present moment very little capital is required, and the supply would fully meet any reasonable call. The wages of farm and ordinary laborers have increased in proportion to the higher prices now paid for the necessaries of life, compared with the period when Bavaria first began to give her attention to trade and industry. The chief impediments to the extension of commercial relations between Bavaria and Great Britain are, firstly, the high freights charged upon all articles of trade; and secondly, the increasing duties upon goods imported into Germany, and which duties are unmistakably intended to hamper the introduction of English products. The only adequate measure which can be used to counteract the action of the German Government would be the adoption of the policy it now vigorously carries out, i. e., to extend an adequate amount of protection against the importation of German goods, which, if not checked, bids fair to prove highly prejudicial to British trade. It may be further observed that the development of Bavarian industries has in a great measure rendered the country independent of foreign supplies, especially as regards textile fabrics, iron, steel, and colors, and the trade from Great Britain in these goods has decidedly diminished. This decline cannot be attributed to a reduced capacity for supply on the part of England, but British firms have of late taken less interest in the introduction of new branches of trade, and have, perhaps, also shown themselves less scrupulous in the quality they supply. There are, moreover a considerable number of Germans, who by long residence in England or in her colonies, have acquired not only steady and business-like habits, but also such knowledge and experience of our commercial requirements, as enable them to carry on a large export trade in the British possessions. Although a densely populated country, with the labor market already overcrowded, wages have not only advanced, but increased employment has been given since protection was established. The greatest improvement in the material condition of the masses of the German people has occurred since the formation of the Zollverein. Wages not only advanced as factories were built, but the overcrowded rural population was relieved. and found an outlet, as the cities and industrial centres grew. Protection gave to Germany not only a diversity of industries, but a diversity of employments, and greatly increased the opportunities for the people to get work. It would seem that such industrial expansion was absolutely necessary in a nation like Germany, having a superabundance of labor. To utilize the laborers and turn them to the best advantage to themselves and to the nation, was a part of the economic policy of List and Bismarck. The protectionists of Germany saw how unwise it would be to leave the coal and iron mines unworked, and the natural resources of the country undeveloped, when under the stimulus and encouragement which might be given to capital and labor, they would burn German instead of British coal, work up their own iron, supply their home market and make Germany a busy, rich and prosperous country. If the benefits to be derived from the policy of protection should be measured alone by the increased employment, advance in wages and general improvements which have been brought about to the laborers of Germany, it would sufficiently justify the wisdom of the policy of protection. It is equally certain that even with the abundance of labor and the low wage rate which prevailed, the industrial progress which has taken place could not have been made under free trade. The capital of the country was almost wholly invested in occupations other than manufacturing. The people almost as a whole were engaged in farming. Large land-owners held the title to the soil, while the masses were rural laborers, living in a condition bordering on serfage. Capitalists could not be induced to embark in manufacturing in the face of the vigorous British competition that would be waged against them, especially when they would not only be compelled to become familiar with the processes of manufacturing themselves, but at the same time to educate and convert into artisans unskilled rural laborers. These were the difficulties which necessarily forced Germany to raise a barrier of protection to encourage and protect capital invested in manufacturing. This done, foreign rivals were gradually driven from the field, and as home industries made headway year by year, the expansion went on, and manufacturing was extended to the making of everything necessary to supply the German people. As new factories were built, more employment was given to labor. The encouragement and confidence inspired by protection, invited not only German, but English capital, still further to augment German industries. The result could only be a vast increase in the employment of labor, at better wages. Upon the question of larger employment and increased wages, we have the most reliable authority. The reports of British Consuls to the Royal Commission of Trade and Industry in 1885, upon the condition of labor and rates of wages in Germany, furnish very interesting and reliable data upon this subject. The plan adopted by the Royal Commission for investigating the changes which had taken place in the wage rate of the United Kingdom during the period of twenty years, between 1864 and 1884, was extended to Germany. It is very interesting to note that the reports from Germany were, that an increase of wages had taken place during the time referred While this had universally occurred throughout the German Empire, in the majority of instances wages had fallen in England during the same time. But the most marked feature of the industrial question was disclosed by the fact that while increased employment was the result of protection in Germany, lack of employment occasioned to a great extent by the import of competing commodities, was the most serious injury which had befallen the laborers of England, through free trade. to. Mr. Dundas reported from Hamburg that Professor Soetbeer had shown that between 1848-51 and 1879-85 wages had increased 98 per Rise of wages. cent, 80 per cent, and 85 per cent (alternately). The wages paid for roadbuilding, to skilled labor, had increased in some instances 226 per cent. Speaking of the consular district which he represented (Hamburg) Mr. Dundas said: "In this district wages have presumably risen in the same proportion." Mr. Oppenheimer, Consul-General at Frankfort, said: "The wages for skilled and unskilled labor are over the average of the last twenty years. The quantity as well as the quality of the work has similarly risen. The former through the introduction of machines, and the latter through the improved training which workmen have received." Mr. Mulvany, in his consular report from Dusseldorf, said: Production in the main branches of industry has continued steadily to increase, and with it the demand for skilled labor and rates of wages. So that in this district a good workman is sure to find employment, and even the common laborer earns 2s. 6d. (60 cents) a day. Higher class of workmen, 4s. to 5s. (96 cents to $1.20) a day of ten hours. The present rate of wages both for skilled and unskilled labor exceeds the average of the last twenty years. From other districts the following reports were given: Offenbach Report. "They are (wages), as regards unskilled labor, above the average of the last twenty years, whereas skilled, and especially good work, has commanded prices approaching the very highest hitherto paid." Report from Worms. "Wages for both skilled and unskilled labor are above the average of the last twenty years, and range between 2 and 21⁄2 marks for unskilled labor, and between 21⁄2 and 5 marks for skilled labor per day, consisting almost universally of ten hours. Report from Mannheim. "The rate of wages has risen above the average, being at present from 2 marks to 3.50 per day of ten working hours." The general increase which was shown by the reports quoted in 1885 has continued until the present time. The report of Sir E. B. Malet to the Marquis of Salisbury, from Berlin, August 8, 1891,1upon the present state of the labor question in Germany, shows that the returns of the German factory inspectors for 1890 exhibit an increase in the number of hands employed. In the district of Oppeln, the number employed increased from 110,268 in 1886, to 139,406 in 1890; in the Kingdom of Saxony, from 321,629 in 1888, to 340,498 in 1889; in the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, 10,253 in 1888, to 11,284 in 1889. The report says: 1 Foreign Official Miscellaneous Series, 1891, No. 212. "The increase of the work-people employed in the district of BerlinCharlottenburg, amounted to 15,225, from 1889 to 1890. There now exist 5186 factories in the district, with a total of 159,505 hands.” The increase in Brelan and Liegnitz (Silesia) was 11 per cent from 1880 to 1890, or from 141,399 to 157,340. A similar increase occurred in the district of Mersburg and Erfurt, from 73,313 in 1888, to 92, 136 in 1890. Mr. Malet says that the yearly increase in the work-people employed has been 5 per cent and that the number has risen from 4,500,000 in 1882, to 7,000,000 in 1890. Upon the question of an advance in wages, Mr. Malet says: During the year 1888-89 a general rise of wages took place in most of the German industrial districts. The report for the district of Potsdam-Frankfort-onOder, states that with the exception of the textile industries, a rise of 10 per cent to 25 per cent in wages was observed. In the district of Dusseldorf, the rise in many cases was over 15 per cent. In the district of Leipsic, the improvement is especially noticeable in the engineering trade, the average rate being 40 pf. to 45 pf. (4 d. to 51⁄2d.) per hour, as against 27 pf. to 35 pf. in former years. engineering establishment, the average weekly wage, which three years ago was 20 marks (1), has risen to from 23 to 25 marks (£1 5s.), and the prices paid for piece-work have increased to a corresponding extent.1 In one On the following page is a table of wages paid in the district of Potsdam-Frankfort-on-Oder, for the years 1882 and 1889; copied from the report of Sir E. B. Malet, to the Marquis of Salisbury, August 8, 1891. We have further information upon this subject contained in the report on Germany, to the Royal Commission on Labor, in June 1893, by Mr. Geoffrey Drage, in which he says: "The wages for Germany have shown a great increase since 1850, in some cases as much as 60 per cent, and the cost of production has not sensibly increased." " An economic policy under which such benefits can be achieved, even in a country where excessive competition prevailed among the laborers, cannot be overthrown by contentions based on theoretical and speculative reasoning. The results which have followed the adoption and practice of the policy of protection in Germany, as well as in all other countries. where it has been tried, fully vindicate its wisdom, while proving the benefits which are to be derived from it. Wages in several important industries. The for Not only has the foreign trade of Germany greatly increased since the return to protection, but its character is being reversed. Instead of eign trade. buying a large quantity of fully manufactured goods each year, she is buying less and has become an exporter of those wares and articles which were formerly purchased. The trading classes are now more largely dealing in and making their profits from goods made in home factories. The imports of cotton, wool, silk and other raw materials for home consumption is yearly increasing. The imports of yarns and partly manufactured goods are decreasing, because of home supply. The exports 2 Foreign Reports, Vol. V., p. 57. 1 Page 7, Report. |