WAGES IN CANADA.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1963, 21 January 1914, Page 11

WAGES IN CANADA.

BFLGW N.Z. STANDARD. DISAPPOINTING ECONOMIC CONDITIONS . . IHv Cir.is. .4i. Si.ico.j . _(I'orisiorly.:ot the:. Toronto '-'Daily. - ... n V'.9?Pp.l^i>io l is'of^C*an«r<ia : 'arp ■ jbcen ;ftceu6tomed£iq'sp\y#-&aloiid^brf'Austra": ■I l ® s ' 'f.standards/j^-thaV wages •generally.bea'r a ..lower ratio.lb the cost o.f living' than/in • l Aiistraiasi'si.'.\';This is a gc!ieral'sutic.n, : an<!; like all general^. . tiona, has toj.be} modi fied/byr,many .'j; except ions,':but.jof«its ; , : T ■am - firmly -' convinced, not. only-by goner.'l observation/of ; tlie-conditions of the working «.ck;sc«£bvt<Js,r; , the.*tflidy of such figures as I; have, been.'abio to obr One.exxeptiiinv-may/. be/statetii-imriiedi-ate'y!;';|i.nd^it.cdmprisesJall men who.are willing to -p, into, the wilds, suffer.'pri* and; undertake hard .manual labour.. Such men can carii; big wages all the■ year 'the'-summer.. at farm' ■.work, in,the,;,winter., lumbering;;' ■ Life ■in a lumber camp -is hard , and. cheerless,■ almost devoid :,of. comfort i and decency, but it absorbs many men who. would otherwise find a. difficulty-in-tiding over the another;occupation which yields ■ afgolden/harvcst to those who are willing-'to': oudurc: isolation, and hardship. ;A competent- prospector need.:'run no risk, -ile can hire ltimsc-lf out at/a; good'wage; throe or four dollars a day, to- tliose-'willing ; to: risk their. money, B and stipulate'; for-a share of- any' "finds' I 'ho may. make.. Trappers and ■ others:, icy wastes of "the north can;- also "demand' big money. The classes-who fare indifferently.Mn .Canada .are.'men who have not the physique or;.inclination, to for-, sake town-life for .'such', strenuous, work —mechanics, : clerks, ' shop assistants,' labourers, ami; to/some.;,extent profes-■sionarmeiy-';/^i/;y|S;V^ Tho Cost of Living- : '--The cost- of living ■ varies l ., materially iu-different.,parts of' Canada, and so does the i'scale'of wages.' In the West —and tho-West includes-iWiniiipeg and Vancouver as "its'boundaries—both are much • higher, than iiiv tho': East, and, generally''speaking,'Hher-inai gin _which the- thrifty may savo is, higher in the West .than in' the EastV-i Tho value cf money is so little in tho .West that tho lowest-coin-in circulation is the nickel, or fivo cent picco - (2|d.).'-' Wages - and the cost of: living, aro at least ■.half as inucli again in the West as in the East, and it is in the East that'there seems most room for improvement. ' Organised labour does not regard the economic conditions of Canada as.satisfactory. .. In giving .evidence before a' select committee "of tlw Dominion Government last year,. Mr. Fred, Bancroft, vice-president of. the Trades and Labour Congress of . Canada, made . an official .statement to show.that with- wages at their present level the- workers of Canada cannot make, provision l for old age. Mr. Bancroft submitted a detailed estimate based on Toronto, prices, of the yearly expenditure of-a man with a. wife and three children. This totalled 036.70 dollars (£195), and it was on the lowest, scale Compatiblo with deccnt living, and very moderate amusements,*, and made no provision for olda go.' ; This fixes the living wage for such : a man at. 18 dollars (£3 155.) a week..'-;.' Anyone who .knows . Toronto knows that:.-thousands of mar--. ried workers-.-do ,not/receive this .wage. Mr. Bancroft ■ told the select committee that bricklayers, tho higliest paid mechanics, receive 24.20 dollars (£o odd) for a 44-hour ns tho weather generally prevents.. 13. weeks' work in the wir the avfTPce. weekly' wage is reduced to 18.14 dollars (£3 15s. -7(1.). According to Mr. Bancroft, carpenters make 17.90 dollars (£3- 14s.' 7d.)>a' week dus'inr* the season, but the averago weekly ware throughout the whole year falls to 18.62 dollars (£2; 16s. 10d.); builders' labourers, at 30 cents an hour, earn iu a- week 13.20 dollars (£2 155.)! but their average throughout tho year is only about 10-dollarS (£2 Is. Bd.)'a week. These wages nre earned by tlie most highly-organised sections 01 labour, and- the condition of unorganised labour is not so good. , Vages of 10 dollars (£2 Is. Bd.) and VI dollars (£2 10s.) a. week are quite commonly paid in Toronto, the city with which 1 am most familiar, and on such wngea it is utterly impossible to bring up a f;wnilv decently. As might bo ospeeted from these'figures, there is a good deal of distress in all Canadian cities dill uil, tho winter months and 1 periods of temporary tlci>re.«ion.; A .considersblc nnmber of single men return. to . throat llr.itain during tho winter, and live mi tlieir summer savings, eked out by such wages as tliov can earn. ■-.-... ■'. Is the working man no better otr in Canada than in Great Britain ?, someone will ask." , "Not' greatly - is the reply my observations lead me to frame. Certain classes'.of workers—farm labourers, lumbermen, '.-prospectors, and the. pioneers of civilisation. goiioraSb can earn lnw-h hotter wages, and Canada offers this considerable advantage, that if a man has a pair of bands and is willing to.work 1 he can, for at least eight months of the sure of employment. Rut ".mechanics anti clerks who are making £2 a week in the Old Country.- run- a risk in < going. to Canada unless they secure employment at a satisfactory "wage beforehand. It is only fair to state that the classes, of immigrants'.for-" which Canada directly advertises - are■ farm . labourers find domestic servants, but the tide of immi-gration-'is; now. carrying-thousands of mechanics and "clerks ■ into the country. • Canada '.is facing an 'acute problem in tho increased cost''of living. Meat lias doubled in'-, price- in 25 years, and egas are.said to be 300 per cent higher. According to tho Labour Department's table of index numbers wholesale prices for May-of last-.-ycar-were 1.37 as compared with .tlie' period IS9O-99. Some of the. causes of the increase are worldwide,' such. as thc.iincroase. of the gold supply ; others ""are/'local, the standard of living/lias' risen- : ' s 'considerably/and it cannot be'doubted that monopolies and trusts have. already got a firm enough hold ou Canada tfl raise prices in some directions! ''Ono.'Commentator has given tlie following-,reasons for tho increases in prices: '(1)- Tho extravaganco of the rich; (2) high" standard of, living among the masses; (3) "increase. in. population ; f4V increase ■in tho supply of. gold; (o) largo 'expenditure'.onj public; works ;..■ (6) '■ Tho Hntrlng Problem. .; The ' great bugbear .of '/the Canadian householder*;isiirent; and the cause.of this is. not,. population is..- incrcasiiigys'p''irapidly'/thro(igh'' immigration" that./builders.,' cannot : . work'!-fast enough to - provide-/the ' necessary accomni'od:itibn ;^;Thorc" : is:;a/?porpctuul dif'rooms' Canada, • lint part ifu'arly • in /.Mont rc.il. ...Toronto, Vi'iniHiH-g, and .-llm'.. West during ■ the stuminr. month's..' Oh the.outside circle . (if.Jit h'p'-ii'itit'fSTt v liiistents* may;?-lie j siM'i! giving, 'tm 1 fto ?|i jiii i i.i 2 ''i.U I I.?. SyV! i.iV ; : 1 i*a y - <Vr v '' C9s i' na1)1 oto 1 houses;. ' 1 lotel;. accommodation I i' i ppx-i ? til iii in/J i vi, ,'th tv4NV C i: '' ' 1 ' I .sumnVjr.and jit iie; visitor/ovho .can. seen re. I "^^po/ni#.ivj'»{?: book- j vw'el u/- :fc|yn iv<lovi;isS I jjic li/v;? iirdotcll l? |. Ca!i;.tiiy and. fdher. :IV.a.iiie ; ,(<>wns :-i>; •; Q I'f on 1' Hyorkprs are 10 a half have; i^iyeuK'nßS-houses;n ii'cl■j/ti'tl;oil.;:;;ft;if s:;'/ nll cl; . Mobmslbc^auseSthgySfoM I of. holism rents:, ioo/crusiiiii!;.:;/; Such i fac'pom'mcda

' .'iMcviiabk^s.liniitalioM^of/famiiicsJl.is.'a : •iilmost?;imi)ossi))!e , "to , - Ket4a Tsix-roomed ■ -liousiv inV»'Pomiito' dol- . .liii-3:. (;Cs"*'lsS:.M.) n . month, ■'and.'.(lift ■ ;'tvoi'lcpr. who" contemplates building iii tho i.' o lllskii:trVA'lot;;' o tily finds, bind 1 t<! a , forbidding price, lint probably also ; 'finds'a'building-restriction of a minimiiiii of 3000 dollars (£C25),'-<IOOO doldollars (£1041) im r pnsed. on "him: '■'. According, to. tins" City Health Officer,' Toronto, a. town of less 'thnn-iinlf a-million populfttion,-''raquiree 'froth"--10,000 'to 20,000 houses, to ■ te* lie'vp. congestion Jii tho slums. .'Ah■ initcrestinjj;- oxpnrinwnt was initiated': a few-weeks ago by tlie Toronto Housing Company , which may go far to bring relief... Eighty-five per cent' of the capir tnl of tlse'coinpniiy. .has been puafan* teed by...the:city ami the dividends .able tin'Uio remaining lo per cent, fiavo been limited , to six per cent.''- The company lias started the construction , !'' of several hundred houses of modern typo and : will rent these at from 12 dollars (£2 10s.) to' SO dollars (£4'3s.,;.Bd.)'' iT month. :■'lf tho experiment is'successful—and there is every reason why it should be—the way will have, been pointed to a solution of tho. housing problem.: so far as Toronto .'is. concerned..'. ■ ■ ■ ■■■■: ■'..'■:'.■