Wages.
Some sell their lives for bread;
Some sell their souls for gold;
Some seek the river bed;
Some seek the workhouse mold.
Such is proud England's sway, Where wealth may work its will;White flesh is cheap to-day, White souls are cheaper still.
-FANTASIAS.
WHEN I LEARNED THAT IN Lesser London there were 1,292,737 people who received 21 shillings or less a week per family, I became interested as to how the wages could best be spent in order to maintain the physical efficiency of such families.Families of six, seven, eight, or ten being beyond consideration, I have based the following table upon a family of five, a father, mother, and three children; while Ihave made 21 shillings equivalent to $5.25, though actually, 21shillings are equivalent to about $5.11.
An analysis of one item alone will show how little room there is for waste.Bread, $l: for a family of five, for seven days, one dollar's worth of bread will give each a daily ration of 2 6/7th cents; and if they eat three meals a day, each may consume per meal 9 1/2mills' worth of bread, a little less than one cent's worth.Now bread is the heaviest item.They will get less of meat per mouth each meal, and still less of vegetables; while the smaller items become too microscopic for consideration.On the other hand, these food articles are all bought at small retail, the most expensive and wasteful method of purchasing.
While the table given above will permit no extravagance, no overloading of stomachs, it will be noticed that there is no surplus.The whole $5.25 is spent for food and rent.There is no pocket money left over.Does the man buy a glass of beer, the family must eat that much less; and in so far as it eats less, just that far will it impair its physical efficiency.The members of this family cannot ride in buses or trams, cannot write letters, take outings, go to a 'tu'penny gaff' for cheap vaudeville, join social or benefit clubs, nor can they buy sweetmeats, tobacco, books, or newspapers.
And further, should one child (and there are three) require a pair of shoes, the family must strike meat for a week from its bill of fare.And, since there are five pairs of feet requiring shoes, and five heads requiring hats, and five bodies requiring clothes, and since there are laws regulating indecency, the family must constantly impair its physical efficiency in order to keep warm and out of jail.For notice, when rent, coals, oil, soap, and firewood are extracted from the weekly income, there remains a daily allowance for food of 9 cents to each person; and that 9 cents cannot be lessened by buying clothes without impairing the physical efficiency.
All of which is hard enough.But the thing happens; the husband and father breaks his leg or his neck.No 9 cents a day per mouth for food is coming in; no 9 1/2 mills' worth of bread per meal; and, at the end of the week, no $1.50 for rent.So out they must go, to the streets or the workhouse, or to a miserable den, somewhere, in which the mother will desperately endeavor to hold the family together on the 10 shillings she may possibly be able to earn.
While in Lesser London there are 1,292,737 people who receive 21shillings or less a week per family, it must be remembered that we have investigated a family of five living on a 21-shillings basis.
There are larger families, there are many families that live on less than 21 shillings, and there is much irregular employment.The question naturally arises, How do they live? The answer is that they do not live.They do not know what life is.They drag out a subter-bestial existence until mercifully released by death.
Before descending to the fouler depths, let the case of the telegraph girls be cited.Here are clean, fresh, English maids, for whom a higher standard of living than that of the beasts is absolutely necessary.Otherwise they cannot remain clean, fresh English maids.On entering the service, a telephone girl receives a weekly wage of $2.75.If she be quick and clever, she may, at the end of five years, attain a maximum wage of $5.00.Recently a table of such a girl's weekly expenditure was furnished to Lord Londonderry.Here it is:
Rent, fire, and light...........$1.87 1/2Board at home......................87 1/2Board at the office..............1.12 1/2Street car fare....................37 1/2Laundry............................25
Total...................$4.50
