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The Salary Of Protection

The Salary Of Protection image
Parent Issue
Day
28
Month
March
Year
1873
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

An unthinkiug press is exultitig over our industrial progress during tho d liSGÜ 70. Perhaps a more mela-ncholy fexhibit oould not bo inado in the world. We donbt' if ever Russia .during all serf(I0111 wmild have skown the potfer of wealtii over labor in a worae fórm than does the induatriaí censas oí the United States for l70. We will to day I with Massachusetts. Thia. State demanda protection purely on philanthropic principies. And yet in the market of Alassachusetts the value of a man is only $971. That is to aay, f971 invested in industrial pursuita in that State produces annually the earnings ot' a human being. The followinf; statistics froui tho census of 1870 prove it. The total proJuction of manufactures in llassachusetts in 1S70 was $553,912,568. The oost of tho in mufuutured productions was as follows : A!alri;üs $334,415,982 Toto] iv:iges lld.ü l,83(i Total coat $i.-2,951,86S - leaving a not proftt of $101,446,700. Thia last amount waa tfce dividend on a total in vested capital of 31,677,862, or an average interest of within a fïaction of i'}{ per cent. On the other har.il, there wero employed in - etts in 1870 a total nutnber of 279,380 handte, who received 118,051,88S wages, or as near as poesible $422,42 per head. Thus it will be seen that in the philanthropic State of Bíaasachusetts the amiuiü (Tividends earned by ariatocratic f973 cash aio 1442.38, and the aiinuul wages earned by u, white Ma8Sachu8etta man are $42'2.42. It would hardly bi: believpd bwt for such a proof that such thing! cn possibly exist - that in the most religioua and philanthropic State of tho Union $971 in Cash is tho equivalent of tho value of an average living workinen. It is niuch below the average price of slaves before Maasachnaetta hnlped to emancípate

Article

Subjects
Old News
Michigan Argus