DANTZIG.
167
The Municipality owns 7,538 acres of land of which, however, only 538
are within the urban area. In addition it administers or controls 622 acres, of
which 69 are inside the town. The gas, water and electricity supplies are
municipal undertakings, but not the electric tramway.
In October, 1904, a new technical high school was opened in Dantzig, at
which practical scientific instruction in shipbuilding is given a prominent place
in the course of study provided.
Occupations, Wages and Hours of Labour.
A general indication has already been afforded of the main directions in
which the working classes of Dantzig find their employment. Materials do
not exist for an exact classification of the whole body of workpeople accord
ing to occupation groups, as the results of the last German occupation Census
have not yet been published. The most that can be attempted therefore, is
to show the distribution according to main groups of industry of those
workpeople who are employed in establishments subject to inspection as
factories or workshops. This is done in the following Table, of which the
figures relate to the year 1906.
Workpeople employed in Factories and Workshops in Dantzig in 1906.
Group of Trades.
Building » - - ... ... ... ...
Mining and smelting
Metal working
Machine, implement and apparatus
making (including shipbuilding).
Textiles
Clothing and cleaning
Printing, lithography, bookbinding, &c
Paper ... ... ... ...
Woodworking and carving
Chemicals ...
Resins, varnishes, soap, oil, candles, &c
Stone and earth
Food, drink and tobacco ...
Total
Number of
Establishments.
9
1
24
37
5
119
21
3
49
7
10
10
177
472
Number of Workpeople.
Male.
481
319
288
8,011
47
23
414
19
1,190
72
387
251
1,824
13,326
Female.
10
107
816
318
53
53
241
18
30
764
2,410
Total.
481
319
288
8,021
154
839
732
72
1,243
313
405
281
2,588
15,736
As the above statement deals only with the labour employed in establish
ments ranking as factories or workshops it fails to take account of two of the
most important branches of employment for male labour in Dantzig, viz., the out
door building trades and dock and riverside labourers. The number of work
people employed in the building trades in Dantzig at the present time may be
taken as being not less than 3,000 (the actual number in 189o was 2,o00) ;
that of the dock labourers is estimated at 2,000.
Outside the building trades the trade union movement is still somewhat
undeveloped in Dantzig.' At the end of 1905 there were in all about 3,600
Workmen belonging to the unions affiliated to the local trades council ( (jewerk-
Schafts-Kartell), and of those 2,100 were in the building trades, the largest
union beino- that of the masons and bricklayers, which had 1,019 members. Of
the other affiliated trades may be mentioned the metal-workers, with 510
members, the carpenters with 340, the bricklayers labourers with 300, the
painters with 290, the compositors with 243, the wood-workers with 220, and
the dock labourers with 127 members.
As is usual where workmen’s organisations are undeveloped collective
arguments fixing the conditions of labour are few, and they exist in Dantzig
only for the masons and bricklayers and their labourers, for carpenters and
joiners, plumbers and compositors. Except in the case of joiners, whose
agreement fixes piece-work rates only, provision is made in each case for a
minimum rate of time wage and a maximum working day, and the rates and