BOCHUM. 
83 
Poles and East Prussians in 1905 against 24*91 per cent, in 1893, and 6*79 per 
cent, were foreigners against only 2*72 per cent, in 1893. In the North Bochum 
district 34*27 per cent, were Germans from Upper Silesia, Posen, West Prussia, 
and East Prussia in 1905, and in the South Bochum district 31*17 per cent., 
against percentages of 21*76 and 23*05 respectively in 1893. The foreigners in 
the mines of North Bochum in 1905 were 4*30 per cent, of the whole, against 
1*23 per cent, in 1893, and in South Bochum they were 2*15 per cent., against 
1*05 in 1893. One-half were Austrians, more than a quarter were Italians, and 
the rest were mainly Dutch and Russians. 
The Poles, though German subjects, do not enjoy general popularity 
amongst their fellow-workmen. They consort but little with the Germans, and 
speak only their mother tongue. But in the eyes of the organised miners of 
German nationality their greatest fault is that they resolutely keep aloof from 
the German trade unions, whether Social Democratic or Roman Catholic, and 
combine in associations of their own. Nor do the Poles invariably receive a 
good name from the employers and mine officials. Speaking of them according 
to experience, some of these praise the Poles as workers, while others place 
them below all non-German workers in point of efficiency. The fact seems 
to be that the Pole begins life as a coal miner with all the faults of inex 
perience, for he is a migrant whose earlier years have been passed in the towns 
and villages of Eastern Prussia, but he soon settles to the work and in the end 
earns as much as his fellows who have grown up in the mining industry. The 
Poles are not, however, allowed to work alone, and to the last the language 
difficulty is serious, for though they learn to speak German it is on compulsion, 
and they do not like it. In manner of life the Poles learn much to their 
advantage from the Germans in orderliness, cleanliness, and self-respect ; they 
live frugally, and are able to save. 
The industries of Bochum itself and their relative importance will be seen 
from the following enumeration of workpeople employed in the inspected 
factories and workshops of the town in 1906 :— 
Group of Trades. 
Number 
of 
Establishments. 
Number of Workpeople. 
Male. 
Female. 
Total. 
Building ... ... ••• ... • •• 
Mining and smelting 
Metal working 
Machine, implement and apparatus 
making. 
Clothing and cleaning 
Printing, lithography, bookbinding, &c 
Woodworking and carving 
Chemicals ... 
Resins, varnishes, oil, soap, candles, &c 
Stone and earth 
Food, drink and tobacco 
Leather and paper 
Total ... 
89 
4 
20 
25 
111 
21 
27 
8 
6 
35 
210 
4 
560 
1,183 
6,889 
790 
972 
49 
330 
858 
122 
222 
820 
867 
19 
13,121 
494 
*9 
87 
3 
669 
1,183 
6,889 
790 
972 
543 
412 
858 
122 
225 
820 
954 
22 
13,790 
The wages of skilled men in the engineering trades 
average 
_ , , „ . . _ about 30a. 
weekly, and those of labourers are 21a. The following is a comparative record 
of daily wages in this industry, extending over the last ten years, as kept by a 
local firm of standing :— 
1895. 
1900. 
1905. 
Moulders 
Fitters... 
Turners 
Smiths 
Pattern-makers 
Labourers 
Number of hours generally worked 
s. d. 
4 3 
4 3 
4 1 
3 11 
3 7 
2 11 
66 
s. d. 
5 0 
4 8 
66 
s. d. 
5 4 
4 10 
4 10 
4 11 
4 9 
3 6 
60 
L 2 
29088