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  inexperience, ­
  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