Page:Walter Renton Ingalls - Wealth and Income of the American People (1924).pdf/215

Rh made by mind, with the aid of capital, without which the mines of Butte would today have been nearly dead and the porphyries would not have been born. They were in no wise at the expense of wage-earners, nor have the latter any claim upon them beyond that which economic law gives them, and what it does give they have received. Their ability to work has been greatly increased and they have got higher wages for their work. Thirty years ago the common rate of wages for miners in the Rocky Mountains was 30 cts. an hour. During the nineties it rose to 37 cts. in Butte. During the next decade it rose to 47 cts. In 1916 it was 60 and 65 cts. During the last 10 years wages were paid largely on a sliding scale, according to the price for copper, whereby the wage-earner has participated in the increased profits of the employing companies. The Butte scale governed, to a more or less extent, the wages in other districts, with modifications according to living conditions, character of work, etc. Labor’s great gain in mining has been due to mind, aided by capital, enabling it to produce more. Without mind and capital it would not have had any gain. With mind and capital both of them profited greatly, but labor profited most.

The inventory of the wealth of the United States shows how little of the wealth of a country is of use without work. The houses of this country would continue to afford protection against the weather, to be sure, but there would be nothing with which to keep their occupants warm and fed except the stock of goods, whereof the aggregate of everything is not more than 6– to 10–months supply. The stock of clothing would soon be worn out and the people would then