Although we are exposed to so many accidents – how many lives have been lost during the dangerous ride in and out of the shaft alone? – we have been deprived of a beautiful and cherished custom according to which the mine supervisor used to lead the miners in prayer before the group set off in the morning. Now, instead of carrying a prayer book, many of the officers come into the pithead baths swearing coarsely and drive the miners into the shaft a quarter of an hour before operations start. Even though the morning prayer made the shift ten minutes shorter, it was still irresponsible to eliminate it in almost every mine.
With all that, piecework wages are set so low that we generally live in dire circumstances despite our all-out efforts. Currently, the middling worker, such as constitutes the majority, is able to earn an average of 17 to 18 thalers a month, if he applies himself diligently and works an eleven-hour shift. Only those doing the most lucrative work manage 30 thalers or more a month; the lower workers, however, only nine to ten thalers. [ . . . ] For a family of four [ . . . ], 20 thalers and 25 silbergroschen* are necessary to cover basic monthly expenses, and this does not even include lighting, heating, clothing, footwear, household utensils, school fees, and taxes (15 thalers a year). On average, however, a worker does not make more than 15 to 16 thalers a month.
At present, for all intents and purposes, we have no actual protection against the aforementioned abuses, partly because the Chief Royal Mining Office is located in Dortmund, and partly because the miners lack the resources necessary to make their grievances heard clearly and forcefully.
Even if the law of May 20, 1860, which was passed by the state parliament elected on the basis of the three-class franchise, grants employers the right to extend shifts and lower wages at will, the general Prussian laws nevertheless prevent them from taking advantage of that right in a way that inevitably ruins workers both physically and mentally.
* A Prussian silver coin worth 12 pfennigs – trans.
Source: Klaus Tenfelde and Helmuth Trischler, eds., Bis vor die Stufen des Throns. Bittschriften und Beschwerden von Bergleuten im Zeitalter der Industrialisierung [Right up to the Steps of the Throne. Written Requests and Complaints by Miners in the Era of Industrialization]. Munich: C.H. Beck, 1986, pp. 187-90.
Original German text reprinted in Wolfgang Piereth, ed., Das 19. Jahrhundert. Ein Lesebuch zur deutschen Geschichte 1815-1918 [The 19th Century: A German History Reader 1815-1918]. 2nd edition. Munich: C.H. Beck, 1997, pp. 316-19.
Translation: Erwin Fink
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