Mining 1830 - 1920
W. Griem, 2006 - 2021
Social consciousness
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Text: Introduction
Table of wages 1853
Text by Engels
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Intro Mining History
De: PHILIPPI, RUDOLPH AMANDUS (1860)
Prisoners: De: "La Vie Souterraine Du Les Mines et les Mineures" (Paris
1867) - Foto grande
Records of the
employment situation at this time:
Gilliss (1851): Apires y barreteros
Treutler (1854): Situación laboral de mineros
Los Mineros: Tornero, 1872
Apires y barreteros: Tornero, 1872
Introduction to mining history 1830 - 1920
Especially mining caused a social conscience in the people, more than in other areas of the era, the scope of social security, working time and labor law - mining showed a vertical social mobility that for many people in this era was a threat:
Political parties:
In Germany, Europe, and Chile, the first socialist or
social-democratic movements are formed between 1850 and 1870, which can
answer the increasing importance of social questions in society. In
particular, democratic-liberal principles are gaining in popularity in
large sections of the population. Humanist, socially-oriented, and
liberal attitudes are gaining ground, especially in the working class,
and in other social classes, especially in universities. A humanist,
socially-oriented and liberal attitude is gaining ground.
The unions:
The founding of the first unions had many causes and
different goals: safety in the mine, acquisition of adequate equipment,
reduction of weekly working hours to a bearable level, the introduction
of social security, adjustment of wages, and of course, the general
improvement in working conditions for workers - employees and operators.
Wages and salaries
Wages were, of course, an important point. At that time, we
could find extreme salary differences in the different occupational
groups. But perhaps an even more critical issue was the form in which
some companies paid wages. As Paul Treutler describes (see
here), some mines had their own shops called "Pulperias."
These shops sold some goods to the workers and employees at excessive
prices and deducted the outstanding invoice from their wages. As the
mines were working in very remote areas, there was often no alternative.
In this form, mine owners were able to profit from the overpriced sale
of goods in the mine on the one hand, and on the other, they had
significantly lower labor costs. In this form, the workers were also
bound to the company because if someone had debts in the factory shop,
they could not change the company. Often, however, employees had to
spend more in the "Pulperia" than they were paid for a month. A few
years later, this "Pulperia system" was further refined: In the
saltpeter mines (Northern Chile), the companies only paid out wages in
some cases in tokens, which were only valid in the company's shop. An
excellent idea shows the remuneration table from the Descubridora de
Chañarcillo mine from 1853 (Lloyd, 1853). Suppose the administrator is
set to 100% when normalizing. In that case, it is easy to see that the
wages were very different: miners have received only 5% of the
administrator's wage in some cases (a comparison today would be about
6000 euros - miner 300 euros). (See Descubridora Mine)
Germany, Europe, and Chile, between 1850 and 1870, were founded
as the first socialist/social democratic parties that responded in a
political way to changing society. Especially the liberal democratic
thinking is gaining in large parts of the population sympathy. In the
working class and the upper strata, a more humanistic, supportive, and
liberal ethic is born.
Table
below:
List of salaries of personnel working at the discovering mine
of Chañarcillo (Lloyd, J. A.). (1853):
Salaries of Chañarcillo Mines (Atacama) - 1853 | ||||
No. | occupation | cost. person en US$ | total en US$ | % del admin. |
1 | administrador | 300 | 300 | 100% |
1 | accountand | 100 | 100 | 33,3% |
36 | mayordomos, watchers | 20 - 50 | 1080 | 10% |
70 | miners | engl. 45-50 | 1450 | 17% |
others: 12-17 |
5% | |||
50 | peons | 15 | 750 | 5% |
60 | labourers | 12 | 700 | 4% |
3 | Blacksmiths | 50 | 150 | 17 % |
2 | carpenters | 50 | 100 | 17% |
7 | servants | 13 | 90 | 4% |
www.geovirtual2.cl |
In conclusion: What has changed in 160 years?
The somewhat embarrassing answer is: NOT MUCH! If we calculate the
salary of a person in a higher position in mining ("administrator"), we
arrive at a salary that is currently the minimum wage in Chile. The
magnitude of the gap between high and low wages in 1851 is almost
reflected today . . . .
Labour law and child labour:
Unfortunately, in almost all historical mines it was common
practice to include children in the hard work process. This is
how Friedrich Engels described the situation in English mines:
"In the coal and iron mines, which are exploited in roughly
the same way, children from 4,5,7 years old work; most of them
are over 8 years old. They are used to transport the broken
material from the quarry site to the horse track or main shaft
and to open and close the tunnel doors that separate the various
departments of the mine when passing workers and material. These
doors are usually supervised by the smallest children, who have
to sit alone for 12 hours a day in the dark in a narrow, usually
humid aisle without having to do as much work as is necessary to
protect them from the dulling and boredom of idleness.
The transport of the coal and the iron stone, on the other hand,
is a very hard work, as this material has to be dragged away
over the bumpy ground of the tunnels in rather large trolleys
without wheels, often over damp clay or through water, often up
steep slopes, and through corridors which are sometimes so
narrow that the workers have to crawl on their hands and feet.
Therefore, older children and adolescent girls are taken for
this strenuous work. Depending on the circumstances, either one
worker gets onto the runner or two younger ones, one pulling and
the other pushing.
Rock extraction, which is done by strong adult or young men aged
16 and older, is also a very strenuous job.
The normal working time is 11 to 12 hours, often longer, in
Scotland up to 14 hours, and very often double time is worked,
so that all workers are 24, not infrequently 36 hours in a row
underground and in activity. Fixed hours for meals are usually
unknown, so people eat when they are hungry and have time.
...
The children and young people who are busy carrying coal and
iron stone generally complain about fatigue. Even in the most
ruthlessly run industrial plants, we do not find such general
and extreme fatigue of the workers. The whole report provides a
number of examples on each page. It happens at any moment that
the children, as soon as they come home, throw themselves on the
stone floor in front of the herd and immediately fall asleep,
that they cannot eat any more food and have to be washed in
their sleep by the parents and brought to bed, yes, that they
are thrown down on the way with fatigue and are searched for
there by their parents deep in the night and found asleep.
Generally, it seems that these children spend most of the Sunday
in bed to recover from the week's exertion; only a few attend
church and school, and teachers complain about drowsiness and
dullness despite all the curiosity to learn. The same thing
happens with older girls and women. They are being overworked in
the most brutal way. This fatigue, which is almost always
increased to a most painful degree, does not miss its effects on
the constitution. The next consequence of such excessive
exertion is that all life force is used up to the one-sided
training of muscles, so that especially the muscles of the arms
and legs, the back, the shoulders and the chest, which are
mainly put into action during towing and pushing, receive an
extraordinarily lavish development, while the rest of the body
suffers from a lack of food and cripples."
From:
Friedrich Engels (1844): Die Lage der arbeitenden Klasse in
England. Nach eigner Anschauung und authentischen Quellen. -
Geschrieben Mitte November 1844 bis Mitte März 1845 in Barmen:
Kapitel - Das Bergwerksproletariat
Mining household: from: "La Vie Souterraine Du Les Mines et les Mineures" (Paris
1867) - Foto grande
Literature and Links
Bibliographical reference
● Lloyd, J.A. (1853): The Mines of
Copiapó. - Journal of Royal Geografical Society of London; vol 23 (1953),
pp.196 - 212; Wiley, London. (Sammlung W. Griem)
● Engels, Friedrich (1844): Die Lage der arbeitenden
Klasse in England. Nach eigner Anschauung und authentischen Quellen. -
Written at Mid-November 1844 until Mid-March 1845 at Barmen.
●
PHILIPPI, RODULFO AMANDO (1860):
Viage al Desierto de Atacama, hecho de orden del gobierno de Chile en el
verano 1853-54.- 236 +6 p. 25 tablas; 7 perfiles Halle Sajonia, Librería
Eduardo Anton.
● SIMONIN, L. (1869): Underground
life, Mines y Miners. - 522 páginas, Translated by H.W. Bristol; London;
Chapman & Hall; 1869. (Sammlung W. Griem)
Fuentes:
Historia del Partido Socialdemócrata en Alemania (en alemán)
http://www.dh-museum.com/lemo/html/kaiserreich/innenpolitik/spd2
Mining Atacama
History of Atacama
History of mining 1830-1920
Intro
epoch 1830-1920
Technical innovations
Scientific innovations
●
Social conscience
Educational impulse
Mine safety
Globalization
Records of the period::
Gilliss: Apires
and barreteros
Work conditions of miners
Los Mineros (Tornero 1872)
Apires y barreteros - Tornero
General Geology:
History of Geosciences
Mining
Historical sketches mining
Chapter "History of
Geology"
Historia de las geociencias
Mining history of Atacama
Mining
from 1830 to 1920
List of minig districts of Atacama
Mining in Atacama
Chañarcillo
Tres Puntas
Carrizal Alto
Cerro Blanco
Lomas Bayas
Cabeza de Vaca
Visitors and
scientists
List of visitors
R.A. Philippi in Atacama
Paul Treutler
in Atacama
Charles Darwin, Atacama (1835)
Ignacio Domeyko y Copiapó
Kunz en Copiapó
Hugo Kunz en Chañarcillo
Gilliss Mineros en Chañarcillo
Additional
information
Timeline Atacama
Mining history of Atacama
The railroad history of Atacama
Cartas y Mapas de Atacama
Cartas históricas de Atacama
Listado de personajes de Atacama
Others
The railroad history of Atacama
History
of Atacama
Mining history of Atacama
Geología Atacama
Climate of the Atacama Region
Virtual viewpoint Atacama
Literature and links:
List of bibliography:
Here
Bibliographical reference
●
SIMONIN, L. (1869): Underground
life, Mines y Miners. - 522 páginas, Translated by H.W. Bristol; London;
Chapman & Hall; 1869. (Collection W. Griem) -
see page with more links
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