2
Wages and Cost of Living Before and During the Revolution
The following tables of wages and costs were compiled, in October, 1917, by a joint Committee from the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and the Moscow section of the Ministry of Labour, and published in Novaya Zhizn, October 26th, 1917:
Wages Per Day—(Rubles and kopeks)
Trade
July 1914
July 1916
August 1917
Carpenter, cabinetmaker
1.60–2.00
4.00–6.00
8.50
Terrassier
1.30–1.50
3.00–3.50
Mason, plasterer
1.70–2.35
4.00–6.00
8.00
Painter, upholsterer
1.80–2.20
3.00–5.50
8.00
Blacksmith
1.00–2.25
4.00–5.00
8.50
Chimney-sweep
1.50–2.00
4.00–5.50
7.50
Locksmith
0.90–2.00
3.50–6.00
9.00
Helper
1.00–1.50
2.50–4.50
8.00
In spite of numerous stories of gigantic advances in wages immediately following the Revolution of March, 1917, these figures, which were published by the Ministry of Labour as characteristic of conditions all over Russia, show that wages did not rise immediately after the Revolution, but little by little. On an average, wages increased slightly more than 500 percent. …
But at the same time the value of the ruble fell to less than one-third its former purchasing power, and the cost of the necessities of life increased enormously.
The following table was compiled by the Municipal Duma of Moscow, where food was cheaper and more plentiful than in Petrograd:
Cost of Food—(Rubles and Kopeks)
August 1914
August 1917
% Increase
Black bread
(Fund)
0.02½
0.12
330
White bread
”
0.05
0.20
300
Beef
”
0.22
1.10
400
Veal
”
0.26
2.15
727
Pork
”
0.23
2.00
770
Veal
”
0.06
0.52
767
Cheese
”
0.40
3.50
754
Butter
”
0.48
3.20
557
Eggs
(Doz.)
0.30
1.60
443
Milk
(Krushka)
0.07
0.40
471
On an average, food increased in price 556 percent, or 51 percent more than wages.
As for the other necessities, the price of these increased tremendously.
The following table was compiled by the Economic section of the Moscow Soviet of Workers’ Deputies, and accepted as correct by the Ministry of Supplies of the Provisional Government.
Cost of Other Necessities—(Rubles and Kopeks)
August 1914
August 1917
% Increase
Calico
(Arshin)
0.11
1.40
1,173
Cotton cloth
”
0.15
2.00
1,233
Dress goods
”
2.00
40.00
1,900
Castor cloth
”
6.00
80.00
1,233
Men’s shoes
(Pair)
12.00
144.00
1,097
Sole leather
20.00
400.00
1,900
Rubbers
(Pair)
2.50
15.00
500
Men’s clothing
(Suit)
40.00
400.00–455.00
900–1,109
Tea
(Fund)
4.50
18.00
300
Matches
(Carton)
0.10
0.50
400
Soap
(Pood)
4.50
40.00
780
Gasoline
(Vedro)
1.70
11.00
547
Candles
(Pood)
8.50
100.00
1,076
Caramel
(Fund)
0.30
4.50
1,400
Firewood
(Load)
10.00
120
1,100
Charcoal
0.80
13.00
1,525
Sundry metalware
1.00
20.00
1,900
On an average, the above categories of necessities increased about 1,109 percent in price, more than twice the increase of salaries. The difference, of course, went into the pockets of speculators and merchants.
In September, 1917, when I arrived in Petrograd, the average daily wage of a skilled industrial worker—for example, a steelworker in the Putilov Factory—was about 8 rubles. At the same time, profits were enormous. … I was told by one of the owners of the Thornton Woollen Mills, an English concern on the outskirts of Petrograd, that while wages had increased about 300 percent in his factory, his profits had gone up 900 percent.