WORK AND WAGES LONDON: PRINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE AND PARLIAMENT STREET WORK AND WAGES PRA C'7CALL Y.ILL US7A4 7'bE D BY THOMAS BRA SSEY, M.P. NEW YORK: D. iA PPLETON AND COMPANY, 54.9 & 5 5 I BROADW AY. 1872. THIS PWORK IS DEDICA TED TO THOMAS HUGHES, Q.C., M.P. AS A MARK OF APPRECIATION OF HIS EMINENT SERVICES IN MEDIATING BETWEEN THE EMPLOYERS AND THE EMPLOYED PRE FAC E. AS I have been in some measure the cause of this work being produced, and have seen it through the press, it may be desirable for me to give some account of its origin and its purpose. While I was writing the Life of the late Mr. Brassey, the Labour question was naturally much in my thoughts; and I could not but observe that, in studying his Life, many facts of high importance in relation to the general state of labour throughout the world came prominently forward. I found that my coadjutor, Mr. Thomas Brassey, was fully aware of the value of Viii PREFA CE. these facts, and had already given great attention to the question of labour in all its various aspects. I asked him, therefore, to give me a paper on the subject, dealing especially with Wages, and taking his illustrations from the facts which were known to us both from the evidence that had been given by many skilled persons in reference to his father's career. This paper I proposed to subjoin to the Life. It was soon found, however, that though the experience which the late Mr. Brassey had gained, as regards the labour question, was perhaps as large and varied as had ever fallen to the lot of -any one man to acquire for himself, it still occupied only one branch of the subject. To treat this subject with the fulness that it inevitably demands, a general survey of the labour employed in all trades and occupations was needed. Mr. Thomas Brassey's unremitting industry, based upon much previous research, has supplied evidence of the most varied and extensive kind; PREFA CE. ix and now, the facts which were originally gained from the study of his father's experience, form but a small part of the work, when compared with those which have been elicited by studying the other branches of industry that have been carefully examined. As regards some special departments of labour, there have been more exhaustive researches; but such a body of evidence, so comprehensive and so various, bearing upon the whole subject of labour generally, and not even favouring any particular section of it, has never, I think, been brought together in the comparatively small compass of a single volume. Mr. Thomas Brassey would not for a moment contend that several of the conclusions he has arrived at, are new to students of Political Economy. The aspects, however, of these conclusions, and the practical effect which should be given to them, vary much according to the circumstances of the times, a fact which the author has not lost sight of. X PRREIEA CE. It is, however, very satisfactory to find that the most recent facts are entirely in accord with some of the chief principles laid down by Adam Smith and the earlier masters of political economy. It has been to me, and I doubt not that it will be to many of the readers of this book, a very pleasing thing to find that the author is able, by an overwhelming mass of evidence, to dispel the fear which has long prevailed of our industrial labours being about to be greatly restricted by foreign competition, based upon the comparative cheapness of wages in foreign countries. Mr. Brassey's remarks in reference to the action of Trades Unions, appear to me, to be at the present moment, of the highest importance, and to indicate thoroughly sound and just views of the duties and responsibilities, both of employers and employed. ARTHUR HELPS. LONDON: June 1872. A.R CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE DEDICATION.... PREFACE.. vii INTRODUCTION....... xiii I. HISTORICAL SKETCH-STRIKES-TRADES UNIONS. I II. DEMAND AND SUPPLY....... 33 III. COST OF LABOUR CANNOT BE DETERMINED BY THE RATE OF WAGES...... 66 IV. THE INDUSTRIAL CAPABILITIES OF DIFFERENT NATIONS COMPARED... I II V. DEAR LABOUR STIMULATES INVENTION... 123 VI. HOURS OF LABOUR....... I43 VII. RISE OF WAGES ABROAD.... 54 VIII. COMPARISON OF THE COMMERCIAL PROGRESS OF NATIONS.66 IX. Is LABOUR BECOMING DEARER?.... I94 X11 CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE K. INFLUENCE OF AMERICAN WAGES ON THE ENGLISH LABOUR MARKET. 200 XI. ALLEGED PHYSICAL DETERIORATION OF THE LABOURER...... 225 XII. FLUCTUATIONS OF WAGES... 235 XIII. CO-OPERATION...... 247 XIV. PIECE WORK...... 261 XV. COURTS OF CONCILIATION.....270 INDEX........ 285 INTRODUCTION. T has been suggested that the publication INTROI DUCTION. of a memoir of my father affords a seasonable opportunity for collating the results of his long and varied experience of the cost of labour, and also of setting forth results of a kindred character. Other men have organized and conducted vast industrial operations; but few have laboured in so many lands, or had the same means of comparing the working men of every nation. The task of writing the following pages has been a serious addition to the engrossing labours of Parliamentary life. But I can truly say that it has been to me a labour of xiv INTROD UCTION. INTRO- love, for which I shall be well rewarded if the DUCTION. facts which are here recorded prove a useful addition to the store of knowledge on this important subject, and valuable to economists, whose study of the science of wages and whose able writings have contributed so much to enlighten even practical men. The altered conditions of modern industry seem likely to lead to new complications in the relations between labour and capital. Close competition with the cheaper labour of other countries makes it necessary for our manufacturers to develop to the utmost the use of machinery, and this can be best effected in large establishments. Class Between the employer and the employed jealousies between there is now a wider interval than before; employers and and with the diminished opportunities of employed. personal intercourse, there is a danger that class prejudices and class jealousies may be embittered. If ignorance be, as undoubtedly it is, the origin of every prejudice, let us rest assured INTRODUCTION. xv that clearer knowledge will bring charity and INTRODUCTION. forbearance, where jealousy and distrust now unhappily divide the master and the man. It was well said by Le Pere Hyacinthe, " Toutes les fois que le voisin commet une faute, accusons-nous nous-memes, nous ne l'avons pas assez edifie." There have been many high examples of generosity and consideration for the working men among the great employers of England. I desire to follow humbly in their footsteps, and I ask that the spirit of impartiality on labour questions which may perhaps be recognised throughout this essay, may be accepted as an earnest of my good intentions. Few persons are more indebted to the labourers and artisans of this country than I am; and I shall ever be found ready to sympathise with their difficulties and to vindicate their rights. While I feel myself impelled, by many and potent influences, to take the employers' view of the labour question, on the other hand I cannot forget xvi INTRODUCTION. INTRO- that the working classes, of whom vast DUCTION. Y ~ numbers for many years rendered honest and faithful services to my father, possess especial claims on my sympathy and gratitude. England's I know that there are some who fear that glory. the day of England's commercial glory is departed. I can see no reason for sharing in those alarms. 0 passi graviora! dabit Deus his quoque finem. I have a high opinion of the industry and common sense of our working people, and I look forward with unshaken confidence to the continued prosperity of my country. WORK AND WAGES PRACTICALLY ILLUSTRATED. CHAPTER I. HISTORICAL SKETCH-STRIKES-TRADES UzVIONVS. THE recognition of the rights of free CHAP. labour came late in the history of the world. Neither the Greeks nor the Romans egfnithe rights of recognised the liberty of labour. labour. From the third to the thirteenth century the Church was the most faithful protector of the labouring man. From the thirteenth to the eighteenth century, as we have been told by M. Michael Chevalier, from whose writings these historical details are borrowed, B 2 WORK AND WAIGES. CHAP. the Parliaments, the Legists, and the Lawyers, ---- did much to secure liberty for the labourer. Turgot on Turgot, the First Minister of Louis XVI., the rights of labour. fully appreciated the rights of free labour. In his Edict of I776 he says:-" Dieu, en donnant a l'homme des besoins, a fait du droit de travailler la propriete de tous les hommes, et cette propriete est la premiere, la plus sacree, et la plus imprescriptible de toutes." This Edict, the first proclamation of the just and equitable principles which are now universally accepted, was cancelled in the darker times, after the fall of Turgot. The right of free labour has, however, at length been fully recognised by a power which far transcends that of Parliaments or Public Kings, I mean the power of public opinion. opinion. Consequently the right of combination, for the purpose of obtaining better terms for labour, has now been conceded to the working men of every country in Europe, which has reached a high degree of civilization. And here I would point out, that the tendency to combination for the purpose of promoting their HISTORICAL SKETCH-STRIKES, ETC. 3 mutual interests is no new thing among the CHAP. I. industrial classes. The Guilds of the Middle Ages were but the forerunners of the Trades Trade Guilds. Unions of to-day, and the "Strikes" of modern times have had their counterpart in the Jacquerie riots of the fourteenth century. When we take into view the great changes Origin of Trades which have been brought about in the indus- Unions. trial organization' of this country during the present century-the substitution of steam for manual power, and of machinery for hand labour, and remember that the resources of machinery can be most fully developed only when applied on a large scale, the reasons why workmen have gathered together in recent times, in numbers so vast, round our great industrial centres, are not far to seek. When operatives have thus been assembled together in great numbers, under the same roof, tending the same machine, and working at the same table, is it not natural-nay reasonable-that they should confer and take action together on all questions of mutual interest? In this most legitimate manner Trades Unions have had their origin. B2 4 WORK AND WA GES. CHAP. I am not insensible to the great errors and I. - follies which have marked the policy and Faults of Trades the conduct bof certain Trades Unions. In reUnions. gard to wages, as distinguished from " benefit objects," their influence has too often been essentially illiberal, anti-social, and calculated to establish, among the industrial classes of this country, that subdivision of caste which has been the great curse of India. There is a general tendency amongst the Trades Unions to ignore the interest of the master, as if his success were not essential to their own prosperity. In his evidence before the Trades Unions Commissioners, Mr. Connolly, of the Masons' Society, made a frank confession that their rules were for the men, not the masters. "They want," he said, "the greatest profit, we the highest wages." Trades I am not afraid of the Trades Unions. Unions cannot On the contrary, I believe that their power, regulate wages. both for good and for evil, has been greatly exaggerated. When the demand for labour is increasing, the employers compete against each other for the supply of labour, and wages will necessarily rise. HISTORICAL SKETCH-STRItKES, ETC. 5 The pretensions of the Trades Unions CHAP. to regulate the rate of wages, irrespectively of the demand for labour, are wholly at Efvidence variance with the most prominent facts. Mault. Mr. Mault, the secretary to the Builders' Association of Birmingham, stated to the Trades Unions Commissioners, that, of the 9oo,ooo men employed in the building trades, not more than go,ooo were members of Trades Unions; and that, although the Trades Unions professed to aim at securing uniformity of wage throughout the country, the wages of masons varied in different parts from 4ad. to 73d. per hour, the wages of Uniform wages. bricklayers from 4-d. to 8d., and those of carpenters from 45d. to 8-1d. These figures conclusively prove the fallacy of the idea that Trades Unions can secure for their clients an uniform rate of wages. Their organization and united action may Trades Unions secure an advance of wages at a somewhat may secure an earlier earlier date; but, eventually the competition advance. among employers would be equally beneficial to the working people. The advantage to the working classes of obtaining an advance 6 WORK ANAD WA GES. CHAP. at an earlier date is not, in my opinion, sufficient to compensate for the expense of perpetually maintaining, by heavy subscriptions, the Trades Union organization, still less to compensate for the loss which is caused by unsuccessful strikes. Strikes I have admitted that Trades Unions may against a falling have the effect of obtaining an advance in market always wages at an earlier date; but the most profail. tracted strikes, in which the working men have been engaged have generally taken place, not for the purpose of securing an advance in wages, but for the purpose of resisting a fall. Resistance to a proposed reduction was the cause of the engineers' strike in 1852; of the strike at Preston in I853; of the strike in the iron trade in I865; and of the strike of the colliers at Wigan in I868. In each of these cases the masters had found it necessary, in consequence of the depressed state of trade, to reduce the rate of wages; but the men, ignoring the circumstances of the trade, and looking only to what they believed to be a degradation of their position as workmen, refused to accept the reduction. HISTORICAL SKETCH-STRIKES, ETC. 7 They therefore went out on strike; but, after CHAP. a protracted struggle, were compelled to accept the original proposal of their employers. It has been a great object with Trades Uniform wages. Unions to establish uniformity of wage, irrespective of the personal abilities of the workman. The effect of this system is obviously unjust to the more skilful and capable artisan, while, at the same time, experience shows that the inferior artisan does not by any means escape the ill effects of such a system. Perhaps in the long run, he it is who suffers most. Mr. Smith, in his evidence before the Trades Unions Commissioners, said, "I have always been against a uniform rate of wage. The moment there is a reduction in the shops or works, all the men who, from age or other causes, cannot do their full share, are discharged, although they might be employed continuously at lower wages." Employers, as a general rule, from motives Employers dislike to of kindness and consideration towards their reduce wages. workmen, are anxious to avoid, if they possibly can, reductions of wages. They rarely 8 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. ask their workpeople to accept a lower rate I. Y — of wages, until the condition of their trade has become so unfavourable, as to make the reduction absolutely necessary. This opinion is confirmed by Mr. John Stuart Mill, who says that " Wages, like other things, are regulated, either by competition or by custom. In this country there are few kinds of labour, of which the remuneration would not be lower than it is, if the employers took the full advantage of competition." The success which marked Mr. Brassey's career has become matter of notoriety; but no employer ever dealt more liberally with labour. The almost invariable result of the commencement of railway operations in any county in England, or in any country abroad, was a rise in the prevalent rate of wages. On one occasion an estimate was' submitted to him for a contract, for which a sharp competition was expected. The prices had accordingly been cut down to an unusually low figure. He thereupon asked "How it was proposed to carry out the work for such inadequate prices?" In reply, it HISTORICAL SKETCH-STRIKES, ETC. 9 was stated that the calculation was based on CHAP. the assumption that a reduction of wages could be negotiated. On receiving this explanation he desisted from all further examination of the estimate, saying, that " If business could only be obtained by screwing down wages, he would rather be without it." A similar feeling I believe to be generally entertained by employers. The power of combination has been proved, Power of the masters by experience of its results, to be at least as intcombimuch for the advantage of the masters as the workmen. The defeat of the shipwrights on the Thames in I852, and more recently the failure of the iron workers' strike in Staffordshire, are conspicuous examples of the power which the masters acquire by combination among themselves. The great evil, however, of Trades Unions, Exaggerated prein their action in regard to the wage question, tensions of certain agiarises from the fact that the leaders of these tators during societies, while they exercise great authority strikes. over the members of the Trades Unions, have no corresponding power of obtaining for their clients what they tell them they IO TWORK AND WA GES. CHAP. ought to have. No virtue is so freely dis"- —' played as the virtue of generosity, when exercised in imagination at the expense of others. Trades Union agitators have too often sought to win the admiration of their auditory by thoughtless declamation against the alleged rapacity of employers, and by loud professions of sympathy with the wrongs of their industrial brethren. Their credulous hearers have been apt to forget that, when the trade in which they are employed is yielding no profit, or is perhaps being carried on at a loss, it is better for the employer to abandon, for the time, a business in which he has hitherto persevered only in the hope of an ultimate revival of trade, rather than consent to give rates of pay which must inevitably involve him in Ignorance disaster. The leaders in several protracted of the trade strikes have exhibited a melancholy ignorshown by leaders of ance of the state of their own trade, and even strikes. of the market value of the goods, in the production of which they are engaged. How much suffering might have been spared to the working classes, if they had but known, before they engaged in a hopeless struggle, HISTORICAL SIKETCH-STRIKES, ETC. I I the true merits of their case! I was once CHAP. I. present at a meeting of employers during a The strike large strike in the coal trade. I had the at Wigan. means of knowing that the wages which had been offered were the highest which the employers could afford to pay, and that the markets were so overstocked that it was a positive advantage to suspend the working of the pits for a time. But the facts which I had the means of knowing were apparently unknown to the miners; and it was indeed lamentable to see the hard-earned accumulations of many years exhausted in an obstinate resistance to a reduction of wage, which had not been proposed by the employers until it had been forced upon them by the unfavourable condition of their trade. The power of oratory over illiterate per- Power of oratory sons is irresistible. Some years ago, when overignorance. the Birkenhead Docks were being constructed, a strike occurred among the labourers, most of whom were Irish, and such violence was displayed that a detachment of the 24th Regiment was sent to Birkenhead, to prevent a breach of the peace. The authors of this I 2 WORK AND WA GES. CHAP. excitement among the workmen were three stump orators, who led out on strike the entire body of workmen employed, not less than 500 in number, not one of whom cared to enquire what justification there was for the demand which he had made upon his employers. Conditions The propriety of asking for an advance, to be considered in and of striking if it is refused, depends striking. entirely upon the state of trade, the amount of business in prospect, and the profits which the employers are enabled to realize, circumstances of which Trades Union agitators are too often wholly ignorant. Modera- But while I have thought it my duty to tion and sagacity of condemn the unreasonable proceedings of the superiorofficers ignorant agitators, on the other hand I rejoice of the stronger in the conviction that some of the most Unions. trusted leaders of the Trades Unions have profited by past experience, and are strongly averse to strikes. Mr. Allen, of the Amalgamated Engineers, stated to the Trades Unions Commissioners, that their Executive Council was always opposed to strikes. He added that their large accumulations, amounting to HISTORICAL SKETCH-STRIKES, ETC. 13 I49,000ooo, only made the members of his CHAP. society so much the more anxious not to waste their money in injudicious contests with their employers. The first duty of the officers of the Trades Trades Unions Unions is, to understand the condition of must watch the their several trades, the demand for work, course of trade. and the prices obtained. If these essential conditions of the wages problem were thoroughly understood by the workmen, many strikes would be prevented which cause inconvenience to employers, and bring consequences far more disastrous upon the workmen themselves. Doubtless the dearness of labour in Eng- We have a more land has stimulated inventive genius and abundant supply of administrative skill; and, in fairness, the con- materials than tinued success of our trade should be attri- manufacturers on buted not only to the energy of the British the Continent; workmen, but to improvement in the pro- butthe cost of cesses of manufacture, the merit of which is labour is greater in really due to the employers of labour. We England. have also had immense advantages in the comparative cheapness of fuel, and the 14 WORK' A.ND WA GEST CHAP. abundant supply of iron and other raw I. - materials of industry in England. Mr. "Here we raise Ioo,ooo,ooo tons of coal per Lothian Bell. year, of which Io,ooo,ooo tons are exported, and 20,000,000 are used in the iron works. In France and Belgium less than one fourth of this quantity is obtained, and that by great exertions. Trades But it is not the less essential to keep a Unions should watchful eye on all that is taking place carefully watch the abroad. The organization of Trades Unions Continental might be utilised for this important purpose. labour market. The resources of a joint purse should afford the means of sending delegates abroad, for whom opportunities ought to be provided of studying foreign languages, and whose duty it should be to keep the artisans of England closely informed of the fluctuations in the activity of trade and the reward of labour in the countries in which they resided. Trades Unions cannot in the long run materially influence the rate of wages, but there are many valuable services which they can render; and none would be more practically useful than the frequent publication of faithful HISTORICAL SKETCH-STRIKES, ETC. 15 reports on the state of the labour market from CHAP. well placed observers on the Continent. English workmen but imperfectly realize the serious odds against which our industrial establishments have to contend, from the difference in the rate of wages in this country and on the Continent. It requires much skill in the employer, much energy in the workmen, to compensate for the difference in wages. Perhaps the most successful engineering Wages at Essen. establishment on the Continent is M. Krupp's at Essen. Between 8,ooo and Io,ooo men are employed. Day workmen and helpers receive only Is. 2-d. to Is. 9Id. a day, while the wages of smiths, puddlers, carpenters, and masons, average 21. 8s. to 6. I 5s. a month. These wages would not satisfy the English artisan; yet they are the highest which are paid in any part of Germany. This low rate of wages is to be explained partly by the cheapness of provisions; and it may here be remarked that the comparative cheapness of provisions in some districts of the Continent goes a long way to compensate our foreign i6 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. competitors for the higher price which they I.2- have to pay for coal and iron. Moreover, the mode of living adopted by the artisans in Germany is more frugal than English habits will permit. A well informed writer in the'Revue des Deux Mondes' states that at Essen,500oo of the workmen live together in a barrack, where they have an eating room in common. In this barrack the workmen can procure food and lodging for the small sum of Iod. a day. The reviewer mentions that the favourite beverage of the workmen at Essen is coffee, and suggests that their preference for a cup,' which cheers but not inebriates,' to intoxicating liquors, is worthy of imitation in other countries. Excessive It is creditable to the leaders of the Trades drinking. Societies that they have strenuously exerted their influence to suppress the vice of drunkenness. In spite of the development of industry in this country, the constantly increasing employment, and gradual increase in the rate of wages, we have to deplore the existence, side by side with this prosperity, of that which we are too apt to think is inevi HISTORICAL SKETCH-STRIKES, ETC. 17 table pauperism. Do not the statistics of CHAP. the consumption of intoxicating liquors, and the expenditure of Ioo,ooo,oool. a year on drink, indicate an excessive indulgence in the use of stimulants? The taste for drinking which unhappily still prevails in this country among a large number of the labouring people has been excused on the ground that hard work renders a considerable consumption of beer almost a necessity. But some of the The most powerful most powerful among the navvies have been navvies teeteetotallers. On the Great Northern Rail- totallers. way there was a celebrated gang of navvies, who did more work in a day than any other gang on the line, and always left off work an hour or an hour and a half earlier than any other men. Every navvy in this powerful gang was a teetotaller. The working classes in the agricultural The French districts in France are, as a rule, much more more provident provident than the same class in England. than the English. When the works were first commenced on the Paris and Rouen Railway, the contractors endeavoured to introduce a system by which the workmen were to be paid once a fortnight, C i8 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. instead of once a week, as had been the I. Y ~ custom in England. But very soon after operations had been begun, the Frenchmen requested that the pay might take place only once a month. Paris and Mr. Reid, managing director of the Paris Rouen Railway. and Rouen Railway, told the House of Commons Committee on Railway Labourers, in I846, that a French labourer is a much more independent person than an Englishman, and much more respectable. He asserted in support of his opinion, this remarkable circumstance, that, whereas the French labourer desired to be paid only once a month, the English navvy desired to be paid on Saturday night-and, by the following Wednesday, he wanted something on account of the week's work. "Nothing could be a greater test," said Mr. Reid, " of the respectability of a working man, than being able to go without his pay for a month." Rise in In consequence of the additional activity prices abroad. of industry abroad, and the equalising effects of Free Trade on prices, enquiries in Spain, France, Belgium, and Prussia, show that HISTORICAL SKETCH-STRIKES, ETC. 19 provisions in those countries are from twenty CHAP. I. to thirty per cent. dearer than twenty years ago. At the present time the prices of rent and clothing are about the same abroad as in England; but fuel is given to our workmen in the iron making districts at half the price charged to the workmen abroad. But, notwithstanding all these advantages, labour is Labour cheaper about thirty per cent. cheaper, measured, abroad. that is to say, by the daily rate of wages on the Continent, than in this country. It is the opinion of Mr. Lothian Bell, one of our highest authorities, that, after all the efforts of our iron masters to contend with the difficulty of high-priced labour by the improvement of machinery, labour costs fifteen per cent. more in England than on the Continent, and this disadvantage in his opinion entirely neutralizes the advantages we derive from our great facilities in the proximity of our iron-mines to our coal-beds. Our workmen are not sufficiently alive to the necessity for the exercise of the utmost efforts of ingenuity, in order to enable capital invested c2 20 WORK AND WAGES5. CHAP. in England to hold its own in the industrial I. Y ~ campaign. Profits. There is a notion that profits are higher in England than elsewhere. The large fortunes occasionally amassed in British industry are quoted in support of this assumption; but the different employments of stock are, as Adam Smith has observed, "more nearly on an equality than the necessary wages of the different sorts of labour. It seldom happens that great fortunes are made by any one regularly established and well-known branch of business, but in consequence of a long life of industry, frugality, and attention." These rare accumulations of wealth are generally the result of exceptional thrift, rather than exceptional gain. The low rate of interest which capital usually commands in England, as compared with foreign countries, is a conclusive proof that the profits of our trade are moderate. In many continental markets we no longer enjoy the advantages which we formerly possessed; and foreign manufacturers, with their cheaper labour and more intimate HISTORICA L SKETCH-STRIKES, ETC. 21 knowledge of the character and requirements CHAP. of the people, are rapidly gaining ground. Mr. Michell, in a letter on the condition of British trade in Russia, observes "that the Continent is getting an increasing proportion of the orders for rolling stock, tools, hardware, and metallic manufactures generally, except perhaps rails. " English iron masters compete with difficulty with the works at Cologne, which supply many of the Russian railways with bridges. In the matter of tires English manufacturers have to a great extent been driven out of the market by Krupp. "Of the large quantity of files now used in Russia, two-thirds come from Germany. Houses there purchase steel at Sheffield, and have it worked up into files in Prussia. English saws, on the contrary, meet with an increasing sale, their price having been reduced by one-half within the last few years. "Zimmerman of Kilmitz supplies the Russian market with an enormous quantity of tools. He boasts of making Whitworth his model, and produces tools almost equally good 22 WORK AND WA GES. CHAP. Imitations of English lathes are made in I. Germany for half the price, and largely imported into Russia. Our trade "Apart from the greater cheapness of with Russia continental hardware, dealers in Russia are affected by appre- frequently prevented from giving orders to hension of strikes. English manufacturers by rumours of strikes. When these are reported, the dealers, not understanding that the disturbances are merely local, get alarmed at the possibility of their orders not being executed in time, and hence they prefer giving their orders in countries less liable to such serious contingencies. " But there are other circumstances which should in fairness be mentioned, and which go far to deprive us of the monopoly of Russian trade which we formerly enjoyed,circumstances altogether distinct from the cost of labour and the rate of wages in England. "First of all, the Continent has the advantage of uninterrupted railway communication with Russia, while our goods have to be chiefly carried by sea during the months of summer. In the case of rolling stock, for instance, HISTORICAL SKETCH-STRIKES, ETC. 23 English houses are obliged to be cautious in CHAP. taking orders for delivery in the autumn of the year. In the second place, the facility of communication with Russia has led to the German manufacturer having greater confidence than his English competitor in Russian customers. He knows the market better, readily takes the bonds of railway companies in payment for rolling stock, is better acquainted with the Russian tariff and Customs regulations, and generally makes it more his study how to push his trade in Russia, offering, as she does, a vast and ever expanding field for his enterprise. In the course of the studies which I have made on the subject of the trade between Great Britain and Russia, I have been very much struck by the want of knowledge that exists in England with respect to the Russian market. Few appear to have cared to enquire seriously whether anything could be done in this country, while their better instructed brethren from Germany and Belgium have been quietly pushing their way. The new tariff and more liberal commercial policy of the Russian Government 24 WORK AND WA GES. CHAP. seem, however, to have aroused the attention of our manufacturers." Admitting that the progress of continental manufacturers in Russia is not wholly due to their advantages in the price of labour, and that new circumstances have arisen, which must in any case have deprived us of a portion of our former trade, the warnings of Mr. Michell equally deserve the attentive consideration of our workmen and their employers. Trades The competition of the continental manuUnions must facturers demands, it is obvious, our close beware. attention. Manufacturers must exercise their best commercial, administrative, and inventive faculties to maintain their position; and the workmen must take care that they do not impede the progress of industry by unreasonable demands, and by attacks upon capital which ample information would have shown to be ill advised. The good I have said much about the harm done by done by Trades the Trades Unions in vain attempts to force Unions. up the rate of wages by regulations which tend to destroy the free liberty of the labourer; HISTORICAL SKETCH-STRIKES, ETC. 25 for though, in raising wages the Trades CHAP. I. Unions can do but little good to the work- ---- men and may do some injury to the masters, in other respects, and especially as benefit societies, the Trades Unions have effected, and are capable of doing, great good to the working people. They encourage a spirit of self-help, and, in point of fact, devote by far the greater portion of their funds to " benefit objects." For example, the Engineers' Society, out of a total income of 49,ooo0., spends but 724/. a-year in contributing to the support of the members of the Unions who are out on strike. We shall do well to encourage every effort which our working people are making, to ensure themselves against the risk of scanty employment and the degradation of pauperism. We cannot but honour and admire the sentiments of fraternal sympathy, which prompt: men to promote each other's advancement in life by that mutual aid and support which these societies are intended to afford. It may be apprehended that the existence of 26 WORK AND rA GES. CHAP. an organization framed for the purpose of carrying on a strike, may, like the maintenance of large standing armies, be a provocation of war; but if a strike should unforDiscipline tunately occur, under the control of a Trades under Trades Union, the conduct of the workmen will proUnions. bably be as much superior to that of the rioters in the manufacturing districts in the early part of the present century, as the discipline of a standing army is superior to that of a guerilla band. To treat the workman who strikes for higher wages as if he were on all occasions the unprovoked assailant of his master, is unjust. In most cases the presumption is, that the workmen believe that they have a right to claim a concession for which they haveit may be vainly-applied. If they were not convinced of the justice of their claim, and of the ability of their masters to make the concession, the workmen would scarcely be prepared to make the terrible sacrifice which they endure in a long continued strike. The I"Re- During the period of distress in the Isle of,iers." Dogs which followed the last commercial HISTORICAL SKETCH-STRIKES, ETC. 27 panic, the decay of shipbuilding attracted the CHAP. attention, not only of the employers, but of other enquirers into the circumstances to which it was attributable. Some employers said that it was chiefly the result of the excessive price of labour. A large number of the workmen, however, alleged that free trade was the cause, and the walls of the deserted workshops were freely placarded with such documents as the following:"To the Working Men and Women of The "Revivers' " England. The' Revivers" Association will address. hold their eighth public meeting at the Red Church school room, Bethnal Green Road, on Monday, June 7, I869, to which those are invited who will conform to the rules of the Association. There will be a few reserved seats for those who feel inclined to pay 6d. each to help to pay the expenses. The Chairman of the Association will preside. "We place before you a few plain questions: " Are your wages to be gradually reduced 28 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. " Are you to be out of work, and go into I. - ~ - the workhouse or stone yard? viverse- " Are your wives and families to starve? address. address. " Because of the introduction of the products of foreign labour into this country in the shape of foreign manufactures of every kind, and this without reciprocity. " Believe us, friends, this is the true cause of our 4ifficulties and distress, and we warn you that we have not yet seen the bitter end. Let us forget general politics, and look at our material interests-our business, our trade, our iffe. " Ask your brother workmen all over England-more especially those at Millwall and every ship-building port, at Macclesfield, Coventry, and Spitalfields; at Leek, Preston, Manchester, and Derby; at Nottingham, Congleton, and Sanbach; at Leighton Buzzard, Luton, Newport Pagnell, and Tring; at Exeter and Crediton; in fact, ask all, yourselves included, and you will find that, with a few exceptions, none are now getting a proper living, and we tell you your prospects are gloomy, if you do not put your HISTORICAL SKETCH-STRIKES, ETC. 29 shoulders to the task and demand protection CHAP. for British labour. The "Re"Remember that the ruin of Ship-building viver's" address. involves about thirty, and that of Watchmaking about sixty other trades, and that all are gradually passing away from us. The Iron Trade and Engineering are losing ground. English carpenters' work is superseded by foreign doors, windows, &c., the Lathrenders are done, the Silk and Ribbon Trades are almost gone. Foreign agricultural implements, furniture, and artificial flowers, baby linen, baskets, beads, and beds, Berlin work, hardware, blankets, bonnets, boots, braid, brushes, and buttons, candles, canes, cannon, caps, cardboard, and carpets, china, clocks, cloth, crape, and cutlery, damask, de Laine, electrotype-paper and pencils, fancy goods, fringe, lace, gilded goods, gloves, gold and silver articles, hosiery, leather, linen, looking glasses, lucifers, shoes, silk manufactures, soap, stationery, stays, steam engines, and steel pens. In fact, nearly everything, small or great, is now done by foreigners. What have you left to 30 WORK AND WA GES. CHAP. make? Could you not make all those articles here? And if you did so, would any of The "Revivers' " you be out of employment? No! This, then, is the cause of your distress! And remember that these classes being out of employment destroy the necessity for other labourers. But if all were in full working order, labourers would be fully employed, and every shopkeeper would at once feel the benefit of the expenditures of all these classes; and in fact would be daily extending their business, which is now slack, because no one has any money to lay out simply because they receive no wages. Some of you may be enabled to say that the particular trade in which you are engaged has not yet been interfered with by foreigners, but let them but know it, and you will soon share the same fate. " The rules of the association are that neither general politics or religion may be discussed. We have had plenty of that lately. Let us like men of sense deal with this vital question fairly and justly. " Doors open at half-past seven o'clock. HIS'TORICAL SKETCH-STRIKES, ETC. 3 1 Chair to be taken at half-past eight precisely. CHAP. I. "Free trade a gigantic mistake. A pamphlet - The "Reone shilling." vivers' " address. WA7e objected very lately to the dictation and bad political economy by Trades Unions, but the remedy proposed by the " Revivers' Association" would be still more fatal to the industry of the country. The "Revivers" were wrong in their assumption that the shipbuilding business, which had been once conducted with such activity in the Isle of Dogs, had been transferred to foreign ports. Owing to the general depression of commerce, it was languishing everywhere. The shipbuilders of France were not less clamorous for protection than their unfortunate rivals on the banks of the Thames. The " Revivers " desired to secure to the British workmen a monopoly at home. They forgot that if they succeeded in excluding foreign productions, the price of every article of consumption, which had been partly supplied from abroad, must be augmented, and that the increased cost of living would more than neutralize the advantage of 32 WORK AND WA GES. CHAP. protection against foreign competition. I. They forgot that the monopoly of the home vieersRe'" market, a limited outlet after all, in comaddress. parison with the wide arena of external commerce, would be much too dearly bought if obtained, as it must inevitably have been, at the sacrifice of our export trade. [ 33 ] CHAPTER II. DEfMfAND AND SUPPLY. WHETHER we call the regulating power the CHAP. II. relation between supply and demand, or, with Mr. Thornton, say, that the power of labour Waged is absolutely under the sway of competition, 4by demand ifor labour the power of controlling the rate of wages supply. lies equally far beyond the scope of Trades Union organization. An increase of wages can only take place when trade is prosperous, and when the supply of labour is not sufficient to meet the increasing demand. "When," says Adam Smith, "in any country the demand for those who live by wages is continually increasing, the workmen have no occasion to combine to raise their wages. The demand increases necessarily with the increase of the revenue and stock of every 1) 34 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. country, and cannot possibly increase without II. it.".... "It is in the progressive state, while a Society is advancing to further acquisition, rather than when it has acquired its full complement of riches, that the condition of the labouring poor, and of the great body of the people, is the happiest and most comfortable. It is healthy in a stationary, and miserable in a declining state. The progressive state is, in reality, the cheerful and the hearty state in all the different orders of society. The stationary is dull, the declining melancholy." These axioms of the great economist are abundantly verified by the practical experience Examples Of Railway Contractors. Many interesting on railways. examples of the effect of unusual pressure upon the labour resources of a sparse and scattered population, or of a rapidly increased demand, even in the most populous districts, have presented themselves in the course of Mr. Brassey's extensive experience. The advance of wages which has occurred in such cases from the natural operation of the laws of supply and demand, would satisfy the DEMAND A)ND SUPPLY.: 35 most golden conceptions of the working CHAP. man. When the Grand Trunk Railway was Wageson the being constructed in Canada, Mr. Brassey Grand Trunk sent out, at his own expense, a great number Railway. of operatives from this country. Men were engaged in Lancashire and Cheshire; and, on landing in Canada, received forty per cent. more for doing the same work than they had been previously earning in England. The cost of the works was about thirty per cent. dearer. The wages of labourers were 3s. 6d. a day at the commencement of the works, and rose to 6s. a day ere they were completed. Masons, whose wages when in England were 5s. a day, and who were taken out to Canada at the expense of the contractors, earned 7s. 6d. a day in the colony; although the cost of living was not greater in Canada than in England; but the supply of their labour in England was abundant, while in Canada skilled artisans were comparatively rare. For the construction of a railway in New New South South Wales, two thousand men were sent Wales. out from England, at the joint expense of the D2 36 WORK AND WA GES. CHAP. contractors and the Government. The cost II. of living for a single navvy was Ios. a week; as compared with eight shillings a week in England. But notwithstanding that the difference in the cost of living was so small, and that the whole expense of their voyage had been defrayed by their employers, yet, in consequence of the scarcity of labour in the colony, navvies, who in England had been paid from 3s. 3d. to 3s. 6d. per day, received from 7s. 6d. to 8s.; and the wages of skilled hands were increased in proportion. The daily wages of masons ranged from I Is. to I3s.;'bricklayers, IIs. to I2S.; brickmakers, 8s. to Ios.; and carpenters, Ios. to I 2S. Such an advance in the rate of pay of the same men can only be explained by the altered relations between the supply of labour and the demand in the colony, as contrasted with the mother country. Bilbao In Spain, a few years ago, in the construction and Tudela of the railway from Bilbao to Tudela, the Railway. wages earned by labourers, which, at the commencement of the contract, were one shilling a day, rose, before the works were DEMAND AND SUPPLY. 37 completed, to three shillings a day. On the CHAP. II. same contract, the wages of the masons increased, in the corresponding period, from one shilling and fourpence to five shillings a day. The fall in wages, which follows a commer- Effect of cial panic, when production is diminished panics. and employment is scarce, proves how closely the rate of wages depends upon alterations in the relation between supply and demand. When the panic took place in the railway world in I847-8, even the common labourers, employed on the Eastern Union Railway accepted lower wages. In I849, on the Royston and Hitchin Royston Railway, labour was cheaper than it has ever Hitchin Railway. been since. The reduction was a direct consequence of the depression, caused by the collapse of railway enterprise in I847-8. Men who, on the North Staffordshire line, shortly before the panic, had been paid 3s. 6d. a day only earned half-a-crown on the Royston and Hitchin line. A member of my father's staff informs Cheshire Junction me that at the same period and from the same line. 38 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. cause, the wages of the navvies, which in II. the inflation of the railway mania in I846 had been advanced in some cases to 6s. a day, in the collapse following on the panic were so much reduced that on the Cheshire Junction line, the cost of the work was in consequence diminished by not less than fifteen per cent. Mr. The following statement gives the weekly Mackay's Compara- wages earned by men employed on railway tive Table of Wages works from 1 843 to I869. The notes furnish on English Railways, a comparative statement of the cost of work 1843 to i869. represented by the different rates of wages, and contain a short explanation of the extent of the demand for labour at the different periods included in the Return:PERIODS. i843 1846 I8491851 I855 1857 i86o 1863 i866 I869 Masons... 21/ 331 24/ 211 25/6 241 22/6 24/ 27/ 27/ Bricklayers.. 21/ 30/ 24/ 21/ 25/6 2216 22/6 24/ 27/ 25/6 Carpenters and Blacksmiths 21/ 301 22/6 21/ 24/ 22/6 22/6 241 25/6 24/ Navvies, Getters (Pickmen) I6/6 241 i8/ 151 19/ 18/ 17/ I91 20/ I8/ Fitters (Shovellers) 15/ 22/6 I6/6 I4/'71 17/1 I6/ 17/ i8/ 17/ Cost of labour only, per cube yard:-. Of Brickwork.. 2/3 3/9 2/9 2/3 2/6 2!6 2/4 2/6 2/9 2/6 Of Earthwork.. 1/4 /7 5 /4 15i /54 /5 51/ /53 /5I DEMAND AND SUPPLY. 39 "Gloucester and Bristol Railway, period of CHAP. II. general depression, provisions for men and Mr. horses very cheap. Men plentiful, excellent Mackay's evidence workmen. Clay cuttings, on the Gloucester on wages paid on to Stonehouse line, taken out at 6d. a yard, English railways. inclusive of horse labour." 1843. "Lancaster and Carlisle, Caledonian, Trent I846. Valley, North Staffordshire, Eastern Union Railways in construction. Height of the railway mania. Demand for labour excessive, very much in excess of supply. Beer given to men as well as wages. Look-outs placed on the roads to intercept men tramping, and take them to the nearest beershop to be treated and induced to start work. Very much less work done in the same time by the same power. Work going on night and day, even the same men working continuously for several days and nights. Instances recorded of men being paid for forty-seven days in one lunar month. Provisions dear. Excessively high wages, excessive work, excessive drinking, indifferent lodgings caused great demoralisation, and gave the death-blow to 40 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. the good old navvy already on the decline. II. --- He died out a few years after this period.'' Mackay'sr. "Great Northern, Oxford, Worcester and Mackay's evdenges Wolverhampton, Oxford and Birmingham, paid on English Chester and Holyhead Railways, in construcrailways. tion. Great reduction in wages caused by I849. the financial embarrassments in October 1847, and political turmoils and revolutions in 1848 on the Continent and at home. General distrust, aggravated by the unsettled state of affairs abroad. Works stopped in I847, partially resumed in 1848. The I846 contracts not yet completed. In 1849 work comparatively plentiful. Provisions moderate in price." i85I. " Shrewsbury and Hereford, North Devon, in construction. Contracts taken in I846 now all completed. Great depression in the labour market. But little work going on. Political affairs on the Continent unsettled. Provisions very cheap." I855. " Leicester and Hitchin, Leominster and Kingston Railways in construction. Work I Other experienced contractors do not admit that good navvies can no longer be obtained. DEMAND AND SUPPL Y.' 41 still very slack during this period. Best men CHAP. II. gone to France, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Mr. and Italy to Mr. Brassey's works. Crimean Mackay's evidence War, militia all called under arms. These on wages paid on circumstances tended to raise wages. Pro- English railways,. visions dear, horse provender excessively high, costing 5s. a day each horse." "Shrewsbury and Crewe, Leominster and x857. Kingston Railways in construction. Work still very slack; the effects of the Crimean War had not wholly passed away." "Knighton and Craven arms, Woofferton x86o. and Tenbury, widening of Shrewsbury and Hereford, Severn Valley Railway works in construction. Men plentiful, provisions cheap." "Tenbury and Bewdley, South Stafford- 1863. shire, Ludlow and Clee Hill, Wenlock, Nantwich and Drayton, widening of Shrewsbury and Hereford, Worm Valley drainage, Letton Valley drainage in construction. Men plentiful, provisions rather dear." "Wellington and Drayton, widening of I866. Nantwich and Drayton, Hereford Loop, 42 WCORK AND WAGES. CHAP. Hooton and Parkgate, Wenlock and Craven II. arms, Ebbw Vale in construction." Mr. Mackay's "Silverdale and Drayton, Sirhowy, widenevidence on wages ing of Abergavenny, and Merthyr Railways, paid on English and London drainage works in construction. railways. railways. Provisions rather dear." 1869. The explanatory memorandum does not exhaust the list of Mr. Brassey's contracts in progress at the several dates mentioned. Those contracts only are included which happened to be in the recollection of the writer, whose immediate field of observation was necessarily limited to a few contracts in the Midland Counties. It will be observed that the fluctuations in the rate of wages exhibited in the return take place in exact conformity with the law of wages as stated by Mr. Ricardo when he says: "The market price of labour is the price which is really paid for it, from the natural operations of supply and demand. Labour is dear when it is scarce, and cheap when it is plentiful." Effect of The unusual pressure on the labour market, the during the continuance of the Crimean War, DEMAND AND SUPPLY. 43 produced a marked effect on the rate of CHTAP. wages in every trade, both in England and Crimean on the Continent. In the construction of the War on Bellegarde Tunnel, two and a half miles in wages. length, on the Lyons and Geneva Railway, the wages of the Piedmontese quarrymen rose from 2- to 3, 3-, and 4 francs a day; and the Englishmen, who were employed in the tunnel, working in shifts of from six to ten hours each, were paid at the rate of from 8 to Io francs a day. Their wages were raised, partly on account of the difficult nature of the works, some idea of which may be formed, when it is mentioned that the shafts were from 600 to 700 feet deep; but the general rise of wages consequent upon the Crimean War had a still greater influence in determining their pay. At Woodford, in Essex, the wages of navvies rose to 6s. a day, at about the same period and from the same cause. Our operatives have but a faint conception Rise of of the rise of wages which has taken place Europe from'abroad in countries where Trades Unions increased activity did not exist, and where the improvement in of trade. 44 O70RK AND WAGES. CHAP. the workman's condition was attributable II. solely to the increased demand for labour. From the tables given in the report prepared by Mr. Phipps, on the Industrial Classes in Wurtemberg, it appears that the average increase in the rate of wages, in eight branches of manufactures and industry, during the last thirty years, amounted to between sixty and seventy per cent. In the building trades the rise of eighty to ninety per cent. is to be explained solely by the unusual activity in the trades. As a general average sixty-nine per cent. may be taken as the increase in the daily wages for the out-door labourers. In their class the increased demand for labour is peculiarly noticeable. In In Hungary, before I865, the wages of Hungary. common labourers were Is. 3d. a day. In Moldavia the same rates of wages were paid on the railways, although agricultural labourers were earning only 6 d. a day in money, together with an equivalent of 31d. in food. InSaxony. In I87I, in Saxony and Bohemia, in consequence of the great and increasing demand for labour, both on the railways, and from the DEMAND AND S UPPLrY. 45 general revival of industry after the cessation CHAP. II. of hostilities with Prussia, the daily wages of 7 labourers rose to 2s. and 2s. 6d. On the Suczawa Line, the wages of In Moldavia. labourers, at the commencement of the works, varied from 45 to 60 kreutzers, or 9d. to Is. a day; but, owing to the demand for men on the Moldavian lines, the wages rose within a year to from 60 to 80 kreutzers, or I s. to Is. 4d. a day. A work by Herr Jacobi, quoted by Mr. Riseo n Petre, describes the remarkable advance in Silesia. the rate of wages in Lower Silesia. The rates have doubled generally within the memory of the older workmen; and, in particular cases, the recent rise has been sudden and great. At Loben, in Silesia, it is said that the erection of a factory in an agricultural district caused a rise in labourers' wages, which were only 6d. a day for men, and 3d. for women-to the extent of Ioo per cent. for the latter, and 50 per cent. for the former: a most remarkable illustration of the effect of the altered relation between the demand for labour and the supply. 46 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. The advance in wages in the building II. Y - trades in London has been considerable; but Rise of builders' it has been the necessary result of the altered wages in London relation between the supply of workmen and from increased the demand for labour. demand. The Metropolitan Railways, the growth of Kensington, Bayswater, and other suburbs, are visible evidences of the pressure of the demand of the builders of London upon the supply of labour in the trades which they employ. Abundant evidence in support of this explanation of the cause of the rise of wages in all branches of trade is supplied by employers by no means friendly to the Trades Unions. AMr. Mr. Trollope, for example, made the'lrollope's evidence. following admission in his evidence before the Commissioners: "I am bound to say that hitherto there has been such an enormous pressure for work, that almost every man who can handle a tool has been taken on at an unreasonable rate." Mr. Again, speaking of the advance in wages Mackay's evidence, in the building trades in the provinces, Mr. DEMAND AND SUPPLY. 47 Mackay, a member of my father's staff, CHAP. II. observes in a Report he has made to me on the subject: " Wages have risen, during the last twenty years, from twenty to twenty-five per cent.; but by the force of circumstances they would have risen as much or more if Trades Unions had never existed." To the same effect Mr. Robinson, the Same cause proManaging Director of the Atlas Works, duces same effect Manchester, said in his evidence before the in cases of boiler Trades Unions Commissioners: "I do not makers. think the Unions have altered the rate of wages; the changes are rather due to the demand for labour in particular branches. Between I85I and i86I no advance took place in the wages of the engineers, though theirs is the most powerful of the Trades Societies; but, in the case of the Boiler Makers, wages rose from 26s. to 32s. 6d., in consequence of the extension of iron shipbuilding, and the great amount of iron-bridge work." The rate of wages cannot long continue so Limits within high as to deprive capital of its fair return. which fluct uations For if it did, capital would seek some other take place. 48 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. investment of a more satisfactory nature. II. Neither can the rate of wages long continue below the amount necessary to maintain the labourer and his family. The fluctuations in the rate of wages between the two limits, depend entirely upon the varying demand for labour. Recent We see this principle of political economy fluctuations fully illustrated at the present time. Why and advance are the columns of our newspapers filled with caused by altered accounts of strikes and trade disputes? conditions of Trade. Why are the working men in every branch of manufacturing industry making ever new demands for an increase of wages, or a reduction of hours-which is only an increase of wages in another form? It is because labour has become comparatively scarce. On the Kensington and Richmond line, shortly before the last panic, the men had become almost unmanageable; but immediately after the failure of Messrs. Overend and Gurney, their tone was changed and their demands were much more reasonable. The recent increase in the demand for labour has produced a marked effect upon DEMAND AND SUPPLY. 49 the rate of wages on the Wolverhampton CHAP IL and Walsall Railway. Three years ago the navvies were paid at the rate of 2s. 9d'. a day. Their wages are now from 3s. 6d. to 3s. 9gd. a day; and no more work is done for the money. Excavation is being made at a cost of 7d. a yard, which was thought to be dear work when the cost was about 4(d. a yard. The explanation of the present high rate of wages, is to be found in the fact that the railway in question is in the centre of the colliery districts, where the demand for labour in the collieries has caused a corresponding rise of wages for the workmen on the railway. Drivers, engaged at regular standing wages at the rate of a guinea a week on the Wolverhampton and Walsall Railway, are being attracted into the collieries by an advance of wages to the rate of 4s. 6d. a day. The same causes are producing the same effects on the Continent as in England. In Brussels such is the demand for labour for excavation, that the men employed as navvies are actually receiving higher wages than skilled masons. The wages of the navvy in Brussels are 60 E 50 WORK AND WtA GES. CHAP. centimes an hour, whereas the masons are' receiving only 50 centimes. The industrial history of past years, so admirably reviewed in the columns of the'Economist,' furnishes a striking illustration of the rise of wages consequent upon the activity of trade. In I87I wages rose in the iron, engineering, coal, and hardware trades from fifteen to twenty per cent. In the Cleveland iron trade the rise was even greater. The wages of labourers advanced from 3s. to 4s. a day; puddlers from 40S. per week to 55s.; and from 5s. 3d. to 7s. per score of 7 - tons. Agricul- In Lancashire and Yorkshire labour is so tural labour in scarce that lads are now being imported from demand in the country into the cotton trade. Their Lancashire factories. wages commence at from I 5s. to I 6s. per week. The exports from the United Kingdom last year reached the value of 319,ooo,0ooo., and the greatest increase took place in those trades in which the wages had advanced the most. Our exports of iron and steel have actually doubled within the last seven years.. If, therefore, the wages of puddlers and DEMAND AND SUPPLY. 5 I colliers have gone up, the advance was fully CHAP. explained upon the strict principles of political economy. The activity of the Welsh iron manufacture at the present time is unprecedented. The rise in wages in the iron manufacture in the north of England, during the past year, has already been given. The following statement, which has been kindly prepared for me by the proprietors of large iron works in South Wales, shows the comparative earnings of the workmen in their employ, in the years 1842, 85 I, and 1869 (see next page):When capital is enjoying so much prosperity, who shall grudge to labour a liberal participation in the profits of business? I have no sympathy with the aggressive and restrictive spirit of Trades Unionism; but surely every fair and generous mind must rejoice that the condition of the labourer is improved. Owing to the limited supply of skilled High wages in labour, the wages of artisans in all newly Colonies due to insettled countries are high as compared with sufficient supply of the rate prevailing in England. A fitter, skilled E2 52 WORK A1VD WAGES. Comparative Earnings of Workpeoile employed in Iron Manufaczlure. I842. i851. I869. Occupation. Price per ton. Price per ton. Price per ton. per week. per week, per week. Miners.. Io/ to I6/ _ II/ to i6/ - 2/ to 8/ Colliers.. 41 to I6/ - I5/ to i8/ i6/ to 20/ Furnaces:Founders. /4 71/ to 18/ /3 25/ to 29/ /I-1 27/ to 30/ Fillers I7/ to I8/,, 25/ to 29/ [ 27/ to 30/ Cinder fillers /3A I5/ to I6/ /i 21/ to 24/ I/I1o 20/ to 226 Labourers io. O/6 - io/6 - iI/6 to 2/62 Forge:o Pig-iron, nil Share. Pig-iron,4/Io) Share. 4/II and 5/Ir Share. Puddl ers Metal, 5/6 I6 / to I6/6 Metal, nil [ I6/ to I8/ 4/ f ISto 24/ Ist hand 2/ to 22/ ist hand 22/ to 25/ I st hand 28/ to 32/ Labourers. Iio/6 I - Io/6 to 13/ Girls nil. 4/9 - 5/6 to 6/6 Mills:- Bar-iron Rails. Rails. First heater, First heater, I/IH2a/eto227 / io 225/ to 2 8/6' Heaters /5 24/to Second 35/ to 37/ Second 35/ to 40/ heater,/6 J heater, /5s Roller, 5o/j Rollers, &c. I/81 contract - /I0o /7i Rougher, 4o/ ea. Labourers 0/6 0/6 1/ to I2/6 Girls... 4/9 4/9 5/6 to 8/ Carpenters.. - I2/6 - I/ to I4/ _. I3/ to I6/6 Pattern Makers - I3/ to 24/ - I3/ I3/6 to I9/ Fitters... - 12/ to 14/ - 12/ to 14/ I3/ to I9/ Blacksmiths. - 12/ to I5/6 - Contract I4/ to 22/6 Masons... - 2/ to I5/ - I5/ 14/ to 20/ CHAP. whose wages in England would be 30s. a week, II. commands a salary of 2007. a year at Rosario Argentine Republic. in the Argentine Republic. The engineers of the steamers on the River Plate, all of whom are Englishmen, are paid at the rate of from I 6. to 20/. a month, or more than double the rate at which they would be paid in England. DEMAND AND SUPPL Y. 53 Nor is this difference in the rate of wages CHAP. II. confined to skilled artisans; even the least skilled description of labour is highly paid in countries in which the supply of labour falls short of the demand. In the Argentine Republic the wages of a farm labourer range from 6s. 8d. to 8s. 3d. a day. So in other parts of the world. One of the So in halfcivilized last investigations made on my father's behalf countries. Persia. was connected with a project for a complete system of railways in Persia. If the scheme had been carried out, it was assumed that the pay of engine-drivers, fitters, and stationmasters, would be 250/. a year, and of foremen platelayers I201. a year. In Syria the rates of wages are higher Syria. than might have been expected —not indeed because capital is abundant, but because the supply of labour is limited. In Alexandretta the daily wages of common labourers are Is. 4d.; masons and carpenters are paid from 2s. 7d. to 3s. 7d. a day. In Aleppo the daily wages of masons are 2s. 3d. to 2S. 9d.; carpenters, 2S. 2d. to 2s. 7d.; masons' labourers, Is. Iod., and masons' boys, Is. 3d. 54 WORK AND WA GES. CHAP. When labour is scarce in a colony in which II.'t - the climate is unfavourable to the developInColonies where ment of the physical powers of European climate is unfavour- workmen, and where the cost of living is able. high, there seems scarcely any limit to the rates of wages. I will take, as an example, the earnings of the operatives in Lima, where in I869 machinists received Ios. 6d. to I8s. per day; boiler makers and smiths, I2S. to I8s. a day; plumbers, Ios. 6d. to I5s.; common labourers, 3s. g9d. to 6s. With regard to the cost of living, single men can board at Lima for from 2S. 3d. to 3s. a day, and the rent of houses, containing two or three rooms and a kitchen, varies from 2/. 5s. to 3/. I 5s. a month. The figures quoted from the Report of the English Consul show what high wages are offered in Peru to European artisans. The navvy appears to be in still greater demand. A certain number of navvies have been sent over from England lately to act as foremen upon the works of the Callao Docks now in progress. Their wages have been fixed at 8s. a day; but Mr. Meigs, an American DEcMAND AND SUPPLY. 55 contractor for some Peruvian railways, in- CIHAP. duced the men to leave the Docks, and enter' into his employment on the railway by offering them the apparently preposterous sum of 22S. 6d. a day. The men could not resist so great a temptation. From causes, however, which have not yet been explained, the occurrence having only recently taken place, they remained but a short time on the railway, and returned to the less lucrative employment on the docks much disgusted with their experience of railway employment in Peru. In the United States the wages of skilled High wages in workmen average from 9s. to I5s. a day, and United States and those of unskilled workmen from 2s. 6d. to from scarcity of 7s. 6d. It cannot be supposed that so great skilled 7S. 6d. labour a difference between the reward of labour on especially in Western the opposite shores of the Atlantic is due to States. the superior organization of Trades Unions in the United States. In New England there are powerful combinations among the artisans, but none among the agricultural labourers, yet, as compared with the same class in England, the condition of the com 56 WORK AND WAGES. CHIIAP. mon labourer is, of all others, the most improved by emigration to America. And let it be observed that, as agriculture is the most flourishing, so it is the most important of all the industries of the United States. The value of the total annual production of the leading industries has been estimated by Mr. Wells at I,365,ooo,ooo/. To this total, agriculture contributes 685,590o,ooo. The demand for labour to bring under cultivation the vast tracts of land still unoccupied is such that it has never yet been satisfied. Hence a rise of wages in strict conformity with an economical law. Wages at In the recent report of Mr. Hemans, the Buffalo. British Consul at Buffalo, the wages of the working classes in that city are given as follows:" Per day, skilled artisans, I6s. to 24s.; carpenters, 6s. to I4.; masons, Ios. to i 6s.; unskilled labourers, 4s. to 6s.; and dock labourers, I 2s. to I6s." Wages in The wages in California are higher than in California. any other State of the Union; because the expense of a journey to the remotest limits of the Western Continent has hitherto prevented DEMAND AND SUPPLY. 57 a supply of labour from keeping pace with CHAP. II. the demand. " Under these circumstances, --- the condition of the artisans and the industrial classes," says Consul Broke, "has been one of unparalleled prosperity. The following table gives the rates of wages in the building trades at San Francisco: Bricklayers, 2os. per day of 8 hours; plasterers, I6s. per day of 8 hours; stonemasons, I8s. to 20S. per day of 8 hours; hod-carriers, I 5s. a day of 8 hours." The completion of the Pacific Railway has not yet affected the labour market in California; but it is certain that it must tend in the long run to equalise the value of labour in the Western and the Eastern States. Since I853 we have subscribed no less Rise of wages in than 40,000,000/. for India Railways. A India. considerable portion of this sum has been paid to native labourers, and the result has been that in the districts traversed by these railways, wages have advanced within a short time no less than Ioo per cent. In consequence of the great demand for work 58 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. men, the price of labour has increased to an II. extent still more marvellous in Bombay. Wages in that Presidency are now two or three times higher than in Bengal and the Punjaub. Sir Bartere In a paper furnished to the Select Comevidence. mittee on East India Finance by Sir Bartle Frere, some remarkable examples are given of a rise in wages in consequence of the increased competition for labour for railways and other great public works. The following table shows the variations in the average monthly wages of a carpenter in Bombay:-. 1830-39 I840-49 I850-59 I863 s. d. s. d. s. d. s. 30 4 28 I0 32 7- 58 The following table shows the wages of a coolie at the same periods:I830-39 I840-49 I850-59 I863 s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d. 14 93 12 3} 14 2 27 0 Effect of Everywhere in the vicinity of railway railway works the collectors remark on their great DEMA ND AND SUPPLY. 59 effect in raising wages. The practice of CHAP. II. promptly paying for all labour in liberal works in money wages caused an important social India. revolution in the habits of all who live by labour, even at a great distance from the railway works. The labourers often travelled from their homes 2Co miles to obtain work so paid, returning home at the harvesttime. The people of the Abruzzi came up in thousands to work for six months in the winter season, on the Maremma Railway, and returned home in a precisely similar manner for the harvest. It is interesting to observe how similar was the influence of the same circumstances on two nations geographically remote, but not very far removed from each other in the scale of civilization. The increase in wages in Bombay had increased the number of consumers of superior qualities of grain and meat. The increased consumption had raised the cost of living. The advance in the cost of living had had the effect of raising the rate of wages: for with their former earnings the 60o WORK ANAD WAGES. CHAP. people could no longer have provided them II. selves with the necessaries of life. Moreover, the increased external trade of Bombay, the influx of money for the purchase of commodities and the consequent depreciation in the purchasing power of bullion, and the increased demand for labour, had by their combined influence produced an astonishing advance of wages in Bombay, as compared with Bengal. Wages in The following table shows the difference Bengaland between the rates in Bengal and Bombay: Bombay. In Bengal per month. in Bombay per month. Rupees. Rupees. Carpenters. 9.... 25 Masons.. 5... 2i Labouring Coolies 6.... Horse-keepers. 5.... It is impossible to produce a more striking example of the effect of an increased cost of living, and an increased demand for labour in raising the rate of wages. In a country in which the erroneous policy of protection is still adopted by the Government, the price of labour, from the increased DEIMAND' A)ND SUPPL Y. 6I demand for it, will advance, as might be CHAP. II. expected, in a still more rapid ratio than in a country in which a free trade policy is adopted. The closing of the home markets in Russia to foreign trade, is producing a sensible effect on wages and the cost of living. I quote the following from Mr. Michell: " It is fortunate that such an amelioration of the condition of the people is taking place." In many districts black bread and water are the only food of the people, and the cost of this meagre dietary varies from 5s. to 6s. a month. Owing to the extension of railways, the rate of wages and the style of living are happily improving even in the remoter districts. The chief articles of consumption have risen, in the last ten years, from thirty to fifty per cent., but the rates of wages have increased in an equal, and in many cases, in a greater, proportion. It is evident from the results of the large experience of many employers, from which the cases which have been enumerated have been taken, that at all times, in all places, and under all circumstances, a rise of wages will 62 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. take place whenever the demand for labour II.'- ~ increases more rapidly than the supply, and that' no increase can take place, except under that condition. Pernicious in their social tendency and scientifically inaccurate are the doctrines of those who seek to persuade the working people that the capitalists are their natural enemies. This latter opinion is well explained by Bastiat, in his " Harmonies Economiques," from which the following lucid exposition is extracted:"Le capital, jusqu' oui qu'il porte ses pretentions, et quelque heureux qu'il soit dans ses efforts pour les faire triompher, ne peut jamais placer le travail dans une condition pire que l'isolement. En d'autres termes, le capital favorise toujours plus le travail par sa presence que par son absence. "Rappelons-nous l'exemple que j'invoquais tout a l'heure. " Deux hommes sont reduits a pecher pour vivre. L'un a des filets, des lignes, une barque et quelques provisions pour attendre les fruits de ses prochains travaux. L'autre 'DEMAND AND SUPPLY. 63 n'a rien que ses bras. II est de leur interAt CHAP. II. de s'associer. Quelles que soient les conditions de partage qui interviendront, elles n'empireront jamais le sort de l'un de ces deux pecheurs, pas plus du riche que du pauvre, car des l'instant que l'un d'eux trouverait l'association onereuse comparee a l'isolement, il reviendrait a l'isolement." The people of England are happily without experience of the condition to which the labourer is reduced in countries in whiclh the invigorating influence of capital is unfelt. But there are isolated communities even in Europe, in which the low estate of the people affords a melancholy example of the results of that separation of capital from labour to which Bastiat refers. At the head of the gulf of Bothnia, far Bothnia. removed from the enjoyments and advantages of European civilization, there dwells a community of peasants, on whose dreary abode for a considerable part of the year the sun never shines. In frost, and snow, and darkness, throughout their long winter, these unfortunate people are engaged in felling and 64 WORK AND WA GES. CHAP. sawing timber, and making tar. When the'~ spring at length returns, and the seas so long frozen up are once more navigable, a few mercantile agents pay them an annual visit and purchase the timber and the tar which have been prepared in the previous winter. The purchase is effected, not by giving money in exchange, but by a system of barter, in which the peasants, innocent of the value of their own labour, are hardly dealt with. They receive a supply of meal barely sufficient to maintain them during the coming winter, and a limited quantity of cast-off clothing, purchased perhaps, from the old clothes dealers of London. Many of these poor people have never tasted meat, and as they are always in debt to the merchants for the supplies of meal which they have accepted in advance, they are not in a position to negociate, as independent parties to the transaction, for more liberal terms of payment. During the summer the people work for a great many hours; but, from imperfect nourishment, their physical strength does not DEMAND AND SUPPLY. 65 enable them to put forth the same exertions CHAP. as an English workman. To what shall we mainly attribute their pitiable, condition? To the entire absence of accumulated capital, and the dependance of the peasantry on employers who are too poor to be generous, and in whom the desire to make the most of their small capital has altogether extinguished the virtue of charity and the spirit of justice. F [ 66 ]'A__ CHAPTER III. COST OF LABOUR CANNOT BE DETERMINED BY THE RA TE OF WA GES. CHAP. I T is said by a numerous section of employers that the cost of labour has Cost of labour risen in this country to a point far beyond cannot be deter- anything which has been attained in the mined by rate of corresponding trades on the Continent; wages. and they allege a difference in the rate of wages, as if that were conclusive evidence that their apprehensions are reasonable. But I maintain, unhesitatingly, that daily wages are no criterion of the actual cost of executing works, or of carrying out manufacturing operations. On the contrary, experience teaches that there is a most remarkable tendency to equality in the actual cost of work throughout the world. In the indus COST OF LABOUR, ETC. 67 tries which compete against the manufac- CIHAP. tures of the Continent for the supply of the neutral markets of the world, it is clear that Trades Unions cannot raise the cost of production in this country beyond the cost of producing an equivalent quantity of work abroad, without diminishing the relative rate of profit of the British manufacturer; and that if the rate of profit which could be obtained by an investment of capital at home Amountof wvaes no were to be reduced below the profit accruing criterion of work. from a corresponding investment abroad, the immediate result would be the withdrawal of capital from this country. In point of fact, the amount of daily wages affords no real measure of the actual cost of work; and it is quite possible that work may be more cheaply executed by the same workmen, notwithstanding that their wages have largely increased. I proceed to give evidence in support of this opinion. At the commencement of the construction North D von of the North Devon Railway, the wages of Railway. the labourers were 2s. a day. During the progress of the work their wages were raised F2 68 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. to 2s. 6d. and 3s. a day. Nevertheless, it was III. found that the work was executed more cheaply when the men were earning the higher rate of wage than when they were Drainage paid at the lower rate. Again in London, LWo1o. in carrying out a part of the Metropolitan Drainage Works in Oxford Street, the wages of the bricklayers were gradually raised from 6s. to ios. a day; yet it was found that the brickwork was constructed at a cheaper rate per cubic yard, after the wages of the workmen had been raised to los., than when they were paid at the rate of 6s. a day. Russia. In Russia the nominal price of labour is lower than in any other country in Europe; yet the manufacture of iron is at least as costly in Russia as in England; and it is considered politic by the State to give an artificial encouragement to the iron manufacturers by paying a bounty of 47. per ton on all rails made in the country. Cases to prove that the actual cost of labour cannot be measured by the rate of daily wages can be indefinitely multiplied from railway experience. COST OF LABOUR, ETC: 69 In making the South Staffordshire Railway, CHAP. the navvies employed by Mr. Day, my father's resident agent, were paid from 3s. to 3s. 6d. a day. A few years later, Mr. Day was engaged on the construction of a line Ennisfrom Enniskillen to Bundoran; and on that killenand. Bundoran. line the labourers were paid at the rate of is. 6d'. to Is. 8d. a day. Yet, with this immense difference in the rate of wages, subcontracts on the Irish Railway were let at the same prices which had been previously paid in South Staffordshire. It is interesting to find these views enun- Mr. Joseph ciated by Mr. Joseph Hume in a speech on Hu{IIe the Combination Laws, delivered in the House of Commons on June 29, IS25; and to see how correctly his language describes the result of my father's experience. He said that he had heard it stated " that low wages were a good thing. That he denied. Low wages tended to degrade the labourer. It was the high wages which the English artisan received, compared with the miserable pay of the Irish labourer, which made the former so superior in energy." 70 oWORK AND WA GES. CHAP. The inferiority of the Irish labourer in the III. days of Mr. Hume is described and fully Rfeport explained in the Report of the Irish Railways Railways. Commissioners presented to Parliament in 1837: " In the northern province the people were better lodged, clothed, and fed, than in the other provinces; the wages of labour were higher, being, on the average, about 7s. a day; and their food consisted chiefly of meal, potatoes, and milk." Labour in C' In the southern districts the food of the the South of Ireland. population was inferior, consisting at best of potatoes and milk, without meat. The wage of the labourer varied from Is. to 8d. a day. But the condition of the inhabitants of the western district was inferior even to that of the people of the south of Ireland. Their food consisted of potatoes alone, without meal, and, in most cases, without milk. The cabins were wretched hovels, their beds were of straw, and the wages of the labourer were reduced to the lowest point, being, upon the average, not more than 6d. a day." We shudder as we read this description, and anticipate the inevitable consequences. COST OF LABOUR, ETC. 71 Poverty and misery had deprived them of CHAP. III. all energy. Every motive to exertion was destroyed; agriculture was in the rudest and the lowest state. The effect of these depressing circum- Effectof stances, aggravated of course by the backward low wages. state of agriculture, was strikingly illustrated in the deficiency of produce and in the amount of work performed by Irish labour, compared with that of the same class in England. The Irish Poor Law Commissioners stated that the average produce of the soil in Ireland was not much above one half the average produce in England, whilst the number of labourers employed in agriculture was, in proportion to the quantity of land under cultivation, more than double, viz., as five to two. Thus ten labourers in Ireland raised only the same quantity of produce that four labourers raised in England, and this produce was generally of an inferior quality. So striking a disproportion, though generally admitting of very considerable qualification with reference to the different 72 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. nature and degree of facilities afforded to the labourer in the two countries, still shews a decided advantage in favour of the English workman, and goes far to prove the dearness of ill-requ-ited labour. I wish to establish my position on this subject by adducing the testimony of manufacturers, who have had experience in spheres which lie beyond my own immediate observation; and on this ground I would refer to a speech delivered by Sir Francis Crossley, in a debate on the appointment of the Trades Unions Commission in 1867, in which he expressed very just and generous views on the relative value to the employers of wellpaid and ill-paid labour. "There was," he said, "a good deal of unreasonable feeling abroad; that it was wrong for working men to sell their labour at the best price, but it must be remembered that their labour was the only thing that they had to sell; and the best thing to do was to leave these matters to take their natural course. It was a great mistake, on the part of employers, to suppose that the lowest priced labour was always the COST OF LABOUR, ETC. 7 3 cheapest. If there were not so much desire CHAP. III. to run down the price of labour, and the masters showed a more conciliatory spirit, there would be fewer strikes and outrages." The condition of the Warwickshire la- Warwickshire bourer has of late been brought prominently labourers. under the notice. of the public. The internal economy of the agricultural labourer's household has been minutely described in the columns of the " Daily News." I would ask men of business to examine this question, not from a philanthropic point of view, but for the purpose of ascertaining what rate of wages will give the best return to employers. It is quite true that the rent received by Rent. the English landlord gives but a miserable return on the capital value of his property. In no country indeed does landed property give so poor a return. It is equally certain that the business of farmers is not as lucrative as that of manufacturers. If the agricultural labourer receives higher wages without doing more work in the day, the farmer and landlord will suffer a diminution of income, which they can ill afford to bear; and the only 74 WORMK AND WAGES. CHIAP. result will be that capital will be withdrawn from agriculture, and more advantageously invested in other business. But are we justified in assuming that the labourer is incapable of doing more work for a more liberal reward? I will not be so presumptuous as to offer an opinion upon the particular case of the Warwickshire labourers; but this I say, that all experience shows that, with proper supervision, and with an equitable scheme of prices for piece work, the best paid workman does more work for a given sum of money than the underpaid and therefore under-fed labourer can by possibility accomplish. The cost of labour, rightly observes Mr. Fawcett, "is determined by the amount of work which is really done for the wages. Many of our labourers can barely obtain the necessaries of life; and we can all appreciate the false economy that would be practised, if a horse was so much stinted of food that he could only do half as much work as he would be able to perform if he were properly fed." High wages do not necessarily imply dear COST OF LABOUR, ETC. 75 labour, just as, on the other hand, low wages cHAP. III. do not, of necessity, make labour cheap. On U niform my father's extensive contracts, carried on in cost of labour. almost every country of the civilized world and in every quarter of the globe, the daily wage of the labourer was fixed at widely different rates; but it was found to be the almost invariable rule that the cost of labour was the same-that for the same sum of money, the same amount of work was everywhere performed. Superior skill, extra diligence, and a larger development of physical power, will often compensate the employer who finds himself obliged to pay higher wages than his competitors. On the other hand, if labour becomes so costly in England that our productions are undersold by the foreigner, our customers will leave our markets. and the workmen's livelihood will be lost. It is extremely difficult to compare accu- General uniforrately the whole cost of production of any mity in cost of class of goods in England and abroad. The labour, daily wage, it has been shown, is not the true measure of cost. The superior diligence, 76 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. the skill and energy of the workmen, may and generally do largely compensate the employer who pays a higher rate of wages. Or again, when the superior qualities of the operatives do not fully make up for the difference in wages, the high price of labour will generally lead to the use of labour-saving machinery, which would not have been adopted had labour been cheap. Our labour is expensive; indeed, with the greater cost of living in this country, it could not but be more expensive than it is abroad. But we have on our side the many great qualities of our operative population; the large resources, the fruit of many years of thrift and patient toil, at the command of our capitalists; the abundant supply of fuel; and the admirable faculty of organization which is the distinguishing feature of English industrial economy. With these advantages, and by dint of strenuous efforts, we have hitherto held our own amid an increasing number of competitors. In some branches of trade we are behind; in others, and in probably the greater number of the more important trades, CO0'T OF LABOUR, ETC. 77 we are still in front. In machinery, and in CHAP. III. textile manufactures of the cheaper kind, and in most branches of metallurgy, we are slightly in advance of the Continent; but even where we are still ahead, our rivals follow closely at our heels. In some parts of the Continent a railway We encounter can be made at a less cost than in the more severe competiexpensive districts in England. There is tionin every but little difference in the cost, and none in branch of trade. the quality, of an English, French, or a German locomotive, made by the best manufacturers of each country. The Trades Unions should be mindful of these things. Extravagant demands on behalf of labour may destroy the old industrial supremacy of this country; and a concession may be dearly bought if, in the end, the employment of the British workmen is transferred to his foreign rival. While I venture to give this warning, I General appreciafeel no present alarm. The workman and tion of situation his master, like soldiers in the thickest of the best formed fight, who see only their immediate oppo- by ltooker nents and nothing of the general combinations distance. 78 WORK A ND IWAGES. CHAP. of the battle, are each disposed to exaggerate III. the power and importance of the other. In order to form a more correct judgment, we must withdraw to a distance from the battlefield, and in a serener atmosphere we shall be better able to measure the strength of the contending forces. We shall find, as we examine the industrial situation, that the labour market is sensitive to every fluctuation of trade, that the price of labour rises with the demand, and falls when the competition among the employers for the services of workmen becomes less keen. Once duly impressed with this great economical truth, we may listen with unruffled patience to the allegations which, in times of commercial depression, are invariably made, that our trade has gone to other countries, because the wages of the British workman are excessive. So long as the cost of production in this country exceeds the cost of production in other countries, the neutral markets of the world will no longer draw their supplies from England. The demand for labour here will COST OF LABOUR, ETC. 79 accordingly diminish: the multitudes of CHAP. III. people out of employ will be driven, under the pressure of necessity, to compete against each other for employment; wages will thus be in proportion diminished, until we are once more in a position to compete. The difficulty which we apprehend will, in exact proportion to its gravity, bring its own appropriate remedies. Solvilur anmbulando. I will now give an interesting example, Paris and Rouen derived from my father's early experience in Pailway. France, in the construction of the Paris and Rouen Railway in 1842. The Paris and Rouen Railway was the first large railway work executed on the Continent. About 1o,ooo men were employed in its construction, of whom upwards of 4,000 were Englishmen. Perhaps so remarkable an exodus of English labour to continental Europe never before occurred, and it is improbable that it will ever be repeated. A special effort was made to secure the services of English workmen on this particular contract; because it was a question whether native workmen could be obtained in suffi 80 WORK AND VWAGES. CHAP. cient numbers, and it was still more doubtful III. whether they would possess the necessary skill and experience for carrying out railway works, which at that period were a novelty, even to English engineers, and entirely unknown on the Continent. Under these exceptional circumstances, a large body of Englishmen were sent over to Normandy. The responsibility of taking so large a body of Englishmen into a foreign country was very serious; but the greatest efforts were made by the contractors to mitigate the inconveniences to the English workmen of residence in a foreign country They originated schools, and provided the spiritual succour of two or three clergymen. Medical They also organized a system of medical staff. attendants. The Rouen line was divided into districts, and one English physician was appointed as superior medical attendant for the whole of the works; and he placed, at certain distances apart, resident surgeons to attend upon the sick and wounded, and also upon the wives of the workmen. It is scarcely necessary to ob COST OF LABOUR, ETC. 8I serve that the employment of English manual CHAP. III. labour abroad must always be costly, and a somewhat doubtful policy. But in this particular case it was not found to be disadvantageous in a pecuniary point of view. The contract for the Paris and Rouen line included some difficult works. There were four bridges across the Seine, and four tunnels, one of them one mile and five-eighths in length, passing through hard limestone. The English were chiefly employed on the difficult work. The French labourers drew away the stuff, or wound it up the shafts; but the mining was done by Englishmen. In the tunnels the skilled work was all done by them. At one time there were five hundred Englishmen living in the village of Rollebois, most of whom were employed in the adjacent tunnel. Although these English navvies earned 5s. a day, while the Frenchmen employed received only 2s. 6d. a day, yet it was found, on comparing the cost of two adjacent cuttings in precisely similar circumstances, that the excavation was made at a G 82 - WORK A&~n WA GES. CHAP. lower cost per cubic yard by the English III. ---- navvies than by the French labourers. Wages at In the same quarry at Bonnieres, in which Bonnieres. Frenchmen, Irishmen, and Englishmen were employed, side by side, the Frenchmen received three francs, the Irishmen four, and the Englishmen six francs a day. At those different rates, the Englishman was found to be the most advantageous workman of the three. On the completion of the Paris and Rouen line, and the extension to Havre, most of the English navvies returned to their own country; and the Dieppe line was executed principally by native labour, although Englishmen were still employed on the more difficult work. On the Dieppe Railway French labourers earned from two and a half to three francs a day; and, when working by piece work, their earnings advanced to three and a half francs a day. The wages of Englishmen, employed as plate-layers and tippers, were about five francs a day. A large number of Belgians were employed on this contract, and they always earned one franc a day more COST OF LABOUR, ETC. 83 than the Frenchmen. It should, however, CHAP. III. be explained that the construction of railways had been considerably developed in Belgium before railway works were commenced in France. Upon the Caen line, which was Caen and Cherexecuted about ten years later than the Dieppe bourg Railway. line, Englishmen were still employed for tipping and plate laying, and on difficult work in the deep rock cutting. The wages of the Englishmen were five francs a day as before; while the usual earnings of the French labourers ranged from 2'75 to 3 francs and 3'50 francs a day. It is to be noted that the English workmen were employed by sub-contractors, whose interest was directly involved in the closest possible reduction of expenditure. Yet those most experienced practical men were of opinion, that the English were worth the much higher rate of wages which they received, when employed on a work of exceptional difficulty. I may mention, as an illustration of the benefits invariably conferred by railways upon the rural districts in which they have been constructed, that in the districts adjacent to G2 84 WORK. AND WA GES. CHAP. the Caen line, the average wages for agriculIII. -— y — tural labourers were i 50 franc a day. The Wages near Caen. same men, who were employed on the railway, received from 2 francs to 2'25 francs and 2'75 a day. I have elsewhere shown the difference that exists between the wages of the industrial classes in England and France. That difference was much greater twenty-five years ago; but, in spite of the advance of wages, France is better able to compete with us than in former days when her labourers were much less liberally paid. Twenty-five years ago large quantities of English rails were imported for the Rouen and Havre line, though at that time the duty amounted to 51. per ton. General Extending the investigation to other concon.- tracts in France, and to Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Belgium, and Holland, it has been found that there is hardly any perceptible difference in the cost of railway work, executed by unskilled labour, although the difference in the rates of the daily wages prevailing in those countries is COST OF LABOUR, ETC. 85 most striking. The wages paid in this CHAP. III. country are higher than in any other. Yet even with respect to bridges, viaducts, tunnels, and all works of art on railways, they can be executed at a cheaper rate in England than in any other country in the world. The rate of wages is much lower, but masonry costs as much in Italy as in Manchester. This approximate uniformity of cost is exhibited in all cases. The superiority of the Englishman to the workmen of other nations was equally remarkable, whenever there was an opportunity of employing him side by side with them. The wages of the Dutchmen engaged The in the construction of the Dutch Rhenish Railway, varied from Is. 6d. to Is. 8d. a day, when paid by the day. At piece-work they could earn 2S. or 2s. 6d.; but good workmen from the Lancashire fens would have made 3s. 6d. at similar work. Both English and French masons were Alderney. employed in large numbers on the Alderney Breakwater in I852. The Englishmen earned 5s. 6d. to 6s., and, as a general rule, they made Is. a day more than the Frenchmen, 86 - WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. whose average earnings did not exceed 4s. III. -a day. It has been many times stated in the course of this work that from superior skill or greater energy, the more highly paid workman will in many, perhaps in most, cases turn out a greater amount of work, in proportion to the wages he receives. An opportunity occurred some years ago, during the construction of the refreshment room at Basingstoke, for testing this problem with great accuracy. On one side of the station a London bricklayer was employed at 5s. 6d. a day, and on the other two country bricklayers at 3s. 6d. a day. It was found, by measuring the amount of work performed, without the knowledge of the men employed, that the one London bricklayer laid, without undue exertion, more bricks in a day than his two less skilful country fellow labourers. Grand On the Grand Trunk Railway a number of Trunk French-Canadian labourers were employed. Railway. p Their wages were 3s. 6d. a day, while the Englishmen received from 5s. to 6s. a day; COST OF LABOUR, ETC. 87 but it was found that the English did the CHAP. III. greatest amount of work for the money. The same remarkable tendency to equality of cost exhibits itself even in India. On the Delhi Delhi and and Umritzir Railway it has been found, as Umritzir Railway. I am informed by Mr. Henfrey, my father's resident partner in India, that, mile for mile, the cost of railway work is about the same in India as it is in England; although the wages, if estimated by the amount of daily pay, are marvellously low. Earthwork, it is true, is executed by the coolies at a cheaper rate than in England, but native skilled labour is more expensive. The wages paid on the Delhi and Umritzir Railway were: Masons, IO to I2 rupees a month; carpenters, 15 to 18; bricklayers, 8 to I 2. The execution of the works on a railway in India is generally undertaken by small contractors or middle men, who in many cases are shopkeepers. There is a difficulty in obtaining experienced sub-contractors, and in, consequence it is necessary to employ -a numerous body of English foremen. Hence 88 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. the cost of supervision is greatly enhanced in India. and is found to amount on the average to twenty per cent. on the entire outlay. Standard Before the railways caused an increased of living. demand for labour in India, wages ranged from 4d. to 4-ad. a day. The demand for labour raised wages considerably, but even then the coolies were not paid more than 6d. a day. However these wages far more than sufficed to supply all their wants. Their food consists of two pounds of rice a day, mixed with a little curry; and the cost of living on this, their usual diet, is only Is. a week. For is. 6d. they can live in comparative luxury. On the railways of India it has been found that the great increase of pay which has taken place, has neither augmented the rapidity of execution, nor added to the comfort of the labourer. The Hindoo workman knows no other want than his daily portion of rice, and the torrid climate renders watertight habitations and ample clothing alike unnecessary. The labourer therefore desists from work as soon as he has provided for the necessities of the day. Higher pay adds nothing to his COST OF LABOUR, ETC. 89 comforts; it serves but to diminish his ordi- CHAP. III. nary industry. In Eastern Europe the standard of living Eastern Europe. is very low, and the earnings of the labouring people are scanty in proportion. The Galicians live principally upon black bread, schnapps, a spirit distilled from Indian corn, and potatoes. The inhabitants of Bukovina and Moldavia live on Indian corn and schnapps, at a cost of from 4d. to 5d. a day. Ninepence may be considered the ordinary wages for labourers in this part of the country. The peasants are very improvident. When the Indian corn crop fails, they literally starve; and in the winter they are obliged to obtain advances from the proprietors, or from Jews, undertaking to work out these allowances in the course of the following summer. When bound by an engagement such as I have described, their wages are reduced to 6d. or 7d. per day. In Moldavia and other UniEuropean countries similarly placed in the forsity of scale of civilization, unskilled labour is cheaper than in England; but, in proportion,as skill and manual dexterity are required, 90 WORK' AND WAGES. CHAP. the differences in the cost of constructing III. engineering works disappear. Italy. In Italy, as in India, it has been found that a numerous but unskilled population, in a climate where the necessaries of life are inexpensive, can undertake the mere manual labour at a cheaper rate than in England; though this is only true when works are not pushed on so rapidly as to require the importation of labour from a distance. When the local labourers are alone employed, the Italian villagers, men, women, and children, carrying earth to and fro in baskets on their heads, and as ignorant as the Coolies themselves of the resources and appliances of mechanical science, can execute earthwork about as cheaply as in India. On the other hand, masonry and other work requiring skilled labour is rather dearer in Italy than in EngMauritius. land. In the Mauritius the result of the experience acquired in the construction of a railway in that island by my father's partner, Mr. Longridge, established the same result as in the cases already quoted. Though the daily wages are low, yet when you take COST OF LABOUI?, ETC. 9I into account the extra supervision, the cost of CHAP. III. earthwork, rock cutting, and masonry, is quite as great as the cost in England; and skilled work, as, for example, carpentry, is from twenty to twenty-five per cent. more costly in the Mauritius than it is in England. I turn from the business of the railway con- Other occupations. tractors to other occupations: and in whatever sphere of industry, where equally complete investigation is made of the actual cost of production, as compared with the rate of wages, I arrive at a similar result. The shipbuilders at Bordeaux, Marseilles, and Nantes, who appeared as witnesses before the committee appointed to conduct the "Enquete sur la Marine marchande," under the presidency of M. Rouher, described in accents of despair the collapse of their industry in France, and the impossibility of competing in point of price with the English shipbuilders. It is certain that the stationary if not the English shipretrograde condition of French ship-building builders have sucis not attributable to the difference in the cessfully 92 WORKI AND WVA GES. CHAP. rate of wages in favour of the British shipIII. Y builder. competed with the French; Tableau covmparatif du Prix du Travail dans les ateliers de though construction des services marilines des Messageries wages in England wmerzales. are much higher. GAGES JOURNALIERS PROFESSIONS 1859 I869 Modeleurs.. 4 08 4'47 Ajusteurs... 1 369 3 80 Chaudronnerie de cuivre. 3'34 3'90 Chaudronnerie de fer 2. - 2'73 3'70 Forgerons... 3'27 3 80 Charpentiers.. 322 3'99 Masons... 2 89 399 Manceuvres... 2 74 2 99 Menuisiers..... 3 64 4'00 Perceurs.... 4 29 4'90 Calfats 3 ~40 3'90 Voiliers 3 40 3'90 Scieurs de long 4... 08 3'89 Bateliers.. 4 o8 3'89 If the French table of wages be compared with the following statement of the average rate of wages paid at Millwall from I863 to i866, it is marvellous that any ships should have been built in the Thames for Mediterranean ship owners:s. d. s. d. Wood Shipwrights... 7 o per day. Joiners..... 6 o Platers... 6 8 to 7 o Riveters.... 5 4,,4 COST OF LABOUR, ETC. 93 s. d. s. d. CHAP. Chippers... 5 o to 5 6 per day. II. Smiths.... 6 o Hammermen.. 3 9 to 4 o Plumbers..... 5 6 Painters..... 5 Engineers... 5 8 to 6 o, Pattern makers... 6 o Moulders.. 64,, Labourers.... 3 6,, Boys... from 4 o to T5 o per week. There must be a remarkable superiority either in vigour or in skill in the English workman or he could not have held his own in the race in spite of the extraordinary difference in the rate of wages. The cost of provisions is an essential element in determining the wages of the labourer, but the standard of comfort which the working Wages depend on classes are content to adopt, has also a most the standard material influence on their condition. Mr. of comforts McCulloch attributes the difference between the condition of people in England and Ireland mainly to the different standard of living adopted by the people themselves. The rate of necessary wages must vary On clmate. and other things with variations of climate, and other things 94 WORI AND WAGES. CHAP. being equal, it will be the highest in countries III. where the most expensive clothes and houses and the largest supplies of fuel are required. There is a maximum limit above which wages cannot rise, and a minimum below which they cannot fall. The minimum is determined by the cost of living according to the standard adopted by the people. Wages cannot long continue below the amount necessary for the support of the labourer and his family. On the other hand, wages cannot long continue so high as to deprive the employer of a fair return upon his capital, and a reasonable reward for the application of his time and abilities to the conduct of his business. If wages exceed the maximum limit determined by the necessity of fulfilling the conditions enumerated, capital will no longer be embarked in undertakings from which no adequate return can be obtained. There is a remarkable instance of high wages, in consequence of the cost of living being artificially raised, at Beyrout. Every inhabitant is taxed 41. a-year for the supply COST OF LABOUR, ETC. 95 of water. Owing to the' pressure of this CHAP. IIl. taxation, the wages of common labourers are from 2S. to 2S. 6d., and of masons and carpenters 3s. to 4s. a day. " It is not," says Mr. McCulloch, " in the On the best situated countries, or those of which the fcost od.f climate is the finest and the soil most productive, that the peasantry are the best off. In those their necessities are few and easily supplied, and when these are satisfied, they seem to care for nothing more." Humboldt tells us that it had been proposed to prohibit the culture of the banana in Mexico, as being the only means calculated to rouse the torpid qualities of the natives and make them in some degree industrious. As we recede from the more civilized Ill-paid workmen countries of Europe the standard of comfort are ill fed, and were is reduced, and the labourer is content to deficient in physical receive lower wages; although in most cases power. the amount of work performed is diminished in corresponding proportions. High wages and short hours of work may not be found incompatible with a diminished cost of production; and low wages and long hours may 96 WORK A ND WA GES. CHAP. sometimes prove less advantageous to the III. employer than shorter hours of labour and a higher rate of wages. This apparent anomaly is partly explained by the necessity of giving to the labourer, who has to undertake severe manual exertion, the means of procuring a generous diet. In Belgium the workmen are not so expensive in their habits as the English artificer. They consume less meat; their bread is seldom purely wheaten; and they work for lower wages; but, on the other hand, it cannot be expected that, under these conditions, they can have the same physical vigour as the English labourers, who are better fed. Mr. Hewitt, to whose evidence I have elsewhere referred, speaking on this subject, remarked that at Sireuil the rate of wages of the common labourer will only admit of his having meat once a week; and yet the manufacturers were not making money. He also stated that there was a deplorable look of hopelessness among the lower class of workmen at Creuzot, though this was not discernible among the better paid men., COST OF LABOUR, ETC. 97 It is interesting to observe how fully the ex- CHAP. III. perience of practical men bears out the opinion expressed by Montesquieu, in the " Esprit des tibservof Lois," " I y a dans l'Europe une espece de quieu. balancement entre les nations du Midi et celles du Nord. Les premieres ont toute sorte de commodites pour la vie et pour les besoins; les secondes ont beaucoup de besoins et peu de commodites pour la vie. L'equilibre se maintient par la paresse qu'elle a donnee aux nations du Midi, et par l'industrie et l'activite qu'elle a donnees a celles du Nord." The recent interesting publications of Mr. Mr. Lothian Lothian Bell, a report to Congress of Mr. Bell, Mr. Wells, and Commissioner Wells, the Special Commis- Mr. Redgrave sioner of Revenue in the United States in onlthe cost of I868, and a report of Mr. Redgrave, one of labour. the Inspectors of Factories, contain many other equally remarkable cases in various trades, all tending to prove that the cost of labour cannot be conclusively determined by the rate of daily wages in the respective industries. Mr. Lothian Bell, in an address read at a Mr. Lothian meeting of ironmasters in the North of Bell's 98 WORRK AND WAGES. CHAP. England, gave the result of his investigations III. as to the cost of smelting pig iron in France, enquiries ta in France. which distinctly proved that more men were required to do the same quantity of work in. France than in England. He stated that, by a very careful enquiry at a large establish-.. ment in France, he had ascertained that fortytwo men were there employed to carry out the same amount of work which twenty-five men were able to do at the Clarence factories on the Tees. In spite of the actual labour on a ton of pig iron for smelting being twenty per cent. cheaper in France than in England, the entire smelting charges were sensibly greater in France than in the general run of work at Middlesbrough. And, taking into account the saving in respect of fuel, the cost of producing pig iron in France was twenty shillings, in some cases even thirty shillings per ton more than that exhibited by the costsheets of the manufacturers at Cleveland. Coal. The average cost of raising coal at the pit's mouth in France is said by Mr. Lothian Bell to be from 5s. 6d. to 6s. a ton, and the average price of coal IIs. per ton; the COST OF LABOUR, ETC. 99 price for small coal used by the ironmasters cHAP. III. being 8s. 6d. as compared with 5s., the price paid by the Cleveland smelters. Belgium raises IIOOO,OOO tons of coal Belgium; cost of annually, and exports 4,000,000 to France. getting coal. The average cost of coal at the pit's mouth is from 5s. 6d. to 7s. a ton. The price varied in 1867 from 9s. 6d. to Ios. 6d. a ton. It is clear from these figures that neither in France nor in Belgium is the cost of extracting the coal reduced by the low price of labour. In Mr. Hewett the manufacture of iron, the opinion of Mr. onwirms the Bell is confirmed by Mr. Hewett, an American statement of Mr. ironmaster, who told the Trades Unions Bell. Commissioners, that the price of iron was II. sterling per ton higher at Creuzot than in England, and by M. Michel Chevalier, who, Price of rails in in his introductions to the Reports of the France and Jurors of the French Exhibition in I867, said England. that rails were from twenty-five to thirty francs dearer per ton in France than in England. A similar difference was shown in the rails purchased for the Mont Cenis Railway, the price of which at the works in France was from 71. I 2S. to 81. per ton; while H-2 I00,WORK A ND WA GES. CHAP. the price in England was 71. per ton. The duty of 2. 8s. per ton which is still payable on rails imported into France is a proof of the conscious inability of the French ironmasters to compete with our manufacturers in an open market. Cost of In Germany as in France, though the production in German nominal rates of wages are still lower, the ironworks. actual cost of the work is greater than it is in England. Mr. Lothian Bell observed that, whereas labour in Westphalia cost from twenty to twenty-five per cent. less than with us, the labour-saving arrangements were much neglected; and a ton of iron smelted in the Ruhrort district could not be produced for less than I 5s. a ton above the cost upon the Tees. Mr. Mr. Commissioner Wrells, in an able report Wells on the cost of to the American Congress, has discussed in puddling. minute detail this most important question of the comparative cost of labour in the principal manufacturing countries. Taking the puddling of iron as the representative process of the iron trade, he says that he found that the average price of labour per day for puddlers COST OF LABOUR, ETC. 101 was from 7s. 6d. to 7s. Iod. in Stafford- CHAP. III. shire; 6s. 4d. in France; and from 4s. 9d. to 5s. in Belgium; yet the average price of merchant bar-iron was 67. Ios. in England, 7/. in Belgium, and 8. in France. In a recent report on the condition of the Mr. Redgrave textile industries in England, Mr. Redgrave, on the cost of one of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Factories, spinning. says that, while the foreigner is under the same conditions, as to the raw material, as the English manufacturer, and his fuel is more expensive, his workpeople do not work with the same vigour and steadiness as Englishmen. Consequently, the same number of operatives, employed upon the same machinery, do not produce the same quantity of yarn as in this country. " All the evidence that has come before me," he says, " has gone to prove that there is a great preponderance in favour of this country. Comparing the work of a British with a foreign spinner, the average number of persons employed to spindles is-.in France, one person to fourteen spindles; in Russia, one to twenty-eight spindles; in Prussia, one to thirty-seven; in Great Britain, 102 WORK AND WA GES. CHAP. one to seventy-four. But I could find many III. cotton spinning factories in my district, in which mules containing 2,200 spindles are managed by one minder and two assistants." " I have recently been told," he continues, " by one who had been an- English manager in a factory at Oldenburgh, that, though the hours of work were from 5.30 A.M. to 8 P.M. every day, only about the same weight of work was turned off under English overlookers as would be produced in a working day from 6 A.M. to 6 P.M. in this country. Under German overlookers the produce was much less. The wages were fifty per cent. less in many cases than in England; but the number of hands, in proportion to machinery, was much larger. In some departments it was in the proportion of five to three. In Russia the inefficiency of the labour of the foreign, as compared with the labour of the English operatives, is even more strikingly manifested, for on a comparison of the wages, supposing the Russian operatives to work only sixty hours a week as they do in England, instead of seventy-five as they do in Russia, their COST OF LABOUR, ETC. 103 wages would not be one fourth the amount CHAP. III. earned in England. But the wage must be - taken into account with the power of the operative as a producer; and herein will be found an advantage of the English operative over the foreign competitor, sufficient, with some qualification, to counterbalance the mere cheapness of wage." Mr. Wells, in the report to which I have Mr. Wells on the already referred, confirms the view expressed cost of spinning. by Mr. Redgrave. He says that, "whereas female labour in the cotton manufacture is paid at from I -s. to I5s. a week in Great Britain; at from 7s. 3d., to 9s. 7d. in France, Belgium, and Germany; at from 2s. 4d. to 2s. i id. in Russia; the one thing which is most dreaded by the continental manufacturers everywhere is British competition. The demand for protection is loudest in France, Austria, and Russia, where the average wages reach their minimum." Mr. Mill in his " Political Economy" quotes Russian a statement made by Professor Jones, in which moMvejhe said that the Russians, or rather those German writers who have observed the 104 WORK AND WA GES. CHAP. manners and habits of Russia, supply some III. remarkable facts: " Two Middlesex mowers," they say, " will mow in a day as much grass as six Russian serfs, and in spite of the dearness of provisions in England and their cheapness in Russia, the mowing of a quantity of hay, which would cost the English farmer half a copeck, will cost the Russian proprietor three or four copecks." The Prussian Councillor of State, Jacobi, is considered to have proved that in Russia, where everything is cheap, the labour of the serf is doubly as expensive as that of the labourer in England. In Austria the labour of a serf is one-third of that of a free hired labourer. Wvomen The miserable pay of the women employed employed as field in the manufactories of Russia suggests some labourers in the less observations as to the evils which necessarily civilised countries. arise from subjecting the female population to excessive manual labour. In all the less civilised countries of Europe the women are compelled to share in the manual labours of the men. This practice is in a large degree the cause of that very poverty which it is COST OF LABOUR, ETC. I05 intended to alleviate. The introduction of CHAP. III. so many additional hands into the labour market has a marked effect in diminishing the reward of labour. On the Lemberg and Czernowitz line, in some places, half the people employed were women. They earned I 6o franc a day, and the men from 2 to 3 francs a day. On the Bukovina line the wages of the men for picking were Is. 6d. per day, while the women, who worked only with the shovel, earned about 6d. a day less than the men. The cost of living for a man and his wife and three children in Hungary, may be stated approximately at Is. a day. In those Skilled labour countries the cost of unskilled labour is small, disproportionately but the struggle for life is so severe that dear ina poor every child, the moment it can add the country. smallest fraction to the earnings of the family, is sent into the fields. The sacrifice of these earnings, however scanty, for a few years, for the purpose of acquiring a knowledge of a skilled trade, is impossible with a peasantry so destitute; and the cost of skilled labour is thus disproportionately high, because so 06 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. few persons possess the means of passing III. through a period of unpaid apprenticeship. Misery of the An apprehension of the military power of Russian peasantry. Russia, which a certain school of politicians are too ready to entertain, might, perhaps, be changed to pity if they knew the condition of the Russian peasantry, as described by Mr. Michell, and their inability to bear the strain of a long-protracted war. Even in peace they are engaged throughout their lives in an exhausting struggle for bare existence. From abject poverty the women are compelled to share unceasingly in the out-door labours of the men. The infant mortality in Russia is appalling. The peasant women of Russia give birth to their offspring under circumstances equally perilous to the life of the mother and the child. Their confinement takes place in a barn or a stable. They have no medical attendance, and in three days at the utmost they are once more employed in hard field labour. The result of such privation and suffering is, that a large proportion of infants die within a week after their birth. The number of males living at COST OF LABOUR, ETC. 107 the age of five years, in proportion to the CHAP. III. total number of the population, is 20 --- Duration per cent. less in Russia than in Great of life. Britain, France, and Belgium. The shortness of the average duration of life in Russia is equally lamentable. In the North-West Provinces, the average limit of life is between twenty two and twenty-seven. In the Volga basin and South-Eastern Provinces it is twenty years. In Viatka, Perm, and Orenburg, it is only fifteen years. In Great Britain the number of men and women alive between fifteen and sixty, out of I,ooo, averages 548; in Belgium 518; in Russia only 265. Hence it may be inferred what difficulty there would be in recruiting an army in the case of a long-continued and sanguinary war. The spectacle of a vast population exposed to such privation, must awaken the sympathy of every friend of humanity. There is more reason to pity the hard lot of the Russian people than to fear their military resources. What a cruel mockery it would seem to the millions of Russian peasants, Io8 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. whose lot in life is so depressed compared III. with that of the very humblest of our labourers, if by chance it reached their ears that there were statesmen in England who believed that the most imminent danger of their own more favoured land was the growing power of the Russian Empire! Miserable In Russia the day labourer's wages range pay of the Russian from 8d. to Is. 4d. with food, the cost of labourer. which is from 2d. to 3d. a day. The average pay of the female labourer is 6.d. a day, with the addition of food. During harvest, the male labourer carl command from Is. 4d. to 2s. 8d. a day with food; the female labourer from 91d. to 2S. 3d. a day with food. What is the result of this low-priced labour, as compared with other European countries, in which much higher wages are given? The yield of crops in Russia is said by Mr. Michell to be less than half the yield obtained in England or Saxony; and smaller than in any other country in Europe. The impossibility of determining the actual cost of labour by the nominal rate of wages COST OF LABOUR, ETC. I09 is as fully demonstrated by the experience of CHAP. the ship owner as by that of the manufacturer. The cost The wages of shipwrights and the pay of of working a ship seamen are much more moderate in France cannot be deterthan with us. Yet the cost of building ships mined by the rate of is ten per cent. greater in France than in wages for seamen. England; and the wages of a French crew, in consequence of their greater number, involve an expenditure for manning twenty-five per cent. greater than the corresponding expense in an English ship. I quote these figures from a recent Report by Mr. West. If, on the other hand, we compare the cost of manning an American ship, with the cost of manning an English ship, we shall see how our comparatively cheaper labour makes us more prodigal in the use of it. The average proportion of seamen in an English ship is one nian to every fifteen tons; in an American ship, it is one man to every twenty-five tons. It is remarkable that the English manufac- The wages in turers, who pay a higher rate of wages for England are higher the labour they employ than their foreign than in any other competitors, can compete most successfully country in Europe; with the rest of the world in point of cheap- but it is .1 I0 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. ness of production. English travellers in the III. Y — East, who have examined the European in the goods displayed in the bazaars of Beyrout cheapest class of goods that and Damascus, will have been pleased to our superiority discover awn English stamp on every bale of is most conspicu- cotton goods. These fabrics were invariably ous. of the cheapest quality. It is solely by our lower prices that we have secured the monopoly of the Syrian market. CHAPTER IV. 2iHE INDUSTRIAL CAPABILITIES OF DIFFERENT NA TION SS COMPARED. THE examples which have been quoted CHAP. IV. might be indefinitely multiplied; but --- —' sufficient evidence has, it is presumed, been The industrial given, to prove that the English manufacturer caPabilities ofrent has no grave reason to complain of the dnations position which he occupies in regard to the compared. cost of labour in this country. The industrial genius of the English workman, though not in all respects equal to that of our foreign competitors, exhibits so many solid qualities that there seems to be as little ground for complaint as regards workmanlike abilities as there is to be dissatisfied with the rate to which wages by an ever increasing I I 2 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. demand on the part of employers, have IV. gradually been raised. Mr. Mr. Kitson, of Leeds, in his evidence on. before the Select Committee on Scientific Instruction in i868, stated that in i864, in consequence of a dispute with the workmen at Leeds, he had engaged several Frenchmen and Belgians. This experiment proved that " the foreign workmen were scarcely as intelligent as our own." " We are not," he said, "inferior in the manufacture of iron, machinery, and steel, to the foreign ironmasters. The English are equal to the Belgians in the manufacture of iron, and are superior in the manufacture of machinery." Belgian At the locomotive building works in Beliron manu- gium the work is rarely executed with the same precision as in England. All the parts of English engines, made from the same pattern, are interchangeable. This is not always the case in Belgian engines. Again, the necessity of competition with the foreign trade has somewhat lowered the quality of the Belgian rails, which are occasionally worn out in two years. Previously to the recently DIFFERENT NATIONS COMPARED. I 3 restored activity in the iron trade, loud com- CHAP. IV. plaints were heard of the difficulties arising - from foreign competition; and especial apprehension was expressed of the danger to British industry from the close competition of the Belgians. In an interesting report on Belgian industry Lord Howard de Lord Howard de Walden has remarked that Walden on Belgian the Belgians exhibit their greatest qualities arms. in the manufacture of arms at Liege. "In all works in sheet iron, for example stoves, the Belgians excel; but in wrought iron they are behind many other countries. A good lock and key is nowhere to be found. It is cheaper to buy one of English make. A tolerable horse-shoe is nowhere to be seen, nor are the agricultural implements of good quality, and yet in carriage building they have been eminently successful." Speaking generally, it may be affirmed Superiority of the that as practical mechanics the English are English as practical unsurpassed. The presence of the English echallics. engineer, the solitary representative among a crew of foreigners of the mechanical genius of his country, is a familiar recollection to 114 WORK AND WA GES. CHAP. all who have travelled much in the steamers IV. of the Mediterranean. Consul Lever, in his Lever, report of 1870 from Trieste, says that, in the vast establishment of the Austrian Lloyds at that port, a number of English mechanical engineers are employed, not only in the workshops, but as navigating engineers in the company's fleet. Although there is no difficulty in substituting for these men Germans and Swiss at lower rates of payment, the uniform accuracy of the English, their intelligence, their consummate mastery of all the details of their art, and their resources in every case of difficulty have entirely established their superiority. Efficiency The building and working of steamers inof labour compared. volves expenditure in almost all descriptions of labour —the purchase of raw materials of every kind, as well as the most elaborate machinery. The statistics relating to shipping exhibit a marvellous increase in our steam merchant navy as compared with the steam-propelled shipping of any other nation. Go into any port of the Baltic or the Mediterranean; and DIFFERENT NATIONS COMPARED. 1 15 the heart of every patriotic Englishman will CHAP. IV. rejoice in the spectacle of our undisputed --- maritime preponderance. The returns of the traffic through the Suez Canal afford an equally convincing proof of our maritime ascendancy in every particular. The industrial capabilities of Englishmen Englishmen the are conspicuously shown by their superior best skill as miners. Mining is perhaps the most exhausting and laborious of all occupations. It has been found that in this description of work the English miner surpasses the foreigner all over the world. On the Continent, long after earthwork and all the other operations involved in the construction of railways had been committed to the native workmen, English miners were still employed in the tunnels. A few years ago, in making the railway from Chambery, in Savoy, to the foot of Mont Cenis, Piedmontese were employed in the comparatively easy work of tunnelling in the dry rock; but Englishmen were still required to conduct the far more difficult operations in the soft and yielding clay subject to a constant influx of water. 12 ii6 WORK AIND WAGES. CHAP. The differences of character and capabiliIV. ties, which tend in such a remarkable degree pr. Mill to establish an equality in the cost of labour as to the qualities of in every part of the world, have occupied the English as workmen. attention of many thoughtful and penetrating minds. Mr. John Stuart Mill says that " individuals or nations do not differ so much in the efforts they are able and willing to make under strong immediate incentives, as in their capacity of present exertion for a distant object, and in the thoroughness of their application to work on ordinary occasions. This last quality is the principal industrial excellence of the English people. This efficiency of labour is connected with their whole character, with their defects as much as with their good qualities. The majority of Englishmen have no life but in their work-that alone stands between them and ennui. The absence of any taste for amusement or enjoyment of repose is common to all classes. The effect is that where hard labour is the thing required, there are no better labourers than the English." In point of manual skill, the French and DJFFERENT NATIONS COMP.ARED. I 7 English are probably equal. In invention CHAP. IV. the Frenchman may be the cleverer of the "The two. But in the power of throwing energy English more into his labour, the Englishman is the better energetic and perseman. I have been told by Mr. Alexander, vering than the who has had considerable opportunities of French mechanstudying the capabilities of French operatives, ics. and who was engaged in superintending the construction of the engines for the short-lived Fell railway over Mont Cenis, that if a Frenchman has a good model of a machine, he will make it as well as an English mechanic, but the same number of English workmen will turn out sixteen machines, when an equal number of Frenchmen would make only four. It may be gathered from the experience Frenchmen soon obtained on my father's continental contracts, acquired skill in that, as a general rule, the superiority of theconstruction English workmen was most conspicuous when of railways. they first commenced work in a country in which no railways had been previously constructed. The inexperience of the French in large engineering works is proved conclusively by the fact, that the works on the Paris [ 18 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. and Rouen line having been divided into IV. ten separate contracts, for each of which a separate tender was made, in every case the tender of Messrs. Brassey and Mackenzie was fifty per cent. under the lowest tender of the French contractors. Increased experience enabled the French workmen to earn higher wages, and, on the other hand, closer contact with men of less vigorous habits, in some cases, gradually diminished the energy of the English labourers. But on the whole, wherever the English have been employed on the Continent, they have received much higher pay than their fellow workmen, the natives of the country; and the difference in the pay has been fully represented by their superior skill and marvellous energy. Great pains were taken to ascertain the relative industrial capacity of the Englishman and Frenchman on the Paris and Rouen line; and, on a comparison of half-a-dozen pays, it was found that the capacity of the Englishman to that of the Frenchman was as five to three. It would however be a mistake to suppose DIFFERENT NATIONS COMPARED. II9 that the Frenchmen failed to profit by the CHAP. IV. lessons of experience which they acquired from the temporary introduction of English labour into their country. For ordinary work, Frenchmen soon became almost as efficient as Englishmen, as the following dialogue with Mr. Milroy, a most experienced member of my father's staff, very clearly explains:" Q. In the particular work you have been speaking of, the two great trades employed were masons and carpenters? " Mr. Milroy: "Yes, I found plenty of good masons and carpenters in France. The latter are, in my opinion, superior for such works to English carpenters, both in the quality of the work done, and in the price at which they do it. Their tools also are particularly well adapted to the work. This may arise from Paris having been, in a great measure, built of timber, filled in between with small rubble stones and stucco, and then plastered outside. They seemed to have acquired a specialty for that work, and could do it better than any carpenters I have ever seen. What I have stated was proved in 1853, when I went back. 120 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. I then went on to the Caen and Cherbourg IV. line. There was only a sprinkling of Englishmen then. The agents and sub-contractors, who went out with me, had acquired the language sufficiently, when formerly engaged in France, to carry on their communications with the French workmen without interpreters. Upon the Paris and Rouen line we had a large proportion of English labourers, but on the Caen and Cherbourg line a very small proportion; yet the one line was constructed quite as cheaply as the other." It may be interesting to supplement the experience of the railway contractor, by stating the views of acknowledged authorities who have studied these questions in other Professor spheres of industry., Professor Leone Levi, Levi on the in a paper on the silk manufacture, remarks qualities necessary that in the processes, the manufacture, and for industrial cost of material, the different countries of success. Europe are on a par, The wages of labour in this manufacture are very low, both in England and in other countries; and if they are a little higher here than elsewhere, that is probably more than made up by our superior DIFFERENT NA TIONS COMPA RED. 2 I1 power of productiveness. It is not indeed by CHAP. starving the labourer, or by employing cheap - and inferior labour, that British manufacturers will ever be able to meet competition. On the contrary, the most prominent want in an industry so light and delicate is a higher class of labourer, more educated, more refined in taste, and even more expert in manual dexterity. The prosperous maintenance of the manufactures in any country mainly depends on the natural facilities and advantages which the nation may possess for it, and on the energy, aptitude, and skill, displayed by the manufacturers themselves. It has already been pointed out that we are not so much behind the Continent in practical science as we are in taste. In France, according to a report from the The labouring Minister of War in i866, 30 conscripts classin France out of every Ioo were unable to read. In not better educated 1864, 2,27I workmen were employed in than in England. the establishment of MM. Dollfus, at Mulhausen. Of those not more than I,553 could read and write. Technical education, how- Technical education ever, is comparatively unimportant to the more 122 WORK A ND WAGES. CHAP. workman, who has merely to superintend the IV. Y - motion of the machine; although it is certain essential to employers that if he were of an inventive turn of mind, than workmen. he might often suggest valuable improvements. But technical education is essentially necessary, and inventive genius is invaluable, in the man who has the superintendence of Ioo Thneof machines. In original conception, English genius of English manufacturers do not perhaps possess any manufacministra- advantage over the manufacturers of other tive rather the in-athe countries; but in the practical development ventive. and application of an invention, and in general administrative capability, and especially in the art of economical management, they have shown a real commercial genius which is rarely exhibited abroad. [ 123 ] CHAPTER V. DEAR LABOUR STIMULATES INVENTION. {O UR successful competition with other CHAP. V. countries is maintained in a large degree by our more extensive use of ma- The use of machinery chinery. In truth it is only by these means enabled that our more highly paid artisans are able to scmpete hold their own in the industrial contest in with dear labour which they are engaged. Nor can it be wagest doubted that the dearness of labour must necessarily give a stimulus to inventive genius which, with a cheaper supply of labour, will probably not be developed in the same degree. It may be thought that the substitution of machinery for hand labour, and the diminution in the number of hands employed in proportion to the quantity of goods produced, is a 124 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. change not altogether beneficial to the inV.'r —--- terests of labour; but it must be admitted that in manufacturing industry the English could no longer have competed successfully with the Continent, unless the cost of production had been continually reduced by mechanical contrivances. It cannot be doubted that it was better for the working man that economy should be obtained by improvements in mechanism and in methods of working than by constant reductions of wages. M. Michel Chevalier truly says that machinery can alone enable dear labour to compete with cheap labour, and that England, which makes 5 7 per cent. of the textile fabrics of Europe, owes her superiority entirely to the extensive use of machinery. The economy obtained by the introduction of machineryis often very remarkable. In their gallant struggles in the difficult times following the war in America, our manufacturers developed the resources of machinery to a greater extent than had ever been attempted before, and they succeeded in making a considerable reduction in the amount of labour employed. The results DEAR LABOUR STIMULATES INVENTION. 125 are shown in the subjoined table, taken from CHAP. V. a paper read by Mr. Elijah Helm before the Manchester Statistical Society in I868:Statistics of Factories employed in the three great Textile MAanuzfactures of the Unzited Kingdom in the years I856, 86i, 6and i868.:No. of Persons No. of Factories No. of Spinning Spindles No. of Power Looms NEmplrsonsed I856 I86I I868 1856 I86i I868 I856 i86I i868 I856 I86I I868 COTTON FACTORIES: _ t I Englandand Wales 2,046 2,715 2,405 25,8I8,576 28,352, 25 30,478,228 275,590 368,I25 344,719 34I, 70 407,598 357,052! Scotland.... 52 63 I3 2,04,I29,9I5,398 I,397,546 2I,6241 30,IIo 3I,864 34,698 4I,237 39,809 Ireland.... I2 9 I3 250,5I2 II9,944 I24,240 I,633 I,757 2,746 3,345 2,734 4,203 United Kingdom. 2,2I0 2,887 2,549 28,0I0,2I7 30,387,46732,0ooo0,I47298,847 399,992 379,329379,213 45I,569 401,064 WOOLLEN, WORSTE. AND SHODDY FACTORIES: England and Wales 2,793 i,968 2,211 2,798,275 3, 92 376 6, 45,049 52,535 63,3I2 II5, I22I55,820 I59,281233,535 Scotland.... 204 202 207 293,362 356,I3Iv 385,246 800 1,383 3,528 IO,I75 I2,728 28,I74. Ireland.... 33 42 47 I9,884 23,2741 25,584 641 I23 2I5 89o I,037 *I,347T. - I' I''___ I I United Kingdom. 2,030 2,22I 2,465 | 3,III,52I 3,47I,78I2 6,455,879 51,399 64,8i8 ii8,865 I66,885 173,046'253,056 FLAX, HEMP, AND JUTE FACTORIES: England and Wales I39 143 I55 44I,759 345,I92 448,909 I,987 2,I6I 5,530 I9,787 20,474 24,949 Scotland.... i68 I92 I69 278,304 3I2,239 332,2I5 5,0I2 8,520 15,828 3I,722 39,562 52,6391 Ireland.... iio I05 148 567,980 594,805 899,297' 1,69I 4,666 13,689 28,753 33,967 57,745 United Kingdom.417 440 472 I,288,043 I,252,2361 I,679,357 8,689 I5,347 35,047 80,262 94,003 j35,333; * As given in the return for i868, the number of persons employed in the Woollen, &c., manufacture in Ireland is I0,555. This is an obvious error, and I have corrected it by estimating the number of persons employed, on the basis of the number of spindles and looms given in the return. Mr. G. R. Porter, in his " Progress of the llnhstration of Nation" gives a statement from the books effect of improveof Mr. Thomas Houldsworth, laid before the ment of machinery Committee on Manufactures, which sat in from the 26 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. C.AP I833; and he shows in a similar manner the powers of machinery in augmenting "Progress of the the productive powers, as well as the Nation." earnings of the operative:Work turned off Prices from Quantities which a by one Wages per week Greenwich week's nett Spinner per Hospitql Records earnings would week purchase Year. Hours Flour of work Flesh Lbs. of Lbs. of lbs. Nos. Gross Piecers Nett ofpe p k pe r Fbl Flobr Flesh week sack per lb. Flour Flesh s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d. d. d. I804 12 i8o 60 276 326 83 o 6 to 7 117 62 9 200 67 6 1 366 74 83 o0 6 to 7 24 73 14 i8 i80 72 0 27 6 44 6 7 6 8 i75 67 I3 200 9g00 30 6o 74 706 8 239 90 I833 221 I80 54 8 21 0 33 8 69 45 6 2Io 67, IQ 200 65 3 22 6 429 69 45 6 267 85 The development of the productive power of machinery by increasing the proportion of spindles to the number of hands employed is not a novelty of our time. Mr. Porter's work contains the following interesting calculation of the results attained by a former generation of cotton spinners:Spinners' " In the cotton-mill of Messrs. Houldsworths wages. in Glasgow, a spinner employed on a mule of 3,360 spindles and spinning cotton I20 hanks to the pound, produced, in 823, working 74hours in the week, 46 pounds of yarn, his nett DEAR LABOUR STIMULATES INVENTION. 127 V. In I833, the rate of wages having in the meanwhile been reduced I33 per cent., and the time of working having been lessened to 69 hours, the spinner was enabled by the greater perfection of the machinery, to produce, on a mule of the same number of spindles, 521 pounds of yarn of the same fineness, and his nett weekly earnings were advanced to 29s. Iod." But a much more considerable economy Mr. Cowell s than this was produced by increasing the evidence. size of the mules. Mr. Cowell, in the Supplementary Report of the Factory Commissioners, gives the following example of the effect on the spinner's earnings:-" In the early part of last year a spinner produced i6 pounds of yarn of No. 200 from mules of the power of 300 to 324 spindles. Consulting the list of prices, I perceive that in May he was paid 3s. 6d. a pound: this gives 54s. for his gross receipts, out of which he had to pay I 3s. for assistants. This leaves him with 4Is. earnings. His mules are now converted into mules of the power'of 648; he is paid 2s. 5d. 128 WORK ANVI WAGES. CHAP. a pound instead of 3s. 6d.; but he produces V. 32 pounds of yarn of the fineness of 200 hanks to the pound in 69 hours. His gross receipts are immediately raised to 77s. 4d. He requires five assistants to help him; but deducting 27s. for their pay from his gross receipts, there remains a sum of 50s. 4d. for his nett earnings for 69 hours' work, instead of 4 Is., an increase of more than 20 per cent., while the cost of the yarn is reduced I3d. per pound." The cost It is perhaps less easy to substitute of making railways machinery for manual labour in engineering reduced by im- work than in any other branch of industry. proved systems But even in the construction of railways, of working and labour has been greatly economised. mechanical ap- In Denmark the cost of constructing railpliances. Mrwan. ways has been reduced by 35 per cent. This reduction is entirely due to the improved system of working introduced by Mr. Rowan, the engineer, who has represented the firm of Peto, Brassey, and Betts, in their Danish contracts. Mr. Mr. Ballard, who has had great experience Ballard. in making railways in England, gives a DEAR LABOUR STIMULA TES INVENTION. 129 similar explanation of the reduction in the CHAP. V. cost of making railways. He says that in England, as abroad, contractors can now obtain the co-operation of much more experienced sub-contractors; and that the introduction of the locomotive has made it practiable to carry a load of earth to a greater distance for the same money. Mr. Wilcox, who has executed important Mr. Wilcox. contracts in Australia, in reply to the question as to whether it costs more to make a railway now than it did twenty years ago, replies:" I am' of opinion that railways are now made considerably cheaper, though the rate paid for labour has increased to the extent perhaps of fifteen or twenty per cent. Railways are now less costly, owing to the greater skill in construction, and from other appliances being so much employed to do work which was formerly performed only by the labour of men and horses." Mr. Nasmyth, in his evidence before the Mr. N asmyth Trades Unions Commissioners, described very on the increase graphically how the long strike of 1851 made of machinery him anxious to develop to the utmost the use K 130 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. of labour-saving machinery. "The great V. feature," he said, " of our modern mechanical after the strike of improvement has been the introduction of'i85- self-acting tools. All that a mechanic has to do, and which any lad is able to do, is, not to labour, but to watch the beautiful functions of the machine. All that class of men, who depended upon mere dexterity, are set aside altogether. I had four boys to one mechanic, By these mechanical contrivances I reduced the number of men in my employ I,500 hands, fully one half. The result was that my profits were much increased." Other With the increased use of machinery examples of reduc- labourers can now be employed to make tion of cost by the parts of locomotives which formerly could use of ma- only have been produced by skilled artisans. chinery. By these means, in one of the largest locomotive establishments in England, the cost of manufacturing a first-class engine and tender has been steadily diminished, and the re-manufacture of iron rails which, in i86o, cost 71. I5s. od. per ton, was reduced in eight years to 71. os. 2d. per ton. In both cases the old rails were charged at the same price per ton. DEAR LABO UR STIMULATES INVENTION. I 3I In the opinion of Mr. Charles Manby, the CHAP. V. price of locomotives is 72 per cent. less Mr. than it was, having been reduced on the Manby's average, say from 2,600o. to 2,300o. There rience. have been no changes in the rate of wages; but production is cheaper through the application of improved machinery. Formerly, the furnaces in use in our iron Mr. Lothian manufacture were constructed with little Bell on the imregard to economy of fuel; but Mr. Lothian provement of furnaces Bell says that, as soon as the cost of fuel inconsequence of increased, our manufacturers adopted the the high price o f best methods for the purification of the coal, fuel. and for its conversion into coke, for the use of waste heat from furnaces in driving machinery and for the use of the best furnace gases, and that 500,000 tons of coal are annually saved by these discoveries in the Cleveland district alone. Mr. Buddicom, an English locomotive Mr. Buddiengineer, who has had thirty years' experi- com on economy ence on the Continent, and who was at the of fuel in France. head of the Sotteville Works, a large establishment near Rouen, explains how the special difficulties with which they had to K2 132 WOR1K AND WAGES. CHAP. contend, have stimulated the ingenuity of V. French engineers: "Formerly, when I was actively engaged in locomotive building, greater study was given to save the consumption of fuel in the workshops in France than in England. Fuel was so expensive, it cost 25s. a ton, that before the drawings of any piece of machinery were completed, the question of the quantity of fuel necessary to be used in producing it was a consideration, and frequently the form or the method of construction originally proposed, underwent an entire modification, with a view to economize coal. I know that at one time my consumption of fuel for the manufacture of an engine did not exceed the cost of the fuel consumed in England; although the price of fuel in England was about one-third of the amount which we had to pay." ire. The following extracts from the evidence labour- of Mr. Hodges, who has had great experisaving processes ence in America, supply further illustrations and appliances in of the stimulus given to the inventive faculty, the United by the difficulty arising from the high price States. of labour and the dearness of raw materials. DEAR LABOUR STIMULATES IVVENTION. I33 "In America the leading wheels of the loco- CHAP. V. motives and all the wheels of the railway carriages are constructed of cast-iron; but the railway authorities of this country would not sanction the use of cast-iron for those purposes. It is doubtful, indeed, whether castiron wheels could be obtained in this country of such quality as to endure the wear and tear of railway traffic. In America cast-iron wheels are made of chilled iron, and they are found to answer the purpose admirably. At the commencement of the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada, a large quantity of castiron wheels were sent out from England, but it was found that they did not last. Wroughtiron wheels were then tried; but even these would not stand the work for which they were designed." "In America the climate presents peculiar American climate. difficulties. When the summer weather breaks up there is a month of continuous rain, followed by intensely severe frost. The effect of the changes of weather was to consolidate the sleepers upon which the rails were placed, and to convert the ballast into 134 WORK A.ND WAGES. an intensely hard mass, as rigid as the solid rock. When trains pass over a railway in this condition. a very severe jar is necessarily experienced causing exceptional wear and tear to the rolling stock. The Americans Ironwork. have been able to construct wheels of castiron, which will stand this; while we in England have scarcely been able to produce, even in wrought-iron, wheels which will endure the strain to which they are subjected in America. Again, Americans have displayed marvellous energy in the construction of all light machinery." "The United States ironmasters have made wonderful strides, and their axles are amazingly strong, they are better than English axles. There is now a large manufactory at Montreal for axles, and their castings are admirable. Take, for example, such simple things as rain-water pipes. They are beautifully cast. You see them scarcely more than the eighth of an inch thick. We should have them five times as thick." " In cast-iron they beat us out of the market. The superior quality of their cast-iron is due DEAR LABO UR STIMULATES INVENTION. 135 to their great skill in mixing the ores. The CHAP. V. extreme cost of labour is the reason why they make these things of cast-iron." " The construction of rolling stock formed a part of the contract for the Grand Trunk Railway, and when the contractors were about to establish workshops for the purpose of constructing carriages and other rolling stock, two clever mechanics were sent through the United States to examine the principal establishments in which similar railway stock was constructed. Although these men represented, as it were, a competition in trade, they were extremely well received wherever they went. They were freely supplied with drawings of all the most successful -machines, and with every information necessary to enable them to set up similar apparatus. Every well tried laboursaving machine was introduced into our workshops. In England, in 1$53, there were no morticing machines, and no planing machines such as we now see in every wellfurnished establishment; but they had all 136 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. those machines in Canada supplied from V. V- hAmerican manufacturers." Mr. Hodges, while speaking in commendatory terms of the ingenuity displayed by the Americans in the contrivance of all light machinery, is of opinion that in the construction of machinery for undertaking heavy work, England has carried the palm against every other nation. Mfr. Mr. Alfred Field told the Committee on Field on labour- Scientific Education that, in the United saving machinery in States, a workman in the hardware trade the hardware earns double the daily wages of an English manufacture in the workman; but labour-saving appliances have United States. been brought to such perfection that in twenty-five classes of hardware goods, the United States are able to export largely into countries in which the pay of artisans is scarcely a quarter of the wage paid in America. They send their spades, shovels, axes, coopers' tools, and pumps to England; although raw material and wages are twice as dear in the United States as in England. The rates of wages ordered for farmlabourers at the Labour Exchange in San DEAR LABOUR STIMULATES INVENTION. I 37 Francisco, in September I870, were during CHAP. V. the winter season from 5/. to 6/. per ~ High month and food and lodging found, and agricultural from 8/. to 91. and food and lodging found, wages in California during harvest. The wages of operatives in have led to the inCalifornia were still more in advance of the creased use of marates paid in other States of the Union. Ob- chinery. serve the effect of these extreme prices for labour. "The number of farm labourers required in this state," says Mr. Booker, "is less in proportion to the land cultivated than in any other part of the Union. It probably does not exceed one hand to Ioo acres. Every agricultural operation is performed by machinery. A great deal of soil is light, permitting the use of gang ploughs, and on the lightest lands the seed is distributed by the plough in front of the shares. Nothing more is done until the grain is ready for the sickle, when the reaping machine is used, and the threshing machine follows it." The recently published Blue Book on the The use of machinery tenure of land in foreign countries is a com- and cost of labour in pilation of immense value, and does honour Russia and California to the diplomatic service of this country. It compared. 138 WORK AND LABOUR. CHAP. contains most interesting illustrations of the V. V- -f laws which govern the labour question. I have already, by numerous examples, endeavoured to show that where labour is cheapest, the indifference to labour-saving machinery is most conspicuous; and that where labour is dearest it is most effectually economised. These axioms are strikingly illustrated by a comparison of the agriculture of Russia and Prussia with the agriculture of the United States and of those European countries in which labour is most liberally paid. To give a single example of this contrast of labourers to land in Russia, the proportion is one man to every I I2 acres. In Pennsylvania two men by the year, with two others during the harvest, will do the whole of the work on a farm of Ioo acres. Labour- In the United States the application of machiney labour-saving machinery to agricultural operain United States. tions is increasing every year. The number of patents issued for agricultural implements was, in I847, 43; in 1863, 390; in 1864, 563; in I866, 1,778; and in 1867, I,800. A few years ago Mr. McCormack, at DEAR LABOUR STIMULATES INVENTION. I 39 Chicago, had already made 8o,ooo reaping CHAP. machines. In spite of the great difference in the rate of wages in favour of the continental producers, Messrs. Ransom and Sims are, and have long been exporting agricultural implements on a large scale to Russia, Japan, China, Hungary, Austria and Turkey. Though in articles of iron we enjoy a pre-eminence over the rest of the world, in machines in which wood is more used the Americans compete with England successfully. They export a large number of reaping machines to Austria and to England. Wood's grass mower, an American machine, is much used in this country, and their horsepower machines are generally much cheaper than ours. They have an advantage in an abundant supply of cheap wood. But their skill in contriving machines for the purpose of working up wood into articles useful for men has enabled them to overcome the difficulties of high priced labour in competition with other countries in which much lower rates of wages prevail. 140 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. In English agriculture the rise of wages V. has been considerable. It was recently The rise in agri- stated by Mr. C. S. Read, M.P., that " within cultural wages and the last twenty years the remuneration of in rents in agricultural labourers had increased about England hasled to 35 per cent. In i85, in the six counties in an increase of which agricultural wages are the lowest, the chinachinery. average was 7s. id. per week. The wages in Dorsetshire, where the lowest rate is still paid, are now Ss. In the Cotswold they range from Ios. to I4S., and in Northumberland from I3s. to I 5s. Farmers on light arable soils pay a higher rent per acre than they did twenty years ago. Then they paid 25s., now it costs them 35s., he did not get off under 40s." I have quoted numerous examples to show how much dear labour stimulates invention, and how indifferent men become to the value of mechanical appliance when manual labour is very cheap. As an amusing instance of the incapacity of unskilful men in its most exaggerated form, I may mention a case which occurred. in Jamaica, on the only railway which has been executed in that island. The usual DEAR LABOUR STIMULATES INVENTION. I4 1 plant required for the construction of the CHAP. V. railway had been sent out, and the native ^ —" labourers were supplied with barrows for the purpose of removing the earth. When these men began to work they were so ignorant of the mechanical advantages to be derived from the use of the barrow, that they placed these vehicles, laden with earth, upon the top of their heads: and it was not without much expostulation that the English foremen were enabled to induce them to try the effect of placing the barrow on a plank, and wheeling instead of carrying the load. It is by improved methods of husbandry, and by superior machinery alone, that agriculturists are enabled to pay higher wages and higher rents and yet obtain a moderate return on their capital, and some remuneration for their scientific education and personal attention to their business. An examination of these remarkable illustrations of the ingenuity of man, when his powers are developed by difficulties, confirms the opinion already expressed that the productive powers of the different nations are :'42 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. more equal than might have been expected. V. y Dear labour is the great obstacle to the extension of British trade. But we see how the cheap labour at the command of our competitors seems to exercise the same enervating influence as the delights of Capua on the soldiers of Hannibal. [ I43 ] CHAPTER VI. HOURS OF LABOUR. I HAVE said that the mere rate of daily CHAP. VI. wages affords no indication of the cost of executing work. It is equally true that The number of the hours of labour are no criterion of the hours per day no amount of work performed. In 1842 Messrs. measure Messrs. of the Hornby, at Blackburn, made a calculation that amount of work. even if their operatives were paid the same sum for working sixty as for working sixty-nine hours per week, the increased cost would be so small, as not to be weighed in the balance against the advantage to the operatives themselves of a larger amount of leisure. More MM. recently, MM. Dollfus of Mulhausen reduced Dollfus. the working hours of their establishment from twelve hours to eleven hours per day, and promised the men that no reduction should I44 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. be made in their wages, if they performed VI. ------ the same quantity of work. After a month had elapsed it was found that the men did, in eleven hours, not only as much work but five per cent. more than they had previously performed in a day of twelve hours. South Miners work on the average twelve hours Wales. a day in South Wales and only seven hours in the north of England; and yet Mr. G. Elliott, M.P., has found that the cost of getting coals in Aberdare is twenty-five per cent. more than it is in Northumberland. Russia. " In Russia, the peasantry begin to work in summer," says Mr. Michell, "at 2 A.M., when working for themselves, and finish at 9 P.M., with periods of rest equal to two or three hours, leaving from sixteen to seventeen hours' work per day. Persons competent to form an opinion consider that an English farm labourer would do the work of two Russian labourers-the latter working sixteen and the former only ten hours." In the foregoing case greater diligence, when at work, has enabled the energetic and laborious Englishman, to do more work in a HOURS OF LABOUR. 145 shorter time than the Russian peasant, with cHAP. VI. whom he has been compared. Unless there be this superior vigour and industry, a reduc- TEnglish workmen tion of hours is only an increase of wages in must not allow another form. It is possible that the work- the cost of labour in man may be justified in demanding such an England to exceed increase; and assuming that the profits of the cost abroad. trade do justify a rise of wages, there cannot be a more legitimate mode of raising wages than by reducing the working hours. But it must be remembered that trades, which can only flourish by successful competition with the foreigner, must, to a certain extent, be regulated with reference to rules established abroad. In the United States the usual hours of labour are ten hours a day. In Germany, France, and on the Continent generally, the working hours are longer than with us. The British workman must take care that he does not, by working shorter hours, so increase the cost of production, that competition with foreign industry becomes impossible. A reduction in the hours of labour does not necessarily involve a corresponding reL 146 WORK AND WA GES. CHAP. duction of work performed. A little more VI. diligence will easily enable a workman to get through as much work in nine hours as in ten hours. On railways many opportunities have occurred of ascertaining to what extent the amount of work executed in a day, is regulated by an extension or a reduction in the hours of labour. On the Paris and Rouen line, the Frenchmen were in the habit of coming to work in the summer at five in the morning, and they left off at seven in the evening. The Englishmen never came to work before six, and always left off at half-past-five: but the amount of work executed by the Englishmen in the shorter time was much greater than the amount of work executed by the Frenchmen, notwithstanding the longer hours in which they laboured. During the construction of the Trent Valley line, immense efforts were made to complete the work in the shortest possible time, and in order to expedite to the utmost degree the completion of the station at HOURS OF LABOUR. I47 Atherstone, two shifts of men were employed CHIAP. VI. on the building, each of them working eight -- hours a day. It was found that each shift, although working for only eight hours did more work in a day than other men employed for the full number of hours which at that time constituted a day's work, viz. ten hours per day. A very recent illustration of the increased diligence with which men are wont to labour when their hours of work are reduced, has been brought to my knowledge by Mr. Biddle, the manager of the large establishment of Messrs. Ransome and Sims at Ipswich, in which 1,200 artisans are employed. On January 2 of the present year, the hours of work were reduced from 58.- hours to 54 hours a week. But the men working the engineer's tools have so successfully striven to protect themselves against the risk of diminution of wages from the nine hours' movement when employed in doing piece work, that the power required to work L2 148 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. the tools has actually been increased from VI. twelve to fifteen per cent. With regard to vice work, all of which is done by hand, the operatives execute quite as much as in the previous longer hours. In the blacksmiths' shop, where there is a great variety of work, the men are in every case making equally good wages on the old piece-work prices. The same remark applies to the iron moulders. Solution Turning from these significant facts to the of the difficulty general question of the combination of human in relays ofmechan- labour with machine power, it will not be ics. denied that it is impossible for the human machine to keep pace with machinery made of brass and iron. But why should not a machine, which never tires, be tended by two or three artisans, relieving each other, as one watch relieves another on board ship? In driving the machinery of steam ships it has been found necessary, on all long voyages, to have three sets of engineers and firemen. Why should not the day be divided into three periods of eight hours, or the working day be extended to sixteen hours-two sets HOURS OF LABOUR. 149 of men being employed? The change arising CHAP. VI. from the increasing use of machinery seems to render corresponding modifications in the application Of labour to industrial production essential. I am aware that my solution of the diffi- Mr. Alexander on culty is not universally, nor perhaps gene- "Relays." rally, approved by practical men. The following remarks by Mr. Alexander, whose name has been already mentioned, very forcibly and clearly set forth the arguments of those who are opposed to a change in the present system. "' With reference to increasing the productive power of plant by working it on the'relay' system, there are two suggestions, which may be offered in support of the idea that such a scheme will not prove so remunerative as might be anticipated. In the first place, it is unnatural. It is true that our systems have changed greatly since the'good old times' when we were told that'the night cometh when no man can work.' But still the fact remains that up till now men love the daylight rather than darkness, and moreover require (a fact to be noted by 150 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. the political economist) considerably increased VI. wages when on night shifts than when on day duty." Extra "The amount varies from twenty-five to wages on night fifty per cent. in excess of the ordinary wages. shifts." A very serious addition; and this must therefore be set against any advantage gained by the more continuous application of fixed capital to the powers of machinery. Again, I have found practically that the system is not conducive to economical maintenance of machinery. A good workman comes to like-shall I say love-the machine which seems to share his labour. A workman in comfortable circumstances-and no true workman should be otherwise-learns to appreciate the merits of the machine entrusted to his care; and I have heard him bewail the short-sighted policy of its owner who stinted it in needful repairs, or insisted on administering cheaper and inferior oil, with the same kind of pathetic sorrow with which we may hear a mother regretting her inability to procure suitable medicine for an ailing child. Now this kindly and excellent HOURS OF LABOUR. 1 5 feeling, based on admiration and support to CHAP. VI. something dependent, is completely broken down by handing over special machines to the care of several'people. No doubt it has been and must be done in certain cases. On the Metropolitan and North London Omnibus Railways, for instance, where'omnibus' trains. trains run at short intervals continued for a number of hours, no other plan so economical could probably be adopted. But I speak from experience when I say, generally, that engineering machines entrusted to different workmen are not nearly so well kept as when each has his machine under his peculiar care, and that'break-downs' and damage are much more frequent. Indeed, unless there be a minute inspection at each change, which is nearly impracticable in a large establishment, it becomes very difficult to fix the responsibility for the deterioration which occurs upon anyone in particular." I know my correspondent to be a practical man, and I am moved by the eloquence of his appeal; but in deciding these disputed questions impartiality is essential, in order to 152 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. form a sound opinion; and I am therefore VI. disposed to adhere to my own suggestion in favour of the system of relays of mechanics to tend machinery. There are difficulties in every system, but the relay system seems the best way of applying the exhaustible powers of man to the inexhaustible machine. The leisure which they enjoy is the highest privilege of the wealthy. The want of opportunity for thought and cultivation is the greatest privation of those who are compelled to pass the greater portion of their M. Jules lives in manual or in mental toil. In the Simon on Labour. eloquent language of M. Jules Simon, in his essay on Labour: "Cette condition parait assez dure. Ce n'est pas a cause du travail, dont personne ne se plaint, ni a cause de la privation du superflu; c'est parce que dans une vie ainsi faite il ne reste pas de place pour l'etude, pour la possession de soi-meme. Ce besoin d'etudier et de penser n'existe pas partout, meme en France. I1 faut pour l'eprouver une certaine elevation de sentiment, autrefois rare, aujourd'hui presque universelle, au moins dans les grands centres HOURS OF LABOUR. I53 de population. A quoi tient ce changement? CHAP. VI. Au progres gendral, aux merveilles scientifiques accomplies chaque jour sous les yeux de la foule, a l'augmentation de bien-etre resultant de l'augmentation du nombre des produits manufactures, a une instruction plus etendue et plus repandue, a l'orgueil legitime inspire par les souvenirs de la Revolution et par la possession des droits politiques." The demand for a larger share in the intellectual enjoyments of life is a necessary result of the diffusion of education among the masses of the people. But the workmen must recognise the necessity of developing to the utmost their energy and their skill, in order to justify a demand for diminished hours of labour in an industry in which the profits of the employers are already so moderate that they cannot be further reduced without altogether preventing the investment of the capital in the business. dP~ [ I54 ] CHAPTER VII. RISE OF WAGES ABROAD. CHAP. WILL next proceed to examine the statements, widely circulated and Have largely accepted by the public, to the effect wages risen more that there has been a greater advance in the rapidly in thglan in wages of operatives in recent years in other countries? England, than in the corresponding period abroad. If it were true that the workmen in union possessed a great power which they could not exercise without the aid of their trade combinations, the development of these societies would become a question of the utmost gravity to the commercial interests of the country. I have, therefore, thought it most important to ascertain how far the statements which have gained credence are RISE OF WAGES ABROAD. 155 justified by facts. For the purpose of eluci- CHAP. VII. dating this portion of the subject under discussion, I have obtained tabulative statements extending over the last sixteen years, and showing the comparative rate of wages in several important manufacturing establishments in this country, in which many of the workmen employed belonged to the much dreaded Trades Unions. Full and accurate information on the actual rate and progressive increase of wages' abroad, where Trades Unions until very recently did not exist, is contained in the valuable Reports on these subjects which were specially made to Lord Stanley by the Secretaries of Embassy and Legation. I will begin by stating how, the Wages of mechanics case stands as regards the engineering trade in England. in England. In this trade since I852, there has been no augmentation until quite recently in the wages earned by the operatives. The reason is obvious. The rate of wages in England is limited by the necessity of competition with the foreign manufacturers. Employers in England, as elsewhere, only employ labour on the assumption that they I56 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. can realize a profit by their business; and in VII. the engineering trade, in consequence of the impossibility of increasing the cost of production without losing our trade in the neutral markets, it has not until lately been possible to make an advance of wages. On the other hand, the active competition between the numerous body of manufacturers in the country has reduced profits to a rate so moderate that, if it were to be further reduced, the trade would no longer offer any Wages at inducement for the investment of capital. I the Canada give in a tabular form a statement of the'worls. wages at the Canada Works at Birkenhead, since the formation of that establishment. The average number of hands on the books is 6oo; a sufficient number to afford a fair opportunity of testing the average wages in the mechanical trades throughout the country. It will be seen, on examination of the table, that there has been no appreciable improvement in the rates of pay in recent years. RISE OF WAGES ABROAD. 1 57 Average Rates of Wages Paid to Skilled Workmen at the Canada Works, Birkenhead. 1854 1855 1856 T857 I858 I859 i86oI86i I862 863 1864 1865 i866 1867 186818i69 s. d. s. d. s. d. s.d. s. d. s.d. s.d. s.d. s. d. s.d. s.d. s.d. s.d. s.d. s.d. s.d. Fitters. 29 o0 28 3 29 030 628 10 27 6 27 6 27 0 27 IO 28 0 28 0 28 I 3I O 32 6 3I O 30 0 Turners.. 29 4 30 3 3 33 33 0 3I 6 3 o0 320 3 632 0 36 6 3I 5 3I 6 3I 30 0 29 4 Coppersmiths 3I 6 30 10 28 10 29 0 28 0 30 0 310 29 6 28 6 28 I 31 6 31 7 32 6 32 0 32 O 30 9 Grinders. 27 027 027 0 24 o 24 0' 22 26 0 25 6 27 0o 27 6 276 32 o 28 6 32 O 26 6 23 0 Smiths.... 3 3I 5132 0 31 0 30 029 6 30 3 30 0 29 6 31 0 30 6 30 3 31 9 32 9 31 6 30 0 Boiler Smiths. 34 o 34 035 34 o0 32 6 33 0 33 8 33 32 6 33 0 33 0 34 6 36 o 37 o 36 o 36 o Bricklayers.. 34 o 34 0 34 344 o 3 4 34 0 3 4 o 0 34 3 3 4 34 3 4 0 34o Saddlers and6 Bedltaers a 26 0'27o26 2607 026 o 270 27 027 027 270 25 6 24 o 24 25 260 Belt Makers i Forgemen.. 6637 036 0 336 - 330 36 0 35 6350 34 33 0 32 9 33 0 32 6 32 6 Painters... 24 023 o024 0 26 0 26 6 25 0 27 0 26 0 25 6 25 6 25 8 26 6 27 6 24 6 24 0 23! Moulders.. 32 01 3 6 33 0 33 0 32 0 3I 6 31 6 32 6 32 0 32 6 33 33 0 32 9 34 6 34 2 3I 6 JoinersandPat' I 8 oiners andkPat- 28 o 128 6 29 0 28 2 27 6 29 0 129 6 30 0 6 229 6 29 30 0 30 6 3 4 30 9 30 tern Makers;I I Boiler Makers. 3 [ 3I 6! 31 o 31 6 31 0 31 6 3 3I 9 34 2 3 32 32 Again, the experience of the same estab- CHAP. VII. lishment is equally conclusive in proof of the Supply opinion that the rate of wages is regulated and demand. of necessity by the ratio between the supply of labour and the demand; and that when the supply exceeds the demand, wages must inevitably fall, if the depression in trade is long protracted. During the contraction of trade consequent upon the late financial crisis, the price of piece-work had been reduced at the Canada Works sufficiently to allow of the construction of locomotives and bridge work at a cheaper rate than at any 158 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. time during the last fifteen years; thus fully VII. confirming the opinion that Trades Unions can never succeed in advancing wages, except when the prospects of trade are favourable. Wages on On the other hand, the advanced rate of the hontinent wages abroad proves that, through the dehave risen more velopment of manufacturing industry, the rapidly tEnganin wages of the working classes have risen more rapidly than in any branch of industry Partly in in this country. The rise of wages abroad consequence of iS mainly caused by increased demand for the greater rise of labour; but it is partly due to the augmented prices. cost of living. Mr. Fane. In France, Belgium, and Prussia, the three great competing countries with England, prices are from twenty to thirty per cent. dearer than twenty years ago; and this increase in the cost of living tells immediately upon the price of all labour, especially of common or unskilled labour. In France, twenty years ago, labourers were content to work for is. 6d. a day. At the present time, from 2s. 2d. to 2S. 4d. is the ordinary rate ot pay. Mr. Fane says, in his report to Lord Stanley, that "the general rate of money RISE OF WA GES ABROAD. 159 wages in France has increased about forty CHAP. VII. per cent. in the last fifteen years, in those industries which compete with foreigners in the neutral markets. This. rise in the money wages has been accompanied by a considerable rise in the price of food and clothing; still, the relative proportions in which money wages and the price of commodities have risen, leave a margin in favour of the former." Mr. Wells attributes the rise in the price Increase of manuof agricultural labour in France and Germany factures has raised to the drain which is constantly taking place agricultural wages. from the rural districts into the towns. The Mr. Wells. increase of manufacturing industry has caused much embarrassment to agriculture, and a further supply of labour from the same source can only be obtained by the payment of higher wages. There cannot be a doubt that the same observation is equally applicable to Warwickshire at the present time. In the famous engine building establish- Rise of Wages at ment at Creuzot, founded by the father of Creuzot, Mr. Charles Manby, I o,ooo persons are now employed, and the annual expenditure in i 60 WORK AND WA GES. CHAP. wages amounts to 400,0001. Mechanics were VII. paid, when the establishment was first created, at the rate of 21 francs a day. At the present time none receive less than 5 francs a day. Between I850 and I866, the mean rate advanced from 2s. to 2S. IId. per head, or thirty-eight per cent., and some men earned from 6s. 8d. to 8s. 4d. per day. In addition to their money wages, great facilities are given to the workpeople, at the expense of the proprietors, for feeding, clothing, and educating themselves and their families: 700 families of the operatives are lodged by the company at fifty per cent. below the normal rate of house rent, and 700 gardens are let at the nominal rent of 2 francs per annum. Compare what has occurred in this country with what has taken place at MM. Schneider's, at Creuzot, and it will be clearly proved, as I think, how small is the power of a Trades Union in comparison with the natural effects of an increasing trade and increasing competition among masters for the supply of labour. At MM. Schneider's, without the assistance of a Trades Union, the working people RISE 01 WAGES ABROAD. i 6i have obtained, during the last seventeen CHAP. years, an augmentation of wage of thirtyeight per cent. In England, in the corresponding period, the most powerful of all the Trade Societies, with an accumulated fund of I49,ooo000., has found it impossible to secure any increase in the earnings of its members. I shall next refer to the case of the tailoring Wages of tailors in trades. At the military clothing establish- ParisM. Dusanment of M. Dusautoy, in Paris, there are toy. 3,300 persons employed, 800 of them being men, 2,oo00 women, and 500 children. The amount of wages paid in I866 amounted to 1oo,oool. in the year. The daily wages for men ranged from 3s. 4d. to 8s. 4d.; while in London the rate is stated by Professor Levi, in his essay on the wages and earnings of the working classes, to be from 4s. to 7s. At M. Dusautoy's, women earn from 2-2 to 4 francs a day. In London the wages of girls are Is., and of women employed as seamstresses from 2S. to 2s. 6d. a day. The children at M. Dusautoy's earn from i to 2 francs a day. In London their wages would be about Is. M 162 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. In France machine tools are made to the VII. Y value of 2,000,000 of francs annually; but, Rsgesnof though the raw materials used are much machinetool cheaper since the negotiation of the Treaty of Commerce with this country, the selling price continues the same, owing to the increasing dearness of labour. Rise of In Italy since I86i wages have risen conwages in Italy; siderably, in some trades to the extent of thirty to fifty per cent. It has been stated that in Sicily, since 8650, the pay of the working classes has doubled. A field labourer in that island now earns from Is. 4d. to 2S. 8d. a day. In Lower Silesia the rates of wages have doubled generally within the memory of the older workmen. At the great zinc works in known as the Vielle Montagne near Liege, Belgium. where 6,500 hands are employed, in twelve years the wages have increased forty-five per cent. It is therefore clear that the difficulties of the labour question are likely to be felt quite as severely on the Continent as in this country, and that they will hereafter increase in proportion to the increase of continental production. RISE OF WAGES ABR0OAD. 163 Wages in England would have risen to a far CHAP. VII. higher scale than has hitherto been reached; The rise unless the enlightened policy of free trade in England would had been adopted, and the improved corn- have been greater munications both by sea and land had given without free trade, increased facilities for the importation of cattle and other supplies from distant countries. A perusal of the following statement of the prices of provisions in the rural districts of Staffordshire will show how much has been accomplished by our liberal fiscal policy in reducing the cost of the necessaries of life. The question of rent is inferior only in its A rise of wages in importance to the domestic economy of the London inevitable, working man to the price of food. Owing to the great rise in rents and the increased burdens of taxation in London during the last twenty years, an advance of wages was inevitable. The working classes have been subjected to most serious inconvenience by the demolition of whole suburbs by railway companies. In a debate in the House of Lords on the Artisans and Labourers Dwellings Bill, Lord Chelmsford said that the poorer descriptions M 2 164 WORK AND WAGES. Statement of Prices of Provisions (Relail) extracted from the. Books 1849 1850 i85i 8852 8853 8854 1855 i856 1857 i858 I ~ s. d. ~ s. d. ~ s. d. ~ s. d. ~ s. d. ~ s. d. ~. d. ~ s. d. ~ s.d.! ~, s.del. Flour per sack I iI 6 I 7 0 o z 0 0 15 6 2 2 6 2 5 0 2 2 6 i 8 6 I o 6 Cheese per lb. o o 6 o o 6~ o o 61o o 6 o o 60 o 0 7 o o 7 o o008 o o 9 o o 8 Butterditto. o 2 0 I 3 oI 012 01 2 o I 4 01o 4 014 014 0 1 4 Bacon ditto. oo 8 o 70 o 8 70 08 0 o 7 0o o 8 0o o 81 o 9 o o 8 Tea ditto 0o 5 o o 5 0 o 5 0 o 5 o o 5 o 0 5 o o 5 o 0o 5 o 0 5 0 0 4 8 Coffee ditto o I 6 o 0 6 o 1 4 o 0 4 o I 4 o I 4 o 0 4 0 I 4 0 I 4 0 I 4 Sugarditto o0 0 5 o o 0 0 5 0 0 5 0 0 5 0 0 5 o o 60 o o 6 Candles ditto. o o 6 0 0 o 7o 0 5 0 o o 0 7 0 0 7o o o0 7 o Soap ditto. o 5loo6 o o 5o 0 50 o 05 0 o 5 o o0 5 o o o o 404 o 0 4 I Beef ditto.. o0 7 oo 6 o o oo 6 75007 o 0 7o o o 7500 o 700 o 7 Mutton ditto 0 o 61o o6 o o 6 o o 6 o007 o o 7 0 0 7 10 0 7 10 0 71 0 7 Bread ditto. 0 0 0 0 1oJ T00 o o1 0 0 Ii o o 0 0 210 0 1 0 0 2~ 0 0 15 o o I CHAP. of property in London were daily increasing VII. in value, and he referred, among other evidence, to the report of the Rev. Mr. Andrews, Incumbent of St. Luke's, King's Cross, in which it was stated that the Midland Company had demolished 275 houses in his parish, and that the population had been reduced from St. 8,050 to 3,800. In Old St. Pancras 750 Pancras. Pancras. houses had been pulled down and 1,8oo persons ejected. The rents in that neighbourhood had risen in consequence twenty per Law cent. On the site selected for the Law Courts. Courts 206 houses, containing 1, 20 families, had been demolished. Sir I am informed by Sir Sydney Waterlow, Sydney Waterlow. that in London, working men, earning from RISE OF WAGES ABROAD. T65 of Mr. George Dix, Grocer and General Dealer, May 26, i869. 1859 i86o i86i 1862 1863 1864 1865 i866 1867 i869 1869 ~ s. d. ~ s. d. ~ s. d. ~ s. d. ~ s. d. ~ s. d. ~ s. d. ~ s. d. ~ s. d. ~ s. d. ~ s. d. I 9 76 I 14 0I i6 6I io o I 0 o 1 0 I o o 0 14 6 2 o 6 230 2150 71o o 8: o 8o o 0 7+ 0 0 7 0o o 8 o o 8 o o Io o 0 9 0 0 7o0 0 8o 0 I 4 0 I 4 0 I 4 0 I 3 0 I 3 0 I 4 0 I 5 0 I 6 0 I 31 0 I 6 0 I 6 o o 8 o o 81 o o 9 o o 8 o o 8 o o 8 o 0 9 o o 9 o o o o o 8~ o o o 0 4 6 0 4 6 8 4 6 9 4 0 8 4 0 8 3 8 0 3 8 0 3 8 0 3 6 0 3 6 0 3 6 046046046 040 040 038 038 038036036036 02 14 0 1 4 0 I 4 0 I 4 0 I 4 013:4 0 I 4 0 1 4 0 I 4 0 1 4 0 I 4 00 500 54 00 5+ 00 5+ 0 05 0 05 00 5 0 05 00 41 00 40 0O 4 0 0 7 0 07 7: 0 0 67 3 o o 6 o o 60,o o 6 o o 6.o o 60 o o 610 0 4 0 0 41 0 0 4 0 0 4 0 0 4o 0 0 4+ 0 0 4 0 0 4 4 00 4 0 0 4 0 0 4 0 0 7 0 0 7o0 0 0 0 O 8 0 0 ol0 0 7io0 0 80o 0 8 0 0 7+0 o 0 o 8i 0 I040 0 7+0 0 7I 0 0 I7+0 0 II+0 0 8Io 0 8 0 0 8+0 0 70 0 o o:7 o o~ 7.f o 7~/ o o 7~1 o o 7~ o IQo o I o o 8~) o o 7~ o a o o ot o o 0: 0o o I0 o o I~ o o I 00 00 00 00 0 2 0 o o2 o I 5s. to 40s. per week, pay on the average one CHAP.' ~~~~~~~~VII. day's wages in rent; that below 25s. per week, this proportion is rather more than less; and that the increase in the latter case, during the last twenty years, has ranged from twenty to thirty per cent., chiefly owing to the augmented local taxation which, in the case of the labouring classes, is now not less, on the average, than one fifth of their rent. L I66 ] CHAPTER VIII. COMPARISON OF THE COMMERCIAL PROGRESS OF rVA TIONS. CHAP TH E relative progress of the export VIII. VIII. -j trade is the most reliable standard by Ouxlor which the cost of production in different export crmpared countries may be compared. If we apply with that this test to our own case, we shall find no couhtries. reason to complain of the measure of success which has attended British enterprise in competition with foreign industry. In the long period of depression which followed upon the panic of 1866, we were told by many who doubted the recuperative powers of English industry, that we should never again recover our former prosperity; and that foreign competitors had driven us from the field never to return again. The COM.PARISON OF THE PROGRESS OF NA TI ONS. I 67 marvellous commercial activity of the last CHAP. VIII. years must have dispelled these misgivings, -—' and should make our toiling millions and their employers grateful for the measure of success which has attended British enterprise, in competition with foreign industry. While the more recent revival of our trade must be admitted to be highly satisfactory; yet when we look back upon the commercial success of England through an extended cycle of years, the growth of our trade becomes still more remarkable. In I 8oo, according to a calculation by M. Chemin Dupontes, the entire exports of the Western nations, including the United States, to and from the East, amounted in value to I6,ooo,oool. sterling, while the total value of the trade between the West and East in i 860 amounted to I 12,000,0o00. sterling; and this large sum was again increased in i866 to I6I,ooo,oool. sterling, the increase being in round numbers 49,ooo,0ooo. The whole of the recent gain has been secured by Great Britain; and if a comparison be made between England and France for the entire period, it appears that, while in the last sixty i68 WORK AND TIAGES. CHAP. years the trade of England to the East has VIII. - ~ increased tenfold, that of France has not even doubled. General The recent valuable work of Professor growth of trade. Leone Levi furnishes conclusive evidences of Professor the growth of our commercial prosperity. The superiority of England over every competitor in the industrial field is sufficiently proved by the proportion of our exports per head of the population. In England the rate is 6/. 3s. 2d., while in France it is only 2/. I8s. 3d., and in Italy I/. 4s. 8d. The general result of the progress of British commerce is summarised in the following recital of the principal achievements of the past century:In 1763 the population probably was 10,000,000. In I870 it was 31,000,000, showing an increase of 326 per cent. But if the population has increased three times, the imports have increased thirty times, namely, from I o,ooo,ooo.0 to 303,0ooo0,0oool0/.; the exports nearly twenty times, namely, from I3,000,000.ooo to 244,000,000ooo.; the navigation of ports fifteen times, namely, from I,500,000 COMPARISON OF THE PROGRESS' OF NA TIONS. 169 tons, to 36,ooo,ooo tons; and the shipping CVHAP. belonging to the kingdom fourteen times, ~.. namely, from 550,000 tons to 7, 00,000 tons. The whole trade of the kingdom actually doubled itself during the last fifteen years, having grown from 260,0oo00,ooo000. in I855, to 547,000,0001. in 1870. The sum invested in railways in 1845 was Investments in 88,ooo,oool. In I870 the capital embarked railways the best amounted to 5 3o,ooo,ooo1. The increase evidence of our most fully demonstrates the growth of capital, prosperity. the vastness of our accumulations, and the extent of our industrial resources. During the last panic, ship-building on the Alleged, decay of Thames was almost entirely discontinued, shipbuilding The high wage paid to shipwrights in Enngland. London was assigned as the reason for the decay of their industry, and it was affirmed that our ship-builders were no longer able to build vessels as cheaply as their competitors abroad. I have spared no pains to test the value of these assertions, that were too readily believed by the credulous public; and the following statement embraces the more important results of the enquiry. I 70 WORK AND WAGES. cHAP. The fleet of the Austrian Lloyd's Company VIII. --— 1 contained 68,450 tons of shipping. Of this Austrian Lloyd's. total I7,705 tons were built at Trieste, 3,300 at Stettin, I,420 at New York, 33, io at Glasgow, 7,I70 in London, 2,580 at Newcastle, I,240 at Bristol, and 1,050 at Liverpool. Thus in round figures there were 44,000 tons of British-built shipping, out of an entire fleet of 68,450 tons. In Italy there were four companies receiving subsidies from the state for carrying the mails. The total tonnage of the vessels belonging to the four companies was 35,089 tons. Two vessels of the combined tonnage of I,150 tons were built at Marseilles, while all the other steamers were constructed in England. Azizieh The principal line of steamers subsidised Line. by the Egyptian Government, the Azizieh Line had (i.e. at the date of my enquiry two years ago) a fleet consisting of 3I,249 tons of shipping. Of this total, one ship of 2,617 tons was built in Austria, one of 750 tons in Holland, one of 300 tons in Antwerp; while all the other ships were built in England. In the port of Marseilles there were nume COMPARISON OF THE PROGRESS OF NA TIONS. 7 rous merchant steamers not subsidised by CHAP. VIII. the Government. Of the total tonnage, 20,290 tons were built in England, and only i6,467 tons in France. The fleet of the Messageries Imperiales Messageries Impe. possessed 50,547 tons of shipping. Since 1864 riales. no steamers had been built in England. Restrictions were imposed, as the condition of granting an increased subsidy, which compelled the company to build all their ships in France; but the fleet of the Messageries Imperiales still contains IO,420 tons of English built shipping. The Compagnie Transatlantique was not CompagnieTransat its first foundation precluded from purchas- atlantique. ing steamers abroad. Of their entire fleet, consisting of twenty-four ships, fifteen were built in England. The British Indian Steam Navigation British Steam Company, although an English Company, had Navigation Company. invited tenders from all the principal ship- Company. builders abroad, and they invariably went to the cheapest market. The total tonnage of their ships was 2 I, 75 9 tons. All were built in England, and all, with one exception, in the 1 72 WORK AND WAGES. cT-IAP. Clyde. The Netherlands India Company, a VIII. perfectly neutral company, and wholly free NetherlandsIndia from British proclivities, had a fleet of 7,875 Company. tons, but only two small vessels of that fleet were built in Holland. The remainder were from the Clyde. The line of steamers running from Hamburgh to New York included eleven vessels of a total tonnage of 22,000 tons. All but the Allemannia were built by Mr. Caird. North The fleet of the North German Lloyd's German Lloyd's Company, composed of thirteen vessels of Company. 26,000 tons, was constructed entirely by Mr. Caird. At Bordeaux, of the unsubsidised foreign going steamers, four were trading to Rotterdam and two to Amsterdam, under the Dutch flag; and nine vessels were trading to Hamburgh and Havre under the French flag. All these steamers were built in England. Rubattini MM. Rubattini & Cie. of Genoa, were & Co. building four steamers to trade between Genoa and India. Of these three were being constructed at Newcastle, and one in Glasgow. COMPARISON OF THE PROGRESS OF NA TIONS. 1 73 Another company had lately been formed CHAP. VIII. to run between Italy and the River Plate. - All their steamers were being built by Messrs. Dudgeon & Co. on the Thames. These examples are merely quoted as illustrations. The general result of the progress of ship-building in England is exhibited, though in less minute detail, in the Board of Trade return. In I86I 7,487 tons of shipping were built for foreigners. In 1863 the tonnage had increased to 17,320 tons, as compared with 365,000 tons built for the home trade. In 1868 the proportion built for foreigners was much larger, having increased to 46,ooo tons, as compared with 316,ooo tons built for the home trade. In conclusion, it may be affirmed that the opinion expressed by the Select Committee on Merchant Shipping of 186o is not less true at the present time than it was at the date when their report was written. It states that, in comparing the relative cost of the British shipping with that of all the various maritime countries with which we are engaged in the race of competition, there is no reason to doubt, when every point of com 174 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. parison is duly taken into consideration, that VIII. --- the first cost of building vessels is as low in this country as in any other; while it is undoubted that steamers can be built in the United Kingdom at much less comparative expense and greatly superior to any produced abroad. Thierson I have stated above that, in our recent the industrial commercial difficulties, the cry was too often situation in France, raised that our trade, which had temporarily January 1870. diminished, would never revive, and that our foreign competitors were about to establish an era of golden industry on the ruins of British industry. The speeches of M. Thiers and the Protectionists in the French Chamber as recently as I870, describe the condition of French industry in terms which give little occasion for envious feelings in the English reader. They say that in mixed woollen and cotton stuffs England had beaten France —that we produced Io,ooo,ooo tons of iron as contrasted with an annual production of i,ooo,ooo tons in France; that the French had no heavy goods to export; that having given up differential rates, they had COMPARISON OF THE PROGRESS OF NA TIOIVS. I75 to import all their colonial and eastern pro- CHAP. VIII. duce from England; and that the merchant - navy was rapidly decaying. Comparing the relative positions of England and France, in reference to cotton manufactures, M. Thiers stated that while England worked up 3,ooo,ooo, France only worked up from 6oo,ooo to 700,000 bales, and that the cost of production was from 15 to 20 per cent. less in England than in France. " It was," he said, "the cheap industry of Rouen which suffered most from English competition. The genius of England was for cheapnessthat of France for quality." The relative importance of the cotton Comparative manufacture in the different countries of number of spindlesEurope was also compared by M. de Forcade M. de Forcade. in the course of the same debate. His statement gave the following results, that England had 30,000,000 spindles, France 6,8oo,ooo, the Zollverein 2,500,000, Russia 1,800,00o, Austria I, 700,000, Switzerland I,500,000, Belgium 6oo,ooo, and Italy 450,000 spindles. The recent dullness of trade was not the I76 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. exceptional misfortune of this country. The VIII. same causes produced even more discouraging effects in those countries which are our most formidable competitors in commerce. It is not a little remarkable that a great part of the recent increase in our commerce has taken place in the iron trade, the branch of industry in which it had been alleged that the pressure of foreign competition had been, and would be, most particularly felt. On a general review of the subject, the profits of trade in England in the last quarter of a century cannot but be regarded as satisfactory. If the returns had been larger, employers would have encountered more severe competition; and though wages may be a little higher in England than abroad, our superior machinery and greater command of capital as yet compensate for the difference. The price Particular cases have from time to time of locomotlves not been quoted in the newspapers and elsegreater in England where in proof of the success, with which than abroad. foreigners have engaged in competition with our manufacturers in various branches of COMPA RISON OF THE PROGRESS OF NATIONS. I77 trade, and especially in the manufacture of CHAP. VIII. iron and machinery, in which we were formerly unrivalled. The experience of the Consulting Engineers of our Indian Railways does not by any means go to prove that foreign iron masters or engine builders can successfully compete with the English. Their experience, it may be added, is all the more valuable, because the Indian railways afford the most perfect example of a purely neutral market. There is no personal influence acting on the minds of Indian railway engineers and directors prejudicially to our interests; and no customs duties, which are protective to our manufacturers, are imposed upon the importation of our manufactures into India. The plant and machinery for the Indian railways are purchased in the cheapest market; and it is certain that the foreigner would be preferred regardless of national sympathies, if he could compete with the iron trade at home, either in quality or price. Let us then examine into the actual state of the N 178 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. facts, as regards the supply of rails and VIII. ----- locomotives to the Indian railways. I shall first appeal to the experience of Mr. A. M. Rendel. In November and December I865, tenders were invited by advertisement for a large number of locomotives for the East Indian Railway. Eminent foreign as well as English makers were free to compete, and twenty-two tenders were sent in. The result was, that eighty engines, varying in cost from 3,I651. to 2,4507., were ordered from English makers, at an average price of 2,600o. each; twenty from Kiessler, of Esslingen, near Stuttgart, at 2,5507. each; and twenty from an English maker, at 2,4401.; so that the foreign maker received a price intended to be intermediate between those of the English makers. It ought to be mentioned that at the date when the order was given, English houses were full of work. Not long afterwards, in consequence of the rapid development of traffic on the East Indian Railway, it became a matter of urgent importance to send out additional locomotives as early as possible. Accord COMPA RISON OF THE PROGRESS OF NA TIONS. 1 79 ingly ten more engines were ordered from CHAP. VIII. an English firm at the price agreed upon in the first tender, viz., 2,450o.; and ten more were ordered from Esscher, Weiss, and Co., of Zurich, who undertook to make them for 2,5501. each, the price which had been previously accepted by the other foreign makers. At the termination, however, of their contract, Esscher, Weiss, and Co. made a representation to Mr. Rendel that they had sustained a loss, and asked to be allowed by way of compensation, to make ten more engines of the same kind, but at the enhanced price of 2,8001. It is therefore evident that in the results of their competition with the English makers, who were under no pressure in regard to price, all the shops being so full of work that early delivery was an impossibility, Esscher, Weiss, and Co. had little cause for satisfaction. Indeed, they admitted a substantial loss. But, even if this contract had been more satisfactory to Esscher, Weiss, and Co. than it actually proved, their success would have been largely due to British industry; seeing that N2 I 80 WORK AAN~D VWAGES. CHAP. the boiler plates, the copper fire-boxes, the VIII. wheels, the pig-iron for the cylinders, the tubes, and the frame plates (in short, twothirds of the materials used in the construction of their engines,) came from England in a manufactured state. It was the same with the engines supplied by Kiessler. That firm assured Mr. Rendel that they could not think of asking him to accept Prussian iron or copper, and that by far the greater portion of their material came from England. Of course, to a certain extent, this was done under the requirements of the specification; but no pressure was needed on the part of the engineers. The axles and wheel tires were specified to be of Prussian steel; but for this, they too would have been General of English make. But the experience of Mr. cheapness Rendel is by no means limited to the purof iron works in chase of locomotives. Rails and iron bridge Epgland parCednith work upon the largest scale have been the CoIndian railways for which he has acted; and the tenders have been obtained on all occasions, when a large order has been given, by open advertisement; COMiVPARISON OF THE PROGRESS OF NATIONS. 8 I and all continental makers have been as free CHAP. VIII. to tender and would be accepted on the same guarantees as English makers. Yet out of the total expenditure during the last ten years, of from 7,ooo,ooo/. to 8,ooo,oool. sterling on materials and plant for the East Indian railways constructed under Mr. Rendel's supervision, with the exceptions I have made, the whole of these contracts have been obtained by English manufacturers. Another interesting and conclusive proof Engines for the of the success with which our engine builders Punjaub Railwa3. can compete for the supply of locomotives, is furnished by the following schedule, prepared by Mr. W. P. Andrew, of the tenders for ninety-four locomotives received by the Punjaub Railway Company, in answer to a public advertisement in January I866:Tenders for SzpplSy of Engines for the Punljalb Railway. Country from which Prices per engine tender received. and tender. I Germany..... 3,I56 2 England..... 2,990 3 England..... 2,960 4 England..... 2,950 8 2 WORK A,ND WA GES. CHAP. VIII. Tenders for Supply of Engines for the Pwumyaub Railway. Country from which Prices per engine tender received. and tender. 5 England..... 2,850 6 England.... 2,835 7 England..... 2,80 8 England..... 2,790 9 England..... 2,750~ io Germany..... 2,750 ii England..... 2,685 1 2 Germany..... 2,680 I3 England..... 2,680 14 Switzerland.... 2,650 15 England..... 2,650 i6 England..... 2,600 17 France..... 2,595 i8 England..... 2,575 I9 England..... 2,500 20 Scotland..... 2,424 2L Scotland..... 2,395 It is not necessary to comment on this most important illustration of the relative powers of British and Continental industry. Though not yet beaten in the race, we cannot afford to disregard the pressure of competition. It is for our manufacturers to apply to the best advantage all the resources which a ready supply of the raw material COMPARISON OF THE PROGRESS OF N'A TIONS. I 83 and a large command of capital afford; and our CHAP. VIII. operatives on their part must strenuously exert themselves to increase the productive value of their labour, else they cannot hope to retain the pre-eminence which they have hitherto enjoyed. Serious alarm was felt, when, in I865, Howi engines fifteen engines were ordered for the Great for the Great Eastern Railway from MM. Schneider. Eastern from' Railway These misgivings would probably have wered from been allayed, had it been generally known France. that at the same time, when the fifteen engines were ordered from Creuzot, forty other engines were ordered from English firms, and that when MM. Schneider were subsequently asked to undertake the construction of twenty-five more engines at the price they had agreed to accept for the fifteen engines originally ordered, the offer was declined. The prices actually quoted by the various tenders are given in the following table: 184 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. VHll. Tenders for fiJtyfive Goods and tenzty-five Passe:nger I —--— ~ /Engines. Junte, I865. Goods Passenger Mean English Makers... 3,3350 3,350 3,350,,,, *.. 3,300 3,350 3,325.,,.. ~.. 3,250 3,200 3,225.,,,,... 3,145 3,085 3, I15 3,115 3, I,o85 3, I00,,,,... 3,045 3, 35 3,090.... ~ ~ ~ 3, I00 3,075 3,088,,,,... No tender 2,950,,,.... 2,950 2,940 2,945 Belgian Makers... 2,890 2,890 2,890 English Makers... 2,889 2, 790 2, 840 2,745 2,695 2,720,,,,... 2, 730 2,590 2,660,,,,... 2,600 No tender Schneider, Tender for Goods and Passenger Engines together, /'2,498 The eminent English engineer at whose instance the original order was intrusted to MM. Schneider, possesses, from long residence in France, a special knowledge of French workmen; and it is his opinion that the price of that kind of labour in France was not generally cheaper for a given quantity of work than it is in England, while the material of course costs at least as much. The following schedule of tenders for Rolling Stock for the Poti and Tiflis Railway gives no indication of the failing power COMPARISON OF THE PROGRESS OF NA TIONS. I85 of British industry. The tenders were sent CHAP. VIII. in three years ago, at a time when anxiety as Tenders to the future of British industry was so com- for the Poti and monly expressed among our principal manu- Tiflis Railway. facturers. CARRIAGES. _F-enczh. First Class Second Class Third Class. Fcs. Io,785. Fcs. 9,890. cs. 6,600 English. ~-540.~ ~ 485 ~ 330 550 ~ ~ 490 335 All the above delivered in Poti. ENGINES AND TENDERS. Erench. Goods Passengers Delivered in Fcs. 46,320. 42,000. Antwerp. Belgian. Fcs. 55,000. Fcs. 49,00ooo Antwerp. ~2,355 *. ~2,265. Poti EEnglish. ~I,933. ~I,68o Liverpool 2, I00. 2,000 Glasgow 2, 125. 1,842 Poti 2,195 2,080 Liverpool I86 WORK AND WAIGES. CHAP. VIII..,VIII —. Eznlgis/h-continued. Goods Passengers Delivered in ~.2,395. ~2,280. Liverpool. 2,450. 2,300. 2,575. 2,240,, 2,600. 2,400. 2,950. 2,700 Poti. Compari- The extent to which the engine-building son of the productive establishments are employed upon foreign powers of our iron orders may be proved by a comparison of works with the home their actual capabilities with the following demand. estimate of the home demand for locomotives. In the year I865, Mr. Manby found from careful analysis of returns made to him from numerous railways, that the life of engines built by Messrs. Robert Stephenson and Co. might be taken at 480,000 miles. At that period the " Train mileage" of the United Kingdom equalled i20,0ooo0,000 miles. Then I 20,000,000 -480,000= 250+ 50 engines (for contingencies) = 300 engines destroyed annually. Since the date of Mr. Manby's calculation, railway traffic has been enormously increased. COMPARISON OF THE PROGRESS OF NA TIONS. 8 7 Details of Tenders for Rollingr Stock for /ze Poll and Tizjis Railway. ENGLISH. Ballast Covered Platform High side Coal Timber Delivery Wagons Wagons Wagons Wagons Wagons ~ s.. d. s. d.~ s. d. ~6 s. d. ~ s. d. ~ s. d. 64 4 6 88 I6 o 64 0 o 74 12 o0 66 6 o 7I 3 o Gloucester or Swansea 79 o 0104 I8 0 78 o o 89 IO o0 8i IO 1 86 IO 0 Gloucester 79 I2 6 o5 0 o 79 8 0 90 o o 8i 14 oi 88 Io 0 Liverpool 83 o 00IO6 IO 82 0 0 92 0 oi 86 o o 94 Io o0 Ditto, or Newport 84 o o io8 0 0 90 0 0 92 o 0 92 o0 97 o 0 Ditto, London or Hull 90 5 0 126 0 094 o o I09 Io 0i 97 0 0 99 Io o Ditto, ditto 98 0 0oI27 0 I04 0 0010 IO oi 84 o o Io5 0 0 Poti Io5 0o o I34 o 79 o o 117 0 0 107 o o0 I8 o o Ditto FRENCH. Francs Francs Francs Francs Francs Francs Delivery 1,850 2,350 1,825 2,100 1,917 2,159 F. O. B. Havre 2, oo 2,600 1,885 2,090 I,930 2,200 Ditto, ditto I,865 2,267 2,050 2,350 2, I50 2,490 On quay. ditto 2,240 2,840 2,220 2,570 2,300 2,550 F. O. B. Havre 2, I30 2,950 2,240 2,650 2,340 2,600 Marseilles 2,550 3, I70 2,625 2,945 2,780 3,045 Havre BELGIAN. Francs Francs Francs Francs Francs Francs Delivery 1,78I 2,323 1,794 2,021 1,830 I,995 Antwerp 2,200 2,850 2,120 2,356 2, I59 2,692 Ditto 2,270 2,920 2, I90 2,6o 2,250 2,670 Ditto But our resources for producing locomotives, CHAP. VIII. even allowing for the increase of traffic, are still very largely in excess of the demand for British railways alone. We had in I867 I88 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. thirty or more factories, which could supply 1 ——' 1,500 locomotives annually. If, therefore, these establishments are ever fully employed, as at the present time they mostly are, a large proportion of the locomotives must be exported. In I869, immediately after the cry of alarm had been raised, large orders from abroad were received by the English manufacturers. To show how shallow were the foundations on which the apprehensions of the decay of British industry were based, I may mention that, in the case of one firm, which had up to the end of I869 received orders for 92 engines for Russia, 70 of those locomotives were ordered in I869, 2 in I868, and 30 in 1864Alarm at It was also said that Belgian rails were the importation of being largely imported into England. It is rails from Belgium. true that some 6oo tons for the East Gloucestershire Railway were supplied by a Belgian firm in 1865. The price of these rails was 67. Ios. per ton, delivered at Gloucester. But a solitary instance like this proves nothing as to the general comparative prices of English and Belgian rails. It was because COMPARIS3ON OF THE PROGRESS OF NAA TIONS. 189 our ironmasters were more fully employed CHAP. VIII. than the ironmasters in Belgium, and because - the prices of rails had in consequence fallen more rapidly in Belgium than in England, that the order in question was executed abroad. Since the year i865, rails have been made in England at a cheaper rate than that paid for the Belgian rails supplied to the East Gloucestershire Railway.' The fortunes of our Belgian rivals have been as chequered as those of their English ironmasters. The following table shows the fluctuations in Belgian prices:A zerage price ser'ton of Belgian rails. Francs For I835, average price per ton a 340,00,, I836,,,,. 425,00,, i837,, ~ 438,75., I838,, ~ 394,00,, I 839,,,, 378,00,, 1840,,,,. 239,50,, I841,, 248,00,, 1842,,,, 234,00,, I843,,,,. 221,60,, 844,,,,. 290,00,, 1845,,,,. 309,00,, 1846,,,,. 320,00 I 90 WORK AND WA GES. CHAP. VIII. Averagepriceper tol of Bdeelian rails-(continued.) Francs For 1847 average price per ton. 263,00,, I848,,,. 19o,00, 849,,,. I8o,oo,, I85o,,. 170,00,, I85I,,,, 170,00,, I852,,,. 172,00,, I853,,, 231,00,, 1854,,,,. 220,25,, I855,,,, 212,50,, I856,,,,. 213,85,, I857,,,, ~ 237,65,, I858,,,,. i6o,00,, I859,,,, 6o,00 86o,,,,. 60,30,, 86,,,,. 56,85 1862,,,,. 149,60,, I863,,, 142,90,, I864,,,,. 157,35,, I865,,,, ~ I62,65,, I866,,,,. I69,oo00., I867,,,,. 137,70 1868,,,,. I70,80 Much has been said too from time to time Iron girders, as to the importation of iron girders from Belgium into this country; but Dr. Percy, in his evidencebefore the Committee on Scientific Education, stated that the iron girders recently COJIPARISON OF THE PROGRESS OF NA TIONS. 9 imported from Belgium would be made here, CHAP. VIII. if there were a larger demand. A manu- - facturer would not alter his mills for a special kind of girder, unless there was considerable demand; and he urged, as a sufficient reason why there should be no apprehension on this subject, the remarkable success which has been achieved in England in the production of armour plates. It is well known that in I869 the productive powers of our rail-rolling mills were strained to the utmost, and that almost the whole of those rails were exported. Take again the manufacture of steel. In Increased production 185I the entire annual production of steel of steel in in Sheffield was 35,000 tons, of which about England. 0,000ooo tons were cast steel. At the present time, at the works at Barrow alone, they can turn out 1,200 tons per week of finished steel; and they will shortly incease their powers to firom 2,000 to 2,400 tons of cast steel per week. England has a decided pre-eminence in this branch of metallurgy. It has been shown that until the last year there had been no increase whatever for a 192 WORK ANVI WAGES. CHAP. long period in the rate of wages in England, VIII. —' in the trades concerned in the building of The increased locomotive engines; while, on the other activity of the French hand, at Schneider's establishment there has engineering works been an increase during the last fifteen years has caused a great of 38 per cent. We must not, therefore, rise in wages. look at the increase of wages for an explanation of the reason why we are no longer monopolists of the engine building trade. The real explanation is to be found in the circumstance that, as the railway system was first established in this country, so we were the first in the field as locomotive engine builders. Our When, for example, a supply of rolling former stock was required for the service of the Paris monopoly fasctueu and Rouen Railway, the first important railof railway stock the way constructed on the Continent, it was result of our being thought necessary to create the special engine first in the field. building works already mentioned, at Sotteville, near Rouen, for the purpose of building the locomotives and carriages required for the line. A great number of the mechanics employed at the works were Englishmen; and the direction and supervision were exclu COMPARISON OF THE PROGRESS OF NA TIONS. 193 sively English. Why was it that recourse CHAP. VIII. was had to English experience in this case? Solely because the science of building locomotives was an occult science at that time on the Continent. Then, as now, labour of all descriptions was not only as cheap but much cheaper abroad than in England. It is true that the necessary experience and mechanical skill are not as yet to be found among continental mechanics. But surely it would have been unreasonable to assume that we were to remain for ever monopolists of a trade in which the foreigner only required additional experience in order to enable him to compete with our countrymen. It is because we were first in the field, and not because at a former time labour was relatively cheaper, that we, for many years after the first introduction of the railway system, supplied engines to continental countries which now supply themselves. Even now, be it remembered, our continental neighbours would draw large supplies from England, if they did not protect their own manufacturers by heavy import duties. 0 [ I94 ] CHAPTER IX. IS LABOUR BECOAMING DEARER? IXHAP. HE question of the rise in the wages of Ix.TH labour has of late come frequently Has the cost of under discussion. During the last thirty labour increased years the purchasing power of money, England the standard of living, and the education during the last and moral condition of the working classes 4uarter of a century? have sensibly changed. It becomes therefore extremely difficult to make a satisfactory comparison of the relative cost of labour at the present time and in the early days of railways. Wages on the earlier In the year 1837 on the Penkridge railway contracts. viaduct on the Grand Junction Railway, the wages were for navvies from 2S. 6d. to 2S. 8d. per day, and for artisans from 22S. to 23s. per week. On the works of the Aire and IS LABOUR BECOMING DEARER? I95 Calder Navigation, executed in 1836, navvies CHAP. IX. working in butty-gangs by piece work, earned from 4s. to 5s. and in some cases 6s. per day. On the London and Birmingham Railway, platelayers, working on the piece-work system, earned 5s. per day, and, working by the day, 3s. 6d. per day. On the Trent Valley line, completed in I 846, the wages of navvies Wages in 1846. averaged from 3s. to 3s. 6d., and men employed in filling wagons were paid from 2S. 9d. to 3s. On the Trent Valley line on many portions of the contract, during a great part of the time during which it was being executed, the men worked night and day. At Nuneaton there was no difficulty in engaging ioo men in the course of three days to be employed in night work alone. Men could not be found to do night work so readily at the present time. A few years ago, on the Central Wales line, the wages of navvies were on the average 2S. 8d., and of tradesmen 4s. per day. In I869, in South Wales, in I869. consequence of the long continued depression in the iron trade, wages were as low as they have ever been. 02 196 WORK ANVD WAGES. CHAP. In the present year, on the works in proIx. gress for the widening of the London and 1871. North-Western Railway near London wages have risen considerably, in consequence of the great demand for labour in all parts of the country. The contractor for the extension, who was in my father's employ upon his first contract on the Grand Junction, gives the present rates of daily wages for navvies at from 3s. -to 3s. 6d., for carpenters and smiths 5s. to 5s. 3d., and for masons and bricklayers 6s. per day. He is of opinion that, on the whole, the cost of labour is fifteen per cent. dearer than at the commencement of his career, yet by their superior skill and contrivance, the experienced contractors of the present day are able to undertake work for a smaller price than they were prepared Differ- to accept at the earlier period. Opinions, ences of opinion as however, as to the relative cost of labour, to the compara- now and in former days, are not unanimous. tive cost of labour. Those who have been engaged principally in the great towns and especially near London, have experienced much more serious difficulties, in consequence of the variations in the IS LABOUR BECOrMING DEARER? 197 price of labour, than employers who have CHAP. been chiefly engaged in the rural districts. In consequence of the unprecedented demand for labour at the present time, wages are unusually high. They must of course at all times be influenced by the relation between the supply and demand. But, taking the average, it may be safely affirmed, that while the prices for railway work are nearly the same now as in the period when the London and Birmingham Railway was being made, the cost of labour is on the whole, somewhat dearer than in former days, and labour-saving appliances have not fully made up for the increase in wages. The increased expenditure on building in Rise of wages in London and other great cities, which has building trades in resulted from the augmented wealth of the London. country, has led to a great advance, both in London and in Manchester, in the rate of wages in the building trades. The amount of this increase is shown in a statement prepared by Messrs. Lucas Bros. the well-known builders. "We find," they write, "for some years I98 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. previous to September 1853, that the rate of IX. wages was as follows:For Mechanics, Masons, Brick- Labourers layers, Carpenters and Plasterers Previous to 853.... 5/ per day of Io hours. 3/ per day of 1o hours From September 1853 to' 51/6 March i861....J March I86I to September I865 /7 per hour, or 51/o per day /4~ per hour, or 3/6~ per day September i865 to May i8661/7- per hour, or 6/3 per day /4. per hour, or 3/9 per day May 866 to present time..8 per hour, or 6/8 per day 1/43 per hour, or 3/1I per day And we consider that the price of building is twenty-five to thirty per cent. more now than it was in I853." The figures given by Messrs. Lucas correspond very closely with the following statement from Mr. Broadhurst, a Trades Union officer, who, in a letter written in I869, informed me that in I840 the daily rate of wages in the building trades was 5s. per day of ten hours, or a total of Id. Ios. for sixty hours. In I850 the rate was 5s. per day of ten hours, Saturday excepted, when the men ceased work at four o'clock, being a total of It. Ios. for 58,3 hours' work. In I86o the rate was 5s. 6d. per day, or I1. I3s. for 58hours' work. At the date of his letter it was II. I75. 8d. per week of v6. hours. IS LABOUR BECOM2ING DEARER? 199 In I837 wages advanced in Manchester CHAP. from 4s. to 4s. 6d. per day. The working Advance hours were, on Monday, from 7 A.M. to 6 P.M., of wages at and on the four following days from 6 A.M. to Manchester. 6 P.M. On Saturday from 6 A.M. to 4 P.M. An hour and three quarters each day was allowed for meals, and the earnings were therefore I/. 7s. for 59t hours of work. In the spring of I869 the wages in Manchester were I. I3s. for a week of 55 hours. I am not in a position to pronounce judg- ~Explained ment on the comparative cost of building. I creased can only give the data which have been placed in my hands. It is possible that the cost of building has increased, and that the increase is due to a rise of wages. But if an advance has taken place, it is fully explained by the extension of the metropolis, in the vast suburbs built during the last quarter of a century, and now being built. In this, as in all other cases, where a permanent rise has been established, there has been an increased competition among employers for a supply of labour, which has for a lengthened period been insufficient to meet their demand. [ 200 3 CHAPTER X. zNFUENCE OF AMERICAN WAGES 0N THE ENGLISH LABOUR-MIARK:ET. C1A P. H I LE we have much reason to congratulate ourselves on our comEmigra- mercial successes in the past, it must be tion. remembered that the competition of the American against the English employer for a supply of skilled labour from this country has already exercised and must always exert an important influence on the price of labour. On this ground, and also because it is a most important opening for the most enterprising of our working men, no examination of the labour question would be complete in which the subject of Emigration was not considered. In England the facilities of communication INFLUENCE OF AMERICAN TIA GES. 20I which railways have afforded, have had a CHAP. X. marked effect in equalizing the cost of labour - throughout the country. The difference in toennithe rates of pay of the operatives employed in theY rate of in ship-building on the Thames, the Mersey, wages. the Tyne, and the Clyde, has diminished and will continue to diminish. The cost of living varies less than it did, and differences in the rental of land according as the available area is large or small, and in the cost of materials, will be the only elements of cost in which equality will be impossible. That which has already occurred in England will be repeated over a wider area. If wages in England, taking into account the amount of labour performed for the money paid and the cost of living, give to the English artisan a great advantage over the foreigner, foreign labour will be attracted to the English workshop. On the other hand, the cost of the voyage to The high the United States has been so materially thasnited reduced that the higher rates of pay which Stthes price of the workman receives on the other side of labourin the Atlantic cannot but affect the price of England. labour here. The cost of living has increased 202 WORK AND TWA GES. CHAP. SO much since the war between the North ~- X- and South that it is doubtful whether the married workman has derived any advantage from the increase in his wages. But should his position become much improved by a reduction in the cost of living without a corresponding reduction in his wages, a large number of our skilled operatives will be attracted to a field of labour where employment is to be obtained on better terms. At the present time, although wages have reached a point almost unprecedented in our industrial history, extensive emigration is still taking place from this country to America. In this year I872, a fine body of workmen employed on the Fermoy and Lismore Railway, IIO in number, left their work, and sailed from Cork to America. It is found at the present time extremely difficult to procure the necessary supply of labour in Ireland for the purpose of completing the railway in question. With a more easy means of communication, a more perfect solidarity must gradually be established between the industrial classes INFLUENCE OF A.ERGICA. T W' GE.S'. 2093 throughout the civilised world. The inter- CHAP. X. national combinations of the operatives may do something to check the influx of foreign labour into England. But they can only effect that object by giving an additional impetus to the ascending movement, of late years much more rapid on the Continent than with us, in the scale of wages; and the rise of wages on the Continent will be an advantage to British industry, by making the competition with the continental manufacturer more equal than before. The flow of immigration into the United Emigration to the States has been constantly increasing. United States. Between July I, 1865, and December t868, a million emigrants entered the United States, and, during the last five years, Mr. Wells declares that there has been a greater development of the industry of that country than at any former period. As a necessary consequence there must be a more general demand for labour. Since i865, 8,ooo miles Railways. of railway have been constructed, and the present rate of increase is double what it was before I86o, being now i,I56 miles a year; 204 WORK AND TVAGES. CHAP. while the growth in the goods traffic is sixX. - ~- teen times greater than the growth of the The iron population. The production of pig-iron has trade. been increased from 9T3,00ooo tons in I86o, to I,550,000 tons in I868. The import duties have tended greatly to raise prices; the profits of the manufacturers have been very large, and these circumstances have artificially Rise of stimulated production. The effect of these wages. influences upon the wages of the artisans employed, is shown in the evidence of Mr. Hewitt before the Trades Unions Commissioners. He told them that the wage for puddling in Pittsburgh was from 2 s. to 27s. per ton, as compared with 8s. 6d. in England, there being, notwithstanding the great increase in the cost of provisions in the United States, no corresponding difference in the cost of living. Mr. Wells gives a comparative statement of the wages in the United States as compared with the rates prevailing in England, showing that, in the iron rolling mills in I868, wages were forty per cent. higher; in the foundries fifty-eight per cent. higher; in the shipyards forty-eight per cent. INFLUENCE OF AMERICAN WAGE-S. 205 higher; in the cotton mills twenty-nine per CHAP. X. cent. higher; and in the woollen mills twentyfive per cent. higher, than the corresponding rates in England. We must further bear in mind that there Constant movement is a constant emigration of operatives from of population to the the manufacturing districts of the United Western States. States to the unsettled territories of the far West. The emigrants are men who have accumulated sufficient means to embark in agricultural enterprise, and are wearied with the toils of industrial life. To those well-to-do operatives, the boundless tracts of fertile land, still uncultivated and unoccupied, are offered for sale at a dollar and a quarter per acre. And who indeed can wonder that the seductive charms of pastoral life should be found so irresistible to the toil-worn labourer at the anvil or the loom? Nor is the effect of emigration to the United States on the rate of wages and on the supply of labour to the manufacturing industries of this country prospective merely. It is felt now, and haslong been felt. Mr. Fawcett reminds us that the 206 W;ORK AND WA GES. CHXP. emigrants from Ireland to the United States remitted, between I 847 and I 864, no less than Emigration from ten millions sterling. " No statistical fact," he Ireland, says, "is more astonishing or more instructive." From I841 to i86I the population of Ireland was reduced from 8,Ioo,ooo to 5,8oo,ooo. Messrs. Herries and Creed, in their and South pamphlet, " Handicraftsmen and Capitalists," Wales; express an opinion exactly coinciding with that which I have formed, from information which has reached me from other sources. Admitting the impossibility of retaining skilled artisans in this country, if wages were to undergo any sensible reduction, they say that " in South Wales the value of labour is, as compared with other districts, cheaper in the extreme; which cheapness it is to be feared will not be maintained owing to the growing feeling for emigration manifesting itself among the Welsh iron-workers." not to be Irish emigration has sometimes been regretted. b regretted by those who measure our national greatness by the number of our population; but surely a destitute, and, because destitute, a disaffected population, is a discredit INFL UENCE OF AMERICA NV WAGES. 207 and a weakness, and not an honour or a CHAP. x. strength to a nation. Is national greatness, although a truly noble object, superior in importance to the welfare of humanity? Is it not immeasurably better that a man should prosper in a foreign country than struggle miserably for existence in his native land? The influence of the price of labour in the Emigration from United States has been felt in this country, Germany to the and no economist can doubt that it will soon United States. be felt in those branches of industry in Germany in which the wages are so much below the English rates of pay. Within the last fifteen years one million persons have emigrated from Hamburgh and Bremen to the United States. It is impossible to contemplate the struggles for life among the lower classes of our labouring population, and to apply ourselves to the solution of the difficult problem of pauperism, without casting a longing eye on the vast tracts of land, of great natural fertility, which are still unoccupied, and which, for the want of capital, are producing nothing for the sustenance of man. 208 WTORK AND VA GES. CHAP. The area of land still at the disposal of the x. United States, is calculated at upwards of I,400,000,000 acres, exclusive of the Russian purchase of Alaska, which is estimated at 577,390 square miles, or 370,ooo,ooo acres. The price It is unnecessary to multiply statistics, or of land too high in the to enumerate the acres contained in our Australian colonies. numerous and vast colonial dependencies. New South Wales alone contains 375,000 square miles; and a large proportion of this unoccupied territory possesses every natural advantage for agricultural development. But so long as the price of land in our Australian colonies remains at I. an acre, when i60 acres of better land can be obtained in America for nothing, it is not likely that an English tenant farmer, with only a small capital at his command, will undertake the much longer and more expensive voyage to Australia, in preference to the shorter and infinitely cheaper passage across the Atlantic to America. Haghersn To the artisan the high rates of wages in Stat the United States present irresistible attracmust therefore States present irresistible at the artisans. tions. It must therefore be assumed that the INFLUENCE OF AMERICAN fA GES. 209 stream of emigration, which has already CHAP. attained such vast dimensions, would be increased in volume if a larger number of operatives had accumulated sufficient savings to enable them to pay the expense of removing themselves and their families to the opposite shores of the Atlantic. With regard to the cost of living, a single Cost of living in man pays for his board and lodging 2os. a the States. week; and one third should be deducted from the earnings, in order to make due allowance for the diminished purchasing power of money in the depreciated currency of the United States. The often expressed opinion of Mr. Wells The working man that the present condition of the labourer in better off in the the United States is relatively speaking States inferior to his condition before the war is Europe. well known to economists, but it is certain that this opinion is not universally shared by the working classes themselves. Mr. Hemans quotes the evidence of a German emigrant, who thus summed up the advantages which he had obtained by emigration to America. "I am," he said, " ever so much P 210 WORK AND WA GES. CHAP. better off. My earnings in Germany, as a x. "- —' plasterer, would be barely 3s. a day, while here they are from IIs. to I2s. My eldest boy, who is just sixteen, makes his 4s. a day already-more than I could have done myself at home-and pays me something for his board. Even my youngest of thirteen earns 8s. a week, while he learns a trade. In Germany neither of them would bring home a sixpence. If I were there, with my large family, I should be little better than a pauper; while here I have saved enough already to purchase a comfortable cottage, and I have something in the savings bank still." "' It is worth noting," observes Mr. Hemans, " that in this, as in every similar case which has come within my own personal knowledge, the labourer's cottage has been purchased with savings laid by since i86o." Hitherto Mr. Wells and other enlightened men have addressed the vo'ce of warning in vain to the powerful protectionist party in the Congress; but it is impossible that a people so enlightened as the Americans can long INFLUENCE OF AMERICAN WAGES. 2II persevere in a system which, in the language CHAP. X. of Mr. Wells, has made exchange in kind with all foreign nations almost impracticable, and rendered it necessary to pay for such foreign productions as are required, in the precious metals, or in the unduly depreciated promises of national payment. With so many chances of ameliorating his Prospects condition, it is not wonderful that the work- of working men in the ing man in the over-populated countries of States. Some the Old World is too often tempted to try capital his fortunes in the New, without having pre- sable. viously furnished himself with sufficient means to enable him to enter upon a new field of industry. If an emigrant lands in New York not possessing money enough to push on to the far West, where labour is scarce and therefore highly paid, he may find that his position is but little better than it was in the crowded cities of Europe. In the Eastern States he may remain weeks or even months without employment, unless he has friends on the spot to push his interests. "If," says Mr. Hemans, " an emigrant has such friends, well and good. Otherwise some capital to P2 212 WORK AND WA] GES. CHAP. fall back upon, while waiting for his chance X. of employment, is indispensable." In America there still is a great field for the energetic and enterprising emigrant; but he has difficulties to encounter which did not exist in the period preceding the war, when industry was not yet burdened with the dead weight of protection and heavy taxation. In Philadelphia a respectable mechanic, his wife, and three children subsist on 2. I 3s. 3d. per week. A British mechanic would probably not spend more than I[. IIs. Iod. A Philadelphian mechanic earns 31. 6s. 7d., and a British mechanic from I1. Ios. to 2/. 2S. a week. This Philadelphian mechanic is therefore only slightly better off than the Englishman. It cannot, therefore, be surprising to hear that the Consulate at Philadelphia is besieged by Englishmen clamouring for assistance, or applying for the means of returning home. The same class, who would fail in London, fail from the same cause in the United States. If the reward of success is more liberal, more energy of INFLUENCE OF AMERICAN WA GES. 213 character is required than in the more settled CHAP. X. communities of the Old World. Mr. Connolly, formerly an operative mason, The United who has recently visited the United States, States a great field confirms, by the description he has lately for men of enterprise. given in a letter to the " Daily Telegraph," the views expressed by our consular representative. He says that "the working people in New York were never better off than during the period between I842 and i86o. Wages in some trades have advanced since the war in a greater ratio than the cost of provisions; but thirty per cent. of the working people are unemployed. Engineers and mechanics are not much in demand; and he had invariably found that when a trade assumed the character of an industry, the men were not better paid than in England. There are more men," he says, "out of work here at present than in London in proportion to the population; yet if I had to begin the world again, this would be the country for me, with its boundless and undeveloped resources. But I would not stay in New York or in any of the larger cities. A man who 214 WOR' AND WA GES. CHAP. is not an agriculturist should make his home X. in some small but rising town, where, if there was anything in him, he would be sure to rise with its growth." The From the United States, let us turn to our Australian Coloniesas own colonies in Australasia. In New South Colonies as a field for Wales the rates of wages are high; tion. but a large proportion of the workpeople are unable to find regular employment. The Earl of Belmore says, in a recent Report, that there is no opening in that colony at the present time except to men of good character, and who are accustomed to hard work. As a remedy for the great distress which lately prevailed at the East End of London, emigration would have been found, by reason of the latter condition mentioned by Lord Belmore, to be an ineffectual resource. In the opinion of Mr. Watson, an agent employed on the East London Railway, the artisans and labourers in the Iron Works at the East End of London were lamentably ill fitted for other work; and not 50 per cent. of their number would be capable of bringing allotments of land into proper cultivation. INFLUENCE OF AMERICAN WA GES. 215 It must further be remembered that very CHAP. X. few paupers are able-bodied workmen. Of I63,700 persons, recently in receipt of relief from the Poor Law Board, not more than 35,000, or 38 per cent., were out-door paupers. In South Australia we are told by Sir James Ferguson, that there is no opening in the northern territory for the ordinary labourer from Europe; although the colony presents a promising field for the investment of capital. The report of the Hon. W. Fox from New Zealand is equally discouraging to those philanthropic persons who look to emigration as an outlet for the surplus population of the United Kingdom. Even in Canada, where it is said that from 30,000 to 40,000 emigrants might be annually absorbed, there is the same demand for men with capital, and the same apprehension of the introduction of an inferior class of workmen, who, if they had failed to earn their livelihood in the United Kingdom, would be equally certain to fail in a wilder country, in which energy and industry are still more essential. 216 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. The average annual emigration from Great X. Britain in the ten years preceding I857, was Reasons Rhy 275,000. In the next decennial period the emigrants from number fell to I62,ooo. Three-fourths of Great Britain these British emigrants have gone to the are attracted United States. The emigrants who have to the United already left our shores are the pioneers of the States. emigration of the future. They invite and assist their friends whom they have left, to follow them to the land of their adoption. The working man is well aware of the difficulties which beset the solitary exile in his first hard struggle in an unknown land. He naturally prefers to go to a country in which he may count upon receiving friendly counsel and advice. It is therefore probable that North America will, for many years to come absorb by far the greater number of that superior class of emigrants who possess both capital, skill, and enterprise; are able therefore to earn a competency at home; and yet are prepared, for the sake of improving their condition, to submit to the sacrifices which expatriation involves. The small success which has attended the INFLUENCE OF AMERICAN WA GES. 21 7 efforts recently made by the Central Argentine CHAP. X. Land Company to induce persons to emi- I grate from this country to the River Plate, rgentine may be accepted as evidence that English Company. emigrants are but little disposed to risk their fortunes in an unknown land. The advantages offered to emigrants by the company are considerable; and the average wages in the country, taken together with the moderate cost of living, are much higher than the rates paid in England. Bricklayers earn 6s. a day; joiners and blacksmiths, 6s. 6d.; labourers, 4s. 6d.; and railway labourers, 6s. The soil is fertile, the climate is healthy and agreeable, and the lands offered in allotments to emigrants possess the advantage of railway communication with a convenient port. The company is prepared to pay a portion of the emigrant's passage money, to cover the freight on his agricultural implements, and to furnish him with subsistence until the first harvest after his arrival. The rent of land is rs. and the selling price I 1. an acre. It will be seen from the following return, that while these temptations have utterly failed to induce emi 2I8 WORK AND WA GES. CHAP. gration from England, a large number of x. Y persons have recently emigrated to the River Plate from Italy and France. Emnig-ratioz to the River Plate. i868. I869. From Genoa... o0,000 15,000 France... 8,700 16,500,, Spain.. 3,300 5,000,, England... I,o096 708 Totals. 23,o96 37,208 The Argentine Provinces have apparently become a favourite settlement for Italian emigrants. But, Englishmen as yet are unwilling to go, and that mainly because so few of their countrymen have settled in those countries. It has been stated elsewhere that 2,000 men were selected in England and Scotland and taken out to Queensland, at a cost of I 7/. per man, to be employed in the execution of a railway in that country. Mr. Wil- Mr. Wilcox, the agent under whose superdencev vision the work was completed, says that most of the men selected remained until the INFLUENCE OF A&MERICAN WA GES. 2 9 completion of the works, and on the whole CHAP. X. conducted themselves very fairly. The artisans were still in the colony, but the majority of the labourers will only remain there as long as there.is anything being done in the way of public works. Railway labourers, as far as his experience goes, do not make good colonists. The roving habits they acquire quite unfit them for becoming settlers. After carefully considering the reports General view of of the most competent observers on the the prospects of condition of the labour market in the emigrants. United States and in our own Colonies, and taking into view the extreme fluctuations in the demand for labour, and the discouraging position of many independent branches of industry in the eastern states of America, even a zealous philanthropist must hesitate to give his sanction to any proposals for State- State-aided aided emigration on a large scale. It is emigration. obvious that a workman may find himself worse off than at home if he lands in any one of our Colonial settlements, or in the United States, without sufficient capital to 220 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. support him during the interval of time x. Y ~ which may probably elapse before he obtains employment. Some capital is equally necessary, to furnish the means of travelling into those remoter districts in which alone skilled labour is paid at the higher rates. It would be inexpedient, therefore, for the Colonial Governments, still less would it be humane or statesmanlike for the Home Government to encourage emigration, unless it were certain that employment could be offered to the emigrants, on their first arrival in a colony. Distressed One of the earliest recollections of my boyEnglish navvies in hood is the painful spectacle I beheld, when Rouen. I stood by my father's side, in the Boulevard of Rouen surrounded by hundreds of famishing English workmen. There had been an unavoidable interval between the completion of his first contract in France and the commencement of the works for the extension of the railway from Paris to Rouen and on to Havre. It happened too that at that time there was but little employment for workmen in the construction of railways in England. INrFLUENCE OF AMERICAN WA GES. 221 The navvies, who are not a provident class, CHAP. X. had not saved money enough to support themselves for many weeks without work; and their sufferings, which would have been great in England, were aggravated in a foreign country. Soup kitchens were opened, and every effort was made to alleviate their distress; but philanthropy is no adequate substitute for brisk and wellpaid employment; and the memory of that dreadful winter makes me shudder at the prospect of the sufferings which might be endured, if by Government assistance a large number of emigrants were induced to go abroad, only to find on their arrival in a remote and unknown country that it was impossible to obtain employment. An examination of the Reports recently Only the laid before Parliament will confirm the industriopinion generally entertained by all who succeed as emihave any practical knowledge of the openings grants. for English labour in our Colonies and in Stateforeign countries. The expenditure of public aided emigramoney in assisting emigration can only be tion of doubtflage justified when the persons assisted are in an advantage. 222 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. indigent and helpless condition. But this is X. ------ the very class which the Colonial Governments absolutely decline to receive. The emigrants who succeed, belong to the class which rarely fails to find employment at home, and is happily seldom seen by the guardians of the poor. As a general rule, we must dismiss from our minds the idea of finding in emigration a remedy for pauperism. If the State offers inducements to the working people to try their fortunes in foreign lands, it cannot divest itself altogether of responsibility for their success in the new sphere which they have been encouraged to enter. On several occasions, as the history of my father's enterprises has shown, the sending out of a large number of workmen from England has been a successful operation. But those have been cases in which there has been a large contract in progress, and when the services of the workmen were immediately required. It is probable that the Colonies would derive advantage from the execution of numerous public works not as yet undertaken. It is possible also that INFLUENCE OF AMERICAN WA GES. 223 arrangements might be made on terms CHAP. X. mutually beneficial to the Colonies and to the mother country, for lending money to the Colonial Government for the purpose of carrying out such works. The expediency of such a policy may be especially deserving of consideration at a time when the field of employment in this country is contracted by the pressure of commercial distress. To this limited extent, State-aided emigration may be desirable; but an attempt to send workmen to the Colonies in sufficient numbers to give any sensible relief to the labour-market of this country in a time of wide-spread distress, would be strongly opposed by the Colonies, calamitous to the emigrants, and in the end ineffectual as a remedy for pauperism. It is a,painful task to oppose any wellintentioned proposals for ameliorating the condition of the poor; but we must be cautious, lest, in the desire to be generous, we are tempted to encourage impracticable schemes, and to excite in the minds of the people expectations which can only be 224 WORK AND WAGES. CHnAP. realised by their own strenuous and indepenX. dent exertions. Poverty and misery there will always be, and it is our Christian duty to relieve the suffering and distressed; but, in so far as those sufferings originate in a want of employment for those who are able and willing to work, the evil is one which continually tends to remedy itself. The interference of the State by diminishing the incentives to prudence would tend rather to extend the evils it was designed to remedy, and in the end be productive of more harm than good. Emigration has been, and will continue to be, an invaluable outlet for our redundant population; but the choice of a field of labour, and the season for emigration, must be left to the keen intelligence of the people. Pecuniary aid should not be denied in appropriate cases; but the emigrant who cannot provide the means of paying the very moderate sum now required for a passage across the Atlantic, will rarely possess that little store of capital which is an almost essential condition to successful emigration. [ 225 ] CHAPTER XI. ALLEGED PHYSICAL DETERIORA TION OF THE LABOURER. THERE is as much difficulty in pro- CHAP. XI. nouncing a definite opinion upon the XI. alleged deterioration of the labourer physi- Alleged physical cally, as in estimating the difference in the deterioracost of manual labour. Here again, em- labourer. ployers who have of late been chiefly concerned in carrying out works near London, entertain a less favourable opinion of the labourers of the present day than other equally experienced contractors who have been engaged in the neighbourhood of provincial towns and in the rural districts. The facts which I have been able to ascertain in relation to this branch of my general subject, have chiefly reference to one kind of labourer, 226 WORKI AND WAGES. CHAP. the Navvy. I am, however, strongly of XI. opinion that most of the inferences derivable from these facts will, with certain modifications, apply equally to all classes of labourers. Mr. Milroy, whose recent experience has been chiefly in Scotland, says that, " Comparing the navvies of to-day with those we had on the Great Northern Railway, they are just as powerful physically, but they are more difficult to manage." Mr. Ballard, whose experience has been chiefly in the Midland Counties, says: "The navvies of the present day exhibit no signs of deterioration, and more work has been done in the latter days of railway construction than was formerly accomplished for the same money. The prices on the Great Northern for earthwork averaged from Is. to Is. 3d. per yard. On the Bedford line,. executed some ten years ago, for much more expensive work, the prices in no case exceeded IId. per yard. On the Great Northern Railway Is. 6d. would have been charged for the same work. Another large contractor, long associated with my father, whose experience has of late ALLEGED DETERIORATION OF LABOURER. 227 been chiefly in London, says, "that at CHAP. XI. Macclesfield, in I847, for excavating an unusually heavy cutting, a large body of men from Lincolnshire were employed. Not one of those men was under 5 feet Io.- inches in height; such a body of men could not be found in the present day on public works." The fair inference from the testimony of these very competent authorities on this subject would appear to be that there cannot have been any marked and general diminution of physical power in the present generation of manual labourers; though the enervating life which the working population of great cities are apt to lead has diminished the physical powers of the navvies who have been employed in the metropolitan districts. It has been alleged that the navvy is only High pay of navvy enabled to earn his higher wages by exces- leads in many insive exertion. It is true that the amount of stances to intemperlabour performed by the navvy in a day ance. involves considerable exertion; but the men, being of powerful frame, and having great muscular development, are enabled to accomplish their work, without undue exertion, and Q2 2 28 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. are often able to go home, their day's work XI. - ---- accomplished, at three o'clock in the afternoon. If there be special danger to health in the occupation of the navvy; it is because his large earnings admit of greater indulgence in the public-house. At the present time, in consequence of the unusual demand for labour, employers are obliged to humour their men in every way. On a railway now being executed near Wolverhampton the men require a payment of half-a-crown on account, technically called a'sub,' every night. The result of this practice is, that the men spend every evening in the beer-shop. Three years ago wages were much lower than they are now, and the men were more temperate in their habits. A large proportion of the improved wages of the working class is unhappily being expended in the public-house. There is an evil in the frequent payment of wages, in consequence of the unfortunate disposition of the navvy to resort at once to places of enjoyment, as soon as he has ALLEGED DETERIORATION OF LABOURER. 229 received his pay-If you pay wages weekly CHAP. XI. on Saturday, it rarely happens that any considerable amount of work is performed on the Monday. On the Trent Valley Railway, Trent Valley. payment of wages took place, at the commencement of the line, once a month. The pay-day was followed by the same incapacity for exertion which is unhappily still observable. The workmen then as now, could never fill the same number of wagons for two or three days after the pay. On the Havreand Rouen and Havre Railway the pay took Railway. place once a month on a Saturday. For two or three days after the pay, the English navvy could never be induced to work. On the Barentin Viaduct, which was distant about twelve miles from Rouen, a large number of Englishmen were employed. Special omnibuses were run between Barentin and Rouen on the Sunday following the pay Saturday. On one of these omnibuses, called by the navvies the Great Western, 60 navvies could ride. These English workmen used to crowd into the streets of Rouen where they were tempted 230 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. to spend their hard earned wages in the XI. numerous cafes and cabarets. The result of these excesses was, that after the pay, the horses were never taken out of the stable to draw the wagons from the cuttings until Wednesday morning. Effect of It has been observed that navvies emresidence in London. ployed in the vicinity of London often lose some of their former physical strength. The temptations of a great city, which are so hard to resist, have told upon the physical condition of the railway labourer. When the works connected with the great drainage scheme of the metropolis were in progress, a large number of men were employed in the principal streets of London, and they were unable to resist the temptations of the publichouses on either side of the street, in which they were working. It must not be supposed that this gloomy picture faithfully represents the habits of all railway labourers, but it is unhappily a fair representation of the habits and condition of many of their number. The agricultural labourer in numerous ALLEGED DETE.RIORATION OF LABOURER. 231 I instances is not more able to resist tempta- CHAP. XI. tion than the navvy employed on the rail- ~ ways. In counties where the farm labourer is paid a portion of his wages in cider, as is the case in Devonshire and Herefordshire, drinking takes place to a terrible extent. The nature of the occupation of the navvy Work of navvy and is not necessarily detrimental to health. He farm labourer is rarely called upon to work in the rain. In compared. point of fact, the excavation of a cutting, or the formation of an embankment, could not be carried on with advantage either to the contractor or to his workmen, in wet weather. It may sometimes happen that a navvy is required to work in a cutting, in which his feet sink deeply into wet clay; but the agricultural labourer throughout his day's work frequently fares no better, and he rarely goes home in the intervals of his work; whereas, the navvy is in the habit of going home and changing his wet clothes. It must be admitted that the degree of exertion to which the navvy is accustomed, is too severe for the agricultural labourer, until he has become accustomed to the more 2 32 WORK AND WA GES. CHAP. arduous occupation. When an agricultural XI.' —-" labourer begins to work on a railway, he will lie down at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, fatigued and incapable of continuing his work; but, after an interval of 12 months, with more constant muscular exertion, receiving higher wages, and having better food, he will get into better condition, and will be able to perform his task without difficulty. Good pay It has been repeatedly proved in Belgium, and food required to France, and England, that, after a sufficient produce physical interval of time, the agricultural labourer strength. becomes perfectly master of the work required on a railway. To expect an ill-paid and lightly worked agricultural labourer to be at once capable of sustaining the exertion which a navvy is fully able to bear, would be as unreasonable as it would be to take a horse direct out of a clover field, and drive him for a long journey at a great rate of speed. It is supposed that, because there are not a great number of old navvies about, their occupation is necessarily prejudicial to health. It must be remembered that thousands of the navvies who were employed ALLEGED DETERIORA TION OF LABOURER. 233 on the earlier railways, have emigrated to CHAP. Australia and America. Numbers of men Navvies went to the Colonies, on the completion of have emigrated, the Great Northern Railway, and other railways, which were finished about the same time. As many as 350 navvies have been known to sail in one ship from Liverpool to Australia at that period. Fortunately too, many navvies have risen and risen in life. to a better position in life. Many of those employed by my father as navvies became afterwards platelayers, then inspectors, and afterwards sub-contractors, or small contractors on their own account. Those who have been long connected with railway construction, tell me that they know many navvies, who have attained to a great age. In the old days, when the butty-gang Buttysystem was in vogue, there were numerous cases in which the-men were overworked, but the cause of their being overtasked was not the pressure brought upon them by their employers. The members of the butty-gang, who divided their earnings equally among themselves, were naturally averse to allowing 234 WORK A ND WA GES. CHAP. an inferior man to enter the gang. The XI. gangs were paid at various rates according to the amount of work performed. Those, who could get through the greatest amount of work in a day earned the highest rates of wages; and it was naturally therefore an object of ambition with a navvy to become a member of the best paid gang. But these well paid gangs were equally determined not to admit any man into their gang unless he could perform as much work as those who were already members. Men often over exerted themselves in order to be admitted into a gang composed of men of greater physical strength than themselves. [ 235 3 CHAPTER XII. FLUCTUA TIONS OF WA GES. XII. T is with the deepest regret that views CHAP. have been propounded in a former -- chapter of this work in opposition to the Fluctuaarguments of philanthropists who have advo- ~,dthe for labour cated State-aided emigration, because it must in be acknowledged by all who have studied England. these questions, that our working class is exposed to an amount of suffering from the fluctuations in the commerce of this country to a degree unparalleled elsewhere. An increase or a reduction of the pay of the working men will follow, it is true, the varying course of trade in natural sequence; but still with very inconvenient results to the internal economy of their homes. In proof of 236 FLUCTUA TIONS OF WAGES. CHAP. the preference shown by the working classes XII. y for a more moderate rate of wage with conWorkmen prefer stant employment, it is interesting to compare steady employ- the rate of wages in the Dockyards with the ment. wages paid in the private ship-building yards on the banks of the Thames. The following table, compiled by Admiral King Hall, C.B., gives the rate of wages in Sheerness Yard in the years i849, 1859, and i869. The table showing the current rates of wages at the corresponding period in the private yards on the Thames, was prepared by Mr. John Hughes, sometime manager of the Millwall Works. Sheerness. Rates of Wlages. i849 i859 1869 s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d. Shipwrights..4 4 6 4 6 Caulkers..4 4 6 4 6 Joiners.... 3 6 3 I 3 IO 8 o Forgemen.. 7 5 9 Furnacemen... 5 4 8 Assistant Furnacemen. 4 o 5 2 Steam Hammermen. 4 6 6 4 Anchor Firemen, Ist class 5 6 6 4,,,, 2nd class 4. Sa me 5 6 Double Firemen...4 9 4 Io Single Firemen, Vicemen, and Fitters. 4 3 4 4 Hammermen, Ist class.3 9 39,, 2nd class.3 3 The figures in the left hand margin show the pay of smiths employed ten hours a day. FLUCTUATIONS OF WA GES. 237 Average Rates of Wages Paid at Milzelall Iron Works. Rates of Wages during years 185I to i869 I85I I86I to I865 i865 to I869 I869 per week per week per week per week S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. Fitters. 33 to 38 33 to 38 35 to 40 33 to 38 Planers. 30,, 33 30,, 33 32,, 34 30,, 33 Drillers.... 22,, 27 22,, 27 23,, 28 22,, 27 Smiths.... 30,, 42 30,, 42 30,, 42 30,, 42,, helpers... 22,, 24 22,, 24 22,, 24 22,, 24 Moulders 36,, 38 36,, 38 36,, 40 36,, 40 Pattern Makers 36,, 39 36,, 39 39,, 42 36,, 39 Joiners... 36,, 39 36,, 39 36,, 42 36,, 42 Shipwrights 42,, 48 42,, 48 39,, 42 36,, 39 Platers... 36,, 42 36,, 42 36,, 42 36,, 42,, helpers.. 21,, 24 21,, 24 21,, 24 21,, 24 Rivetters 30,, 32 30,, 32 30,, 32 30,, 32 helpers... 20,, 24 20,, 24 20,,24 20,,24 Caulkers 30,, 33 30,, 33 30,, 33 30,, 33 Chippers 28 30 28,, 30 28,, 30 28,, 30 Angle Iron Smiths 38,,40 38,,40 38,,40 38,,40 Boiler Makers 36,, 42 36,, 42 36,, 42 36,,42,, helpers.. 2I,, 24 21,, 24 2I,, 24 2I,, 24 Painters. 2,, 30 2I,, 30 2I,, 30 2,, 30 Hours of work, 581 hours per week. It may be mentioned that the average rent cHAP. XII. of men's houses in I851 was about I61. per year; and in I865 about 20/. per year. These are six-roomed houses, and in most cases more than one family occupied them. It thus appears that at a time when shipwrights in London were earning from 6s. 6d. to 7s. a day, the shipwrights in Sheerness Yard, men at least as skilled as those em 238 WORK AND WA GES. CHAP. ployed by the private ship-builders, were XII. ----—' contented with 4s. 6d.; though they could at any time have put their tools into their baskets, and at the end of an hour and a half's journey by rail have obtained employment from the private ship-builders at the higher rate of wages. They preferred, and with good reason, more moderate wages with a certainty of employment, to higher wages without the certainty of permanent occupation. The recent hasty dismissals of workmen from the Dockyards are especially to be regretted on this ground, that the workmen can no longer look with the same confidence as before to their permanent connection with a government establishment; nor will they be so ready to accept lower wages in a Dockyard in consideration of the advantages of constant employment. Wages at The same preference for regular employSotteville and ment at moderate wages to a less certain Creuzot. employment with higher wages, manifests itself abroad, as in England. The emp5loyes of a Railway Company may look upon their FL UCTUA TIOANS OF WA GES. 239 employment, at least during good behaviour, CHAP. XII. as being almost as certain as that under a government. Thus it has happened that in the railway works at Sotteville near Rouen, there has been no advance of importance in wages for the last twenty-five years in the class of labour employed by the builders of locomotives; although there has been a great increase in the wages paid by M M. Schneider and other private employers. The rates of wages at Sotteville are quoted in the subjoined table. It may be interesting to compare them with the wages earned by the same trades in England. SotleviZie Works. s. d. Erecters, Fitters, and Turners 24 o per week Smiths... 27 Strikers... r8 o Joiners.... 22 0 Modellers.... 23 o Moulders in the Foundry. 22 6, The wages at a similar establishment on the largest scale in England are shown in the following table: 240 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. Average Rales of Wages Paid to Skilled Workmen, XII. -Locomotive Works, E~ngiand. 1859 I869 s. d. s. d. Fitters.... 28 3'I5 28 7-69 Turners.... 28 4'57 29 3'76 Braziers.. 28 6-85 28 70o6 Grinders.. 27 6 28 Io050 Smiths. 28 5 26 1035 Boiler Smiths.. 3 8 30 4'50 Bricklayers.. 24 5'Io 30 57 Saddlers... i9 8 20 3 Forgemen.. 34 3 34 4'05 Painters.. 22 I0 23 I 6o Moulders.. 29 4'50 28 5'58 Joiners, Pattern Makers, and )24 6-S 24 4 95 Brickmakers... 27 8'44 27 5'28 Total average 27 11'23 28 I'28 Every branch of industry was in an inflated condition in the period immediately preceding the last commercial crisis. The mania of speculation was equally felt, and the reaction was equally strong in all departParlia- ments of business. The following table loans.ry shows the amount of capital in shares and in loans which it was proposed to raise by railway and other bills, brought before Parliament in the two years preceding the last commercial crisis, and in the two years following the collapse: FLUCTUATIONS OF WAGES. 24 I In 1865.... 126,441,708 CHAP. XII.,, i866..... 75,49,646,, I867..... 42,638,775,, I868.... 25,207,356,, I869..... 29,22I,706 It is impossible that such fluctuations can occur in the rate of construction of railways and other public works, without entailing much cruel and unnecessary suffering on the labouring poor. A melancholy illustration, to which in connection with another branch of the subject, reference has already been made, of the disturbance in the labourmarket caused by the inflation and subsequent collapse of trade, has been lately exhibited on the banks of the Thames. The number of men employed at the prin- Fluctuaing cipal shipbuilding yards on the Thames was, demand for labour in I86o, 11,830; in I869, 20,880; and in inshipbuilding 1870, 3,I90. Making every allowance for yards on Thames. the faults committed by the men, the principal share of blame for the disasters of the panic must, in justice, be laid on some of their employers. The distress of the industrial population in the Isle of Dogs from this extension of the R 242 WORIK AND WAGES. CHAP. ship-building business to a height which it XII. was impossible long to sustain, cannot be exaggerated. I was asked by Mr. Pease, M.P., to send him some additional labourers to be employed in his Collieries and Iron Works in Durham. The number of applications that were received, as soon as it became known that such employment was to be obtained, afforded a melancholy proof of the extreme destitution of the people. Applications were received every Monday and Wednesday, and on each of those days not fewer than 700 men would present themselves. Many men, who had been employed in the iron works, earning 7s. a day, were anxious to go down to Durham to work as common labourers. Fine, ablebodied young men would come to the office, who had not had a day's work for upwards of two months. General Over production has not been confined to inflation of trade, ship-building on the Thames. Previous to before the late panic. the last commercial crisis, production had been unduly stimulated in every branch of British industry. And then, when the reaction took place, and prices had fallen from the FLUCTUA TIONS OF WA GES. 243 markets having been overstocked, we were CHAP. XII. told that the price of labour and foreign cornm- --- petition were the causes of our inevitable misfortunes. But, as it was well said by an able and candid writer in the " Leeds Mercury," " If foreign competition were the cause of our distress, we should be justified in expecting that, in countries competing successfully with us, the manufacturers would be in a prosperous state." This was not the case. All were calling out at the same time that they were ruined by foreign competition. A similar opinion was expressed by the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, who said that it was demonstrable that the great cause of the depression and the unremunerative character of the worsted trade had been the too rapid increase of machinery, both in spinning and weaving, which were stimulated both by permanent and temporary causes; such as the French Treaty and the American war. The same remarks would equally apply to British spirit of the iron trade, and all the other leading indus- enterprise a cause of tries of the country. The very spirit of enter- fluctuating R 2 244 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. prise, which has made England what she is, XII. 7 tends to produce great fluctuations in the labour demand forlabour. market. When trade is good, our iron founders and cotton spinners are only too ready to increase the productive resources of their establishments. This leads to overproduction, and ultimately to a cessation of demand from abroad. It cannot be doubted that this spasmodic and fluctuating character of our trade produces an unhappy effect upon the operatives who are subject to its influence, of a constant fluctuation in their wages. Extinction The operative class have of late suffered of hand- from another cause. Small producers, who loom weavers. were earning a livelihood by manual labour, have gradually been overwhelmed by the superior powers of machinery. Free trade and open competition, by reducing prices, have been good for the public at large; but, as usual the few have suffered for the benefit of the many. I will take, as an example, the distressed condition of the small weavers at Coventry, as described by Mr. Alexander Carter. The French Treaty precipitated FL UCTUA TIONS OF WA GES. 245 an event which had been impending for CHAP., XII. some time, viz., the extinction of the class Y of small individual weavers, who worked Coventry. looms that they possessed, on their own account. These men, who were, of course, but small capitalists, were either unable or unwilling, or probably both, to adapt themselves to the altered circumstances which the rest of the world saw were gradually working to the. detriment of the then existing state of things, both as regards modes of labour and change of fashion. Their better educated and -more active competitors on the Continent were gradually cutting them out. Formerly, the majority of ribbons were broad, and were made in a small description of loom. Narrow ribbons next came into fashion. The old looms could not be adapted to produce the narrow ribbons, and many of the weavers were unable to afford to buy new looms. The French Treaty,' by taking away the last remnant of protection, of course precipitated their destruction. The only people able to contend against its effects were the large manufac 246 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. turers, who were possessed of capital; were XII. "~ accustomed to acquaint themselves with the change, of fashion by a wide range of observation; could foresee what was wanted; and could provide for the new demands of the public. It is to be feared that the industrial history of Coventry, for some years before and after the negotiation of the French Treaty of Commerce, was the old story of British obstinacy and resistance, which, though good on the field of battle, is not equally valuable in trade. It is a new story also, one not altogether satisfactory, of the extinction of the small producers, in the overwhelming competition with the large manufacturer, whose command of capital enables him to employ the most improved machinery, to procure the best designs, and to accept a lower rate of profit on a much larger production. 247 ] CHAPTER XIII. CO- OPE'RA TION. XIII. the state of trade is of immense im- portance to the industrial classes, and it is tance of a knowledge most desirable that the course of business of trade and profits should be carefully watched by competent toworkmen. persons on their behalf. An inspection of the employers' books would be an effectual means of obtaining this knowledge. Such an inspection is permitted in Messrs. Briggs' Cooperative Colliery. Theirs is a noble experiment-but it is clear that the arrangement, experimentally adopted by Messrs. Dificnulties of Briggs, could not, in practice, be extensively co-operation. applied. In many branches of trade the returns are in the highest degree fluctuating. 248 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. A cycle of years of extreme depression is XIII. ~- -— followed by a period of corresponding prosUncertain perity. During the years of bad trade workprofits and men are employed at rates of wages which earnings. involve considerable loss to the employer, who looks for his compensation to the good years of large profits. If the workmen were continually informed of the profits of their employers, I think they would be apt to exact their full share of reward in the good years, but not equally ready to submit to corresponding sacrifices in the succession of years of bad trade. Associa- The history of the Association des Ma~ons, tion des Ma~ons. established in Paris in 1848, is an illustration both of success in the conduct of the cooperative business, and of the difficulties inseparable from the system. Eighty-four members had been admitted, two being managers and a third assistant manager. Of the eighty-one members two thirds labour with the hod and trowel. The remainder are superintendents and distributors of work, or small holders of capital. But the society, which has been very successful in business, CO-OPERA TION. 249 has found it necessary to employ from 200 to CHAP. XIII. 300 men, as auxiliaries, who are paid the usual wages in the trade, but have no share in the profits. Experience unfortunately proved that when they were paid by a share in the profits, a large number of the men could not be reconciled to the losses. As a means of meeting the difficulty, which the Societe des Maqons found to be so serious, it has been proposed that the minimum rate of weekly wages should be fixed in the cooperative society, and that a dividend on the profits should be declared quarterly. It has been objected to this plan that, as the workman's share of the profits is determined by the cost of manual labour, and this must be fixed by the assent of all the members of the cooperative society, a direct conflict of interest inevitably arises between them and the capitalists, in fixing the standard of the provisional remuneration which they are to receive. But notwithstanding all the difficulties Encouraging exwhich beset the introduction of co-operation, amples of co-operathe recent Blue Book, on the industrial classes ration. abroad, is full of encouraging examples of co 250 WORK AND WA GES. CHAP. operative organization. It has been largely XIII. and successfully developed both in Vienna and in North Germany, under the energetic guidance of M. Schultse de Litsch. If only the difficulties above mentioned could be overcome, there cannot be a doubt that in the adoption of the co-operative principle, modified to suit the different circumstances of different trades, we shall find the only means of effecting a fusion between the otherwise Inspection contending interests of labour and capital. It of books. has been said that an inspection of the employers' books would be an effectual means of imparting to the operatives a correct knowledge of the condition of trade, and would, in many cases, afford the means of proving the utter impossibility of allowing an advance of wages, which the workmen had claimed from ignorance of the actual state of business. But an inspection of the employers' books involves many difficulties. Take the case of the peculiarly hazardous business of a railway contractor. In some of his contracts the profits will be large, in others he will be a serious loser. A large employer taking a CO-OPERA TION. 25 1 general view of his affairs, and setting the CHAP. XIII. good contracts against the bad, is content if the general result is satisfactory. Is it likely that the navvy, who works equally hard both on the bad contract and on the good, would be disposed to suffer a reduction of pay on the bad contract, and to see his fellow-workman employed elsewhere, but working no harder, receive double the pay awarded to himself? On the other hand, this is certain, that while the navvy upon the unsuccessful contract would object to such a reduction of pay as would protect the employer from loss, the navvy on the good contract, if he were made aware of the profits, would demand some share in those profits, in the form of an increase in his pay. Such being the practical difficulties in the way of opening the ledger of the capitalist to the inspection of the operative, what other means are available to enable the workmen to determine the fair rate of wages? The political economy of the wages question is simple enough. The difficulties which beset the question lie entirely in the practical application of the prin 252 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. ciples to the facts. The facts are unhappily XIII. unknown to the working men. They have to struggle in the dark, and have no means of estimating correctly the profits of their employers. Co-opera- How, then, is this knowledge of the state of tion the only sub- trade to be obtained by the working classes, stitute for such in- from a source on which they might rely? spection. Only by the introduction into every trade of the co-operative principle. The co-operative principle has hitherto been applied principally to retail trade. But it is to the more difficult organization of productive industry, that we must look for the settlement of disputes as to wages. I do not expect a general substitution of co-operative industry for private enterprise. It is impossible to deny the superior efficacy of- individual to co-operative enterprise. Moreover, a considerable capital is necessary, in order that every mechanical improvement may be adopted. Again, the skill required to manage a large establishment cannot be obtained without paying high salaries; and workmen may sometimes find it difficult to obtain the necessary commercial CO- OPERA TIONV. 253 faculty and experience either in a committee CHAP. XIII. of management, or in an individual manager of their own class. Some may object to give to a fellow-workman for his services as manager a salary proportionate to his responsibility. Admitting these difficulties to be considerable, they can scarcely be regarded as insurmountable. M. Schultse de Litsch, the father of co- Letter of M. operation in Germany, has described the Schultse origin and history of the movement in a letter to the recent Co-operative Congress. While his narrative reveals the extreme difficulty of putting his admirable theory into practice, and proves that the day is yet far distant when the co-operative system can take a prominent place in the productive industry of the world, it is to be hoped that the experiments which have already been begun may not be abandoned until a more conclusive result has been obtained. The societies for supplying raw materials to artisans have not been successful. The chief cause of failure has been the neglect to insist on cash payments. On the other hand, 254 WORK A ND WA GES. CHAP. the credit societies, established to give XIII. advances of capital to persons without available property, have enjoyed a brighter fortune. These banks are now 740 in number, with a paid-up capital of 2,ooo,ooo/. sterling, with a sum of 8,250,000ooo. available for making loans; and they lend 29,000,000ooo per annum. Mr. Petre. Mr. Petre, an impartial and competent Co-operation not observer, in a recent report to the Foreign practically important Office, has expressed his doubt as to whether in Germany. the economical results of the adoption of M. Schultse de Litsch's principle have been as important to Germany as may at first appear. But it is certain that the disputes between the partisans of M. Schultse de Litsch's principle of self-help, and those who advocate M. Lassalle's principle of State aid, have borne precious fruit in the practical education they have given to German working men in economical science. The societies for production in France have Societies of produc- not been generally fortunate. Since I848, tion in France. aided by a subvention from the Government, 56 co-operative societies have been CO- OPERA TIONV. 2 5 5 established, but only 20 were in existence in CHAP. XIII. I86I. On the other hand, some of the happiest efforts to create co-operative societies of production have been made in France. One Familistere' de of the most interesting of these establish- Gise. ments is that founded by M. Godin le Maire at Guise. He employs 9oo workmen who call themselves the Familistere de Guise, and maintain among themselves the most intimate social relations. Their employer has exhibited an earnest solicitude to promote the welfare of his workmen. In 1859 he constructed for their accommodation, at a cost of 800,000 francs, a house, containing 250 separate tenements, which he lets to the workmen, at rents calculated to pay 3. per cent. upon the capital expended. The value of this property has been divided into shares purchasable by the tenants, who may thus have an opportunity of becoming the sole proprietors. M. Godin le Maire has also divided the value of his plant and works into shares of the value of 25 francs each, by which means he aimed at associating the 256 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. whole body of his workmen with himself, as XIII. his partners in his business. Co-opera- In England the effort to introduce the cotion in England. operative principle made by Messrs. Briggs Experiment of remains still an experiment, though a hopeMessrs. Briggs. ful experiment. The workmen are shareholders to a limited extent. Of 9,770 shares only 264 are held by the workmen, and Mr. Briggs is of opinion that, without more education, mining could not be conducted on a strictly co-operative system. In other branches of trade, co-operation appears Co-opera- to be making considerable progress. In tive mills in Lan- Lancashire, as I noticed on the occasion of a cashire. recent visit, the improvement in the cotton trade has had the accustomed effect of encouraging the erection of new cotton mills; but at Middleton, the point of observation I happened to occupy, I was rejoiced to find that most of the new mills were established on the co-operative system. Co-opera- In New York the Tailors' Association timeonia recently announced that their aim would be henceforth to throw over the system of strikes, and to commence fighting with the CO-OPERA TION. 25 7 strongest weapon, Co-operation. Several CHAP. XIII. Co-operative Land and Building Societies A and Foundries have been established. An Iron Foundry was started in I866 at Troy, in New York, with a capital of 2,7501. In the first year thirty-two men were employed, in I869, eighty-five: the skilled men earning 351. a year more than the wages paid in an ordinary foundry. With these examples before us, we may Co-operative wages venture to hope that co-operation may be the standard more largely introduced into British industry. rate. When this change has been brought about, the workmen will have a standard by which they can determine the fair rate of wages in their -trade. They will know that they cannot expect from their employers a rate of pay exceeding that in the co-operative establishments, where the workmen themselves sit in judgment on the relative claims of capital and labour. The Co-operative Association, working side by side with the capitalist, would diffuse among the workmen in the trade a knowledge of the state of affairs which S 258 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. would make such a mistake as that comXIII. ----- mitted at Wigan impossible. Co-operation Co-opera- would teach our industrial population to tirve experience appreciate the difficulties and hazards attendwould teach the ing the investment of capital in business. I anxieties of the capi- have had an opportunity of seeing what they are; and I can assure the working-manwhose stock in trade is secure amid all the fluctuations of commercial life, because it consists of his individual experience and dexterity, of which no reverse of fortune can deprive him-that the more precarious tenure by which capital is held, capital which has only been amassed after long years of thrift and untiring exertion, ought to mitigate the envy which the contemplation of the rare instances of great success in commercial enterprise may arouse. In the difficult vocation of a railway contractor the fluctuations and anxieties of business are felt with peculiar severity. I know of one great contract in which three partners together lost 750,0ooo00. I could enumerate other contracts in which, though the actual loss was not so serious, the result was even more disastrous CO-OPERA TION. 259 in proportion to the limited extent of the CHAP. XIII. operations. The advantages of co-operation were Lord Derby on summarised by Lord Derby in a well-con- co-operasidered and suggestive speech. "It is human nature," he said, " that a man should like to feel that he is to be the gainer by any extra industry that he may put forth, that he would like to have some sense of proprietorship in a shop or a mill, or whatever it may be, in which he knows his days; and it is because the system introduced of late years of cooperative industry meets that natural wish that I look forward to its extension with so much hopefulness. I believe it is the best and surest remedy for that antagonism of labour and capital which we hear so much talked of, and which to a certain extent no doubt exists.".... " I am well aware that such a state of things as I have pointed out, is one which cannot be brought about in a day. It is quite probable that there are some trades and some kinds of business in which it cannot be brought about at all; but it seems to me that it is in that direction that S2 260 IWORK AND WA GES. CHAP. the efforts of the best workers and the ideas XIII. - - of the best thinkers are tending; and we are not to be disheartened by a few failures, or disappointed because we do not at once hit upon the best way of doing what has never been done before." The diffusion of education under the recent Act will doubtless assist the industrial classes to overcome the difficulties of co-operative organization; and when a higher scale of education is given to the people than the purely elementary instruction which is now proposed, the great quality of self-help will be more highly developed. [ 26I ] CHAPTER XIV. PI1ECE WfzORK. XIV. employers to give to the workman a Piece direct interest in doing his work with skill work and slave and diligence. Slave labour, in which the labour. motive of self-interest is wholly wanting, is on that very ground as unsatisfactory in an economical sense, as it is repugnant to our moral sentiments. Adam Smith truly says that " the person, who can acquire no property can have no other interest but to eat as much and labour as little as possible. In ancient Italy, how much the cultivation of corn degenerated, and how unprofitable it became to the master, when it fell under the management of slaves, is remarked both by Pliny and Columella." Slave labour was employed at 262 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. one time by my father's representative, Mr. XIV. Hancox, on the drainage works at Rio Janeiro; but he soon discovered that free Portuguese labour, even with wages at 4s. 6d. a day, was infinitely cheaper than the labour of the slaves. Evidence Some interesting evidence, as to the relabefore Committee tive costs of free and slave labour, was given on West Indian by witnesses who appeared before the Colonies, 1847. Select Committee on the West Indian Colonies in 1847. It was stated by Mr. John Scoble, that free labour was not only the cheapest, but, under proper direction, the best kind of labour. The price of female slave labour, per month of twenty days, was ten dollars, or Is. 9d. a day. The cost of rearing a slave up to the age of fourteen was I ool. In his opinion, if there had been a diminution in the production of sugar, there had on the other hand been a reduction in the cost of raising it. Corres- In I848 a correspondence took place pondence with c between Earl Grey and the Governors of Earl Grey in the sugar-growing colonies, relative to the i848. causes of the then prevalent distress. Much PIECE WORK. 263 evidence was given to prove that, at least in cHAP. some of the colonies, the cost of production - by free labour was less than the cost of doing the same work with slave labour. Sir William Reid stated that the produce in Jamaica, under free labour cultivation, averaged one ton per acre; whereas in the most prosperous days, before the emancipation of the slaves, 18 cwts. per acre had been esteemed an excellent result. The British Consul at Pernambuco gave a detailed statement of the comparative cost of work done by slaves, and work done by free labour. He stated that eighty slaves on an estate in Pernambuco, used to produce I7I1 tons of sugar. The annual cost of maintaining the slaves, including replacement, was 7651. Adding to this sum interest at I 2 per cent. on the first cost of the slaves, which he estimated at 4,050!. there was an additional expenditure of 4861. This gave the sum of 4,25 i 1. as the total cost of producing the above quantity of sugar with slave labour. The cost of producing an equal quantity of sugar by free labour was considerably less. 264 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP The wages of the free labourer, without food, XIV. I: ~ were Io-3d. a day; free men were admitted to work harder than slaves; but, allowing that an equal number of free labourers should be employed, the total cost would have amounted only to I,o8ol. Piece While I trust that the co-operative movework. ment may be more successful in future than in the past, the difficulties which have been hitherto encountered may perhaps tend to reconcile those who have hitherto objected to piece work, to its adoption in default of a more perfect system. Always My father always preferred putting a price adopted on railway upon the work, rather than paying by the contracts. day. This system was modified to suit the usual habits of the people with whom he had to deal. The Piedmontese on the line from Chambery to Modane were paid at so much a barrow load. This minute measurement was exclusively the Piedmontese system. Piece work could not in all cases be adopted without some complications and difficulties; but my father always looked upon day work as a losinggame; and all his work was done PIF CE WORK. 265 as far as possible by sub-contract, which is CHAP. XIV. piece work on a somewhat larger scale. Even the scaffolding for the erection of an iron bridge, such as that over the Severn, near Colebrook Dale, of 200 feet span, was carried out upon the principle of sub-contract; and the same system was adopted for the excavation of shafts and adjacent lengths of tunnel. Payment by piece is beneficial alike to the master and the man. The men earn higher wages, while the master has the satisfaction of obtaining an equivalent for the wages he has paid, and completing the contract which he has undertaken with far greater rapidity. On public works the differences in the earnings of the men doing piece work, and men working by the day, were always remarkable. In the canal making days, men working in butty-gangs would earn 4s., while others working on the day work system would not earn more than from 2S. to 3s. a day. There was a remarkable illustration of the advantage of piece work over day work in the construction of the railway between 266 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. Leicester and Hitchin. At the commenceXIV. ment of the works, instead of paying the workmen at so much per cubic yard, the piece work system was abandoned, and the men received the average amount of the agricultural wages of the country, namely, 2S. 3d. a day. On my father's attention being directed to this subject, the system was changed, and piece work introduced. It was found that when the men were paid by the day, the excavation in the cuttings had cost Is. 6d. a yard. When the system was changed, day work abandoned, and piece work adopted, the cost of the work was reduced to 7d. per yard. Objections Piece work is not popular with the English to piece work. Trades Unions; and the objection urged by our own workmen is repeated by the artisans abroad. In a letter addressed by F. Fonche to M. Haussontier, published in the " Reports of Working Men on the Paris Exhibition," it is said that piece work, when executed on equitable terms, is a good thing in itself; but, the marchandeur, or small contractor, always PIECE WORK. 267 wants to increase his profits by lessening the CHAP. xiv. prices paid to the working people. Objections have been raised to piece work by Mr. Thornton, in his essay on Labour, mainly on the ground that it makes men overtask themselves and contract intemperate habits, and tends to lower the remuneration of labour. On railways, however, it is certain that these objections have not been felt, and I could quote, in answer to Mr. Thornton, the opinions of Mr. Mill, Mr. McCulloch, and other economists, who have given their cordial approval to the system. I have no fear that the workman will not Workmen always put forth his best skill and greatest energy, work hard when paid when encouraged to do so by the hope of by the piece. reward. In my small personal experience I have seen much to confirm this opinion, expressed by Adam Smith, that " workmen when they are liberally paid by the piece, are very apt to overwork themselves, and ruin their constitution in a few years." The truth of his position is in many cases incontrovertible. Perhaps one of the most striking cases is that of the slaves, employed 268 WORK AIND WAGES. CHAP. as coffee carriers in the Brazils. These men XIV. --- are employed in removing bags of coffee, weighing from two to three hundredweight on their heads, in and out of large warehouses and from the warehouses to the shipping. They often carry these immense weights a distance of 300 or 400 yards. The men are the most powerful slaves in the Brazils, and they are paid at a fixed rate, in proportion to the amount of work performed. They work with the most intense vigour, in order to earn as soon as possible a sufficient sum, wherewith to purchase their freedom, and generally succeed in accumulating the amount required in three or four years. But they are a short-lived race, and in their devouring anxiety to accomplish their object, too often sacrifice their health by over exertion; although they are well fed on dried meat or salt meat from the river Plate, eaten with a large quantity of farinaceous food. It would, in the present condition of trade, be simply impossible to entertain the notion of a further reduction of hours. But I hope to see the day when the progress of mechanical PIECE WORK. 269 invention and habits of greater diligence on CHAP. XIV. the part of workmen may enable them to earn as good a day's wages, and do as much work for their employer, in eight hours as in nine. In order, however, to accomplish so great a reform, the Trades Unions must no longer interpose, enforcing upon all workmen a regulated diligence, and preventing them from making the best use of their powers. I do not wish to see men overwork themselves. I believe with Adam Smith that "the man who works so moderately as to be able to work constantly, not only preserves his health the longest, but, in the course of the year, executes the greatest quantity of work." On the other hand, I have seen much listlessness and idleness in the workshop; and I look forward to the time when there may be more continued attention to business during the working hours, and when the workman shall receive a proportionate reward in shorter hours of labour. [ 270 ] CHAPTER XV. COURTS OF CONCILIA TION. CHAP TN times of commercial depression, the xv. -, —1 importance of establishing friendly means Concurts olif of adjusting the rival claims of capital and tion. labour is underrated. When the rapid increase of production is checked, and especially when the rate of production is diminished, the competition among the industrial classes for employment makes it impossible for labour, however skilfully organized, to exact any concessions from capital. It often happens, in periods of unsuccessful trade, that mills are kept running, mines are being worked, and that engineering establishments are in operation, although the results may involve the employer in serious loss. In such cases production is continued, partly for the sake of COURTS OF CONCfLIATION. 27I sparing to the workmen the suffering arising CHAP. XV. from suspension of industry, partly also with the hope of a return of better trade. But it will be readily understood that under such adverse circumstances the employers cannot possibly entertain demands for an augmentation of wages. The case is reversed in periods of commercial prosperity, when an increasing production in all branches of industry affords employment to every individual who is able to work. The competition of unemployed labour is no longer felt, and labour will naturally begin to seek for an increased reward. The certainty that these claims will arise is a strong reason why some effort should be made to establish friendly and impartial tribunals by which they can be reviewed. Education will probably do much to develop the usefulness of courts of conciliation. It may be that a court of conciliation can never adjust a real quarrel. But it is certain that it may do much to prevent a quarrel from arising. If the workmen were satisfied that an employer could not make a concession without suffering serious loss, they would not 272 WO'ORK AND WAGES. CHAP. be so unreasonable as to ask for it. The Xv. - constant meeting of employers and representatives of the operatives at the same table must naturally facilitate peaceful negotiation where a desire for peace exists on both sides. With constant discussion coming events will cast their shadows before, and disputes are not likely suddenly to arise. Courts of Much advantage might be expected from Conciliation es- courts of arbitration, on the plan recommended tablished by Mr. by Mr. Mundella and Mr. Rupert Kettle. Mundella after the These courts of conciliation are an imitation model of the Con- Of the Conseils des Prud'hommes in France. seils des Prud'- Each council was there established by decree hommes. of the government, and consisted of a president, a vice-president, not necessarily either employers or workmen, and six members elected by employers and workmen; the general aim is to obtain a settlement of trade disputes by judges who are the equals of the disputants. The proceedings are inexpensive; the judges are unpaid; and a delegation of the council, consisting of one employer and one workman, sit in judgment almost daily. The result, in ninety-five out of one hundred cases COURTS OF CONCILIATION. 273 brought before these tribunals is a reconciliation CHAP. XVT. between the parties; and though appeals are permitted to the superior courts of law, they are rarely made. The Conseils des Prud'hommes were highly conseils des Prud'approved by Lord Brougham who, in a debate hommes approved. in the House of Lords in I859, on the strike by Lord Brougin the building trade, referred to the efficiency harmn with which the disputes between masters and men in France were adjusted. "It was impossible," he said, "to read the annual report of the proceedings of the Conseils des Prud'hommes, without wishing to see some analagous provisions in our own law;" and he stated that " in I850, 28,ooo disputes had been heard before the Conseils des Prud'hommes, of which no less than 26,800 were satisfactorily settled." It would be well if employers were to Employers should acquire the habit of giving more unreserved be mcre commtlnlexplanations as to the conditions and prospects cative. of trade. It seems to me that in England we should Switzerland. do well to study the state of society in Switzerland, as described by Mr. Bonar. In T 274 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. Switzerland the personal relations between xv. employers and employed are far more intimate and cordial than with us. Persons of every grade of society sit side by side in the cafes and places of amusement. The admission of workmen into the communal councils, where they share with their employers the responsibilities and honours of public life, while it encourages a wholesome spirit of independence, does much to establish a mutual feeling of sympathy and regard. Sometimes a want of cordiality in the demeanour of the employer is misinterpreted, as indicating a want of sympathy and kindness of heart. A little more facility of manner towards faithful and deserving workmen would often encourage sentiments of loyal good will, beneficial alike to the master and the man. My When I had the privilege of accompanying father's friendly my lamented father on visits of inspection to manner with work- works under construction; I was ever deeply men. impressed by his genial manner towards his old followers. He used to recognise many of the old navvies, even some whom he had not COURTS OF CONCILIATION. 275 met for years, and address them by their CHAP. XV. Christian names. He would never omit to shake hands cordially with old gangers and sub-contractors, and when he met them on the works he would generally pull up for a few minutes, to talk over old times and ask after mutual acquaintances who had been employed on former contracts. A small manifestation of kindness like this, how little it costs; how much it is valued! At the Exhibition in Paris in 1867 Conspicuous exampremiums were offered for conspicuous ples of harmony success in establishing friendly relations between employer between masters and men. Many interesting and employed. examples of well-rewarded effort in this direcM. Quilttion were produced from Germany. The olf. case of M. Quiltolf, a manufacturer of Portland cement at Stettin, was among the most gratifying. When the war broke out in Austria, his affairs became seriously embarrassed. On hearing of the difficulties in which he was involved, his workmen were deeply concerned on his behalf. To avert his impending bankruptcy, they not only submitted to a reduction of 33 per cent. on their T2 276 WORIK AND WA GES. CHAP. wages, but they lent him all their savings. XV. M. Quiltolf had won for himself their grateful attachment by the paternal interest which he had always manifested towards them. They had lived together as one united family. Every Sunday in the summer M. Quiltolf had been in the habit of going out with his workmen, 500 in number, to an island at the mouth of the Oder, where they were accustomed to spend the afternoon in singing choral music. Many other examples of the same truly patriarchal relations between the employers and the employed, were brought under the notice of the Commissioners of the Exhibition at Paris in I867. There was the case of the Baron Baron Diergardt, a manufacturer of velvet, at Diergarcl. Vierson, in Rhenish Prussia. When he celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the formation of his establishment, many of his operatives celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their entering his service. It would be easy to extend this enumeration, but it is impossible to give all the numerous examples, of which COURTS OF CONCILIATION. 277 this may be taken as a type, which were CHAP. Xv. produced from every country. Many of the largest English employers Beneficence of deserve the gratitude of the working classes English employer s. for the considerate interest they have exhibited in their welfare, and the beneficence with which they have endeavoured to provide for their wants. In his report of October i866, Mr. Redgrave speaks in terms of warm commendation of the institutions connected with Messrs. J. Akroyd and Sons at Halifax, which comprise every element for the assistance, morally, materially, and intellectually, of every person employed in the works. Similar provision has been made by Messrs. J. Crossley and Sons at Halifax; by Messrs. Salt at Saltaire; and by many other benevolent employers. It is melancholy to think how true it is Lamentable separathat one-half the world knows not how the tion of classes. other half lives. In our great cities the tendency of the different classes to occupy separate quarters brings many social evils in its train-want of sympathy, indifference, it may be hostility, between poor and rich. I 278 WORK AND WAGES. CHAP. have often felt that it is much to be lamented XV. ---- that our successful employers of labour are apt to withdraw from the scene of their labours, and become country gentlemen, members of Parliament, or residents abroad. The love of field sports which makes country life so attractive, the patriotism which sends the man of business to the House of Commons, are doubtless admirable traits in the national character; but the withdrawal of the personal influence of the employer, just when it is becoming most valuable, is deeply to be regretted. Prevalence Much has been accomplished in recent of destitution, years to ameliorate the condition of the poor, but notwithstanding all the efforts which have been made, it is sad to think how large a proportion of our fellow countrymen are still far too familiar with the pressure of anxiety and want.... a thirst so keen Is ever urging on the vast machine Of sleepless labour,'mid whose dizzy wheels The power least prized, is that which thinks and feels. In the language of the Emperor Napoleon, COURTS OF CONCILIATION. 279 in his speech to the Conseil d'Etats on March CHAP. XV. 1r3, 1869, " It must be acknowledged that the -H Speech of society in which we live contains many Napoleon opposing elements. Do we not indeed see, on the one hand, legitimate aspirations and a just desire for improvement, and on the other subversive theories and criminal covetousness? The duty of the Government is to satisfy the former with resolution, and to reject the latter with firmness. If we fathom the diseases of the most flourishing people, we still discover, beneath an appearance of prosperity, many unmerited misfortunes calling for the sympathy of all generous hearts, many unsolved problems calling for the united action of all reflecting minds." As we think on these things, we may sometimes be prone to despair of the perfectibility of human institutions, and to fold our arms and idly wait the fulfilment of our inexorable destiny. But if we are sometimes inclined to des- Encouragement pair, we shall find encouragement to go for- for the future in ward in a bolder spirit by the contemplation the past. of the victories already won. The story has 280 WORK A ND WAGES: CHAP. been compendiously recorded in the work of Xv. Messrs. Ludlow and Lloyd Jones, on the progress of the working classes. Subsequently to 1833 the Factories Acts, the Ten Hours Act, the Mines and Collieries Acts,the Acts relating to Merchant Seamen; the establishment of Loan Societies, the Post Office Savings' Banks, the Friendly and Benefit Building Societies, the creation of a National System of Education, the Penny Postage, the adoption of a new and more liberal fiscal policy, the facilities given for establishing public libraries and museums, the remission of the paper duties and the creation of a cheap press, the enlargement of the franchise, which has given to the working classes an overwhelming share of political power, and last, and perhaps the greatest of these reforms, the extension of educational facilities to every child, testify to the generous spirit of our recent legislation in all that relates to the welfare of the industrial classes. Social ira- The importance of social reforms, and of provement work of securing the material well-being of the lature. masses of our population, is now universally COURTS OF CONCTLiA TIONV. 281 I recognised. I confess my doubts as to the CHAP. Xv. efficacy of legislation in such matters. It must be remembered that all national expenditure for the benefit of the working classes which is not reproductive, must be defrayed by additional taxes. Let the transfer of land be by all means facilitated, let railway communication between the centre of a great city and its suburbs be made as cheap as possible, let emigration be assisted by loans, if security can be taken for the repayment of such advances; but, granted that something may be done by these various means, I hesitate to admit that the State can be the chief instrument for elevating still higher the moral condition of the people. The work is too vast for any Government to undertake. It can only be accomplished by the self-help and self-sacrifice of the whole nation. And when all shall have done their duty in their several stations, the pressure of unforeseen calamity upon some unhappy individuals and the incapacity of others will leave a mass of suffering to our compassionate care, which it will tax our best energies to relieve. The 282 W7ORK ABND WA GES. CHAP. poor we shall always have with us; and the Xv. great peers, the landowners, and the men who have become rich in commerce, must show themselves active in their sympathies for all just demands, benevolent and kindly in the presence of distress. The exercise of these excellent virtues, while it is in the first place a paramount duty, will undoubtedly bring with it to the State and the society in which we live, the immediate and priceless blessing of social union and contentment. The condition of civilised man will be raised, not by destroying all the institutions which we have inherited from the wisdom of past ages, but by earnestly applying ourselves to adapt that which exists, and the value of which has been tested by time and by experience to the ever new requirements of mankind. In the eloquent language of Mr. Ruskin, "If we labour faithfully we shall know that in reverence is the chief joy and power of life-reverence for what is pure and bright in our own youth, for what is true and tried in the age of others, for all that is gracious COURTS OF CONCILIATION. 283 among the living, great among the dead, and CHAP. marvellous in the powers that cannot die." The quality of self-help will be developed best in those peoples who are most ready to appreciate the obligations and the practical lessons of Christianity. "In societies such as ours," says M. Michel Chevalier, " in which the inequality of fortune presents a striking contrast beside our political equality, the religious sentiment is the best means of reconciling and uniting together the rich and the poor. It teaches the rich man to have a due regard for his disinherited brother. It teaches the poor man to be patient and honest amid all temptations, to be confident of a brighter future here below, which can only be attained by his own intelligent exertion, and to look beyond the world to the hope of a good reward in another and higher sphere of existence." The vague theory of the International Society, founded on atheism and in a narrow and contemptible spirit, acknowledging the existence of only one section of society, will never gain a footing among us, if only those whose responsi 284 WOR KIT AND WA GES CHAP. bilities are great will manfully endeavour to XV. do their duty. It is because there has been so much public spirit among us that we have hitherto been preserved from the miseries of civil war, and the continued development of these public virtues is our best security for the future. [ 285 ] ABR BEY ABRUZZI, labourers from the, 59 Association des Magons, 248 Age, of locomotives, i86; of la- Austrian Lloyd's fleet, II4, 170 bourers, 232 Axles, 134, I8o Agricultural, implements, 138; la- Azizich Company's fleet, 170 bourers, 52, 55, 73, I40, I62 Agriculture, in California, 137; in BALLARD, Mr. on railway construcRussia, 138; in Prussia, 138; tion, 128; on navvies, 226 in Pennsylvania, I38 Banana, prohibition of its culAire and Calder navigation, 195 ture, 95 Akroyd, Messrs., of Halifax, 277 Barrow, works at, I9I Alderney, wages at, 85 Barrows, carrying, on the head, Aleppo, wages at, 53 14I; piece work per, 264 Alexander, Mr., on French opera- Basingstoke, bricklaying at, 86 tives, 149 Bastiat, quotation from, 62 Alexandretta, wages at, 53 Bedford Railway, 226 Allen's, Mr., evidence, 12 Belgians not so extravagant as Amalgamated Engineers' Society, 12 English, 96 America, emigration to, 216; cli- Belgium, cost of getting coal, 99; mate of, I33 ofiron, I 12; of rails, I I 2, ISS; American, industries, axles, iron, arms, 113; girders, I90; wages 134 in, 84, 96 Andrew, Mr., I81 Belmore, Lord, 214 Andrews, Rev. Mr., I64 Bell, Mr. Lothian, I9; on cost Arbitration, 270- of labour, 97; on coal, Ioo; Area of United States, 208; New on saving coal, I3I South Wales, 208 Bellegarde tunnel, 43 Armour plates, I9I Benefit societies, 25 Argentine Republic, emigration to, Beyrout, wages at, 95; water tax 217-; fitters' wages in, 52 at, 94 286 INDEX. BID COT Biddle, Mr., 147 Class jealousies, xii Bilbao line, wages on, 36 Climate, wages dependent on, 94; Board of Trade Returns, 173 of America, 133 Bohemia, wages in, 44 Chelmsford, Lord, I63 Boiler-makers' wages, 47 Cheapness and quality, I75 Bonar, Mr., on Switzerland, 273 Chester Junction Railway, 37 Bonnieres cutting, 82 Chevalier, M. Michael, I, 283; on Booker, Mr., on farm labourers, I37 price of rails, 99; dearness of Bothnia, 63 labour, I24 Brassey, Mr., 8, 34, 42 Coal, English supply, 14; Mr. Bricklayers, 57, 86, 87, 217 Bell on, 98; cost of getting, Bricklaying at Basingstoke, 86 99, 144; co-operative mining, Bridges for India, i80 247, 256 Briggs, Messrs., co-operative move- Coffee, drinkers, I6; carriers, 268 ment, 247, 256 Commercial progress of nations, Broadhurst, Mr., on builders' wages, I67 i98 Comparative number of men emBroke, Consul, 57 ployed in England and abroad, Brougham, Lord, on the Prud'- 98, Io9 hommes, 273 Competition, sway of, 33; foreign, Buddicom, Mr., onlocomotives, 131 77 Builders, rise of wages in the trade, Conciliation, Courts of, 270197; in London, I97; in Man- Conolly, Mr., on trades unions, chester, I99; hours of labour, 4; on work in the States, 2I3 198 Conscripts unable to read, 121 Building Societies, 257 Conseils des Prud'hommes, 273 Bukovina Railway, Io5 Coolies, 58, 87 Butty-gangs, I95, 233, 265 Cost of labour, 66; in Canada, 35; pig-iron, 98; of rising coal in CAEN, wages at, 83; and Cherbourg France, 99; in Belgium, 99 Railway, 83, 120 Co-operation, 247-; difficulties of, Caird, Mr., I72' 247; uncertain profits, 247; California, 137; wages in, 56 an encouraging example, 249; Callao Docks, 54 inspection of books, 250; Canada works, wages at, I57 Messrs. Bigg's movement, 247, Capital, railway (I865-9), 241 256; The Familistere de Guise, Carpenters, 87, II9- 255; New York tailors, 256; Carriage building, II3 land societies, 257; building Carter, Mr. A., 244 societies, 257; Lord Derby on, Cast iron, I33 259 Central Wales Railway, wages on, Cotton, Mr. Wells on goods at 195 Damascus, xIo; hM. Thiers INDEX. 28 COV EXO on, 174; M. de Forgade EARTHWORK, prices of, 38, 39, 49, on, 175; and woollen stuffs, 226, 266 125 East, exports to the, I67 Coventry weavers, 245 East Indian Railway, 178 Cowell's, Mr., evidence, 127 Eastern Union Railway, 37 Creuzot, wages at, I59; men at, "Economist" paper, 50 96 Education, technical, 121; and ConCrimean war, its effect on wages, ciliation, 270 43 Elliot, Mr. G., M.P., on coal getCrossley, Sir F., 72 ting, I44 -Messrs., 277 Emigration, 200; to America, 202; of operatives, 211; from Ireland, 206; South Wales, 206; not "DAILY NEWS," report in, 73 to be regretted, 206; from "Daily Telegraph," report in, 213 Germany, 207; from HamDay, Mr., 69 burg, 207; from Bremen, de Forgade, M., on cotton, 175 207; evidence of a German de Litsch, M., 250, 253 on, 210; absorptive power de Walden, Lord Howard, on Bel- of, 215; amount of, 216; cost gian arms, 113 of, 201, 218; to the United Dearness of labour a stimulus to States, 216; to the Argentine work, I3, I23- Republic, 218; to River Plate, Delhi Railway, 87 217, 218; to Queensland, 233; Delegates from trades unions, 14 State-aided, 2I9, 221; a Demand and supply, 33- success, 222 Derby, Lord, on co-operation, 259 Employers dislike to lessen wages, Diergardt, Baron, 276 7 Dieppe Railway, 82 Engineering trade, I55 Discipline of trades unions, 26 Engineers, strike of, 6; society, 12, Disputes settled by the Conseils des 47; income and expenditure of Prud'hommes, 273 the society, 25; on River Plate, Distressed navvies, 220 52; English, I114; on board Dix, Mr., on prices of provisions, ship, 148 164 England's glory, xiv Dockyard dismissals, 238 Enniskillen and Bundoran RailDollfus, MM., I21, 143 ways, 69 Drainage, wages on works, 68, 262 Equality in cost of labour, 75 Dudgeon and Co., Messrs., 173 Equalising influence of railways, Dupontes, M. Chemin, I67 200 Dusautoy, M., I6i Esscher, Weiss, and Co., I79 Dutch, 65 Essen, wages at, 15 Dwellings, Ioo; Act, I63 Exodus of English to France, 79 28 8 INDEX. EXP HYA Exports, I67; steel and iron, 50; en- Great Northern Railway, wages on, tire, of Western nations, I67 17 Grey, Earl, 262 Growth of trade, I68 FACTORIES, locomotive, I79- Guilds of middle ages, I, 3 Familistere de Guise, 255 Fane, Mr., report of, 158 Farmlabourers, 55, 73, 140, 162 HALIFAX, chamber of commerce, Fawcett, Mr., 74, 205 243 Fell Railway, 117 Hall, Admiral, on wages, 236 Female labour, Io04, I6I Ilancox, Mr., 262 Field, Mr. Alfred, on hardware, "Handicraftsmen and capitalists," 136 206 Field labourers in Silesia, I62 Hardware, 22 Files, 2I Harmony between master and man, Fitters' wages, 52 274 Fleet, Austrian Lloyd's, 114, 170 Helm, Mr. on manufacturing statis- Azizieh Company's, I70 tics, I25 - British Steam Navigation, 171 Hemans, Mr., on wages, 56, 209, - CompagnieTransatlantique, 171 2 I - Messageries Imperiales, 17I Henfrey, Mr., 87 - Netherlands India Co.'s, I72 Herries & Co., 206 - North German Lloyd's, 172 Hewitt, Mr., on wages, 96, 99, 204 - Rubattini and Co.'s, 172 Hodges, Mr., on American iron, Fluctuations in trade, 47, 78, I89 133 Fonche, M., 266 Holland, wages in, 84 Forcade, M. de, 175 Hornby, Messrs., on time, 143 Foreign competition, 77 Horse shoes, I 13 Fox, Hon. W., 2I5 Houldsworth's, Messrs., machinery, Free trade, I8, 27, 31, 163 I26, I27 French treaty, 245 Hours of labour, 1O2, I43, I99; in Frere, Sir Bartle, on Indian wages, South Wales, I44; in Russia, 58 I44; in America, 145; on Fuel, 132; economy of, 98, I31 Paris and Rouen Railway, 146; Furguson, Sir J., 2I5 at Messrs. Ransome and Sims, I47; in building trade, I98 Hughes, Mr., table of wages at GENIUS of French and English, 117 Millbank, 237 German ironworks, 15, 21 Humboldt, 95 Girders, I90 Hume, Mr., on wages, 69 Godin le Maire, M., 255 Hungary, wages in, 44 Grand Trunk Railway, 35, 86 Hyacinthe, Le Pere, xiii INDEX. 289 IMP MAC IMPORTS and exports, I66 high price of, in Australia, 208; India, wages in, 58; bridges for, rent and cost of, 2I7; Societies, i8o; railway capital in, 57; 257 locomotives and rails for, I77 Lassalle, M., 254 Industrial success, I68 Lathes, 22 Intelligence, I I2, I17 Law Courts site, i64 Intoxication, I6, 227 "Leeds Mercury," 243 Inventive genius, II 17, 122 Lemberg and Czernowitz line, Io5 Investment in railways, 57, 241 Levi, Prof. Leone, I6I, I68; on Irish, Railway Committee, 70; emi- silk manufacture, 120 gration, 206; labour, 70 Lever, Consul, on engineers, II4 Iron, bar, IOI; trade, 204; wages Life, duration of, in Russia, Io7; of smiths, 52; pig, 98; increase navvies, 232 of pig, 204; American, 133; Living, cost of, I6, 93, 95; stanBelgian, II2 dard of, 88; in India, 54, 59, Italians, go 88; at Lima, 54; in Hungary, Io5; in Eastern Europe, 6i, 89; in Moldavia, 89; in United JACOBI, 45; on serf labour, 104 States, 209, 212 Jacquerie riots, 3 Loans, Parliamentary, 240 Jamaica Railway, 140 London and Birmingham Railway, Jones, Professor, 103 wages on, I95, I97 Locks, English, I 13 Locomotives, 77; on Fell Railway, KIESSLER, M., 178, 180 II7; introduced into railway Kitson, Mr., on intelligence, 112 making, 129; reduction of Kettle, M., on Conciliation, 272 cost of, I30; made by machiKrupp's works, 15, 21 nery, 130; Mr. Buddicom on, I3I; tenders for, I8I; prices of, I78; ordered of Kiessler, LABOUR, liberty of, I; abroad, I9; 178; of Esscher, Weiss & Co., cost of, I9, 66, 74; Mr. 179; for Great Eastern RailLothian Bell on, I9, 97; Mr. way, 183; for Poti and Tiflis Longridge on, go9 Mr. Com- Railway, I85; Life of a, I86 missioner Wells on, 97; Mr. Longridge, Mr., evidence, 90 Redgrave on, 97; dear, stimu- Lookouts, 39 lates invention, 13, 123; M. Low wages, effect of, 7I Simon on, 152; is it becoming Lucas, Messrs., I97 dearer? I94; comparative cost Ludlow and Lloyd Jones, Messrs., of, 42, I96; scarcity of good 280 in, 214; State-aided, 254 Land available for emigration, 208; MACHINE tools, I62 U 290 INDEX. MAC POO Machinery, labour saving, 130, 138, work, 227; effect of London I97; against hand labour, 123, residence on, 230; as emiI30 grants, 233; great age of some, McCormack's reapers, 138 232; rise in life, 233; in McCulloch, Mr., on cost of food, France, 220 93, 95, 267 Nine hours movement, I47 Mackay, Mr., on wages, 38, 46 Night-shifts, i50 Manby, Mr. Chas., on reduction in North Devon Railway, wages on, 67 cost of locomotives, I31; works North-Western Railway, wages in, at Creuzot, I59; on life of I96 locomotives, I86 Manual skill, I6, I30 OMNIBUS trains, 151; special, 229 Masons, 5, 35, 36, 85, 87; wages Oratory, power of, II of, abroad, 35, 37, 53 Ores, mixing, 135 Mauritius, labour in, 90go Maximum limit of wages, 94 Mechanic, a Philadelphian and PACIFIC Railway, 57 English, 212 Panics, effects of, 37 Mault, Mr., 5 Paris and Rouen Railway, I7, 79, Medical staff, 80 120, 146, I92, 220, 229 Meigs, Mr., 54 Parliamentary loans, 240 Messageries Impdriales, 171 Pauper and ablebodied men, 215 Michell, Mr., on Russian trade, 2r, Pease's, Mr., M.P. works, 242 24, 144 Percy, Dr., I9o Military resources of Russia, io6 Pernambuco, 263 Mill, aMr., 8, I I6, 267; on mowing, Persia, wages in, 53 103 Peru, wages in, 55 Millwall, wages at, 92, 237 Peruvian Railway, 55 Milroy's, Mr., evidence, I I9, 226 Petre, Mr., on Co-operation, 254 Miners, 81, I 15 Philadelphian mechanic, 202 Montesquieu, observations of, 97 Phipps, Mr., on industrial classes, Morticing machines, I35 44 Mowers, 104; Wood's, I39 Physical strength of navvies, 231; Mules, improvement in, and cost of of labourers, 225 yarn, I27 Piece work, 26I; trades unions and, Mundella, Mr., on Conciliation, 272 266 Piedmontese and barrow work, 264 NAPOLEON III., 278 Pig iron, 98, 204 Nasmyth's, Mr., evidence, I29 Political economy, Mill on, Io3; National progress, 126 of wages question, 251 Navvies, 17; wages of, 36, 49, 8I, Poor Law Commission on Produce 195, 226, severity of their of Soil, 71 INDEX. 2 9 I POP QUO Population, reduction of, at St. Quotation from M. de Forgade, Pancras, I64; in I763 and 175 1872, I68 - Hon. W. Fox, 215 Porter, Mr. G. R., on progress of - Sir B. Frere, 58 the nation, I25 - Sir J. Furguson, 2 I 5 Poti and Tiflis Railway, I84- -''Handicraftsmen and capitaProfits, moderation of English, 20; lists," 206 co-operative, 256- - "HI-armonies Economiques," 62 Progress, 126, I66, "of the Na- - Mr. Helm, I25 tion," I25 - Mr. Hemans, 56, 2IO Protection, 103, I74 - Mr. Henfrey, 87 Providence of French, 17 - Herries and Creed, 206 Provisions, price of, 40, 4I, 164 - Mr. Hewitt, 96, 99, 204 Prud'hommes, 272 - Mr. Hodges, 132 Public opinion, 2 - Humboldt, 95 Puddlers, 204; Mr. Wells on their - Mr. Hume, 70 wages, Ioo - Le P&'re Hyacinthe, xiii Punjaub Railway, 81 - Herr Jacobi, 45, J.o4 - Mr. Kitson, I 12 QUEENSLAND, 218, 233 - "Leeds Mercury," 243 Quiltof, M. 275 - Prof. Leone Levi, 120, I6I, I68 Quotation from Mr. Alexander, I49 - Consul Lever, II4 Mr. Ballard, I28, 226 - Messrs. Lucas, I97 Bastiat, 62 - Mr. McCulloch, 93, 95, 267 - Mr. Lothian Bell, I9, 97, 98, - Mr. Mackay, 38, 46 I00, 131 - Mr. Manby, I3I, 159, I86 Earl of Belmore, 2I4 - Mr. Mault, 5 Mr. Booker, I37 - Mr. Michell, 2I, 24, 144 Consul Broke, 57 - Mr. J. Stuart Mill, 8, 103, II6, -Lord Brougham, 272 267 - Mr. Buddicom, 31 - Mr. Milroy, II9, 226 -M. Chevalier, I, 99, I24, 283 - Montesquieu, 97 Mr. Connolly, 4, 213 - Mr. Nasmyth, I29 - Mr. Cowell, I27 - Napoleon III., 278 -Sir F. Crossley, 72 - Dr. Percy, I90 -Lord Howard de Walden, I I3 - Mr. Petre, 254 Lord Derby, 259 - Mr. Phipps, 44 "L'Esprit des Lois," 97 - Poor Law Commissioners, 7 -Mr. Fane, 158 - Mr. Porter, 125 Mr. Fawcett, 74, 205 - "Progress of the Nation," 125, -Mr. Field, I36 - Mr. Read, M.P., I40 - M. Foncbh, 266 -- MAIr. Redgrave, Iol, 277 202 INArDEX. QUO REN Quotation from Sir XV. Reid, 263 - Great Northern, 17, 226 - Mr. Reid, I8, — Jamaica, I40 "- Revue des Deux Mondes," I6 - Lemberg and Czernowitz, Io5 - Mr. Ricardo, 42 -- London and Birmingham, I95, -Mr. Robinson, 47 197 -Mr. Ruskin, 282 — Metropolitan, 151 - Mr. Scoble, 262 - Moldavian, 45 - M. Simon, I52 - North Devon, 67 - Mr. Smith, 7 - North London, I5I - Mr. Adam Smith, 20, 33, 26I, - North Staffordshire, 37 267, 269 - North-Western, I96 - M. Thiers, 174 - Pacific, 57 - Mr. Thornton, 267 - Paris and Rouen, 17; 79, I20, - Turgot, 2 I46, I92, 220, 229 Sir Sydney Waterlow, I64 -Peruvian, 55 - Mr. Watson, 2I4 - Poti and Tiflis, I84 - Comr. Wells, IOO, Io3, I59, - Punjaub, i8I 203, 209 - Royston and Hitchin, 37 - Mr. West, IO9 - South Staffordshire, 69 -Mr. Wilcox, 129, 218 - Trent Valley, 146, 229,- Wolverhampton and Walsall, 49 Railways, reduction in making, RAIN-WATER pipes, 134 I28; Mr. Rowan on, 128; Rails, 84, 130; bounty paid in Mr. Ballard on, I28; Mr. Russia on, 68; cost of,.99; Wilcox, 129; sum invested Belgian, I88; price of, 68; in, 169; capital, 1865-9, manufacture of, 99 241; equalising influence of, Railway, Bedford, 266 201; cost of, 77; in India, 57; - Bilbao, 36 growth of, 203 - Bukovina, IO5 Ransom and Sims, I39, I47 - Caen and Cherbourg, 83, I20 Read, Mr. Chas., I40 — Central Wales, 195 Reading, 12I - Chester Junction, 37 Reaping machines, I39 - Delhi, 87 Redgrave, Mr., on spinning, IOI, - Dieppe, 82 277 - East India, 178 Reid, Mr., I 8 - Eastern Union, 37 Reid, Sir W., on slave labour, 263 - Enniskillen and Bundoran, 69 Rendel, Mr., on Indian railways, - Fell, II7 178 - Fermoy and Lismore, 202 Relays of workmen, I49 - Grand Junction, I94 Rent abroad, 19, 255; at home, - Grand 1T runk, 35, 86 19, 73, I40, I64, 237 INDEX. 293 REV TAB "Revue des Deux Mondes," I6 Shipwrights, 91; on the Thames, 9; "Revivers, " 26; their manifesto, 27 wages of, 10o9, 237 Report, Parliamentary, 70; of Irish Silesia, 45, I62 Railway Commission, 70; of Silk manufacture, 120o; Prof. Leone workmen on Paris Exhibition, Levi on, I20 266 Simon, M. Jules, on labour, 152 Ribbons, 245 Skilled labour, 51 Ricardo, Mr., on wages, 42 Slave labour, 262; Scoble on, 262; Rights of labour, I; Turgot on, 2 Sir W. Reid on, 263 Rise in wages, 36, 46, 47, 50, 66, Smith, Adam, 20, 33, 261, 267, 269 68, I40, I58, I98; in Italy, I62 Smiths' wages, 52 Robinson, Mr., on wages, 47 Solvilur ambulanzdo, 79 Rolling stock, I35, I85, I92 Sotteville, 13I, I92, 239 Rowan, Mr., 128 Spinning, British and foreign, ioI, Rubattini and Cie, I72 175; Mr. Cowell on, I27; Ruskin, Mr., 282 wages, 126 Russia, trade of, 20, 23, 6I, 68; cost Standard ofliving, 88; of wages, 257 of labour in, Io5; false dread of Stanley, Reports sent to Lord, 155; military power of, io;; dura- Fane's report to, I58 iion of life in, Io7; serf labour, State-aid, 254; emigration, 219, 212 Io8; yield of crops, Io8 Steel, and iron export, 50; proRussian operatives, Io7 duction, 19I Strikes, 3, 6, 22, 51; engineers,' 6; Preston, 6; iron trade, 6; colliers', 6; shipwrights', 9; igST. PANCRAS, I64 norance of leaders of, 9, Io; at Sailors, Io9 Wigan, II; conditions to be Salt, Sir Titus and Co., 277 considered, 12 Saws, 21 Stump orators, I2 Saxony, wages in, 44 Subbing, i8, 228 Schneiders,' MM.; rise of wages at, Suez Canal, I 15 239; locomotives ordered from, Sugar, 263 184 Supply and demand, 33 Schools for men, 80 Switzerland, 273 Scoble on slave labour, 262 Seamstresses' wages, 161 Serfs, labour, 104; wages of, Io8 TABLE of wages on English lines, Sheerness, wages at, 236 38 Shipbuilding, 31; cost of, 91; decay - earnings in iron manufacture, 52 of, I69; comparative cost of, - carpenters' wages in India, 58 236; men employed on, 241 - labour in Bengal and Bomnbay, Shipping, increase of, 214 60 2 94 INDEX. TAB WAG Table of shipbuilders in France, 92 guilds, I; origin of, 3; faults --,, 6n Thames, 92 of, 4; Mr. Connolly on, 4; - statistics on textile manufactures, Mr. Mault on, 5; Mr. Smith 125 on, 7; Mr. Allen on, I2; - spinners' wages, 126 first duty of, 13; delegates, - wages at Canada works, 157 14; good done by, 25; dis- prices of provisions, I64 cipline, 26; "Revivers," 26; - tenders for locomotives, I81 rise of wages where there are,, goods and passenger no, 43, 47; Mr. Robinson on, engines, I84 47; Messrs. Trollope on, 46; -- carriages for Poti and unable to obtain higher wages, Tiflis Railway, I85 5, 158; and piece-work, 266 - details of tenders, I87 Train mileage, I86 - Belgian rails, 189 Treaty, French, 246 -wages in building trade, I97 Trent Valley Railway, I95, 228; - emigration to River Plate,2I8 hours of labour on, 147 wages at Sheerness, 236 Trollope's, Mr., evidence, 46,, Millwall, 237 Turgot, on rights of labour, 2 -, Sotteville, 239 Tunnel, 8I; Bellegard, 43 -- locomotive works, 240 - railway capital, 241 Technical education, 121 UNIFORM wages, 5, 7, 75, 89, 201 Teetotallers, I7 United States, 200, 208; wages in, Tenders of Messrs. Brassey and 201, 208; cost of living in, 209 Mackenzie, I I8 - for locomotives, I84 - for rolling stock, I85 VIEILLE Montagne Zinc works, I62 Test of working men, I8 Voyage, cost of, to America, 20I Textile manufactures, 125 Thiers, M., on French industry, 174 Thornton, Mr., 33; on piecework, WAGES, masons', 5 267 - uniform, 5, 7 Thrift and gain, 20 - and Trades Unions, 4 Time, I43; short, 146- - at Krupp's, 15 Tires, 21 - regulated by demand and supply, Tonnage, Io9, 170 33 Tools, 21, I30, 162 - in Canada, 35 Trade, I69; increase of, I68; fluc- - of navvies, 36 tuations in, 47 - in Australia, 36 Trades Unions Commission, 4, 5, - on Bilbao Railway, 36 7, 12, 47, 72, 99, 129 - fall in, 37 Trades Unions, 77; and ancient on Eastern Union IRailway, 37 IA7DEX. 295 WAG \ EL Wages on Roystonand Hitchin Rail- - dependent on standard of comway, 37 fort, 88 93 - in North Staffordshire, 37 - maximum limit of, 94 - from I843-I869, 38 - at Beyrout, 94 - on early railway works, 38 -,, Sireuil, 96 - during Crimean War, 43 - of serfs, I04 - at Woodford, 43 - of female labour, 103 - of quarrymen in Piedmont, 43 - spinners, I27-137 - in Saxony, 44 - rise of, in agriculture, I40,, Bohemia, 44 - on relays, 151 - on Moldavian lines, 45 - rise of, abroad, 154 - advance of, in building trade, 47 - of mechanics, 155 - of boiler makers, 47 - at the Canada works, I56 of navvy at Brussels, 49 -,, Creuzot, 159 -,, iron works, 50, 52 -- rise atMM. Schneiders', I6o, 192,, Argentine Republic, 53 - M. Dusautoy's, I6I,, Persia, 53 - of seamstresses, i6I,, Syria, 53 - in Sicily, I62,, Peru, 55 - of shipwrights, Io9,, United States, 56 — in French engineering works,,, India, 58 —60 239 - Sir Bartle Frere on, 58 - on London and Birmingham, 195 - in Russia, 6I, 105 -,, Grand Junction Railway, 194 -, Ireland, 70 -,, Trent Valley, 195 - effect of low, 7 -I in Manchester, 199 high, 74 - influence of American, 200 on Paris and Rouen Railway, - on North-Western, i96 8I - in Philadelphia, at Bonnieres, 82 - fluctuation of, 235 on Dieppe Railway, 82 - at Sheerness, 236,, Caen and Cherbourg Rail- -,, Millwall, 92, 237 way, 83 -,, Sotteville, 239 in Italy, 84 - Political economy of, 251,, Austria, 84 Walden, Lord Howard de, II3,, Switzerland, 84 Warwickshire labourers, 73,, Germany, 84 Water-tax at Beyrout, 94,, Moldavia, 89 Waterlow, Sir Sydney, on rent, I64 puddlers', 204 Watson, Mr., 214 Belgium, 84, 96 Weavers, 244 Holland, 84 Welch iron, manufacture of, 5I on Delhi Railway, 87 Wells, Mr., on American industries, shipbuilding, 92 210; cost of labour, Ioo; pud 296 INDEX. WES ZIN dlers' wages, 204; on cotton Woods, mowers, I39 works, IIo; on labour in Woodford, wages at, 43 country going into towns, 158; Woollen and cotton stuffs 125 on emigration, 203-209 Work, ennui, I 6 West, Mr., on shipbuilding, IO9 Wheels, 133 Wigan strike, i YARN, cost of, 128 Wilcox, Mr., I29, 2I8 Women labourers, misery of, io6 Wolverhampton and Walsall Rail- ZIMMERMAN, 21 way, 49 Zinc works, wages at, 162 LONDON: PRINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE AND PARLIAMENT STREET