1. _The Rubbish-Carters_ proper, or “carmen,” who are engaged
principally in conveying the refuse brick or earth to the several
shoots.
2. _The Rubbish-Shovellers_, or “gangers,” who are engaged principally
in filling the cart with the rubbish to be removed. Generally speaking,
the two offices are performed by the same individual, who is both
carter and shoveller, and it is only in large works that the gangers
are employed.
Master builders and others who require the aid of rubbish-carters for
the removal of earth or any other kind of rubbish from ground about to
be built upon, or from old buildings about to be repaired or pulled
down, either hire horses, carts, and carmen, by the day, of the master
rubbish-carters, or pay a certain price per load for the removal of the
rubbish. If the job be likely to last some length of time, the builders
pay the masters so much per load for carting away the rubbish; but
if the job be only for a short period, the horses, carts, and carmen
are hired of the masters for the time. The price paid to the master
rubbish-carter ranges from 2_s._ 6_d._ to 3_s._ 6_d._ per load for the
removal of rubbish and bringing back such bricks, lime, or sand as may
be required for the building. The master rubbish-carter, in all cases,
pays the men engaged in the removal of the rubbish.
The operative rubbish-carters (except in a very few instances) never
work in gangs, either in the construction of new buildings or in
old buildings about to be pulled down or repaired. In digging the
foundations of new houses, the master builders, or speculators,
building upon their own ground employ their own excavators, and engage
rubbish-carters to remove the refuse earth, the latter being merely
occupied in carting it away.
The principle of simple co-operation or gang-work occasionally
prevails; and, when this is the case, the gang is employed in
shovelling and picking, while the carman, as the shovellers throw out
the rubbish, fills or shovels the rubbish into the cart.
Each rubbish-carter will, on an average, convey away from two to five
loads a day, according to the distance he has to take it. Calculating
850 men to remove four loads per diem for five months in a year, the
gross quantity of rubbish annually removed would be very nearly 326,000
loads.
In the regular trade _the hours of daily labour_ are twelve, or from
six to six; but the men are allowed half an hour for breakfast, an
hour for dinner, and half an hour for tea, and almost invariably leave
at half-past five, so postponing the “tea” half-hour until after the
termination of their work. In winter the hours are generally “between
the lights,” but on very short, dark, or foggy days, lanterns are used.
The men employed by one firm “often made up,” I was told by one of
them, “for lost time, by shovelling by moonlight.” The carman, however,
has to get to his stable in the summer at four o’clock in the morning,
and to tend his horse after he has done work at night; so that the
usual hours of labour with him are fifteen and sixteen per day, as well
as Sunday-work.
TABLE SHOWING THE NUMBER OF OPERATIVE RUBBISH-CARTERS EMPLOYED
THROUGHOUT LONDON, THE WAGES RECEIVED BY THEM, THE NUMBER OF WEEKS THEY
ARE EMPLOYED, AS WELL AS THE QUANTITY OF RUBBISH REMOVED BY THEM IN THE
COURSE OF THE YEAR.
---------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------
|No. of Operative
|Rubbish-Carting.
|
| |No. of Shovellers
| |working in Gangs.
| |
| | |Quantity of Rubbish
| | |carted Daily.
| | |
| | | |Quantity of Rubbish
| | | |carted Annually.
| | | |
| | | | |No. of days in the
| | | | |week each Operative
Master Rubbish | | | | |is employed at
Carters. | | | | |Rubbish-Carting.
| | | | |
| | | | | |No. of weeks during
| | | | | |the year each Operative
| | | | | |is engaged in
| | | | | |Removing Rubbish.
| | | | | |
| | | | | | |Weekly Wages of
| | | | | | |Rubbish-Carters.
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |Weekly Wages of
| | | | | | | |the Operatives
| | | | | | | |working in Gangs
| | | | | | | |at Rubbish-Carting.
---------------------------------+---+--+----+------+--+---+----+-------------------
| | |lds.|loads.| | |_s._|_s._
{ Mr. J. Bird | 5 |..| 15 | 2340 | 6| 26| 18 | ..
{ -- Hough | 3 |..| 9 | 1404 | 6| 26| 18 | ..
_Kensington._ { -- Dubbins | 3 |..| 9 | 1404 | 6| 26| 18 | ..
{ -- Taylor | 3 |..| 12 | 1872 | 6| 26| 18 | ..
{ -- Gale | 3 |..| 12 | 1872 | 6| 26| 18 | ..
{ -- G. Bird |10 |..| 20 | 3120 | 6| 26| 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- Nicholls |10 |..| 20 | 3120 | 6| 26| 18 | ..
{ -- Emmerson | 5 |..| 15 | 2340 | 6| 26| 18 | ..
_Chelsea._ { -- Freeman | 5 |..| 15 | 2340 | 6| 26| 18 | ..
{ -- Pattison | 2 |..| 6 | 936 | 6| 26| 18 | ..
{ -- Porter | 6 |..| 18 | 2808 | 6| 26| 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- Rawlins | 4 |..| 16 | 1248 | 6| 13| 18 | ..
_St. George’s, { -- Wells | 2 |..| 8 | 624 | 6| 13| 18 | ..
Hanover-sq._ { -- Watkins | 5 |..| 15 | 1170 | 6| 13| 18 | ..
{ -- Liddiard | 5 |..| 15 | 1170 | 6| 13| 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- Farmer | 4 |..| 16 | 1920 | 6| 20| 18 | ..
_Westminster._ { -- Bugbee | 6 | 4| 30 | 2340 | 6| 13| 18 | 18
{ -- Reddin | 6 | 4| 30 | 2340 | 6| 13| 18 | 18
{ -- Francis | 5 |..| 20 | 3120 | 6| 26| 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- Chadwick | 3 |..| 15 | 2340 | 6| 26| 18 | ..
_Westminster { -- Francis | 5 |..| 20 | 3120 | 6| 26| 18 | ..
Improvements._ { -- Farmer | 5 |..| 20 | 3120 | 6| 26| 18 | ..
{ -- Duggan | 8 |..| 40 | 6240 | 6| 26| 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- T. Cooper | 3 | 3| 24 | 1872 | 6| 13| 18 | 20
_St. Martin’s._ { -- Wall | 2 | 2| 16 | 1248 | 6| 13| 18 | 20
{ -- Duggan | 4 |..| 16 | 1248 | 6| 13| 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
_St. James’s, { -- Nicolls | 5 |..| 20 | 1560 | 6| 13| 18 | ..
Westminster._ { -- Wells | 2 |..| 8 | 624 | 6| 13| 18 | ..
{ -- Watkins | 5 |..| 15 | 810 | 6| 9| 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- Freeman | 3 |..| 12 | 2808 | 6| 39| 18 | ..
{ -- Curmock | 4 |..| 16 | 2496 | 6| 26| 18 | ..
_Mary-le-bone._{ -- Nicolls | 8 |..| 24 | 1872 | 3| 26| 18 | ..
{ -- Watkins |10 |..| 40 | 4160 | 4| 26| 18 | ..
{ -- Perkins | 5 |..| 20 | 3120 | 6| 26| 18 | ..
{ -- Culverwell | 5 |..| 20 | 3120 | 6| 26| 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- Rutty | 3 |..| 12 | 360 | 5| 6| 18 | ..
_West London._ { -- Kitchener | 3 |..| 15 | 360 | 6| 4| 18 | ..
{ -- Wickham | 3 |..| 12 | 240 | 5| 4| 18 | ..
{ -- Porter | 4 |..| 16 | 864 | 6| 9| 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- Crook | 3 |..| 6 | 468 | 6| 13| 18 | ..
{ -- M’Carthy | 6 |..| 30 | 4680 | 6| 26| 20 | ..
_West London { -- Reddin | 5 |..| 25 | 3900 | 6| 26| 18 | ..
Improvements._ { -- Rooke | 6 |..| 30 | 4680 | 6| 26| 18 | ..
{ -- Bugbee | 5 |..| 25 | 3900 | 6| 26| 18 | ..
{ -- Chadwick | 5 |..| 25 | 3900 | 6| 26| 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- Bateman | 3 |..| 12 | 288 | 6| 4| 18 | ..
_London { -- Tame | 4 |..| 12 | 216 | 6| 3| 18 | ..
City._ { -- Walker | 2 |..| 8 | 144 | 6| 3| 18 | ..
{ -- Harmadu | 3 |..| 9 | 216 | 6| 4| 18 | ..
{ -- Bindy | 2 |..| 6 | 72 | 3| 4| 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
_London City { -- Duggan |10 |..| 50 | 7800 | 6| 26| 16 | ..
Improvements._ { -- Bugbee |20 |..|100 |15600 | 6| 26| 18 | ..
{ -- Gould |10 |..| 50 | 7800 | 6| 26| 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- Booth | 5 |..| 20 | 360 | 3| 6| 18 | ..
_Shoreditch._ { -- Styles | 2 |..| 8 | 96 | 3| 4| 18 | ..
{ -- Wood | 5 |..| 20 | 780 | 3| 13| 18 | ..
{ -- Gould | 5 |..| 20 | 1560 | 6| 13| 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- Calvert | 2 |..| 8 | 240 | 3| 10| 15 | ..
_Bethnal { -- Newman | 2 |..| 6 | 234 | 3| 13| 16 | ..
Green._ { -- Rooke | 4 |..| 16 | 624 | 3| 13| 18 | ..
{ -- Tilley | 3 |..| 12 | 936 | 6| 13| 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- Newman | 3 |..| 9 | 216 | 3| 8| 16 | ..
_Whitechapel._ { -- Tomkins | 2 |..| 6 | 234 | 3| 13| 18 | ..
{ -- Abbott | 2 |..| 6 | 90 | 3| 5| 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- Clarke | 6 |..| 18 | 360 | 4| 5| 16 | ..
_St. George’s { -- Calvert | 4 |..| 16 | 192 | 3| 4| 15 | ..
in the East._ { -- Newman | 3 |..| 12 | 216 | 3| 6| 16 | ..
{ -- Tomkins | 2 |..| 6 | 108 | 3| 6| 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- Abbott | 6 |..| 18 | 432 | 3| 8| 18 | ..
_Stepney._ { -- Newman | 4 |..| 16 | 288 | 3| 6| 16 | ..
{ -- Potter | 3 |..| 12 | 180 | 3| 5| 16 | ..
{ -- Church | 3 |..| 12 | 216 | 3| 6| 15 | ..
{ -- Curmock | 3 |..| 12 | 936 | 6| 13| 18 | ..
_Paddington._ { -- Tame | 6 |..| 18 | 432 | 3| 8| 18 | ..
{ -- Humphries | 6 |..| 18 | 702 | 3| 13| 16 | ..
{ -- Nicolls | 3 |..| 12 | 268 | 3| 13| 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- Seal & | | | | | | | |
{ Jackson | 2 |..| 6 | 936 | 6| 26| 20 | ..
_Hampstead._ { -- Kirtland | 1 |..| 3 | 468 | 6| 26| 20 | ..
{ -- Hingston | 1 |..| 3 | 117 | 3| 13| 20 | ..
{ -- Batterbury | 1 |..| 3 | 117 | 3| 13| 20 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- Smith | 2 |..| 8 | 384 | 4| 12| 18 | ..
{ -- Perkins | 8 |..| 24 | 1872 | 6| 13| 18 | ..
_St. Pancras._ { -- Reddin | 6 |..| 24 | 2304 | 6| 16| 18 | ..
{ -- Jay | 6 |..| 24 | 2304 | 6| 16| 18 | ..
{ -- M. Rose | 3 |..| 12 | 468 | 3| 13| 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- Eldred | 4 |..| 20 | 1920 | 6| 16| 16 | ..
_Islington._ { -- Croot | 3 |..| 12 | 936 | 6| 13| 16 | ..
{ -- Speller | 2 |..| 8 | 288 | 6| 6| 16 | ..
{ -- J. Rose | 5 |..| 20 | 1560 | 6| 13| 16 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- Piper | 3 |..| 9 | 702 | 6| 13| 18 | ..
_Hackney._ { -- Rumball | 6 |..| 18 | 2808 | 6| 26| 18 | ..
{ -- Booth | 5 |..| 15 | 1170 | 6| 13| 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- Duggan | 3 |..| 12 | 936 | 6| 13| 16 | ..
{ -- Freeman | 4 |..| 16 | 624 | 3| 13| 18 | ..
_St. Giles’s._ { -- Bugbee | 2 |..| 8 | 768 | 6| 16| 18 | ..
{ -- Wall | 2 |..| 8 | 288 | 6| 6| 19 | ..
{ -- Mildwater | 2 |..| 6 | 180 | 6| 5| 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- Reddin |10 |..| 50 | 3900 | 6| 13| 18 | ..
_St. Giles’s { -- Bugbee |10 |..| 50 | 3900 | 6| 13| 18 | ..
Improvements._ { -- North | 3 |..| 12 | 432 | 6| 6| 18 | ..
{ -- Nicolls | 5 |..| 20 | 1560 | 6| 13| 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- Piper | 4 |..| 16 | 384 | 6| 4 | 18 | ..
_Strand._ { -- Reddin | 5 |..| 20 | 480 | 6| 4 | 18 | ..
{ -- Ellis | 3 |..| 12 | 180 | 3| 5 | 18 | ..
{ -- Cooper | 3 |..| 12 | 108 | 3| 3 | 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- Lovell | 2 |..| 8 | 312 | 3| 13| 18 | ..
_Holborn._ { -- M’Carthy | 6 |..| 24 | 1872 | 6| 13| 18 | ..
{ -- Wells | 3 |..| 12 | 468 | 3| 13| 18 | ..
{ -- Ellis | 3 |..| 12 | 324 | 3| 9| 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
_Holborn { -- Reddin |20 |..| 80 | 6240 | 6| 13| 18 | ..
and New { -- Bugbee |10 |..| 40 | 3120 | 6| 13| 18 | ..
Oxford-street { -- Nicolls | 5 |..| 20 | 480 | 3| 8| 18 | ..
Improvements._ { -- Ellis | 6 |..| 24 | 936 | 3| 13| 18 | ..
{ -- T. Brown | 3 |..| 12 | 624 | 4| 13| 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- Wood | 4 |..| 16 | 576 | 6| 6| 18 | ..
{ -- Johnstone | 3 |..| 15 | 360 | 6| 4| 17 | ..
_Clerkenwell._ { -- Clarkson | 6 |..| 24 | 432 | 6| 3| 16 | ..
{ -- North | 3 |..| 12 | 144 | 3| 4| 18 | ..
{ -- J. Brown | 2 |..| 6 | 180 | 6| 5| 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- Rhodes | 5 |..| 20 | 500 | 5| 5| 18 | ..
_St. Luke’s._ { -- Wood | 5 |..| 20 | 360 | 3| 6| 18 | ..
{ -- Dodd | 5 |..| 20 | 1200 | 6| 10| 16 | ..
{ -- Gould |10 |..| 30 | 2340 | 6| 13| 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- Pratt & | | | | | | | |
{ Sewell | 3 |..| 9 | 351 | 3| 13| 18 | ..
_East London._ { -- Tomkins | 2 |..| 6 | 234 | 3| 13| 18 | ..
{ -- Crook | 2 |..| 6 | 234 | 3| 13| 18 | ..
{ -- Abbott | 2 |..| 8 | 384 | 6| 8| 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- Pine | 3 |..| 12 | 324 | 3| 9| 18 | ..
{ -- Monk | 3 |..| 12 | 780 | 5| 13| 18 | ..
_Poplar._ { -- Tingey | 2 |..| 8 | 240 | 3| 10| 18 | ..
{ -- Gabriel | 4 |..| 16 | 624 | 3| 13| 18 | ..
{ -- Jones | 3 |..| 12 | 192 | 4| 4| 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
_St. George’s,_{ -- Reddin |10 |..| 40 | 3120 | 6| 13| 18 | ..
{ -- G. Whitten | 2 |..| 10 | 780 | 6| 13| 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
_St. Olave’s,_ { -- Webbon | 3 |..| 12 | 936 | 6| 13| 18 | ..
{ -- Reddin |10 |..| 40 | 3120 | 6| 13| 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
_St. { -- Bugbee | 2 |..| 6 | 72 | 3| 4| 18 | ..
Saviour’s, { -- Ryder | 2 |..| 6 | 72 | 3| 4| 18 | ..
Southwark._ { -- Wright | 1 |..| 3 | 36 | 3| 4| 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- Peake | 5 |..| 20 | 3120 | 6| 26| 18 | ..
{ -- Duckett |12 |..| 36 | 5616 | 6| 26| 18 | ..
_Bermondsey._ { -- Elworthy | 8 |..| 24 | 3744 | 6| 26| 18 | ..
{ -- Slee | 5 |..| 20 | 3120 | 6| 26| 18 | ..
{ -- Adams | 4 | 2| 20 | 4680 | 6| 39| 18 | 18
| | | | | | | |
{ -- Gutteris | 3 |..| 9 | 270 | 6| 5| 18 | ..
_Newington._ { -- Crawley | 2 |..| 8 | 256 | 4| 8| 18 | ..
{ -- Martainbody| 6 |..| 24 | 960 | 4| 10| 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- Nicholson | 5 |..| 15 | 1170 | 6| 13| 17 | ..
_Wandsworth._ { -- Mears | 3 |..| 6 | 468 | 6| 13| 17 | ..
{ -- Parsons | 4 |..| 16 | 864 | 6| 9| 17 | ..
{ -- Easton | 3 |..| 15 | 720 | 6| 8| 17 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- J. Whitton |10 |..| 40 | 2080 | 4| 13| 19 | ..
_Lambeth._ { -- G. Whitton | 8 |..| 24 | 1248 | 4| 13| 19 | ..
{ -- Kenning | 2 |..| 10 | 390 | 3| 13| 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- Hook | 6 |..| 18 | 540 | 3| 10| 18 | ..
{ -- Michel | 2 |..| 8 | 384 | 6| 8| 18 | ..
_Camberwell._ { -- Marsland | 2 |..| 8 | 128 | 4| 4| 18 | ..
{ -- Walton | 2 |..| 6 | 144 | 4| 6| 18 | ..
{ -- Evans | 1 |..| 3 | 90 | 6| 5| 18 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- Walker |10 |..| 30 | 3240 | 6| 18| 15 | ..
{ -- Brown | 8 |..| 24 | 936 | 3| 13| 18 | ..
_Rotherhithe._ { -- Hobman | 2 |..| 36 | 1404 | 3| 13| 18 | ..
{ -- East | 6 |..| 18 | 702 | 3| 13| 18 | ..
{ -- Stevens | 5 |..| 20 | 1560 | 6| 13| 15 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- Jeffry | 2 |..| 10 | 600 | 6| 10| 15 | ..
_Greenwich._ { -- Turtle | 5 |..| 15 | 720 | 6| 8| 14 | ..
{ -- Hiscock | 2 |..| 6 | 432 | 6| 12| 17 | ..
{ -- Allen | 2 |..| 10 | 780 | 6| 13| 12 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- Connall | 5 |..| 10 | 1560 | 6| 26| 16 | ..
{ -- Waller | 3 |..| 6 | 468 | 6| 13| 15 | ..
{ -- Miller | 6 |..| 12 | 936 | 6| 13| 15 | ..
{ -- Fuller | 8 |..| 16 | 960 | 6| 10| 15 | ..
_Woolwich._ { -- Barnes | 4 |..| 12 | 648 | 6| 9| 15 | ..
{ -- Sharpe |12 |..| 36 | 1404 | 3| 13| 15 | ..
{ -- Taylor | 8 |..| 24 | 2016 | 6| 14| 15 | ..
{ -- Ginno | 5 |..| 20 | 780 | 3| 13| 15 | ..
{ -- Millard | 4 |..| 10 | 390 | 3| 13| 15 | ..
{ -- Graham | 3 |..| 9 | 270 | 3| 10| 15 | ..
| | | | | | | |
{ -- Peakes | 5 |..| 15 | 810 | 6| 9| 15 | ..
_Lewisham._ { -- Wellard | 3 |..| 12 | 936 | 6| 13| 15 | ..
{ -- Fleckell | 6 |..| 18 | 1404 | 6| 13| 15 | ..
{ -- Hollis | 4 |..| 12 | 288 | 3| 8| 15 | ..
----------------+---+--+----+------+--+---+----+----
Total |840|15|3134|259831| | | |
The rubbish-carters are _paid by week_, 18_s._ to 20_s._ being the
weekly amount; and by _the load_, which is indeed piece-work. The
payment to the operatives by the load varies from 6_d._ to 1_s._
6_d._, for it is necessarily regulated by the distance to be traversed.
If the rubbish have to be carted a mile to its destination--or, as
the men call it, to “the shoot”--of course it is to be so conveyed at
a proportionally lower rate than if it had to be driven two or three
miles. The employment of men by the load, however, becomes less every
year, and the reason, I am assured, is this:--The great stress of the
labour falls upon the horse. If the animal be strong and manageable,
a man, for the sake of conveying an extra load a day, might overtax
its powers, injure it gradually, and deteriorate its strength and its
value. The operative carters, on their part, have complained that
sometimes even “good” employers have set them to work by the load with
“hard old horses,” which no management could get out of their slow,
long-accustomed pace. Thus a man might clear by the piece-work but
1_s._ 6_d._ a day, with a horse not worth 15_l._; while another carter,
with a superior animal worth twice as much, might clear 3_s._ or 3_s._
6_d._ Some “hard” masters, I was informed, liked these old horses,
because they were bought cheap, and though they brought in less than
superior animals they were easier kept; while if less were earned by
the piece-work with such horses, less was paid in wages; and if the
horse broke its leg, or was killed, or injured, it was more easily
replaced. This mode of employment is, as I have said, less and less
carried into effect; but it is still one of the ways in which a working
carter may be made a sufferer, because a principal accessary of his
work--the horse--may not be capable of the requisite exertion.
_The nominal wages_ of the rubbish-carters in the best employ are from
18_s._ to 20_s._ a week; in the worse-paid trade 15_s._ is the more
general price; but even as little as 12_s._ is given by some masters.
_The actual wages_ are the same as the nominal in the honourable trade,
with the addition of perquisites in beer to the men of from 1_s._
to 2_s._ weekly, and of “findings,” especially to the carmen, of an
amount I could not ascertain, but perhaps realizing 6_d._ a week. One
carman put all he found on one side to buy new year’s clothes for his
children, and on new year’s eve last year he had 48_s._ 0-1/2_d._,
“money, and what brought money;” but this is far from an usual case.
The rate of wages paid to the operative rubbish-carters throughout the
different districts of London, I find, by inquiries in each locality,
to be by no means uniform. For instance, at Hampstead the wages are
unexceptionally 20_s._ per week; while at Kensington, Chelsea, and
indeed the whole of the west districts of London, they are 18_s._
weekly; in St. Martin’s parish, however, 19_s._ a week is paid by two
masters. In the north districts again, 18s. a week is generally paid;
with the exception of Hampstead, where the weekly wages for the same
labour are as high as 20_s._, and Islington, where they are as low as
16_s._ In the central districts, too, the wages are generally 18_s._;
the lower rate of 17_s._ and 16_s._ per week being paid in certain
places by “cutting” and “grasping” individuals, who form isolated
exceptions to the rule. In a certain portion of the eastern districts,
such as Bethnal Green, St. George’s in the East, and Stepney, 16_s._
and 15_s._ a week appears to be the rule; while in Shoreditch and
Poplar 18_s._ is paid by all the masters. The southern districts of
the metropolis are equally irregular in their rates of wages. Lewisham
pays as low as 15_s._, and Woolwich the same weekly sum, with one
exception. Wandsworth, on the other hand, pays uniformly 17_s._; while
in Southwark, Bermondsey, Newington, and Camberwell, the wages paid by
all are 18_s._ In Lambeth as much as 19_s._ is given by two masters out
of three; whereas, in Greenwich one master pays 14_s._, and the other
even as low as 12_s._ a week. When I come to treat of the lower-paid
trade, I shall explain the causes of the above difference as regards
wages.
The analysis of the facts I have collected on this subject is as
follows:--Out of 180 masters, employing among them 840 men, there are--
Wages
per
Week.
5 masters employing 11 men, and paying 20_s._
5 „ „ 30 „ „ 19_s._
127 „ „ 605 „ „ 18_s._
6 „ „ 20 „ „ 17_s._
16 „ „ 70 „ „ 16_s._
19 „ „ 97 „ „ 15_s._
1 „ „ 5 „ „ 14_s._
1 „ „ 2 „ „ 12_s._
Hence, three-fourths of the operatives may be said to receive 18_s._
weekly, and about one-sixth 16_s._
_The perquisites_ in this trade are more in beer than in money, nor are
they derived from the employers, unless exceptionally. They are given
to the rubbish-carters by the owners of the premises where they work,
and may, in the best trade, amount, in beer or in money to buy beer,
to from 1_s._ 6_d._ to 2_s._ weekly per man. The other perquisites are
what is found in the digging of the rubbish for the carts, and in the
shooting of it. As in other trades of a not dissimilar character, there
appears to be no fixed rule as to “treasure trove.” One man told me
that in digging or shovelling each man kept what he found; another said
the men drank it. Anything found, however, when the cart is emptied is
the perquisite of the carman. “It’s luck as is everything;” said one
carman. “There was a mate of mine as hadn’t not no better work nor me,
once found an old silver coin, like a bad half-crown, as a gen’lman
he knowed gave him five good shillings for, and he found a silver
spoon as fetched 1_s._ 9_d._, in one week, and that same week on the
same ground _I_ got nothing but five bad ha’pennies. I once worked in
the City where the Sun office now is, just by the Hall of Commerce in
Threadneedle-street, and something was found in the Hall as now is; it
was a French church once; and an old gent gave us on the sly 1_s._ a
day for beer, to show him or tell him of anything we turned up queer.
We did show him things as we thought queer, and they looked queer, but
he all’us said ‘Chi-ish,’ or ‘da-amn.’ From what I’ve heard him say to
another old cove as sometimes was with him, they looked for something
Roman Catholic.” My informant no doubt meant “Roman,” as in digging the
foundations of the Hall of Commerce a tesselated Roman pavement was
found at a great depth.
Among these workmen are _no Trade Societies, no Benefit or Sick-Clubs_,
and, indeed, no measures whatever for the upholding of accustomed
wages, or providing “for a rainy day,” unless individually. If a
rubbish-carter be sick, the men in the same employ, whatever their
number, 10 or 40, contribute on the Saturday evenings 6_d._ each,
towards his support, until the patient’s convalescence. There are no
Houses of Call.
The _payment is in the master’s yard_ on the Saturday evening, and
always in money. There are no drawbacks, unless for any period during
the hours of regular labour, when a man may have been absent from his
work. Fines there are none, except in large establishments among the
carmen where many horses are kept, and then, if a man do not keep his
regular stable-hours in the mornings, especially the Sunday mornings,
he is fined 6_d._ These fines are spent by the carmen generally, and
most frequently in beer.
The _usual way of applying for work_ is to call at the yards or
premises, or, more frequently, to take a round in the districts where
it is known that buildings or excavations are being carried on, to
inquire of the men if a hand be wanted. Sometimes a foreman may be
there who has authority to “put on” new hands; if not, the applicant,
with the prospect of an engagement in view, calls upon any party he may
be directed to. Several men told me that when they were engaged nothing
was said about character. The employers seem to be much influenced by
the applicant’s appearance.
I must now give a brief description of the rubbish-carter, and the
scene of his labours.
Any one who observes, and does not merely see, the labour of the
rubbish-carter, will have been struck with the stolid indifference with
which these men go about their work, however much the scene of their
labours, from its historical associations, may interest the better
informed. So it was when the rubbish carters were employed in removing
the ruins of the old Houses of Parliament, and of that portion of the
Tower which suffered from the ravages of the fire; and so it would
be if they were directed to-morrow to commence the demolition and
rubbish-carting of Westminster Abbey, the Temple Church, or St. Paul’s,
even in their present integrity.
Sometimes the scene of the rubbish-carter’s industry presents what
may be called a “piteous aspect.” This was not long ago the case in
Cannon-street, City, and the adjacent courts and alleys; when the
houses had been cleared of their furniture, the windows were removed
(giving the house what may be styled a “blind” look); most of the
doors had been taken away, as well as some of the floors. Large
cyphers, scrawled in whitewash on the walls and woodwork, intimated the
different “lots,” and all spoke of desertion; the only moving thing to
be seen, perhaps, was some flapping paper, torn from the sides of a
room and which fluttered in the wind.
A scene of exceeding bustle follows the apparent desolateness of
the premises. When the whole has been disposed of to the several
purchasers, the further and final work of demolition begins. Baskets
filled with the old bricks are rapidly lowered by ropes and pulleys
into the carts below, it being the carter’s business to empty them,
and then up the empty baskets are drawn, as if by a single jerk. The
sound of the hammer used in removing and separating the old bricks of
the building, the less frequent sound of the pick-axe, the rumble of
the stones and bricks into the cart, the noise of the pulleys, the
shouts of the men aloft, crying “be-low there!” the half-articulate
exclamations of the carters choked with dust, form a curious medley
of noises. The atmosphere is usually a cloud of dust, which sticks to
the men’s hair like powder. The premises are boarded round, and if
adjoining a thoroughfare the boards are closely fitted, to prevent the
curious and the loiterers obstructing the current of passengers. The
work within is confined to the labourers; “no persons admitted except
on business” seems a rule rigidly enforced. The only men inside who
appear idle are the over-lookers, or surveyors. They stand with their
hands in their breeches’ pockets; and a stranger to the business might
account them uninterested spectators, but for the directions they
occasionally give, now quietly, and now snappishly; while the Irishmen
show an excessive degree of activity, the assumption of which never
deceives an overlooker.
From twelve to one is the customary dinner-hour, and then all is quiet.
On visiting some new buildings at Maida-hill, I found seven men, out
of about 30, all fast asleep in the nooks and corners of the piles of
bricks and rubbish, the day being fine. The others were eating their
dinners at the public-houses or at their own homes.
In the progress of pulling down, the work of removal goes on very
rapidly where a strong force is employed--the number varying from about
twelve to 30 men. A four-storied house is often pulled down to its
basement, and the contents of the walls, floors, &c., removed, in ten
days or a fortnight.
As the work of demolition goes on, the rubbish-carter loads the cart
with the old bricks, mortar, and refuse which the labourers have
displaced. In some places, where a number of buildings is being
removed at the same time, an inclined plane or road is formed by the
rubbish-carters, up and down which the horses and vehicles can proceed.
Until such means of carriage have been employed, the rubbish from the
interior foundation is often shot in a mound within the premises, and
carried off when the way has been formed, excepting such portion as may
be retained for any purpose.
In hot weather, many of the rubbish-carters in the fair trade work in
their shirts, a broad woollen belt being strapped round the waist,
which, they say, supports “the small of the back” in their frequent
bending and stooping. Some wear woollen night-caps at this work when
there is much dust; and nearly all the men in the honourable trade
wear the “strong men’s” half-boots, laced up in the front, as the best
protectors of the feet from the intrusion of rubbish.
In the cold weather, the rubbish-carter’s working dress is usually a
suit of strong drab-white fustian. The suit comprises a jacket with
two large pockets. The cost of such a suit, new, at a slop-tailor’s,
is from 28_s._ to 35_s._; from a good shop, and of better materials,
40_s._ to 55_s._ Some prefer stout corduroy to fustian trowsers; and
some work in short smock-frocks.
Having thus shown the nature of the work, the class of men
employed, and the amount of remuneration, I proceed to describe the
characteristics of the rubbish-carters employed by the honourable
masters; I will then describe the state of the labourers who are
_casually_ rather than _constantly_ employed; and finally speak of the
condition and habits of the lower-paid workers under the cheap masters.
_The Ability to Read and Write._--I think I heard of fewer instances of
defective education among the rubbish-carters than among other classes
of unskilled labourers. The number of men who could read and not write,
I found computed at about one-half. It appears that the children of
these men are very generally sent to school, which is certainly a
healthful sign as to the desire of the parents to do justice to their
offspring. As among other classes, I met with uneducated men who had
exaggerated notions of the advantages of the capability of reading and
writing, and men who possessed such capability representing it as a
worthless acquirement.
The _majority of the Rubbish-Carters_ in the honourable trade are, I
am informed, _really married men_, and have families “born in lawful
wedlock.” One decent and intelligent man, to whom I was referred,
said (his wife being present and confirming his statement): “I don’t
know how it is, sir, but they say one scabbed sheep will affect a
flock.” “Oh! it’s dreadful,” said the wife; “but some way it seems
to run in places. Now, we’ve lived among people much in our own way
of life in Clerkenwell, and Pentonville, and Paddington. Well, we’ve
reason to believe, that there wasn’t much living together unmarried in
Clerkenwell or Pentonville, but a goodish deal in Paddington. I don’t
know why, for they seemed to live one with another, just as men do
with their wives. But if there’s daughters, sir, as is growing up and
gets to know it, as they’re like enough to do, ain’t it a bad example?
Yes, indeed,” said the wife, “and I’m told they call going together in
that bad way--they ought all to be punished--without ever entering a
church or chapel, getting ‘ready married.’” I inquired if they were not
perhaps married quietly at the Registrar’s office? “O, that,” said Mrs.
B----, “ain’t like being married at all. _I_ would never have consented
to such a way, but I’m pretty certain they don’t as much as do that.
No, sir,” (in answer to another inquiry), “I hope, and think, it ain’t
so bad among young couples as it was, but its bad enough as it is,
God he knows.” The proportions of Wedlock and Concubinage I could not
learn, for the woman, I was assured, always took the man’s name; and
both man and woman, unless in their cups or their quarrels, declared
they were man and wife, only there was no good in wasting money to get
their “marriage lines” all for no use.
_The Politics of the rubbish-carters_ are, I am assured by some of the
best informed among them, of no fixity, or principle, or inclination
whatever, as regards one-half of the entire body; and that the other
half, whether ignorant or not, are Chartists, the Irish generally
excepted; and they, I understood, as I had learned on previous
occasions, had no political opinions, unless such as were entertained
by their priests. Strong, rude, and ignorant as many of these carters
are, I am told that few of them took part in any public manifestation
of opinion, or in any disturbance, unless they were out of work. “I
think I know them well,” one of their body said to me, “and as long as
they have pretty middling of work, it’ll take a very great thing indeed
to move ’em. If they was longish out of work and felt a pinch, very
likely they’d be found ready for anything.”
_With respect to Free Trade_, I am told that these men sometimes
discuss it, and formerly discussed it far more frequently among
themselves, but that it was not above one in a dozen, and of the better
sort only, who cared to talk about it either now or then. There seems
no doubt that the majority, whether they understand its principles
and working or not, are favourable to it; I may say, from all I could
learn, that the _great_ majority are. I heard of one rubbish-carter,
formerly a small farmer, who left London for some other employment, in
the spring, contending, and taking pains to enforce his conviction,
that Free Trade would ruin the best interests of rubbish-carters, as
year by year there would be more agricultural labourers resorting to
the great towns to look for such work as rubbish-carting, for every
farmer would employ more Irish labourers at his own terms, and even the
8_s._ a week, the extent of the earnings of the agricultural labourers
in some parishes, would be undersold by the Irish. Last winter, he
said, very many countrymen came to London, and would do so the next,
and more and more every year, and so make labour cheaper.
As far as I could extend my inquiries and observations, this man’s
arguments--although I cannot say I heard any one offer to controvert
them--were not considered sound, nor his facts fully established. There
were certainly great numbers of good hands out of employment last
winter, and many new applicants for work; “but buildings,” I was told
by a carman, “are of course always slacker carried on in the winter.
Now, this year, so far (beginning of October), things seem to promise
pretty well in our business, and so if it’s good this winter and was
bad the last, why, as there’s the same Free Trade, it seems as if it
had nothing to do with it. There’s not so much building going on now
as there was a few years ago, but trade’s steadier, I think.”
Other rubbish-carters, in the best trade, said that they had found
little difference for six or eight years, only as bread was cheaper or
dearer; and, if Free Trade made bread cheap, no man ought to say a word
against it, “no matter about anything else.” Of course I give these
opinions as they came to me.
_As to Food_, these labourers, when in full work, generally live what
they consider _well_; that is, they eat meat and have beer to their
meals every day. Three of them told me that they could not say what
their living cost separately, as they took all their meals at home
with their families, their wives laying out the money. One couple had
six children, and the husband said they cost him about 17_s._ a week
in food, or about 2_s._ 6_d._ per head, reckoning a pint of beer a
day for himself, and not including the youngest, which was an infant
at the breast. The father earned 22_s._ weekly, and the eldest child,
a boy, 3_s._ 6_d._ a week for carrying out and collecting the papers
for a news’-agent. The wife could earn nothing, although an excellent
washerwoman, the cares of her family occupying her whole time. She
always had “the cold shivers,” she said, “if ever she thought of
John’s being out of work, but he was a steady man, and had been pretty
fortunate.” If these men were engaged on a job at any distance, they
sometimes breakfasted before starting, or carried bread and butter with
them, and eat it to a pint of coffee if near enough to a coffee-shop,
but in some places they were not near enough. Their dinners they
carried with them, generally cold meat and bread, in a basin covered
with a plate, a handkerchief being tied round it so as to keep the
plate firm and afford a hold to the bearer. “It’s not always, you see,
sir,” said a rubbish-carter, “that there’s a butcher’s shop near enough
to run to and buy a bit of steak and get it dressed at a tap-room
fire, just for buying a pint of beer, and have a knife and fork, and
a plate, and salt found you into the bargain, and pepper and mustard
too, if you’ll give the girl or the man 1_d._ a week or so. But we’re
glad to get a good cold dinner. O, as to beer, it would be a queer
out-of-the-way place indeed where a landlord didn’t send out a man to
a building with beer.” One single man, who told me he was only a small
eater, gave me the following as his _daily_ bill of fare, as he rarely
took any meals at his lodgings:
_s._ _d._
Half-quartern loaf 0 2-3/4
Butter 0 1
Coffee (twice a day) 0 3
Eleven o’clock beer, sometimes a pint and
sometimes half-a-pint, but often obtained
as a perquisite (average) 0 1-1/2
1/2 lb. of beef steak, or a chop, or four or
five pennyworth of cold meat from a
cook-shop (average) 0 5
Potatoes 0 1
Dinner beer 0 2
Bread and cheese and beer for supper 0 4
------------
1 8-1/4
This was the average cost of his daily food, while on Sundays he
generally paid 1_s._ 6_d._ for breakfast and tea, and a good dinner off
a hot joint with baked potatoes from the oven, along with the family
and other lodgers. He had a good walk every Sunday morning, he said,
but liked to sleep away the afternoon. He found his own Sunday beer,
costing 4_d._ dinner and supper, but he didn’t eat anything at supper,
as he wasn’t inclined after resting all day, and so his weekly expenses
in food were:--
_s._ _d._
Six working days, at 1_s._ 8-1/4_d._ a day 10 1-1/2
Sunday 1 10
------------
Week’s food 11 11-1/2
To this, in the way of drink or luxuries, I might add, the carter said,
2_d._ a day for gin (although he wasn’t a drinker and was very seldom
tipsy), “for I treat a friend to a quartern one day and may-be he
stands treat the next.” Also 4_d._ for Sunday gin, as he and the other
men took a glass just before dinner for an appetite, and he took one
after dinner to send him asleep. Add, too, 3_d._ a week for tobacco.
In all 1_s._ 7_d._, which swells the weekly cost of eating, drinking,
and smoking to 13_s._ 6-1/2_d._ His washing was 4_d._ a week (he washed
his working jacket and trowsers himself), his rent 2_s._ 6_d._ for a
bed to himself; so that, 16_s._ 4-1/2_d._ being spent out of an earning
of 18_s._, he had but 1_s._ 5-1/2_d._ a week left for his clothes,
shoes, &c. If he wanted a shilling or two for anything, he said, he
knocked off his supper, and then nothing was allowed in his reckoning
for perquisites, so he might be 2_s._ in hand, at least 2_s._, every
week in a regular way of living. This man expressed his conviction
that no man, who had to work hard, could live at smaller cost than he
did. That numbers of men did so, he admitted, but he “couldn’t make it
out.” The two ways of living which I have described may be taken as
the modes prevalent among this class of labourers, who seek to live
“comfortably.” Others who “rough it” live at less cost, dining, for
instance, off a pennyworth of pudding and half a pint of beer.
I ascertained that among the rubbish-carters, _those most frequently
attendant on public worship are the Irish Roman Catholics_, and such
Englishmen as had been agricultural labourers in rural parishes, and
had been reared in the habit of church-going; a habit in which, but
not without many exceptions, they still persevere. Among London-bred
labourers such habits are rarely formed.
_The abodes of the better description of rubbish-carters_ are not
generally in those localities which are crowded with the poor. They
reside in the streets off the Edgeware and Harrow-roads, as building
has been carried on to a very great extent in Westbourne, Maida-hill,
&c.; in Portland-town, Camden-town, Somers-town, about King’s-cross;
in Islington, Pentonville, and Clerkenwell; off the Commercial and
Mile-end-roads; in Walworth, Camberwell, Kennington, and Newington;
and, indeed, in all the quarters where building has been prosecuted on
an extensive scale. I was in some of their apartments, and found them
tidy and comfortable-looking: one was especially so. Some stone-fruit
on the mantel-shelf shone as if newly painted, and the fender and
fire-irons glittered from their brightness to the fire of the small
grate. The husband, however, was in good earnings, and the wife cleared
about 5_s._ weekly on superior needlework. There was one thing painful
to observe--the contrast between the robust and sun-burnt look of the
husband, and the delicate and pallid, not to say sickly, appearance
of the wife. The rents for unfurnished apartments vary from 2_s._ to
5_s._, but rarely the latter, unless the wife take in a little washing.
I heard of some at 2_s._, but very few; 2_s._ 6_d._ to 3_s._ 6_d._ are
common prices.
_I heard of no partiality for amusements among the rubbish-carters_,
beyond what my informant spoke of--a visit to the play. Some, I was
told, but principally the younger men, never missed going to a fair,
which was not too far off. I think not quite one-half of those I spoke
to, with the best earnings, had been to the Exhibition. Of the worst
paid, I am told, not one in 50 went; one man told me that he had no
amusements but his pipe and his beer. Some of them, I was assured,
drank half a gallon of beer in a day, but at intervals, so as not to
be intoxicated. “A hand at cribbage” is a favourite public-house game
among a few of these men; but not above one in half-a-dozen, I was
assured, “knew the cards,” and not one in two dozen played them.
These, then, are the characteristics of the labouring rubbish-carters
employed in the honourable trade.
A fine-looking man, upwards of six feet in stature and of proportionate
bulk, with so smart a set to his bushy whiskers, and a look of such
general tidiness (after he had left off work in the evening), that
he might have been taken for a life-guardsman had it not been for a
slight slouch of the shoulders, and a very unmilitary gait, gave me the
following account:--
“I’m a London man,” he said, “and though I’m not yet 25, I’ve kept
myself for the last five years. I’ve worked at rubbish-carting and
general ground-work (digging for pipe-laying, &c.,) as we nearly all
do, but mainly at rubbish-carting, and I’m at that now. My friends are
in the same line, so I helped them: I was big enough, and was brought
up that way. O, yes, I can read and write, but I haven’t time, or very
seldom, to read anything but a newspaper now and again. I’m a carman
now, and have a very good master. I’ve served him, more or less, for
three years. I have had 25_s._ a week, and I have had 29_s._, but
that included over-work. Two hours extra work a day makes an extra
day in the week, you see, sir. O, yes, I might have saved money, and
I’m trying to save 25_l._ now to see if I can’t raise a horse and
cart, and begin for myself in a small way, general jobbing. I’ve been
used to cart mould, and gravel, and turf for gentlemen’s gardens, or
when gardens have been laid out in new buildings, as well as rubbish,
for the same master. Last year I set to work in hard earnest in the
same way, and this is where it is that always stops me. Mr. ---- [his
employer] is very busy now, and things look pretty well about here
[Camden-town], but I don’t know how it is in other parts. It was the
same last year, but trade fell off in the winter, and I was three
months out of work. O, that’s a common case, especial with young men,
for of course the old hands has the preference. That’s where it is,
you see, sir; it’s a _uncertain_ trade. It’s always that new shoes is
wanted, but it ain’t always new houses. My money all went, and then all
my things went to the pawn, and when I got fairly to work again, I had
a shirt and a shilling left, and owed some little matters. I’d saved
well on to 50_s._, and could have gone on saving, but for being thrown
out. Then, when you get into regular wages again, there’s your uncle
to meet, and there’s always something wanted--a pair of half-boots, or
a new shirt, or a new tool, or something; so one loses heart about it,
and I can’t abear not to appear respectable.
“I pay 2_s._ a week for my lodging, but it’s only for half a bed. The
house is let out that way to single men like me, so each bed brings
in 4_s._ a week. There’s two beds in the room where I sleep; I don’t
know how many in all. Why, yes, it’s a respectable sort of a place, but
I don’t much like it. There’s plenty such places; some’s decent and
some’s not. Oh, certainly, a place of your own’s best, if it’s ever
so humble, but it wouldn’t suit a man like me. I may work one week
at Paddington, and the next at Bow, and if I had a furnished room at
Paddington, what good would it be if I went to work at Bow? Only the
bother and expense of removing my sticks again and again. O, people
that find lodgings for such as me, know that well enough, and makes a
prey of us, of course.
“I take my meals at a public-house or a coffee-shop. O yes, I live
well enough. I have meat every day to dinner; a man like me must keep
up his strength, and you can’t do that without good meat. It’s all
nonsense about vegetables and all that, as if men’s stomachs were like
cows’. I have bread and butter and tea or coffee for breakfast and tea,
sometimes a few cresses with it just to sweeten the blood, which is
the proper use of vegetables. A pint of beer or so for supper, but I
don’t care about supper, though now and then I take a bit of bread and
cheese with a nice fresh onion to it. Well, I’m sure I can’t say what
I lay out in my living in a week; sometimes more and sometimes less.
I keep no account; I pay my way as I go on. Some weeks when I get my
Saturday night’s wage, I have from 2_s._ 6_d._ to 6_s._ 6_d._ left from
last Saturday night’s money, but that’s only when I’ve had nothing to
lay out beyond common. Now, last week I was 4_s._ 9_d._ to the good,
and this week I shall be about the ditto; but then I want a waistcoat
and a silk handkerchief for my neck for Sunday wear; so I must draw on
my Saturday night. There’s a gentleman takes care of my money for me,
and I carry him what I have over in a week, and he takes care of it
for me. I did a good deal of work about his houses--he has a block of
them--and his own place, and I’ve gardened for him; and from what I’ve
heard, my money’s safer with him than with a Savings’ Bank. When I want
to draw he likes to be satisfied what it’s for, and he’s lent me as
much as 33_s._ in different sums, when I was hard up. He’s what I call
a real gentleman. He says if I ever go to him tipsy to draw, and says
it quite solemn like, he’ll take me by the scruff of the neck and kick
me out; though [laughing] he can’t be much above five foot, and has
gray hairs, and seems a feeble sort of a man, I mean of a gentleman. He
enters all I pay in a book. Here it is, sir, for this year, if you’d
like to see it. I wasn’t able to put anything by for a goodish bit. I
lost my book once, but I knew how much, and so did Mr. ----, and he put
it down in a lump.
£ _s._ _d._
July 18 In hand 1 3 0
25 Received 0 3 6
Aug. 9 „ 0 3 6
23 „ 0 5 0
Sept. 13 „ 0 9 6
20 „ 0 4 0
27 „ 0 4 0
-------------
£2 12 6
“If I can’t save a little to start myself on when I’m a single man, I
can’t ever after, I fancy; so I’m a trying.
“No, my expenses, over and above my living and lodging and washing, and
all that, ain’t heavy. Yes, I’m very fond of a good play, very. Some
galleries is 6_d._, and some 3_d._; but then there’s refreshment and
that, so it costs 1_s._ a time. Perhaps I go once a week, but only in
autumn and winter, when nights get long, and we leave work at half-past
five. The last time I was at the play was at the Marylebone, but there
was some opera pieces that don’t suit me; such stuff and nonsense. I
like something very lively, or else a deep tragedy. Sadler’s Wells is
the place, sir. I mean to go there to-morrow night. Yes, I’m very fond
of the pantomimes. Concerts I’ve been at, but don’t care for them.
They’re as dear at 2_d._ as an egg a penny, and an egg’s only a bite.
“Well, I’ve gone to church sometimes, but a carman hasn’t time, for he
has his horses to attend to on Sunday mornings, and that uses up his
morning. No, I never go now. Work must be done. It ain’t my fault. I’m
sure, if I could have my wish, I’d never do anything on a Sunday.
“Yes, there’s far too many as undersells us in work. I know that, but
I don’t like to think about them or to talk about them.” [He seemed
desirous to ignore the very existence of the scurf rubbish-carters.]
“They’re Irish many of them. They’re often quarrelsome and
blood-thirsty, but I know many decent men among the Irishmen in our
gangs. There’s good and bad among them, as there is among the English.
There’s very few of the Irish that are carmen; they haven’t been much
used to horses.
“I have done a little as a nightman when I worked for Mr. ----. He was
a parish contractor, and undertook such jobs, and liked to put strong
men on to them. I didn’t like it. I can’t think it’s a healthy trade. I
can’t say, but I heard it represented, that in this particular calling
there was a great deal of under-contracting going on when the railway
undertakings generally received a severe check, and when a great
number of hands were thrown out of employment, and sought employment
in rubbish-carting generally, and apart from railway-work. These hands
suffered greatly for a long time. The tommy-shops and the middle-man
system were enough to swallow the largest amount of railway wages, so
that very few had saved money, and they were willing to work for very
low wages. A good many of these people went to endeavour to find work
at the large new docks being erected at Great Grimsby, near Boston, in
Lincolnshire. Some of the more prudent were able to raise the means of
emigrating, and from one cause or other the pressure of this surplus
labour among rubbish-carters and excavators, as regards the metropolis,
became relieved.”
OF CASUAL LABOUR IN GENERAL, AND THAT OF THE RUBBISH-CARTERS IN
PARTICULAR.
The subject of casual labour is one of such vast importance in
connection with the welfare of a nation and its people, and one of
which the causes as well as consequences seem to be so utterly ignored
by economical writers and unheeded by the public, that I purpose
here saying a few words upon the matter in general, with the view of
enabling the reader the better to understand the difficulties that
almost all unskilled and many skilled labourers have to contend with in
this country.
By _casual_ labour I mean such labour as can obtain only _occasional_
as contradistinguished from _constant_ employment. In this definition
I include all classes of workers, literate and illiterate, skilled and
unskilled, whose professions, trades, or callings expose them to be
employed temporarily rather than continuously, and whose incomes are in
a consequent degree fluctuating, casual, and uncertain.
In no country in the world is there such an extent, and at the same
time such a diversity, of casual labour as in Great Britain. This is
attributable to many causes--commercial and agricultural, natural and
artificial, controllable and uncontrollable.
I will first show what are the causes of casual labour, and then point
out its effects.