It was my second summer in New York: a residence of two years in that
busy and enterprising city had enabled me to form juster views
concerning the social policy of its inhabitants than those which had
presented themselves to me on first landing; two years, if properly made
use of, will serve to correct many fallacies, and to throw light on
places and people. There is nothing like seeing with your own eyes, if
you want really to know what the two latter are--whether they come up to
your standard of comparison or otherwise. In several respects, chiefly
material, I liked America better than England; the abundance and
cheapness of provisions, for instance, and the ease with which fruits
and other luxuries--to say nothing of books and newspapers--were
procurable by the working-classes, presented, at that time at least, a
striking contrast to the state of things in the 'old country.' I liked,
too, at first, the sort of free-and-easy intercourse of the working-men
with those, conventionally speaking, above them. Jack considered himself
as good as his master, though not without occasional mortifications at
not finding the sentiment reciprocated. The feeling, however, imparted a
show of independence, rather captivating to one who was not a little
imbued with 'old-country' radicalism. On the other hand, I had been
astonished, not to say disconcerted, at finding--which I did more and
more every day--how much mechanics are looked down upon in the United
States. You have only to wear jacket and apron, and write yourself
artisan, to be excluded from 'good' society as rigidly as if born under
the caste-laws of India. Where there appears to be an equal chance for
all to rise, those who have risen draw the line of demarcation with much
greater severity than strangers are willing to believe.
Another point on which my notions were corrected was, that it was not so
_very_ easy to find work in New York as is commonly reported; and that,
though wages were 20 per cent. higher than I had been accustomed to, the
high price of clothing, lodging, &c. made it, notwithstanding, necessary
for a man to be exceedingly careful of his expenditure, if he wished
really to save money. There was no royal road to wealth on that side the
Atlantic any more than on this.
Yet, among the facts which I liked, there was a set-off for this: it was
the absence of those stupid trade-regulations which in England, and on
the continent of Europe, hamper so annoyingly the movement of commerce,
and complicate so vexatiously the relations between employers and
employed. Few of these relics of feudal-age policy exist in the United
States: a master takes as many apprentices as he pleases, perfectly
regardless of anything his journeymen may think or say to the contrary.
He believes, and not without reason, that while he pays them fair wages
for their labour, they have no right to interfere with his mode of
conducting his business. It was a relief to get clear of the
traditionary customs and usages of European workshops, and to feel that
the way was clearer for rising out of the ranks. But there was one
exception, in a large foundry and engine-factory into which I sometimes
went to see an acquaintance: there the 'old-country' customs, as to
drinking when new hands were taken on, prescribing coercive limitations,
and so forth, were in full vigour. My shopmates were greatly amused one
day by my account of what I had seen and heard in the factory and our
foreman exclaimed in language that would have done credit to Sam Slick:
'Well! if them machinists aint the pigheadedest fellers I ever heerd
tell of!--they must be Johnny Bulls!'
Such were some of my experiences of American life, and I was working on
in my usual plodding way, when I found that there was still something to
be learned. The journeymen cabinet-makers throughout the city took it
into their heads that too great a share of the profits of trade went
into the masters' pockets, and they determined, by demanding higher
wages, to secure if possible an increased proportion for themselves. The
masters being informed of the fact, maintained the contrary, and
thereupon issue was joined. An 'old-price book' and a 'new-price book'
came immediately to be talked about, with a fervour scarcely exceeded by
that of the O.P. hostilities, well remembered by old playgoers in
London; and among the men, a few ambitious spirits assumed the direction
of affairs, and drew around them many willing helpers. Preliminary
meetings were held to organise an opposition to the masters, and to take
measures for the proper setting-forth and enforcement of the claims of
the men, and the grounds on which the advance of wages was demanded.
Deputations were appointed to wait on the employers, or 'bosses,' and
shew reason why they should 'give in;' but the bosses would not give in,
and declared themselves to be the best-judges of their own business;
that wages were as high as sale-prices would allow, and that a rise was
out of the question. On hearing this, the men threatened a strike, to
take place by a certain day, if their demands were not complied with.
From ten to twelve hands were employed in the shop where I worked--a
rather heterogeneous assemblage. The foreman and one or two others were
Americans, and the rest were Germans, French, and Irish--I being the
only Englishman. Notwithstanding the diversity of nation, there was but
little in sentiment, for with the exception of the apprentice, who was
not a free agent, and myself, they all determined to 'turn out,' and
many a taunt had I to bear for refusing to join them. Our boss was a man
well to do in the world. Having of course heard of the threatened
strike, he said: 'Well, you can do just as you like. There's no boss in
the city pays better prices than I do, and they wont go up a cent the
higher for all your striking.'
For my part, I was quite taken by surprise by the strike; it was the
last thing I should have expected to see in America. But there it was,
sure enough; and now that the boss had so unequivocally declared his
sentiments, the shop became the more demonstrative in the expression of
theirs. They were not going to be slaves for anybody; it was a free
country; they had a right to higher wages, and higher wages they would
have. The Britisher wasn't half a man; he was a sneak, who ought to have
stayed in his own tyrannical country; and much more to the same effect.
Consequently, on the day fixed, they just shewed themselves at the shop
for a few minutes after breakfast, and then went off in a body to a
great 'mass meeting,' called for the first day of the strike; and all
the while emigrants from Europe were pouring into the city at the rate
of ten or twelve hundred every week.
A first measure was to ascertain the numbers who had struck, how many
were recusants, and in what shops they were working, with a view to
devise means for procuring a total cessation of work in all the shops of
the city. Advertisements of the proceedings speedily appeared in the
daily papers, chiefly in those which, being sold at a cent apiece,
circulated most largely among the working population. The masters were
warned, that holding out on their part would be of little avail; and as
for the 'misguided men' who persisted in working, they were invited to
join the ranks of the insurgents, with promises of work at twelve
dollars a week, or the option of being stigmatised as unworthy members
of society. Compared with the 'turn-outs,' the number of those who
persisted in their labour was very small. As for myself, it seemed at
first uncommonly dull to hear only the noise of my own tools, or of the
apprentice's, echoing through the workshop. But the weather was fine; my
'job,' a 'secretary bookcase,' was one that I liked; and I kept on
without a single misgiving as to the propriety of my determination.
After a few days spent in debates and discussions, and adjustment of
differences between the old and new list of prices, deputations were
sent round to all shops where the men had not joined the strike, and,
among others, they visited me. For some reason--perhaps to avoid vexing
the boss--they would not come up stairs, and requested me to meet them
at the basement door. On going down, I saw some five or six
well-dressed, intelligent-looking men--not a rare sight among the
mechanics of New York--and then, they standing under the 'stoop,' and I
leaning against a pile of maple-joists, one of them opened the business
with a little dissertation on political and social economy, and the
inherent right of men to band themselves together for the common good;
after which, he inquired my reasons for continuing to work in opposition
to the _will of the majority_. Those who have lived in America, and
those only, will be able fully to comprehend the significance of these
four words in italics. My answer was, that 'I had come to America to
better myself, and could not afford to lose time.'
'But you need not lose time. There's a steam-boat fitting up down below
at the dock; we can get you work on board of her at twelve dollars a
week.'
'I don't know anything of steam-boat work; and if I did, it would not
suit me to give up a steady place for one that must necessarily be
uncertain.'
'You mean to say, then, that you will keep on working where you are?'
'I do.'
'You must be a fool to work for eight or nine dollars a week, when, by
standing out, you could get twelve.'
'Not so sure of that; it is but a few who can make two dollars a day,
and I am not one of them. Nine dollars is about a fair rate for what I
can do.'
'That's no reason why you shouldn't try to better yourself by standing
out. The bosses must give in, if all hands will only strike; and if it
weren't for you European slaves and convicts, we'd soon carry our
point.'
The term convict is a taunt frequently applied to Englishmen by
working-people in the United States, and its introduction into the
argument did not at all surprise me.
'I have little inclination,' I answered, 'to throw myself out of work
just to enable you, and a dozen or two more, to get your twelve dollars
a week. My first duty is, to take care of myself and my family. Our boss
is a good fellow in the main, and I don't want to leave him; and,
besides, there's another reason why I won't strike.'
'And what's that?'
'Because it won't succeed. You might as well try to stop the stream of
the Hudson, as to keep up wages, while fifty or a hundred cabinet-makers
are coming in every week from Germany, ready to work for twelve dollars
a month.'
'That shews how much you know about it. In our great and free country,
there's work for all Europe; so it's no use saying wages can't be kept
up.'
'Whether or not,' I retorted, 'that's my opinion, and I shall stick to
it till I find a better.'
On this, the opposite party delivered himself of a lengthy harangue, in
which arguments were quoted from Adam Smith, De Tocqueville, and others,
with considerable fluency; all intended, apparently, to convict me of
flagrant error, and prognosticate 'consequences.' I had not at that time
read the works of these writers, and had only very youthful experience
to oppose to such a weight of authority; and being, besides, one of
those unfortunate individuals who cannot think of the right thing to say
until twenty-four hours after the occasion has passed, I remained
silent. My opponents mistook silence for assent, and left me, expressing
a hope that they should see me at their committee-room next day.
The passage, at the entrance of which this scene had taken place, was
separated from a turner's shop adjoining by a thin wooden partition, and
the turner, who was a New Yorker, stopped his lathe to listen to our
parley. When he heard me turn to go up stairs, he shouted: 'Hillo!
Johnny Bull, they were rather too many for you. You must get up a little
sooner in the mornin', if you want to circumvent Yankees! Look out for
squalls, old fellow!'
'Words is only wind,' I replied, quoting one-half of a 'down-east'
adage, as I ran up the stairs; he, however, before I got out of hearing,
added the second half: 'but blows hurts.'
Three or four days passed away; trade was remarkably brisk, and a few of
the bosses gave in--a fact announced with great exultation by the
turn-outs, who now felt confident of victory, and urged their demands
more strenuously than ever. But compliance was no part of the bosses'
intentions, for no sooner were the arrears of unfinished work cleared
off, than the hands found themselves again at liberty. This proceeding
naturally irritated the struggle somewhat; and subscriptions for the
support of those who, habituated to live from hand to mouth, had saved
nothing, were called for with renewed importunity. The strike was
beginning to feel the pressure of the laws of nature.
Now and then, one of my shopmates would drop in, and intimate that it
would be dangerous for me to persist in having my own way; but I felt no
whit inclined to yield, for, although I had seen the houses of
intermarried blacks and whites devastated, and a bonfire made in the
street with their furniture, I had but little apprehension of personal
violence, and the boss protested that he would 'see me righted,' should
any mischief befall. So it went on for a few days longer, when a second
deputation waited upon me, and, less ceremonious than the first, they
rushed noisily, and without notice, up the stairs, and crowded into my
bench-room. There were about twenty of them; their spokesman looked
clean and respectable, but the others were a dirty, out-at-elbows,
tobacco-chewing crew, only to be described by that expressive American
epithet, 'loafers;' and they eyed me with very sinister looks, while the
leader began an appeal to my _ésprit de corps_. It is scarcely necessary
to repeat the argument that followed. Having nothing new to offer, I
merely said, that I considered myself at full liberty to work for
whatever amount of wages to me seemed satisfactory; that I would no more
submit to any interference with that liberty, than to any tyranny over
my conscience; and that all I claimed at their hands, was to be let
alone. Cries of 'Hustle him out!' frequently interrupted me; and perhaps
a proof that 'blows hurts' might have followed, but just as I finished,
my boss came in, and commanded the party to leave his premises, with an
assurance that he would not suffer me to be molested. The leader, who
seemed as much ashamed of his followers as Falstaff was of his ragged
regiment, immediately beat a retreat, and his troop with him; one or
two, as they went out, declaring that they would 'hammer' me whenever
they caught me in the street. I, however, went and came as usual, and
for some reason--perhaps the boss's declaration in my favour--met with
no annoyance.
What was the upshot? As emigrant cabinet-makers arrived, they were at
once engaged, and set to work; and at the end of six weeks, the strike
came to an end. The turn-outs not only failed in carrying their point,
but found themselves in a worse position than when they began, for
numbers of them were no longer 'wanted,' and had to migrate to the
country, or accept a lower rate of wages than before, besides the loss
of the best part of the busy season. In our own shop, one American and
two of the Germans were altogether dismissed, greatly to their
mortification; and in this unexpected reverse, they began to perceive
how they had been duped. I, on the other hand, having finished the first
bookcase, was well advanced in a second; and had, besides, the
satisfaction of knowing that the overplus of my six weeks' earnings was
safely added to the 'nest-egg,' and of hearing my shopmates applaud my
resolution, and wish that they had done likewise. Many were the
conversations touching masters and men that grew out of the event, and,
if permitted, I may perhaps take an opportunity of making our
conclusions public.
One day, some two years after the strike, while walking down Washington
Street, I met the leader of the second deputation aforementioned. 'I
guess I have seen you before,' he said, laying a hand upon my shoulder.
'Didn't you work at C----'s? Ah! you were the toughest customer we had;
but if we had all done as you did, it would have been better for us.'