1871, 1872, and 1873, were as follows:—
Trade. Year 1871. Year 1872. Year 1873.
_s._ _d._ _s._ _d._ _s._ _d._
Fitters 29 0 30 0 33 0
Turners 30 0 31 0 34 0
Planers 24 0 25 0 28 0
Slotters 24 0 25 0 28 0
Drillers 20 0 21 0 23 0
Moulders 34 0 34 0 36 0
Dressers 24 0 24 0 26 0
Coppersmiths 32 0 33 0 36 0
Smiths 31 0 32 0 35 0
Strikers 19 0 20 0 22 0
Patternmakers 31 0 33 0 36 0
Joiners 30 0 31 0 34 0
Carpenters 42 0 42 0 42 0
Painters 29 0 29 0 32 0
Platers (boilermakers) 34 0 34 0 36 0
Riveters 28 0 30 0 32 0
Holders-up 24 0 24 0 26 0
Platers (ship yard) 35 0 35 0 36 0
Riveters 30 0 30 0 30 0
Holders-up 23 0 23 0 24 0
Labourers 18 0 18 0 20 0
In reply to my inquiry, as to the effect of the nine hours’ movement in
diminishing the amount of work turned out, I am informed that, while
wages have considerably advanced, no increased activity on the part of
the men has taken place. Indeed, less work is performed in nine hours
now than formerly when ten hours constituted an ordinary day’s work.
The rise of wages has been very considerable in the last two years. The
price of locomotives has, in consequence of these various causes,
increased from 25 to 30 per cent. An ordinary passenger engine, which
might have been built in 1871 for £2,200, cost in 1872 £2,400, and in the
present year the price would be £2,600. In modern marine engines the
cost of materials and labour is about equal. An engine, which might have
been built in 1871, at £40 per horse-power, would have cost in 1872 £46.
In the present year the price has advanced from £55 to £60 per
horse-power.
In one of the largest steel and iron works in the North I learn that the
wages of skilled hands are now from ten to sixteen shillings a day, and
have increased 25 per cent. since 1870.
Lastly, I am informed that there is no appreciable difference in the
dress or appearance of the working man in the town, in which my works are
situated, that there is more money and more time spent in the
public-house, and that time in the morning is not so well kept now as it
was before the nine hours’ movement commenced. It is suggested to me
that the improvement in wages and the shortening of the time came too
suddenly upon the working man.
It is sometimes difficult to overcome a feeling of depression as to the
future of our mechanical industry. But, when we look to the progress
made in the past, there is no ground for discouragement. The value of
our exports of steam engines in 1866 was £1,760,000, in 1872 £2,995,000.
The value of our exports of machinery of other sorts was, in 1866,
£2,998,000; in 1872, £5,606,000. The past has been prosperous, and there
is no reason why a cloud should overshadow the future of our industry, if
only the time-honoured rule be observed, of giving a fair day’s work for
a fair day’s wages.
Rise of wages on Continent.
I now proceed to examine the situation of affairs among our continental
rivals. Valuable materials for such investigation are furnished to our
hands by the recently-published reports of our Secretaries of Legation,
and by a most important pamphlet prepared by Mr. Redgrave. From these
authorities we learn that, in the last ten years, wages at Verviers, a
great centre of industry in Belgium, have gradually increased by 20 per
cent. and that the working hours are shorter than they were. At Ghent
the rate of wages has risen 60 per cent. in the last fifteen years. The
average prices of the necessaries of life show an increase in Belgium of
50 per cent. in the last thirty years. Beef and mutton are now 8_d._ per
pound, and bread is about 8_d._ the four-pound loaf. The rise of wages
has, however, been greater in proportion than the increase in the cost of
lodging, clothes, and food.
In Prussia, Mr. Plunkett states that there is a universal tendency to
reduce the hours of labour, and to raise the rate of wages. The Breslau
Chamber of Commerce state that, in consequence of the increased cost both
of labour and raw material, the prices of cotton carded yarn had advanced
10 per cent. on the best and 16 per cent. on the ordinary qualities. In
the Silesian cloth trade, in 1871, prices rose 15 per cent.
In the spinning and weaving factories in Silesia, according to a
statement by Dr. G. Reichenheim, quoted by Mr. Plunkett, the increase in
the rate of wages in the last ten years has been about 30 per cent. for
female weavers, while in the case of male labour it is more than double.
The same complaints are made, which we hear in this country, as to the
effect of higher pay in rendering the operatives less careful in their
work, and more insubordinate than formerly.
Low wages and cheap production not convertible terms.
The most recent inquiries tend to establish the fact, which I have, on
former occasions, endeavoured to urge on the attention of employers, that
underpaid labour is by no means the most economical. It does not follow
that, when a workman receives more pay for exactly the same amount of
labour, there is no increase in the cost of production. It would be
absurd to put such an interpretation on the axiom assumed by my father,
when estimating the cost of work, that the cost of labour in a fully
peopled country was, as a general rule, the same, whatever might be the
nominal rate of daily wages. But, where the principle of payment by the
piece is adopted, (and, trades-union opposition notwithstanding, no other
system of payment can be really equitable), there it will be found that
labour, when stimulated by a liberal reward, is far more productive than
that of the ill-paid operative. The reports to which I have referred are
full of illustrations on this point.
Belgium.
In Belgium, all the factory occupiers are of opinion that the English
operatives are far superior to the Flemish. An Englishman, being better
fed, possesses greater physical power, produces as much work in ten hours
as a Fleming in twelve, and, understanding the machinery which he works,
he can point to the cause of an accident; whereas in Ghent half-an-hour
is constantly lost in seeking for the reason of a stoppage. Although the
rates of wages are lower, and the hours of labour longer; English
manufacturers have but little to fear from Belgian competition.
Russia.
Mr. Egerton states, that, in Russia, 13 hours a day is the average length
of the hours of labour, children generally working the same time as men;
and yet there is no country in which there is so great a waste of labour.
In mills where the best and newest machinery is used, it is necessary to
limit the earnings, which, if large in amount, would be expended in
drinking. In England a spinner will, with his assistants, attend to
2,000 spindles. In Russia, he never has more than 1,000, and generally
500 spindles under his charge.
Switzerland.
Mr. Gosling says of the Swiss workman, that he is inferior to the British
workman in physical strength and energy.
France.
The French manufacturers insist strongly on the greater cost of
production in their country as compared with England. They estimate the
cost of wages per week for the hands employed upon 10,000 spindles at
£59. 10_s._, as compared with £41, which would be the corresponding
amount in an English factory. ‘The value of the English workman,’ says
Mr. Redgrave, ‘still remains pre-eminent, although the interval between
him and his competitors is not so great as it was; he has not
retrograded, but they have advanced.’ We see too much of intemperance in
England, but there is much reason to complain in Belgium and the
manufacturing districts of France, where the cheapness of intoxicating
liquors is a fearful temptation to the working classes.
Increasing production with the same number of hands.
The progressive development in the skill of our factory operatives has
been clearly shown in the comparison, instituted by Messrs. Bridges and
Holmes, of the tasks, now performed, with the amount of work allotted to
the hands, as ascertained by the Factory Commission of 1833. Messrs.
Bridges and Holmes estimate that the proportion of spindles in 1833 was
112 to each hand, while the corresponding number at the present day would
be 517 spindles. The speed of the mule has been so much increased, that
more stretches are now made in 10½ hours than formerly in twelve. In
1848 a female would have had only two looms, now she will attend to four.
The speed of the power looms in 1833 varied between 90 and 112; it now
varies between 170 and 200 picks a minute. Notwithstanding all the
improvements of mechanism, the cotton-weaver of the present day is
subject to a greater strain than his predecessor of forty years ago.
From a consideration of all these facts, we have reason to congratulate
employers in England on the possession of a body of workmen superior to
those of any other country. We may also assert, on their behalf, that in
no other country of the Old World is the same solicitude displayed for
the welfare of the workmen.
I observe with regret the frequently repeated manifestations of
disaffection on the part of the working classes on the Continent towards
their employers. Lord Brabazon, in his able report on the condition of
the industrial classes in France, quotes some painful illustrations of
the entire want of confidence between class and class in that distracted
country, where ‘Communistic principles have done so much to alienate the
affections of the workmen from their employers,’ and where a large
proportion of those engaged in manufacturing industry live in a condition
of wretchedness and misery, of which, I venture to hope, very few of
those, who can command regular employment in this country, have any
experience. At Elbœuf we are told of a certain manufacturer who, during
the period of dearth, bought a large quantity of provisions, with the
view of reselling them to his workmen at a low rate, but who was obliged
to renounce his humane project; because the workpeople imagined it was a
pretext for making money out of their misery. At Lyons, where no social
distinctions keep asunder the numerous small employers from the employed,
the sympathy which formerly existed between the owner of the loom and his
assistants is no longer found.
When I turn from this gloomy picture to those bright recollections, the
most precious portion of the heritage, which I have received from my
lamented father, and call to mind the cordial relations, which he always
preserved with vast multitudes of workmen, and with a large staff of
agents of every grade and disposition of mind; still more, when I see
among contemporary employers so many evidences of the same success in
conciliating their dependents, I thank my God from the very bottom of my
heart, that I was born an Englishman.
Employment of children in Belgium.
While in England we are happily doing away with the great evil of
employing young children in our factories, all the Chambers of Commerce
in Belgium unite in deploring the increasing moral and physical
degeneracy of the working classes, owing to the premature employment of
children. In the Belgian factories for spinning and weaving flax,
cotton, and wool, children from ten to twelve years old are very
generally admitted, and work twelve hours a day. In the Belgian
coal-pits 8,000 children under fourteen years of age, of both sexes, are
employed. Of children between ten and twelve 2,400 are employed, 700
above and 1,700 below ground.
In 1866, out of their total population of 4,827,000, more than one-half
were unable to read or write. The necessity for the employment of
children is best proved by the description given by Mr. Kennedy, of the
position of the Belgian operatives at Alost and Tirmonde, where a
first-class hand earns £28 a year, while the smallest sum on which a man
can exist is £20 a year. Indeed, existence is only made possible by the
employment of children in factories, and by the possession of a small
garden in which vegetables are raised.
Employment of women in England.
In the English factories, where a larger proportion of women are employed
than in the factories abroad, it has recently been proposed that the
number of hours of labour should be limited by law. The proposal is
supported by Messrs. Bridges and Holmes, on the ground that, by exciting
a spirit of rivalry between them, women can be goaded on to over-exert
themselves in a manner, which would not be observed among men. A woman,
we are told, who can mind four looms without an assistant has a certain
position, and becomes an object of attention. ‘Hoo’s a four-loomer;
hoo’s like to be wed,’ will be commonly remarked of such an one.
The Association of Employers, though differing on almost every other
subject from Messrs. Bridges and Holmes, suggest that women should be
excluded from factories for three months after their confinement. Great
evils have been found, by experience, to ensue from the too early return
of the mothers to factory labour. Let us venture to hope that another
Session of Parliament will not be allowed to pass by, without placing on
the Statute Book a legal prohibition against a practice, which is
universally condemned by those most competent to form an opinion.
Shorter hours of labour.
The demand for a reduction of the hours of labour, which has been so
strongly and successfully urged by certain classes of our operatives, is
not universally supported either at home or abroad.
The average length of a working day in Switzerland is twelve hours,
exclusive of the time for meals. The general tendency is to a reduction
of hours, and laws have been passed, limiting the length of the working
day in some cantons to twelve hours. These changes are, however, almost
entirely due to the efforts of local politicians. A proposal of this
nature recently made in Zurich, and sanctioned by the Cantonal
Legislature, was eventually thrown out by the popular vote.
At Rouen, Mr. Redgrave found no strong desire for a diminution of the
hours of labour in the cotton factories. The operatives were chiefly
solicitous for a rise of wages. On this subject the workpeople of all
countries seem to entertain similar views. Messrs. Bridges and Holmes,
in their report on the condition of operatives in English factories, say
that the workpeople are by no means unanimous. Among the women
especially, many are apathetic, and some are positively opposed to a
limitation of the working hours.
In the United States, at Lowell, near Boston, I ascertained by personal
inquiry on the spot, that the working hours were sixty per week, and that
no indication had yet been given of a disposition among the operatives to
reduce the hours.
Decline of pauperism.
Though there may be reason to regret that the working class have not
reaped more substantial and universal benefits from the recent additions
to their wages; we have at least the satisfaction of knowing that there
has been some slight decrease in the amount of pauperism, and in the
proportion of persons in receipt of relief to the whole population.
Emigration.
Meanwhile the tide of emigration has never ceased to flow. The
proportion, too, of English and Scotch to Irish has, of late years, much
increased. In 1872 the wide labour field of the United States absorbed
199,000 out of a total number of 252,000 emigrants from the United
Kingdom. In the same period 33,000 sailed for the ports of British North
America. The United States offer many advantages to the newly-arrived
emigrants. The homestead law gives, for a merely nominal sum, the right
to a homestead and 160 acres of land to every individual, who is actually
a citizen of the United States, or has declared his intention of becoming
such.
In examining the various circumstances, which tend to raise the price of
labour in England, the prevailing high wages in the United States, and
the increased facilities for emigration, must ever be kept in view. The
nominal rate of wages in America may indeed frequently convey a delusive
idea of prosperity; yet it cannot be doubted that the thrifty, skilful,
and industrious artisan has large opportunities of advancement in the New
World.
A great majority of the emigrants go out to join some friends already
satisfactorily established. When this is not the case, it is essential
to the emigrant’s success that he should have accumulated not merely a
sufficient sum, to defray the cost of his voyage across the Atlantic, but
enough to enable him to travel, if necessary, far into the interior, and
to visit, it may be several, rapidly rising cities in the West, before
finally settling down. The artisan, who is able to maintain himself for
some months after landing at New York, and to make a wide exploration of
the country, will be sure in the end to find a favourable opening. Alas,
how few of those who emigrate from this country are possessed of such
resources!
Wages in America.
Many examples of the prosperity of the working classes came under my own
observation on a recent visit to America. The workpeople are paid as far
as possible by the piece. The monthly pay-sheet at the Merrimac Mills,
at Lowell, where 2,600 hands are employed, amounts to 75,000 dollars,
which gives an average of thirty dollars a month, or 30_s._ a week. The
majority of the workpeople are Americans, but there are many from Canada
and the Old Country. The proprietors of the mills have established
several lodging-houses for the unmarried women whom they employ. At each
of these houses some thirty women are lodged. The house is placed under
the supervision of a respectable matron. The cost of living is 3½
dollars a week, and female operatives can earn from 14_s._ to 16_s._ a
week over and above the cost of their board and lodging. The men pay for
board 2_s._ a day, and their wages vary from 7_s._ to 10_s._ a day.
At the Lonsdale Company’s Cotton Mills, near Providence, in a factory
containing 40,000 spindles, one spinner attends to 1,408 spindles, and in
weaving, one weaver attends to from four to six looms. In England, the
proportion would be, on the average, one hand to every three looms,
working at a higher speed than they have attained in America. Male
weavers were earning from 44_s._ to 52_s._, and female weavers from
40_s._ to 44_s._ weekly. Spinners earn from 4_s._ to 6_s._ a day. Women
pay for board and lodging in lodging-houses, provided by their employers,
12_s._, and men 16_s._ a week. The operatives, earning these wages, are
better able to save money than the operatives in our own country; and
many of the hands at the Lonsdale Mills have £1,000 to their credit in
the Savings Bank. At the great Harmony Mills at Cohoes, near Albany,
where 4,000 hands are employed, two-thirds are emigrants to the States,
principally English and Scotch, although there are many Germans and some
French. The general wages are for women from 3_s._ to 6_s._ a day, for
men from 6_s._ to 10_s._ a day. The cost of living is moderate, and
assuming that a female operative earns 28_s._ a week—by no means a high
average—she has 16_s._ a week to spend on dress and luxuries. At Cohoes
a weaver attends to four, five, or six looms, but the machinery is not
worked at so high a rate of speed as in Lancashire. The mule is never
worked at a speed exceeding three stretches a minute.
In Quebec wages have of late been rapidly advancing. Artisans can now
command 8_s._ a day, and labourers employed in unloading ships, whose
employment, however, is uncertain in summer, and in winter wholly ceases,
earn 10_s._ to 12_s._ a day. A man with a family can live well on 4_s._
a day. The long winter is the great drawback to the prosperity of the
working class in Canada. Quebec has its Wapping, its extensive suburbs,
chiefly occupied by the working classes; and there is no external
indication in these quarters of a condition of life superior to that
attained by the majority of our working men at home. In the Ottawa
district, in Canada, the young farmers are able to find employment in
winter by leaving their homes, and going up to the forests to cut timber.
They earn 30_s._ a week, and they are boarded in addition. In the spring
the lumberer returns home with a considerable sum of money saved. He
carries on his farming operations throughout the open season, and returns
to the forests in the autumn. The life is toilsome, and involves a long
separation from the fireside at home; but the perseverance of a few years
will result in the accumulation of a valuable capital for farming
operations, and secure to the settler his future independence.
Ottawa is one of the rising towns of Canada. Its prosperity is derived
from the timber trade, and from its being the seat of the Government.
Wages in Ottawa were last year (I speak of 1872) extravagantly high.
Masons were earning 14_s._ a day. All classes of artisans employed in
building were paid from 10_s._ to 12_s._ a day. For four or five months
in winter building operations are suspended; but provisions are cheap,
and house rent is the only costly item.
At Hamilton, in Upper Canada, the wages for artisans are 8_s._ a day.
House-rent is about 28_s._ a month. The expense of fuel in winter is
nearly equal to the sum paid for house-rent. Food is cheap. A stock of
salt beef can be laid down for the winter at the price of 1½_d._ a pound.
The agriculturists in the Hamilton district are in a prosperous
condition. Every settler travels in a light waggon, drawn by a pair of
serviceable horses. The population seemed robust and healthy.
In other settlements forming part of the Dominion, the appearance of the
people was less satisfactory. At Charlottetown, in Prince Edward’s
Island, the universal vehicle is drawn by one horse instead of two, as at
Hamilton. It was sad to see the population generally so pale and thin,
and, in appearance, sickly and out of health. It is hard to find a
reason for this marked physical deterioration of the descendants of
Scotch, Irish, and English settlers. Probably the long winter is, to a
great extent, the cause. The impossibility of active outdoor operations
at that season, and the consequent temptation to spend the day in smoking
and drinking in over-heated rooms, is extremely prejudicial to the health
of the population. At Picton, in Nova Scotia, the inhabitants appeared
more robust. The wages for ordinary shipwrights are 8_s._ a day, and
taking into consideration the cost of living, the working classes are as
well off as in any part of Canada.
In comparing the American and English operatives, or, rather, the English
operatives, when transplanted to the States, with the hands who have
remained in the Old Country, it would seem that there is, as a rule, a
higher development of skill in the individual operatives. The difference
is attributable to the conviction that the present high rate of wages in
the States could not be maintained; unless the utmost skill and diligence
were put forth.
Arbitration.
The results which have followed from the reference of disputes relating
to wages to arbitration are a sign of the happiest augury for the future
relations between employers and employed. It has been urged, on the part
of the employers, that the working class will only accept the decision of
arbitrators, when it is favourable to themselves. But in this, as in
many other respects, the organisation of the trades unions, and the
influence which the more enlightened workmen, acting as members of the
executive committees of the unions, possess over their less-instructed
fellow-workmen, have been the means of securing obedience to every
decision arrived at after careful investigation, conducted in an
impartial spirit. Such influence becomes more important when the members
of the trades unions are for the most part uneducated men. It is always
more difficult for an employer to negotiate or to argue with a
boiler-maker than with a fitter. The executive councils of the unions
have entitled themselves to the gratitude of the employers of labour, by
accepting the use of machinery, the substitution of which for manual
labour becomes more and more indispensable with every advance in the
standard of wages.
Legitimate province of the trades unions.