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Title: Wages in 1873 - Address read before the Social Science Association at Norwich
Author: Brassey, Thomas Brassey, Earl
Language: English
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Transcribed from the 1873 Longmans, Green, and Co. edition by David
Price.
WAGES IN 1873.
* * * * *
* * * * *
ADDRESS
READ BEFORE THE
SOCIAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION
AT NORWICH.
* * * * *
BY
THOMAS BRASSEY, M.P.
* * * * *
LONDON:
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
1873.
* * * * *
LONDON: PRINTED BY
SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE
AND PARLIAMENT STREET
WAGES IN 1873.
Rise in Wages.
IN the following Address I shall devote myself to the task of reviewing,
I hope in an impartial spirit, the most recent phases of the labour
movement. The great advance of wages is a conspicuous feature of modern
English industry, and is obviously due to the rapid growth of the general
trade of the country. The long depression following on the panic of 1866
has been succeeded by a period of unprecedented activity in every branch
of our export trade. The demands upon the labour-market have far
exceeded the supply; and the artisan and labourer have not been slow to
take advantage of a situation which afforded to them a brilliant
opportunity. Between 1866 and 1869 the value of the exports of the
produce and manufactures of the United Kingdom had remained stationary;
while it rose from £190,000,000 in 1869, to £256,257,000 in 1872. Such a
leap was not possible without imposing a strain upon the powers of our
labouring population, which must inevitably have led to a material
alteration in the rate of wages.
Not attributable to strikes.
It is too often alleged that the recent advance of wages is attributable
to a series of successful strikes. I maintain, on the contrary, that a
strike against a falling market is never successful, and that Trades
Unions, as an organisation for the purpose of raising wages, can never do
more than assist the workman to obtain an advance at a somewhat earlier
date than that at which the competition among employers would have
brought about the same result. I may quote the unfortunate strike in
South Wales, at the commencement of this year, as a signal instance of
the inability of Trades Unions to cope with the superior resources of
employers when firmly united together.
The recent strike in South Wales.
It may be worth while briefly to recapitulate the most important
incidents of the South Wales strike. In June 1872, the miners had
proposed to apply for an advance of 20 per cent. on their wages. They
were, however, advised by the executive council of their Union to limit
their demand to an advance of 10 per cent. The advance was granted, and
three months later the men asked for an additional 10 per cent. Their
application was refused, and shortly afterwards the masters gave notice
of a 10 per cent. reduction. The men thereupon desired that their case
should be referred to arbitration. This request was refused by the
masters, who were so fully convinced of the strength of their own case,
that they offered to submit their books for the inspection of the
workmen. The miners were unwilling to avail themselves of this offer;
and, encouraged by large promises of support from Mr. Halliday and Mr.
Pickard, they went out on strike.
Without venturing to apportion to either of the contending interests
their share of responsibility, it is clear that the ironmasters were
alone in a position to know whether their business was sufficiently
remunerative to make it possible to dispense with a reduction of wages;
and it was stated by Mr. Crawshay that he had taken a contract for 2,000
tons of rails at £9. 2_s._ 5_d._ per ton nett, and that he lost money by
selling rails at that price. Mr. Crawshay expressed an opinion, founded
on the statements made by his workmen in daily interviews, that, but for
the interference of the Union, they would have been satisfied with the
explanations which he had given them, and returned to their work. In
short, it became a point of honour with the masters to prove to their
workmen that they were able, when acting in concert, to fight a
successful campaign against the united forces of the Miners’ Union.
The miners, on the other hand, were in the embarrassing position in which
workmen are always placed whenever they are engaged in similar disputes.
They had to struggle in the dark, and had no means of correctly
estimating the profits of their employers. The responsibility of the
Executive Council of the Miners’ Union, during the labour crisis in South
Wales, was immense. Although the miners connected with the Union were
only 10,000 in number, by their cessation of labour 50,000 of their
fellow-workmen, engaged in various branches of the iron trade, were kept
out of work. The ‘strike pay’ distributed by the Colliers’ Union
amounted to a total of £40,000, a sum quite insignificant, by comparison
with the amount of £800,000, which the men would have earned, had they
continued at work; and yet the burden of sustaining a vast population
proved eventually insupportable. In point of fact, the men were only
enabled to continue the struggle by the assistance of the tradesmen of
the district; and when, at length, the latter found themselves unable to
continue the supply of the necessaries of life on credit, surrender was
inevitable.
The reaction against the International Society among the working classes
in Belgium originated in a similar cause. In 1871, during the strike in
Flanders, the International was unable to fulfil its promises of support,
and it has consequently lost credit with the operatives, many of whom, as
we are informed by Mr. Kennedy, have withdrawn from the Society. It was
the same with the miners at Waldenburg, in Silesia, where 6,000 men went
out on strike. After all their savings had been exhausted, they received
a grandiloquent despatch from the Central Council at Berlin, urging them
to emigrate _en masse_. A few obeyed the advice. The majority who
remained were compelled to surrender, being consoled by the assurance
that the most valiant armies must sometimes yield to superior numbers,
and that they had won for themselves the admiration of Germany.
Almost to the last the originators of the strike in South Wales opposed
the generally felt desire to return to work. Never, perhaps, was the
magical power of eloquence over an imperfectly educated audience more
conspicuously displayed than at the meetings held by the workmen towards
the close of the South Wales strike. Men, who had gathered together, for
the express purpose of negotiating a peace with their employers, were
turned aside against their own judgments by the eloquent exaggerations of
orators, who were interested in the continuation of the struggle.
Overwhelming, indeed, is the influence of speech over the uninstructed
mind. Well may Carlyle exclaim: ‘He who well considers, will find this
same right of speech, as we moderns have it, to be a truly astonishing
product of ages; and the longer he considers it, the more astonishing and
alarming. I reckon it the saddest of all the curses that now lie heavy
on us.’
In the event, as I have said, the workmen returned to their work on the
terms, which their masters had originally proposed. Happily they had not
long to wait for an improvement of their position; and, in less than a
fortnight after the close of the strike, the workmen received an advance
of 10 per cent. on the reduced wages, which they had accepted.
Proposal of the International for an universal strike.
The defeat of the miners in South Wales offers, as I have already said,
one more illustration of the inability of workmen to force a concession
from employers possessed of abundant resources, when the state of trade
is such, that a concession cannot be made, without involving the employer
in direct pecuniary loss. We have evidence that this fact is becoming
generally recognised. The inability of Trades Unions to control the rate
of wages was frankly admitted by the members of the International Society
in their last congress, when the working men were informed that
hereafter, if they wished to secure any substantial advantages for
labour, there must be a strike _en masse_ of all the working men of every
country in the world.
In extreme cases strike may produce results beneficial to workmen.
Orderly conduct of men on strike in South Wales.
While I feel bound to assure the working man of the certain frustration
of his expectations, if he seeks to obtain from capital impossible
concessions, I am at the same time ready to acknowledge that a strike
will sometimes make an impression on employers, even in cases, in which
the demand for an increase of wages is not immediately conceded. If the
trade, in which the workmen on strike are engaged, is prosperous for the
employer; cessation of production means loss of profit. The apprehension
of a recurrence of such loss may, on a future occasion, induce
concessions; and the wage-earning classes may rest assured that, in the
long run, and without the assistance of Trades Unions and the disastrous
interruptions to their business occasioned by protracted strikes, the
competition among employers, to secure the services of workmen, will
infallibly lead to a rise of pay, proportionate to the amount of profit,
derived from the particular industry, with which they are connected. It
was a noteworthy feature in the South Wales strike, that the men never
had recourse to physical violence. I attribute their good conduct in
this regard in part to the influence of Mr. Halliday and his colleagues.
Advance in price of coal.
I now pass to the graver subject of the recent rise in the price of coal.
It will be remembered that, on the motion of Mr. Mundella, a Committee of
the House of Commons was appointed in the last Session to inquire into
this subject. After a long investigation the Committee reported, as
might have been expected, that, in their judgment, the rapid development
of the iron industry was the primary cause of the advance in the price of
coal. It appears from statistics, compiled under the direction of the
Committee, that the total production of coal in 1869 was 107,000,000
tons, of which 79,000,000 were used in manufactures. The total
production in 1871 was 117,000,000 tons, of which 85,000,000 were used in
manufactures. It will thus be seen how large a proportion of the total
quantity of coal raised is consumed in manufactures, and specially in the
manufacture of iron. In 1867, 567,000 tons of pig iron were exported,
4,193,000 tons of pig iron were converted into rolled iron, 1,317,000
tons of rolled iron were exported, and 28,331,000 tons of coal were used
in the manufacture of iron. In 1872, 1,333,000 tons of pig iron were
exported, 5,390,000 tons of pig iron were converted into rolled iron,
2,055,000 tons of rolled iron were exported, and 38,229,000 tons of coal
were consumed in the manufacture of iron.
Mr. Lothian Bell.
In the evidence, which he gave before the Committee, Mr. Lothian Bell
stated that the greatly increased demand for the manufacture of iron,
although not the sole cause, was one of the causes, of the rapid advance
in the price of coal.
In his district the iron trade gave a great stimulus to the coal trade.
‘But,’ he observed, ‘all industry throughout the country has been, and
still is, in a very flourishing condition. The manufacture of alkali in
the North, the increase of railways, the substitution of steam for
sailing vessels, all added to demands on an output not very greatly
increasing.’ It is to be observed that the rise in the price of iron
preceded the rise in the price of coal. Mr. Lothian Bell quoted figures,
from which it appeared that, in September 1871, forge pig iron was
selling for 50_s._, while coke was selling for from 10_s._ to 12_s._ a
ton. In July 1872, the forge pig iron rose to 120_s._—more than double
the price of nine months before—and coke, following the advance in iron,
rose from 37_s._ 6_d._ to 41_s._ a ton.
The Committee rightly observe, in commenting upon these figures, that,
although the disturbance in the proportion between the demand and the
supply of coal might not appear sufficient to explain fully the great
rise of prices, yet a comparatively small deficiency in the supply of an
article of paramount necessity may produce a disproportionate increase of
price, through the eagerness of buyers competing with each other, each
for his own supply.
Rise of wages in collieries.
Other reasons for the rise in the price of coal have been urged, and
among these more especially the reduction in the hours of labour, and the
great advance of wages. The advance in the wages paid to miners is in
truth extraordinary. In a large colliery, in which I have an interest, I
will give the advance in the weekly wages of some of the principal
trades. The weekly wages of hewers in 1869 were 24_s._ 5_d._; they have
risen in 1873 to 48_s._ 9_d._ The wages of timbermen in 1863 were
25_s._; in 1873 they are 53_s._ 4_d._ Haulers, in 1869, 20_s._; in 1873,
31_s._ 6_d._ Landers, in 1869, 21_s._; in 1873, 36_s._ 9_d._ Labourers
in 1869, 15_s._; in 1873, 24_s._ a week. The average wages of all the
men employed were 20_s._ 11_d._ for 1869, as compared with an average of
36_s._ 8_d._ per week in 1873.
A similar rise of wages has been established in other parts of the
country, of which I have no personal knowledge. Wages have risen, since
1870, 48 per cent. in Northumberland, and 50 per cent. in Durham. The
requirements of the Mines Regulation Act have involved an additional
expenditure, estimated by some authorities at 12½ per cent. upon the cost
of production. It was estimated by Mr. Pease that the total cost of
working, in the collieries with which he was connected, had increased 50
per cent. between 1870 and 1872. Mr. A. Macdonald, the president of the
Miners’ National Association, confirming the opinion of Mr. Pease,
estimated that the cost of getting coal in Northumberland had increased,
between 1868 and 1872–73, from 60 to 65 per cent., while the selling
price had risen 120 per cent.
Increased profits of colliery proprietors.
It might be easily made to appear that the rise of wages was the
principal cause of the advance in coal. But the case would be
imperfectly presented for examination, if the profit derived from the
working of the pits were not ascertained. The colliery, to which I have
already referred, had, for years, been worked at a serious loss—there
being no dividend for the proprietors in the years 1870 and 1871.
Indeed, the prospects were so gloomy in the latter year, that some of the
shareholders in the undertaking made over their interest to their
co-proprietors at a considerable discount. At length, however, the tide
suddenly turned, and in 1872 an ample dividend was earned; while there is
every prospect that the results of the present year may be still more
favourable.
Rise of wages has followed advance in price of coal.
My individual experience abundantly confirms the opinion expressed by the
Committee of the House of Commons, to the effect that the prices of coal,
which prevailed for years before the present rise commenced, were so low
that they did not afford a reasonable profit to the owners of collieries
in general, or such remuneration as the workmen might, with regard to the
hazardous and arduous nature of their labour, reasonably expect. The
rise in the rate of wages has not, under the exceptional circumstances,
been unreasonable; and it is certain that the real order of events has
been, first, the rise in price of iron, then a rise in the price of coal,
and lastly a rise in the rate of wages. On the other hand, great as the
profits in the coal trade have been, it is a question whether the last
two years have compensated the coal-owners for the former protracted era
of stagnation, and, in many cases, of serious loss.
In a letter addressed to _The Times_, early in the present year, in which
the case of the masters was ably argued, Mr. Laing narrated the history
of the Bleanavon Company. Owing to various causes, that concern had been
worked for several years without profit. Only within the last three
years had it become a profitable undertaking; and yet all through a long
period of adversity an amount of £3,000 to £4,000 a week was paid in
wages, at the same rate as by the most prosperous iron works; and the
capital sunk by the original proprietors was the means of creating a
town, and supporting a population of 9,000, in a secluded mountain valley
of South Wales.
Causes which will lead to a reduction in price of coal.
The present unprecedented prosperity may continue for a year or two years
at the most, but, at the end of that time, the influx of capital into the
coal trade, attracted by the present high profits, will infallibly lead
to some reduction of price. New coal pits are being sunk. Old pits are
being improved. More workmen are being trained in the business of
mining. Hence we may look with confidence to an augmentation of the
output, and to a sufficient supply for the ordinary demands of consumers.
The insufficient profits of former days cannot be attributed to the
unreasonable standard at which wages were maintained. The excessive
competition in the supply of coal was the true cause of the unfortunate
position of the trade. And as in the former period of depression, so in
the sudden and it may be short-lived prosperity of the present day, the
rates of wages must be regarded, not as a cause, but as a consequence, of
an abnormal position of affairs.
Hours of labour.
Complaints have been urged as to the effects of shortening the hours of
labour; and it is certain that if a comparison be made between the amount
raised and the total number of individuals employed, a less quantity is
raised than in former years. It must not, however, be forgotten that
high wages have attracted many untrained hands to the coal pits. It
would be presumptuous in me to express an opinion as to the precise
number of hours, which would constitute a fair working day in a coal pit.
Mr. Macdonald, who has had actual experience as a working miner, declares
that the present earnings could not be obtained with less than eight
hours of work a day, and that no man, who laboured assiduously for that
number of hours could work continuously six days a week at coal mining.
It will be the duty of those, to whom the miners are in the habit of
looking for guidance, to watch with care the course of trade. They know
that the iron manufactures of this country can only prosper, so long as
we are able to sell our iron abroad at cheaper rates than those demanded
by foreign producers.
There are some who think that a limitation of the hours of labour is in
itself an evil. I cannot share in this view. Because some may make an
unwise use of their newly acquired advantages, that is no reason for
returning to a former state of things; when, in the general depression of
trade, an undue pressure was brought to bear upon the working man. ‘No
doubt,’ says Sir Arthur Helps, ‘hard work is a great police agent. If
everybody were worked from morning till night, and then carefully locked
up, the register of crime might be greatly diminished. But what would
become of human nature? Where would be the room for growth in such a
system of things?’
The use of leisure requires education, and that education had not been
freely given to the mechanics, miners, and puddlers, of former
generations.
The double-shift system.
Among the various proposals for maintaining the production of collieries
while conceding to the individual workman the advantage of a reduction in
the number of hours of daily labour, the double-shift system of working
promises a most satisfactory result. When the memorable struggle was
commenced in Newcastle for a reduction in the number of hours, I ventured
to suggest, in an address delivered at Birkenhead, that the solution of
the difficulty, which had arisen in the engineering establishments, might
be found in employing relays of mechanics to succeed each other at the
same machine. When we have to combine human labour with machine power,
we know that it is impossible for the human machine to keep pace with
machinery of brass and iron. But why, I venture to ask, 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 steamships, it has been found necessary, on 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 of men being employed? The change, arising
from the increasing use of machinery, seems to render corresponding
modifications in the application of labour essential. My friend Mr.
Elliott is pushing the system of a succession of labour in collieries
with very advantageous results to all parties concerned. Comparing a
Durham colliery, worked on the double-shift system, with a colliery in
Glamorganshire, worked by one set of miners, he ascertained that twice
the quantity of coal per day was being raised in Durham. The prejudices
of the miners in South Wales against the double-shift have presented a
serious obstacle to its introduction, but Mr. Elliott hopes that this may
eventually be overcome by the influence of Mr. Macdonald and other
representatives of the men, whose superior intelligence will enable them
to appreciate more readily the advantages of new and improved systems of
working.
Coal-cutting machines.
Among various improvements, which may tend to reduce the price of coal,
we may look with confidence to the increased use of coal-cutting
machinery as a substitute for manual labour; and to the discovery of
methods by which the consumption of fuel may be reduced. The
experiments, which have been tried with the machines invented by Captain
Beaumont, R.E., and others, have been eminently satisfactory; and these
machines are now being made in large numbers in Glasgow and Birmingham.
Waste of coal in domestic consumption.
Our domestic consumption is undoubtedly wasteful; and the inventor of an
effective improvement in the form of grate in common use will be a real
benefactor to his fellow-man. Already we have, in the cooking-stove for
yachts, the invention of Mr. Atkey, of Cowes, a highly successful
apparatus. A letter from Mr. Vale, Ex-President of the Liverpool
Architectural Society, addressed to _The Times_ in August last, describes
a cooking stove for a party of nine persons and a crew of thirteen men,
which measured only one foot four inches by one foot four inches in area,
and one foot nine inches in height, the actual fuel-space being less than
one cubic foot. The fuel required in his yacht for one day’s consumption
was forty-seven pounds of coke at twenty shillings a ton, and the cost
per head per day amounted to less than one farthing.
Captain Galton’s fireplace.
In his lecture, delivered at Bradford during the meeting of the British
Association in the present year, Mr. Siemens described Captain Galton’s
ventilating fireplace as a most valuable invention.
‘The chief novelty and merit,’ he said, ‘of Captain Galton’s fireplace
consists in providing a chamber at the back of the grate, into which air
passes directly from without, becomes moderately heated (to 84° Fah.),
and, rising in a separate flue, is injected into the room under the
ceiling with a force due to the heated ascending flue. A plenum of
pressure is thus established within the room whereby indraughts through
doors and windows are avoided, and the air is continually renewed by
passing away through the fireplace chimney as usual. Thus the
cheerfulness of an open fire, the comfort of a room filled with fresh but
moderately warmed air, and great economy of fuel, are happily combined
with unquestionable efficiency and simplicity; and yet this grate is
little used, although it has been fully described in papers communicated
by Captain Galton, and in an elaborate report made by General Morin, le
Directeur du Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers of Paris, which has also
appeared in the English language.’
Mr. Bessemer’s inventions.
But economy in the consumption of coal, in the manufacture of iron, is a
far larger question than economy, however desirable in itself, in the
consumption for domestic purposes; and, as an illustration of what may be
achieved in this direction, I will quote some extracts from a letter from
Mr. Bessemer, detailing the results, which have actually been attained
through his most valuable discoveries.
The average quantity of coal required to make a ton of pig iron is about
two tons of coal to a ton of pig; and, as pig iron forms the raw material
for the several processes of manufacturing both malleable iron and steel,
we may treat the pig simply as the raw material employed, and consider
only how much coal is required to make a ton of finished rails. About
two tons of coal are required in order to convert pig iron into iron
railway bars.
To produce one ton of steel rails by the old process of making steel in
Sheffield, a total consumption of ten tons eight cwt. of coal is
required; and the conversion of iron bars into blistered bars occupies
from 18 to 20 days.
To make Bessemer’s steel from pig iron into steel rails requires about
five cwt. of small coal, in the form of coke, to melt the pig iron in the
cupola; two cwt. to heat the converting vessel and ladle; two cwt. for
the blast engine, which converts five tons of pig iron into fluid cast
steel in twenty minutes; and, lastly, for rolling the ingots into rails,
sixteen cwt. of coal, making a total consumption of twenty-five cwt. of
coal, in producing one ton of Bessemer’s steel rails from pig iron.
Thus, common iron rails take two tons of coal; Sheffield cast steel
rails, ten tons eight cwt.; Bessemer’s steel rails, one ton five cwt.
But we must also consider other points in connection with these figures,
in order to arrive at a correct estimate of the saving of coals, effected
by the introduction of steel, as a substitute for iron.
Although the cost of Sheffield steel entirely shut it out of the market
for rails, it must be borne in mind that it was extensively used for
wheel tires, slide bars, piston rods, and other parts of locomotive
engines; and here a saving of over nine tons of coal per ton of steel has
been effected. Further, it must be borne in mind that at stations where
rails are rapidly worn, the saving by the use of steel, as a substitute
for iron, must not be simply estimated as a saving made on one ton of
each material. For instance, at the London and North-Western station, at
Crewe, the iron rails are so rapidly worn, that they require to be
reversed every four months, each rail being completely worn out in eight
months. Bessemer’s steel rails were first used at this station, and
after being in constant use for seven years, they were removed in
consequence of rebuilding the station; one side only of the rail having
been used, and this was not quite worn out. During the seven years,
therefore, that those rails were down, one ton five cwt. only of coal had
been employed in the production of each ton of rails used at this
station; whereas ten sets of iron rails would have been entirely worn out
in that period, each set consuming two tons of coals in its manufacture,
or equal to twenty tons of coals for iron rails, as against one ton five
cwt. of coals for steel rails; and these, when turned, would be equal to
another seven years’ wear on the side not used.
The above is, no doubt, an extreme case, but the same sort of thing goes
on everywhere where steel is used, though in a lesser degree. It has
indeed been admitted by competent persons, that the rapid destruction of
iron rails would have caused a complete collapse of the Metropolitan
railways by continued interference with the traffic, while removing the
worn-out rails, had not steel been employed.
It should further be borne in mind that the extra strength of steel over
iron admits of a reduction of one-third of its weight in all structures,
previously made in iron. Thus, a further saving is effected in the fuel
consumed for a given work.
The rapidity, with which Bessemer’s steel is coming into use, will be
appreciated, when it is stated that the report of the jury at the London
International Exhibition showed that the entire production of steel in
Great Britain, prior to Bessemer’s invention, amounted to 51,000 tons per
annum; while the quantity of Bessemer’s steel, made in Great Britain
during the twelve months ending June 1873, amounted to 481,000 tons, or
nearly ten times the amount of production prior to the invention. Had
this quantity of steel been made by the old Sheffield process, it would
have consumed, according to the foregoing figures, 4,401,000 tons more
coal than was actually employed in its production. Should this enormous
increase in the manufacture continue, as it at present promises to do, in
another five years, we may have treble the quantity of steel made in this
country with a corresponding saving of fuel.
Reduced consumption of coal in steamers.
In steam vessels a remarkable economy of fuel has of late been attained.
In his lecture at Bradford, Mr. Siemens said, ‘A striking illustration of
what can be accomplished in a short space of time was brought to light by
the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, over which I have at present the
honour to preside. In holding their annual general meeting in Liverpool
in 1863, they instituted a careful inquiry into the consumption of coal
by the best engines in the Atlantic steam service, and the result showed
that it fell in no case below 4½ lbs. per indicated horse-power per hour.
Last year they again assembled with the same object in view in Liverpool,
and Mr. Bramwell produced a table showing that the average consumption by
17 good examples of compound expansive engines did not exceed 2¼ lbs. per
indicated horse-power per hour. Mr. E. A. Cowper has proved a
consumption as low as 1½ lbs. per indicated horse-power per hour in a
compound marine engine, constructed by him with an intermediate
superheating vessel. Nor are we likely to stop long at this point of
comparative perfection, for in the early portion of my address I have
endeavoured to prove that theoretical perfection would only be attained
if an indicated horse-power were produced with 1/5.5 lb. of pure carbon,
or say ¼ lb. of ordinary steam coal per hour.’
Inventions of Mr. Siemens.
The furnace invented by the Messrs. Siemens is another highly successful
contrivance. In melting one ton of steel in pots, 2½ tons of coke are
ordinarily consumed. In Messrs. Siemens’ furnace, a ton of steel is
melted with 12 cwt. of small coal.
When such results as this have been secured by a few inventors, what may
we not venture to expect from the concentration of many ingenious minds
on the important problem of economising coal?
Substitution of peat for coal.
As it is, I fear, certain that coal will never fall below fifteen or
sixteen shillings a ton at the pit’s mouth, we ought not to neglect any
possible source of supply. It has been suggested that the time has come
when the peat bogs of these islands should be turned into coal and
charcoal; and I am informed that the cost of the process does not exceed
five shillings a ton. If these anticipations are verified, the drain on
our coal-pits will be materially lessened.
General prospects of the iron trade.
It remains to consider how far the apprehensions, entertained in many
quarters for the future of the British iron manufacture, are justified by
actual experience. When we look back upon the past, the growth of
British commerce cannot fail to reassure those, who are most inclined to
look doubtfully on the future of our industry. Some statistics of the
increase in the exports of iron and steel were given in a recent number
of ‘Iron,’ from which I quote the following figures. Our exports of iron
in 1840 amounted to 268,000 tons, of the value of £2,526,000. The
quantity in 1850 was 783,000 tons; in 1860, 1,442,000 tons; and in 1870,
2,716,000 tons. The value in the latter year amounted to £21,080,000.
In 1872 the quantity was 3,383,000 tons, the value of £36,000,000. We
are sometimes assured that Belgium threatens our ironmasters with serious
competition; but in Belgium the ore must be carried 100 miles or more to
be smelted. The coal-pits are worked in many cases with considerable
difficulty, and a Belgian workman does little more than half what an
Englishman can accomplish in the same space of time. Sometimes we are
told we shall lose our position in the Russian market. The Russian
Government are doing their utmost to encourage the manufacture of iron at
home; though there is little demand for pig iron in that country. Few
Russians have had any experience in puddling. Skilled mill and forge men
are scarce. Few of those obtainable have had any experience in the use
of mineral fuel, and great difficulty is experienced in consequence of
the objection of the Russians to piece-work. Lastly we are threatened
with competition from the United States. The production of pig iron in
the States may now be estimated at 2,500,000 tons, an increase of
1,000,000 tons on the production five years ago, and yet the ironmasters
of the United States, who are protected by a duty of nearly £3 a ton on
railroad iron, have hitherto been unable to supply the entire demand at
home. There cannot be a doubt as to the ultimate consequences of the
comparative exhaustion of our supplies of raw material at home; but we
may hope that the tariffs, which now throw obstacles in the way of
legitimate trade, will in time be removed, and that, as Mr. Mattieu
Williams has suggested, we may be enabled to avail ourselves of the
natural resources of America for obtaining our supplies of raw material,
just as we already derive large supplies of hematite iron ore from
Bilbao.
American competition.
At the present time, the United States, not content with their natural
advantages, impose an almost prohibitory tariff on our exportations.
There is a party in America opposed to protection, but hitherto the
superior organisation and greater determination of the manufacturers
interested in the maintenance of the tariffs has overpowered all
opposition. At the last annual meeting of the American Institute of
Mining Engineers at Philadelphia, the Honourable D. Kelley, who delivered
the opening address, asserted that, by its dereliction of duty in not
protecting the labourer of Great Britain against competition, the
Government of this country have fostered anarchy in Ireland, while the
life of the labourer in England and Scotland has been robbed of all its
joys. ‘The millions of sturdy men,’ he declared, ‘represented by
Bradlaugh, Odger, Joseph Arch, and the travelled and humane patrician,
Sir Charles Dilke, know that the world owes every man a living, and that
it is only by protection that the means of living can be secured to the
people.’ So long as such a feeling prevails, there is little hope of our
ironmasters obtaining free access to America.
The progress of the American iron works is the more creditable, because
great difficulties are experienced in obtaining a sufficient supply of
labour. Men come over from England, having had their expenses paid, on
condition of taking an engagement for a period of five years. As soon as
their bargain is performed, they generally find it impossible to resist
the attractions of an independent farm in the Far West. Their places
must be supplied by other workmen, obtained by the same costly means from
the mother country. The difficulty of obtaining skilled workmen has had
a great effect in America in stimulating the invention of labour-saving
machinery; and as scientific manufacturers, the American ironmasters can
doubtless hold their own against the world. In finished iron the
Americans have been highly successful. Bridge-work, locomotives, wheels
and tires, and machinery, are produced at prices, which may compare not
unfavourably with our own. As an illustration of American ingenuity and
enterprise, which came under my immediate notice, on the occasion of a
recent visit to the States, I may point to the Peabody Rifle Company’s
establishment at Providence, Rhode Island. During the Rebellion the
Company was fully employed in the manufacture of small arms. The
cessation of the struggle put an end to the demand for rifles; but, with
the fertility of resource which distinguishes American industry, the
manual skill of a large body of workmen especially apt in the production
of tools or machinery, composed of numerous small and interchangeable
parts, and the valuable and ingenious plant belonging to the Company, are
now employed in the production of sewing machines. Three hundred
machines are turned out every day, and the sale is constantly increasing.
The wages of the 500 operatives employed are most liberal. The monthly
pay-sheet amounts to 25,000 dollars, giving an average of 40_s._ a week
throughout the factory. The leading workmen, five or six in number, to
whom the work is let by the piece, or rather by sub-contract, earn nearly
£600 a year. The superior mechanics earn 12_s._ to 14_s._; labourers
4_s._ to 6_s._ a day. The supply of highly-skilled labour is limited,
but ordinary mechanics can always be obtained. On an average, one
skilled mechanic a day makes application for employment.
The success of the Peabody Company affords significant evidence that the
cost of production is not augmented in equal proportion to the high rates
of pay. At the time of my visit, they were negotiating a contract for
the supply of 100,000 rifles to the Roumanian Government, at the rate of
63_s._ per rifle; and they had to compete for the contract against all
the makers of Birmingham and Liège. This Company had also in prospect an
order for 200,000 rifles, from the Turkish Government. The success, with
which the Americans have reduced the cost of production by the invention
of machinery, gives us ground for caution, lest our old supremacy be
shaken by the energy and talent of the New World; while it also gives us
reason to hope that the effects of the exceptionally high rates of wages
now prevailing may be mitigated by substituting, wherever it is possible,
mechanical for manual labour.
A monopoly of the iron trade impossible.
I can only repeat once more that, in the present condition of our trade,
there is nothing to justify serious misgivings as to our power of
continuing a successful competition with foreign producers. It does not
follow that, because we have lost a monopoly of a particular branch of
trade abroad, the skill of the English workman must have deteriorated, or
the cost of production have been unduly enhanced by the rise of wages.
Foreign countries may have imported from us a particular commodity at a
former time, solely because they were entirely inexperienced in its
manufacture. When my father was executing the Rouen and Havre Railway,
he imported the rails from England, although he had to pay an import duty
at the French Custom-house, amounting to a considerably larger sum than
the selling price of the rails at home. The almost incredible difference
between the price of English and French rails at that time no longer
exists: because that special branch of industry is now as well understood
in France as in England. So, too, in the case of the employment of
English contractors for the execution of public works on the Continent.
An opportunity was offered to them in the origin of the railway system on
the Continent; because in those early days of railways there were no
native contractors, sufficiently acquainted with the art of making
railways to venture to compete with the English invaders. Their
intelligent observation of our methods of construction soon enabled the
contractors on the Continent to tender in competition with the English;
and for many years past all the railway works in France have been carried
out by Frenchmen. It does not follow that the English contractor has
lost his former skill. The true inference is, that the French, who had
been previously in a position of inferiority solely from lack of
experience, were enabled, as soon as they had gained that experience, to
execute the works required, without the assistance of foreigners.
The development of our commercial relations with France, since the
negotiation of the Treaty of Commerce, affords convincing proof of the
great capabilities of our manufacturing industry. Since 1860, the
exportation of iron, wrought and unwrought, to France has increased in
value £540,000.
Looking therefore to the present condition of our iron trade, there is
nothing to justify serious misgivings. According to the last report of
the Commissioners of Customs, the average value of the pig iron exported
in 1870 was £2. 19_s._ 2_d._ per ton; in 1871, £3. 1_s._ 8_d._; in 1872,
£5. 0_s._ 11_d._; and yet the demand for pig iron continued unchecked.
The increase in the quantity exported in 1872 over 1871 was 28 per cent.
The increase in the price ranged as high as 108 per cent.
While the export of pig iron attained to the figures I have quoted, the
total increase in the exports of iron and steel manufactures did not
exceed 6.7 per cent. Indeed the manufacture of steel actually fell off
from a value of £683,000 in 1871, to £623,000 in 1872; a result the more
remarkable as compared with the increase in pig iron, because the price
of steel had not advanced in the same proportion as the rise in pig iron.
The price of the latter article had risen, as I have said, from £3. 1_s._
8_d._ to £5. 0_s._ 11_d._ per ton; while unwrought steel had only
advanced from £30. 12_s._ 3_d._ to £32. 18_s._ 7_d._ per ton, and steel
manufactures from £52. 8_s._ 1_d._ to £55. 4_s._ 10_d._ per ton.
Hence it would appear that a demand once created for an article of the
first necessity, such as iron, is not easily checked, even by a very
marked advance of price.
It must, however, be remembered that, when the course of trade has been
changed, and consumers, alarmed by the high prices in our market, have
been taught to look for their supplies in another, the position once lost
is not easily recovered. The superiority of our artisans in skill and
industry has assisted our manufacturers to compete successfully in the
past. The same success will not be maintained in future, unless our
employers and workmen continue, as before, to use their united efforts to
reduce the cost of production.
Shipbuilding.
Perhaps no branch of industry has been more successfully prosecuted in
this country than shipbuilding; and the extensive use of iron for ships
of the largest type makes it a point of great interest to ascertain how
far the cost of building ships has been affected by the recent advance of
wages. I am informed by an eminent firm of shipbuilders, that at the
close of 1871, shortly after the reduction in the hours of labour from
fifty-nine or sixty hours a week to fifty-four, an agitation was
commenced amongst all classes of men for an advance in their rates of
wages, which has been, in some shape or other, conceded to them, to the
extent of from 7½ to 15 per cent. In reality, this was the natural
consequence of the reduction in the hours of labour; although, at the
outset the leaders of that movement professed that they had no desire to
raise the rates of wages.
The reduced hours of labour increased the cost of production of all
articles, and led to the necessity for an advance in the rates of wages.
In point of fact, the advantage of the reduction in the hours of labour
being conceded, on social and moral grounds, the necessity for some
corresponding advance in wages followed as a matter of course, and was
perhaps not unreasonable. The two causes combined have resulted in an
increased cost of production, so far as labour is concerned, of from 20
to 25 per cent. The cost of building first-class steamers and
first-class marine engines has, in consequence of the rise in wages and
materials, been increased from 30 to 40 per cent.
The actual diminution, by the nine hours’ movement, in the amount of
work, turned out with a given plant, should, in theory, be only in
proportion to the reduced number of the hours of work, or, say, about
one-tenth. It is in reality from 15 to 20 per cent.
From an eminent firm on the Clyde, I learn that on riveters’ and smiths’
piece-work there has been an increase of 20 per cent. and 10 per cent.
respectively, in the last two years; on the other hand, in fitters’
piece-work there has been a decrease of 10 per cent. The price of
first-class steamers in 1871 was about £24 per ton. At present the cost
would be from 30 to 35 per cent. higher. While the building of sailing
ships decreased in 1871 and 1872, in 1873 there has been an increase in
the number built. The building of steamers has not been so brisk in 1873
as in 1871 or 1872; a marked falling-off in orders having taken place
since the beginning of this year.
On the Thames I find that piece-work is at least 15 per cent. dearer now
than in 1869 and 1870. The operatives, employed in attending to large
self-acting machines, which require little manual labour, are only
working fifty-four hours instead of sixty hours. Again, there has been a
large increase of overtime, since the nine hours’ movement commenced.
Wages for overtime are higher than for ordinary time. An hour and a
half’s pay is given for every hour’s work, and many men refuse to work
unless a certain amount of overtime is given to them.
With these recent reports from shipbuilders it may be useful to compare
the general progress of shipbuilding in the United Kingdom, in the last
ten years. The tonnage of the ships built increased from 328,000 tons in
1867 to 475,000 tons in 1872. There has been no increase in the
registered tonnage in the interval, but the vast increase in the
proportion of steam to sailing vessels will fully explain the apparently
stationary condition of the mercantile marine, if tested solely by the
amount of tonnage. It is equally reassuring to find that, in the
estimation of foreigners best qualified to form an opinion, the extent of
our merchant navy excites profound admiration. M. Bal, director of the
Bureau Veritas, in giving evidence before the French Parliamentary
Commission of inquiry into the condition of the French Mercantile Marine,
said that to him it seemed almost incredible that England, which has only
27,000,000 inhabitants, had 6,903,000 tons of shipping, whereas all the
other maritime Powers combined had only 6,648,000 tons.
In the United States, until the quite recent, and still but partial,
revival of the trade, the decline of shipbuilding had been very
remarkable. In a country possessed of less natural resource, the
suffering, which would have been entailed on the particular industries,
would have been almost insupportable. According to Mr. Wells, 15,000 men
were employed in New York, in 1860, in building and repairing marine
steam engines. In 1870, fewer than 700 found employment in the same
branch of industry.
In France, it would seem, from the report of Mr. West, that a wooden ship
costs from £3 to £4 a ton more than a similar ship built in England or
Canada; and in regard to iron steamers, the price of wrought iron in
France for shipbuilding purposes is so much higher than in England, as to
make competition impossible.
Amid the many difficulties of the present time, English employers may
perhaps take comfort by looking abroad, where they will generally find
that the same problems, with which they have to deal, are presenting
themselves, and often in a still more aggravated form.
The engineering trade.
Passing from shipbuilding to engineering, I have ascertained that in an
establishment on the largest scale, in which the cost of production has
been minimised to the utmost, the increased cost of production in 1871
over 1870 was, for wages, 2.73 per cent., and for materials, 2.59 per
cent. Again, the increase in 1872 over 1871 was, for wages, 7.97, and
for materials, 7.94 per cent., thus showing that the most liberal
application of capital, the most ingenious machinery, and skilful
administration, had failed to compensate for the great advance in the
rate of wages.
I may also quote the following details from a report received from an
engineering establishment with which I am connected.
The average wages of some of the most important trades in our employ in
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.
It is not by encouraging useless strikes, or by making an attempt, which
in the end must always be defeated, to sustain a vast body of workmen and
their families, when not in the receipt of wages, that the wire-pullers
of the trades unions will best serve the interests of their clients, or
enhance their personal influence among them. But there is a wide field
of usefulness open to these captains of our great hosts of workmen, in
which success is to be attained, not by war, but by diplomacy. The state
of the trades, in which their clients are employed, should be carefully
watched, and every variation in the prices quoted, every fluctuation in
the cost of the raw materials should be noted. And here I may frankly
admit that the proposal of the International for a universal strike
contained a few grains of wisdom; for it is clear that, if the cost of
producing an article in England were so much enhanced by an advance of
wages, that the foreign manufacturer would be enabled to undersell us in
every market, it would be an act of self-destruction for English workmen
to insist upon a rise, which would have the inevitable effect of
depriving them of employment.
In such a case, unless the workmen in the competing countries can agree
to act in concert, an advance is impossible; unless by superior skill or
machinery the more highly paid workman is able to turn out a larger
amount of work.
Foreign competition.
It has been already pointed out that in England we have to contend
against competition of two kinds—against the cheaper labour of the
Continent on the one side, and against the superior natural resources of
America on the other. While we occupy at the present time a highly
favoured position, which has been attained not merely by the skill of our
workmen, but by the administrative skill of their employers, and the
gradual accumulation of an ample capital in their hands, the race with
other great manufacturing countries is very close. The Swiss have
entered into competition with our own manufacturers, both in the home and
foreign trades. The exports of textile fabrics from Switzerland, as we
learn from Mr. Gosling’s report, have risen from £12,485,000 in 1860, to
£26,464,000 in 1871, an advance of 112½ per cent. In this total the
exports to the United States have risen from £509,000 in 1862, to
£2,159,000 in 1872, in other words, over 324 per cent. In cheap silks
and ribbons the Swiss are able to compete with the British producer in
the English market; and, to sum up the case in the words of Mr. Gosling,
‘The advantages of Switzerland in competition with Great Britain are the
use of water power as a substitute for steam power to the extent of
upwards of 80 per cent., low wages, long hours of labour, and a minimum
expenditure for management.’ On the other hand, as an inland country,
Switzerland has to pay heavy freights, the workmen are inferior in
activity to our own, buildings for machinery are more costly, and from
want of capital, production is on a smaller scale than here. The
balance, however, seems to be greatly in favour of Switzerland, and
cannot fail to become greater from day to day.
Such being the case as regards textile industry, Mr. Lothian Bell has
recently pointed out, that, in ores of the finer descriptions, the
resources of the United States are unlimited, while in coal our own
wealth is, in comparison, poverty. There is but one bar to the boundless
production of minerals in the New World, that is to say, the want of
hands to manufacture them.
Communism in Germany.
A large number of the working class in Germany have been fascinated by
the fanciful theories of Lassalle. His system is founded entirely upon
the pernicious principle that the State is to do everything, and the
people nothing for themselves. Karl Marx, as the successor of Lassalle,
is the ruling spirit of the German socialists, and has become a prominent
figure from his connection with the International. The socialist
journals in Germany delight to reproduce the programme and doctrines of
that society. They make noisy professions of atheism. They applauded
the insurrection of the Commune in Paris. They have a collection of
songs of their own. They disavow the warlike policy of Germany, and have
endeavoured to substitute the community of class interests for the
community of race, language, and country. It must not, however, be
supposed that the number of these unpractical visionaries is
proportionate to the noise, which they make in the world. The influence
of socialistic doctrines is not so great in England as on the Continent,
and it is weaker in America than in England. I hope, therefore, that no
disposition may be manifested here to abandon the hopeful work of social,
moral, and material progress for the pursuit of visionary and impossible
schemes.
The amelioration of the condition of the poor is not to be brought about
by destroying the ancient fabric and foundations of our social and
political system. It is easy to destroy but most difficult to restore
the institutions created by past generations, in which there lived men
not less great, and wise, and good than the most gifted of our own
contemporaries. Mr. Ruskin, a devoted friend of the working classes, in
a passage of more than ordinary eloquence, has truly said, ‘This is the
thing, which I know, and which, if you labour faithfully, you shall know
also,—that in Reverence is the chief power and joy of life;—Reverence,
for what is pure and bright in your own youth; for what is true and tried
in the age of others; for all that is gracious among the living, great
among the dead, and marvellous in the Powers that cannot die.’
Co-operation.
Our artisans may believe that the profits of former days were so large
that employers can afford to pay the present rates of wages, without
raising their charges to the consumers. There is but one means, by which
this fallacy can be exposed. The workmen must become to a certain extent
their own employers. In a co-operative establishment, created in part by
his own hardly-earned savings, the handicraftsman will find himself
called upon to apportion equitably the earnings of his business between
labour and capital. In this double relation he will learn how great are
the difficulties, which beset the employment of capital in productive
industry in a country, in which competition is so keen as it is in
England. In no other country does capital command so low a rate of
interest; and, if large accumulations of capital have been made, and
money is therefore cheap, it should not be inferred that the rate of
profit has been high by comparison with other countries, but rather that
our employers of labour, as a class, have been distinguished by their
frugality, their perseverance, and their enterprise. I am grateful,
therefore, to Mr. Holyoake, for his vindication of their claims at the
recent Co-operative Congress. He justly said that capital was the enemy
of nobody, but rather the nursing mother of production.
The co-operative principle, in its application to the business of
distribution, has been already most successfully developed. My desire is
to encourage working men to create co-operative establishments for the
purposes of production. The accumulation of the necessary capital is an
obvious difficulty; but as wages were never so high as at present, so
this obstacle can be more easily surmounted now than at any former time.
Some men may object to recognise the special responsibilities of a
fellow-workman holding the office of manager of a large business, by
giving a proportionate salary. It is because the recognition of
authority is essential, whenever anything practical is to be done, that
the International Society has shown such uncompromising hostility to the
co-operative principle. The denial of a proportionate reward for
superior intelligence or industry is the first article of its catechism.
The absurdity of attempting to combine the energies of the men for any
definite object, without placing a competent chief at their head, has
been humorously exposed by Mr. Carlyle. ‘Ships,’ he said, ‘did not use
the ballot-box at all, and they rejected the phantasm species of
captains. Phantasm captains with unanimous votings! These are
considered to be all the law and prophets at present. If a man shake out
of his mind the universal noise of political doctors in this generation,
and in the last generation or two, and consider the matter face to face
with his own sincere intelligence looking at it, I venture to say he
would find this a very extraordinary method of navigating, whether in the
Straits of Magellan, or the undiscovered sea of time.’
English workmen are less easily deluded by tall talk and sophistry than
the more excitable populations of the Latin race; and I would earnestly
invite them to apply their practical sagacity to the difficult yet
hopeful experiment of co-operative industry.
Demand and supply determine wages.
I must once more repeat the familiar axiom, that the price of labour,
like that of every other commodity, must mainly depend upon the relation
between supply and demand. The wages of skilled workmen have risen,
because skilled workmen are scarce. How shall we increase their number,
and improve their skill? My answer is, by bringing recruits into our
industrial army from a class of society, which has hitherto exhibited too
strong a prejudice against manual labour. The same aversion to
handicraft of every kind exists in the United States and Canada. In
America a skilled workman earns 30 dollars, a clerk only 15 dollars a
week; and, while it is almost as difficult for a clerk to obtain a
situation in New York as in London, a skilled workman can always command
employment. It is unnecessary to dwell on the evils that must ensue from
a disproportionate increase in the non-productive classes of the
community. Lord Bacon has truly said, that a population is not to be
reckoned only by numbers, for a smaller number that spend more and earn
less do wear out a greater number that live lower and get more. My
father’s advice was often sought by parents anxious for the future of
their sons. His counsel always was, that a young man, whose destiny it
must be to make his way, unaided, through the world, should begin by
learning a trade. It is a laudable ambition in a parent to endeavour to
raise his family to a better station in life. He cannot bestow on his
children too high an education. But a wise man will be on his guard,
lest the enjoyment of such advantages should render those occupations
distasteful, which afford the most secure and ample livelihood to those
whose lot it is to labour. When justly appreciated, the condition of the
skilled artisan should be as much esteemed as that of any other class of
the community. He whose life is passed in performing such needed
services for his fellow-men, whatever his special calling, holds an
honorable station, and social dignity will ever be most effectually
maintained by those who are the least dependent upon the favours of
others.
Forethought.
In conclusion, I would tender a few words of advice to my
fellow-countrymen of the so-called working classes, for whose welfare I
am bound to feel the deepest solicitude. Their just claim to share in
the benefits arising from a thriving industry has of late been liberally
recognised. The earnings in many trades have been unprecedented. It
should not be forgotten that forethought is an especial duty in a time of
prosperity. At no distant period, the progress of our commerce may
sustain at least a temporary check. It will be sad indeed if the
receding tide leaves behind it multitudes of our highly-paid workmen
without the slightest provision to meet a period of adversity.
* * * * *
* * * * *
_Spottiswoode & Co._, _Printers_, _New-street Square_, _London_.
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