Labor And Living

Vrliten for the Oukiek. Copyrviliied by theAuthor, 1888. London, Sept. 6. - The phase of Eng gh lite not to be eucountered in tliis nst metropolis is yet to be developed. 'he fact leads me to observe thit If the uden t Of social econnmy will taKe the reets of London in wbich the industrial hissis exists is an object lesgon, he must gree willi me tliat tlin proverbial eviences of " rottenness in Denmark" BOUld ot have been more pronounced tban are ie signs thnt sometliing is radically rong in the ennditions which environ ie wealth-protlurers, th; workers in this oasted centre of Intelllgence, industry nd commerce. One thipg is certain, and to discover ia, same requires no ordinary quality of ision - the toilera in the varied lins of idustry which are repreeented in Lonoii, and which are also representative idustries pf the United Kingdom, are Indiquatcly rewurdod for iheir lubor - tliey re underpaid. Thls fact i9 proven most onelnsivelv nnd heyond the peradveniii" of a doubt to an unprejiidieed oberver wbo will note the clieerless and ninvltlng aspect o( tikt erowded thoruirhtare", inhabited by the families of ndustrious and provideut mechanica, as have done in the past ten days. Nor is liis the only evldence that industry is vithout Ita rair reward in the cbief city I the Queen's doniain, for the interior f the London Mechante'! Home lends its ontiibulion of sombre coloring to a picure all too disnial. Oniitlinj: for tile )rcsent details that have n legitímate ómiection here, but may be better Introuced si little later, 1 will present totne iets tbat have beeu fiirnished me, conected with the industry of tin-plate mauiftii 'turing. The faots and the tigures quoted in the comparisons may be acepted ;s thoroiijfhly reliable, from the act tliat the gentleman from whom they )ine lias bren proininenlv interested in lila Industry in buth Èngïiuu] aiid nierica. The WOrk Involved in the industry is epiesented in the mauufacturiiift of tin ruit caiiB, paint cans, blacking boxes, )it'ul boxus I'-ü naniatorfi lin tuca, miii kil sorls of adyertising novclties deslgned u tin. Such is the universal use ot the articles in question that their manufacure constitutes in important ijidustry, as vill be upparent In the fact that the paricular lviglish establishment with which my informant was indentified furnlslird mployment in its vanous departraentt, to no less than 700 hands. The uniform frlod of labor In the week is liity-six tours - ten hour? per daj', except on Satirday, when six hours completen the wcekly eomplemeiit. Tbe girls employed ïi tbe di'partment dewted to cultinj;, teamrng, Httlnir, pucking, etc, reoelve for their labor in the Eu};lijh factory roin (5) five to (7) seven shillings, or fl.20to il. OS per weck, while the pay ur the same woik in the Aniericiu tct( ry is from f 3.110 to $5 2i per week. l'ne woinen enai;ed in the department of tbe EOfrllsll factory rietoted to makinj; tin show a?e-, the various novelties and Fai cy article', toge tier with decoritive work, leceive irom tWeive (1"2) to rifieen [18) sbillinga, or $2.88 to f 3.00, per week, while their American sluerl recelve for the identical work from $5 to $10 per week. The men engnfed in soldering and tin?, ne irly all employed at piece work, received for their labor, on the English basis from (5) five to (7) seven shlllings, tbe equivalent of $1.20 to f 1.08 per diiy, while the American timier's [iaily wages range from $2 to $3 per day. The foreman of the English solderers receives a weekly wiige of $9. GO, while the American foreman over the rae department receives the comtortable suin of $20 per week. Tbe English foreman In the decorating department receives f0 shillings, or $12 per week, and the Saturclay due t the foreman of the same liepartment in the American fuctory is $25 The forewoman who suptrintend- tlie woik ofthe ffiils' department in the Enjr] ih lactory receives 15 shilling, or $3 (!() per week, while the wonian who ooouples a similar post in the American fuctory is paid $7 50 per week. The artist whose business it is to invent and present nvdels of novelties, in the line of articles tor advertising or otlicr utilttarian purposes, ia tlie most valuable and the hijrlicst ¦alarled Mttploy of the respective establi.-hments, but hisgenius fluds a different estirante ol lu value In the Englteü and American f.ictories. The artist in the Enjilish factory receives from 00 to 80 shillinas per week, or the equivalent ol $15 to $20, while the American mist receives tbr his services a Mlary of $30 per week. The wages of olhcr emprbyea of the Englith establishment lu ((nesilon placed in contrast witli thoee Of likeoccupntion in the American factory, show a similar ral Unce in the reinuiieralion ot men and womeii of classes of work not peculiar to the tln-plate mftnufacturlng industiy, as for instance, the itotcrr ol lircnien" illoidi-d ïm-ii t at the Eoftlish factory receiveil from 20 to 25 hijlings, or t'rom $4. HO to ; per week- a rellable figure hi to the ( pw in otber EngTlib fctorie- while the paj1 (or the same work In the AineriiMii fictoiy is $10 per week. The Engllrt englneei's weekly py Is 840to ÍI3 pet weck, wlille th American englneer, In a port ol similar responxibility, recelTeJ 2 50 to $: 50 per day. The pay ol thh eiri employed In tlie office of the Enttlish ettüblUbment under cooilderatlon, as a correspondent and copyist, is 15 shilling, or$3 00 per week, while the return aflon'ied liy a imilnr poaltlon In the office „f the American íactory is Just doublé that timount. The clerk in the inRlUh offlee receivw 80 to :0 ihlUln){, or $.2O ti.l- per weck. liil' the ïiiiniimun in the American offlee is $10 and the high,-t galary $20 per week. The present umi Incre.islnf? quantlty or ,„ciioin rood productei lncliidlnft rrultt fUh auci ments, whteh are preservcd la cam pitrttally measures the Importance of the tln-plate manufacturiug in.lustry, BDd sioce tU pMMirt American t.nlT on I the maiitilHCtured tin serves to foster tlils iinlnstry withinthe United States, upon a buit bo MtUfactory to the labor ea Dloved, without iuterfering witü the de„aml abrosd for the product, the ni preserve, the wisdom of any poliey which threatens to ultlmately aDnul the tion aflorded to the tin -píate manufacturera and employés, in common witli the employer and cinployed In otlicr linos of industry, muy well be seriously questioned. The fact that the tin-plate mnnufictiiring Industry, in the United States, la suhjected to a guarant-e of the tiome market, In common with tlio iron and textile products of the country, renders it fuirly representative in the comparisnn of Hnglish and American wagee it aílords. Kelative to the wages of those eng;ired in tlie woolen milis of England, it muy be cited, on the best niilhority of the largest uianufacturer in Leed, that the ííirls n the weaving department avernge from 12 to 15 hillinrs, or $2 88 to $3.60 per week, which is about lialf the wages reeeived by reírla in the Maseachuselts mill9. The men in the milis at Leeds reopivetiom $4 50 to $6 per weck, w hile the man-weaver in a Massachuselts mili earn8 from $9 to $12 per week. The wages in otlier depattments afford a similar eoniDirisnn, which renders fnther details uninteresting, because uonecessary 10 point the excess of Americau wagea oni tliose prevailing in Kngland. The devoted American disciple of Enlish methods 9 wont only to view the conditlons of the massrs, as they appeir on the surfnee, and knowing that the industrial classes continue to live, move, and have a beinfr, lie assumes that the onndttiona of their existence are satlsfnctory. It is only necessiiry, however, to delve a linie Into the home life of the EngUsli laborer or artisan to discover that there a deplorable laek of the essentials of comfort, health and happlncss. His home, be the flze of the family what it may- -until the children have come to yeara of heipfiilness - scldom exceed thrce rooms, and t'ar the greater number h'ive but two rooms, while the less toitnnate are limited to but one. The apartmciit, or apartments, as may be, are usually but plainly furnished, and are entirely wantinf; ín inany of the conveniences atid comforts that have becoine commonplace9 in the home of the Amerinan mechanic. The two room domicile is provided t a cost of 6 ibHUnga to 7 Hhillinjis 8 pence, or the equivalent of $1.41 to $1 GS peT week, while the oreupant of the more pretentious three room establishment is subject to a reutal of 9 ehllltngs to 10 shllltaga 0 pence, or$2.16 to $2 52 per week. J5ut even the fiugality represen ted in the restrlctcd si." of the home does not teil the whole story of economy enfqrced by the limited Income of the head of the household. 'l'lie elothinjf- cheap as the best is boasted (e be - must be of the plainest, and ciiinut be re)leni8hedoftentr than absolute necestity demands. Nor is this all, for the vital phase of the economy compdicil by existing; conditious Is found in tbe plaliinesi1, not to say the inadequacy, of the food uonsiimed ly th Kui.'lisli mLchanlc and his f.uaily. Meat is taten as a luxury, and not as a daily essential, as in America It9 ounisslon from the English workm.in's daily dletary is due, not to his lack of fondnes for it, but to his want of the wherewithal to purchase it, and that he wonld readily ipperul it to hls eveiyday bill of fare, if his income would tfford It, mlg bt be inferred from Carlyle'slaudatory comment on the subject in question. He is credited with haring saiil, when speaking to Emer9on of America: "The best thing I know of that country is, rhat In it a man can have meat for bis labor." It is an easy step to the conclusión that the conditions which provoke the compliment of foreij;ner?, and are an equal source of sr.tisfaction to Americana, are worlliy tobe perpetuated. By way of conclusión, I doubt if I can better serve my puipose of warnlfig Ainericans who would ape the Knglisli to "look befure they leap," than by euljnittins a paragraph from a recent issue of the Lomlon ibirning Vost. "That sense if humor,1' iays the Post, "must be renarkably delkbnt in so ne of otir free trade economists, or théy woulil sce in the figures vvbich are giv n in reporta a singular commentary on gome of the dearest assumpti'Uis of Mr. Cobden umi his "ollowers. i'acts, however, do not ap5ear to count with many of these docirinaiie?. or the remarkable manner in which the Industrial progress of the United States controverts their economie view would lead thein to jrravely cuestión the ndvantages to be derived from the one-sided policy to which this country