The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-11-20 00:00:00

ROWLEY REGIS LOCAL BOARD.

THE WORK,II.EN'S,WAGES.

Mr. Walt3r Bassatto,l. P., presided at the monthly'
meeting Cf this 'Board on Aouday —On the-reading
of the minutes, a discussion erose as to a motion
made by Mr Whitehouse at the last meeting of the
130 Ira relativm to theaccoptance of a tender or the
buiiding of -a roller shed in Garratt's Laue by Mr,
Cochin —Ever.tut ly the 0 ;alpine gave notice to
move at the n .xt meeting that th 3 original ten ler
of Mr. Cochin be accepted,"aud that wig extras be
charged or in the ,ordinary wcy. The Fi ance
Committee inter dia., reported that considerable
diseu33i,in had taken place upon the finandal .i:atters
.ef the Board, aud- the commit tee had looked throne'
the wages sheeteend found that the expenditure in
tilts department was higher thaO that of the neigh-
bourin ; towns. Therefore, they rsea 'lumen-lei that
the Bo kri re Ince Vie can to the extent of 41 per
cant-, ni number; and that the ivages of the remaia.
ins ineo ba radii •ed 10 pir cant —Mr Love s I.he
hod made inquiries in eeveral parishes al to the
wages and work of the men employed, by other
Beards, and found that the-Rowley Board p iid t Wo-
penes more a yard-for wOne-breaking and fourpenee
more for pa:ving t.an either the Dudley or Sedgley
Boards. The last three, or four years the- wages
sheces hal been increasing, and in this unparalle:el
time of depression it was necessary that the ex—
pifn iiture of the Board should be reduced. Mr.
Lowe ale.) referred to the hours the men worked, or
profesfed to ,ork, and characteristd it •es a very
unsatisfactory state of things.—Mr. Wood centendcd
that the work of the Board could be done 50 per
cent. cheaper by contract lima by empLyed Men.
lie was inlavour-of getting rid of the wh de of the
men, but would vo!e for tl:e recommendation of the
o m ui t \lr. Lowe stnted that thel Ward was
paying ttia.engine-d iver of the stan-roller 27. a-
week, brt: for a fortnight the miler had nit- done
four hours' work—(' Oh").—Mr. Priest pointed out
teat Vie a:nount due from the current rate, which
was a very high one, would not be suffinent to
carry the Board through the yeEr, and they would
probably haveii" to make another me, therefore it
was noes ary ler the Board to take into eon iler-
ation th ! best means cf reducingihe expenditure
Mr. Whitehouse thousht that the Board, in order to
reduce their.expentliture, should do less works of
reagniiude, whi.ah cost such a considerable amount
of money, for the uext twelve months.—Mr.' Wood :
_ .

Radar:alike men's titne,to three quarters. --, After
Unairman panted out that
the increasing eFpendits•re of the Board in the past
w6s due to the facts that they had carried out sevtral

hrportant. works ; that there had been a greater
expznditure on the roads, inasmuch as they were
done in a more thfiriugh manner than hitherto ;
- that the scavenging of-the district was done at the
entire cost of the Board; that they spent ..21,000 a
year in paving, and a large te,moant of money
annually in gas lighting, watering, &e. He main-
tained that the question before them was of &ilia
magnit ado that it would require live or six hours to
discuss, and tierefore he suggested that the matter
should be refttrred to a committee or the whole Board,
—Mr. Pi&ut stated that he had a wages sheet or a
• neishbouting Board handed to him, and he found
that they only paid their men 2s. 81. a day and their
-- foreman 33. 6d.—Eventn ally the C irm an's sugges
tin was adopted.-Dr. Betts,ey reported Viat during
t past for wesks oily 2i de &h 4 ha 1 ocearcel i
the upper ctart. . giving an annual average of 11-
65 per mho inhabitants. .Only 0113 death had
occurred from zymotia disease. Dr. Da Benue
reported that in the lower district 16 deaths ha t
taken place in tbe same period, giving an averago
oF 4 per week, and a mean annual average of 13.3
per 1,000; let month it was 26-8, an! in the
corrtsponding period of last year 17-3 zymotic die •
e tses awl the health of tiariistrict. was extrenrly
sati4aetory.—The other business was. formal.