The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1804-07-05 00:00:00

PLYMOUTH YARD

To the expences of this system must be added, that
of an Mace in each yard for arranging and drawing
out the accounts, when coneeted from the infe-ior
superintendants ; and to the delft% of it must be
added, the necessity of the attention of the superior
officers being diverted from the works carrying on,
to the examination of these numerous accounts.

When the workmen are employed afloat, particu-
larly on board ships at Spithead, at the Nine, in Caw-
sand Bay, and Plymouth Sound, where they lie at a
great distance from the ya•ds, considerable time must
be log by the artificers in going to and from the
ships: - When at work on board ships in commis-
sion, they must be greatly retarded by the crews,
who are employed at the same time in the general
refitting and equipment:—When remaining onboard,
they may, in tempestuous weather, be prevented from
working for days together, owing to sickness, and the
motion of the ships.
In these instances, where exertion and dispatch
are most requisite,tbe Members of the Navy Board,
whom we examined, allow that it is difficult, mkd
almost knpraeticable, to pay the artificers fairly aid
equitably for their labour by job; and that many of
the articles of repairs in the different branches are so
trilling, as to render it difficult to take account of
them, and to estimate the value of the labour per-
formed.

Even when the shipwrights are employed on board
ships in dock, they must necessarily be frequently
broken off, and changed from one work ta another,
so as to render the keeping of a faithful account of
their earnings a very complicated business.
The senior surveyor has stated that many of the
trifling articles of repairs must be paid tor by esti-
mation of the time the men are employed upon
them; and that he is of opinion, if a fair rate of
daily pay were established, and dispatch was not
particularly called for, it would be preferable to em-
ploy the artificers by the day, "as tile work would
be better put out of hand, and some expz:nce
would be saved by it."
The dispatch so requisite in time of vial-, we are
of opinion, may in general be obtained by employ-
ing a greater number of men, instead ct' resorting
to job-work; and it it should be objeCted, th.a by
increasing the establishments of tne dock-yards,
there milbt not at all times be sufficient employ-
ment for the men, we answer, it is only necessary to
build more ships in the King's Yards, instead of
building them by contrast, and which. we conceive,
under proper reg tla:i.nts, may be done with much
advantage to the pa'.slie service.
Upon the whole, considering the various abuses
which have prevailed in the job system, and after
making every allowance for what may be prevented
in future by a vigilant superintendence, we are of
opinion, that it will be advantageous to the public
service to return to the former plain and simple
system of employing the workmen by the day, ex-
cept in building neveships, sad in carrying on great
repairs, as originally direded by the t.sk scheme.
With a view to simplify the accounts whirls must
necessarily be kept, we recommend that the allow-
ances far lodging, and in lieu of chips, at present
made to the workmen, be abolished :—That
adequate ratan of pay be established for the dif-
ferent classes, after due attention paid to all
the circumstances of the times and the advan-
tages enjayed by the workmen of His Majesty's
yards over those employed in private yards, such
as, their having constant work, their being attended
by a surgeon, and receiving pay when huts in the
service, until their recovery, and their being allowed
a provision by superannuation when oid and infirm.
or rendered incapable by accident of earning a lies-
lihood. The only disadvantage under sshich we
apprehend the workmen in the dock yard, labo.:r.
is the delay in the payment of their wages, whereby
many of them are compelled to raise money upon
credit, for which they pay a considerable premium.
To remedy this inconvenience, we are of opinion,
their wages should be paid to them as frequently a,
may be found prafticable, but not until the pay
books have been examined and compared with the
vouchers by which the wages of workmen are set off.
In order to establish a stimulus to the individual
exertions of the woriunen, and that due encourage-
ment may be given to the diligent and skiiful. we
recommend that the shipwrights be divided into three
classes, according to their several abilities, with
such difference . their rates of pay as only create an
excitement to emulation and exertion ; and that the
other workmen, with the exeeptinn of the rope-
makers, be in like manner divided into classes, the
number of which classes must depend on the number
of workmen in each branch.

Whenever it may be found necessary to employ
the workmen beyond the usual hours of labour, we
recommend that they be paid at certain rates per
hour, such rates to bear a proportion, in an •ncreas-
ed ratio, to the daily wages of the class to wLich
they may belong, but not at a double rate, as has
hitherto been the ease.

Connetted with thipsulsjea is the consideration of
the time which the artificers are directed to work.
If the public pay for work by the piece, and the
prices be fairly set, it would appear, upon a superfi-
cial view, that the more hours the men are employed
the more the work is advanced, and thereby a great
objet obtained, without any additional expenoe. But
it may be questioned, whether it is a CAR, that, for
any considerable length of time, work is done in pro-
pottion to the time the men are in the yard, when
that time much exceeds the common working hours.
Men in general are only equal, for a continuance.
to the exertion of a certain degree of 'strength ; if
that exertion is stretched too far, mor: is probably
lost than gained. Add to this, the inconvenience
arising from the desire of great earnings thus excit-
ed, and the discontent which follows disappoint-
ment, whenever ill health, or other causes, staod in
the war elks being any longer gratified.

To be eem.4&