New-York daily tribune., 1845-11-11
LABOR IN NEW.ToRK:
IS CIRCUMSTANCES, CONDITIONS AND REWARDS
40. XIII The Cnbinet-lInkers.

A great falling off in the earnings OF Cabinet
Makers has taken place during the last ten years
+ In 1886 au average hand could make by the piece
from Sleto Sl5 per week. and the pay 10 those who
worked by the week was abou; tic same. In 1910
wages fell 10 abou, $ per week and now proba-
blv majority OF the Journcymen in this Trade do
not make more than S5 per week Smart hands
who work in establishments where the very best
kind OF work is turned OF; are paid =.
The cause OF the great decrease in the wages OF
Cabinet Makers is in grea, measure the immense
amount of poor Furniture manufactured for the
Auction.Stores This is mostly made by Germans,
who work rapidly. badly and for almost nothing
There are persons who are constantly ON the watch
for German ergrants who can work al Cabinet
Nakinc-soing on board the ships before The emf
grants have landed and engaging them Tor gear at
$50 or $50 and their board or the best terms they
can make The emigranIs OF course know nothing
of the state OF the Trade prices, regulations @c nc
and become willing victims 10 any one who oilers
them immediate and permanent employment This
il is which has ruined the Cabinet Making business.
and the complaints on the part OF the lourneymen
are incessant There is, however. no remedy Tor
the evil, as we see. Sopervadns Is the idea among
the great purchasing classes, the housekeePers, that
it must of course be good economy to bny cheap
things that good work and good prices must OF ne
cessty 90 a.begsiug Unwarned by the rckety
bedsteads dsjontcd tables and calamous chairs OF
their neighbors or by the bitter fruits OF their own
experience, they rush 10 the cheap Auction Stores
and pay three quarters price for that which Is liter
ally worth nothing while little more would have
purchased articles of value and long service. The
amount of this worthless cheap Furniture sold in
Ncw.York is incredible Almost all The dwellings
OF the laborug classes are furnished with t-a the
private boarding houses are full mo- not full OF it
i, is every where pervading-ialling on May-day.
in cords and bushels. upon every sidewalk and OBJ
structng every gutter. Our ridiculous custom OF
annual moving from house 10 house, like The land
crabs Of Cuba trying IN turn all the shells on 'he
beach united with the shackling construction oi the
Furniture mostly in use, make II Is estimated,
yearly loss of to twenty per cent on the house
hold goods and chattels OF our population. How
ever, this is nothing every thing is so cheap at
the Auction Stores that it is any easy matter TO re-
plenish ones house with new Furniture.
Within few years past a new branch OF the
Cabinet. Making business has sprung up in New
York-the manufacture OF Partisan Fancy Furni-
ture This is now done in great perfection at
several of the leading Broadway establishments as
in Paris itself. Trusty and capable men are sent
over TO Europe 10 procure the models Of new styles
of F urni,urc before they are publicly promulgated
who hasten home nnd put the work into the hands
of picked workmen The consequence is that the
very latest style is known and ndulged in by tue
Millionaire of Waverly place as soon us By the no.
blesse of Paris. Many of the rery Up Townsh Ten
Thousand never think Of keeping the same furniture
over one season. Formerly carte HaRche together
with the exact measurement of each room in the
house was sent to Partisan Upholstcrcr and Fur
ni,ure- Dealer who returned every article necessary
for the complete littingup Of the establishment, TO
gcther with humping bill, by the next packet
Now much of this fashionable work is done here
and done as exquistely as any where on the globe
Some of the Elizabethan, Louis XIV, Gothic, &c
&c styles of Furniture got up in New York during
the last two years have never been surpassed.
THE CHArHAM-srREET CLERKs.-As one of the
conditions of Labor in Now York we record with
great pleasure the concession just made by the Fur
niturc and Feather Dealers in Chatham street TO
their Clerks who are free every evening after
dark, except Saturdays. The Clerks held meet
ing Friday evening for the purpose of giving e2'-
preston their sense of the good feeling manifest
ed by the employers. The proceedings of this
meeting and the names of the complying employers
may be seen in another part of our paper.
Sincerely do we congratulate these Clerks and
their employers upon this first step taken in good
faith for their mutual benefit. The Clerks will find
their minds and tastes expand and grow brighter
1or iii aI; oTr
take new hold on life and hope. finding that they
are really no longer regarded slaves and that q
change is clearly coming over the relations of Capt.
tast and Laborer. They will begin to feel like
men and their homes and the familiar faces there
will glow with new and honest pride at the rehec.
ton that this concession, trifiing as it may appear
is golden promise for larger and more liberal ad-
missions of the great law of Liberty and Equality.
The very moment that Employer and Employed
begin TO understand that it is their true policy as
well as duty consult cGch others interests well
as their orn that moment the great work of tie
Enlightenment of Wealth and the Allevation of
Labor will commence.
The employers who have set this good example
will also find how advantageous it ia to have their
business in the hands of men who love and respect
petua blessing. and who cannot now neglect or
trife with their interests. When shall We
general movement of this kind among the mercantile
employers and employed In New-York! We have
taken much pains 10 inform ourselves of the condi
tion and wants of the Clerks in the City and we
have found an almost universal need Of relaxation.
No time to read, until the desire for knowledge be
comes deadencd and ceases to act-no time for health
fu innocent social recreation which can De prsctced
at proper hours and in the congenial society OF family
and friends-and this want eager and incessant
that often its reaction tempts other and fatal
compensations for the unnatural deprvaiion-such
is the too general condition of that important, inte
gen, and valuable body Of men occupied in the va
rious subordinate departments OF Mercantile Life.
- We should be obliged for any farhe. facts relating
10 the Salaries Conditions, &c OF the Clerks, uoon