The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1870-02-05
FROM ENGLAND.
LONDON, Dec. 80, 1876!

To Editor the WoRxIHGMAH's Advocate.
SIR,-In the absence Of any stirring
events in connection with coop alton
and trades unionism, some one or two
points concerning the general conduct
of these bodies may not be out of
place. For nearly forty years l have
been watching them very closely, and
know something of their internal work
ing, as well as Of their general charac-
ter, as they present themselves to the
public. I know not whether what i
am about to say will apply to these rs
sociations as they exist among you,
but whether this be the case or not,
your readers may give a few minutes
attention to point or two in connec-
ton with the progress of labor here,
which to us are of much higher i'm
portance than the workingmen Of Eng
land even themselves seem TO under
stand. In all the controversies which
take place in the English newspapers
on the subject of trades unionism it is
continually asserted that the high price
Of labor enforced by trades societies
operates very injudiciously in several
ways, but conspicuously so, first, by
subtracting unduly from the wage
fund, and second, by enhancing the
price of production, and thus driving
the trades in which such organizations
exist out of the country. Hitherto the
replies to these allegations have been
very vague and not at all satisfactory.
Workingmen have never vet taken
upon themselves to examine carefully
the question of a wage fund, or to
point out how absurd it would be for
them to work for low wages, that this
mysterious quantity should not be
diminished. IF this fund be, as / be-
heve it is, considered as the difference
between the cost of any commodity
produced and what it sells for, it may
be fairly asked why the workingmen
should take low wages that it may be
diminished ? Whatever this fund may
amount TO, the workman has nothing
to do with it. Itgoes into the keeping
of the employer as an unknown guam
tity. 1t is open to every demand the
holder may make upon it, and whether
for box at the opera, an extra car
rage, investment in foreign funds, or
anything else that may seem desirable,
this fund may be used by the employer
! lust "a he thinks fit Under snrh- s.;E-
cumstances, there is something su
premely impudent in those lectures, sc
frequently given to the workingman
relative to the taboo with which politi
cal economists have sought to protect
this fund.
And this leads to the other question
as to whether high wages on the part
of the worker or high profits on the
part of the employer injure trade
most? For about fifteen years bar
iron ranged from about f5 It's to ell
per ton in the English market 1t ID
not to be presumed that the nation
worked over any whole year at loss.
But for the sake of argument, let us
suppose it did, and that the net cost of
bar iron is &c los per ton. This being
the case, it is clear that the years when
it averaged f10 los there was a profit
to the manufacturers, over the whole
of that branch of the iron business, of
G5 per ton. Now, it would be instruc-
tive to know how this enormous profit
may have stimulated foreign makers to
put themselves into competition with
English producers. The Times and
others of our leading journals have
sought to convince the public that the
growth of the iron trade in Belgium
was due to the trades combinations Of
English workingmen. But is it not
far more likely that the Belgian pur-
chaser, seeing by his invoices that what
he paid G5 It's per ton for al one pc
Rod, cost him at another Eli los, de-
cided that, as iron and coal were under
his feet in his own country, he had
better dig them up and use them than
continue to pour such exorbitant profits
into the Golfers of the English manu-
facturer. / put this simply as a ques-
ton worth the consideration Of trades
unionists, and ask them in addition
whether it would not be worth their
while to Join to their duties as associa-
tons the additional duty Of keeping a
record of cost of production, and of
the market price of each article Of
manufacture, that they may always
know what proportion the wages Of
labor leave to the selling price OF every
manufactured commodity, and by the
same process what proportion they
leave to the profits Of the manufac-
turer? There would really be very
little difficulty in this. The price Of
all raw material is easily ascertained :;
any commercial paper will furnish this
to any person willing to take note OF it,
and the average over the year may he
easily struck. The wages of labor, in
turning this into a marketable manu-
featured commodity, ought by work
ingmen Of experience be east y ascer-
tainable, as well as rent and cost Of
This done, the CONNER
cial papers again furnish the regular /
market price Of staple fabrics, and by |
putting these figures together by addi- /
ton and subtraction, the desired result \
could easily be found. may add that
any difficulty attending such an enquiry
may be greatly diminished by the help
cooperative societies
,ould render in supplying details of
cost of manufacture. I have no desire
o encourage strikes; indeed, regard
hem with the greatest possible dislike,
although | am aware That in certain
Eases they are inevitable, and there
ore justifable. But to render them
Effective when they do take place,
lothing would help SO much as the
Ian | have suggested. The price Of
he manufactured article would be the
hor a Z