The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1879-02-21

The extrnOroinary oepreenon ox
nearly every branch Of manufacture in
England. and particularly those Of cot
tom and iron, has Of course stirred up
wide inquiry there - 20 IL causes. and
meny different opinions are expressed
Among those upon which the greatest
stress Is laid. however, b the growth Of
foreign competition. more particularly
in France and the United States.
The fact Of this composition being -
knowledged, the English manufacturers
have set 70 work 10 study the methods
OF their French and American rivals 70
zee from what their advantage has come
The London engineering papers are
therefore giving . large share Of their
attention TO examinations OF the great
manufacturing industries Of the Cont
nent and this country with . view TO
comparing them with those Of England.
One Of the most interesting features
Of this inquiry Is that which relates TO
the relative merits Of English and
foreign labor. The British manufacture
ers and the workmen themselves do not
hesitate TO say that in many departments
work is now more thoroughly and more
intelligently done with Us, for instance,
than il is in England. This reyerses
the old situation Of things, for fifteen
wears ago il Was the fashion here 20 look
70 Great Britain for solid and durable
workmanship, and 20 expect much less
from that At home Now we are told
that even in London, Sheffield, Man
chester, and Birmingham, American
manufactures Of many kinds are in de-
mand 5ecause Of their superiority TO
those Of home production, and goods
are recommended and warranted in the
shops as from the United States Our
statistics Of export show that the quanti-
" Of these articles can not be very great
and il il well known that over-supply
and the dullness Of our market induced
some Of our manufacturers TO ship goods
10 England even TO be sold 1t loss or
without profit 1t i proof, however,
Of our recent advances in manufacture
that these articles were q once priced
there for their quality; and new and
permanent market for certain classes OF
them has been established
A writer in the London Engineering,
who has been for some time past care
fully comparing English and American
industries, and who is evidently familiar
with both, puts US ahead IN many TO
spects Our factories, he says. are
more comfortable and are better organ
lied. We are less troubled BY strikes.
The average intelligence of the work
man is higher, and there is an ambition
to do well whatever Is undertaken in our
best establishments. though he finds
many in which the work is careless and
the methods variable. " No finer OF
more exact manipulation can be found
anywhere than in some engineering e.
tablishments, and perhaps no worse can
be found than some Of the cruder works
Afford
lie admits, moreover, that our work
men do more labor than those Of Eng
land, require 70 be lees waited On, and
get along without the amount Of helping
an English artisan demands, not only
because he wants assistance, but also
because be likes to have some one 70
control " The problem of how some
Americans can produce some articles
cheaper, while they pay more for skill
ed labor. is in many cases to be ex-
planned w the fat that the helping Is
not taken into sccount. The writer. =
short time since, while in London, spent
some time in watching 20 see how two
men could manage 10 paint one lamp
post IL was = small circumstance. but
typical u difference between methods
here and in America. which has . e.
rious meaning 70 those who are accus-
toned 70 managing and estimating L.
bor.''
Particularly in New England he found
the helping system reduced TO is lowest
state. In the machine-sh0ps, for exam
pie, instead of every other man using
the aid Of 5 helper. there Is in many
cases not more than one lab0rer 70 tif.
teen workmen, and often in the shops
employ ing few workmen there are none
Ct al. Another Of our great advan-
tages according 70 this observer, is thai
the bosses, in the small trades especially,
are not ashamed to turn and lend hand
themselves, while in England they
would regard that IS fatal letting
down Of their dignity. = In fact, thu
hardest working men are generally thos<
who employ from two 70 ten hands, and
lead their men instead Of driving them
PROFESSIONALLY we gain much from
the absence. 80 far as il exists, OF The
notion that there is any thing deroga
tory i'm labor. and that the master mag
mites his Office BY refraining from thu
tasks to which he sets his men. . There
is no master and workman; the mastel
il the workman, and be il BY far TOD
knowing 70 pay some one 70 look Oh
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