The Ottawa free trader., 1884-01-12
WAGES AND THE TARIFF.

some of your notions may be partly righ
after all, and It may be you don't mean al
your name says. An article by "Jacl
Plane III one of the city papers which
came out u week or two ago has set me tC
thinking a little The injustice OF the
great difference between the wages Of the
glass blowers and the pay OF Other
mechanics had not struck be before, but
when he pointed out that everybody whC
uses glass has TO pay part of these extra
VACANT wages, | began 10 see whose OK was
goret.
This seems 10 be a case where silence
gives consent, did hope thar after the
stirring up which Jack Plane" gave them
that something would be SAID TO explain or
contradict the statement made about the
high wages offered the glass blowers and
which they refused to 30 TO work for, but
! have not heard apipe since, so con-
clude It was center shot. Now, | am o
blacksmith and have spent years TO learn
ms trade In all its branches, and believe it
is ~ difficult TO learn nv TO blow glass,
which seems To BE- the same thing over
and over every day. have 10 work over
tie fire and IN the dust and dirt ten hours
day ana SIX days in the week, which 1t
appears is much more than they do and
think am entitled to as much wages az
they are, and am content TO work for q
halt or quarter the wages they refuse to
work for
les; they seem to prefer 10 stsrve and
see their families starve or live on the
charity OF those who will work rather than
stoop to such pilful wages. 1t may be
tha, this Is all right, but ! don't see il.
But say they; II is your own fault if you
will work for such pitifui wages. CON-
bine together and staad firm and you will
get as good wages as we demand 1t is the
workmen who earn the money, and they
ought to haye it. Let all the workmen
combine, and even up to our standard, and
then all will be wei! and happy. We are
masters o. the situation, and we mean to
hold the fort, Well, that Is 81 nice plan to
be sure and looks very good, but let us see
how 1t will work tell my boss have
been working for almost nothing long
enough and ! must have six or seven dol
lars a day hereafter aDd all the other
smiths IN town do the same, then all OF the
the wagon makers, the harness
makers, the timers, and IN fact all the
other trades IN town do the same thing,
surely now We are masters OF the situa.
tiou; our terms must be acceded to or busi-
ness must stop. Very good, say the bosses,
that is right; one out of every five of you
may go to work. We will raise the price
we can get work tor that many, and the
rest may look on and starve in the mean
time. A farmer brings IN his horses to be
shod anu the boss tells him.that his work
men have been evening up with the glass
blowers in wages and he has to pay them
now four times as much as he did last
week. The farmer looks wild and leads
off his horses slipping all over the street.
and goes over to the wagon maker and III
qulres the price Of a new wagon, and is
surprised to learn that it is four times as
much as the week before, and so with the
harness makers, and 80 all over town. All
right, says the honest farmer, this is
game that two can play at Will even up
with them glass blowers too, as well as
everybody else IN town. SO when the
butcher calls to buy some steers and hogs
to fill his market Mr.. Farmer says, Yes,
have some fine ones, but ! must have
twenty cents pound Tor them live weight.
Don't you see, am evening up with the
glass blowers as everybody else Is DONG.
Bill Degen scratches his head minute
aud finally says that is fair business mat
ter and will even up with them glass
blowers too. Everybody shall pay me fifty
cents for my meat and no credit mind you.
Dot will even up Mr.. Glassblower | ,ink
all the same, for he has made all this rum.
puss. 1t WAS only this morning had 10
pay Mr. Hamilton, the miller, twenty dol
lars hundred tor some flour, and not his
bes, at that. lie says he must charge that
to eyen up with the glass blowers, for the
farmers had tvene up their wheat 10 eight
dollars per bushel. And when Aunt
Phebe, the washwomah, took her boiler u
the tinker to &c, ll,tle hole meDded she
had to pay fifty cents instead Of dime,
inst to even up with the glass blowers, and
on her way homeward studies how much
she can even up ON washing shirts, and
wondering if some Of these town clerks
wont even up by wearing their shirts TWO
weeks instead of one. / shall soon find
that out, am, IN fact, getting no mere
for my work than before we evened up
with the glass blowers; only they have
evened down to our wages, but they wont
90 to work at that Tom Catlin may think
of evening up with the price of glass, but
when he suggested that 10 the old judge
he shook his hcaG sadly, and said Don't
you know that if you even up one cent the
blowers will 20 you two better every time?
Let us keep quiet, man patience is great
virtue IN business rs well as in family
matters. | tell you the time will come
when the leveling down process will com
mence, though it may not be in my day, il
will surely come. Better let the works lay
idle than 10 loose money running them.
1t IL PLAN TO me that this evening up pro
A.