Middletown transcript., 1884-12-26

more earnings. Thus has machinery
lightened his toll, improved his manner
of living, and given to him in 1880 al
most double the wages of 1850.
In addition to the evidence of these
compilations, there may be mentioned
some influences in the trade which it is
not the province Of the general statisti-
clan to recognize. A gradual reduc-
ton in the number Of working months
of shoe operatives, caused by the ease
with which labor-saving machinery can
supply the market, has made the shoe
maker somewhat migratory in his pur-
suit. If there is not full work at his
regular place Of employment he uses
his spare hours in another factory, or,
as is often the case in shoe manufac-
turing cities, works for half the season
in factory supplying the Western
market, and in factory supplying the
New England market the other half Of
the season. Sometimes, too, men be-
gin a season in New York and finish in
some Massachusetts shoe city. It is
not uncommon for man to hold a
iob'' in each of two small factories,
and be returned as an employee in two
factories. He would thus increase the
number of employees and decrease the
average wages. This migrating is
done in hundreds of instances by men,
women, and children operatives, and is
a peculiarity whose effect it would be
impossible to estimate. No doubt there
are hundreds of persons who i'll this
way increase their annual wages to six
hundred dollars, seven hundred, OF even
more.
If this great army of workers could
have steady employment, through all the
months of the year, instead of having
little or no work during certain ineyi-
table 'dull months, y more rernarka-
BILE comparison than this could be made.
The wages Of shoe operatives, although
they have always earned more than the
old-fashioned shoemaker" !" have been
practically decreasing for number of
years, by reason of the constantly in
creasing number Of large factories to
flood the home market. There has been
a strong tendency all over the coun-
try to get as many people under one
roof as possible. According to the cen
sus of 1870 there was an average Of
twenty-nine peoplein every shoe factory,
and in 1880 ffty-six people. The result
of this ambition has been that such
factories as employ number Of hun
dred hands have kept up constant
warfare for the ascendency. This has
made the actual working time much
less, and the average yearly wages have
therefore decreased. It has engendered
strong competition to sell goods-to
sell at a good profit if possible, but or
sell anyway. When machinery was
first introduced it was possible for a
workman to earn thirty or forty dollars
each week, and even girls in the stitch
ing rooms could earn from fifteen to
eighteen dollars weekly, without work
ing "early and late' to earn fancy
wages" AS long as there was de-
mand for as many shoes as could be
made, operatives practically named
their own wages and number of work
ing hours. When a manufacturer
could get good profit himself, be did
not care to meddle with the wages
question any more than to : bid higher
if workmen were scarce. When he
made shoes so fast that the shoe be-
gan to pinch, y and workmen had to be
"cut down" to meet the market,
there commenced strikes, - which had
never been known before except in sea-
sons Of great financial depression. AS
wages have declined, operatives have
worked harder and longer to earn the
same amount. Most of the work is
piece-work !" SO that to ambitious
operatives decrease Of pay means in
crease Of work. The same number of
persons in 1875 made three times as
many shoes as in 1645.-H. M. NEW
HALL, in Horper's Magazine for Jan
udry.