The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-09-09
ENGLISH WAGE WORKERS
An American View of Them in the Land
of Wedgwood and MintOn.
The Artist Workmen of the Potteries. Their
Homes. Pay, Habits and Holidays
Workman's Balances Sheet.

correspondence OF the Indianapolis Journal
WHEATsHEAF Inn, SToKE-UPoN TRENT, Aug
25.-What is the present condition Of the En-
glish wage workersl
This is always question OF vital interest to
Americans who think; il is Of transcendent in
terest az the present time. when a political con-
test is in progress whose issue will be bound mp
in the final judgment and choice of the Ameri-
can people between the system which has, some
say. made Britain great. and that which has,
others contend made the United States great
err. 1t is . many-sidad question, involving not
only hours of labor, rates of pay and compare
tive expenses, but matters in the long run even
moro important What hope has the British
workman for the futurel Can he risef Can his
children secure good eaucations and advance in
the. world above his station, or must they emf
CRATE or stsgnate9 What will in time be the eff
feet of this emigration upon those who remaini
There's matter here for volumes, rather than
for newspaper letters, but perhaps Yankee re-
porter with his note book and his tape-lne. with
q stout pair Of legs, cheek of adamant and
habit of telling only the facts and leaving to
cast q little light upon the darkuess
A careful survey Of the field conyincss the
writer that there is no better place to begin
than in the potteries. Here the British work
most favorable conditions Here is an industry
that dates from the most remote time, and
which gathers tribute from the whole world OF
civilization. It's workmen in the better grades
are artists rather than artisans. They bring to
their work far more than mere manual skill
They receive wages which seem princely to the
agricultural lsborers Of the southwest and the
'white slaves Of Birmingham. Their work
goes into collections and connoisseurs rave over
it. The names Of Wedcwood and Minton have
artist metal workers; and WedRwood and Mn
ton never saw such work as their successors are
turning out to-day.
The potteriss are a compact mass rather
chain of small towns merged practically into one
by their growth, ranging from Longton and
Fenton on the south. through Etruria, Hanley,
Cobridge and Burslem TO Turnstall. reaching
some eight miles in a very irregular line. The
population OF the region is 100000 Baedeker
gives the number as 300 000 out the guide book
man is perhaps less accurate upon industrial
matters than upon antiquities and the price Of
bedroom candles, for he includes in the pottery
region Manchester under-Lyme and its neigh
borhood, which are not properly 90 classed- But
of the smaller number there is hardly soul not
connected in some way with the pottery indus
try and dependent upon it for livelihood. No
other country, believe, can show such vast
trade in pottery; certainly America cannot, al
though Trenton, Cincinnati. Brooklyn and other
points are forging ahead nobly. 1t il hardly On
exaggeration TO say that If every other pottery
in Europe or America were to be clossd the IA
cilities here could very soon be expanded to sup
ply the loss.
All the clay used here comes from Cornwall
by boat to Runcorn, thence through the canal to
the potteries. IL is perhaps as easy to carry
coal to Cornwall as to bring thence the clay, but
as yet Cornwall makes no pottery except of the
coarssr kinds, and comparatively little OF that.
INSTRUMENTATION between the pottery towns
IL provided by loop of the North Staffordshire
railway, which makes q complete circuit Of
them, somewhat after the fashion of the belt
lines at Chattanooga and Chicago. The Midland
and Northwestern systems connect the loop line
with Liverpool, though . network OF canals
forms quite rs important agent in the work
OF transportation.
For some FEARS the pottery industry was in
rather q bad way. but for a twelvemonth back,
intsllgent men at all the local centers tell me, il
has been picking mp. Why7 Oh. the foreign
and colonial market il better. Is America in
cludsd to any great extent 10 the foreign mar
ketl Certainly il is. An immense amount Of
pottery goes to America in spite Of the high
duty. Has any Of the increased demand for
pottery by rhiddlemen, spectators and the like
arisen from An expectation that the American
market may soon be thrown open and that the
accumulated stock may then be worked of to
advantagei No, this latter question 1 did
not put TO the men Sc Burslern and Hanley. 1t
was suggested to me by what they told me. but
preserved discreet silence. Whether there
Il. 10 nsssa dor ~~1 60
know. but these two things do know: First,
that it 10 sbsurd to suppose that England, with
her farmers grooming under the worst season
they have hadfor years, can be furnishing an
improved market second, that the American
tariff 10 q subject on which every one here is
deeply interested. / shouldn't'a bit wender it
there were about as many men to-day in Steke-
upon-Trsnt who know the American pottery tar
if - there are in New York city.
As was walking this afternoon along the
road from Burslem to Hanley man stopped
me and asked for money. He was middls-agsd,
very thin and pale, perfectly sober and neatly,
though poorly dressed In my own country /
sheuld certainly have taken him for what he
claimed to be-a workinemsn seeking employ
menr hungry and in utter despair. got him
some crackers and cheese, which he ate raven
ously, presented him with q medallion Of her
Gracious Majesty in silver handed him one end
of my tspe-liue. and together We set to work
measuring workmsns houses The spectacle of
. couple of men boldly invading their premises
with a tape-line somewhat astonished the good
people. but orr triumphant progress was not
impeded The net results of these measure
ments and others which had previously made,
may serve to show how the aristocratic work
men OF the posteries live.
Fortunately the potteries are so widely scat
tered that the land is nowhere especially dear
and workmen spared the moral and physical
dangers of tenement life. Small cottages IN
blocks are the universal rule. These vary
greatly in depth, but almost uniformly
| II or 12l feet wide, outside measure, and two
| very low stories high The party walls are
| thick; 80 that the inside width Of the rooms ID
about eleven feet or less IL the house IL on the
| end Of the block AS soft coxl is universally
| used, requiring chimney fues sixteen inches
| square, the chimneys take up tremendous
| amount OF space In these narrowed rooms, and
| tho remainder il full to OVERLOOKING with dining
| tables, chairs folding beds, dish cupboards and
| the like. Through the open doors and windows
| / saw no pianos or organs. though or course
| there may be many. The interiors are usually
bare Of decorative effect, the exteriors OF bare
| brick begrimed with the smoke OF the thou
sands of chimneys that forever darken the land.
The largest houses we measured were thirty
| feet deep. This. Of course gives two very fan
| rooms below and presumably two above, though
| our Investigations went not thus far. Fifteen
! feet in the rear Of these was another row TWEEN
| ty-four feet deep. These were four-room cot
/ tages OF much less space. Subtracting the end
acd a;vision walls tina sfairs and chvnnevs ir i