Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1892-10-24

Illustrative Instances-The Piumb.
er Joke Good in England-SmaI
Wages for Mechanics.
LONDON, Oct. 12.
To the Editor OF the JOURNAL AND COURIER:
One of the surest tests of the standing
of nation In its economic aspects is the
condition of its mechanics and artisans,
and whether or not these are paid ade-
quately for the skilled labor they perform.
In England the condition of such work
men is bad, and the wages they get are,
with the rarest exceptions, scarcely more
than pittance. This, too, notwithstsnd-
ing that the country boasts of its supre-
macy over other nations In the control of
the worlds trade, and spite of the fact
that its workingmen are an example to the
world in the splendid organizations they
maintain. Englishmen have many noble
traits, and their management of affairs Is
marked, as a rule, by qualities which we
cannot help admiring. We find 30 much
good in both the country and its people
that we wish we could find only good, and
should be more than glad, If the facts al
lowed it, to speak well of the circumstan-
ces in which their workingmen are found.
But in this matter they are weighed in the
balances aud found wanting. 1t is no re-
fection upon the workingmen themselves
to cay this, nor does the setting forth of
the situation in its true light argue any un-
kind feeling toward the nation. The
working classes are constantly saying
aha-k thatr harI lot than
your correspondent has either dared or
cared to say, and as to the governmental
system which makes 30 sad condition
possible, 1t will surely be admitted that the
pen which is used to point out these evils
is doing 1t service rather than an unkind
ness.
At the very tip top of all mechanical op-
erstives we must put the plumbers. The
plumbers bill is q standing joke in Ameri-
ca, though 1t is anything but joke when
one comes to settle 1t. But what recon-
Giles you in q measurable degree to big
charges is that, generally, the fellows who
do the work get big wages. We have no
practical experience of how the boss
plumbers charge over here, but we find
the same joke in currency respecting them,
and We also find that amongst English me-
chsnics workmen Of this class have the
| same relative rank as with us In the mat
| ter of wages. That is they get about the
| best that is going. But how poor that best
| Is, and how very low down In the wage
| scale others must be when those at the
head are 30 poorly off, are matters upon
which the reader, after the facts have been
given, may safely be left to form his own
| judgment.
We were 60 fortunate as to meet recent
| ly, in a mechanics cozy sitting room, the
| general secretary of the Operative Plumb
ers' society. He was fresh from head
| quarters at Liverpool, and had brought
| with him the treasurer of this organiza-
/ ton, besides whom there were seated
around the table two practical workers in
this line, representing the two families
which Jointly stood In for the rent Of this
small dwelling. Here was a rare opportu-
nifty to inform ourselves about the plumb
ing trade, and in the most pleasant and eff
fectual manner we improved 1t. The Ope-
rative Plumbers society has a membership
of six thousand. No trade is better or
ganized we are told. Throughout the
provinces you rarely meet q non-union
man, and In London, matters, from q sooi-
ETY. point of view, are kept 30 well In hand,
that hardly any man Is working below the
union rate of wages. Strikes are rare, but
there was one not long ago which had cost
the society thirty thousand dollars. II
WAS successful, however, and plumbers
would profit therefrom, IL was said, to the
extend of about seventy-ive thousand dol,
lars q year. How strenuously Mr.. Cherry,
this head man amongst English plumbers
reprobated any recourse to violence during
strikes, can be better imagined than de
scribed. "Why," said no, 1--WE had g
strike at Liverpool which lasted six months
and hardly nybody but those involved
knew it was going on" As q matter oi
course the tendency to this sort of thins
IL greater where larger numbers are in
volved, but our observation is that violent
measures are much less common here thar
in the United States, even when men Il
out in thousands. It is a matter of REQ
ord, too, that strikes are much more FIRE
qIsntly successful here than there, ani
pe,.hsps these two facts have logical con
nection with esch other.
But 1t was wages we were after, NO
strikes, nor any suggestion as to how suct
things might be best conducted. To be
gin with London, the standard wage of I
competent plumber, one who has served
his time and proven his ability, Is twenty
cents an hour. The hours per week ar
low In this oity-forty-seven In summer