The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1903-02-05

Had they in that dark July of 1864 been
as faint-hearted as the moneyed men were
the bonds and stocks would have become
as worthless as those of the Confederacy,
and instead of being now guarded behind
timc-locks, we should have seen them used
as the Confederate securities were: to
paper rooms and print advertisements on.
A Service Pension Of $12 n month is
little enough return for the men whose
fOrtitude and courage at the greatest crisis
alone saved and created all this wealth.
BRITISH VS.. AMERICAN woRKMEN.
A very interesting study of the result of
the MOsely Commission of British work
blen, which came here to investigate ours.
is made in The Outlook by Mr.. George
Lynch, the special correspondent of the
London Daily Express and an author of
some note. He is connected with the Ia
Tor organizations, and accompanied the
Commission, which seems to have made
quite comprehensive and searching ex-
animation of the labor conditions of this
country. The first conclusion, which is one
of vital Importance is that the British
workman drinks just twice as much as
the American. The consumption of beer
ill the British Kingdom is nearly 81 gal
Ions per head per annum, while in the
United States it is less than Is gallons.
Though the population of the British Is
lands is not more than half ours, they
spend the enormous amount of fJS 100000,
or 1892, 100000, more for beer than we do,
which seems incredible. The result is the
British workman rarely does any work
on Monday, and frequently none on Tues
day. The British were surprised to find
that in many of the factories visited that
keer or spirits are absolutely forbidden up
to the conclusion of working hours, and
that the men very seldom drink beer with
their midday meal. Coffee is the usual
beverage. The employers will not keep
rlen who drink, or who come late. The
Commission examined into the statement
that the average life of the American
workman is shorter than that of the Brit
ish. The facts gathered from the actua-
ries of the insurance companies have not
yet been digested, but the opinion of some
leading ones is that the average American
workman lives longer than the British. 1t
object more than the British to taking on
wOrkmen who are advanced in years. 1t
was found that larger proportion of
American workmen in the higher paid
branches quit earlier in life, and go into
ether employments, generally retiring to
the little home and farm which they had
secured from their savings. An examina-
ton of the shipyards convinced that por-
ton of the Commission that they had
nothing to learn, and the superiority of the
British was manifest. The section Of
bricklayers said that while the American
bricklayer laid more bricks in q given
time, his style of work would not be toll
Grated in England; the walls being thin
reI and fimsier. AS a rule, the American
got as much for two and one-half days
work as the British for a week. The
piasterers thought that England had moth
ing to learn in their branch. They all
thought the telephone service much supe-
rior to that of England, but the postal
service of New York decidedly inferior to
that of London. But over and above all
was the great influence Of environment.
The immigrant workman here seems to be
a different man from what he was in the
country he left. Mr.. Lynch says:
"a great stimulating, vivifying, energiz-
mo " is In hn nj - ff m nfrty
One need not drink champagne here-one
Ereathes it. Look at the effect on the
Hish or Italian immigrant. The pOpula-
ton of Ireland is exceeded here in the
numbers of lrishmen, and Irishmen have
accomplished immensely more here than
on the other side, while the lazy Italian de-
velops into a plOdding, strenuous worker
that Italy never knew. The essence of
democracy he breathes also, and the work
man of today may be the employer of to-
morrow. The employers are more accessi-
BILE to their employees-there is less of a
dividing margin. Question 10 of the Dele
gates Catechism is: Are there greater
opportunities for the workingman to rise
in American than in England? Ten thou
sand times more was the enthusiastic
answer of one who in his progress from
having been an immigrant workman to be-
ing a millionaire can speak from the per-
SOnal knowledge OF personal experience.
When, in considering the environment of
the workers, we come to consider the
standard of their comfort in either coun-
try, unhesitatingly say it is higher here
higher because it is more civilized. The
well-paid British workman probably has
more good beef to eat, more good beer to
drink, but there is q smaller percentage
of baths in his house, and the American
workman has larger supply Of literature
in the form of cheap books, magazines, pa
pers, ETC., or if it may be said that the
English workman has an equal supply, the
sumner of it. The various cooperative
methods by which the American workmen
get at their amusements are interesting;
they club together for lectures, concerts,
theaters, excursions, etc. Their versatility
and quick-moving adaptability for going
from one employment to another more
easily than in old countries are remarka-
BILE, but have also their drawbacks. Their
very independence has its penalty. 1t is
too much to say that America has lost the
idea of the family home as it is known in
England, but is not the tendency in that
direction?"
PRESIDENT CASTRO has proposed, and
the representatives Of the Powers ac-
copied, that 30 per cent of the collections
at the Venezuelan custom houses be ap-
piled to the payment of the foreign debts.
Now hitch comes through England's de-
that the 80 per cent. be applied
first to the liquidation of the debts due the
Powers which have joined in the expedi-