Year: 1873




PITTSBURGH, PA, January !. l673.-About
seventy of the newly-importcd Cinnamon
employed at the Beaver Falls Cutlery Works
are at the present moment on Il strike for
higher wages. 1t is amusing to reflect that
these heathen have been but three months i'd
learning the trick OF combining to get the
real worth of their labor. There was great
indignation manifested in working circles
some SIX months ago over the transportation
OF coolies 10y this manufacturing firm. which
employs several hundred hands. On June 8
of last year Scyenty-fve Cinnamon reached
Beaver Falls and at once took tie places of
that number of white men. The press and
the public were unanimous in their condem-
nation Of the movement, but the opposition
accomplished nought, Tor the managers Of
the concern were determined to introduce
such labor, and the result was the coolies
went quietly TO work, and their white
brothers in due course OF time securing
other employment the difficulty WAS
soon forgotten. The services Of this gang
Of Oricn,alS was secured for cOnsidera-
ton of screnty-1lyc cents per day in gold,
each. They were industrious and performed
tie work allotted TO them III Il most skillul
uianuer,a and the company were so thorough
~ satisfied with the result that they resolved
10 import another batch. The second install
mcnt Of cheap labor, siXty-nine in number,
arrived on the lst day of December, 1872,
and these, though not less clever workmen
than the former, were paid but sixty cents
per day in gold. This last invoice Of almond
eyed gentlemen soon learned that there waSa
difference i'll wages paid TO respective gangs,
and, considering that one Joss worsnpucr
was AS good us another, a delegation called
upon the superintendent and requested that
he would give them L lit in their wages.
The superintendent informed them that he
would lay the matter before the proper
parties. and with the assurance that the in-
crease they asked for would be granted they
returned and resumed their work, abiding
their time. The matter subsequently was
brought to the attention of the Board Of
Managers, and after some deliberatiOn it was
refused. It was feared that If the company
would knuckle in this instance John China
man might put on airs and covct further


increase of wages.


The Celestials were notified that their de-
mand could not be complied with, and there
upon they congregated-big, little, young,
and old-and resolved to knock OF until, like
their American brother, they would get
something like fair days wages for fair
days work. They wander now about the
neighborhood of the works with their hands
in their loose trousers pockets, turning Il
deaf ear to the arguments Of their happy,
higher-priced countrymen, and equally indtf-
ferent to threats or expostulations. They want
more "payee," and won't return to work
again until the company signify their willing
less to comply with their demands. 1t Is an
amusing strike, but an instructive one. Having
lost the white skilled laborers, the company
are now at the mercy of the MongollanS,
who, it is but fair to presume, will not be
slow to discover and improve the situation.
The strike is lesson which Worklngmen
will not neglect to learn, for 1t strlklnSly
illustrates the absurdity Of their fears that
they are to be ruined by an inundation OF
Chinese cheap labor. This labor, like any
other labor, will, to some extent ut least,
find its level and demand its comparative
worth. 1t is also an evidence that the China
man is fast discovering that his work is
almost us valuable rs that of the white man,
and in consequence he is entitled to demand
nearly as much for it.


The lesson will not be lost on iron-mill
owners here, who had in contemplation the
importation of cheap labor from ASH, and
who must he satisfied to work with the labor
material they already have. 1t is reported
this evening that the managers of the Beaver
Falls Works will accede to the ultlmatum OF
the Cinnamon, though it will 80 against
their grain with vengeance. That portion
of the works, however, in which the Celes-
tials were employed is standing idle, and as
the company have no disposition that such a
state of affairs should continue for any
length of tine they will abide by the conse-
quenccs of accedpg to thu demands Of their
imported empio;es.