CH. VII.

WAGES IN TURKEY AND RUSSIA.

239

ing qualities it is certainly inferior to it. Few working men, except of the better paid classes, use tea or coffee. Gin, made of raw grain of several kinds, or of figs, is used occasionally as a dram, but its abuse is very rare indeed.' 1

In Turkey, the frugality of the Armenian hamel (porters) is proverbial; bread, olives, cheese, onions, and salad are the staple of their food, and it is only on the celebration of some holy festival that they indulge in excess in strong drink.'

In Wallachia, the statement (official) that there are only about 120 butchers and bakers among a rural population of some two million souls, is accounted for by the fact that the peasants seldom eat either bread or meat, their food being mamilagu, a porridge made of maize.' 2

In Roumelia, the meal of the day labourer and peasant is composed of a dish of stewed beans or lentils, which, with the addition of onions or leeks, salt pickled cabbage and green pepper, and garlic and red pepper as a condiment, are eaten with the half-baked bread of mixed grain —maize, wheat, barley, or oats, in varying proportions— which constitutes the staple of their food. Very many of the labouring classes subsist entirely upon bread, of which they are capable of consuming four or five pounds a day. Olive, hempseed, linseed, and sesame oils, salted cheese, and other preparations of milk are likewise occasionally eaten. Meat, wine, spirits are taken habitually only on festival days.

3

With regard to the general condition of the labouring classes in Russia, Mr. Egerton reports as follows :— There is, perhaps, no country where the hours of labour in every branch of industry are so long as in Russia;

1 Reports on the Industrial Classes. Report by Consul Oswald Crawfurd. Oporto, 1870.

Ibid. Report by Mr. I. Green. Bucharest, March 20, 1872.

3 Ibid. Report by Mr. Charles J. Calvert. Monastir, November, 1869.

thirteen hours per day being the general average, children generally working the same time as men.

In England a spinner at the mules, with his helps, wil attend to about 2,000 spindles; in Russia he is never given more than 1,000 spindles, generally 500. Again, in the weaving mills a Russian rarely has the care of more than two looms, whilst in England a weaver will frequently look after six; had the Russian six looms under his care he would earn about 68. or 78. a day. These large earnings would find their way to the “vodki” (brandy) shop, and irregularity of attendance would be the result.' 1

And from a memorandum by Sir A. Buchanan, we learn that, as a rule, in the neighbourhood of large towns (in Russia) the people live generally at an average rate of about il. a month per man; at other places, however, the living is very wretched, the food consisting of little else besides black bread and water, and occasionally only a little tea, the living in this case costing only about 58. or 68. a month.'2

The condition of the working classes in Switzerland is thus described:-The average rate of wages for men, women, and children, taken altogether, may safely be assumed to be from 33 to 40 per cent. lower than in England, and 10 to 15 per cent. lower than in France. The average rates throughout the country would seem to lie betwen 18. and 18. 3d. per working day, and taking the men only between 18. 5d. and 18. 7d.' The food of the working classes in Switzerland consists principally of bread of very fair quality, of cheese, potatoes, vegetables, and fruit. They seldom eat meat above once a week, and even then in very small quantities.

The

1 Report on the Industrial Classes, &c. Report by Mr. Egerton. St. Petersburg, January, 1873.

2 Ibid. 1870.

сп. VII.

WAGES IN FRANCE.

241

meals are:-Breakfast, taken before beginning work, or at a very early hour, generally consists of coffee with milk, but without sugar, and a large piece of bread. Those who are highly paid add cheese, butter, or fried potatoes. The whole population, from the highest to the lowest, dine between eleven and one o'clock. At this meal the working classes take soup, potatoes, vegetables, and bread, with a bowl of coffee without either sugar or milk. The last meal is in all respects the same as the first. The above statement is liable to not a few modifications.'1 Again, in regard to France we find that the rural population of the central division comprises four-fifths of the whole. The average agricultural wages are about 18. a day. The food of the labourer is very bad and insufficient.' 'If the workman's pay in England is higher (than at Vannes in the Western Division of France) it is because he possesses greater muscular strength, which he could not maintain on the poor Breton fare '2 A British workman will get through more work in a given time than the people here (at Bayonne); in case of field labour a man would not do more than two-thirds of what a labourer in England would do.' 'As to labour here (at Bordeaux) native mechanics in the branches of building, furnishing, and clothing are paid between 28. and 58. a day, while in the same trade British workmen get between 58. and 8s. a day, and are found to do more work and earn their wages better than the French. Thus the effective value of an Englishman's labour is in the ratio of 26 to 14 as compared with a Frenchman's. This is a practical result, derived from the experience of employers and worthy of acceptation as a rule.' 'Frenchmen live for less (than

6

1 Report on the Industrial Classes, &c. Report by Mr. G. F. Gould. Berne, February, 1871.

2 Ibid. Report by Lord Brabazon. Paris, 1871.

3 Ibid. Report by Mr. F. J. Graham. Bayonne, 1872.

R

Englishmen), in giving to vegetables at one penny per pound the place of the Englishman's meat at ninepence; but the latter finds that he cannot make this change in his life-long habits, and keep up to the quantity of work he is now paid for.'1 It may be remarked that for certain trades (in Paris), especially those in which taste is the predominant quality required, English salaries are far superior to the French-in the ratio of 10 to 7.2 I (Consul J. T. Elmore) must say .. that the amount of work effected here (at Nice) is certainly not twothirds of that done by an average English workman in one day. The work itself, with rare exceptions, performed by all classes, is ill-conditioned and slovenly, and would not pass inspection in England. . . . . The amount of work he effects in one day is but little; this may arise from the fact that in general he is ill-fed, for he will attempt to save from very low wages.'3

Mr. Brassey, in his Work and Wages,' supplies many illustrations of the superior energy of the British workman over his fellow on the Continent. He says:- On the whole, wherever the English have been employed on the Continent they have received much higher pay than their fellow-workmen, the natives of the country; and the difference in the pay has been fully represented by their superior skill and marvellous energy. Great pains were taken to ascertain the relative industrial capacity of the Englishman and the Frenchman on the Paris and Rouen line, and on a comparison of half-a-dozen pays it was found that the capacity of the Englishman to that of the Frenchman was as 5 to 3.'

Sir John Hawkshaw, the eminent civil engineer, says, when speaking on the relative value of unskilled labour 1 Report on the Industrial Classes, &c. Report by Consul Hunt. Bordeaux, 1871.

2 Ibid. Report of Consul Clipperton. Nantes, 1872. 3 Ibid. Report by Consul Elmore. Nice, 1872.

CI. VII.

COTTON OPERATIVES IN AMERICA.

243

in different countries, I have arrived at the conclusion that its cost is much the same in all. I have had personal experience in South America, in Russia, and in Holland, as well as in my own country, and as consulting engineer to some of the Indian and other foreign railways I am pretty well acquainted with the value of the Hindoo and other labour, and though an English labourer will do a larger amount of work than a Creole or a Hindoo, yet you have to pay them proportionately higher wages.'1

In the United States the unit of labour of all hands. in cotton factories may be affirmed to be at the present time (June, 1873) a dollar (38. 9d.) a day of eleven hours for a year of 300 working days. The census returns indicate the same rate by showing an actual average annual wage per hand of all kinds of only 288 dollars, or about 54l. sterling.' 'In the United States it is usually asserted as regards many industries, apparently with reason, that two Americans will do as much work in a given working day or week as three Englishmen.' 'Taking the cotton manufacture through, it can be fairly stated that in the United States the hands, as a rule, tend more machinery, especially looms, than in Europe, and, in some cases, than in England.'

In some returns showing lost days per hand in a month, the average showed 23 lost working days in a year; they may be generally reckoned at 30. The reasons

of this shortening of the working period were sickness, looking for work, paying visits in particular, and taking holidays in general. This last reason accounts for many days in the year. The girl weavers often go home for five or six weeks' holiday in the year.'

'I (Mr. J. P. Harriss-Gastrell) am inclined to think that although the American cotton operative works eleven hours per day, he does not in the aggregate work a longer 1 Life and Labours of Mr. Brassey, p. 96.