322 Evidence he/ore 



of working ? — I have formed my opinion, 

 not on experience of my own, because 

 «)ur class of workmen are not liable to 

 enter into those combination's; they are 

 paid according to their quality ; a good 

 workman receives in proportion higiier 

 wages than an inferior one, which ren- 

 ders it impossible that combinations can 

 take place with us ; but I have formed 

 a very decided opinion upon the ell'ect 

 of the Combination Laws, which I have 

 been enabled to do from having studied 

 the habits and dispositions of the work- 

 ing classes; and I am certainly of opi- 

 nion, that, instead of producing the 

 effect intended, they act in a diametri- 

 cally opposite way, and tiiat they form, 

 in fact, a bond of union among the 

 workmen. 



When skill and time are combined, 

 or when pay is according to the skill 

 employed, and the time employed ; in 

 that class of workmen there are seldom 

 combinations? — None can take place. 



Would not the effect of removing the 

 laws be, that from time to time the wages 

 would rise and fall acconling to the 

 circumstancrs of demand and supply, 

 and that by (hat means the evils which 

 are now found to rise from combinations 

 would cease? — I am decidedly of that 

 opinion. 



Do not the masters frequently com- 

 bine, and thereby compel the men to do 

 so in their own defence ? — It is a cirenm- 

 stance of almost daily no'toriely ; indeed 

 it becomes a subject frequently of public 

 advertisement, in which meetings of 

 masters are called expressly to regulate 

 the wages and the time of working of 

 their men. 



Do you think the Combination Laws 

 tend to disturb the harniony which 

 should subsist between the workmen 

 and their employers? — I am confident 

 that such is the case; it is a constant 

 source of disagreement between the 

 workmen and the masters. ■ 



Do the men generally succeed in their 

 demands? — Most connnonly. 



Do you know of instances of the mas- 

 ters combining and fixinf, the rates of 

 wages, beyond which they will not give? 

 —That it is a matter of daily notoriety. 



Are you able to state what is the 

 general success of that? — That must de- 

 pend upon the demand that exists for 

 the particular article of manufacture: if 

 there is a brisk demand, the men suc- 

 ceed; if there is no demand, the mas- 

 ters succeed. 



What evil do you apprebend from Ihc 



the Committee [May l, 



repeal of the Combination Laws?— I 

 apprehend no evil whatsoever: on the 

 contrary, I think that, in the course of 

 time, all tlic evils that the Combination 

 Laws have brought on would be done; 

 away with, and the effect produced by 

 them has been so very injurious, that it 

 Mould also require the greatest care and 

 management on the part of the masters 

 to do away with the bad feeling excited 

 by them. 



Do you think that, if tlie Combination 

 Laws were all re|)ealcd, there would be 

 no combination among workmen against 

 their masters?— I should not go to the 

 extent of saying that : 1 think a repeal 

 of them would have a tendency to 

 prevent combination, but it would be 

 going too far to say it would prevent it 

 altogether. 



In the event of combination, would it 

 not be a much more difficult thing for 

 the masters to overcome the workmen, 

 than under the present laws ; would they 

 not be always at the mercy of the men? 

 — I think not : I think those combina- 

 tions are generally brought about by 

 the mismanagement of the masters 

 themselves. 



Mr. Alexander Gallowai/. 



Have you, in the course of jour busi- 

 ness, received orders for tools and 

 machines from abroad? — Considerable 

 orders. 



Have you executed them? — In some 

 Instances, and in others 1 have been pre- 

 vented because of the articles ordered 

 being by law prohibited. 



Is not the amount of labour on ma- 

 chinery more in proportion than the 

 labour on most other articles of oui* 

 export? — I think considerably more; in 

 many cases, in our coarse works or 

 most bulky, we generally reckon that 

 three fifths of the price of every machine 

 is in fact for journeyman's wages, while 

 two-fifths are h ft to stand up for the 

 purchase of the material, for the use of 

 tools and utensils, and also for profit ; 

 but, in the finer works, we consider the 

 wages to be seven-tenths of the price of 

 every article. 



Has such machinery, as you have de- 

 clined taking orders for. been made in 

 foreign parts? — A considerable quan- 

 tity : I received an order for making a 

 nnnil>er of hydro-mechanical presses for 

 France, and, upon enquiry at the Cus- 

 tom house, I was told that they would 

 not be permitted to go, because they 

 wore susceptible of being used in the i 

 v.ooika and cloth uiauufacturies of 



Great 



