H 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



would be in the highest degree improbable that precisely those changes 

 which could not be traced were in the opposite direction. The diffi- 

 culty in the way is that, in a period of fifty years in a country like 

 England, the character of the work itself changes. The people who 

 have the same names at different times are not necessarily doing the 

 same work. Some forms of work pass wholly away, and wholly new 

 forms come into existence. Making all allowances, however, and 

 selecting the best comparative cases possible, some useful conclusion 

 seems obtainable. 



What I propose to do first and mainly, as regards this point, is to 

 make use of an independent official record which we have to thank 

 Mr. Porter for commencing. I mean the record of wages, which has 

 been maintained for many years in the " Miscellaneous Statistics of 

 the United Kingdom," and which was previously commenced and 

 carried on in the volumes of " Revenue and Population Tables " which 

 Mr. Porter introduced at the Board of Trade about fifty years ago. 

 It is curious on looking back through these volumes to find how diffi- 

 cult it is to get a continuous record. The wages in one volume are 

 for certain districts and trades ; in a subsequent volume, for different 

 districts and trades ; the descriptive classifications of the workers are 

 also constantly changing. Picking my way through the figures, how- 

 ever, I have to submit the following particulars of changes in money 

 wages between a period forty to fifty years ago — it is not possible to 

 get the same year in all cases to start from — and a period about two 

 years ago, which may be taken as the present time. This comparison 

 leaves out of account the length of hours of work, which is a material 

 point I shall notice presently. 



Comparison of Wages Fifty Years ago and at Present Time. 



[From " Miscellaneous Statistics of the United Kingdom," and Porter's " Progress of the 



Nation."] 



OOCCTPATION. 



Carpenters 



a 



Bricklayers 



(( 



Masons 



Miners 



Pattern- weavers 



Wool-scourers 



Mule-spinners 



Weavers 



Warpers and beamers, 

 Winders and reelers . . 



Weavers (men) 



Reeling and warping. , 

 Spinning (children). . . 



* 1825. 



Place. 



Manchester . 

 Glasgow. . . . 

 Manchester * 

 Glasgow. . . . 

 Manchester * 



Glasgow 



Staifordshire 

 Huddersficld 



Wages fifty 

 years ago, 

 'per week. 



Bradford 



s. d. 

 24 00 



14 00 

 24 00 



15 00 



24 00 

 14 00 



2 8f 



16 00 

 lY 00 



25 6 

 12 00 



17 00 



6 00 

 8 3 



7 9 

 4 5 



Wages pres- 

 ent time, 

 per week. 



s. d. 

 34 00 



26 00 

 36 00 



27 00 

 29 10 

 23 8 



4 OOf 



25 00 

 22 00 

 SO 00 



26 00 



27 00 

 11 00 

 20 6 

 15 6 

 11 6 



Increase 



or decrease, 



amount per cent. 



s. d. 

 10 00 

 12 00 

 12 00 

 12 00 

 5 10 



1 4 

 9 00 

 5 00 



4 6 

 14 00 

 10 00 



5 00 

 12 3 



7 9 

 7 1 



( + ) 42 



(+) 85 

 (+) 50 

 ( + ) 80 

 (+) 24 

 (+) 69 

 (-r) 50 

 (+) 55 

 (+) 30 

 (+) 20 

 ( + ) 115 

 (+) 58 

 ( + ) 83 

 ( + ) 150 

 (+) 100 

 { + ) 160 



f Wages per day. 



