A HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE 



fall, as described above, between 1900 and 1904. At the same time a com- 

 parison of miners' wages in the years 1888 and 1906 reveals an increase of 

 40 per cent, on the standard rates of that year. 231 



However, it must be remembered that wages and conditions of work 

 vary considerably in different parts of the county. In the returns of 

 the census of wages made by the Board of Trade in 1886, e.g., the weekly 

 wages of a coal-hewer in the Potteries district were 2$s. $d. (piece-work) . 22S 

 But in the South Staffordshire district, excluding Cannock Chase, the weekly 

 wages of a coal-hewer paid by the piece were as much as 2%s. 5</. 223 At the 

 present time it is admittedly difficult to give an approximate idea of the aver- 

 age earnings of a coal-hewer in the whole county. It has been computed at 

 6s. 6d. per day, with an average working week of four days, which makes 

 the average weekly wage for the county 26s., which is of course sometimes 

 exceeded. 224 But with Cannock Chase district the rates would be lower, 

 as it is largely a house-coal district working badly in the summer. 



Again, in the South Staffordshire and East Worcestershire district the 

 . wages of a coal-hewer are estimated at $s. yd. per day in the thick coal seams, 

 the wages in the thin coal being slightly lower. 225 With a four days' working 

 week this makes a weekly wage of only 235. 



Wages of course vary very much among different classes of workers in 

 and about the mines, but the wages of the hewer have been taken as the most 

 representative. The returns of the Census of 1886 give some other valuable 

 wages statistics which may be compared with those of the miners. 



Thus a ' general labourer ' working underground in the Potteries district 

 earned i 8j. ^d. per week, 226 whilst in South Staffordshire he obtained 19^. 5</. 227 

 On the other hand, a horsekeeper in North Staffordshire could earn 22s. 9</., 228 

 but in South Staffordshire he obtained only 19^. id. 



The wages of carpenters and bricklayers for the same date may be 

 gathered from this return. A North Staffordshire bricklayer earned an 

 average of 26s. 6d. per week;' 30 a South Staffordshire man 2js. 5^/. 231 The 

 wages of carpenters show less variation in the two districts, for whilst a 

 carpenter working about the mine earned on an average 2$s. i id. per week 

 in 1886, the southern workman's weekly average amounted to 2$s. iod? 



The more highly skilled workman would of course obtain more than this. 

 At the present time (Oct. 1906) a skilled carpenter is paid at the rate of 8^. per 

 hour, which at the rate of ten hours per day for five-and-a-half days amounts 

 to 38^. n^d., but this would be a maximum wage and could not be counted 

 on throughout the year. Rather more allowance for periods of slackness must 

 be made in calculating the average wage of the skilled bricklayer, whose 

 present rate of pay is %%d. per hour, which gives a maximum weekly wage 

 of 2 os. \\d., supposing him to work the same hours as the carpenter. 



In 1886 boys working in or about the mines earned in North Stafford- 

 shire from js. 2d. to i4j. 6d. per week and in the south from js. 2d. to I4J. 233 



71 Rep. ea Changes in Rates of Wages ana 1 Hours of Labour, 1904, p. 104 ; and information obtained from 

 Labour Department, Board of Trade. 



Return of Rates of Wages in Mines and Quarries, 1891, p. 19. *" Ibid. 21. 



"* Evidence from Secretary of Midland Miner? Federation,Ocl. 1906. 



* Evidence of South Staff, and East Wore. Amalgamated Miners' Association, Oct. 1 906. 



"* Return of Rates of Wages in Mines and Quarries, 1891, p. 19. 



"Ibid. 21. * Ibid. 20. " Ibid. 22. * Ibid 20. 



" Ibid. 22. Ibid. 20, 22. Ibid. 



3H 



