88 >\SSOCIATION OF IRON, STEEL AND TIN WORKER? [220 



The present chapter deals with (i) the area over which 

 the scale has been applied and (2) the three elements di- 

 rectly affecting the rate of remuneration, namely, (a) the 

 differentiation in rate corresponding to differences in prod- 

 uct, {b) the detinition of the work, and (c) provisions for 

 payment when material is made under abnormally difficult 

 conditions.^ 



Tlie Area of the Standard Rate. — In the development of 

 the union there has been a gradual extension from a local 

 scale to a national scale. The scale of the Sons of Vulcan 

 originally covered all the puddle mills in Pittsburgh and 

 the immediate vicinity. The originators of the scale, ac- 

 cording to Miles S. Humphreys, the sole survivor of the 

 group, "had no idea of its spreading" to other localities. 



Workmen in neighboring mills were soon quick to observe 

 the advantages of the scale, and to seek a similar arrange- 

 ment. The scale spread rapidly to all mills in the Pitts- 

 burgh district. In 1867 the Puddlers' Union divided its 

 jurisdiction into districts, the object being to include in each 

 district forges which should be governed by similar prices.* 

 By the time of the formation of the Amalgamated in 1876, 

 all districts west of the Alleghany Mountains had scales for 

 puddling, and continued effort had been made to secure a 

 scale for the Eastern section. These attempts were at- 

 tended with but temporary success in the East.^ The pud- 

 dlers' example was followed by the workmen in the rolling 

 branches of the iron trade. The Guide Mill Rollers made 

 a scale for the Pittsburgh district by agreement with the 

 iron manufacturers in April, 1872.* In 1877, the first year 

 after the amalgamation of the rolling branches with the pud- 

 dlers, President Bishop pointed out the injurious effect of 



3 D. A. McCahe, Tlie Standard Rate, p. 19. 



* These district boundary lines were changed from time to time. 

 In 1868 there were five districts, with centers at Pittsburgh, Wheel- 

 ing, Youngstown, Chicago and Philadelphia, consecutively. In 1869 

 the third district shifted its center to Cincinnati (Vulcan Record, 

 nos. 2-4). 



5 Vulcan Record, 1870, no. 6, p. 19; Proceedings, 1877, p. 65. 



" A copy of this agreement is contained in Proceedings, 1880, Ap- 

 pendix. 



