218 



GENERAL INCREASE OP WAGES, ETC. 



Hewer, one of the most intelligent of my workmen, who is 

 now approaching us. 



.4.— Good-day, Jones, I suppose you feel satisfied with the 

 results of your strike contest, which has terminated so favour- 

 ably for the workmen in your trade. 



Jones.— Ah, sir ! we are glad to have scored a success, but it 

 has been at a bitter cost to all of us. 



A.— But surely with 20 per cent, increase to your wages vou 

 ought to be fairly well satisfied. 



_ Jones.— Oh, that's true enough, so far as the rate of wages 

 is concerned, but trade is now in a very depressed state, and 

 as a consequence many of our brother workmen are but half 

 employed, and even if we were all fully employed at the better 

 wages now ruling it would take fully ten months to cover our 

 losses due to enforced idleness during the long bitter strike of 

 nine weeks, which brought us all so much distress and misery. 



A. — Ten months do you say ? 



Jones.— -Yes, fully that, without mentioning the increased 

 cost of living, now that the landlords are about to raise our 

 rents by about =£6 a year. 



A. — I should like to hear how you account for your loss 

 being so great that it should take so long a time at the 

 present higher wages to cover it. 



Jones— Oh, that's easily proved. Our nine weeks' idleness 

 caused us a direct loss of =820 12s. 6d., reckoned at our old 

 rate of 8s. 4d. a day, for 44 hours in the week. Our present 

 wages are higher by Is. 8d. a day (viz. 10s.), and it is easily 

 reckoned that it will take 247| days of that increase to make 

 it good ; and as we can only reckon 300 working days in the 

 year it means the better part of ten months' earnings to put 

 us straight. 



A.— How do you account for so many of your men being 

 still only half employed ? 



Jones.— Well, you see, the higher rents asked for the better 

 class of houses are driving the poorer classes into the inferior 

 houses that were formerly empty, and there is less demand 

 than usual for new houses inconsequence. 



B.— Jones is quite correct there, as I know to my cost ; for 

 I have not had a third of the contracts this year, as compared 

 with the average of the last three years, and my experience 

 is also the experience of other builder contractors. But in 

 my opinion there is another reason for the present slackness 

 in the building trade. 



A. — And what is that ? 



B.—I have long observed that statisticians are quite right 

 in their statement that a sudden increase, however caused in 



