86 



MY LIFE 



[Chap. 



or thrice as long as the cheaper articles now sold under the 

 same name. Boots were then all good leather and hand- 

 sewn, and though not so highly finished and a little dearer 

 than the cheapest kinds now made, would outlast two or 

 three pairs of the latter. At about the same period my 

 strong surveying boots cost 14s. a pair, but were really better 

 in quality than what I should pay 20^". for now. The general 

 result was, that the workman's clothing cost him rather less 

 then than they do at the present day. 



Another point Mr. Giffen overlooks which is of consider- 

 able importance. In the earlier period referred to almost all 

 workshops and factories were much smaller than they are 

 now, and employed each a much smaller number of men, who 

 were therefore able to live within about half a mile or less of 

 their work. If they were sent to work at a distance they 

 went in their master's time, or if by omnibus at their master's 

 expense. Now, however, the hundreds of men in each large 

 builder's or contractor's shops frequently live a mile or several 

 miles away, and can only reach the shop when work begins 

 either by a long and hurried walk or by paying tram or rail- 

 way fare to shorten the distance. Under average circum- 

 stances, having often to lose time waiting for train or tram, 

 and having a walk at both ends from home to station and 

 from station to work, each often half a mile or more, the loss 

 of time morning and evening fully makes up for any shorten- 

 ing of actual working hours, while the daily fares are a not 

 unimportant deduction from the increased wages. Taking 

 all these things into consideration, we see clearly how it was 

 that the mechanic of the thirties and forties of the last century 

 was able to afford quite as much meat as his successor of 

 to-day, and was, on the whole, quite as well off. 



As my brother was, at the time I am now speaking of, 

 nearly nineteen and a very good workman, he had complete 

 liberty in the evenings after seven o'clock, the only limitation 

 being that he was back about ten ; while on special occasions 

 he was allowed to take the door-key. He often took me with 

 him on fine evenings to some of the best business streets in 



