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UNIL
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OF

THE STORY
OF
MANUAL LABOR
IN ALL LANDS AND AGES:
ITS PAST CONDITION,
PRESENT PROGRESS, AND
HOPE FOR THE FUTURE.
The Lights and Shadows of history in Contrast.
A COMPLETE PEN-PICTURE OF THE WAGE-WORKER, FROM A SOCIAL,
POLITICAL AND ECONOMICAL STANDPOINT,
TOGETHER WITH AN ACCOUNT OF
THE UNIONS, GUILDS, AND ASSOCIATIONS,
ORGANIZED FOR HIS BENEFIT AND PROTECTION.
By JOHN CAMERON SIMONDS,
Author of " History, Methods and Law of the Produce Exchange," "Biograph-
ical Sketches,” etc.
AND
JOHN T. McENNIS,
OF THE MISSOURI REPUBLICAN.
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
T. V. POWDERLY,
GRAND MASTER WORKMAN, KNIGHTS OF LABOR,
Illustrated with Portraits and Colored Diagrams.
CHICAGO:
R. S. PEALE & CO.
MDCCCLXXXVI.
*

*
COPYRIGHT, 1886.
RY
R. S. PEALE & CO
#
Press of the Home Library Association,
Cbicago.
Bati
C
Aimer Lib. Since
5-12-
45501
INTRODUCTION.
b
TH
HE prospect for the future of the laboring man in America is
brighter today than it ever was, notwithstanding the seemingly
"strained relations" at present existing between employer and em-
ployé.
That we are passing through an epidemic of strikes, lockouts and
boycotts, is true, but the fact must not be lost sight of, that were it not
for the growing power of organization we should have a great many
more strikes to contend with than we have had for the first three months
of the present year.
The growth of organization for the past ten years has been steady
and healthy. It is only where organization is in its infancy that serious.
troubles such as strikes and lockouts exist. The causes from which
strikes and lockouts spring are to be found in all parts of the country,
but the methods of dealing with the troubles as they arise are different.
In places where no organizations of labor exist, or where the seeds of
organization have just been planted, disputing parties are apt to become
involved in strikes. The reasons advanced in support of that proposition
are as follows: Until recently very few workingmen dared to express
their opinion in public on the subject of labor, for the reason that they
were almost certain of an immediate dismissal from the service of the
man or company they worked for, if it became known that they in any
way favored the association of workingmen for mutual protection.
With such a sentiment existing in the breasts of workingmen they could
not be expected to feel very kindly toward the employer who so jealously
watched their every movement, and who, by his actions, made them feel
that they were regarded rather as serfs than freemen. While the real
bone and sinew of the land remained in enforced silence, except where
it could be heard through the medium of the press and rostrum, through
chosen leaders, another class of men who seldom worked would insist on
"representing labor," and, in making glowing speeches on the rights
and wrongs of man, would urge the abolition of property," or the
"equal division of wealth;" such speakers very often suggesting that a
"
iii
iv
INTRODUCTION.
“
good thing to do would be to hang capitalists to lamp-posts." The
employer of labor who listened to such speeches felt that in suppressing
organization among his workmen he was performing a laudable act.
Yet he was by that means proving himself to be the most powerful ally
the anarchist could wish for. He caused his employés to feel that he
took no interest in them other than to get as many hours of toil out of
them for as few shillings as possible. The consequence was that the
employer, who was himself responsible for the smothering of the honest
expression of opinion on the part of labor, became possessed of the idea
that the raw-head-and-bloody-bones curb-stone orator was the real repre-
sentative of labor, and determined to exercise more vigilance and pre-
caution than ever in keeping his "help" out of the labor society. The
speaker who hinted at or advocated the destruction of property or the
hanging of capitalists to lamp-posts, was shrewd enough to speak very
kindly, and in a knowing manner, of labor associations, giving out the
impression that he held membership in one or more of them. Working-
men who were denied the right to organize, very frequently went to hear
Mr. Scientific lecture on the best means of handling dynamite. And
when the speaker portrayed the wrongs of labor, the thoughtful workman
could readily trace a resemblance between the employer painted by the
lecturer and the man he himself worked for. Workmen employed by
those who frowned on labor organizations became sullen and morose;
they saw in every action of the superintendent another innovation on
their rights, and they finally determined to throw off the yoke of oppres-
sion, organize and assert their manhood. The actions of the superin-
tendent, or boss, very often tended to widen the breach between em-
ployer and employé. When the organization did come it found a very
bitter feeling existing on both sides, and before studying the laws of the
society they joined, or becoming conversant with its rules or regulations
regarding the settlement of disputes or grievances, the workmen deter-
mined to wipe out of existence the whole system of petty tyrannies that
had been practiced on them for years. Not being drilled in organiza-
tion, and feeling that the employer would not treat with them, the only
remedy suggesting itself was the strike. And, on the other hand, the
employer who felt that every move of his workmen in organization would
be directed against his interests, determined to take time by the forelock
and turn them all out on the street. Thus we find the organization in
its infancy face to face with a strike or lockout.
•
This condition of affairs existed in a great many places throughout
the United States in the beginning of the present year. Absorbed in
INTRODUCTION.
V
the task of getting large dividends, the employer seldom inquired of his
superintendent how he managed the business intrusted to his keeping,
or how he treated his employés. In thousands of places throughout the
United States, as many superintendents, foremen, or petty bosses are
interested in stores, corner groceries or saloons. In many places the
employé is told plainly that he must deal at the store, or get his liquor
from the saloon in which his boss has an interest; in others he is given
to understand that he must deal in these stores or saloons, or forfeit his
situation. Laws have been passed in some states against the keeping of
company stores, but the stores are kept nevertheless, and workmen are
made to feel that they must patronize them.
In many cases the owners of mills, factories or mines are not aware
of the existence of such institutions as the "pluck me"- the name ap-
plied to the company store-but they stand so far away from their em-
ployés that they cannot hear the murmur of complaint, and if a whisper
of it ever does reach their ears it comes through the boss who is not only
interested in the store, but in keeping its existence a secret from his em-
ployer. The keeping of such stores is another source of injustice to
workmen, for their existence tends to widen the breach between employer
and employé. It may seem that I am dealing with insignificant things
in this paper, but when the statement is made, that seven out of
every ten superintendents or bosses are interested in the management,
and derive profits from the operation of stores which employés are forced
to patronize, I make an assertion which can be proved. In a country
where every man, no matter how humble, is taught from his infancy
that he stands the equal of all other men, it is but natural for a citizen
who is given to understand that he must patronize a certain store, or
that he cannot join a certain society, to feel restive, and, where so much
is promised and so little obtained, men are apt to lose faith in a law-
making system which obliges the workman himself to become complain-
ant and prosecutor in cases where the laws are violated to his detriment.
If he prosecutes, he is discharged. If he does not prosecute for infrac-
tions of law, but simply complains, he is told to invoke the majesty of
the law in his own behalf. In this way law is disregarded; it becomes a
dead letter; men lose hope in law and law-makers.
The constant itching and irritation caused by the indifference of the
employer to their welfare, and the injustices practiced on them by petty
bosses, go on until the men feel that the only remedy is through the
strike. In this way men who belong to no organization are launched
into strikes.
vi
INTRODUCTION.
Workingmen are not, as a rule, educated men. When the strike
does come, while they feel that they have been wronged, yet they are
lacking in the command of language necessary to state their case prop-
erly to the world, and, hence, set forth their claims in such a way as to
arouse prejudices or create false impressions. The other side having the
advantage of education, either personally or by right of purchase, can
and does mold public opinion in a great many cases.
I have pointed out one or two of the little things which cause a great
deal of uneasiness and vexation to workingmen; others have pointed out
the root of the evil. The workingman of the United States will soon
realize that he possesses the power which kings once held—that he has
the right to manage his own affairs. The power of the king has passed
away. The power of wealth is passing away. The evening shadows are
closing in upon the day when immense private fortunes can be acquired.
The new power dawning upon the world is that of the workingman to
rule his own destinies. That power can no longer be kept from him.
How will he wield it?
This question is of great concern not only to the workingman but to
every citizen of the republic, and the hand of every citizen who loves his
country should be extended to assist the new ruler. I have no fears be-
cause of the present apparent disturbed condition of the labor world;
on the contrary, the signs are very hopeful. Wendell Phillips once said,
"Never look for an age when the people can be quiet and safe. At such
times Despotism like a shrouding mist steals over the mirror of Free-
dom."
The people are not quiet today, but they are safe. It is the power of
monopoly that is not safe. The men who pile up large fortunes must
compensate for that privilege in the payment of a graduated income tax.
The blessings which they derive from wealth must be shared by the
nation from which they extract that wealth.
The hours of labor must be reduced throughout the nation, so that
the toilers may have more time in which to learn the science of self-
government. Labor-saving machinery instead of making a slave of man
must become his servant. How will the workingman wield his power?
Organized labor says the power will be wisely handled, but we must have
the cooperation of the vast middle classes. The employer and employed
must no longer stand apart. The barriers of pride, caste, greed, hatred
and bitterness must be torn down. The workingman and his employer
must meet face to face, they must discuss every detail in the manage-
ment of the concerns they are jointly operating. No sacrifice of princi-
INTRODUCTION.
vii
ple on the one hand or of manhood on the other need attend such a
transaction. In the management of great or small concerns each griev-
ance, each trouble or difference, whether in relation to discipline or
wages, should be talked over in a conciliatory spirit and arbitrated.
Joint boards of arbitration should be formed between manufacturer and
workmen all over the country. Each party should devote considerable
time to the perfecting of the plans best suited to their interests or sur-
roundings, for rules governing one case or locality might not work well
in another.
Having after careful deliberation agreed upon the rules, each party
should sign the articles of agreement, binding itself to abide by them
until changed by consent of both. Agreements of this kind will be the
means of settling differences as they arise, and with their inauguration
strikes, lockouts and boycotts will not be entered upon so readily, and,
if ever called into play, then only as the very last resort.
T. V. POWDERLY.
AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
ERODOTUS lived nearly five hundred years before Christ. He
wrote a charming tale of the civilized world of his time. He is
reputed to be the "father of history." Since his day the writing of his-
tory has been one of the most popular and prolific fields of literature.
Histories have been multiplied a thousandfold in each succeeding age.
Histories have been written of wars, political movements, religions,
morals, learning, science, arts, philosophy and economics; but in all
ages it is the picturesque and dramatic aspect of human affairs that has
monopolized the attention of historians. The splendor of mighty des-
potisms, the "pomp and circumstance of war," the strife of parties,
the tumult of factions, the intrigues of diplomacy, the political rise of
states, and the civil death of nations; it is these topics that have exer-
cised the pen and absorbed the interest of mankind. Captivating pict..
ures have been given to the world of embattled hosts, "gleaming with
purple and gold," of the plumed and crested knight, of the skillful
statesman and astute politician, of the cunning diplomat, of the brilliant
orator, and the successful warrior. Consummate art has been attained
in this method. Little, if any, improvement can be expected in that
direction. It is novelty in the subject matter alone that can be sought
for. It is in the contents of history, and not in its methods, that orig-
inality can be claimed.
Of late, a change has overtaken the Muse of history. Interest has
been awakened, not in the general, but in the soldier; not in the king,
but in the subject; not in the noble, but in the peasant. Thoughtful
men are now asking: What of the artisan? What of the mechanic?
What of the farmer?
Kings and queens and warriors, it is said, are not the makers of his-
tory. It is the people that are the builders of a nation. It is no longer
the pyramid of Cheops, but the pyramid of Egypt; it is not the Parthe-
non of Pericles and Phidias, but the "glory that was of Greece." It is
now realized that what was once known as the Arch of Tiberias was
ix
X
AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
neither conceived nor erected by the Roman emperor. It is the thought
of a nameless architect, embodied by an unknown mechanic. Can it be
said to be the Colosseum of Vespasian when that stupendous monument
of antiquity was the conception of an artist obscured by a selfish mon-
arch, and when each mighty stone is a reminder of the masses who
toiled in its erection? It is not of the great Cyrus that we now care to
hear, but of the Persian shepherd; it is not of Croesus and his wealth,
but of his husbandman.
Information is not wanted of mighty Cæsar, but of the Roman popu-
lace he secretly despised. The minds of men are no longer bewitched
by the genius of Napoleon Bonaparte; all eyes are now turned to the
Third Estate, and that proletaire that shattered one of the most hoary
and brilliant monarchies of Europe, and shook the political foundations.
of the Old World to the very center.
Our book is a response to this change in public opinion. But in this
age of innumerable books, it may be reasonably asked: Why should this
book be written? We answer: Because a similar book has not been
written. It is the story of manual labor in all lands and ages. So far
as known to the authors, there is not a similar book in the English lan-
guage, and it may be said, indeed, in any language. It will tell the
story of the farmer, of the artisan, of the mechanic, of the wage-worker
in every country and epoch. It will speak of his political relations to
the state, his position in the social order, of his work and how it was
performed, of his home, his family, his food, his raiment; in brief, we
will attempt the history of those who "earned their bread in the sweat
of their face"; of how they lived, toiled, suffered and died. Our theme
will be of the forge and the anvil, not of the lance, the sword and
bayonet; of the thatched cottage, not the stately castle; of the hut, not
the palace; of the "Cotter's Saturday Night," not of the glittering
pageantry of gilded halls. We have essayed to do for those nameless
heroes of all time-those masses of the people, that have fought the
battles, builded the cities, and wrought the fabric of civilization; what
has already been done for the monarch, the warrior, the nobleman and
the statesman.
We venture the assertion, that in no one book can be found informa-
tion so extensive and peculiar. Many busy hands and busy minds have
been culling this information from thousands of books of every nature
and description. No labor or pains has been spared in this effort, and
facts and figures have been gleaned from the by-ways as well as the high-
ways of literature; from encyclopedias and books of travel; from his-
AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
xi
tories and from novels; from poets and from economists; from writers of
romance and the teachers of political philosophy; from memoirs, biog-
raphies and the reports of Labor Bureaus. In a word, it will contain
what can not be found in any encyclopedia or compend of universal
knowledge yet published.
Theory and speculation we have avoided. The world of thought is
teeming with opinions on the problems of labor. Every thinking man
has a doctrine for the occasion and a precept for its exigency. (Thou-
sands of books, periodicals, pamphlets and tracts, are published for this
purpose.) Opinions and sympathies, the authors certainly have. They
believe, however, that facts are wanted more than theories. Therefore,
they write of the every-day life of the hand-toiler; of his struggles and
his triumphs, if any; of the vicissitudes that have beset his path, and
of his experiences either for weal or for woe. This the authors have
done, in order that the present may be studied in the light of the past;
and it is hoped that even their feeble efforts may illustrate in a degree,
that "History is philosophy teaching by example."
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PART I. LABOR IN THE ORIENT.
CHAPTER I.-INDIA.
PAGE.
Historical Outlines-Arts, Sciences and Literature-Condition of the Laboring
Classes Prior to the English Dominion-The Indian Feudal System under
the Native Chiefs-Caste the Foundation of Society-System of Agricul-
ture - Labor and Land in India-The Land Tax-The Land System - The
Growth of Private Rights-Manufacturing Labor-Native Industries — The
Wage-worker in Different Epochs-Pressure of Population-Famines and
their Cause-Purchasing Power of Wages during a Famine-Proportion of
Pauper Population - Infanticide..
CHAPTER II.-CHINA.
Physical and Political Geography-Progress and Character of Chinese Civiliza-
tion - Architecture Arts, Sciences and Manufactures-Mariner's Com-
pass-Gunpowder-Printing-Paper and Ink-Porcelain Ware-Metallic
Mirrors - Carvings in Wood and Ivory-The Great Wall - The Great
Canal-The Imperial Highway — Asylums for the Aged and Infirm — Impe-
rial Granaries- Agriculture-Social Order and Condition of the People—
Density of Population - Destitution of the Day Laborer- Food, Dress and
Habitations-Compensation of Day-labor— Of Bricklayers and Carpenters —
Infanticide - Domestic Slavery — Kidnaping —Cruelty to Slaves - Official
Position not Hereditary-Civil Preferment Open to All Classes of Society-
Is there a Pariah Class in China?...
CHAPTER III.-JAPAN.
-Her Unique Position in History—“The Greeks of Asia❞— Supposed Origin of
the People-The Japanese and Chinese Compared-The First Emperor-
The Great Book - The Court of Nobles- Agriculture the Chief Industry-
Historical Data-The Rise of the Military Class-The Overthrow of the
Ancient Regime—A Melancholy Picture-Iyeyasu-Establishment of the
Feudal System—Apportionment of Land-The “Daimios” and “Kuges”
33
44
xiii
xiv
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE.
The Income of the Daimios-The Merciless Exactions-Division of the
Population into Classes-"Eta" and "Hunin"-The Farmers-Their Posi-
sition-The Common Laborer-Human Horses-Labor Abundant and
Cheap The Slave Trade-The Artisan Class-Trade Guilds-Merchant
Traders The Food of the Working People-Clothing-Houses-Educa-
tion-Treatment of the Farmers by their Masters-Agrarian Riots-The
Result of Oppression - The Revolution-Condition of the Country after the
Revolution - How the Samurias were Disarmed-The Abolition of the
Feudal System-The Farmers as Affected by the New Order of Things-
The Fishermen - The Mine Laborer-The Priests-The Artisans Under the
New Order of Things-The Coolies-The Barbers...
54
PART II. LABOR IN ANTIQUITY.
CHAPTER I. — EGYPT.
Teacher of Nations-Cradle of Arts and Sciences - Memphis, Thebes Dawn
of History Stones have Voices- The Oppressed and Downtrodden — The
Nile- Area in Square Miles-Fertility of the Soil-Productions - Egyptian
Monuments - The Country Described -Historical Epochs - Establishment
of the Empire- Conservative Character of Egyptian Civilization - Develop-
ment of the Caste System - Architecture and Public Works - Temples, Pal-
aces, Obelisks and Colossi - Early Egyptian Society-Condition of the
Working People - Forced Labor— Oppression of the People- Perfection of
the Caste System — Joseph —The Famine-The Number of Castes -
-
Royal Family-Priests and Soldiers-"The Third Estate" - Laborers
Tradesmen Artisans Builders Architects Herdsmen Farmers
Fishermen - Relative Position of the Castes - Their Characteristics, Privi-
leges and Rights - Industrial Arts and Manufactures — Universal Tyranny
- Homes of the Rich and the Poor-Dress of the Laboring Men - Land
and Land Tenure-Land Owned by the King, Priests and Warriors- The
Farmer- His Condition-Agriculture...
CHAPTER II. - PALESTINE.
The Significance of Small Countries in History - Ancient Palestine- The Six
Periods of Hebrew History-The Patriarchal, Theocratical and Monarchical
Phases of National Existence-Abraham, Isaac and Jacob-Herdsmen,
Shepherds and Stock-raisers - The Twelve Sons of Jacob- The Twelve
Tribes of Israel--The Migration of Jacob and His Family - Egyptian Bond-
age-Its Toils and Hardships-The Mosaic Record-Phenomenal Increase
67
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
IV
•
PAGE.
of the Hebrews - The Exodus -- Wanderings and Labors in the Wilderness
- Building of the Tabernacle-Skilled Labor - Arts and Industries Brought
from Egypt-Conquest of Palestine-Apportionment of the Land-Agri-
culture the Main Pursuit-Galilee - Judea - Climate - Soil-Production -
Farming Methods - Land and Land Tenure-Feudal System-Year of
Jubilee and Sabbatical Year-Official Positions-Saul the First King-
David - Solomon-Building of the Temple-Work on the Temple - Con-
scripted Mechanics and Laborers - Rehoboam -- Babylonian Captivity —
Babylon-The Return to Palestine-Rebuilding the Walls of Jerusalem
Trades and Labor Under the Asmonean Princes-Under the Herodian
House-Crafts and Guilds-Industries — Houses and Food of Working
Classes The Rabbis and the Industrial Arts-Rebuilding the Temple-
Wages and Cost of Living..
CHAPTER III. — CHALDEA AND ASSYRIA.
The Garden of Eden-The Empire of Chaldea-Nimrod, the Founder - Tradi-
tions and Legends of Berosus-Nineveh - Semiramis, the Queen - The
Foundation of Babylon- A Description of the Great City - The Temples of
the Gods and the Palaces of the Kings - The Temple of Belus — The Men
who Built These Great Structures-Taxes, how Paid - The Rulers and the
Ruled Character of the People - The Position of Women - Agriculture —
Fertility of the Soil - The Farmer-Arts and Manufactures - The Position
of the Artisan - The Food and Clothing of the Rich and Poor — Slavery
Downfall of the Kingdom......
Mgr. P
CHAPTER IV. PERSIA.
The First Historic People - The Persian Wars - The Historical Position of Per-
sia - Origin of the Race - Their Migration - Amalgamated with the Tar-
tars Early Social Divisions - Priests, Soldiers and Farmers- Social
Equality of all Classes — Serfdom and Slavery — Development of Class Dis-
tinctions under Cyrus — Agriculture and Stock-raising the Principal Occu-
pations Agriculture commended by their Religion and Fostered by the
Government — Priests and Princes as Farmers - Farming Methods-Land-
scape Gardening and Horticulture - Extravagance of the King - Extortions
King-Extortions
of the Governors The Soil of Media and Persia - Irrigation - Fishing
Privileges — Condition of the Working Classes Generally - Taxes and
Levies — Training of Children - Condition of the People under Several
Kings-The Architectural Remains-Building - Mechanics - Carpentery
Houses and Dress of the Poor
CHAPTER V.— GREECE.
"The Glory that was Greece "- Greck Civilization - Shepherds, Husbandmen and
Artisans The Migratory Period Its Industries - The Homeric or Heroic
Age The Arts and Industries of that Period - The Development of Aris-
-
79
92
102
xvi
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE.
tocracy The Condition of Farmers, Mechanics and Laborers under the
Aristocracy The "Democracy" of Solon - Property the Basis of Citizen-
ship — Athenian Democracy - The Periclean Epoch Attica Representative
of Greece - Sparta the Exception - The Spartan Constitution Spartiatæ
— Periæci — Helots- Serfs and Slaves - The Slaughter of the Helots-
Slavery in Greece - All Mechanical Arts Performed by Slaves - Slave Labor
in Laconia, Messenia, Crete and Thessaly -Heeren on the Mechanics and
Mechanical Arts in Greece Industrial Arts During the Age of Pericles-
Agriculture in Greece Agriculture and Grazing in Attica — Wages and
Cost of Living - Clothing of the Manual Laborer- His Home, Food and
Condition-Manufactures-The Macedonian Period......
CHAPTER VI.-TYRE, SIDON, CARTHAGE.
A People who Gave the Alphabet to the World, yet Have no Literature Their
Granite Structures Crumbled to Earth, and Foreign Historians Tell their
Story - Phoenicia's Ancient Grandeur-The Civilization and Institutions of
the Three Great Cities - The Farmers, Artisans and Laborers - Architecture
and Stock-raising - Mining - Agriculture - Ship Building-Commerce-
A Race of Adventurous Mariners - Colonies and Trading Posts - The Man-
ufacture of Glass in Sidon - The Dyes and Fabrics of Tyre- The Skilled
Industrial Workers of Carthage- The Gemsia - The Wars with Rome-
"Delenda est Carthago
•
108
117
CHAPTER VII. — ROME.
--
Early History-Primitive Inhabitants - Agriculture the Foundation of Rome's
Welfare Farmers in the Early Ages - Field Labor and Domestic Occupa-
tions - The Establishment of Slavery - The Decay of the Small Farmers –
Their Distress Internal Strife- The Enforcement of the Debtor Laws-
The Fatal Effects of Slavery-The Agrarian Laws of Spurius Cassius-
Marcus Manlius Cast from the Tarpeian Rock-The Contest Between the
Patricians and Plebeians - The Licinian Laws-Tiberius Gracchus Espouses
the Cause of the People-His Eloquence-His Popularity-His Proposed
Law-Violent Opposition of the Capitalists - Deposition of Octavius-The
Laws of Gracchus Passed- He Arrives at the Summit of Power-His As-
sassination — No Hope for the People-The System of Land Cultivation -
Pastoral Husbandry — Efforts to Manumit the Slaves Frustrated — Antagon-
ism Between Free and Slave Labor- The Farm in the time of Cæsar - Slave
Labor Universal - The Empire Becomes Terrified at its Ravages - The Ar-
tisans - The Guilds-The End of the Empire...
127
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
xvii
PART III. LABOR IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
CHAPTER I.- GENERAL SURVEY.
—
PAGE.
The Fall of the Western Empire- The Rise of the Eastern Empire-Islamism
Saracenic Civilization-Feudalism-Two Pictures Contrasted Condition
of the Early German Tribes-Their Character, Pursuits and Industries
Manufacture of Armor and War Implements - Rome - Constantinople
Laborers and Artisans Under Constantine- Public Works Architecture
Condition of the Laboring Classes generally under Constantine - Taxes
Byzantine Civilization - Mohammed - Moslem Architecture
Moslem Architecture - Manufactures
at Toledo, at Damascus, and in Granada - Development of France and Ger-
many - Slavery gives place to Serfdom - Contrast between Christianity and
Islamism - The Crusades-Lord and Vassal — Petty Wars - Chivalry..... 144
-
CHAPTER II. — ITALY.
The Teachings of Roman History - Industrial Independence and Social Freedom
- Roman Civilization — Artisans and other Workmen
Artisans and other Workmen - Modern Italy
Odoacer — Effect of his Invasion upon Industry in Italy - Theodoric and the
Goths Agriculture under the Goths-Lombard Domination - Apportion-
ment of the Land among the Lombard Captains-Italian Serfs-Four
Classes of Society- Military Servants- Domestics - The Aldii - The Servii
Lombard Tyranny and Laws - Slavery — General Condition of Manual
Laborers - Improvement in Lombard Civilization - Progress in Agriculture
Condition of the Working Classes under Charlemagne - Freedom in the
Cities The Industrial Arts in Italy under Frederick Barbarossa - His Bar-
baric Severity - The Lombard Cities and their Government - The Guelphs
and Ghibellines- The People of the Lombard Cities - The People of Venice
- General Condition of Italy at the close of the Middle Ages,
CHAPTER III — SPAIN.
The Romance and Tragedy of Spanish History - The First Inhabitants - Car-
thaginian and Roman Rule-Roman Colonies - The Condition of Spain
Under Augustus Cæsar and Subsequent Emperors- Eras of Extortion and
Oppression, and Periods of Prosperity and Progress — The Barbarian Inva-
sion The Moorish Conquest - Industrial Activity Under the Arabs and
Saracens - The Conflict Between Moslemism and Christianity..
CHAPTER IV.-GERMANY.
•
An Unconquered Race of Barbarians-Slavery and Serfdom- The Dawn of
Civilization — A Surprising Industrial Growth - The Reign of Charlemagne
An Era of Advancement, Thrift and Education — The Rise of the Artisan
Class-The Establishment of Guilds- Wages and Cost of Living - Degen-
160
168
xviii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE.
cracy of German Industry after the Thirty Years' War- The Famine of
1637 Aristocratic Profligacy and Popular Destitution — Education and
Skilled Labor.....
•
• •
174
CHAPTER V.-FRANCE.
Conditions of the People under the Carlovingian Monarchs
ism
Aspects of Feudal-
Superiors-Vassals - Decline of the Feudal System - The Communes
Their Origin, Promise and Decline Struggle of the Third Estate under
the House of Valois - The Uprisings of the Peasants..
CHAPTER VI.-ENGLAND.
The Magna Charta - General Condition Under the Saxons - Under the Normans
- Power and Privileges of the King- The Great Assembly, or Witena-
gemote Social Order of the Early English - The Ceorls The Theows, or
Slaves Institutions and Government Under the Plantagenets Innovations
in the Feudal System - Burgesses First Summoned Under Henry III.-
Growth of the Commons Under Edward III.- Agriculture of the Saxons -
Their Architecture — Their Rude Domestic Furniture The Mechanics and
Artisans...
•
183
193
PART IV. LABOR IN THE MODERN WORLD.
CHAPTER I.-GERMANY.
The Uprising of the Peasantry-Causes and Effects of the Peasants' War - The
Decadence of Serfdom - Industrial
Industrial Progress
Progress - The Introduction of
Machinery Manufactures and the Practical Arts Exemplary Workman-
ship-Material Comforts of the Working Classes - Industrial Schools
Laws Against Food Adulteration - The Krupp Works at Essen-An
Employing Friend of Labor — Emigration
Emigration — Thrift and Industry of the
Agricultural Classes - Mining-Skilled Labor - Popular Education
Industrial Spirit the Dominating National Force .
CHAPTER II. ENGLAND.
The
Ignorance of Political Economy in the Sixteenth Century- The Homes and
Domestic Comforts of the Farmer and Laborer - Wages and Cost of Living
Child Labor at Norwich - The Ivy-grown Cottages of England in Fiction
and in Reality-Food of the Peasantry Land Tenures An Improvident
and Reckless Method of Agriculture - The Artisan, Mechanic and Laborer
of Today — The Typical English Manufactory — The Peabody Tenements
General Condition of the English Wage-Workers....
205
215
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
xix
CHAPTER III.—SCOTLAND.
PAGE.
Early Inhabitants - Feudalism -- Slavery and Serfdom Cotters and Husband-
men Wretched Condition of the Agricultural Classes-Lawlessness and
Oppression in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries Agriculture at the
Present Day Condition of the Farm-Laborer The Bothy System - "Fee
Markets"- Female Labor - The Disappearance of the Crofts and the In-
crease of Pauperism - The Mechanic, Artisan and Operative Classes-The
Dwellings of the Wage-Workers - The Coöperative Building Company..... 23
CHAPTER IV.— Wales.
The Industrial Districts Described — Agriculture - The Miners and Quarrymen
-Wages-Dwellings and Mode of Life - Character of the Welsh People... 244
CHAPTER V.— IRELAND.
Class Distinction in Ancient Times - Medieval Craftsmen - Manufactures and
Mechanical Arts-Land Monopoly and Political Greed the Curses of Ire-
land-Absentee Landlordism- Agriculture-Wretched Condition of the
Small Farmer-Condition of the Wage-worker, the Artisan and the Mechanic 248
CHAPTER VI.- FRANCE.
The Edict of Nantes - Deplorable Condition of the French Peasantry-Im-
provement Under Henry IV.-Richelieu and Mazarin - The Huguenots-
Manufacturing Industries Under the Policy of Colbert-Condition of the
People Before the Revolution-Results of the Bloody Upheaval of 1789
The Napoleonic Wars― Rapid and Sudden Dynastic Changes — Coöperative
Workshops- The Association of Masons" and Kindred Organizations
The Prudhommes Manufactures- Agriculture-Minute Division of Labor
in Paris-The Dignity and Pride of Labor - The Habits and Methods of
the French Peasant Proprietor-The Artisan, Mechanic and Laborer.. 256
CHAPTER VII.— BELGIUM.
Historical Outline-Agriculture - Manufactures - Mining -Condition of the
Laboring Classes-Coöperative Societies - Female Labor.
CHAPTER VIII.-SPAIN.
-
267
Expulsion of the Moors-Contrast Between the Spaniards and the Moors - Deg-
radation of Labor in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries- Improve-
ment in the Last Two Hundred Years - Antique Methods in Agriculture,
Manufactures and Mechanics-Spanish Artisans - Mining -- Agriculture in
a Backward Condition — The Curse of Mesta-Wages - Poverty the Rule
Among the Tillers of the Soil - Food, Clothing and Habits of the People... 271
XX
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IX.- PORTUGAL.
PAGE.
Primitive Lusitania - The Most Enlightened People of the Fifteenth Century-
The Constitution of 1821-Slow Recovery from the Evils of Imperial
Oppression — Agriculture — Manufactures Wages - Land Tenures - Con-
dition of the Laboring Classes.
CHAPTER X.- ITALY.
-
Ancient Rome and Modern Italy Contrasted - The Industries of the Nation
Primitive Agriculture - Land Tenures-The Laboring Classes
Classes - The
Handicrafts- Wages and Mode of Living-Increase of Pauperism-Phys-
ical and Moral Condition of the People..
CHAPTER XI.-AUSTRO-HUNGARY.
Feudality Prior to 1773 - Political Aspects and Changes - The Union- The
Home of the Austrian Peasant- Austrian Manufactures - Manual Labor in
Austria - Iron Works and Foundries - Agriculture -The Quicksilver
Mines - The Population of Hungary - The Saxon Peasant Farmer The
Hungarian Copper Mines-Dwelling of the Hungarian Peasant-The
Farm Laborer - The Peasant Before Emancipation - Condition of the
Women - The Bohemian People, Past and Present Gold Mining - The
Salt Districts of Styria and Galicia - Land Tenures Power of the Lords-
Peasant Nobility— The Laborer and Mechanic of Today - Trades and Oc-
cupations in the Various Provinces- Wage Rates and Cost of Living-Gen-
eral Condition of the Working People- The Carpenters of Vienna-The
Blast Furnaces of Carinthia Bohemian Glass Workers - The Machine and
Locomotive Shops of Lower Austria — The Day-Laborer and the Agricultural
Laborer of Today The Political Status of the Workingman..
CHAPTER XII.-HOLLAND.
In the Time of Cæsar- The Dykes
Character of the Dutch - Agriculture and
Grazing― The Tulip Craze―The Fisheries-The Diamond Industry of
Amsterdam-The Varied Industries of Holland - Economy a National Trait
- Wages-Cleanliness of the Hollanders - Treatment of Women - Pauper
Colonies...
280
285
292
303
CHAPTER XIII.-SWITZERLAND.
Geographical Peculiarities - Climate — Antiquities -History-Political Revo-
lution-The Alp-Cheese-Making - Success in Coöperation - Farms and
Land Tenure Cotton Manufacture
Cotton Manufacture — Silk and Woolen Factories - Wine-
Making — Difficulties in the Way of Marriage — Mercenaries — Imports and
Exports Why the Switzer Loves His Home..
-
313
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
xxi
CHAPTER XIV.-SCANDINAVIA.
—
PAGE.
Early History of the Scandinavians - Agriculture, Mining and Manufactures in
Norway - Land Tenures - Wide distribution of Land Property - Character
Nomadic
and Habits of the People - The Industrial History of Sweden
Farm Laborers - Child Labor - Social Distinctions - Household Industry
The Danes in History - The Curious Revolution of 1660- The Industries
of Denmark -Condition of the Peasants and the Working Classes.
CHAPTER XV.—RUSSIA.
324
A Country with an Asiatic Interior and a European Exterior-Peter the Great
- His Reign the Beginning of Material Progress in Russia - Manufactures
- St. Petersburg - The Kremlin in Moscow Serfdom - Oppression of the
Peasantry Under Catherine the Great-Emancipation - Mode of Life
Among the Peasantry - The Wretched Lot of Woman - The City Burghers
Merchants and Artisans — Guilds and Trade- Corporations - Manufact-
uring Industries - Wages and Cost of Living in Poland and Finland....... 334
CHAPTER XVI.- MODERN GREECE.
The Struggle for Independence at the Beginning of the Century-Fosent Polit-
ical and Material Condition of the Country-Manufactures and Agriculture
- The Food and Manner of Life of the Ionian Farm Laborer.
•
CHAPTER XVII.- THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE.
Extent and Population - Turkey in Europe - Turbulence and Outlawry - Char-
acter of the Turks- Agriculture - Beggarly Wages - Food — Famines-
Dress - Slavery― Marriage — Mechanics and Artisans - Guilds — Wages—
Character of the Turks and Christians Contrasted.....
CHAPTER XVIII.- MODERN PERSIA.
Mechanics and Industries—The Artisans of Persia and their Occupations —
Wood-turning and Metal-working - Architecture - Carpet-weaving — Agri-
culture-Social and Political Condition of the Manual Laborer...
348
351
364
PART V. LABOR IN AMERICA.
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION.
The Fallow Field of the Western World - The Indians, their Origin and their
Civilization — Relics Showing the High Organization of Labor in Prehistoric
America - Indian Methods-The Position of Woman The Division of
Labor- The Land System Among the Aborigines The Coming of the
White Man..
407
xxii
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER II.-THE COLONIES.
—
PAGE.
The First Colonists- Why They Came-Overcrowded Europe-Westward, Ho
The Land System of the Colonists Crown Grants - Feudalism in America
- The Importation of Persons Bound to Servitude- Origin of Some of “The
First Families"-The Puritan and the Cavalier-The Beginnings of the
Slave Power — Its Geographical Spread — The Pioneers - The Causes Which
Led to the Revolution
CHAPTER III. FREE AMERICA.
The New Position of the Workingman - The New Political Theorists — Relics
-
of the Feudal System Still on the Statute Books The Development of the
Country - The Invitation to Europe-Immigration - Conquering the Wil-
derness "The Home of the Oppressed"- Work and Wages From the
War of the Revolution to the Opening of the Nineteenth Century - The
Reflection of the French Revolution - "American Aristocracy The Rise
of Corporations -- The Development of Slavery.
• ·
"
CHAPTER IV.-THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
The Dawn of a New Arca for Labor-The Farmers' Clubs - Causes of the Or-
ganization of Labor in America - Agriculture as a Pursuit-Its Effect on
the Mechanics-Work for All-The Extent of the Public Domain - The
Louisiana Purchase-The Mississippi Valley - Protection and Free Trade
-The Development of Mechanical Industries - The Inventive Genius of the
American Artisan ·Consequences of the Diversion of Labor From Agricul-
ture to Manufactures - The Distribution of Urban Population-The Appear-
ance of the Tramp..
•
CHAPTER V.- THE FORMATIVE PERIOD.
>> ""
99 66
412
421
429.
The Reorganization of Labor - The Early Guilds and Their Influence - The
Caulkers' Club and the Boston Massacre- The First American Trades-
Union, 1803- The Sailors' Strike-The New York Typographical Society,
1817-The Formation Period From 1825 to 1861-The First Appearance of
the Labor Press - "The Workingman's Advocate,' The Sentinel, Young
America” — The First Labor Platform―The Workingman in Politics — The
Campaign of 1830- The Loco-Focos-"The General Trades-Union of New
York" - The First Labor Representative in Congress - The Conspiracy
Laws Child and Female Labor- A Day's work - Factory Management -
The New England Association Combined Action — Ten Years' Growth of
Trades-Unions- The Situation in 1860..
435
CHAPTER VI.- THE NEW ERA.
The Civil War - Its Effect on Labor- The Destruction of Slavery - The Finan-
cial Condition of the Country at its Close - The Impetus Given to Manufact
ures — Rapid Growth of Labor Organizations — Attempt at National Federa-
TABLE OF CONTENTS
xxiii
PAGE.
tion of Workingmen - The Eight Hour Movement-The Grangers-Rail-
road Development, its Causes and Consequences—The Growth of Capital —
The Economic Condition of 1886..
445
CHAPTER VII.—THE EVENTS OF 1886.
The Southwestern Strike-A Synopsis of the Facts in the most Stubborn Fight
of the Century Between Organized Capital and Organized Labor - The Eight-
Hour Movement- The "Four Eights" The Numbers engaged in the
Move, and the Results throughout the Country......
CHAPTER VIII.-THE FIELD OF THE TRADES-UNION.
Insincere Arguments Against Trades-Unions - The Real Reason for the Hostility
to Labor Organizations — Communism vs. Anarchy - The Fault on Both
Sides Labor as Merchandise - The Workingman's Limitations — The Goad
of Want - The Truck System - Employment for the Trades-Union - The
Black List The Iron-Clad Oath..
451
465
CHAPTER IX.-STRIKES IN THEORY AND PRACTICE.
The Wage System a Relic of Feudalism-Compromise the Ultimate Law of
Nature The Trades-Union the Emancipator of Labor - The Ethics of the
Labor Question -- A Self-Adjusting Apportionment of Profits to be Substitu-
ted for the Illogical system Now in Vogue-An Appeal for Industrial Emanci-
pation....
CHAPTER X.- THE RIVALS OF AMERICAN LABOR.
Immigrant Competition - The Products of American Labor Protected, but no
Protection for American Labor itself - The Connection Between Immigra-
tion and Bankruptcy-Convict Competition-The Whole Domain of National
Industry Affected by Criminal Labor-Mechanical Competition — The
Effect of Machinery on Manual Labor..
CHAPTER XI.- THE ARMY OF THE DISCONTENTED.
BY T. V. POWDERLY.
The Number of the Unemployed - The Downward Tendency of Wages
"The Law of Supply and Demand' The Relation of Wages to the Cost of
Production — Child Labor—The Plea for Shorter Hours - The Effect of
Labor-saving Machinery - The Eight-hour System-"The Sin of Cheap-
Too Much Wheat," yet Millions of Men and Women in Want of
ness
"}
Bread..
•
•
471
481
499
xxiv
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XII.-MEXICO.
PAGE
Antiquity of Mexican Civilization - Prehistoric Mexico - The Cities of Chaco –
The Pyramids of Xochicalo and Papantla-Aztec Civilization Industrial
Education of Children - Slavery - Dress and Food of the Working Classes
Condition of Mexico at the Time of the Spanish Invasion-Mining-Agri-
culture Trades - Women - The City of Mexico - Barbarities of Spanish
Rule-Modern Mexico-Slavery Abolished-Agriculture - Mining-Archi-
tecture and Homes of the People....
CHAPTER XIII.-CENTRAL AMERICA.
·
Evidences of Prehistoric Labor- The Ruins of Copan and Palenque-Central
Americans of Today - Occupations - The Indians - Agricultural Laborers
-Dress - Food at Starvation Prices - Logging — Mining - Wagoners —The
Cities of Granada and Leon-Habits and Customs- Spinning- Pottery -
Food...
-
CHAPTER XIV.-THE WEST INDIES.
-
Extent and Ownership of the Islands-Population, Native, Negro and White
General Products - Slavery and Free Labor in Cuba - In the Free Islands-
Coolies-Coffee-Sugar Growing and Making-Tobacco and the Manufac-
ture of Cigars...
CHAPTER XV.- SOUTH AMERICA.
Geography — Climate and Chief Productions of the Several South American
States Labor in Brazil - Cotton - Coffec - Caoutchouc Mineral Wealth
Slavery — Immigration — Wages - Food - Houses - Peru - Early His-
tory - Deification of Labor - Agrarian Laws - Mining - Clothing-Food
and Dwellings - Labor in Modern Peru - Coolies — Status of Labor in Chili
- Bolivia― Argentine Confederation -- The Minor States
507
525
538
547
PART VI. GUILDS AND TRADES-UNIONS.
CHAPTER I.- MERCHANT GUILDS.
Motives for Combination - Different Classes of Guilds-Merchant Guilds the
Prototypes of the Modern Corporation — Their Spread over Germany, France
and England-Origin of the English Livery Companies - Combination of
Guild Brethren and Land Owners - Controlling City and Town Governments
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
XXV
PAGE.
Craftsmen Originally members of Merchant Guilds- The Separation of
Merchant from Craft Guilds -Similarity Between the Corporations of To-
day and the Merchant Guilds of the Middle Ages - Oppression of the People
by the Merchant Guilds- The Twelve Great Companies...
CHAPTER II.- CRAFT GUILDS.
Their Origin and Early History - In Greece Rome Plutarch's Account of
the Guilds Instituted by Numa-Their Progress Under the Republic
Under the Empire - In Europe During the Middle Ages - Warfare to
Suppress Craft Guilds - Victory for the Guilds - Their Political Power—
The Acme of Prosperity-Signs of Degeneration - Their Statutes and
Customs
CHAPTER III.- DECLINE OF THE CRAFT GUILDs.
569
575
The Transitional Period- The Black Death - Its Effect on Labor- Procla-
mation of Edward III.- The Profits of the Landowners- The Freemasons-
Importation of Foreign Workmen The Hours of Labor - Firmness of the
Guilds of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries Confederations — Sepa-
ration of the Guilds-The Prosperity of the Workman - Transformation of
the Guilds into Exclusive Societies Strikes - The First Effort to Stamp out
Independence - Workingmen Forbidden to Combine - Branding Those who
Refused to Work at Statute Prices The Conspiracy Statute of Edward I.
Their Construction by the English Judiciary - Condition of Workingmen in
Germany and France - Division of Guild Members into Classes - The
Traveling Artisan - Statute of Apprentices-Coöperation...
. 589
CHAPTER IV.- ENGLISH TRADES-UNIONS.
The Justices Refuse to Enforce the Law-Adoption of the Factory System —
Law Prohibiting Combinations of Workmen to Raise Wages-Union of the
Woolen Weavers- The Shipwrights- The Framework Knitters-Introduc-
tion of Machinery-The Cutlers of Sheffield - The Silk Weavers Skilled
Labor Supplanted by Machinery — Industrial Disorganization — Repeal of the
Combination Act - Peaceful Progress - Beginning of Strikes - The Cotton-
Spinners- The Newton Engineers - Movement for Abolition of Overtime-
Commencement of Amalgamation - The Amalgamated Society of Engi-
neers-Lockout in the Building Trades- The Sheffield Outrages - Combi-
nations in Restraint of Trade- The Trades Congress - Its Magnificent
Work-Mistakes
Mistakes of Trades-Unions - The Object of Trades-Unions —
What They Have Accomplished - Trades-Unions of Women -The Growth
of Trades-Unions - Strikes....
CHAPTER V.- CONTINENTAL TRADES-UNIONS.
The Suppression of the German Guilds at the Close of the Last Century - The
Introduction of Machinery - The Revolution of 1848- Agitation of the
Social Reformers - Formation of Trades-Unions in 1869- Trade Regulations
605
xxvi
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE.
of the German Empire-The Employers' Union of Germany - Combinations in
France-Regulations of the Code Napoleon - The Present Laws Governing
Trades-Unions in France-The Trade Organizations of Belgium, Hol-
land, Switzerland, Denmark, Austro-Hungary, Spain, Italy, Russia and
Turkey...
CHAPTER VI.- LABOR UNIONS IN THE UNITED STATES.
The Franklin Society of Printers - The Typographical Union-The Hatmakers'
Unions - The Iron-Moulders - The Sons of Vulcan-The Machinists
and Blacksmiths-The Glassblowers-Brotherhood of the Foot-Board
Locomotive Engineers - Cigarmakers- The Stonemasons- The Patrons of
Husbandry — The National Grange-Order of Railway Conductors — The
Knights of St. Crispin.
•
CHAPTER VII.- THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR.
618
.... 626
Their Beginning- Uriah Stevens' Thanksgiving Dinner-The Principles Laid
Down-"The Five Stars"- The Leaders - The Abandonment of the Secret
Policy — Statistics Showing the Growth of the Order— The Platform and Its
Methods The Strike of 1886-The Present Strength, Distribution and Atti-
tude of the Order..
641
CHAPTER VIII.- LABOR UNIONS IN THE UNITED STATES - Concluded.
The German-American Typographical Union
- Brotherhood of Locomotive Fire-
men The National Horseshoers' Union-The Amalgamated Association of
Iron and Steel Workers - The Granite-Cutters' National Union The Lake
Seamen's Union- The Lasters' Protective Union-The National Organiza-
tion of Boilermakers - The American Branch of the Amalgamated Carpen-
ters' and Joiners' Association of England - Brotherhood of Carpenters and
Joiners of America-The Sociological Society of America-"The Molly
Maguires"— The Amalgamated Association of Miners and Mine Laborers
The Journeymen Bakers' National Union-The Switchmens' Mutual Aid
Association — The Knights of Industry - Federation of Trades
650
1
APPENDICES.
APPENDIX A.- STATISTICS.
PAGE.
A Compendium of Statistical Information from the Latest and Best Sources-
Facts and Figures Relating to Labor in all Parts of the World — Illustrated
with Sixteen Self-explanatory Charts, Printed in Colors...
671
APPENDIX B.- THE WORKINGMAN UNDER THE LAW.
711
abor Legislation in the United States
xxvii
CHARTS AND DIAGRAMS.
1. Growth of Urban Population Compared with Population of the whole United
States.....
PAGE.
433
2. A Century of Work and Wages - The Wages of Skilled and Unskilled Labor
Compared with the Cost of Living.
480
3. Proportion of Foreign-born Population of the United States on Farms in
1870 and 1880...
482
4.
The Connection Between Immigration and Bankruptcy in the United States. 485
5. Number Engaged in all Gainful Occupations, and the Relative Percentage
in Each ..
672
6. Total Annual Production-Share of Capital, Savings of the People, and
Entire Annual Wage Fund
673
7. Average Yearly Wages of the Artisan Classes
8. Farm Wages, by the Month and by the Day, in Harvest.
9. Displacement of Manual Labor by Machinery...
676
677
680
10. Comparative Wealth, Income, and Debt of Various Nations...
681
11. Cost of Government, as Shown by the Taxation of Various Nations.
12. Classified Expenditure of Nations.....
684
• •
685
13. Public Debt of the United States from the Foundation of the Government.. 688
14. Wealth of the United States - Total and Per Capita.
689
15. Component Parts of National Wealth..
692
16. Money in Circulation in all Nations..
693
17. Food Supply of Principal Countries.
696
18. Cost of Living in Various Countries - Annual Expenditure per Individual.. 697
19. Our Public Domain- Unoccupied Lands, and Where they Lie
700
20. What we Spend our Money For-The Cost of the Necessaries of Life Com-
pared with the Cost of Liquor and Tobacco....
701
xxix
Page Missing
in Original



Volume

Page Missing
in Original
Volume




The Story of Manual Labor.
PART I.
LABOR IN THE ORIENT.
CHAPTER I.—INDIA.
HISTORICAL OUTLINES-ARTS, SCIENCES AND LITERATURE CONDITION OF THE
LABORING CLASSES PRIOR TO THE ENGLISH DOMINION-THE INDIAN FEUDAL
SYSTEM UNDER THE NATIVE CHIEFS-CASTE THE FOUNDATION OF SOCIETY
SYSTEM OF AGRICULTURE-LABOR AND LAND IN INDIA-THE LAND TAX-THE
LAND SYSTEM-THE GROWTH OF PRIVATE RIGHTS-MANUFACTURING LABOR—
NATIVE INDUSTRIES- THE WAGE-WORKER IN DIFFERENT EPOCHS-PRESSURE
OF POPULATION-FAMINES AND THEIR CAUSE-PURCHASING POWER OF WAGES
DURING A FAMINE-PORTION OF PAUPER POPULATION-INFANTICIDE.
"THE
HE Land of Ind!" "The Land of the Vedas!" What a picture
is suggested to the general mind by these words! A vision of
sunshine, of flowers of myriad hue and sweet perfume, and of sparkling
fountains. The mind is filled with the splendid colors of Edwin Arnold,
and the exquisite imaginings of Thomas Moore. In imagination we see
the unclouded sky and the rich tints of orange, yellow, pink, and rose
that presage the glories of a tropical day. The scene changes and we
welcome the approach of that grateful eventide with its solemn hush and
refreshing zephyrs. In thought we linger in those colonnades of green,
inhaling the scented breath of rose, orange blossom and Jasmine,
while birds of golden plumage flit hither and yon amid the branches of
the lavender and the duranta. In this land nature bestows her gifts
and beauties with a prodigal hand. Replenished by the alluvial deposits
of great rivers, it has a soil of phenomenal fertility. Fruits, the most
33
34
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
delicious and wholesome, are there indigenous. On the same garden
spot may be plucked the luscious custard apple, the nutritious plantain,
magnificent mango, georgeous citron, clustering pomegranate, fragrant
lichi, pleasant loquat, delicious shaddock, tart tamarind and "enticing
tapari." Two and sometimes three crops of rice, wheat, barley, millet,
Indian corn and pulse are raised each year. Vegetables of all kinds are
produced in large quantities. In Bengal at least eighty-eight per cent of
the acreage is devoted to rice. Two crops of this cereal are harvested
annually, and the average yield per acre of cleaned rice is estimated at
1,200 pounds. Wheat is the staple production in the Northwestern
Provinces; in fact fifty-seven per cent of the whole area of India is de-
voted to the production of this grain, and this is equal to the average
wheat acreage of the United States. Cotton was successfully cultivated
during the American Civil War. Prior to 1860, the annual export of
cotton was but three million pounds. In 1866 it was more than thirty-
six million.
The civilization of the country presents many interesting features.
It can boast of a sublime moral code, profound philosophy, grand and
beautiful architecture, and has a rich and varied literature. Fervid in
passion, and brilliant in imagination the Hindoos have embalmed their
loves, their hates, their dreams and their visions in measure as melodious
as copious. Heber remarked of the Hindoo architects and builders that
they "designed like Titans and finished like jewelers." It is to Buddh-
ism, not Brahmism, that India owes her magnificent temples and
massive sculpture. The glory of the Mogul dynasty has given a peculiar
charm to the history of India. The mind of the student dwells with in-
terest on an empire conquered by the mighty Tamerlane and made for-
ever brilliant by Akbar and Jehan. The latter might be called the
Pericles of the Mogul Empire. He it was that caused the construction
of that superb tomb, the Taj Mahal, at Agra. This beautiful structure
is veritably a dream in marble; a poem in stone.
ors.
This is one aspect of the subject. Lost in the contemplation of so
much that is pleasant to the understanding and gratifying to the senses,
it is forgotten that in this picture there are harsh outlines and dark col-
Somewhat of the misery and sorrow peculiar to this fair land may
be realized from a single statement. In India there are 30,000,000
Pariahs, or social outcasts. Reader, think of this! To-day the popula-
tion of the United States is perhaps 60,000,000. Think of one-half of
this number being, by virtue of the law, denied the blessings of home,
the equal protection of the State, and forbidden to accumulate property!
LABOR IN THE ORIENT.
35
Consider for a moment 30,000,000 of our countrymen in such a con-
dition that their very name had become expressive of all that is most
abject, debased and wretched in human life.
In a land with a soil so productive and a climate so genial it would
seem that the inhabitants should be prosperous and happy. It may be
reasonably inferred that such would have been their destiny had the
laws of nature been regarded. It is the perverted heart and cruel hand
of man that has brought misery and want to the natives of this beauti-
ful country.
A caste system is the peculiar characteristic of Indian society. In
its main features it is to-day what it has been for more than 2,000 years.
Under this system there are four divisions or orders of society, the
Brahmans, or Priests, the Kshatyryas, or the ruling class, the Vaisyas, or
merchants and farmers, the Sudra, or menial class, so-called. To
the first class belong the teachers and men of learning. As originally
constituted, to the second class belonged those persons who governed in
peace and commanded in war. In the fourth order or class were all
artisans, mechanics, servants and laborers. At the bottom of the social
ladder, without caste or place in this world or the next, is the Pariah,
sometimes called an outcast or non-caste. Under this system, in theory
at least, a man must die a member of the caste in which he was born.
His position in society and his vocation are inexorably fixed from the
cradle to the grave—ambition is hopeless, talent is powerless.
The very names by which the several castes are distinguished
are expressive of their social position, and the degree of its exalta-
tion and its function. For example, the first part of the word Brah-
man signifies holiness, the word Kshatyrya, power, Vaisya, wealth,
and Sudra, servile. It is a doctrine of the Hindoo faith, that it is
through the benevolence of the Brahman alone, that other mortals
enjoy life; that by virtue of birth the universe is the wealth of the
Brahman. Originally, all artisans, laborers and servants were confined
to the lowest class. This Sudra, or servile class, are objects of abhor-
rence and contempt to the superior castes. As a religious duty they are
to be punished more severely for the same offenses than are their social
superiors. An offense committed against one of this class is punished
with less severity than if suffered by a member of the upper orders. In
other words, if a crime be committed by a Brahman against a Sudra, the
punishment is trivial; but if, on the other hand, the same offense be
committed by a Sudra against a Brahman, it is punished with cruel and
barbarous severity. Even when a freeman, the Sudra is not permitted
36
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
>
to accumulate property; and when a slave his possessions may be seized
by his master without hope of redress. Any disrespect shown by a Sudra
to a member of either of the upper castes, is avenged with horrible
cruelty. He is denied even that consolation derived from the free exer-
cise of his religious sentiments. To read the sacred books in his presence
is forbidden. The Sudra is taught from the dawn of self-consciousness,
that his fate must be borne with uncomplaining fortitude; and to be-
lieve that his earthly career was predetermined by Divinity.
The outcast, or Pariah, is without status in this life, and without
hope for the next. Such are the doctrines of Brahmism. In time all
rights are denied him, and he is without place in Eternity. The bless-
ings of home are forbidden the poor Pariah, and he is denied a fixed
habitation. He is by virtue of a religious creed, a weary and homeless
wanderer. Every incident of his life is intended to debase him. The
garments of the dead are his clothing, and his ornaments rusty iron; his
food must be partaken from broken vessels, and he is not permitted to
abide in cities. No member of the four castes, from the arrogant
Brahman to the lowly Sudra, is permitted to touch his unclean person.
Not to intermingle with the outcast is the religious duty of every good
Brahman. In brief, human degradation has its consummation in the
Pariah of India.
The caste system in India originated in the mists of antiquity. The
first social distinction must have been between a conquering and a con-
quered people; into soldiers and serfs. The conquerors became the pro-
prietors of the soil. The conquered were reduced to the condition of
serfs and compelled to till the land of their lords. This gave two social
divisions, nobles and menials. The invaders having established them-
selves, some of the nobility, or warrior class, became farmers, and
merchants, and others priests. With the evolution of religious doctrine
arose a conflict for supremacy between the rulers and the priests; the
result was a victory for the priests. This is the foundation upon which
the ancient Hindoo civilization was established. It was the result of
military conquest and religious creed. It was the established order of
society when the Institutes of Menu were written, more than seven cen-
turies before Christ.
When and how the Pariah class arose there is uncertain. There
seems to be authority for the statement, however, that it had its
origin in the children born of marriages illegal under the Institutes of
Menu. Intermarriage between the several castes was forbidden by the
severest laws. But human affection can not always be guided or
LABOR IN THE ORIENT.
37
""
restrained by law, custom, or even religious prejudices; and these irreg-
ular marriages were of frcquent occurrence in Hindoostan. The off-
spring of these marriages were unholy, infamous, and without caste.
Thus originated the Pariah caste, so execrated and abhorred by the
religion of Brahma. Within the past two centurics has arisen a conven-
tional subdivision of the original castes. It is founded upon the use of
different languages and the following of different occupations. To illus-
trate: Originally, all the servants of a Brahman would be of the Sudra.
caste, and among themselves there would be no distinction because of
difference in occupation; now, although still belonging to the Sudra
caste, yet these servants will be subdivided into as many castes or classes
as there are duties. The coachmen will constitute one of these classes,
the cooks another, the table waiters another, and this will continue.
throughout the scope of domestic labors.
In support of this statement there are respectable authorities. In
our opinion, these divisions of the Sudra or working class, are more in
the nature of trade unions or guilds than of religious castes. A careful
study of their laws and customs will afford many suggestive features.
By these associations or unions young persons are trained for particular
trades. They regulate wages by rule, and strive to lessen competition.
Other objects are the promotion of social fellowship and mutual protec-
tion. Holy days are appointed and members who work on such days are
fined. Sometimes all workshops will be closed, by the command of
these unions or guilds, with the exception of one. The privilege
of operating this shop for that day will be purchased of the union
or guild. Apprentices are required to pay for their training in those
crafts requiring skill. The money realized from this source is ex-
pended for the support of widows and orphans of fellow workmen. In
1873 the weavers organization forbade any member to work over hours.
The object was to provide work for all the members of the guild. These
guilds provide a scale of advancement for faithful and obedient members.
On the other hand, fines and penalties are imposed upon delinquents,
and incorrigible offenders are expelled. If these classifications accord-
ing to occupation, are anything more than unions or guilds, it must be
that the members, actuated by historic tendencies and habitudes, have
imbued the institution with religious import; that is to say, these
associations, in the opinion of Indian mechanics and laborers, find their
warrant and spirit in the religion of Brahma and the civilization of
India.
These guilds or unions have engaged in strikes. For instance, in
38
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
1872 the sizers of cloth refused to work for six weeks because of an
attempted reduction in wages.
This minute division of labor is carried to the extreme. In every
establishment there is a workman for each separate step in the process
of manufacture. This division of employment is hereditary, and
descends from father to son in particular families. The result has been.
great skill in all branches of manufacture. Particularly is this the case
with goldsmiths, jewelers, potters and ironworkers. Much skill is dis-
played by wood-carvers and inlayers. It cannot be said, however, that
this system has been productive of originality in design.
The same custom obtains in household affairs. A servant is required
for every minutia of domestic routine. Even a family of small means
will have a table-waiter, a bootblack, a purse-bearer, a cook, a groom, a
gardener, a man to sweep the floor, another to open the door, and yet
another to light and fill the pipe. Each servant, moreover, will posi-
tively refuse to do anything other than that for which he was employed.
The caste system, in its original form, has yielded somewhat to the
pressure of occidental ideas, evangelical Christianity, and modern civil-
ization. The only practical division of Hindoo society, to-day, is into
high caste and low caste. The appliances and institutions of the age,
have had an influence for good over the customs and prejudices of an
effete and stagnant civilization. In the railway cars a Brahman will
frequently be seen in the same seat with a Sudra, or even a Pariah; and
in the schools and colleges, may now be seen children of all castes, sit-
ting on the same benches and repeating the same lessons. It is not now
infrequent for a Brahman to receive alms at the hands of a Sudra;
and instances are numerous of a criminal Brahman being tried before a
Sudra magistrate.
It may be said that agriculture is the national industry of Hindoostan.
At present it is mainly confined to the Sudra class. But the spirit of
the times is influencing even the proud and fanatical Brahmans; and
members of this caste have manifested an appreciation of the dignity
and usefulness of agriculture by engaging personally in that avocation.
وو
Usually, the land is divided into small plots, which resemble gardens
more than farms. The agricultural implements in use are rude and im-
perfect. The plough is little more than a "crooked stick. To this a
bullock is fastened, and to urge and guide the animal the tail is used.
The land must be broken four or five times in succession before a crop
can be planted. The harrow is a bunch of brushwood or the limb of
a tree, and a few pieces of hollow bamboo the drill. The farmer's cart
*
A
· 39
LABOR IN THE ORIENT.
1
is a rough bamboo frame on small clumsey wheels, that groan and creak
and wobble as the vehicle moves over the neglected road. Corn
ground in a hand-mill. The latter utensil is made by placing one large
stone upon another. The grain is reduced to flour by turning the upper
stone. The oil and sugar mills resemble the clay-crushers in an Amer-
ican brick-yard. In brief, so crude and simple are the implements of
the Hindoo farmer, that he may carry them all to and from the field on
his shoulder.
The habitation of the Hindoo farmer, is a damp and noisome hut,
with walls of mud and roof of thatch. In extent, it seldom exceeds
twelve feet square, and generally contains but one apartment. A few
articles, at once uncouth and uncomfortable, and one or two spinning-
wheels, are the only pretensions to furniture.
Although not enterprising, yet the Indian farmer is a paragon of
industry. Long before the dawn of day he partakes of his rice gruel and
commences his labors. His hours of toil extend far into the night. Un-
der the fervid rays of an Indian sun, he toils without cessation for 15
hours, naked to the waist. His assistants are those female members of
his family capable of the task. From sunrise to sunset, in his lowly
home, is heard the hum of the spinning-wheel. This industry devolves
upon those members of his household incapable of field labor.
At an early period in the history of India, arable land was held by a
sort of feudal tenure. Eventually a system of tenure was developed that
was productive of two classes of tenantry. Tenants residing in villages
held from year to year, but for centuries the land was occupied sub-
ject to the will or caprice of the landlord. A higher rate of rent was
exacted from village tenants than from those who resided in the rural
districts. If some authorities are reliable, rural tenures were always more
definite and stable than those of the village.
Much has been done by the English Government for the improvement
of land tenures and the encouragement of agriculture. Possession of
land is no longer subject to the ownership of a capricious and selfish no-
bility. The farmer now owns in fee the little farm he once held at the
mercy of a feudal lord. Small holdings may be had for a quit-rent.
These holdings become estates in fee, after the expiration of 30 years, by
the annual payment of a small sum. Under this system, an annual rent
of three shillings and ten pence was paid in 1878. In 1858, a rent of five
shillings was paid annually. At present, in the Province of Bombay, the
rent paid for land is from ten pence to four shillings and six pence an
About one-seventeenth of the annual crop is now taken for taxes.
acre.
40
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
In the early part of this century, much suffering was caused by the
oppression of the land owners, who could imprison their tenants for non-
payment of rent. In 1859 this was remedied by legislation. In 1879,
the government of Bombay forbade the imprisonment or eviction of ten-
ants. A bankruptcy court has been established for relief against indebt-
edness of five pounds and under. Indebtedness in larger amounts is
provided for by an insolvency law. A farmer's land cannot now be
seized for non-payment of rent, unless it has been specifically mortgaged.
Even when mortgaged, a farmer cannot be deprived of his land by abso-
lute foreclosure. The court may adjudge that the mortgaged land shall
be cultivated for the benefit of the creditor, for a period not exceeding
seven years. The amount realized from the sale of the annual crops is
applied upon the indebtedness, after deducting therefrom a sum sufficient
to meet the domestic wants of the debtor.
In Hindoostan, there is a population of 240,000,000. This is more.
than double the population of the Roman Empire, when at the zenith of
its power, as estimated by Gibbon. In France, there are one hundred
and eighty inhabitants to the square mile. In England, where the
number of inhabitants approaches two hundred to the square mile, the
locality is considered a town. In certain parts of Bengal, there are two
persons to every cultivated acre of land, or about 1,280 to the square
mile. In England 42 per cent of the population live in towns of more
than 20,000 inhabitants, while in India, all but 4 per cent reside in the
rural districts.
A bountiful harvest yields food barely sufficient for the immediate
wants of this immense population. This is because the number is
disproportionate to the quantity of land under cultivation. Each year
thousands of lives are dependent upon a few inches of rainfall. In case
of drought and the loss of but one crop, the people experience the hor-
rors of famine. So direful are its results, that in some sections the
annual increase of population is only six persons to every 10,000. Be
the poor Hindoo farmer never so provident, yet must he feel that a
failure of one crop will bring starvation. His sunshine is for the hour
only; in the surrounding shadows are the grim companions, haggard
hunger and mephetic fever.
The English Government has carefully investigated this subject with
a view to remedying this great evil, if possible. It has been deemed
essential to this purpose that the price of food should be regulated by
the government, in times of famine.
The classes especially subject to this scourge are the farmers, laborers
LABOR IN THE ORIENT.
41
and poorer craftsmen. It is said that one-fourth of the farm laborers
earn not more than ten shillings in a month of twenty-seven days;
another fourth not to exceed sixteen shillings in the same time,
and another fourth perhaps twenty-one shillings; while the remain-
ing one-fourth will earn about twenty-five shillings. Droughts in
India are not general in their effects. Loss of crops for want of rain
will occur in some sections, when in other sections the usual crops will
be harvested. Then it is that the small farmer, farm laborer, and
mechanic will experience the evil of small wages. The price of rice
when crops are good is about one and a half farthings per pound; and
when there has been a partial failure of the crops, there will be an
average advance in the price of five farthings per pound. An advance
of three and a half farthings may seem a trifling matter to the laborer
of Europe and America; to the poor laborer of India, however, it is the
difference between life and death. He must stand by helpless, while the
rice that would save the lives of his wife and children, is exported to
foreign lands. When a famine is threatened the people eat weeds,
herbs and green food. The destitution and suffering during the famine
of 1866 is not adequately shown by the official statistics.
Various are the causes that have conspired to render the inhabitants
of India indifferent to human life, such as the density of population, a
religion that teaches annihilation to be the supreme good, and the famil-
iarity with death from fever and famine.
In some parts of Hindoostan are large tracts of unoccupied wild land
that might be subjected to cultivation. A person may clear the jungle
and raise a crop by paying a small poll tax, but the attachment of the
farmer to locality is so strong that he would rather starve than seek
relief by a change of habitation. It is but fair to say, perhaps, that
the suffering of the people of India is not so much due to number as to
unequal distribution.
Of the condition of the working classes of Hindoostan, prior to the
establishment of the Mogul dynasty, it may be said that it was not better
but worse than it was at any subsequent period. This is a reasonable
inference from the fact that the caste system was in vigorous operation
for centuries before and after the birth of Christ. About 800 A.D., the
Mohammedans invaded India, meeting with a brave but unorganized
resistance. The country was soon subjected to their power, but they
were subsequently expelled. It was not until 1565 that the Mogul
Empire was fully established under Akbar. The character of the
Mohammedan rule is known to history. It was an unqualified despot-
42
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
ism. The masses of the people were subject to wanton and capricious
tyranny, and they were plundered to gratify the lust and extravagance
of their rulers. It is stated of one of the Mogul princes that he deprived
the people of vast sections of the country of the whole of their annual
produce; that his exactions and oppressions were so unbearable that the
people burned their houses, abandoned their lands, and became homeless
wanderers on the face of the earth. This step their monarch considered
a personal affront. He summoned his army, therefore, surrounded the
wretched peasantry, and put them all to the sword, men, women, and
children. The Mohammedan Empire in India was noted for its magnifi-
cence and brilliancy; but this glory was obtained at the expense of the
sons of toil. They were deprived of the necessaries of life in order that
their rulers might squander millions of treasure in the gratification of
their selfish whims. Palaces were built by them at a cost of $19,000,000.
Shah Jehan erected a monument to his favorite wife at an outlay of
$60,000,000. More than $160,000,000 was expended on the celebrated
Peacock throne. The crown worn by the Mogul rulers was valued at
more than $10,000,000.
The Mogul Dynasty gave way only to English rule. In 1668 the
East Indian Company was formed for the occupation of Bombay. The
purpose of this company was to establish a trade between India and
England. It was not until eighteen years had expired that the company
obtained a site on the coast for a trading post. Calcutta was then
founded. British supremacy was not fully established in India until
1757, after the battle of Plassey. Lord Clive was the first governor of
Bengal. He was appointed in 1758. He was a positive character, ex-
pelled the French, defeated the Dutch, and scattered the hostile native.
forces. Clive did nothing to ameliorate the condition of the people of
India. He exacted immense sums from the native princes, and the latter
in turn extorted the money from their subjects. In 1786 Clive was suc-
ceeded by the infamous Warren Hastings. His wicked career has been
immortalized by Edmund Burke. He was a willing and unscrupulous
tool for the rapacious native chiefs and grasping directors of the East
Indian Company. It was reserved for Lord Cornwallis to effectually
crush the native resistance to British rule. This doughty noble found
in the poor Hindoos, a foe better suited to his caliber than were the
heroes of Valley Forge and the conquerors of Yorktown.
Today, two-thirds of the country, containing four-fifths of its popu-
lation, is subject to the rule of Great Britain. The nominal governors
are the native princes, who acknowledge the supremacy of the British
LABOR IN THE ORIENT.
43
crown.
The supreme executive officer of the Indian Empire is a Viceroy.
He summons to his assistance a cabinet or council, selected by him from
the Indian civil service. A separate governor is appointed by the British
crown for Madras and Bombay.
The great suffering and ignorance of former times is continually
lessened by the introduction of European methods and ideas. Schools
have been established by the government in every village. Education is
encouraged and controlled by the faculties and examining boards of the
four government universities, at Madras, Bombay, Calcutta and Lahore.
The government of India can scarcely be said to be constitutional in
the English and American sense of the term. So far as the natives of
the country are concerned, the government can not be said to be repre-
sentative. All executive and legislative functions are exercised by
the Viceroy and six official members of his council. It is difficult to
foretell the outcome of affairs in India. There is hope for improvement
in the social aspects of the country; and that in time the harsh and
inhuman distinction between Brahman, Sudra, and Pariah may be oblit-
erated. Centuries may elapse before the native inhabitants of India will
exercise and enjoy the privileges of self-government; but it would seem
that less time was necessary for recognition by the Hindoos of the prin-
ciples of humanity and fraternity.
ri
:
!
CHAPTER II.-CHINA.
PHYSICAL AND POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY-PROGRESS AND CHARACTER OF CHINESE
CIVILIZATION ARCHITECTURE-ARTS, SCIENCES AND MANUFACTURES-MAR-
INER'S COMPASS GUNPOWDER-PRINTING-PAPER AND INK-PORCELAIN
WARE-METALLIC MIRRORS-CARVINGS IN WOOD AND IVORY-THE GREAT
WALL-THE GREAT CANAL- THE IMPERIAL HIGHWAY-ASYLUMS FOR THE
AGED AND INFIRM-IMPERIAL GRANARIES-
IMPERIAL GRANARIES— AGRICULTURE SOCIAL ORDER
AND CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE-DENSITY OF POPULATION-DESTITUTION OF
THE DAY LABORER-FOOD, DRESS AND HABITATIONS- COMPENSATION OF
DAY-LABOR-OF BRICKLAYERS AND CARPENTERS-INFANTICIDE-DOMESTIC
SLAVERY-KIDNAPING CRUELTY TO SLAVES-OFFICIAL POSITION NOT
HEREDITARY CIVIL PREFERMENT OPEN TO ALL CLASSES OF SOCIETY-Is
THERE A PARIAH CLASS IN CHINA?
ANUAL labor in China should be of peculiar interest to the work-
ingmen of the United States. The Chinese labor problem has
agitated the public mind of this country for upwards of a quarter of a
century. It was but natural that this should be the case, when European
and Asiatic civilization were thus brought face to face in a new world.
The civilization of the West is young, vigorous, progressive, receptive.
The civilization of the orient is hoary, senile, stagnant, repellant.
Whether considered historically or philosophically, it cannot be doubted
which is the preferable type of human life. It is the civilization of the
occident that has produced what is most valuable to the world; and it is
to this element that the world must look for future progress and
expansion. Asiatic civilization, on the other hand, attained its acme
more than 2,000 years ago. Today it is practically dead. It is without
benefit to the present, and without hope for the future. To contrast it
with the civilization of the West is to condemn it; and to that civilization
it must yield as the intellectual, moral, and material regenerator of man-
kind.
The Chinese laborer is the fruitage of an effete and decaying life. In
contrast with the Caucasian or Indo-European laborer, he sinks into
moral, physical, and intellectual insignificance. Place these races in
permanent contact, and the result will be either death to the former or
degradation to the latter. To thus place Caucasian labor in competition.
with Chinese labor, would be like lashing a living body to a festering
corpse. To thus infuse into the life blood of the young republic, the
44
LABÓR IN THE ORIENT.
45
putrid ferment of a dead world, is to plant the seed of national decay.
Chinese and American life are in hopeless antagonism. In character the
races are mutually exclusive. The United States is a republic; China a
despotism. In the United States is freedom; in China tyranny. In the
United States is the sublime beauty and moral grandeur of Christianity;
in China the monstrous superstition and morbid spirit of heathenism.
The American is a citizen; the Chinaman is a subject. The American
is a freeman; the Chinaman-is a slave. To the Chinaman, republican
principles are an enigma. A true citizen of the republic he cannot
become. In a word, the Chinese and Chinese civilization "have been
weighed in the balance and found wanting.”
A view of the Chinese laborer in his home, will but comfirm the fore-
going opinion. The authors propose, as best they can, to portray the
humiliating picture of the toiling "Celestial" in the land of Confucius.
When the story has been unfolded and the picture seen in its various as-
pects, they are not without hope that it may influence public opinion
against "Chinese cheap labor."
It may be said, in the beginning, that the condition of the laboring
classes of China is today substantially what it has been for thirty centu-
ries. As he may now be seen in the workshop and in the field, in the
town and in country, so was he when the great Cæsar "crossed the Ru-
bicon," and the Greeks won immortal glory at Thermopyla.
+
.
In extent the Chinese Empire has 5,000,000 square miles, and a pop-
ulation of 500,000,000. It contains one-tenth of the dry land of the
globe, and, Alaska excepted, it is two-thirds larger than the United States.
It may aid to a conception of this vast country to say, that if situated on
the North American continent, as is the United States, it would extend
from the southernmost boundary of Mexico to Hudson Bay, and from
New Brunswick on the east to a line 500 miles west of San Fancisco. We
are now speaking inclusively of the area of China and Chinese Tartary.
It is the people of China Proper with which we are particularly con-
cerned. The area of China Proper is about one-half that of the United
States.
The country traversed by the Imperial Canal is extremely beautiful
from a picturesque point of view. The broad bosom of this waterway,
from Tien-Tsin to Hung-Chow-Fow, a distance of 600 miles, is dotted
with numerous islands, which are carpeted with verdure and crowned
with stately trees. Overshadowing the banks, throughout its length, are
groves of pine, cypress, willow and camphor trees. Glimpses may be had
now and then, through the luxuriant foliage, of gleaming temples and
1
46
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
graceiul pagodas.
tence for centuries.
by beautiful bridges. These structures are often of porcelain and
sometimes of marble. In length, they are usually but one span; occa-
sionally they have as many as twenty-six, fifty-three, and even seventy-
three arches.
China has a vast canal system that has been in exis-
The rivers, lakes and canals are frequently spanned
The most remarkable feature of Chinese architecture is the great
Stone Wall. This monument to the patience and industry of the toiling
masses-indicating not only their serfdom, and the inability of their
innumerable hordes to resist a savage invader-extends the entire length
of the northern frontier. Only five years were required for its construc-
tion; and to expedite the project, every third laborer in the empire was
pressed into service. For the distance of 1,500 miles extends this mam-
moth rampart, spanning mighty rivers, and scaling lofty mountains.
The average height is twenty-two feet, and the width twenty-five feet,
while at regular intervals are towers from thirty to forty feet high.
>
It has been maintained by some writers that the magnetic needle
and mariners compass were known to the Chinese as early as 1114 B. C.,
and that gunpowder was manufactured by them, A. D., 1280. It may
be true that this people practiced the art of printing at least five hun-
dred years before the days of Gutenberg, and that paper was in use in the
second century A. D. Today books are exceedingly cheap in China,
and are usually published in parts. A book of four hundred leaves can
be purchased for ten cents. Twenty volumes of fifteen hundred pages
each, can be bought for two and one-half dollars,
Pagodas are the most, unique feature of Chinese art. These struc
tures are beautiful in outline, and many of them are constructed of
marble, and some of porcelain. One near Chin-Kiang is constructed of
iron and is nine stories high. The most celebrated pagoda, perhaps,
was that at Nanking.
The Imperial palace at Peking is of white marble, and has a circum-
ference of about two miles. It is encompassed by walls of polished
brick, thirty feet high and twelve feet thick. Without and surrounding
this wall is a moat, lined with hewn stone. Lanscape gardening is an
art in China, as is exemplified by the park surrounding the Imperial
palace. Temples and pavilions are situated in lovely dells and on pic-
turesque elevations. Broad graveled walks wind in and out among the
groves, and translucent lakes slumber peacefully amid the umbrageous
shades. Over one of these lakes, a mile and a half in length, stretches a
bridge of white marble, having nine arches. Stately trees shade the
LABOR IN THE ORIENT.
47
pebbled beach and reflect their shadows in the limpid depths. Water-
lilies and the lotus-blossom float upon its bosom, and its waters are fur-
rowed by the graceful swan.
Fawns and ewes wander through the
glades, and birds carol in the air. As has been said by Père Hyacinthe
"the infinite variety of beauties, which this lake presents, constitute
it one of the most enchanting spots on earth."
Silk culture originated with the Chinese. To the outside world it
remained a secret until sometime during the sixth century. The silk-
worm was then first introduced into Europe by certain Persian monks.
Next to silk the most important manufacture is the celebrated Nanking
cloth.
It
This much may be said of the material civilization of China.
displays some admirable features; but it must be remembered that as the
arts and sciences are today, so were they twenty centuries ago. It can-
not be successfully maintained that the Chinese have progressed in man-
ufacturing methods and the mechanical arts for more than two thousand
years. The architectural remains are interesting for two reasons only;
as vestiges of an ancient civilization, and as indicating the handiwork.
of generations of workingmen. They are of interest to the modern
world merely as a curiosity, and are suggestive more of patient toil than
of originality.
What is true of the material side of Chinese history may be likewise
predicated of the spiritual features of the race. Perhaps the one char-
acter in Chinese history that has most influenced the moral and intel-
lectual tendencies of his race is the great Confucius. He was born more
than five hundred years before Christ. His name has echoed down the
ages, increasing in luster with each passing century. Today he ranks
with the greatest moral teachers of the world. Like a colossus, he
bestrides the barren fields of Chinese literature. It is this mighty spirit,
alone, that has preserved an empire of five hundred millions of people
from intellectual obscurity. He is the incarnation of all that is wisest
and best in the spiritual aspect of Chinese history. A literature China
certainly has; but aside from the Confucian classics and the writings of
Laotse, it is a realm of sterile platitudes, grotesque superstitions and'
crude and puerile speculations on scientific subjects.
Much has been said of the educational system of China. It has
received the most extravagant encomiums.
But the authors are of
opinion that the system does not deserve this unqualified praise. By it
the Chinese youth are not schooled in the truths of natural science,
learned in the intricacies of political and social philosophy, nor trained
•
ļ
48
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
for the liberal professions and mechanical arts. It consists mainly in
memorizing the precepts and aphorisms of Confucius and other sages.
Grand as is the philosophy of Confucius, for the purposes of mental dis-
cipline and practical affairs, it cannot take the place of mathematics and
the natural sciences. The Chinese language is peculiar. Each word is.
represented by a separate character. In order that a person may be able
to read, write and speak the language as a whole, he must learn as many
different characters as there are words. Many years of weary effort must
elapse before a Chinaman, assuming to be educated, can read the classical
books of his native land. It is estimated that but three men out of
every hundred, and one woman out of every thousand, can read the
Chinese classics. The mechanics, artisans, laborers and other persons of
small means, seldom, if ever, attain this goal. They are precluded that
boon by the poverty of their lot, and the insuperable difficulties to be.
overcome. The most that these classes can hope to attain is a knowl-
edge of the characters expressive of the words in use in their trades or
callings.
The fact is often paraded that official position in China is open to all
classes of society alike. While this may be true in theory, yet it is an
absolute failure in practice. The competitive examinations that deter-
mine official preferment are practically open only to the sons of Man-
darins and of wealthy families. It is the children of such persons who
can afford the expense and spare the time requisite to a mastery of the
Chinese classics. The children of mechanics and laborers are as
absolutely deprived of official distinction and emolument, by the circum-
stances of their condition, as though it had been decreed by imperial
fiat.
The government of China is autocratic. The power of the emperor
is supreme. His prerogatives are limited only by tradition and public
opinion. The public opinion here referred to, is that of the members of
the imperial family, who are numerous and supported in idleness, the
Mandarin class, and old families possessing enormous wealth. His
imperial majesty has nothing to fear from his vast body of abject and
down-trodden subjects. A board of censors exists, the members of which
are supposed to punish official tyranny and peculation. But it is true of
the Chinese Government, as of every other despotism, that the officers
and favorites of the crown are almost universally susceptible to bribery
and fraud. We may conjecture that the poor and lowly mechanic or
laborer would fare badly before this august tribunal, in case his wealthy
oppressor would respond to the dishonest demands of the judges. There
}

Uriah S. Stephens.
Founder of the Knights of Labor.
UNIL
OF
MICH
LABOR IN THE ORIENT.
49
are a cabinet of four chancellors and a ministry of five members. The
people at large, however, do not participate in governmental affairs, and
are without political rights, in the European and American sense of the
term.
Draft animals are rare and expensive in China. Instead of horses,
mules or oxen, men are employed to carry burdens and draw vehicles.
Porters are frequently seen bending and striving under a burden of six-
hundred pounds. In building, men are used to transport from the
quarry to the walls, boulders weighing from one to several tons. The
Chinese sedan-bearers often display remarkable strength and endurance.
Two of them have been known to carry a man and twenty-five pounds of
baggage, thirty miles in a day. Briefly, transportation and locomotion.
are accomplished almost exclusively by man-power. The streets of cities
and towns, and the byways of the rural districts, may be traversed for
days without once seeing an animal in use for this purpose. Why, in-
deed, should beasts of burden be maintained when men can be had for a
mere pittance. Laborers engaged in this work are paid not to exceed
ten and one-half cents per day. Millions of Chinese live exclusively
in boats, on the rivers and harbors. These people live and die without a
foothold on their native soil. This class live principally upon fish and
other food that can be found in the waters. Filth, vice, and crime are said
to be more prevalent among this class than any other portion of the
Chinese population.
There is a remarkable uniformity of condition among the artisan
classes of China, and in the rate of wages paid for various kinds of work.
Shoemakers, bakers, butchers, printers, leather-workers, and hatters,
are usually compensated at the rate of four and and one-half dollars per
month; their wages never exceed five and one-half per month. Brick-
makers, masons, plasterers, plumbers, blacksmiths, and jewelers, are
paid from four and one-half dollars to eight dollars a month. House-
servants are paid one dollar and a half for every thirty days. As in the
United States the working hours in these trades are from sunrise to sun-
set. Teachers are paid a certain amount for each pupil, usually from
three dollars to four dollars a year.
Mechanics habitually assemble in certain localities, where they await
employment. Contracts of this kind are made at particular periods of
the year. On these occasions the artisans will gather at the wonted place,
when the carpenters will assemble on one side of the square, the brick-
layers on another, and the masons and plasterers on yet another. The
contractors then pass here and there, engaging such of those present as
4
50
"THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
they may require. When employed by the day mechanics receive twenty-
five cents for fifteen hours work.
So meager is the recompense for even skilled labor that the working
classes hope for nothing better in this life than ceaseless toil, privation
and degradation. They are the slaves of circumstance, the serfs of
fate. Stern necessity is their task-master, and death their only hope for
emancipation. From tender childhood to decrepit age they are relent-
lessly pursued by the grim wolf. At threescore years and ten they must
toil as in the flower of manhood.
As a precaution against revolution, some attempt has been made to
provide for the aged and the sick. These efforts, however, are poor at
the best. Institutions have been established in the nature of asylums,
for the blind, the infirm, lepers, and foundlings. But so imperfectly
appointed and inefficiently conducted are these affairs, that they afford
but little relief in a distress so wide spread and deeply rooted.
As a
In some parts of China famines are of frequent occurence.
partial relief against the horrors of this visitation, imperial granaries.
have been established, in which immense quantities of rice are stored
for free distribution to the poor. These efforts of the government are
not so much dictated by humane instincts as by policy. It is a common
aphorism with the official class that, "an empty stomach makes a
troublesome citizen." The province of Shanse is especially subject to
this direful scourge. Starvation presents a constant menace to the poor
inhabitants of this sterile province. Sometimes the rice stored for free
distribution in time of famine is withdrawn by dishonest officials, and
the suffering consequent upon the peculation baffles description.
Despite the utmost endeavor, thousands upon thousands of persons die
of starvation every year. Objects most repulsive to us, are eaten by
the famishing population, such as dogs, cats, rats, mice, cockroaches,
and vermin of every description.
Perhaps the saddest feature of Chinese society is the prevalent disre-
gard for human life among the manual laborers. This is manifested in
several ways. Infanticide is a universal practice, according to some
writers. It is contended by others that this crime is on the decrease.
It is the female infants that are disposed of in this way, for fear they
may become burdensome. Boy children are spared because of the hope
that they may be useful in the future. "The innocents ""
are drowned
It is estimated that in Peking ten female in-¨
They are killed during the night and thrown
morning the bodies are gathered up by the
like cats, or buried alive.
fants are murdered daily.
into the street. In the
LABOR IN THE ORIENT.
51
police, and buried in a common hole outside the city walls. This low
estimate of human life is also indicated by the indifference with which
the Chinese regard the sufferings of those about them. So sharp and
merciless is the struggle for existence, that their hearts are closed to want
and suffering. It has been said that "the sick poor are allowed to per-
ish by the wayside, without a helping hand to relieve them; and that
persons in danger of being drowned or burned, are seldom rescued.
Large numbers are turned into the street to die, to save the expense in-
cidental to the sickness, and the cost of burial in case of death."
With the artisans and laborers the cost of living has been reduced to
a minimum. In some instances, the expenditure for this purpose does
not exceed two dollars, or at most two dollars and a half a month. Some
of the subsidiary coin in circulation is but one-tenth of a cent in value.
The use of, and necessity for, so small a money fraction, serves to illu-
strate the rigid economy made necessary by exigencies of the poorer
classes. The home of the artisan and laborer is usually nothing more
than a frail bamboo structure, for which a rent of ten cents per month
is paid. Rice is a stable article of food with all classes. Ground-nut oil
is a substitute for butter. It is only on rare occasions that the working
classes can indulge in a morsel of pork or fish.
The agricultural methods of China are thorough but primitive in the
extreme. The implements used and the processes employed are nearly
identical with those of the Israelites in the days of Moses and Joshua, and
of the Egyptians, nearly four thousand years ago. This fact, of itself,
exemplifies the lethargic character of the people, and their want of pro-
gress, or desire for improvement. Ploughs of the rudest construction
are sometimes used. This implement is drawn by buffalos, occasionally,
but more frequently by men yoked together and driven like beasts.
Ploughs are the exception; as a rule, the land is broken with a large
wooden hoe tipped with iron. There are two prevailing methods of irri-
gation. Human life is cheaper than machinery. Men are less expensive
than animals. Such is the condition of things in China, and to irrigate
land men are employed instead of animal power. Water is carried in
buckets for miles, or it is pumped by treadınills worked by barefooted
laborers. Grain is threshed by driving oxen or buffaloes back and forth
over the threshing-floor as did the Assyrians and Persians of old. It is
winnowed by throwing it in shovelfuls against the wind. Agriculture is
honored above all employments. The beginning of the agricultural year
is celebrated as a national festival. The Emperor and Empress, together
with the highest officials of the empire, participate personally in the
!
Th
52
€
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
exercises. A furrow is ploughed by the Emperor and each of the officials.
The Empress places her hand on the handles of the instrument while it
turns the soil. The day is celebrated with appropriate ceremonies in
every province of the empire. There are government boards on agricul-
ture in every village. These bodies regulate farming and irrigation, and
punish idle and improvident farmers. Premiums are offered by the gov-
ernment for the reclamation of waste lands.
Slavery is an institution of the "Middle Kingdom." The power of the
master over the slave is absolute. Dr. Gray, once Archdeacon of Hong-
Kong, mentions several instances of the inhuman cruelty practiced by.
masters upon their helpless slaves. He writes of these as follows: "In
1853, I saw in a suburb of Canton, the corpse of a female slave, who ad
been beaten to death by her mistress. When the slave was about — die, #
her mistress had her removed to the beggars square, that she mig die.
there. The policemen, wishing to extort money from this moner of
cruelty, ordered the dying slave to be placed at the doorstep of her mouse
Finding that her house was daily attracting crowds of inquisitive on-
lookers, the mistress gave the policemen the money they demande and
the corpse-for the girl died within a few minutes after she had been
placed at the door-was removed for interment to an adjoining cem tery.
In 1869, a gentleman of the Ho family, in Canton, having convid a
boy slave, fourteen years old, of theft, bound him hand and foc and
cast him into the Canton river. An officer in an English gun-boat, hear-
ing the shrieks of the boy, rescued him, arrested Ho and sent him the
Allied Commissioners, by whom he was handed over to the Chinese
authorities. They treated the matter with perfect indifference, claiming
that the master had violated no law. The torturing of slaves by their
masters is of frequent occurrence."
>
As a rule these slaves are not of an alien race. They are Chinese, and
are of two classes. One class are those born to bondage, as the children
of those who have sold themselves for debt; the other class is composed
of persons who have become the property of their creditors.
The infamous traffic in coolie labor began in 1850. About this time
slavery was abolished in British Guiana. It then became necessary for
the planters to provide themselves with another class of labor. It
occurred to certain unconscionable mariners, that this demand might be
supplied from the refuse population of China. With that purpose in
view, vessels were sent to the various Chinese ports, particularly to
Amoy and Canton, where the natives were enticed aboard and then
forced into the holds of the vessels. The hatches were then battened
།
{
53
LABOR IN THE ORIENT.
.
j
>
down and the unfortunate wretches carried to British Guiana, Cuba
and Peru. In those countries they were reduced to slavery. So
wretched was their lot that many of them sought relief in suicide. On
the Chincha Islands, near the coast of Peru, where large numbers were
employed in digging guano, many of these poor victims would dash
themselves to pieces on the rocks, or seek a voluntary grave beneath the
crumbling guano. Civilization is to be congratulated that crimes of
this character no longer disgrace humanity. The coolie trade, so far as
involuntary servitude is concerned, has been abandoned. It may be re-
marked, here, that coolie slavery too clearly indicates the servility and
abjectness of the Chinese character. That vast numbers of a race will
thu submit meekly, or helplessly, to a condition of bondage, speaks
bad for their intellectual and moral force. Such a people are not qual-
ified or republican government.
hinese immigration to the United States began thirty years ago.
increased annually until there are probably 200,000 Chinese in Califor-
nia. So alarming did the numbers become that the residents of the
Pacie slope commenced a vigorous protest against the Asiatic inunda-
tion. Many years elapsed before the people of the country fully appre-
ciate the baneful influence of a large Chinese immigration. In 1882 a
law as passed by congress restraining the deluge of Chinese cheap
labo, This was a wise step. A working class that for centuries has
been groveling in the dust are not fit for freemen. A people who have
beer, subjects of a tyrannical government for three thousand years,
and have patiently submitted to the yoke, cannot make good citizens of
the republic. Laborers that have been accustomed to a remuneration
of from ten to twenty-five cents a day should not be placed in compe-
tition with the brave, generous, manly and self-respecting Caucasian.
The first is by habit of mind and the experience of centuries a willing
subject of despotism. The last has been the standard-bearer of civiliza-
tion and the builder of constitutional self-government.
1
CHAPTER III — JAPAN.
HER UNIQUE POSITION IN HISTORY-"THE GREEKS OF ASIA'
SUPPOSED ORIGIN
OF THE PEOPLE THE JAPANESE AND CHINESE COMPARED-THE FIRST
EMPEROR-THE GREAT BOOK-THE COURT OF NOBLES - AGRICULTURE THE
CHIEF INDUSTRY-HISTORICAL DATA-THE RISE OF THE MILITARY CLASS -
THE OVERTHROW OF THE ANCIENT REGIME-A MELANCHOLY PICTURE
IYEYASU-ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FEUDAL SYSTEM-APPORTIONMENT OF LAND
THE "DAIMIOS" AND "KUGES
"KUGES"- THE INCOME OF THE DAIMIOS-THE
MERCILESS EXACTIONS-DIVISION OF THE POPULATION INTO CLASSES
"ETA"
AND "HUNIN" -THE FARMERS-THEIR POSITION-THE COMMON LABORER
HUMAN HORSES-LABOR ABUNDANT AND CHEAP-TIE SLAVE TRADE-THE
ARTISAN CLASS-TRADE GUILDS-MERCHANT TRADERS-THE FOOD OF THE
WORKING PEOPLE-CLOTHING-HOUSES-EDUCATION - TREATMENT OF THE
FARMERS BY THEIR MASTERS-AGRARIAN RIOTS-THE RESULT OF OPPRESSION
-THE REVOLUTION CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY AFTER THE REVOLUTION—
HOW THE SAMURIAS WERE DISARMED-THE ABOLITION OF THE FEUDAL
SYSTEM THE FARMERS AS AFFECTED BY THE NEW ORDER OF THINGS - THE
FISHERMEN-THE MINE LABORER-THE PRIESTS-THE ARTISANS UNDER THE
NEW ORDER OF THINGS-THE COOLIES-THE BARBERS.
IN
orb of the first magnitude.
Over that beautiful group of
N the eastern firmament, Japan is an
The Japanese are the Greeks of Asia.
islands is the star of hope for Asia. Arousing from a Rip Van Winkle
slumber of twenty centuries duration, with the vigor and enterprise of
youth she has entered upon a new and prosperous career. In this, her
career is unique in Asiatic history. Emerging suddenly from a civiliza-
tion that was gray with age when Jesus was preaching the beatitudes,
she has, within the past quarter of a century taken giant strides in the
direction of reform and progress. With a scenery that enchants the
most fastidious visitor; with lofty mountain ranges, snow-capped and
covered from base to snow-line with evergreens of surpassing beauty;
with picturesque valleys, carpeted with richest verdure and blossoming
with flowers; the queen of lilies, filling the atmosphere with perfume;
rushing torrents and winding rivers; charming villas, magnificent tem-
ples and beautiful pagodas; with their territory extending to the land
of the Muscovite on the north; separated by the sea from the Flowery
Kingdom" standing full in the gateway to that mighty continent of
+
11
✔
54
LABOR IN THE ORIENT.
55
Asia (the birthplace of mankind; the cradle of civilization); rich in
literature and art; possessed of that spirit of progress that is willing to
assimilate the best features of modern civilization-; the people of Japan
are indeed the "Greeks of Asia."
Although supposed to be identical in origin with the "Almond-eyed
Celestials," yet it is hard to conceive a contrast more marked than exists
between these peoples, in everything that constitutes character.
It has been well said that "the Japanese are warm-hearted, friendly,
and obliging; the Chinese cold, snaky and retiring; the Japanese are
brave, impulsive and chivalrous; the Chinese slow, cowardly and treach-
erous; the Japanese are simple, confiding and trusting; the Chinese
crafty, suspicious and deceitful; both nations excel all others in polite-
ness; the former from a feeling of pride and honor, the latter from the
mere force of habit and national etiquette. The Japanese meets you
anxiously, and asks to be taught; the Chinese looks on with studied
indifference and supreme contempt. The Japanese makes inquiries
about your country, laws, customs, etc.; the Chinese will hear nothing
outside the Middle Kingdom.' The Japanese spends his earnings and
lives joyfully to-day; the Chinese carefully numbers his gains of rice,
and stores away for the future. Both peoples pay great honor and
respect to their parents; the former from filial love, the latter for fear
of losing ancestral blessings." So conspicuous are the differences be-
tween the two peoples in character, disposition and habits, that the
identity of their origin may well be doubted.
Japanese tradition accords to Jimmu Tenno the honor of being the
first emperor of Japan. The date of this event was B. C. 660, and the
Japanese calendar dates from that period. His spirit is still worshiped
and shrines are dedicated to his memory throughout the country. The
present Mikado regards him as an ancestor. The great book, or "Ko-
jiki," a record of Japanese history, was written A. D. 711. Prior to
that period Japanese history was traditional.
""
Until the twelfth century Japan was ruled by the Mikado alone, who
exercised supreme authority. He had a council known as the "Kagi,
or court of nobles. The relatives of the Mikado composed this court or
council. This body regulated all religious and secular offices. By his
subjects, the Mikado was believed to be a descendant of the gods. He
was entirely secluded from the world, and was never permitted to see or
to be seen by his subjects. The government was an imperial absolutism.
The land and the personal services of the people belonged to the em-
peror.
1
56
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
During the historic period, at least, agriculture has been the main
industry of Japan. Under the ancient regime, when the emperor was
the actual head of the government, male and female laborers and slaves
were permitted to till the soil at rent rates more reasonable than was
afterwards exacted under the feudal system. During that period, the
land was sub-divided into blocks, containing nine squares each. The
central square was cultivated for the emperor's benefit by the tenants of
the remaining eight. This was practically a land tax of one-ninth. But
little is definitely known of the condition of the working classes prior to
the twelfth century. We must conclude, however, that the people en-
joyed more liberty, as a rule, were better fed and clothed, and were
generally more contented, before the internecine convulsions that ended
in the establishment of the feudal system, than at any time after that
period.
Near the close of the twelfth century began those internal dissensions
which resulted in a condition of abject and wretched slavery for the
working people, and made them the victims of a "horde of petty
tyrants." The military class had its origin in the standing armies once
necessary to repel hostile invasions from the adjacent islands. Once
established, it became impossible to overthrow this arrogant class. An
attempt was made to hold them in check, by creating another body,
which was placed in armed opposition. The project was a failure. The
result was that civil strife, which agitated the empire for nearly four
hundred years.
This internecine strife ended in the overthrow of the
ancient regime, and in a system of plunder and oppression, by the mili-
tary or ruling class of the working people. The Mikados were relegated
to an obscurity from which they did not emerge for more than two hun-
dred and fifty years. The history of Japan, from the close of the twelfth
to the beginning of the seventeenth century, is a melancholy picture of
domestic warfare and degraded public and private life. Thieves infested
the country, morals were corrupt, the people oppressed as they had never
been before, education was neglected and anarchy reigned. Political
power was gradually concentrated in the great families, a feudal system
overshadowed the empire, and the power of the Mikado was overthrown.
In 1603, A. D., power was once more exercised by one strong hand. This
time it was one of the great military chiefs, Iyeyasu, the founder of the
Shogun dynasty.
Though nominally a vassal of the emperor, Iyeyasu became the actual
ruler of Japan, and power was retained by his family, until 1868. The
Mikado, shut up in his castle during that period, reigned but in name.
LABOR IN THE ORIENT.
57
His office was little more than a fiction. Theoretically, he was the
spiritual head of the nation-the Japanese pope.
From the establishment of the feudal system in 1603, until the revo-
lution of 1868, an era of peace reigned, but the oppression of the work-
ing classes continued. During this period the scholars and writers were
commanded not to give an account of the strife and contention of the
times. The only record of passing events were those of the priests, pro-
tected by the sanctity of the temples.
Iyeyasu apportioned the land among the officers of his army. They
became vassals of the government. They numbered two hundred or
more, and controlled all the lands in Japan. There were two classes of
these feudal lords, the "Daimios" and the "Kuges." The first were
the successful officers of Iyeyasu; the latter the relatives of the Mikado.
The first class was rich and powerful. The latter was of noble birth
and high rank. The Daimios were the parvenus of Japanese aristocracy.
The Kuges were of immemorable antiquity. "In the veins of the
Daimios flowed the blood of men; in the veins of the Kuges coursed the
blood of Gods." The annual income of the Daimios class ranged from
$40,000 to $4,000,000. All nobles resided in the cities, the majority
at Yedo (Tokio as it is now called). They rarely visited their fiefs, but
left the management of their estates to stewards, who made merciless
exactions from the peasantry, and enforced their demands with cruel per-
tinacity. The lords were indifferent to the means resorted to by their
stewards for the purpose of forcing supplies from the serfs. Taxes were
collected regardless of the condition of the peasantry. Heartless oppres-
sion and ruthless extortion prevailed.
Under the nobles the people were divided into four, or rather, five
classes. First was the military or soldier caste, and with it was classified
the writers or men of learning. The military retainers of the feudal
nobility, who had assisted their lords in the establishment of the feudal
system, constituted this class. They numbered about 400,000, and with
their families about 2,000,000. They were supported entirely at the ex-
pense of the people. They were known as the Samuria, or gentry class,
and were treated with servile respect by the people composing the in-
ferior classes. They were also known as the "two-sworded class," be-
cause of the law permitting them to cary a long and a short sword. The
second class were the farmers, and embraced a large majority of the popu-
lation of the empire. The artisans were the third in order, and the
merchants made the fourth. What we have called the fifth class were
the Etas. Like the Pariahs of India, however, they were more properly
58
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
outcasts, and forbidden intercourse with persons not of their class. They
were considered unclean. This was not because of their poverty or un-
worthiness, but because of their occupation. All those brought by their
business in contact with hides, leather or dead animals, belonged to this
despised class. It also included undertakers and executioners. Among
them were often many of the richest men in the empire, but they were
forbidden by law to exhibit their wealth or to make a display of fine.
clothes and handsome houses. They lived by themselves and were not
allowed to intermarry with the other classes. In 1870, for the first time,
a census was taken of this class, and they numbered 456,695. By the
present government they were admitted into citizenship in 1871. Below
the Etas, or outcasts, were the IIinin, or "not human" class. It em-
braced the vagrants and beggars. They alternated between begging and
officiating at the execution of convicts. They were permitted to solicit
alms by the roadside and to live in huts on the waste lands. Their origin
is unknown. Whether they are descendents of lepers, pardoned crim-
inals or the conquered aborigines is uncertain. Both these classes were
ignored as below the level of humanity. Like the Etas, the Iinin
were also admitted to citizenship in 1871.
Although the farmers were placed immediately after the military or
gentry, yet their lot was much harder than that of either the artisans or
merchants. They were entirely at the mercy of the feudal lords. The
serfs or subjects of a Daimio would sometimes number half a million.
Four-fifths of these were in a condition as degraded and miserable as
that of the Saxon serfs of the Norman masters of England, or even the
adscripta gleba" of the Romans. Although denominated farmers, in
reality they were nothing but gardeners. Their farms, comprised, at
most, but three acres, usually but half an acre. The land was held in
fee by the feudal lord. In good years he exacted as high as three-fourths
of the crops as rent. In bad years he sometimes took the entire crop,
and the farmer and his family were left to starve.
Like all other occupations, in Japan, that of the farmer was heredi-
tary. He was the descendant of the man who first tilled the soil. He
never left that occupation for another. He lived and died upon the soil
he tiled, and was succeeded by his son, who began where the father
ended. He held his land by the right of possession, and for two thousand
years no one disputed that right. He "submitted without opposition
and endured without remonstrance" an almost unlimited taxation, but
any attempt to dispossess him from his land, on the other hand, aroused the
most determined opposition.
LABOR IN THE ORIENT.
59
The Daimios divided the country into two hundred or more princi-
palities, over which they ruled with absolute sway, subject, however, to
be called upon by the imperial government in case of actual war, or great
internal commotion. They held all the offices, both military and civil,
and with their half million retainers, monopolized the wealth of the
country. The other 30,000,000 people were powerless and voiceless.
They were conceded no rights; their privileges, but to live, toil, and
obey their masters. They were absolutely under the control, and in the
power, of the feudal lord and his retainers. In the event of a contro-
versy between the farmer and his lord, no tribunal existed to which he
could appeal for protection and justice. They were beneath the con-
tempt of their lords, and for them to petition for a redress of grievances.
would have been deemed an impertinence deserving of punishment.
They were attached to the soil, and could not leave it without permission.
Their lives were at the mercy of their superiors; and fancied insolence or
insubordination, met with severe and ofttimes sanguinary retribution.
The condition of the common laborer was deplorable. Not one in a
hundred owned a foot of land; domestic comforts were to them unknown.
Human muscle supplied all motive power, and was a substitute for horses
in the propelling of wheeled vehicles, whether for the conveyance of
passengers, or for the transportation of heavy articles. Men were also
used to draw boats on the canals. It seems incredible to American and
European civilization, that huge granite monoliths, weighing more than
200,000 pounds, have been transported hundreds of miles in Japan, with-
out the assistance of either animal or steam power. Large castles, or
structures inclosing from one to three acres, and built of these immense
stones, are quite common in Japan.
The "carriers" and "packers," as these human horses are called in
Japan, like the farmers, inherited their occupation from their fathers.
The hereditary tendencies and habit of generations have given these men
the swing and gait of horses. It was not uncommon for them to trot
at the rate of forty miles a day for weeks, and carry a man weighing 175
or 200 pounds.
The improvements instituted by Iyeyasu, in the seventeenth century,
demonstrate that labor was abundant and cheap. Great buildings of
stone were erected, the material for which was transported hundreds of
miles. Streets were leveled and canals built. He employed 300,000
laborers in the city of Yedo. The result of his improvements was, that
that city, before the end of the seventeenth century, had a population
of half a million.
60
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
The slaves were introduced into the country by the Portugese, in the
fourteenth century, and the trade flourished for two centuries. A trade
in Chinese slaves existed for many centuries. Without reliable data
upon which to base a conclusion, we may assume that the condition of
the slaves was very little, if any, worse than that of the serfs, farmers,
and common laborers.
The Artisan class has constituted a large and important element of
the Japanese population, from time immemorial. As a class they were
ranked above the merchant and banker, but practically neither class
was the superior of the other in status and privileges. Skill has been
displayed in the mechanical arts of Japan for at least a thousand years.
Their implements of steel were of the best. Some of their old swords
are worthy of Toledo or Damascus. For centuries the cutlers have en-
joyed an enviable reputation. They surpassed, in workmanship, those
of any other country. Japanese lacquered ware is still unrivaled. From
an early period, weaving has been an extensive industry. Their silk
cloth, embroideries, and tapestries, were exquisitely beautiful, when the
people of the Western world were satisfied with the coarsest fabrics.
Their most ancient bronze, compares favorably with the finest of Europe.
Their enamelers of the middle ages far excelled those of to-day, in any
country. They manufactured beautiful porcelain ware and other pot-
tery, long before the birth of Palissy. Their paintings on silk, paper,
porcelain and lacquer, excite the admiration of the cultivated. Their
ivory, and wood carvings are wonders of skill, ingenuity, and pa-
tient labor. Gilding, engraving, and inlaid work, were in a high state
of perfection eight hundred years ago.
Japanese chroniclers claim that the first pottery was made B. C. 660,
but it is supposed to have an earlier origin. In A. D. 1223, it had
attained an importance, and great improvements were made in the deco-
rative art. From that date to the sixteenth century great potteries were
established in all parts throughout the empire.
In Japan in almost every house some mechanical trade was practiced.
Even in the homes of the higher classes, silk, cotton, and other goods.
were made by the servants, and the members of the family had some
knowledge of the art. Every farm house had its spinning wheel and its
loom. Many of the smaller merchants manufactured their own goods.
Of the processes used in the mechanical arts some were family secrets,
and were handed down from generation to generation. As a rule,
articles were manufactured in the homes of the people, and establish-
ments for that purpose were not maintained.
LABOR IN THE ORIENT.
61
Trade guilds were of ancient origin, and still exist. Every branch
of labor has its guild. Although not originally established for the pro-
tection of labor from unjust and selfish exactions, yet that is now one
of their purposes, and zealously do they guard the interests of the mem-
bers.
Although placed in the lowest rank, still the merchant traders were.
an important element of Japanese society. A large number of small
traders existed, from whom their entire stock of goods could often be
purchased for less than ten dollars. Upon this small capital they would
manage to live quite as well, if not better, than either the farmer or
artisan.
The working people of Japan were deprived of nearly all the com-
forts of civilized life. Their resources were as limited as any semi-civil-
ized nation on the globe. Rice and fish, supplemented by a few roots,
including a great turnip-radish, designated as daikou. A few varieties
of fruit was the food generally accessible to those below the military class.
The other productions of the farm were demanded for the use of the lords
and their retainers.
The clothing of the working people in summer was a scanty garment
of cloth around the loins, with leggings and sandals. In winter a cotton
garment was worn and straw sandals or wooden clogs. The occupation of
the family was denoted by the dress. The garments of both males and
females were similar in form and style; sex was denoted by the color.
Anciently the houses of the working people of Japan were of rude
construction. They afforded a poor shelter from the rains of summer
and the blasts of winter. They were built of wood, weeds and bamboo,
and the crevices were filled with mud, The partitions were generally of
paper, so arranged that the room might be extended. Rude were these
structures indeed, with their floors of earth and doors and windows un-
protected by shutters or glass.
The castles of the lords, built of stone, are remarkable for their
massiveness of design and for the exquisite finish of the interior. All of
them have beautiful gardens attached, representing minature landscapes.
The upper classes are not illiterate. Reading, writing and Chinese lit-
erature have been taught in their homes for centuries. The working
classes can generally read and write. Of the farmers and artisans, not ten
per cent were illiterate. Schools have been maintained in the towns and
in many of the villages for centuries.
After the establishment of the Feudal System, the condition of the
classes below the military became much worse. From A. D. 1603 until
62
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
1868 masses of the people were ruthlessly oppressed by the feudal lords.
and their retainers.
The agricultural classes were perhaps treated with the greatest sever-
ity. This was because they were more dependent upon the will of their
masters. Their condition, even in the nineteenth century, was one of ex-
treme poverty. Their houses were dilapidated and their food and clothing
meager. In some districts the indigence of this class was so extreme that
they could not eat the rice they cultivated, but subsisted on millet mixed
with a little coarse barley. The potato and radish were the only other
articles of food within their reach. In some localities they eked out a
scanty subsistence by snaring birds, or fishing in the small ponds and
rivulets. Even the women and children are compelled to till the ground.
It is not an uncommon sight to see women hitched before a plow in the
rice fields. In Japan, farming commenced with the coming of the birds
in spring. In November he reaped his rice with a hook and threshed it
with an iron comb. He then "fanned it by hand, and contentedly (?)
gave to his lord one-half or two-thirds of the produce as rent for the land.
In times of plenty he existed; in times of drouth he starved.
Agrarian riots were frequently occasioned by bad harvests and other
causes. The result of these uprisings were quite disastrous, as the
peasant was difficult to manage when once aroused.
The result of the oppressions and abuses of the feudal lords, was the
revolution of 1868, and the rehabilitating of the Mikado. He has insti-
tuted, and successfully accomplished, many practical reforms. He abol-
ished the Feudal System, and deprived the feudal lords of their power,
which was assumed by the central government. Large numbers of young
men have been sent to Europe and America, at government expense, to
be educated. European and American scholars have been employed to
establish schools and colleges. Modern industrial appliances have been
introduced; public schools have been opened, and a liberal course of
study adopted. At Tokio a public library has been instituted, and now
contains more than 100,000 volumes. Courts of justice have been insti-
tuted, wherein the workingman can find protection and seek redress.
In these courts he can enforce the payment of wages. This he could not
do under the old organization. The old division of the people into classes
has been abolished. Before the law, all are now of the same class. Of
course, the influence of the former system is still felt, and will be for
years, but it must disappear with the lapse of time, and then will the
Japanese laborer be the peer of any subject of the Mikado.
For a few years after the revolution, matters were in a chaotic state.
LABOR IN THE ORİENT.
63
Great difference of opinion existed as to what should be the actual status
of the Daimios, under the new regime. Some were for yielding their
feudal rights to the throne; others, the most powerful in the kingdom,
resisted these propositions. The Tenno, formerly the Mikado, was then
a mere boy, twenty years old. Up to that time he had been confined in
a castle at Kiota, and had never been seen except by the members of
his household. The actual head of affairs was the Tycoon or Shogun.
After a prolonged discussion the spirit of reform was victorious. In Sep-
tember, 1871, the feudal system was abolished, the Tycoon deposed, and
the Mikado once more placed upon the throne.
For the following amusing incident, connected with this great revo-
lution, we are indebted to the courtesy of Mr. A. B. Capron. It is
taken from the unpublished journal of the late General Horace Capron,
his father, who was the commissioner and adviser of the Kaitakushi.
General Capron says:
"After the revolution and the promulgation of
the edict abolishing the feudal system, it became a question of some im-
portance how to deal with the Samuria or military retainers of the
Daimios. They were about 80,000 in number. They had always had
the privilege of carrying the formidable two-handed sword. They
swarmed the streets of the cities, and exacted the most servile obedience
to their will, compelling the masses to prostrate their faces to the ground
as they met them. To have undertaken to disarm them would have
caused every sword to leap from its scabbard in defense of their sacred
privilege, and might have deluged the country in blood. To accomplish
this desired measure, without great hazard, an edict was promulgated
from the throne extending this privilege to all classes, even the common
coolie. The effect was instantaneous, for no sooner was the coolie seen
parading the streets, ostentatiously displaying his two-handed sword,
than they were dropped by the Samuria in disgust. In a very short time
they were abandoned by the other classes as cumbersome and useless ap-
pendages.
The abolition of the feudal system was a "red-letter day" for the
working classes of Japan. Although their condition is still far from
enviable, the government is making an honest effort to ameliorate it.
The workingman is now acquiring some political rights. In July, 1878,
an imperial decree was promulgated establishing local elective assemblies
throughout the empire. By it the country was divided into districts,
and these districts subdivided into villages. Each of these divisions and
subdivisions have their assemblies. These assemblies are elected by
ballot, at a time and place appointed by the governor. Their power, as yet,
64
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
only extends to the estimates and expenditures of the local government.
They have no legislative functions. But even this is a vast concession to
the workingman from an absolute government. We hope the seed will
fructify and yield an hundred-fold.
As a
Under the new order of things the farmer is the owner of the land
he tills, and is taxed according to its producing capacity. Almost every
farmer now can read and write, and sends his son to some school. His
daughters are taught music and needle-work at home. The wages of
the farm laborer have increased from nothing to $35 a year and board.
Although there is yet much suffering among the farmers and farm la-
borers, it is beyond question that their condition has wonderfully im-
proved during the last fifteen years. Slaves they were, now they are
practically freemen. Once serfs, they are now citizens. The methods.
of cultivation are not materially changed, yet the product has wonder-
fully increased. The system of variation in crops, and the introduction
of new seeds, have vastly benefited the farmers, or gardeners, as they
may still be called. In 1875, the area of land under cultivation was
barely 12,000,000 acres, and the number engaged in agricultural pur-
suits were 15,500,000. Of this number 7,000,000 were women.
large number of the women, including both old and young, were en-
gaged in household duties, such as spinning, weaving, making clothes,
etc., there were, probably, not more than 2,000,000 or 3,000,000 engaged
in field work. As the wild lands are brought under cultivation, the
holdings of the farmers increase. Now, some have as much as four or
five acres.
The average government tax on land is now about $5 per
acre, and this is less than one-fifth what it was under the feudal system.
The average value of the annual product of the land is about $40 per
The farms are so small that the use of labor-saving machines is
not only inexpedient but practically impossible. The agricultural im-
plements are, therefore, of a very primitive character. The plough is
small, with one handle, and is pulled through the soft mud by a single
pony, coolies, or sometimes by women. The spade and hoe are fairly
good, but the sickle is simply a straight iron blade about four inches in
length, pointed and sharpened on one side.
acre.
In nearly all parts of Japan, the climate is so mild that it will admit
of raising two crops a year. The more hardy crops are cultivated in
winter, which deprive the farmer of that season of rest enjoyed by his
brethren in more rigorous climes.
The fisheries of Japan descend from father to son, and from mother
to daughter, for generations. This class have traditions that have been

Peter M. Arthur.
Grand Chief of Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.
LABOR IN THE ORIENT.
65
handed down for a thousand years. They are considered the most skill-
ful fishermen in the world. This industry gives employment to a large
number of men and women. Their condition is deplorable, probably
worse than that of any other class in Japan. The wages of able-bodied
fishermen are from fifteen to twenty cents a day. Their houses are the
poorest and dirtiest. They are the least intelligent portion of Japanese
society. Probably with the fisherman, may be placed the mine laborer.
In poverty and ignorance they are alike. The lot of the miner is harder
and his pleasures are few. The common mine laborer receives from
eight to twenty cents a day and will work by the month for less.
"Human horses " are still extensively used, although their place is being
gradually supplied by the animal. Horses are now imported from
Europe and America. The vehicle of the country is a small, two-
wheeled carriage, denominated the Jinerkisho, which is usually drawn
by one man and pushed by another. In this way a man weighing one
hundred and seventy-five or two hundred pounds will be carried at the
rate of seven miles an hour. For this work, from forty-five to sixty
cents a day is paid.
In former times, the government gave large sums of money for the
support of the Buddhist priests and temples. That support has been
largely withdrawn and they are now left to subsist on the voluntary
contributions of the people. As illustrative of the power, influence and
wealth once enjoyed by the Buddhist priests, it is said that within“an area
of five thousand square miles, containing a million and a half of people,
there were more than six thousand priests, and seven thousand temples,
shrines and monasteries.
The condition of the artisan class, under the new order of things, has
been improved beyond that of any other manual laborers. Recognized
skill in all the mechanical arts, has created a demand for their handiwork
in the outside world. This has enhanced the value of their services.
Their manufactures are mainly the result of hand labor. In the domain
of artistic work, such as lacquering, enameling, engraving, decorating,
the making of porcelain ware, pottery, bronze, and the weaving of silk
and tapestry, they lead among the artisans of the world. Skilled work-
men in the manufacture of porcelain and pottery get from fifty to
seventy-five cents per day; decorators from seventy-five cents to $1.15;
flower and bird makers from fifty to seventy cents; persons skilled in
baking earthenware from forty to sixty cents; and clay washers and
mixers from twenty to thirty cents a day. The highest skill in bronze-
making commands from $1 to $1.50 a day; ivory carving from $10 to
5
♦ 66
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
$20 per month. Carpenters get from twenty-five to fifty cents a day.
Blacksmiths are cheaper and can be had from eighteen to forty cents a
day. A good ship-carpenter will receive from forty to fifty a day, and a
foreman from $50 to $60 a month.
A few coolies remain in Japan and are still the lowest class of labor.
The trade has been abolished, yet the effect of a thousand years of
degradation remains.
In concluding this brief outline of the working classes in Japan, the
reader is reminded that considering the relative cost of the necessaries of
life in both countries, the wages of the working classes in Japan are not-
much below those received by American workmen. In comparing the
wages paid in the United States with those paid in Japan, the social and
intellectual requirements of the two peoples should be considered. Japan,
just emerging from a condition of chaos, social and political, can not,
and does not, expect that her working classes will at once attain the
place now occupied by the working classes of this country.
The world has reason to hope that the past misery of the Japanese
will be more than eclipsed by their future glory.
PART II.
LABOR IN ANTIQUITY.
CHAPTER I.-EGYPT.
TEACHER OF NATIONS - CRADLE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES-MEMPHIS, THEBES -
DAWN OF HISTORY STONES HAVE VOICES-THE OPPRESSED AND DOWN-
TRODDEN — THE NILE-AREA IN SQUARE MILES - FERTILITY OF THE SOIL-
PRODUCTIONS
EGYPTIAN MONUMENTS- THE COUNTRY DESCRIBED -HIS-
TORICAL EPOCHS-- ESTABLISHMENT OF THE EMPIRE -- CONSERVATIVE CHAR-
ACTER OF EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION — DEVELOPMENT OF THE CASTE SYSTEM
ARCHITECTURE AND PUBLIC WORKS-TEMPLES, PALACES, OBELISKS AND
COLOSSI-EARLY EGYPTIAN SOCIETY-CONDITION OF THE WORKING PEOPLE
-FORCED LABOR-OPPRESSION OF THE PEOPLE-PERFECTION OF THE CASTE
SYSTEM JOSEPH-THE FAMINE-THE NUMBER OF CASTES-ROYAL FAMILY
PRIESTS AND SOLDIERS-"THE THIRD ESTATE”
"THE THIRD ESTATE"-LABORERS-TRADESMEN
- ARTISANS-BUILDERS - ARCHITECTS - HERDSMEN — FARMERS-FISHERMEN
- RELATIVE POSITION OF THE CASTES-THEIR CHARACTERISTICS, PRIVILEGES
AND RIGHTS-INDUSTRIAL ARTS AND MANUFACTURES - UNIVERSAL TYRANNY
-HOMES OF THE RICH AND THE POOR-DRESS OF THE LABORING MEN
LAND AND LAND TENURE - LAND OWNED BY THE KING, PRIESTS AND
WARRIORS—THE FARMER-HIS CONDITION AGRICULTURE.
EGYPT!
GYPT! Daughter of the Nile! Teacher of nations! Mother of
philosophy and learning! The cradle of the arts and the sciences.
The first home of architecture and the industrial arts. The land of
the mysterious Nile; where magnificent Memphis and stately Thebes
once flourished. At the dawn of history she is seen with an established
social order, and a constitutional government. In the gray twilight, on
the furthermost verge of tradition, she was the central light in surround-
ing darkness. The history of Egypt is veritably a voice from the tomb.
Truly with her the stones have voices. The traveler wanders awe-
struck amid her mighty pyramids, vast and magnificent temples, colossal
67
68
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
statues, and stately tombs. Perhaps it is in the solemn hush of eventide,
and voices come to him from the mists and shadows of antiquity, "like
the indistinct whisperings of a dream."
Such are the impressions awakened by a name that is expressive to
the learned of so much that is unique in nature, wondrous in art, mar-
velous in execution, mysterious in history, and ancient in time.
It was in this land, hoary with millenniums, blessed in clime, bound-
less in production, phenomenally rich of soil, that the wail of the oppres
sed, and the groan of the down-trodden, have been ascending ever.
By the Nile Egypt was made. By the Nile Egypt is sustained. This
mighty river, once worshipped as divine, is 1500 miles in length. Hav-
ing its source in the heart of equatorial Africa, onward, and ever onward
it rolls, through the vast marshes, luxuriant vales, and boundless forests,
of the "Dark Continent." From thence its resistless volume cuts its
sinuous way through desert wastes, to the blue Mediterranean. For
countless ages did its mighty waters in turn submerge and recede in
annual overflow, until the sterile sands were made to smile and "blossom
as the rose." Such is the natural history of Egypt. The area of cultiv-
able land in ancient Egypt has been estimated at something over 5,500
square miles. The width of the Nile valley was from two miles at the
narrowest point to ten and three-fourths miles at the widest. At its base
the Delta was about eighty-one miles in width. The valley and the Delta
of the Nile is Egypt. What the soil of this wondrous country lacked in
extent was compensated in fertility. How fertile may be realized when
it is remembered that, while under Persian rule, this country not only
fed its six million inhabitants, but also supplied corn for a garrison of
120,000 Persian troops, and paid to the treasury at Susa an annual trib-
ute of $850,000.
Reflecting upon this remarkable fertility and enormous production,
we find it difficult to realize that under such conditions "man was
made to mourn." Cereals and fruits, various in kind, and prolific in
yield, were cultivated with an ease unknown to less favored parts of the
earth's surface. The principal grains were doora, wheat and barley. On
the rich soil of the delta flax was grown. The leguminous and cucur-
bitaceous plants were produced a thousand fold such as the bean, the
lental, the melon, and the gourd; even the seed of the beautiful lotus
flower, when ground and kneaded with water, supplied a wholesome and
nutritious bread. The fig, the olive, the pomegranate, the peach, and
the almond tree, clustered on the banks of the Nile, or threw their
grateful shade alike over the palace of the rich and the hovel of the
LABOR IN ANTIQUITY.
69
poor. Why this barren list of flower, fruit, and bread! What availeth
it to the subject in hand? Naught, perhaps, in itself, but by way of
suggestion, everything. Why from this land of sunshine and plenty,
"flowing, indeed, with milk and honey," should the wail of despair
float wearily down the centuries? The kindness of Mother Nature
serves but to contrast "man's inhumanity to man." The justice of God
is outraged by the injustice of men. Thus ever has the generosity of
nature been thwarted by the selfishness of man. The history of Egypt
is an unbroken narrative of tyranny, oppression and wealth, on one side,
and of submission, suffering and poverty, on the other. Even the stu-
pendous monuments that have aroused the admiration and awakened
the awe of the world, eloquently bespeak the vanity of kings and the
degradation of the people.
In Egypt injustice is monumental. In Egypt injustice has become
proverbial. For countless ages has this black crime cursed a fair land.
Gloom and despair settled upon the hearts of the people. Even her
mighty stones and monotonous landscape seem shrouded in gloom. The
overarching sky is as "mournful and changeless as eternity." The
aspect of this sad land has been graphically portrayed thus: "The
water of the Nile, sluggish and wan, seems to slumber in its course, and
slowly extends itself in sheets of molten tin. No breath of air wrinkles
its surface, or bows down upon their stocks, the cups of the lotus-flowers
as rigidly motionless as though sculptured. The banks are desolate. A
solemn and mighty sadness weighs upon this land, which was never
aught else than a vast tomb, and in which the living appear to be solely
occupied in the work of burying the dead. It is an arid sadness, dry as
pumice stone, without melancholy, without reverie, without one pearly-
gray cloud to follow toward the horizon, one secret spring wherein to
lave ones dusty feet; the sadness of a sphinx weary of eternally gazing
upon the desert, and unable to detach rocks upon which she has fastened
her claws for twenty centuries,. The scene continually changes: at one
moment are visible gigantic propylæa, whose sloping walls, painted with
large panels of fantastic figures, are mirrored in the river; pylons with
broad, bulging capitals; stairways guarded by huge crouching sphinxes,
wearing caps with lappets of many folds, and crossing their paws of
black basalt below their sharply projecting breasts; palaces, immeasur-
ably vast, projecting against the horizon, the severe horizontal lines of
their entablatures, where the emblematic globe unfolded its mysterious
wing, like an eagle's vast extending pinions; temples with enormous
columns, thick as towers, on which were limned processions of hiero-
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THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
glyphic figures against a background of brilliant white; all the mon-
strosities of that Titanic architecture. Again, the eye beholds only
landscapes of desolate aridity; hills formed of stony fragments, from
excavations and building works-crumbs of that gigantic debauch of
granite which lasted for more than thirty centuries; mountains exfoli-
ated by heat, and mangled and striped with black lines, which seem like
the cauterizations of a great conflagration; hillocks humped and de-
formed, squatting like the criocephalus, and projecting the outlines of
their misshaped attitude against the sky-lines; expanses of greenish clay,
reddle, flour-white tufa, and from time to time some steep cliff of dry,
rose-colored granite, where yawn the black mouths of the stone quarries."
As a matter of convenience, historians have been wont to divide the
history of Egypt into three epochs: first, the old kingdom; second, the
middle kingdom; third, the new kingdom. From the establishment of
the monarchy by Menes until the invasion of the Shepherd or Phenician
kings, was the duration of the first period; the second epoch is that
covered by the reign of the Hyksos, or Shepherds; the new kingdom.
extended from the time of the expulsion of the Shepherd kings by the
native princes, to the final overthrow of the monarchy by Alexander the
Great. Chronological divisions are usually arbitrary; but the one given
above will answer our purpose. A singular feature of Egyptian history
is the fact that from the time of Menes- but " a mere name, beyond the
remotest confines of history" - until the conquest of that country by the
great Macedonian, the crown remained in the same family. This is
without example in the history of man. It is illustrative of the extreme
conservatism of the ancient Egyptians, and is but one aspect of a fixed-
ness of spirit that extended to every department of Egyptian life. It is
probable, of course, that during all of the first period, and at least a part
of the second, Egypt was undergoing a formative process, in both the
social and political world. It is conjectured that the caste system, as
described by Greek writers, did not attain its perfect development until
about 800 B. C. Certain it is, judging from the architectural remains,
that from an early period the kings exercised absolute power over the
ignorant and superstitious masses of the people. The populace must
have been an unquestioning and submissive herd; otherwise, they never
would have submitted to toil wearily in armies of thousands, and tens
of thousands, in the construction of massive and useless works.
The herculean tasks accomplished by this ancient people are almost
inconceivable to the modern world. Millions of men must have been
employed for decades in the erection of these vast monuments to the
LABOR IN ANTIQUITY.
71
pride and caprice of kings. Consider for a moment the superhuman
enterprises of these shadowy monarchs; at the very threshold of the old
monarchy, Menes diverted the waters of the Nile by mammoth dikes,
and literally made for that mighty river a new channel to the sea, that
has endured even unto this day. Next in order of time comes the pyramid
of Cheops and the gigantic Sphinx. This pyramid is constructed of
granite blocks from thirty to forty feet long, weighing tons. With one
exception it is the highest structure in the world. Its bulk is 6,848,000
tons, and its base covers an area of thirteen and three-eighths acres.
The Sphinx, a lion's body with a human head, was hewn from a mass of
solid rock, as was the temple built by Amasis. The Sphinx was one hun-
dred and forty feet long, twenty-seven feet high and thirty-five feet wide.
at the chest. Between the paws of this monster in stone was a temple. It
is an emblematic figure. In the vastness of its outline and sense of re-
pose it is the symbol of eternity and solemnity. The colossal stone from
which the temple of Amasis was carved measured twenty-one cubits in
length, fourteen cubits in width, and eight cubits in height. It is said
that two thousand sailors were employed for three years in constructing
a conveyance for this stone. Osburn says of the great pyramid, that
although separated from the historic world by thousands of years, "yet
the pyramid of Cheops still towers above the sands of the desert; the
ghastly whiteness of its nummilite blocks glares in the burning sun, and
its long shadow stretches across the sterile waters that surround it, andˇ
darken the maize and wheat fields of Ghizeh, as the day declines. When
the spectator can obtain, from some favorable point of view, a distinct
conception of the vastness of this pile, no one can describe the over-
whelming sense of it which rushes upon his mind. He feels oppressed,
and staggers as beneath a load. They are the works of men's hands.
This fact is always apparent and prominent; and in it doubtless origin-
ates a shadowy sense of awe which bewilders the mind on receiving the
first distinct impression of their magnitude."
Transcendent in conception, almost superhuman in execution, were the
works of this great people; porticoes, 400 feet long, with roofs supported
by figures 15 cubits high; artificial lakes 450 miles long and 300 feet.
deep; vast tombs with astronomical emblems - golden circles 365 cubits
in circumference, representing the days of the year; obelisks 100 feet
high and weighing 360 tons; colossi 18 yards high, containing 12,000
cubic feet and weighing 900 tons; temples with an area of 396,000
square feet, and supported by monster columns 66 feet high and 33 feet
in circumferance; labyrinthian palaces, more beautiful than the temples
72
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
of Ephesus and Samos, and containing 3,000 apartments; sitting figu.est
33 feet high; hewn from monoliths of black granite; obelisks of ec
granite 70 feet high; avenues of colossi, each figure more than 50 fect
high. So did the ancient Egyptians surround himself with the colossai
and the sublime. Even in its decline great monuments were accom-
plished by Egyptian art, as is exemplified by the numerous stately
temples erected by the Ptolemys and Roman emperors at Deudera,
Erment, Esenth, Edfu, Kumombo, Debod, Dendur, and Dakkh. Writ-
ing of the grandeur and richness of Egyptian architecture, Clemens
Alexandrinus says: "Among the Egyptians, the temples are surrounded
by groves and consecrated pastures; they are furnished with propylæa,
and their courts are encircled with an infinite number of columns; their
walls glitter with foreign marbles and paintings of the highest art; the
Naos is resplendent with gold and silver, and electrum, and with vari-
egated stones from India and Ethiopia; the Adytum is vailed by a cur-
tain wrought with gold."
Think for a moment, kind reader, of the tears, the sighs, the sweat
and the toil, of which these gigantic monuments speak. Consider that
but for the nameless myriads of artisans, mechanics and laborers of
hoary Egypt, these tokens of a unique and sublime civilization would
never have been. Is fame only for the cruel and capricious monarch,
who commanded these herculean labors or shall it be shared by the me-
chanic who designed and the laborer who executed them? Should not
earthly immortality be as much the reward of the subject as of the
monarch?
It would seem that the caste system of ancient Egypt was perfected
during the domination of the Shepard kings. Prior to that time, in all
probability, there were but two classes of society, the nobility and the
massess of the people. In absolute ascendency over both was the king.
By virtue of their rank, the possession of landed estates, and the neces-
sity of their support to the throne, the nobility during that period, must
have enjoyed certain political privileges and personal rights. But of the
rank and file of the Egyptian populace as much can not be said; indeed,
not only were they without voice in the affairs of state but in person.
and effects they were the property of the king-they were his slaves and
enjoyed even their lives at the mercy of a despotic sovereign. At any
time, he could summon them from the vineyard, from the maize field,
from the pasture, from the fishing net and from the workshop, to labor,
perhaps for years, in the erection of useless pyramids, gorgeous palaces
and massive fortifications scores of miles in length. This labor, the
LABOR IN ANTIQUITY.
73
poor Egyptian must perform without the anticipation of benefit or the
hope of reward. Torn from the bosom of his family and with the sob
of his offspring in his ears, he was borne away to faint beneath the glar-
ing sun, or to die of fever in miasmatic swamps. In the construction of
the pyramid of Cheops, it is said that hundreds of thousands of his sub-
jects were taken forcibly from their wonted pursuits to labor upon this
artificial mountain. These vast hordes of conscripted laborers were
treated with great harshness by their taskmasters or overseers. They
worked in gangs of 100,000 men, the several bodies of workmen reliev-
ing each other at stated periods. Their fields were deserted and their
workshops abandoned. The produce of the field and the orchard was
lost for the want of cultivation. Private enterprises and the industrial
arts were destroyed. Even the temples of worship were deprived of the
officiating priests, and were closed throughout the country."
"There was a great cry throughout his dominion! A cry of the op-
pressed against the oppressor; a cry of torment and bitter anguish!"
This vast army of workmen was organized in divisions. Some were
employed to hew out the vast block of granite, amid the stony desolation
of Sinai (a desolation unparalleled on the face of the globe; a desolation
that has its incarnation in the verdureless valley and the rock-ribbed moun-
tain, with its bald, rugged and blasted shoulders of granite; not a blade
of grass or the leaf of a tree from the summit to the base of this stern
and gloomy rock); others were then compelled to transport the masses of
rock from Sinai to the Nile, which was a herculean task, considering the
distance to be traversed, the masses to be moved, and the mechanism
employed. Yet again, others would place the colossal blocks of granite
upon boats, and ferry the monoliths across the Nile, where they would be
received by gangs of naked slaves, and dragged by them from the shores
of the river to the place of destination.
It was a common practice in ancient Egypt, even before the days of
Joseph the Prime Minister, to compel strangers, aliens, prisoners of war,
and slaves to labor upon the public works. These workmen were treated
with brutal cruelty. When brought out in companies, each morning,
certain of them would be taken from the ranks, thrown upon the ground
and wantonly beaten. This inhuman treatment had not the excuse of
even a pretended offense. The wretched slaves were lashed merely as a
display of power, and in order that they might have ever before them the
hopelessness and helplessness of their degradation.
Dark as is the picture of political and social life in ancient Egypt
prior to the Hyksos or Shepherd domination, yet the absolute sovereignty
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of the Egyptian monarch had been more theoretical than real so far
as the upper orders of society, or the nobility, were concerned. Before
the great famine that occurred during the ministry of Joseph, who was
the favorite officer of Aphophis, one of the Hyksos kings, the crown had
somewhat feared the upper classes, and, as has been said, the nobility had
considerable independence and freedom. During this terrible visitation
the people first exhausted their gold and silver coin, then parted with
their household goods and utensils, then exchanged their flocks and
herds for the coveted corn, and finally, to avert 'starvation, sold them-
selves and their lands to the king. From thence dates the absolute power
of the Egyptian monarchy, and it became a despotism in fact as well as
in theory, as to all Egyptians alike. The priestly class, at this time, did
not part with their lands. They were fed gratuitously from the royal
granaries. From this time, it may be reasonably conjectured, should be
dated the perfection of that system of social order in ancient Egypt
known as caste. At the head of the monarchy was the king. His sub-
jects were divided into classes according to their occupation. There
seems to be a difference of opinion regarding the number of castes into
which Egyptian society was divided. They have been variously given as
three, five and six. The weight of authority is with the first number,
and that these castes were in the following order: first, the members of
the royal family; second, the priests and soldiers; third, the remainder
of the free population, constituting a sort of third estate, and not ac-
corded the privileges enjoyed by the priests and soldiers. There seems
to have been a sub-division of the third class into six classes: first, lab-
orers; second, tradesmen, artisans, builders, architects, painters, sculp-
tors and musicians; third, herdsmen of oxen, sheep, goats and swine;
fourth, boatmen; fifth, hunters, fishermen and fowlers; sixth, dragomans,
or interpreters. It cannot be said that this redistribution, so to speak,
of the third class was indicative of any social priority or preeminence
among these subsidiary classess. While it is true that the three main di-
visions of Egyptian society were expressive of different degrees of social
eminence and political privileges; yet the subdivisions of the third caste
was merely an economic measure; that is to say, for certain reasons and
as a matter of convenience in the administration of the affairs of state,
the masses of the people were divided according to vocation. Below all,
and not considered as a caste in the Egyptian sense, were the slaves, or
bond men and women.
Official position does not seem to have been hereditary, as a rule.
Public officers were selected mainly from the priestly and military caste.
LABOR IN ANTIQUITY.
75
In certain respects there is a marked resemblance between the caste sys-
tem in ancient Egypt and in India. In both countries the distinction
between the men of the different orders was sternly enforced by law;
and in each, the son first by custom and afterward by law followed the
calling of the father. Even when enforced merely by the dictates of cus-
tom the same pursuit or occupation was practiced by the same family
for many generations. An instance is recorded wherein the occupation
of architect descended from the father to the son for twenty-two gener-
ations. Herodotus is authority for the statement that the high priests
of Thebes were in direct line for three hundred and forty-five genera-
tions. Manual laborers were prohibited from plying more than one
trade at the same time. The herdsmen had charge of the flocks belong-
ing to the king, ecclesiastics and warriors. They were compelled to
serve the upper classes, and for the slightest offense were condemned to
fines, imprisonment and the bastinado. Swine were thought unclean.
animals as among the Jews, Mohammedans and Hindoos. Swineherds,
therefore, were a despised class. The condition of artisans and mechan-
ics was little better than that of the slaves. These poor pioneers of the
industrial arts were treated by the upper classes with supreme contempt
and cruel indifference. The servants and slaves, both white and black,
of the nobility were esteemed more highly than the "stinking mob" of
unfortunate mechanics and workingmen. Their time and the fruits of
their labor were, not only in theory but in practice, the property of their
monarch. He could command their services at any time and to any
extent. Intelligence, skill and worth of character were as nothing in
the face of despotism. The same was true of musicians, singers and
artists of every description. Their presence could be commanded at any
time, and their earnings belonged to their sovereign. The stewards and
accountants were generally members of the upper classes, and were per-
mitted to stand upright before the princes, while persons of lower rank
were required to prostrate themselves on the ground in their presence.
The privilege of this class, however, did not extend beyond this, for
even over them were oftimes placed severe taskmasters. They would be
felled to the earth by blows from their superiors for the slightest offense,
and beaten without mercy. Thus the slave in turn became the tyrant.
Indeed the social order of Egypt was one grand system of tyranny from
the king to the swineherd. A spirit of gloom seemed to permeate the
social fabric in the presence of an overwhelming and all-powerful des-
potism. Despotism reigned even in the family. The head of the house.
ruled its members with an iron rod. The relation of parent and child
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was that of master and slave. Even women and children were compelled
to carry heavy burdens, and were urged on their way with the lash. So
intense and protracted were the hours of labor in some occupations, and
so far in excess of the normal strength of man, that those following it
were often deformed as a result, in head and limb.
Contrast for a moment the homes of the rich and the poor in ancient
Egypt. The houses of the rich were of brick, and handsomely decorated
without and within. They were constructed with an open court in the
center, paved with stone, in which were fountains and palm trees. The
houses of the affluent were elaborately and elegantly furnished with ta-
bles, chairs and couches. The bedsteads and footstools were ofttimes of
ivory and ebony. The laborer and the artisan, when at home, lived
within four walls of mud, roofed with mats of palm. It was little bet-
ter than a dog-kennel, and dark, dank and noisome. It was merely
an uncouth and filthy shelter from the sun, or a closet for his few and
simple possessions. The garb of the laborer was simple indeed. It was
usually a kilt of woolen or linen girded about the loins.
Numerous were the industries of the Egyptian artisan. The date-
palm was to Egypt what bamboo is to India. From the trunk beams
were made. From its branches were manufactured baskets, bedsteads
and ceilings. Their leaves were converted into mats, brooms and ropes.
Certain musical instruments were made and much skill was displayed in
the production of the paraphernalia of war; such as chariots, arrows,
javelins, spears, hatchets, swords, battle-axes, shields, helmets and coats-
of-mail. At a very early period the Egyptians attained excellence in
glass-blowing, metal-working, pottery, and the weaving of textile fabrics,
woolen, cotton and silk. The rudiments of chemistry were understood
by the mechanics, and they possessed some knowledge of the metallic
oxides. This information was utilized in the colors or pigments in use
by dyers, potters, painters, and makers of porcelain ware. Some knowl-
edge of metallurgy was possessed by them. Iron, copper, and some of
the fine metals were successfully mined and wrought. Chisels, pick-axes,
adzes, and saws were all manufactured. But the carpenter of those times
was without the plane and the lathe.
The land was owned by the king, the priests and the warriors. Land
was sometimes leased by the king and priests to the peasantry; but as a
rule, the land of the priests and the warriors was tilled by slave labor.
Perhaps it would be more correct to say of the lands awarded to the
priestly caste, that they were bestowed upon the various temples
throughout the country, as lands were subsequently conveyed, during
LABOR IN ANTIQUITY.
77
the middle ages, to the monasteries and nunneries. These estates of
the temple were exempt from taxation. To the military class were.
assigned the rich lands of the delta.
As has been said, probably few of the peasants tilled the land as tenant
farmers. By far the greater proportion of husbandmen were employed
by officials, priests and nobles as farm laborers. Overseers superintended
the work. They were accustomed to treat the poor farm laborer with
harshness, inflicting blows, lashes and curses in about equal proportions.
Anunemum says of these unfortunates: "Have you ever represented to
yourself the estate of the rustic, who tills the ground?-(speaking of the
tenant farmers). Before he has put the sickle to the crop the locusts.
have blasted a part of it; then come the rats and the birds. If he is
slack in housing his grain the thieves are upon him. His horse dies of
weariness as he drags the wain. Anon a tax-gatherer arrives; his
agents are armed with clubs; he has negroes with him who carry whips
of palm-branches. They all cry give us your grain, and he has no easy
way of avoiding their extortionate demands. Next, the wretch is
caught, bound and sent off to work without wage at the canals, his
children are stripped and plundered.”
A picture somewhat similar is given in the "Praise of Learning,"
Twanfsakhrat. "The little laborer, having a field, he passes his life
among the rustics; he is worn down for vines and pigs, to make his
kitchen of what his fields have; his clothes are heavy with their weight;
he is bound as a forced laborer; if he goes forth into the air he suffers,
having to quit his warm fire-place; he is bastinadoed with a stick on his
legs, and seeks to save himself; shut against him is the hall of every
house, locked are all chambers. Torn from his humble home, and the
bosom of his family, against his will, to render strenuous and gratuitous
service on the public works of the king, should he survive the exposure
and hardship incident to that service, he might return to find his hut a
heap of ruins, and that his wife and children are gone, he knows not
whither.""
6
At other times, the government would forbid the planting of crops of
one kind and would command the planting of another. The harvesting
and garnering of the crops would be forbidden until the taxes or tithes
had been collected.
In some parts of Egypt any preparation of the soil was unnecessary.
The seed was scattered over the soil and trodden in by sheep, goats
and pigs.
The plow was of wood-beam, handles and share. The parts of the
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THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
implement were held together by rope. The hoe was also of wood, both
handle and blade. The hoe alone was used in light soil. In planting
the farmer carried the seed in a basket on his arm and spread the seed
broadcast with his hand. Harrows and rakes were not in use. To harvest
grain a sickle was used, and when cut it was carried to granaries by men
or asses, in panniers or baskets. It was threshed by driving cattle to and
fro, over the sheaves. In winnowing it was thrown against the wind.
From first to last, the king was the embodiment of power. He was
an absolute ruler. All the learning was monopolized by the priests.
The caste system does not exist in Egypt to-day. It probably disappeared
more than 2,000 years ago, The last vestiges of this legalized injustice
must have been swept away under the first Ptolemys. Of course with
the defeat of the Egyptian army, and its consequent change of status, it
must have gradually lost its caste relation. The priestly class necessarily
met with the same fate upon the downfall of the ancient faith. It is a
reasonable conjecture that with the emasculation of the caste system,
came a proportionate improvement in the condition of the middle classes,
and skilled mechanics. The improvement in these classes however was
barely appreciable; as to the laborers and common artisans-their condi-
tion remained the same in reality, that it had been in theory. The con-
dition of the working classes in modern Egypt will be considered in
another place.
CHAPTER II.—PALESTINE.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SMALL COUNTRIES IN HISTORY- ANCIENT PALESTINE THE
SIX PERIODS OF HEBREW HISTORY-THE PATRIARCHAL, THEOCRATICAL AND
MONARCHICAL PHASES OF NATIONAL EXISTENCE ABRAHAM, ISAAC AND JACOB
-HERDSMEN, SHEPHERDS AND STOCK-RAISERS - THE TWELVE SONS OF JACOB-
THE TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL THE MIGRATION OF JACOB AND HIS FAMILY-
EGYPTIAN BONDAGE-ITS TOILS AND HARDSHIPS THE MOSAIC RECORD
PHENOMENAL INCREASE OF THE HEBREWS - THE EXODUS-WANDERINGS AND
LABORS IN THE WILDERNESS- BUILDING OF THE TABERNACLE - SKILLED LABOR
- ARTS AND INDUSTRIES BROUGHT FROM EGYPT - CONQUEST OF PALESTINE
APPORTIONMENT OF THE LAND-AGRICULTURE THE MAIN PURSUIT GALILEE
JUDEA CLIMATE SOIL PRODUCTION · FARMING METHODS LAND AND
LAND TENURE-FEUDAL SYSTEM-YEAR OF JUBILEE AND SABBATICAL YEAR
OFFICIAL POSITIONS-SAUL THE FIRST KING-DAVID-SOLOMON-BUILD-
ING OF THE TEMPLE-WORK ON THE TEMPLE-CONSCRIPTED MECHANICS AND
LABORERS - REHOBOAM-BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY-BABYLON-THE RETURN
TO PALESTINE REBUILDING THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM TRADES AND LABOR
UNDER THE ASMONEAN PRINCES-UNDER THE HERODIAN HOUSE-CRAFTS AND
GUILDS-INDUSTRIES-HOUSES AND FOOD OF WORKING CLASSES THE RABBIS
AND THE INDUSTRIAL ARTS - REBUILDING THE TEMPLE - WAGES AND COST
OF LIVING.
H
ISTORY teaches that the significance of a country in the story of
man is not measured by its territorial extent. The name of ancient
Greece, for example-a country smaller by one-third than the state of
Illinois-is synonymous with perfection in every form of art, with genius
in literature, and with heroism in war. Switzerland, with an area.of
about one-fourth that of the State of Illinois, blazes forth as a "bright
particular star" in the struggle for humanity, right and liberty, even on
the confines of the middle ages. The name of Holland, again, is sugges-
tive of one of the most heroic, determined and protracted struggles
against tyranny and fanaticism ever witnessed by man. So is it with
ancient Palestine, with a length of but 180 miles and a width of 130
miles. Where is the name more suggestive of all that is earnest, pro-
found and solemn in the destiny of man? View the question as we
may, this small country is one of peculiar interest. Not because of any
physical features it may contain, whether of production, of scenery, or of
climate. For in extent of territory it was insignificant, in felicity of
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position excelled by Greece, in grandeur and sublimity of outline sur-
passed by Switzerland, in salubrity of climate equalled by many. It is
interesting because of the race who once inhabitated it — the one race of
that country entitled to historical distinction, the Hebrews a race that
gave to mankind Moses, the law-giver; Joshua, the conqueror; David,
the hero and poet; Solomon, the wise; Elijah, the sublime; and Job,
the embodiment of moral fortitude and religious faith. A people was
this chosen by God. Men there were of this race who covenanted with
their God, and to whom He came as the "still small voice." In one of
this race God became incarnate. An immortal literature have these
people given to the world. A people that to-day can boast of such names
as Isaac Disraeli and Auerbach in literature, Benjamin Disraeli in
statesmanship, the Rothschilds in finance, Mendelssohn, Maimonides.
and Spinoza in philosophy, Rachel in the drama, Moscheles and
Meyerbeer in music, are certainly entitled to consideration in their in-
dustries and arts, as are also their mechanics and artisans.
•
As a race, the Hebrews experienced three phases or periods of political
existence: the patriarchal, the theocratic and the monarchical. Twice
during the period preceding their dispersion their existence as a nation
was obscured by a protracted period of bondage. For the purpose in
hand we may consider the condition of industry and the industrial
classes during six historic periods: the infancy of the Jews, as expressed
in the lives of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who were nomadic herdsmen
and shepherds; the period covered by the Egyptian captivity; the resto-
ration to "The Promised Land" and the theocracy; the first monarchy,
beginning with Saul and ending with Rehoboam; that of the Babylonian
captivity; the return to Palestine, and the reign of the Asmonean princes
and the Herodian house.
The history of the Jews begins with the life of their great progenitor,
Abraham, the son of Terah; he that was of "Ur of the Chaldees." He
and his family were peaceful pastoral nomads-their only wealth flocks
and herds; their only vocation the tending of kine, sheep and goats.
They migrated continuously from place to place, as necessity required or
their convenience dictated. Sometimes their migrations were in search
of water, sometimes in quest of pasturage.
With Isaac, the son of Abraham, an advance was made in the indus-
trial arts. With grazing and herding he associated agriculture. He had
unnumbered thousands of camels, asses, kine, sheep and goats. Not
satisfied with this form of wealth, Isaac turned his attention to farming.
Jacob, again, the youngest son of Isaac, was especially a herdsman,

henry George.
PROHAREN E
LABOR IN ANTIQUITY.
81
drover or stock-farmer. It is not known that Jacob attempted agricul-
ture to any extent. From what is recorded of his character and meth-
ods, he was the most successful live-stock farmer known to history.
During this period the family was at once society and the state. The
father was the absolute ruler of his family, wife, children, servants and
slaves. Judging from what is written of the intended sacrifice of Isaac
by Abraham, the patriarch controlled the destiny of his dependents of
every kind and degree, even to the taking of life, should he so determine.
It is probable, however, that the circumstances or conditions surrounding
each family were such as to conserve between the head of a family and
its members a reciprocal feeling of affection and veneration. We know
that mutual dependence and intimate and continued personal contact
will, as a rule, conduce to fraternity in affection and unity in interest.
Therefore the relations subsisting between master and servant then were
not characterized by the selfishness, harshness and jealousy at present
too often experienced between capital and labor, the employer and his
employé.
From these
Thus far the
Jacob had twelve sons, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphthali,
Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph and Benjamin.
twelve sons of Jacob descended the twelve tribes of Israel.
history of the Hebrews is the story of a family. Jacob, his sons and
their attendants migrated to Egypt during the ministry there of his
eleventh and favorite son, Joseph. Between this event and the exodus
has been estimated variously from two hundred to four hundred years.
But whatever this period of time may have been, the descendants of
Jacob multiplied in such ratio that at the time of their departure from
Egypt they numbered six hundred thousand adult males, or between two
and three millions of people. So phenomenal was this increase that it
alarmed the Egyptian Pharaoh. As a result, by various methods he
sought to diminish their multiplication and break their spirit. They
were employed "on the pyramids, on the great canals, and on the vast
dams built for the purpose of irrigation." And Pharaoh said unto
Moses and Aaron: Behold, the people of the land [Hebrews] now are
many, and ye would make them rest from their burdens. And Pharaoh
commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their offi-
cers, saying: Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as
heretofore; let them go and gather straw for themselves. And the tale
of the bricks which they did make heretofore ye shall lay upon them; ye
shall not diminish aught thereof for they be idle; therefore they cry,
saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God. Let, then, more work be
6
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THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
laid upon the men, that they may labor therein; and let them not
regard vain words. And the taskmasters of the people went out, and
their officers, and they spoke to the people, saying: Thus sayeth
Pharaoh, I will not give ye straw. Go ye, get your straw where ye can
find it: yet not aught of your work shall be diminished. So the people
were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble
instead of straw. And the taskmasters hastened them, saying: Ful-
fill your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw. And the
officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying,
Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants? There is no straw given
unto thy servants, and they say to us, make brick: and, behold, thy ser-
vants are beaten, but the fault is in thine own people. But he said, Ye
are idle, ye are idle therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the
Lord. Go, therefore, now and work; for there shall no straw be given
you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks." So is it written of the
Hebrew bondage in Egypt.
But tyranny, short-sighted as inhuman, failed in its purpose. Even
under these unfavorable circumstances, "in the damp stone quarry, in
the lime-pit and brick-field, toiling beneath burdens under a scorching
sun, they multiplied as rapidly as among the fresh airs and under the
cool tents in Goshen." This much is known of the toils, the struggles
and the woes of the children of Israel prior to their exodus from the
land of the Pharaohs.
"And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses ; and
they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, jewels of gold and rai-
ment and the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians,
so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they
spoiled the Egyptians. And the children of Israel journeyed from
Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men,
besides the children. And a mixed multitude went up also with them;
and flocks and herds, even very much cattle." Thus it was that the
children of Israel entered upon their journey in the wilderness.
In the barren and sterile peninsula of Sinai the Hebrew multitudes.
found agriculture or the cultivation of industrial arts impossible. No
attempt was made at systematic industry, except the building of the
tabernacle. They subsisted on the products of their flocks and herds
and such other precarious resources as circumstance placed in their way.
As has been said, the only attempt at the mechanical arts was the build-
ing of the tabernacle of the Lord. The material for this structure was
contributed by the tribes. Its elaborate character indicates that even at
LABOR IN ANTIQUITY.
83
this time some of the Israelites possessed a knowledge of architecture,
weaving, spinning and metal-working. Two skilled mechanics are
mentioned in connection with this enterprise, Bezaleel and Aholiab.
The skill manifested by the architects and mechanics in the construction
of this beautiful edifice was of no inferior order. It was adorned with
graceful pillars of brass, each beautiful shaft ornamented with elaborate
capitals of silver. The rods for the curtains and the hooks whereby the
tapestry was suspended were of silver and exquisitely wrought. The
outer curtains were of fine linen or cotton and delicately woven. The
inner curtain was of costly material and brilliant colors, blue, purple and
scarlet. An altar was constructed of brass, five and a quarter feet high,
and eight feet and three-quarters each way. The planks of the taber-
nacle were overlaid with gold, protected by curtains made of goat's hair.
Judging from the elaborate detail necessary to the successful building of
this beautiful structure, the experience of the Israelites in Egypt had
not been altogether barren of good results. Some, at least, of their
number, were possessed of useful trades and arts, which must have been.
utilized upon their settlement in "the Promised Land." The taber-
nacle demonstrates that some knowledge was had of dyeing, bleaching,
gilding and engraving, and also of the building arts and working in
iron, brass and precious metals; but of the masses of the Israelites at
this time it may be said they were naught but "hewers of wood
and drawers of water." Their condition had been that of slaves. Their
daily lot had been toil, sweat and tears. It cannot be denied that their
experience in Egypt had debased their character and cramped their in-
telligence.
ہو
In time their weary wandering ceased. Successfully expelling the
alien and heathen people then inhabiting Palestine, they took possession
of the "promised land," and its broad acres were apportioned among
the tribes and families. The country occupied by the Israelites at the
time of this apportionment had an area of about 14,976,000 acres.
Therefore, estimating the number of adult males at 600,000, this
would have given to each man 21 acres of land, leaving a remainder
of 1,976,000 acres for the heads of families, tribal princes, and Levitical
cities.
Once fully possessed of their adopted home, everything about them
invited them to agricultural pursuits. Indeed, agriculture is the natural
and inevitable vocation of a pioneer people. Such has been the experi-
ence of mankind from the beginning. At this time, it has been con-
ceded, Palestine presented peculiar attractions to the farmer and the
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herdsman. On every hand a charming and varied landscape surrounded
them a beautiful panorama. There were the snows of Hermon, the
cool of Lebanon, the tropical Jordan country, the genial valleys of
Galilee, with an undulating expanse of tasseled corn, golden grain, and
rolling pasture lands. There was Judea, with its sunny hillsides,
delicious glens and shelving downs. And throughout the length and
breadth of this land browsed the cattle "on a thousand hills;" and the
pastures "were clothed with flocks," the valleys also "covered over with
corn."
"We came unto the land whither Thou sentest us, and surely it
floweth with milk and honey." A genial climate, a fruitful soil and
varied production welcomed the Israelites, foot-sore and weary. The
vine, the olive, the almond, the fig, the date, the orange and the pome-
granate were indigenous and plentiful. Several grains, such as wheat,
millet, barley and zea, yielded an hundred-fold. The grape flourished,
especially in the mountainous districts of the vicinity of Heshbon,
Eleale and Sibnah. This region was also famous for its superior past-
urage, and for its beef and mutton. The distinguishing feature of
Gilead was its flocks and herds, as it was also of the eastern shore of Gen-
esareth. The corn lands of Bashan were famous.
4
The Israelites, of course, brought their methods of agriculture from
Egypt. In sowing, reaping and garnering their crops they patterned
after their former task-masters. "The grain, as soon as it was cut, was
brought in small sheaves to the threshing floors on the backs of asses, or
sometimes of camels. A level spot was selected for the threshing floors,
which were then constructed near each other, of a circular form, perhaps
fifty feet in diameter, by merely beating down the earth hard. Upon
these circles sheaves were spread out, quite thick, and the grain was
trodden out by animals. There were sometimes no less than five such
floors, all trodden by oxen, cows and younger cattle, arranged in each
case several abreast, and driven around in a circle, or rather in all
directions, over the floor. By this process the straw was broken and
became chaff. It was occasionally turned by a large wooden fork,
having two prongs, and when sufficiently trodden, was thrown up with
the same fork against the wind, in order to separate the grain, which
was then gathered up and winnowed."
There were several different interests in land among the Israelites
during the early part of their residence in Palestine. These interests.
might be distinguished, perhaps, as homestead rights, village rights
and land rights. The village of householders was protected by palisades.
Without and surrounding this were the grain fields, orchards and vine-
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yards, and beyond these still were the pasture lands, and surrounding
all were the waste lands.
Land could not be alienated permanently. Farming land could be
conveyed for a limited period. House property in the cities could be
sold unless redeemed within a year; but at the year of jubilee every
estate reverted to its original owner.
During the time of the Judges, in certain parts of Palestine, some-
thing in the nature of a feudal tenure of land prevailed. For example,
Gideon conquered Midian and distributed its soil among his followers.
Jephthah occupied a similar position in regard to Gilead, and Samuel as
to Ramah.
Every seventh or Sabbatical year the land was permitted to lie fallow
and peculiar privileges were granted to debtors, slaves and other de-
pendent persons. All debts were then extinguished, and it is conjec
tured that the land was also redistricted at that time. As wealth in-
creased, however, and the people congregated more in towns and cities,
this observance was neglected, and the wealthy classes became oppressive.
Isaiah and Jeremiah sternly rebuked these exacting rich mėn. In
Isaiah, 5th chapter 8th verse, it is written: "Woe unto them that join
house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place." And Jer-
emiah exclaims: "Among my people are found wicked men: they lay
in wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap; they catch men.
a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit; therefore, they
are become great and waxen rich. They are waxen fat, they shine: yea,
they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause of the
fatherless, and the right of the needy they do not judge." As a pro-
vision against these unjust exactions and unconscionable methods the
year of jubilee was established. This occurred every fiftieth year; all
debts and mortgages were canceled and property rights and the relations
of servitude were readjusted.
As
The effect of the Sabbatical year and of the year of Jubilee must
have been beneficial to the small farmer and mechanic. These institu-
tions rendered it impossible for the wealthy and powerful to take ad-
vantage, for a protracted period, of the wage-worker and small house-
holder. The results were not only restorative, but must have been also
conservative. With the Sabbatical year and year of Jubilee before them,
the schemes of the miser, the usurer and the man of unscrupulous am-
bition must have been restrained and thwarted.
Under the theocracy, social and political leaders arose spontaneously,
so to speak, from the ranks of the people. Official positions seem to
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have been open to all
plebeian, rich or poor.
alike, whether of high or low degree, noble or
A class known as prophets exercised a great in-
fluence in public affairs. Personal action and public policy were dic-
tated by these men.
Samuel exercised the three-fold functions of
prophet, priest and judge.
་
The people, however, became dissatisfied with the simplicity of their
political institutions. They were dazzled by the glitter and ostentation
incident to monarchial government, and demanded of Samuel that he
select for them a king. This sage and venerable man warned them in
vain against this folly. Yielding, finally, to their importunities,
he chose one Saul, son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin. It is
strange that in his selection of a monarch for the Israelites he should
have been influenced more by physical presence than intellectual and
moral character. "Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name
was Kish, the son of Abial, the son of Zeror, the son of Decheroth, the
son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power. And he had a
son whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there
was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he. From
his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people." The
merits of King Saul ended with his physical beauty. He was incompe-
tent, weak and wicked. He was anointed first king of Israel about
1095 B. C. For executive ability, both civil and military, David, the
next king of Israel, was the ablest monarch of Hebrew history. He was
a poet and musician, and he is said to have encouraged art, literature and
various kinds of skilled industry. But it was reserved for his son, the
great Solomon, to demonstrate the architectural and mechanical genius of
his race at this period. This famous king and moral philosopher was the
builder of a magnificent temple dedicated to Jehovah, God of the Israel-
ites. Large numbers of Phoenician laborers and mechanics were em-
ployed in this work. To assist them Solomon made a levy of 180,000
Israelites. Of these men 30,000 were sent to Lebanon to prepare the
lumber for a temple; 70,000 of the number were employed as burden-
bearers and 80,000 as hewers of wood on the mountains. Over this vast
army of toilers were placed 3,300 overseers.
It is known that for the magnificence of Solomon's reign the Israel-
ites paid dearly. So it is always with monarchy: just in proportion to
its glitter and ostentation are the inconvenience and misfortune of the
people. Under Solomon the Israelites were taxed to the uttermost
limit of endurance. History leads us to infer that the vast multitude of
Israelitish laborers and mechanics employed in the erection of the tem-
LABOR IN ANTIQUITY.
87
ple were not compensated for their services. They were conscripted and
taken against their will from their daily vocations. The effect upon
their families and their personal industries may be conjectured
What the temple lacked in dimension it made up in magnificence.
Its area was but eighty by forty cubits. The timber employed was
cedar and fir-wood, and the surface of each board was carved in repre-
sentation of flowers and fruits. The walls and the ceiling of the altar-
chamber were overlaid with pure gold, as was also the floor of the
temple. The construction of this famous edifice is proof of the fact
that among the children of Israel, at this time, there were skilled arti
sans and mechanics. Rehoboam succeeded his father Solomon as king
of Israel.
In 598 B. C., Nebuchadnezzar invaded Palestine, and carried thou-
sands of the Israelites into captivity. They were taken to Babylon and
other cities in Chaldea and Assyria. During the Babylonian captivity,
which lasted seventy years, the Israelites were permitted to dwell to-
gether, and were not sold as household or personal slaves. It has been
well said they were more colonists than captives, and in time many of
them acquired considerable property. Nebuchadnezzar is said to have
made it a point to carry with him to Babylon the artisans and mechan-
ics of Palestine. His purpose was to utilize their skill and information
in the erection of public works. Thousands of the laboring classes were
compelled to work upon the vast temples, palaces and fortifications of
the Chaldean capital. In their distress and hardship the poor Israelites
were wont to cry in the words of Habukkuk: "The stones shall cry
out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it: Woe
to him that buildeth a tower with blood, and establisheth a city by in-
iquity."
Certain of the Israelites were taken to the village Tel-Abib, some dis-
tance north of Babylon, on the river Chebar. There they engaged in
agriculture, soon acquired property, and in time became attached to the
land of their exile. Here "we can fancy them living in their mud-built
cottages, among the patches of millet and pulse, which they cultivated
by the side of the wide and silent rivers which flow along between rows
of trembling-leaved poplars—'the willows' on which they hung their
harps in the psalm." What a revelation was great Babylon to the Isra-
elite, knowing naught of cities but his pent-up, small and irregular Je-
rusalem. Babylon was at this time the great trading center between
Egypt, Arabia and India. It is said to have been the size of modern
London, but the mighty capital of the Chaldeo-Assyrian empire differed
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widely from the metropolis of the nineteenth century. Much of the
time London is draped in smoke or wrapped in fog. Its streets are in-
tricate, sinuous, narrow, murky. The houses are irregular, cramped
and crushed together. In Babylon the streets were wide, straight and
clean. These thoroughfares crossed each other with geometrical regu-
larity, at right angles. The houses were of variously colored brick, re-
sembling mosaic work, and were situated each in the midst of a large
garden containing fruits, flowers and fountains. The city was divided
in twain by the waters of the Euphrates, and the banks of the beautiful
river were embowered in willows. Over all arched the cloudless eastern
sky-the glow of perpetual sunshine. Graceful ferry-boats were contin-
uously crossing and re-crossing the river. The streets of the two parts.
of the city were connected by tasteful bridges. The royal palace, to-
gether with the hanging gardens, covered an area of eight miles. Tow-
ering far above all, until its stately outlines blazed and shimmered in the
glorious sunlight, like a thing of cloud, was the magnificent temple of
Bel. This stupendous edifice was seven stories high. Each of these
stories was of a different color, symbolizing the seven known orbs of
the sidereal system. "The lowest stage was black, representing the out-
ermost planet, Saturn, far away from the sun in the darkness of perpet-
ual night. Then came an orange, for Jupiter; a blood-red stripe for
Mars; glittering gold for the Sun; pale yellow for Venus; blue for Mer-
cury, and silver for the Moon, and on the top stood the shrine of Bel."
The children of Israel were finally restored to Palestine by Darius,
the Persian king. The walls of Jerusalem were then rebuilt, under the
leadership of Nehemiah. Impoverished as were those who returned to
their native land, by years of exile and poorly paid labor, they could not
command assistance in this enterprise. They therefore labored in
person, to the neglect of their private interests and industries. The
flocks wandered away because they were without shepherds, and the
crops died in the field for want of husbandmen. Not only this, but, sur-
rounded by jealous and treacherous foes, they were compelled to labor
while under arms. In one hand were the trowel, the spade and the
pick; in the other, the sword, the spear and the shield.
From their restoration under Nehemiah, not much is known of in-
dustries and mechanical arts among the Israelites, or Hebrews, until the
Roman domination, about 63 B. C. During this period nominal power
was exercised by the Asmonean princes and the Herodian house. The
temple was again rebuilt by Herod Antipator, procurator of Judea, and
upon a scale more magnificent than that of Solomon. The walls were of
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89
the purest white marble, and the gates were of gold and Corinthian
brass. The curtains and other vestments of the temple were made and
contributed by the weavers, knitters and robe-makers of the nation.
Within the sacred precincts certain trades were carried on. There the
sacrificial offerings were butchered, and there were bakeries for preparing
the shew-bread and the food of the high priests. Perfumes and con-
fections of delicate quality were also made there. It has been well said
that this structure was at once a house of worship, a kitchen, a bakery
and a slaughter-house. In this great work more than 18,000 men were
constantly employed, as sculptors, architects, carpenters, masons and
laborers. The work was given out by ell-measure. The wages were
liberal, and were paid weekly or daily. In case of labor for a portion of
a day, the compensation was immediate. But wages, as a rule, were not
high in Palestine at this time, neither was the cost of living in Palestine
expensive. This may be inferred from the smallness of some of the coin
in circulation. The Jewish perutah, a coin of the smallest denomination,
had a ratio of about one thirty-second part of a cent. The labor market
was cheap, and the average wages were about sixteen cents per day. Con-
trast, for a moment, this paltry consideration with the revenue of some
of their rulers. Archelaus had an income of $1,200,000 a year, and
Herod the Great a revenue of $3,400,000 annually.
There was a time when trades were not especially favored by the
rabbis and other leaders of Israel. Nor were they encouraged by the
government. With the Iraelites the favorite pursuits seem to have been
agriculture and commerce. This rule was not without notable excep-
tions, however. The apostle Paul, when in Corinth, sought at once for
some self-supporting labor, and did not require assistance of the church.
Subsequently, many of the rabbis entertained a profound respect for
manual labor, and combined it with their studies. Indeed, at one time,
all of the great leaders of the rabbis were working at some trade. This
went so far as to become almost an affectation with them. Of some it is
said that they would drag about heavy rafters and timbers. One habit-
ually carried with him into the college a chair of his own make. Rabbis
were sometimes shoemakers, tailors, carpenters, sandalmakers, smiths,
potters and builders. Of the chief priests Hillel was a woodcutter, and
Shaminai a carpenter. Of the rabbis, Pinheas was a stonemason; Rab-
Joseph a miller; Bahja and Chainia, shoemakers; and Abba, Chauam
and Judah, tailors. Many artisans were also distinguished in the realm
of letters and learned professions. For example, Theodos was a physi-
cian, Samuel an astronomer, Abba a surgeon, Joshua a woodcutter,
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Amai a sandalmaker, Jochanan a smith, Simeon à potter, and Abin a
threadmaker. Certain industries were at ill repute among the Hebrews,
such as weaving, tanning, dyeing and mining. Sailors were highly re-
spected because of their calling. The various trades had guilds. Some
of these guilds possessed synagogues and burial-places of their own. In
the time of Christ, those pursuing certain crafts would occupy together
a particular village or locality, which would take its name from that
trade. Arbel was named for its rope-walk, and Sichim for its potteries.
During this period Galilee was noted for its industries and wealth. In
that province were extensive potteries, dye-works and glass factories.
Capernaum was famed for its wool works, Tarichaea for the preservation.
and exportation of fish in casks. Another great fish market was Beth-
saida.
The houses of the rich were constructed of brick and stone and had
two kinds of windows, large ones known as Tyrian, and small ones of
Egyptian pattern. Sycamore was the wood used for window and door
frames. Sometimes olive, cedar and sandal wood were used. The labor-
ing classes generally occupied a small edifice of brick, the extent of
which did not exceed eight or ten yards. The doors and windows were
protected by lattice-work. Food seems to have been wholesome and plen-
tiful. Olives, figs and grapes were abundant and cheap. The staple arti-
cles of food seem to have been bread, onions and meat. A drink was
made of water and bran.
The Israelitish law abhorred the condemnation of a Jew to perpetual
slavery. The institution existed, however, in a modified form. A man
could voluntarily sell himself into slavery for a definite period. An in-
solvent debtor could be placed in bondage by his creditor. In either
case a service of seven years liberated the bondman. Under certain
circumstances a parent was permitted to sell his child, either male or fe-
male. At the time of his manumission the Hebrew slave was supplied
from his master's flock, granary and wine-press.
It is probable, even up to the time of their dispersion, that all free
Israelites, of whatever rank and station, had a voice in important public
questions. This was true of the monarchy as well as of the theocracy.
Some authorities are of opinion that a senate of seventy elders was
established by Moses. The great Sanhedrim, as it existed at the time of
Christ, originated in this senate of elders. It is written that Joshua
twice assembled a sort of parliament or diet, and that this body was com-
posed of elders, judges and the heads of families. Each tribe enjoyed
self-government, to a certain extent, as to its own affairs, and had a local
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91
or small Sanhedrim. The hereditary chieftain was the head of the tribe,
and the provincial assembly was made up of the judges, heads of fami-
lies and scribes. All great public questions were submitted to the peo-
ple, as a body, for their approval.
The 'history of the Israelites as a nation ends with the fall of Jeru-
salem, in 70, A. D. At this time the city was captured and destroyed
by the Roman general Titus. In this last great struggle more than a
million Jews perished. From this period is dated the dispersion of the
Jews.
CHAPTER III.-CHALDEA AND ASSYRIA.
THE GARDEN OF EDEN-THE EMPIRE OF CHALDEA-NIMROD, THE FOUNDER-
TRADITIONS AND LEGENDS OF BEROSUS-NINEVEH-SEMIRAMIS, THE QUEEN
THE FOUNDATION OF BABYLON A DESCRIPTION OF THE GREAT CITY — THE
TEMPLES OF THE GODS AND THE PALACES OF THE KINGS- THE TEMPLE OF
BELUS-THE MEN WHO BUILT THESE GREAT STRUCTURES-TAXES, HOW
PAID-THE RULERS AND THE RULED-CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE-THE
POSITION OF WOMAN AGRICULTURE - FERTILITY OF THE SOIL
SOIL THE
FARMER ARTS AND MANUFACTURES-THE POSITION OF THE ARTISAN — THE
FOOD AND CLOTHING OF THE RICH AND POOR-SLAVERY-DOWNFALL OF
THE KINGDOM.
S
THE story of the development of the Chaldeans is inseparably inter-
woven with that wonderful compilation of historical records that is
known to Christians the world over as the Old Testament. In its open-
ing pages we read of that garden of wondrous fertility lying between
the waters of the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, and in which grew "every
tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food." In this, the tradi-
tional Garden of Eden, the nomadic tribes that, in later years, banded
together to form the empire of Chaldea, had their origin; and here
they hunted, fished and tilled the soil, living simply upon the fruits and
game which that fertile region, selected by the omniscience of God for
the first habitation of man, afforded in abundance. Straitened as
were its natural boundaries, this spot became the home of powerful
nations that, in course of time, attained a wealth, a civilization and a
development of literature and art far in advance of any other country of
which they had knowledge, excepting Egypt, and, possibly, China. As
these growing tribes advanced in power, in learning, and in material
progress, they felt the need of a bond of union that should give to them
an individuality, and they gradually merged their tribal organizations
into the rudiments of a mighty state. The form of government was at
first patriarchal, but with the march of civilization this relic of tribal
organization gave way to the monarchial tendency, and Nimrod, the
mighty hunter, arose, took the reins of government into his own hands,
and established the empire of Chaldea. Many historians suppose this to
have been the earliest established empire of the world: that it was among
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93
a
the earliest is beyond dispute. The date ascribed to Nimrod's assump-
tion of the imperial purple, B. C. 2245, extends almost into the prehis-
toric age. In his reign of 121 years, Nimrod accomplished great enter-
prises. The foundations of great Babylon were laid, and the Chaldeans,
once shepherds and hunters, became masons, builders and structural
artisans of every kind and degree. Before his death, Nimrod beheld the
birth of the Assyrian kingdom, and witnessed the beginning of stately
Nineveh. His reign marked the first great advance of his people toward
civilization. From a race of hunters and herdsmen he brought forth
productive laborers.
There existed in this early period, in the territory comprising the
empires of Chaldea and Assyria, two great peoples: a northern and a south-
ern, in all probability the descendants, respectively, of Ham and Cush.
The existence of these nations is, however, carried by tradition beyond
the deluge. Nearly three hundred years before Christ lived Berosus, a
Babylonian historian. He relates a legend of ten kings who existed
before the deluge. In the reign of the third king there arose out of the
troubled waters of the Erythrian sea a supernatural being called Oammes.
In form, this apparition was like unto the fabled merman, being half
man, half fish. From his hands men received the gift of the arts and
sciences, and from his mystic utterances a legend of the manner of
creation of the world was formed. Berosus interprets this legend of the
merman plausibly, saying, "that the Babylonians were indebted for
their civilization to a people who came over the sea from Egypt." With
the reign of the last of the ten kings there came a mighty deluge from
which the king and his family alone were saved in a ship. The similar-
ity of this legend to the Biblical tradition of the deluge and Noah's ark is
obvious. According to the semi-legendary history of Berosus, Babylon
had an existence of 34,080 years up to the time of the historian.
History teaches us that the first steps of a nation toward civilization
are through a military despotism. Such was the case with Chaldea under
Nimrod and his successors. The power of the monarch was absolute and
his will was unquestioned. As the stability of the empire became assured,
the desire for conquest grew in the breasts of the monarchs, and Ninus,
the son and successor of Nimrod, led his people against the Assyrians and
conquered them. Assyria became a part of Chaldea; the conquerors
strangely assumed the name of the conquered, and the two peoples were
thereafter known as Assyrians. With unity in government and interests
there soon grew up an identity of language and customs, and the united
peoples made marvellous advancement in the arts and sciences. Free
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public libraries were established at Calahr, Assur and Nineveh. The
clay books or tablets were properly paged and divided into chapters, and
among the subjects of literary discussion were Astronomy, Astrology,
Geography, Theology, Grammar, Poetry, Proverbs and Fables.
In founding the famous city of Nineveh, Ninus left a glorious monu-
ment, not only to his own intrepidity in designing and carrying out pro-
digious enterprises, but also to the skill and energy of his people in ful-
filling his behests.
This monument of the art and mechanical skill of antiquity was
located on the east bank of the Tigris, opposite the present city of
Mosul. It was eighteen and three-quarter miles long and eleven and one-
quarter broad, and contained an area of 211 square miles. Brick walls
one hundred feet high and fifty feet thick surrounded the entire city.
The walls were adorned with 1,500 towers, each 200 feet high. With
modern appliances it would require 100,000 men, working steadily for
eight years, to make and lay the brick with which the walls were built.
With the mechanical arts then in use, it must have required at least ten
times that number.
Semiramis, the queen and successor of Ninus, followed the example
of her husband. She built great commercial cities on the principal
rivers. Like her predecessor, she kept large standing armies, for both
civil and military service. Her army is said to have been composed of
3,000,000 foot soldiers, 500,000 cavalry and 100,000 chariots. She planned
and built the city of Babylon, probably the grandest example of colossal
architecture that the world has ever seen.
Babylon stood in the midst of a fertile plain, on both sides of the
Euphrates. The city way built in the form of a square, fifteen miles on
each side, and covering an area of two hundred and twenty-five square
miles. Surrounding it on all sides were massive walls three hundred
and fifty feet high and eighty-seven feet thick. These walls were made
of burnt brick cemented together with bitumen, which holds much
firmer than lime. On the outside the walls were encompassed with a
vast moat, lined with brick. This moat was filled with water. On each
side of the great square were twenty-five gates made of solid brass.
From each of these gates extended a street one hundred and fifty feet
wide to the gate on the opposite side of the city. There were, in all,
fifty of these streets, crossing each other at right angles, and thus divid-
ing the city into 625 squares. Surrounding the great wall were 300
towers, each 360 feet high. Through the city, from north to south, ran
a branch of the Euphrates river. On each side of the river were quays,
+
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and a high wall of the same breadth as that encircling the city. In
these walls, opposite every street that led to the river, were gates of brass,
from which steps descended to the river, for the convenience of the in-
habitants who passed from one side to the other in boats that plied con-
stantly to and fro upon the stream. In the reign of Nebuchadnezzar
bridges were built. Diodorus asserts that there was a tunnel under the
river. To prevent damage from inundations, which were frequent,
artificial canals were cut above the city, which turned the course of the
waters into the Tigris.
The blocks or squares within the city were more than half a mile
long on each side. On these squares stood the houses, all facing the
streets, with intervening spaces. All the houses were built three or four
stories in height. The grounds in the rear of the houses were culti-
vated as gardens. Fully one-half the space within the city wall was de-
voted to this purpose. Babylon was not as great in reality as in appear-
ance, in the matter of population. In its greatest days its population did
not exceed 1,250,000.
Within the city were the temples of the gods and the palaces of the
kings. They were massive structures without beauty of exterior. The
interiors, however, were magnificent and imposing. The temples were
usually built in a series of square terraces, rising, in pyramidal form, to
great altitudes. At the apex was an ornamental chapel containing an
image of the deity in whose honor the temple was erected. The interiors
of both temples and palaces were finished with great wealth and orna-
mentation. The walls were covered with slabs of alabaster, brick
painted in bright colors, or plates of shining brass. The gateways were
flanked with giant winged bulls or lions. The statuary, the columns,
the alabaster decorations, the paintings and engravings with which the
palaces and temples were adorned, showed a degree of artistic cultivation
and refinement that entitles the ancient Assyrians to our profound
respect.
The most magnificent temple within the limits of the city was the
temple of Belus, or Bel. This is supposed to be the celebrated tower of
Nimrod, mentioned in the Scriptures. It was 640 feet square, and more
than 600 feet high, and was so arranged that carriages and beasts of bur-
den could ascend. It was higher than the great pyramid of Egypt.
Nebuchadnezzar surrounded it with smaller edifices and inclosed the
whole by a wall more than two miles in circumference, in which were
brazen gates made of the spoils taken from the temple at Jerusalem.
The temple of Belus was adorned with vessels of gold and the wealth ac-
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THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
cumulated by Babylonian conquests. One of the images in this temple.
was forty feet high, was of pure gold, and weighed 74,000 pounds.
Equal in interest to the temple of Belus, or perhaps exceeding that in
the interest that has been excited in all ages since their construction,
were the great "Hanging Gardens," one of the "seven wonders of the
world." This prodigious edifice was erected to gratify the wishes of
Amytis, the wife of Nebuchadnezzar. The structure was 400 feet square,
and was carried aloft in several terraces, one above another, until the
highest equaled that of the walls of the city. The ascent was from ter-
race to terrace by steps ten feet wide. The pile was sustained by a ris-
ing series of vast arches, and a wall twenty-two feet wide encircled it.
On the arches were first laid large flat stones, sixteen feet long and four
feet broad, and over these were spread reeds mixed with lime and bitu-
men, upon which were placed two rows of brick, cemented together with
plaster. The whole was cemented with thick sheets of lead, and
upon these sheets was deposited the mould or soil of the garden.
The depth of this mould or earth was such that the largest trees could
take root. The terraces were then planted with stately trees, graceful
shrubs and beautiful flowers. On the upper terrace was an engine or
pump, and by it the gardens were irrigated with water from the river.
.
Upon this artificial mountain, reared by dreary toil of countless
slaves, goaded on by the relentless lash of cruel taskmasters, grew trees,
herbs and shrubs brought from considerable distances, at vast expense.
The capricious queen, living in luxury in Babylon, had sighed for the
mountainous prospect of her native Ecbatana, and forthwith all the vast
machinery of a despotic government was set in motion. Hapless sub-
jects, brought hastily from their daily vocation, were set to work to rear
the mighty masses of masonry upon which the queen's pleasure-garden
was to rest. Others, dragged from their families, were sent far abroad
to gather the trees and plants of foreign countries and bring them home
to adorn the artificial hillsides of the gardens. Hundreds of thousands
were employed in the work, for the merest whim of the sovereign must
be gratified, although the people perish in the work. And so it came to
pass that, after years of unremitting toil, the garden rose in the midst
of the stately city, looking like a towering hill, thick with luxuriant
verdure and refreshed with the cool waters of the Euphrates that flowed
below.
The description of these magnificent and colossal works is given in
order that the reader's attention may be directed to the plane upon which
the manual laborer must have been placed that would permit kings to erect
LABOR IN ANTIQUITY.
97
such extravagant and stupendous structures. It is said Semiramis em-
ployed more than 2,000,000 men in the construction of the walls, tow-
ers and canals of Babylon; and we can readily believe that the statement
is true when we reflect that to construct edifices of such proportions, at
the present time, would require the services of more than that number
of men for two years. To construct the walls, canals and towers would
require more than two hundred and forty-seven thousand million brick,
as they are made at present. With the appliances of 4,000 years ago,
what time and labor must have been expended before these massive un-
dertakings were completed!
All taxes were paid in kind. The farmer cultivated and harvested
his crops, and gave one-third, one-half or two-thirds to the king. When
the wants of the king were supplied, the remainder of the revenue was
devoted to the vast army and a multitude of public slaves and servants.
So far as known, there were but two social classes, the rulers and the
ruled. The former were so notoriously corrupt and immoral, that the
fate of the latter must have been deplorable indeed. The great armies
numbered millions. The great civic army of slaves and captives, de-
voted to the building of gigantic public works, comprised fully one-third
of the adult population. These, together with the multitude of satraps
or governors who collected the revenue, and the king and his court, were
supported out of the earnings of those who tilled the ground. Although
one of the most fruitful countries on the globe, yet the farmers, taxed as
they were to support a horde of non-producing aristocrats and soldiers,
must have experienced a deplorable lot.
The history of this people, from the death of Semiramis for a period
of 1,200 years, is involved in obscurity. Although in the early ages
they were leaders in the path of civilization, yet no nation in the world
has ever been more corrupt. With them, banquets, feasts and holidays
degenerated into disgusting debauches. Belshazzar and his nobles were
drunk when the handwriting appeared on the wall. The women were
shameless and profligate. They occupied the position of panderers to
the lust and passions of men. They were required to prostitute them-
selves, at least once in their lives, to strangers, in the Temple of Mylitta
or Venus. They appeared at feasts almost in a state of nudity. The
hallowed name of mother was not known to the Assyrian vocabulary.
Women and children were slaves to their husbands and fathers. The
fathers, in turn, were slaves to their rulers. Women are never repre-
sented in Assyrian sculpture, unless as captives or as begging for mercy
from the walls of falling cities. The rulers enjoyed their possessions as
77
98
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
sensualists, lost all self-government, and degenerated morally, physically
and intellectually. The people were ruled with a rod of iron; they had
"no rights their rulers were bound to respect." In a land noted for its
fertility, they were compelled to live on the coarsest food and wore little,
if any, clothing. The punishment meted out to criminals, or those who
offended the upper classes, were excessively severe. Decapitation was a
mild form. Victims were often crucified, impaled and flayed alive. Mild
offenses were punished by putting out an eye, or cutting off a hand or
other member.
The great alluvial plain at the mouth of the Euphrates and Tigris
was well calculated to stimulate men to agricultural pursuits. That the
Assyrians attained considerable skill in farming, there is little doubt.
The fertility of the soil and the salubriousness of the climate kept them
from adopting that restless, shiftless nomadic life that was characteristic
of the early races. Inhabiting a land that had but little rain, they were
obliged to irrigate by means of canals and hydraulic machines. Wheat,
barley, sesame, ochra, date palms, oranges, apples, pears and many kinds
of small fruits grew indigenously. Of wheat, three crops were harvested
annually. The vicinity of the fine cotton-growing fields of Arabia and Syria
explains the great excellence of, and demand for, Babylonian clothing,
carpets, and various other products of their weaving. In many parts of
Assyria, manna is found in abundance. It is gathered principally from
the dwarf oak, but is also found on other shrubs, and in wet seasons is
deposited on sand and rocks. The best manna, as a food, is consumed in
its natural state, or by making it into paste. By boiling it, it can be
preserved for any length of time.
Ancient Assyria was not as fertile as Babylonia, but with their excellent
system of irrigation the Assyrian farmers were successful in producing
nearly all the grains and fruits of Babylonia. The apricot, orange,
lemon, fig, pomegranate, olive and mulberry were cultivated, and al-
most all vegetables known grew in abundance. Large herds of domestic
animals were kept on the grazing-lands, as horses, cows, camels, goats,
buffalos and sheep.
In a land so productive, it seems inconceivable that there should be
want and suffering. Yet so corrupt and avaricious were the rulers of
this fair country, that when the taxes were paid, and the wants of the
satraps or governors supplied, there was little left to supply the farmer
and his family, who were compelled, for the most part, to subsist on the
manna gathered from the trees, shrubs and rocks.
In the history of manual industry, the Chaldeans occupy no insignifi-,
LABOR IN ANTIQUITY.
99
cant space, for they are the first people of the earth known to have been
workers in metal. From iron and brass they forged implements of war,
and to this fact is undoubtedly due the ease of their conquest over sur-
rounding nations. But at this early day iron was too precious a metal
to be used in arming the common soldiers, who fought with knives, ar-
row-heads, axes and hammers of flint, while their masters wielded
swords and battle-axes of metal. In fabricating articles of personal
adornment, the Chaldeans developed great skill and no mean order of
artistic talent. Gold, iron, brass and lead were thus employed. The
art of the lapidary had its origin among this industrious people, who cut
and polished precious gems and engraved cameos and intaglios that to-
day find place amidst the most valued treasures of the virtuoso. In the
art of weaving, the people of Chaldea were far in advance of the rest of
the known world. On the floors of their houses were soft woven carpets,
the walls were decked with tapestries, and light, clinging draperies of
cotton and of wool clothed the persons of those of wealth and high in
station.
The Assyrians gained their knowledge of the textile industries from
the Babylonians, but soon excelled their teachers in the richness and di-
versity of the fabrics woven on their rude hand-looms. Throughout all
the countries bordering upon the eastern end of the Mediterranean, the
little world of those early days, the cloths, dye-stuffs and richly embroid-
ered fabrics of Assyria became known and prized. The ancient Greeks,
whom we are accustomed to regard as the pioneers in all that relates to
art and civilization, went to Assyria for hangings for their temples and
for models of interior decoration. In architecture Assyria was foremost,
building mighty temples, fortifications and palaces of stone, when other
nations were housing their people in huts and confining their greatest
monuments to the rudest of all architectural designs, the pyramid.
In sculpture the Assyrians excelled the Egyptians. They attained
wonderful skill in the mechanical arts. They manufactured a good
quality of glass. Their furniture was covered with bronze. Sheets of
bronze, decorated in relief, covered the beams and friezes of the palaces
and temples. Vases made of gold and silver were exported to Greece
and even to Etruria. Enameled pottery was quite common. Enameled
tiles formed one of the chief decorations of the houses. In their build-
ings they used such mechanical powers as the pulley, the lever and the
roller. The garments made by the Assyrians were preferred both in
quality and style to those made by the skilled tailors of Phoenicia.
Ship-building was carried on to some extent, the timber coming from
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THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
a
Arabia, beyond the Persian Gulf. The artisans and mechanics of
Assyria, although practically in a much better condition, occupied the
same social plane as the farmer. They were the serfs of the king and
his courtiers, and to satisfy the capricious whims of their masters their
skill, their genius and their lives were devoted. But whatever differ-
ences there may have been between the governing classes and the gov-
erned, whatever hardships may have been borne by the working classes,
the simplicity of their wants rendered their position less burdensome
than it might otherwise have been. The dress of the working classes.
and soldiers consisted of little more than the traditional fig-leaf
single linen garment, a short tunic reaching to the knee, and tied around
the waist. Men and women dressed alike. Their food consisted of bread
made of ground millet, or, as a substitute, manna, a little fruit and occa-
sionally a fish. In contrast with this was the food and clothing of the
rich. They wore elaborate, sleeveless gowns, flounced and fringed,
reaching from the shoulders to the feet, and confined at the waist by an
elaborate girdle. Sandals, richly worked, protected their feet. A high,
mitre-like headpiece, or a cap richly ornamented, covered their heads.
The dress of the women differed but little from that of the men.
Striped or fringed gowns, with sleeves, formed the chief article of cloth-
ing, and over this a short cloak, open in front and falling over the arms,
confined by an ornamental belt passing diagonally across the breast.
Their food consisted of wheat bread, all the various fruits and vegetables,
meats of all kinds, wines in abundance, and everything that could tempt
the appetite or inflame the passions. The wonderful advancement of
the workers in industrial arts served but to further enervate the patri-
cians.
Slavery in the Assyrian monarchy reaches almost to prehistoric times.
The first slaves were probably prisoners of war. In the later monarchy,
the ranks of the slaves were recruited from captives taken in battle, and
insolvent debtors who were sold into perpetual slavery. The master was
not compelled by law to care for sick or wounded slaves, and when unfit
for service, they were generally allowed to die of starvation. It was com-
mon, in their wars of conquest, to transport whole tribes into a slavery
from which death alone could relieve them. These prisoners were usu-
ally employed in the construction of canals or other public works.
Twelve hundred years elapse from the reign of Semiramis, and we
find the throne of Assyria occupied by the weak and effeminate Sardan-
apalus. Under Tiglath Pileser the Babylonians revolted. They besieged
Nineveh for two years until in despair the depraved king fired his palace
LABOR IN ANTIQUITY.
101
and destroyed himself, his wives and his family. Thus ended the first
Assyrian empire. Arbaces, the governor of Media, who had joined the
Babylonians in the revolt, reëstablished the empire, and it continued
to flourish for more than a hundred years. The city of Babylon was
then besieged by the Persians. They diverted the river Euphrates from
its course into the lake constructed by Nitocris, and captured the city
while its inhabitants were celebrating a feast. Babylon then became a
province of Persia, and the individuality of this ancient people became
merged into that of their conquerors.
+
For the past three thousand years, the world has been mainly in-
debted for its advancement to the Semitic and Indo-European races,
But in the early ages, Mizriam and Nimrod, both descendants of Ham,
were the leaders in the pathway of civilization. That the region be-
tween the Tigris and Euphrates was among the first countries inhabited
by man is affirmed by the Bible and generally allowed by writers of
ancient history.
Had it not been for the corruption and unjust taxation which pre-
vailed in Babylon and other nations of the period, the lot of the work-
ing classes, with the exception of slaves and captives, would have been
measurably satisfactory. The soil, climate and productions were all
that could be desired to make a happy and contented people, but the
licentiousness and degraded passions of the rulers rendered their sub-
jects miserable. The once fertile plains of Chaldea are now sterile, and
all that remains of the great cities, palaces and temples are vast piles of
brickwork that serve as quarries for other cities. Thus have they passed
away "like a tale that is told.”
CHAPTER IV. PERSIA.
THE FIRST HISTORIC PEOPLE THE PERSIAN WARS -
THE PERSIAN WARS- THE HISTORICAL POSITION
OF PERSIA ORIGIN OF THE RACE-THEIR MIGRATION AMALGAMATED WITH
THE TARTARS-EARLY SOCIAL DIVISIONS-PRIESTS, SOLDIERS AND FARMERS-
SOCIAL EQUALITY OF ALL CLASSES SERFDOM AND SLAVERY-DEVELOPMENT
OF CLASS DISTINCTIONS UNDER CYRUS - AGRICULTURE AND STOCK-RAISING THE
PRINCIPAL OCCUPATIONS AGRICULTURE COMMENDED BY THEIR RELIGION AND
FOSTERED BY THE GOVERNMENT-PRIESTS AND PRINCES AS FARMERS-FARM-
ING METHODS-LANDSCAPE GARDENING AND HORTICULTURE-EXTRAVAGANCE
OF THE KING — EXTORTIONS OF THE GOVERNORS THE SOIL OF MEDIA AND
PERSIA — IRRIGATION — FISHING PRIVILEGES CONDITION OF THE WORKING
CLASSES GENERALLY - TAXES AND LEVIES-TRAINING OF CHILDREN CONDI-
TION OF THE PEOPLE UNDER SEVERAL KINGS- THE ARCHITECTURAL REMAINS
- BUILDING - MECHANICS CARPENTRY HOUSES AND DRESS OF THE POOR.
THE
66
·
P
HE ancient Persians were the Romans of their age. They have
been called the Puritans of remote antiquity. The first thought
is suggested by their glorious career of conquest and universal sover-
eignty. They have been likened unto the Puritans because of the sim-
plicity of their habits, the severity of their moral code, and their daring
hardihood of spirit. In the course of empire, this people are of peculiar
interest to the thoughtful. "With the Persian empire," says Hegel,
we first enter on continuous history. The Persians are the first his-
toric people; Persia was the first empire that passed away. While Chi-
na and India remain stationary and perpetuate a natural vegetative ex-
istence, even to the present time, this land has been subject to those
developments and revolutions which alone manifest a historical condi-
tion." The ancient Persian monarchy was the first Asiatic power that
came into immediate and influential contact with European civilization
and history. With the desperate and sanguinary conflict between the
Persians and Greeks began the mighty river of progress that has flowed
in ever-increasing. volume down the centuries. Then had the history of
Asiatic power and civilization consummated in the empire of Great Cy-
rus.
"A multiplicity of histories first met and commingled in that of
Persia. The Persian empire extended itself over the whole of Western
Asia, and into Europe and Africa; it drew together Bactria, Parthia,
Media, Assyria, Syria, Palestine, Phoenicia, Asia Minor, Armenia, Thrace,
102
LABOR IN ANTIQUITY.
103
Egypt and the Cyrenaica. The voice of the great king was law, from
the Indus on the east to the Egean Sea and Syrtian Gulf on the west;
from the Danube ond Caucasus on the north, to the Indian Ocean and
the Deserts of Arabia and Nubia on the south."
The Medes and Persians, or Zend-speaking Iranians, who subse-
quently destroyed the Assyrian and Babylonian empire, were a branch
of the great Aryan family. Prior to the time of Cyrus the Great, this
people consisted of twelve wandering tribes, who inhabited one of the
provinces of the country since known as Persia. Their number did not
exceed 120,000, and they are supposed to have migrated from Bactria, in
the region of the upper Oxus. The aboriginal inhabitants of Iran were
Tartars, and with this race the invaders are said to have completely
amalgamated and fused. The only record of this event is that of the
Zend-Avesta. In it nothing is said of conquest or subjugation. There
does not seem to have been any conflict between the strangers and abor-
igines. Their assimilation was peaceful and complete. The Persian
people of the time of Cyrus originated in these divers races. Their
oldest records exhibit them as divided into three classes or orders of so-
ciety — priests, soldiers and farmers. It cannot be said, however, that
this social classification was like the caste systems of Egypt and India.
The warriors and agriculturists stood upon the same social plane. Their
book of traditions does not mention serfdom, slavery, or any other form
of property in man. It would seem that castes or class distinctions did
not develop until the time of Cyrus. The principal occupations of the
people were agriculture and stock-raising, and this condition of affairs
remained until the overthrow of the empire by Alexander the Great.
Agricultural pursuits were commended and urged by the religious tenets.
of the national sage, Zoroaster. By him it was written, "He who sows
the ground with care and diligence, acquires a greater stock of religious
merit than he could gain by the repetition of ten thousand prayers."
Agriculture was not alone confined to the masses of the people; it was
practiced by priests, princes, nobles and soldiers. Improvements in agri-
cultural methods were never introduced. Little was done either to
lighten the burdens of labor or to render the soil more fruitful. Yet
the industry, economy and patience of the farmers and other manual
laborers of Persia elicited the respect and admiration of Plato and Xen-
ophon. In the cultivation of gardens the people displayed much taste
and ingenuity. The spacious terraces around Persepolis, as well as the
beautiful grounds attached to the residences of the rich and noble, attest
the interest and skill of this people in the beauties of horticulture and
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THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
floriculture. With this taste for the æsthetic side of agriculture existed
a desire for botanical studies. As a result, the ancient Persians had a
system of botany as complete, if not as logical, as that of Linnæus.
Agriculture was especially favored by the Persian monarchy. The
satraps were rewarded with strict reference to the degree in which that
industry flourished in their respective provinces. The condition of agri-
cultural industry in every district of the empire was inspected every
year. The governors of those provinces wherein farming and grazing
had prospered most during the twelve months were generously rewarded.
The rulers of those districts wherein agriculture had languished were
deprived of office. This interest in agriculture continued until the over-
throw of the monarchy. The protection it received from the govern-
ment, however, was one-sided and selfish. It was fostered in the interest
of the ruling classes, and would have flourished but for the extravagance
of the king and extortions of the satraps.
The soil of both Media and Persia, as a whole, was not fertile.
The natural productions, with rare exceptions, were of inferior quality.
In a few of the favored districts, vegetation was luxuriant; but, as a
rule, it was only by indefatigable industry and skillful irrigation that
the country was made productive. Under Cyrus the right of irrigation
and the right to fish were controlled by the government, and sold or
farmed out for the king by the satraps.
The condition of the working classes generally is a matter of infer-
ence. Conquered peoples were compelled to pay tribute to the king.
There were other burdens, besides these annual and regular tributes,
which were exacted in kind. The country was subdivided into satrapies,
⚫ or provinces, and over each an imperial governor was placed. This
governor was expected to extort from the people their annual tribute,
regardless of the condition or capacity to pay. Not satisfied with the
payment of this regular tribute, the satraps made irregular exactions for
their own benefit. When the revenue of the king and the cupidity of
the governors had been satisfied, little remained for the producer. From
the downfall of the Assyrian empire began the dissolution of the Persian
monarchy. Luxurious and effeminate habits were introduced, and slavery
flourished. A native Persian was never held as a chattel on his ancestral
soil; neither did political slavery exist until after the death of Cyrus.
The early Iranians were mainly agriculturists, it has been said, and
lived in a simple and frugal manner. Their laws were excellent for the
age. The public good and individual benefit were conserved by the
rulers. The education of the children was deemed an essential part of
LABOR IN ANTIQUITY.
105
the duties of government. The child was not left to parental care alone,
but was controlled by the state authorities. Boys of every class were
trained in a uniform manner. Their daily life was regulated in every
particular the place and duration of their exercises, the time of eating,
the quality and quantity of food and drink, and the punishments to be
inflicted. Of them it was said: "They were taught the use of the bow
and arrow, and to speak the truth.” Simple as was their system of edu-
cation, it germinated those elements of greatness which culminated in
the glory of the Persian people under Cyrus.
Under Cambyses, the father of Cyrus the Great, the government was
despotic in tendency. In theory, the power of the monarch was limited
or restrained only by the tenets and doctrines of Zoroaster. The people
were taught to regard him as the incarnation of their deity, and he was
the sole proprietor of the lives and chattels of his subjects. He dis-
posed of both at his pleasure. Cyrus restored the people to a condition
of comparative liberty. It was his object to stimulate manliness and
independence of character in his subjects, and courage, resolution, pru-
dence and civic virtue in his officers. The manners of Cyrus were re-
publican, and his tent was open to all. Whole armies were entertained
at his table.
The wisdom of Cyrus as a father was not equal to that as a ruler.
Engrossed with the cares of state and plans of conquest, he neglected
his own children, and left them entirely to the care of the eunuchs and
the women of his harem. These persons, without character or intelli-
gence, were unfitted for the duty devolving upon them. When his
children were withdrawn from school, they were, with the exception of
Cambyses, vicious, incompetent and effeminate. It can not be said that
his son and successor, Cambyses, was incompetent; but he was dissolute
and wicked. How his subjects fared at his hands may be inferred from
his treatment of the nobility, princes and prominent officials of his
realm. He caused the assassination of his brother Smerdis, the legiti-
mate heir to the throne. He married two of his sisters, and one of them
he kicked to death. He put to death one of the distinguished judges of
the empire. The skin of this unfortunate man he caused to be made
into a cover for the seat upon which his son was to sit and administer
justice. In fact, from the death of Cyrus to the overthrow of the mon-
archy by Alexander the Great, a period of over two hundred years, there
was little in the government of Persia to commend it to the esteem of
an enlightened people. The sovereignty was not one of law, but of des-
potism. Willful tyranny prevailed on one hand and cringing servility
106
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
on the other. The subjects, coming into the presence of their king,
were obliged to prostrate themselves. The king was divine, and his sub-
jects were slaves. Soldiers served without remuneration. All men, of
an age fit for military duty, were required to hold themselves in readi-
ness for the call to arms. They obeyed with reluctance and were dis-
spirited and sullen. They were wanting in courage and fortitude. It
is recorded that one hundred thousand Persians, under Datis, a general
of Darius' army, were defeated by nine thousand Athenians and one
thousand Platæans under Miltiades. Rebels were dealt with in a man-
ner both expeditious and exemplary. During the reign of Darius the
Babylonians revolted. A siege of twenty-one months ensued, when the
insurgents were subdued and three thousand of them crucified.
The next king of Persia was Xerxes. He is distinguished mainly for
the monster army he gathered together, and for the signal defeat he ex-
perienced at the hands of the Greeks. During his reign the condition
of the people was deplorable. His mighty armies were but a multitude
of slaves, and were urged into battle with blows and lashes. The masses
of the people were plundered recklessly, for the benefit of the profligate
king. The dejected and unfortunate condition of the Persian people is
clearly implied in the famous retreat of "the ten thousand" Greeks
under Xenophon. A mere handful of Greek auxiliaries successfully
traversed the Persian country and escaped the machinations and en-
deavors of Artaxerxes II.
The architectural remains of ancient Persia indicate skill both in
mechanics and sculpture. The prevailing type was severe and expressive
of power. Persepolis, the great city of ancient Persia, contains the
ruins of palaces that must have been magnificent and imposing. The
stones were laid without mortar, but were so closely fitted together that
the joints could scarcely be observed. The walls were built of gray
marble, hewn into blocks from twenty to sixty feet long. A few of the
gigantic columns, standing erect even unto this day, are from fifty to
sixty feet high, and from twelve to fifteen feet in circumference. Their
fluted shafts and elegantly carved capitals belonged to an unknown order
of architecture. Their venerable antiquity and majestic proportions do
not more surely command our reverence than does the mystery that in-
volves their construction awaken the curiosity of the least observant
spectator. In the words of a modern writer: "Solitary in their situa-
tion, peculiar in their character, these ruins rise above the deluge of
years which has overwhelmed all the record of human grandeur around
them, and buried all traces of Susa and Babylon."
LABOR IN ANTIQUITY.
107
"
The houses of the working people of ancient Persia were probably
much as they are today. They were made of brick or of a mortar com-
pounded of clay, chopped straw and lime. Timber was scarce, and in the
construction of houses very little wood was used. Carpentry, as a
skilled trade, did not exist, and the dwelling-houses were of simple and
rude construction. The dress or garb of the common people consisted
of a single cotton garment, and was of the same pattern for male and
female.
It is true of the manual laborers of Persia, as of other Asiatic coun-
tries, that their methods of life and social condition have not materially
changed in more than two thousand years. As they are today, so were
they when Alexander conquered their ancestors of old. In a subsequent
chapter something will be said of the working people of modern Persia.
CHAPTER V.-GREECE.
""
THE GLORY THAT WAS GREECE - GREEK CIVILIZATION - SHEPHERDS, HUSBAND-
MEN AND ARTISANS-THE MIGRATORY PERIOD-ITS INDUSTRIES THE HO-
MERIC OR HEROIC AGE-THE ARTS AND INDUSTRIES OF THAT PERIOD - THE
DEVELOPMENT OF ARISTOCRACY - THE CONDITION OF FARMERS, MECHANICS
AND LABORERS UNDER THE ARISTOCRACY — THE "DEMOCRACY" OF SOLON
PROPERTY THE BASIS OF CITIZENSHIP — ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY THE PERI-
CLEAN EPOCH — ATTICA REPRESENTATIVE OF GREECE SPARTA THE EXCEPTION
-THE SPARTAN CONSTITUTION-SPARTIATE-PERIECI-HELOTs-Serfs and
SLAVES THE SLAUGHTER OF THE HELOTS-SLAVERY IN GREECE ALL ME-
—
CHANICAL ARTS PERFORMED BY SLAVES-SLAVE LABOR IN LACONIA, MES-
SENIA, CRETE AND THESSALY - HEEREN ON THE MECHANICS AND MECHANICAL
ARTS IN GREECE - INDUSTRIAL ARTS DURING THE AGE OF PERICLES- AGRI-
CULTURE IN GREECE - AGRICULTURE AND GRAZING IN ATTICA-WAGES AND
COST OF LIVING — CLOTHING OF THE MANUAL LABORER - HIS HOME, FOOD AND
CONDITION - MANUFACTURES- THE MACEDONIAN PERIOD.
"THE
HE glory that was Greece "the land of art, poetry and elo-
quence. The land of "Gray Marathon," of glorious Thermopyla,
and sea-born Salamis," each and all forever glorious in the annals of
man!
Speak of Greece, and the mind at once recurs to the "Age of Peri-
cles." From 480 B. C. to 430 B. C. was, for ancient Hellas, a period of
marvelous brilliancy. Never before, nor since, in the history of man,
has the world experienced a career so marvelous in intellectual progress,
and so pregnant with enduring effects. During this epoch, the Greeks
seem to have been inspired, to have been suddenly imbued with genius.
Without premonition, and within the brief period of fifty years, the
name of this immortal people became synonymous for all time with
perfection in architecture, ideal beauty in sculpture, all that is consum-
mate in verse and oratory, phenomenal political talent, philosophic acu-
men, patriotic heroism and military renown. Thus were the Greeks
crowned with spiritual beauty. Prof. Curtis has well said, "With other
nations personal beauty, with the Greek the want of it, was the startling
exception to the rule." And it may be added, this was but in accord
with the eternal fitness of things, as though the God of nations, the
divine nexus of the True, the Good and the Beautiful, would have all
108
LABOR IN ANTIQUITY.
109
things in harmony. Their genius for beauty was manifested in their
language, which is without a rival as a work of art. "The whole lan-
guage resembles the body of an artistically trained athlete, in which
every muscle, every sinew, is developed into full play, where there is no
trace of tumidity or of inert matter, and all is power and life." So
much for Greek civilization. Its outer aspect does not concern us now.
We are interested in the men who toiled in the erection of those struc-
tures that even unto this day bear witness to the intellectual greatness
of ancient Hellas. We would speak of the shepherd on the Attic hills,
of the husbandman who tilled the valley of the Ilissus and the lands of
"hollow Lacedæmon," of the artisan who built the Acropolis, and of the
mechanic who placed the stones of the beautiful Parthenon.
The history of the Greeks commenced when they separated from
their Aryan ancestry. Then commenced the migratory movement
that eventuated in their colonization of that little country they were to
make forever illustrious. During this period, although they lived in
houses, yet their pursuits were pastoral. Agriculture they did not pur-
sue, but pastured flocks and herds, subsisting upon the increase. For
weapons, they had the sword and the bow, and knew how to work gold,
silver and copper.
Centuries elapsed, and we reach the heroic age, the age embalmed in
the sublime measures of the blind bard of Chios. It is from Homer's
immortal poems that we catch our first glimpse of Grecian life. In
these resplendent creations we see reflected, as in a mirror, the social
order, customs and habits of the prehistoric Grecks. The prevailing
political organization was tribal. Over each tribe ruled a king. The
monarch's power, however, was not absolute. It was limited and regu-
lated not only by a council of chiefs, but by the deliberations and con-
clusions of a popular assembly. The Homeric poems say little or noth-
ing of the condition of the mechanics and artisans of that period, such as
the carpenter, the leather-dresser and the stone-mason. Some knowl-
edge of skilled industry must have been then possessed by the Greeks.
There must have been metal-workers, for implements of war were manu-
factured-swords, spears and armor. It would seem also that chariots
were made. But the useful arts must have been in a rudimentary state.
Spinning and weaving were household industries, and pursued by women.
All wearing apparel was manufactured at home, and in the discharge of
household duties and labors noble women and slaves worked side by side.
Of the condition of the common day-laborer little is known, and that
little indicates that his was a wretched lot.
110
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
With the increase of wealth influential and powerful families must
have been developed. In time, as a result, the rule of a king was super-
seded by that of an aristocracy. The nobility were large land-holders,
and leased their acres to tenant farmers. The social welfare and politi-
cal destiny of the small farmers, mechanics and laborers were controlled
absolutely by the aristocracy. None of the three classes mentioned
could participate in political affairs. Some of the aristocracy were mer-
chants and artists, but mechanics and artisans never. All manual labor
was eschewed by them. Such was the condition of affairs when Solon
attempted a reformation of Athenian institutions. He then established
for Athens a timocracy, or rule of the wealthy. By virtue of his con-
stitution, property was the qualification for citizenship. A man's income
determined his degree of political privilege. This constitution remained
substantially the same until the time of Clisthenes. This brilliant man
was the founder of the Athenian democracy. The moneyed aristocracy
of Solon were then deprived of their preponderating power in the state,
and all free inhabitants were admitted to citizenship.
Politically we have been thus far speaking of Attica. The institu-
tions established by Clisthenes in Athens remained substantially the same
during the "age of Pericles." Of the condition of the son of toil in
Greece we will make the Periclean epoch representative. In fact, it
may be said that as was the artisan, the mechanic and the day-laborer
in Athens under Pericles, so was he in Greece. In this, as in all else,
Attica was Grecce. To this statement, in some respects, there is, in the
case of Sparta, a notable exception. Sparta, or Laconia, remained
from first to last an oligarchy. The population was divided into three
classes: first were the Spartiatæ, or those who constituted the citizens.
of the state and enjoyed full political rights; second, the Periæci, or
Achaians, a class of freemen who were tenant farmers (of this class mil-
itary service was required, but they had no political rights); third, the
Helots—“serfs of the state, who were divided among the Spartiatæ by
lot, and cultivated their lands, paying to their masters a certain fraction
of the harvest." Among the Spartiate were distributed nine thousand
lots of the public land. These landed estates could not be sold, nor could
they be given away. The land descended from father to son, and in the
event of a failure of male issue reverted to the state. Manual labor was
forbidden to the Spartiatæ. Their time was occupied in military disci-
pline and the affairs of state. The Periæci were the Achaian people or
race the aboriginal inhabitants of the land who had been conquered by
the Spartans. Large numbers of them, compelled to abandon the arable
LABOR IN ANTIQUITY.
111
land of the valley, repaired to the less fertile hill and mountain sides.
There, by terracing the steeps and slopes, they managed to eke out a
scanty subsistence. But they were forced by the Spartiate to pay to the
ruling class, as tribute, a portion of their slender crops. The Periæci
were not all agriculturists, however, as some of them worked in the
mines of Laconia, while others were engaged in the manufacture of
woolen and leather goods. Those of the Achaians who were permitted
to remain upon the lands that had been apportioned among the Spartiatæ
were by law attached to the estate upon which they dwelt, and were
compelled to till the land they had once owned, for the benefit of their
masters, paying to the latter by far the largest portion of the annual
products. So wretched was the condition to which they were reduced,
and so bitter the oppression they experienced, that they frequently
revolted in a vain struggle for freedom. From time to time, without
provocation, and with precaution for an excuse, armed bands of Spartans
would be sent covertly among the Helots to kill the more intelligent and
vigorous of them. Sometimes whole districts would be depopulated in
this way. During the Peloponnesian war, an uprising was feared among
the Helots, whereupon the government issued a proclamation request-
ing those of the Helots who considered themselves worthy of the confidence
of the republic to apply for manumission. Some two thousand of the
Achaian serfs responded to this request, it is said. A festival was cel-
ebrated; the poor victims were crowned with chaplets and led to the
temple for emancipation. They were never heard of again, and the
manner of their death is not known.
Slavery was a fundamental feature of Greek society, and was not re-
pugnant to their ideas of justice and morality. Even the sublime Plato
made the institution a part of his ideal republic, and it was said by the
great Stagarite that a slave was merely a piece of property, a machine
possessed of life. The first slaves were captives taken in war. Large
numbers were probably acquired by foreign purchase and the sub-
jection of insolvent debtors by their creditors. The condition of the
Greek slave is said to have been much better than the Roman bondman.
In Athens an inhuman master could be compelled to transfer his slave
to another more kind and considerate. Masters frequently manumitted
their faithful slaves. When this occurred the freedman usually remained
in his master's house as a resident alien, but could never become a citizen.
The liberating of slaves became more frequent as the free population of
Greece diminished. Corporal punishment was frequently inflicted. For
this purpose rods, thongs and whips were used. The value of a slave de-
112
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
pended on his skill in some handicraft. In the Laurian silver mines, so
great was the hardship and so deadly the atmosphere, that the owner of
a slave received one-half of his value each year. Thus, should the slave
live for three years, his master would receive as compensation one and
one-half times his market value.
Almost every form of industry was performed by slaves and serfs.
This was true of all the mechanical arts and skilled trades, mining,
the manning and working of ships, and all manufacturing enter-
prises. In the latter even the overseers and managers were slaves. In
Laconia, Messenia, Crete and Thessaly all farm labor was performed by
slaves. Indeed few were the industries in Greece not performed by slave
labor. As a result of this state of affairs all of the industrial arts were
regarded as mean and degrading. Mechanics were excluded from any
participation in public affairs. In the words of Heeren, all labors were
performed by slaves "which are now done by journeymen and lackeys."
'Some of the rich Grecians," he continues, "made a business of keeping
slaves to let for such services. Labor of all kinds in the mines was per.
formed by slaves, who, as well as the miners, were the property of indi-
vidual citizens. The sailors on board of the galleys consisted at least in
part of slaves. Most if not all trades were carried on by slaves, who
were universally employed in the manufacturing establishments. In
these not only laborers, but also the overseers, were slaves, for the owners
did not even trouble themselves with the care of superintending; but
they farmed the whole to persons who were, perhaps, often the overseers
also, and from whom they received a certain rent, according to the num-
ber of slaves which they were obliged to keep undiminished.
If we put all this together we shall see how limited were the branches
of industry which remained for the free. But the most unavoidable and
at the same time the most important consequence of it was that all those
employments which were committed to slaves were regarded as mean
and degrading; and this view of them was not only confirmed by pre-
vailing prejudices, but expressly sanctioned by the laws. To this class
belong especially the mechanics, and even the retailers. For although
all mechanical employments were by no means conducted by slaves, a
shade was thrown on them all.”
* * *
It is safe to conjecture, then, that by far the larger number of the
skilled mechanics and artisans who labored in Athens during the Peri-
clean epoch, in the erection of those architectural monuments that are
famous even unto this day, were slaves. First is the Parthenon, the
superb structure that crowned the Acropolis. This edifice is the most

hon. Carroll D. Wright.
Chief of National Labor Bureau, also Chief of Massachusetts.
Bureau of Labor Statistics.
LABOR IN ANTIQUITY.
113
umns.
beautiful example of Greek architecture. It was of Pentelic marble, and
was 190 feet long by 170 feet broad. It was adorned with 46 Doric col-
The work was designed by Phidias, and was executed by Ictinus.
and Callicrates. It was exquisitely embellished with bas-reliefs and
statues. Within was a colossal statue of Athena, the patron goddess of
Athens, constructed of crystal and ivory, and holding a golden shield.
Second in importance to the Parthenon should be mentioned the Erech-
theum and the Propylæa. The first was a temple; the second was the
entrance to the Acropolis. The Propylæa was built at an expense of
more than two millions of dollars. Sixty huge marble steps formed the
approach, which were seventy feet in breadth. The central hall was 60
feet in breadth, 44 feet long and 39 feet high. The ceiling was of mar-
ble, and was supported by a series of columns 29 feet high and 5 feet in
diameter. Second to none in excellence of design and beauty of finish
was the temple erected in honor of Theseus, their national hero. The
Theseum was constructed of Pentelic marble, and was surrounded by 34
beautiful Doric columns.
Plutarch has written of Athens, during the age of Pericles, as follows:
"That which gave most pleasure and ornament to the city of Athens,
and the greatest admiration and even astonishment to all strangers, and
that which now is Greece's only evidence that the power she boasts of and
her ancient wealth are no romance or idle story, was his [Pericles'] con-
struction of the public and sacred buildings. The materials were stone,
brass, ivory, gold, ebony, cypress wood; and the arts or trades that
wrought and fashioned them were smiths and carpenters, molders,
founders and braziers, stone-cutters, dyers, goldsmiths, ivory-workers,
painters, embroiderers, turners; those again that conveyed them to the
town for use, merchants, and mariners, and ship-masters by sea; and
by land, cartwrights, cattle-breeders, wagoners, rope-makers, shoe-
makers and leather-dressers, robe-makers and miners. As then the works
grew up, no less stately in size than exquisite in form, the workmen
striving to outvie the material and the design with the beauty of their
workmanship, yet the most wonderful thing of all was the rapidity of -
their execution. Undertakings, any one of which, singly, might have
required, it is thought, for their completion, several successions and ages
of men, were every one of them accomplished in the height and prime of
one man's political service."
What a pen picture is this of the industrial arts and of the artisans
of that time. Within less than a page of printed matter are grouped in
graphic outline the industrial aspects of an epoch. Strange does it
8
114
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
seem to modern thought that men exercising such a diversity of handi-
crafts, working skillfully with such a variety of material, and erecting
such magnificent structures, should have been mainly slaves. Some of
the mechanics of that time in Greece were undoubtedly freemen, but the
vast majority were in a condition of servile bondage.
What is thus true of the flourishing era of Greek history, as it is
called, was also true of earlier periods. Under Pisistratus extensive
internal improvements were planned, and the work performed by
mechanics who were slaves. Marble statues and altars were erected,
and roads and aqueducts constructed. After the Persian wars and the
burning of Athens, every man, woman and child of Attica, capable of
manual labor, was required to work at the rebuilding of the city walls.
A fortified harbor was built at the Piræus. Athens at this time was
connected with her seaport by walls four and a half miles long.
In this connection it may be said that many of the earlier statesmen
and politicians of ancient Greece were averse to the mechanical trades.
At other periods of Grecian history some distinguished men strongly
favored the industrial arts. This was true of Solon,
This was true of Solon, Themistocles and
Pericles. But it is safe to say that at no period of Greek history, begin-
ning with Solon and ending with Pericles, were the industrial arts
popular with the aristocratic classes of the country. The more humble
citizen, however, was compelled, as were also the poor foreigner and the
slave, to engage in manual labor. Before the time of Pericles the son
pursued his father's trade or occupation. In time this custom disappeared,
and all persons, native as well as foreign, were encouraged to free com-
petition. Works once commenced were hurried to completion. In
times of demand, consequently, wages were high for the period. Partic-
ularly was this the case when Pericles was constructing the public works
of Athens As a rule, on the other hand, the wages were less than are
paid in the United States to-day. In the time of Timon the agricultural
laborer or gardener was paid about twelve cents per day, a common laḥ-
orer eight cents, carpenters and artisans not to exceed fifteen cents per
day. Even Polias, the architect of the temple of Minerva, received but
seventeen cents per day.
These wages seem small indeed, but the cost and style of living of
the time must be kept in mind. It may be inferred, from certain allu-
sions and statements contained in the literary monuments of ancient
Greece, that the cost of necessaries then was much less than it is to-
day. It has been argued that the causes for this cheapness of the nec-
essaries of life were the scarcity of money and the fertility of the soil.
LABOR IN ANTIQUITY.
115
The cheapness of commodities in antiquity, however, has been greatly
exaggerated. For instance it has been said that it was twenty-fold less.
But it would be nearer the truth to say that the average price was ten
times lower than in the nineteenth century. It has been said, and is
undoubtedly true, that house and farm rent were much less in Greece at
the time of which we are writing than in the United States to-day.
The houses of the manual laborer of the time were small and rude in con-
struction, and mean in appointment. His bed was usually a few rags or
skins thrown upon the ground; rarely could he afford the woolen mattress
of the time. His clothing consisted of but one coarse garment, some-
times trimmed with sheepskin. The genial clime of his native land
must have softened the hardships of his existence. So genial was the
sunshine and so smiling the sky of his beloved Hellas, that he could
pass the greater part of his life in the open air.
It cannot be said of Attica that the land was especially fertile. The
soil was stony, rocky and uneven. Some wheat and barley were raised.
All kinds of fruit were produced in abundance. In Attica the farmer
was industrious and thrifty, cattle throve, and a great variety of plants
were produced, despite the poverty of the soil. Agriculture was com-
mended by such men as Solon, Xenophon, Aristotle and Theophrastus.
Agriculture was said to be "the most just industry, since its gains are
not derived from men, neither with their consent, as in service for hire
and in commerce, nor against their consent, as in war."
It was said to
be the most natural, "since every creature is nourished by its mother,
and the earth is the mother of man." Finally the ancients praised agri-
culture because "it makes body and soul strong and vigorous, and adapted
to war, while most trades and commerce weaken and enervate.' Stock-
farming received considerable attention in Attica. Large numbers of
sheep, goats, swine, horses, cattle, asses and mules were raised. The
increase of sheep and wool was favored by legislation. To slaughter
sheep before they had been shorn or had lambed was prohibited by law.
Despite the fact that the largest number of Greek artisans, mechan-
ics and operatives were slaves, many of the industrial arts flourished
besides architecture. The goldsmiths of Corinth were excellent work-
men, as were also the potters and weavers. Megara was noted for its
manufacture of woolen tunics, which were exported in large numbers.
The slaves of Megara were foreigners, and were treated with severity and
ofttimes with cruelty. Alabaster vases were manufactured at Sicyon,
and the earthenware and the gold and silver vessels of Samos were in
demand.
116
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
{
2
It cannot be said that there was a material change in the condition of
the artisan class in ancient Greece during the Macedonian era. Aristo-
tle was a contemporary of Alexander the Great. Writing of the mechanic
and mechanic's employment of his time, the great man said: "In well-
regulated states the lower order of mechanics are not even admitted to
the rights of citizens." In the time of Philip and Demosthenes, promi-
nent citizens were the owners of work-shops, manufactories and mines.
These industries, however, were all operated by slaves. Demosthenes'
father, at his death, left to his son a manufactory of swords.
It may be reasonably inferred that there was little or no improve-
ment, either socially or politically, among the manual laborers of Greece,
during the period intermediate between the death of Alexander the Great
and the Roman domination. The democratic constitution of Clisthenes
was swept away and an oligarchy of wealth was established, not only in At-
tica, but in the other states. If manual labor had so little to expect from
democracy in Greece, what must have been the condition of affairs when
the principle of monarchy and aristocracy ruled supreme.
CHAPTER VI.-TYRE, SIDON, CARTHAGE.
A PEOPLE WHO GAVE THE ALPHABET TO THE WORLD, YET HAVE NO LITERATURE
THEIR GRANITE STRUCTURES CRUMBLED TO EARTH, AND FOREIGN HIS-
TORIANS TELL THEIR STORY-PHOENICIA'S ANCIENT GRANDEUR THE
CIVILIZATION AND INSTITUTIONS OF THE THREE GREAT CITIES-THE
FARMERS, ARTISANS AND LABORERS-ARCHITECTURE AND STOCK-RAISING-
MINING AGRICULTURE - SHIP-BUILDING COMMERCE A RACE OF ADVEN-
-
—
TUROUS MARINERS-COLONIES AND TRADING-POSTS—THE MANUFACTURE OF
GLASS IN SIDON-THE DYES AND FABRICS OF TYRE - THE SKILLED INDUS-
TRIAL WORKERS OF CARTHAGE THE GEMSIA-THE WARS WITH ROME
'DELENDA EST CARTHAGO.'
>>
S
F Carthage, the Phoenician metropolis, it has been sung in noble
OF
verse:
"Great Carthage low in ruins cold doth lie,
Her ruins poor the herbs in height can pass;
So cities fall, so perish kingdoms high,
Their pride and pomp lie hid in sand and grass.”
*
With the exception of the Chaldeo-Assyrian empire, the Phoenician
confederacy is the only government of antiquity of which no vestige
remains to tell the story of its departed grandeur. From squalid Sidon
in the east, to the grass-grown ruins of Carthage in the west, naught
remains to tell of a people who gave the alphabet to mankind, and who
at one time monopolized the ocean commerce of the known world.
Mournfully do the waves of the Mediterranean sigh a requiem for dead
Carthage. Thoroughly indeed did the Roman conqueror do his work.
Well 'did he execute the anathema of Marcus Cato. As the traveler
stands amid the heaps of sand, mouldering cisterns and rude, unshapen
stones that mark the spot where once flourished the commercial metrop-
olis of antiquity, well might he exclaim with the poet :
"Delenda est Carthago! Let the tear
Still drop, deserted Carthage, on thy bier;
Let mighty nations pause as they survey
The world's great empires crumble to decay;
And, hushing every rising tone of pride,
Deep in the heart this moral lesson hide,
Which speaks with hollow voice, as from the dead,
Of beauty faded, and of glory fled,-
Delenda est Carthago."
117
118
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
Even unto this day there is a Persian empire, a Grecian kingdom,
and an Egyptian government. Rome still sits upon her seven hills,
and holy Jerusalem yet raises her walls and towers to the cloudless east-
ern sky, but of Sidon, Tyre and Carthage all has departed, for of
these once great cities "e'en the graves are gone, and leave no bones."
And over once glorious Carthage is heard the mournful cry of Afric's.
desert bird."
Truly are these great people dead, and yet their spirit liveth. They
were of humanity. They lived, hoped, despaired, joyed and sorrowed.
Much has been said of their great warriors, kings and merchant princes.
Little has been written of those nameless ones who toiled with their
hands that their country might prosper. We will speak of the farmer,
the mechanic and the laborer.
It is a fact worthy of note, that the traditions of cities alone have
seemed to the ancient historians worthy of preservation. It is of great
Nineveh, mighty Babylon and stately Thebes, of imperial Rome and
classic Athens, that we have voluminous histories and descriptions,
while of the lowly life of the farmer and herdsman, the toil of whom
made these great cities possible, we are without direct information.
So is it with Phoenicia. Her history, today, is little more than the
story of her three great cities, Carthage, Tyre and Sidon. Yet sur-
rounding these teeming hives of industry were fertile hillsides and
fruitful valleys, tilled by patient husbandmen. Frugal and industrious.
was the life of the Phoenician farmer, and undoubtedly more prosperous
and contented was he, delving on the sunny hillside or in the sheltered
vale, than his weary brother in the crowded city, toiling early and late for a
bare subsistence, and surrounded by pomp and luxury he could not share.
In superficial area, Phoenicia proper, exclusive of her African, Medi-
terranean and Spanish colonies, was one of the smallest countries of an-
tiquity. Her boundaries, extending one hundred and eighty miles in
length and ten to twelve miles in width, comprised a territory of less than
two thousand square miles. Defined by the Lebanon mountains and hills
of northern Palestine on the cast, and with its shores laved by the
waters of the Mediterrenean sea on the west, the country was well fitted
for that intensive civilization that had its manifestation in her three
great cities. The broad coast, with numerous and spacious harbors, led
naturally to the development of foreign commerce, and Phoenician ships
found their way to every harbor of the known world. The growth of
the merchant marine of Phoenicia was further stimulated by the skill
and activity of the artisans of the country.
LABOR IN ANTIQUITY.
119
The people, the industry and intelligence of whom bore this country
to the front of material progress, originally came from the borders of
the Red Sea, and were of the race known to students of Biblical history
as the Canaanites.
When the Canaanites were driven from the Promised Land by the
Jews, about two thousand years B. C., great numbers of them settled on
the coast of Phoenicia and founded Sidon, its most ancient city. Tyre,
the second in age, was a daughter of Sidon, but soon eclipsed
her mother in grandeur and influence. Thousands of galleys dotted
her harbors and clustered at her docks. Her mariners bore to dis-
tant lands the fruits of her industry and the tidings of her growth
and wealth. Her streets were lined with stately edifices and thronged
with busy crowds. Her markets were filled with delicacies, and her bazaars
stocked with luxuries. From its earliest day, the grand destiny of Tyre
had been manifest. The rapidly multiplying population overflowed the
walls of the first city, and after extending up and down the coast for a
long distance, settled in large numbers upon a neighboring island. In
time this island became a part of the city. During the reign of Hiram,
who was contemporary with Solomon, upon this island were constructed
vast public works. Thousands of slaves were employed in the quarries
excavating and shaping huge blocks of stone that were to withstand
alike the ceaseless action of the sea and the ruder shocks of war. It
pleased the king to fortify his fair city, and for the purpose the labor of
every subject was at his command. Huge piers, quays and moles were
built on either side of the island, until it was increased to nearly double
its original size. A wall of massive stone, towering at some points to a
height of one hundred and fifty feet, was constructed about the whole,
and, for the sake of additional protection, was carried far out into the
The granite moles and breakwater that skirted the shore assured
to the mariner a safe harbor in the most tempestuous weather. These
stupendous works, planned by the king, and viewed with pride by the
aristocracy, were constructed by a slavish population.
sea.
In Tyre there were but two classes of society-the fortunate and
privileged few, and the unfortunate and unprivileged many. The latter
toiled incessantly, that the former might flourish. Assigned tasks be-
yond their powers, driven by the lash of brutal task-masters, and living
in squalor, while on every hand were the comfort and luxury of their
masters, it is small wonder that now and again the serfs arose in a mighty
wave of rebellion, and rushed against the hired legions of their oppres-
sors, only to be beaten back, bleeding, into serfdom.
120
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
The hand-toilers of the Phoenician cities were engaged in a diversity
of industries, but the aristocratic rulers of Tyre most gloried in archi-
tecture. In their traditions, the Phoenicians claimed to have been
taught the art of masonry by Cadmus, the mighty builder who erected
the walls of Thebes, and then, going to Greece, introduced there the
art of writing.
ers
Thus was rendered possible the construction of memorials more en-
during than any ever wrought of brass or built of stone. In character,
the architecture of Tyre was more massive than elegant. The houses
were built of huge blocks of stone, hewn into squares, and skillfully pol-
ished. Those who performed this labor-artisans, mechanics and labor-
were little better than slaves. Their skill and their time were the
property of their king. At any time, and on any occasion, he could
command their services, and their part was but to obey. It has been
maintained that in architectural form Solomon's temple was influenced.
by Phoenician art, and it is known that large numbers of Tyrian slaves
were employed upon that edifice.
But the constructive skill of the Phoenicians was not confined to
architecture. Ornaments were required by the nobles, and so it became
the part of some of the common people to learn the jeweler's art, that
dainty bits of filagree in gold and silver, polished gems in chaste set-
tings of precious metals, or engraved cameos, might adorn the person of
the gay loiterer of the Tyrian court. The vanity and selfishness of the
noble must be gratified, even though the artisan slept on a pile of skins.
in a squalid hut, and covered his nakedness with a rag of cotton cloth.
Mining was an extensive industry with the Phoenicians, and thousands
upon thousands delved industriously in the bowels of the earth to supply
the artisans with the material necessary to their labor. In that time,
however, mining was a vocation honored above most of the industrial
arts. The miner was not a slave, but a wage-worker, or even a co-part-
ner, for he received one-fourth of the product of his labor, as his hire.
The miners of Phoenicia wandered even to Spain and Britain, and
there prosecuted their work so vigorously that even to day may be found
the remains of their mines, with pits, shafts and transverse galleries,
showing them to have been, not only practical, but scientific in their
work. Of the two great cities of Phoenicia proper, which struggled in-
cessantly for commercial supremacy, Sidon was noted far and wide for
its manufacture of glass. The fame of Tyrian dyes and fabrics.
spread to the uttermost parts of the earth. Even unto this day has the
"Tyrian purple " maintained its fame.
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It is one of the greatest obstacles to the study of a purely industrial
people like the Phoenicians that they have no literature. A people
whose lives are spent in ceaseless toil, to satisfy the rapacity of a merciless.
king and profligate body of hereditary nobles, have no time to write.
records of their daily lives. Most striking is this in the case of the
Phoenicians, for, as the inventors of the alphabet, they gave the art of
writing to the world. Yet so driven were they by the lash of their
cruel task-masters, so constant was the struggle for life, that they had
no time to use the invention of their illustrious countryman, and the
art passed from them. They were compelled by their monarchs to labor
in the erection of prodigious structures of granite, that the name of the
royal builder might endure forever. Years rolled by; the granite
crumbled and became as the earth, while the papyrus rolls of Egypt, or
the palimpsest of the humble Greek or Roman poet, brings down to the
latest ages the names of the wiser monarchs, whose subjects led the lives.
of men, not of beasts of burden.
But for descriptions of the Phoenicians we must go to works of
foreign authors. The Hebrew prophet Ezekiel, in 588 B. C., penned a
graphic description of the glory of Tyre: "O Tyrus, thou hast said, I
am of perfect beauty! thy borders are in the midst of the seas. Thy
builders have perfected thy beauty. They have made all thy boards of
the fir-trees of Semir; they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make
masts for thee. The oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; the
company of the Ashurites have made thy benches of ivory, and out of
the isles of Chittim. Fine linen with embroidered work from Egypt
was that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail; blue and purple
from the isle of Elishah was that which covered thee. All the ships of
the sea with their mariners were in thee to occupy thy merchandise.
* * * Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all
kinds of riches, with silver, iron, tin and lead, they traded in thy fairs.
* They traded the persons of men, and vessels of brass in thy
markets. The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market and thou
wast replenished and made very glorious in the midst of the seas."
* *
By this description, as well as by the works of classic authors of
antiquity, we learn of the extended commercial relations of the Pho-
nicians. The navigators who directed the course of the ships of Tyre
from port to port were higher in social rank than those who labored
that the galleys might be laden with Phoenician manufactures. The
sailor's vocation, like that of the miner, was more honored than the
labors of those who dwelt within the walls of the cities and toiled inde-
.*.
122
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
fatigably at the behest of their masters. Many of the navigators owned
the vessels under their command; others shared in the profits of the suc-
cessful cruise, and were thus elevated above the slave, or even the wage-
worker. The coasting vessels were ordinarily galleys, and were propelled
by oars in the hands of slaves, and the sails were relied upon only for occa-
sional aid. The life of these galley slaves was wretched in the extreme.
With the coarsest of fare, dirty water to drink, and destitute of clothing,
they toiled incessantly without remuneration. Straining hour after hour
at heavy oars, urged to their task by the lash of brutal overseers, who
paced up and down the deck, whip in hand, striking viciously and indis-
criminately at the weary, the sick and the aged, the miserable galley
slaves were deprived of all save the semblance of humanity.
In government, each of the three Phoenician cities, Tyre, Sidon and
Carthage, was independent, though each exerted itself to reach such a
plane of prosperity and power as would give it the preponderating influ-
ence at the place of joint meeting, called Tripolis. In form of govern-
ment each was monarchical. The royal succession, however, was not
hereditary, and was conditioned by the power of the people (the aris-
tocracy), who could successfully protest against the accession to the
throne of the heir apparent. In Tyre existed an hereditary and pow-
erful aristocracy. In case of a vacancy occurring in the royal succession,
this body would elect some of their own number as suffetes, or judges,
to rule during the interregnum. The mechanics, the artisans and the
laborers all those who toiled with their hands that their country might
prosper had absolutely no voice in the ruling of the state of which they
were the very foundation.
The extensive foreign trade of Phoenicia and the race of hardy and
adventurous mariners, trained in her merchant ships, led naturally to
the establishment, at available points along the Mediterranean, of colo-
nies, or foreign trading-posts. Traces of the presence of Phoenician
mariners and the works of Phoenician artisans may be found today in
Sicily, Malta, France and Spain. Trading-stations were also established
at Rhodes, Cyprus, Sardinia, Crete, northern Africa. To these points.
went the merchants of Tyre and Sidon with their cargoes of gold and
silver ornaments, their cunning handiwork in the baser metals, their
soft fabrics and rich dye-stuffs. The people of those remote countries
flocked to the markets thus afforded, bringing their raw material in
exchange for Phoenician manufactures. The establishment by Tyre of
such a trading-post on the northern coast of Africa, near the site of
LABOR IN ANTIQUITY.
123
modern Tunis, led to the growth of that great city Carthage, equally
renowned in war and commerce, praised in prose and sung in verse.
The early history of Carthage is shrouded in obscurity. It is from
the picturesque story of Dido and Æneas, told in the flowing verse of
Virgil, we alone can learn anything of the root of that contention
between the Carthaginians and the Romans which resulted in the
total destruction of the Phoenician city, fulfilling literally Cato's grim
prophecy: "Delenda est Carthago."
Founded as a trading-post, about the middle of the ninth century
B. C., Carthage soon outstripped the mother city, Tyre. Her ships
flocked in every port of the blue Mediterranean. Large factories arose
in all quarters of the city, and throngs of artisans filled her streets.
Founded as a market for Phoenician wares and manufactures, Carthage
soon excelled in diversity and excellence of products the cities of the
older country. No student of the forces of civilization can for a moment
doubt that this marvelous growth was due to the wise and liberal govern-
ment which, while recognizing the necessity then existing for a strongly
centralized constitution, nevertheless granted to the people that propor-
tion of representation in the ruling of the state which should inspire
them with feelings of independence and responsibility for the public.
weal.
In form the government was at once monarchical, oligarchical and
democratic. At its head were two chief magistrates, suffetes, or kings,
who were elected by the aristocracy from the numbers of the nobles.
The great council, senate, or synkletos, was a large legislative body,
whose members were chosen from the ranks of the aristocracy, and from
this body was chosen a supreme legislative body of one hundred mem-
bers, known as the Gemsia. The third branch of the government was
a council of one hundred and four members, chosen by the plebeians,
from their own ranks, and whose duties were legislative and judicial.
The one condition of eligibility for this council was irreproachable char-
acter. To sit with this august body was the highest ambition of every
Carthaginian merchant, manufacturer or artisan, and the spirit of emu-
lation thus engendered led to the development of a high grade of com-
mercial integrity and industrious living. Often the final decision of
questions of the highest import to the state was referred to this council;
for, should the kings and the Gemsia or first chamber differ on any
public question, the decision was left to the tribunal of the people. It
is easy to imagine the public spirit of the plebeians vastly increased by
this policy.
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THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
The life of the Carthaginians showed the same principles of separa-
tion between the rich and poor that prevailed in Tyre and Sidon,
although to a much less degree. The nobles lived the lives of country
gentlemen, dwelling in palatial castles on fertile hill-sides, beyond the
city walls. Within the city were the teeming thousands of artisans and
wage-workers of every grade, packed closely together by the contracted.
limits of the city walls. The city was built upon a peninsula, connected
with the mainland by an isthmus three miles in width. The sides of
the isthmus were rugged and hilly, and the city was encompassed by
walls which on the landward sides were tripled. The outer walls were
forty-five feet high and seven feet thick, while lofty towers, for the pro-
tection of archers and spearmen, rose at intervals of two hundred feet.
In the two inner walls were built cavernous casements which afforded
stabling-room for three hundred elephants, while above the quarters for
the elephants were other stables for horses, with a capacity of four thou-
sand, together with barracks for their riders and for twenty thousand
infantry. Great stone docks were constructed for the reception of the
ships of war and the merchant vessels of the proud city. The outer
harbor was for merchant vessels, and connected with an inner harbor by
an opening seventy feet in width, and across this opening ponderous iron.
chains were stretched for the protection of the war-ships which floated
within. On an island in the center of the inner harbor was reared the
princely mansion of the Carthaginian admiral, and from this central
point that officer could look about him and see the fleet of two hundred
and twenty ponderous war-vessels over which floated the proud banner of
Carthage.
Such colossal works could not be constructed, even in the wealthiest.
commonwealths, without the aid of slavery, and accordingly we find the
existence, even in the enlightened city of Carthage, of an enormous body
of slaves. It was their labor that hewed the great blocks of stone and
placed them to form the massive walls and docks of Carthage. The
palatial homes of the wealthy on the green hills of the suburbs were built
by the labor of the slaves. In return for his palace and for the fortifica-
tions of his city, the noble had but to give his slaves the means of eking
out a scanty subsistence. Housed in huts, sleeping in heaps upon the
floor, naked or but raggedly clothed, the slaves toiled away a weary life-
time only to be cast aside as useless when old age or illness made further
work impossible. Their noble master had ended with them— let them
die. Of the poorer classes of freemen we know little, save that they
were almost as slavishly under the control of the aristocrats as were the
LABOR IN ANTIQUITY.
125
slaves themselves. When they multiplied too rapidly and the portion of
the city set aside for their use became overcrowded, they were exported
in large colonies under the charge of some nobleman, who hoped, by a
few years' rule over a distant colony, to repair his fortune squandered in
dissipation and idleness. Records are preserved of migrations of enor-
mous numbers in this manner. On one occasion, a fleet of sixty war-
ships bore thirty thousand emigrants from the poorer classes, who were
bound to seek their fortunes in colonies even beyond the pillars of
Hercules.
This custom of planting colonies, and the necessity for searching out
available spots, led to the development in Carthage of a race of mariners
no less adventurous and hardy than their Phoenician prototypes. Here,
as in Sidon and Tyre, the navigator was a man of honored caste, and in
some sense an officer of the government, for he was empowered to exact
tribute from the people of newly discovered countries to pay the expenses
of his voyage. In some cases these tributes deprived the people of one-
half their entire year's produce.
The skilled artisans and higher classes of industrial workers in Car-
thage were accorded rights and liberties far in advance of those granted
to the plebeians in any other country. Among them slavery was un-
known. They might enjoy the fruits of their industry undisturbed,
save by the periodic visits of the tax-gatherer. Before the eyes of every
worker was forever the possibility of election to the Gemsia, together
with all the honors and immunities conferred by a seat in that august
body. His clothing might be such as his circumstances permitted him
to buy, and nobles and wealthy merchants vied with each other in the
richness of the fabrics with which they decked their persons. On the
counters of the bazaars were heaped the products of the colonial mines
and the looms and work-shops of the city. The houses of the wealthy
were decked with gold, silver and crystal ornaments and furniture, and
fittings of costly foreign woods. Literature flourished, not only among
the nobles, but among those of humble birth as well. The treatises
upon agriculture and stock-raising, written by practical farmers and
herdsmen, were accepted as authority among all reading peoples.
The Roman senate, mindful of the value of these works, ordered several
to be translated into Latin, that they might be perused by the people of
Rome. In their religious ceremonies, patricians and plebeians worshiped
in common, and paid their adorations to the sun-god, Baal, and the
moon-god, Astarte. The rites were degrading and even bestial.
And so this city lived, flourished and grew wealthy, the nobles and
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THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
industrial citizens working in a community of interests, and in many
respects on a plane of equality. The slaves, though less in proportion to
the total population of the city than in many other towns, were kept in
that state of brutal subjection necessary to secure implicit obedience to
the will of their masters. The nobles practiced the art of war continu-
ally and carried on an incessant warfare with the armies of Rome. The
tide of battle wavered now to one side, now to another, until, in 146
B. C., the flood of victorious warriors of the Imperial City swept over
the walls of Carthage and subjected its unfortunate populace to Roman
slavery. Not one stone of the once magnificent city was left upon
another, and, in the words of the historian Mommsen, "where the
industrious Phoenicians bustled and trafficked for five hundred years,
Roman slaves henceforward pastured the herds of their distant masters."
4
CHAPTER VII.-ROME.
EARLY HISTORY-PRIMITIVE INHABITANTS AGRICULTURE THE FOUNDATION OF
ROME'S WELFARE - FARMERS IN THE EARLY AGES-FIELD LABOR AND Do-
MESTIC OCCUPATIONS — THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SLAVERY-THE DECAY OF
THE SMALL FARMERS THEIR DISTRESS — INTERNAL STRIFE- THE ENFORCE-
MENT OF THE DEBTOR LAWS- THE FATAL EFFECTS OF SLAVERY — THE AGRA-
RIAN LAWS OF SPURIUS CASSIUS - MARCUS MANLIUS CAST FROM THE TARPEIAN
ROCK THE CONTEST BETWEEN THE PATRICIANS AND PLEBEIANS - THE LI-
CINIAN LAWS-TIBERIUS GRACCHUS ESPOUSES THE CAUSE OF THE PEOPLE-
HIS ELOQUENCE HIS POPULARITY - HIS PROPOSED LAW - VIOLENT OPPOSI-
TION OF THE CAPITALISTS - DEPOSITION OF OCTAVIUS- THE LAWS OF GRAC-
CHUS PASSEDHE ARRIVES AT THE SUMMIT OF POWER- HIS ASSASSINATION
– No HOPE FOR THE PEOPLE - THE SYSTEM OF LAND CULTIVATION - PASTORAL
HUSBANDRY EFFORTS TO MANUMIT THE SLAVES FRUSTRATED— ANTAGONISM
BETWEEN FREE AND SLAVE LABOR-THE FARM IN THE TIME Of Cæsar-
SLAVE LABOR UNIVERSAL-THE EMPIRE BECOMES TERRIFIED AT ITS RAVAGES
THE ARTISANS- THE GUILDS - THE END OF THE EMPIRE.
THE primitive inhabitants of the Mediterranean peninsula, anciently
and at the present time called Italy, issued from the same Aryan
stock that peopled Greece. The races who preceded the Romans were
the Oscans, the Latins and the Etruscans. Of these, the Oscans were
probably the most ancient, and from them sprang several of the most
powerful nations or tribes of Italy, such as the Sabines and the Samnites,
The Oscans were a pastoral and agricultural people. The existence among
them of a priesthood, devoted not exclusively to the performance of re-
ligious rites, but partly to the scientific practice of agriculture, shows
in what estimation that pursuit was held. Their manners were simple,
their habits industrious. They tilled their own ground and fed their
own flocks.
Before the foundations of Rome were laid, their country,
was in the highest state of civilization. Flourishing fields and rich pas-
tures stretched to the ranges of the Apennines, and their hills and valleys
were studded with innumerable villages. They were emphatically a
brave, hardy, contented, and yet warlike race. To the latest time Sabine
virtue furnished the Roman poets and orators with an exhaustless theme
for eulogy, and many of the most illustrious patrician houses of Rome
reverted with pride to their Sabine ancestors.
127
128
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
2
The Latins belonged, in all probability, to a race which overspread
both Greece and Italy, under the various names of Pelasgians, Tyrsenians
and Siculians. They inhabited that district immediately south of the
Tiber, called Latium. Their cities seem to have been built on heights,
crowned by a citadel, their domains gradually extending around the
central eminence. Little or nothing is known of their habits or civiliza-
tion.
The origin of the Etruscans is shrouded in impenetrable darkness.
An age which has brought to light the treasures which, for thousands of
years, have been preserved in the hieroglyphics of Egypt, has not been
able to penetrate the deep shadows which overhang the Etruscan race.
Such were the nations that inhabited Italy when Rome was founded,
probably by a band of adventurers. Having formed matrimonial alli-
ances, as represented in the tradition of the rape of the Sabine virgins,
and also political engagements with the inhabitants immediately sur-
rounding them, they soon assimilated and became "one" nation, with
"one" senate, "one" general assembly of the people, and "one" king
chosen "by" one of the two nations "out of" the other. The date of
the traditional origin of Rome is B. C. 753.
Almost from the first moment of their arrival the immigrants who
settled Rome seem to have devoted themselves to agriculture, which
was always recognized as the foundation of the welfare of the republic.
The name Italia, in ancient Latin, signified "a country full of cattle.'
The oldest of the Latin tribes had the name "Siculi," reapers; and
another "Opsci," or field laborers. The early legends, creeds, laws, man-
ners, all originated in agriculture. The oldest Roman matrimonial rite
derives its name from "rye." As new territory was acquired, the Roman
farmers entered upon it and secured with the plow the conquests of the
sword.
In the early ages of Rome the farms were small, comprising from
twelve to twenty acres, but thoroughly cultivated. A field was consid-
ered imperfectly tilled in which the furrows were not drawn so close that
harrowing could be dispensed with. Most of the small grains were cul-
tivated, as well as vegetables and fruits. The fig was a native of Italy.
The olive was introduced by the Greeks. The farmer and his sons did
the work of the farm. Slaves or day-laborers were not ordinarily em-
ployed. It was not until about the close of the fourth century of Rome
that slave labor began to be extensively used in agriculture. The plow
was drawn by oxen; horses, asses and mules were used principally as
beasts of burden. Four times a month the farmer went to town to buy,

Richard Griffiths.
General Worthy Foreman of Knights of Labor.
BLINGREN BIN
LABOR IN ANTIQUITY.
129
sell, and transact his other business. Rest from labor took place
only on the several festival days, and especially in the holiday month af-
ter the winter sowing. At these times the plow rested by command of
the gods, and the farmer and all his help, including the animals, re-
posed in holiday idleness. Slavery seems to have existed at first only
to a very limited extent, and free laborers appear to have acted a very
different part in the state from that which they subsequently performed.
This was really the "golden age" for the farmer and farm-laborer in
Italy and Rome. Agriculture was not only the foundation of their wel-
fare, but was the main support of all the communities in Rome and
Italy. The custom of tracing a furrow with the plow around the line of
a future city shows how deeply rooted was the feeling that agriculture
was the mainstay of the commonwealth. The Romans lost many bat-
tles, but scarcely ever made peace by ceding Roman soil. For this re-
sult they were indebted to the tenacity with which farmers clung to their
fields and homesteads. They realized to the fullest extent that "the
strength of man and of the state lies in their dominion over the soil."
The people were prosperous and happy. To the legendary Romulus was
attributed the law which prohibited the consigning of the conquered
lands to pasturage, and provided that they should be parceled into
small homesteads for Roman citizens. At first two acres, and afterward
seven, constituted such a civic patrimony. It was the abandonment of
this law which generated slavery and the ruin of the populace. The land
was tilled by the hands of senators themselves, patricians though
they were. If a patrician possessed more land than he could cultivate,
he divided it among small free cultivators, or rented it. No servile hand
desecrated the plow. And thus was the foundation laid for an empire
that was to exist for a thousand years, and to become the greatest that
the world has ever looked upon.
In the primitive period of Roman history the field labors and domes-
tic occupations were performed by the various members of the family.
The "servus," or servant of that epoch, was no more a chattel in the
Latin agricultural family or community, than was the primitive servant
in the tent of the patriarch, or than were the servants of the first colo-
nists of New England, Virginia or the Carolinas. In these primitive
households there was no place for a slave, for, from the earliest time, ag-
riculture and household occupations were as sacred to the yeoman and
peasant of Latium and Rome, as were the domestic hearth, the father
and the family. It was in Italy, however, that moral subjection was
transformed into legal slavery. The principle that the slave was des-
9
130
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
titute of legal rights was by the Romans maintained with merciless
rigor.
The origin of slavery was probably an advance on the primitive cus-
tom of barbarism, which forfeited the life of the vanquished to the con-
queror. It eventually became the rule to consider as spoils prisoners
made on the battle-field, and they were sold as slaves, by the state, at
public auction. Then came the law by which the insolvent debtor might
be sold into slavery for life, and, finally, the power of the father or
chief of the household over both the family and the servants. The
father, be he patrician or plebeian, might sell his son into slavery. Not
being permitted to marry or rear children, the slave population was not,
in itself, reproductive. The Romans, therefore, began to renew their
slave population by purchasing from the barbarian, and thus slavery
became an established institution in regal Rome, ripened under the
republic, and attained its full fruition under the empire.
With the establishment of slavery began the decay of the small far-
mers and free laborers. Taking advantage of the opportunities that are
always open to the office-holding or governing class, the patricians began
to acquire large tracts of land, holding them first as tenants of the state,
and, in the course of time, as hereditary possessors. These large holdings.
were worked almost entirely by slave labor. The laws of the early kings
were first evaded, then ignored, and finally annulled. The land of the
conquered provinces, instead of being divided into small holdings and
parceled out among the Roman citizens, was thrown into a common pas-
ture and then appropriated by the rich patricians. Finally, by formal law,
the plebeians were excluded from using any part of the public pasturage
or state domains. It was claimed that by the nature of things it was a
heritage that belonged exclusively to the patricians. On the establish-
ment of the republic the same principle was insisted upon, and though
the senate allowed some exceptions in favor of the wealthy plebeians, the
small land-holders and day-laborers were prohibited from enjoying any
part of the public domain. The rule allotting the newly-acquired lands
to the poorer classes being abrogated, the land gradually fell into the
hands of large holders and was farmed on an extensive scale with slave-
labor. Those who had already acquired small holdings were gradually
dispossessed by the capitalists, who were thus afforded a lucrative field of
speculation. They frequently left to the farmer-whose person and
estate the law of debt placed in their hands-the nominal proprietorship
and actual possession. This course was probably the most common, as it
certainly was the most pernicious. Placed in this precarious position,
+
LABOR IN ANTIQUITY.
131
dependent at all times on the mercy of his creditor, all means of deliv-
erance foreclosed, distress and despair spreading with fearful rapidity, the
small farmers, day-laborers and middle classes had but little reason to
hope for delivery from the existing order of things.
Had the aristocracy possessed common sense and governed justly, it
might long have maintained itself in sole possession of the offices of the
state.
The
"But the short-sightedness of the ruling class rent the powerful
commonwealth asunder, in 'useless, aimless and inglorious strife.""
immediate crisis proceeded from the distress of the farmers. The strict
enforcement of the law of debt excited their indignation, and when, in
the year of Rome 259, a levy was called for an impending war, the men
bound to serve refused to obey the command. Publius Servilius then
suspended the application of the debtor laws, gave orders to liberate the
persons already imprisoned for debt, and prohibited further arrests.
These concessions induced the farmers to take their places in the ranks
and help secure the victory. On their return from the field of battle, it
was found that victory did not guarantee their rights. Appius Claudius,
the second consul, enforced the debtor laws with merciless rigor; his col-
league, to whom his former soldiers appealed for aid, dared not offer
opposition. The following year the farmers were again called upon to
go to war, and for the second time refused until their wrongs were
redressed. A dictator was appointed, and, inspired with awe for his
magisterial authority, the farmers submitted, and once more victory
perched upon the banners of the Romans. When the victors returned,
the dictator submitted his proposals of reform to the senate, but met
with a united and obstinate opposition. When the news of this fact
reached the army, which still stood in array before the city, the long
threatened storm burst forth. The army abandoned its general and
marched to the district of Cnestumeria, between the Tiber and the Arno,
where it occupied a hill and threatened to establish a new plebeian city.
This action showed to the most obstinate oppressors that any further
opposition would only end in economic ruin to themselves, and they at
last reluctantly consented to adopt the reforms proposed by the dictator,
among which was the tribunate of the plebeians.
In the meantime, the fatal effects of slavery had permeated every class
of society and every department of the government. In the early days of
the republic, as has been stated before, the patricians continually in-
creased their landed estates. By renting to tenants they acquired a
power over the poor free laborers; by lending them money they got a
claim on their bodies. Availing themselves of their legal rights, they
132
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
kept their ergastula or slave prisons continually filled with poor debt-
ors, and from this class, for the first three centuries, were supplied a
majority of the slave laborers. Foreseeing the disastrous results which.
would follow such a state of affairs, if allowed to continue, Spurius Cas-
sius, in the year of Rome 268, submitted to the burgesses a proposal to
have the public domain measured and lease a part of it for the benefit of
the public treasury, while a further portion was to be distributed among
the necessitous. He attempted to wrest the control of the public land
from the senate, and, with the support of the burgesses, to put an end
to a selfish system of occupation. He supposed that the equity of the
measure, supported by his personal popularity, would carry it. But he
was mistaken. The patricians and rich plebeians rose against him, as one
man, and Cassius lost his life. His law was buried with him. Its spectre,
however, haunted the rich, and again and again it arose from the tomb
to confront them, until, amidst the conflict to which it led, the common-
wealth perished. All efforts to reform the laws, in the interests of the
working classes, were thenceforth futile.
A few years after the death of Spurius Cassius, another brave man was
murdered for attempting to interfere with the oppressive laws of the
aristocracy. Marcus Manlius was, like Cassius, a patrician, and, like
him, distinguished in military renown. During the Gallic war he was
the savior of Rome. Seeing one of his brave officers led away to
prison for debt, he interceded for him and released him with his own
money. He had done the same for many others. He declared as long as
he owned a foot of land such iniquities should not occur. He sold the
best part of his landed property and used the proceeds in relieving the
poor, among which class he became very popular. He accused the patri- .
cians and senators of dividing among themselves the gold which had been
raised to pay the Gauls. For this he was tried on the charge of high
treason, condemned, consigned to the executioner and cast from the Tar-
peian rock. While these attempts at reformation were stifled at their in-
ception, the social disorders caused by the oppression of the poor by the
rich became more and more extensive; debt and impoverishment were
spreading among the small farmers with marvelous rapidity. They were
powerless as opposed to the aristocracy. The plebeian tribunes were de-
posed, and once more the entire government was in the hands of the
patricians, until the despotism and cruelty of Appius Claudius forced the
people into a second revolution. A second compromise was made, by
which the plebeian tribunes were restored to power. When the plebeian
aristocracy had regained possession of the tribunate for its own ends, no
LABOR IN A
serious notice was taken, either of the question of domains, or of reform
in the system of credit, although there was no lack of newly acquired
lands or decaying farmers. Some weak efforts were made to revive the
laws of Cassius, but these were unavailing, being opposed by both the
patricians and rich plebeians. After using the aristocratic plebeians to
assist them in crushing the working classes, the patricians turned
on their tools and endeavored to drive them from the government.
This crisis caused the rich plebeians to again seek the assistance of their
poor brethren, their natural allies, and a union was formed between them
against the patricians. Caius Licinius and Lucius Sextus submitted to
the commons proposals as follows: First, that in all debts on which interest
had been paid, the sum of the interest should be deducted from the prin-
cipal, and the remainder paid off in three successive years. Second, that
no citizen should hold more than 500 jugera (nearly 320 acres) of the
public land, nor should feed on the public pastures more than 100 head
of large cattle or 500 head of smaller, under penalty of a heavy fine.
Third, that henceforth consuls, not consular tribunes, should always be
elected, and that one of the two consuls must be a plebeian. Fourth, to
compel landlords to employ on their farms at least as many free laborers
as slaves.
These laws were intended to secure to the poorer people a share in the
common property of the state; to alleviate the condition of the suffering
debtors, and give employment to the destitute day-laborers. Abolition.
of special privileges, social reform, civil equality, were the three central
ideas of this movement. The patrician class, as usual, exerted all the
means at their command, in opposition to these measures. They suc-
ceeded in delaying, but could not prevent, their accomplishment. After
a long struggle of eleven years the senate gave its consent, and they passed
in the year of Rome 387.
1
Even at this early period of the world's civilization, the capitalists
were expert in the art of avoiding laws that were obnoxious to them.
They experienced but little difficulty, first in evading, then in ignoring
them. In a few years the same state of affairs existed as did prior
to the passage of the "Licinian law." Some temporary relief was ob-
tained by the political successes of the Romans and the gradual exten-
sion of their sovereignty over Italy. The numerous large colonies.
that it was found necessary to send forth in order to secure that sov-
ereignty supplied a portion of the agricultural classes with farms of
their own, while the efflux gave relief to such as remained at home.
In the latter part of the sixth century of Rome, Tiberius Gracchus
:
134
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
appeared as a reformer. He was triumphantly elected to the tribunate.
In eloquent speeches he prepared men for his projected legislation, and
in those efforts he compared the present state of Rome and Italy with
her old-time glory. He deplored the loss of her yeomen and farmers,
and the lack of Italians for the legions. He said: "The wild
beasts of Italy have their caves to retire to, but the brave men who
spill their blood in her cause have nothing left but air and light.
Without houses, without any settled habitation, they wander from
place to place with their wives and children, and their generals do
but mock them when at the head of their armies they exhort their
men to fight for their sepulcher and domestic gods, for among
such number perhaps there is not a Roman who has an altar
that belonged to his ancestors or a sepulcher in which their ashes
rest. The Roman soldiers fight and die to advance the wealth and lux-
ury of the great. They are called masters of the world, while they have
not a foot of ground in their possession." The arguments of Gracchus
all pointed toward some measure for restoring a class of small landed
proprietors that was fast dwindling away. In a short time his plan.
was matured. He proposed to revive that part of the Licinian law
which provided that no head of a family should hold more than three
hundred and twenty acres of the public land, but, to make the law more
acceptable to the large landholders, he added that two sons of the family
might hold half that quantity in addition, so that the whole amount of
public land in one family might not exceed six hundred and forty acres.
Whoever was in possession of more was to give up the excess, at once, to
the state, and was to be compensated for any improvements that had
been made on the land during possession. The public domain was
to be vested in three commissions, elected by the tribes. It was to be
parceled in lots of about twenty acres each among all the needy citi-
zens, not as freeholds, but as inalienable and heritable leaseholds. The"
holders were to bind themselves that the land should be used for agri-
cultural purposes only, and to pay a moderate rent to the state. It
was designed that this distribution should continue from time to time,
as occasion might require. The new features in this law, compared
with the Licinian, were the clauses in favor of hereditary possession,
inalienable tenure and the permanent executive, for the want, of the
latter the old law had been ineffective.
The greater part of the public domain having fallen into the hands of
the rich landholders, who had occupied them for generations for a small
yearly rent, they probably forgot that their possession might be
LABOR IN ANTIQUITY.
135
disturbed, and many may have imagined that they were the owners.
of the lands in fee. When the excitement and surprise that
attend the inauguration of all great political or social revolutions
were allayed, the voices of these landholders began to be heard, and
their influence to be felt against the proposed law. They asserted that
the rights of private property were being infringed; that while these
lands had only been held by them on lease, these leases had been matters.
of purchase and sale; that moneys had been secured on them for the
widows and orphans; that tombs had been created on them, and that if
this law passed no man's land could be called his own.
The eventful day came when Gracchus was to propose the law that
was to restore some share in the broad lands of Italy to the sons of those
who had won them. The forum was crowded. Strange faces were to
be seen everywhere-vinedressers from the hills, peasants from the val-
leys, and farmers from the plains. Gracchus arose. His speech was
received with tumultuous and prolonged applause by the eager and
expectant multitude. When he had ended, he turned to the clerk and
bade him read the law before it was put to vote. But his opponents,
the capitalists and rich landholders, had not been idle. They had
exerted all the power of their wealth, their great names, and their in-
fluence with Octavius, the associate of Gracchus in the tribunate. For a
time Octavius had been inexorable, but at length had given way to their
arguments and had promised to interfere. So, when Gracchus bade the
clerk read the law, Octavius stood up and interposed his veto. Thus
the people's champion was left powerless. He dismissed the assembly,
after announcing that he would again bring the bill forward the next
meeting-day.
In retaliation for the action of Octavius, Gracchus laid an interdict
on all public functionaries, shutting up the courts of justice and the
offices of the police, and put a seal on the public treasury. Further,
he struck the compensation clauses out of his bill and simply pro-
posed that the state should resume possession of all public lands, or all
lands held in contravention of the Licinian law.
On the day of the second assembly Gracchus appeared in the forum
with an armed force. Again he ordered the clerk to read the bill.
Again Octavius interposed his veto, and the assemblage was dis-
missed. But Gracchus still fought his battle, determined to win or die.
The assemblage met for the third time, when Gracchus made a motion
that the people should depose their unfaithful tribune, Octavius. The
question was put to vote. There were thirty-five tribes, each having
136
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
one vote. As their names were called each voted for the deposition of
Octavius. When the sixteenth name had been called and voted, Gracchus
stopped the proceeding temporarily, and besought Octavius not to persist
in his obstinacy, and not to compel the irrevocable vote. Octavius wav-
ered, but, catching the eye of his rich friends, he turned coldly from
Gracchus. The vote was then completed, and Octavius was deposed.
The bill itself was passed by acclamation.
In a few weeks Gracchus had reached the summit of power. The
king of Pergamus, dying at this time, by will left all his treasures to the
Roman people. Gracchus immediately gave notice that he would pro-
pose a bill to distribute this treasure among the people who had received
allotments of public land, to assist them in purchasing stock, erecting
farm buildings and the like. He added that he would bring the sub-
ject before the people without allowing the senate to act or interfere.
He
Gracchus had so excited the animosity of the rich landholders that
they publicly proclaimed they would impeach him when his year as
tribune had expired. When the day of election came the first tribe
gave its vote for Gracchus, and so also the next tribe.
It was
now announced by his opponents that the same man could not hold
the office for two consecutive years. There was indeed a law to that
effect, but it had been allowed to fall into desuetude. The assembly,
however, after a hot debate, adjourned till the next day. Anticipating
death, Gracchus came into the forum dressed in black, leading his
young son, and this precious charge he committed to his fellow
citizens. The adjourned assembly met next morning. The senate also
met in the Temple of Faith and resolved on the death of Gracchus.
was assassinated, with three hundred of his followers, and their bodies
thrown into the Tiber. With him perished all hope of any ameliora-
tion of the condition of the people of Rome, and henceforth the pop-
ulation comprised only the capitalist and the beggar, the oppressor and
the oppressed, the master and the slave. His brother, Caius Gracchus,
who was elected to the tribunate a few years later, attempted to enforce
some of the wise provisions of the agrarian law, added to some measures
for furnishing cheap food to the people. He also excited the contempt
and hatred of the aristocratic class, and the Roman senate set a price
on his head. To avoid assassination he was killed, at his own command,
by a faithful slave.
In the sixth century of Rome, the economic condition came into
view more distinctly than at any other period. The system of land
cultivation then established long afterward prevailed. Roman husband-
LABOR IN ANTIQUITY.
137
men applied themselves either to the farming of estates, to the occupa-
tion of the pasture lands, or to the tillage of small holdings. The
Roman estates were, considered as larger holdings, uniformly of limited
extent. The farm described by Cato had an area of about 150 acres.
Persons who invested more largely in farming estates did not increase
the size, but acquired a number of farms.
The grain cultivated consisted of spelt and wheat, some barley and
millet. Turnips, radishes, garlic and poppies were also grown, and, par-
ticularly as food for cattle, lupines, beans, peas, vetches and other
leguminous plants. The seed was sown ordinarily in the autumn, occas-
ionally in the spring. Much attention was paid to irrigation and drain-
age. Draining with covered ditches was in vogue at an early date.
The olive and vine were considered of equal, if not greater, importance
with grain. The former was planted among other crops, the latter
in special vineyards. Figs, apples, pears and other fruits were culti-
vated. The rearing of cattle, except as they were required for the plow,
was not an important item of husbandry. Vegetables formed the prin-
cipal food. But little meat was eaten, and that principally of swine
and lamb.
On the estates which composed the larger part of the agricultural
interests, human labor was regularly performed by slaves. At the head
of the force was the steward, who was also a slave. He received
and expended, bought and sold, under the instructions of the landlord,
and, in his master's absence, issued orders and administered punishment.
Under the steward was the stewardess, who took charge of the kitchen,
larder, the poultry and the dovecot, a number of plowmen and common
serfs, an ass driver, a swineherd, and, when sheep were kept, a shepherd.
It was estimated that an estate of 120 acres required two plowmen
and six serfs; if the estate had orchards, nine serfs. An estate of
144 acres, with olive plantations and sheep, required three plow-
men, five serfs and three shepherds. A vineyard naturally required
a larger expenditure of labor; an estate of sixty acres, with vines,
required one plowman and eleven ordinary serfs. The steward had more
freedom than other slaves. Mago advised that he should be permitted
to marry the stewardess, to rear children and to have funds of his own.
Cato also advised that he should be married to the stewardess. He alone
of all the slaves had some prospect, in the event of good behavior, of
obtaining his liberty; in other respects all formed a common household.
The slaves were, like the larger cattle, not bred on the estate, but pur-
chased in the slave market, and when, through age or other infirmity, they
138
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
had become incapable of working, they were again sent forth with other
refuse to the market.
The farm building was, at once, a stable for the cattle, a storehouse
for the produce, a dwelling for the slave. Every slave, even the
steward, had his rations delivered to him at regular times and in stated.
quantity, and upon these he had to subsist.
The husbandry of the petty farmer differed from that of the estate
holder chiefly in its being on a smaller scale. In this case, the owner
himself and his children worked with the slaves, or in their stead. The
number of cattle was reduced, and when the produce would not warrant
the expense of a plow, a hoe was used.
Stock-raising was practiced on a greater scale than agriculture. Es-
states of this kind were larger, the smallest mentioned being 480 acres ;
and this might be indefinitely extended, the climate permitting summer
pasturage in the mountains and winter pasturage on the plains to sup-
plement each other with advantage.
The prices of grain in the sixth century were very low, wheat averag-
ing only twenty-five to thirty cents of our present money per bushel.
This depression was caused by the government importing large quanti-
ties from countries cultivated entirely by slave labor. This of course
bencfited the capitalists of the time, at the expense of the small farmers,
whose holdings ceased to yield profitable returns. They were thereby
irretrievably ruined, and gradually lost the moral tone and frugal habits
of the early ages of the Republic.
In the first centuries of Rome the slaves were treated with comparative
kindness. They were regarded more as members of the family than as
chattels. They took their meals with their masters and participated in
the worship of the gods. Slaves used in agriculture were at first but
few in number, and seem to have played a comparatively unimportant
part in industry.
Plebeians, proletarians, clients and artisans, almost all of whom were
Roman citizens in the first centuries, formed the bulk of those who were
kept in the ergastula or slave prisons of the patricians from the fifth
century of Rome. Frequently, when a consul wanted soldiers, he would
order the patricians to open the prison doors and disgorge their victims.
Slaves were employed in all the walks of trade and finance. The
money-lenders and bankers employed them in their counting-houses
and banks. Those who had leased the customs from the government
employed slaves to levy and collect them. Those who took contracts for
building, bought architect slaves. Gladiatorial shows, theaters, gym-
LABOR IN ANTIQUITY.
139
nastic games and amusements of all kinds were conducted by slaves.
The work in mines and manufactures was performed entirely by slaves.
In fact, those who were rich in money or land were freemen, all others
were slaves.
The wars carried on by Rome with the Greek cities in Italy, and the
wars conducted beyond the borders of Italy, were the great nurseries of
slavery. In such wars free citizens were killed in vast numbers, and in
their stead prisoners of war were brought back to Rome as slaves. These
wars increased rural slavery. Slaves were imported as merchandise.
Regulus brought 20,000 Carthaginians, who were sold into slavery.
The final conquest of the Carthaginian empire and of Sicily poured
many thousands of slaves into Rome from Africa, from Sicily and
from Spain. Among those brought by Scipio were 2,000 artisans, whom
he promised to keep as slaves for the state.
At the beginning of the fifth century of Rome, some of the masters.
discovered that a larger profit could be realized from free than from
slave labor, and by making advantageous terms with their slaves for the
purchase of their freedom, began the work of manumission. This did
not conform with the ideas of the slave oligarchs, and immediately
a law was passed imposing a heavy tax on all manumitted slaves; and
this opportunity to free Rome from this great curse was lost.
Conquests in and out of Italy increased the wealth of the patricians
and capitalists. The habits of luxury and contempt for manual labor,
especially that of the farmer became general, and with this the demand
for slaves to work the estates increased. Rome became a mart for slaves,
as great as were Carthage, Corinth and Athens. When the Romans con-
quered Asia, the Syrians who belonged to the Caucasian race were
considered especially adapted for slavery, just as the negroes were at a
later date. A majority of the Roman slaves were of the Caucasian race.
The antagonism between free and slave labor grew fiercer with each
year. The struggle between the large slaveholders and the yeomanry
grew in intensity. The Romans now modeled their agriculture on the
Carthaginian slave system. The country rapidly filled with slaves, who
were treated with a reckless cruelty which was soon reflected in the
Roman laws. The large landholders continually enlarged their estates
by buying, or seizing under various pretexts, the small homesteads.
In the time of Publicola the small freeholders had been driven to de-
spair by debts and executions, but now they were ruined by slave labor.
The patricians and capitalists, who had formerly been mortgagees of
homesteads, now became large planters. Thus in Rome, throughout
140
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
Italy, and in the conquered provinces, the slave trade increased in vol-
ume. In irons, the slaves were kept in walled courts and prisons, and
it became proverbial that "a good master should show no mercy to the
slave." The poor freemen flocked to the city of Rome, increasing to a
fearful extent the Roman proletariat. For more than three centuries
the best men of Rome made efforts to arrest the destruction of small
freeholds by the large landholders and slaveholders. These efforts were
the cause of internal strife and civil wars.
The captives from conquered cities and districts were no longer
colonized as formerly, but were sold into slavery. In the time of Sylla,
Italy contained 13,000,000 slaves. Slave insurrections were frequent.
History has recorded some of them, and immortalized the name of the
heroic Spartacus. In the Mythridatic and other Asiatic wars Pompey
enslaved more than 2,000,000 men. According to a census taken by
him, Rome, at that time, contained only 2,200,000 freemen. In the age
of Cicero but 2,000 citizens of Rome owned landed property, and with
it they possessed legions of slaves. Cicero maintained that only slave-
holders should be respectable.
In the time of Julius Cæsar the farm-houses and farms of the
middle class had disappeared, and in their place were the villas of the
wealthy. Cæsar made an effort to revive agriculture and to encourage
that industry in Italy. IIe compelled the Italian graziers to take, at
least, a third of their herdsmen from free-born adults. He caused a
revision of the Italian titles to land, by a commission of twenty. The
agricultural land, belonging to the state domain, by virtue of the
Gracchian legislation, was to be distributed among the poor free citizens,
giving preference to old soldiers and the fathers of at least three child-
ren. After his victory over the Oligarchs and Pompey, he colonized
80,000 of the Proletarians of Rome. As usual, all his attempts, opposed
by the capitalists and patricians, in the end proved futile, and small free-
holds disappeared in Italy.
During the epoch when slavery flourished in the Roman Republic,
those terrible cruelties which history records, and which even now fill
the mind with horror, came into practice-slaves, chained in gangs,
worked in the fields, and at night were crowded together in prisons.
With hot irons a Greek letter was branded upon their cheeks, and
other unmentionable cruelties were practiced. In the time of Cato the
breeding of slaves became extensive; one slave women would frequently
nurse several babies while their mothers were otherwise employed.
Slaves were used for all purposes in the household of the rich Roman.
LABOR IN ANTIQUITY.
141
L
:
L
They performed the highest as well as the basest labor; they were doc-
tors, architects, literati, readers and amanuenses.
During the last days of the republic, and under Augustus Cæsar and
his successors, it was common for the free yeoman or colonist to sell himself
and his little property, in order to avoid being violently expelled from
his household, or shut up in the debtors' prison. The imperial tax
gatherer was wont to sell the children of the poor for taxes. Nowhere
were such masses of slaves accumulated as in the city palaces of the
patrician families and of the wealthy. Plutarch says, "in the camp of
Lucullus an ox sold for a drachma and a slave for four drachmas,'
which is about seventy-five cents. But when the principal nations of
Europe, Asia and Africa became united under one government and
universal peace ended the plunder of war, the slave became an object of
infinitely more value and his existence was made proportionately more.
comfortable, though his happiness still depended on the temper and cir-
cumstances of his master.
Augustus abolished the practice of branding on the cheek and ordered,
instead, that they should wear metallic collars. A law was passed that
a slave woman who had given birth to three children should be exempt
from hard labor for the rest of her life. And that one who had four
children should be manumitted. Claudius prohibited the starving to
death of old and disabled slaves, who had generally been exposed on an
island in the Tiber, upon which was a Temple of Esculapius. By the
Claudian edict such exposition was equivalent to emancipation.
Finally, the empire became terrified at the increased ravages of
slavery, and edicts were issued by several emperors-notably Adrian and
Antoninus-designed not only to stay its further spread but to
alleviate the condition of the slaves. These edicts encouraged manu-
missions, either absolute and immediate, or gradual, and conferred upon
the emancipated the same municipal rights as were enjoyed by enfran-
chised citizens.
The large estates continued to increase in size and the condition of landed
and slave property required new laws which were gradually introduced.
In the second century of the Christian era, we find the Roman law de-
fining slaves "as persons attached to the soil; " but their classification was
so complicated that it became difficult to construe them, and in the course
of time they were all merged under the general denomination of "serfs."
Serfdom now assumed various degrees of oppression and servitude.
While agriculture was the chief occupation of the Roman world,
in the early ages, artisans were by no means an unimportant class.
142
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
Among the institutions of Numa, we find nine guilds or societies of
craftsmen the fluteblowers, or musicians, the goldsmiths, the cop-
persmiths, the carpenters, the fullers, the dyers, the potters, the tanners,
and the shoemakers. The fact that these guilds had an existence is evi-
dence that all these handicrafts were not only conducted, but success-
fully and skillfully. There appear to have been no guild of iron-workers,
which confirms the supposition that the manufacture of iron was a com-
paratively late introduction. Implements of war and agriculture were
extensively manufactured of copper. Wool was spun, woven and made
into clothing by the women of the household. The art of forging and
welding the plowshare and sword went hand in hand, and that arrogant
contempt for handicraft did not then exist that was subsequently enter-
tained by the Roman citizen.
The institution of the guilds probably had the same objects as the
colleges of priests. The men of skill associated themselves together in
order to permanently and securely preserve the traditions of their art.
Monopoly does not seem to have been an object, nor protective steps
against inferior workmen.
There is no aspect of the life of the Roman people respecting which
our information is so scanty as that of the Roman trades. We know
that industrial art remained comparatively undeveloped up to the latter
part of the sixth century of Rome. Trades were no doubt indispensable,
and they were mainly concentrated in Rome. No effort was made by
the Roman people to adopt such industrial trades as existed in
Egpyt or Assyria. The importance of Roman cloth-making is evident,
and the profitable nature of the fullers' pits is attested by Cato. But
of trades and manufacturing generally there is not much to be said,
except that the Italian nation persevered in an inactivity as to manufac-
tures that bordered on barbarism.
From the time that slavery was permanently established, the prac-
tice of employing slaves in all trades, mechanical and artistic, became
universal. All public works were constructed by slave labor. In the
construction of the Marcian aqueduct the government concluded con-
tracts for building and materials simultaneously with three thousand
master workmen, each of whom performed the work contracted for
with his band of slaves. All free mechanics and artisans had to pay
special taxes, and trades and handicrafts were considered beneath the
dignity of free Roman citizens.
With these discouragements, it is not surprising that the mechanical
arts made little headway in Rome.
LABOR IN ANTIQUITY.
143
From the accession of Augustus to the division of the empire under
Theodosius, there was but little change in the actual condition of the
working classes. Occasionally, feeble efforts would be made to amelior-
ate their condition; but several centuries of domestic slavery had gradu-
ally undermined the early institutions, and slave-holding oligarchs had
destroyed a republic founded by intelligent and industrious agricultur-
ists, artisans and yeomen. By the end of the third century, many who
had been born serfs and slaves obtained their freedom.
During the reign of Diocletian disorders among the laboring classes.
were frequent. The fields were worked by "Coloni," who were peasants
bound to the soil on which they were born.
In times of famine, or pes-
tilence, or foreign invasion, or domestic trouble, large communities
would experience painful difficulties for which no remedy existed but in
the indulgence of a government often as needy as the neediest of its sub-
jects. The collection of the annual taxes was a constant struggle. Those
persons of each community who were made responsible for the sum re-
quired were often plunged from affluence into penury. It became a con-
stant effort of the decemvirs, curiales, or mayors of the cities, to escape
the duties thus imposed upon them. If they succeeded in maintaining
their own position it was only by grinding those beneath them.
In the story of the Roman slave is told the story of the Roman work-
man. In that proud commonwealth the arrogant Roman patrician and
ostentatious, rich plebeian united in opposition to the welfare and rights
of the working classes. Those of the latter who were not legal slaves
were sometimes in a worse condition. For eight centuries there were
practically but two classes in Rome-masters and slaves.
"The civil administration of the Roman empire may be summed up
in one word, fiscality." The measures of every administration were
aimed at replenishing the treasury, which was always bottomless, while its
owners were cold, rapacious, cruel and insatiable. All the colonization of
free laborers had for its single aim an increase in the income of the
state. Tributes and taxations of every conceivable kind were imposed
first upon the provinces and in the course of time upon Italy itself.
These, of course, were principally supplied by the laboring classes in the
cities and on the farms. The rapacity of the state was supplemented
by the individual greed of the magistrates, from the prefect down to
the meanest military or civil official. Locusts more destructive than
the Roman officials never devoured the fruits of toil or the accumu-
lations of industry.
PART III.
LABOR IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
CHAPTER I.-GENERAL SURVEY.
THE FALL OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE - THE RISE OF THE EASTERN EMPIRE -
ISLAMISM SARACENIC CIVILIZATION - FEUDALISM Two PICTURES CON-
TRASTED- CONDITION OF THE EARLY GERMAN TRIBES-THEIR CHARACTER,
PURSUITS, AND INDUSTRIES - MANUFACTURE OF ARMOR AND WAR IMPLE-
MENTS - ROME - CONSTANTINOPLE LABORERS AND ARTISANS UNDER CON-
STANTINE-PUBLIC WORKS ARCHITECTURE CONDITION OF THE LABORING
CLASSES GENERALLY UNDER CONSTANTINE-TAXES - BYZANTINE CIVILIZATION
MOHAMMED MOSLEM ARCHITECTURE MANUFACTURES AT TOLEDO, AT
DAMASCUS, AND IN GRANADA - DEVELOPMENT OF FRANCE AND GERMANY -
SLAVERY GIVES PLACE TO SERFDOM- CONTRAST BETWEEN CHRISTIANITY AND
ISLAMISM-TIE CRUSADES-LORD AND VASSAL-PETTY WARS- CHIVALRY.
“THE
M
HE middle ages," so called because intermediate between the old
and the new, a dead civilization and one now living, a sensual
life and a spiritual life, a pagan world and a Christian world. "The
dark ages," thus distinguished because of the intellectual blight that
settled upon European life, an ignorance and superstition that permeated
society, a prevailing stagnation in literature, science and art.
For more than one thousand years had Imperial Rome crowned her
seven hills. For the first five centuries had her armed cohorts, like a
decree of fate, carried victory and dominion to the four quarters of the
globe. For more than five hundred years had she been mistress of the
world. Roman politics, Roman mythology, Roman jurisprudence,
Roman philosophy and Roman arms dominated mankind. But the seeds
of death had been hand in hand with the germ of life. Death lurked in
the very causes of her progress. Power, not justice, had been her creed;
might, not right, her practice. The material and outward she had
144
LABOR IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
145
grasped; the spiritual and inward she had lost. Virtue had she banished,
vice had she welcomed. The evil hour came at last, and by the hand of
the despised barbarian, Rome was humbled in the dust.
The eye of hope was turned to the rising sun. In the east, on the
banks of the storied Bosphorus, was the theater of a new power, a new
empire. There clung the vestiges of the old civilization; there centered
the hopes of the old world. Byzantium arose like a vision, stately,
splendid and unique. Her domes, her towers, and her minarets, flashed
in the rays of an ardent sun. The broad bosom of the river reflected
her battlements, her palaces and her gardens; like an oriental dream, she
filled the eye of the artist and touched the heart of the poet. An archi-
tectural composite of marble, silver and gold, was Byzantium. Here was
fought the battle between pagan philosophy and the principles of Chris-
tianity, between pagan morality and Christian ethics; mythology and phil-
osophy were vanquished, theism and Christianity were victorious. For-
ever hushed was the voice of the oracle; moss gathered upon the altars,
grass grew within the fanes of the gods, the sacred statues were in the
dust, the temples were in ruins. "That peace which passeth under-
standing" was preached to mankind and the Cross was triumphant
among the nations.
A cry was heard in Western Asia, "Allah is great and Mohammed is
his Prophet!" It resounded throughout Arabia and Syria, firing the
hearts of men. Once more was Asiatic civilization to battle with
European; once again, like a dying world in the midnight sky, was the
Asiatic star to flash athwart the centuries, and then fade in a deeper
darkness. Onward rolled the Moslem tide, the crescent in the van,
until its waves surged at the base of the Pyrenees and dashed against the
gates of Vienna. Like a resistless sea, Islamism threatened to engulf
the Christian world. Such was not to be the decree of fate. In the
east, back were hurled the fanatical hosts of the crescent; in the west,
after a struggle of seven centuries, the intrepid Moors were driven from
Spain. The one beautiful blossom of the Moslem tree was the Saracenic
civilization; this diadem of glory was studded with jewels like Cairo,
Cordova, Toledo and Seville. The universities were many, and schools
were on every hand. Science and philosophy flourished, and the fine arts
and belles-lettres were cultivated; time passed and this exquisite flower
withered and died. Departed was the splendor of the caliphs; gone
was the cavalier of Granada, save in song and story.
Chaos succeeded the dismemberment of the Roman empire; races
existed, nations there were none. Society in Europe was one vast mili-
10
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tary camp. The land belonged to and was monopolized by an armed.
and lawless aristocracy. The masses were propertyless and attached to
the soil as serfs. Their condition was wretched. Christianity was at
work, however, and a ray of light pierced the darkness. Chivalry devel-
oped and brought with it a better life, a more lofty ideal. It became a
substitute for justice in the state, and for humane principles in society.
Look at one side of the picture and then at the other. Here were the
stately cathedral, frowning castle, waving pennon, graceful plume,
glancing armor and the barbed steed. There was the toiling serf, with
his roof of straw, coat of leather and the metal collar that was the badge
of his degradation. Onward marched the Cross. Silently but surely
wrought the spirit of Christianity. Fraternity and justice prevailed and
serfdom was obliterated. Learning revived, liberty dawned, and the
grand march of progress began that continues today.
No period in the history of the world is more interesting to the
student of civilization than that era commonly distinguished by the
phrase “the dark ages." Never has human society presented more varied
and picturesque features. The gradual decline of the old civilization
was rapidly followed by that state of affairs which preceded the develop-
ment of the new.
From the Mediterranean to the German sea, and from Constantinople
to the Pillars of Hercules all Europe resounded constantly with the clash
of arms and the cries of warring hosts. Europe was divided into two
classes soldiers and slaves. The history of the period is but a calendar
of wars, prosecuted with merciless ferocity. The sites and architecture
of the cities, the manufactures and inventions, the literature and the
lives and customs of the people of the middle ages,- all were regulated by,
and subject to, the grim necessities of war. That workman was most
valued who could most cunningly knit the impenetrable, yet light and
flexible, chain armor, or with lusty strokes forge sturdy sword-blades fit
to meet the rude shock of battle. Yet through this dark web of fierce.
contention were woven the delicate strands of the spirit of chivalry and
profound faith in the deep-seated truths of Christianity.
A survey of the condition of the laborer in the middle ages must, for
the earlier portion of that era, be confined to an examination into the
condition and status of the laborer under the Roman empire. To seek
for records of industry among those fierce Germanic tribes, whose re-
morseless march down the Italian peninsula swept the Western empire
from the face of the earth, would be idle indeed. They were a nation
of warriors, and to no end save war did they turn their hands. For
LABOR IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
147
them no architect designed great temples, warehouses or palaces; the
ring of the mason's trowel or the stonecutter's hammer was not to be
heard in all Germany. Living on horseback, wandering from spot to
spot, dragging their huts behind them, what need had the barbarians for
architecture. Roughly dressed in the skins of animals, coveting costly
apparel neither for themselves nor for their women, they were ignorant
in the art of weaving, and save in their raids into more civilized countries
probably never saw woven cloth. They scorned the defensive metal ar-
mor of the Romans, and protected themselves behind small shields of
untanned hide, so that with them the trade of armorer, so honored
among other peoples, was unknown. Their captives they kept as slaves,
but employed them in their rude agriculture, or as camp servants rather
than artisans.
In all the vast territory roamed over by the Germanic tribes, the
ancient geographer Ptolemy could discover but ninety places which he
called cities, and these, even, were probably only rude stockades built
for the protection of the women and children while the warriors were at
battle. Neither stone nor brick was used in their dwellings. Gold and
silver were almost unknown, and iron was so scarce that its use was
confined to implements of war. The one peaceful vocation, the one
industry that existed among these warlike people, was the herding of
their immense numbers of cattle, and this was left to the women and
slaves.
It is, then, to the peoples of Southern Europe that we must turn to
find evidences of the station held by the wage-worker in the social
organization of the state. At the beginning of the fourth century we
find the seat of government of the Roman empire moved from the historic
city on the seven hills to the new city founded by the Emperor Constan-
tine, called Constantinople. In the early days of the city, the lot of the
artisan and the manual laborer of the Byzantine capital was prosper-
ous in the extreme. Desirous of expediting the growth of his city until
it should outstrip Rome herself, Constantine promised to all laborers,
artisans, merchants, and other citizens who should come to the growing
city, many immunities and privileges. His frequent gifts of corn and
bread, wine or oil, money or clothing, were so munificent as to almost
absolve the poorest mechanic from the necessity for labor. The first
effect of this liberality was to bring to Constantinople and the region
round about Byzantium great colonies of settlers from Rome and the
adjacent Italian states. The city of Constantinople soon rivaled Rome
in the grandeur of its architecture.
Ponderous walls circled the city
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about, and massive docks bordered the smooth waters of the Bosphorus.
For the emperor himself was built a spacious palace and seraglio of
white marble, brought from the famous quarries of Proconnessus.
When the work of building the city was delayed by the lack of archi-
tects, Constantine instituted schools of architecture, and proclaimed
rewards for ambitious students in the most distant provinces. As a
patron of letters and of public amusements the emperor was liberal
to the verge of lavishness, and in a space of time incredibly short he
had built a city magnificent alike in architectural features and in the
refinement and intelligence of its citizens.
But, with all the outward magnificence and luxury of the capital of
the Eastern empire, in time there were developed beneath the surface
the same general conditions of inequality and oppression of the laboring
classes that were to be found in every nation of that time. The artisan
and laborer of every degree was not only the subject of the emperor,
but was forced to bear the insolence and oppression of a horde
of nobles, soldiers and patricians of every degree. A distinct tax
was levied upon moneys earned in trade or by any kind of
manual labor. The diligent mechanic toiling hard at his forge or
bench was forced to yield the officers of the revenue a portion of his
gain. It was difficult for the most skillful and industrious artisan
to eke out a bare subsistence, and the payment of these taxes became a
hardship by no means set off by the occasional gifts of the emperor.
Roman historian relates that the approach of the fatal period for the col-
lection of the taxes was announced by the tears and terrors of the citi-
zens, who were often compelled, by the impending hardships, to embrace
the most abhorred and unnatural methods of procuring the sum at
which their property had been assessed. Should the unhappy artisan
be unable to raise the prescribed sum, he was at least more fortunate
than the citizen of Carthage or Tyre, under a similar circumstance;
for, though promptly cast into jail, he was spared the pains of the rack,
the scourge or the wheel, and merely confined in a dungeon until the
clemency of his sovereign permitted his release.
When Byzantine civilization was at its height, and the city of Con-
stantinople had become the center of the power of Rome, there arose in
Arabia a mighty prophet, one Mohammed, whose religion was implicit
faith in the prophet and death or slavery to all unbelievers. To his
standard flocked all the wandering tribes of Islam, and under his leader-
ship arose a mighty people who carved out for themselves a civilization
and an empire. They spread along the northern coast of Africa and
LABOR IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
149
overran Spain. They swarmed to the eastward, and, subjugating Syria,
were soon knocking at the doors of the imperial city of Constantinople.
Defeated enemies were put to death or sold into perpetual slavery. Cap.
tured cities were colonized by the followers of the Prophet and the in-
dividuality of the subjugated race was lost in that of their conquerors.
Literature they knew not. The great Alexandrian library was destroyed
by the victorious Moslems because "if the books agreed with the writings
of the Prophet they were superfluous; if they contradicted those sacred
writings, they were pernicious." This spirit of fierce intolerance per-
vaded all Islam. In the fine arts they made little material progress,
save in architecture. The distinctive feature of their architecture
is the horse-shoe arch, supported on slender pillars. In the
decoration of their buildings the Moors showed all the luxuriance
of coloring usual among people residing in tropical and semi-
tropical regions. The mosque erected at Cordova, and still stand-
ing, is a wonderland of delicate tracery and inlaying, and rich coloring
obtained by the use of jasper, porphyry, verd antique and striped
marbles. But the most famous example of Moorish architecture is the
world-renowned Alhambra at Granada. This far-famed structure was
built about the year 1273, and was intended as a palace and fortification
combined. Volumes have been written in description of the exquisite
elaboration of ornament lavished upon this structure. It consists of a
boundary wall, with a multitude of interior courts and masses of build-
ings, but the external appearance by no means gives a foretaste of the
beauties within. In this it is like the exterior of most Moorish
buildings, grim and forbidding, the purpose of which appears to be to keep
out heat and enemies, foreign and domestic, and to keep in women.
Within these uninviting walls all was beauty. Halls, galleries, por
ticoes, columns, arches, fountains, mosaic decorations, all combined in a
wondrous vision. Flowing water cooled the air and lulled the inmates
with its gentle ripple. On the walls was lavished a wealth of mosaic
decoration richer than shawls of Cashmere, wrought in porcelain and
delicate plaster, and painted with variegated tints. Above hung a roof
of Phoenician-like carpentry, gilded and starred like the vaulted heavens,
while the doors and windows opened upon vistas of myrtles, roses,
oranges and pomegranates, in which fruit mingled with flower and
color vied with fragrance.
In the variety and excellence of their manufactures, the workmen of
the three caliphates of Islam were second to no nation—the fame of
their skill and cunning has come down to the present day. The swords
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of Toledo and Damascus have never been successfully imitated by the
most skillful workman of modern times. Each of these blades acquired
great fame for its excellence, the keenness of edge and perfection of elas-
ticity having been carried to the highest point. We read of Orientals
wearing their swords around their waists, or even curled up in their tur-
bans, so great was their elasticity; and swords have been made so keen
as to cut a silk shawl in two while resting lightly on the edge. From
Granada came saddles of durable material and rich trappings of silver
and ivory. The fabrics from the looms of Damascus were famous for
their fineness of fiber and richness of coloring. But beneath all this
outward show of civilization and luxurious refinement there was still
the dark stain of oppression of the workers, while aristocracy and soldiery
filled the highest stations in the government. In all military societies,
and throughout all military ages, the lot of the laborer is little better
than that of a slave, and the condition of labor under the caliphs was
no exception to the rule.
The rapid growth and wide dissemination of the followers of the
Prophet stimulated the believers in Christianity to great activity, both
religious and military. The sight of the proud banner of the Crescent
gaining a foothold in Spain and encroaching steadily upon Constantino-
ple, the stronghold of Christianity, filled the followers of the Cross with.
a holy determination to beat back the Moslems to their original territory
south of the Mediterranean sea. The contrast between the civilization
of the two powers was very marked, and added still more fuel to the
impending strife. Under the influence of Christianity, France and Ger-
many had advanced materially in civilization. Rome, rising from her
ruins, became the central point of the Christian religion. Chattel
slavery was disappearing, but was being replaced as steadily by a system
of serfdom hardly less degrading to its victims. Arts, literature and
science were encouraged, and adventurous voyagers were seeking new
countries in all parts of the world, that they might plant therein the
standard of the Cross. With the Moslems, on the contrary, all progress
closed. Where the Christians sent out missionaries to bring foreign
peoples by gentle means into the body of the Christian church, the Mos-
lems sent out armies, and, troubling themselves little with the souls of
their defeated enemies, reduced all captives to slavery, and repcopled
the subjugated provinces with colonies of the faithful. Many of these
marauding expeditions were made into countries under the sway of the
Cross, and Christian monarchs and knights clashed their mailed hands,
vowing everlasting enmity to the followers of Mohammed, when they
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151
heard of hundreds of Christian maidens sold into degrading slavery in
Turkish seraglios, and Christian men set to tilling the fields of the Mos-
lems.
At the time when this hostility between the Cross and Crescent was fast
ripening into the deadly enmity which was to have its consummation in
the crusades, Europe and Western Asia displayed most picturesque
social phases and customs. In Asia Minor, Algiers and Spain were the
Moors with their barbaric luxury, their mosques, palaces and seraglios,
maintaining a military despotism over hundreds of conquered provinces,
and training their young men to deeds of the most desperate valor, by
teaching that he who died in battle went straightway to the bosom of Mo-
hammed. Yet with all their barbaric fierceness, they manifested the most
unremitting devotion to the ceremonies of their religion. From the
towering minarets of their gorgeous mosques the voice of the cryer
could be heard, daily, calling all devout Mussulmans to prayer; and as
often as that voice was heard the Turk, be he in his home, in the street,
or in his bazaar, spread his prayer-rug, and, turning his face towards
Mecca, gave himself up to adoration of the Prophet.
Throughout the countries of Europe the church of Rome held sway.
In France and Germany the lordly seigneur, reigning with absolute
power over his thousands of tenants, maintained his priest and did pen-
ance for his sins. Hardly less fierce than Turks were these powerful
lords. Ever at war with each other, they kept their vassals always
trained to arms. When the lord of the manor had a quarrel to decide
with some neighbor, all the vassels were called from their workshops or
fields to enlist under his banner and march against the castle of the
enemy. Their quarrels were fought out to the bitter end, and no bar-
barian warring against a savage tribe showed less mercy than these fol-
lowers of the Cross. The castle of the vanquished one was razed to the
ground; his vassals became the serfs of the victor, and his women were
given to the victorious soldiers.
Yet this very state of constant warfare generated in the breasts of the
warriors of that time a sentiment so exalted as to seem almost bombas-
tic and ridiculous to people of this materialistic day. Invincible courage
and the keenest sense of honor were implanted in the heart of every
lordly knight. Their battles were prefaced by a courteous greeting
between the antagonists, and the opening attack was announced by a
flourish of trumpets, that there might be no unfair advantage gained by
a surprise. Toward the women of the higher classes was manifested a
consideration and respect amounting to reverence. The lower classes
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were still regarded as mere animals, and their women as the property of
the feudal lord.
While the minds of all men, Christian or Moslem, seemed thus given
over to thoughts of war and bloodshed, there arose in Europe a move-
ment that, rapidly gaining in influence, made of the fierce and turbu-
lent lords an order of courageous, courtly gentlemen, ever ready to suc-
cor the oppressed and to yield up their lives in the defense of woman's
honor. The growth of the spirit of chivalry was due, undoubtedly, to
the feudal system, and it could have existed under no other social state.
From the day of his birth a young noblemen was devoted to knight
errantry. His early education was such as to make him a fearless horse-
man, a brave soldier, a skillful combatant with sword and lance, and a
knight devoid of all fear. Nor were the qualities of the young soldier's
mind and heart neglected: he was taught to be undeviatingly truthful,
with a high-bred scorn for every kind of deception; chastity was
enjoined upon him, for it was his part, throughout life, to
respect woman and to protect her in an age of brute force. This
respect and honor for women was the strongest manifestation of
chivalry. The stripling preparing himself for knighthood was
taught that it would be his part, throughout life, to join a mighty band
of loyal gentlemen, united to protect the weak, devoting their swords to
the work. When the boy reached the age of twelve, if an Englishman.
or Frenchman, he went before the bishop of his diocese and there regis-
tered a solemn oath "to defend, to the uttermost, the oppressed, the
widows and orphans, that women, both married and single, should be
his special care, and that nothing should be wanting in him to render
traveling safe and to destroy the evils of tyranny." His apprenticeship
to knighthood was served as a page in the service of some noble knight
or lady. A knight who was noble, renowned, wealthy, was sure to have
his castle full of the flower of the youth belonging to the families of his
acquaintance; nor could he refuse to take charge of them. At the age
of fourteen, or thereabout, the page was advanced a step and became a
squire; this was marked by his receiving his sword and belt at the altar,
to which he was led by his parent. All the customs of chivalry were closely
interwoven with the forms of religious exercises, common at that day.
When the young squire, led by his parents and followed by a train of
kinsfolk and sponsor knights, stepped to the chancel of the Gothic
church, the priest took the sword from the altar, where it had lain for
consecration, and while the choristers chanted, low solemn strains of
music, buckled the belt about the lad's waist, with prayer and exhorta-
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153
tions. The musicians then broke into gleeful strains and the lordly
train filed out of the church and proceeded to the castle, where feasts
and rejoicings were held, lasting often for several days. And now began
the most severe part of the training for knighthood; the weights he car-
ried were made heavier. He was made to run great distances, to endure
fatigue of all kinds, to leap on a horse at full speed without the use of
the stirrups; his games were chess and mock battles and attacks on mini-
ature fortresses; he was attached to the person of some knight and fol-
lowed him to and fro about the country, serving him and fighting
behind him in battle. Nor was his training military alone; he was
instructed in the art of playing upon stringed instruments and of making
amorous verses; he listened to the songs of minstrels and strove to emu-
late them; all the arts of gallantry were supposed to be familiar to him.
As the time for receiving the order of knighthood approached the exer-
cises of the squire took on a more deeply religious character: he prayed,
confessed and fasted; he had sponsors and was considered as a new man.
From a bath, typical of purity, he passed to a bed, emblem of his future
heavenly rest. After he had slept naked, he was clothed in a white.
tunic, red robe and close fitting black coat, the symbols, respectively, of
purity, of the blood he was bound to shed for religion, and of the death
that awaits all. After a fast of twenty-four hours he went to a church,
in which hung his new suit of armor, and there spent the night alone,
kneeling before the suspended arms and beseeching heavenly guidance
in all his knightly deeds. So great was the nervous strain caused by
the long fast and the severe regimen and excitement of the few days
preceding, that few knights passed through their midnight vigil without
seeing strange visions, to them fraught with the deepest import. The
next morning the candidate responded to a series of formal questions
and was finally dubbed a knight.
During the latter part of the middle ages there were in Europe thou-
sands of men who had passed through this course of training, and who
wandered up and down the country in search of knightly adventures.
Should war arise they flocked about the standard of the feudal lord or
sovereign to whom they owed vassalage, and followed him to battle. At
other times they rode in the highways and lanes of the kingdom in search
of wrongs that they might right, dragons to slay, or beautiful virgins
whose cause they might espouse and force all other knights to do them
reverence. So strongly was the love of combat implanted in the knightly
breast that two mail-clad giants, mounted on heavy steeds, would fight
to the death to decide whose mistress was the more beautiful. Meeting
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courteously on the public highway, they would pass a few words of greet-
ing and exchange their names and titles; then would come a careless word
from one boasting of the peerless beauty of his dulcinea; quick flashes.
back a flat denial from the other and a demand that the most noble
knight prove his boast by force of arms. They separate a few furlongs,
then with poised lance come thundering toward each other, meeting at
last in deadly shocks. So perfect was their horsemanship that few were
dismounted at the first charge. Often four or five lances were shivered
against the coats of mail without unhorsing either combatant. But at
last one falls to the ground, and, the other dismounting, the two lock in a
deadly struggle. One is overpowered and lies on the ground gasping for
breath. The victor bending over him forces a reluctant admission that
the mistress of the victorious knight is truly the most beautiful lady in
the world, and extorts from the vanquished a promise to go at once to
the lady and do her homage in the name of his conqueror. Such was
the termination of the duel when neither knight lost his life, but often
one or both fell to the ground never to rise again.
.
In those days when forms of law were rude and easily evaded, when
courts were prejudiced and subject to influence from all quarters, every
man's prowess in battle might be made the test of innocence of crime.
When a knight was accused of treason, dishonor or heresy, the question
was rarely left to legal decision. Summoned before the king and his
court, the accusation was read out in the presence of all the knights.
The accused one, springing to the vacant space before the throne, would
throw his mailed gauntlet with a crash upon the marble floor, and chal-
lenge his accuser to trial by battle. If the accuser were a knight, no
course was left him save to seize the gauntlet and accept the challenge.
If a woman or non-combatant, the fact was so stated by the heralds, and
usually some knight, eager to win renown by successful combat, picked
up the gauntlet in the accuser's behalf. Should a woman be accused of
crime, she too could claim the trial by battle, and heralds were sent out
to all parts of the kingdom proclaiming the charge and inviting knights
to enter the lists in her behalf. And seldom it was that one or more
champions did not appear to do battle for her cause.
But all these causes of knightly duels did not give the champions
enough opportunities to show their powers, and there arose the custom
of tournaments, which began as mock combats but ere long were fought
with bloody earnestness. The tournaments were held at the court of
some powerful king or lord, and to them gathered the knights and ladies
of all the country round about. A spacious field was laid out as the
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155
scene of battle, and around it were erected seats for the king, the ladies
and the other spectators. The arrival of the king was the signal for the
ceremonies to begin, and they were opened by a venerable chamberlain,
who advanced to the king's box, and, breaking his wand, gave notice
that the lists were opened. Generally the competing knights were
arrayed under two banners, and from each of the hostile camps there
rode into the field a herald followed by a train of trumpeters. After a
flourish of trumpets, each herald made proclamation of the names of the
good knights gathered under his banner and shouted a challenge to the
opposing side. Then the knights rode into the field, and, forming two
opposing lines, charged hotly at each other. As fast as a knight was
unhorsed he sought out an opponent, and with sword and dagger the
two finished their duel. Should a knight shatter his lance, he galloped
to the side where stood his squire ready to provide him with a fresh one.
The combat raged fiercely amid bursts of applause from the spectators.
Knights of known gallantry were cheered on by name, and those who
showed especial bravery in the combat were loudly applauded. All
fought to gain the approbation of their ladies, who watched the varying
combat from their box. The battle often raged for hours and was
stopped only by the king throwing down his royal sceptre in token of
satisfaction or weariness. Then the victorious knights were decorated
with laurel wreaths, which they straightway hung on the tips of their
lances and handed to their fair admirers in the boxes. When night fell
a grand feast was held in the baronial hall, and those who had acquitted
themselves so well in the battle were not behind in their devotion to the
wassail bowl. The tourneys and the feasts often continued for several
days.
Ridiculous as all this seems to the people of the present day, it did
much toward lightening the grim reality of life in the dark ages. By
wanderings about the country the knights doubtless protected to a great
extent the pople under the sway of vicious and cruel masters. The spirit
of honor and probity awakened by the sight of so many noble gentlemen
devoting themselves to the service of the right in all cases must have been
one of the great factors that brought the world into the light of modern
civilization. With the change in the thought and manners, with the
abandonment of the ideal for the material, knighthood passed away,
lingering longest in Spain, only to be finally banished by Cervantes, who
in his romance of Don Quixote "lightly laughed Spain's chivalry away.”
The most picturesque phase of the middle ages was the Crusades, as
they were called. These wonderful convulsions have furnished an ex-
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haustless theme to the historian, the poet and the novelist. Scott
has given to the world his charming pictures of this great time,
wherein the people of a whole continent were impelled as one man.
Where is the school boy or girl who has not been entranced by the for-
tunes of Count Robert of Paris, or who has not thrilled at the successes
of Ivanhoe and wept over the fate of Rebecca. The romantic figure of
Coeur de Leon, the knightly king, looms upon the vision, and the eye is
filled with the brilliant career of Godfrey of Bouillon, the heroic king of
Jerusalem. In his "Talisman," with what wondrous power has the
immortal Scott, personified the opposing forces of Islam and Christen-
dom. Never before in the history of man was the whole Christian world
agitated by one thought, and impelled to such deeds of valor, heroism
and self-denial. Like the on-rolling waves of a boundless sea, did the
armies of the Crusaders sweep over the highlands and lowlands of Europe
Saladin found his empire threatened by an innumerable host of fanatical
and determined men. Peasant and noble, knight and man-at-arms,
king and subject, priest and monk, pope and bishop, all alike, aroused
to the sublimest heights of enthusiam and resolved to recover the Holy
Sepulcher from the profane hand of the pagan. What a superb specta-
cle must have been an army of Crusaders, in battle array, with rank upon
rank of serried spears, burnished steel, prancing steeds, mailed and
crested knights, and countless pennons fluttering in the breeze. The
Saracens were found foes worthy of their steel, with their clouds of
horsemen armed with myriad Damascus blades. The Saracen Emir,
with his fleet Arabian steed and flashing scimitar was found by the
mailed knight of Christendom not to be an unworthy or unequal foe.
But it is not the outer aspects of the Crusades with which we are con-
cerned. It is with their effect upon the Christian world; their influence
for weal or woe upon the destinies of mankind. "The first char-
acter of the Crusades," says Guizot, "is their universality; all Europe
concurred in them; they were the first European event. Before the
Crusades, Europe had never been moved by the same sentiment, or acted
in a common cause; till then, in fact, Europe did not exist. The Cru-
sades made manifest, the existence of Christian Europe. The French
formed the main body of the first army of Crusaders; but there were
also Germans, Italians, Spaniards, and English. But look at the second
and third crusades, and we find all the nations of Christendom engaged
in them. The world had never before witnessed a similar combination.
But this is not all. In the same manner as the Crusades were a Euro-
pean event, so, in each separate nation, they were a national event. In
4
LABOR IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
157
h
every nation, all classes of society were animated with the same impres-
sion, yielded to the same idea, and abandoned themselves to the same im-
pulse. Kings, nobles, priests, citizens, country-people, all took the
same interest and the same share in the Crusades. The moral unity of
nations was thus made manifest; a fact as new as the unity of Europe.
-X- * * The Crusades were the heroic event of modern Europe-a
movement at the same time, individual and general, national, and yet
not under political direction."
The political effect of the Crusades cannot be overestimated. The
rigid lines of feudalism were broken, and former social and political
distinctions weakened or obliterated. All classes of men, to a certain
extent, stood on a common plane of sentiment and purpose; as Cru-
saders marched side by side, priest and monk, nobility and commons.
The peasantry, although in general bound to the soil, were permitted
without check to march by thousands for recovery of the Holy Sepul-
cher.
During the middle ages, that is, from the middle of the fifth cent-
ury A. D., until the middle of the fifteenth A. D., the domestic or home
architecture of even the nobility was rude and uncomfortable. The
castles were gloomy structures, yet picturesque, with their donjon keep,
clustering towers and frowning battlements. Imposing and threaten-
ing without, they were naked of adornment and crude in finish within.
The cold stone floors were without other covering than reeds or rushes.
The walls and ceilings were of unpolished stone, sometimes whitened
with mortar, and occasionally hung with tapestry.
The dwellings of the peasantry, serfs and villeins, were squalid hovels
of clay, turf, bark or logs. Their beds were piles of straw or leaves,
and their food was of the coarsest character. The clothing of the serfs
was of leather or skin, and sometimes about their necks were metal col-
lars, upon which was graven the name of their lord. Many of these
unfortunate people lost their liberty and lands by voluntarily surrendering
themselves to the clergy as serfs. Famines were frequent in some parts
of Europe, from the ninth to the eleventh centuries. At such times,
driven thereto by the exigencies of their condition, freemen of the lower
and middle classes would sell their birthright for the proverbial mess of
pottage, and became the bondmen of their more fortunate fellows.
The basis of mediævel society was feudalism. It was a social system.
in which there was a hierachy of lands in the hands of warriors. Society
was divided into two great classes, suzerains and serfs. As has been
forcibly said: "Feudalism recognizes two principles, the land and the
1
158
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
sword, riches and force-two principles on which everything depends,
to which everything is related, and which are united and identified
with one another; since it is necssary to possess land in order to have
the right to use the sword in one's own name; and since the posses-
sion of land imposes the duty of drawing the sword for the suzerain,
and in the name of the suzerain in whom the land is held."
The suzerain was the lord to whom allegiance was due, and to whom,
in theory, all the lands of the realm belonged. The vassal was he who
held the lands of his suzerain, and in consideration therefor, gave his
allegiance to the lord, and held himself in readiness to bear arms in his
interest.
Below the body of vassals, was the mass of the people. The vast
majority of the people, whether tillers of the soil, artisans, laborers or
servants, were serfs, and attached to the soil. They were not chattel
slaves and could not be bought or sold. Throughout Europe, in fact,
chattel slaves had given place to serfdom. One grade above the serf, was
the villein. "They paid rent for the land, which the proprietor allowed
them to till; but they were subject, like the serfs, to the will of the
suzerain, and the constant tendency was for them to sink into the inferior
condition.".
In time, various forces combined in the overthrow of feudalism.
The most important of these was the development of centralized mon-
archy, and the extraordinary growth of manufactures and commerce.
Jealous of their powerful vassals, monarchs sought every opportunity to
undermine their power and lessen their influence. With the develop-
ment of the industrial era and the advance of commerce to colossal
portions, land lost its importance as an element of wealth and a political
factor. Laws were reformed so that lands might be sold absolutely, like
any other commodity, and from time to time, serfs and villeins were
emancipated until we have the society of Europe as it is today.
pro-
The cities of the middle ages enjoyed considerable freedom, and re-
ceived from their monarchs many privileges not accessible to the inhabi-
tants of the rural districts. Within their walls arose large numbers of
skilled artisans, mechanics and operatives, who became influential in
municipal affairs. From these horny handed and sturdy men came the
burgher class of Europe. The members of the various crafts, or trades,
formed themselves into leagues or associations. These brotherhoods,
or guilds, existed in Germany as early as the fifth century. Under the
Merovingian kings of France the locksmiths and goldsmiths were made
a corporation. In Lombardy, at an early date, colleges of artisans were
LABOR IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
159
established. In Ravenna, A. D. 943, was a college of fishermen. In
France the first general administration in the interest of trade or artisan
guilds originated during the reign of Louis IX. Many favors and privi-
leges were conferred upon these guilds by Philip Augustus, of France.
The craft guilds of Europe attained their highest development in the
fourteenth century. These associations could not exist without a license,
either from the king, the lord, the abbot, the bailiff, or the mayor of the
district or city. Admission to these craft guilds was regulated with a
view to preventing such an increase in numbers as to lessen the price of
wages. The sons of the masters of these guilds were members of the
same by inheritance. Apprentices were called "aspirants," and prior to
their admission were compelled to undergo an examination. These
guilds regulated the hours of labor, the quality of material, size of arti-
cles to be manufactured, and even the selling price of articles. Trade-
marks were in use by the guilds to insure good work and pride in work-
manship. The guilds declined and eventually disappeared by reason
of internal strife and dissension. In France, the last disappeared in 1789
at the beginning of the revolution.
The guild system of medieval Europe has been ably summarized as
follows: "First, there were the peace guilds, for mutual protection.
against thieves, etc., and for mutual aid in sickness, old age, or impov-
erishment from other causes. They were numerous in England, and
spread over the continent. Secondly there were the trade guilds, which
embraced the guild merchant and the craft guilds. The latter were
associations of workmen for maintaining the customs of their
craft, each with a master, or alderman, and other officers. They
had their provisions for mutual help for themselves and their widows
and orphans, and they had their religious observances. Each had its
patron saint, its festivals, its treasury. They kept in their hands the
monopoly of the branch of industry which belonged to them. They had
their rules in respect to apprenticeship. Almost all professions and
occupations were fenced in by guilds."
1
?
CHAPTER II.- ITALY.
THE TEACHINGS OF ROMAN HISTORY-INDUSTRIAL INDEPENDENCE AND SOCIAL
FREEDOM-ROMAN CIVILIZATION - ARTISANS AND OTHER WORKMEN — MOD-
-
ERN ITALY - ODOACER— EFFECT OF HIS INVASION UPON INDUSTRY IN ITALY—
THEODORIC AND THE GOTHS - AGRICULTURE UNDER THE GOTHS — LOMBARD
DOMINATION
APPORTIONMENT OF THE LAND AMONG THE LOMBARD CAPTAINS
P
- ITALIAN SERFS-FOUR CLASSES OF SOCIETY - MILITARY SERVANTS— DOMES-
TICS THE ALDII- THE SERVII- LOMBARD TYRANNY AND LAWS-SLAVERY
GENERAL CONDITION OF MANUAL LABORERS IMPROVEMENT IN LOMBARD
CIVILIZATION-PROGRESS IN AGRICULTURE CONDITION OF THE WORKING
CLASSES UNDER CHARLEMAGNE-FREEDOM IN THE CITIES-THE INDUSTRIAL
ARTS IN ITALY UNDER FREDERICK BARBAROSSA HIS BARBARIC SEVERITY
THE LOMBARD CITIES AND THEIR GOVERNMENT- THE GUELPHS AND GHIB-
ELLINES-THE PEOPLE OF THE LOMBARD CITIES-THE PEOPLE OF VENICE
GENERAL CONDITION OF ITALY AT THE CLOSE OF THE MIDDLE AGES.
BEY
EYOND modern Italy stretches into fable the splendid perspec-
tive of the Roman empire, one of the chief marvels of the written
history of man.
From the legend of the wolf and her sucklings, to the fact of the last
tribune, there sweeps the strong light of grand romance; and in every
varying condition of the people whose name was once the terror and the
wonder of the earth there is the aspect of strength, of courage, of aspir-
ing pride, that were only broken when the subdued world let luxury
loose to plague the conquerors. In these early conditions, and the
reactions from them, the tireless energy of war for the sake of empire,
and the indulgent indolence of an enforced peace, we may discover the
parent elements of the Italy of today. The stronger race with an
admixture of all opposites; the blazing patriotism of old Rome mingling
with the colorless passion of an enervated people. One cannot remem-
ber what Rome was without some pity for what Italy is the toy of
modern political powers, descended from the mistress of national desti-
nies. Rome was the fruit of magnificent conquests. Italy is the
enfeebled plant rising painfully to healthful growth from a political and
social state sapped of vigor and productiveness by plunder and oppres-
sion. But the city enthroned among its seven hills, eternal despite its
160
LABOR IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
161
ນ
ruin, awesome yet in its memorials of grandeur, rising out of commer-
cial wreck and social decline, is an example to all time-not of imperial
profligacy, not of the unparalleled sumptuousness of one-time
supremacy, not of patrician glory-but of plebeian power, of the unity
and devotion of a people so filled with the love of country that they
made it great in spite of the wrongs they suffered, in contempt of tyran-
nous and often licentious masters. To be a Roman was enough of dig-
nity to make each Roman, however lowly his state, eager to defend the
honor of Rome; and in the history of that empire we find the paradox
again and again repeated of a people, little better than slaves, for five
hundred years maintaining their collective imperialism against the outer
world, though continually racked by divisions and revolutions within.
It is not the purpose here to review the Roman epoch, although
occasionally during that period the people rose to the highest degree of
industrial independence, and enjoyed to the full political and social free-
dom.
Not less than the Greeks, the Romans were often awakened to
the divinity of personal worth, shook off the shame of slavery, dragged
despotism from its throne, and set up the white standard of man's
equality with man, and though they did not always show capabilities for
self-rule, each revolution of popular sentiment purged the state of some
iniquity and added something to the dignity of the masses. That Rome
attained the highest civilization known to the old world was due less to
her success in arms than to the industrial and commercial spirit of the
people, and what remains of Rome to-day is the literature sprung from
an order beneath her patricians, and the monumental piles that attest
the extraordinary skill and exhaustless patience of her artisans and work-
men. Whichever way we view the fact, it is perceived that the endur-
ing greatness of Rome rested on the active energy of her people, that
mob so much reviled, rather than upon her rulers, too many times her
corrupting plagues.
Italy is but a pinch of territory left to the Latins from the vastness.
of the Roman empire, and the fair land is without the virility that in
the second and third centuries made cities to spring from wildernesses,
blessed the fruitful land with agriculture, spread the knowledge of use-
ful arts among the people, extended learning, established manufactories,
and made the country teem with commercial activity. Italy now sits in
reverie upon her past, less robust in her real freedom than in the mock
liberty of the Augustan age. May it not be said that modern Italy is
the legitimate fruit of the untruths that lay at the base of Roman
splendor.
11
162
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
{
The Romans loved their country, but they did not love it well enough
to suffer that justice might be done in it, nor could they long endure the
presence of virtue. Their early heroism came to be the bravery of cun-
ning, and their patriotism a sensual selfishness. We look into their
records and see temples without a pure religion, brilliant rolls of shining
literature without substantial regard for the broad interests of humanity.
We recognize an ornamental religion, a splendid censuality, elegance,
superficial refinement, a nature perfect in outward criticism, but pitifully
ignorant of the real nature and power of the moral elements and spirit-
ual graces. Rome passed through various stages, first a kingdom, anon
a republic, and finally an empire that embraced the civilized world, only
to be overthrown and divided among the barbarians.
The revolution of 476, A. D., put an end to the Roman empire in
the West, and defined one of the most important epochs in history.
Odoacer came in as the actual monarch of Italy, but for some reason
dare not proclaim himself by the title of Roman emperor. The Roman
inhabitants of Italy were nearly extinct. Most of the landed proprietors
had ceased to cultivate their estates, and the rearing of cattle had super-
seded the cultivation of grain, and these the barbarians seized upon and
bore away, together with the slaves who attended them. Italy was
utterly desolate, a flowering and peopled desert, but none the less a
desert. This was the unhappy extremity of this once mighty and
austere mistress of the world, when Theodoric swept in with his Ostro-
goths, possessed the ruined country and began its reëstablishment. He
set up his wise and equitable institutions, and instead of using one
people to oppress the other, he strove to hold the balance fairly between.
them, and for that purpose employed the Germanic system of the Goths,
introduced the practice of agriculture by granting land to the people,
allowed his Roman subjects their forms of liberty, restored the spirit of
commerce and manufactures, and maintained peace and plenty through-
out Italy. Though himself illiterate, he encouraged the pursuit of learn-
ing among the people, and patronized men of learning.
This favorable beginning of a new era was disturbed from auspicious
sequence by the conspiracies of the Roman senators and wealthy classes
to restore the old order. The distractions continued and grew into
others until the middle of the sixth century, when the Gothic dominion
was overthrown by the Lombards, a barbarous people whose leader,
Albion, was equally renowned for savage vices and virtues, and a long
period of reaction set in to the hurt of the people.
The Lombards were reluctant to change their rude habits for those
Q
LABOR IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
163
which are required by intellectual and moral improvement, and they
would not consent to engage either in commerce or agriculture. They
surrendered themselves to feasting and hunting, to domestic broils
and warlike excursions, and though possessed of a rugged sort of
chivalry mixed with savage nobility, this new people did much to check
the recovery of Italy from its calamities. The thirsty captains of Albion
had the country fairly apportioned among them, each ruling over an
ample fief with the title of duke, and thus was established the feudalism
that sat heavily upon the Italians, the serfs of the institution, for so long
a time. Reduced to slavish dependence, subservient to rough masters,
the Italians became crafty, cowardly, and to a degree treacherous, and
were accordingly contemptible in the eyes of their lordly subduers.
There were four grades of the subject class, the arunanni the immedi-
ate military servants of the counts; the homines de maruada a sort of
free domestics, whose services were requited by small grants of land;
and the partly servile aldii, men who though nominally enfranchised still
owed certain services to their patrons; and the lowest class, descriptively
termed servii. This last class was the abject slight of fortune. In some
instances, the owner was content to take one-third of the produce raised
by their labor, but in the majority of cases, they were allowed to take
for their toil no more than was absolutely necessary to the support of
life. There was little left of the individual liberty accorded to subjects
by the Goths, nor were cities allowed their municipal institutions, and
the only political privilege allowed the people was a choice of the code
of laws by which they would be judged, though the interpretation of the
laws rested with the feudal judges. Therefore, the numerous inferior
classes, both of the urban and rural classes, comprehending not merely
slaves and liberti, but also the wealthy ingénue class, had no practical
remedy for the oppressions of their immediate superiors, and were
scarcely esteemed worthy of legislation. On the one side were tyrannous
abuses; on the other a deplorable wretchedness, much misery and suffer-
ing, and a latent hatred, hopeful of some tide of fortune to avenge their
wrongs.
Such a condition could not long continue, and though there is but a
feeble light to pierce the veil of darkness that hangs over this period of
history, the moral truth that a country which secures to a people its
rights will never want defenders, while the one which withholds them
may become a prey to the first enemy without or within, may afford us
a clue to the situation. Whether complaints of the people took such
decided form as to threaten the security of the Lombard nobility, or the
164
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
rulers themselves became instructed by the higher civilization of the
country, it is certain their laws became wiser and more equitable, and
their treatment of their subjects more humane. The dukes came to
have a pride in their provinces and courted the affection of their depend-
ents, encouraging their industry by more liberal rewards of labor, and the
population of Italy began once more to increase. The rural districts
were cultivated anew, agriculture thrived, the towns were rebuilt, the
villeins gradually earned freedom, and the Italians grew into a better
moral spirit as a people. A national sentiment was inspired that had
developed to some considerable extent when, in 774, Charlemagne put
an end to the kingdom of the Lombards, and found a people well deserv-
ing a fostering care. This great figure in history was a wise ruler, and
having established the kingdom of Italy, he devoted himself with sound
discretion and comprehensive judgment to the betterment of the country,
by the development of its resources and the material, moral and intellect-
ual improvement of the people. The impetus given to the purpose of
restoring Italy to its former opulence, by the judicious course of Charle-
magne, carried the movement well forward into the ninth century. The
rights of the lower classes were more generally accorded to them, the
serfs gradually coming into independence of their immediate superiors;
citizenship and admission to the magistracy came to be recognized in
behalf of liberated classes, and all that tended to promote the interest of
the state, through the welfare of the people, was fostered. The munic-
ipalities and the military lords became in a measure united for mutual
benefit, and communities advanced in the career of prosperity.
kinds of labor, skilled and unskilled, in the field and in the cities, in-
creased in demand; cities grew rich and populous at no expense to the
moral interests. Sentiments of freedom arose and were widely diffused,
and the number of slaves rapidly decreased.
All
The privileges of the people grew until the inhabitants of the cities
were allowed to elect their own magistrates and bishops; and from this
step they advanced to the belief that all just political power emanated
from the people. The final consolidation by the cities of their power
effected a political system somewhat resembling a democracy, in which
were bred ambitions that proved as detrimental to the real good of the
people as the selfish desire of the nobles in less liberal days. The German
emperors, however, exerted so great a sway that Italy suffered no grave
disturbance of its social and political harmony until the middle of the
twelfth century, when Frederick Barbarossa violated the charter granted
by his predecessors by attempting to establish absolute power in the
LABOR IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
165
Italian cities. The people in the meantime had recovered in large
measure from the degradation into which they had been forced by
calamities that fell fast upon them after the downfall of the Roman
empire. Art had been carried to a high degree of excellence. Literature
and general culture graced a refined society; the industrial branches
were followed with a diligence and skill that made the kingdom richer
than ever before, and handicrafts and trades were in a most flourishing
condition. The architecture of that time confronts the eye of wonder in
this day, and the general order of the working classes indicates the fact
that their wages were such as to enable them to live comfortably. A
long period of such enjoyment of the rights of manhood and the benefits
of citizenship had made the Italians jealous of their privileges, and they
were by no means disposed to yield unresistingly these dearly bought
virtues. On the declaration of his intentions by Frederick, Milan, then
the most important city in Lombardy, became fired with the old Roman
spirit, and determined to resist the encroachment of the emperor as
though he were a foreign invader. The emperor, incensed, raised a large
army, marched against Milan, A. D. 1158, and laid siege to the city,
which was compelled by famine to surrender. Frederick disregarded the
conditions of the surrender, and the city revolted. It was again besieged
and subdued as before, whereupon Frederick took revenge upon the
people who had dared assert their rights and defend their claims, by
utterly destroying Milan, leaving not one stone upon another.
His barbaric severity was not satisfied with this unpardonable out-
rage, and other cities were given to the flames, or abandoned to the pil-
lage of the German soldiers, until Lombardy was in danger of losing by
lawless despoilation what it had gained by several centuries of arduous
toil in semi-bondage. The country rose in revolt, forming the Lom-
bard league of 1167. For thirty years Frederick waged a ruinous and un-
successful war with the Lombards, during which the cities of Northern
Italy threw off their dependence upon the German emperor, and in June,
1183, was established the treaty of Constance, which is notable for be-
ing the first recorded instance of a treaty between a monarch and his
subjects in which the right of independent self-government was estab-
lished.
Various forms of popular government were adopted by the Lombard
cities. The people sought security against the abuse of power in fre-
quent elections and rotation in office. But sudden and violent revolu-
tions were of frequent occurrence and often without cause.
To guard
against these the expedient of an annual chief magistrate was adopted.
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THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
This officer, the Podesta, exercised both military and judicial power in a
manner but little less than despotic, and it became necessary to choose
consuls to control the authority of the Podesta. But the Italians were.
never able to balance political power in such a way as to prevent them-
selves becoming the victims of usurpation and tyranny, and the various
functions of state were so united in an individual or body that no such
thing as a check prevailed.
The inevitable result of such a political status is factional differences
and contentions leading to social ruptures; the usurpation of magisterial
rights by the individual and personal security is at an end. The Lombard
republics suffered by such factions, and the great contest between
the Guelphs and Ghibellines so inflamed existing animosities and gave
rise to others, that in the thirteenth century there were more than 200
communities in Italy exercising the right of government independently
of each other. The effect of this upon the people can be imagined
when it is understood that all other interests were subordinated to the
necessity of maintaining an armed and watchful militia to repel an
attack or conduct one. The population was in fact divided into military
organizations. Not only did the people suffer directly in their own
interests, but as these wars continued the military spirit afforded the
nobles excuse for exerting their superiority; and a change in the military
discipline transferred the art of defense from the citizens, as such, to the
nobles as an order. At this time the republics of Pisa and Genoa, lying to
the south of Lombardy, were conducting a great and rival maritime trade,
and had factories in every part of the eastern shores of the Mediterranean.
These two republics took opposite sides in the war of the two great fami-
lies of Ravenna and Rimini, and, like the others, fell under the chances of
With everything favorable to the building and maintaining of a
united and powerful nation, rich in resources, with a territory equal to
the requirements of its energetic population, Lombardy fell into divi-
sion-not through a conflict of industrial and commercial interests, but
through the rancor and jealousies of ambitious nobles, at all times inimi-
cal to the welfare of the common people, cach petty faction falling a
prey to a stronger, the republics finally disappearing altogether.
war.
Even Venice, that marvel of cities, built on the waves of the sea, by
men who should have had it in them to bequeath independence to their
descendants to the end of time, began with a republic in form, and, digni-
fied as a popular government, dwarfed toward decay when the people sur-
rendered their franchise into the hands of one man. The ambition of
the nobles, whetted for rule and territorial acquisition, by means of
LABOR IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
167
which she was drawn into the convulsive politics of Italy, was the way to
her ruin. Through the industry of her people, the skill of her manufac-
tures, and the expertness of her sailors, the workers within her seagirt
walls and beyond them had made her the commanding power in Christ-
endom and the most opulent city of the world. There arts and the sciences
were pursued to the highest known perfection, and the people were then the
most energetic as well as the most civilized of nations. Venice and Ge-
neva were the last republics to decline; they alone survived of all the
Italian democracies when Charles V. was emperor. But the people were
by no means united, though a peace rested among their factions. After
that reign six petty sovereignties shared the Lombard country. Yet
again the fields were given to cultivation. Agriculture was prosperous.
The industries revived. The common people began once more to taste
the sweets of personal liberty, freed from the perplexities of self-govern-
ment, and at the close of the middle ages Italy was much advanced as a
nation. The institution of serfdom had passed away in effect, and was
soon to disappear entirely; and the land, recovered from the ravages of
war, wore the smile of peace and blossomed with plenty.
CHAPTER III.-SPAIN.
THE ROMANCE AND TRAGEDY OF SPANISH HISTORY-THE FIRST INHABITANTS
CARTILAGINIAN AND ROMAN RULE-ROMAN COLONIES-THE CONDITION OF
SPAIN UNDER AUGUSTUS CAESAR AND SUBSEQUENT EMPERORS-ERAS OF EX-
TORTION AND OPPRESSION, AND PERIODS OF PROSPERITY AND PROGRESS
THE BARBARIAN INVASION-THE MOORISHI CONQUEST-INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY
UNDER THE ARABS AND SARACENS-THE CONFLICT BETWEEN MOSLEMISM
AND CHRISTIANITY.
SPA
PAIN is the land of brilliant sunshine, vine-clad hills, orange-blos-
soms, olive and laurel groves, shimmering seas and azure skies. In
no country of modern Europe are there so many cities of peculiar and
individual interest. Of these the mind recalls at once Seville, the
"Spanish Athens, the Queen of Andalusia," Cordova, "The City of
Cities," the "Pearl of the East," Valladolid the rich, Madrid the
stately, Saragossa the gloomy, Barcelona the gay, Cadiz, milk-white and
graceful, and palm-crowned Granada, home of the Alhambra.
"The
soil is fertile, the climate genial and salubrious, and the face of the coun-
try, diversified with meadows and mountains, presents, in rare combina-
tion, the most attractive features of loveliness and sublimity." In the
quality of romance and tragedy, the history of Spain transcends that of
any other country of the modern world. Beginning with her history as
a Roman province, and ending with the expulsion of the Moors by Ferdi-
nand and Isabella, every page of her history is crowded with incidents
stranger than fiction. Spain was the birthplace of three Roman emper-
ors, Trajan, Hadrian and Theodosius, and also of Columella, the writer
on agriculture; Quintillian, the teacher of oratory; the poet Martial,
and the great Seneca. There, for more than seven centuries, was waged
a desperate conflict between the cross and the crescent, the fortunes
of war being now with one and then with the other. There it was that
the Saracenic civilization attained its best development. In Spain it was
where the fires of persecution raged hottest. Spain it was that clothed
the western world with romance, and gave it the material for song
and story.
The first inhabitants of Spain -the Hispania of the Romans were
barbarous and warlike tribes. They were without arts or industries,
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LABOR IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
169
!
within the meaning of civilization, and incessantly engaged in fierce and
bloody wars. The weapons used by these savage men, lances, clubs,
swords, and hatchets, were of the rudest pattern. They dwelt in caves,
holes in the ground, or frail huts of bark and turf. For food they ate
roots and nuts, and their clothing consisted of a coarse woolen or linen
tunic. With them society was in its rudimentary state, division of labor
did not exist, and what is now understood as mechanics and artisans
were not known.
About 235 B. C. the natives of Spain were conquered by Hamilcar, a
Carthaginian general, the father of the great Hannibal. The condition
of the country did not change materially under the Carthaginians,
as their rule was nominal and military in character. The one industry
in Hispania, conducted by Carthage with vigor and thoroughness, was
mining.
For more than twenty years Hispania was the arena of a desperate con-
flict between the great rival powers, Rome and Carthage. The Romans
were victorious, and the Carthaginians were forever driven from the
Iberian peninsula. During the first century of Roman rule in Hispania,
the record is an unbroken narrative of bloodshed, misery and oppression.
In methods of cruelty, plunder and treachery the Roman governors
exhausted their ingenuity. Of course, under such circumstances, the
development of industry was impossible. In time, however, numerous
Roman colonies were established in Spain, cities were built, and the
native tribes assimilated with their conquerors. As a result, Spain.
became an integral part of the Roman state politically and socially,
and many of the industries and useful arts were practiced with energy
and success. Never was Spain more prosperous under the Roman dom-
ination than during the administration of Augustus Caesar. Many
thousands of the mechanics and laborers were employed in the construc-
tion of roads and bridges throughout the country. Peace and prosperity
reigned supreme.
This state of affairs did not continue under Tiberias, Caligula,
Claudius, and Nero. Rapine and misery were on every hand; and Spain
"sank deeper and deeper in the abyss of poverty and woe." The two
succeeding emperors, Trajan and IIadrian, were Spaniards by birth, and
loved their native land. Their beloved Hispania was an object of
especial favor, and every effort was made to render her people prosperous
and happy. Massive bridges, broad highways, and magnificent arches,
colonnades and aqueducts were constructed from the Pyrences to
Europa's point." Following the beneficent reign of Marcus Aurelius,
*
170
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
who was also a Spaniard, came a protracted period of oppression and
extortion. Industry languished, and arm in arm poverty and squalor
stalked through the land. The country was overrun, in close suc-
cession, by savage northern tribes-the Huns, Vandals, Sueves and
Alans. These barbarians were merciless and cruel, and left death
and desolation in their wake. For more than two centuries after the
fall of Rome, industry and trade were neglected, and continually declined.
Society was in a transition state. The old order of things had been
swept away; a new one was in the course of development.
The Moors conquered Spain about 673 A. D. Then commenced for
that country an epoch of activity and progress for the manual laborer.
Every form of industry received a wholesome impetus, and everywhere
were thrift and enterprise. This era of prosperity and progress in agri-
culture, manufactures and architecture continued, despite the occasional
strifes between rival Emirs and antagonistic factions.
The Arabs or Saracens of Spain were luxurious, and patronized learn-
ing and the fine arts. Architecture they brought to a high state of
development, and many manufactures flourished as never before. Gun-
powder was made, and there were numerous paper mills.
Cordova was
noted for its leather goods, Toledo for its steel, and other cities for
enameled tiles and fine jewelry.
Luxury, of course, gave occupation to many skilled mechanics and
operatives. In the cities, the carpenters, masons, stone-cutters and land-
scape gardeners must have been busy and prosperous. Magnificent
palaces were erected and cities and towns built; massive aqueducts con-
ducted water into vast reservoirs; hills and mountains were terraced;
highlands were leveled; marshes were drained. Superb houses were con-
structed of variegated marble, with ceilings of glittering gold and bur-
nished steel, and surrounded by voluptuous gardens. Stately mosques
reared their minarets to a cloudless sky, artificial cascades reflected the
sunlight, fountains flashed in the public squares, and exquisite statues
were embowered amid exotic foliage. One palace was adorned with forty
columns of beautiful granite, and twelve hundred of Italian marble.
The gardens around this imposing structure were embellished "with
groves of orange, laurel and lime, and in which the myrtle, the rose and
the jasmine mingled in pleasing confusion with all the varied produc-
tions of that sunny and delicious clime. In Cordova, alone, there were
nine hundred public baths. A source of great wealth were the gold and
silver mines, the coral beds on the coast of Andalusia, the pearl fisheries
on that of Catalonia, and the rubies found in the neighborhood of Malaga
LABOR IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
171
t
and Beja. The provinces of Andalusia, Granada, Mercia, Valencia and
New Castile were extremely fertile, and in those sections agriculture was
conducted with success. Books on agriculture, written by Greek and
Roman authors, were translated and widely read by the farming commu-
nity. The precepts of experienced farmers on the pruning and grafting
of fruit trees, the management of sheep and cattle, and the raising of
flowers and vegetables were collected and disseminated among the agri-
cultural class. The reign of Alhakim was peaceful, and every kind of
industry flourished. In Granada, Mercia, Valencia and Aragon, canals
of irrigation were constructed, reservoirs built, and agriculture otherwise.
protected and aided by the government. One Eben el Arram produced
a curious work on agriculture, in which he discussed "not only the sorts
of land adapted for different productions, manures, and changes of crops,
but also orchards and gardens. The manner of grafting trees, flowers,
and the cucurbitaceous plants, is explained at length. The treatment
of the horse, mule and ass, that of cattle and sheep, and the manage-
ment of domestic poultry, pigeons and bees, also find a place.”
As an example of Saracenic architecture, the splendid mosque at Cor-
dova may be mentioned.
be mentioned. It was six hundred feet long and two hundred
and fifty feet wide. From north to south it was traversed by nineteen
aisles, and from east to west by thirty-eight. The roof was supported
by one thousand and ninety-three marble columns. The nineteen gates
were of wrought bronze. Two hundred and forty feet was the height of
the great minaret, and at its apex were three gilt balls and a pomegranate
of gold.
Dr. Draper has well said of the domestic architecture of the Spanish
Moors: "They had polished marble balconies, overhanging orange gar-
dens, courts with cascades of water, retiring-rooms vaulted with stained
glass speckled with gold; the floors and walls were of exquisite mosaics.
Here a fountain of quicksilver shot up in a glistening spray, the glittering
particles falling with a tranquil sound like fairy bells; there, apartments
into which cool air was drawn in summer from flower-gardens. Clusters
of frail marble columns surprised the beholder with the vast weights
they bore. In the boudoirs of the sultanas they were sometimes of verd
antique, and incrusted with lapis-lazuli. Through pipes of metal, water
both warm and cold to suit the season of the year, ran into baths of
marble; in niches, where the current of air could be artificially directed,
hung dripping alcarrazas. There were whispering-galleries for the amuse-
ment of the women, labyrinths and marble play courts for the children,
for the master himself grand libraries."
172
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
death struggle maintained
Gradually were the Mos-
dominion was confined to
For more than 700 years was a life and
between the Moors and Christians in Spain.
lems driven from point to point, until their
the province of Granada. The first Saracen ruler of Spain was Tarik,
the last was the weak and unfortunate Bobadil; he was expelled from
Granada by Ferdinand and Isabella in January, 1492; thus ended one
of the most splendid and despotic governments of history. The Moors
were brave and daring, but addicted to luxury, lust, and extravagant dis-
play; they were, at once, chivalrous, romantic, sympathetic, passionate,
inconstant and vindictive.
What is now understood as constitutional government was unknown
to the Moslem world. The source of all authority, civil, military and re-
ligious, was the caliph. His empire was divided into departments, and over
each was placed a governor or prefect, who was supreme in authority
within his province and answerable only to his absolute master, the
caliph. Every office in the empire, civil and military, was exercised at
the will and by the appointment of the caliph. It was true of the
caliphate of Africa, Damascus, Bagdad and Cordova, as of all despotic
governments there were but two orders of society, the master and
his subjects. The monarch, politically, knew no differences or degrees
among his people; to him patrician and plebeian were alike. His
favors were as apt to be conferred upon those of low, as upon those of
high degree; one day a man might be a slave and the next Grand Vizier ;
one hour might a person be a pasha of the realm, and the next a disgraced
and homeless wanderer on the face of the earth. Under a despotism
fortune is as apt to smile on the mechanic or artisan, as on the soldier
or scholar. Tyrants are ever jealous of distinctions among men. To
the despot, men are naught but implements for the aggrandizement of
their sovereign. With the tyrant power is everything, and, when in con-
flict with that, humanity is nothing. Intellectual merit and moral
worth are of little value to despotic governments, for the reason that
power is exercised for the sake of power, and because men are governed,
not for their benefit, but in the interest of their sovereign lord and
master.
What was thus true of the political world was also true of the social.
Universities, colleges and schools were established throughout the realm
of the Saracen. In these institutions were taught grammar, lexicogra-
phy, theology, law, rhetoric, metaphysical philosophy, mathematics,
medicine and astronomy. The halls of learning were open to all classes
of society. To drink long and deep at the "Pierian spring" required
LABOR IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
173
neither wealth, power nor social position. Wisdom's fount refreshed,
alike, the son of manual toil and the favorite of fortune. Mechanic and
lawyer, artisan and physician, laborer and emir, all participated in the
truths of science, the beauties of literature, and the mysteries of phi-
losophy. Thousands of youths, from all ranks of society, flocked to the
classic halls of Bagdad, Samarcand, Cairo, Granada, Cordova and
Seville, there to con the exquisite beauties of Firdousi and Saadi, to
grasp the sublime lessons of astronomy, fathom the wisdom of juris-
prudence and drink in the eloquence of Avicenna and Averrhoes.
CHAPTER IV.—GERMANY.
AN UNCONQUERED RACE OF BARBARIANS-SLAVERY AND SERFDOM-THE DAWN
OF CIVILIZATION-A SURPRISING INDUSTRIAL GROWTH-THE REIGN OF
CHARLEMAGNE AN ERA OF ADVANCEMENT, THRIFT AND EDUCATION - THE
RISE OF THE ARTISAN CLASS-THE ESTABLISHMENT OF GUILDS - WAGES AND
COST OF LIVING DEGENERACY OF GERMAN INDUSTRY AFTER THE THIRTY
YEARS' WAR-THE FAMINE OF 1637- ARISTOCRATIC PROFLIGACY AND POPU-
LAR DESTITUTION - EDUCATION AND SKILLED LABOR.
HEN, through the deepening mists of time, the heroes of a nation
are seen dimly and uncertainly it cannot be hoped the people will
appear more distinctly than a vaporous back-ground to the shadows of
their chiefs. It is only after centuries of life by the sword, and bondage
to the most oppressive forms of slavery, that the masses begin to emerge
from mysterious obscurity and take shape for historic recognition. In
no direction, where civilization has laid subduing hand, can we look for
a vaguer beginning of history than toward the strange, fierce sunrise of
the German races. Borne by the strong passion for adventure from
swarming Asia - from the nethermost parts of the east, where mostly
only conjecture may say, these rugged, hardy animals of men, the Vin-
dili, the Ingaevons, the Istaevons, the Hermiones, the Peucini, and the
Bastarnæ of Pliny, surged into the middle portions of Europe and pos-
sessed them quite, laying so firm a hold upon their conquests that their
direct descendants and representatives are to-day masters of little less
than the original seizure. The North Sea and the Baltic, the Rhine and
the Alps, inclose now as then the land of the Germans, a people so close
of kin to the god of war, so much in spirit harmony with Odin, and
Thor, and Tyr, that the boasted mistress of the world, puissant Rome
herself, was never able to subdue them, but at last had her temples and
shrines sacked and despoiled by them. This was a people made up of
many branches, varying and shifting under the fortunes of a ceaseless
war, now Saxons, Franks, Suevi and Goths, and mixed with the Huns,
a swarthy, yellow, squat race, with lion-shoulders and pig-eyes, as fero-
cious as numberless. This was a people proud and arrogant to all but
the luring glory of arms, not calculated for the restraints of industry,
174
LABOR IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
175
•
the pursuit of agriculture, or the humane indulgence of a dependent
class.
Their slaves were their toys, and that stratum of the social organism,
which in a later time was to be the foundation and leavening strength of
German wealth, in manufacture, in commerce, in foreign relations, be-
gan the Christian era as mere creatures of a warring despotism that
slaughtered foes in the field and sacrificed slaves at the altar stone. The
mile-stones along the rough way of that half fabulous writhing of crea-
tive forces are such terror-striking names as Alaric the Goth, Etzel, or
Attila, the Hun, that wild, edacious scourge of God, and their lesser,
hardly remembered successors, who dragged Germany through a sea of
blood into the demi-light of the sixth century, with the serf a thing in
common with the morc-respected horse and dog. In this period the
chiefs and their lieutenants had become the lords of the Marks and
Gaus, into which a glimmering of organized state had led the hordes and
tribes, who had learned the need of self-regulation as an incident to that.
larger concern of defense against foreign foes. At one time, in the
past, in the full barbarian simplicity of life, when drunkenness, gaming
and licentious riot were the recreations of undesired and restless peace,
when there were no towns, and the freeman pitched his rude hut where
it pleased him so to do, the serfs were treated with tolerable kindness,
and even were encouraged to cultivate scant patches of ground, two-
thirds of the produce going to their masters, and great privilege in
those days of brawn and eager courage-they were allowed to bear arms
to defend the lord against his enemics.
But in the sixth century the German was no longer only barbarian.
Kunings had arisen and sovereignties were declared; and towns were ex-
panding into cities, with a taste for architecture, a love of luxury, a
great respect for personal dignity, to alter old conditions and suggest
new. The pater familias, who formerly regarded the serf as part of his
household, was now become the lord who looked upon his servants as
his chattels, and sold or gave them away at his pleasure. Indeed, the
trade in human beings was the bond of commercial union between the
Germanic tribes, who bought and sold interchangeably, as new ambi-
tions for building or cultivating the soil moved this way and that. The
Frank slaves, especially those captured in wars with the Saxons, were
herded together after the fashion of cattle, finding their lodgment as
best they might, reduced to the level of beasts and having the habits of
beasts.
In all this wretchedness of abject degradation there was but one
176
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
factor of saving grace, a form of emancipation which had its full effect.
in the third generation.. Until that consummation the emancipated
serfs remained in an intermediary state, personally free but enjoying not
privileges as citizens. They, nevertheless, rose above their condition by
turning their strength and skill to useful and graceful employments; and
we find toward the close of the sixth century, when the white light of
civilization began diffusing itself through that stubbornly resistant land,
an admirable agricultural development, a surprising industrial growth,
and among the artisans the old chronicles record gold, silver and copper-
smiths, blacksmiths, carpenters, masons, and that sly evidence of an
improving people, tailors, who were setters and observers of fashions.
Building in this period is believed to have been conducted under excel-
lent architectural direction, and something of a fine art distinguished
the products of workers in the precious metals. This discipline and
cunning of hand naturally gave serfs a higher value with their lords; and
in proportion as they deserved liberty, by reason of their rise above the
meaner state, was it difficult for them to secure freedom. But if a hard-
ship in form, the laws of the time were justly executed, and the serf
had it within his power to acquire the semi-liberty which came as a
reward of his profitable services, and was able to bequeath to his children
not only the right to own real estate, but to become themselves the mas-
ters of serfs. The free people, those who had become citizens, were, in
all the German kingdoms, accorded the right of general assemblies to de-
bate great questions, as peace and war, and the majority vote determined
the issue. The people could declare for war, in which event the king
called upon the militia, composed of every rank, to appear, on pain of
death, armed and equipped for battle.
It was not until Charlemagne came to the throne of the Frankish
empire as ruler of Western Germany that a noble impetus was given to
the spirit of professions, and something better than the sway of the sword
was presented to the understanding of the people. This splendid type
of dominant manhood, a giant among men in mind as well as in stature,
spiritually exalted by a sublime ambition, closed the history of the ancient
Germans and marked the advent of a new cra. The up-building of the
Germans, the establishment of national power upon popular intelligence,
was the aim of this man of iron. He cherished the fond belief that it
lay with him to reëstablish the ancient imperial Roman throne. Though
his code of laws was severe, even cruel, their general scheme was
wisely conceived and aimed at the furtherance of popular welfare.
He saw that the people were ignorant, and he exerted himself to further

Mrs. Imogene C. Fales.
President of the Sociologic Society of America.
Residence, Brooklyn, N. Y.
U
M
NIV
OF
/CH.
LABOR İN THE MIDDLE AGES.
177
their education. He established schools in different parts of his domin-
ions, to which all his subjects, rich no less than poor, were compelled to
send their children "that they might receive instruction from those ap-
pointed to that duty." He devoted himself to perfecting the language
and literature of Germany, and was so just in his distribution of favors-
having it clearly appear that a poor man of education was of far greater
value to the empire than an ignorant lord-that a noble spirit of emulation
existed among all classes, making that era one of the most notable for
progress and development in the entire history of Germany. The im-
provement of agriculture received his attention, and though the work of
the imperial farms was chiefly done by serfs and slaves, freemen and
even nobles were employed as foremen and overseers. Charlemagne's own
estates were patterns of neatness and were managed according to a code.
written out by himself. The culture of the vine and of fruit trees and
the breeding of cattle were carried on with a success that added greatly to-
the royal revenue and set an example imitated as nearly as possible by
landowners throughout the imperial domain. The people were justly
recompensed for their toil, acquired thrifty habits, advanced in practical
knowledge of every kind, and laid the basis for the national character
that gave Germany a lofty and permanent place among Christian powers.
In like manner to the encouragement of agriculture was the industrial
and manufacturing spirit developed. Each farm or state was required
to have a variety of artisans; and besides the workers in gold, silver and
copper, now largely centered in the cities, wagon-makers, shoemakers,
turners, soap-makers, brewers of beer, and many others entered into the
economy of the so-called farm life by legal provisions. In order that the
Germans might profit by the skill and cunning of older civilizations,
Charlemagne imported artisans from Italy to instruct native workers.
He built up large commercial interests, and, between his several reforms,
the towns of Frankfort and Aix-la-Chapelle became cities of extraordinary
splendor, the magnificent buildings attesting more eloquently than words
what were the architects and masons of the period. Workmen from all
quarters of the world were brought together for this stupendous labor;
and though the activity of the time indicated the wealth the emperor
was lavishing upon the superb establishment of his kingdoms, there
were no levies but the most necessary customs. Even the steward of an
estate was not allowed to compel his men to do service for his own bene-
fit, or exact contributions except in the way of small produce.
In a word, Charlemagne, knowing his strength rested in his people,
did the best he knew for them, loved them as his children, and sought
12
178
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
,
to lift them to the appreciation of the dignity of manhood and the
great importance of productive industry. Though he left much un-
done, and did some things unwisely, it cannot be doubted that Charle-
magne infused a new sense of national life and of individual worth
into the Germans. It is not to the present purpose to discuss the
political changes that were effected after the death of Charlemagne,
the subsequent divisions of the empire, and the rivalries of kingdoms
from out of the overthrow of the life-work of this greatest and ablest
of Germanic rulers. The important fact is, that he gave a new
character to the people that was never after wholly taken from them,
even when tyrants and incompetents occupied the throne and wore
the iron crown of the great Karl.
The growth of cities, which continued rapid, was of course highly
favorable to the rise of the artisan class; and as this class increased
and became free it established guilds, the first instances of these
trade-unions being in the tenth century. Such was the influence of
these guilds upon the political urgency of the times, that the tithes
formerly levied upon individual artisans ceased to be a personal tax,
but were drawn from the guilds, which were thereby legally acknowl-
edged. Gradually they gained the right to bear arms, and became
the principal factors of the civic armies. By means of this impor-
tant relation to society they secured increase of privileges from
the patricians, until the latter began to fear the results of the growth
of plebeian power, and a conflict arose which was terminated by
Frederick II. stripping the guilds of most of their advantages and
forbidding the election of magistrates by the people without the
consent of the territorial baron. But three years later this imperial
edict was withdrawn in part, and was finally altogether repcaled. The
artisans again grew in power, until at the end of twenty years we find
them so well assured of their importance that they felt able to stand
in opposition to the petty tyrannies of the barons, and formally
resolving not to trade with, or lend money, to such barons who in any-
wise contrived the injury of burghers of any of the cities. Until
about this time the presidents of the guilds had been appointed by the
patrician class; we now find them the elect of the artisans them-
selves; and after a time, so had their strength waxed and their members.
multiplied, they wrested to themselves the right to take part in the
political government, and either secured the banishment of the
patricians or forced them to unite with the guilds. It is interesting.
to note what were, at this time, some of the prices paid for certain
LABOR IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
179
kinds of labor. Unskilled workmen, such as hod-carriers, diggers,
and the like, received six shillings as their daily wages. Carpenters,
blacksmiths and those of corresponding trades were paid ten shillings
a day, and the foreman was allowed twelve shillings. A day was ac-
counted twelve to sixteen hours.
The value of money in those days must be taken into account,
since pay is to be reckoned not by the amount of money received, but
by its purchasing-power. A shilling would then buy five and a half
pounds of the best wheat bread; thirty-six shillings was the price of a
sheep, forty-eight shillings would buy a hog, or three hundred shillings
the half of an ox. Seven shillings would buy a pair of shoes, and forty
shillings a pair of trousers of the best material.
After the Reformation, or more particularly after the Thirty Years'
War, there was a perceptible degeneracy of German industry. The
guilds, departing from their original purpose with the accumulation of
wealth, became more and more restricted associations, embracing now
only master artisans and small capitalists. They grew tyrannous over
trade, and sought to acquire a monopoly by forbidding journeymen arti-
sans to work on their own account except under onerous conditions.
This attitude, which aggravated the already existing hardships of jour-
neymen, who had to work as apprentices from seven to ten years and then
"travel" a certain number of years before they were admitted into full
fellowship, stirred up a strong sentiment against the guilds, whose evils.
had outgrown their virtues, and in 1672 there was a motion made in the
Imperial Diet to abolish the guilds and leave each person free to follow
whatever trade he might select. The proposition was not favored, and a
much needed reform was deferred to the discouragement of industry,
that had not yet recovered from the demoralization affected by the Thirty
Years' War, when the fair plains of Germany were reduced to a desolate
wilderness, when the peasants were half-starved and wholly miserable,
and when, in 1637, they were borne down to such degradation that their
means of preserving their wretched lives during the famine of that year
cannot be thought of without horror and loathing. Driven to despera-
tion, made fiends in their despair, they exhumed the dead for food,
hunted down human beings for their flesh, and, destroying and self-
destroyed, brought upon themselves a pestilence that scourged them to
death by the thousand. Thus was the country set back into a condi-
tion more deplorable than that from which Charlemagne had rescued it,
the peasantry depraved, the nobility corrupt, and the middle classes
grown avaricious and grinding.
•
180
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
The pernicious effects of that long reign of blood were widespread,
and not only interrupted the education of the lower orders, so wisely be-
gun, and destroyed agriculture, commerce, industry, but thrust the serv-
ing classes into a condition of pitiable dependence as hopeless as slavery.
The serf was no longer master of his property or his person. He retained
his farm only at the pleasure of his lord, and could be evicted for failing
to render proper account of rents or services due, though these were to
a great extent indefinite and at the whim of the lord. Moreover it was
the privilege of the lord to eject the serf if, in his opinion, the soil was
made to yield less than its possible product. Thus at the beginning of
the eighteenth century the general laborer of Germany was unhappier
than ever before, being hardly dealt with by the guilds or oppressed by
the lords. The manners of the courts were luxurious and disgraceful,
the money wrung from an abused and poverty-stricken people being
spent by their oppressors in wanton, often licentious, extravagance. The
peasants, who had risen in rebellion against similar injustices in the
sixteenth century only to be overwhelmed and subjected to greater in-
dignities, were held practically as slaves. They could not be sold or
treated as chattels, and they were permitted to dispose of such property
as they had acquired by their own labor, yet were they bound to serve
the lord of the soil and were not free to quit their holdings without per-
mission. Peasants who sought to escape their task-masters by running
away were, upon arrest, cast into prison, as were they who in any way
assisted the fugitives. A further species of oppression was the payment
of wages by barter-the truck system-or by forcing upon the peasants a
kind of money not current. This gross imposition-considerably worse
than the system of corporation stores by means of which workingmen are
generally hampered in some parts of America-was continued, growing
year by year more abusive of an utterly prostrate peasantry, until the
attention of government was so sharply drawn to the wrong through
self-interest that prohibitory laws were leveled at the enormity. These
salutary laws so far improved the condition of the peasantry that they
gradually cast off the stolid, almost brutish lethargy into which they had
been depressed by so many years of calamity and misery, and something
like a recreative spirit came into the lives of the people, to the benefit of
agriculture.
Though the extreme of aristocratic profligacy—the introduction of
French rule brought with it into Germany all the licentiousness, light-
ness and folly of the reprobate French court- and popular destitution does
not ordinarily conduce to a prosperous nation, Germany did indeed, enjoy
LABOR IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
181
no small material prosperity at this period. Skilled labor was at that time
-just preceding the era of machinery at a high degree toward absolute
perfection. But, owing to the exactions of the guilds and the peculiar
illiberality of the ruling classes, labor was very poorly paid and its
product was correspondingly cheap. The general state profited at the
expense of individual labor. So destructively did the laws discriminate
against the interests of the working classes that the trades were not
allowed to go where they could exact higher wages for their work. An
instance of the arbitrary imposition of unreasonable burdens upon in-
dustry, the severity with which laborers were held in bondage to masters,
is recorded. A disastrous fire destroyed the better portion of a small
Saxonian town, creating a demand for carpenters and bricklayers.
Practicers of these trades in Leipsic applied for permission to avail
themselves of this opportunity to mend their fortunes. The authorities,
perceiving what might be the after effect of allowing these men to
enjoy this temporary increase of pay for their work, peremptorily denied
the request, compelling these artisans to continue work at the low wages
in force.
When to their material distress there was added the injury of relig-
ious persecutions, it is a matter for no small wonder that the work-folk
of Germany were able to keep themselves above the beasts of the field.
They were a hardy, indomitable and patient race as we now find their
descendants to be, and they not only did bear up against the brutalizing
influences to which they were subjected, but are seen to compare favora-
bly with like classes of other European nations, even excelling others in
certain important respects. For example, the general average of educa-
tion was better, and the skilled labor orders were more prosperous.
Industrial schools were numerous and well conducted, both in Catholic
and Protestant communities, and these served to keep a higher standard
of labor than was maintained in either England or France; and the work
now serving as memorials of that time attests the great skill and intelli-
gence of German mechanics and artisans. As the sixteenth century was
the reform period in matters of religion in Germany, the eighteenth
century was the epoch of labor reform. The depression at the beginning
of the cycle was the force that made possible this rebound toward moral-
ity and industrial dignity which occurred in the morning of the present
century. The middle ages closed as darkly as they began, the interme-
diate glory of the nation having been submerged in the blood of fanatic
passion and the excesses of a corrupt nobility. The dawn of the nine-
teenth century was the actual renaissance of Germany. The gradual
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THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
T
abolition of serfage set in, and in forty-eight years not a trace of it re-
mained. The rights of man as man came to be better understood and
more fitly respected. Education began to bear its legitimate fruits,
and in a measure the truth was observed that the best maxim of safe
government and a contented people is the laborer is worthy of his
hire," whether his work consists in turning a furrow, building a wall,
or framing a statute. The laws were so amended that land, with the ex-
ception of entailed estates, could be bought and sold as any other prop-
erty, and the peasant, who for centuries had been a creature of the soil,
became its master.
The abolition of the feudal tenures, chiefly the result of the stern justice
of the conquering Napoleon, was a national benefaction, as was speedily
shown in the improved agriculture of the country. Manufactories sprung
up as though called into life by the magic wand of an enchantress. Ma-
chinery came first to dumbfound, then glorify manual labor, by infinitely
multiplying the demand for laborers. Skilled labor passed from an accom-
plishment into a necessity; and today Germany is studded with immense
workshops where thousands of men labor like factors of a gigantic mechan-
ism. The peasant of today, protected by humane laws and indulged by
a liberal religious sentiment, would perhaps regard as a monster of fic-
tion the fact that in 1537 a peasant, who unwittingly slew a stag, was
sewed alive in the skin of the animal and then torn to pieces by the
hounds. Nor will it seem likely to the trade worker of the present
time, complaining of his lot, which is not yet sweet to his taste, that so
recently as 1793 a bloody riot was provoked by the simple fact of a jour-
neyman tailor at Breslau quitting one master, to whom he was con-
tracted, to take employment at the hands of another. He was impris-
oned and all the journeymen artisans of the community struck to de-
mand his release. The riot ensued, and the soldiers shot down thirty-
seven persons and seriously wounded forty-one others.
These things have passed away with the remnants of a semi-barbarism,
and as near an ideal civilization as the world has ever known rests
peacefully upon modern Germany. But the industrial classes are not
yet exempt from the old setting apart which so long distinguished them
as the parts of society especially ordained to suffer. They are building,
particle by particle, as the coral insects uprear their perpetual reefs, that
substantial citizenship which in time will give to the world an actual
equality of rights and privileges among men of sound mind and heart,
but which is yet afar off, awaiting, possibly, the great revolution which
shall be effected by moral forces more powerful than armed uprising.
CHAPTER V.-FRANCE.
CONDITIONS OF THE PEOPLE UNDER THE CARLOVINGIAN MONARCHS - ASPECTS OF
FEUDALISM SUPERIORS - VASSALS - DECLINE OF THE FEUDAL SYSTEM - THE
COMMUNES THEIR ORIGIN, PROMISE AND DECLINE - STRUGGLE OF THE THIRD
ESTATE UNDER THE HOUSE OF VALOIS — THE UPRISINGS OF THE PEASANTS.
F
RANCE! What a wealth of memories, of desperate wars, of pic-
turesque society, of barbarian simplicity developing into imperial
grandeur, of literary activity and of artistic advancement, is awakened
in the mind of the student by the sight of the very name of this great
country. From the France of the time of the Cæsarian conquest of the
Gallic tribes to the France of today how vast the change! When the
Roman emperor, soldier and historian, at the head of his legions,
descended the Alps and entered Gaul by the gap between the Lake of
Geneva and the precipitous sides of Mount Jena, he entered a country.
peopled by about twenty millions of barbarians, divided into more than
a hundred independent tribes. Though inhabiting one of the fairest
and most fertile regions of the globe, these savage people turned aside
from the peaceful vocation of the farmer and the herdsman, and lived
ever in a state of warfare. About them was a broad country of hills and
valleys, covered thick with the leafy monarchs of the primeval forest.
Vast rivers, with their innumerable branches flowing in every direction,
beautified the landscape and rendered the soil exuberantly fertile. Yet
over the face of this beauteous region, the savage tribes roamed in search
of strife; their hands ever grasping the spear or war club; their minds
fierce with the desire to avenge some fancied wrong, or to crush some
weaker foe.
Into this country marched the invincible legions of Julius Cæsar.
Before their disciplined ranks, the savages, with their rude weapons,
were as grass to be mowed down and ruthlessly thrust aside. Against
the Roman cohorts, the masses of desperate Gauls dashed in fierce
onslaught, only to recoil in bloody confusion. After a series of cam-
paigns, lasting for ten years, the Roman conquest was complete, and in
all parts of Gaul rose massive fortresses, garrisoned with Roman troops
and ruled by Roman governors.
183
184
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
The success of the Roman arms once established, the harbingers of
Roman civilization began a more gentle, but none the less decisive, con-
quest over the barbaric customs of the Gallic tribes. Roman arts and
refinements followed in the track of Roman legions, and gradually the
Gauls adopted the customs of their conquerors, so that, in the course of
time, the southern part of the province became distinguished for its
schools, its commerce and its elegance. In the central part of the coun-
try, on the banks of the river Seine, stood a small village of mud huts
thatched with straw. In these huts dwelt a rude people, who were
known as the Parisii, and their village was called Paris. Such was the
origin of that beautiful city, the abode of the arts and sciences, the cen-
tral point of literature and civilization, the Paris of today.
The political history of France, from the Roman conquest to the
establishment of the Carlovingian dynasty, may be passed over briefly.
For five hundred years the Romans ruled the conquered people, and,
aided by the blessings of an almost uninterrupted peace, built upon the
ruins of tribal strife and barbarism the foundations of a civilized society.
Then came a disastrous check. Like an icy wind from the north, cut-
ting down every living thing, and stopping the growth of culture and civ-
ilization, came the herds of barbarians, Goths and Huns. For four hun-
dred years they fought their way through Gaul, and, penetrating into
Italy, humbled the Romans in the streets and temples of their imperial
city. Then began for Gaul a new and independent life. In the year
480 A. D., a mighty monarch and conquerer arose in the northern part
of the country and by fire and sword extended his dominion over the
whole province. This was Clovis, the chief of the Franks and grandson
of Merovius. From this successful conquest all Gaul took the name
of France, and the rule of Clovis and his successors is known to history as
the Merovingian dynasty. For three hundred years this dynasty flour-
ished; then, at a time when the safety of France was endangered by the
encroachment of the Moors, who had overrun Spain, Charles Martel, a
successful general, took the reins of the government into his own hands,
beat back the invaders and became so thoroughly the sovereign, despite
a feeble monarch who nominally held the throne, that at his death his
son Pepin seized the crown and amid the hearty acclamations of the
people founded the Carlovingian dynasty, so called, from its greatest
ruler, Pepin's successor, Charlemagne.
With the establishment of the Carlovingian dynasty began an era of
unprecedented progress in French power and civilization, the advance
continuing until the death of Charlemagne, when it for a time received
LABOR IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
185
a check. The great emperor ruled his empire with a wise and gentle.
hand. He quieted the strife between warring cities and contentious
nobles, and formed of a loose confederation of small and scattered princi-
palities a great and homogeneous nation. In his reign began the move-
ment toward the extinction of slavery-a movement which, though slow,
was continuous until its end was attained. Under the earlier monarchs
of France, an enormous proportion of the population were slaves, having
no claim upon the fruits of their own labor, and denied even the custody
and control of their children. Besides the great body of those who were
slaves by virtue of parentage, immense numbers of people were yearly re-
duced to slavery as a punishment for political offenses, or by forfeiting
their liberty in default of payment of debts. Over the bodies of his
slaves the lord, be he baron or king, had absolute sway. He could
command their services in the tillage of his fields, to follow his banners.
in war, or to minister to his personal wants or vices. In return, he
granted to them the right to live, dealing out to them a scanty subsist-
ence, when actually employed in his service, and at other times leaving
them to seek means of support as best they might. Their homes were
squalid huts, their clothes the skins of animals or matted grasses, their
food roots, berries and coarsely cooked flesh. The family relation was
unknown among them and their domestic relations were indescribable.
Such a social organization as this, made up of nobles who could, at any
time, summon great armies of slaves to enforce their arrogant preten-
sions, and slaves too debased to have in their bosoms sufficient manly
feeling to resist their oppressors, was not one which could be readily re-
duced to the sway of a strong central government. Charlemagne, with
unusual political sagacity for that era, saw this fact and set about
strengthening his monarchy by insidiously cutting away the power of
his nobles. In doing this he began with an attempt to elevate the lower
classes, and in his attempt to increase his own power thus won for him-
self the reputation of a friend of the masses. To rid the kingdom of at
horde of powerful nobles, jealous of their rights and station, was so
clearly a matter of statecraft that it is doubtful if Charlemagne had any
other reason for his action, though in time it did redound to the benefit
of the laboring classes. With this end in view he established schools,
the pupils of which he chose himself, taking great pains to get from the
ranks of the low-born such children as seemed likely to acquit themselves.
well and to be worthy of advancement. He himself frequently visited.
these institutions and examined the pupils carefully. A contemporary
historian thus describes the scene which took place at one of these exam-
186
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
inations: "Those belonging to the lower classes exhibited works be-
yond all hope, but those of noble descent had only trifles to show. The
wise monarch imitating the Eternal Judge, placed those who had done.
well on his right hand and thus addressed them:
"A thousand thanks, my sons, for your diligence in laboring ac-
cording to my orders, and for your own good. Proceed, endeavor to
perfect yourselves, and I will reward you with magnificent bishoprics.
and abbeys, and you shall ever be honorable in my sight.'
"Then he bent an angry countenance upon those on his left hand,
and troubling their consciences with an angry look, with bitter irony,
and thundering rather than speaking, he burst upon them with this ter-
rible apostrophe:
-
"But for you, nobles, you sons of the great delicate and petty
minions as you are, proud of your birth and your riches you have neg-
lected my orders, and your own glory and the study of letters, and have
given yourself up to ease, sports and idleness.'
"After this preamble, raising on high his august head and his in-
vincible arm, he fulminated his usual oath :
666
By the King of Heaven, I care little for your nobility and beauty,
however others may admire you. You may hold it for certain that if
you do not make amends for your past negligence by vigilant zeal, you
will never obtain anything from Charles.""
This incident and the harangue of the emperor are instructive;
showing, as they do, the hostility of the monarch toward the nobility as
well as the use he intended to make of the church, in building up a power
that should be a check upon the nobles.
But after a reign of forty-five years Charlemagne died, and his suc-
cessor, less sagacious than he, abandoned his plans for the amelioration
of the condition of the poor, and suffered what he had accomplished to
fall into desuctude. Then began the steady ascent to power of dukes,
counts, and all the countless lords and lordlings, who, by virtue of their
ownership of lands, made themselves petty monarchs, and ruled the lives
and destiny of their serfs with iron sway. All nobility and power rested
upon ownership of land; and with the land was included the ownership
of the humble people, who toiled from dawn till dark to wring from the
soil enough produce to satisfy the rapacious demands of their landlord,
and leave themselves a subsistence. Such was the life of the serfs, who
were essentially the workingmen of the time, when cities were few,
and labor in France was limited almost exclusively to tilling the soil.
Above the serfs, in the social scale, came the vassals, who were attached to
1
LABOR IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
187
the households of the nobles, and between whom and the nobles there ex-
isted a certain interdependence; as, while the vassal owed allegiance and
devotion to his lord, the lord, in exchange, owed protection to his vassals.
As a result of this social organization, there arose in France the feu-
dal system. The whole landscape was dotted with castles strongly
built upon the rivers, bluffs or craggy hills. These huge piles of somber
masonry were planned to resist the rude shock of battle, and bristled
with towers pierced with loop-holes, and crowned with battlements.
The structure was surrounded by a broad moat, crossed by a hanging
bridge, which gave entrance to a gloomy keep, usually closed by a
massive portcullis. Within were somber apartments of stone, in which
dwelt the lord with his family and retainers. All ate in one huge, vaulted
dining-hall, where banquets and scenes of riotous bacchanalian debauch
were of daily occurrence. Here the lord met his vassals, knights and re-
tainers on a plane of equality; and as the wassail in the bowl grew less the
riot, the tales of violence, past and yet to come, and the fierce and ribald
songs grew louder. Outside, in the black shadow of the castle, were the
miserable huts of the serfs, who heard the faint echoes of the festivities
within, although, perhaps, they were too debased mentally by unremit-
ting toil and constant oppression to reflect that it was by the labor of
their hands that the favored debauchees were enabled to live in idle-
ness.
As the feudal lords grew in power and in wealth, the puny race of kings
who sat upon the throne reared by Charlemagne saw too late their error
in deserting the wise course of their predecessor and allowing the serfs
to be oppressed that the nobles might wax strong. It soon came about
that many a duke maintained a large army, and boasted of more plethoric
coffers than the king himself. The power and insolence of the nobles
increased with incredible rapidity. Once a poor knight entreated of the
Count of Champagne a marriage portion for his daughter. A citizen
who, by industry, had worked his way up to wealth, chancing to be
present, said: "My lord has already given away so much that he has
nothing left." "You do not speak the truth," said the count, "since I
have got yourself," and straightway seizing the luckless plebeian by the
collar, plunged him into a dungeon, whence he finally secured his release
by paying twenty-five hundred dollars to the needy knight. Not only
over their vassals and tenants did the feudal lords exercise this sway.
Their castles stood near highways or navigable rivers, and their followers
banded together and captured travelers, who were despoiled and only re-
leased on payment of ransoms. Boats laden with merchandise were
188
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
seized by the licensed plunderers, and whole cargoes appropriated to the
use of the castle. Merchants passing with their stocks of goods on
horseback or in boats suddenly found themselves despoiled, and were
lucky if they escaped with their lives. All society was divided into two
classes, the robber nobles and the plundered masses.
This anomalous social organization, founded upon strife and constant
warfare, persisted until the eleventh century, when it reached its height,
and thereafter constantly declined. As the power of the nobles declined,
the condition of the working people became better and their voice in the
affairs of state was generally recognized. For the causes of the decline
of feudalism we have not far to seek. Probably its most powerful
enemy is to be found in the growth of towns and cities wherein the
citizens, by virtue of their numbers and their close association, could
oppose to the rapacity of the nobles a vigorous and united resistance. In
these towns there sprung up a by no means small class of free men, who
had earned their freedom or inherited it from ancestors who, in their
turn, had purchased it or earned it by deeds of valor in battle. The
establishment by these free citizens of civic bodies soon led to the open-
ing of the doors of free citizenship to all who were able and willing to
comply with the preliminary conditions. The cities thus became nur-
series of freedom, and the sturdy burghers cast in the way of the nobles.
an insurmountable barrier to further oppression. Nevertheless the
nobles made fierce war upon the free men both in the towns and without;
and so constantly were the artisans and plebeians in terror of attack, that
the architecture of their simplest houses shows the influence of the
warlike habits of the time. A citizen's house of the twelfth century
generally consisted of three rooms, one above the other. The room on
the ground floor was occupied during the day as work-room, shop, or
common living-room. Above this was the bed-room of the family. The
ceiling of the first floor was very high-pitched, thus making the second
story a point of retreat in case of attack. Commonly, the second floor
protruded beyond the lower part of the house to admit of throwing down
missiles upon a storming party. In houses of the better class a tower
flanked the house, with loop-holes commanding all angles. The whole
structure was surmounted by a platform, seemingly for observation. In
such houses the sturdy burghers lived and worked at their trades,
acknowledging allegiance to their city and to their king, but resisting to
the death all attempts of the nobles to establish over them the authority
under which the agricultural laborers were still groaning. For history
shows that the march of civilization is ever led by the people of the cities,
LABOR IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
189
while the rustics follow, often centuries behind. So was it in the era of
the feudal system. While the people of the towns were breaking away
from the rule of the nobles, the farmers were still in the chains of serf-
dom. They were forced to pay from their scanty earnings exorbitant
sums to the nobles whose lands they tilled, they were subjected to the
most debasing and merciless penalties, and they were called upon for
degrading cr arduous services. Sometimes a dozen serfs would be set to
beating the waters of the castle moat that the frogs might not disturb
my lord and lady by their croaking. For his lordly amusement, the
master might order any number of serfs to go through their daily toil
hopping upon one leg, to kiss the latch of the castle door in token of
humility, to get drunk and exhibit themselves in his presence, or to sing
obscene songs for the delectation of the ladies of the castle. The
ceremony of marriage was distorted into mummery for my lord's amuse-
ment, and all sorts of absurd conditions were forced upon the newly
wedded. Worse than all, the working people were literally robbed by
taxes and dues of all sorts. If a few gleams of liberty reached them it
was only from a distance, and more in the hope of the future than for
the present. How dwarfing was the effect of such a social organization
upon that sense of human dignity which constantly awakens in the
breast of man the desire for liberty!
The progress of the people of France toward freedom was somewhat
aided for a while by the actions of the kings, who, during the tenth
century, returned to the wise policy of Charlemagne, and aided the peo-
ple in their strife against the nobles. Thus when a town threw off the
yoke of the noble who, for years, had held it under his sway, its people
appealed to the king for protection, assuring him of their fealty, and
offering their allegiance in exchange for royal protection. Movements
of this kind were encouraged by the kings, who granted to the com-
munes, as such towns were called, many privileges and immunities.
The communes were, to a great extent, self-governing. Their people
were free, their dues to the crown light, and their voice in affairs of state
was influential. Wisely, the monarchs fostered the growth of the free
cities until, toward the end of the twelfth century, they saw in the com-
munes a new enemy, more to be dreaded than the haughty lords, and
once again the kingly countenance was withdrawn from the people and
appeared on the side of the lords. But the work of the communes in
the cause both of liberty for the poor and power for the crown had
not been in vain. The cause of liberty had been started and was rolling
irresistibly forward, while, at the same time, the power of the nobles
190
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
had been so shattered by the ceaseless warfare with communes, that it
became an easy matter for the king to gather into his own hands the
reins of government and establish the throne as the highest resort in
questions of war, administration or justice.
But the spirit of liberty amidst the people of the towns had grown
too strong to yield without a struggle, and now, as the commune
sinks into obscurity, we find the third estate coming forward as the
chief factor in the social progress of the working classes of France.
"What is the third estate?" In 1783, when beautiful Paris was
writhing in the bloody throes of revolution, the question was asked by
hundreds of pamphleteers. We find the answer in the political organiza-
tion of France, as formed in the thirteenth century, when there first
met in the councils of the States-General a third body, in addition to the
nobles and the clergy-the tiers-état, or representatives of the enfran-
chised towns and boroughs. Great was the exultation of the people
when they found themselves thus admitted to a voice in the council of
the nation; but soon the conviction burst upon them that the part
offered them was merely nominal. Representing, as they did, fully
nineteen-twentieths of the population of France, the delegates of the
tiers-etat saw themselves already vested with the power of government,
when their bright visions of the triumph of the people were dashed to
the ground. The astute nobles and gentlemen of the clergy saw them-
selves outnumbered and sought for a stratagem by which to overcome
their popular antagonists. There were three classes the nobles, the
clergy and the tiers-état. The course of the nobles was obvious.
Three legislative houses were created; the vote of each was cast as a unit,
and the nobles and clergy, invariably voting together, still ruled the des-
tinies of France. But the people, though discouraged, were not silenced.
But a few years before they had had neither voice nor vote in affairs of
state; now they could speak, but their votes were useless. The time
should come when the power and cunning of a few should no longer
deprive the great mass of true and industrious citizens of France of their
political rights. In the cause of liberty no exertion is too precious, no
preservance excessive, and these people drawn from the humble classes
continued their demands for political recognition until at last, maddened
by contemptuous indifference, they rose in a mighty wave and swept away
before them clergy, nobles and the king himself.
While the people of the towns, merchants, artisans and laborers,
were thus battling bravely for the defense of their rights and liberties,
the inhabitants of the rural districts seem to have plodded along in
LABOR IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
191
their slavery, making few protests so decided as to come down in history,
and, if not contented with their lot, at least inert in their servile degra-
dation. The condition of the poorest class, or serfs, must have been
degraded indeed, for in such little estimation were they held that no
records have ever been preserved of their way of life or their numbers.
Like the beasts of the field, they died and were forgotten. Of the class
above the serfs, the villains, more is known. They tilled the soil for their
own advantage, paying to the landlord heavy dues and holding them-
selves ready to respond to his call when he needed soldiers or laborers.
The home of the villain was usually a house of but one room, one side of
which was filled by the broad chimney, with deep, open fire-place. On
the earthen hearth a fire of twigs and faggots smoked, and cooking uten-
sils were scattered about. The center of the room was usually occupied
by a rough-hewn table and benches, and at the side of the apartment
stood a huge bedstead, of a size sufficient to accommodate the villain, his
wife, children, and even the chance wayfarer who begged for a night's
shelter. The husband and father went about dressed in a blouse of
cloth or skin, fastened by a leather belt around the waist, an overcoat or
mantle of thick woolen stuff, which fell from his shoulders half-way
down his legs, short woolen trousers, and heavy shoes or boots. From
his belt hung a case-knife in a sheath. Hats were seldom worn, save in
wet weather. The women were attired in coarse gowns of woolen cloth
and worked in the fields by the side of the men, a custom that persists in
France down to the present day. Indeed, it is remarkable how slight
has been the change in the manners and customs of the French peasantry
from the thirteenth century until the present time. We find them
dressed in almost the same garments, living huddled together in cottages
of exactly the model described above, spreading on their tables the same
simple meals of herbs and vegetables that were common in the middle
ages. In their political condition a vast change was wrought by the
Revolution of 1789, but even in that great national uprising they fol-
lowed tardily and timidly in the footsteps of their brother workmen of
the cities, and won their freedom through no courage, no determination
of their own.
But while the peasantry were thus living in slavish servility, the peo-
ple of the cities, the bourgeois, were advancing in civilization and polit-
ical power. Among artisans, trade guilds or corporations were organ-
ized, which became powerful means of defense against the encroach-
ments of the nobles. These guilds, however, never attained the ad-
vancement in France that was won by similar organizations in Belgium,
192
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
Holland and England. The trade guilds of France were directly under
the control of the crown, and were forced to pay into the royal treasury
a certain tax yearly. Artisans or apprentices desiring to enter a certain
trade were compelled to get permission so to do from the royal officer
to whom the tribute of trade had been granted by the king. As the
trade unions grew in power they established rules and regulations over
their members, which must have been little less galling than royal de-
grees. Thus, all artisans practicing the same craft were obliged to live
in the same quarter of the town. There was an aristocracy among work-
men as unyielding as among the nobles against whom they waged a
ceaseless warfare. The young artisan, anxious to turn his hand to a
trade which promised him support and advancement, found his first
step hampered by a host of preliminary conditions which were estab-
lished by the union for the very purpose of discouraging young candi-
dates. A 'prentice, wishing to become a master workman, must first
fabricate and present to the guild his chef-d'œuvre, which was a completed
article of the class manufactured by the workmen of the order to which
he desired entrance. Sundry other tests were required of the aspirants,
all of which were in themselves just and proper, but the great injustice.
of the whole system lay in the fact that sons of members were absolved
from any preliminary tests and were members by virtue of their parent-
age. Thus did the workmen in their own organizations reproduce the
worst feature of an hereditary aristocracy which, as practiced by the
nobles, they roundly denounced.
The unions formulated cast-iron regulations for the government of
their members. They fixed the hours and days for working, the size of
the articles to be made, the quality of the stuffs used in their manu-
facture and even the price at which they were to be sold. Night work
was generally forbidden, save in the case of carpenters, who were per-
mitted to make coffins and other funeral articles at nights. On the eve
of religious feasts the shops were closed at three o'clock, and none save
pastry cooks were allowed to be open on feast days. Besides thus regu-
lating the business matters of their members, the trades-unions incul-
cated principles of industry and the highest business integrity. Politic-
ally, they were powerful throughout the middle ages, and strove man-
fully for the advancement of honest labor, until, with every other estab-
lished order, they were swept away by the resistless upheaval of the
French Revolution, in 1789.

Ed. L. Dailey.
General Secretary Shoelasters' Protective Union.
UNIV
OF
MICH
CHAPTER VI.— ENGLAND.
THE MAGNA CHARTA GENERAL CONDITION UNDER THE SAXONS-UNDER THE
NORMANS-POWER AND PRIVILEGES OF THE KING - THE GREAT ASSEMBLY, OR
WITENA-GEMOTE - SOCIAL ORDER OF THE EARLY ENGLISH-THE CEORLS-
THE THEOWS, OR SLAVES-INSTITUTIONS AND GOVERNMENT UNDER THE
PLANTAGENETS-INNOVATIONS IN THE FEUDAL SYSTEM-BURGESSES FIRST
SUMMONED UNDER IIENRY III.-GROWTH OF THE COMMONS UNDER EDWARD
III.- AGRICULTURE OF THE SAXONS-THEIR ARCHITECTURE-THEIR RUDE
DOMESTIC FURNITURE - THE MECHANICS AND ARTISANS.
То
O what country can the historian of industry turn with the prospect
of a broader field of research than is afforded by the records and
traditions of the progress of the wage-worker toward industrial independ-
ence and honorable citizenship in England? How complete has been
the fusion of the characteristics of Angles, Saxons, Normans, Romans
and other nations which, at times, have held the tight little island under
their sway, in order to form the Englishman of today. How steadily
have the wage-workers of England carried on the contest for emanci-
pation from the oppressions of the nobles. Can any other nation show
so towering a landmark of the progress of liberty as that great charter
wrung from King John by the people and the barons acting in concert?
In the savage times of the thirteenth century, when the people of the
towns of France were only entering upon their struggle for industrial
rights and privileges, while the peasantry of that fair country were still
so steeped in ignorance and degradation as to hardly imagine the
possibility of a better existence, the people of England manfully formu-
lated and pressed upon their king that declaration of human rights
which now forms the corner stone of all Anglo-Saxon civilization. No
"freeman shall be seized or imprisoned, or dispossessed or outlawed, or in
any way brought to ruin; we will not go against any man, or send against
him, save by legal judgment of his peers or the law of the land." "To
no man will we sell or deny or delay right or justice." To freemen of
today these propositions seem like self-evident truths, but no bloody
revolution, no tremendous political upheaval, ever wrought more good
to the cause of liberty than did the formal declaration of these principles.
as law. Many things have contributed to put England thus foremost in
13
193
194
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
the march of liberty. The hardy nature of her savage tribes; their
proud spirit, that brooked not oppression of any kind, mingling with the
blood of the adventuresome Saxons, and the more refined, but not less
haughty, Normans, formed a national character well fitted to bear the
shocks of the fiercest struggles for liberty. The physical characteristics
of the country were such as to encourage the development of a large
industrial population. The fertile soil yielded bountiful crops in return.
for the labor of the agriculturist; the climate, mild without being
enervating, favored the growth of the crops, while it enabled the farmer
to prosecute his labors with an unintermittent industry that was
impossible in countries more torrid or more frigid than the sea-tempered
island. As agriculture is the earliest form of productive industry, so is
it the basis of industrial organization. Where nothing more than a bare
subsistence can be wrung from the unwilling earth, no great civilization
can be possible. Buckle, the philosophical historian of civilization,
writes: "As long as every man is engaged in collecting the materials
necessary for his own subsistence, there will be neither leisure nor taste
for higher pursuits; no science can be possibly created, and the utmost
that can be effected will be an attempt to economize labor by the con-
trivance of such rude and imperfect instruments as even the most
barbarous people are able to invent." But in England all natural con-
ditions were favorable for the growth of a high order of civilization. By
the principles of serfdom, instituted by the Saxons, this civilization was
retarded for a time, but ultimately triumphed over the obstacles placed
in its way by ignorance and rapacity.
A survey of the condition of the working classes of England during
the middle ages must begin with the conquest of the island by the Saxons
in the fifth century. The Saxons were a race of fierce barbarians, and
came from the sea coast of Northern Germany; their exploits and ma-
rauding expeditions were chiefly by sea, and in the course of some such
expedition they fell upon the coast of England, found it fertile and to
their liking, and straightway began an emigration to the new country. It
would seem that the Saxons came over in small bodies, each led by its
own king, and, after expelling or enslaving the native population, the
invaders established small monarchies of their own. So it came about
that in the fifth and sixth centuries the whole eastern part of Britain
was made up of small kingdoms, which probably formed the basis for the
shires or counties of today. When the invaders landed, they found a
savage people living in huts and dressed in the skins of wild beasts.
With their rude weapons and undisciplined forces the Britons could not
LABOR IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
195
compete with the warlike invaders, who soon held possession of the coast.
But in the interior was a people of whom the Saxons knew little, but
who had for centuries been subject to the civilizing influences of Roman
occupation. Here were large towns walled and fortified, military roads,
laid out by the engineers of Rome; tin mines in Cornwall, lead mines in
Northumberland, fertile fields of corn, all worked for the glory and
profit of the Roman citizens and provincial governors. Unbroken peace
had for years reigned over the island, and wealth had accumulated fast, but
the evils that in the end undermind the Roman empire were at work in
Britain. As the rich grew richer, the poor, upon whom they lived, grew
poorer, and the population decreased. Luxurious mansions housed the
landed proprietor, while the serfs, who worked his fields, or delved in his
mines, huddled together in miserable huts.
Heavy taxes oppressed the spirits and hampered the industry of the
people of town and and country alike, while the wheels of industry were
blocked by a rigid system of trade guilds, which confined each occupa-
tion to an hereditary caste. Above all, the despotic rule of Rome.
crushed out all local independence; and when the legions of Rome were
hastily called home to defend the imperial city from the assaults of the
Goths, in 411 A.D., the Britons offered but a feeble resistance to the
hordes of Angles and Saxons that at once poured in upon them. The
dash and daring of these savage and piratical people awakened wonder,
even in that age of violence. "Foes are they," sang a Roman poet of
the time," fierce beyond other foes and cunning as they are fierce; the
sea is their school of war, and the storm their friend; they are sea-wolves
and live on the pillage of the world." Against foes such as these, the
Britons, cowed by long years of serfdom, could make no stand, and soon
the customs of the Anglo-Saxons became the custom of all England.
The basis of the social organization of the early English was the
"ceorl” or churl. He was the "free-necked man," whose long hair
floated over a neck that had never borne the yoke of slavery. In him
was vested the proud right of bearing arms. He was the owner of land,
and in the ownership of land consisted a man's sole claim to freedom.
The landless man might not be nominally a slave, but without land no
freedom could exist. Above the churls in rank were "erls," men who
were distinguished among their fellows by virtue of noble blood. To
them churls and slaves alike looked up with reverence. From their
ranks the villagers chose "earldermen " as leaders in war or governors
in peace. But in these early days such a choice was a purely voluntary
All power was in the hands of the free men; all justice was de-
one.
}
› 196
OF MANUAL LABOR.
THE STORY STORY
creed in their councils. In the thickly-settled regions every freeman
was a law unto himself, and with spear or sword dealt out summary
justice to wrongdoers. In the little settlements were found the germs
of a legislature and trial by jury. The homesteads clustered round a
moot-hill or round a sacred tree, where the whole community met to
administer its own justice and frame its own laws. Here fields were
passed in sale from man to man, by the delivery of a bit of turf, and the
strife of farmer with farmer was settled according to the customs of the
village, as stated by the "aldermen," and the wrongdoer was judged
and his fine assessed by his kinsfolk. In all cases the kinsfolk of the
accused were his judges. Around the moot-hill met the "witan," or
wise men of the village, to settle questions of peace or war and to frame
laws. In this was the germ of the Witena-gemote, which persisted
until the eleventh century, then declining in power only to again re-
appear in the form of the modern British parliament.
It would be hard to find a more democratic society than that of the
early English, but it was not long before the principles of caste and aris-
tocracy crept in. The first step toward an aristocracy founded upon
wealth was the custom of elevating the churl to a higher rank with the
title of "thane," so soon as he had secured the ownership of a certain
quantity of land. With the desire for the acquisition of land came the in-
evitable result that the humbler land-owners were forced out of their hold-
ings and ultimately compelled to sell themselves into slavery, in order
to secure subsistence. Political offenders, prisoners of war and crimi-
nals were also made slaves, so that soon after the establishment of Saxon
power in England we find the slaves constituting nearly three-fourths
of the total population. Children of slaves inherited the condition of
their parents, save that the child of a freeman by a slave woman was
free-a rule in opposition to that of France, which provided that children
were born into the station of the mother. Even among the slaves there
were varied classes, each with its special privileges and duties. Female
slaves were classified into three ranks, each with its specified duties.
Among men were found the esne, the theow, the bordar, the cocket, the
herde, and the perding. But though the names of the servile classes have
descended to us, no satisfactory description of their mode of life and their
duties is extant. As easy is it to find historians treating of the ox or the
horse as of the human bearers of burden of that age of slavery. Some
were employed about the houses of their masters, doing the most servile
tasks; some tilled the fields and lived in wretched huts set apart for
their use; others who as freemen had learned trades, or as boys had
LABOR IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
197
been taught them, worked incessantly at forge or bench, only to yield
up, each week, the sum of all their earnings to the lordly master. All
were regarded as being as much connected with the land as the trees or
crags that stood upon it; the transfer of an estate by purchase or con-
quest took with it all slaves residing thereon. They were incapable of
possessing property, and only in the case of most outrageous injuries by
one other than their lord could they claim any protection from the
courts. They were classed as merchandise, and had their regular price
in the market. About ten shillings was the regular price of an able-
bodied slave, male or female, though a woman beyond the time for bear-
ing children was not so valuable, while one brought to the sale showing
signs of pregnancy commanded yet a higher price. So fr

the transfers, that a
of slaves, and thus a
all me
was levied upon all
Yet, horrible and degrading
rev
not irrevocable. As a freeman, by excesso
suddenly find himself reduced, through debt, to slavery, so a slave, by
industry and prudence, might earn enough money to purchase his
freedom. Instances of manumission (as the granting of freedom to a
slave was called) in consideration of payment are not rare in Saxon his-
tory. We read of Elfsig, called the Red, purchasing his freedom for £1,
while Brightmaer not only secured freedom for himself but carried
his wife, his children and his grandchildren out of slavery by a payment
of £2 to his master. Again, many slaves secured their freedom through
testamentary provision, on the death of their owner. Sometimes, out of
gratitude for past services, a dying "thane" freed his slaves, or gave
them partial freedom, or exempted some from certain specified punish-
ments, as the brand or the whip. Again, slaves were given their freedom.
upon the stipulation that as free men they would perform certain services,
and in the event of their failure so to do they relapsed into slavery.
Slaves who had thus gained their freedom, found themselves not in
the position of the "churls," or freemen, but in an anomalous condition.
of vassalage, neither free nor servile. They became a species of "villains,"
who resided on the lands of the wealthy lords and, in exchange for protec-
tion and the right to till the soil or practice their trades, did such service
for the "thane," or other owner, as he saw fit to exact. They were
called upon to rally about his banner in time of war and to mend his
roads or till his fields in time of peace. Toward their lord they held
much the position of slaves, but among the people they were essentially
free men. Plunged in the most abject poverty, they lived almost
198
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
entirely upon vegetable food, the flesh of such animals as were herded
being appropriated for the use of the wealthy. Fish, however, especially
eels, often appeared in the dishes of the poorer Saxons, and occasionally
a bit of pork. Barley bread was the chief stay of the poorer classes, the
fine wheat being a luxury only enjoyed by the rich. Even at that early
day, the use of liquors was universal with all classes of Saxons above the
wretched slaves, whose poverty admitted only of water and milk. The
freemen and churls drank deeply of beer and ale, while the banquet
board of the rich was never set without great flagons of wine or mead.
From the highest to the lowest, gluttony was the prevailing vice, and
the vassal, with his barley bread, his fish and ale, performed no less
ats of gastronomy than did the noble in his banqueting-hall,
cacies then known.

mirktv foata
ท
rew features worthy of
rather than of artisans, and the
e seldom found among them. The houses of
even the richest nobles were of wood, rude in structure, and, though often
covering great tracts of ground, were low and unpretentious. Their
temples and churches were built of wood, and, like the cottage of the
humblest serf, were thatched in lieu of roofing. In the center of the
roof of the dwellings gaped a huge opening, which served for a chimney
whence the smoke, after filling the house to suffocation, poured out in
clouds. Not until long after the Norman invasion did the architecture
of England take on any permanent features, and indeed the mighty
ruins now standing in various parts of the island seldom date back fur-
ther than the thirteenth century. With the Normans came the art of
castle-building, and to the infusion of Norman blood Englishmen owe
that spirit which has led them to cover their fertile island with stately
homes.
The rude huts of the Saxons were furnished with articles no less rude
and clumsy. Benches served for chairs, and their beds were of skins
heaped upon a rude bedstead. In the houses of the rich there was often
an incongruous contrast between the rough-hewed furniture, bare walls
and floors strewn with rushes, and the articles of gold and silver with
which they loved to garnish their walls, and the richly embroidered fab-
rics frequently used for curtains. As the Christian religion gained a
foothold among the Saxons, the rude people were familiarized with the
sight of beautiful and costly decorations in the churches. The walls
were often covered with foreign paintings or rich tapestry, the vessels
used on the altar in the communion service were of gold, the altar itself
LABOR IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
199
.
sparkled with jewels, while the vestments of the priests were of silken
fabrics, embroidered with gold and silver. These grandeurs were the
fruits of the intercourse of the ecclesiastics with Rome. From the va-
cant minds of the Anglo-Saxons no such artistic conceptions could have
proceeded. Living ever among savage scenes, with no great past to
inspirit and guide them, with the constructive trades left to the hands
of the slaves, who were slow to learn and slower to invent, the progress
of the Saxons in the arts of refinement was necessarily slow. Not until
the downfall of the feudal system gave to the wage-worker that place
among men from which, as a slave, he had been debarred, did the work
of Saxon artisans show signs of any great mechanical skill or artistic
talent.
Democratic though the institutions of the Saxons were, the form of
government was nevertheless a monarchy. Above churl or ealderman
or thane was one ruler in whose hands were centralized the affairs of
state and who was called by his subjects "cyning," a term that time
has corrupted into king. But his power was far from being the absolute
power of the chief of a savage tribe, or the omnipotence of a Roman
emperor. The British monarchy of today is hardly more limited-little
more hedged about with provisions for the welfare of the subject than
was the monarchy of the English of that day. At first the king was
elected, but soon the custom became fixed of keeping the crown in one
family. The rules of descent were not invariable; a dying king trans-
ferred his throne as often to his brother or uncle as to his eldest son. It
would seem, from historical testimony, that the democratic English es-
tablished even a limited monarchy with reluctance, but were forced to it
by the turbulence of surrounding peoples, which rendered a commander-
in-chief of English forces by land and sea essential. Thus the position.
of the monarch was at first merely military, but the first extension of his
powers was the delegation to him of the duty of carrying into effect the
decrees of the Witena-gemote. In this body was vested all legislative
power, and this power being jealously reserved up to the era of the Norman
conquest, the power of the throne was greatly abridged. The Witena-
gemote was composed of different classes as the multiplication of ranks in
the country extended. Originally, the "earldermen" or earls, and the
'gerefas," or sheriffs, constituted this supreme council of the state.
Later on, the Christian missionaries from Rome and the far east having
penetrated to their wild and distant region and instilled the doctrines
of redemption into the minds of the savages, there grew up a distinct
caste — that of the ecclesiastics. As the new faith grew great and power-
(
200
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
ful this class must have representation in the affairs of state, and thus we
find bishops and abbots sitting with the wise men of the Witena-gemote.
At a still later date the knights were admitted, and it seems probable that
at some time the churls and burgesses sat in this truly democratic
council, although upon this point there is some conflict amid the histori-
ans. Over the official acts of the king this body exercised a most zealous
supervision, and any undue assumption of power by the monarch was
sure to bring a prompt protest from the vigilant legislature. Yet the
position of the king was by no means a merely nominal one.
He was
surrounded by great pomp, and every honor was done him by all sub-
jects. As all extensions of territory were won by the sword, he, by vir-
tue of his position as commander of the forces, accumulated vast estates,
enough to support great retinues of vassals, while he conciliated power-
ful lords by royal gifts of land. His also had the power of appointing
and removing all public officers, and this power then as now proved a
fertile source of political corruption when the throne was held by an
ambitious monarch. To sum up the characteristics of the kingly power
may be said the absolute power of the Saxon kings extended over the
army and navy and no further. Yet they were in a position of vast in-
fluence; in their vast estates and in their control of government officials.
lay the means for aggrandizing their personal influence, and rather by
this influence than by any powers expressly delegated did they uphold
their kingly station and authority.
it
Such was the condition of the English people up to the time of the
Norman invasion in the eleventh century. By that great flood of aliens
from across the channel every characteristic of the English social and
political life was changed. Although accomplished at the cost of vast
suffering and bloodshed, the change was one of great and permanent
benefit to the English nation. By the union of the Normans and the
Saxons the barbarism of the latter people, their system of social grada-
tions, their scorn of refinement and morality, all gave place to the chival-
ric elevation of sentiment of the Normans. Saxon gluttony was replaced
by Norman refinement. A strong religious feeling sprang up and spread
throughout the land. The squalid huts and modest churches of the Sax-
ons were superseded by those towering castles and stately cathedrals in
which the England of today bears witness to her debt to Norman art
and taste. How completely England conformed to Norman customs is
shown by the similarity between the two countries today. In remark-
ing this, Green, the English historian, writes: "A walk through Nor-
mandy teaches one more of the age of our history which we are about to
LABOR IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
201
The whole story of the con-
of the minster at Caen, which
traverse than all the books in the world.
quest stands written in the stately vault
still covers the tomb of the Conqueror. The name of each hamlet by
the roadside has its memories for English ears; a fragment of castle wall
marks the home of Bruce, a tiny little village preserves the name of the
Percy. The very look of the country and its people seem familiar to us;
the peasant in his cap and blouse recalls the build and features of the
small English farmer; the fields about Caen with their dense hedgerows,
their elms, their apple orchards, are the very picture of an English coun-
try side. On the windy heights around rise the square gray keeps which
Normandy handed on to the cliffs of Richmond or the banks of Thames,
while large cathedrals lift themselves over the red-tiled roofs of little
market towns, the models of the stately fabrics which superseded the
lowlier churches of Aelfrid or Dunstan." Nor was it alone in the out-
ward evidences of civilization that the Norman occupation was of ben-
efit to England. The first king of the Norman line, by his beneficent
rule, vastly ameliorated the condition of the slaves and villains that
under the Saxons had been regarded as little better than the beasts of
the field. No longer was the superior allowed to seize the lands of an
humble Saxon and by depriving him of their use ultimately reduce the
despoiled one to slavery.
“The good old rule,
The simple plan,
That he may take who has the power,
And he may keep who can,"
became somewhat mitigated under the influence of human chivalry
and generosity. No longer was the person of the slave an article of com-
merce. True, men and women were still transferred with the land upon
which they lived, but they could not be sold away from the land; the
horrible practice of tearing families asunder by sale was done away with.
At the same time, the facilities for emancipation were broadened, and
before every slave was placed the promise that diligence and economy
alone were necessary for him to secure his freedom.
In the form of government of the country great changes were intro-
duced by the Normans. The loosely constructed, limited monarchy of
the Saxons gave way to a strongly centralized government with a king
of almost unlimited authority at the head. True it is, that the con-
queror retained all the old Saxon forms, the courts of justice, the
sheriffs and even the Witena-gemote, but, nevertheless, the strong hand
of the monarch, aided by his powerful nobles, gradually pruned all the
202
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
Saxon institutions of any powers that might hamper the king in the
exercise of his royal authority. Gradually, too, the conquered Saxons
found that though they appeared to still enjoy their democratic institu-
tions, yet every earl or bishop, every powerful vassal or dignitary, tem-
poral or ecclesiastic, was a Norman.
But chiefest among the innovations introduced into England by
William the Conqueror was the institution of the feudal system, which
found in England a favorable field for its development and flourished
for centuries. In the political organization of the Saxons we find the
germs of feudalism. The thanes, or retainers of the Saxon kings,
held much the same position as did the feudal lords under the kings of
the Plantagenet line. They served the king in time of battle, and from
him received in return gifts of vast landed estates with the people
abiding upon the land. Thus the thane became a landed proprietor,
with an army of vassals at his command, and possessed most of the
power of a feudal lord. But with the arrival of William the Conqueror
the feudal system was firmly established as a measure of military neces-
sity. The Saxons bore the yoke of subjugation hardly; and the Con-
queror, as a means of keeping them more thoroughly under control, ap-
portioned out to his barons huge tracts of the conquered territory, for
the government of which they were responsible and the chief revenues
of which were to be their reward. This territory the baron, in his turn,
divided among his trusted military captains or knights on the same con-
ditions. In case of war or uprising each knight with his retainers was
in duty bound to rally about the standard of the baron, while all owed
allegiance to the king. Thus there arose throughout all England a
vast system of feudal tenures based upon military service. All the
estates were held by Normans. The meanest soldier in William's train
received an estate in the grand division of the Saxon lands. All power
was concentrated in Norman hands, and thenceforth the Saxons became
the industrial population. The huge stone castles that began to rise on
every wooded hill-top were the homes of Norman lords, and the Saxon
who was admitted within the massive portals entered as a feudal retainer
or as a prisoner. In the cavernous cells or dungeons of the somber
piles many a rebellious Saxon thane spent long years of his life in vain
repentance for his opposition to the Norman inroads.
As the feudal barons grew more powerful, their rapacity and cruelty
became more insatiate. An old English historian has left to us this
fearful description of the horrors of his time: "They hanged up men
Some were hanged up
by their feet and smoked them with foul smoke.
LABOR IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
203
by their thumbs, others by the head, and burning things were hung on
to their feet. They put knotted strings about their heads and writhed
them till they went into the brain. They put men into prison where
adders and snakes and toads were crawling, and so they tormented them.
Some they put into a chest short and narrow and not deep, and that had
sharp stones within, and forced men therein so that they broke all their
limbs. In many of the castles were hateful and grim things called
rachentes, which two or three men had enough to do to carry. It was
thus made: It was fastened to a beam and had a sharp iron to go about
a man's neck or throat so that he might noways sit or lie or sleep but
he bore all the iron. Many thousands they afflicted with hunger.
""
But while feudalism was thus growing like a rank weed, the force
which was to ultimately break it down was likewise making headway.
After the warriors of Normandy had crushed England into submission,
there came a more peaceful invasion by the industrial classes of
Normandy-cunning workers in gold, silver, skillful carpenters and
masons, brawny smiths and industrious weavers. These people, liking
not the harsh reign of the feudal barons, flocked to the large towns, and,
as their numbers increased, were loud in their demands for self-govern-
ment. Over the burgesses of London no feudal baron was ever able
to enforce his authority. So it happened in course of time the cities were
absolved from all rule save that of the king and the local officers chosen
by the burgesses themselves.
In 1254 was established the germ of the English parliament of today.
Henry III., then reigning, issued a royal proclamation calling upon.
the freemen of every county to cast their ballots for two discreet
knights, who should meet with him at Westminster and discuss the
affairs of state. The knights were to be instructed to report to the
sovereign what aid and comfort their county would give him in the
troublous times then pending. This opportunity for a general legislative
body was eagerly seized by the people of both cities and country. Though
the burgesses of the different towns had each their town council, yet
never before had a meeting of national delegates been granted them, and
they saw therein the promise of a national freedom.
Still this council, of which so much was expected, did not accomplish
any great thing in the cause of popular advancement until the reign of
Edward III., when by the solemn enactment of a parliament composed
largely of commons, three essential principles of the British constitution
were announced, viz.:
204
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
1. That no money could be legally raised without the consent of those
who were to pay it.
2. That both houses of parliament should concur with the king
before any measure should have the effect of law.
3. That the commons should have the right of inquiring into public
abuses and of impeaching public men.
With the enactment of the third clause began that wondrous rise of
the commons to power which is the most striking feature of English
political history.
PART IV.
THE MODERN WORLD.
CHAPTER I.— GERMANY.
THE UPRISING OF THE PEASANTRY-CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF THE PEASANTS'
WAR-THE DECADENCE OF SERFDOM-INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS-THE INTRO
DUCTION OF MACHINERY-MANUFACTURES AND THE PRACTICAL ARTS-EXEM-
PLARY WORKMANSHIP-MATERIAL COMFORTS OF THE WORKING CLASSES-
INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS-LAWS AGAINST FOOD ADULTERATION-THE KRUPP
WORKS AT ESSEN-AN EMPLOYING FRIEND OF LABOR-EMIGRATION—THRIFT
AND INDUSTRY OF THE AGRICULTURAL CLASSES-MINING-SKILLED LABOR—
POPULAR EDUCATION-THE INDUSTRIAL SPIRIT THE DOMINATING NATIONAL
FORCE.
L
YING under modern' Germany are the ruins of the evolution of old
systems, but as much a part of the social structure as are the coal
deposits of a decayed age part of the soil. From the darkness of the
middle ages, through the half light of the Reformation, through the
troublous periods of war resulting from this great religious impulse,
through vain struggles for liberty on the part of the peasants, the seed
was sown that bears fruit in this day, and the Germanic system is an
edifice of time's record upon the evils of the past. It is a part of polit-
ical philosophy that the greatest national strength is born of the greatest.
travail, and the iron-nerved, savage-hearted, fierce-spirited race that
made so much of Europe the playground of war-loving barbarians, was
infusing into the very soil itself that rugged steadfastness, which is the
characteristic of the stolid, slow-changing Germans, who now people the
populous cities of the Fatherland, or till its teeming fields. The peasants
who, in the sixteenth century, rose in frenzied might, applying the
torch to castle and cloister, slaying priest and noble in furibundal resent-
ment, enforcing signatures to their twelve articles of agreement by
205
206
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
疊
​which they were to be eased of excessive taxes, and allowed some of the
rights of men-these peasants were antitypes of the citizens of today,
the beginning of the higher development. True enough, the poor Martin
Luther, wise, but seeing yet as through a glass darkly, was not Christian
enough to see behind this rage of the peasants, the manhood that
should be the strength of the nation in a time to come, and wrote furi-
ously, "Kill the peasants like mad dogs wherever you find them, pub-
licly or secretly"; and the peasants, who were a scourge for a time, were
finally overwhelmed, beaten back into misery and wrong and inhumanity,
their second condition worse than their first. But a great truth had got
loose in the world that was to build an armor of justice about the rights
of the peasant, so that an emperor himself might not with impunity do
wrong to his meanest subject. No expended force is lost. No act of an
aroused people is without its influence upon after times; and whatever
man enjoys today had its origin in some far-away restless movement of
those bearing too heavy burdens, enduring too severe hardships. Ignore
the principle, dispute the fact as we will, civilization, spreading her
luxurious wings to heaven, and sunning the broad earth with their reful-
gence, is the creation of the people- the commons, not the bequest of
the affluent and the luxurious. A thousand souls bursting in agony are
needed to a single great reform; and the deeper in the mire of oppression
a proletariat may be crushed and crowded by the crowned masters of the
earth, the more violent will be the reaction, the more glorious the gain
to the moving mystery of life known as the destiny of man. The luxury
of the nobles in this time was a woeful contrast to the penury and depres-
sion of the peasantry; but in the very excess and divisions, when every
prince had a petty court of his own, and every chief was a prince, lurked
the insidious poison of jealousy and rivalry that was to antidote the bane
of the lower classes. The emperor was powerless, the people enslaved,
the nobles autocratic, the state sick. An enslaved agricultural class, the
farmer bitterly oppressed, means political ill health, the debility of gov-
ernment. Either there must come a reformer, or the people must rush
into revolution, and revolutions, though purgative, are to be dreaded.
Germany had the benefit of both correctives. Frederick II. wrought
some desirable reforms. The people arose and wrested to themselves
others equally good. The impoverished farmer avoided despair by assas-
sinating the lord who had oppressed him; the peasant groaned until his
plaints became a war-cry, and such revolutions as that in Saxony (1790)
were the children of his madness. It happened, too, that certain prov-
inces across the Rhine, from Cleve to the Mosel, had been free since the
THE MODERN WORLD.
207
middle ages, and there the farmer was proprietor or enjoyed his land
under an equitable life tenure. The winds that blow from free states
bear with them an inspiration that the serf receives with a thrill of long-
ing or a pang of discontent; and, anon, they raised that thunderstorm
that burst with violence, but purified the nation of serfdom. Napoleon
had not mastered Germany had Germany had a free, unenslaved peas-
antry. One cannot think of that German peasantry without a mingling
of wonder with admiration. Depressed by infamous taxation, oppressed
with the most unendurable wrongs, stripped of the rights the abused
laws allowed them, at the mercy of the lash and unable to secure redress
because their very masters were the juridical authorities over them,
denied every privilege that gave sweetness to life, they nevertheless.
manifested an indomitable energy for systematic work, persisted in the
practice of sober frugality to the profit of the family, and continued to
obey the divine impulse to advance. The German farmer looked for-
ward hopefully to a time when his industry would be rewarded by his
own freedom and the ownership of the land he tilled. The prime prin-
ciples of manhood urged him forward to a time when he might be the
one lord of his happy and free family. It is not strange that the lower
and middle-class Germans of today, the descendants of the peasants and
artisans of old, have so noble an idea of the family, and so proud a
notion of individual character that they are agreeable examples of what
lies at the base of national solidarity. With the decadence of serfdom,
and its final disappearance in 1848, the agricultural interests of the
country rapidly improved, while the manufacturing interests were
already of great and constantly increasing importance.
In the first half of the present century Germany had little remain-
ing of the conditions of the middle ages, and every trade had become
practically an art, though the rapid introduction of machinery made less
and less desirable that cunning dexterity of manual labor which had
been brought so nearly to perfection, and which was so much more deli-
cately refined than the products of mechanism, that certain branches are
yet followed for the benefit of the rich, whose taste reach beyond the
mere utility of things. Manufactories became greatly extended, and in-
creased with rapidity, favored by the European peace that followed the
tragedy of Waterloo. The making of linen became one of the universal
industries, every part of Germany reverberating with the music of busy
looms, though the principal manufactories were in Westphalia, Silesia,
Bohemia and Saxony; such excellence having been reached in a special
branch in Westphalia that the product is too expensive for general ex-
208
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
port. This is an incident by way of illustrating to what degree of fine-
ness the most ordinary trade, practical arts and manufactures are carried
by German workmen, who from the heriditary habit of earnest, patient,
even painful industry, acquired in the remote times of sore oppression,
are among the most exemplary of the world's toilers. The manufacture
of woolens in the Prussian provinces of the Rhine, in Saxony and Alsace,
is an important industry at this time, and cotton manufacture consti-
tutes the chief interest in Alsace, Lorraine, Wurtemburg and Baden,
and flourishes, though less extensively in Bavaria and other parts of
Germany. Silk manufacture has reached a high standard in the Rhine
provinces and in Baden. Iron work is carried on in most of the states
of the German empire, but chiefly in Prussia, Alsace, Lorraine, Bavaria
and Saxony; while steel is also largely manufactured in these localities,
the quality of the Solingen make being world-famous, superior to any
made in England.
The German workers in leather, metals, porcelain, makers of musical
instruments, clocks and woodenware, are unquestionably in advance of
those of any other country. A cursory reference to the other notable in-
dustries of Germany finds enormous manufactories of needles at Aix-la-
Chapelle and Burtscheid, employing a vast force of workmen; twenty-
two establishments for locomotive building with a capacity of 1,700
each; 110 porcelain factories; 300 glass factories; 1140 large and 200
small paper manufactories; a textile industry that employs over 150,000
working men and women; 300,000 cotton looms; to say nothing of the
mining interests, coal and mineral, and the outreaching of innumerable
trades and special vocations, all of which contribute to make Germany of
more substantial wealth and home prosperity than any of the other Eu-
ropean nations who preceded or began with her the struggle toward a
higher civilization and a broader humanity.
The large industrial establishments, particularly those in the west-
ern part of Germany, have been mindful of the fact that the value of
labor is improved by the wholesome surroundings and material comforts
of the laborers, and in the past seventy years have so far departed from
former customs as to provide suitable homes at cheap rents for their
employés. These are substantial brick houses, built with proper sani-
tary care, commodious and cleanly kept, much better than the self-
reliant laborer would ordinarily secure. This actual generosity is also a
practical economy, as the prospect of enjoying a home so much superior
to his customary advantages, not only attracts the skilled laborer, but
the possession of such a home makes him anxious to continue thus for-

ASSEMB
GENER
KL
Lizzie Rogers.
The Baby Delegate to the Richmond Convention.
UNIV
OF
MICH
THE MODERN WORLD.
209
tunate, and dissension is comparatively unknown among the working
forces of these wisely provident establishments. The experience has
been productive of such good results that the employing classes gener-
ally are coming to understand the profit to themselves of improving as
far as possible the condition of their employés. The establishments
quickest to recognize and act upon this important truth have reaped the
most liberal benefits from the system. It may be said here that Germany,
despite the considerable annual emigration of her overplus population
seeking release from over-crowded trades and pursuits, by crossing to
the American republic of plenty, has devoted a more practical philosophy
to the amelioration of the working classes than most other countries
that have tried by various ineffectual means to solve the labor problem.
In recent years great sums of money have been expended in the establish-
ment of training and industrial schools to promote the welfare of the
rising generation of workers, and in liberal spirit the working people of
the present time have been dignified to a standard immeasurably supe-
rior to that at the beginning of the century. In manufacturing districts
where houses are built for the employés there is often a general store
opened, from which workmen can, though entirely of their own volition,
make purchases of goods at wholesale prices. They are not, however,
required to trade at these stores, and general shopkeepers are not pro-
hibited from opening their stores and entering into competition for the
trade. Very strict laws not only exist, but are scrupulously enforced to
prevent the adulteration of foods, so that buyers feel fairly secure against
imposition. This is a measure to protect the health of operatives, and
illustrates how exact is becoming the governmental care of the industrial
bone and sinew, that after all is the best evidence of a nation's greatness
- the best assurance of its perpetuity. It may serve a good purpose here
to specify the bearings of one great establishment that has moved for-
ward rapidly as an employing friend of labor. Krupp, whose immense
works at Essen are as famous as his name is familiar, has in his employ
an excess of 19,000 employés, who, with their families make 65,000 per-
sons supported by his works. Of these 11,211 are engaged in Essen, a
town of a little more than 40,000 inhabitants, the rest being at work in
mines. He owns 547 iron mines in Germany. In 1883 he found that
the accommodations at Essen were insufficient for the increasing num-
bers of workmen demanded by his establishment, and built an additional
140 dwellings, suitable to the needs of his men and their families, and
today there are 4,000 family dwellings around Essen, in which 160,000
people live. To further provide for the laborers in a way to increase
14
210
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
their comfort of living, numerous boarding-houses have been erected,
one of which is of a superior kind, where the better class of skilled work-
men are accommodated. These houses form distinct colonies, the dwell-
ings, comfortable but not pretentious, being suites of three and four
rooms, facing wide, well-kept and well-lighted streets, and held at an
annual rental of from $16.50 to $45. In the boarding-houses the cost of
living ranges from twenty to twenty-seven cents a day. The dwellers
are cheerful and content in their surroundings, and the children and
youth have the advantages of one free school and six industrial schools,
in which the fees are fifty cents a month. Churches have been built,
both Protestant and Catholic, for the use of workingmen and their fam-
ilies. There is a "sick and pension" fund of which every workman
and foreman is required to become a member, the entrance fee being a
half-day's pay, the annual dues being proportioned to the amount of
wages paid, though Mr. Krupp pays half of every member's contribution.
In case of illness or accident, a member has free medical treatment, and
in case of death the funeral expenses are paid out of the fund. By the
payment of an additional dollar, the workman can receive medical treat-
ment for his wife and children. Pensions are paid to men permanently
disabled in the works, and temporary support given to invalids whose
inability to work is attested by two physicians. The highest pension is
$25 per month, the average pension to widows is $8.50 a month. There
are arrangements for low rate life insurance, of which a workman may
avail himself, and to this insurance union Mr. Krupp gave a reserve
fund capital of $125,000, in 1877, which has since greatly increased.
There is a great supply store conducted on a rigidly cash basis, from
which every article needed by individual or family can be bought at cost
price. Gymnasia and healthful amusements are also furnished. This
is a picture so startling in contrast to the conditions that prevailed at the
close of the seventeenth century, that one may feel gratefully assured
that the industrial world does move upward steadily, and possibly rapidly
enough, though an outlook upon our immediate times may detect nothing
of the movement, and though the laborer himself, viewing a contracted
sphere, may not be able to understand that his cause of complaint
becomes less general, decade by decade.
When, in 1881, the emperor declared that the remedy for socialistic
excess must be sought, not only in repression, but equally in a positive
attempt to promote the welfare of the laboring classes, he spoke the sen-
timent of the age, which Mr. Krupp has put into practical expression.
The government made a step in the right direction when it adopted a law
THE MODERN WORLD.
211
making the employer responsible for any accident to a workman in the
discharge of his duties. The voice of the government was then heard de-
claring the hope that "the defenseless in the State would gradually learn,
by practical experience, that government is not entirely forgetful of them,
except when it needs money, or calls upon them to bear arms, but that it
thinks also of protecting and sustaining them, so that, with their feeble
powers, they may not be trampled down in the great highway of life," a
vast difference from that time when a bishop of the church gave to the
hounds a peasant who had accidentally killed a stag.
The fact that the great Chancellor Bismarck found it desirable to
address to the German Parliament these words: "If you will give the
laborer the right to labor as long as he is in health, secure to him care
when he is sick, provide for his support when he is old-if you will do
that, and not cry out about State socialism whenever the support of the
aged is spoken of; if the State shows some Christian solicitude for the
working people," workingmen will respect and champion the government.
This fact is impressive evidence that the condition of the laborer is mend-
ing faster in Germany than in other countries, where the old order of
heredity sits brooding above the cockatrice's egg of caste.
It is apparently difficult to reconcile the proportion of a country's
prosperity, and the content of its laboring classes, with the large annual
emigration of its workers to foreign countries. In less than thirteen
years the German emigrants numbered 1,309,370. In the years 1882-3,
when there were 194,786, the following classification was made: Artists,
literary and professional men, 857; trades people, bakers, tailors, etc.,
25,190; farmers, 16,961; day laborers, 25,586; house servants, 3,357;
persons without occupations, chiefly women and children, 117,161. The
destination of these wanderers from their native land was America, the
El Dorado to which the minds of the foreign working people are ever long-
ingly directed. This exodus does not so much argue a wretched condi-
tion at home, as it indicates the hope of finding an even better and more
ideal existence in a land that is somewhat too rosily painted to the
farmer of the uneducated Europeans. The liberty of the United States.
almost runs into license, and sometimes, exceeding the true bounds of
the rights of individuals, is a fascinating spell to the workman who has
grown up under a system that imposes restrictions upon him which,
though calculated to conserve the best interests of the greatest number,
sometimes seem to bear heavily, if not unjustly, against his sense of man-
hood and the equality of men. It is by no means an assured fact that
emigrants always improve their condition in the New World, and it is a
212
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
fact that not a few pine to return to the land of their birth, magnifying,
with retrospective glance, the advantages formerly enjoyed. There is one
other consideration that weighs with the foreign workman: the high rate
of wages paid in the United States. The day-laborer, who persists at toil
from eight to ten hours for a handful of groschen, naturally enough feels
the enticement of a rate of pay that guarantees him from three to ten
times as much for a like amount of work, and in the excess he perceives.
the possibility of putting aside a goodly sum for the rainy day of old age
or sickness. The thriftier and more ambitious the man, the greater the
prospect of increased benefits in a country of liberal wages. Unfortu-
nately, they do not take into account the corresponding increase of
expenses, the greater amount of rent to be paid, the additional cost of
clothing, and the peculiar demand put upon the laborer who would keep
his social grade equal to his work standard. While, therefore, it is true
that the working classes of America have it within possibility to greatly
improve their standing, have a broader field opened to them, if their
intelligence and industry are fairly balanced, it is by no means sure that
the actual content and peace of the home-life are sweeter in America
than in many of the towns and hamlets or provinces from which the eager
spirit of unrest, of adventure, of speculation, of freedom, or of whole-
some ambition, hurries the emigrant. The agricultural class of Germany
is less restive than the trades or labor classes. With the abolition of the
feudal system and serfage, and the opening to the peasantry of opportu-
nities to become land-owners, the agricultural strength of Germany has
steadily increased and become beneficent. At the present time, in spite
of forest culture and large mountainous districts, 485 per cent of
land in Germany is under cultivation, while 10% per cent is rich
meadow. In Prussia alone about 600,000 land-owners have sufficient
land- from seven to twenty acres to support themselves and
families comfortably. This makes a good class of people, and these
few acres, every inch of which is scrupulously cultivated, often represent
no mean fortune to their owners. As a rule, the small farms lie in the
west of Germany, and 200 acres is accounted a great farm in Prussia,
while along the Russia frontier, where the large land-owners are in control,
tracts of 15,000 acres may be found in possession of one gentleman
farmer or noble. In these agricultural districts, such is the thrift and
industry of a people working to a direct personal purpose, paupers are
very rare, and beggars are wholly unknown. From these faras, great
and small, come not only the home supply, but also a large overplus that
finds its way to England and Holland, in flour and grain. Tobacco is
THE MODERN WORLD
213
almost important enough to be a staple, and it keeps 100,000 laborers
employed in 10,500 factories.
At the time of the last special report Germany had 119,973 hectares
of vineyards, grape culture being one of the most profitable and delight-
ful employments of the peasantry, while the harvest is made the occasion.
of great festivity and really beautiful ceremony. As the strength of a
nation is in its soil, Germany, so many of whose people are diverted
from industrial to military service, may be truly said to depend for her
solidity upon the thrift of her agricultural classes, a thrift that makes
every available rood of ground teem with luxuriant growth, even the
more unproductive tracts being curiously enchanted by the patient,
almost painful toil of the farmers who gather a harvest where an Ameri-
can would only sow despair.
The mining interests are extensive, gold and silver being produced in
considerable quantities; copper is less plentiful, while the zinc interest.
in the eastern part of Prussia has made an annual yield of 125,276 tons.
The coal deposits, however, are abundant, the last reported output being
57,233,875 tons. These departments of labor employ a vast number of
workmen at low wages. In the one item of iron, Germany is only sur-
passed by England and the United States, employing 200,000 men, and
aggregating a production of 9,000,000 tons of iron ore. In the manufac-
ture of steel Germany has surpassed all other countries, a fact due as
much to the skill and energy of the workers as to the ingenuity of
inventors, or the cunning of experiment. This peculiar excellence hast
not only made Solingen the world's market for the finest swords and bay-
onets, but the needle manufactories of Aix-la-Chapelle and Burtscheid,
the supply from which is incredibly great, are equally famed for the
excellence of their products.
That which particularly operates to the credit of Germany in respect
to the labor and industrial classes is the desire to have every department.
filled, as far as possible, with skilled labor. To crush out ignorance,
indolence and dependence is the paternal idea of government, and what-
ever hardships lie between the working man and his night's rest, it can-
not be denied that Germany exercises a fostering care over the great
army of toilers that is not found in any of the Christian countries. The
law compelling parents to send their children between the ages of six
and fourteen years, to school, works a double good-it affords a foil to
ignorance, and prevents the too early enforcement of hard labor upon
children. The German lad or lass may therefore grow more sturdily to
mature powers, with certain mental advantages not always enjoyed by
214
THE STORY OF MANUAL Labor.
youth in the United States, where an admirable system of education
exists, but where there is too much "liberty" to insure a child the rudi-
ments of an education. Germany has 57,000 of these elementary schools,
that are attended by 7,100,000 children. In addition to these, there are
springing up, all over the empire, industrial schools, in which, at a
nominal cost, pupils may be grounded in the principles of a trade or
craft, and fitted to go into the labor market and compete for wages
where skill is a desideratum. This influence must tend to the upbuild-
ing of the lower orders, and, in the course of a few generations, to the
wholesome evolution of German society, by which the industrial spirit
will become the dominating national force, prodigious standing armies.
cease to be a necessity, and a luxurious nobility make way for the
people, not now rebellious, turbulent, savagely destructive, but educated
to a sense of the wisdom of solidarity and the virtue of democracy.
Germany is moving to this higher socialism, which means equity of rela-
tions between conditions and degrees-the skilled workman with a fixed
value as to skill, the educated workman with an appreciation of the
benignity of knowledge, the humane workman with a sense of uni-
versal justice, coöperating to make a state in which liberty of conscience
and individual interest must bear toward a common center, the welfare
of the whole. If this is the ultimate of civilization, despite imperfec-
tions, despite remaining wrongs, the scars of the middle ages and the
oppressive burden of too freely exercised self-interest, Germany is farther
along toward the consummation than is even the United States, where,
too, many misunderstood blessings and benefits are, through vice and
ignorance, being returned upon the givers as curses.
}
CHAPTER II.-ENGLAND.
IGNORANCE OF POLITICAL ECONOMY IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY-THE HOMES AND
DOMESTIC COMFORTS OF THE FARMER AND LABORER-WAGES AND COST OF
LIVING-CHILD LABOR AT NORWICH-THE IVY-GROWN COTTAGES OF ENGLAND
IN FICTION AND IN REALITY-FOOD OF THE PEASANTRY-LAND TENURES-AN
IMPROVIDENT AND RECKLESS METHOD OF AGRICULTURE-THE ARTISAN, ME-
CHANICS AND LABORERS OF TODAY-THE TYPICAL ENGLISH MANUFACTORY
THE PEABODY TENEMENTS GENERAL CONDITION OF THE ENGLISH WAGE-
WORKERS.
A
T the close of the Wars of the Roses, the entire population of Eng-
land and Wales did not exceed 2,500,000. In 1575 the popula-
tion amounted to 5,000,000. Many there were, ignorant of the principles
of political economy and the science of wealth, who complained of this.
increase of population as a national misfortune. It was better, they
said, to have an increase in their herds of cattle than in the number of
men. This they did, not comprehending that in these millions, prop-
erly employed, were dormant the nation's strength and wealth.
Another example of the prevailing ignorance of political economy at
this time was the attempt by legislation to regulate the price of commod-
ities and the rate of wages. As late as the time of Charles II. certain
magistrates were empowered to determine the rate of wages to be paid
farm laborers in their respective counties. This indicates that even at
this period existed a controversy between handicraftmen and cupidity.
In 1496 and 1514 certain laws were enacted with a view to keeping down
the wage-rates of England. This shows that during this time the wage-
workers were deprived of a voice in public affairs, and that their em-
ployers used their power to oppress their employés. In 1500 the wages
of master masons were 6d a day. Their wages had doubled in 1575, and
in 1590 their wages had increased to 1s 2d. During the same period the
wages of the common laborer advanced from 6d to 10d a day. In 1544
the sailors of the royal navy had their wages advanced from 5s to 6s 8d
per month. An advance in the wage-rates at this time was experienced
in all other trades and professions. The cause assigned for this was the
gradual rise in the price of provisions, rent and clothing. This state of
affairs demonstrates that the people had become more numerous, that
215
216
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
they were more luxurious and demanded better accommodations. Wheat
is said to have advanced from 3s 4d a quarter in 1485 to 17s in 1589. In
1596 the price of this grain was £2 2s a quarter. In the previous cen-
tury one hundred eggs sold for 6d, and all other farm produce was
equally low.
At the beginning of this period the houses of laborers were of mud,
and those of the farmers generally of timber. A wealthy man was that
human who had half a dozen pewter dishes in his house. Indeed the
lodgings of the lower and middle classes were uniformly inelegant and
comfortless.
The yeomanry of the period were satisfied with beds of straw and
pillows of chaff. The lowly farm servant, on the other hand, was satisfied
to recline his weary form on a heap of straw without even a coverlet.
The bread of the wage-laborer was generally of rye, barley or oats, and
sometimes of peas or beans. The wealthy alone could taste wheaten
bread.
"The agricultural laborer, by the evening fireside, made his own
shoes, or prepared the yokes and plowing gear for his oxen.” The
farmer's wife winnowed the corn, made malt and hay, and did the wash-
ing for her family. If required so to do by her husband, she would
assist to fill the muck-wain, to drive the plow, load hay or corn, or go to
the market with the products of the farm.
The father of the great Latimer was a farmer. He says that when a
boy, his father rented a farm at £4 a year, and that he employed upon it
six men. At the time he was writing, however, the same farm rented for £16
a year, and the yeoman who farmed it "could do nothing for his prince,
himself, or his children; nor could he scarce give a cup of drink to the
poor."
On the dispersion of Cromwell's army, writes Macaulay, so upright
was the character of the men that even the Royalists confessed that in
every department of honest industry they prospered beyond other men.
No member of that famous army was ever charged with the commission
of a theft or robbery; nor was one of them ever known to ask alms. If
a wagoner, a mason, or a baker, by his diligence and sobriety, attracted
notice, he was in all probability an old soldier of the Puritan army.
In 1685 the produce of the farm was more valuable than any and all
fruits of human industry. Notwithstanding this, farming was in a very
imperfect and rude state. It was estimated by the best political arith-
meticians of that period that the arable and pastural lands of England.
did not amount to more than one-half of the area of the country. Im-
LABOR IN ENGLAND.
217
mense tracts of the country were wild or waste lands. Large numbers
of the agricultural laborers were without employment, and in their
despair resorted to theft and robbery. Certain authors mention these
unfortunate men as roaming the country in predatory bands, taking
by force what was denied them as the legitimate fruit of their
industry.
The most numerous class of manual laborers at this time were those
who held the plow, drove the oxen, manipulated the looms of Norwich,
and squared the posts and stones for St. Paul's. The information in
relation to these classes is extremely meager; and this for the reason that
men did not then regard it as their duty to talk and write about the dis-
tress of the laborer. Four-fifths of people engaged in agricultural pur-
suits. Farm-laborers were paid four shillings a week. Weavers received
at this time six cents a day. So disproportionate was the laboring popu-
lation to the wage fund then, that if the farm-laborer or weaver objected
to his pittance as insufficient, he was told he might take it or leave it. In
fact, the more the history of the past is studied, the more clear it
becomes that our own age is no more fruitful of labor evils than were
other eras or times. Indeed, labor troubles are not new, but old. "That
which is new is the intelligence which discerns, and the humanity which
remedies them. We find that the wages of the bricklayer, of the mason,
of the carpenter and the plumber, have advanced during the last 120
years. Measured in money, in 1685 wages were not more than one-half of
what they are today." The rabble of London were wont to gather together
every evening in the center of Lincoln's Inn Field. There they assembled
within hearing of Cardigan and Winchester House, to witness dog-fights,
see bear-dances, and listen to the harangues of mountebanks. In every
part of this space were deposited heaps of filth and refuse matter. In
this locality also the beggars were wont to congregate, and were as noisy
and importunate as in the worst governed cities of continental Europe.
"The whole fraternity knew the arms and liveries of every charitably
disposed grandee in the neighborhood, and as soon as his coach and six
appeared, came hopping and crawling in crowds to persecute him." There
was a noisy and filthy market in Covent Garden, in close proximity to
the mansions of the rich and noble. Under their very windows screamed
the fruit-women, and the cartmen fought. At the threshold of the
palaces of the Countess of Berkshire and Bishop of Durham, accumulated
heaps of cabbage stalks and rotten apples. Such being the condition of
the fashionable parts of London, what must have been the state and
appearance of the lowly and less pretentious portions of the metropolis.
218
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
The homes of the artisan, the mechanic and the laborer were squalid in
appearance, and noisome and filthy within.
Child-labor was then prevalent, and a child six years of age was not
deemed too tender for labor. Several authorities state that at Norwich,
child-labor augmented the wealth of the city annually by more than
£12,000.
Prior to the revolution, thousands of square miles of land, now
under cultivation, were heath, forest and marsh. Much of this land was
considered as common, and many poor peasants settled upon these tracts
as squatters. Here, by toiling early and late, the poor squatter managed
to eke out a subsistence for his family, and fuel for the winter. With
the increase of population and the progress of agriculture the poor
squatter was deprived of even these poor privileges.
In 1771, in the north of England, harvest hands were paid 60 cents
a week and board; in haying time from 1s and 6d to 2s per week
and board and beer; for hoeing turnips 5s and 6d per week, and
for ditching 6d to 9d per week. It is said that the average
annual earning of the farm laborer of Northern England in 1771 was
£18. In the next year, it is estimated to have been £10, and in 1773
to have been from £7 to £9. In 1771 a boy of ten or twelve years was
paid 28 and 6d a week.
Until 1872, Somersetshire probably presented the worst aspects of the
farm laborer in England. This was true of wages, cottages and the
general treatment of the rural peasantry. But the condition of Somer-
setshire, in this respect, was fairly representative of rural England. Mr.
Francis George Heath, in his excellent work on English Peasantry, gives
the following statement of a Somersetshire farm laborer: "John.
received from his employer between Lady-day, 1871, and Lady-day, 1872,
£19 16s 6d for piece work (hedging, draining, turnip-hoeing, mowing
and harvesting) and £12 for day work, at 10s a week, inclusive of
twenty-one days lost time on account of bad weather. Thus this young
English laborer's total year's income was £31 16s. 6d., besides three pints.
of cider on six days of the week and none on Sunday. Let us now turn
to the debit side of this account, and the items shall be furnished by
John's wife, a careful and notable woman for you must know that
John has a wife and four children to provide for out of his earnings.
Rent, 2s. a week, £5 4s.; poor rates, 7s. 6d.; tithes, 1s. 6d.; 1 cwt. of
coal per week, £2 12s; one year's shoes for the family, and mending, £2
5s.; bread, 4s. 6d. per week, £11 14s.; one quarter of an acre of potato.
ground, £2; seed potatoes £1; club pay, 12s.; soap, 10s. 10d.; tea, 3d.
LABOR IN ENGLAND.
219
per week, 13s.; candles, 20 weeks, 7s. 6d.; 1 quarter pound of butter a
week, 17s. 4d.; half a pound treacle, 6s. 6d.; broom and salt, 2s.; two
cups and saucers, 4d.; four plates and mugs, 1s. 4d.; four children's
schooling, at 1d. per week, 17s. 4d.; tools, scythe, two hooks, whet-
stones, pick-axe, two shovels, cross-axe, spade, turnip hoe, £1 12s. 10d.;
repairing of these tools, 5s. 3d-total, £31 13s. 9d.; leaving a balance of
2s. 9d. to buy the family butcher's meat, clothing and other absolute
necessaries, for which, if procured at all, the village shop-keeper and the
traveling packman must be the sufferers. John is in hope of being
better off, for his master (a guardian) has promised to try and get him a
shilling or two a week from the union; but he says he must first see the
doctor, and get some of his family upon the sick-list." Mr. Heath took
this statement from a local newspaper, and he remarks that John's wages
were exceptionally high.
Somersetshire has a beautiful landscape. The loveliness of its scenery
but serves to contrast more sharply the wretchedness of its farm-laborers.
This should not have been, as the soil is rich and the shire was
thinly populated. The county contained an area of 149,815 statute
acres. In 1871 it had a population of 463,483 persons. This was an
average of 2.27 acres to a person. Another example is given of a farm
laborer of Somersetshire who, although seventy-seven years of age, worked
day after day from 6 in the morning until 6 at night, for which he was
paid 78. per week. From this pittance the old man paid 1s. 6d. per week
for cottage rent, thus leaving but 5s. 6d. with which to buy his food and
clothing. In the same neighborhood, where lived this old man, skilled
laborers were paid not more than 11s. or 12s. per week.
The habitations of the English farm-laborer in Somersetshire were
wretched in the extreme. Many of them had a total length of but
twenty-one feet, and a width of nine feet, while the height at the ex-
treme point of the thatched roof did not exceed ten feet. The walls
were about six feet high. A medium-sized man could not stand upright
in these hovels. Sometimes these huts would be divided into two
compartments, one of which would be used for a bed-room and the other
for a sitting-room. Each of these apartments did not exceed nine feet
square. Think for a moment of a father, mother, and perhaps a half
dozen children, all sleeping in a room nine feet square. These cottages.
were constructed of mud with roofs of thatch, and floors of rough, un-
even stone flagging. Usually there were crevices between the flags
through which, during wet weather, the moisture would arise and
dampen the atmosphere of the lowly habitation. For these squalid hov-
220
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
els, a rent of 1s., 6d. per week was paid. Many are the families in the
west of England that never taste a mouthful of meat from one year's end
to another; sometimes the combined earnings of the whole family would
scarcely supply the members with bread. Families of ten, thirteen and
fifteen have been known to reside in one apartment twelve feet square.
"An old table, and perhaps a broken chair in addition would constitute
in most cases the only articles of what could scarcely be called furniture.
Seldom a vestige of carpet on the floor. A few bedclothes, perhaps, hud-
dled down in one corner. At night these had to be distributed amongst
the several members of the family, who, lying about on different parts
of the floor, could not possibly in cold weather get a reasonable amount
of warmth." Instances are related of farm-laborers in the west of Eng-
land who had nothing to eat but dry bread for breakfast, dry bread for
dinner, and bread moistened with water and seasoned with salt for supper.
Captivating pictures have been painted by distinguished artists of the
ivy-grown cottages of England, and novelists have written and poets
have sung the lowly yet picturesque homes of the English farm-laborer.
Undoubtedly there are many scenes in an English landscape pleasing to
the eye, and none could be more so than the whitewashed wall and low
thatched roof of a cottage, creeper-bound, overgrown with ivy, and em-
bowered amid blossoming orchards, and all over-arched by the glory of
an early summer sky. As Mrs. Hemans has so sweetly said:
"The cottage homes of England,
By thousands on her plains,
They are smiling o'er the silvery brook,
And round the hamlet fanes."
But distance lends enchantment to the view. What is so picturesque
without, is squalid and dismal within. Fiction is captivating, but the
stern reality of the farm-laborer's life is but poorly compensated by an
appeal to the ideal. A volume could be written containing innumerable
instances of the wretched condition of the farm-laborer of England.
Those we have given are illustrative of a condition of affairs existing
throughout the west of England in 1872.
In many parts of England the farm-laborer is supposed to begin his
days' work at seven o'clock in the morning, and to end it about half-
past five in the evening. In general, however, he more frequently
begins his daily task at half-past four a. m., and does not conclude it
until eight or nine o'clock p. m. It is said that in harvest time, both
hay and corn, work is sometimes prolonged until midnight.
In North Devon fuel was obtained by "grubbing up" hedge roots.
LABOR IN ENGLAND.
221
The farm-laborer was not permitted to keep a pig or poultry, because, it
was thought, it would be a temptation for him to steal their food. In
this shire the peasant could rent potato ground from the farmer at a
rack rent from four to five times larger than the rent paid to the land-
owner.
Canon Girdlestone, conspicuous for his efforts in behalf of the agri-
cultural peasantry of England, says that in certain sections of that
country the farm-laborer has for breakfast a "tea-kettle broth," made
by pouring hot water upon several slices of dry bread, and seasoning the
sop with a pinch of salt, to which is occasionally added an onion. For
supper the laborer eats bread and skim-milk cheese. His dinner con-
sists, as a rule, of potatoes and cabbage, sometimes flavored with a tiny
piece of bacon.
The indifference of the tenant farmers of England to the wretched-
ness of their laborers approaches inhumanity. The following examples
of this brutal apathy are related by Mr. Heath, author of "The Romance
of Peasant Life":
"FACT No. 1.—A carter saved a valuable team for his master, a
farmer, by rushing at the horses' heads when the animals had one day
taken fright at something and were running away. The man fell, in
doing so, under one of the wheels of the wagon. His ribs were broken,
but his bravery saved the wagon and team. For two months he was
confined to his bed, during the whole of which time the farmer (master)
refused to give him one sixpence in wages, and the man had nothing
but what he got from the rates. Canon Girdlestone, one day during this
laborer's illness, met the master, and asked him to give the poor fellow
a quart of milk occasionally for his children, whilst he remained unable
to work for them. The Canon reminded the farmer that the laborer
had been maimed in his service, and that he had saved him a valuable
team of horses. The Canon added that the milk was a trifle, which
would not be missed. Will it be credited? This farmer, who was a sub-
stantial yeoman, refused to give his poor injured servant either the
milk he was asked to give or anything else, and he never even went to
see him.
"FACT NO. 2.- Another carter in the employ of a Halberton
farmer was crushed by a restive horse in his master's stable through no
fault of the man. The carter was laid up. His wages were immediately
stopped by his master, who refused to give him any sort of assistance.
This was not all. The man occupied a cottage belonging to his master,
and being a carter he held his cottage, rent free, as a part of his wages.
222
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
During the whole of the time that he was disabled, he was not merely
refused a single penny of wages, but the rent of his cottage was charged
to him, and the amount was deducted each week from the wages of his
son, who worked for the same farmer.
"FACT No. 3.—A carter in the employ of a Halberton farmer, was
sent by his master on a long journey to a distant place. The journey
took him twenty hours. The master, a man of substance, refused to
give him anything for his additional work beyond a bit of bread and beef
and four pence.
""
It was in 1868 that Canon Girdlestone proposed the establishment of
a national union of agricultural laborers. The actual movement com-
menced in 1872. On the 29th day of May, 1872, at Leamington, was
formed the National Agricultural Laborers' Union. Its objects were
stated: 1. "To improve the general condition of agricultural laborers
in the United Kingdom." 2. "To encourage the formation of branch
and district unions." 3. "To promote coöperation and communi-
cation between unions already in existence." In 1874 there were
branches of the union in every county in England, except Cumber-
land, Westmoreland, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cheshire and Cornwall.
There were then 1,000 branches, with a membership of not less than
100,000.
We have now considered the condition of the farm-laborer at some
length. Our study would be incomplete without an allusion to the
farmer, his master. And this for the reason that not only is the farmer
immediately interested in manual toil, but an intimate relation exists.
between his condition and that of the farm-laborer. Few, if any, of the
farmers of England own the land they cultivate. The law does not
compensate them for permanent improvements made upon the land.
Should they, therefore, expend large sums in draining and enriching a
farm, it would be without the hope of remuneration. As a result the land
is cultivated excessively and without any attempt to recuperate the soil
by the use of fertilizers. This method of agriculture is, of course,
improvident and reckless. True it is in some parts of England land
receives a very high state of cultivation; but generally "there is room
for an enormous increase in its food-producing capabilities. One
authority states that there is an annual food deficit amounting in value
to £80,000,000, which is supplied by imports. The condition of farm
tenancies in England has been such as to discourage capital from invest-
ing in agricultural enterprises. So palpable has this evil become that
it has elicited the attention of English statesmen. On this subject Mr.
LABOR IN ENGLAND.
223
James Howard once said before the Social Science Congress, held at
Norwich in October, 1874:
"How more capital is to be attracted to land is the great problem to
be solved, and looking to the signs of the times, the outcry at the price
of meat, and the uneasiness manifested in what is popularly called the
land question, I think it desirable that no more time should be lost, but
that the difficulty shall be looked fairly in the face by the legislature;
for in the event of a reversal in the tide of the nation's prosperity, the
question may be solved in a rougher fashion than any well-wisher of his
country would desire. Much good would unquestionably ensue from
amendments in our laws with respect to ownership, devolution and
transfers of land, but no such interest would, in my opinion, have so
great and immediate an influence in encouraging the embarkation in
the higher cultivation of the land as an equitable law securing to the
tenant an interest in the outlay of his capital.
"According to the present law of England whatever property a ten-
ant puts into or upon the land, becomes at once the property of the
landlord. No matter to what extent a tenant may have raised the
value of the estate he farms, the law takes no cognizance of any claim to
the property embarked. On the other hand, if the tenant should, by
improper or niggardly management, reduce the value of the farm he
occupies, the law gives the landlord the power to sue for dilapidation or
deterioration. It is true the right is not enforced, but so long as it
remains the condition of the law is one-sided and unjust.
"The capital of the tenantry of this country is indispensable to the
cultivation of the soil. The landed proprietors could no more do
without the tenantry than could the farmers dispense with the laborer.
Is it therefore wise that the state should ignore the property of so indis-
pensable a class, and permit a law to remain which allows the land-owner
to appropriate to himself the improvements and property of his tenants,
without acknowledgment or compensation? So long as such a law re-
mains will the application of capital to farming be checked, and, as a con-
sequence, the production of food for the people be curtailed. As is well
known capital is proverbially shy. Every mercantile man knows full
well that the primary condition in every undertaking to which it is sought
to attract capital is security.
"The question may be asked, 'Is legislation after all necessary? Will
not a good understanding between landlord and tenant accomplish all
that is desired? At all events should not the landlord and tenant be
left to make their own agreements? Are not leases the proper remedy?'
224
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
To such questions I would simply reply: These are the very arguments
which have been used for a generation past, and yet three-fourths of
the land of England continues to be held subject to a six months'
notice to quit, and in the great majority of cases without compensation
for either permanent or unexhausted improvements. I would further
point to the fact that capital which flows so plentifully into other
branches of industry and into enterprises of every kind, both home
and foreign, yet remains unattracted toward agriculture, and that not
one-half the capital is employed in agriculture which its development
requires.
"I would also call attention to the fact that the advantage of a
legal tenant-right law can be estimated by the example already existing in
this country. The flourishing condition of the agriculture of Lan-
cashire is proverbial. In no part of the world has agriculture made
greater strides than in that county. In no part of England or Scot-
land is there to be found so wealthy and prosperous a tenantry. No-
where are the agricultural laborers better off, and in no county have
the estates of the landlords been so enriched by the outlay of the
tenants' capital. In Lincolnshire a tenant-right custom has grown up
and been in operation for two or three generations. Under this equit-
able system, which has the force of law, the outgoing tenant has the
right to claim for improvements he has made. Customs, however, are
of slow growth, and, notwithstanding the acknowledged advantages of the
Lincolnshire customs, and the efforts to establish them in other parts,
they have not extended beyond the limits of that county, and nothing
short of an act of parliament will bring the whole country under the
operation of a custom which has proved so beneficial to all classes con-
cerned. The suggested remedy of leases may be dismissed with a few
brief remarks. Leases have unquestionably an advantage over yearly
tenancies. But it is a question with which the state can not interfere.
The state can not say to the land-owner, 'You shall grant leases,' but .
it is quite within the functions of the state that, whether held under a
lease or yearly tenancy, the landlord shall be liable to the tenant on his
quitting for the property he may have to leave behind him in or upon
the land. The disadvantages of the system of leases are well known and
are forcibly expressed by McNeil Caird in an address to the Scottish Cham-
ber of Agriculture, in which is the following statement: On a seven-
course farm held on a nineteen years' lease, you may reckon that the
last five years will be a period of reduced expenditure by the outgoing
tenant and of exhaustive cropping. Then the first seven years of the

V. hoffmeyer.
State Master Workman of the States' Assembly of California.
NIL
OF
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LABOR IN ENGLAND.
225
new lease will be a period of liberal expenditure and gradual restoration
of productive power. For the next seven years you may expect the
farm, unless it has been greatly reduced, to be in full fertility; and then
begins again the evil cycle of exhaustion. You will have on the individual
farm seven years of Egyptian fatness, alternating with periods of com-
parative leanness; but the lean years will be in the proportion of twelve
to seven.' Mr. Caird shows most conclusively how much the country
suffers, even under the Scotch system of leases, by the absence of a legal
tenant-right. I am therefore disposed to ask with Sir John Packing-
ton, 'Why, under a well-regulated system of land tenure, we should not
allow leases and tenant-right to go together;' but by tenant-right I do
not mean what the honorable baronet means a permissive right — but
a right secured by law, and not dependent on the will of another.
"As to the question propounded, and which is often asked, 'Should
not landlord and tenant be left free to make their own agreements ?' I
am fully aware how much is to be said against over-legislation, and in
favor of the principle of freedom of contract; but I hold that so far as the
hiring and tilling of land is concerned, the expression 'freedom of con-
tract,' like many other comprehensive brevities, is simply a figure of
speech. The land of England is circumscribed; the farmers are many,
and the race is prolific. The land-owners are in possession of a monop-
oly, and as a rule, can and do dictate their own conditions, which
conditions are not unfrequently injurious to the public interest. Every
man who has to hire a farm knows full well that he is not on equal con-
tracting terms with the owner. The freedom he enjoys is mainly that
of refusing the farm, of which, after great efforts, he may have succeeded
in obtaining the offer, and which, perhaps, a score of his neighbors stand
ready to take, no matter what are the conditions imposed if the rent is
not too exorbitant.
*
*
*
"It would not be difficult to show, apart from the Irish Land Act, how
often legislation has, in a variety of ways, interferred, and that wisely,
with freedom of contract; and how the law, in cases where the parties
are not on equal terms, restrains the stronger from securing an unfair
advantage. But to go into this question would swell my paper to undue
proportions. I cannot but think that the majority of land-owners and
land agents take an erroneous view of tenant right, and the feeling dis-
played upon the subject of the bill I introduced last session was wholly
unnecessary. One of our largest land proprietors expressed to me fears
as to the operation of the compensation clauses. I asked him how many
tenants on his great estate he parted with in a year. He at once saw
226
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
my point, and replied, 'Why, now you remind me, the fact occurs to
me that I rarely have a farm to let.' I then dwelt upon the fact that
the bill affected only outgoing tenants, and that the amount of compen-
sation, as a landlord, he might be called upon for, as compared with his
rentals, would be infinitesimal, whilst every tenant on his estate would
be encouraged to spend money in its improvement; and this would be
the case on the great bulk of the estates throughout the kingdom.
However, it is not upon the ground of justice to the tenant, nor of
advantage to the landlord, that I advocate legislative interference, but
upon the broader ground of the public good. To my mind, the case
stands thus: We have a limited area on which to raise the food of the
people. We have a populatiou fast growing in numbers and in purchas-
ing power. Our fields and homesteads do not yield the amount of food
of which they are susceptible. The chief impediment to increased pro-
duction is want of capital. To attract the necessary amount of capital.
security is indispensable; and judging by the experience of the past, and
the present condition of our agriculture, this can only be accomplished
by the state stepping in, and recognizing the claim of the tenant to the
property he may have put into or upon the land of another, and what he
may be called upon to leave behind him; for if we find a difficulty in
feeding thirty millions of people, how shall we be able to meet the wants.
of fifty millions?-a population which, at no distant day, will have to
be provided for."
This quotation from Mr. Howard's able paper is copious. Indeed, its
very amplitude may be made the subject of criticism. A careful perusal
of its contents, however, by the critic will discover that argument and
information are so inextricably interwoven that to attempt a separation.
of these elements would mar the composition and deprive it of a force of
expression that cannot be bettered. We have found it difficult, in a wide
and varied course of reading on this subject, to find any one effort that
within the same compass affords so complete a view of the English tenant
farmer and his needs as the essay of the Hon. Mr. Howard. Subsequent
legislation has remedied some of the evils experienced by the tenant far-
mer in England, and a general tendency now exists in public opinion to
favor, in every practicable way, the interests of the agriculturists.
Before dismissing this branch of our topic, we will now recur briefly
to the farm-laborer. It should be remarked that within the past dozen
years there has been a general improvement in his condition. Until the
year 1872, the condition of the poor farm-laborer in England was anom-
alous when compared with the general status of English society. In
LABOR IN ENGLAND.
227
every other industry the manual laborer had benefited by the great in-
crease in national wealth and the wonderful advance in all that consti-
tutes material progress. The mechanic, the artisan and the manufac-
turing operative had for years been enjoying a rate of wages that per-
mitted them to participate measurably in the comforts and luxuries of
modern civilization. This class, taught by the spirit of the age, knew
their rights, and "knowing them, dared maintain." As the result of or-
ganization and concerted action, the English mechanic had compelled
his employer to respect manhood, as such, and to concede to the em-
ployé a more equitable share of the results of his toil.
The condition of the farm-laborer alone had not been influenced by
the forces of the time. His status was the same as it had been for cen-
turies. In the general march of events he had been left behind and
forgotten. So quiescent had been his character, so patient his lot, so
unmurmuring his fate, that the world was wont to think that he had
no rights his fellow men were bound to respect. But even this wretched
member of the toiling masses responded to the currents in movement
around him. It dawned upon him, at last, that he, too, should be ac-
corded the privileges that had been won by his brother in the mechanical
arts. Here and there would be an observing and reading man, like
Arch, who realized that this could be accomplished only by united effort.
The time came! The blow was struck! The farm-laborer was victori-
ous. It was in Warwickshire, in February and March, 1872, that the
farm-laborer first made a determined organized demand of his employer
for an increase of wages. At first the tenant farmer was astounded at
what he considered the temerity or audacity of his employé. Quickly,
however, astonishment gave way to anger in the breast of the obdurate
English farmer. He determined to resist the demands of those he had
learned to view as his legitimate victims. A duel ensued, in which endur-
ance on one side and obstinacy on the other were the weapons em-
ployed. Had the combatants been left to wage the conflict without inter-
ruption from the outside world, the farm-laborer would have fared ill
indeed. In a contest so unequal, indigence must have succumbed to
plenty, poverty to wealth, weakness to strength. Strange to relate, how-
ever, the movement awakened a lively interest throughout the British
realm. Sermons were preached, speeches were made, pamphlets and
tracts were printed, editorials written, essays published, and all with one
accord advocating the cause of the Warwickshire farm-laborer. Encour-
agement came from every part of her majesty's empire and money found
its way in generous volumes to the pocket of the farm-hand. So wide-
228
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
spread and intense was this public opinion, that it was more in recogni-
tion of its voice than to the dictates of self-interest that the farmer
finally acquiesced in the demands of the laborer. Thus was the "long
lane of semi-starvation and misery" brought to an end. At last, the
"feudal grip had relaxed its hold." At last was the farm-laborer shoul-
der to shoulder with his brother in other industries.
Thus far our remarks have been confined to the tenant farmer and
his employé. But interest in agriculture is not confined to these classes.
Many of the nobility give their attention to this industry, and their
beautiful estates adorn every part of "Merrie England." Thirty years
ago the Duke of Bedford and the Duke of Portland were conspicuous
examples of agriculture, enterprise and improvement. The former had
at Woburn Abbey no less than 20,000 acres in one body. He had
eighteen thousand acres of redeemed land, and had under his own
management through the year more than four hundred laborers. For
many years, on his various estates, he laid two hundred miles of pipe
drain every year. Today, however, it is a question who among the
English nobility take the lead, not merely as patrons of husbandry, but as
large farmers.
Extensive estates are farmed according to the best meth-
ods and with the most improved implements by the Duke of Devonshire,
the Duke of Norfolk, the Duke of Buccleuch, the Earl of Dudley, and
the Marquis of Bute. The late Sir Thomas Baring, a man of immense
wealth, did much to improve the condition of the farm-laborers of
Hampshire. It has been observed that in times past ignorance and
intemperance permeated the laboring classes of England. Drunkenness,
however, is said to be disappearing gradually from under the influence of
humanitarian teaching and the general improvement in the condition of
the laborer. Within twenty years strenuous efforts have been made to
educate the children of the lower classes. Important steps in this direc-
tion are the compulsory educational act and the establishment of the
school board.
We have now reached a point in our studies where something should
be said of the artisan, mechanic and laborer of today in England. In
speaking of the English mechanic and operative, the mind at once.
recalls the names of Manchester, Burlingham, Sheffield, Nottingham,
Newcastle and Leeds. It is said that the hand-made nail manufacture
of Birmingham has languished for some time, and, consequently, many
of the operatives are idle. But the general condition of those who are
employed is comparatively good. Much attention has been given to
artisan dwellings, and many are the reading-rooms and coffee-houses.
LABOR IN ENGLAND.
229
that have been established for the enlightenment and comfort of the
operative. They are paid weekly in sterling money, and are permitted.
to purchase their supplies where their best interests dictate. Leeds is
the center of the cloth trade of England, although there are glass-bottle
factories and iron refineries. Wages in the various industries are low
compared with those of the United States, yet it is said that during the
last six years there has been an improvement in this respect, as well as
in the general condition of the working people. As to Manchester,
American work-people could not live under the conditions enforced
there among operatives. There, whole families reside in the mills, and
are contented with their homes. Children are compelled to help pay
the family expenses.
Many of the houses contain but one room, and this serves as kitchen,
dining-room, sitting-room, and sometimes bed-room. Great numbers of
the dwellings are small, and large families are crowded within their
walls. There are some eighty thousand females employed in the manu-
facturing industries of Manchester and Salford. It has not been observed
that the effect of female employment in Manchester has been to lower
the wages paid to the males. The characteristic industry of Newcastle-
on-Tyne is coal-mining. The number of miners employed in the mines of
Northumberland and Durham in 1883 were 80,127. Co-operation has
an interesting history in Northumberland, Durham, Cumberland, West-
moreland and York. In 1883, the co-operative union for the northern
section of England had a membership of 97,493, with a share capital of
$3,475,000, and a loan capital of $2,235,000. The value of land,
buildings and fixed stock amounted to $1,405,000 paid. The sale of
goods during the year amounted to $16,385,000; the net profits to
$1,739,000; of which, $7,200 were applied to educational, and $2,700 to
charitable purposes. The principal industry at Nottingham is the mak-
ing of lace goods and hosiery. As far as wage rates and food prices are
concerned, there has not been any appreciable change since 1878, which
year marked the end of a long year of depression. Tunstall is conspicu-
ous for the manufacture of earthenware. The wages carned in the
Staffordshire potteries range from $6.28 to $11.55 per week. Of the
fifty thousand persons employed in this industry, twenty-five thousand
are females, and the wages range all the way from 60 cents to $4.87 per
week. In Tunstall technical schools have been established for the artis-
tic education of females. It may be said generally of the manual laborer
of England that he is less intelligent than the corresponding class in the
United States; that he is not as self-respecting as his American brother,
230
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
and his wages are less. He is less receptive and attentive of ideas,
requires more oversight and direction, and accomplishes less in a day.
The following description of a manufactory in Manchester is typical
of those structures in other English cities, and therefore will be given in
full: "The outside was dingy and dirty, the inside was of unfinished brick
or stone; the walls, floors, stairs, all of one or the other of these mater-
ials; no wood work to be seen except in the window-frames, doors and
machinery. The floors were slippery with oil, the walls covered with
dust and hung with cobwebs, and the windows cracked, broken and
shattered. The operatives were generally younger than those employed
in the mills of our own country (America) and would bear no compari-
son with that industrious, cheerful and intelligent class of our popula-
tion. They were very poorly dressed and very dirty. The comparison
between our own cotton manufactories and those in Manchester is
altogether favorable to our country. The condition and char-
acter of the operatives, the construction and convenience of the mills,
the compensation paid for labor, and the pleasure derived by the laborer
from his toils, all far exceed, in our system, the same particulars in the
English system. I noticed that the several rooms into which I entered
were very poorly ventilated. The comfort and convenience of the oper-
atives seemed not to have entered the minds of the employer, in many
of these establishments; and as you see many of the operatives, with
bare feet, and shivering limbs, gliding over the cold brick floor, you feel
justly proud of the more enviable position of operatives in the United
States."
In London the honest and self-respecting laborer has always found it
difficult to obtain good tenements at reasonable rents, and the result
has been that his necessities have frequently cast him into the vilest
haunts of vice, disease and filth. The effect has been, ofttimes, to pollute
his children in mind and body.
It was to obviate this crying evil, and to set an example for other men
of benevolent tendencies, that the Peabody fund was established. Mr.
Peabody's object was to assist that class of laborious poor who occupy
the position above the pauper, to furnish them with comfortable tene-
ments in healthy localities and at reasonable rates.
At Islington 155 tenements were constructed on a plan that would ac-
commodate 650 persons, or nearly 200 families. These buildings, together
with the land, cost $1,580,000. In these buildings the greatest care
was taken to insure good ventilation and drainage. Dust and refuse are
removed by means of shafts which descend from corridor to corridor
LABOR IN ENGLAND.
231
<
until the basement cellar is reached. Water is distributed to the
various apartments by pipes from cisterns on the roof. There are
bath-rooms, laundries and lofts for common use for all inmates.
There are ample and airy spaces which serve as a play-ground for
the children. For one room a weekly rent is charged of two shillings
and six pence, or about sixty cents; for two rooms, $1; for three
rooms, $1.25. Out of the same fund houses of a similar plan were con-
structed at Spitalfield. It is said that more than 200 persons took posses-
sion the first month, and among this number were charwomen, monthly-
nurses, basket-makers, butchers, carpenters, firemen, laborers, porters,
omnibus-drivers, tailors, seamstresses, shoemakers, waiters, warehouse
men, turners, stay-makers, sawyers, printers, painters, laundresses, let-
ter-carriers, artificial flower-makers, dressmakers, cabinet-makers and
book-binders. Col. Forney observed that the contrast between the con-
dition of the occupants of the Peabody buildings and the miserable
houses around was painful in the extreme. In the latter case there
were sometimes seven human beings crowded into one room. Contrast
this for a moment with the airy and comfortable quarters of Mr. Pea-
body's tenants; with the neat kitchen and comfortable bedrooms; the
fine play-ground for the children; the garden for common cultivation
and common use; the work-shops for such of the men as might
prefer working on the premises. It is to be hoped that Providence
may raise up a host of Peabodys for the sake of the London wage-
worker.
In concluding this branch of our subject, we cannot refrain from giv-
ing Mr. Laing's comment on the general condition of the English wage-
workers:
"The actual operative in Great Britain has no prospect before him.
He may save a few hundred pounds by unceasing industry and sobriety;
but why should he save it? This little saved capital-call it thousands
instead of hundreds of pounds sterling-can do nothing in the present
state of our traffic and manufactures, in competition with vast capitals,
accumulated by long inheritance, preoccupying every branch of industry
and manufacture, and producing far cheaper than he can do with his
trifling means. Land, by the effect of the privileges accorded to that
kind of property, and of the expense of title deeds, is out of his reach as
much as trade and manufacture; there being no small estates in Great
Britain, generally speaking, which a laboring or middle-class man could
purchase and sit down upon with his family to live as a working yeoman
or peasant proprietor; and thus small capitals, when they are accumu-
232
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
lated, are forced into trade and manufacture, although every branch ist
always supplied with the means of producing.
What can a man turn to who has a little capital of three or four
thousand pounds? What can he enter into without any reasonable pros-
pect of not losing his little capital in his most honest and prudent ef-
forts? And what can the workingman do but spend his earnings in
drink, and fall into a reckless and improvident way of living, when he
sees clearly that every avenue to an independent condition is, by the
power of great capital, shut against him? A vassalage in manufacture
and trade is succeeding the vassalage in land; and the serf of the loom
is in a lower and more helpless condition than the serf of the glebe, be-
cause his condition appears to be, not merely the effect of an artificial and
faulty social economy, like the feudal, which may be remedied, but to
be the unavoidable effects of natural causes.
"The feudalization going on in our manufacturing social economy
is very conspicuous in some of the great cotton factories.
The mas-
ter manufacturer, in some districts, who employs eight hundred or one
thousand hands, deals in reality only with some fifty or sixty sub-vas-
sals, or operative cotton spinners, as they are technically called, who
undertake the working of so many looms or spinning jennies. They
hire and pay the men, women and children, who are the real operatives,
grinding their wages down to the lowest rate, and getting the highest
they can out of the master manufacturer. A strike is often the oper-
ation of the middle men, and productive of little benefit to, and even
against the will, of the actual workmen."
This is a dark picture, indeed, painted by Mr. Laing. It is too true,
undoubtedly, to a certain extent, but we have great faith in that
"divinity which shapes our ends, rough-hew them as we may." In the
affairs of men there is a tendency which makes for righteousness, and we
believe that in the future of England there will be certain elements and
principles that will eventuate in the general progress and substantial
prosperity of her wage-workers.
In conclusion, we reach a consideration of the political status of the
British workman. There are two kinds of franchise in Great Britain,
and known comprehensively as the borough franchise and the county
franchise. Prior to 1832, the right rested upon the holding of freehold
property to the yearly value of $9.72.
As it exists today, the county franchise may be classified as follows:
The $243 rental franchise, the $58.32 rating franchise, and the
property franchise, consisting of a $9 or $24 freehold, or of a $24 copy-
LABOR IN ENGLAND.
233
hold or leasehold. There are six qualifications to the borough franchise,
as follows:
1. "The occupation of a dwelling-house, rated to the relief to the
poor, upon which the rates have been paid, according to the Acts of
1867, 1868, and 1869."
66
2. The occupation of any premises other than a dwelling-house,
rated to the poor, at not less than $48.60 per annum.'
3.
The occupation as sole tenant of lodgings of the annual value of
$50.00, if let unfurnished."
4. "The occupation as joint tenant with another person or persons,
of lodgings, the clear yearly value of which, if let unfurnished, is of an
amount which, when divided by the number of lodgers, gives a sum of
not less than $48.60 for each lodger."
66
5. Being registered as a freeman or free burgess, in any other
place than London."
6. "Being a fireman of the city of London, or a livery man belong-
ing to one of the city companies."
Until the recent franchise bill, the great bulk of the miners and
agricultural laborers of England could not vote. If the author is cor-
rectly informed, electoral rights have now been extended to miners,
gardeners, coachmen, agricultural laborers, and other servants belonging
to establishments. Today there are several workingmen in the British
parliament, and prominent among the number are Arch, Burt and
Broadhurst.
BANDMEN
CHAPTER III.-SCOTLAND.
EARLY INHABITANTS-FEUDALISM-SLAVERY AND SERFDOM COTTERS AND HUS-
WRETCHED CONDITION OF THE AGRICULTURAL CLASSES LAWLESS-
NESS AND OPPRESSION IN THE FIFTEENTH AND SIXTEENTH CENTURIES AGRI-
CULTURE AT THE PRESENT DAY-CONDITION OF THE FARM-LABORER THE
BOTHY SYSTEM-"FEE MARKETS"- FEMALE LABOR-DISAPPEARANCE OF THE
CROFTS AND INCREASE OF PAUPERISM - THE MECHANIC, ARTISAN AND OPERA-
TIVE CLASSES-THE DWELLINGS OF THE WAGE-WORKERS THE CO-OPERATIVE
BUILDING COMPANY.
TH
HE earliest inhabitants of Caledonia, as it was known to the Ro-
mans, were a race of savage men, so low in intelligence and manner
of life as to resemble the beasts of prey about them. These men dwelt
in caves and holes in the ground. In some of the caves inhabited by
these wild men, notably one on the Bay of Wick, and the Burness cave,
were certain relics indicating how they lived and the condition of the
mechanical arts among them. For a depth of three feet the floor of the
cave was filled with bones of the ox, sheep, pig, red deer, rabbit, otter,
fox, black rat, field mouse, birds and fish. These vestiges clearly show.
that not only was the flesh of wild beasts used for food, but also of those
animals now known as domestic. The fragments of many implements.
were also exhumed, such as needles, pins, pegs, awls, combs, spoons,
handles. All of the implements were extremely rude in design and
finish, and were made of bone, stone, bronze, iron and glass. Judging
from these vestiges, the mechanical arts were, with this people, in a prim-
itive state.
The races inhabiting Scotland at the dawn of her history were the
Picts and Scots. The Picts were composed of various tribes partially
united. They inhabited the whole of that part of Scotland lying north of the
firths of Forth and Clyde. The Picts were a nomad people, fierce, blood-
thirsty, intractable and warlike. With them it cannot be said that the
industrial arts existed. Near the close of the fifth, or near the begin-
ning of the sixth century, three sons of Ere, Lorn, Fergus and Angus,
with their followers and relatives, came to Scotland from the north of
Ireland. They were called Scots, and settled in the west of Scotland.
It has been maintained by certain Scotch historians that the Scots had
234
LABOR IN SCOTLAND.
235
a language and written literature, and were otherwise more civilized by
far than the Picts, the Britons and the Saxons. Be this as it may, it is
certain that the Scots cultivated the soil, had flocks and herds, and were
the first residents of Scotia to take upon themselves the character of a
nationality and establish the authority of a centralized government.
It was centuries, however, before the Picts and Scots assimilated, or
attained a condition of life known distinctively as civilized. Their
transitional state was tribal, and their habits nomadic. In the begin-
ning the land belonged to the tribe or local community rather than to
individuals. In time, individual rights in land were developed and
agriculture was practiced. Yet the chief wealth of the people was cattle,
and fines and tribute were paid in cows.
Division of labor was not a
€
feature of their society, and there were no manufactures, as we under-
stand the term. Each family had their own weaver, tailor, shoemaker
and carpenter. Their dwellings were constructed of wood, sometimes of
wicker-work, filled with turf or clay. For food, they ate flesh, fish,
venison, and kail and other vegetables. Such continued the condition.
of things during the ninth, tenth and eleventh centuries. Feudalism
first made its appearance in Scotland during the twelfth century, and by
the end of the thirteenth century was generally established throughout
the country. The feudal system has been elsewhere described. We will
now only speak of such features as were peculiar to Scotland. During
the twelfth and thirteenth centuries there were slaves in Scotland.
They were bought and sold like horses and cattle. Their condition was
one of toil and suffering. Oppressed and plundered by their masters,
they were ever on the verge of starvation, and oftentimes experienced the
pangs of famine. The power of the lord or master over his serf or slave
was absolute.
There were no free farmers holding the land by lease for a term of
years.
The farmers were but tenants at will or from year to year, and
paid to their lords the major portion of the annual crop. Arable lands
were classified into ploughgates, husbandlands and oxgates. The oxgate
was thirteen acres; the ploughgate was about four hundred and sixteen
acres; twenty-six acres composed the husbandland. The lowest inhab-
itants of the grange lands were the serfs. This class were transferable
with the land upon which they labored. The class next above the serfs
were the cotters. Each of the last-mentioned class held from one to
nine acres of land along with his house. "Beyond the hamlet or cotter's
huts," writes Dr. Mackintosh, were the husbandmen, each living
in his own separate farmstead. These held a definite portion of land,
236
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
for which they paid a fixed rent and specified services, consisting of
work in harvest and sheep-shearing time, and carrying the peats and
wood. Their holdings were commonly small; for fifty-two acres they
gave eight shillings of rent, and other services in plowing and harvest
work."
The wretched condition of the rustic or carl, as he was called, may
be inferred from the laws in existence as to crime. For killing the
king, a fine was imposed of one thousand cows and three thousand
shillings; for killing the king's son, one hundred and fifty cows or four
hundred and fifty shillings; for slaying an earl or thane, one hundred
cows; for slaying a carl, only sixteen cows. Should the carl or rustic
be injured any other way less than murder, no fine was imposed. The
mechanical arts were in a crude state. In agriculture, oats, barley and
wheat were the principal crop, although peas and beans were also culti-
vated. Dairies were conducted, and butter and cheese were staple arti-
cles. For the grinding of grain the hand-mill was yet in use, although
there were mills driven by water and wind.
Serfdom began to disappear from Scotland in the fourteenth cen-
tury. It became extinct in the fifteenth century. Several different
causes have been assigned for this social revolution. The main cause was
the long war with England, conducted by Wallace, Bruce, and other
patriotic leaders. So decimating was this protracted and sanguinary
struggle, that it became necessary to recruit the army from the serfs.
Lawlessness reigned supreme in Scotland during the fifteenth and six-
teenth centuries. Throughout the kingdom the great oppressed the
poor: the aristocracy were a band of thieves, and slaughters, robberies,
incendiarism and other odious crimes went unpunished. Upon the most
frivolous pretexts the landlord would eject his helpless tenant, and
drive the lowly laborer from his cottage. Even the class of small pro-
prietors were not exempt from these acts of tyranny. A lord had the
power to disinherit and expel a vassal "on the ground that he had failed
to render proper feudal service." Injustice ran riot. The property of
the farm tenant could be seized and sold for the debts of the lord.
Bishops, earls, barons and knights, in traveling through the country,
would quarter themselves upon the farmer and yeomanry. Like cor-
morants did these lawless idlers plunder the husbandmen and inferior
clergy, consuming their stores of grain and destroying their crops and
meadows. Bower thus wrote of the condition of Scotland in the reign
of James II.: "Long appears to us, O King, the time of thy arrival at
majority, when thou mayest be able to deliver us, confounded as we are
LABOR IN SCOTLAND.
237
{
with daily tyranny, oppressed with rapine, spoil and tribulation, when
thou mayest dictate laws, exercise justice, and free the poor from the
grasp of the powerful, as they have no helper but God and thee. Mayest
thou remember that thou art a legislator, in order that thou mayest
crush the robber and restrain those who deal in rapine. The groans of
the humble, and the miseries of the poor, whom I myself who write this
have seen this very day in my own neighborhood, stripped of their gar-
ments, and inhumanely despoiled of their domestic utensils, constrains
one to exclaim with him who says, 'I have seen the injuries which are
done, the tears of the innocent, and helpless, and destitute, who cannot
resist violence, and have none to comfort them.' I have praised the
dead more than the living; and happier than both have I esteemed the
unborn, the sole strangers to the evils of this world."
And well did Robert Henderson, the poet, write of this period:
"Three kinds of wolves are reigning in the world. False perverters of
the laws, who mingle fraud and falsehood, while pretending that it is
all gospel, but have no scruple in taking a bribe to overthrow the poor.
The second sort of ravenous wolves are mighty men, who have enough
and to spare, yet so greedy and covetous, they will not suffer the poor to
live in peace. Over his head his rent they will lease, though he and his
family should die for want. The third are men of heritage, as lords who
let to the farmers a village for a time, with a grassum paid; then they
begin to vex him, ere half his term be run, by picking quarrels to make
him glad to flit, or pay his grassum anew.
His horse, his mare, he
must lend to the laird, to drive and draw in court and carriage. His
servant nor himself may not be spared to labor and sweat for his lord
without meat or wages. Thus he stands in bondage, and he can scarcely
afford to live upon bread and watery kail. To their lords the tenants
must labor with faint and hungry stomach — to them the poor man was
compelled to work without meat or fee." In time this lawlessness dis-
appeared, and legislation favored agriculture. Society in Scotland had
fully recovered from the effects of this unfortunate era early in the
seventeenth century.
For more than a century it cannot be said there has been any im-
provement in the condition of the Scotch agricultural laborer. While
it is true there has been a marked advance in agricultural methods, yet
the plowman of Scotland has not kept progress with the times. He
has not kept pace, socially, intellectually or morally, with his brother
in other industries. In 1867 a commission was appointed to examine
into his condition. The body reported in 1871. The condition of the
238
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
farm-laborer in the three northern counties, Aberdeen, Banff, and
Kincardine, is fairly representative of his condition throughout Scot-
land. IIe is usually employed for six months, and his wages ranged
from $50 to $60 for the term, with board and lodging. When
unmarried, the laborer lived with his employer; the married laborer
ate in his master's kitchen with the other servants, and then went home
for the night. Farm-laborers are divided into horsemen, cattlemen and
men for miscellaneous work. For food these classes use oatmeal and
milk, turnips and potatoes. Meat is sometimes eaten on Sunday.
What was known as the Bothy system once obtained in certain sec-
tions of Scotland. By this it was meant that the men servants on the
farm herded together in some outhouse, doing all the household work
for themselves. Public opinion condemned this system as injurious to
morals, and inimical to civilized life. A system prevailed in the border
counties at one time, designated as the bondage method. Under it the
head of a family agreed with his employer to supply a certain number of
"bondages" or laborers.
Public markets are held every six months which are attended by all
the farmers and farm-laborers of the locality. At these "fee markets"
all contracts between the farmers and their laborers are made. These
gatherings are notorious, principally for the scenes of disorder which
they present, for the rural laborer takes his pleasure rather widely on
this his biennial holiday. To eyes accustomed to look upon racing
crowds in the south of Scotland or in England, a feeing market seems a
tame affair indeed, and very harmless on the whole, but in quiet rural dis-
tricts, where the peace is seldom disturbed, and where the village stands
in daily danger of being fossilized, the scenes of debauchery witnessed
at these half-yearly gatherings appear very horrifying indeed. There
has been for years an outcry that the influence of fee markets upon the
morals of the people is very deleterious, and determined efforts to put
them down have been made in Aberdeenshire and elsewhere. The Royal
Highland Agricultural Society took the matter up, and the commit-
tee which that body appointed suggested in their report that in order
to supersede the necessity for feeing markets, a system of registrar offices
should be established and conducted under the auspices of the local agri-
cultural societies.
The result of this, and of discussions of public meetings held through-
out the country, was that a good many registrar offices were established,
and that there was a clear diminution at Whitsunday, 1871, of the
number of engagements effected at the district feeing markets, and a
LABOR IN SCOTLAND.
239
proportionate increase in the number made at home, or through the local
registrar.
*
Female labor is employed in Scotch agriculture. The better class of
female servants, however, are not employed at the half-yearly feeing
markets. Formerly, they were engaged privately, and now at the office
of the registrar. The wages paid to females for outdoor work, at least a
few years ago, ranged from $10 to $25 for a service of six months. The
wages of married women, as well as married men, are paid partly in
milk, fuel, or other necessaries for the cottage home.
In the point of education, the condition of the Scotch farm-laborer,
male and female, is greatly superior to that of the same class in England.
In the matter of payment, also, the Scotch farm-hand is in advance of
his brother over the border.
It has been observed that there is a want of houses for married labor-
ers on the farms of Scotland.
A married laborer, or one contemplating marriage, is never certain
that he can be provided with a dwelling on the farm where he is to be
employed for the ensuing six months. The consequence is, that man
and wife are necessarily separated, which is productive of incalculable
evil. Confronted with the contingency that he would be denied the
uninterrupted joys and comforts of home life, the young man is repelled
from entering the married state. In the case of married laborers, the
care of the children is devolved upon the mother, and she is deprived of
the company, advice and assistance of her husband.
Some dozen years ago, on many estates, there were a large number of
crofts, or small holdings, of from ten to twenty acres of land; of late,
however, large farms have been found more profitable, and the crofts are
rapidly disappearing. This is seriously changing the condition of the
agricultural community, and the independent position of a class of small
farmers is lost. Former farm tenants are flocking to the large town and
cities, and pauperism is increasing "with fearful and certain rapidity."
It is now a serious question how the lack of cottage accommodation
for the farm-laborer is to be supplied. The subject is beset with many
difficulties. The Scotch landlord, as a rule, is unwilling to build houses
for farm servants, and the farmers are usually unable to do so, at least
without assistance from the landed proprietors. It has been suggested
by Mr. H. G. Reid, in his "Past and Present," that the legislature
should take the matter in hand, and make it compulsory to have on each
farm houses for married servants, in proportion to its extent and to the
number of men employed.
240
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
It is now difficult to see any way of improvement for the farm-laborer
in Scotland. It is to be hoped, however, that the future will mend his
lot. Much depends upon his individual effort. He must take every ad-
vantage offered to him by the spirit and institutions of the age. With
improvements in agricultural methods and in the agricultural imple-
ments employed, will come a corresponding improvement in the intelli-
gence of the farm-hand. In the future, unless he proves a notable ex-
ception to the rule, he will advance intellectually, morally, socially and
politically. With the increase of intelligence and self-respect, he will be
led to study economic questions and social philosophy.
It cannot be long, after that, before he will discover some pathway
to progress. Co-operation has been successfully applied to many forms of
industry, and why not to agriculture? As matters stand at present this
seems to be the one practical method whereby the farm-laborer may
become his own master and a property-holder.
This brings us to a consideration of the mechanic, artisan and
operative classes of Scotland. Of the manufacturing cities of Caledonia,
we will select Dundee, Glasgow and Edinburgh as representatives of our
subject.
Dundee has a population of 140,000 inhabitants. Of this number,
118,000 reside in houses of from one to three rooms each. In this city
there are 8,620 one-room houses, in which there is a population of
23,670. There are also 74,374 men, women and children crowded into
16,187 houses. The classes thus situated as to dwellings are the artisans,
mechanics, day and job laborers. The single-roomed habitations are
wretched hovels, in which infectious diseases generate and propagate,
Ofttimes they contain but little furniture, and sometimes are without
even a bed.
Frequently as many as five or six human beings are crowded within
these narrow and noisome precincts, desecrated by the name of home.
The inmates, in lieu of bed or cot, lie upon the floor and cover them-
selves with the jute burlaps or sewed bags purloined for that purpose
from the factory where the father of the family is employed.
There are in Dundee a few commodious and conveniently constructed
tenement houses, wherein the workpeople can live in some degree of
comfort. But so few are they in number that they serve to form a striking
contrast with the many cheerless and squalid dwellings around them.
Nor does there seem to be any way of escape for the wage laborer of
Dundee from this unwholesome and comfortless home life. It cannot
be found in industry, economy and thrift.

T. B. Barry.
Member General Executive Board of Knights of Labor.
UNIL
OF
MICH
LABOR IN SCOTLAND.
241
"C
Be his labor as tireless and unceasing as it may, and his frugality as
unsparing and vigilant, yet are his savings so inconsiderable compared
with the price of land, that to purchase a home for himself is out of the
question. Scarcely any working tradesmen in Dundee possess a home
of their own on account of ground being so expensive within the town's
boundary, and to build in the suburbs would be inconvenient, as being
too far removed from the workshops." Dundee is not wanting in facili-
ties for self-improvement. There are numerous and ably conducted
day and evening schools. These schools are generously supplied with
everything necessary to the imparting of practical instruction, while the
fees charged are but from eight to twelve cents per week. Notwith-
standing these institutions, many children are growing up in vice and
ignorance. Education is compulsory, but when brought before a sheriff's
court for violation of the law, the delinquent parents invariably excuse
themselves on the ground of poverty and inability to pay even the
nominal sum required for tuition. If it is not inability to pay tuition
fee that is offered as an excuse, it is the impossibility for providing their
children with respectable clothing. The one remedy, after all, for this
evil, is a system of free education, as in the United States.
<<
In Glasgow, the great majority of wage laborers of every class live in
a dwelling of two rooms, and known in that city and throughout Scot-
land as room and kitchen." The tenement buildings of Glasgow
usually contain sixteen of these "dwellings," and are from four to five
stories high. The building is generally within convenient distance of
the workshop or factory; the rooms are well ventilated and supplied with
water and gas.
In Glasgow and vicinity there are now ten coöperative societies, and
all managed on what is known as Rochdale principle. By the Rochdale
principle, as distinguished from civil service principle, is meant a system
whereby goods are sold at the prevailing market price and the profits, if
any, distributed among the members of the society. All of the coöpera-
tive societies are prosperous, although comparatively small. In the
United Kingdom there were in 1882, 1,400 coöperative societies, with an
aggregate membership of 661,317, and a total capital of $36,170,694.
During the last twenty years there has been a marked improvement in
the condition of the wage-workers of Glasgow, materially, morally and
socially.
Since 1850 wages have increased twenty-five per cent. Clothing is cheap,
and every respectable workman can be dressed in a comfortable suit of tweed
or serge. In Glasgow and all over Scotland the number of females em-
242
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
ployed is comparatively small. Some there are employed in the telegraph
service and in dressmaking and millinery. Since 1878, in Scotland,
education has been compulsory; and the employment of children is for-
bidden until a certificate has first been obtained that the child has at-
tained a certain degree of education.
Writing of the dwellings of the wage-workers of Scotland, we are re-
minded of an interesting project that has been successfully developed in
Edinburgh. In that beautiful and classic city for many years was felt
the need of respectable and comfortable homes for the artisan, mechanic
and laborer.
The tenement houses were too small and overcrowded, and their apart-
ments were more like "lightless boxes" or rabbit warrens than rooms
for the accommodation of human beings.
The buildings inhabited by the wage-workers of Edinburgh were
located on High street and the alleys and lanes extending from it on
either side. The locality was dark and loathsome and the houses were
constructed story above story until the light of heaven was excluded.
The passageways were repulsive with filth, the staircases dark and di-
lapidated, and within the doors were broken and hingeless; the rooms.
in area did not exceed eight or ten feet; the windows were small; the
partitions slender, and thin and the walls damp and cracked. In 1861,
in Edinburgh, 121 families lived in windowless, one-roomed houses;
13,209 families—not less than 66,000 individuals— lived in houses of a
single apartment, 1,530 of which had from six to fifteen inhabitants liv-
ing in each.
In 1861, in the month of April, the masons of Edinburgh formed
the Coöperative Building Company, and the corporation was registered
under the Limited Liability Act, with a capital of £10,000 in shares of £1
each. By 1865 all the shares were taken up, the subscribed capital
amounted to £10,000 and the membership numbered 1,000. In a few
years about 1,000 shops and houses had been erected for the accommoda-
tion of 5,000 individuals, and sold for nearly £150,000. This coöperative
society was not composed altogether of masons, as it also contained many
members of other trades, such as carpenters, joiners, painters and
slaters.
"The society confined itself to production, in this way turning its
capital to the utmost general advantage, and hitherto the demand has
been in excess of the supply. The houses, it may be observed, vary con-
siderably in size and internal arrangement, but for the most part they
are two stories high, and contain from three to six moderately
LABOR IN SCOTLAND.
243
sized apartments, with all necessary conveniences, the best sanitary
arrangements, a plot of ground twenty feet square in front, and the use of
an ample bleaching-green. Each family has a separate entrance-a new
and salutary arrangement in Edinburgh; and the prices range according
to size and position from £130 to £250. If, then, any one-though
members of the society are naturally preferred, there are many excep-
tions — desires a house which costs £130, and has the command of £5, he
can at once become a purchaser. * * * * Of course, many pay the
whole purchase-money at once, and others spread the payment over a
brief period; but in any case they become possessed of a substantial and
commodious dwelling-house for natural outlay of £20 or £30.” It is to
be earnestly hoped that the mechanics of other cities in Scotland may
profit by the example of their Edinburgh brothers.
:
CHAPTER IV.-WALES.
THE INDUSTRIAL DISTRICTS DESCRIBED AGRICULTURE THE MINERS AND
QUARRYMEN WAGES-DWELLINGS AND MODE OF LIFE- CHARACTER OF
THE WELSH PEOPLE.
CO
YONVENTIONALLY, Wales is divided into two sections, denominated
North and South Wales. The industries of the country are as
varied as the features of its physical geography. No country of the
world, within so limited an area, presents so diversified a landscape, nor
one so attractive in its stretch of rich valleys, barren rocks, dense forests,
lofty mountains and desert moors. Generally speaking, the industries.
of the country may be distributed as follows: Agriculture and quarries
in the north, and small husbandry, mining and sheep-grazing in the
south. The soil of the country is not especially fertile, but its lack of
productiveness is amply compensated by the rich mineral deposits of the
hilly and mountainous sections. As a coal-exporting district, South
Wales now takes a prominent position, while the quarries of North Wales
are among the greatest wealth-producing agencies of the world. Ship-
building is a large industry, and the sea-ports, Cardiff, Newport and
Swansea, are among the most important in the United Kingdom. The
three largest sections of wage-earners in Wales are the agricultural labor-
ers, slate quarrymen, miners and iron-workers; but, of course, every
other industry peculiar to civilized life is practiced more or less in the
land of St. Michael. In Wales, as in other countries, may be found an
army of toilers who build houses, construct highways, railroads and
canals, and manufacture all the myriad appurtenances and appliances
known to the world today. To be more exact, perhaps, Monmouthshire,
Glamorganshire and the southern part of Breckinshire are where the
iron and coal trade is located. In the southeastern corner of Carmarth-
enshire, around Swansea, and in the western part of Glamorganshire, are
large smelting works and extensive potteries. Coal is exported from
Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire, while lead mines and slate quarries
are worked in Cardiganshire. The most important slate quarries
those of Caernarvonshire and Merionethshire. The copper mines of
Anglesey are probably the richest in Wales, although the mines lccated
244
LABOR IN WALES.
245
in Flintshire should not be forgotten. The coal and iron districts
extend from the confines of Cheshire, through Flintshire and Denbigh-
}
shire, to the confines of Merionethshire, and in certain parts of Mont-
gomeryshire. We have thus particularly enumerated and described the
industrial districts of Wales in order that the reader might deduce the
occupation of the people located within the respective shires.
Flannel-weaving prevailed formerly, on the banks of the Severn.
Throughout the country, the woolen cloths and flannels worn by the
people were manufactured at small mills or factories located on the mar-
gin of mountain streams. Water was the propelling agency of these
small mills, and they have now been displaced by the large manufactur-
ing establishments of England and Scotland.
By far the larger proportion of the wage-earners or working-people
of North Wales are engaged in agriculture. Throughout the counties
of Cardigan, Carmarthen, Radnor and Pembroke, small farming is the
rule. The farmers of these regions are a frugal and cautious race, and
employ but little assistance, as the work is performed mostly by the
members of their own families.
Even in times of prosperity in Wales, the wages of labor are very
low. It has been said that wages are lower, probably, in some districts
of North Wales and in the western counties of South Wales than in
any other section of South Britain. The Welsh farmer presents a strong
contrast to the English farmer. While large farming is the rule in
England, the Welsh farmer invariably conducts this industry on a small
scale. In Wales the farm is usually small, the capital employed incon-
siderable, and his methods primitive and conservative. In his mode of
life, his dwelling, his habits, his laborious occupation, he is little
removed from the day-laborers around him-partaking but rarely of
animal food, and subsisting mainly on barley-bread and vegetables.
The farmers and graziers of Wales are for the most part scattered
over the country in lone dwellings nestling at the base of mountains, in
small hamlets clustering in passes amongst the hills, clinging to the face
of a rugged sea-coast or dotting lofty moors and table-lands. Ofttimes
again, the lonely home of the Welsh farmer, located as it is in mountain
solitudes, can only be approached by a long bridle-path or sheep-track.
The majority of the Welsh gentry are neither wealthy nor liberal;
a few there are of large means and generous propensities, nevertheless.
The result is that the Welsh agriculturalist has neither example nor
encouragement. It is not surprising, therefore, that the cultivation of
the land should be neglected, and the mines imperfectly and improvi-
4
246
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
dently worked.
Neither is it cause for surprise that extensive manu-
factures are rare in Wales.
The great underlying defect in the Welsh character, is one of blood.
This people is of the Celtic race, of which indolence is a characteristic,
as is also a want of perseverance. On every side, in Wales, a want of
energy is apparent upon the very face of affairs. A striking evidence of
this negligence is the universal prevalence of dirt and untidiness. The
villages are shabby, the houses out of repair, the roads and streets
neglected, and the gardens overgrown and rank with weeds. "A Welsh
peasant, amidst his own mountains, if he can get a shilling a
day, will prefer starving upon that to laboring for another
twelve-pence. A farmer with £50 a year rent has no ambition
to become one of £200; the shop-keeper goes on in the small
ware line all his life, and dies a peddler rather than a tradesman.
In this respect, nevertheless, the southern part of Wales is as much
in advance of the northern as it is in point of intellect and agricultural
wealth."
The daily life of the Welsh miner and quarryman would not be
enviable to an American laborer or mechanic. Soinetimes a father will
have but six shillings a week wherewith to support a family of six or
eight persons. Of this sum two shillings are paid for rent. When a
miner is at work he receives from ten shillings to thirteen shillings, and
from this sum it is necessary for him to pay a boy from two shillings
and six pence to three shillings and six pence. At Donlais four pence
in the pound was withheld from the wages of the men for the Doctor
and School Fund. This was in 1878. A certain collier is mentioned
who, at work, earned nine shillings a week. From this he paid one
shilling two pence to his club and one shilling four pence for the school-
ing of his children.
As he was not given his coals from the company, his fuel cost him
two shillings six pence a month. The following is the description of a
miner's home in Donlais, wherein lived ten persons: "From the main
room, on the ground floor, in a row of two-floored houses, an almost bare
room paved with cracked square slates, three arches led to three caverns
rather than rooms; two quite dark, but the outside one lighted. The
dark so-called pantry contained a few rubbishy coals and a pail. The
other dark cave, an unventilated bed-room for five people, held, as far as
I could see, only a pan, a little sacking, and a stray fluttering fowl.
The lighted bed-room another sleeping-place for five-held a bed-
stead with scarcely anything on it. There were some tins on the man-
LABOR IN WALES.
247
tel-piece of the common room, a kettle on the hearth, and a table and a
low seat or two upon the floor."
The Welsh character has, withal, redeeming features. As a people the
Welsh are thrifty, cleanly and law-abiding; moreover they are peculiarly
religious, and this characteristic is manifest even in their recreations.
The wage-earning classes of Wales have but one great national holiday,
known as the Eisteddfod. On these occasions competitions are entered
into in musical composition and singing, in impromptu speeches, recita-
tions and readings, in the composition of history and romance, and prose
and poetry. Dr. Parry, formerly of Pennsylvania, is authority for the
statement that in the churches of Wales may be heard some of the best
chorus singing in the world. "It is a most remarkable feature," said
the late Bishop Thirwall, "in the history of any people, and such as
could be said of no other than the Welsh, that they have centered their
national recreation in literature and musical compositions." Matthew
Arnold has called the Eisteddfod a kind of "Olympic meeting," and adds
that "the common people of Wales who care for such a thing show
something Greek in them, something spiritual, something humane,
something, I am afraid one must add, which in the English common
people is not to be found.”
CHAPTER V.-IRELAND.
CLASS DISTINCTIONS IN ANCIENT TIMES - MEDIEVAL CRAFTSMEN - MANUFACTURES
AND MECHANICAL ARTS-LAND MONOPOLY AND POLITICAL GREED THE CURSES
OF IRELAND-- ABSENTEE LANDLORDISM AGRICULTURE- WRETCHED CONDI-
TION OF THE SMALL FARMER-CONDITION OF THE WAGEWORKER, THE ARTI-
SAN AND THE MECHANIC.
Ν
N Ireland, as in every other country of Europe, during the ancient and
mediæval period, there were two great classes of society, the bound
and the free. As among the Gauls and Germans, so was it with the Irish
of these periods: their free inhabitants were not all equal. Some of the
families were considered of divine origin, and it was from their num-
bers, exclusively, that the chiefs were chosen. This privileged class
were called Aires, a term compounded of Aryan. The Aires were sub-
divided into two classes. Those who possessed property in land, corres-
ponding to the Atheligns or Clitones of the Anglo-Saxons, were desig-
nated as Deis. The other class were those who possessed cows and other
personal property, and were distinguished as Bo-Aires, or Cow-Aires.
The Deis were the true aristocracy of that time, and in rank resembled
the Hlaford of the Anglo-Saxons, and the Ulad of the Slavonians. The
cattle of the Bo-Aires grazed their cattle upon the common lands, which
were held from the Deis or Flaths. The position and power of the Bo-
Aires was gauged by the number of their cattle. Only the Flaths or the
Deis could own slaves or Fuidirs.
The Bo-Aires class could be recruited from the free natives. Once
elevated to this rank the man's descendants retained it by virtue of
birth. When the Bo-Aires class had possessed land for three generations.
they could aspire to the rank of Flaths. It was only the Aires, as a
class, who were clothed with all the privileges of citizenship, of being
jurors, witnesses, bails, etc.
The position of the propertyless freeman depended upon his resi-
dence, whether in the city or in the country. The freeman of the rural
district could not maintain his rights as could his brother of the cities.
The latter, combined and associated together as they were could maintain.
a powerful resistance to the encroachments and trespasses of the Flaths.
or Bo-Aires. In the country, on the other hand, the freemen who did
248
IRELAND.
249
not own land or chattels, became a dependent in one way or another to
the man who did.
Theoretically it was not necessary for a freeman to become the de-
pendent of another; indeed, the law provided only for an allegiance to
the king. But practically, such a position was forced upon him by the
circumstances of his position.
In medieval Ireland, all craftsmen of whatever kind, skilled or un-
skilled, were attached to the persons of the Flaths or lords. The free-
man, whether a craftsman or otherwise, who thus became a retainer of a
Flath was called a Ceile. Of this class there were two kinds; first, those
who were free and could enter into independent contracts with the
consent of the lord; second, those who were subjected to a certain degree
of servitude or bondage. The Irish Dær Ceiles corresponded to the
Saxon Ceorls. Those Ceiles who did not own land corresponded to the
Anglo-Saxon Folghers, and constituted a part of the military establish-
ment of the chief. The base Ceiles occupied a position like that of the
villeins of the feudal system.
Below the Ceiles were several classes who occupied so low a position.
in the social scale as to have been practically in complete servitude.
These were severally denominated, the Bothachs, Sen-Cleithes and
Fuidirs. "The Bothachs was a cottier. The Sær Bothachs appear to
have been a certain class of freemen, possessed of no other property
than the cabins which they occupied on the lands of the Flaths, and
earning a livelihood by service to him. The Dær Bothachs were the
permanent farm laborers of the lord. The Sen-Cleithes were the poor
adherents of a Flath, who lived in his house as servants; or upon his
domain as herders and laborers. The Sen-Cleithes, like the Bothachs
or cottiers, did not possess the political rights of freemen, but they
formed part of their affiliated family or clan, known in the law as the
Fine Flaths, and were thus secure of shelter and relief, and were irre-
movable from the estate of the lord. The Fuidir, on the other hand,
possessed no rights beyond his contracts, and no public responsibilities,
and did not belong to the clan." Strangers coming into Ireland at that
time to remain, became a Fuidir.
.
The class distinctions of ancient Ireland did not partake of the na-
ture of castes; for a family could elevate itself from the lowest to the
highest rank. The Fuidir could become a Bothachs, a Bothachs could
become a Sen-Cleith. Promotions from one rank to another in ancient
and mediævial Ireland were frequent.
During the middle ages the houses of Ireland were of the simplest
250
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
.
character and constructed of wood, wicker-work, or unhewn logs. There
were probably some structures made of stone. In house-building two
forms prevailed. One was a long quadrilateral building built of logs,
and covered with thatch, or made of mud and straw. Sometimes they
were of basket-work and cup-shape, or hemispherical.
The social order we have described in the foregoing pages disappeared
in time. The change was wrought by similar causes to those that operated
in the overthrow of the feudal system in the rest of Europe. At the
time of the conquest of Ireland by the English, a system of land tenure
was established that has prevailed in the main to the present time.
Manufactures and the mechanical arts did not flourish in Ireland during
the middle ages. Some interest was manifested in these forms of indus-
try during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. During this period, in
certain of the Irish cities, the mechanical arts flourished, and consider-
able skill was developed in manufactures.
After the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, large numbers of indus-
trious artisans of the Protestant faith, expelled from their native land,
sought refuge in the Liberty district of Dublin. Into their adopted
country they introduced the manufacture of silk and woolen, and brought
those industries to a high state of perfection. In 1791 they had 3,400
looms in operation, 1,200 of which were silk looms. Two years later
war was declared with France. As the result, raw material could not be
procured, and the poor artisans of Liberty experienced great distress.
Many of them participated in the insurrection of '98, and were entirely
ruined. At the time of the union they were reduced to utter beggary.
"On all occasions of distress, they descended in masses from their
elevated heights to the lower parts of the town, and, as has been remarked,
they resembled an irruption of some foreign horde. A certain mild-
ness of aspect, with palid faces and squalid persons, seemed to mark
the poor artisans of the Liberty as a separate class from the other inhab-
itants of Dublin. Of this flourishing community nothing remains at
the present day but large houses, with stone fronts and architectural
ornaments in ruins."
The Ireland of today is the result of the Ireland of yesterday. Ire-
land is yet in the grip of feudalism. The vestiges of the dark ages still
cling like cerements about her glorious history. The evils experienced
by Ireland today are the inheritance of the past. Land monopoly and
political greed were her curse in the long ago, and are her woe of today.
On every hand, in this beautiful island, is an eternal contrast of riches
and poverty. Magnificent castles and miserable hovels alternate over the
IRELAND.
251
lovely landscape. In the rural districts it is difficult to find dwellings
ranking between the palace of the great and the cabin of the lowly.
For centuries in Ireland the only vocation open to the poor man, or
the man of limited means, has been the tillage of the soil. When he has
not the requisite capital to become a farmer, he is compelled to dig the
soil as a day-laborer. In England fully two-thirds of the population are
engaged in industrial or commercial pursuits, while only about one-
fourth practice agriculture. In Ireland, on the other hand, matters are
reversed. In that country more than two-thirds of the people are ex-
clusively devoted to the cultivation of the soil, and less than one-third
are engaged in manufacture or commerce.
In Ireland 110 individuals hold 4,152,142 acres; 192 persons hold
2,607,719 acres; and 440 others possess 3,071,471 acres. On the other
hand 5,250,000 of human beings do not own a rood. In England and
Wales the average farms contain fifty-nine acres. In Ireland the aver-
age is twenty-six acres. Of the 597,628 occupiers of land in Ireland,
more than one-half have holdings of from fifteen acres down; the re-
mainder on an average hold forty-six acres. The number of farmers is
greater than the number of farms to be occupied. As agriculture is the
one industry to which the Irish peasant can resort for a livelihood, he
must have an acre or half an acre or die. He has no alternative, and
must have it at any price or starve. Perhaps the rent is increased not
so much by the avidity of the landlord as by the necessities of the tenant.
The largest land proprietors of Ireland reside abroad. Annually
they withdraw from Ireland more than £4,000,000. Of this vast sum
every shilling is expended either in England or on the continent of
Europe. It has been estimated that since the union more than $1,-
000,000,000, not computing interest, has been exacted of the Irish ten-
antry, not a penny of which was spent in Ireland.
Above the cotter, or small farmer, are a class of tenants who rent
large tracts of pasture land. On this land, sometimes mountainous,
and sometimes like coarse pasture, large droves of cattle are raised and
herded. This is the most profitable agricultural industry in Ireland.
There is another class of agriculturists, however, that are more properly
entitled to the name of farmers. In certain parts of the island, where
the soil is suitable for the purpose, extensive tracts of land are planted
to corn, which is generally a profitable crop. This kind of farming
prospered during the American civil war and for several years after that
event.
As a rule there is one serious drawback in Ireland to farming on an
252
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
extensive scale. The most wealthy landlords reside abroad and do not
take any interest in their Irish possessions, save to extort from their
miserable tenantry the last farthing of an exorbitant rent. This class
look upon their estates in Ireland as something to be plundered. They
will not expend one penny in improvements. They view the land as
confiscated property of which they are liable to be deprived at any time"
by political revolution. The resident landlords of Wales and England.
are rich, while those of Ireland are poor. But it is not merely the lim-
ited means of this class that deters them from improving their estates;
like the absentee landlords, they are apprehensive of confiscation by a rev-
olutionary government, and that money expended in this way would be
thrown away.
The large estates are usually divided into a number of lots, of a hun-
dred, five hundred, or a thousand acres. These lots of land are then
farmed out to a class of middle-men. The middle-men then manure the
land and sublet it, for the highest rent they can obtain, to the small
farmers. The small holdings are usually of five, ten, fifteen and twenty
acres each. The small farmer of Ireland, as a rule, is the only person
who leases the land with the intention of cultivating it. Under this
system ninety-five per cent of the peasantry of Ireland hold their little
farms and dwellings from year to year.
The small farmer does his own work, with the assistance of his
family. In a few instances assistance is employed, but it is only dur
ing harvest or some other unusually busy time. The crops raised are
small in quantity and inferior in quality. Proper agricultural imple-
ments are wanting and the methods employed are wasteful and negli-
gent. "This waste is caused by the want of corn-stands; the want of
barns; the want of proper implements for threshing and winnowing the
crops; the want of necessary buildings for the storage of the garnered
crops."
The condition of the small farmer of Ireland is generally wretched in
the extreme. His hut, or cabin, is constructed of dried mud with a roof
of straw or sods, in which a hole is cut for a chimney. Sometimes, how-
ever, there is neither a hole in the roof nor a window, and the only way
of escape for the smoke is through the door. Father, mother, children,
and sometimes grandfather and grandmother, eat, sleep and live in a
single apartment. In some of these wretched hovels one bed of hay or
straw serves for the whole family. A few potatoes baked in the embers
are the only food; sometimes, in the midst of all, lies a dirty pig. "The
presence of the pig in an Irish hovel may, at first, seem an indication of
IRELAND.
253
misery; on the contrary, it is a sign of comparative comfort. Indigence
is still more extreme in the hovel where no pig is to be found."
A gentleman writing in 1836 says: "I have been into cabins dug out
of the bog, with no walls but the peat mud in which they have been
excavated, with the roof covered with turf and straw, and the water
standing in puddles on the outside, without chimney, window, door,
floor, bed, chair, table, knife or fork; the whole furniture consisting of
some straw to lie down upon, a pot to boil the potatoes in, a tin cup to
drink out of, and a wicker basket to take up the potatoes in after they
are boiled, which is set down in the middle of the floor, and parents and
children squat down like IIottentots, on the ground, and eat their food
with their fingers, sometimes with salt and often without. And this is
literally the whole of their living, day after day, and year after year,
excepting that on Christmas day they contrive to get a little piece of
meat and a bit of bread.
* * I could hardly credit my own senses
until I went into the cabins and felt my way in the smoke and darkness
and actually put my hands on the turf sides. Here they all lie down,
parents and children, brothers and sisters, on the straw at night, hud-
dled together, with the pigs and ofttimes the ass or the horse, and some-
times the cow, in the same room.
*
"In one cabin I found a woman and six young children in a room
not much larger than a small parlor, with a sow and nine pigs a month
old, which had been farrowed and reared there, and a large flock of
poultry roosting overhead; and they brought the ass in at night, or
rather he came in and out as he pleased.
(C
Then, as to the clothing of these people. I went into one cabin; the
parents were at work in the bog; three little children almost naked were
nestling around the turf fire, which was made upon the floor, for there
was no chimney or fire-place; and there was a beautiful little girl about
fourteen, of sweet address and manners, with nothing on but a rag cov-
ering the upper part of her person, and a piece of flannel, reaching not
quite down to her knees, for a petticoat; and she told us she had no
other clothes. There are thousands of similar cases. The women are
usually bare-footed, a large portion of them, I am assured, having no
stockings or shoes to wear, even in winter, when snow is on the ground;
and this in a country belonging to the richest and most refined people
on the globe, not one-fourth part of which is cultivated, and containing
millions of untilled acres of as rich land as the sun shines upon.
""
Around or back of the miserable cabin is the little field of an acre or half,
as the case may be, planted with potatoes. The scanty crop is protected
254
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
*
by a circle of stone heaped on each other, with rushes growing through
the interstices. In 1868 there were 94,000 homes in Ireland with but
one room each. In these squalid homes families of from five to ten per-
sons were living. This means that at that time one-tenth of the popula-
tion of Ireland were living in a condition of squalid degradation "not.
to be surpassed in Borneo or Caffraria." It has been said that in
numerous homes of Ireland there is only one suit of clothes for the
whole family.
The food in use is potatoes. The quantity of this vegetable con-
sumed depends upon the means of the family. The fortunate ones eat
potatoes three times a day; others can eat but twice, and some only.
once a day. Some families are so destitute that they ofttimes remain
two or three days without receiving the slightest nourishment. Oft-
times the poor farmer is constrained to starve himself that his children
may eat and live.
Practically the rural population of Ireland are paupers, for, as has
been well said, the most abject English pauper is better fed, housed and
clad than the most prosperous small farmer of Ireland. In fact the
Irish tenant farmer is ever on the verge of famine; and in some part of
Ireland every year the peasant is overtaken by this grim visitor. Pri-
mate Butler wrote in 1727: "Since my arrival in this country famine has
not ceased among the poor. There was such a dearth of grain last year
that thousands of families were obliged to quit their dwellings to look
for support elsewhere; many hundreds perished."
In 1832 Bishop Doyle said: "The people are perishing as usual."
In 1817, by reason of indigence and famine, fevers attacked 1,500,-
000 individuals in Ireland, of whom 65,000 perished. In 1826 20,000
persons died of famine. Sometimes in this fair island even the higher
class of farmers are reduced to straits. They have been known to sub-
sist on cabbage, boiled in water and sour milk. The poor laborer is often
deprived even of his potatoes, and lives for months upon skim milk.
Some parts of Ireland present a pleasant contrast to the lamentable
state of affairs depicted above. In those counties where the land is
largely, if not entirely, devoted to grazing the farmers are prosperous
and their employés comparatively comfortable. Ulster is the most
prosperous agricultural county in Ireland. There the customs regulat-
ing the relation of landlord and tenant are more favorable to the tenant
farmer. The landlord, as a rule, exerts himself in the interest of his
tenant, assisting and encouraging him in the matter of permanent im-
provements.
IRELAND.
255
1
The condition of the wage-worker in the cities of Ireland is greatly
in advance of the farm-laborer. For a dozen or more years past, the
day-laborers and unskilled workmen generally have had steady em-
ployment, and a compensation that permitted to them a degree of domes-
tic comfort actually denied to the small farmer and his assistant.
As has been said, agriculture is the main industry in South Ireland;
yet in the province of Munster there are some manufacturing and
other industries, such as woolen factories, tanneries, iron foundries, dis-
tilleries, breweries and flour mills. At Passage West and Rush Brook
there are large ship-building docks. At Ballincollig are extensive pow-
der mills. In Cork and throughout the province of Munster bacon cur-
ing is an important industry. In this province the prevailing form of
agriculture is dairy farming. And great numbers of live stock, and large
quantities of butter are shipped to England, Scotland and other foreign
markets.
In Cork, Dublin, Londonderry and Waterford, the artisan or mechanic
fares better than either the day-laborer or farm hand. The craftsmen
employed indoors have work most of the year, and can provide them-
selves with comforts that are denied to the mason, stonecutter and
brickmason, who can work only during certain seasons of the year.
The mechanic is better clothed, better fed and better housed than any other
manual laborer of the Emerald Isle. His children can enjoy in a meas-
ure such educational facilities as are open to the people of his class.
How straitened are the circumstances of the day-laborer in cities and
towns may be inferred from the statement that his average wages are
only $3.65 per week. This compels him to live in the poorest quarters
of the city or town. The clothing of himself and children is coarse
and ragged, the feet unprotected, and the head ofttimes uncovered.
Often his children cannot attend school because the tuition, however
small, cannot be paid from his small earnings.
CHAPTER VI.- FRANCE.
THE EDICT OF NANTES-DEPLORABLE CONDITION OF THE FRENCH PEASANTRY
IMPROVEMENT UNDER HENRY IV.-RICHELIEU AND MAZARIN-THE HUGUE-
NOTS-MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES UNDER THE POLICY OF COLBERT-CON-
DITION OF THE PEOPLE BEFORE THE REVOLUTION - RESULTS OF THE BLOODY
UPHEAVAL OF 1789-THE NAPOLEONIC WARS-RAPID AND SUDDEN DYNASTIC
CHANGES-COOPERATIVE WORKSHOPS "THE ASSOCIATION OF MASONS" AND
KINDRED Organizations THE PRUDITOMMES- MANUFACTURES
MANUFACTURES — AGRICUL-
TURE-MINUTE DIVISION OF LABOR IN PARIS-THE DIGNITY AND PRIDE OF
LABOR-THE HABITS AND METHODS OF THE FRENCH PEASANT PROPRIETOR
THE ARTISAN, MECHANIC AND LABORER.
IN
-
N the year 1599 ended the religious wars that had desolated France for
nearly forty years. The right of the house of Bourbon to the throne
was recognized as an established fact. It was during this year that
Henry IV. signed and promulgated the Edict of Nantes, which act
gave full recognition to the rights of conscience. At this time the con-
dition of the French peasantry was deplorable in the extreme. More
than 200,000,000 francs were exacted annually from the people by the
tax collector, but of this enormous sum not more than 30,000,000
reached the public treasury. The remainder was absorbed by a corrupt
official class. The farmers of the taxes resorted to the most oppressive
extortion. Henry IV., aided by his minister Sully, remedied many
crying evils and introduced many needed reforms. This monarch en-
couraged manufactures and commerce. To facilitate the marketing of
agricultural produce, marshes were drained and roads and bridges con-
structed. Among the industries especially favored by Henry IV. were
the manufacture of tapestry, gold and silver ware and silk culture.
Henry understood the wants of the peasantry better than had the most
of his predecessors. He sympathized with their condition and was anx-
ious to conserve their interests. Sully, his trusted counselor, was wont
to say that agriculture and stock raising were the two breasts of France.
So thought his monarch, and both united heartily in the interest of the
agricultural peasant. Henry went so far in his zeal as to convert some
of his castles into manufacturing establishments. It was from the reign
of Henry that the silk industry of Lyons dates its importance. In 1607,
256

Charles h. Litchman.
General Secretary of the Knights of Labor.
UNIL
OF
BICH
FRANCE.
257
Henry participated actively in the establishment of the linen industry
at Rouen.
Under Richelieu, the great minister of France, the country attained
great political power, but the people were far from prosperous. The
people thought the policy of Richelieu oppressive and inimical to their
interests. But after his death their condition did not improve under
Mazarin. So unendurable were the measures and policy of this minister,
that a serious insurrection occurred, called the War of the Fronde. This
civil strife lasted for abour four years.
Colbert, a man of the middle classes, was the favorite minister of
Louis XIV. This minister thought to encourage the manufacture of
cloth by establishing a high protective tariff. At this time, perhaps,
the most industrious and thrift, portion of French society were the
Huguenots, as the Calvinists were denominated. They were identified
with many of the most important industries, and to them has been
ascribed much of the material prosperity enjoyed by France at that
time. It was the policy of Louis XIV. and his minister, however, to
subject these thrifty and industrious people to onerous restrictions and
rigorous persecutions. So unendurable did these oppressions become.
that the Huguenots emigrated in large numbers to Holland, Northern
Germany, England, Switzerland and America. France could then illy
afford the loss of such a population, and for nearly two centuries she
paid dearly for the injustice and bigotry of her rulers. For a time the
manufacturing industries of France flourished under the policy of Col-
bert. Her woolen cloth equaled even that of Spain and Holland, her
lace that of Brabant, while in silk stuffs she rivaled Italy, and in the
products of the loom was abreast of Flanders. During the reign of
Louis XIV. was established the celebrated factory of the Gobelins. In
1669, there were 44,200 wool machines in France. Colbert sought to
encourage manufacture by the payment of a bonus of $400 for each loom
in operation. During his ascendency the streets of Paris were paved
and the city lighted. He particularly encouraged the manufacture of
silks, tapestries, mosaics, pottery and steel goods. The reign of Louis
XIV. was a brilliant one and occupied a conspicuous page in history.
He was surrounded by one of the most splendid courts in Europe, he
was a patron of belles-lettres, and the fine arts, and his armies were
crowned with victory. It was not the reign of the common people, how-
ever, and the working classes and peasantry suffered severely from ex-
cessive taxation. True it is, certain manufacturing interests experienced
a speedy and abnormal development which suffered a serious reaction
17
258
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
when the artificial supports were withdrawn. What a few lines of manu-
facture had gained was at the expense of the general industries of the
country. The result was that manufactures and agriculture were soon
languishing, and the calamity was consummated by the revocation of the
Edict of Nantes in 1685.
Toward the close of the seventeenth century, and the beginning of
the eighteenth the peasants of France were miserable, dissatisfied, and
groaning under one of the most stupendous taxations known to history.
The burdens of the state were not shared by the nobility and gentry, but
devolved wholly upon the so-called middle and lower classes of society.
In his book entitled "The French Revolution Epoch," Henry Van Laun
writes: "In 1789 the approximate number of the privileged classes.
in France was about 270,000, possessing three-fifths of the land—and
that of the best of the country. All this property was nearly exempt
from taxes. * * * The seizures were mostly in Paris; three-fourths
of the land lay fallow, or was untilled altogether. The part that was
cultivated by the peasant brought the laborer scarcely food to eat, for
dues and taxes swallowed up the results." The condition of the peas-
antry was not improved by their methods of agriculture, which were rude.
and improvident. They had few if any tools, and no cattle worthy of
mention. So wretched was the condition of the rural population that
they flocked to the cities in multitudes in search of remunerative labor.
The urban population was, thereby, enormously augmented by the acces-
sion of desperate and despairing men.
Through the bloody upheaval of 1789 the French nation overthrew
numerous abuses, hoary with age. At one blow they rid themselves of a
privileged nobility and clergy, and placed every Frenchman of whatever
degree upon equality before the law. Feudal tenures were abolished,
and the agriculture relieved from the burden of ties. The corporations
and guilds that had so long obstructed the avenues of commerce were
swept away. In a word, by a bloody sacrifice, France had acquired
equality of rights and equality of taxation. The results of the revolution
were rather more negative than positive, so far as the industry of the
country was concerned. At first the effects were political rather than
social or economic. Restrictions had been removed and burdens uplifted;
but it was many years before the working classes of France entered upon
that career of phenomenal prosperity that has made them the envy of
Europe. The Napoleonic wars were a serious drawback to material
advancement. The gigantic wars of the brilliant Corsican depleted the
treasury and depopulated the country. After his downfall France
FRANCE.
259
remained prostrate for a time, and her people were placed at the mercy of
the rest of Europe, industrially, economically, and politically.
For a long time prior to 1827, the linen of France was home-made.
In the homes of the peasantry were spinning wheels and looms, and the
females were expert in the manufacture of linen and woolen cloth. It is
said that in 1827 nearly 350,000 acres were devoted to the cultivation of
hemp and flax. About this time, however, manufactories were established
for the making of linen cloth on an extensive scale. The operatives at
this time, were paid from $1.60 to $2.00 a week. At Troyes corduroy,
velveteen and fustian were manufactured so cheaply that the common
laborer could procure pantaloons of these materials for ninety cents.
The restoration of the monarchy, and the accession to the throne of
Louis XVIII., although it brought peace abroad and quiet at home, did
not materially influence for weal or woe the industries of France. His
brother Charles was compelled to abdicate the throne, July 27, 1830,
and Louis Philippe, of the House of Bourbon, was elected king of
France by the Chamber of Deputies. This monarch inclined toward a
liberal government and constitutional freedom. In February, 1848,
another revolution occurred, and Louis Philippe was deposed. Notwith-
standing these rapid and sudden dynastic changes, many of the industries
that are now flourishing in France were established upon a firm founda-
tion between 1815 and 1848. In 1847, the agricultural classes experienced
the bad times always incident upon a failure of crops. A great scarcity
of bread-stuff was the result, and the working people of the cities experi-
enced the horrors of famine. In Paris, the operatives driven to desper-
ation rushed to arms, for the purpose of compelling the government to
give them work and supply them with food. The masses of the popu-
lace were blind to the real causes of their distress, their demands were
unwise and unjust, but the consequences of their uprising were mo-
mentous. Then, as now, Paris was France, and a political revolution
in Paris meant a political revolution for France. In the streets of the
French capital occurred a brief but desperate and sanguinary conflict,
between a suffering proletariate and the disciplined soldiers of the mon-
archy. The misguided but determined populace was victorious and a
republic was proclaimed.
This republic had a brief existence. It was overthrown by the coup
d'état of December 2, 1851, and Louis Napoleon was elected em-
peror December 2, 1852. Napoleon III. was astute and sagacious.
He ascended the throne "by the grace of God and the will of the
French people." Throughout his reign he did everything possible to
260
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
engage the affections of the common people and to identify his dynasty
with their material prosperity. In the cities of the empire, and especially
in the capital, immense numbers of common laborers and skilled arti-
sans were employed upon public works. An unusual financial and
commercial activity marked the first years of his reign; the credit foncier
and the credit mobilier companies were established in Paris; many im-
portant public works were undertaken, and though speculation was un-
duly encouraged, the general material condition of the country was un-
doubtedly much improved.”
*
*
*
The conduct of the Crimean war largely increased the military prestige
of the nation, as well as the popularity and strength of Napoleon's rule,
especially as during its continuance, measures for enhancing the domes-
tic prosperity of the country were by no means neglected. This flatter-
ing state of affairs was more specious than real, and experienced a
reaction that soon brought the empire into disrepute at home, and made.
it an object of distrust abroad. The heads of departments were corrupt.
and extravagant, and the methods of administration high-handed and
unscrupulous. The leaders of the people refused longer to countenance
the subterfuges and makeshifts of the government, and the money neces-
sary to carry on the public works that had been projected was withheld.
In 1869 and 1870 occurred a period of severe depression in commercial
and manufacturing circles. The wages of the working classes were con-
sequently reduced, which resulted in long-continued strikes in the large
factories, and a wide-spread discontent of the laboring classes. Matters
went from bad to worse with the empire, until the final crash that re-
sulted in the Prussian occupation and enforced abdication of Napoleon
III.
In the city of Paris, in 1848, were made the first experiments in co-
öperative workshops. The enterprises were conducted by the working-
men, and the requisite capital was supplied by the government in the
form of a loan from the public treasury. After some time had elapsed
an inquiry into the condition of these coöperative ventures was instituted.
by the government, which revealed that out of ninety associations,
thirty-five were flourishing, twenty-six were in a precarious situation,
thirteen were fairly successful and sixteen had but held their own
In 1848 was organized "The Association of Masons" of France.
The organization began with eighty-four members, and was constituted
as follows: A building manager and a financial manager, with an as-
sistant, were selected. Of the remaining eighty-one members two-thirds
were to work with hod and trowel under the direction of the other third,
FRANCE.
261
acting as superintendents and distributers of work. In 1852, the asso-
ciation transacted business to the amount of $9,000, and realized profits
to the amount of $200. In 1858, the business had increased to $243,500,
upon which a profit was realized of $40,000. A dividend of fifty-six per
cent was declared upon the capital stock. This organization has erected
many of the finest mansions in Paris, and in 1867 it constructed the
Orleans railway station in that city, at a cost of $2,000,000 francs. In
the past this association has generally employed from 200 to 300 work-
men, who, in addition to their respective shares of their profits, were
paid the prevailing wages.
Other organizations of a kindred nature have been formed from time
to time, with varying success. The tendency of these institutions has
been to elevate the character of the members and improve their material
condition. M. Villi Aumé says: "Among the associated workmen, the
fatal habit of intemperance is gradually disappearing, along with the
coarseness and rudeness which are the consequence of the too imperfect
education as a class." One of these organizations, the Société des Cités
Ouvrières, within the period of ten years built 692 houses, beside public
baths, laundries, fountains, gardens, and the bakery for the use of its
members. The average cost price of each house was from $600 to $800.
Any member desiring to build or purchase a dwelling was required to
make an immediate payment from $50 to $60. The property was
then made over to him absolutely upon a payment of five dollars monthly
for a period of thirteen years.
The Prudhommes, or counsels of prudent men, are an interesting
feature of industrial life in France. They exist in all the important
cities and towns of the country, and have been regarded with curiosity
by all persons interested in the relations of capital and labor. These
bodies were instituted as tribunals for the adjustment of differences and
disagreements arising between employer and employé. Candidates for
this position are recommended by the chamber of commerce, the chamber
of arts and sciences or the municipal council of the district in which the
candidates reside. These councils were established by a decree of govern-
ment, and the number of members cannot be less than eight. The
membership must be divided equally between master and workmen.
Masters and workmen elect representatives from among their number.
To vote for a “Prudent man "a master must be twenty-five years old,
must have been five years in business, and three of those years a resident
of the district. To vote for a Prudent man a workingman must have at-
tained the age of twenty-five years, must have been a journeyman for the
262
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
period of five years, and for three years a resident of the district. An
electoral list of eligible candidates is prepared by the mayor of every
commune, assisted by two assessors. This list, when prepared, is for-
warded to the prefect of the department, by whom it is revised and
returned to the mayor. An appeal may be taken from this revision
within ten days of the time of its return. The elections are by ballot,
and the votes are deposited before a Justice of the Peace. A Prudent
man must be at least thirty years of age, and able to read and write.
Uncertificated bankrupts, men guilty of criminal acts, and foreigners
cannot be electors. Half of the Prudent men retire every three years,
but are eligible for reëlection. A Prudent man, unnecessarily absent
from the sessions of the board, may be deposed by the president. The
secretary of the council is appointed by the prefect of a department, on
the recommendation of the president. The jurisdiction of the council ex-
tends to disagreements between manufacturers and artisans, foremen and
journeymen, masters and apprentices. The jurisdiction of the council is
limited to controversies arising in the industry which it represents, and
from which its members were elected. Jurisdiction is determined by
the place of business or work, and not by the place of residence. Great
latitude is permitted the council in interpreting the law. Their con-
struction of contracts is determined more by the spirit than the letter.
The cost of proceedings before this tribunal is reasonable. When a
workingman is called as a witness he is paid a fee equivalent to his
wages. In case his absence from work necessitates the appointment of
a substitute, the substitute is also paid as a part of the costs of the pro-
ceedings.
Within the past fifty years great progress has been made in manu-
factures. Notable among enterprises of this character are the silk
factories of Lyons, Avignon, Nimes and Tours; the lace, tulle and em-
broidery establishments in and about St. Quentin and Nancy; the
important iron works of Caen and Cotes, and Evers and St. Etienne; the
cutlery enterprises of Paris, Langres, Moulins, and Tours; the woolen
manufactures of Sedan, Louviers, Rheims, Amiens, Aras and St. Omer;
the linen industry of Valenciennes and Cambrai; and the manufactures
of fine earthenware and porcelain at Severes, Limoges, Montereau. The
manufacture of beet-root sugar has assumed enormous proportions. It
may be said indeed that in the manufacture of textile fabrics, France
has now a foremost position among the nations of the earth. In the
manufactories of France are employed nearly two million of people.
More sublime in their patience, more heroic in their enterprises, incom-
FRANCE.
263
parably more useful to humanity is this vast concourse of hand-toilers
than were the invincible armies of the first Napoleon. The war-scared
veterans of the Corsican adventurer swept the fair fields of Europe like a
besom of destruction. On the other hand, consider for a moment the
enormous wealth contributed each year to their native land by the
innumerable hosts of industry in La Belle France.
It has been estimated that fully one-half of the inhabitants of France
are engaged in agriculture. This industry is under the supervision of a
special minister. He is assisted by officers called general inspectors. It
is the duty of these inspectors to visit all sections of the country with a
view to ascertaining the condition of the farmers and the wants of agri-
culture. In the event of misfortune overtaking the peasant proprietor,
such as fire, frost, drought, floods or cattle disease, the circumstance is
reported by the inspector to the department of agriculture, and
the government comes to the assistance of the sufferer. In 1869 the
money expended in this manner amounted to 2,171,340 francs. Not-
withstanding the important position of agriculture in France, and the
aid and encouragement it receives from the government, it has made
less improvement since the first revolution than in England and Scot-
land. The backward condition of agriculture in France has been
attributed to the law of 1793 which provided that the land of a testator
should descend to his children equally. The operation of this law has
sub-divided the estates of France into millions of diminutive farms.
The farms are so small, in fact, that the improved implements known to
the agriculture of other countries are impracticable and too expensive.
for the use of the French farmer. Some of the large land-owners have
successfully introduced modern methods and the use of improved imple-
ments. The meadows and pasture lands are confined mainly to Nor-
mandy. All of the important cereals are cultivated, such as wheat, rye,
maize, buckwheat, oats and barley. The vineyards of France are the
source of great wealth to the country, and exist in at least seventy-six of
the departments.
A minute division of labor prevails in Paris. The result of this cus-
tom is the attainment of great perfection and excellence of workman-
ship. The extent to which this practice is carried in that city, may be
realized when we mention the number of handicrafts located on the
right bank of the Seine: imitation jewelry, gold and silver jewelry and
ware, artificial flowers, brushes, toys, umbrellas, fans, combs, pocket-
books, accordions, buttons of horn, bone and mother of pearl, clock
faces, straw bonnets, canes, whips, hair-work, wax figures, kid gloves,
264
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
silk and woolen gloves, musical instruments, work boxes, tables, specta-
cles, feather work, morocco, leather work, glass ware and porcelain.
ware. So complete is this sub-division of labor, that oftentimes one firm
or concern confines itself to the manufacture of one flower; for example,
there are many manufactories that produce nothing but roses. In the
manufacture of confectionery, the French are supposed to excel any other
people. In one district of Paris, in 1848, confectionery was manufac-
tured to the value of $739,800. Civilization seems to have destined the
French to furnish articles of luxury for mankind; and in no city of the
world are the surroundings so well suited to the development of taste,
skill and beauty-in a word to the cultivation of the art-spirit in every
industry. To use the words of another: "The industrial productions of
Paris, infinitely varied, carry a sort of stamp, or sign, of Industry's Le-
gion of Honor, which enables the civilized world to show a discriminat-
ing taste in preferring them. This specialty is derived from the culti-
vation of the fine arts and sciences, favored by vicinity to numerous pre-
cious collections of arts which are freely open to those who wish to de-
rive instruction at these refined fountains of taste.'
""
A favorite saying among the working-classes of France is, that "he
who labors prays." This aphorism, if such it may be called, is a key to
the character of the French workman. He views labor as a divine insti-
tution, and believes that it hallows all that it touches. The working-
man of France, in brief, is thoroughly imbued with what he conceives to
be the dignity and pride of his position. The result of this opinion is
a feeling of equality between master and servant, employer and employé.
This sense of equality, however, in no way involves a doubt as to circum-
stantial superiority- temporary ascendency of the employer over the
employé. It does not seem to diminish the feeling of deference and re-
spect which is customary in an employé; but it does maintain in fact the
abstract truth that before the law and in morals one man is as good as
another. The temporary right of the employer to command is recog-
nized, but it leaves undisturbed and unweakened the anterior dignity of
the servant as a man.
A glimpse at the habits and methods of the peasant proprietor may
not prove uninteresting.
Should he live in the outskirts of a forest he will, at times, occupy
himself by cutting fagots, which he carries to the nearest market-town
on his mule. When required, he repairs the hill-roads and cuts down
the bushes of boxwood. Out of the latter he manufactures manure.
With the opening of spring and the coming of the birds he removes the
FRANCE.
265
honey from the tops of his wooden hives. He then plants his vegetables
and hatches his silk-worm eggs. Twenty-five days are required to de-
velop the silk-worm to its chrysalis state. Of late a mysterious and un-
manageable disease has been rife among the silk worms. This renders
the period of development an extremely anxious one. A new breed of
silk worm has been recently introduced from Japan, which is more hardy
in its nature and less susceptible to the ravages of this disease. The
eggs of the silk worm costs from sixteen to twenty cents per ounce.
Silk to the value of from 200 to 300 francs can be produced from one
ounce of eggs. An industrious family, accidents and misfortunes aside,
might realize from $160 to $240 worth of silk annually, from four ounces
of silk-worm eggs. The cocoons are generally offered for sale at the
fairs, where they are purchased by the agents of manufacturers. The
peasant farmer harvests his crop of corn, waters his meadows, and shears
his sheep. His corn is cut with the sickle, and either threshed with the
flail or is trodden out by oxen. His grapes are gathered in the month of
September. Later in the autumn he gathers the walnuts which are
scattered over the fields by the autumn winds. Such is the yearly
routine of the peasant proprietor, and sufficiently monotonous and
simple it is
The time of the farmer's wife is occupied in making butter or curd,
rearing fowls, and spinning flax. Since the Revolution the peasant
farmer has been steadily improving in condition and gradually becoming
richer. Some idea of the number and size of the farms of France may
be had from the statement that in one city, numbering only some
4,000 inhabitants, there are about 500 proprietors of farms. These
farms are of all sizes, from two and one-half acres, downwards. The
clothing usually worn by the peasant farmer is cheaper in France than
in England or Germany. His beverages are wine, tea or coffee; his staple
articles of food are bread, potatoes, haricots, and other vegetables.
Occasionally he treats himself to a piece of salt pork, but fresh meat
seldom or never passes his lips.
In the cities and towns of France the unmarried artisan, mechanic
and laborer, eat their meals in cafés and restaurants. His Sunday dress
is cheap and flashy. His food consists, usually, of a cheap stew, com-
pounded of cold meats, tainted vegetables and stale bread; he accom-
panies this uninviting dish with a bottle of so-called wine. When mar-
ried he usually rents one or two rooms in an apartment house. His
home is scantily furnished with an iron bed-stead, a table and two chairs.
The members of this class are seldom provident and are too often intem-
266
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
perate. By the law of France, manufacturers, the owners of mills and
railroad companies are responsible for all injuries received by em-
ployés while in discharge of their duties. When an employé is killed
while in their service, the law compels them to pension his family.
When not in active military service, every male citizen who has attained
the age of twenty-one years is entitled to vote and is eligible to office.
CHAPTER VII.—BELGIUM.
HISTORICAL OUTLINE-AGRICULTURE-MANUFACTURES-MINING-CONDITION OF
THE LABORING CLASSES
THE
COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES-FEMALE LABOR.
HE conquests of Julius Cæsar first made Belgium known to the
civilized world. Belgium then became a part of the Roman
empire, and so continued until the invasion and occupation of the
Netherlands by the Franks. Although brave and warlike, yet the Bel-
gians of Cæsar's time were barbarians, and without any industries wor-
thy of mention. After the Roman conquest the Belgian tribes took
kindly to the arts and industries of civilized life. From the fifth cen-
tury the history of the Belgians was identified with the history of the
Franks. During the middle ages the county of Flanders attained dis-
tinction in industry and commerce. For centuries the people of the
Netherlands increased in wealth and prosperity. In 1477 "the Nether-
lands came into the possession of the House of Austria.". Although this
event did not end their progress in industry and commerce, yet the
inhabitants were grievously oppressed by the persecutions of Charles
V. and Phillip II. of Spain. A protracted and bloody struggle ensued,
which resulted in the independence of the seven northern provinces.
The southern portion, now known as Belgium, remained under Spanish
rule. The military and political results of this sanguinary strife were
disastrous to the industrial welfare of Belgium. From 1598 until 1697
the industries of Belgium continued to languish. After the peace of
Roiswick various attempts were made to revive the prosperity of Bel-
gium. The attempts were rendered futile first by the war of the Spanish
succession, and afterwards by the Austrian war of succession. In 1790
Belgium became an independent state under the name of United Bel-
gium. The French conquered Belgium in 1792. During the ascendency
of Napoleon Bonaparte he manifested a special interest in the material
welfare of Belgium. Belgium was united with Holland in March, 1815.
The Belgians, however, were more French than Dutch. Their sympa-
thies were with the ideas, spirit and habits of the French people. Not
only this, but the industries of the two countries were in conflict. The
Belgians were given to agriculture and manufactures, while the Dutch
267
268
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
were engaged chiefly in commerce and fisheries. During this union, how-
ever, a strong impulse was given to the mining industries of Belgium, and
her manufactures of iron, cotton and woolen goods were largely developed.
Today Belgium is an independent kingdom, and her people among the
most industrious and prosperous of the world. "Since the formation of
Belgium into an independent state, the government has taken a laudable
interest in all that concerns the advancement and happiness of the
people; and not being trammeled by a respect of old laws or useless cus-
toms, it has adopted, as far as possible, the most improved systems of
other countries." The whole system of government is based upon the
broadest principles of national freedom and liberality. All power ema-
nates from the people, and can be exercised only according to law. The
people are upon a strict equality in the eye of the law; personal liberty
is guaranteed to all, as well as entire freedom in opinion and in religious
worship. *
Justice is open to all, as well as the means of educa-
tion, and the benefits of the public charities. The press is free, and civil
death is abolished. Anyone may address petitions to the public author-
ities, signed by one or more persons."
* *
The machinery of government in Belgium is cultured largely with
reference to the welfare of its industries and commerce. In the princi-
pal towns and cities chambers of commerce and manufactures exist as
state institutions. The members are appointed by the king from a list
of candidates prepared for him by the chambers. It is the duty of these
bodies to furnish the government with information bearing upon the
manufactures and commerce of the country, accompanied by sugges-
tions as to the means of increasing the general prosperity. The mining
interests of the country are placed under the superintendence of the
Minister of the Interior, who is assisted by a corp of mining engineers.
There are many important quarries in the country, from which are taken
marble, freestone, granite and limestone of the finest quality. The rais-
ing and spinning of flax is one of the oldest industries, and is now prob-
ably one of the most important branches of manufacture. Next in the
order of importance should be mentioned the cotton industry, which is
closely followed by the manufacture of woolen stuffs. Mention should
be made of the manufactories of silk, lace, ribbons, beer, spirits, vine-
gar, sugar, salt, bricks, tile, porcelain, earthen ware, glass, crystal, paper,
leather and ropes.
To United States Consuls Wilson, Stewart and Tanner we are indebted
for information of an important and interesting character. The condi-
tion of the workman in Brussels may be taken as representative of their
BELGIUM.
269
class. The laboring classes, as a rule, are industrious, economical and
sober. In the large manufacturing establishments good feeling exists
and mutual confidence prevails between employers and employés. In no
other country perhaps, do employers take more interest in the welfare of
their workmen. Industrial disturbances are confined to the mining dis-
tricts, where violent outbreaks sometimes occur. So contented gener-
ally are the mechanics and operatives with their lot that trades-
unions are not a feature of life in Belgium. The main industries
of the kingdom are conducted by large companies. The proprietors
and managers of these establishments have adopted many measures
looking toward the betterment of their employés. Invalid and pen-
sion funds are maintained by retaining three per cent of the wages
paid. From these funds physicians are employed, and the operatives
are paid half of their wages during illness. When a workman dies his
widow is pensioned for three years, at the rate of half the wages of the
deceased, if he has served ten years, and one-third if he had seen a ser-
vice of less than ten years. The necessaries of life are purchased in
quantities at wholesale prices, and sold to the workmen at an advanced
price on the cost price of five per cent. The advance is charged to pro-
vide a fund for the payment of clerks and other incidental expenses.
Other establishments furnish physicians for their sick workmen, and
gratuitously provide for the family of the sick man until such time as
he may recover. When a workman is injured in the course of his em-
ployment, he is paid forty per cent of his wages until he is able to work
again. Aged and decrepit workmen are awarded pensions. In some of
the cities coöperative societies have been formed. In Antwerp there is a
coöperative society which does work at the docks. Female labor is em-
ployed in the mines. In Belgium seventy-five per cent of the farm labor
is performed by women. On many farms women alone are employed.
It is not an unfrequent sight to see a woman harnessed to a wagon or
even a canal boat, while her husband is comfortably ensconced on the
tongue of the vehicle or the gunwale of the boat. Sixty-five per cent
of the whole labor of the country is performed by women.
The agricultural interests of the country are superintended and pro-
moted by a council or commission of competent men, nominated by the
government. There is one of these bodies in each province, and it is their
duty to report annually the condition of agriculture within their jurisdic-
tion. Nearly one-fourth of the entire population is engaged in agricul-
tural pursuits, and since 1830 the industry has greatly improved. Of
the farms, forty-three per cent do not exceed fifty acres, while the
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THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
remaining farms range from two and one-half acres upward. The farm-
ing implements are rude and clumsy, and, as a rule, the farmers are
averse to the introduction of improvements. Notwithstanding this
fact, Belgium is not surpassed in agriculture by any country. Flemish
husbandry partakes of the nature of gardening. While the plow and
the harrow are frequently brought into requisition, yet the standing
implement is the spade, that earliest and simplest of agricultural tools.
As a rule, the farms are subdivided into small square lots or patches.
Each little field has its highest point in the center, and slopes gently in
all directions. This incline is so disposed that the slope of the subsoil
corresponds to that of the surface. Filtration is promoted by a system
of trenching, in which the Flemish farmer displays both skill and inge-
nuity. "The performance of the whole at once," writes Mr. Chisholm,
in his "World As It Is," "would be a formidable and not a very efficient
process. In a few years a new subsoil would be formed, and the trench-
ing would be required to be renewed. This is rendered unnecessary in
the following manner: The land is laid out in ridges about five feet
wide, and when the seed is sown it is not covered, as usual, by the har-
row, but by earth dug from the furrows to the depth of two spades, and
spread evenly over the surface. By changing the ridges, and throwing
the furrow of the previous year into the ridge of the next, the whole
ground becomes fallow in the course of five successive crops, and is con-
sequently trenched to the depth of eighteen inches. This process of
trenching never ceases, and is unquestionably one of the most important
characteristics of Flemish husbandry."
CHAPTER VIII. — SPAIN.
EXPULSION OF THE MOORS-CONTRAST BETWEEN THE SPANIARDS AND THE
MOORS-DEGRADATION OF LABOR IN THE SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH
CENTURIES-IMPROVEMENT IN THE LAST TWO HUNDRED YEARS-ANTIQUE
METHODS IN AGRICULTURE, MANUFACTURES AND MECHANICS-SPANISH ARTI-
SANS-MINING AGRICULTURE IN A BACKWARD CONDITION-THE CURSE OF
MESTA WAGES-POVERTY THE RULE AMONG THE TILLERS OF THE SOIL-
FOOD, CLOTHING AND HABITS OF THE PEOPLE.
M
EDIÆVAL Spain was the one bright spot in surrounding darkness.
The one civilization of that epoch was that of the Arabs or
Saracens. That civilization attained its acme among the Spanish Arabs
or Moors. Never has the Spanish peninsula enjoyed so protracted a
period of prosperity in the mechanical arts and agriculture as during the
reign of the Caliphs. For many centuries the Moriscoes were the indus-
trial life and character of Spain. With their gradual extermination and
final expulsion, a blow was struck at her industries from which they have
never recovered.
It is estimated that during the struggle between the Spaniards and
the Moors, aside from the slaughter and loss of war, more than 2,000,000
non-combatant Arabs departed the country with their portable wealth and
knowledge of the industrial arts. This stupendous tragedy ended in
1609, when at least 600,000 Moors were driven out of the country for-
cibly in a body. With the last number went all that remained at that
time to Spain of skillful husbandmen and ingenious mechanics. The
place of the expatriated Moors could not be supplied by the proud and
indolent Spaniards who had dispossessed them. The bigoted and foolish
Spaniards did not have the patience, the industry, nor the ingenuity of
the unfortunate Moors. The disastrous effects of this most injudicious
policy soon became manifest: "the Moors had carried with them their
skill in the arts and agriculture; and though the bright and fertile Vega
still smiles at the foot of the sunny Sierra, and the rich soil of Anda-
lusia still preserved its wonted fertility, they were not taken advantage of
by the Spaniard. He was either too indolent to work, or too ignorant to
work to the best advantage." It followed, therefore, that these fertile
regions were only partially cultivated, and then but imperfectly. The
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272
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
numerous villages that had dotted the landscape fell into ruin, and the
crops decreased more and more, year by year. The large cities, too,
which had once teemed with people, in time dwindled down till they
did not contain a twentieth, and in some cases about a half of their former
population. Under the Omniad Caliphs, Cordova contained a population
of 1,000,000; today, its inhabitants do not exceed 40,000. There was a
time when Toledo contained 200,000 souls; now its inhabitants number
about 13,000. In the thirteenth century, Seville numbered 300,000
inhabitants, whilst at present she does not possess more than 90,000. In
the fourteenth century, under Yussef I., Granada is said to have con-
tained 450,000 people; at the present day there are scarcely 80,000; and
this kingdom is now inhabited by 500,000 Spaniards, while once it con-
tained 3,000,000 Moors.
In 1600 the province of Valencia presented an instructive contrast
between the Spaniards and the Moors, and their respective influence for
good or bad on the industries of the peninsula. So great was the thrift
and prosperity of the Moors that it was apprehended they would shortly
monopolize the riches of the province. Not only were they frugal and
industrious, but even parsimonious. While the Spanish hamlets through-
out Andalusia and Castile had fallen into decay, those of the Moors had
flourished and increased. Such of the Moors who had devoted them-
selves to agriculture inhabited the most barren parts of the province;
yet not only were they able to pay the one-third part of their crops for
rent, but also to support their families well, and annually increase
their capital stock. The Spanish farmers occupied the fertile lands of
the country, but could not pay their rents, to say nothing of supporting
those dependent upon them, or accumulating wealth. The expulsion of
the Moors was one of the most unjust transactions known in history;
and it has been said the event was followed by an almost total neglect of
agriculture. So low had this industry fallen in public opinion, and so
indifferent were the Spaniards to its dignity and necessity that it was in
vain that the Duke of Lerma offered an order of nobility to every man
who would give evidence of industry and skill in agriculture. Later it
was found necessary to encourage the immigration of farmers from other
countries. It was with manufactures and the mechanical arts as with
agriculture. An effort was made by her rulers, at the time of the expul-
sion of the Moors, to teach their subjects the industrial arts by permit-
ting six Moorish families out of every hundred to remain. The endeavor
seems to have been fruitless, and it was found necessary to import
artisans and mechanics from other European countries.

Vam. D. Danks.
General Secretary Improved Glass Blowers' League.
UNIV
OF
MICH
SPAIN.
273
Motley says of labor in Spain during the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries that it was more degraded than ever before; and that "the in-
dustrious classes, if such could be said to exist, were esteemed every day
more infamous. Merchants, shop-keepers, mechanics, were reptiles,
as mildly esteemed as Jews, Moors, Protestants, or pagans. As a natural
consequence, commerce and the mechanical arts fell almost exclusively
into the hands of foreigners-the Italians, English and French - who
resorted in daily increasing numbers to Spain for the purpose of enrich-
ing themselves by the industry which the natives despised. The capital
thus acquired was at regular intervals removed to other lands, where
wealth resulted from traffic, and manufacture was not accounted in-
famous. Moreover, as the soil was held by a few great proprietors, it
was nearly impossible for the mass of the people to become owners of
any portion of the land. To be an agricultural laborer at less than a
beggar's wages could hardly be a tempting pursuit for a proud and in-
dolent race.
It was no wonder, therefore, that the business of the
bregan, the smuggler, the professional mendicant, became from year to
year more attractive.
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the condition of the
Spanish peasant was deplorable, as a result of his indolence and inapti-
tude. He was clothed in rags, and into his dilapidated dwelling the
wind and rain had unlimited entry. His food consisted of a little
black bread, sour milk and bad vegetables. Even of this food, wretched
in quality, he ofttimes had not enough to satisfy his hunger.
What Spain might have been but for the expulsion of the Moors is a
matter for conjecture, and not of knowledge. What Spain became with-
out the Moors is historical. That in agricultural and industrial arts she
is not what she might have been but for that event, is obvious. That
Spain has improved in both respects within the last two hundred years
must be conceded. But even today Spain has been called the land of
antique methods in her agriculture, manufactures and mechanics. The
turning lathes in use are like those of Persia, Palestine, and other
Asiatic countries. In construction and ornament the methods, although
primitive, are rough and ready.
For instance, the varied and effective quantities formed of brick, in
combination with common roofing tiles, may be mentioned. So simple.
is this kind of ornamentation that it can be made by the crudest brick-
layer. The tile mentioned is manufactured as follows: A four-sided
frame is constructed in such a way as to be narrower at one end than at
the other. This mould is laid upon a table and filled with clay. The
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274
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
soft tile is then lifted from the mould and left standing in the sun to
dry. When dry the tile is burned in a kiln. The carpentry of Spain,
like the brick and mason work of that country, is crude, yet solid, gen-
uine and effective. The prevailing style of building is the framing of
small panels with a very simple moulding. Decorating the interior of
houses with ornamental paper is not practiced by the Spanish artisan.
In its stead the walls and ceilings are painted by him. He divides the
surface into panels with stencilled lines, and then frescoes each panel
with free-hand ornament. The iron-smith is an important tradesman in
the cities. His art is called into requisition in architecture. Labor and
material are so cheap that wrought-iron balconies of tasteful design are
a feature of houses the most unpretending. It may be said that there
are no blacksmiths, locksmiths, etc., in Spain, as one man would at
times exercise all these trades. A general smith will iron a vehicle, shoe
a horse, or make a lock. Crudeness and simplicity are not the rule in
Spain. Many are the industries in which her artisans are not excelled
by those of any other country. To substantiate this assertion, we have
but to mention the many beautiful public buildings, well-constructed
private houses, enameled tiles, brass and iron work, ornamental furni-
ture, velvets, boots and shoes, leather work, blankets, flannels, cigars,
gloves, cerillos, and confectionery.
Spain produces the finest wool in Europe. That country should not
be surpassed, therefore, in the manufacture of woolen goods. There are
woolen manufactories in Mauresa, Tanagona, Guadalajara, and some in
the provinces of Valencia and Aragon. Of late years the manufacture of
cotton has largely increased and continues to enlarge. Silk-worms are
reared in Granada and there are extensive silk factories in Barcelona,
Valencia, Amalgro, Seville and Madrid. The operatives of Spain make
excellent fabrics, but in the art of dyeing they are deficient. In the
northern provinces tanning is a large and important industry. The
cigar manufacturers of Malaga and Seville are famous. A superior
quality of porcelain is manufactured at Madrid. The development of
the manufactures of Spain has been seriously hampered by a system of
monopoly. Another obstacle has been the policy of government manu-
factures, which has seriously interfered with private enterprise.
Since the dawn of history Spain has been celebrated for her richness.
of mineral deposits. These mines were in turn operated by the Tyrians,
Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans and Arabs. Recently several silver and
lead mines have been discovered. Iron ore is found in large quantities,
principally in the northern provinces. Coal is mined in considerable
SPAIN.
275
quantities. In 1856 upwards of 1,000,000 quintals of lead in bars were
exported. It has been stated that some of the most important silver
mines of the country were discovered by practical miners, who had
returned to their native country from the mining districts of Mexico.
They were led to this discovery by a comparison of the geological forma-
tion of their native mountains with those of Mexico.
It is estimated that about sixty per cent of the area of Spain is arable
land. It is one of the most fruitful countries of Europe. It has a
great variety of products. In almost all the provinces wheat, secale,
barley, hemp and flax are cultivated. "In the south of Spain there is a
great variety of delicious fruits, not only such as are common in tem-
perate climates, but many which naturally belong to the tropical regions,
The sugar-cane grows near the cotton plant and numerous olives furnish
the oil, which forms an important branch of commerce. Of all the veg-
etable productions of Spain, the vine is the most important, land being
almost everywhere favorable to its culture; the excess of the vintage
above the quantity consumed in the country forms a considerable branch
of the export trade.”
The array of agricultural and horticultural productions in Spain is
attractive to the inhabitants of less favored climes. But notwithstand-
ing the amenities of that country, in climate and soil, agriculture is in
a backward condition. Various attempts have been made to account
for this. One of these, is what has been appropriately termed the curse
of Mesta. This is the name given to a custom that permits the owners
of flocks and herds to drive them from province to province in search of
pasture. Extensive and destructive depredations are committed by the
sheep and cattle while on their way from one pasture to another.
Another hindrance to the improvement of agriculture is the law of
entail which exists in Spain in its worst form. By far the larger part
of Andalusia is included in the estates of the Dukes of Osuna, Alba,
Medina and Coeli. But, perhaps, the most serious hindrance to advance-
ment in agriculture is the want of internal communication, and the
laziness of the rural population. As a rule the farms of Spain are
small. The farmers do not live upon the land they cultivate, but con-
gregate in small villages which present a miserable aspect. Rotation in
crops is not practiced, and the same land is sown, year after year, after
a slight plowing.
The farm implements used by the Spanish farmer are of the rudest
description. In the mountain districts the spade is used instead of the
plow. The most carefully cultivated lands are in the Huertas of Gran-
276
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
*
ada, Murcia and Valencia, which are well irrigated by the waters of
Segura and Jucar. These three provinces are considered the gardens of
Spain, and yield yearly three or four crops of vegetables. Notwith-
standing the fertility of some portions of Spain, it is estimated that all
the arable land does not yield more than from one and one-half to two
per cent annually to the owners. Scarcely a third of the arable land of
Spain is today properly tilled. More land is devoted to the pasturage
of cattle than is necessary for the maintenance of the flocks and herds of
the country. The small farmers of the country, for the most part, are
wretchedly poor, and are constantly at the mercy of the usurers, shav-
ers, and pawn-brokers.
Until 1868, the wages of the agricultural laborer were extremely low;
so low, indeed, as to threaten him constantly with want. Nothing could
be saved by him for old age or sickness. When overtaken by illness or
decrepitude of advanced age, he was either supported by relatives or sought
refuge in one of the many asylums for the aged which abound throughout
the peninsula. These institutions are conducted chiefly by the sisters
of San Sula and the sisters of San Vicente de Pau. The agricul-
tural laborer of Spain suffers seriously by reason of the protracted drought
which is continuous from the end of the July harvest to the end of
September. During this time the poor farm-hand can earn nothing
and is driven to the pawnbroker for relief. In Spain there are two
kinds of pawn-shops, distinguished respectively as the montes de piedad
and the agencia de prestamous. The montes de piedad is not conducted
as are the pawn-shops of the United States and England. The poor man
when compelled to pawn his ancestral watch or cupboard has full twelve
months within which to redeem the article by paying a reasonable inter-
est. With the small farmer and agricultural farmer poverty is the rule.
Although poor, yet he is said to be superior in mental and moral quali-
ties to the same class in England, France and Germany.
"The Spanish peasant," says Hugh James Ross, "is a child of nature,
but a very noble child." His nobility must be instinctive and natural
rather than acquired, as for centuries illiteracy has been the rule among
the Spanish peasantry. In 1803, only one in 350 could read, in 1865
one in fifteen, in 1875, one in six could read and write. The character
of the Spanish peasant is largely the result of climatic influences. The
atmosphere of his native clime is replete with the elements of vitality, and
less solid food is required to sustain life than in more northern or southern
countries. Today nutritious wine and good bread is cheaper in Spain
than anywhere else in the world. Luscious grapes may be had for a
SPAIN.
277
trifle. It is upon such food as this that the Spanish peasant subsists,
wine, bread, and vegetables cooked in olive oil. Garlic is a favorite.
vegetable, and in Spain is less pungent and more delicate in flavor than
that grown in other countries. Partridges and rabbits are plentiful in
their season, and are killed in large quantities by the peasantry.
Soups and stews are the prevailing ways of preparing food. In the
adage, "No stew without bacon, and no sermon without a quotation
from St. Augustine," we have the key to Spanish cooking-stewing and
salt meat; for every peasant woman of Spain, who can afford the coveted
morsel, procures a piece of salt meat or fish for her stew. The cheapest
food of the Spanish laborer is the veritable red pottage of sacred story.
The ingredients of this compound, are olive oil, salt, red-pepper, water,
and haricot beans, garbanzos, or potatoes. Another popular and
economical dish is the sopa de ajo, or garlic soup. This dish is com-
pounded of garlic, hard crusts of bread, oil, salt and water. The food
that delights alike the rich and poor is the famous olla or punchero.
Into this savory stew all the viands find their way- bacon and fresh
meat, potatoes, cabbages, garbanzos, red-peppers, rice, etc. Sardines
fried with tomatoes in oil are eaten in some regions during the early
winter months.
In Spain, as in the East, the peasant and laborer sits on a low stool
while eating. In the place of forks, spoons of wood or horn are used.
As a mass, no nation is better mannered than the working classes of Spain.
If approached when eating they are very pressing in their invitations to
partake of what they have to offer. To quote from an observant traveler,
"At night you pass the door of the Spanish peasant's shanty. He
and his family are sitting on stones or three-legged stools outside the
door, just as the setting sun sinks to rest, and beginning their evening
meal. Will you dine?' is their customary greeting, and perhaps they
will add, if it be autumn, we have a quince, or a Ronda pippin, in our
stew tonight.""
If a peasant be a Mercian or Valencian his common garb is a coarse
white linen or cotton shirt, and baggy trousers of the same material.
His feet are encased in strong hempen sandals. If a native of La Mancha
his clothing will be a thick woolen jacket, rusty-brown trousers and
heavy boots of untanned leather. In Andalusia the peasant wears the
short, black jacket and striped woolen small clothes of that kingdom.
The most picturesque costume of Spain is that of the charcoal burner.
Like the hero of the old nursery rhyme he is absolutely "all clad in
leather." "He wears a leather jacket with a double row of steel buttons
278
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
on either lappet; leather breeches, loose above and tight below the knee,
but as they are never buttoned below the knee they show a tight fitting
and oftentimes coarsely embroidered stocking. This dress is very ex-
pensive, and as a rule the mountaineer can only afford a new suit once
in two, three, or four years." In costume, food and habits the peasantry
of the Basque provinces present a sharp contrast to the same class in
other parts of Spain. Indeed, it may be said that in these matters
each province of Spain differs from every other. The household uten-
sils in common use in one town, village, or district can not be found in
the next. In one section bread will be made in great perfection, in public
shops. In the adjoining district baking, as a trade, will be unknown.
Many Spanish peasants dislike the inconvenience of undressing at
night. No time is lost in the morning in making a toilet. Night and
day for weeks they will wear the same garments, trusting to shower and
sun to cleanse and bleach them.
To an American or English laborer the house of the Spanish peasant
would appear comfortless. The walls are thick and the windows few
and small. There are diminutive one-storied houses, nestling among the
vines and the olives and overgrown with the gourd and the vine. Mercia
and Valencia are dotted with tiny stone cottages, each surrounded by a
fertile garden plot, in which are raised four crops of vegetables annually.
Around the flourishing mines of Andalusia, the miners have excavated
small caves in the rocks and cliffs. These subterranean dwellings are
lighted by an oil lamp swinging from the roof. In the towns and vil-
lages the customary tenement of the working classes is a one-storied
crumbling stone building. The floor is of baked earth or flagged.
Around the rude walls hang wooden crucifixes, coarse pictures of the
saints, and strings of melons, gourds, dry herbs and garlic intermingled
with the bright flame-colored pimientos picantes or pungent capsicums.
Within the walls of the sitting-room are accommodated dogs, cats, goats,
small pigs and fowls. Sometimes there is a stray fox or a magpie. “In
the cottage is a brick shelf with two little holes, about a foot deep and
half foot in diameter; these are called the hornillas, or cooking stoves.
The charcoal is placed in the bottom of these holes, and is fanned into a
flame by the shaking to and fro of a wisp in front of the outlet from the
hornilla. On the top of the two hornillas are placed the two earthen
ware pots or pucheras, which contained the viands to be converted into
ollas or stews."
In the cities of Andalusia there are two classes of laborers, the native
Andalusian, and the Gallegos, or natives of Gallicia. The Andalusian
SPAIN.
279
"
is generally a skilled mechanic or a clerk. The Gallegos are the
unskilled workmen "the hewers of wood and the drawers of water.'
In the erez and the adjoining districts, a bitter feeling exists between
the vine growers and their employés. There are, in this section, few if
any small farmers and the land is possessed by a small minority of the
inhabitants. Although not a student of history or political economy,
the landless laborer of the Jerez realizes that "there is something rotten
in Denmark.” But the general condition of the people in Andalusia
has been summed up as one of light-hearted cheerful poverty." The
Catalonians are the most active and laborious people of the Spanish
peninsula.
Drunkenness is a rare occurrence. The land is more widely
distributed than in any other province, and the farmers more thrifty
and prosperous than elsewhere in Spain.
In this principality a system exists called rabassa marta. Under
this system a vineyard is planted by the cultivator, who pays the owner
of the land half, a third or a quarter of the produce, according to the
terms of the contract and the quality of the land. United States Consul
Fhscheuch writes, that "by means of this contract thousands of acres
of weedy soil have been converted into excellent vineyards, and nany
thousands of poor laborers now enjoy the consideration due to semi-pro-
prietors and a relatively comfortable position, which stimulates them to
work more earnestly." It is, also, owing to this that pauperism, so gen-
eral in other parts, is hardly known in Catalonia.
In Corunna blacksmiths received fifty cents a day, and tailors and
shoemakers forty cents. To the mechanic of the United States this
wage-rate is phenomenally low, but is an increase of ten per cent on the
wages of 1878.
Prior to the revolution of 1868 the Spanish laborer was little if any
better than a slave in political and social condition. As the constitution
of Spain then existed he had no rights worth the name.
The govern-
ment invariably sided with capital as against labor, and persecuted every
attempt among laboring classes to form protective and conservative
associations. The constitution in 1869 established equality of political
rights in Spain, and the laborers acquired thereby perfect liberty of or-
ganization.
Upon the restoration of the monarchy universal suffrage was abol-
ished and the privilege of association was left to the discretion of the
provincial authorities. Now, the right of suffrage has been conferred on
all those who can read or write, or who have served creditably in the
army.
CHAPTER IX.- PORTUGAL.
PRIMITIVE LUSITANIA -THE MOST ENLIGHTENED PEOPLE OF THE FIFTEENTII
CENTURY-THE CONSTITUTION OF 1821-SLOW RECOVERY FROM THE EVILS
OF IMPERIAL OPPRESSION AGRICULTURE-MANUFACTURES-
MANUFACTURES-WAGES - LAND
TENURES-CONDITION OF THE LABORING CLASSES.
PORTI
—
ORTUGAL is a country but little less remarkable in the history of
romance than its near neighbor, between whose people and its own
there is so close a national and traditional and social resemblance.
Though it has ever been less famous than Spain, less a center of attrac-
tion to the chivalric world of the days with the passing of which the
Portuguese glory vanished, there is an irresistible charm in the memory
of this land from which sprang so much of the valor, enterprise and res-
olution that moved civilization forward when so many stubborn forces
contended against it. One may not look to that dreamy land without
some regret that it has fallen to so low a state among the proletariat na-
tions of Europe; its people so much lower in grade, so much more ignor-
ant and indolent than the still enervated Spaniards who are content to
feed on the splendors of the past; too slowly responsive to the new dem-
ocratic spirit struggling for effective existence. Inertia is the bane of
these Latin countries, rather than the result of the pressure of systems
that obtained in the sturdier people of the middle and eastern countries
of Europe. But back of this was the old cause of retrogression, a luxu-
rious, profligate nobility, a heavily taxed, legally wronged commons.
The ancient inhabitants were Celtic tribes, and gave to primitive Lusi-
tania the vigorous cast characteristic of that rugged, half barbarian
people wherever they established themselves.
The first impulse toward cultured civilization came through the
Roman subjection of the country. The influences then introduced con-
tinued to be felt for five centuries, when more of the old leaven was
injected into the state by the incursions of the Visigoths, and other
northern barbarians. In the eighth century, the Arabs and the Moors
came with their contribution of elements to the making of the general
character of the people, and when the kingdom of Portugal became inde-
pendently established under the rule of Dom Alfonso, with its present
area, there was a mixture of bloods and temperaments in the highest
1
280
PORTUGAL.
281
degree favorable to the prosperity of the country. Portugal was raised to
a high pitch of power and affluence. In the fifteenth century the
Portuguese were the most enlightened and enterprising people of Europe;
were generously experimental in all departments of wisdom and science;
were given to exploration. Through their wise enterprise the scope of
geographical knowledge was greatly enlarged, thereby adding greatly to
the wealth of the state and extent of the Portuguese dominion. For nearly
a century they held the domination, the decline of power beginning with
the disastrous expedition of Dom Sebastian, in 1578, against the Moors of
Barbary. He and his army perished, the power of Portugal was broken,
and a few years later passed under the crown of Spain, and so con-
tinued for the better part of a century, until in 1640 the nation rose
in revolt. A long war with Spain ensued, which was terminated in 1665 by
the triumph of the Portuguese. A renewal of national prosperity followed
through alliances with England and other countries. A war over the
Spanish succession in 1704 once more crippled home industry by the ex-
clusive power conferred on England by the terms of a new alliance. A
reform period prevailed through the reign of Joseph, 1750-77, agricul-
tural, social and political benefits being conferred, though England suc-
ceeded in gaining large control of commerce.
In 1799 England persuaded Portugal to join her and Russia in a war
against France, which tended to plunge Portugal into dreadful commer-
cial distress and a general bankruptcy amounting to national impoverish-
ment. When, in 1801, Spain joined France against the other powers,
and forced the Portuguese into hard concessions, Portugal became almost
entirely dependent on England. Wars and revolts followed at intervals,
until the bloodless uprising that secured the liberal constitution of 1821.
By this there was gained for the people freedom of person and property,
liberty of all citizens before the law, the abolition of privileges, the eligi-
bility of all Portuguese to office, and the sovereignty of the nation. Such
is the dark background of contention, destitution and suffering that
stamps upon the imagination, more graphically and terribly than can
words, what was the condition of the toiling masses who were unable to
rise to industrial dignity against the exactions of domestic tax and foreign
levy. It meant the degradation of the people, no less than the ruin of
the State. And the picture of the unthrift and improvidence of today
afflicting the country proves how slowly a constitutional government may
recover from the evils thrust upon a people by imperial oppression. Sixty
years are a short time in which to recover from the wrongs and injuries
of centuries, and it is not surprising that agriculture is now backward,
282
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
and that the industries are not at a high pitch of development. That
ignorant farmers should combine to weaken the soil by raising on the
same patch the same crops yearly, without alternation, is a natural
result of that impediment to improvement in cultivation which arose from
the land being owned by crown, nobility or clergy. With the amend-
ment of the mortmain laws, by which the soil became free, progress was
made possible, and the Lusitanian farmers are beginning to appreciate
the value of their labor. The gradual introduction of modern imple-
ments of agriculture indicates the awakened sense of productive possi-
bilities. Improved highways, too, are doing much to promote the pros-
perity of the agricultural districts, in recent years $10,000,000 having
been expended from the treasury for the construction of national high-
ways, district and communal roads, of which there are more than 2,460
miles in excellent condition. The extension of the railway system has
been rapidly conducted, so that the producer now has a ready market for
his commodities, the good results showing in the large crops of wheat,
rye, maize and barley, and the great increase of the grape culture. The
export of wine advanced from 4,715,386 gallons, in 1842, to nearly 9,-
000,000 gallons in these late years. The annual orange yield will average
630,000,000, lemons and figs being also a leading source of agricultural
wealth. The oil industry, which is one of the most progressive, pro-
duces an average yield of nearly 6,000,000 gallons a year. Though wine
constitutes more than one-third of the value of the entire exports, general
fereign commerce is steadily augmenting, the exchange being chiefly with
Great Britain, Brazil and France. Whatever may be the unfavorable
aspect of certain districts, it is unmistakable that the upward tendency
is prevalent, the entire people gradually undergoing a change that is very
encouraging to the socio-political student. There are great differences
perceptible in the inhabitants of different provinces. In the north, for
example, the peasant not only attends to the culture of the vines, but in
many instances rears silkworms, and has his little cluster of olive trees.
The three departments of industry give him a comfortable maintenance
and a respectable standing. In Almetjo, on the contrary, the peasant is
content to live chiefly on chestnuts, while his whole available energy is
expended in the care of his pigs and goats. That the Portuguese incline
naturally to rural and agricultural pursuits, to the disrelish of mechanical
toil, is clearly enough shown in the repeated failure of efforts to establish
manufactories, a singular Arcadian spirit that cannot altogether be ex-
plained by the treaty provisions respecting the importation of English
goods. There are about 1,150 establishments that hardly may be called
PORTUGAL.
283
factories, such as tanneries, distilleries, flour mills, paper factories, soap
works, tobacco shops, cork works, etc., employing something over 90,000
operatives, but they are conducted on the simplest basis. The total daily
wages paid these workers is £3,129, the value of the products being
£6,073,658, making an average wage of a trifle more than seventeen
cents a day. Portugal has ample mineral wealth, but has neither the
capital nor the enterprise to avail herself of these resources. This
neglect is but another evidence of the essentially agricultural character
of the country. Under a proper economic system there might be a vast
increase of farm produce and stock, from fifty to a hundred per cent
gain being possible in every direction of labor.
The tenure of land is not such as to hamper the peasantry. There
are five kinds of tenure: the allodial, the emphytentic, the leasehold,
the communal and the parcenia. This latter is a rural provision which
differs little from the Magyar system of Bavaria, France and Italy, the
landlord receiving part of the produce. The principal tenure is the
allodial, and relates to the wide, fertile plains of Central and Southern
Portugal. The holder of the fee-simple, with a minimum of capital and
knowledge, tills his own broad acres, or, if his energy is unequal to the
tax, or the estate too large, leases it on short terms to a tenantry quite as
aimless and shiftless as himself, who produce simply the minimum for
the supply of their own necessities. The communal tenure obtains in
the wild and mountainous districts, and is the system perhaps best
suited to the impecunious condition of the holders, Both landlord and
tenants are penniless, and much on a social level. By diligence and
honesty the peasant may come to acquire a part interest in the estate,
the proceeds being shared on a basis of earnings.
1
The emphytentic system prevails among the northerly estates. This is
perhaps the most prosperous region in Portugal — not through any richness
of soil, but chiefly owing, it is thought, to the existence of a tenure by
which the province is parceled out among small yeomen landlords, and are
held at a fixed rent. These farms represent the excellence of agricul-
ture as it is developed in Portugal, for the reason that the best energies
of the peasants are put into a work that is wholly independent in its
character, and is yet forced along by the necessity of the annual rental,
apart from the question of yield. This fixity of tenure under unaltera-
ble conditions of rent, however burdensome they may have been origi-
nally, this contract having been made in unsettled times, and in a half-
peopled country, causes these conditions to grow less burdensome with
the increase of population, with the growth of security to life and
284
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
property, and with the general rise in agricultural prices. Such has
been the result of the emphytentic system. The operations of farming
in non-pastoral Portugal do not differ materially from those of other
countries of Southern Europe. Crab-apple orchards and fig groves form
no small part of a farmer's wealth. In marshy, sea-bordering land rice
is grown.
Olives afford the grower a good return everywhere except in
the northern portion, and the chestnut tree gives him a precarious food
and the best timber in Europe. The vineyard is an almost imperative
part of the farm.
These farms are of small extent, from five to fifteen acres, a fifty
acre farm being uncommon. The implements used in cultivation are
antique, the ploughs generally being of the old Roman fashion, and
machinery is practically unknown. The peasantry are great eaters of
fish, the dried cod supplying their wants chiefly. Potatoes are seldom
eaten by field laborers, who rely mainly on a coarse, wholesome bread,
known as broa, made of maize and rye flour, a double bread food being
almost universal in Portugal. The cost of living is nominal, a few cents.
a day sufficing, and yet it is nourishing and strengthening food.
The peasants work, when they have the acquisition of land in
view, cheerily and faithfully through sixteen hours of the day. All
things considered, the condition of the laboring classes in Portugal will
compare favorably with that of any other European state, a result due
as much to climate and fecundity of soil as to the industrial energy of
the working people. Farm life being the chief employment, and afford-
ing in itself a happy life and a comfortable living, there is not a great
deal of destitution in modern Portugal, and if wages are low in every
line of labor, the cost of food, clothing and shelter is correspondingly
cheap. Great enterprise alone seems to be needed to make of Portugal
one of the most prosperous and healthful, socially, of European coun-
tries. It is necessary, however, that the enterprise should be extended
to the matter of education. Though there are compulsory school laws,
they are not enforced, and, despite numerous schools and a good system
of instruction, the Portuguese commons are deplorably ignorant.
CHAPTER X.-ITALY.
ANCIENT ROME AND MODERN ITALY CONTRASTED-THE INDUSTRIES OF THE
NATION-PRIMITIVE
NATION - PRIMITIVE AGRICULTURE — LAND TENURES-THE LABORING CLASSES
-THE HANDICRAFTS — WAGES AND MODE OF LIVING INCREASE OF PAUPERISM
- PHYSICAL AND MORAL CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE.
THE
HE word Italy does not suggest to the mind thoughts of industrial
arts. To the world the name of Italy is identified with ideal per-
fection in sculpture and painting and with imposing magnificence in
architecture. True, Italy is of interest as suggestive of an empire that
once dominated the civilized world. But so vast is the gulf between
Rome, empress of the nations, and modern Italy, the buffet of political
forces and the toy of European intrigue, and so full the intervening cen-
turies of varied incident, that the mind of today fails to identify the
Latin peninsula with the mistress of antiquity. It is not of Italy as a
political and military power that men now write and speak, but of Italy
as the home of music, painting and sculpture. Holland, Belgium and
Switzerland are suggestive of manufactures, trade and the industrial
arts. Italy is suggestive of ecclesiastical splendor and architectural
grandeur, the revival of letters, and all that is most beautiful in glow-
ing canvas and breathing marble. Yet, in common with every other
country, the social fabric of Italy is founded on the industry of her far-
mers, artisans and manufacturers.
Industrially, Italy is emphatically an agricultural country. By far
the largest proportion of her people are engaged in agriculture, horticul-
ture and grazing. Some of her manufactures are notable, such as the
making of paper, the dressing of leather and skins, and the compound-
ing of chemicals; still, modern Italy is so distinctively an agricultural
country, that our remarks will be confined mainly to such features of
that industry as are peculiar to that country. There are artisans, me-
chanics and day laborers in sunny Italy as elsewhere, and of them we shall
have something to say, but as the farmers and gardeners of Italy are
more numerous and important, they will be first considered.
Gardening on an extensive scale is confined to the neighborhood of
such cities as Milan, Genoa, Florence, Catania and Naples. The
vegetables most largely produced are cabbage, lettuce, fennel, asparagus,
285
286
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
spinach, beet, garlic, onions, gourds, melons and cucumbers, and toma-
toes. The farmers in the vicinity of Verieto cultivate the sun-flower, those
of Bologna and Lucca sesamum. In 1863, 27,000 acres in the province of
Naples was devoted to the cultivation of madder. The two prominent
features of agriculture in Italy are the raising of wheat and the cultiva-
tion of the vine. In the production of cereals, Italy is surpassed by
Roumania, Denmark, Russia, Prussia, France, and Hungary, and in this
matter is little if any better than Switzerland. The most important cereal
is wheat, then maize, rice, oats, barley, rye and buckwheat. The potato
and turnip are extensively cultivated. The vine flourishes throughout
the length and breadth of the land. "The methods of cultivation are
sufficiently varied, but the planting of the vines by themselves, in long
rows of insignificant bushes is decidedly the exception. In Lombardy,
Emilia, Romagnia, Tuscany, the Marches, Umbria, Terra Di Livorno
and other Southern provinces they are trained to trees which are either
left in their natural state or subjected to pruning or pollarding. In
Campania and Terra Di Livorno the vine is allowed to climb freely to
the tops of the poplars much as they would do in their native woods;
but the wines obtained by this system of cultivation are said to be of in-
ferior quality. In the rest of Italy the elm and the maple are the trees
mainly employed as supports. Artificial props of several kinds — wires,
cane work and trellis work-are also used in many districts, and in
some the plant is permitted to trail upon the ground. The vintage takes
place according to locality and climate, from the beginning of Septem-
ber to the beginning of November.'
Many fruits are produced in Italy-olives, oranges, lemons, limes,
figs. In the middle provinces of Italy olive trees are cultivated in
orchards, while in Bari, Chieti, Leece, the tree flourishes without culti-
vation, like forest trees. Orange-growing has steadily increased during
the last thirty years, and has now assumed important proportions.
"
Sheep-farming, on a large scale, is confined to Umbria, Apulia, the
Capi Tanata, and the Calabrias. Throughout these provinces, in full
development, is a remarkable system of pastoral migration, which has
been in existence from the most ancient times, and which has attracted
attention as much by its picturesqueness as by its industrial importance."
Agriculture is an important industry in Italy, not because it has been
held in esteem by her rulers, statesmen and influential classes, but for
the reason that her rural classes have turned to the soil as a matter of
necessity for the means of subsistence. Circumstances, more than incli-
nation, directed the rural population of Italy to farming. By the aris-
ITALY.
287
tocratic classes agriculture is held in contempt. As a rule, the landed
proprietors do not reside on their estates; the highways of the country
are generally neglected; and all this contributed in 1830 to keep the
Italian peasant in almost absolute isolation. The Italian farmer is a
creature of habit, and has been called a plowing, reaping and threshing-
machine, and, as such, jealous and distrustful of mechanical invention.
To all personal or technical improvement he opposes his force of inertia,
and clings with tenacity to the unwieldy and clumsy instruments immor-
talized by Virgil and Columella. Some have said of him that he was
not many degrees above the dumb and hardy brute, the sharer of his toil.
This was the opinion of Mariotti, a fellow-countryman, who wrote of
the Italian farmer in 1830. We are not inclined toward an opinion so
harsh and uncharitable. The Italian farmer, per force of race instinct
alone and the glories of history and tradition, cannot be the irresponsive
and phlegmatic individual he is here depicted. It would be more just to
say of him that he was the victim of untoward circumstances and an
undeveloped system of agriculture. The Italian farmer, as a rule, does
not own the land he tills, and from him is exacted for rent one-half or
two-thirds of his annual crops. Under such circumstances, enterprise
and improvement cannot be expected of him. So straightened is his
condition that the expensive implements in common use elsewhere are
denied him. Little wonder is it, then, that he clings to the crude imple-
ments of his forefathers. Yet in use is the old Roman plow, dignified
by Latin history and honored by Cato. "In Sardinia the plow that
figures on ancient monuments of the island might have been copied
from that at work in the fields. * * *
Even in the Veneto the
heavy plow drawn by as many, it may be, as six pairs of oxen, cuts the
furrow no deeper than nine inches. As we proceed southwards the
fashion becomes more simple and antique. The spade, or vanga, is a
favorite implement, and in some parts, as in Emilia, for instance, it is
used to deepen the furrow made by the plow. Sowing and reaping
machines have been introduced in the lowland regions, but a large pro-
portion of the country is little fitted for their employment." Even as
late as 1866, Mr. Wiley, in his "Awakening of Italy," writes that "the
Italians were greatly in want of implements necessary to an advanced
condition of agriculture. Wheelbarrows were then unknown to that
country, and soil was carried in little baskets on the head. The plows
were of wood, and, in watering their fields and gardens, a pail and
bucket were used, as in Egypt. Their carts," he continues, "are little
wooden boxes suspended between two enormous wheels, and drawn by
288
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
rather an imposing array of cattle-a horse, a mule, and an ox." But
of late years there has been an improvement in this regard in some parts
of Italy. Threshing-machines, straw-cutters, corn-shellers, and other
modern inventions have begun to make their way.
Thirty years ago, and we presume it is much the same today, few of
the landed proprietors of Tuscany would grant leases for definite terms;
still, so binding was the custom of prescription in that province, and
so interdependent the interest of landlord and tenant, that removals
were extremely rare, and the same farms would be occupied and tilled from
father to son for generations. Many farms there are in that fair region
that have been held by this tenure from the days of the Florentine re-
public. The prevailing system of tenantry is that known as metayer.
That is to say, the farmer pays as rent one-half of his crops.
In Piedmont, and throughout Italy, in fact, the landlords never re-
side on their lands, and seldom does the farmer by whom the lands are
tilled. Then, the farmers reside in dingy villages, and must often travel
a day's journey to and from the fields they till. The farmer of Pied-
mont shares the profits in kind with his landlord, instead of paying in
fixed money rent. During harvest the master comes or sends for his
share of the crops. The land-owner seldom or never contributes to the im-
provement of the land or farm, although he sometimes furnishes a part of
the seed and some of the implements and stock. The metayer system is
more or less oppressive in proportion to the means with which the far-
mer starts his operation. His condition is not so bad when the land is
fertile, and his capital sufficient to render him independent of his land-
lord. On the other hand, when the land is sterile or barren, and the
poor farmer dependent on his landlord for plows, carts, animals and
seed, his condition is pitiable, and even his means of subsistence are ob-
tained by the charity of the landowner. Then it is that the poor farmer
falls helplessly into the landlord's power, and finds himself involved in
difficulties from which he may never extricate himself. In conscious dig-
nity and independence of character the inhabitants of the high lands
are greatly in advance of those who cultivate the plains of Northern Italy.
Among the Apennines and Alps the material condition of the farmer is
wretched; but there, at least, he is the owner of the little farm he culti-
vates. The mountain farmer, however, finds it impossible to eke out
his scanty subsistence from the meager crops that are yielded by his thin
and narrow lot. To mend this deficit he pursues, at home and abroad
a trade or handicraft of some kind. All the land from Naples to Rome
is owned in large estates, and is leased to metayer tenants. Sometimes

Geo. G. Block.
National Secretary of Journevmen Bakers' National Union.
ITALY.
289
•
the landlord provides the stock and utensils, and the tenant the laborer.
The produce of the land is divided between the landowner and his tenant.
The farms are leased either in perpetuity or for long periods of time,
and the rent exacted is a heavy proportion of the annual crops.
In Naples, feudalism was not abolished until 1806. It was one of
the first acts of the government of Joseph Bonaparte. This man, the
most humane and just of the Bonapartes, did away with serfdom
entirely. Although Joseph struck the blow that caused this hoary in-
justice to totter, yet it was left for his successor Joachim to finish the
work. Not only in Naples but throughout Southern Italy, the larger
part of the land is owned by the crown, the religious corporations, the
communes, and by the few remaining members of the feudal aristocracy.
The small landowners are few in number. For this reason the inhabit-
ants of provinces are poor, many of them resorting to brigandage. The
people have a right to pasture their sheep upon and obtain their fuel
from the land belonging to the communes. The land belonging to re-
ligious corporations and the crown are generally let to poor tenants, who
are without the capital requisite for its proper cultivation. It is un-
necessary to say that these lands are improperly and shiftlessly cultivated.
It is said, to make both ends meet, the peasants cut down the trees, and
resort to every other makeshift condemned as improvident and inju-
dicious. This miserable system of farming has reacted upon the land-
lord, and many of the Neapolitan aristocracy have been reduced to pov-
erty although possessing thousands of acres.
In 1858 in many parts of Italy a plowman, reaper or gardener seldom
received more than thirty cents a day for his work. In the mills men
could be had for remuneration of fifteen or twenty cents a day. And
the food of the poor peasantry corresponds with their wages. Even in
the richest districts of the North the peasantry seldom partake of animal
food. They subsist almost exclusively on corn mush and a mixture of
bread and vegetables. In Como, Milan, Pavia and Lodi the food of the
peasant consists of a heavy raised bread and a thin soup composed of
rice of inferior quality and partially decayed vegetables. Even acorns.
are sometimes used by the poor, and some black bread. For clothing,
the poor peasant is satisfied with a sheep-skin jacket or ragged coat.
The house that shelters him is little better than a shed. In the matter
of food the peasants of Southern Italy are better supplied than those who
inhabit the northern provinces. In the former region, chestnuts, figs,
fruits and Indian corn and small fish are plentiful and are easily and
cheaply obtained.
19
290
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
The district, Maremma, is malarial and unhealthy. The farmers,
therefore, inhabit the Sabine hills, and go down to the lowlands by
thousands to plant and reap their crops. In the language of Mr. Samuel
Laing: "When there is work to be done in this flat, unwholesome
country, they leave the villages on the high ground to pass a few weeks
or months in it, and wood being very scarce there, they lodge on the
ground in temporary straw or reed huts, like bee-hives in shape, put up
in the fields in which they are working; and into these huts the laborer
crawls at night, and in the heat of day, and sleeps on the bare earth.
Fever and ague ensue.
"The little towns, also, in which the people live when not employed in
Maremma, furnish very unwholesome lodging to the lower and even the
middle classes. The inhabitants occupy ill-ventilated cellars or coach-
houses on the ground floors for the better classes. The cooking goes on
just within the door, which must be left ajar for receiving light and
letting out the smoke, it being door, window, and chimney in most of
the houses of the laboring classes of these little towns. The beds are in
the interior of the den, concealed by a bit of curtain, or more usually by
wine-casks, jars, or such household goods, piled up before them."
We will now mention a few features that are peculiar to the handi-
crafts. The division of labor as understood in some other countries is
not practiced in Italy. For example, on becoming a master mason,
an Italian artisan is at one and the same time a bricklayer, plasterer,
mason, roofer and slater. A blacksmith, again, will be a horseshoer,
nail-maker, common lock-maker, etc. Wages are low, and the style of
living simple and cheap. The clothing is scanty and poor in quality.
In one room will be huddled together from four to eight persons of both
sexes. Nothing can be saved from the meager wages for old age or sick-
ness. Pauperism is, therefore, continually increasing in Italy, and to an
American it would present many shocking features. It has been re-
marked of most Italian cities that there is an absence of the class of
dwellings usually occupied by the middle and lower classes of other
countries. In the cities of Great Britain, Holland, Belgium and Ger-
many, there are entire districts devoted exclusively to the homes of the
artisan classes and laborers. In the cities of Italy, the streets are lined
with stately palaces and splendid churches. But seldom, if ever, is a
cottage to be seen. But where do these classes live? may be asked.
The answer is, on the ground floors, underneath the marble halls and
superb state rooms of the aristocracy. In a word, the same roof often
covers the mechanic and the prince, the beggar and the cardinal. The
ITALY.
291
vaults, holes, and coach-house-like places opening into the streets, and
in which the laboring classes of Italian cities live, resemble pig-stys
rather than human dwellings. Of these cities, it has been well said:
Here all is palace, and all is 'noblisse, public functionary and poverty-
stricken labor. In the cities of Southern Italy, all tradesmen work in
the open air, surrounded by the noise and activities of outdoor life.
This is true of shoemakers, tinsmiths, coppersmiths, blacksmiths, and
other mechanics. Little wonder is it that the mechanic of Italy prefers
the open air to the dingy, dirty, unhealthy den to which he is driven by
the shades of night or the inclemency of the weather.
Florence is an exception to other Italian cities in this respect. The
laboring classes of this famous and beautiful city are better lodged,
better clothed, and better fed than in any other part of Italy. Indeed,
it may be said that the physical and moral condition of the people of
Tuscany is greatly superior to that of the Neapolitans, or of the neigh-
boring people of the papal states that were.
During the past forty years it cannot be said that the laboring classes
of Italy have advanced materially in their condition. In every country,
and at all times, the condition of these classes is largely dependent on
the wages received. Today, in Verona and Vicenza, the farm laborer
receives from nineteen to thirty cents a day. This is said to be an
advance of twenty per cent on the wages of thirty years ago. What is
thus true of the agricultural laborer, is also true of every other hand
toiler in Italy. How can any appreciable advance be hoped for from
an increase in wages so inconsequential. In Italy, all adult males who
can read and write their names can vote for certain officers.
CHAPTER XI.— AUSTRO-HUNGARY,
FEUDALITY PRIOR TO 1773- POLITICAL ASPECTS AND CHANGES-THE UNION
THE HOME OF THE AUSTRIAN PEASANT AUSTRIAN MANUFACTURES
MANUAL LABOR IN AUSTRIA-IRON WORKS AND FOUNDRIES - AGRICULTURE
THE QUICKSILVER MINES THE POPULATION OF HUNGARY - THE SAXON
PEASANT FARMER - THE HUNGARIAN COPPER MINES-DWELLING OF THE HUN-
GARIAN PEASANT - THE FARM LABORER-THE PEASANT BEFORE EMANCIPATION
CONDITION OF THE WOMEN THE BOHEMIAN PEOPLE, PAST AND PRESENT -
GOLD MINING-THE SALT DISTRICTS OF STYRIA AND GALICIA LAND TENURES
POWER OF THE LORDS - PEASANT NOBILITY - THE LABORER AND MECHANIC OF
TODAY-TRADES AND OCCUPATIONS IN THE VARIOUS PROVINCES WAGE RATES
AND COST OF LIVING-GENERAL CONDITION OF THE WORKING PEOPLE - THE
CARPENTERS OF VIENNA -THE BLAST FURNACES OF CARINTHIA- BOHEMIAN
GLASS-WORKERS -THE MACHINE AND LOCOMOTIVE SHOPS OF LOWER AUSTRIA
THE DAY-LABORER AND THE AGRICULTURAL LABORER OF TODAY - THE
POLITICAL STATUS OF THE WORKINGMAN.
-
THE
HE extensive and populous empire of Austro-Hungary, having
an area of nearly 230,000 square miles, and a population of
36,000,000, is, in natural resources, one of the richest countries of
Europe. Though mountainous regions abound, there are extensive
plains, remarkable for their uniform level, chiefly those of lower Austria,
on both sides of the Danube, Hungary and Slavonia. The soil in such
an extensive territory is as varied as the climate, and as all degrees of
productiveness may be found, from the richly fertile plains of Hungary
to the sterile promontories of the higher Alpine tracts, so may one
encounter every gradation of temperature, from mildness to severity.
Austria is well stocked with mineral wealth, hardly being excelled by any
other European country. There is gold in Hungary and Transylvania;
silver in Hungary, Bohemia and Transylvania, mercury and lead in
Carinthia, tin in Bohemia, and copper, iron and coal in almost all the
provinces. There are also numerous mineral springs, those of Carlsbad,
Toplitz and Marisubad being most celebrated. Rock salt is plentiful,
the mines at Galicia being the most important in Europe. Such is the
general aspect of the country as it may be seen today, obedient to the
bonds of intelligent industry, the people, so nearly akin to the Germans,
hardy, thrifty-as rugged as parts of their country, as temperate and
292
AUSTRO-HUNGARY.
293
docile as the mild breezes of Bohemia, but withal, spirited if need be, and
courageous on occasion, these people bear with them evidences of their
barbarian origin, their long struggle from serfage to freedom that made
them fit for the strong work of this civilizing period. As the history of
Austria is closely identified with the history of Germany, so the popular
conditions of the two countries are much the same as we see them in the
primitive time, and their experiences in growing to a higher state have not
differed essentially. Austria takes its name from the words oost ryck, “lost
country," and in the ninth and tenth centuries it was the frontier region.
of the German empire against the barbarians. In 928, Henry the Fowler
invested Leopold with it; it was made a marquisate by Otho I., a duchy
by Frederick Barbarossa; and Rudolph I. united it with the Tyrol and
other parts of Switzerland. In 1283 Carinthia and Styria were annexed,
and Vienna became the residence of the ducal court. In 1438, Albert II.,
duke of Austria, succeeded to the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia; in
1496, Philip, by marriage with the heiress of Arragon and Castile, added
his wife's Spanish possessions to the house of Austria.
In 1773,
Galicia was seized from Poland. The peace of Utrecht gave her Milan
and Mantua. Lombardy and the Netherlands were exchanged for the
greater part of the Venetian territory, though in 1805 the Italian
provinces and most of the German were lost. The overthrow of Napoleon
restored Austria, which became an empire in 1806, to her present bound-
aries, leaving her more powerful, in respect to territory, than ever
before.
Naturally enough the early tribes occupying this territory, Illyrians,
Kelts, etc., came into conflict with the rapacity and provincial greed of
the Romans. As early as 229 B.C. they felt the encroachment that
finally overwhelmed them, the conquered countries being united with
the Roman empire, and were held in subjection to that wonderful power
for upward of 400 years. The influence of this incursion of the highest
civilization of the age was decisive for good; roads were built, agricul-
ture was stimulated, towns were founded, and the Roman leaven entered
among the barbaric peoples of the lost country, to the excitation of trade
and commerce, and the maintenance of an exemplary order. It is
remarkable the thorough change wrought in the condition of the hith-
erto petty, warlike and divided tribes, by the Roman system. The
inhabitants of these provinces were allowed to class themselves as Roman
citizens, and very readily adopted the customs of Rome so far as the
development of the industrial pursuits was concerned. In the second
and third centuries the trades were in a prosperous state, and were
294
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
gathered into colleges or unions, representing thirty-five distinct trades,
including woodturners, shoemakers, blacksmiths, etc., each order being
dedicated to one or another of the Roman gods. The improvement of
trades proved the wisdom of the association, and gradually such work
was entirely withdrawn from the slaves who were formerly relied upon
for service in unskilled mechanics.
The abundance of raw material, especially ore and animal products,
greatly facilitated every species of industrial growth, and agriculture was
carried to a high state of productiveness - Pannonia and Noricum being
indeed classed as actual granaries-and the raising of hogs, made easy
by the abundance of acorns in the forests, was so fecund that the supply
was sufficient for the whole Roman Empire. Wool growing was another
important industry of the time, and Rome found her richest revenues
among the resources of the provinces. The peasants were serfs of the
soil, and they continued so through Roman dominion and later feudal-
ism until Joseph II., completing by an imperial decree what Maria
Theresa had begun by moderate process, abolished feudal servitude and
all seignorial rights, and proclaimed the equality of all before the law.
The Romans taught the barbarians a practical system of mining, and the
manufacture of jewelry was extensively carried on. The textile indus-
try in wool was conducted to much excellence, and the pottery or kera-
mic work was interestingly developed. This country, indeed, was one.
of the few that really profited by falling under Roman arms, and its civ
ilization was advanced without the utter oppression of the native inhab-
itants. To what extent commerce was developed may not be said, but it
is interesting to find evidence that both Greeks and Phoenicians knew
and profited by the products of the Hyperboreans, as they were erro-
neously styled. Possibly, as some historians would have us infer,
Aquilya was at this time the market of Italy.
With the overthrow of the Roman empire, distraction came to the
countries of modern Austria; they became scenes of bloody battles be-
tween rival nomadic tribes of Germanic Slavs and Asiatic hordes, the
Huns being the dominating and usurping force. Toward the end of the
ninth century, the Magyars occupied the country. These Magyars, the
true Hungarians, were a free race, liable to servitude only as they might
be guilty of an ignoble crime. No hereditary rights were recognized
among them, the chiefs being elected by the community, and the general
franchise being extended to whatever tribes became intermingled with
the Magyars. This is the foundation class of Modern Hungary. When
the feudal system came into operation, as it did thoroughly in the tenth
AUSTRO-HUNGARY.
295
century, the peasant, as was the invariable misfortune of the common-
alty in all European countries, fell under the most rigorous hardships and
was steadily debased to a condition no whit better than abject slavery.
The peasant was the creature of his lord, to be maltreated with the
greatest brutality at the pleasure of his master, with no possible redress
through the law, though there existed laws - the old Roman code, under
which he was entitled to broader rights than were allowed him. This
was the condition of affairs when the period of the Reformation set in.
The peasantry, believing Luther's mission to be one of universal liberty,
were quick to espouse Protestantism, and the new religion had gained
a substantial footing when Leopold I. became emperor and resolved ut-
terly to exterminate it from Austria. A most bloody, ruthless despotism
was inaugurated, and among the acts of extreme violence was the seizure
of 250 Lutheran ministers and their sale to the Neopolitans as galley
slaves. The people found this last persecution, added to the other abuses,
unendurable, and they arose in rebellion, summoning the Turks to aid
them in their despair. The Turks came to the number of 280,000 men,
and for a time spread terror before them; but it soon became manifest
that they were not skilled in the tactics of war, and the imperial forces
rallied in time to save Vienna from the invaders and disperse them.
Leopold thereupon directed all his wrath against the deserted Hungari-
ans, thousands of whom were imprisoned, tortured and put to death, thirty
executioners being kept busy for nine months with the victims brought
in by German troops for trial. The peasant and laboring classes were
debased thereafter, with scarce any amelioration until Maria Theresa be-
gan her attack upon the enormities of the feudal system. These reforms
were consummated by Joseph II. as we have said, and toward the close
of the eighteenth century Austrian peasants, for the first time since the
Romanic period, began to enjoy a certain right to their own labor. The
discontented were allowed to leave their former masters and establish
themselves on the land of another proprietor, entering into a contract to
serve six months. The proprietor was obliged to surrender to the peas-
ant a certain quantity of land, usually contrived to be the worst avail-
able, in exchange for which the peasant gave the landlord so many days'
labor on the roads. But this freedom was yet far from independence.
When at sunset the weary peasant quit work, sought his humble but
for his frugal meal, and eagerly anticipated rest, the overseer or petty
gendarmes of the estate came to his door and with vigorous rapping
called him forth to receive the warning that if he were not at work on the
estate before daylight the following morning, prison or the bastinado
*
296
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
awaited him. Among other things exacted of the peasant by way of
tribute were certain days of curbing and wood-cutting; service in beat-
ing up game when the proprietor chose to hunt; the payment of a tax of
one florin on cach hunt, and the yearly provision to the chateau of two
capons, two chickens, nineteen eggs and five pounds of butter. If the pro-
prietor was thrown into prison, the peasants were compelled to subscribe
his ransom; when he attended the diet they contributed a certain amount
toward the expenses; indeed of a laborer's product a nineteenth was given
to the landlord, and a tenth to the clergy. This seems so much like serf-
dom in a new guise, that one wonders if the peasantry of the time thought
the advantages of the new estate exceeded the privileges of the old.
It is true they were free in name, they were allowed to appeal to
the king when condemned to death; and they were permitted to become
artisans, merchants, priests, and might, peradventure, be ennobled if they
succeeded in distinguishing themselves on the field of battle. But peas-
ants are a patient, one might say a special, race of creatures. To subsist
is their chief idea of being, and they dawn slowly to a higher sense of
the actual rights of man, differing from the conventional rights accorded
him by a society arbitrarily organized and selfishly conducted. The peas-
antry of Austria and Hungary are, if not indolent, at any rate unenter-
prising. They are dangerously easily contented, their only spur to activity
and productive energy being a sad greed of money with no lofty concep-
tion of the uses or advantages of wealth.
To all intents and purposes, the revolution of 1848 that sprang from
France and swept over Europe like wildfire, found the Austrian
peasant what he was when Joseph struck off his outer bonds, but held
him still enslaved by the spirit of despotic institutions. The enthusiasm
of the hour, smiting upon their thought-dumb souls aroused some of
that old Keltic fire within them, awoke their Illyrian memories, fanned
into a fitful life that long smoldering savagery of the Asiatic era, when
their forefathers swarmed in and possessed that fruitful land. The
IIungarians flung themselves into revolt, following the example of the
South Tyrol, Venice, Trieste and Bohemia; declared themselves indepen-
dent, maintained their independence for a term, and then, with some
concessions were again flung back under the oppression of a despotism,
then perhaps, the most cruel, odious and world-stigmatized of Christen-
dom. No two forces more inimical than despotism and industry, and
when the two come into conflict, the nobler is the weaker. What was
the value of the revolution? Questionable? Before that none but the
noble had the right to own land, to hold possession of the soil, so that
AUSTRO-HUNGARY
297
the peasant having nothing could not be deprived of what he had.
Following the revolution came the right to the peasant of owning land;
but under such grievous conditions, under such stringent taxation con-
tinually augmenting, it became a struggle of life extremes to keep not
only the wolf but the sheriff from the door. Under the old laws the
tenant was given a strip of land and a hut, which could not be taken
from him, and though laborious duties that were onerous were exacted
of him, he was at least free from anxiety as to the shelter of wife and
babes and the wherewith to clothe and feed them, since the days
of labor he could claim for himself were sufficient to make provision
for these. Under the new form the petty land owner, suffering every
form of distress, was often compelled to go into the Jew's quarters to
borrow money on his little farm, which in due course of time passed from
his hands into the Jew's. Yet for all that Hungary is the world of the
Ilungarian. Out of Hungary life is not life, is his proverb. Intense
love of country, intense devotion to the old Magyar idea, intense.
patience, these are the motive forces in the hearts and minds of the
Ilungarians whose principal ambition, whose loftiest idea, is finally to
possess a home.
The Slavonians, the real aborigines of the country, the conquered
race, scattered over a great extent, are the most ignorant and backward
of the Austrian population, being employed in mere rustic labors, some
of them yet in a practical servitude. In Bohemia and Moravia public
affairs, commercial transactions, and the chief mechanic arts are con-
ducted by Germans, the superior qualities of that race fitting them
easily to absorb and control the better business and industrial interests.
In Hungary the Magyars, illiterate, but yet spirited and intelligent, the
traditionary nobles of the country, numbering about 136,000 families,
engage in the active employments and represent the military order, leav-
ing the servile labors and meaner pursuits to the Slavonians. In the
Polish provinces where almost the whole population is Slavonic, there
is a manifest aversion to the mechanic arts and to commerce, the traders
and dealers being, with comparatively few exceptions, Jews. It requires
something more than revolutions to arouse such an inert and deliberately
prone class, to an appreciation of the dignity of liberty or the great pur-
pose of progressive civilization. In a measure it may be fortunate for
the labor interests of the more forward and experimental countries, that
there is small emigration from these regions of middle age memories,
inasmuch as the day laborers of no other Christian country could suc-
cessfully compete with these mere creatures of the soil-sods of the earth.
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THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
that do not resent being trampled upon by the thrifty and higher aiming
toilers of other nations. In Bosnia, which the careless and lazily senti-
mental inhabitants call Golden Bosnia, gold, silver, quicksilver and salt,
worked in the time of the Romans, and wasteful flowing mineral springs.
declare a possible wealth, and rebuke the incapacity of a people indiffer-
ent to the treasures in the bowels of the earth, or the rich soil that
makes its inviting surface. Immense districts of productive land are
still fallow; and the peasants have not yet risen above the mud huts with
their thatched roofs, in which pigs, goats and fowl swarm with the
children. Beds there are not, the peasant sleeping close to the fire
in the winter, in the summer contenting himself with a bed of leaves.
in his garden or the weeds of the open fields. In the villages there may
be found neither bakeries nor ovens, a bed of ashes serving to bake the
bread that is made of flour mixed with milk, the flour being made from
the maize and black wheat crushed in a hand-mill. Their drink is
silvoositza, an acidulated spirit made from plums, the culture of plum
trees, accordingly, being the dearest concern of this singularly rude and
primitive people.
The Hungarian day-laborer presents in his home life, scarcely a more
inviting picture. His house is built of stiff clay, one story in height,
divided into two large rooms, in each of which from ten to eighteen
persons huddle, the five or six hearths in the main room declaring how
many families are congregated within those narrow limits. The floor,
merely the beaten earth, is partitioned by lines to mark the boundaries
of each family, for the exact observance of which they ferociously wrangle
among themselves. A bench, a table, a chair or two, and a bed which
affords the only sleeping room for the whole family, are the furniture of
these squares with their imaginary partitions.
Each workingman on a general estate receives 30 florins annually, in
addition to which he has allowed him lodging and fuel, nine bushels of
corn and twenty-seven bushels of rye, and about half an acre of pasture
land, on which he may feed a cow and fatten four or five pigs. The
women and young girls are not paid for their services, except during
harvest when they work in the field. This is the condition that obtains
on the large estates, and is cited as a pleasing contrast to the wretched
state of the day-laborer, who seeks for himself and friends little enough
above misery and degradation.
A large number of men is annually employed by the government in
felling timber and cultivating new plantations. These laborers are usu-
ally natives of neighboring villages, the sons of peasants or farmers
AUSTRO-HUNGARY.
299
who own the land they till, but whose farms are too small to afford sup-
port for an increasing family. These woodcutters live in rough, extem-
porized huts, fir branches and a blanket being the chief materials used;
a frying pan is at once plate, dish and table for the mess; the food a
strange mixture swimming in grease, being of a character to sicken any
but the most resolute appetite. Yet these cutters, used to nothing bet-
ter, not being at all squeamish, consume great quantities of it three
times a day. The wages paid these lusty young fellows varies from ninety
to 140 kreutzers. Occasionally, to eke out their paltry wages, these
woodsmen improve their opportunities to do a little poaching, though
they receive ridiculously low pay for the kill, a roebuck fetching but
two or three florins, and a chamois even less. Many of the hardships
endured by the lower orders in Hungary, are due to the aversion of the
Hungarians to office. The result is the authorities are generally Ger-
mans, who do not especially respect the interests of a race that is not
strongly disposed to assert its rights. This arises in part from the fact
that the revolution of 1848 found the serfs utterly unprepared for their
political freedom, and being by nature and tradition lawless they failed
to appreciate the benefits thrust within their reach, singularly enough
by the unanimous consent of the nobles. When 8,000,000 serfs are sud-
denly converted to the dignity of freeholders, it is hardly within the
possibilities of human adaptability, that they should become in a short
time equal factors of society with those improved by many generations
of freedom. The weaker class morally and intellectually must yield to the
stronger in these respects even where their rights are as great. The
Hungarian peasant of today is accordingly scarcely above the level of the
Hungarian serf of 1848. Nevertheless, it is in testimony from German
observers that the Hungarians are so chivalrous and hospitable in nature,
so loyal in character that it is impossible not to respect them. Few
races combine so many contradictory elements.
Grape growing is a profitable industry of Austria, and the famous
vintages of Tokay are among the choice drinks of the civilized world.
In good years the Tokay yield averages about 150,000 eimess, an eimess
being equal to two and one half gallons; a limited quantity that explains
the high price. In the Tyrol corn is a staple. The farm of the peas-
ant, from three to four acres in extent, is devoted one-third to corn, the
remainder to wheat, barley, flax, grass and a garden spot, every inch being
ordinarily cultivated. This arrangement affords comfortable provision
for the family, and allows a slight surplus for market trade, whereby the
economic can make something of a money saving in the course of a few
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THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
years.
In Bohemia the peasantry have a stout, healthy look, and live
chiefly on rye bread and swine's flesh, drinking large quantities of a beer
of excellent brew; they are comfortably clad in woollens, generally the
product of home industry, only the meaner classes going with legs and
feet bare. In Upper Austria the people are coarse and hard in feature,
but not otherwise ill-favored, whose mode of life much resembles that
described. The manufacture of salt, and gold mining employ large
forces, though in some instances, as at Brockstein, the receipts have not
always equaled the expenses, their operations being conducted rather
from the motives of benevolence than the hope of profit, a sentiment
that rarely enters into the relations between capital and labor in the old
world. The iron foundries at Mariazell are the most important in Aus-
tria, supplied from mines eight miles distant, that yield thirty-five per
cent of pure metal, and the force employed makes a very effective influ-
ence with the industrial element of the district. These works were es-
tablished in 1740, by the Benedictine monks of St. Lambrecht, and were
carried on by them until Joseph abolished the order in 1788. There are
about one thousand men with their families supported by these mines.
But for the paucity of machinery the work might be done with a con-
siderably diminished force. Wages are sufficiently good to enable the
workman to eat, drink and smoke to his heart's content. He does not
seem to be troubled with any ambitious longings for such superfluities
as leisure for education and the development of his spiritual nature.
The laboring classes of Austria are not nearly as well circumstanced ast
the peasantry, nor are they as interesting, intelligent or valuable, soci-
ally. Their existence is a hand to mouth affair, cheered by no ideals,
by no evidence of prosperity, by none of the hopefulness of purpose that
distinguishes the settled classes who work for themselves. A wise and
humane reform has been effected in the mining labor. Now no miner is
required to give more than eight of the twenty-four hours to under-
ground work, whereas, formerly, ten and twelve hours were thought not
to be an excess. Though this is an unhealthy occupation, with pay
wholly inadequate to the risks, the number of applicants for work far
surpasses the demands. It is one of the remarkable characteristics of
Austro-Hungarian peasants and laborers, that the distress of their local
life, the arduousness of their toil, and the small pay received, never act
upon them as incitements to emigration, it being their preference to re-
main in their native districts, shifting as they may, eking out a miser-
able existence, but fully in love with scenes of youthful memories and
traditional ties. A more wretched, ghastly, emaciated people could not
AUSTRO-HUNGARY.
301
easily be found than the miners of Bohemia and Idria, the Hungarian-
Siberia of fifty years ago, being a spectacle to appal the foreign visitor.
The majority of them enter the mines at the age of fifteen and sixteen
years, before nature has done shaping them. The few who are of a con-
stitution to last until they are fifty-five or have given forty years of ser-
vice, are allowed to retire on full pay for life. It need hardly be said
that the mine owners have not many of these retired pensioners. Pre-
mature death is their ally. There is one relief from the evils of extreme
poverty; though it is becoming a sociological problem whether public
charities are the best defense of a state against pauperism and criminal
dependence. The Austrian empire is perhaps more generous than any
other part of Europe in the establishment of charitable endowments,
and it is a government care to provide for the exigencies of misery.
Yet pauperism has been a curse to the country.
The most recent available statistics give the population of Hungary
as 13,229,000, classified as follows: Magyar, 6,156,000; German, 1,821,-
000; Roumanian, 2,470,000; Slovack, 1,817,000; Serbian, 267,000;
Croat, 207,000; Ruthenian, 470,000; others, 11,000. These are occu-
pied, 1,925,000 as farmers and proprietors; 3,089,037 as laborers engaged
in primary production; 647,000 in individual pursuits; 134,000 in com-
merce; 1,770,000 in the liberal professions; 1,143,000 as domestic servants
and office help, leaving about 8,197,693 without vocations. Of these lat-
ter 5,166,466 are under fourteen years of age. The total fertile soil is
29,631,269 hectares, the barren lands amounting to 2,597,993 hectares.
Some idea of the state of agriculture may be had from the fact that of a
total of 1,109,460 ploughs reckoned to be used in the country, no less
than 578,933 are of wood, the rest being of iron. The total number of
workers in mines is about 46,000, of whom 39,000 are men; the rest be-
ing women and children, the children outnumbering the women three to
one. The raising of fine sheep is a great branch of Hungarian indus-
try. The annual export being valued at thirty to thirty-two million
florins. The manufacture of sugar is an important branch of trade,
and there are 262 factories devoted to that industry. About 30,000
people are engaged in making straw hats, chiefly female employment, at
which girls earn from two to four florins a week, the general pay of sew-
ing girls. The horse-hair industry is largely given over to children, and
in the glove factories of Austria, numbering 1,400, there are about
10,000 sewing girls. The manufacture of porcelain ware in Bohemia
has triumphed over all competition, including that of Germany. The
making of pipes engages nearly 3,000 workers, and the button business.
302
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
employs as many more. These figures seem to indicate an industrial
character that should have an outer influence, and yet it has been truly
observed that the Magyars, the class from which most is to be expected,
have added nothing to the progress of humanity. They have not given a
broad or single idea of culture, or sent into the world a national type of
industry worthy to be emulated. Austro-Hungary is yet among the na-
tions to be. Its noblest relation to the empire of nations is yet to be
established. It is a land still suffering under the old bane of feudalism.
1
CHAPTER XII.-HOLLAND.
IN THE TIME OF CASAR-THE DYKES CHARACTER OF THE DUTCH AGRICUL-
TURE AND GRAZING· THE TULIP CRAZE - THE FISHERIES-THE DIAMOND
INDUSTRY OF AMSTERDAM THE VARIED INDUSTRIES OF HOLLAND- ECON-
OMY A NATIONAL TRAIT-WAGES-CLEANLINESS OF THE HOLLANDERS — TREAT-
MENT OF WOMEN-PAUPER COLONIES.
To write the story of labor in a country the name of which, like
that of Holland, has become typical of industry and thrift, is,
indeed, a serious task. Small though the country is, the inhabitants, by
virtue of their unremitting industry and habits of economy, have thrust
it into a foremost place among the nations of the world. Though vast
riches are centralized in the principal cities, yet the people of the rural
districts are impoverished. For years Holland was the bank of the
world. The United States is not the only nation that has been deeply
in debt to the thrifty Dutchman. Yet the country is almost without
natural advantages. Hardly a people on the broad surface of the earth
have been so hampered by the conditions under which they existed as
the Hollanders. Living below the sea level, in a country requiring con-
stant drainage; engaged constantly in a warfare against the encroach-
ments of the sea, the Dutch have conquered all obstacles and marched
steadily forward. Nor has the sea been their most dangerous neighbor.
War after war has brought invasion after invasion, until one can almost
imagine a ceaseless procession of hostile armies across the waterlogged
country. But the Dutch have fought bravely, and in desperate cases
have not scrupled to cut their dykes and let the sea in upon their
invaders, heedless of their own fortunes so that the foe be driven away.
When Julius Cæsar first invaded Holland, carrying in one hand the
sword, in the other the message of civilization, he found the inhabitants
living in squalid huts built on the sand-hills thrown up by the action of
the sea.
Their chief food was fish, which they caught with nets made of
reeds and rushes. Great tracts of territory were so marshy that many of
the invaders were in doubt whether to call it land or water. From this era
began the series of improvements that have led to the Holland of today.
Gradually the space between the sand-hills was filled up with earth and
stones. Then rude dykes were built to keep out the ravenous sea, but
303
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THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
only too often the insidious waters would make their way through, first
in small rivulets, then in mighty roaring torrents that swept before them
houses, cattle and men into one great tossing whirlpool of destruction.
Gradually improved methods of construction made these fearful crevasses
less frequent. The dykes of earth were strengthened by rows of piles
driven far into the ground on the inner side. Then came the idea of a
foundation of basket-work filled in with earth; then heaps of hides.
Outside the dykes, and at some distance from them, were long rows of
piles to break the force of the waves ere they should reach the inner
barrier. No exertion was too great, no expense large enough to deter
the sturdy natives from the task of rescuing this seemingly unattractive
territory from the ocean, to which it seemed by right to belong. Mill-
ions of piles were driven, and the cost of each pile, with the expense of
driving it, was two golden ducats, or about four dollars. All citizens
were forced to labor on the dykes as a public duty. Today the most
massive dykes are to be found along the Helder, in North Holland. The
Great Dyke, so called, is six miles in length, and four or five yards in
width. Massive bulwarks of granite project beyond it into the sea, and
against this solid wall the angry waves dash themselves into foam, as if
furious at the restraint, while the curling waves toss high above the land
under the dyke. Hosts of men are continually employed about the
dykes, and, indeed, Holland may be not inaptly compared to a nation
at war, and exerting every effort to beat back an invader. Armies of
engineers under the direction of the Minister of the Interior continually
traverse the country and carefully examine the state of the dykes. The
expenses are borne partly by the general government, partly by the prov-
inces, and each landed proprietor pays taxes for the support of the dykes
in direct proportion to the extent of his lands and their proximity to the
sea. Not content with the supervision of the general government, the
freeholders of each district annually elect a dyke captain from among
their own number, whose duty it is to see that the dyke is kept in proper
repair. This officer's power is by no means small, for in case of need he
is authorized to press into his service every able-bodied person in his
district, and to seize any material which he may require in the protec-
tion of the dyke.
But hard and unceasing as this struggle against the waters has been,
its effect in the development of national character has probably more
than repaid the toil and expense. It is that necessity for a constant
struggle, for continuous labor and perpetual sacrifice in defense of their
existence, that has made of the Dutch a highly practical and econom-

John Farrett.
Secretary Tinned Plate Association, Ex-President Amalgamated
Association of Iron and Steel Workers.
UNIL
OF
MICH
HOLLAND.
305
Ĭ
ical people. Good sense is their most salient quality, economy their
chief virtue. Sparing of diversions, they excel in all useful arts.
Simple even in their greatness, they succeed in what they undertake by
dint of tenacity and a thoughtful and orderly activity. More wise than
heroic, more conservative than creative, they are a race of patient and
laborious artisans, and as such will go down to the end of history.
Though their advance is slow, yet, being made with the aid of prudence,
it is sure.
What they acquire comes slowly, but is never lost. Though
almost surrounded by the territory of two great nations, the Dutch yield
not a bit of their national character, preserving it through every form
of government, through foreign invasions and through political and re-
ligious wars. And in spite of the immense concourse of strangers from
every country that is continually in their midst, the Dutch continues to
be, of all the Northern races, that one which, though ever advancing in
the path of civilization, has kept its own path most clearly.
Agriculture in Holland is pursued in an intensive, rather than an ex-
tensive manner. Gardening rather than farming is the chief industry
of the people of the rural regions. Such a condition of affairs is inevi-
table in a country with so small an extent of arable territory and such
swarming millions of inhabitants. An American farmer wandering
through the rural districts of Holland would notice first of all the en-
tire absence of fences, the place of which, in this amphibious country, is
filled by ditches and canals which serve as boundaries, while effectually
draining the water-logged earth. Much of the land which remains too
marshy for cultivation is devoted to grazing, and whole provinces are
like huge pasture fields, spotted with fat cows by the tens of thousands.
The cattle are raised more for the milk, which is made into the familiar
Dutch cheeses, than for their flesh or hides. Admirable care is taken of
the stock. In every field great tubs are scattered about, from which
the cows are fed at regular hours. The cattle sheds are kept with that
devotion to cleanliness so characteristic of the Dutch, the cattle being
penned in stalls and their tails often tied to rings in the ceiling to
keep them clean. Agricultural methods are fairly scientific, varying
somewhat according to the character of the soil, whether sandy or clayey.
The crops raised are rye, clover, flax, barley, oats, buckwheat, and
potatoes, but, so far from affording agricultural exports, the crops barely
provide for home consumption. The grains are chiefly used for the
distillation of ardent spirits, to the use of which every true Dutchman is
addicted. Even for the light crops raised repeated applications of fer-
tilizing material are necessary. In the stock-raising and dairy farming
306
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
regions the cereals give way to fodder plants. The total pasturage in
Holland today extends over two and a half million acres, while at least
four hundred thousand more are sowed in clover and similar forage
plants. The production of milk, butter and cheese amounts yearly to
about thirty-six millions of dollars, while the flesh of the cattle brings in
some fourteen millions more. Kindred products, such as hides, wool
and fowls, bring to the thrifty Hollanders four million dollars annually,
while their trade in horses aggregates about the same amount. From
these figures it can be readily understood that the trade in live stock is
no small factor in the commercial prosperity of Holland. Intimately
connected with both the agricultural and the grazing interests is the
dairy trade. In the shops and on the tables of every civilized nation.
the little red, round, cannon-ball-like Dutch cheeses are to be seen, but
few people so seeing them reflect upon the vast national industry of
which they are the tangible product. Of these no less than twenty
thousand tons are annually shipped from the ports of the country,
accompanied by twelve thousand tons of butter. Another great rural
industry is the growing of garden vegetables, not merely to supply the
tables of the nation, but further to produce seeds for exportation.
Flower seeds form no small part of the commerce of Holland, and one
strip of land along the base of the downs stretching from Leyden to
IIaarlem astonishes travelers by the wonderful diversity of flowering
and medicinal plants grown thereon. One outcome of this seed-raising
industry, which is not likely to be soon forgotten in Holland, was the
"tulip craze” that for a time made Holland first the wonder, then the
laughing-stock of the known world. It was early in the seventeenth
century that the interest in growing tulips, which had long been a
passion among the Hollanders, grew into a craze. From the highest to
the lowest, every Dutchman abandoned his ordinary duties and set about
the cultivation of tulips. The bulbs of rare species brought fabulous
prices. Brokers dealt in tulips upon margins, as today we buy and sell
railroad stocks. Over sixteen hundred dollars is the recorded price at
which one famous bulb was sold. Fortunes were amassed in the trade.
A single speculator in bulbs made over fifty thousand dollars in less
than four months. For a year the furore continued until the staid
burghers, who had thought that the national common sense would put
an end to the craze, in despair determined to apply a legislative remedy,
and a law rendering invalid all contracts in connection with tulips
finally terminated the mania.
The hungry sea that so besets the Hollanders on every side is not
HOLLAND.
307
altogether an enemy, for from its depths they manage to snatch no mean
amount of wealth, and on its broad bosom it bears the immense fleets
devoted to their commerce. A common saying in Holland is that
"Amsterdam has her foundations upon herring bones." The fisheries
of Holland are commercially of vast importance and furnish a means of
subsistence to thousands of hardy fishermen. The Great Salt Herring
fishery employs one hundred and fourteen vessels and one thousand six
hundred and seventy-eight men. In the fisheries of the German Ocean
are four hundred and ten vessels and two thousand nine hundred and
sixty-five men; the Groningen and Friesland fishery gives occupation to
five hundred and twenty-four men; the Zealand fishery to one thousand
and twenty-six men, while the Zuyder Zee fisheries, greatest of all, em-
ploy one thousand two hundred and eighty-two vessels and three thousand
two hundred and sixty-nine men. But extensive as this industry is to-
day, it is far behind the proportions reached in 1610, when the waters of
the German Ocean and North Sea bore no less than three thousand fish-
ing smacks manned by some fifty thousand phlegmatic Dutch mariners.
The retrogression is undoubtedly due to the discovery and growth of the
fisheries on the Newfoundland banks. A fishery of less importance,
but one which nevertheless affords a support to hundreds of poor people
in winter, is the smelt fishery. In winter the broad surface of the lakes
and canals is covered with people who sit patiently fishing for the smelts
through holes cut in the ice. Many fish for mere amusement, but to
more it is a serious matter undertaken to secure the necessaries of life.
Turning from the agricultural and natural industries to the trades and
handicrafts, the student will first of all give his attention to that art which
has made Amsterdam famous and has enriched generations of her citizens,
chiefly Hebrews: the cutting and polishing of diamonds. Amsterdam is
today the only city that supports large establishments for diamond-cutting,
and her lapidaries have turned out the finest stones that are today num-
bered among the crown jewels of Europe. The trade was first estab-
lished at Ghent in 1475, but soon found its chief center in Holland,
where now are employed a very considerable number of lapidaries. Un-
cut diamonds from the African and Brazilian fields are usually sent
straightway to Amsterdam, where they are carefully sorted and the inferior
stones sent on to Antwerp, where they are cut into "roses." To thus
classify diamonds is the first thing to be learned by the diamond cutter.
He must be able at sight of the rough pebble to decide intelligently
just what form of cutting will best bring out its good points and most
effectually conceal its deficiencies. Notwithstanding his skill and knowl-
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THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
edge, the workman is often perplexed and confounded by the apparently
inexplicable changes that take place in the stones during the operation
of cutting. Some yellow or brown diamonds lose their color in cutting,
while others that in the rough were limpid crystal of the first water,
turn brown or yellow under the action of the wheel. To be able to fore-
see these changes is the highest quality of a successful cutter, and with-
out this quality the losses of the lapidary may be enormous. The work-
men themselves look upon their skill as something more than mere art
and knowledge gained through study. They claim the quality necessary
for a successful diamond-cutter comes by heredity, and that a master
workman is born, not made. It is this theory that has enabled the Jews,
in whose hands the trade now is, to monopolize it to the exclusion of all.
others. One of the principal companies formed in Amsterdam for dia-
mond-cutting maintains three shops and employs six hundred skilled
workmen and an army of clerks and correspondents. Their annual
business is dependent entirely upon the output of the diamond mines,
and therefore varies much from year to year, but the stones cut may be
safely estimated to average two hundred thousand carats a year, repre-
senting a value of two million dollars. Cutters and polishers of dia-
monds differ greatly in the amount of their wages, as the work is paid
by the piece, and the earnings depend upon the skill and industry of
the workmen. From five to twenty dollars a week is the ordinary
range of earnings, although unusually skilled workmen sometimes
greatly exceed the larger figure. Even in Holland, where the cost of
living is at the minimum, such prices as these cannot be considered
liberal when the wonderful skill of the workman is considered, and
especially when the confining and unhealthy character of the work is
taken into account. Both London and Paris have in late years tried
to establish diamond-cutting establishments, but both attempts have
failed.
Besides the diamond-cutting, Holland supports many other mechanical
and manufacturing industries. The earthenware of Delft is world-wide
in its celebrity. Paper is largely manufactured in grades ranging from
wall paper at four cents a roll to the celebrated "Holland plate paper”
so much in demand for receiving impressions of fine engravings and
etchings. Wooden ship-building is actively prosecuted in various parts
of Holland, and in the early part of the present century this industry
was the pride of the whole nation. It will be remembered that it was
to Holland that Alexander the Great, emperor of Russia, went in the
garb of a simple mechanic, to study shipbuilding in the busy yards of
HOLLAND.
309
the Hague. But this glory passed from Holland with the era of iron ships.
Lack of coal precludes her from competing for a place in the new ship-
building industry, and her skillful shipwrights see with sad regret their
busy yards changing into grassy fields. The textile industries of Hol-
land, though not extensive, are still far from being contemptible. At Til-
burg there are woolen mills employing over three thousand men, and in
various parts of the realm are extensive silk factories. Dutch linen has
long been famous; its manufacture is actively carried on in more than
five hundred factories. No comment upon the extent of the distilling
works in Holland is needed. The country so uncivilized as never to
have imported "Holland gin" and "Schiedam schnapps" can hardly
exist today. At Schiedam are two hundred distilleries in constant oper-
ation. The worthy Dutchman does not manufacture his liquors for ex-
portation alone, for a visitor to a house in Holland seldom departs
without "a little drop," whether the owner be rich or poor. His devo-
tion to schnapps and his pipe seem to be the Dutchman's only extrava-
gances.
But amid all the failings that may be laid at the door of the phleg-
matic Dutchman, extravagance is certainly not numbered. American
workingmen would be astonished to hear upon how small an income a
Hollander can support in comfort and respectability himself, his wife
and several children. Many a one who does not earn more than six
guilders, about $2.50, a week, marries and brings up his family in com-
fort. Yet in his food the Hollander is not inclined to stint himself.
Cheap it may be, but substantial, and abundant it must be. Meat, it is
true, is less often seen upon the table than is the case in Amer-
ica, but of bread, vegetables, fish and beer there is no lack. At noontide
a stroller along the docks of the sea-coast cities can see the stevedores
and porters sitting on door-steps and curb-stones eating their noon-day
meal of stewed potatoes and bread brought from home in a basin.
In comparison with America, standard wages are low in Holland.
Yet how they compare with the rates in England, may be judged by the
following extract from an article in the Edinburgh Magazine, from the
pen of a prominent English political economist. "With regard to
wages, I affirm and can prove that the Dutch give generally more wages
to all their workmen by at least two pence in the shilling than the Eng-
lish do." The following tabulated list of the wages of farm hands will
also cast some light upon this subject. It must be borne in mind that
the wages as set forth, include all necessary expenses of the laborer for
board and washing:
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THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
Foreman.
Stable man.
Field hands.
•
$240.00 per annum.
•
Shepherds, 1st year.
• •
2d year.
3d year..
·
•
•
•
• •
90.00
86.00
•
•
•
45.00
• • • • •
60.00
•
·
•
75.00
30.00
Besides a premium amounting to ten or twenty dollars a year.
Farm boys.
· •
Millers..
Women domestics.
120.00
40.00 to $45.00
While working as farm hands the Dutch are very regular in their
habits of life. Breakfast consists of mush, buckwheat cakes, with bacon,
and coffee. At ten A. M. the foreman circulates about the field with a
large bottle of schnapps, giving to each workman a morning dram. At
twelve comes dinner, made up of a thin soup, bacon and vegetables; at
four a few sips of cold coffee, and at six or seven P. M., supper.
., supper.
short pipe of the Dutchman seldom leaves his mouth and is smoked con-
tinually by men while at work.
The
The cleanliness of the Hollanders has long since passed into a prov-
erb, yet even the most sophisticated visitor cannot fail to be struck
by the spick-and-span air of their cities and dwellings. Their fondness.
for scrubbing prevails in farm-houses as well as in the cities, and adds
to the attractiveness as well as the value of their dairy products. In the
Netherlands, even in the humblest cottages, the woodwork is carefully
painted and kept polished and dusted like the waxed floor of a French
palace. Cooking utensils are of copper and shine like the helmet of
Mambrino. There are but few households in which family antiquities
of two hundred years are not carefully preserved and handed down from
generation to generation. Whatever may be the daily vocation of the
Dutch workingman, however begrimed he may be by coal dust, oil or
smoke, his home is kept as neat as the cabin of a man-o'-war. On Sun-
days and holidays, the father of the family, robed in his best, with boots
polished and cigar replacing the work-day pipe, strolls up and down the
streets with wife and little ones, all scrupulously neat, gathered about
him.
Woman's work in IIolland is, by no means, purely domestic, although
the exquisite neatness of the houses would seem to indicate it.
In no
other country are women forced to do such rough and fatiguing work.
Along the canals, which intersect every part of Holland, it is no uncom-
mon sight to see a woman and a dog harnessed, side by side, to a tow
rope, painfully dragging along a heavy-laden canal boat, in which sits
the husband calmly smoking the inevitable pipe. Nor is it an unusual
spectacle to see a woman and an ox harnessed, side by side, to the plow.
HOLLAND.
311
In the city streets the women carry the heavy parcels while men walk
beside them, the picture of indolence. Throughout the ranks of the
poorer classes this anomaly exists: the women bear the burdens while
the men choose the easier part of life.
Holland, like other countries, is not exempt from the curse of pov-
erty, and even pauperism. A land of dense population and limited
agricultural resources must always contain a certain number of people
unable to earn their own living. Even the thrift and industry of the
Dutch do not suffice to contradict this law. But by the charity of the
people and the wise provisions of the state, the terrors of pauperism are
greatly mitigated and great suffering avoided. When the long, hard
winters set in and the canals, lakes and rivers become blocked by ice, the
whole mass of people employed in internal transportation is thrown out
of employment. Even with the private and governmental aid, so freely
bestowed, winter brings to such unfortunates much suffering. At
such times soup-kitchens are established by the contributions of the
charitable, and remain in operation throughout the winter, giving food to
many who would otherwise starve. Confirmed paupers are sent, when able
to work, to the pauper colonies, established on the waste lands of the
country, and are there employed in the work of reclamation. By this
means large tracts of land are annually brought under cultivation, and
the paupers are taught to become self-supporting farmers. Each colo-
nist is allotted a small plot of land, which he cultivates under the eye of
a general overseer. He is provided with a cottage, cows, pigs and
sheep, and is told to earn his way. This system has proved to be a very
successful method of dealing with pauperism, as the colonists are always
self-supporting and often manage to lay by enough money to bid fare-
well to the colony and plunge again into the busy outer world, often to
achieve success. A great and beneficent organization which demands
mention here is the "Society for the Promotion of the Public Good,"
which was founded in 1784 by a few benevolent persons, and has spread
until today it numbers fourteen thousand members, each of whom pays
into the funds a small sum annually. Its work is carried on through
two hundred and twenty branches which reach every part of the Neth-
erlands. The purpose of this organization is to promote the establish-
ment of schools, hospitals and asylums and other works of general public.
utility. Its sections hold meetings once a fortnight, at which questions
and measures tending to advance the common welfare are discussed,
politics and religion being excluded. It is by organizations such as
these, rather than by direct governmental aid, that the Hollanders com-
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THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
"
bat the evils of poverty and give to their sea-girt country an air of
almost universal prosperity.
The industrial study of Holland cannot be dismissed without allusion
to the vast system of guilds and trades-unions, which, although not
originating in that country, nevertheless there reached the highest stage
of development. Early in the history of industry, these organizations
made their way into the Netherlands, and, finding there a great body of
artisans and mechanics, took root and flourished greatly. In the gov-
ernment of the cities, the guilds have always had a voice, and, by their
closely-knit organization, they manage to exert a national power in the
affairs of State. More detailed information as to the organization and
history of these guilds will be found in the chapter treating of guilds.
and trades-unions.
In summing up generally the character, habits and condition of the
Dutch laboring people, one may truly say that no population in the
world presents a more uniform appearance of wealth, comfort and con-
tentment. Their cosy cottages, with their glistening brick walls, white-
painted woodwork and rails, and massive thatched roofs, nestle under
the dykes and by the side of the canals, shut in by willow-trees, and
looking the very acme of humble domestic architecture. Men seldom
grow beyond the middle height, but are stout and sturdy. The women
are tall and handsome, very domestic in their habits, and pay the most
scrupulous attention to the cleanliness of their households. Though
smoking is almost universal, and although brandy, gin and beer are con-
stantly used, intoxication is uncommon, and sobriety, perseverance,
steadiness, economy and industry are national characteristics.
CHAPTER XIII.-SWITZERLAND.
GEOGRAPHICAL PECULIARITIES - CLIMATE ANTIQUITIES HISTORY POLITICAL
REVOLUTION-THE ALP-CHEESE-MAKING — SUCCESS IN COÖPERATION-FARMS
AND LAND TENURE-COTTON MANUFACTURE SILK AND WOOLEN FACTORIES
WINE-MAKING DIFFICULTIES IN THE WAY OF MARRIAGE - MERCENARIES — IM-
IN
PORTS AND EXPORTS-WHY THE SWITZER LOVES HIS HOME.
N none of the countries of Europe does an American study more
eagerly the institutions of the country and the habits of the people
than in Switzerland. Here he expects to find kinship; in reality he
finds much to gratify self-love, for Switzerland is behind the United
States in very many respects, notably that she seems to be a monster
with many limbs and never a head. Her people are veritable Dutchmen
of the mountains-cold, unimaginative, money-loving, vigorous, ener-
getic. The Swiss are utilitarian. Material interest occupies the top
bottom, aye, even all their minds. Their very theology is based on the
profit and loss system; and one is not surprised to find that, while the
Swiss are ingenious, they are not an artistic people.
The story of Switzerland is a veritable romance, whether studied
from the historical, religious, political, or sociological standpoint. In
the material at our disposal, we are peculiarly fortunate, since the
record of the Swiss reaches far into remote periods, when men built
houses over water rather than on land, when fire was a luxury to be
obtained by hard labor with flint and stone, when arrow-heads were
made of bone, knives of stone, clothing of grass fiber, and men and
women shared alike the toils of life and the honors held in the hands of
fortune.
Switzerland has had the nearly unique experience of keeping the
same geographical outlines throughout the centuries of her existence.
The Helvetia of the Romans and the Switzerland of today alike contain
15,747 square miles, and this area is bounded north and east by
Germany, south by Italy, and west by France. Rivers, lakes and moun-
tains encircle and defend the republic, which comprises in its boundaries.
a great variety of scenery and climate. Magnificent mountain ranges
rear their snow-clad summits high above the valleys and plains, rich in
verdure as the Campagna of Italy; lakes diversify the surface, and deep
313
314
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
down under the hills and in the sides of the mountains is found mineral
wealth of vast extent to reward the patient seeker. About two-thirds
of the surface is made up of water, glaciers, naked rocks, and uninhabitable
heights; of what remains the people make the best use they can, and the
struggle with nature for existence makes of the Swiss a hardy people.
The climate is cruelly severe. Nestling far down in Southern
Europe, in latitude 45 to 47, one would expect softer air, but the con-
stant presence of snow on the mountains, and the near propinquity of
the ranges, making narrow valleys through which the winter winds have.
play through a large part of the year, render the seasons very unlike
those of neighboring states; and yet, where the sun does shine, and the
lakes temper the bitterness of the snow-clad hills, one finds figs and
grapes, grass and grain, and forests through which roam the few wild.
deer, chamois, ibex. There are plains, too, where wander fine breeds of
cattle, sheep and goats, and the Swiss mountaineer and villager alike are
bound by closest ties to their homes, and are seldom found domiciled in
other countries. In fact, homesickness is the common malady of the
traveling Swiss, and is often so intense as to unfit him for work or
employment away from home. This presents an interesting problem for
the psychologist who is called upon to answer the question, Why is
the love of home so intense in a people whose native land offers so few
attractions, while the inhabitants of more favored climes, France, Eng-
land, Ireland, Germany, seek new homes and themselves become citizens
of the new states which they adopt?
The early history of Switzerland's people is nearly lost among the
traditions of the past. Students in geology have unearthed their graves,
and found their weapons, have located their villages, and from such data
hypothecated their habits of life. The houses of the ancient Swiss were
built out in the water of the lakes and over marshes at the edges of rivers
and water-courses. Piles were driven down into the soil under the water
and on these the houses were built; they were connected with the shore
by bridges, and sometimes in like manner with each other. So were
built villages of one or two hundred houses, who formed with each other
alliances offensive and defensive. This habit of building and the so-
called "town defenses" are identical with the remains of ancient peoples
in Ireland found on the borders of lakes and the shores of rivers, and
called there "craunoges." These prehistoric Swiss had pottery made of
the mud of the river bank, and some of it was quite ornamental. Their
axes, knives, saws, needles, spears, pikes, even swords, were made of
stone, horn or bone, and one is left to imagine how these were brought
SWITZERLAND.
315
to the keen edge fitting for use. In the graves which date as far back
as this period, the nobles or warriors seem to have been buried with
their armor, since near the bones of the long buried dead are found
armor, sword and spear. With the hunter was buried his lance and
arrows, with the fisherman his hooks, with the women jewelry, with the
children toys. Near Zurich some graves have been found which con-
tained the entire woman's dress, and from that we learn the undercloth-
ing was of linen, and over all came a woolen tunic. That slavery existed
in these early days is evident, because about the graves of the nobles are
found so many human bones, it can only be inferred that slaves were
sacrificed at a funeral.
It is a matter of great interest to follow the course of this people as
they emerge from the barbarism of "lake dwellers" into the perfection
of their present high type of civilization. The step beyond the period
which we have described might be called the "bronze age " of the
Swiss, when they made use of the aes bronze of the Romans in the
manufacture of their weapons, agricultural implements, fishing tools,
and utensils for family use. Later we find the Helvetians appearing in
history; and their first daring exploit was an attempt with the Cimbri
and Teutons, 113 B. C., to invade Italy. Defeat awaited them but not
discouragement. In the time of Cæsar, Orgetorix induced a tribe of
Helvetii to attempt the conquest of Gaul, and that they should not at
any moment yield to faint-heartedness, he readily persuaded them to
burn their villages. Fortunately this plan miscarried, and Rome,
conquering, gave to Switzerland her manners, laws and civilization.
The history of Switzerland, like that of all other continental nations,
is a story of invasion, foreign ascendancy, revolution, persecution; but
in all the romance of history there is none like hers. Home-lovers and
daring fighters, the Swiss, from the fastnesses of their mountains, made
brave defenses against France, Italy, Germany, Austria. By turns the
conquered province of one or the other of these nations, she improved
the few years of freedom between each invasion in perfecting, or rather
evolving, a theory of government modeled upon that of the Grecian
states. The instinct of the people is for coöperation, as will be shown
in the history of labor in this country, and it is no wonder that attempts
should be made toward forming a government in which the governed
should have a share. And yet, strange inconsistency, at the very time
the Swiss were striving for this republican form of government, the pop-
ulation was divided into free men and serfs. The latter men and
women were considered as chattels or merchandise, and could even be
316
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
killed by their masters. The slaves or serfs were not allowed to wear
weapons, their complaint was not listened to in court, and in nearly all
respects their condition was similar to that of the slaves in our Southern
States prior to 1863. A master could free his slave, but the gift
was barren save of honor, for until the third generation the descendants
of a freedman could not acquire property. As late as the ninth century
the serfs of the cloister were taught trades, tailoring, shoemaking, glass-
blowing, brewing, etc., but the proceeds of their labor went to the
enrichment of the coffers of the cloisters. Fortunately this state of af
fairs is now done away with, and each person has a proportionate share
in the political affairs of the republic. As late, however, as the eight-
eenth century the townspeople were divided into two classes, citizens
and established." The latter had not the same rights as the citizens,
being not allowed to acquire property in the town, and they were often
hampered in pursuing a trade. They were mostly day-laborers, were
called established persons, and their wives were usually washer-women.
They were buried in a separate cemetery and many petty rules were
made to distinguish between the "established" and the citizens. They
had a separate place in church, their children were baptized on special
days, and people who did not pay 10 gulden of taxes were not allowed
to buy wine. Today this is changed; the constitution of the republic
says: "The established enjoys all rights of the canton in which he has
-established himself except the vote concerning the affairs of the com-
mune."
In Switzerland during the eighteenth century the system of political
unity was based not on the family nor the individual, but upon the
commune. This is the base upon which the whole social organization
was established. Every commune had its own laws, resources, army
and assemblies. Each one was, so to speak, a state within a state, a
republic within a republic, and in many respects quite alike in man-
agement to the states in the American Union. The mayor and the
local aldermen were the fathers of the commune, and in themselves con-
centrated all power. The mayor had a right to build schools, install
teachers, inspect classes (to this end he would need a better education
than some American mayors possess), to perform the marriage cere-
mony, to accept or reject a proposed citizen. Switzerland has been by
turns the thrall, unwilling, unsubdued, of neighboring nations. Ten-
tative efforts had been made at self-government as before stated. In
1815 the federal diet adopted a constitution and it was ratified by the
cantons, only to be overthrown by a violent political revolution in 1830,
SWITZERLAND.
317
a disturbance caused by sympathy with the revolutionists in France.
Disturbances occurred again and again-now political, as when Louis
Napoleon was ordered to be expelled; again religious, as when the dele-
gates from certain cantons in 1834 attempted to regulate the affairs of
the Catholic Church and force the expulsion of the Jesuits. One year
Austria felt called upon to espouse the cause of some self-willed canton.
Another year religious enthusiasm divided the little republic, and Cath-
olics and Protestants stood arrayed, each against the other. And this
was the people who only thirty years before had solemnly agreed that "no
city or family shall have exclusive privilege, no canton shall have sub-
jects; but every Swiss in city or country shall have equal rights and
freedom in trade, and liberty to establish himself wheresoever he may
please without hindrance from any one." Switzerland has had the
experience of all republics-nepotism, profligacy, shameless trading in
offices, the extortions of the parvenus of power, but she is a nation.
still, and holds her place among the peoples of Europe by virtue of
the inborn manliness and patriotism of her citizens. William Tell's
name is a household word. Every canton has her Tell, because in
every canton the majority of the men are pure patriots. The people
are nearly all workers-many wage-workers; and when it is remem-
bered how small a portion of the little republic is available for till-
age or pasturage, how few towns she possesses in proportion to her
population, how difficult it is to send the products of her factories.
to market, is it any wonder that labor is underpaid, and that even
young men who could get work at home are only eager to join some
regiment, and in foreign service risk a life which, except to the
mother who bore him, is valueless at home. With all this, pauper-
ism, in the English sense of the word, is unknown. The dress and
dwellings show sore need, but the beggarly spirit common in mon-
archies which expects a poor-rate and house-to-house visiting does not
exist. Because the rye ripens readily and wheat slowly, the peas-
ants' bread must be made of the former grain; and because fuel
is scarce bread is made only twice a year. Immense loaves are made
half a yard in diameter, looking like huge buns, and these are stored
on pantry shelves or in the loft waiting until the need to eat them
comes. Fuel is sought up the mountains and in the water courses.
An avalanche frequently brings down great trees which the villagers
cut up; and in some districts cow dung which has hardened is col-
lected and does its share toward keeping a cottage warm or making
fire to cook food. Wages are small. A servant on a fruit farm is
318
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
paid only $60 a year; a gardener $180 for a full twelvemonth's
work. Unskilled labor receives three and a half francs a day in
summer; and in the factories, cotton, silk and wool, the hand barely
gets enough in wages to keep body and soul together. Yet from the fact
that many operators are the children of farmers, and that there is always
before them the possibility of inheriting their father's farm, there
is less discontent, and strikes, boycotts and anarchism are unknown
now.
In Switzerland each parish has its alp, which is the name given
to a pasture land used in common by all the cows of the citizens.
It is part of the privilege of each inhabitant, ceded to him by law,
that his cow shall have daily pasture on this alp from June until Oc-
tober. On these commons the grass is kept in good order, and the
grazing privilege is highly prized by each man, for the love of a Swiss
for his cow is proverbial, and to pass a winter without one would make
life sorrowful indeed. The animal is a source of income to the farmer
peasant, and the number of cows kept is an indication of the standing
pecuniarily of the proprietor. Very few, however, have a sufficiently
large number of stock to warrant the employment of a special herds-
man to attend them at the grazing ground during the summer; so a
number of the peasants join to employ one man for all. Each propri-
etor owns from one to six cows, and their small farms do not produce
enough to keep many head of stock during the eight dreary winter
months. A valuable lesson may be learned in coöperative industry
from the successes of these small landed proprietors, and a careful sum-
mary of their methods will not be amiss.
A parish hires a man to take care of the herd, and others to make
the cheeses, for to make cheeses and sell them is the ambition of every
peasant farmer. The corps of workers consists of one cheeseman, one
pressman or assistant, and one cowherd for every forty cows. These
tend and milk the cows, and a book is kept in which the owner of the
cows gets credit for the amount of milk given by each. Of course the
whole amount of the milk is put together, and from this cheeses are made.
At the end of the season each owner receives his due share, in exact
proportion to the amount of milk furnished by his cows, whether he had
one or forty. The advantage of this coöperative method can be seen at
a glance, and workmen, small proprietors and petty tradesmen all the
world over might imitate the Swiss. Instead of the small-sized, nearly
unmarketable cheeses such farmers could produce from the milk of the
three or four cows, he has the weight in large marketable cheese, super-
SWITZERLAND.
319
ior in quality because made by people who attend to no other business.
The cheeseman and assistants are paid so much a head for each cow,
and the Swiss cheese is excelled by none in the market. The experience
of the Swiss in this dairy farming will go far toward disproving the
modern theory that only large farms can be made to pay, and that
extent of domain is the sine qua non in making cattle pay for them-
selves. This may be true when the object is merely the breeding of
large herds for the slaughter-house; but surely there are other uses for
both cows and goats, and the agriculturist can not afford to lose sight
of this, especially if he be not a "cattle king."
The making of cheese for export would seem, of all the operations
in husbandry, to require both a large stock and a large capital, yet
by the well understood coöperation of small farmers in Switzerland it
is easily accomplished. What a lesson from this, verily, "he who runs
may read." Draining or irrigation, lining or fencing, manuring, plow-
ing, any operation whatsoever in farming, for which ordinarily large
capital is required for an individual owner may also be accomplished by
small farmers, simply by coöperation in expenses and in gains. But
one point must not be overlooked, the farmer must be owner of his
farm, be it large or small. Rent ruins the lessee. For success a man
must be the proprietor, like the Swiss. It may be objected that the
employed, responsible to no one person, may be unfaithful to their trust.
and the cows go unmilked and the dairies unclean. Observation has proven
the contrary, and although no woman is occupied about the dairy, its
utensils and surroundings are strictly neat. Cheese, next to cotton
goods, is the largest export from Switzerland, and, as may be inferred,
the Swiss cows are handsome animals and of great value.
The journey to the alp usually takes place the latter part of May.
The cattle instinctively know the hour and require very little leading or
driving by their keepers. It seems almost like a triumphal march
from stall to pasture, and the peasant farmers make it a holiday. A
line of cattle, sometimes nearly a mile in length, is led by a Bernese
bull, the patriarch of the herd, decorated with a leathern belt from which
depends a bell, and the cows following in his wake are garlanded.
The lowing of the cattle, the calls of the herdsmen, the merry laughter
and singing of the children, the barking of the dogs, the scolding of the
matrons, all combine to make alive with homelike sounds what was so
lately but a desolate snow-covered road winding through grandly
gloomy solitudes.
Life at the alp is joyous both for cattle and herdsmen, and into the
320
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
manufacture of the cheeses enters the heart of the people so engaged.
Cheese is made always once, usually twice a day. The milk, warmed,
has then the rennet added, when it is allowed to stand for half an hour.
The curds after being drained are immediately put under the press, which
is turned daily, and salt is rubbed over the surface of the cheese with
a stiff brush. Three qualities of cheese are made on every alp: the
gras (rich), the demi-gras and the maigre. The first is made of new milk
with cream added to it; the demi-gras, or half rich, is made of half rich
and half skim-milk, and the poor cheese, or the maigre, is made of skim-
milk alone. A fourth variety is always made from the whey, to which a
little rennet is added, and the result is like English cream cheese, which
is always the herdsman's perquisite and is usually eaten fresh.
Watch-making is an important industry in Berne, Vano, Geneva, and
other cities, giving work, according to reliable statistics in 1871, to
40,987 persons, men and women. In Berne alone 500,000 watches,
averaging forty francs each, are made every year. The manufacture of
these watches requires skilled labor, for, unlike the great factories in the
United States, hand and brain combine in the production of different
parts of the watch. Here all is done by machinery, and when one
realizes the rapidity with which a watch can be created by means of
the machines used at Elgin and Waltham, the wonder is that the Swiss
watch-maker can make a living at all—and yet all manage to live.
Switzerland must import all of its grain and its breadstuffs as well.
Yet such is the habit of methodic work among the Swiss, and such their
genius for associate labor, that their small farms make a very fair
exhibit. From the very nature of the country one cannot expect exten-
sive tracts sown in one kind of grain, but really agriculture is carried to
the greatest degree of perfection that climate and soil will allow. The
hillsides are manured, the valleys drained; each inch is made, by scientific
treatment, to do its best for its tiller, who is the owner thereof. And
in this fact is found the reason for the comparative success of husbandry
in a country apparently cut off by nature from any such privilege. How-
ever poor the patch of land, the ownership of it glorifies any service
wrought for its sake. The intense love of the Swiss for his home grows
out of the fact that nearly every man is, or hopes to be, proprietor of the
soil. This sense of proprietorship is evinced by the constant building,
repairing, and altering of dwellings. Sometimes the cottages are orna-
mented with texts of scripture painted over the door, or the pedigree of
the owner, printed on the front of the house, tells that the house has
been in the same family two hundred years.

Louis Frrington.
District Master Workman o' the Green Glass Bottle Blowers'
District Assembly of Knights of Labor.
UNIC
OF
MICH
SWITZERLAND.
321
Far in advance as Switzerland is in the matter of the great diffusion of
landed property among her people, and the wonderful success to which
coöperative industry has attained, yet one is amazed to find all work
in the vineyard and on farms done generally by men, and in some agri-
cultural villages a horse is not to be found. Women work in the field
with men, but not as serfs, rather as the equals of their husbands, and
this work is not considered in any wise degrading, since wives and
daughters of very substantial peasant proprietors share the labor of the
farm. Naturally being part owner, the woman chooses the lighter work
as best suited to her strength, and while at one time she prunes and
tends the vine or helps in making hay, she usually does all the planning
for indoor and family affairs, her husband being merely her executor,
after all plans are made.
One grave source of anxiety with the "house mother" must neces-
sarily be her children. Her daughters she may keep with her; the sons
must look afar for work, until the time comes when nature makes the
parent give place to the heir. The labor of the sons not being needed
on the parental farm, and the land being usually overtaxed, it behooves
the young men to seek new places of labor, and because manufactures
are overcrowded, and farm hands in excess of demand, they enlist readily
in Swiss regiments for foreign service. They are mercenaries, the con-
dottieri of the middle ages, serving for their pay, with utter indifference
to the cause for which they may have to give up life itself.
Under these circumstances what wonder is it that peasants put off
their marriage until late in life, for the habit of prudent forethought
prevents a man taking a wife until he sees a way to support her.
condition of each canton is known-the possibility before each proprie-
tor and each common laborer; hence only the most reckless are willing
to risk marriage and parentage upon a worse than uncertain income.
This will account for the small number of births in proportion to the
population, and to this training in self-control, and almost stern
asceticism, is to be referred the very small number of illegitimate births
recorded in Switzerland.
The vine is cultivated on the slopes and in the valleys, and
clusters of grapes are often found rich in purple ripeness two thousand
one hundred feet above the sea. The pruning and binding up of the vines
is woman's work, and the luxuriance of the clusters in the fall well repay
for the work, although so few places are adapted for grape culture that
Switzerland cannot supply enough wine for her own use, and imports
large quantities. At the time of the gathering of the grapes, men,
322
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
women and children join in the work, and the vineyards put on a very
festive appearance. The deep baskets, made to fasten on the back, are
quickly filled, then carried to the wine-room, where they are emptied.
into tubs and the grapes crushed with a kind of fork made of a stout
bough from a tree, or even a sapling. The Swiss, in all the centuries in
which they have made wine, still use this rude instrument for crushing
the fruit, while in California, a state less than half a century old, very
modern labor-saving machinery is in use, and the wine is equally good.
After the juice is expressed it is collected in skins or barrels and taken
to the houses, where it is emptied into vessels which are wide and shallow.
Each day the wine is carefully strained until fermentation takes place,
when it is put away in barrels or bottles, according to the quantity.
Silks are woven in Zurich and Basle. While not by any means equal
to the silks produced in France, either in lustre, finish or shading, the
Swiss silks surpass those of France in durability and evenness of thread.
The amount made far exceeds what is needed for home consumption,
and hence it is one of the largest articles of export.
As said before, cotton leads the exports of Switzerland. The manu-
facture of thread, as well as of cotton goods, is the most important in-
dustry of the country, employing the largest number of persons, and is
also a business flourishing in most of the cantons. Like England, the
raw material is not grown on the soil, but imported. It is estimated that
57,500,000 pounds of raw material are made into 52,500,000 pounds of
thread every year, which is exported to the east, to Africa, and even London
is used as a distributing point for Swiss thread. England was for a long
time a noted rival. With the English mills the competition both in re-
gard to quality of goods and prices was most keen. However, steady,
hard work has won in this race. The machinery is perfected, and the
yarns and cloth now made compare well with England's best goods, and
find a ready market. It is worthy of note here, that no tariff is laid on
foreign goods, but free competition is allowed, and the success of the
Swiss in the manufacture of cotton is the more marked when it is re-
membered that Switzerland is so far away from all the great centers of
trade. She has to ship her manufactured goods over the mountains to
the Mediterranean that it may seek a market in Africa, and over the
Atlantic till it finds a sale somewhere. Her raw cotton she imports
from Africa and, Asia Minor. In the canton of Zurich alone are em-
ployed from eighteen thousand to twenty thousand hand-loom weavers,
and the result of their labor is one million or more pieces of cotton cloth
every year. Collectively the other cantons find work for ninety thousand
SWITZERLAND.
323
weavers, and from the looms result several millions of pieces of cloth of
various grades every year. Men, women and even children are employed
in the cotton factories, and because of the excess of population over the
demand for labor, the wages are pitifully low, yet so frugal is the Swiss
by nature, so hardy in constitution, that the little pittance does much
toward making life endurable, and some operatives have even saved
from their gains to become themselves stockholders. But this is not by
any means so common an occurrence as in the United States. And the
reason is obvious: it costs so much more to import raw material and
send the product to market. The cotton made into cloth had to risk
nearly the same dangers in transit to a market as the raw material in
reaching the looms. It must find its way over the Jura or Alpine
Mountains, be conveyed along water-ways, either rivers or lakes, until at
last it is free from the fastnesses of the little republic; and yet the
products of the manufactories of Switzerland are found in all the
markets of the world. Why is this true? Simply because industry has
been left to itself. Wealth has not been diverted from its own natural
tendencies. There has been no struggle encouraged by government be-
tween the protected monopoly of the few and the unprotected interests
of the many.
PEOP
aga
A
Trut
CHAPTER XIV. SCANDINAVIA.
AGRICULTURE, MINING AND MANUFAC-
WIDE DISTRIBUTION OF LAND PROPERTY
EARLY HISTORY OF THE SCANDINAVIANS
TURES IN NORWAY-LAND TENURES
CHARACTER AND HABITS OF THE PEOPLE-THE INDUSTRIAL HISTORY OF
SWEDEN-NOMADIC
NOMADIC FARM LABORERS - CHILD LABOR
CHILD LABOR-SOCIAL DISTINCTIONS
HOUSEHOLD INDUSTRY- THE DANES IN HISTORY-THE CURIOUS REVOLUTION
OF 1660- THE INDUSTRIES OF DENMARK CONDITION OF THE PEASANTS AND
THE WORKING CLASSES.
NORWAY, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland are known collectively
as Scandinavia, although the three first named are now politically
distinct nations. From the earliest time the Scandinavians have dis-
played a vigorous, enterprising and determined character. They were
first known to the civilized world in the year 112 B.C. They then burst
upon the Roman world and defeated successively general after general
of the Romans. Their career was stopped by the great Marius, the hero
of many wars.
For centuries succeeding their repulse by the army of Marius, the his-
tory of the Scandinavians is shrouded in darkness. They again appeared
upon the stage of history as the invaders of England and the founders
of Normandy. The Danes were expelled from England, but in time the
Normans, the kindred race, firmly established themselves in that coun-
try. It is from the Scandinavian element in her people that England
received her tendencies to maritime adventure and enterprise, as well as
her propensity to colonize and traffic. It is to the Scandinavians that
the great English-speaking nations owe their free institutions, trial by
jury, popular representation by legislative assemblies, and the popular
elective system.
Until the time of Harold Harfager- the year 863 A.D.-the inhab-
itants of Norway were distributed into a number of petty tribes. This
monarch commenced the work of unification. During the reign of Olaf
Skatkonung, Christianity first gained a permanent foothold in the coun-
try. Canute, the Danish king of England, conquered Qlaf in the
eleventh century A.D., and assumed the crown. Before and after this
event the Norsemen scourged the seas, and were remarkable for prowess
and maritime prosperity. After the defeat of Haco V., off the west
324
SCANDINAVIA.
325
coast of Scotland, there ensued a protracted period of national depres-
sion. The national exchequer had been exhausted by foreign wars, the
industries of every kind languished, and for two years following 1347
the plague prevailed throughout the land, depopulating the country
more than fifty per cent. During this period of multiform distress, not
only the nationality but the language passed away.
In 1380 a union with Sweden was accomplished which endured for
400 years. All Scandinavia was conquered by Margaret of Denmark near
the close of the fourteenth century, and by virtue of the treaty of Cal-
mar the three kingdoms became one. This treaty remained in force
until 1523, when Sweden acquired political independence and conferred
the crown upon Gustaf Vasa, her deliverer. For more than 200 years
after this event Norway was a mere province of Denmark. During the
reign of Charles XIV., Norway and Sweden were again united. In
1818 Bernadotte, one of Napoleon's marshals, was elected to the united
throne. Under King Bernadotte and the succeeding generations of his
dynasty, the government of the country has steadily advanced in the
direction of liberalism. Norway, although united with Sweden, is,
according to the constitutional union, "free, independent, indivisible
and inalienable." In form the government is a constitutional monarchy.
The legislative power is vested, by the constitution of November 4, 1814, in
the Storthing or assembly of deputies. The members of this body are
not elected directly by the people, but by electors chosen for that pur-
pose. One deputy or elector is chosen for every fifty voters in the town,
and in the rural districts one deputy for every 100 voters. To exercise
the right of franchise, a man must be twenty-five years of age and pos-
sess property in land to the value of $150, or must have been a tenant
of such property for the period of five years, or must be at the time, or
must have been a public functionary or a burgess of a town.
The farmers of the country devote considerable attention to grazing.
The reindeer is probably the most valuable domestic animal, but large
numbers of horses, sheep, goats and horned cattle are raised by the
agricultural classes. There are few miners in Norway. Although that
country is rich in mineral deposits, yet, on account of the
scarcity of fuel and the restrictive policy of the government, these
resources are not developed. The mountains of the country have.
large deposits of silver, iron, copper, nickel and cobalt, and in the min-
ing industry Norway should be second to no country in Europe. Large
numbers of her people are engaged in fishing. The cod fisheries are the
most important, and is confined to two seasons of the year. The largest
326
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
returns are realized from what is called winter fishery, which begins in
January. The autumn fishery is less remunerative. The mackerel
fishery is an important industry on the south coast. The manufacturing
interests of Norway are relatively unimportant. Such manufactures as
exist are confined to the production of inferior cotton, woolen and linen
goods for domestic use. The farmers of Norway are extremely conserva-
tive and opposed to innovations and improvements. The methods of this
class are very crude. Manuring is seldom practiced, and under drainage
never. It is doubtful, however, whether agriculture could flourish in
Norway as in other countries more favored in climate and soil. It would
seem that the most strenuous industry of her farmers cannot produce
enough bread-stuff for home consumption. Large quantities of rye and
barley are exported annually from Denmark and Russia. Crops are gen-
erally precarious. This has led to the establishment by the government
of corn magazines, where the surplus produce may be deposited for times
of scarcity. One fortunate feature of Norwegian life is the wide dis-
tribution of land property. In this respect Norway differs from Sweden
and Denmark. In 1869, out of 147,000 landed estates, 131,000 were
tilled by owners. In 1865 there were less than 65,000 tenant farmers in
all Norway.
Although nominally a monarchical government, Norway is essentially
a democracy. The feudal system never obtained in that country. The
government has been representative in character for centuries, and the
peasantry have enjoyed comparative freedom. Feudal tenures, there-
fore, were never a feature of the land system of Norway. The udal laws
have existed from time immemorial, by virtue of which every man held his
land without service or the acknowledgment of any superior in title.
The farms of the Norwegian yeomen generally contain from forty to
sixty acres of arable land, adjoining which is sometimes a considerable
tract of pasture land, as in the highlands of Scotland and in Switzer-
land. During the summer months the slopes and valleys of the neigh-
boring mountains are used for grazing. Of course, primogeniture, a
feature of feudal tenure, never existed in Norway. From this fact there
would naturally follow a tendency of subdivision of estates, until they
would be frittered away. This tendency was provided against in Norway
by the law known as the odelsbaarn ret. This law provides that when
land is sold, at the death of the owner, all of his children and the next
of kin, in the order of consanguinity, may redeem the land within five
years by repayment of the purchase money and for any outlay and im-
provements. By this principle of succession, the accumulation of landed
SCANDINAVIA.
327
•
property, by one person, in large masses, is prevented. The udal estates
are rarely augmented, and as seldom diminished. Notwithstanding the
smallness of the Norwegian farms, the produce usually supplies the
owner, not only with the comforts of life, but with some of its luxuries.
The Bonder or agricultural peasantry, each the proprietor of his own
farm, occupy the country from the shore side to the hill foot, and up
every valley or glen, as far as corn can grow. This class is the kernel of
the country. They farm not to raise produce for sale, so much as to grow
everything they eat, drink and wear in their families. They build their
own houses, make their own chairs, tables, plows, carts, harness, iron-
work, basket-work and wood-work; in short, except window-glass, cast-
iron ware and pottery, and everything about their houses and furniture
is of their own fabrication. "There is not probably in Europe so great a
population and so happy a condition as these Norwegians. A body of
small proprietors, each with his thirty or forty acres, scarcely exist else-
where in Europe, or if it can be found, it is under the shadow of some
more imposing wealthy proprietors. Here they are the highest men in
the nation. There is no money-getting spirit among them, and none of
extravagance. They enjoy the comfort of excellent houses, as good and
large as those of the wealthiest individuals, good furniture, bedding,
linen, clothing, fuel, victuals and drink, all in abundance and of their
own providing."
As a nation the Norwegians are better lodged than any other peo-
ple in Europe; of food and fuel they have abundance and are gen-
erally well clad. The feverish and exciting pleasures of a more complex
and active social condition are denied them; yet they largely enjoy those
inestimable blessings, leisure, contentment and ease of mind. The
working people, indeed, are said to be in a better condition than the
same class in any other European countries. Their quiet and comfort-
able life is manifest in their manners. A kind politeness characterizes
their intercourse with friends and strangers. Courtesy seems to be
common to all classes of society, laborers, soldiers, fishermen and
mechanics.
The farm-laborers are well conditioned. They are furnished with
comfortable cottages, usually situated on the outskirts of the farm, and
with pasturage for half a dozen sheep and goats and two cows. This
cottage and pasturage can be held for the life of the cotter and that of
his widow. As a consideration for these privileges the farm-laborer
works a certain number of days in the year on the main farm. He can
abandon this holding upon three months' notice. His employer, on the
328
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
other hand, cannot dispossess or deprive him of it, so long as the stipu-
lated rent is paid or labor rendered. It is the sons and daughters of
these farm laborers, or house-men as they are called, who constitute the
domestic servants of the country.
Aside from the Bonder, there is another class of yeomanry less for-
tunate in their condition. We refer to the inhabitants of the glens and
forests of the mountain ranges which divide Norway from Sweden.
This class possess a little land and small but comfortable houses. A
rigorous climate prevents the rising of grain, and they subsist upon the
produce of their cattle, the sale of game, and by felling timber. In
winter they live largely upon salted trout and a bread made of ground
bark and unripened oats. This class, in condition, constitute the con-
necting link between the Laplander and the Bonder of the old country.
In Norway all classes eat from four to five meals a day, the laborer
begins his day with a cake of oat or barley bread, with butter, and a
drink of brandy. Breakfast is eaten at nine o'clock in the morning,
and consists of bread and milk, or bread and soup, or pottage with oat
cakes. From twelve to one o'clock is the dinner hour. At this meal
the laborer has herrings, potatoes, bread and barley broth, or salt meat
and black pudding. Generally, the work people of Norway eat meat
only two or three times a week.
Every homestead consists of several buildings. One apartment in
every house is set apart for the female members of the family. In this
room wool is carded, spun and woven, under the direction of the mis-
tress of the family. In the homes of Norway are manufactured coarse
but substantial woolen cloth, excellent table linen, and checked or
striped cottons for female wear. One large room is reserved for the
tailor, shoemaker, harnessmaker, and other tradesmen, who go from
place to place, and farm to farm to work at their business.
Rank and privilege have been abolished in Norway. In no quarter of
the world, of equal population, is property so universally diffused among
the inhabitants, and an equal scale enjoyed by all classes.
The sea-faring peasantry occupy the coast side of the fiords and the
provinces of Norland and Finmark. Their farms are small and are
generally held for life. They sometimes keep a couple of cows and
some sheep, and in favorable situation raise a little corn and a few
potatoes. They subsist in the main, however, upon their fishing.
Sweden, during the reign of Gustaf Vasa, enjoyed a period of
great prosperity, but much that was gained in material welfare
during this period was lost under succeeding reigns. The cause of this
SCANDINAVIA.
329
depression was a succession of exhausting wars. Until the time of the
union with Norway, the people of Sweden were in a deplorable condi-
tion. From that event there has been a continuous improvement in
every respect. Until the year 1738, agriculture had been almost the
exclusive industry of Sweden. During that year a so-called progressive
party came into power, and manufactures were encouraged by all the
means known to the government. Factories were established in all the
cities, and with such rapidity that in 1754 there were no less than 718.
Today, in Sweden, there is considerable activity in the manufacture of
cotton, woolen, linen and silk stuff, and of sail-cloth, cutlery, hardware,
paper, glass and earthen-ware. As in Norway, so in Sweden, articles.
for home use are manufactured by the peasantry, within their houses,
during the long winter evenings. But, notwithstanding recent progress
in this direction, the manufacturing industries of Sweden are but little
developed. The mining districts of Sweden comprise perhaps 16,000
square miles. The iron mines only are successfully operated. Within
the last thirty years, agriculture has made considerable progress in
that part of Sweden situated between the sound and the river Dal.
In the middle and southern provinces, potatoes, peas, beans, oats,
wheat and rye are successfully cultivated. Barley can be raised in all
parts of the country. For many years the farmers of Sweden were not
successful in the raising of grain; but with the past seventy years there
has been a gradual improvement. In 1777, 640,000 barrels of grain
were imported; this number was reduced to 233,000 in 1810. The im-
portation had ceased in 1832, and the exportation amounted to 177,589.
During the year 1873, Sweden exported 11,852,049 bushels of cereals.
Such improvements as have been made in the methods of agriculture are
confined, mainly, to the large estates. Generally, the peasant farmer
adheres doggedly to the old system. In the northern provinces, not
more than one crop out of three succeeds. Owing to the poverty of the
soil and the short duration of the summer, agricultural operations
require a large number of persons, for whom, during the long winter,
there is little or no employment. According to some authorities, the
farm laborers of Sweden are a nomadic population. They seldom stay
more than a year or two in one place, and then go somewhere else.
This class do not remain long enough in one locality to take an interest
in farming on their own account. But even had they the inclination
they seldom have the time to work for themselves. Not only the father
and mother are constantly employed, but even their children are re-
quired to labor at an age when they should be in the nursery. The
330
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
hours of toil are from five in the morning until eight at night. Several
years ago, a Mr. Swartze attempted a reformation in the habits of the
farm-laborers. He set apart, to each of his farm hands, a garden-plot,
and allowed time enough from the general work of the farm for their
cultivation.
The people of Sweden are divided into four classes, the nobility, the
clergy, burgesses and peasants. The burgesses are about 70,000 in
number, and comprise persons of both sexes who possess real property to
the amount of fifteen dollars and upward. In the cities they are mem-
bers of guilds or handicrafts, iron manufacturers, and magistrates. The
privileges secured to this class have operated injuriously upon the trade
and industry of the country. In Sweden, there are 2,250,000 peasant
farmers. This class are prudent, industrious, intelligent, and well
educated. "They are all landowners, and by their wealth they are
gradually absorbing much of the land that is passing from the hands of
the nobility." Below the peasant-farmer is the torpar or cottager, who
hires his cot and garden spot.
In Sweden the law once prescribed the dress for the peasantry; now
all are free to dress as they please, and the peasant of each parish has a
different costume. "Men, women and children labor together in the
fields. Women do various kinds of outdoor work in the towns, such as
mixing mortar and the tending of masons, and most of the drudgery of
factories."
"Every male Swede twenty-one years of age and over, who owns
real property of the assessed value of 1,000 riksdalers, or holds a five
year's lease of property of the value of 6,000 riksdalers, or pays an income
tax on 800 riksdalers, is entitled to vote in the elections of the landsthing;
and if he is twenty-five years old and has possessed these proper qualifi-
cations for one year preceding the election, he may be elected a member."
The Dalecarlians are those who occupy the dales and valleys of the
mountain regions. They number about 133,339 individuals, and main-
tain their ancient simplicity of manners, dress, and mode of living.
Like the Highlander of Scotland the Dalecarlian considers himself of a
superior order. They are very industrious and ingenious workmen.
Many of them go about the country mending basket-work, garden tools,
wooden clocks, and even watches of their own manufacture. Upon this
class press heavily the restrictions that have been placed upon the sale of
wares in this way. Notwithstanding the complaints of privileged trades-
men and dealers the government winks at the petty traffic of the poor
Dalecarlian.
SCANDINAVIA.
331
In every household of Sweden it is the rule to do everything possible
by household industry before resorting to the market. The peasantry
buy only what they cannot possibly manufacture at home, or do without.
Such has become the established feature of Swedish society, and as long
as this state of affairs continues no important advance can be made in
trade or manufacture.
Corporal punishment may be inflicted upon the Swedish peasantry
by their masters. This is considered necessary for household discipline,
and is sanctioned by the law. Such a practice reduces this class to the
condition of serfs.
The peasantry of Sweden are oppressed by a mode of traveling that is
enforced by the government. At all hours of the day and seasons of the
year they are obliged to furnish horses for the accommodation of travelers.
This, of course, must greatly inconvenience the farming community,
and some are of the opinion that this practice has been a serious obstacle
to agricultural prosperity.
The Danes first appear in history, as piratical invaders of Eng-
land, in the ninth century. About two hundred years later the
Danish Canute added England to his dominions. The people of Den-
mark enjoyed considerable prosperity under this great king, but after
his death foreign wars and internal dissension exhausted the kingdom.
In time a powerful aristocracy arose, who greatly oppressed the people
and reduced them to a servile condition. Until the year 1660 the crown
of Denmark was elective. For several centuries the nobility of Den-
mark had assumed the exercise of the most despotic powers. On his own
estate every noble was an absolute ruler, and the sole judge in settling
matters among his peasants. In criminal matters his decision was final,
and the law permitted him even to inflict the death penalty.
The tyranny and oppression of this nobility became unendurable, and
in 1660 the people transferred all power, political and civil, from the
nobility to the crown. The people went further than this, and in order
that they might rid themselves of an insolent and oppressive aristocracy
surrendered all their own privileges and rights into the hands of their
monarch. Thus, at one stroke was an elective and constitutional mon-
archy made hereditary and absolute. Prior to this revolution the nationa!
exchequer had been depleted by military expenditures and disasters, and
much misery prevailed among the people of Denmark. The nobility
enjoyed all the privileges and did not bear any of the burdens of the
state. The revolution of 1660 deprived the nobles of their privileges and
made them subject to taxation. However, they were given some juris-
332
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
diction over the peasants, who were not permitted to leave the estates of
their lords. For more than a hundred years, thereafter, the peasantry
continued in a state of serfdom. This system was finally abolished in the
eighteenth century. The despotic government established in 1660 con-
tinued until 1849. The constitution of June 5, 1849, which was subse-
quently modified in 1855 and 1863, established a hereditary and
constitutional monarchy, and in 1866, two houses of legislature, named
respectively the Folkething and the Landsthing. When a Dane has
attained his thirtieth year, and can provide himself with bed and board,
and does not occupy the position of domestic servant he may vote for the
Folkething or lower chamber. His right of franchise may be lost by
receiving assistance from the poor rates which he has not subsequently
repaid.
For several centuries in Denmark large numbers of the Danish peas-
antry were engaged in the felling of timber. To such an extent was this
industry carried that the country had been nearly denuded of timber.
The manufactures of Denmark are not important, and afford employment
to but few of her inhabitants. Some manufactures there are of woolen,
cotton, linen and silk goods and of leather, lace, gloves, hats, sail-cloth,
earthen ware, plated ware, and iron ware. In Denmark, as in Norway
and Sweden, the peasantry make their wearing apparel and domestic
utensils with their own hands. One of the most important industries of
Denmark is the manufacture of porcelain. The nucleus of this industry
was the factory of F. H. Meil, established in 1772. Nine years later
this enterprise passed into the hands of the state and has since remained
there.
Denmark is rich in clays, but the poorest country in Europe in
minerals. Indeed, the mining industry, in Denmark, is not of sufficient
importance to mention here. In the Island of Bornholm are fine quar-
ries of marble and free stone. In food and clothing the manufacturing
operatives and mechanics of Denmark are not inferior to the same classes
in Norway and Sweden. The houses occupied in the provincial towns
have two more rooms, and are surrounded by a small garden patch. The
same class in the capital too frequently live in but one room. These
rooms are in large barrack-like buildings, located in the poor quarters of
the city. They are deficient in light, air, space and comfort.
In Denmark the land is minutely subdivided. The law is partly
responsible for this, as it interdicts the union of small farms, and in
various ways encourages the subdivision of the estates. By far the greater
part of the land is possessed by the peasantry in this way. Below this
SCANDINAVIÀ.
333
class are the cotter free-holders, called junsters, with land sufficient to
keep one or two cows.
It has been said of Denmark that it is preeminently a corn land.
The soil is light and sandy, but all the cereals grown in other European
countries are successfully cultivated. For domestic consumption buck-
wheat takes the place of rye, wheat, barley, and oats. "More than half
the population are engaged in agriculture, which was conducted with
great industry; but from the subdivision of land into small farms it is
seldom carried on with appliances requiring much outlay. The art of
husbandry, however, is steadily progressing." Greater value is attached
to the produce of the dairy than to that of the soil. Aside from the
stock obtained from the large dairy farms this industry has developed a
class of men who hire cows by the year.
CHAPTER XV.— RUSSIA.
A COUNTRY WITH AN ASIATIC INTERIOR AND A EUROPEAN EXTERIOR-PETER THE
GREAT - HIS REIGN THE BEGINNING OF MATERIAL PROGRESS IN RUSSIA
MANUFACTURES ST. PETERSBURG THE KREMLIN IN MOSCOW-SERFDOM
OPPRESSION OF THE PEASANTRY UNDER CATHERINE THE GREAT — EMANCIPA-
TION - MODE OF LIFE AMONG THE PEASANTRY-THE WRETCHED LOT OF WOMAN
-THE CITIZEN BURGHERS MERCHANTS AND ARTISANS — GUILDS AND TRADE-
CORPORATIONS MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES - WAGES AND COST of Living
- POLAND AND FINLAND.
IT
T has been said of Russia, politically and socially, that it is the coun-
try with an Asiatic interior and a European exterior. When it is
said that Russia has an Asiatic interior, it is meant that her government
is despotic in form and that her people are oriental in character. Her
outward aspect is said to be European, because of the attempt made by
her ruling classes to appropriate the externals of western civilization.
Compared with other European states, Russia is in her infancy. Scarce
two centuries ago, by the rest of the world she was estimated as barba-
rian. Until that time her government was not reckoned one of the
great powers, and her people were far removed from the thought of the
world and the grand stream of its progress. As a factor in civiliza-
tion, Russia did not exist until the reign of Peter the Great.
1689 that this man, her material Moses, became her ruler.
accession to the throne began her real importance.
"
+4
It was in
With his
His character transcended his opportunities. His mind was univer-
sal notwithstanding he was by birth, physique and temperament a Rus-
sian. He was truly a child of nature, above his family, beyond his peo-
ple and ahead of his age.
He was without education as that term is popularly understood.
Perhaps, considering the traits he displayed, this was not a misfortune.
The student of books is apt to become introspective and onesided. A
book records the subjective or personal experiences or characteristics of
its author. This is as true of science and history as it is of philosophy
and poetry. A writer upon natural science seldom speaks of nature as
it is, but as he sees it, or understands it. The isolated facts of science
he may observe with more or less correctness and distinctness; yet the
334
RUSSIA.
335
instant he attempts an explanation of the facts, the personal equation.
begins and it is the man and not nature that we see.
One would think that political, social and military events might be
impartially narrated. To be disabused of this illusion it is necessary to
become but a cursory student of history. In her ideal aspects, the
historic muse is clothed with the dignity of truth, and the sober earnest-
ness of philosophy. For ages the wise and the great have bowed before
her throne; for centuries have men vaunted her wisdom and chanted
her praise. But let the student for a while draw between himself and
her august and dignified form the curtain of forgetfulness, and scrutinize
critically and impartially the pages of her devotees, and he will see how
far they have departed from her ideal. He will find the pages of even
the greatest historians distorted by prejudice and passion, and disfigured
by self-interest, spite, malice and uncharitableness. At the behests of
party or faction he will find truth suppressed, and for the sake of mam-
mon and power her facts misstated and exaggerated. For the sake of
truth and justice, it is better always to study facts at first hand and not
by report to observe them personally and immediately, and not through
the medium of another intellect. But truth and equity are not the only
issues at stake, although their moral significance cannot be overestimated.
Men do not study a particular fact or principle for the inherent value in
either alone; it is for the purpose of combining that fact with other
facts, and comparing that principle with other principles, in order that
an expressive and comprehensive generalization may be reached. A
single fact is meaningless unless studied in its relation to other facts.
Perception, psychologically considered, is the lowest of the mental facul-
ties. It but grasps facts in their isolation, and this ends its function.
Singular existence alone is given the meaning of that existence which ist
not expressed. It is only when the facts are seized by reflection and
reason that knowledge begins. "There is nothing great on earth but.
man; there is nothing great in man but mind." Without reason mind
is not. Reason is the central sun of the mental world. All observation,
all study, has for its object the cultivation of human reason or judgment.
The judgment is cultivated and developed by a study of facts and prin-
ciples in their relations. Every judgment should be personal, and after
an immediate observation of the facts. The facts in books are mediate.
Books contain facts as observed by others. To be seen with any degree of
correctness facts should be observed by ourselves. The best practical judg-
ment is the personal judgment. Practically, the best educated man is he
who has the best judgment. Books are not necessary to wisdom. A man
336
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
may be wise and yet not be able to read. Such a man was Peter the
Great of Russia. Of schools, colleges and universities he knew little; of
the world about him he saw and knew much. Through childhood and
youth neglected, and in early manhood ignored, his mates were the
roistering officers of the imperial militia. His boon companions were a
Scotchman and an Italian, characteristic soldiers of fortune and social
adventurers. Reading little, they had observed much. These adventurers
were not only the companions of Peter in his coarse and dissolute sports,
but unwittingly became his teachers.
From them he learned of the institutions, laws, customs and manners
of Western Europe. Judging his native land by the information thus
obtained, this great man was made to realize her deficiencies. Then it
was that he found her people were barbarians, her army a mob, and her
navy inconsequential. He began to think, this uncouth and intemperate
youth. Thought ended in resolution. He determined that all this
should be changed on his coming to the throne, if example and precept
could work that change. On ascending the throne, without delay he set
about his reforms. Departing his realm, he traveled extensively in
Western Europe, studying her arts, sciences and manufactures.
seamen.
* *
*
*
In Holland and England he worked as a ship carpenter, and studied
architecture, medicine, law, physiology and anatomy. Returning to
Russia in 1699, he brought with him "generals, military officers of all
grades, engineers, shipwrights, architects, gunsmiths, cutlers, medical
men, artificers and mechanics of all kinds, naval officers and experienced
Great Britain and Ireland, Holland and the
Netherlands furnished the greater part, but artists were allured from
France and Italy, by the tempting offers of the Czar, to undertake a
residence in the cold climate of the north." The western world has
been wont to date the beginning of material progress in Russia from the
reign of Peter, and not incorrectly. True it is, that manufactures were
first introduced into Russia in the fifteenth century, but they were
unimportant until Peter Romanoff gave them an impetus that has accel-
erated with each passing year. For example, at his death in 1725, there
were twenty-one imperial factories and a number of smaller ones. The
number had increased in 1837 to 6,450, in 1845 to 7,315, in 1854
to 18,100." It is now estimated that Russia contains nearly 90,000
manufactories, which employ about 1,000,000 workmen. Moscow is the
main seat of manufactures. The following governments, in the order men-
tioned, are important manufacturing centers: Vladimeer, Nizhegorod,
Saratoo, St. Petersburg and Poland. Moscow is notable for its manufac-

George barris.
President Amalgamated Association of Miners and Mine Laborers.
UNIL
OF
MICK
RUSSIA.
337
ture of silk and woolen goods; and in other sections cotton and linen of
all kinds are manufactured, as well as leather, candles, soap and metallic
wares.
The first important and emphatic example that Peter set for his
people was the founding and building of a new capital, St. Petersburg,
in 1703, which, although the youngest, is yet the richest of the European
capitals. "Its site was but a desert swamp in the province of Ingria
when Peter announced his intention of erecting his new capital there, and
its erection was indeed a tour de force, both from the point of view of
the engineer and that of the statesman."
The most formidable obstacles were those arising from the swampy
nature of the ground and the insalubrious climate. Peter personally
superintended the works and overcame all difficulties by his indomitable
energy and by the exercise of his despotic power. Workmen were
brought from all parts of his dominions to labor in digging the canals.
It is said that in this work more than 100,000 men perished from dis-
ease and exhaustion.
"Peter drained the marshes and embanked the Neva, which, by
many overflowing channels, carried the waters of Lake Ladoga to the
gulf of Finland. There are fourteen arms of the river, the whole
spanned by no less than 150 bridges. Only one of the bridges, erected in
1870, is a permanent structure; all the rest are built upon boats or pon-
toons, and have to be removed during the winter. For much of this
work of canalization, and for many other improvements, the city is in-
debted to Catharine II." A broad avenue runs through St. Petersburg,
called Neoski Prospect. It is 130 feet wide and four miles in length.
Many splendid edifices adorn this street and among them are the fine
churches Izak and Kazan. A superb and stately dome surmounts the
Izak church. The dome is covered with bronze plates overlaid with
burnished gold. The gold for the dome is said to have cost $200,000.
The interior of this church is of surpassing magnificence. The walls and
pillars are adorned with malachite, lapis lazuli, etc. About seventeen
miles down the river is the great fort and arsenal of Cronstadt, also
erected by the indefatigable Peter.
Although it is popularly understood that the era of arts and manufac-
tures in Russia began with Peter the Great, yet this is not strictly true.
Any particular advance in the mechanical arts is not to be inferred from
the founding and building of St. Petersburg. The city was designed
by foreign artists and architects, and the skilled labor performed by for-
eign artisans. The unskilled labor was performed by native workmen.
22
338
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
Some knowledge of architecture and the mechanical arts must have
been possessed by the Russians before Peter's time, as is indicated by
that famous structure, the Kremlin, in Moscow. The word Kremlin
signifies a citadel, or fortified place. This noted architectural pile com-
prises within its walls several palaces, churches, cathedrals, and arsenals,
two monasteries and other public buildings. The churches are orna-
mented with a wealth of marbles and jewels. Above all stands the
"Tower of Ivan," 269 feet high, containing a peal of thirty-three bells.
In speaking of Russia the mind at once recurs to the poor serfs, who
were emancipated but comparatively a short time ago. Thirty years
ago the name of Russia was as intimately associated with the institution
of serfdom, as were the Southern States of America with the institution
of slavery.
It
Serfdom originated in an ukase issued by Boris Godounoff, who
usurped the throne after the death of Fedor, and who, as the assassin of
young Demetrius, may be regarded as the author of all the troubles that
resulted from the disappearance of the rightful heir to the throne.
was with the view of restraining the nomadic habits of his subjects that
Boris decreed that every peasant should remain permanently on the land
he had cultivated on the preceding "Yurieff's day." In the national
ballads the burden of the peasant's refrain was not complaint of slavery
so much as regret at his inability to migrate from locality to local-
ity. It has been maintained by some writers that with the Slavonians,
as with the Arabs, nomadic habits are natural. This has been disputed
by other authors of equal weight. The latter have contended that the
peasant of Russia is as much attached to his native village as any Breton;
and it is argued that estates were so frequently devastated, under the Mon-
gal domination, that the Russ peasants were compelled to travel about in
search of mere subsistence. Be this as it may, originally the peasants
were free, and farmed lands upon a yearly lease for the nobles. All the
annual terms expired on St. George's day. The brief tenure of these
lease-holds were not conducive to long residence in one locality.
Whether the peasant farmers were nomadic in their tendencies or not,
such a custom as the above would make them restless and foster unsettled
habits. Certain it is the evil was so manifest as to arrest the attention
of a man as unscrupulous and brutal as Boris Godounoff. Thus was the
first step taken that ended in making the free peasant a serf.
The condition of the rural serf differed widely from that of the
dvorovie, or slave. The latter attended on his owner's person; the
former could not be separated from the estate. He could not, therefore,
RUSSIA.
339
be separated from his family nor removed against his will from the vil-
lage community. Few were the estates at first, on which the nobles
resided. The early practice was to leave the peasants in possession of
the lands, taking as a compensation a tax from the village. Presum-
ably, Boris Godounoff did not intend by his ukase to change the social
status of the peasant.
Serfdom in Russia never was authorized by a ukase from the decree
of Boris until their emancipation by Alexander II. The condition of
the Russian serf at the time of his manumission was consequent upon
placing him at the mercy of the rich, and subjecting both master and
serf to an absolute government.
Peter I. instituted the piecing of the rural serf instead of the estate
to which he was attached. This led in time to a severance of the poor
serf from his village commune. He was hired out to other masters, or
was sent away to learn a trade in his master's interest. In consideration
for the labor of his serf, the master received either an annual sum in
money, or a proportion of the earnings. The nobility were satisfied to
receive, prior to the development of arts and manufactures, a moderate
yearly tribute from the village commune. The produce of the land
could be disposed of by the community. The condition of the Russian
commune has been likened unto that of a Hindoo village. The rural
serf of Russia, as well as his noble master, had an interest in the soil. It
was universally recognized then that the serf was entitled to labor a part
of the time for himself. "Even when a resident lord demanded indi-
vidual labor instead of a general tribute, the law restricted his claim to
three days in the week. The remainder belonged to the serf, which
explains how he could be possessed of property, though himself account-
ed the property of another. The introduction of manufactures materi-
ally altered these relations. The lord assumed the right of employing
his serfs the whole time, in any kind of labor which promised remuner-
ation. The materials were furnished by the owner, and the profits
appropriated to himself, paying no wages to the laborer beyond his food
and clothing. This system produced, of course, but indifferent work-
men, and the nobles generally were obliged to hand over the speculation.
to the serfs themselves, by granting them permission to work as they
pleased, on payment of their annual tribute."
At no time did the peasantry fare worse than during the reign of
Catharine the Great. This tyrannical though able empress made it a
practice to present a few hundreds or thousands of these unfortunate
people to her favorites. In time, it became customary to express royal
340
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
favor in this way. Alexander I. put an end to this practice, and to other
tendencies unfavorable to the condition of the poor serf.
Not only
this; but this gentle monarch did much to ameliorate the harshness of
their lot. The serfs, during his reign, were, by imperial ukase, per-
mitted to acquire and hold property. Masters were encouraged to lib-
erate their serfs, and it was made illegal to sell them apart from the
land. In their worst days the serf had some privileges that their masters
were bound to respect. For example, a definite quantity of land was set
apart to their use. The land was accorded to the commune. Each
member of the commune was entitled to an equal share, with a hut and
garden.
Serfs could be owned only by hereditary nobles. This rank could be
easily gained, however. It was open always to officers of the lowest
military grade, but civilians found it more difficult of attainment. Some
nobles could count their serfs by thousands, and others by hundreds.
Some possessed as low as twenty, which number they were not permitted
to increase. These serfs upon large estates fared better than those on
small estates. When the noble owned thousands of acres it was imprac-
ticable for him to manage the whole. This rendered it necessary for him
to apportion it among his serfs, receiving from each a certain sum annu-
ally. This system prevailed as to all crown serfs-serfs attached to the
crown lands. The landlord or noble was responsible to the State for the
taxes levied upon the serfs, and was compelled to support them if they
were destitute, aged or in ill health. Not residing, as a rule, upon his
estates, the noble could not well regulate the conduct of the individual
serf in this respect. He would therefore exact a tax from the whole
village or commune.
The decree emancipating the serfs was promulgated Feb. 19, 1861.
This step marks a new era in the history of Russia. Emancipation first
received official attention in 1857. Alexander II., the late Czar, at the
time of his coronation in the month of August, 1856, alluded to his
wishes in the matter to the nobles assembled on that occasion. The
sentiments expressed by the emperor at this time scarcely found a
response in public opinion. The intentions of Alexander, however,
found an earnest exponent in the person of his brother, the Grand Duke
Constantine.
Two years later, by imperial order, a committee was created, whose duty
it was to consider preliminary questions concerning emancipation. In the
autumn of that year, the nobility of the Lithuanian provinces, Vilna,
Kovno and Grodno, memorialized the government on the subject of eman-
RUSSIA.
341
cipation, and in their address expressed a desire to arrange with their serfs
in a manner suitable to the age, and to regulate their relations definitely.
On the second day of December 1857, by an imperial rescript, the gov-
ernment expressed its gratification at the proposal, and formally pro-
claimed to the empire the wishes of the Czar. In this rescript Alexander
requested of the nobility that they consider the matter of emancipation.
The government of St. Petersburg first responded practically to the
imperial wish. Soon after the publication of the rescript, the nobles
of that province requested of the Czar permission to call a committee of
deliberation. Subsequently, this example was followed in other places.
Alexander, of course, granted the request of the St. Petersburg nobility.
Another rescript was published Dec. 17 as follows: "For this object that
of the reorganization of the relations of the peasant, I command that
from this day forward a committee, presided over by a marshal of the
nobility, shall meet within the jurisdiction of St. Petersburg, consisting
of representatives, two of whom to be chosen by the proprietors of every
district, and of two members chosen by your excellency, which members
shall be taken from the most enlightened of the landed proprietors. This
committee being formed, it shall proceed to prepare a sketch for the
organization and improvement of the position of the peasant class, and
shall take the following principles for its direction: 1. The landed
proprietor retains the right of property in his whole estate; but the
peasants retain their house and garden ground, and acquire the right
to obtain these as property by payments within a stated period. The
peasants are further to have the use of that extent of arable land which
is necessary to secure their maintenance, and to afford them the means
of fulfilling their engagements toward the state and the landed pro-
prietor. For the use of this land, the peasants are to be bound, either
to give the proprietor payment in money, or to labor for him. 2. The
peasants are to be divided into communities, over which the landed pro-
prietor acts as the rural police. 3. All other relations between the pro-
prietors and peasants are to be so arranged that the regularity of the
tribute paid to the state, as well as the provincial import and taxes, may
be stated with certainty.
During the year 1858 thirty-three districts had expressed their desire
to discuss the matter, but only nineteen of the number established com-
mittees for the purpose. Even in these notwithstanding, the emperor's
exhortation, the excuses for delay were innumerable. The Czar soon
realized that moral pressure alone was not sufficient. Therefore, near
the end of the year 1858, he took the initiative into his hands,
342
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
In 1859, the now historic "Great Committee was formed to deliber-
ate upon the serfdom question. It was composed of twelve members, and
the Czar presided in person at the first meeting. His majesty afterward
resigned the presidency to Prince Alexis Orlov. Another committee was
established, over which presided the Grand Duke Constantine. The duty
assigned it was a consideration of the various plans and suggestions that
had been made upon the subject of emancipation.
At the time of emancipation, as we have said, the peasants were
divided into two general classes, into farm-laborers or household ser-
vants and settled peasants. By the law of emancipation freedom was
bestowed upon both classes, and, henceforth, their members were free to
adjust their own affairs, acquire property, and make choice of a voca-
tion. In regard to household servants, it was provided that they should
remain in their positions for the period of two years after the act of
abolition. In the meanwhile they were to be paid a definite salary by the
lord. During this period of service they were exempt from recruiting and
from all other burdens of the State. When it should terminate they were
clothed with freedom, and could, henceforth, sit as members of the coun-
try communities. After the 19th day of February, 1863, those serfs who
had acquired a trade or an art at their master's expense were to be free
from other service or from further compensation to their master. Those
household servants who had previously joined the peasant community
were classed with the other peasants. Those individuals who were work-
ing away from the commune estate, and paying the master for the privi-
lege, were continued in their serfdom for the period of two years.
bond might be terminated earlier in case of ill-treatment, or by voluntary
agreement between masters and their servants. Until the involuntary
service was ended, it was the master's duty to maintain and care for those
of his serfs who were feeble and incapable of labor. The settled peasants,
during this term of two years, were to make arrangements with their
masters in respect to the relation existing between them in the future.
Until that time their condition was to remain the same.
Arrangements were made between master and peasant in respect to
agriculture. The following was one of the leading principles accepted:
"1. The whole community were to enjoy the hereditary usufruct of a
part of the lands belonging to the estate, while they pledged themselves
either to purchase these of their master or to offer him a corresponding
equivalent in farm rent or labor.”
The common land could really be the property only of the whole
community, while the farmstead was marketable" by any member of
•
RUSSIA.
343
the community who held it in possession. The landed proprietors were
obliged to consent to a proposition made by the peasants on this subject.
If disagreements arose between the parties as to price, the purchaser
was to pay about sixteen and one half times what he had formerly paid
for rent. If the price paid was worked out by the peasant he would
receive, for his services, wages reckoned in money, according to an
agreed standard, and then converted into capital according to the meas-
ure stated above.
In emancipating the common peasants, it was only necessary to
remove restrictions to locality and property by a series of ukases, the first
of which was dated July, 1858. But in the case of the serfs belonging
to private owners different measures were required. When twenty-two
million five hundred thousand human beings were to be freed from
serfdom, great care in methods must, necessarily, have been exercised.
These serfs were not merely to be made free, but arrangements must be
made for their acquirement of the soil. The average grant of land by
the lords to each male peasant was about nine acres. The government
organized a loan system by which the peasants could pay their obliga-
tions to the lords, remaining debtors to the state only. Domestic servants.
gained personal liberty by serving their masters two years more. Only
one-fifth of the land must be paid immediately by the serf; the remain-
ing four-fifths was advanced by the government and repaid in install-
ments, covering a period of forty-nine years. Thus was brought about,
with peace and with justice to all concerned, one of the greatest revolu-
tions in the history of the world. About the same time in Russia and ·
America was enacted a practical protest against the enslavement of any
human being.
The huts of the peasant villages are usually formed of round logs
mortised together, their ends projecting from the corners of the build-
ings; the chinks between are caulked with tow; the roofs are of plank
covered with thatch or straw; within are usually two apartments, each
having one small window. A huge stove of brick or tile is built in the
separating partition, and upon the stove top the inmates sleep in winter
time. A table and some benches are the only furniture; a wooden plat-
form, built a few feet below the ceiling, is the ordinary sleeping-place of
the whole family. Foul air and filth are the most noticeable character-
istics of these rude huts; no chimney is provided, and the stove smoke
escapes from the small windows as best it may. In winter evenings a dim
light is given by a pine torch thrust into a crevice, and chickens, lambs,
calves and pigs often share with the inmates their uncomfortable dwellings.
344
THE STORY OF MANUAL LAROT
zef
Graces are
an is
i- that
the
the
the car;
me and
Discomfort and dirt reign supreme. Few of the red onents and
blessings of family life can be expected when all age
huddled together in the same apartment. The comp
always a fair indication of the culture of a country, au
in no civilized land is woman's lot more wretched
Russian peasantry. In the provinces where the soil is po
men are absent from home, as traders, during a large pa
consequently upon the women devolves the work of bei
field, and by their male relatives they are esteemed for their strong
muscles and robust health rather than for beauty or character. The
sheepskin serves the peasant for a great variety of uses; clothes, beds,
carpets and tents are made of this material. The wants of the peasant
are few and are mainly food and shelter. When these simple require-
ments are provided he asks little more. When wealth increases, it is
used only in animal satisfaction. Potatoes, onions, radishes and cab-
bages, rye bread and a sour kind of beer are the principal kinds of food.
During severe weather the houses are plastered with mud within and
without, making them air-tight. The fire is built in the oven, and thus
the inmates protect themselves from the cold. The men who own
horses often hire sledges and are employed in the cities as public carriers.
With all his seeming brutality the Russian peasant has many excel-
lencies of character. IIe is hard-working and clever at handiwork,
patient, and of wonderful endurance. He seems to have learned that
great secret of happiness, in whatever state he is therewith to be content.
He is respectful to strangers, and to those of superior rank, and when in
the presence of the landed proprietor remains bare-headed, often pros-
trating himself to the ground.
The citizen burghers of any city or town are: the natives and those
established in business, the owners of real estate in the locality, the mem-
bers of the three guilds or any local corporation, and those persons who
have paid the communal taxes and are enrolled in the general register.
The three principal classes of citizens in the towns are the merchants,
artisans and the burghers. The merchant possesses a certain amount of
capital and must be enrolled in one of the three guilds, admission to
which is allowed because of his capital. The artisan is enrolled in his
trade-corporation. The burghers are the registered inhabitants not be-
longing to a guild. In these corporations life-members are the native born
citizens, and the temporary members are the foreign artisans and free
peasants. Persons of bad character and those failing to pay the com-
munal taxes are excluded from citizenship. Admission to these guilds.
RUSSIA.
345
and trade-corporations is almost unrestricted depending mainly upon
the perseverance and industry of the applicant; but the consent of the
community which one leaves, and also of that to which he seeks en-
trance, must first be obtained. The legal age for the right of voting is
twenty-five years. Citizen burghers are not admitted to the civil ser-
vice, and when they enter the military, have no special privileges. But
a burgher of the merchant class is freed from the general recruiting.
Below these classes of burghers come a lower class of farmers and
day-laborers who live in the neighborhood of the towns and are under
municipal control. This class are but one remove above the peasants.
Household servants of the lower class in Russia are not provided with
either rooms or beds. They sleep here and there in the corridors, their
covering the clothes worn by day, their only bed equipment a large
square pillow. Their clothes are removed only once a week, when each
Saturday they go to the hot vapor bath.
The manufacturing industries center in the districts surrounding
Moscow and St. Petersburg. Here are the largest cotton and silk fac-
tories. In the seaport, as well as in many inland, districts, flax spinning
and the manufacture and the making of ropes and sail-cloth are carried
on extensively. At St. Petersburg, at Perm, in the Ural and in Poland
are large metal works; and in some other places the government factories.
for cannon and small arms employ large forces of men. Some villages
are inhabited solely by manufacturers and their employés, and often by
those of one trade. One village contains hatters only; another, tailors;
another, metal workers. The larger portion of the factory hands are
still connected with the rural villages, and leave their families for
months, and sometimes for years at a time, while they work in the fac-
tories. The Russian artisan often shows great skill in his work, but the
almost universal habit of strong drink impairs his usefulness. The
forced absence from home which falls to his lot is probably the principal
cause of his dissipation.
The wages of the artisans vary greatly, by reason of locality and
especial skill. In the rope factories near St. Petersburg the laborers.
earn in a ten-hour day from twenty-eight to fifty-five cents, with free
lodging and fuel. In the glass works common laborers earn from forty-
eight to sixty-seven dollars a year, with food and lodging. Master hands
work by the piece, and make good wages; while overseers and clerks
receive from sixteen dollars to forty-eight dollars a month. So small
are the wants of the Russian laborer that the cost of living is very small.
A rope manufacturer of St. Petersburg estimates that a laborer can live
346
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
on .096 cent a day. But living thus, in crowded and filthy quarters, the
Russian workman falls an easy victim to fevers and contagious diseases.
In many of the factories, however, great pains have been taken by the
employers to furnish suitable dwellings for their workmen, but the vast
mass of the laboring population live in wretchedness and squalor.
Trade associations, called artels, exist among the artisans, and mem-
bership in an artel is necessary to obtain work. All wages of the mem-
bers go to a common fund, which is divided among them in equal
shares. The artel is responsible for the honesty of its members, and
compels the workmen to do the task assigned. The wages of women
and children employed in factories and in agricultural labor are pitifully
small.
The mountains of Russia and the various river-beds abound with
precious metals, and iron of fine quality is produced. Two hundred
thousand tons of pig-iron and 120,000 tons of bar-iron are the yearly out-
put. In the marshy tracts bog-iron is common, yet the supply scarcely
suffices for the country's wants.
Much of Russia's wealth consists of horses and cattle. The head of
one tribe sometimes owns 10,000 horses; each peasant, a few head of
cattle; and even a beggar often possesses a cow or goat.
live stock, however, is small and ill-bred.
Much of the
The streams of northern Russia are bordered by huge forests, and
upon their waters, at certain seasons, are floated down to the gulf of
Riga so great a quantity of timber, that the rivers seem like moving
masses of wood. The trees are felled in winter and roughly hewn to
form the millions of railway sleepers which are annually exported to
England for the new railways, and through England sent to all parts of
the world.
While Poland was independent the peasants were in the absolute
power of the nobles, and their condition was far more pitiable than that
of the Russian serfs. But the constitution of Napoleon I. abolished serf-
dom in 1804, although no provision for lands or money was made for
these freedmen. They were thus compelled to pay rack-rents, or give
their labor for the lands. By 1864, 1,338,830 peasants had surrendered
all land rights; but at that time the Russian government gave all peas-
ants working lands an opportunity to become proprietors, by paying
stated sums vearly to the state. Fifteen acres were allowed to each
family.
Finland, the most important province of northern Russia, produces
marbles and granites in abundance. The red granite used in St. Peters-
RUSSIA.
347
burg and in the tomb of Napoleon I. at Paris comes from the quarries of
Finland. Agriculture, cattle breeding and fisheries are the principal
industries. Rye and barley of good quality are produced. Horses, cat-
tle, sheep and reindeer find good pasturage. The manufactures are few
and mainly domestic. The peasants are upright, hospitable, and of
great industry. The very poorest peasant can read and write; and the
relations between the various classes of people are harmonious. The
principal food is butter, milk and potatoes; and the reindeer flesh is
provided in great quantities.
Hard as seems the condition of the lower classes of Russia, it is
well for us to remember that this country of huge extent and great re-
sources is yet in its infancy. Scarce two centuries have passed since it
first became a nation, and not twenty-three years since a large propor-
tion of the population was held in serfdom. Great as are the inequali-
ties of life, greater still have been the efforts of the noble Alexander and
many of the higher classes to better the condition of the people. When
this young nation shall have reached its full maturity, let us trust that
to noble and peasant alike may be granted the fullest liberty.
!
t
CHAPTER XVI.-MODERN GREECE.
THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CENTURY-PRES-
ENT POLITICAL AND MATERIAL CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY-MANUFACTURES
AND AGRICULTURE-THE FOOD AND MANNER OF LIFE OF THE IONIAN FARM-
LABORER.
POLITICALLY, Greece fell with Constantinople in the year 1453.
As a people, or as a government, the country was of little impor-
tance for upward of 400 years. For four centuries the Greeks were
known to history only by reason of their misfortune. Politically they
were annihilated, and as a people practically dispersed. Greece, during
this time, was not the home of the Greeks, as her sons were scattered broad-
cast over Eastern Europe and Western Asia. Of course we are speaking
relatively, for there yet remained on her classic soil a sparse, but noble
people. During all this time the rule of the bigoted, intolerant and
tyrannical Turk was supreme in the land of Pericles and Demosthenes.
Wretchedness but augmented with the march of years. Heavier and
heavier pressed the iron heel of despotism. Deeper and deeper pressed
the thorns of persecution. More and more galling became the yoke of
oppression, until the accumulated woes and misery of four times one
hundred years stung the Greeks into a struggle for independence. In
the beginning of the nineteenth century the Greeks sprang to arms, im-
pelled by the voice of tradition, the memories of a heroic past, and the
bitter exactions of their oppressors. Terrible, indeed, was that desper-
ate and heroic struggle which enlisted the sympathies of the whole
Christian world. "Thousands upon thousands perished, and their victory
seemed only less terrible than utter defeat, yet the spirit of life remained.
The kingdom of Greece was established, and within forty years, not-
withstanding the deplorable mistakes in management, the population
is doubled, and the country becomes consolidated into a constitutional
realm."
An investigation into the political and material condition of the
country should begin with the treaty of Adrianople in September, 1829.
From this event must be dated the beginning of the security for life and
property in modern Greece. Under the Turks, the industries of the
country had disappeared. The war of Independence ruined even the
348
GREECE.
349
vestige of manufactures and agriculture. The prostration of the country
was complete. The fugitive and expatriated Greeks returned to the
deserted towns and fields, and Greece entered upon her new life. At
first the Greeks were not accorded a constitution, which created a wide-
spread dissatisfaction. As a result, the peasantry left their lands,
refused to cultivate them, and in every way sought to avoid the payment
of the taxes imposed upon them. In large bands they deserted their
currant gardens and vineyards, and resorted to robbery and rapine for
the means of subsistence. Such of the agricultural population as re-
mained upon their farms were pillaged by their lawless fellow country-
men, or robbed by the tax collectors. King Otho abdicated 1862, and in
the autumn of 1863, George, second son of the king of Denmark, was
elected king of the Greeks. A new constitution was adopted November
29, 1864. It established a chamber of representatives, called the Boule.
The right of franchise was conferred upon all male citizens twenty-one
years of age, who "have a property, a trade, or any fixed occupation.'
""
The manufactures of Greece are few and unimportant at present.
The famous marble quarries of Pentelicus and Paros are still worked.
The only mines of any importance are those at Laurium, from which a
considerable quantity of lead is taken. Today, as of old, the maritime
commerce of Greece is considerable, and large numbers of her people
are engaged in this service.
In 1861 fully one-half of the population were engaged in agriculture.
This industry, however, is in its infancy and a large part of the arable
land is uncultivated. A serious drawback to improvement in the agri-
culture of the country is the want of a resident proprietary. Under
Moslem rule two-thirds of the land belonged to the sultan. At the
time of the revolution, this land became national property and the gov-
ernment has been selling it to private owners. Good results are ob-
tained by irrigating the light and thin soil; however, the methods in
vogue are ancient, and the plow in use has not changed since the days
of Homer. Rotation in crops is not practiced nor is the land manured
or allowed to rest. Drainage is a thing unknown. "The houses of
the peasantry are sheds of wood or huts of mud without either chimney
or window, but, always with a picture of the Virgin inside. A large
variety of produce is cultivated by the Greek farmer. The mulberry
and olive tree are raised in artificial groves. Cotton is grown in large.
quantities. There are many vineyards, and corn, rye, barley, and oats
are grown.
The lands yet belonging to the government are granted in small par-
350
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
cels to peasants with small or no capital. Some of these holdings are so
small that one man can not find employment all the year. From July
to October the soil lies fallow, parched by the sun. When the first
autumnal rains have softened the hard crust, the land is broken with a
wooden plow.
Ansted gives the following description of an Ionian farm-hand's
home: "The house only consisted of two dark rooms on the ground
floor. A large part of one was taken up by an oven, while the corners
appeared to serve as general receptacles for odds and ends. Adjoining
this was a room with a very small opening in the wall to let in light and
air. There was besides these two rooms only a kind of loft with a floor
of loose reeds on the beams of the sleeping-rooms, and reached by a lad-
der. It is usual for the men to sleep wrapped up in their cloaks in any
corner they find convenient. The floors of all the rooms consisted of
dried beaten earth and the furniture of the very smallest amount of
movables. The whole food of such a family was stated to consist of a
very coarse bread, made of Indian corn. This bread was sweet and good
of its kind. Beyond this bread nothing in the way of food was ex-
pected, except a little oil and occasionally olives and a fowl on very
special occasions. For this hovel, a dollar a year was paid, and fuel cost
nothing but time, the women picking up stray branches and brush-
wood sufficient for the ovens, which is all the climate required. For
clothes, the expenditure must be wonderfully small, if one may guess
from the bundle of rags covering the women and children.”
CHAPTER XVII.-THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE.
B
EXTENT AND POPULATION TURKEY IN EUROPE-TURBULENCE AND OUTLAWRY
CHARACTER OF THE TURKS- AGRICULTURE - BEGGARLY WAGES FOOD
FAMINES DRESS SLAVERY MARRIAGE MECHANICS AND ARTISANS
GUILDS WAGES-CHARACTER OF THE TURKS AND CHRISTIANS CONTRASTED.
WHE
HEN Mahomet, the Arabian prophet, gathered his few followers
about him and, pointing derisively at the sufferings of the follow-
ers of the religion of meekness preached by Christ, declared that his
faith should triumph by the sword, he set the key-note of the Moham-
medan civilization. By the sword have the Turks fought their way and
extended their power from the part of Arabia in which they had their
origin, into Africa and Europe. Before the fierce hosts, nerved to
most desperate bravery by the Prophet's assurance that he who died in
battle went straightway to Paradise, the soldiers of Europe faltered long
and oft retreated. In the east, at Constantinople, and in the west, at
Spain, the fierce Moslems entered the Christian territory. From Spain
they were expelled, but their eastern foothold was too firm to be shaken,
and today the Turk remains in Europe, an eyesore to the advocates of
civilization and a puzzle to diplomatists. It is not our purpose to trace
the growth of this mighty power, founded upon religious fanaticism.
For us the task is to decide what message of civilization or barbarism
the Turk brings to the world; what part, among the world's workmen,
is filled by the followers of Mohammed. Before entering upon such an
inquiry some clear idea of the extent of the Moslem territory must be
gained. The Ottoman Empire is commonly divided into Turkey in
Europe, Turkey in Asia, and Turkey in Africa, aggregating, in all, over
a million square miles, populated by about forty millions of people. Of
Turkey in Europe, as the most extensive, most populous and most
important, commercially and industrially, we shall treat first.
Turkey in Europe comprises about 197,000 square miles and
numbers its inhabitants at sixteen millions. Its climate is delight-
fully mild and its soil fertile to the highest degree. Rugged moun-
tain ranges intersect the country in all directions, and in their rocky
fastnesses bands of wild banditti range, unharmed by the authori-
351
352
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
ties. In the neighborhood of Salonica, nestling beneath the tower-
ing mountains of Macedonia, are simple little dwellings surrounded by
peaceful vineyards and olive groves, but showing, in their fortress-like
architecture, the presence of the ever-threatening mountain banditti.
Though the climate is warm and dry, the lower story of these little houses
is built of massive blocks of stone, unpierced by windows and affording
entrance through a suggestively narrow door. Once within the walls,
the family mount to their quarters on the second floor by means of a
ladder, which is carefully drawn up after them at night, leaving them.
snugly installed in a stone fortress that can defy the most savage enemy.
The upper story projects far out over the basement on all sides that the
besieged may, in case of attack, thrust the muzzles of their long Turk-
ish rifles through loop-holes in the floor and shoot down their enemies.
In England every man's house is his castle by virtue of the strong arm
of the law in Turkey every man's house is his castle by virtue of the
bars, bolts and fortifications he incorporates in its architecture. No
comparison could more truthfully describe the state of society in the
rural districts of Turkey in Europe. Nor does the danger of violence
arise altogether from the banditti. Throughout all European Turkey are
two powerful factions, the conqueror and the conquered, the Moslem
and the Christian. The Moslem yoke is heavy and hard to bear, and the
barbarities of their oppressors no less than the promptings of their
religious natures rouse the Christians to revolt. Then the warfare is des-
perate and bloody. The Turks, cruel by nature and hating the "Chris-
tian dogs" with a pious hatred, give no quarter, and massacre men,
women and children alike. The Christians of that savage region, little
less barbarous than the Turks, and roused to fury by the cruelties of their
enemies, retaliate in kind, and long wars, made of petty skirmishes and
marauding attacks upon helpless villages, continue year after year. The
character of the country, with its precipitous mountain ranges, narrow
passes and tortuous defiles, makes it impossible to wholly stamp out any
armed power, however insignificant. Add to this the unsettled political
character of the principalities on the north and the steady encroachments of
the Russians, thirsting for the city of Constantinople, and it will readily be
understood that the political condition of Turkey in Europe does not pre-
sent that aspect of peace which alone can conduce to any great advancement
in the arts, sciences or industries. Nor is the growth of industry ham-
pered by the turbulence of the empire only; the indolent, phlegmatic and
unprogressive character of the Turk is, in itself, enough to account for
the commercial and industrial stagnation in the country. With his long

Вирства
Wam. Weibe.
President Amalgamated Iron and Steel Workers.
UNIV
OF
MICH
THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE.
353
pipe and cup of black coffee he sits idly before his booth in the bazaar,
day after day, caring little whether a customer comes or not, and mak-
ing no sign to attract trade. In the workshop he is slow of hand and
slower of thought, and in the field he dozes under his olive trees and
accepts a bad crop as significant of the will of Allah rather than as the
result of his own shiftlessness.
The predominating interest of Turkey is undoubtedly agriculture,
although the manufactures of various kinds are not contemptible in
quantity or class. But the mild and moist climate and fertile soil of
European Turkey afford opportunities for agricultural efforts and rewards.
that even so shiftless a people as the Turks could not fail utterly to
grasp. The land is divided into small holdings, each owned and farmed by
peasants. The average farms owned by these peasant proprietors range from
five to forty acres, but many proprietors, by thrift, industry or rapacity,
managed to secure larger holdings which they themselves supervised, while
the work was done by hired laborers. But even these estates seldom
exceeded five hundred acres in extent. Lands well cultivated yield rich
returns in that climate. The farms of Bulgaria make the whole country
seem like a vast and smiling garden save where the blight of war has
fallen and swept the country bare of fruits and farmers alike. The
Mussulman farmer seldom equals in prosperity his Christian neighbor.
His lesser energy and duller intellect handicap him in the march of
progress. But his industry, though slow, is constant, and his habits.
economical, so that, if blessed with a few years of peace, both Christian
and Mussulman may see their lands smiling with plenty, and their
savings reaching comfortable proportions. The use of machinery in
agricultural operations is almost unknown. Some years ago, some more
than ordinarily enlightened proprietors endeavored to take advantage of
the inventions of foreign minds, and placed upon their estates some
common agricultural implements for plowing and cultivation. The
neighboring Turks looked on in undemonstrative amazement, but made
no attempt to imitate their more enterprising competitors, and when the
innovators, needing their machines repaired, found no capable mechanic
in all Turkey, the conservative Mussulman looked at the idle machines
and murmured, "It is the will of Allah." Upon farms too large to be
wholly cultivated by the owner and his family, two classes of agricultural
laborers are employed. In one class the laborer is in some sense a resi-
dent partner upon the farm, the actual proprietor residing at a distance.
The owner furnishes all necessary buildings and sced, while the laborer,
with his family, works the farm, paying all incidental expenses. When
354
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR
the reaping, threshing and winnowing is over, the produce is equally
divided between master and man, the laborer's share in the contract
being fulfilled when the master's crop is housed in the granary. Ordi-
narily the laborer is expected to furnish cattle, and should the master
supply a yoke of oxen for plowing, the laborer's share in the final division
is reduced to two-fifths of the total produce. Although this is the usual.
form of partnership, it is not unusual for special provisions to be inserted
in the contract. Sometimes half an acre of land is set aside for the
personal use of the tenant. At other times the landlord stipulates for a
specified quantity of produce, instead of half of the total crop; thus
leaving the tenant to profit or lose by a good or bad harvest. The
second class of agricultural laborers are those who work merely as laborers.
for a specified time. Their engagements are usually for a year, and their
wages differ immensely in the different states. They are usually paid in
produce, which they sell or barter. In one province, forty-five bushels
of rye, barley, or millet, thirty-three and a half pounds of salt, half a
horse load of cabbages or leeks, and half an ox hide for sandals, make up
the year's earnings of an able-bodied man. In a second district, sixty-
eight to seventy-five bushels of rye or maize, with one hundred paistres
(about $4), will secure a man's labor for a year. And in a third
district seventy-three bushels of wheat, with no bonus whatever, is the
laborer's munificent stipend. Most labor is free to the extent at least
of granting the laborer liberty to leave one master for another, provided
he owes the first nothing. The slavery of Turkey, which is more of a
social than an industrial evil, may be well deferred for treatment until later
in this chapter. Should the agricultural laborer be in debt, he becomes
a serf to his creditors in everything except in name. Compound interest
is charged, and the debt grows so rapidly that the unhappy debtor soon
sees all hope of repayment far beyond his reach. The creditor may
transfer the debt to a third party, and with the debt goes the person of
the unhappy debtor. By buying up such debts, large land-owners can
secure great retinues of serfs to work their estates, to whom they are
obliged to give only enough grain to keep them and their families alive,
often in a state of semi-starvation. But so long as the Turkish peasant
can avoid this thraldom he is not badly situated. Small though his
wages are, his penuriously economical habits enable him to live. The
fertility of the soil gives him food with but little exertion. A dish of
earthenware, bought for a coin so small as to have no equivalent in
American or English money, is his sole cooking utensil. His food is
almost entirely vegetable, meat being reserved for holidays, which,
THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE.
355
indeed, are rather frequent. From the extravagance of strong drink.
he is saved by the clause of the Koran forbidding its use by all pious
Mussulmans. At his simple repasts, the chief dish is a stew of beans,
onions, salt pickled cabbage, garlick and grain. Cheese, olive oil and
hempseed oils are luxuries reserved for the holidays, which come to the
Christians once in about ten days. Many live altogether upon bread,
with perhaps a sop of olive oil as a relish. With such simple wants, the
inhabitant of Turkey, be he Mussulman or Christian, who avoids debt
and keeps out of the hands of the usurers, need not fear starvation unless
at the time of a panic. Famine, that terror of agricultural regions, often
reigns supreme over the outlying provinces of Turkey, and its horrors
are the greater since the Porte, unlike any civilized government, pays
little or no attention to the cries of the starving, leaving them to shift
for themselves. Lack of roads and other means of transportation
prevents the general movement of food products, so that the people of
one province may starve while those of adjoining sections bask in
prosperity.
In their habitations the rural population are no less simple than in
their food. Their houses, substantial enough to last through genera-
tions, are nevertheless simple and unpretentious. The ordinary farm
hand lives in a one-roomed house, built of square sun-dried brick laid
upon a foundation of stone rubble cemented with wetted clay and
chopped straw. The brick walls are bound at intervals by strips of
tough oak or pine running along the inner and outer walls and joined at
the corners by cross-pieces nailed to them. In some sections the roofs
are covered with slabs of slate, but more commonly light kiln-baked
tiles are used. The room thus inclosed is eight or ten feet high, and
measures from twelve to fifteen feet square. One or two small
unglazed windows pierce the wall, giving to the room more the appear-
ance of a prison cell than the home of a free laborer. The walls are
neatly whitewashed and bear shelves and pegs for the reception of the
household goods. Three feet is no uncommon thickness for the wall of
one of these dwellings. Such a house costs about $125. More prosper-
ous laborers have houses of two or three rooms, but though with pros-
perity they increase the size of their houses, all are alike in their destitu-
tion of furniture. The homes of the farmers are more apt to be clustered
together in little villages than scattered about the country, but in either
case the architectural type is the same. The villages are often sur-
rounded by high palisades, which keep out hostile intruders, whether
human or brutes, and prevent the cattle from straying away by night.
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THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
The rooms are all bare of furniture, chairs, tables and bedsteads being
unknown or at any rate undesired articles. Straw-stuffed cushions, or
sometimes bits of straw matting spread upon the clay floor, supply all
the sitting or sleeping accommodation the occupants require. In summer
the house is seldom tenanted, the family sleeping on the grass or in the
bushes outside the door. They sleep in clothes, covering themselves.
with coarse blankets. The dress of the people of Turkey differs a good
deal according to the locality, but is uniformly picturesque. Along the
Bulgarian frontier the women wear long undergarments of thick woolen
or cotton, deeply embroidered around the bottom in red and black. It
has wide open sleeves worked in the same colors. Over this garment is
worn a short petticoat similarly embroidered. About the waist is wound
an enormous girdle of goat's-hair rope, fully half a yard wide and so volu-
minous as to take the place of pockets. A large apron of black and red
falls over this, so that the waist of a Bulgarian woman is infinitely the
largest part of her costume. Down her back dangle a number of little
braided cords of horsehair. On the head is worn a turban of white cloth,
the ends of which dangle down the back almost to the heels of the wearer.
Such a dress as this cannot be bought in the stores, but each girl works
busily through her maidenhood to make herself a wedding outfit, and as
the cloths and fabrics are very durable, they pass down in the family as
heirlooms. The Arabs of Turkey in Asia wear an even more picturesque
costume. The universal fabric is of scarlet cloth, with a yellow pattern,
and covered with embroidery. Of this is made a short coat or tunic that
hangs from the shoulders to the thighs. Below this come baggy white
trousers. The color for women's clothing is blue.
We have already spoken of the baleful results of debt in Turkish
society, but before dismissing the subject some descriptions of the usu-
rious customs of the money-lenders and tax farmers will be of interest as
throwing light upon the financial condition of the people. Taxes are
enormous, and the money-lenders, over anxious to get into their clutches
more of the working people, urge ceaselessly upon the rulers the desira-
bility of increasing the assessments. The effect of this is simple and
immediate. Unable to pay the extortionate demands of the tax-gath-
erers, and fearing to be dispossessed of their little farms, the people flock
to the money-lenders, who supply them with money, taking as security
the crops and homesteads. Enormous rates of interest are charged.
City merchants often pay twenty-five per cent a year, while the less acute
rural laborer is often forced to pay twenty-five per cent a month. When
the crops are harvested, but not sold; when the olive oil has been ex-
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
357
tracted, but not sufficiently clarified to be marketable; when the silk
cocoons are just ready for winding, then, money-lenders and tax-gatherers
with one accord come down upon the unhappy people with loud demands
for immediate payment. The peasant or farmer sees his year's crop,
upon which he was about to realize handsomely, put up and sold at ruin-
ous rates to a horde of confederated usurers, who have agreed not to bid
against each other. The proceeds barely bring in enough to pay off his
taxes and first debt, and the next season sees him become the serf of the
usurious scoundrel who worked his ruin. The highest officials of the
government connive at this scandalous despoiling of the people, and the
long repeated and piteous appeals of the people to the supreme authori-
ties bring no response. The very servants about the persons of the Min-
isters of Finance are money-lenders or tax-farmers, and papers and
appeals sent through them to the chief seldom reach his hands. Not
all the lethargy of the Turkish character, not the illiberality of the
Mohammedan religion, not even the constant warfare betwixt Turk and
Christian has done so much to retard the growth of industry and the
prosperity of Turkey as this legalized usury.
Even more revolting to a refined Christian mind than the system of
usury is the institution of slavery as at present in vogue in all parts of
the Ottoman empire. In the middle ages when men's blood was hot
and the promptings of the heart were not stifled by the insidious sugges-
tions of diplomatic policy, the story of Christian men laboring on the
burning sands of Algeria under the lash of Turkish slave-drivers, and
Christian maidens dragged shrieking from their homes in Greece or Bul-
garia and carried to the slave marts of Constantinople, there to become
the inmates of Turkish harems, was enough to start thousands of knightly
soldiers on the march to Constantinople, vowing that such outrages
should no longer continue. The world has grown more civilized, per-
haps, but less chivalric. Mighty England, wearying never of boasting
of her part in ending the African slave trade, takes under her protect-
ing wing Turkey with her thousands of slaves, white as the fairest lady
of all England's peerage. Instead of armies of mailed knights, demand-
ing at the point of the sword freedom for all Christian slaves, England
sends a modest protest through her Foreign Office, and, finding the
Sultan immovable, waives the matter away as trivial. It is idle to com-
pare the advanced civilization and industrial freedom of England with
the serfdom and semi-barbarism of Russia, yet in the diplomatic
maneuvering now going on England appears as the champion of the
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THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
"unspeakable Turk," with his bestial slavery, while with the advance of
the Russians toward Constantinople comes freedom for all.
Among the Mussulmans slavery is more than a mere political institu-
tion. They regard it as of divine origin, and point to the Koran, which
provides that one can become a slave by birth or by the chances of war.
Before we leave this subject we shall see that in Turkey are slaves who
are reduced to their servile condition by neither of the above causes, and
that while holding such persons as slaves the Mussulmans admit tacitly
that they might be free had they the power to demand their freedom.
But the person who becomes a slave by the fortunes of war or by birth
is wholly the property of his owner and without even a right to life. All
persons not Mussulmans who are captured in battle become slaves, and
may be sold as chattels by their captors. Should they choose to embrace
the faith of Mohammed after their capture, they are not freed by so
doing, although no one actually born in the faith can be enslaved. A
Mussulman captured in battle becomes a prisoner, but not a slave. The
constant warfare of the Turks with the wild tribes on their northern
borders keeps this class of slaves constantly recruited. Negro slaves,
who are commonly trained for house servants, come from the northern
countries of Africa, and are bought and sold like cattle in the markets of
Alexandria. The slave markets are kept rigidly closed to foreigners and
but few Christians have ever seen the interior. The slaves, children and
adults, men and women, are brought out from ante-rooms at the call of
the purchaser and walked up and down, placed in different postures, and
exposed naked that any physical defects may be discovered. As the
blacks are commonly used for domestic service they bring a larger price
when used to service. The younger ones fresh from Africa require an
enormous amount of training to become even tolerable servants.
Perfectly formed men sell for about $150, while women bring much
higher prices, especially when they have fitted themselves to do cook-
ing or other household duties. The black slaves and those taken in
war are more fortunate than their more pampered sisters of the harem
in one respect. One of the sections of the Koran, the Bible of the
Mohammedans, provides that the master who frees his slave frees
himself from all earthly pains and insures to himself a place in
Paradise. Among the devout Turks this has led to the growth of a
custom of freeing slaves after a service of seven years, although neither
the custom nor the period is invariable. Many slaves gain their inde-
pendence this way, though they leave their children in slavery. It is not
unusual for a slave, seeing no way to self-support, to voluntarily refuse his
THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE.
359
freedom when offered, a course greatly encouraged by the Moslems, who
often are impelled by their religious zeal to offer freedom to a slave whose
training has just become complete. Slavery of this class, however, is
slowly dying out in Turkey in Europe and Turkey in Asia, while in
Tunis and Tripoli it has been prohibited.
It is the enslaving of white girls and women that is most revolting to
the mind of civilized peoples, and which, nevertheless, gains rather than
loses ground in Turkey. These poor creatures are obtained from the
rural districts of Circassia, where the slave trade is carried on in enormous
proportions. However bad is the part taken by the Turks in this
scandalous traffic, it must at least be recorded that they are ably seconded
by the Circassians, who, so far from looking upon the Turkish harem as
a place of slavery to be avoided, seek for their daughters a place therein.
A family in which there are several daughters will choose one whose
part it is to be a candidate for purchase in the slave marts. Throughout
her youth this girl is shielded from all harsh usage; her work is delicate
embroidering rather than rude labor which might destroy the symmetry
of her form. Her food is delicate and nourishing, though the rest of
the family go half starved. As the time passes on every exercise that
may develop her body, make her joints supple and her carriage graceful,
is taught her. All the arts that can tend to render her charming in the
eyes of Turkish voluptuaries are instilled into her mind, and finally she
is sent to Constantinople in charge of a wandering slave merchant.
The money received by the sale of the young girl will support the
rest of the family in comfort, and should the returning merchant
bring the news that the maid was chosen for her matchless beauty to
be one of the concubines of the Sultan, the mother and sisters feel
that they have truly done their duty by the absent one, and her success
reflects honor on their name and lustre upon their course of training.
From the fair chattel they never hear again. Once within the walls of a
harem, she never again holds communication with any man save her
lord, and in all her little stock of knowledge writing has no place. For
many years the troops of these girls coming down to the slave markets.
of Constantinople were conveyed in the cabins of English steamers.
plying upon the Black Sea and the Bosphorus.
The possession of one or more of these white slaves is the greatest
luxury to which the Turk aspires. The humbler people, such as small
farmers or artisans, too poor to support wives properly, raise money
enough to buy in the slave-market female slaves who serve them as
handmaids, laborers and concubines. Their children they can legitima-
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THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
tize or sell for slaves at their will. The wealthier Moslems keep harems
in which almost any number of girls are secluded and carefully guarded
by eunuchs. The prices of the slaves vary according to age and beauty,
$300 being an average price for a Circassian in Constantinople, while
often as much as $5,000 is paid for a slave of extraordinary beauty.
The Turks themselves admit that neither by the laws of the empire,
nor the ecclesiastical law laid down in the Koran, have they any right
to hold these girls in slavery. But the authorities countenance the
custom, and as the women seldom are enslaved except upon their own
consent and often at their own request, the authorities are seldom
appealed to. The sales are held in secret in dwelling-houses, to which
no unbeliever can gain admittance. The wives of rich merchants often
buy girls of eight or twelve years old, and educate them for the purpose
of selling them at a profit when they reach maturity.
Such a widespread social evil as this cannot fail to have its effect
upon the marriage relation, and in Turkey marriage has become almost
purely a business contract. All the fruits of a wife's labor go to the
husband, and hence a wife is often more valued for ability to work than
for any other reason. Polygamy being lawful, the man of many wives.
often subsists upon their earnings. Particularly is this the case in the
province of Ushake, where the Turkish rugs, so prized in this country,
are made. The rugs are woven by women, and the thrifty husbands
marry wife after wife, as they see their business increasing.
Turning from this feature of Turkish life, let us look somewhat at
the state of skilled labor in the Ottoman empire, and the rewards reaped
by artisans and mechanics. Skilled labor, deserving of the name, is
scarce, indeed, but the supply very nearly equals the demand, for cheap-
ness and not quality is the great desideratum in the Turkish market.
Indeed, it is probable that the number of artisans in Turkey is even
smaller now than it has been at any time heretofore, for the Turks have
become accustomed to the use of foreign fabrics, cutlery, and allied
articles, and are importing them to the great detriment of their home
manufactures. Yet among the few mechanics who ply their trades
within the Turkish borders an extensive system of trade guilds has
sprung up, and regulations have been established for the government of
trades. The guilds enjoy royal favor and patronage, for the Sultan
himself is personally associated with some one of them. The property
of the guilds is exempt from taxation; for what reason it is hard to
imagine, for their illiberal laws and hampering regulations rather
restrain than encourage the trades they are presumed to protect. Many
THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE.
361
of the prescribed rules are observed to the highest degree. Often they
discriminate against, or in favor of, certain nationalities or creeds, and
thus it comes about that in Constantinople all saddlers and seal-
engravers are Moslems, and all watchmakers, furriers, jewelers, tailors
and silk-workers are Christians. Prescribed terms of apprenticeship,
ranging from three to seven years, are required of applicants to these
trades. The apprenticeship served, the workman becomes a kalfa or
companion, receiving wages from an oosta, or room-master. When he
has accumulated enough money to hire a room and pay wages himself,
he reaches the dignity of an oosta. Should the narrow confines of a
room be too small for his ambition, and he decide to take a house, his
rental will reach the sum of twenty-five shillings a month, but it is
seldom that a mechanic is not willing to share his house, thus reducing
his expenses. Most mechanics live and carry on their trades in huge
houses called odas, which closely correspond to the worst class of our
tenements. In these places they are crowded together like cattle. A
room, fifteen by twelve feet in area, is tenanted by five men, who pay
for the privilege two shillings each per month. The bedding is spread
upon the floor, and beyond this no other furniture is used. Sometimes
coffee-houses are attached to the oda, in which the lodgers get their
food. The odas are each tenanted by people of different nationalities,
and in Constantinople the Jews, Christians, Armenians and other
foreign peoples have each their own quarter of the town. Wages are
low in all the trades, as the country artisans flock to the cities in great
numbers, glutting the labor market. The hours of work are from
sunrise to sunset, regardless of seasons. Workmen having small shops.
of their own employ journeymen and apprentices. The latter get only
their board and lodging, with an occasional gift in the shape of
a new hat or pair of shoes. Journeymen earn from $80 to $100
a year, supplying themselves with homes and board out of this
scanty pittance. Those who are unable to secure yearly engagements
are hard put to it to secure a bare living. When times are brisk, they
can earn forty cents a day, but the slightest dullness of trade cuts down
their day's earning to eight cents. Workmen who are successful and
earn reasonable wages, live comfortably in large two-story houses of
stone. The day-laborers are reduced to the crowded odas. In the
cities, food is seldom cooked at home, but, after being duly prepared, is
sent out to a bake-house for cooking, thus working a great saving in
fuel. The frugality indicated by this custom exists in all classes of
Turkish workingmen, who are only able by the most rigid economy to
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THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
secure the necessaries of life. In Turkey in Asia wages are higher than
in any other part of the Ottoman empire, but even there they are beg-
garly, as the following table of maximum rates will show:
Coopers.
Dyers..
Bakers, butchers, tailors and saddlers.
Coppersmiths and tinners...
37½ cents per day.
""
40
42
50
•
55
60
•
D
•
• •
62
16
75
Shoemakers and blacksmiths...
Painters and gunsmiths.
Silversmiths.
Masons and whitesmiths..
"
""
"
Quarrymen.
Plasterers..
Carpenters..
Joiners...
Marble workers.
• •
Cabinet makers.
85
$1.00 per day.
• •
•
1.15
1.25 ..
1.35
1.50
In considering the condition of the Turkish artisan, as indicated by
the foregoing table of wages, it must be recollected that, unless a citizen
of Constantinople or one of the other chief cities of the Ottoman em-
pire, he is his own landlord and has commonly a patch of land upon
which he raises the few vegetables needed for his table. His needs are
simple and his thrift great, and even upon his pitiably small stipend,
and paying far more than his share of the national taxation, he manages
to live and bring up his family, unhampered by debt and untouched by
poverty. He is not progressive. Outside of certain ruts he never ven-
tures. From his brain never came a new or inventive idea. Upon labor-
saving machinery, he looks with suspicion, and foreign workmen he
regards as intruders, to be driven away by fair means if possible, but if
not, by foul. Today he shows no more signs of advancement than he
did a hundred years ago, and a century from now, unless with con-
quest new blood is infused into Turkey, the industries of the Ottoman
empire will continue in the same state of stagnation which now enthralls
them.
In this sketch of the condition of labor in the Ottoman empire we
have consoled ourselves merely with the habits and condition of the
purely laboring classes, the agriculturists and the artisans. Of the im-
mense hordes of men who, giving nothing to the common wealth, yet
manage to extract from it a living, we have said nothing. With sultans,
beys, offendis, viziers and titled officials of all classes we have nothing
to do. The outlaws that swarm in the mountain passes, and the soldiery
THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE.
363
that spend their lives in ceaseless and usually unsuccessful pursuit of
the banditti, are alike without the pale of a work such as this. The
tribes of wandering shepherds in Asia Minor and the nomadic Bedouins.
of the Egyptian deserts, though not altogether non-producers, are still
of too little importance to receive more than a casual mention.
Regarding the political and industrial future of the Moslems little
speculation is necessary. Surrounded as is the country by the followers
of the Cross, the further spread of the Mohammedan religion will be at-
tended with great difficulty. Yet in the past these people have met and
surmounted obstacles that seemed impassable, and who can say that in
the future the wondrous spread of this religion will be checked. But the
weakness of the civilization of the Crescent lies where the civilization of
the Cross has its strongest point: in the sturdy laboring people. Among
the Turks they are slow, dull and unenlightened. Among the Christians
they are ever alert, inventive and quick to seize the opportunity of the
moment. With two such forces in opposition the result cannot long
remain doubtful.
CHAPTER XVIII.— MODERN PERSIA.
MECHANICS AND INDUSTRIES-THE ARTISANS OF PERSIA AND THEIR OCCUPATIONS
- WOOD-TURNING AND METAL-WORKING ARCHITECTURE CARPET-WEAVING
- AGRICULTURE-SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CONDITION OF THE MANUAL LA-
BORER.
IT
T seems to be natural for men to be interested in certain things, not
because of the nature of the thing itself, but because of the sur-
rounding circumstances. An object the most complex and wonderful
fails to interest us because of our familiarity with its aspects. Again,
an object commonplace in itself may be interesting for the reason only
that it is new to us. This element of human nature has been recog-
nized by those who have been successful in literature and art. Curiosity
and a desire for novelty is not confined to childhood, but controls men
and women as well. The novelist or poet will locate his story in a for-
eign land or remote country. The artist places the subject of his study
in a distant clime, or a period of time far removed from the epoch of
the painter, thereby awakening in the beholder an interest in the subject
matter alone, aside from the method or detail of composition. What
lends charm to foreign travel is the ever-recurring sense of novelty-
the unwonted appearance of things to the traveler. The traveler is con-
stantly interested in the vast panorama of manners, customs, peoples,
institutions, costumes and architecture. So is it with the artisans of
Persia and their occupations. From the standpoint of perfection
attained by the western world in mechanical arts and manufactures, the
mechanics and industries of Persia seem rude and simple indeed, yet our
story would be incomplete without some mention of the matter, which
cannot fail to be of interest on the ground of newness to the reader.
Speak of the architecture of a country and it calls to mind carpentry
as a trade. In house building in modern Persia, poplar, oak, palm and
chestnut timber are used. This material is brought from the forests on
the backs of mules or camels, and is sold in the bazaars of the cities and
towns.
Like the other artisans of the East, the Persian carpenter pursues his
trade while sitting on the ground. He does not use a bench, but in its
stead a strong stick driven into the ground. Against this stake he rests
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PERSIA.
365
his work while sawing or hewing. Modern tools and implements are
used in the royal arsenal of the kingdom, where a better system of labor
is employed than in the native workshops. In the latter the workmen
may still be seen sitting on the ground. As all the tools and implements
in use are adapted to this posture and to this method of working, there
is small possibility of any change for some time to come; more espe-
cially is this true of the people who are slow in their adoption of new
customs.
In wood-turning the workman drives two stakes into the ground
some distance apart, and supports between them an iron spindle to which
is attached a small drum. The wood to be turned is placed upon the
spindle, which is made to revolve rapidly by bow and string passed
around the drum. The cutting tool is held in the right hand, supported
on a block of wood, while the bow is worked backward and forward with
the other hand. In this crude way many useful articles are manufac-
tured in Persia. One traveler in the northern provinces of the country
observed that nearly everything in use was constructed of wood: "The
gates and portals, were constructed of wood, and a wooden bridge was
thrown across the ditch; the very domestic implements, instead of being
formed of earthen ware or metal, were here made of wood; we saw trays,
platters, cups, and bowls, of this material."
All metal-working in Persia is on a small scale and in a primitive
way. The iron in use is of Russian manufacture and is brought from
the military stations of the Caspian Sea on the backs of animals. In
some of the northern provinces, a little iron is manufactured from the
ore. In iron working, the smiths use charcoal as a fuel, as little if any
coal is to be found in that country. While heating the metal, the smith
stands, but in fashioning it he sits upon the ground. Blacksmiths use
a hearth without a chimney, and the bellows is protected from the fire
by a low wall on one side of the platform. His tools are the hammer,
anvil, drill and tongs.
In Persia buildings are mainly constructed of clay or brick, and stone
cutting as an adjunct of architecture is little practiced. Working in
stone is confined chiefly to the cutting of grave-stones, mill-stones and a
few other articles of the rudest pattern. In this industry, the workman
uses double-pointed picks and chisel-shaped nails, rather than mason-
irons. With these rude implements it is only by immense and protracted
labor that he reduces his material to the required shape. In boring
stone an iron rod tipped with steel is used. The end of this instrument
has a flat surface, across which are two deep parallel grooves, intersected
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THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
at right angles by three others. The stone-worker keeps the hole full of
water while boring; and the rod is turned slowly around with the left.
hand while the blows are struck with a hammer held in the right hand.
In Persia more houses are constructed of brick than of any other
material. This renders the art of brick-making one of the most impor-
tant industries of the country. Bricks are either kiln-burned or sun-
dried. A vault excavated in the ground is the kiln, and this is sur-
rounded by a wall of sun-dried bricks. In building houses of clay the
mortar is mixed with straw and lime. The clay is reduced to the proper
consistency by mixing with water and treading with the feet. Bricks
have a large surface and are laid in such a way, some vertical, some
horizontal, as to leave the walls full of hollow spaces, although present-
ing a smooth outer and inner surface. The foundation in both instances
is a trench filled with clay and small stones. Whether of brick or clay,
the walls are constructed in courses of about three feet in thickness.
Each course is allowed time to consolidate before another is laid. The
mechanic stands upon the wall, and is supplied with pieces of clay by
an assistant below. He receives the clay in his arms, throws it forcibly
down, and then treads the mass firmly together with his feet.
Clay walls
are soon rendered firm and hard by the extreme heat and dryness of the
climate.
}
The work of the artisan of Persia is not completed until he has sur-
rounded the village, town or city with walls of clay, constructed as
are the houses within its limits. The wall is usually flanked with
towers at every angle, and surrounding all is a rude ditch from which
the material was excavated for the construction of the dwellings and
ramparts.
The carpets of Kurdistan, Khurasan, Feraghan and Karman are famous
the world over. Those of Kurdistan are unquestionably the finest, both in
texture and in style. The flowers are so designed as to appear strewn
upon the ground, or as if growing beneath the feet in wild profusion.
In value the carpets of Karman rank next to those of Kurdistan. Next
in order of superiority are the carpets of Khurasan. Those of Feraghan
are loose in texture and simple in pattern. It is a matter for surprise
that these notable fabrics are woven in the tents of the nomadic Turco-
mans. The machinery in use for the purpose is a simple frame, on which
the warp is stretched. The woof is woven into the warp without a
shuttle. In tightening a row of the woof a sort of comb is inserted into
the warp and pressed against the woof. The shawls of Persia are woven
by hand, as are the carpets. Shawls are made from the wool of a white
PERSIA.
367
goat peculiar to Persia. This material is called kurk. Silk was once
the staple produce of Persia.
The time was when that country exported 1,400,000 pounds of that
commodity annually. In Persia, today, the manufacture of silk is of
little importance.
In agriculture Persia is, probably, the most prosperous country of
Western Asia. This industry does not flourish in all parts of that coun-
try. Two-thirds of the table-lands are sterile, but in those sections where
irrigation is feasible, the soil yields bountifully, and wheat, barley,
tobacco, cotton and rice are produced in large quantities.
"Rice is
husked under tilt-hammers worked by a water-wheel apparatus, a rude
and clumsy contrivance, but strong, simple and cheap. Corn and barley
are ground by water mills of primitive construction; the best wheat
flour produced is inferior to English middlings.' They are callous to the
use of rusty corn; the effect of eating bread made with flour containing
any of the noxious element is to render those unused to it very giddy.”
Thus writes Consul Bearsford Lovett, of England.
S. G. W. Benjamin, formerly consul-general to Persia, in a report
to the state department, dated September 6, 1884, says that discontent.
among the laboring classes is not a feature of Persian society. This is
not because their condition is better than that of the same classes in
other countries; for the laborer and artisan of Persia is not to be envied
by his brothers elsewhere. It is because they are ignorant of their con-
lition as compared with other people's, and because they are less con-
spicuous than those of high degree, and, therefore, further removed from
the royal caprice, rage or injustice. It is true of the Persian laborer, as
of the Shah or Khan, he lives in the present hour and looks little to the
future. "Elevated by the sudden favor of his superior, he wondered
only why this did not take place long before; deprived as suddenly of his
position and wealth, he bows before the will of his master as if it were a
decree of fate. He has given it, he takes it. But he lives, works and
builds accordingly. He enjoys and labors for the present, leaving the
future to the care of the Allah. His palaces crumble away as rapidly as
his greatness and power. His artificially irrigated gardens dry up with
the sources of his wealth. Nothing is made, as nothing is expected to
last."
The manual laborer of Persia is without voice in the affairs of his
native land. Politically, he is a nonentity, but, worse than this, he is
deprived of even the rudiments of education. Public schools do not
exist. Such schools as may be established are private enterprises, and
•
368
THE ŠTORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
depend upon the fees of the students for their support. Here and there
may be found a man who can read the Koran a little and keep the ac-
counts of his small business. The women of the laboring classes of the
country are universally illiterate. Their position among the middle
classes is low, and they are required to perform the most menial and
arduous tasks. It is said that most of the field labor is done by them.
They are, also, employed at the turquoise, gold and silver mines.
The present outlook is not favorable for the working classes of Persia.
Progress is not a law of Persian society. The Persian of today is the
Persian of centuries ago. Politically, now as then, he is the subject of
despotic government. Industrially, he has not changed for two thousand
years. He does not ask for freedom. He does not seek for progress.

bugh Miller.
President German Typographical Union.
UNIV
OF
BICH
PART V.
LABOR IN AMERICA.
CHAPTER I.- INTRODUCTION.
THE FALLOW FIELD OF THE WESTERN WORLD-THE INDIANS, THEIR ORIGIN
AND THEIR CIVILIZATION-RELICS SHOWING THE HIGH ORGANIZATION OF
LABOR IN PREHISTORIC AMERICA - INDIAN METHODS-THE POSITION OF
WOMAN-THE DIVISION OF LABOR-THE LAND SYSTEM AMONG THE ABO-
RIGINES — THE COMING OF THE WHITE Man.
NOT quite four centuries have passed since the western world was
merely a fairy tale in Europe. There were old legends of Atlan-
tis, the sunken continent, which lay somewhere west of the pillars of
Hercules. St. Brendan had passed to the Blessed Isles through the red
gleams of the sunset. The Norse sea rovers had found bleak, inhospita-
ble shores rising out of the ocean on the other side of the world, and
indeed everywhere in Europe there was a half belief that the tossing
waste of waters bore somewhere on its bosom islands and continents
which, teeming with wonders and with wealth, awaited the lucky adven-
turer.
And they were right. Three thousand miles away lay that old world
which is the new. Its forests, covering thousands and thousands of
miles, sheltered only the wild deer and the cruel wolf and the no less
wild and cruel savage. Its vast prairies, in which European kingdoms.
might be lost, pastured the buffalo, and knew no sign of life save when
the wild goose called in the air above, or the coyote yelped from the
plain below. Its mighty rivers rushing downward to the sea, bore no
argosies of commerce, the rich detritus nourished but the rank tropical
weeds and gave a lurking place to the serpent and the alligator.
In Europe and Asia religions and philosophies were being founded
407
408
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
and destroyed, thrones were built up and broken down, civilizations.
flourished and faded. Commerce and learning, art and law were lifting.
manhood up to higher planes, but America lay fallow, awaiting the
fullness of time. Europe resounded with the harmonies of progress;
in America all was still save the wolf's lone howl on Oonalashka's
shore," and the booming of the bittern in the weedy lagoons of the At-
lantic coast. Savage tribes, incapable of progress, remnants perhaps of
a broken-down race, wandered aimlessly through a country which was
and is the veritable garden of the gods, unable to realize the richness.
that surrounded them, satisfied if the venison was plenty and captives.
abundant. It was the old Jewish law that land should be fallow one
year in seven. When the cycle of the centuries was run America was
brought into line with the world which had forgotten it, and human
progress was given a field in which the processes of development might
hasten forward unchecked by error, unhampered by custom, fostered by
every influence which God's providence could put about it.
It is amazing how little we really know about the land in which we
live. The geologists tell us that the Laurentian continent is the oldest
land in the world. The Rocky mountains give evidences of a hoary age,
beside which the Alps are still in hoydenish juvenility. Who the men
were who first peopled these continents, and whence they came, no man can
say. America is the standing puzzle of the archeologists. It baffles all
their methods. It seems to be settled that the Esquimaux on either side
of Behring's straits are one people, but the Indians south of the Esqui-
maux are radically a different folk. The Esquimaux at one time covered
more than half of North America. Evidences of their presence have been
found as far south as Pennsylvania and Northern California. They
were thence pushed steadily northward by a stronger race coming from
the south. Throughout North America we find the relics of a civiliza-
tion which was neither Esquimaux nor Indian. The Indians were
incapable of organized effort except in the direction of war. Their civi-
lization was that of the stone age; their utensils of the crudest; their
ideas but little above savagery. Their predecessors, the Mound Builders,
have left monuments to themselves which testify to a very considerable
progress. Such a mound as that thrown up at St. Louis could only
have been erected by the well disciplined labor of thousands of men.
The animal mounds in the Ohio valley indicate a well defined artistic
and, perhaps, religious purpose, and the organized services of hundreds
of workingmen. The ornaments in the tombs, the pottery, the weapons,
the cloth, the skulls themselves, testify a high grade of culture. The
THE ABORIGINES.
409
Indian flood came, no one knows from where, and swept away the great
population, which must have filled the valleys, so utterly that only its
graves remain.
No living remnant was found when the white man
came, except the Natchez tribe, whose connection with the Mound
Builders is denied by some of the best archæologists. The Zunis in
New Mexico, and the Aztecs further south, as well as some of the races
of Central and South America, were highly civilized and enlightened.
The whole of the country from Mexico to the Arctic sea was filled by a
shifting, unsettled race, loosely banded together in roving tribes, depend-
ing for a livelihood chiefly on the natural produce of the forest and the
stream, and forced by their very mode of life to go on being nomads
and vagabonds forever. It has been calculated that it requires an area
of twenty-five square miles to furnish food for one person in the savage
state; hence it will easily be seen how impossible it would have been for
the Indians to form cities, or even large aggregations of people. Agri-
culture, after a rude fashion, was followed by many of the tribes, par-
ticularly by the Seminoles and the Shawnees; but there was little security
that the sower would reap the crop. Every influence impelled to bar-
barism. A close scrutiny would show, however, that there were the
beginnings of civilization. A rude justice was administered; wampum
was used as we use money. Hunting grounds were held as tribe prop-
erty, and encroachments were bitterly resisted. The boundaries of each
tribe's territory were fixed and well understood, the ownership residing
in the whole tribe and not in any individual. Communism did not go
further than property in land. Private property was respected and
secured. The United States Bureau of Ethnology in its report for
1879-80 publishes the result of an examination into the organization and
laws of the Wyandots, from which the following extract will give a clear
notion of Indian ideas of property. It should be understood that among
the Wyandots women occupied a peculiar position. The woman was the
head of the family. The social organization consisted of the family, the
gens, the phratry, and the tribe, names which explain themselves :
"RIGHTS OF PROPERTY.-Within the area claimed by the tribe each
gens occupies a smaller tract for the purpose of cultivation. The right
of the gens to cultivate a particular tract is a matter settled in the
council of the tribe, and the gens may abandon one tract for another
only with the consent of the tribe. The women councilors partition
the gentile land among the householders, and the household tracts are
distinctly marked by them. The ground is re-partitioned once in two
years. The heads of households are responsible for the cultivation of
410
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
the tract, and should this duty be neglected the council of the gens calls
the responsible parties to account.
"Cultivation is communal; that is, all of the able-bodied women of
the gens take part in the cultivation of each household tract in the fol-
lowing manner:
"The head of the household sends her brother or son into the forest
or to the stream to bring in game or fish for a feast; then the able-bodied
women of the gens are invited to assist in the cultivation of the land,
and when this work is done a feast is given.
"The wigwam or lodge and all articles of the household belong to the
woman the head of the household and at her death are inherited by
her eldest daughter, or nearest of female kin. The matter is settled by
the council-women. If the husband die his property is inherited by his
brother or his sister's son, except such portion as may be buried with
him. His property consists of his clothing, hunting and fishing imple-
ments, and such articles as are used personally by himself.
"Usually a small canoe is the individual property of the man. Large
canoes are made by the male members of the gentes, and are the prop-
erty of the gentes.
"RIGIITS OF PERSON.-Each individual has a right to freedom of per-
son and security from personal and bodily injury, unless adjudged guilty
of crime by proper authority.
"COMMUNITY RIGHTS.-Each gens has the right to the services of all
its women in the cultivation of the soil. Each gens has the right to the
service of all its male members in avenging wrongs, and the tribe has the
right to the service of all its male members in time of war.
"RIGHTS OF RELIGION.-Each phratry has the right to certain relig-
ious ceremonies and the preparation of certain medicines.
"Each gens has the exclusive right to worship its tutelar god, and each
individual has the exclusive right to the possession and use of a particu-
lar amulet."
The Indians have never successfully practiced individual ownership of
land. The first article of the Cherokee constitution provides, "The
lands of the Cherokee Nation shall remain the common property, but the
improvements made thereon and in possession of the citizens of the na-
tion are the exclusive and indefeasible property of the citizens respect-
ively, who made or may be in rightful possession of them." The most
industrious and most progressive Indians now under the wardship of the
government refuse to partition their lands, but all hold them jointly.
Their system of land tenure had its drawbacks as well as its advantages.
THE ABORIGINES.
411
Labor, in our sense of the word, the Indians did not understand. The
whole drudgery of life fell on the woman. She was the hewer of wood
and the drawer of water. When the tribe moved to a new locality, it
was she who was the aboriginal beast of burden. The duties of the
chase and of war fell upon the man, all else was the woman's. Only
such work was done as made provision for the wants of the family. It is
needless to say that wages were wholly unknown.
Neither the systems of the Indians nor the results which they
achieved are of interest, save to the antiquary. They are gone like the
bison and the deer. Their places are filled by a new race following
new methods in a new home. On the ruins of their savagery, the great
edifice of the civilization of the future is being built.
No ship ever carried a more precious freight upon the waters than
did the vessels which pushed out from Palos in 1492, and turned their
bows toward the west. These barques carried not alone Columbus and
his crew, but they carried tidings of peace to all the world. They car-
ried liberty and equality of men. They carried the seed of the new sys-
tem which was to displace the old. They blazed the road for the pio-
neers of the modern world to pass along. On that clear October morn-
ing when the yearning eyes of the white man first saw the new world, it
requires no extravagant fancy to imagine the phantoms of the things to
be which must have clustered around Guanahani. It was the most por-
tentous and the most fortunate day in the history of the race.
The path once found, hardy adventurers from every nation came to
the conquest. The Spaniard and the Portuguese went to the soft and
evervating south. The Anglo-Saxon came to the less inviting but more.
vigorous north. Men escaped from kings, they left behind them the
feudal system, they forsook the errors and the crimes of Europe to join.
in founding the new nation beyond the seas.
Here was a virgin land, teeming with plenty. Here was no cruel
past to undo, no national sins to expiate. It was a fresh start.
It was
a new birth for humanity. The westing impulse which carried the
Aryan from the Hindoo Koosh into Europe, carried him once more to
the very gates of the sunset.
CHAPTER II.—THE COLONIES.
THE FIRST COLONISTS-WHY THEY CAME-OVERCROWDED EUROPE-WESTWARD,
HO-THE LAND SYSTEM OF THE COLONISTS- CROWN GRANTS-FEUDALISM IN
AMERICA - THE IMPORTATION OF PERSONS BOUND TO SERVITUDE-ORIGIN OF
SOME OF THE FIRST FAMILIES"-THE PURITAN AND THE CAVALIER- THE
BEGINNINGS OF THE SLAVE POWER-ITS GEOGRAPHICAL SPREAD THE PIONEERS
- THE CAUSES WHICH LED TO THE REVOLUTION.
THE
The shackles of the
There seemed to be no
HE news of the finding of a new world spread rapidly throughout
the old. Europe was crowded by a population which was fully
equal to its capacity for support. The struggle for existence was bitter
and fierce. The feudal system was at its zenith. War was the rule on
the continent. The Reformation had not begun.
Dark Ages still bound humanity hard and fast.
hope anywhere, when suddenly the Western Continent appeared a refuge
for the oppressed, a field for the adventurous. The Spaniards overran
Mexico and South America, seizing and holding the fairest and richest
occidental empires by a series of crimes which have become historic, and
whose retribution is now being worked out before our eyes. The other
nations were not idle in the race for America. Our interest lies chiefly in
the work which England did.
The era of Anglo-Saxon colonization in America is coincident with
the Stuart dynasty in England, although the abortive efforts of Raleigh
began in the reign of Elizabeth, and the colonization of Georgia was not
begun by Oglethorpe until 1733.
Numerous attempts to plant colonies in the New World were made by
Sir Humphrey Gilbert and his half-brother, Sir Walter Raleigh. The
grand conception of the latter to found a State on the North American
Continent, whose people should be entirely devoted to the business of
agriculture, was worthy of the ablest statesman of his day. He recognized
the fact that the foundation stone of civilized society is the family. He
chose his colonists from among the married men. They clearly under-
stood that they were going to Virginia to live. They were to construct
their own dwellings, till their own soil, and protect their own rights.
The treachery of his subordinates, who were lured by the glittering pros-
pect of prizes, and the terror aroused in England by the Invincible
412
THE AMERICAN COLONIES.
413
Spanish Armada, rendered him powerless to carry out the details of his
plan.
The domestic convulsions of the Huguenots in France during the era
of the Reformation induced one of the prominent leaders in that move-
ment to undertake the task of founding, in the New World, a colony of
French Huguenots, which he hoped might be the nucleus of a great
French empire. The French admiral, Jasper Coligny, having obtained
a commission from the feeble-minded king, fitted out a squadron, which
landed at what is now St. Augustine, Florida, in May, 1562. They
sailed northward, and built a fort at Port Royal, which they called
Carolina. They remained but a short time, and, after undergoing many
hardships, returned to France. Not disheartened by this effort, Coligny
fitted out a second expedition, which unfortunately comprised a number
of dissolute characters. On their arrival in Florida their vices reduced
them almost to the verge of starvation. A number of them compelled
the commander to give them a vessel, on the pretense that they desired
to return to France. They embarked in a scheme of piracy, and soon
met with the fate they deserved. A fresh arrival of emigrants, wi'a
agricultural implements, seeds for planting, and a full supply of all the
necessities of life, encouraged those who remained, and ever, thing
promised well for the permanent establishment of a French colony, until
Philip II. ascended the Spanish throne. When this monarch learned
that a colony of French Protestants had dared to settle in a province
that he deemed within his own dominions, he gave orders for their exter-
mination. He found an able executive for this nefarious work in the
person of one Pedro Melandez de Aniles, who carried out the orders of
the king with cruel exactitude.
The next attempt to plant an English colony was made by a company
composed of "noblemen, gentlemen and merchants" of great wealth.
They organized an association known as the London Company, under a
charter from King James, granting them the exclusive right to occupy
the territory from the 34th to the 39th degree, and from the Atlantic
Ocean west as far as they chose to go. At the same time the Plymouth
Company, composed of the same class of men, received a charter giving
them the exclusive right to establish plantations from the 41st to the
45th degree. These two grants embraced nearly one-half of the land
occupied by the United States to-day, excluding the territories. The
nature of the grant compelled the colonists to remain Englishmen.
English laws were to regulate the tenure of the soil. Emigrants were not
conceded the elective franchise nor a single right of self-government.
414
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
They were entirely subject to the Council in Virginia, which, in turn,
was subject to the Supreme Council in London, and that was subject to
the king.
The first expedition sailed in 1606 and carried one hundred and five men.
The material chosen to compose the colony is an indication of the estima-
tion in which the workingman was held. There were a dozen common
laborers, half as many mechanics, four carpenters, and forty-eight "gen-
tlemen " who were no more capable of getting a living in the woods than
would be as many girl graduates of a fashionable boarding school. They
had, however, in their company one man of sagacity and prudence,
Captain John Smith, afterward famous for the energy with which he
managed the affairs of the Virginia colony, and his mythical connection
with Pocahontas, the daughter of Powhatan. The Virginia colony
passed through many vicissitudes before it emerged from a thriftless, do-
nothing existence to a vigorous, substantial growth, which latter was
mainly owing to the exertions of Smith. In his letter to the Council,
in 1609, he used the following explicit language, as conveying his
opinion of the class of emigrants that had been sent out :
"When you
send again, I entreat you, rather send but thirty carpenters, husband-
men, gardeners, fishers, blacksmiths, masons, and diggers up of trees.
and roots, than a thousand such as we have." In dividing up the
work in the colony Smith enforced six hours work a day, for six days in
the week. "He who would not work might not eat," was the first
item in Smith's code.
After many vicissitudes success was won; a new rule was established
giving to each man a portion of land which he was to cultivate for him-
self. The old rule had been that the land should be cultivated as the
common property of the company. The colony became prosperous,
laws were introduced by which the cultivators became the proprietors
of the soil. Tobacco became the most profitable product of agriculture
and was so extensively cultivated that it began to be used as money. To
the present day Virginia has not lost the ascendency gained, at the
beginning of the seventeenth century, in the cultivation of this com-
modity.
The Virginia colony was now in fair way to prosper. At different times
one hundred and fifty young women were sent over as wives for the colonists.
Their passage was paid by their husbands. The people were granted the
right to "assist" in making their own laws. The first legislative assem-
bly in the new world, the Virginia House of Burgesses, met in July,
1619. They passed laws against vices and in favor of industry and good
THE AMERICAN COLONIES.
415
order." "In detestation of idleness" the idler was "to be sold to a master
for wages till he shewe apparent signs of amendment." Emigration was
stimulated and in a few years Virginia had a population of four thou-
sand.
In the year 1620 two vessels crossed the ocean, buffeting the same
sea and tossed by the same waves. One was the Mayflower, containing the
Pilgrim Fathers, "consecrated to human liberty," the other was a Dutch
ship containing a cargo of twenty slaves, the first that were ever
brought to the shores of the North American Continent; they were
landed at Jamestown.
The passengers of the Mayflower came in sight of Cape Cod, Novem-
ber 10, 1620, and landed at Plymouth on December 22d.
The population increased rapidly after the first success in colonizing
was won, and in 1630, seventeen vessels arrived, with fifteen hundred
emigrants. Settlements were made at various places around the bay.
The governor and some other persons settled near a spring on the penin-
sula, called Shawmut. The position was central, it became the capital,
and was called Boston. In 1635 more than three thousand persons came
from England.
The welfare of the community was carefully guarded. The rate of
wages for all classes of labor was fixed by law. The number of hours for
a working-day was fixed at eleven in summer and nine in the winter
time. The sale of everything was regulated by law with such minute-
ness as to reach the cost of a meal at an inn, and even the price of a pot
of beer between meals. The law fixed the price of all commodities. No
advantage could be taken of new settlers, or of the scarcity of laborers.
Any possible want of food was provided for by making it the duty of the
magistrates to ascertain the probable demand, and to meet it with a
sufficient supply. The use of tobacco was early forbidden in all public
houses, and, though one might smoke it in his own house, he was for-
bidden to do so before strangers, or for one person to use it in company
of another. Idleness was made inexcusable, and agriculture encouraged
by allotments of land, and their compulsory cultivation. In 1640 it was
enacted that each family should sow at least one spoonful of English
hemp seed, and cultivate it in a "husbandly manner," for a supply of
the seed the next year. The importation of cotton was provided for at
the public expense. The cultivation of tobacco was encouraged by a
decree fining any one five shillings a pound who should smoke any other
tobacco than that raised in the colony.
Fashion in dress was the subject of much anxious and stringent legis-
416
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
lation. In 1651 the laws were amended so as to apply only to men and
women of "meane condition, education, and calling." The court felt
itself called upon to declare emphatically their "utter detestation and
dislike" "that such persons should take upon themselves the garb of
'gentlemen,' and the women of the same rank to wear silk or tiffany
hoods or scarfs."
Before the close of the first half of the seventeenth century, slavery,
with its attendant evils, became a recognized institution in Massachu-
Indians were captured, sent to Barbadoes, and exchanged for
negroes, and both negro and Indian slaves became common. In conse-
quence of this, the persons of "meane condition" became much more
degraded. Those who had escaped from the fierce polemics of Boston
by emigrating to Rhode Island or Connecticut, while continuing to
regard the interests of religion as paramount, were not disposed, on that
account, to look upon all material interests with indifference. It was,
perhaps, not on account of any radical difference in their character, but
there was a fortunate difference in their circumstances and opportuni-
ties. By their emigration, they gained more freedom than they sought.
They were led to take a wider view of the possibilities of the new coun-
try, than as merely an arena for theological discussion. They saw that
they might be prosperous without ceasing to be pious, and that worldly
thrift was not necessarily incompatible with everlasting life." They
were too busy in clearing forests, planting crops, and building towns, to
be absorbed in attempts to find out the whole counsel of God in dim and
subtle distinctions of theological controversy. Thus the Puritans began
their work in the north, as the cavaliers had done theirs in Virginia,
both making forward unconsciously to the day when America would join
the rugged virtues of the one to the high courage and generosity of the
other, making a people which has a birthright to sovereignty.
In 1621 an association was formed under the title of the Dutch West
India Company. The States-General of Holland granted them the
monopoly of trade from Cape May to Nova Scotia, and named the terri-
tory New Netherland.
The first settlers were a company of Walloons or French Protestants
who had fled to Holland to avoid persecution. Some settled in the
vicinity of what is now the navy-yard in Brooklyn, others went up the
river to Fort Orange. They numbered in all about thirty families.
The agent of the Dutch West India Company, Peter Minuits, chose
the Island of Manhattan as his residence. The few cottages erected at
the south end of the island were dignified by the name of New Amster-
THE AMERICAN COLONIES.
417
dam. The island itself belonged to the company, having been purchased
from the Indians for about twenty-four dollars. An effort was made to
found a state. Every emigrant was conceded as much land as he could
cultivate, provided it was not on lands owned by the Company. To en-
courage emigration it was ordered that any member of the Company
who should, in four years, induce fifty persons to emigrate and settle in
New Netherland, anywhere except on Manhattan Island, should be recog
nized as a "Patroon" or "Lord of the Manor." Under this arrange-
ment the Patroons could purchase a tract of land sixteen miles long by
eight in width. The Company agreed also that if their speculation was
successful they would furnish the Patroons with African slaves. To
insure success, even at the expense of the colonists, the people were for-
bidden to manufacture the most common fabrics of clothing. Every-
thing must be purchased from the Company's store at New Amsterdam,
which was to be the center of the trade of New Netherland.
The data for satisfactorily determining the progress of the colony and
the condition of the people at this epoch are scanty and scattered. We
may form some conclusions from the rate of wages and price of provis-
ions in 1637. Rye was worth $1.33 per bushel; corn 80 cents to $1.10
per bushel; wheat $1.60 per bushel; vinegar 80 cents per gallon; pepper
$1 per pound; gunpowder 60 cents per pound; candles 20 cents per
pound; pork 14 cents per pound; tobacco 24 cents per pound; 500 nails
cost $1; brick were $4 per thousand; a scythe cost $2.40. A laborer in
harvest got about 80 cents a day; on other occasions 60 cents a day; a
bookkeeper received $14.40 per month and was allowed $80 per annum
for his board; a mason received $8 per month; a house carpenter got $10
per month. Even at these wages and with these apparent high prices.
for provisions the ordinary workingman must have been fully as well off
as he is today. The necessities of life two hundred and fifty years ago
in comparison with the present time were perhaps not one-quarter as
great, and usually in those days all classes cultivated their home gardens
and thus supplied themselves with nearly all the articles of vegetable
food. So that their wages had to be expended for little else than cloth-
ing, and perhaps a few groceries, as sugar, coffee, pepper, vinegar, etc.
As far back as 1628 slaves constituted a portion of the population.
Their introduction was facilitated by the establishments which the
Dutch possessed on the coast of Guinea. The expense of obtaining
labor from Europe was greater than that attached to the purchase of
slaves. In consequence slave labor was preferred to free labor. In 1644
several negroes and their wives, who had originally been captured from
418
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR,
the Spanish, were manumitted "on account of long and faithful ser-
vices." To enable them to provide for their support they obtained a
grant of land. Attached to their articles of manumission was this sig-
nificant clause. They were to pay yearly, 223 bushels of corn, wheat,
peas or beans, and one fat hog, valued at $8. Failing in this pay-
ment they again lost their liberty. The value of a slave at this period
was from $100 to $150. The price of the produce that he was required
freedom was from $40 to $50, or from 33 to 50
per cent of his value. At this rate manumission was not much of a sac-
rifice on the part of the owner. The children were detained in slavery
to pay annually for his
after the manumission of the parents.
The houses in those days were low-sized wooden buildings, with roofs
of straw or reed, and chimneys of wood. Wind and water mills were
erected here and there to grind corn and wheat and saw lumber. One
of the latter, located on Governor's Island, was leased in 1639 for five hun-
dred merchantable boards yearly, one half oak and one half pine. A brew-
ery was constructed previous to 1637 at Rensselaerswyck, by the Patroon,
who had the exclusive privilege of supplying the people with beer. The
Patroon of New Netherland was really the feudal lord. His colonists
were obliged to swear allegiance to him, and at his summons to take up
arms in his defense. He in turn was obliged to render the same service
to his sovereign, the Dutch West India Company, or their representa-
tive. In 1646 the wage of a day laborer was 60 cents per day; that of
skilled mechanics ranged from 80 cents to $1. The cost of food and
clothing can readily be determined from the following prices: Sugar
sold for 30 cents per lb.; cheese, 6 cents per lb.; prunes, 4 cents per lb.;
butter 16, and pork 18 cents per lb.; mackerel, $6.40 per 100; wheat,
$1.33; corn, $1.05; barley, $1.33, and oats, 40 cents per bushel. Beer
sold for 36 and brandy 50 cents per gallon. In the line of clothing,
kersey sold for 64 cents; linen, 30 cents; and cloth from 90 cents to
$2 per yard. Shoes for grown people, 88 cents, and for children, 48
cents per pair. A hat cost $4, a beaver coat $10. As for agricul-
tural implements, a plow complete cost $11.50; a plowshare, $10; a
winnowing fan, $1.80; a scythe, $1; a spade, 24 to 40 cents; a wagon,
$12; a horse cost $64 and a cow $20. In mechanics' tools, an ax or
hatchet cost 24 to 40 cents; a chisel, 90 cents; an iron hammer, 28
cents; an English knife, 24 cents; an iron anvil, $40; a blacksmith's
bellows, $18.80. In building material, brick sold for $6 per 1,000;
nails, 16 cents per lb. (of 100). Plank, 60 cents each, for inch plank
12 inches wide and 12 feet long.
THE AMERICAN COLONIES.
419
From the figures given it will be readily observed that the actual prices
of the necessaries of life were about the same in the seventeenth as they
have been in the nineteenth century, while the wages of the day laborer and
mechanic were somewhat less in the former period, and it may be argued,
therefore, that the condition of the working classes was relatively less
prosperous. This conclusion does not necessarily follow, for the fact
must be continually borne in mind, that as the world advances in intel-
lectual development the actual necessities of life increase in the same ratio.
In the seventeenth century books and learning were considered not only
as beyond the reach of the workingman and his family, but as abso-
lutely prejudicial to his best interests. The furniture in his house was
of the very simplest construction and usually manufactured by himself.
Carpets were only used by the rich, and many of the little articles of
household use, that are now considered absolute necessities, were then
only luxuries to be afforded by the wealthy. Again, all the working-
men of that epoch had, attached to their homesteads, a sufficient amount
of land for gardening purposes, and invariably cultivated all the vegeta-
bles necessary for their families, including potatoes, cabbage and turnips,
to store away for winter use. Each family raised their own pork, and
usually kept a cow for butter and milk. Relatively speaking, the con-
dition of the free working classes in New Netherland in 1646, was
much better than it has been at any time during the nineteenth century.
When the Dutch ship entered the James river in 1620, with its
twenty negroes for sale, the people of that colony were not favorably
disposed towards the institution of slavery. For a third of a century
the number of slaves increased slowly. While not positively prohibiting
the slave trade the people of Virginia discouraged it.
A number of reasons conspired to extend slavery, which otherwise.
would have probably died a natural death. The cultivation of tobacco,
and eventually of cotton and sugar cane, made slavery extremely profit-
able to the land owners, who had a system of labor, working without
wages, and forced to be content with whatever provision the master was
pleased to make for it. Of course this was demoralizing both to master
and man, and the consequences could only be bad. A reference to the
map will show that slavery followed the lines of distribution of the cotton
plant. It never really flourished north of the Ohio river, nor north of
the line where tobacco could be profitably cultivated. It was an essen-
tially agricultural institution, and despite its cheapness it could not
compete with free labor, a fact which the industrial development of the
south since the war abundantly proves.
420
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
As the previous part of this chapter shows, the colonists first secured
a foothold on the Atlantic coast, and after establishing themselves they
naturally began to penetrate the wilderness. The axe of the pioneer
resounded through the forests primeval, founding new states, penetrat-
ing new empires, beginning a new people. That separation between the
nation-builders on this side the Atlantic and their nominal lords on
the other must some time come, was as certain as the result of any
mathematical formula. People point to the unwise and unfair legisla-
tion of Great Britain as the cause of the revolution, but this was simply
an aggravation —it was not a cause. America could not be ruled from
over the seas. The new vistas opened up before the settlers, the new
views of life which time had ripened, the strong leaders who had arisen,
the natural strength even of this sparsely peopled land, and the great
destiny which awaited all, impelled America irresistibly to independence.
We all know the history of the War of the Revolution; we remember
how the constant aggression of the British government finally drove a
free and spirited people into open rebellion and the founding of a new
state. With the story of that war, as a war, we have little to do. Its
consequences will be felt in the story of human labor as long as man and
the world shall endure.
CHAPTER III.-FREE AMERICA.
THE NEW POSITION OF THE WORKINGMAN — THE NEW POLITICAL THEORISTS
RELICS OF THE FEUDAL SYSTEM STILL ON THE STATUTE BOOKS- THE
DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRY-TIE INVITATION TO EUROPE — IMMIGRA-
TION CONQUERING THE WILDERNESS "THE HOME OF THE OPPRESSED"
WORK AND WAGES FROM THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION TO THE OPENING
OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY-THE REFLECTION OF THE FRENCH REVO-
LUTION "AMERICAN ARISTOCRACY"- THE RISE OF CORPORATIONS — THE
DEVELOPMENT OF SLAVERY.
—
IT is now generally conceded that American freedom had its birth in the
apparently purposeless discussions of the schoolmen of four centuries.
before. The idea of liberty, of popular government, of the just func-
tions of the state did not spring, Minerva-like, into full vigor and
adolescence from the continental congress. For centuries, as the Story
of Labor shows, there had been a distinct movement upwards. Humanity
had been ripening, but the theorists had been centuries in advance of
the practical men. The war of the revolution was fought out and the
word "finis " was written across the last leaf of the history of servitude.
True, there were several blank leaves before the new testaments of man-
hood can be said to have really begun. The revolution wrecked the old
systems, but the debris had to be cleared away before the new edifice
could be commenced.
America was, in the first years of her separate existence, an aristocratic
rather than a democratic republic. Many of the fathers certainly did.
not recognize the end which must follow from the principles which they
laid down. We know that George Washington could, had he chosen,
have founded a royal house instead of an elective presidency. The
chrysalis of the old order was broken and done for, but the new was
not thoroughly disentangled. True, the first work had been well done.
Royalty was abolished, aristocracy had, without knowing it, received a
mortal hurt, the people were unshackled, and it was but a question of
time when they would assume the sovereignty which was theirs by right
divine.
Relics of the feudal system were still to be found on all the statute
books. There were still patroons in New York, there was a distinctly
421
422
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
separated and highly protected landed class in all the states. The
momentum given by centuries could not be checked in a year or a
decade. The ruling class went on ruling less and less each year, it is true,
like a pendulum coming to a stop, but its influence was felt, and its
influence was not all bad. It was certainly better than the corporation.
rule which is now replacing it. The institution of slavery in the south,
which every one will now agree was a national crime, proves the con-
dition of mind of the men who declared the truth to be self-evident,
that all men are born free and equal and entitled to certain inalienable
rights. The contradiction in terms did not begin to strike even the non-
slaveholding people at the north for more than half a century. It was a
matter of course, and the white laborer at the north was not looked
on as exactly a being of the same race as his employer. There were, and
in some states there are yet, laws affecting the worker which do not
affect his employer. Class legislation can not be said to be over while
there are statutes making a combination of workingmen conspiracy,
while a combination of employers is not a subject for legislation.
The formation of a new state in the west gave the greatest possible
impulse to the settlement of the North American Continent. The
pioneer, ax on shoulder, made his way into the wilderness, pushing
onward to the west. The people not yet sophisticated, put all their
efforts into the development of the country. The virgin forests were
cleared away, and thriving farmsteads appeared where but a few years
before the savage wandered, and the wild animals made their lair.
It was not long before the glad tidings of the work for humanity
which had been done in the west spread throughout Europe. Every-
where the people understood that there was a new world to be divided,
where kings and nobles were not known, where the barrier of three
thousand miles of storm-tossed ocean stood as a bulwark between man
and his hereditary masters. Thus immigration began. Under the
earlier dispensation the obstacles that lay in the path by which America
was gained were so great that only the bold, the adventurous and
the worthy could make their way through. There was a long and
dangerous voyage to make, there was a final leave-taking from friends
and kinfolk who would never be seen again, there was a plunge into the
unknown that only the hardy would dare. Thus until 1848 America
got from Europe the flower of its people. We gained men and women
who were not crowded out because they were unable to hold their own in
the struggle for existence, but who had within them the true pioneer
spirit which made this nation great. We drew the additions to our

Robert Thoward.
Secretary Cotton Spinners' Union.
UNIV
OF
MICH
FREE AMERICA.
425
population from the best and most available material in the old world,
just as changed conditions now give us the worst and most ineffective.
Early in the century the voyage to America cost money, time, and often
life. Now it can be made by any man. in a week's time who has twelve
dollars. When the republic was in its childhood it opened its arms to
the oppressed of all nations. It welcomed to its shores the political
exile, the fugitive from the rotten systems which obtained three thou-
sand miles away, the victim of tyranny, the quarry of the birds of prey
born in the dark ages and still fatly prosperous in Europe.
The war left the finances of the confederation in a wretched condi-
tion. The country was filled with an almost worthless paper currency,
credit was at a low ebb. European jealousy cut off our trade with for-
eign ports. The disorganization and demoralization of the great strug-
gle were still manifest and it took years to settle the country to its
normal condition and to bring order out of the elements which were still
in confusion. Thus in 1786, as a reference to the wages chart in the appen-
dix will show, the average pay of a laborer was 33 cents a day. Flour
sold at £1 12s 6d a barrel, potatoes ranged from one shilling to thirteen
per bushel, and other articles were in proportion. In 1800 shoemakers
received $5.52 per week, painters 60 cents a day, masons $1.50 a day,
laborers about 70 cents, carpenters something over 90 cents a day, agri-
cultural laborers about 42 cents. Flannel 37 cents a yard, flour 6 cents
a pound, pork 15 cents a pound, rum 15 cents a quart, sugar 13 cents a
pound, tea (Bohea) 48 cents.
The figures show a decided gain made by the laboring class, in
wages, although the changes in the purchasing value of money make
this advance more apparent than real. The opening up of the continent
to civilization should have made this advance very much greater, but
there were many reasons coming together to retard it. Humanity never
made such rapid progress as it did in the score of years lying between
1780 and 1800. Action and reaction of popular forces went on until
"the red fool fury of the French" blazed up and frightened the world
back into conservatism. There was a reaction in America as well as in
Europe, and the consequences of that backward impulse are still mani-
fest. Then began that system of plutocracy which has replaced the
feudal system, the first seeds of that peculiar institution misnamed
"American aristocracy" were sown. We
e began with a bad land system
which was good in theory, perhaps, but altogether worthless in practice.
Every one will admit the constant tendency of the land to pass from the
small holder to the large. We are forming a class which rents the
426
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
ground for cultivation-which is displacing the former proprietor.
This movement has not yet gone so far as to become dangerous, but we
can see its beginnings and its direction. America had to do in a century
what the older peoples have had the world's whole age to accomplish in.
Wealth poured in upon us in a golden stream. The figures of its increase in
the United States are startling. Mullhal, in his "Dictionary of Statistics,"
and Spofford, in the "American Almanac," have both published statistics
showing this growth. Following Spofford's figures, the estimated true
valuation was:
In 1850....
Valuation. Per Capita.
In 1860.
In 1870.
In 1880.
• ·
$7,135,780,228
16,159,616,068
30,068,518,507
43,642,000,000
$308
514
780
870
A. very significant fact is furnished by one of the line of totals in
Spofford's tables, which shows that the difference between the assessed
and the true valuation was in round numbers: In 1850, $1,100,000,000;
in 1860, $4,070,000,000; in 1870, $15,800,000,000; in 1880, $26,700,-
000,000.
Counting the average family as five persons, these figures would give
each household, $4,350 per domum. Can any fact point more clearly to
the unequal distribution of wealth? Not one family in a thousand con-
trols this much property. On the other hand we see that twenty-six
billions of dollars bear no part of the burden of government. Since 1850
thirty-six billion five hundred million dollars have been added to the
wealth of the country, or in other words, the amount of capital has been
increased six-fold. Wages along the whole line of industry have increas-
ed in the same time about fifty per cent.
In Mr. William A. Phillips' very carefully written and well worked
out book on "Labor, Land and Law," the author says:
"In the present state of our statistics we are not in possession of ac-
curate data as to where this great increase of wealth has gone, but if we
consider the condition of wage workers in 1850, and the condition of
wage-workers in 1880, in the United States, it is extremely doubtful if
the laborers are any better off, or even as well off today as they were
then. In 1850 wage-workers had occasionally a little property. In our
own observation we are firmly persuaded that more of them, in propor-
tion to their number, had homes of their own at that time than have them
now. It is to be granted that the number of persons included in what is
styled the middle classes' has probably increased, although nothing could
be more vague than the term 'middle classes' in the United States.
We
FREE AMERICA.
427
will borrow a mode sometimes used by British statisticians, and fix a
salary or an income of $1,000 for the head of a family as indicating the
'middle classes.' In a table of Mr. Spofford's, condensed from the
state reports, and which includes the wages paid to bakers, blacksmiths,
bookbinders, bricklayers, cabinet makers, carpenters and joiners, labor-
ers, porters, painters, plasterers, plumbers, printers, shoemakers, tailors
and tinsmiths, we find that only one of them, the plumbers, with their
wages computed at the highest rate in the highest market, Chicago,
reaches $1,040. The table in this case is a weekly wage to working
plumbers in Chicago varying from $12 to $20 a week. At the latter
rate I have computed it. The laborers run about $350 per year. The
'middle classes' in the country would probably include employers, busi-
ness and professional men, merchants and middlemen generally, whose
income was from $1,000 to $10,000 per year, and whose property did not
exceed $100,000."
There is but one explanation to this mysterious advantage given to
the wealthier class against the wage earners, and that is to be found in
the corporation system which is yearly becoming stronger and more
effective as a bulwark for the few against the many. It is the direct
fountain of the power of a share-holding oligarchy against the masses.
Surely no more ingenious weapon ever menaced American freedom and
progress. The statistics about corporations are wretchedly, and one
might almost say, criminally wanting.
An appeal is made to what the railroad magnates facetiously call our
reason, meaning thereby our credulity, that great enterprises like rail-
roads can not be carried on without corporate capital. Following the cal-
culations in "Poore's Manual" that at the close of 1884 there were 125,379
miles of railroad in the United States upon which there was stock and
debt to the amount on an average of $61,400 per mile. It becomes an
interesting question to know what these roads cost. The actual stock
and debt was $7,676,399,054. Taking again Poore's estimate that securi-
ties were issued at the rate of two or three dollars for every dollar of
cash paid, the problem becomes an easy one. Use the lower figure as a
divisor and we find that there is $3,838,199,527 alleged to be invested
in railroads which is not invested in them. This fictitious sum draws
dividends, however, and the laborer in the end must pay with the sweat
of his brow for this phantom and unreal capital - this water with which
the stock is diluted. Assuming the return at six per cent, there is yearly
taken from the laborers on the railroads the tremendous sum of two
hundred and thirty millions of dollars, which is wholly an unfair
428
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
and unearned return for the capital invested. The railroad corpo-
rations have so exaggerated the evils of the corporation system that it be-
comes easy to see in their work what these evils are, but the same prin-
ciples make even the smaller corporations dangerous. The tendency to
water is one which apparently cannot be resisted, and the burden of the
requital of the real capital and the false are both thrown on labor.
The spread of slavery was also a factor in the formation of an
“American aristocracy." In the south there was a land-holding class
distinct in blood, in traditions and in methods from the tillers of the
soil. For nearly a century they throve marvelously, at the expense of
the labor in their own section, and in unfair competition with the labor
at the north.
All of these evils may be fairly traced to the mistakes made in the
formative period of American industry between the revolutionary war
and the beginning of the nineteenth century.
But there was good as well as bad done in that time. Side by side
with the seed of evil was planted the seed of good. The freeman armed
with the ballot with his rights guaranteed by the most solemn pledges
that a nation could make needed only time to undo the mistakes and
to found firmly a system which would stand. We must not criticize tỏo
harshly the errors of men who upbuilt so great a structure as that of
American liberty. Peoples as well as persons must learn out of their
own mistakes. There is no other road to wisdom.
CHAPTER IV.—THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
·
THE DAWN OF A NEW ERA FOR LABOR-THE FARMERS' CLUBS-CAUSES OF
THE ORGANIZATION OF LABOR IN AMERICA — AGRICULTURE AS A PURSUIT
ITS EFFECT ON THE MECHANICS-WORK FOR ALL-THE EXTENT OF THE
PUBLIC DOMAIN-THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE - THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY
PROTECTION AND FREE TRADE-THE DEVELOPMENT OF MECHANICAL INDUS-
TRIES -THE INVENTIVE GENIUS OF THE AMERICAN ARTISAN CONSEQUENCES
OF THE DIVERSION OF LABOR FROM AGRICULTURE TO MANUFACTURES — THE
DISTRIBUTION OF URBAN POPULATION-THE APPEARANCE OF THE TRAMP.
IN
M
N that very excellent work, "The Labor Problem," edited by William
A. Barnes, occurs the following succinct and striking tabulation of
the history of English labor for five centuries, giving a starting point
from which we can estimate the progress of the American, that which
has grown out of the English:
Fluctuations in the Relative Value of One Day's Wages of the Workingman, Caused
mainly by Legislation, during Five Hundred Years - Measured by the cost of cer-
tain Necessaries of Life.
Serf Con- Good Old Fam-
p'rod flict. Times. ine.
13th 14th 15th
cent. cent. cent.
Pauper Period.
1597 1610 1651 1661 1684 1715-1750-1795-
1750 1790 1820
cts. cts.
cts.
$ ct.
$ ct.$ ct.
$ ct.
$ ct.
$ ct.
ct.
$ ct.
$ ct.
$ ct.
1 bushel wheat..
½ bushel malt..
20 pounds beef
2 weeks' rent..
18
18
18
1 70
1 21
1 54
2 12
1 26
99
1 54
2.95
6
6
•
512
43
23
68
1 04
73
57
80
1 32
8
13
80
80
1 00
1 00
80
1 40
1.40
2.80
36
45
50
2 weeks' fuel..
25 30
50
32
37
45½
2 93
2 24
3 22
4 16
2.79
3 57
4 49
8 07
1 day's wages of
Value of
Carpenter
common
10
13
13
Laborer
rights esti-
6
8
10
22240
39
300
2003
2388
18
31
31
24
42
36
48
12 13
28
28
20
30
30 40
3283
333333
mated.
Proportion of 1 day's
wages to cost of arti-
cles named above.
Carpenter.
83
31 35
19 27
22
8 9.6
4 5.8 8.9
742 8.6
12
6.7 7.1 8.4
co t
8
7
GO 12
6
5
Laborer.
Thus we can see the fluctuations of work and comfort in the history
of our race from the time of the crusades to the beginning of the new
era. The nineteenth century opened with every promise of good fortune to
America. Out of a weak and disunited confederacy of half friendly
429
430
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABÓR.
states, a nation firm and well welded together had been built. Confi-
dence was restored. In every direction work was being pushed forward.
A valuable money had taken the place of the badly depreciated conti-
nental currency. The tremendous wealth of the country lying west of
the settled seaboard was beginning to be understood. Immigration was
coming at a healthy rate, and made up of healthy material. The people
had not lost their primitive simplicity and vigor. In a word a new era
dawned on humanity with the opening of the century.
Labor in 1800 was not organized; the economic conditions of the
time had not made that step necessary. The immense demand for agri-
cultural labor drained the cities of their surplus population and kept
mechanics wages high. The only organizations known at the time
were the farmers' clubs, which can in no way be considered akin to the
modern trades-union. The farm work was the great industry of the
country. The cities were small, there was not one in the country with.
half a million inhabitants until 1840. Whoever wanted work could have
it almost for the asking, while on the other hand mechanical pursuits
were backward and uncertain. The youth of the United States kept to
the farms, and when the community became somewhat more crowded,
moved a little farther to the west.
The public domain was then, and for many years afterward, far in
advance of the needs of the people. It was a constantly increasing
reservoir to swallow up the surplus population. The Louisiana purchase
was the first great addition to the nation. It comprised an extent of
country, out of which half a dozen commonwealths have been carved.
The Mexican war added to the United States a territory which rounded
the nation out from ocean to ocean, making a zone across North America
of the richest land on earth. Alaska was next added and the country
now contains 3,600,000 square miles to support a population of fifty
million. What this means will become more apparent if we look at it in
another way. Working backward from the per capita calculation there
are 455 acres of land for every man, woman and child in the United
States. In France there are 35 acres per head; in Germany, 3; in Great
Britain, 24; and in Belgium, 13. Even in the year 1886 it is accord-
ingly evident that we have a safety valve which should relieve the pres-
sure on the industrial pursuits. That it does not do so comes from
several well understood causes.
In the first place a protective tariff, whose ultimate reasonableness
or unreasonableness, it is not here the place to discuss, certainly fosters
manufacturing. It puts a premium on home-made goods and tends to
&
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
431
induce both capital and labor to go into the field of mechanical produc-
tion. The whole purpose of the tariff is to put upon imported merchan-
dise, of equal cost with the home product, an additional tax, which will
prevent it from competing in the home market. As a consequence the
development of mechanical industry in this country has been remarkable.
The whole character of New England has been changed from farm life
to factory life. The same changes are now going on in Georgia. The
Atlantic seaboard is now a manufacturing rather than an agricultural
region. Millions of dollars are invested in mechanical industry now,
where thousands were at work a few years ago.
The stimulus has not alone been felt by both labor and capital, but
it has also been apparent in the domain of invention. The patent office
at Washington illustrates this fact in a most peculiar manner. In
Connecticut there is each year one patent issued to every 705 of popula-
tion; in Massachusetts, one to every 820; in Rhode Island, one to every
845. In Alabama there is one to every 16,000; in Arkansas, one to
every 13,000; in Florida, one to every 11,000; in Georgia, one to every
13,000; in Mississippi, one to every 22,000; in North Carolina, one to
every 16,000; in South Carolina, one to every 21,000, and in Virginia
and Tennessee, one to every 12,000. And this is not a new thing. The
New England states manufacture more raw product twice over, in pro-
portion to the population, than any other section in the country. Their
whole energies are bent in one direction to the exclusion of all others.
The inventive genius of America has been fostered in the eastern states
and brought to a point where for years it has been proverbial. Yankee
notions have been synonymous, even before the days of Sam Slick for
ingenious devices to save money and to save trouble.
Thus one section of the country has been, by every possible means,
some of them healthy, some manifestly unwholesome, forcing its
development in one direction at the expense of others. There have been
good reasons for this. New England has not the same grade of agricul-
tural lands which are found to the south and to the west. It has accord-
ingly looked in another direction for profit, and certainly it has richly
found it. It was to be expected that imitators would spring up. The
highly protected factories of the east were making large returns upon
the capital invested. It was natural that capital in other parts of the
country should seek similar channels. Thus there has been throughout
the country a distinct tendency to divert labor from the farm to the
factory. Let us glance at the facts in the case. In 1752, for instance,
agricultural laborers received thirty-three cents a day. The same rate
132
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
was paid in mechanic pursuits. The following table shows how these
prices gradually drew apart in the United States:
Wages
Agricultural
Wages
Agricultural
Laborers.
$1.00
1.0612.
1.121½...
Wages
Mechanical
Laborers.
$1.25
1.50
•
•
1.33
•
1.50
1.35
•
94
1.21
90
1.20
•
92
1.30
•
96
Year.
Laborers.
Wages
Mechanical
Laborers.
Year.
1752.
$ 33
$33
1845....
1756.
33
48
1860..
•
1763..
33
35
1864..
•
1770...
33
34
1870..
1.15
•
• •
1781..
41
46
1875.
1.00
1790..
33
40
1878..
•
• •
•
1801..
57
61
1880..
1910.
1.00
1.10
1884..
1820.
1826...
75
78
1.00
1886...
1.00
•
1.45
The above table has been constructed by taking an average, reported
from different States on the Atlantic seaboard. It will be seen that there
has been, since the beginning of the century, a constant premium offered
for mechanical labor as against agricultural. The quality and the quan-
tity of the work required is either equal or against farm work. The
hours in the latter calling are longer, the work not less easy, the skill
certainly not on the side of the mechanical pursuits. The consequence
of this increased premium has been constantly to divert work from the
country to the town. The laborer, as well as the merchant, will naturally
sell in the dearest market, and the legitimate consequence has been the
much more rapid growth of the cities in population than the country. A
reference to the accompanying chart will show at what strides the great
cities have grown. New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago and St.
Louis have been selected for purposes of comparison, and with these has
been given a graphic representation of the growth of the whole popula-
tion of the United States. The chart comes very near telling its own
story, without textual illustration. For almost a century we have been
adding continually to our already over-populated cities. Every factory
established draws about it first a hamlet, just as the castles built in the
feudal times had each its neighboring village of serfs. As the years roll
on the hamlet grows into a village, the village to a town, the town to a
city. Fresh, ruddy-cheeked boys and girls from the surrounding country
come in to share the smoke and the evil influences and the high pay
which rules where men are crowded together. And thus we find that in
1880 there are thirty-six cities in the United States with a population of
over fifty thousand, and five hundred and seventy-five with a population
of over four thousand. While it would be hardly profitable to figure up
4
ها
5
6
13
12
11
A

10
9
8
CHART A.
Growth of Urban Population
COMPARED WITH
POPULATION OF THE WHOLE
UNITED STATES.
Cities,
I = 100,000
7
U. S.,
- I = 10,000,000
1
3
PHILADELPHIA
1780
NEW YORK
BOSTON
POPULATION U. S.
NEW YORK
PHILADELPHIA
POPULATION Ų. S.
NEW YORK
PHILADELPHIA
CHICAGO
BOSTON
ST. LOUIS
CHICAGO
POPULATION U. S.
CHICAGO
ST. LOUIS
BOSTON
ST.LOUIS
1800
1810
1820
1830
1840
1850
1860
1870
1880
433
434
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
the amount of the whole urban population, it is evident that a very large
proportion of the people of the United States live in cities. There are
many consequences some good and some bad. In the first place, there
are in Massachusetts eighty-five cities with a population of over four
thousand out of a total population of one million seven hundred and eighty-
three thousand, while the whole United States, with a population of fifty
millions has five hundred and seventy-five. In other words, there is one.
town of over four thousand to every twenty-one thousand people in Massa-
chusetts and one to every eighty-seven thousand in the whole country.
Massachusetts and Iowa have nearly the same population. Massachusetts
has eighty-five towns, Iowa nineteen. Texas has two hundred thousand less
population than Massachusetts, and seventy-four less towns of four thou-
sand people. Connecticut has half the population of Alabama, and eight
times as many towns. The same proportion will hold good, in a general
way, for the New England and Middle States. A high tariff has done
much toward accomplishing this work, although due credit must be given
to the other influences as well. Out of the complicated plexus of causes
we come to the result, to which attention cannot be too earnestly called:
the disproportionably large growth of our urban populations. Were it
not for the congeries of workingmen thus brought together, labor organi-
zation would be impossible. Agricultural guilds have never, in the history
of the world, scored a continuous success. We have seen one of the
most promising experiments in this direction rise, flourish and fall, in the
Granger organization. There cannot, in our condition of society, be
formed successful trades-unions of farm workers. All of the circum-
stances are against them. In the towns, however, the proximity of man.
to man, the action and reaction constantly going on, naturally tend to
social crystallization and the development of higher and better forms of
society. Life is fuller, richer and more comfortful in the towns, just as
it is freer, healthier and more vigorous in the country. But the result is
one not wholly to be praised, nor wholly to be blamed.
pensations in either direction. If the workingman has higher wages and
greater comforts, he has more temptation and greater expense. Hist
family is exposed to the dangers of the streets, the demoralizations of a
city life. We are producing at one and the same time an artisan class
and a surplus population. Engel never said a truer thing than when he
remarked that the appearance of the tramp was a symptom that a country
was coming to be an industrial nation. The Story of Labor has reached
a point where the tramp is one of the institutions of American civili-
zation.
There are com-
CHAPTER V.-THE FORMATIVE PERIOD.
99 66
ΤΠΕ
THE REORGANIZATION OF LABOR — THE EARLY GUILDS AND THEIR INFLUENCE
CAULKERS' CLUB AND THE BOSTON MASSACRE- THE FIRST AMERICAN TRADES-
UNION, 1803-THE SAILORS' STRIKE - THE NEW YORK TYPOGRAPHICAL
SOCIETY, 1817- THE FORMATION PERIOD FROM 1825 to 1861 - THE FIRST
APPEARANCE OF THE LABOR PRESS-"THE WORKINGMAN'S ADVOCATE,' THE
SENTINEL, ""YOUNG AMERICA" — THE FIRST LABOR PLATFORM THE WORK-
INGMAN IN POLITICS THE CAMPAIGN OF 1830 — THE Loco-Focos THE
GENERAL TRADES-UNION OF NEW YORK" - THE FIRST LABOR REPRESENTATIVE
IN CONGRESS-THE CONSPIRACY LAWS - CHILD AND FEMALE LABOR — A DAY'S
WORK-FACTORY MANAGEMENT-THE NEW ENGLAND ASSOCIATION COM-
BINED ACTION TEN YEARS' GROWTH OF TRADES-UNIONS THE SITUATION
IN 1860.
IN
—
"
N ancient Rome, labor organizations were unknown, for the reason
that the men and women who did the heavy work of the world were
mostly slaves. The free citizens who were supplanted in the ownership
of the land by wealthy slave holders, joined the legions engaged in
foreign conquest, or crowded into the cities to be fed from the free grants
of corn instituted by Caius Gracchus and corrupted by the free shows
of the ædiles. After the Roman system in western Europe had been
overthrown by barbarian conquerors, the first glimmer of returning
civilization, seen through the darkness of the middle ages, came from
the trade and labor guilds of the free walled cities. These guilds are the
logical predecessors of the modern labor union. They were simply
societies of artisans and tradespeople organized for the promotion of
their several industries. A very important part of their function was to
afford mutual protection against the rapacity of the feudal barons.
Each craft had its guild with its own laws, its own rules governing
apprentices and the qualifications of master workmen. Under the
influence of the guilds, commerce and industry were fostered. The
cities they occupied were the only oases of civilization in the dreary
waste of robbery and violence of medieval feudalism.
During the first hundred and fifty years of the English colonization
in America, there was little need of protective organization among the
workingmen. There were no large cities and but small accumulations.
of capital. The country was so full of undeveloped resources that any
*
435

436
I
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
{
laborer with a stout heart, a strong arm and a moderately skillful d
had about as good a working capital as his wealthiest neighbor. Hence,
the few labor societies that existed previous to the Revolution were
mainly social and political in their objects. The Caulker's club, of
Boston was one of the earliest of these. It took an active part in the
agitations preceding the battle of Lexington, and its younger members
were foremost in the demonstrations against the British soldiery which
culminated in the "Boston massacre" of March, 1770.
The self-reliance forced upon the people by the Revolutionary War,
and the new impetus given to industry by its successful termination,
caused a decided increase in the numbers and variety of pursuits of
American craftsmen. In Philadelphia, then the largest American city,
there was a grand civic and military procession on the Fourth of July,
1788. An eye witness mentions the following trades as being represented
in this patriotic pageant, each trade carrying an emblematic flag, and
many of the tradesmen being at work as the procession moved: There
was a Federal edifice drawn by ten white horses, and followed by 500
architects and house-carpenters; pilots of the port with their boat, boat-
builders, sailmakers, shipjoiners, ropemakers, cordwainers, coachpainters,
cabinetmakers and chairmakers, brickmakers, house-, ship- and sign-
painters, porters, clockmakers, watchmakers, weavers, bricklayers, tailors,
instrumentmakers, turners, spinning-wheelmakers, carvers and gilders,
coopers, planemakers, whip- and canemakers. Then came the black-
smiths, whitesmiths, nailers and coachmakers. After them the potters,
hatters, wheelwrights, tinplate workers, skinmen, breechesmakers and
glovers, printers, bookbinders and stationers, saddlers, stonecutters,
bread- and biscuitmakers, gunsmiths, coppersmiths, goldsmiths, silver-
smiths and jewelers, brass-founders, stocking-manufacturers, tanners and
curriers, upholsterers, sugar-refiners, brewers, perukemakers and barber-
surgeons, engravers, plasterers, brushmakers and staymakers. This was
the first grand labor demonstration ever made in America.
In this Philadelphia display it is seen that the industries connected
with shipbuilding bore a prominent part. The construction and naviga-
tion of sea-going vessels were indeed favorite vocations in all the eastern
cities. So it is not surprising that the first American trades-union, of
which there is authentic record, was the New York Society of Journey-
men Shipwrights, incorporated on the 3d of April, 1803. The house-
carpenters of the city of New York formed a union in 1806. The pre-
decessor of the great Typographical Union No. 6, whose first president
was Horace Greeley, was the New York Typographical Society. Thurlow
THE FORMATIVE PERIOD.
437
Weed was elected a member in 1817, and procured its incorporation in
the following year. Thurlow Weed, in his reminiscences, also tells of a
typographical society in Albany, which, in 1821, ordered a strike in an
office where Weed was working because employment had been given to a
"rat." These in New York State, and one or two elsewhere which bore
a stronger resemblance to our latter-day mutual and benevolent societies.
than to a modern trades-union, practically fill the list of labor organiza-
tions incorporated during the first quarter of the century. That a good
many similar organizations were formed, if not incorporated, in Phila-
delphia and other cities, there can, however, be little doubt. The rapid
concentration of craftsmen into unions, which began in the latter half
of the decade, 1820-30, surely indicates not a little informal combi-
nation among them.
The formation period of the present vast system of labor societies.
and trades-unions in the United States may be said to begin with John
Quincy Adams' accession to the presidency in 1825, and to continue till
the incoming of President Lincoln and the outbreak of the ivil war in
1861. The rapid increase of population during the first quarter of the
century, the settlement of new territory west of the Alleghanies, and
even west of the Mississippi river, the multiplication of industries and
the growth of cities, had brought, and was constantly bringing, new con-
ditions to which working people in the older communities of the sea-
board could adjust themselves only through concerted action. The ma-
jority of artisans no longer worked in their own little shops, and the
accumulation of capital was beginning to raise questions of conflicting
interest between employer and employé. The drift of sentiment to
which this situation gave rise was accelerated by the advent to New York
of two English labor reformers, the brothers Evans, who shortly after
1825 began the publication of the Workingman's Advocate, probably the
first labor organ ever printed in the new world. This publication after
a few years gave place to the Daily Sentinel, and this in turn to the
Young America, which last printed at its head the first American labor
platform. For the following copy of this document we are indebted to
Mr. Ely's "Labor Movement in America." Some of its twelve demands
have already been acceded to, some abandoned and some are still urged:
'First. The right of man to the soil, 'Vote yourself a farm.’
Second. Down with monopolies, especially the United States Bank.
"Third. Freedom of public lands.
"Fourth. Homesteads made inalienable.
"Fifth. Abolition of all laws for the collection of debts.
438
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR,
"Sixth. A general bankrupt law.
"Seventh. A lien of the laborer upon his own work for his wages.
Eighth.
Abolition of imprisonment for debt.
Ninth. Equal rights for women with men in all respects.
Tenth. Abolition of chattel slavery, and of wages slavery.
"Eleventh. Land limitation to one hundred and sixty acres; no person after the
passage of this law to become possessed of more than that amount of land. But
when a land monopolist died, his heirs were to take each his legal number of acres,
and be compelled to sell the overplus, using the proceeds as they pleased.
Twelfth. Mails in the United States to run on the Sabbath."
Radical for that day as were principles thus formulated by the Evans
brothers, they found great favor with the working people, and were the
basis of the "Workingmen's Party," whose convention at Syracuse, N.
Y., in 1830, nominated Ezekiel Williams for governor of that state. He
received only 3,000 votes, but in New York City his supporters "pooled
issues" with Whigs, and elected several of the labor candidates to the
legislature. The Loco-Foco party, which occupied so large a place in
the politics of New York State for a time was the outgrowth of this
movement, and as the Democratic party offered greater concessions than
the Whigs, it gained the Loco-Foco support. The first popular demand
for the nomination of General Andrew Jackson for the Presidency came
from. Pennsylvania, and the cry was echoed enthusiastically by the labor
element and small farmer interest throughout the East. The claim,
therefore, of the Loco-Focos that it was their influence which made
Jackson's election possible, is perhaps a little too broad. It is, however,
true that Jackson always looked upon Martin Van Buren as the prince
of politicians, and that Van Buren was on the best of terms with the
labor vote, from which he received valuable aid in carrying New York
for Jackson.
It was during Jackson's second administration that the first labor rep-
resentative was elected to the congress of the United States. The gentle-
man who won this distinction was Ely Moore, who in 1833 was president
of "The General Trades-Unions of the City of New York." Like the
Central Labor Unions and Trades Assemblies of the present day, it
aimed to unite under one central head all the unions of the city and
vicinity. Its objects, as stated in an address delivered by Mr. Moore in
December, 1833, were both political and economic; to guard the laborer
against the encroachments of wealth; to preserve his natural and polit-
ical rights; to narrow the line of distinction between employer and
employed; to promote the latter's pecuniary interest, and to aid those
out of employment. He also advanced the theory, since so generally
THE FORMATIVE PERIOD.
439
adopted by all labor organizations, that the General Trades-Union would
diminish the number of strikes and lockouts, instead of increasing them.
One significant clause of the constitution of this central body is, we
believe, universally adopted by all recent central unions. It is: "No
trade or art shall strike for higher wages than they at present receive
without the sanction of this convention."
The anti-monopoly issue of that period was sharply drawn in Presi-
dent Jackson's relentless fight upon the United States Bank, and the
popularity among working people of New York gained by Mr. Moore
through his connection with the Central Trades Assembly led to his
election to congress.
Political discussion was all the more important in efforts at labor re-
form at that time, since the combination and conspiracy laws existing in
most, if not all the states was a sharp check upon strikes. The "Sailor's
Strike" in New York City, in 1802, was probably the first in America.
Desiring to exact of ship-owners an increase to fourteen dollars a month.
instead of ten, they quit work and paraded the streets with a band, in-
ducing their shipmates to join the procession. The constables turned
out, arrested the leader, locked him in jail, and thus put a summary
end to the strike under the conspiracy statute. Thirty-five years later
this relic of the old English law was bitterly assailed by a labor pam-
phleteer, who proclaimed that "the laws have made it a just and meri-
torious act that capitalists shall combine to strip the man of labor of his
earnings," whereas, "if mechanics combine to raise wages, the laws pun-
ish them as conspirators against the good of society, and the dungeon
awaits them as it does the robber." The first victory of laboring-
men against this law was won in the famous "Journeyman Bootmakers'
case," in Massachusetts, in 1842. The prosecution brought against the
bootmakers' union, under the old conspiracy laws, was then decided in
favor of the defendants, and no question as to the legality of labor organi-
zations has since been raised in that state.
In the decade from 1830 to 1840, the agitation for the reform of
labor abuses was more active than in any period of our history, previous
to the civil war. Seth Luther in a lecture delivered at a number of
places in New England, vigorously assailed the hard usage of children
that had become a feature of New England factory life. Not only were
earnings of parents insufficient to educate their children, but both.
women and children were often treated with a brutality that would not
for a moment be tolerated at the present day. Luther tells of a girl of
eleven whose leg was broken with a club by the taskmaster, of a boy of
440
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
twelve who drowned himself to escape from the horrors of the factory,
and of a rebellion by 1,000 women against the brutal tyranny of the fac-
tory overseers. Both women and children were habitually goaded on to
work by the use of the cowhide. Almost simultaneously with Luther's
work the advocacy of an improved system of education was being pressed
by other fabor advocates. Carter, Rantoul and Horace Mann a little
later took up the advocacy of measures that should protect child opera-
tives, and enable them to obtain, at least, some rudiments of education.
Their efforts were not wholly unsuccessful, but the most effective blow
to the oppressive system which bore so heavily upon women and children
in the factories, was the overthrow of the conspiracy laws, leaving work-
ing people more free to right their own wrongs.
Fifty years ago the eight-hour movement would have seemed to both
employer and employé little short of midsummer madness. For women
and children, as well as for men, the working day in New England
factories was from eleven to twelve hours a day, and in many employ-
ments the old basis of "from sun to sun," which in summer meant six-
teen hours a day, was still in vogue. Twelve and thirteen hours were
not at all unusual. The revolt against this system was the ten-hour
movement, which was brought to a successful issue in Baltimore, late in
the thirties. A few years later, on the 10th of April, 1840, President
Van Buren issued an order making ten hours a day's work in the navy-
yards at Washington, and in all the government establishments. It was
gradually adopted by private employers, though there are unfortunately
a few employments in which twelve or more hours are exacted.
The tyrannical regulations of New England factory management in
President Jackson's time were the subject of many and bitter complaints
by the operatives. For resting or amusing themselves on Sunday instead
of going to church they were fined by the mill-owners, who also taxed
them to aid in supporting the churches out of their scanty earnings.
During working hours they were locked in the mills as cattle in a barn,
and out of working hours the employers claimed the right of controlling
their actions, as absolutely as any southern planter did with the
negroes. Facts and incidents of this sort are necessary to a full under-
standing of the great labor agitations of the period.
A powerful agent in alleviating these oppressions was the New Eng-
land Association, which first met in Boston in 1831, and again in 1832.
It set on foot organized action in favor of the ten-hour day, improve-
ment of the educational system, abolition of imprisonment, removal of
restrictions upon the right of suffrage and for a mechanic's lien law.

P. Ross Martin.
Secretary Federated Trades and Labor Organizations
of the Pacific Coast.
UNIL
OF
MICH
` THE_FORMATIVE PERIOD.
443
For elevating the condition of working people it proposed the organiza-
tion of the whole laboring population of the United States, the separa-
tion of questions of practical reform from mere party contests, dissemi-
nation of labor literature and a judicious selection from among political
candidates of the party to which workingmen may happen to belong, of
those who would give the best guarantees of promoting the reforms in
which working people were most deeply concerned.
The political and industrial reforms of the Jacksonian era were not
fought out without a heavy cost both to capitalist and workingman.
The unsettled condition of public opinion, the financial disorders grow-
ing out of Jackson's blow at the old United States bank, and the wild
speculations that followed, brought on the financial crisis of 1837, result-
ing in an era of industrial depression which deprived many of employ-
ment. This wore away by the end of Van Buren's administration, and
there was comparative prosperity until 1847, when another reaction came.
Relief soon came, however, from the California "gold fever" of 1849,
which started an active shipping trade to the Pacific coast and took so
many men to the gold fields and other industries in California that
wages rose in the east. The output of the gold mines and the general
impetus to business growing out of the California emigration made an
era of active prosperity throughout the United States.
Under such conditions the labor movement entered upon the last and
most active decade of the formation period. Local labor unions, now,
were not only rapidly increasing in numbers but were consolidating into
national and international organizations. A national convention of com-
positors that met in New York in 1850, laid the foundation of the present
International Typographical Union, including Canada and the United
States, and having today a membership of 30,000 or more. National or
international unions of hatters, metal workers, machinists, molders,
blacksmiths, and a score of other trades were formed during the decade.
The stout contest of the past thirty years had broken down many of
the abuses and lifted many of the oppressions under which labor had
suffered in the past, and in spite of the financial crash of 1857, some of
whose evil effects still lingered, the workingmen of America found them-
selves in 1860 in a better position than they had ever occupied before.
The multiplication of industries had broadened the avenues of employ-
ment, while improvements in the factory system had immensely
increased the productive capacity of the workingmen, cheapening the
product to the consumer and giving increased wages to the employé and
to labor a larger relative share of the product.
444
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
During this period of thirty years there had been a considerable
increase in the price of food products used by the workingmen, but in
all other articles there was a diminution of prices. The increase in
wages during the thirty years is shown in the following table, compiled
by the Labor Bureau in Washington.
COMPARISON OF WAGES BY PERIODS: 1830 AND 1860
OCCUPATIONS.
Average
Average
Daily Wages Daily Wages Percentage
for the
for the of Increase
Period end'g Period end'g or Decrease.
Agricultural laborers
....
Blacksmiths
Carpenters..
Clockmakers
Clothing makers...
Cotton mill operatives.
Glass makers
Harness makers.
Laborers
Masons.
Metal workers.
Millwrights
Painters...
•
• · · ·
·
Paper mill operatives
Printers.
•
Ship and boat builders.
Shoemakers
Tanners and curriers.
Wooden goods makers.
Woolen mill operatives
· •
•
·
•
*
• ·
•
with 1830.
with 1860.
$0.803
$1.01
25.8
1.12
1.69
50.9
1.07
2.03
89.7
1.29
1.96
51.9
1.27
1.43
12.6
.886
•
1.03
16.3
1.13
2.96
161.9
1.13
1.65
46.0
.796
.975
22.5
1.22
1.53
25.4
1.23
1.35
9.8
1.21
1.66
37.2
1.25
1.85
48.0
.666
1.17
75.7
1.25
1.75
40.0
1.40
3.65
160.7
1.06
1.70
60.4
1.13
1.67
47.3
1.25
1.72
37.6
•
946
.873
7.7
This shows a general average increase of over 50 per cent for all the
kinds of labor indicated. How much this may be offset by increased cost
of living there are no means of ascertaining with certainty. Balancing
the cheaper rate at clothing and other manufactured products are sold
against the increase in the price of food it is probable that labor has
gained very nearly the full 50 per cent of enhanced wages shown by the
table.
CHAPTER VI.-THE NEW ERA.
THE CIVIL WAR-ITS EFFECT ON LABOR-THE DESTRUCTION OF SLAVERY
THE FINANCIAL CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY AT ITS CLOSE THE IMPETUS
GIVEN TO MANUFACTURES RAPID GROWTH OF LABOR ORGANIZATIONS
ATTEMPT AT NATIONAL FEDERATION OF WORKINGMEN-THE EIGHT HOUR MOVE-
MENT - -THE GRANGERS RAILROAD DEVELOPMENT, ITS CAUSES AND CONSE-
QUENCES THE GROWTH OF CAPITAL - THE ECONOMIC CONDITIONS OF 1886.
AN
A NEW era in America began with the civil war.
The war
Old systems
were swept away, old prejudices passed into history, the last
debris of feudalism was cleared away and the United States made ready
for the good time to come. It is no part of this work to enter into the
causes or the story of the war. Labor is chiefly concerned with peace;
war is a disturbance and an interruption; nor is this a drum and
trumpet history, it is rather a hammer and anvil history. But
we know why the war came. There were two unreconciliable
theories of government; and, as in all the annals of the world,
they had to come at last to the arbitrament of force.
wrecked slavery and furnished a new bond of union among the common
people, as the workingmen are contemptuously called by others, and
proudly by themselves. During the years while the struggle was in prog-
ress the whole machinery of commerce was thrown out of gear, hun-
dreds of thousands of the best men on either side of Mason and Dixon's
line were at the front, while, at home, in the factories and at the farms,
were left not quite the best class, or the most valuable to the community.
The drain into the armies carried away the labor from the country behind,
wages fluctuated greatly, owing to the disturbed condition of the
country, and the period, as far as labor is concerned, may be dismissed.
as an abnormal one, where accidental and unusual conditions combined
to render any study of wage-making economics futile.
But the war once over, he must be blind, indeed, who cannot see the
tremendous impetus that was given to every branch of industry. The
boys came marching home eager to hammer their swords into plow-
shares. They had behind them years of hardship, of steady discipline,
of that exultation which comes from sacrifice for truth. Within six
months over a million and a half of men, North and South, began pro-
445
446
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
ductive work. The country was full of a depreciated, but intrinsically,
valuable money. Confidence in the future was never at a higher flood.
The great West was waiting for development. There were railroads to
be built, factories to be worked, mines to be dug, farms to be plowed.
The wheels of commerce began to revolve again. Industry had not suf-
fered by lying fallow for four yea
Some great work had been done for humanity. The abolition of
slavery was a step forward worth years of fighting. It raised the laborer of
the South at a bound from the condition of the beast of burden to man-
hood, with all its responsibilities and rights. Naturally a suddenly
enfranchised people were, for a time, blinded in the full glare of the
dim light. They, like others, had to learn, and to learn, through suf-
fering and mistakes, what freedom meant. But the lesson, is being
received. The negro is, through training and heredity, a worker on the
farm rather than in the factory. Unaided he would not have achieved
his emancipation for centuries. The race clings to the soil yet and to
habits of servitude. The black seldom learns any trade, save that of the
barber and the waiter. Better farm workers, when they will work, are
not to be found in America. But the emancipation of the negro was
not a benefit to the negro alone; it was a distinct gain to all the farm
workers in the land who came into competition with slave-labor, or who
produced the commodities which slave-labor consumed. As convict-labor
is today, slave-labor was up to 1861. Its effect was to force free labor
to come to its condition and its wages. It worked for a bare subsist-
ence, and produced under high pressure. It had only the scant neces-
sities of life, and none of the comforts; it was not a purchaser in the
market, but only an unfair competitor. It was broken up at last, and
even the most prejudiced in the land, North and South, will come-is
coming to reverence the dead hand that wrote "A. Lincoln." under
the charter that swept away the relic of barbarism. The consequences
were not at once apparent. It was believed that the South was ruined,
but the New South is now prospering in full concert with the rest of the
country. The ravages of war, which destroyed millions and millions of
property in the national battlefield, were soon made up and the march of
progress once more taken up. The negro is training himself as a citizen
and forgetting himself as an escaped slave; and so far as the process goes
he is a profitable unit of society. The South, itself, with free labor ist
getting larger returns for the capital invested than it did under the old
dispensation, with its slovenly processes and wasteful methods.
At the close of the war, the credit of the nation had been used to an
THE NEW ERA.
447
extent theretofore unprecedented in the history of America. The debt
at its highest point was $2,700,000,000; the assessed valuation of the
property held in the United States in 1860 was $12,000,000,000: the
debt was somewhat more than one dollar in five of the assessed valuation.
At the South, the Confederacy had gone to wreck. There was neither
money nor property in the land. The finances of the seceding states
were in a confusion greater even than that of the Continental Congress.
Appomattox extinguished even the last flickering spark of value that
lingered in the Confederate dollar. Gold and silver had been almost
wholly drained out of that section, and state bankruptcy seemed immi-
nent. At the North things were not so bad, but the condition was
dangerous. How prosperity was retrieved nothing tells better than the
highest price of gold in greenbacks, which ran as follows:
1864..
1865.
1866..
1867...
1868...
$2.85
2.3434
1.6734
1869....
1870...
1871..
$1.6212
1874...
.$1.14%
1.231/4
1875..
1.175%
•
1.15%
1876...
1.15
1.463%
1.50
1872.
1873...
• •
•
1.155%
1877...
1.19%
1878...
1.07%
1.02%
and in 1879, and since that year, one dollar in paper has been worth one
dollar in gold, through the resumption of specie payment. In fourteen
years from its lowest point, national credit reached a place in the highest.
rank. The disorganization of the finances had its effect on the business.
of the country. The period immediately following the war was a time.
of great inflation. In 1865 the currency in circulation was $983,000,-
000, or $28 per capita; in 1879 it was $734,000,000, or $14.87 per capita.
New enterprises were pushed forward, new channels of industry found,
and the whole commerce of the country had an impetus, whose traces arc
to be found in every page of the census reports. In the general, even if
fictitious, prosperity, the laborer to a certain extent shared. Wages were
higher, as a corollary of money being more plentiful. Side by side with
the unhealthy and too rapid growth of mechanical industry, the founda-
tions of a more stable prosperity were being laid in the west by the men
who were developing the prairies and clearing the forests. In 1866
there were $600,000,000 worth of public lands sold, in 1869 there were
$4,000,000,000 worth sold. Thus a large part of the population was
taking up real production and making the country ready for that large
and wholesome prosperity which was to come after the froth of the war
time had been blown away.
The period was essentially one of organization. Army life had edu-
cated the masses into a knowledge of the value of discipline and com、
448
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
bined effort. They were trained to apply to the services of peace the
system which they had been taught in the school of war. Never in the
history of the world did labor advance so rapidly as in the time lying be-
tween the close of the civil war and the year 1886. The history of the
time is a history of organization and combination. Capital was setting
the pace by constantly growing corporations and pools, and labor was
following along the well-blazed path with strong unions and federations
of workingmen stretching throughout the United States.
Many of the local unions grew very strong and the next step, that of
national federation, was an easy one to make. In some cases, as in that
of the Knights of St. Crispin, the federation ended in failure, in others
it has been a complete and lasting success. Perhaps in no single part of
the struggle has the effect of organization been so apparent as in the
eight-hour movement elsewhere described, and in the record made by
the Knights of Labor.
A most important episode in the Story of Labor was the rise and
progress of the Granger movement, which began in 1866, and which nine
years later had a membership of 763,263. The Patrons of Husbandry
were not strictly a combination of wagc-earners, but their work has been
done along the same lines. The Grangers have steadily put their
influence against the growth of railroad and corporation monopoly.
There is a constantly increasing likelihood of a juncture, or at least a
strong alliance between the Patrons of Husbandry and the Knights of
Labor. Both of these great bodies watch with alarm the work illegiti-
mately done by the railroads and the corporations. Their ends are
almost identical and there seems to be no inherent antagonism in the
means by which they pursue their ends. The manner in which the rail-
road development of the country has been achieved is not altogether a
blessing either to the farmers or the wage-earners. A sum of money
larger than the national debt is carried by the transportation industry of
the country as a result not of cost, but of dishonest finance. The earn-
ings of this fictitious capital come finally upon the workingman to pay.
No one can legitimately object to capital receiving its fair share in the
product of its employment, but capital which is not wealth, but water,
which is nothing but the notoriously bad result of stock jobbing pools,
is a burden which neither the laborer nor the farmer should rest quiet
beneath.
Fairly and unfairly capital has grown in America with strides greater
than that known in any country in the world. Its distribution is closely
akin to the distribution of steam horse-power which is tabulated on
THE NEW ERA.
449
another page. It is very interesting to note the wealth per capita of the
different states in 1880 as compared with 1850. It must be remembered
that in 1850 the negroes were property in the southern states while in
1880 they were divisors to be used in ascertaining the per capita. Vir-
ginia and West Virginia were one state in 1850. The showing is as fol-
lows:
1880
Alabama
Arizona
Arkansas
$299
1850
$ 296
1880
1850
Montana
$741
$
569
Nebraska..
641
307
190
Nevada
1,100
California
Colorado
• •
Connecticut
Dakota.
Delaware.
Florida.
1,654
239
New Hampshire
945
326
767
New Jersey
• 1 • •
•
1,267
409
·
• ·
1,368
420
New Mexico...
251
84
503
New York
1,499
349
941
230
•
North Carolina
319
261
·
353
261
Ohio...
1,032
255
Georgia
359
370
Oregon.
721
381
·
Idaho
368
Illinois
·
1,005
183
Indiana
758
205
•
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina.
•
•
1,259
313
• ·
•
1,519
546
297
431
Iowa..
871
123
Tennessee
432
201
Kansas
577
Texas
455
248
•
Kentucky
534
307
•
Utah.
465
87
•
Louisiana
Maine.
Maryland..
Massachusetts.
449
452
•
772
210
•
929
376
Vermont
Virginia..
Washington
870
294
458
303
639
• •
1,568
577
West Virginia
496
Michigan..
837
150
Wisconsin
737
138
Minnesota
817
•
Wyoming
962
•
Mississippi...
286
377
District of Columbia .. 1,255
271
Missouri.
706
201
The discovery of gold and the consequent great development of the
state accounts for the great growth of wealth in California, Connecticut,
Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode
Island and Illinois each show a per capita of over $1,000. In each
of these states the proportion of pauperism is high, and in some
it is at its highest. In all of them wages certainly do not grade higher
than in states whose progress has not been so apparent. In all of them
the percentage of men having $50,000 is higher than in the rest of the
country. Thus it will be seen that there is a greater proportion of capi-
tal in New England especially, and in the middle states, than in other
parts of America and that the wealth is held in fewer hands.
The economic conditions of 1886 are thus the results of a develop-
450
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
ment which we e can trace back to the middle ages. The early guilds were
the forerunners of the federated labor unions of today. The people
have been coming to higher things from year to year, now making a
great stride forward, now losing some, but not all of the ground won, so
that on the whole the progress has been real, the advance certain. In
1886 we see labor organized as it never was before in the history of the
world. The wild revolts of the Jocquerie, of Wat Tyler, of the peasants
of Germany, were the old forms of the same impulse which in this year
of grace has shown us the strength of the Knights of Labor against the
pork packers during the autumn, and against the Gould Southwestern
System in the spring. The difference is the difference between civiliza-
tion and barbarism. The only weapon of the workingman of the dark
ages was the bludgeon or the cuttle. We have changed all of that.
Labor now is as thoroughly organized and homogeneous as was the
feudal system, or as is the railway pool. We have seen the "common
people "arming themselves with new and constitutional weapons before
which the injustice of the ruling minority must go down. Manhood
suffrage is the most important factor in the economics of today. It is
a fact that we can safely trust the people; it is a fact that we must trust
the people whether it is with our will or against it. The currency of the
country is as good as gold and somewhat better than silver. The pendu-
lum seems to be swinging toward an era of good times undisturbed by
financial panics or commercial depressions. All that is needed in Amer-
ica is fair play between master and man to make this the most happy as
well as the most prosperous country whereof the history of the world
holds record.
CHAPTER VII.-THE EVENTS OF 1886.
THE SOUTHWESTERN STRIKE-A SYNOPSIS OF THE FACTS IN THE MOST STUBBORN
FIGHT OF THE CENTURY BETWEEN ORGANIZED CAPITAL AND ORGANIZED
LABOR - THE EIGHT-HOUR MOVEMENT- THE "FOUR EIGHTS - THE NUM-
BERS ENGAGED IN THE MOVE, AND THE RESULTS THRoughout the COUNTRY.
TH
HE preliminary signal for the great Southwestern railroad strike was
the shriek of a steam whistle calling out the workmen in the Texas
and Pacific railroad shops in Marshall, Tex., at three o'clock P. M., on
Monday, the first of March. On the same day there was a walk-out of
all the men in the Texas and Pacific shops at Big Springs, Tex. At
Fort Worth a general strike was declared against the Missouri Pacific
and the Texas and Pacific roads, three hundred men going out. Not only
were the shops deserted by mechanics, but all freight traffic was sus-
pended at that point. The railroad officials declared, "officially,” that
they were ignorant of the cause of the strike.
Such com-
But,
But, he
must state
The news was promptly telegraphed to Receiver Brown at Dallas.
To the reporters who interviewed him, Mr. Brown did not pretend
ignorance of the origin of the strike; he declared that no employé had
laid any grievance before him or any agent of the road.
plaints, he claimed, would have been promptly attended to.
added, any man who feels that he has cause of complaint
his own grievance, and present his own case in person, and not invoke
the officious interference of persons who do not appear on our rolls and
who are unknown to us." The position of the railroad corporations, thus
forcibly and concisely expressed by Mr. Brown, explains the long and
bitter struggle that followed. In beginning the quarrel the Texas and
Pacific road was really the aggressor, the discharge of Hall being a
thinly disguised attack upon the Knights of Labor. The fight, through-
out, was conducted solely upon the issue of recognizing or not recogniz-
ing their organization.
J. J. McGarry, Judge Advocate of District Assembly No. 1, K. of L.,
was in Texas for some days before March 1st, looking into the situation.
From his account of the trouble published on March 3d, it appears that
District Assembly No. 101 held a largely attended convention at Mar-
shall, beginning on the 15th of February, and lasting for several days.
451
452
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR
C. A. Hall, foreman of the wood-workers in the Texas and Pacific car
shops at Marshall, was a delegate. He had made an arrangement with
the master car-builder, Crosby, which left him at liberty to attend the
sessions of the convention without seriously neglecting his duties. The
convention adjourned at noon on the 19th of February, and Hall re-
turned to work as usual. Before quitting the shop that night he re-
ceived a note informing him that his services were no longer required.
Crosby claimed that he had discharged Hall for incompetency and for
neglect of duty, but the time and manner of the dismissal suggest a
different reason.
The local grievance committee of the Knights of Labor took up
Hall's case, and ordered a strike in the Marshall shops to last until he
should be reinstated. As this measure did not seem likely to prove ef-
fective, the matter was taken in hand by the executive board of District
Assembly No. 101. S. O. Bissett, a conductor on the New Orleans divis-
ion of the same road, had also been discharged in December, in alleged
violation of the agreement of March 15, 1885. "And it is now deter-
mined by the executive board," says Mr. McGarry in the interview already
referred to, "that these men shall be reinstated within a given time
or every wheel of the system shall stop." What is called the Southwest
Gould system comprises five lines of road running through five states
and one territory-Missouri, Kansas, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and
the Indian Territory. District Assembly No. 101 is in exclusive posses-
sion of all this territory under the rules of the order. They number at
the present time 9,000 members, and consider themselves strong enough
to bring the roads to their terms sooner or later.
In what is called the Gould Southwestern system there are five
thousand miles of road, and the country whose commerce it moves has a
population of scarcely less than five millions. From Central Missouri to
Central Texas the Gould system includes all existing roads except the
'Frisco line from St. Louis, so that a blockade of traffic upon that system
would place the whole Southwest in a state of siege. The Texas and
Pacific had, in December, 1885, been nominally taken out of the Gould
system through the appointment by the United States Circuit Court at
New Orleans of John C. Brown and Lionel A. Sheldon as receivers.
But the employés did not accept the theory that the action of the court
had released the road from the agreement of March 15, 1885, nor that it
equitably relieved the Gould management of all responsibility for the
conduct of the Texas and Pacific road in dealing with the men. This
agreement was the one proposed by Governor Marmaduke of Missouri,
THE EVENTS OF 1886.
453
and Governor Martin of Kansas for terminating the strike of 1885.
By it the scale of wages of September, 1884, was restored, and the men
claimed that it also guaranteed that no one should be discharged with-
out notice. Alleged violations of this agreement in respect of wages
formed part of the strikers' grievance.
The Texas strikes of March 1st revealed a situation which left little
hope of avoiding a disastrous conflict. Citizens of the threatened territory
actively bestirred themselves to avert the impending calamity. At Mar-
shall and other places in Texas mass-meetings were held and committees
appointed to bring about a compromise, if possible. All their efforts.
were rendered futile through the stubborn refusal of Receiver Brown to
recognize the existence of any organization among the road's employés.
It was at one of these citizens' meetings in Marshall on the 2d of March
that Martin Irons, chairman of the Executive Board of District Assem-
bly No. 101, first appeared publicly in the transactions that were to
make his name known throughout the world.
The order stopping the wheels of commerce in the Southwest was
sent out from Marshall, Tex., by Chairman Irons at 10 o'clock on Sat-
urday, March 6th. This order covered most of the territory, but some
portions of the Gould system were controlled by District Assemblies No.
17 and No. 93, and these also joined in. The immediate effect was a
complete blockade of freight traffic. Through passenger trains, carrying
the mails, were at no time interrupted. Eight to ten thousand men
went out the moment the signal was received, and this action involved
the temporary laying off of ten thousand others in the various depart-
ments of railroad work dependent upon the movement of the trains. A
history of the strike would fill a large volume. The chief facts in
this bitter struggle are here arranged in chronological order:
March 8.-Business was practically suspended in the freight department of the
Missouri Pacific. Strike of St. Louis bridge and tunnel yardmen and switchmen.
Eastern traffic blockaded. Sharp decline in all produce usually shipped by St. Louis
to Southern markets.
March 9.-About 1,200 Missouri Pacific employés, clerks, etc., in freight de-
partment, in enforced idleness. Over 100 telegraph operators suspended and more to
follow. Flour mills, factories and furnaces closed for want of supplies.
March 10.—Order posted in Missouri Pacific shops and freight yards, dismissing
all strikers and ordering them from the premises. Attempt to employ new men. De-
tectives hired to guard property.
March 11.-Passenger trains moving on time. The 'Frisco raises the western
freight blockade. Overtures for a settlement from interior merchants. Thirteen en-
gines "killed" at De Soto, Mo. U. S. court removes the blockade at Big Springs
Texas.
454
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
.f
March 12.-Engineers and firemen at St. Louis abandon their posts at the request
of strikers.
March 13.-Missouri Pacific engines captured by strikers in three states.
March 14.-Strikers arrested by U. S. marshals in Texas. Kansas militia under
orders. Great decrease in mail; one St. Louis carrier reports collection of only 600
letters, whereas the usual number was 2,000.
March 15.-Active demonstrations against the Missouri Pacific at Sedalia. St.
Louis suburban train side-tracked at Cheltenham. Jay Gould telegraphs from Jack-
sonville, Fla., that the strike causes him great surprise. Martin Irons telegraphs Mr.
Hoxie from Sedalia proposing that he meet a committee of railroad Knights for con-
ference.
March 16.-Hoxie declines the proposed conference and says the road's revenues
are so reduced by the strike he shall not soon need so many men as before.
March 18.-General Master Workman Powderly arrives in Kansas City to inves-
tigate the strike. He telegraphs Mr. Hoxie asking for a conference.
March 19.-Hoxie declines to meet Powderly in his official capacity. With the
aid of Receiver Sheldon, an attempt is made to bring Hall's case before the U. S.
court for arbitration. Jay Gould sends out a manifesto from Charleston, saying that
the Missouri Pacific employs 14,319 men, of whom only 3,700 are in the strike, so
that these deprive the other 10,600 of their daily earnings.
March 20.-Governor Martin of Kansas and Governor Marmaduke and Labor
Commissioner Kotchtitzky, of Missouri, arrive in St. Louis; they have a long confer-
ence with Mr. Hoxie and submit a plan of settlement. Governor Marmaduke says
the trouble is costing the strikers $20,000 a day. Scarcity of lime from kilns on Iron
Mountain and Missouri Pacific roads threatens to stop all building in St. Louis.
March 21.-Mr. Hoxie declines the proposal of the two governors.
Two hundred switchmen strike at Kansas City on March 22d.
ordered into the round-houses; traffic entirely stopped.
All engines
Violent demonstrations along the southern system on the 23d. Freight trains
ditched and several persons injured at Sedalia. Entire St. Louis police force under
orders. Strikers defeat attempt to move a Missouri Pacific freight train out of St.
· Louis. Railroad shops stoned. Traffic east of the river reduced fifty per cent.
Arkansas farmers suffering for supplies.
"}
March 24.-Missouri Pacific attempts to move freight under police protection ;
six engines "killed. ' Kansas City switchmen go back to work. Switchmen strike
at St. Joseph, Mo. St. Louis merchants demand that traffic be resumed.
!
March 25.-East St. Louis switchmen called out. Skirmish between strikers and
detectives at Pacific, Mo.
March 26.-Force employed to stop trains in East
and regular troops ordered to protect property there.
divisions of the Gould system.
St. Louis. Deputy marshals
Freight trains moving on all
March 28.-Queer developments from a conference between Powderly and Jay
Gould in New York. Gould hands Powderly copy of telegram to Hoxie, saying:
We see no objection to arbitrating any difference between the employés and the
company." Powderly telegraphs Irons to order the strike off, as Gould has consented
to arbitrate. «- Hoxie received no such telegram from Gould.
March 29.-Gould says papers handed Powderly were personal and should not
1
THE EVENTS OF 1886.
455
have been published. He cancels the proposed telegram to Mr. Hoxie authorizing
arbitration.
March 30.-Fred Turner, Secretary and Treasurer of General Executive Board, K.
of L., thinks he has reached a basis of settlement with Mr. Hoxie. He telegraplis
Irons to order the men to work and appoint a committee of employés to wait on Hoxie.
Illinois militia under orders. Coal selling in St. Louis at 35 cents a bushel. Gover-
nor Oglesby and Adjutant-General Vance, of Illinois, arrive in East St. Louis. Mr.
Hoxie telegraphs Gould : 'Moved 139 freight trains, containing 1,714 car-loads, on
the entire system yesterday."
April 1.—In accordance with orders from Chairman Irons, of Assembly 101,
Coughlin of No. 93, and Sullivan of No. 1, the strikers apply for work to Gould's
agents throughout the system, each local assembly appointing a committee for that
purpose; all such committees were denied recognition, and none of the Knights
returned to work. No freight trains moving in East St. Louis. Governor Oglesby
addresses the Knights in East St. Louis, saying their demands were perfectly just, but
warns them not to interfere with the men at work.
April 2.- First Regiment Kansas National Guard, 400 strong, arrives at Parsons in
response to call of the sheriff.
April 3.—Strikers armed with Winchester rifles waylay a freight train near Fort
Worth, and fire upon the guard of deputy marshals; brisk skirmish results, in which
four of the marshals are badly wounded, two of them fatally. One or two of the
strikers were hit.
April 4.—Quorum of the General Executive Board, Knights of Labor, sitting in
St. Louis, revoke the New York order calling off the strike, Mr. Hoxie having de-
clared that he would consider personal applications only, and pay heed to no society
or committee. Fort Worth full of soldiers, and more coming.
April 6.-- Bitter denunciation of Jay Gould in address to workingmen of the
world by the Executive Boards of District Assemblies Nos. 101, 93 and 17. Jay
Gould says the Missouri Pacific has brought over 1,200 suits against persons who de-
stroyed or injured its property.
April 7.- Two hundred strikers going the rounds of freight yards in East St. Louis
ordering men to quit work and fall into line.
April 9.-Seven men and one woman killed by rural bravoes who fire into the
crowds in East St. Louis. These ruffians had accepted service under the Louisville
and Nashville railroad in response to the following advertisement posted in many
towns along its route: "Wanted -- Good men to act as deputy marshals and to pro-
tect the property of this company in East St. Louis. Five dollars a day paid and
board furnished. None but men of grit need apply."
April 11.-Funeral of those killed in East St. Louis massacre attended by 1,000
Knights of Labor. Central Labor Union of New York denounces Jay Gould and
pledges support to Southwestern strikers.
April 13.— Mass-meeting at St. Louis Court-house appoints arbitration committee
of prominent citizens.
April 14.- Correspondence between Powderly and Gould. Powderly reviews
the New York conference, taxes Gould with double dealing and trickery, and chal-
lenges him to combat in the courts. Gould replies in sarcastic vein and lays responsi-
456
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
bility for strike upon Powderly. Powderly directs the full support of Knights' organi-
zation to be given to the strikers. Contributions now averaging $2,000 a day.
April 16.- Mr. Hoxic replies to the citizens' arbitration committee, chiding the
Court-house meeting for its resolutions saying that commerce is obstructed. He
declares that the roads are now in full operation and there is nothing to arbitrate.
Committeemen Coughlin, Martin Irons and others indicted for alleged wire-tapping
conspiracy.
April 20.—Curtin's special Congressional committee to investigate the strike
holds its first session in Washington. Mr. Powderly the first witness examined.
April 22.-Jay Gould goes before the Curtin committee at Washington, and is
subjected to long and tedious cross-examination.
May 1.-Curtin committee begins investigation in St. Louis. Merchants testify
that the only interruption of business now is at East St. Louis. Prospect for spring
trade before the strike the best since 1880; increase of 25 per cent expected. Owing
to blockade, business from March to May not half what it was in 1885. E. C. Sim-
mons tells of a car-load of hardware shipped to his firm from Belleville, Illinois, on
March 17th, which has not yet arrived. One great cause of business depression is dis-
trust of the future, many country merchants fearing the strike would grow into a civil
war. Country merchants daily writing to St. Louis wholesalers for an extension of
time on their notes, as business is paralyzed. Owing to lack of confidence, as well as
lack of facilities, all branches of the building trade in St. Louis reduced to less than
one-third of what they are in ordinary seasons. In all the cities and towns of the
Southwest the interruption of business has been equally bad, and in many of them
worse.
May 3.—Through the request of ex-Governor Curtin, chairman of the Congres-
sional committee, and the efforts of the St. Louis citizens' committee, who represent
that the prolongation of the quarrel was doing the country harm, the Knights of
Labor decide to end the strike unconditionally. The order to that effect, telegraphed
to local assemblies in East St. Louis and throughout the Southwest, was signed by
John W. Hayes, general executive board; Martin Irons, chairman D. A. No. 101; A.
C. Coughlin, chairman D. A. No. 93; M. A. Sullivan, master workman and chair-
man D. A. No. 17.
Thus ended the most stubborn fight of the century between organ-
ized capital and organized labor. During the eight weeks and a half of
its duration it cost the Knights of Labor over $1,000,000 in lost wages,
seriously curtailed the financial resources of the railroads, and caused
incalculable losses to trades-people in all branches of business and in-
dustry.
THE EIGHT-HOUR MOVEMENT.
In the winter of 1885, it became generally understood that on the
1st of May, 1886, there would be a general demand made by the organ-
ized labor throughout the country for an acceptance by all employers of
the proposition that eight hours should constitute a day's work.
St. Louis was, throughout the labor troubles of the first half of the
THE EVENTS OF 1866.
457
year, the center of disturbance, and, as a consequence, the differences
between the employers and the workingmen were studied perhaps more
In the
closely in that city than anywhere else in the United States.
following sketch of the effort and its results, accordingly, the St. Louis
experiment has been treated at greater length than that of other cities.
The Federated Trades of the United States and Canada, in the New
York convention of 1843, formulated a demand for shorter hours in a
day's work. Previous to this the matter had been agitated by individu-
als and by isolated bodies for many years. President Van Buren really
inaugurated the ten-hour day by his proclamation in 1840. From that
year to 1884 there was little combined agitation for a further decrease,
although there had been two abortive strikes; but in the latter year
many facts combined to make the agitation recrudesce. In the first
place, of course, there was, among the workingmen, the general feeling
that eight hours a day was all that should be demanded. The feeling
was not a recent one, as the old English quatrain, called "The Four
Eights," exhibits:
Eight hours to sleep,
Eight hours to play,
Eight hours to work,
And eight bob a day.
The successful working of the Four Eights in Australia was well
known in America, but, beyond the decreased comfort coming from his
prolonged exertion, there were other reasons urged by the workingman
which merit attention. The ten-hour day, which was the rule, would
be shortened one-fifth; to do the work of the country there would at
once be required one-fifth more men at work, but, as the leaders of the
movement pointed out, there were, and are, more than one-fifth as many
men idle as at work. Immigration had been pouring in labor, improved
machinery had been displacing it, business depression had been decreas-
ing wages, and the situation for labor was distinctly bad. A change,
which would take up some of the surplus labor, would be a good thing
for the country.
The great majority of the trades-unions declared in 1884 for eight
hours. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, and the Brotherhood
of Locomotive Firemen held aloof and declined to go into the agi-
tation.
In February, 1886, the Central Labor Union of St. Louis, a body in
which all the trades of the city were represented, declared for eight
hours as a day's work. The great strike on the Gould system interfered
458
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
seriously with the movement, discouraging trade and throwing many
men out of employment who took the places of the eight-hour strikers.
All unions under the control of the Central Labor Union were in-
structed as to the time and manner of making the demand for shorter
hours. May 1st was selected as the time for the general demand. In
making the demand, the various unions were instructed to ask for the
eight-hour day of work, with no reduction of wages. If those terms
could not be had, they were advised to accept eight hours' work and eight
hours' pay. Strikes were not contemplated in the movement, and mem-
bers of all unions under the control of the Central Labor Union were
instructed not to strike under any circumstances. In a great many in-
stances the eight-hour day was voluntarily inaugurated by proprietors.
before the 1st of May had arrived, and in other instances the demand
was acceded to immediately. But in the majority of instances there was
a cessation of work and a consultation. There was only one strike among
the members of any labor union which was connected with the Central
Labor Union, and that was by the furniture-workers. They were allowed
the eight hours' work at first, and then the bosses receded from the posi-
tion they had taken, and demanded ten hours' work. A long and dis-
astrous strike of over a month followed. The appended statistics will
give a good idea of the situation in St. Louis during the first week of the
movement. It will be remembered that none of the strikers of the local
trades-unions were under the control or indorsed by either the Central
Labor Union or the Trades Assembly. There had been no organized
opposition offered against the movement, and the general feeling was
toward the successful inauguration of the eight-hour system. The ma-
jority of employers in the city, if the business in which they were engaged
would permit the eight-hour system of labor, were willing to give it a
trial, but in a great many instances work that was contracted for comple-
tion at a certain time could not be finished under the new order.
In some branches of business the employés, of a necessity, worked by
turns of twelve hours. Such was the case with millers, brewers, bakers,
etc.
The movement had an effect upon these trades, but only in the
matter of shorter hours.
At the end of the first week in May, by correct estimation, 23,881
men were working shorter hours after making the demand, 500 men
had struck for and lost the move, and 1,250 men were yet striking for
the reduction of hours, making the total number of men engaged in
the move during the first week 30,331. During this week both trade and
labor in St. Louis were in a very unsettled and unsatisfactory condition,

BLOMGREN
P. 3. McGuire.
Executive Secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters
and Joiners of America.
UNIL
OF
BICH
THE EVENTS OF 1866.
461
and a number of employers of labor expressed dissatisfaction with the
eight-hour system. Between the 8th and the 16th days of May but few
strikes occurred, and but few of those which were on were settled.
The introduction of the eight-hour system into some of the factories
was only an experiment, the managers and owners not knowing them-
selves whether it would prove practicable or not. This was especially the
case with the owners of furniture manufactories and planing-mills. It
took just two weeks for the proprietors of the latter-named industries in
St. Louis to discover that the eight-hour system of labor was not practi-
cable in their business, and they gave out that they would, after the 17th
of the month, require all their employés to work the usual ten hours.
This action of the planing-mill and furniture factory owners caused the
longest and most disastrous strike among the workmen of St. Louis during
the whole of the eight-hour agitation. As soon as the bosses had an-
nounced their intention of requiring employés to work ten hours the men
resolved to resist the move to the end, and accordingly, when the 17th
day of May arrived, a general strike was inaugurated among the furni-
ture workers and planing-mill hands, which aggregated fully two thou-
sand men. This strike continued until Saturday, June 19th, when the
workmen were absolutely starved into submission, and were forced to
return to work on the ten-hour schedule.
The following are the numbers and occupations of those actually
engaged in the movement in St. Louis during May, June and July:
Tobacco factory employés, 4,500; the building trades, 6,300; marble-
cutters, 150; boiler-makers, 250; weavers, 60; brewery employés, 10,000;
chemical workers, 75; cigarmakers, 650; moulders, 800; bakers, 450;
cornice makers, 125; gas-house coal-handlers, 60; plumbers, 105; rail-
road laborers, 50; wire workers, 160; furniture workers, 700; planing-
mill hands, 650; chairmakers, 600; wood carvers, 65; coopers, 200;
architectural iron-workers, 150; composition roofers, 80; gas-house
laborers, 40; sugar refiners, 60; lumber pilers, 65; match-makers, 125;
bucketmakers, 100; white lead makers, 135; miscellaneous, 375.
A careful estimate places the loss in money suffered by the strikers at
$78,000
St. Louis was only one of a score of large cities in the Union the
business interests of which were greatly affected by the wide-spread
agitation for shorter hours of labor. New York and Chicago both
suffered heavier losses to business than did St. Louis through the agita-
tion, to say nothing of the unenviable notoriety they gained through
demonstrations made by the anarchist element, of which St. Louis is
462
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
£
almost entirely free. A review of the results of the move for shorter
hours among the trades of some of the other large cities may be of interest
here.
In New York city and Brooklyn the workmen of the following trades.
got shorter hours of work on demand, without strike, during the first
week of May: Cigarmakers, 18,000; furniture-workers, 10,000;
machinists and metal-workers, 10,000; pianomakers, 3,500; building
trades, 7,000. Total, 48,500.
In Chicago the total number of men who were granted shorter hours
without strike, during the first week of May, were as follows: Packing-
house employés, 35,000; building trades, 5,000; cigarmakers, 1,800;
brewers, 1,000; clothing cutters, 1,600; railway shopmen, 1,800. Total,
16,200.
In Baltimore the number of workmen granted shorter hours, without
strike, during the first week of May were: Tobacco factory employés,
5,000; building trades, 2,000. Total 7,000.
At Grand Rapids, Mich., 3,000 furniture workers were given shorter
hours on demand.
During the first week in May almost all of the trades in the large
cities had strikes on their hands. Following is a record of the more
important strikes in New York city and Brooklyn for the first week: Pat-
tern-makers, 2,000; pianomakers, 3,000; cabinetmakers, 3,000; furriers,
1,000; carriagemakers, 750; marble cutters, 300; machinists and
metal-workers, 500; furniture-workers, 285. Total, 10,825.
The more important strikes in Chicago for the first week were: Fur-
niture workers, 7,000; lumber yard and planing-mill men, 12,000;
freight handlers, 2,220; building trades, 5,300; machinists and metal-
workers, 1,000; sausagemakers, 700; agricultural machinists, 1,700.
Total, 30,820.
In Cincinnati during the first week the notably large strikes were:
Furniture workers, 7,000; building trades, 5,500; carriagemakers,
2,500; iron-workers, 1,500; freight-handlers, 600. Total, 17,100.
In Milwaukee the strike movement for the first week was as follows:
Building trades and laborers, 5,000; railway shopmen, 1,700; brewers,
3,000. Total 9,000.
In Baltimore only two large strikes occurred during the first week,
as follows: Building trades, 3,600; brickmakers and helpers; 1,000.
Total, 4,600.
In Boston there were only two strikes of importance during the first
week building trades, 5,000; furriers, 800. Total, 5,800.
THE EVENTS OF 1886,
463
In Pittsburg the record for the first week was as follows: Building
trades, 3,000; rolling mill employés, 500; cabinetmakers, 350; glass-
workers, 300. Total, 4,150.
In Detroit there were several large strikes of importance, as follows:
Car-builders, 1,200; springmakers, 400 matchmakers, 230;
and head makers, 122; brewers, 300. Total, 3,252.
In some of the large cities only one strike of importance occurred
during the first week, as follows: Washington, building trades, 2,000:
Louisville, furniture works, 900; Newark, N. J., building trades.
1,500; Jersey City, machinists, 4,000; Jersey City, building trades,
500; Indianapolis, wheel-founders, 500; Pullman, Ill., car-builders,
3,000; Chicago, machinists (lockout), 12,000.
Accurate estimates show the total number of men engaged in the
shorter-hour movement in the United States during the whole of the
time was, in round numbers, 450,000. Of that number 185,000 men
were granted shorter hours of labor. Up to the 22d of May last, 240,-
000 were working shorter hours, but 58,000 have been forced back into
the old schedule since that time. During the two months of May and
June, 290,000 were on a strike. The greatest number of men out on
strike at any one time was 125,000, which was during the first week of
the agitation. The total number of men granted shorter hours on de-
mand and without strike or other difficulty was 100,000.
It will be noticed that the names of some of the large cities do not
appear in the list as having labor troubles. In some cities the agitation
was much greater than in others. In the city of Philadelphia no trouble
occurred until the 10th of May, when 1,000 tailors' cutters struck for
shorter hours, and the movement resulted in the lockout of 1,500
tailors' hands. The lockout was broken seven days later when the
1,500 tailors' workers accepted settlement of ten hours' pay for nine
hours' work. The only other large strike in Philadelphia during the
trouble was that of the planing-mill men for shorter hours on the 17th
of May. After a strike of twenty-one days they went back again on the
old schedule of time and pay. The curious feature of the short-hour
move was the fact that it did not extend into the South, or further west
than St. Louis, to any great extent.
The question of loss to employer and employed is a very pertinent
one in connection with the shorter hour agitation. According to Brad-
street's the losses were as follows:
464
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
New York City.
Philadelphia...
Smaller Pennsylvania cities.
Detroit, Michigan..
•
Cincinnati..
•
Milwaukee.
•
New England cities..
St. Louis..
Troy, N. Y
Washington, D. C.
Indianapolis.
•
Pittsburgh
Louisville, Ky.
Coal strikes.
Chicago.
D
Totals....
•
•
Wages.
Current
Business.
↓
New busi-
ness stopped.
$ 300,000 $300,000 $2,000,000
60,000
50,000 5,000,000
70,000
50,000
•
97,000
25,000
850,000
•
•
375,000
300,000 1,000,000
•
•
466,000
200,000
4,000,000
275,000
6,000,000
•
75,000
75,000
• •
150,000
>
54,000
2,000,000
2,000
+
·
•
•
30,000
75,000
300,000
23,000
5,000
500,000
200,000
500,000
700,000 700,000 3,000,000
$2,802,000 $2,105,000 $24,800,000 ·
CHAPTER VIII.—THE FIELD OF THE TRADES-UNION.
INSINCERE ARGUMENTS AGAINST TRADES-UNIONS-THE REAL REASON FOR THE
HOSTILITY TO LABOR ORGANIZATIONS — COMMUNISM 28. ANARCHY — THE FAult
ON BOTH SIDES LABOR AS MERCHANDISE-THE WORKINGMAN'S LIMITA-
TIONS- THE GOAD of WANT THE TRUCK SYSTEM - EMPLOYMENT FOR THE
Goad
TRADES-UNION THE BLACK-LIST-THE IRON-CLAD OATH.
I
<
T has often been objected against trades-unions in America that
their tendency is to destroy all individuality among workingmen;
that under their methods the good and effective artisan is held back,
while the bad and negligent are protected. It is claimed that the
unions discourage individual industry or excellence, and tend to make
the average the rule, restraining and frowning down those who, out of a
love of work and an innate honesty, would do more than their allotted
task, and thus set a pace which the others would have to keep. It is
urged, in a word, that labor organization is a bar in the way of good
workmanship.
It is argued that the trades-unions are constantly making the breach
between labor and capital wider and more difficult to span; that they
have substituted for the old confidence and good feeling which existed
between master and man a condition of suspicion and distrust out of
which have naturally arisen those bitter and brutal quarrels which are the
peculiar feature of the annals of the nineteenth century.
It is reasoned further that besides the tendency to reduce all excel-
lence to the level of the worst member of the organization, besides the
antagonism between employer and employé which the unions foster,
they have a still more mischievous tendency towards the rule of ignorant
demagogues and the spread of communism as a political faith.
While there are facts which seem to justify each of these objections, it is
evident that the arguments are afterthoughts. They are flaws picked out
by those who have gone to seek for them. These are not the real rea-
sons for the opposition to labor organization, but justifications for a hos-
tility whose real ground is selfishness. If we examine closely we will
sce that trades-unions do not tend any more towards communism than
combinations of capital tend towards anarchy; that if one side has fostered
hostility to the employer, the other has raged with equal bitterness
465
466
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
against the laborer; that organization of labor produces the same kind
of an average of work as the influence of the corporation system in
great factories, to which method industry is tending. In drawing up the
balance-sheet we can set labor-saving machinery against the average
day's work, we can put the lock-out against the strike, the black-list
against the boycott, the great corporation herding its employés to the polls
like sheep against the windy demagogue who labors only with his mouth.
There are faults- there are crimes- there is folly on one side; but
they are paired with those of the other. It is only by taking a high
plane, and regarding the question impartially, that we can come at the
truth.
Dr. Richard T. Ely of the Johns Hopkins University, one of the
clearest thinkers and most judicious political economists now at work
in America, has examined very closely the economic value of trades-
unions and cognate societies, his conclusions falling in with those of
Professor Brentano's "Gewerbliche Arbeiterfrage," which is the pio-
neer work in this field. Both are so clear, so convincing, so full, that
"The Story of Labor," while acknowledging its debt, goes further, and
recommends Ely's "Labor Movement in America" to all who wish to
study this part of the subject further and in more detail.
After all it is the advancement of the mass of labor which should be
the ideal of every person who attacks this subject. The greatest happi-
ness to the greatest number is a political theory which is based upon a
truth that becomes self-evident when we reverse it and put it the least
unhappiness to the least number.
Ninety per cent of the laboring class will remain laborers all their
lives. The loop-holes of escape to a condition less arduous are grow-
ing narrower and narrower every year. We are forming distinct
divisions in America. The laborer's son will be a laborer, and
so will his grandson. There will always be a great and growing
division of the people of America who will have to labor for their bread.
The cunning hand will never be wholly displaced by labor-saving ma-
chinery. It is for the amelioration of this class that the workingmen's
organizations have been formed. These combinations gather up all the
strength of the scattered units, and their impact on society is so strong
that they force us to a line of action which the single workman, uncom-
bined with his fellows, could never command.
Within recent times the laborer was a serf. One by one class laws
have been swept from the statute books, until American labor at least
is able to stand upright and struggle unshackled for existence.
THE FIELD OF THE TRADES-UNION.
467
Labor is merchandise. It is something offered for sale, and its price
is governed by supply and demand. It is the legitimate purpose of labor
organizations to control these laws of supply and demand, and thus fix
the price of labor. Unorganized labor cannot accomplish this result. If the
price of wheat is too low, the farmer puts the grain away in his granaries
and waits for a higher market. The single laborer cannot wait. He
must work or starve. He cannot hold back his merchandise. He can-
not cause a scarcity of the commodity, which is all he has to sell, by
himself. It is only when labor is in the mass that it is effective. The
pool is the solution.
Even the organization of labor, chiefly from its mistakes, from the
ignorance of the workingmen, from their selfishness, and from their
inherent lack of solidarity, has not wholly covered the field. The sale
and purchase of labor differs from any other commercial transaction in
that the buyer and not the seller fixes the price. There is no equality
between the parties to the contract. The laborer cannot take advantage
of a better market at a distance. He is compelled to sell his work where
he is. If the demand grows less he cannot come out of the market with
his goods, but he must go on competing with the greater number of
laborers, thus himself adding to the factors of the decline. Production in
any other line of trade is regulated by consumption, but in labor it is not.
The workingman must continue producing work till he dies. As Dr.
Ely remarks, misery and death are the factors which must bring about a
decrease in the supply of labor and raise its price to the cost of produc-
tion. Dr. Ely says:
"Few now starve outright, but a large number, especially of the young, starve
gradually, as has been abundantly shown by recent investigations; but many more
deaths are occasioned in other ways. A carpenter is ill, and previous hard times have
exhausted his resources. He dies; whereas a more generous supply of delicacies,
better nursing and more skillful medical attendance would have saved his life. A
second mechanic is so poor that he feels that he cannot afford an umbrella. In a
severe rain-storm to which he is exposed, the seeds of consumption are laid. A third
is unable to afford new shoes, and wet feet at a time of feebleness, and insufficient nour-
ishment, cause his death. These examples may be multiplied ad libitum. Thus it is, that
every pressure of hard times kills thousands upon thousands even in America. The
most distinguished statistician of our day, Dr. Engel, calls the causes of most deaths
social.' The difficulty is not to prescribe a remedy, but to apply it. A physician
cannot tell a man, working for a dollar a day, to take a trip to Egypt for weak lungs!
No current fiction is more widely removed from the truth than the common assertion
that workingmen and their families enjoy exceptionally good health. The exact
opposite is the truth, and statistics have established the fact beyond controversy that
laborers are shorter-lived by many years than those who belong to the wealthier
social classes
""
468
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
Many may think the statement that the contract between labor
and capital is one in which but one party is free to contract, is not borne
out by the facts. Yet even a cursory examination will show how all
the power is on one side and all the feebleness on the other.
The payment of wages at long intervals leads to the credit system and
debt. This is demoralizing, and its consequences are extravagance and
hopelessness. The laborer cannot escape. He is as much bound to
labor as were the serfs of the middle ages. The truck system is a devel-
opment of this idea. The employer establishes a store at which the
workingmen are, by means more or less high-handed and arbitrary, forced
to deal. Thus a double profit is accrued - the profit on the labor which
the employer buys at his own price, and the profit on the necessaries of
life which the employer sells at his own price. Where the truck system
has been permitted to take root and flourish, it is the experience of all
that the consequences are all bad to labor. Those who do not deal at the
company stores exercise their freedom at their peril. When business
slackens, by a remarkable coincidence, those who have not long accounts
with the employer's grocery venture are the first to go. Even under the
most honest administration the evils of the system are notorious, but
when, as is often the case, the method is administered dishonestly, it is
simple robbery. The company store can make its own weights and its
own profits. It can sell inferior grades of goods for better ones. It has
its customers bound to it by the unspoken threat of discharge. Hence
in many of the states the truck system is forbidden, although corporation
influence has made the law a dead letter.
The sanitation of factories is a matter which the employé has almost
wholly within his own hand. The safeguards for life and limb are.
costly and unproductive. Hence it happens that there are in the United
States fifteen thousand accidents to railway employés every year, while
the casualties among mill operatives, owing to defective safeguards around
dangerous machinery, are more than twice as great.
In every great city, at each election, we see the crowds of corporation
employés herded to the polls and voting as the employer dictates, thus
furnishing the very strongest argument, politically, for labor organiza-
tion. Any system would be better than that which permits one man at
his own caprice to control the votes of hundreds or thousands.
Again, the employer can put penitentiary-taught tradesmen side by
side with honest labor; he can take the woman of the streets and put her
with honest girls; he can, if he chooses, demoralize his laborers at his will,
and there is no power in the state outside of the organization and self-
THE FIELD OF THE TRADES-UNION.
469
protection of labor which can control the situation and forbid the disgrace
and wrong.
Against all of these things the trades-union has been the most power-
ful and most successful force. Where labor has been thoroughly organ-
ized the truck system, the demoralization of labor, the voting en bloc of
employés, has been weakened and destroyed. As the laws against work-
ingmen's combinations were one by one forced from the statute book,
the condition of the workingman bettered. In England, in 1824, the
law making trades-unions conspiracies was abolished, but up to 1869
they were regarded by the courts as conspiracies in restraint of trade,
and in New York, in this present year of grace 1886, Justice Potter
granted an injunction against the Musical Union to prevent them from
forbidding their members playing with non-union musicians, on
the ground that such a command was in restraint of trade and was
opposed to public policy!
The black-list is a boycott pure and simple. It is a notification sent
by one employer to others warning them of the discharge of certain men
and describing the unfortunates, under the understanding and agree-
ment that, having lost work in one factory, or under one corporation,
they shall not be permitted to get employment at any other. In that
excellent work "The Labor Problem," which is a symposium of views
from many sources on the question of the hour, Fred Woodrow, one of
the most humane writers on the subject of labor, says:
Blacklisting has the merit of being very effective; its edict is final; it troubles
no jury and sends for no sheriff; it has its watch-dog by every door. and woe to the
man who, with its brand on his brow, seeks for work. He is proclaimed by a cor-
poration czar. I well remember a workmate of my own being put under this ban of ostra-
cism. He was discharged without notice, and the reason refused him. I did my best
for his reëngagement; previous successes made me confident, but this case baffled me.
I suggested application to another department, under the management of a humane
and kindly man. He refused. Another was tried -- the same result. I completed the
circle, and in every case blank but unwilling refusal -- my unfortunate comrade sent
adrift with the onus of some unknown disgrace staining his name, for more than six
hundred miles. It came to my knowledge subsequently that he was blacklisted at
the request of one man, whose personal ill-will was gratified in his discharge. Such
cases are not few, as many a hungry man and shoeless child can testify."
Next to the black-list in unfairness comes the iron-clad oath, which
is often made the sine qua non of employment, and which usually com-
pels the laborer to withdraw from any trade organization to which he
may have belonged. One of these oaths runs as follows:
470
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
I, hereby agree to work for at my trade, at the regular established
prices, withdrawing from the Knights of Labor, and ignoring all outside parties, com-
mittees, and trade or labor associations, and also agree not to connect myself with
the Knights of Labor or any similar organization, or to join in any meeting or pro-
cession of any such organization while in the employ of
Sworn to and subscribed before me,
[L. S.]
3
[Sign here.]
this day of
Attest:
Witnesses.
It is against such developments of class prejudice and class antago-
nism that trades-unions make their bitterest fight. As long as they
confine themselves in this field is it any wonder that the impartial
citizen of America should bid them "God speed"?
CHAPTER IX.-STRIKES IN THEORY AND PRACTICE.
THE WAGE SYSTEM A RELIC OF FEUDALISM COMPROMISE THE ULTIMATE LAW
OF NATURE- THE TRADES-UNION THE EMANCIPATOR OF LABOR-THE ETH-
ICS OF THE LABOR QUESTION - A SELF-ADJUSTING APPORTIONMENT OF PROF-
ITS TO BE SUBSTITUTED FOR THE ILLOGICAL SYSTEM NOW IN VOGUE — AN
APPEAL FOR INDUSTRIAL EMANCIPATION.
HE wage system is, after all, a relic of feudalism. On the one hand
it is admittedly an awkward and obsolete method of apportioning
to labor its share in the results of work, a method which can only be
adjusted to the conditions of modern industry with infinite trouble and
annoyance. On the other hand if it is difficult for the laborer to bring
wages up with a rising market, the very clumsiness makes it no easy task
for the employer to reduce them in a time of general depression. The
inconvenience of the system thus presses both ways; and were it not for
our inherent conservatism, something better would long since have
been found.
In spite of the demagogues of labor, capital has rights and purposes
which must be protected by society if industry is to go on at all. And
in spite of the equally fatuous demagogues of capital, labor must organize
and ameliorate itself from within, and all good people should give aid
and comfort to the worker in his task. If we listen to one set of think-
ers, we are told that the goal to which the laboring classes are tending is
communism and anarchy-two utterly irreconcilable conditions. If we
listen to the other school of declaimers, we will be told that capital inevi-
tably tends to monopoly, that America is becoming a plutocracy pure
and simple, that the laborer is being defrauded of his wage and that the
rich man is growing richer and the poor man poorer. This statement
is just as unfair and illogical as the other. If the truth is to be found
anywhere it is between these two errors. There is a tendency toward
communism on one side, and a tendency toward anarchy on the other,
which must come sooner or later to a stable compromise, for compro-
mise is the ultimate law of nature. It may be a new statement to many
readers that the real tendency of the great corporations of the country
is towards a limited anarchy, the legitimate consequence of the laissez
faire doctrine, which Mr. Gould and his lieutenants preach so thoroughly.
471
472
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
The line along which capital and labor touch is the wages system.
As we have said, it is a crude and clumsy way of dividing profits, as much
a part of the dark ages as the cross-bow or the astrolabe. Its unfitness
for the work which it is called upon to do is the prime cause of the irri-
tation between labor and capital. It seems to be generally admitted,
after we have winnowed away the straw of controversy, that labor is
entitled to a share in the combined product of work and capital, which is
to be ascertained by the real or artificial scarcity of workers, the
real or artificial scarcity of capital and the real or artificial scarcity of
the commodity prepared. Under these conditions labor's proportion
should shift and vary in obedience to a complex set of laws. Under our
system we ignore the plexus of reasons by which wages ought to be com-
puted and come to a rough working result by paying the laborer a dollar
or a dollar and a half a day. In other words, we proceed as would an
astronomer who desired to calculate an eclipse if he took the ratio of the
circumference to the diameter as 3 instead of 3.14159. Our errors
are the consequence of obvious mistakes. Yet we stupidly repeat our
blunders in the blind hope that Providence will interfere and make the
total somehow right. As long as labor was an inconstant, loose aggrega-
tion of ignorant units, it did not make very much difference whether
there was error in the calculation or not, as the error was not on the side
of those responsible for the computation. But with labor organized,
vigilant and powerful, we can not go on in the easy old-fashioned way.
We must reason together and strike out a new path along which labor
and capital can travel hand in hand. We must change the system by
which labor is recompensed, and base the new method upon justice to
both sides. Thus we will attack the very core of the labor question,
whence, if we can dispose of the original cause of irritation, we may come
to a time when permanent peace may be declared and guaranteed. Be-
fore we can do this, the laborer must admit that capital has rights to its
profits; that it is the essential and indisputable corner-stone of the fabric
of our industry, without which the whole superstructure must tumble to
ruins; and capital must allow that labor is an intelligent as well as a
mechanical force, with rights certainly as precious as its own.
these admissions alone can reconciliation come.
Out of
Labor has hardly been enfranchised for more than a century. In the
statute books of many of the states, in the dark and forgotten corners of
legislation, lurk acts which are relics of a time when classes were further
apart than they are in this year of grace 1886. Like everything else
worth the having in this world, the amelioration of labor came from
STRIKES IN THEORY AND PRACTICE
473
within. It was an evolution. When we get far enough away in time.
to grasp the history of the present struggle in all its details, we will all
admit that the trades-union was the emancipator of labor. Just as we
will all now admit that slavery was a curse and a reproach, although less
than a quarter of a century ago good men were ready to give up their
lives for the peculiar institution. The present commanding position of
the workingmen has been achieved by organization more than by any
other single factor. It is to the trades-unions that the credit is due for
the progress made in the last half century.
To many this will seem a radical and hardly a defensible position.
And yet let us look at the facts. Let us take the average workingman
and the average employer, and follow them throughout their mutual
relations. The laborer has much to learn, so has the master. Both
have to adjust themselves to a complex and delicately arranged industry.
Imagine the workingman as a unit, unaided by any organization, and
what can he do for himself? Nothing.
He has not the means to support himself in a struggle with his
employer when the wages cease coming in. His life at best is from hand
to mouth, and if the supplies are interrupted he must starve. Again, if
there be not concert of action among the workmen, each individual is
helpless. One man cannot by himself exercise any effect at all upon the
labor market: it is only when he acts in the mass that he is effective. By
working in the mass, by pooling his issues with those of his fellows, he
finds himself after all master of the situation. In union there is strength.
In the first place he finds that a large trades-union ramifying, as it does,
over many cities, has a command of money sufficient to support those
who are fighting the battle of all the members. In the next place he
discovers that while the willingness or the refusal of one man to do given
work at a given price has no effect upon the average employer, the joint
action of a hundred or a thousand men has a very marked effect. We
have seen this problem worked out so often that the result has become
almost a truism. Labor is a commodity in the market just like grain.
or dry goods or capital, and when from any cause the supply is checked
the price must rise. Thus effects prove to the laborer the efficiency of
the trades-union. He has tried it and found it not wanting.
On the other hand the employer, accustomed by long habit to the com-
plete control of his labor, suddenly finds it self-asserting, and, if pressed,
defiant. He does not examine far enough into the situation to grasp the
principles which govern the revolt, but attempts, as his fathers have
done. to suppress the rebellion with a strong hand.
474
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
Unfortunately for the employing class, the strong hand is now on the
side of the opposition.
Out of the fifty millions of Americans there are ten millions of em-
ployers and forty millions of employed, roughly speaking. Man to man
the laboring class certainly outnumbers the class buying labor four to
one, if not greatly more than that. And one man cannot successfully
coerce four, when the four have been educated to the duties and priv-
ileges of citizenship. When manhood-suffrage was made the rule in the
United States, the old order of things was destroyed, and it is only a
question of time and of organization when we must come to the new.
But we are yet in the transition stage. New systems are crystalizing all
about us, and we feel the shock of force against force in the political
world as in the religious.
For more centuries than men can count, might has been, practically,
right. The greater insect has preyed upon the lesser, the greater bird
upon the smaller; mice have eaten cockroaches in obedience to nature,
and cats have eaten mice. The rat ate the malt, the cat ate the rat, the
dog worried the cat, and the cow with the crumpled horn tossed the dog,
the cow herself being milked in her turn, as all readers of the old
nursery rhyme will remember, by the maiden all forlorn. And so it
goes. The cry of murder is going up day and night from every blade of
grass in the fields, from every leaf in the forests. The law of life is
death; the law of right is force. We may cloak it under nice words and
high-sounding phrases, but the nineteenth century is no better and no
worse than its predecessors; it is more polite, not more gentle, nor more
Christian.
The ethics of the labor question are soon decided. Every man,
whether he has money or work to sell, has the right to make the best
bargain for himself in his power; there is no immorality in labor's most
extravagant demands, just as there is no immorality in capital's demands,
no matter how excessive. The only law governing the case is the ability
to take and hold a strong position. The weaker must go to the wall.
Our industry is the diagonal of a parallelogram of forces of which the
master is one side and the man the other. Our knowledge of economics
is not yet exact enough to permit us to draw this diagonal accurately.
The world is still settling the question which is the stronger force.
is still governing itself by the good old plan of working out questions of
justice and economics by thickness of skull and hardness of fist. Ex-
perience is a dear school, but fools will learn in no other. When labor
began to organize itself, it began dimly to recognize its own strength, and
It
STRIKES IN THEORY AND PRACTICE.
475
after the manner of our kind it tried to find a way out of the trap in
which it lay by simple brute force. The industrial world was divided
into two bitterly hostile camps, becoming yearly, as attacks on one side
and reprisals on the other followed each other, more deeply inimical.
The protagonists of labor were experimentalists; they were discoverers in
a new field of research. Their logic was the bludgeon and the torch;
in their attack on the employers they attacked all society, and they
were met and convinced of the erroneous major proposition of their
syllogism by the bayonet and ball cartridge. It took nearly half a century
to even partially clear the strike of open and nefarious brutality; these
flowers of crime yet blossom out of the fallow field of human weakness.
and ignorance. The labor question was for years purely a question of
physical force in which one side was as bad as the other. When a trade
had organized itself into a union, taking in a majority of the working-
men in a particular line, it demanded an increase of wages, or objected
to a reduction. If its demand was not obeyed a strike was ordered,
and then followed a contest in which each party did its utmost to damage
and cripple the other. It was a battle in which no quarter was given or
received. It was a servile revolt at first in which one side at least was not
given combatant rights, and it certainly accorded no more courtesy than
it received.
One of the first laws upon which political economy was founded was
that supply and demand control all the processes of industry. The labor-
ing class was not the last to discover that combination could not control
supply, and that artificial conditions could supplant natural ones. Thus
far they were strictly within the metes and boundaries of their rights;
but when they tried to supplement combination by rattening, by machine-
breaking, by arson, and even in some cases by murder, they arrayed
against themselves all of that force in society which makes for law and
order. We cannot blame them too much, for they knew not what they
did. We cannot blame them more than we blame their opponents, who
added to a similar brutality education, which should have taught them
better methods.
The wages system, as we have said, was the chief factor in the trouble.
Workingmen were paid a certain fixed sum per diem, for a fluctuating
result in value. They were naturally unable to locate the exact factor
which was the chief cause of the industrial disturbance. It has taken
some of the best thinkers years of study to fix and study the disease;
but we do know now where the trouble lies, and we should be able to
apply the cure.
476
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
The consequence of work and capital is an added value to the raw
product. This must be shared in some proportion between the laborer
and the owner of the wealth employed. It makes no difference what the
ratio is, it should be a constant one, and as the values of manufactured
material fluctuate in obedience to a number of conditions, the result in
money should also fluctuate. Under our present system the result is.
fixed and the ratio fluctuates an abnormal and indefensible method. We
will not have peace between labor and capital until the ratio is fixed and
master and man share good and evil portions together. Then both will
labor to one end, and an impetus will be given to industry which will
lead it to the conquest of newer and larger fields. We will have to replace
wages by an elastic, self-adjusting apportionment of the profits which will
rise and fall in automatic harmony with the results of the toil. In the
French system of "participation" and in our own rather crude system of
"profit-sharing" we probably have the germ of the system upon which
all can agree.
But we have not yet reached the goal to which all good citizens should
strive.
Careful statistics compiled by a trustworthy statist, Mr. Charles War-
ing, go to show that the strikes in England during the decade ending
with 1879 cost $134,060,000 to the workmen and $20,947,500 to the en-
ployers, the total loss being $155,011,500 in all. This, however, is merely
the direct and apparent damage. The loss to commerce could only be put
in figures so large that they would be met by incredulity. In America
the loss would not be smaller; and throughout the civilized world it has
been estimated that $75,000,000 is annually thrown away in strikes,
lockouts and similar disturbances. Certainly the war is a costly one.
It has taken many years to bring the conflict to the plane of human-
ity upon which it now runs its course. The rancorous cruelty of fifty
years ago has given place to a more reasonable and more civilized dispute.
Labor has discovered that it is more powerful to injure the employer than
to win benefits for itself. It can do more harm to others than it can do
good to itself; but out of many mistakes, out of the bitter school of experi-
ence, it has learned the paramount necessity of keeping its campaign with-
in the limits of the law. Since this lesson was learned the power of
organized labor has immensely increased, because in a righteous cause, not
disfigured by violence, public sentiment, the very strongest power in
America, is sure to be found on the side of justice and fair play.
Thus the theory and practice of strikes are wholly different now from
their attitude in the times of our fathers. Labor, better organized and

Christopher Evans.
Executive Secretary of the National Federation of Miners.
and Mine Laborers.
STRIKES IN THEORY AND PRACTICE.
479
better equipped than it ever was before in the world's history, is coming
to proceed along peaceful and lawful lines to its certain victory. A
strike now is a wholly different thing in theory, and a materially differ-
ent thing in practice, from what it was a generation ago. In principle it
is now all for peace, law and order. The right of men peaceably to com-
bine to do or not to do something which each individual has a right to do
or to leave undone, cannot be gainsaid. If men want to quit work in a free
country, they may. If they wish to persuade others to quit, that is within
their rights. Unfortunately it is at this point that the rank and file of the
army of labor mutinies and rejects the wiser counsels of its leaders. We
still hear of intimidation, threatening language and actual violence, and
until we can get wholly rid of these, the strength of organized labor can
never be truly tested.
Many makeshifts have beeen suggested by many men who have seen
the absolute necessity of making labor and capital come to some sort of
a modus vivandi if progress is to continue. Each of these will be
treated in its proper place in this volume. Unfortunately the schemes.
are all empiric-all unsatisfactory. They imply the continuance of
the wage system, and while it endures strikes and lockouts will also
endure. The history of strikes goes to show that the greater propor-
tion of them is to be attributed to disputes about the rates of wages.
The method is so clumsy that it can only be readjusted by a convulsion
of industry. If this bone of contention could be removed we would
come to lasting peace. We would reach a final settlement.
Wages are unjust to the laborer and unjust to the employer. They
are illogical. They are obsolete. They have no true relation, no scien-
tific nexus to their origin and cause. The accompanying chart exhibits.
the history of a century of American labor and of American capital.
The fluctuations of wages compared with the cost of living are illustrated
and the steady growth of wealth-seemingly influenced but slightly by
those conditions which affect wages strikingly is also shown. The
chart will bear careful study. It is an indictment of our American civ-
ilization. It is in itself an appeal for industrial emancipation.
$2.601
2.50
2.40
2.30
2.20
2.10
2.00
1.90
1.80
1.70
1.60
1,50
1.40
1.30
1.20
1.10
1.00
.90
.80
320
.70
.60
:60
40
80
.20
WHEAT
CARPENTER'S
LABORERS
་
CARPENTE
3

WHEAT
LABORERS
WHEAT
CARPENTERS
WHEAT
LABORERS
A
BEEF
LABORERS
CARE
10
10
BEEF
-BEEF
17,90
1800 1810
1820
1830
1840
1850
1860
1870
1880
WHEAT
Chart B.-A CENTURY OF WORK AND WAGES.-The Wages of Skilled
and Unskilled Labor compared with the Cost of Living.
480
CHAPTER X.-THE RIVALS OF AMERICAN LABOR.
IMMIGRANT COMPETITION
THE PRODUCTS OF AMERICAN LABOR PROTECTED, BUT
NO PROTECTION FOR AMERICAN LABOR ITSELF-THE CONNECTION BETWEEN
IMMIGRATION AND BANKRUPTCY CONVICT COMPETITION - THE WHOLE DO-
MAIN OF NATIONAL INDUSTRY AFFECTED BY CRIMINAL LABOR - MECHANICAL
COMPETITION THE EFFECT OF MACHINERY ON MANUAL LABOR.
O
NE of the most illogical things in our applied economics is the fact
that while the government protects assiduously the products of
American labor, it takes no care to protect American labor itself. The
protection does not begin until the industry has reached a point where
the laborer does not participate as he should in the results. It is no
part of this inquiry to go into the relative merits of protection and free
trade, but it is pertinent to question where the benefit of a protective sys-
tem applies, when we see our ports jealously quarantined against the out-
put of the pauper labor of Europe, while that pauper labor itself is in-
vited in, to come and compete with American labor. We keep out the
effect and welcome the cause. We will not let the symptom in, and we
go out to meet the disease. Of course this is unfair. If a tariff is to be
put on the result of the cheap labor of Europe, surely there should be,
in justice to the American workingman, an equally effective tariff on the
cheap labor itself. This would be only justice.
The subject is one not generally understood. We have heard so much
talk about the development of the country, we have dangled before our
eyes such glittering rhetoric about America being the home of the op-
pressed, we have waved the star-spangled banner so proudly over the
exiles from the effete monarchies of the old world, that we have wholly
lost sight of the facts. Like the flowers that bloom in the spring, all
these pansies and hollyhocks of declamation have nothing to do with
the case.
It has seemed so noble and so generous to us to exercise a
magnificent hospitality that we have never yet counted the cost-and the
cost is tremendous.
We have a tremendous national domain whose development and
cultivation would be a source of wealth to all of us, and our fond delu.
sion is that the flood of people yearly pouring into our ports spreads
over the great West, and at once begins its work of making the wilder-
481
482
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
ness blossom like a garden. But it does not. In 1870 there were
5,307,887 foreign-born persons in the United States over ten years of
age; of these but 619,108 were engaged in agricultural pursuits. In
1880 there were 6,491.301 foreign-born persons over ten in this country,
of whom but 812.829 were engaged in agriculture. To make it a
little more plain, 11 per cent, only, of the foreign-born population
over ten years of age was on the farms of the land in 1870, and 124 per
cent in 1880.

1880.

FOREIGN-BORN OVER 10
1870.
6,491,301.
FOREIGN-BORN OVER 10
5,307,887.
ON FARMS
812,829.
ON FARMS
619,108.
The above diagrams will illustrate the point to be made even more
plainly than a statement of the figures. The small number of foreign-
ers at farm work shows the larger proportion pressing steadily upon all
the other departments of industry. Yet it is for the development of the
unsettled portion of the country that, according to our theory, we have
thrown our doors open to all who wish to come. We have put every
premium upon immigration. After a very short residence we confer
upon the newcomers citizenship, we give them farms, we give them
everything that they ought to have, and a great deal more. But look
at the result!
Nor is this the worst of it. A very singular law seems to bind to-
gether in a mysterious nexus the fluctuation of immigration and the
fluctuation of the amount of liabilities of bankrupts in the United
States. This has been made the subject of another chart to which the
reader will please refer in order to follow the line of argument presented.
The statistics of immigration go back to 1820. The exact figures
of bankrupt liabilities begin with 1857. The former are given in the
census reports. The latter are drawn from the excellent publications
of R. G. Dun & Co. But even prior to 1857 we know, in a general way,
that 1837 and 1847 and 1848 were years of great business depression,
which was felt deeply by the whole business community, and which
resulted in the loss of much money by bankruptcy. A glance at
THE RIVALS OF AMERICAN LABOR.
483
the chart will show that the number of immigrants had gone up
from 45,000 in 1835 to 79,000 in 1837, when the crash came.
Immigration then decreased steadily so that in a year it fell to 38,000.
After some fluctuations of which we cannot trace the causes closely
the figures rose to 104,000 in 1842, and to 234,000 in 1847. There
was great financial and economic disturbance, but the immigration
did not stop, and in 1854 had reached the hitherto unprecedented
figure of 427,000. It dropped for a while, and business became easier
and better. In 1856 it was 195,000, and it rose the next year, 1857, to
247,000. There was another industrial catastrophe; the liabilities of the
bankrupts in that year were $291,000,000. In 1858 immigration
dropped to 119,000, liabilities to $95,000,000. Then came the war time,
when so many new elements of disturbance occurred that the comparison
would hardly be worth attention. From 1868 to 1873, immigration in-
creased from 282,000 to 459,000, and bankrupts' liabilities during tho
same years grew from $68,000,000 to $228,000,000. From 1879 to 1884
immigration increased from 177,000 to 518,000 and liabilities of bank-
rupts grew from $98,000,000 to $226,000,000. Even the lesser fluctua-
tions are rhythmic. There is no one who will not admit that the
connections in the sympathetic increase and decrease of immigration
and bankruptcy are too close and too long continued to be explained
away on the ground of accidental coincidence. The only escape is the
argument that the commercial depressions checked immigration. But
an examination of the facts destroys this hypothesis, unless we are
willing to admit that immigration is prophetic and can tell when bad
times are coming, and how long they mean to continue. We do not
question that the country's prosperity should invite and stimulate a folk-
movement this way, and that depression should check immigration, but
the facts go to show that this is a reaction rather than an action.
When some of the balder facts as to the importation of foreign labor
are examined, it is very easy to see the consequences which follow from
them. Take the importation of foreign labor under contract, which
Congress has already attempted to restrict, as the following most import-
ant act will show:
AN ACT to prohibit the importation and migration of foreigners and aliens under contract or
agreement to perform labor in the United States, its territories, and the District of Co-
lumbia.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of
America in Congress assembled, That from and after the passage of this act it shall be,
unlawful for any person, company, partnership, or corporation, in any manner what-
soever, to prepay the transportation, or in any way insist or encourage the importation
STATISTICS SUPPLEMENTARY TO CHART.
IMMIGRATION INTO THE UNITED STATES.
BANKRUPTCY.
Years.
Immi-
grants.
Years.
Immi-
grants.
Years.
Immi-
grants.
Year.
Amount of
Liabilities.
1820..
8,385
1844..
78,615
Fiscal year
1857...
$291,750,000
1821
9,127 1845.
114,371
ending
1858..
95,749,000
1822
6,911
1846..
154,416
June 30.-
1859.
64,394,000
1823
6,354
1847..
234,968
1867.
298,967
1860..
79,807,000
1824..
7,912
1848...
226,527 1868.
282,189
1861.
207,210,000
1825.
10,199
1849
297,024 1869.
352,768
1862.
23,049,000
1826
10,837
1850..
369,980 1870.
387,203
1863..
7,899,000
1827
18,875 1851.
379,466 1871.
321,350
1864.
8,579,000
1828..
27,382
1829..
22,520
1852.
1853.
371,603
1872.
•
404,806
1865.
17,625,000
368,645 1873.
•
459,803
1866...
53,783,000
1830.
23,322 1854..
427,833
1874...
313,339
1867..
96,666,000
1831
22,633 1855..
200,877
1875..
227,498
1868..
68,694,000
1832
60,482
1856..
195,857
1876...
169,986
1869..
75,054,000
1833
58,640
1857...
246,945
1877.
141,857
1870..
88,242,000
1834.
65,365
1858..
119,501
1878..
138,469
1871.
85,252,000
1835.
45,374 1859.
118,616
1879.
177,826
1872...
121,056,000
•
1836.
76,242
1860
150,237
1880..
457,257
1873...
228,499,000
1837.
79,340
1861
89,724
1881..
669,431
1874..
155,239,000
1838
+
38,914
1862...
89,007
1882.
788,992
1875..
201,000,000
1839..
68,069
1863.
174,524
1883..
599,114
1876.
•
191,117,000
1840..
84,066 1864..
193,195
1884..
518,592
1877...
190,670,000
1841.
80,289
1865.
247,453 1885..
395,346
1878..
234,383,000
1842..
104,565 1866
167,757
1879.
98,149,000
1843.
52,496
Total.. 13,110,233
1880
65,752,000
1881.
81,156,000
1882.
101,548,000
1883.
172,874,000
1884.
226,343,000
1820.
1830.
9,633,822 1850.
12,866,020
1860.
1840...
17,069,453
1870..
POPULATION.

20,191,876
1880.....
50,155,783
31,443,321
38,558,371
IMPORTS INTO THE UNITED STATES.

Year.
Value.
Year.
Value.
Year.
Value.
Year.
Value.
1820..
$74,450,000
1837.
1821..
1822.
62,585,724
83,241,541
1838..
1839..
1823.
77,579,267 1840....
1824.
80,549,007
1841..
$140,989,217 1854...
113,717,404 1855...
162,092,132 1856...
107,141,519 1857...
127,946,177 1858..
$304,562,381
261,468,520
1871..
1872..
•
$541,493,708
640,338,766
314,639,942 1873.
360,890,141 1874.
663,617,147
595,591,248
1825.
96,340,075 1842..
• ·
100,162,087
1859..
1826
84,974,477 1843..
•
64,753,799
1860..
1827.
79,484,068 1844.
108,435,035
1861.
282,613,150 1875.
338,768,130 1876..
362,166,254 1877..
335,650,153 1878
553,906,153
476,677,871
492,097,540
466,872,846
·
1828..
88,509,824 1845.
117,254,564
1829..
1830..
1831.
1832.
74,492,527 1846....
70,876,920
1847...
103,191,124 1848...
101,029,266
1849..
121,691,797
146,545,038
1862...
1863.
1864..
205,771,729 1879..
466,075,775
252,919,920 1880..
760,989,056
329,562,895 1881.
753,240,125
154,998,928 1865.
147,557,439 1866
+
1833.
1834.
108,118,311 1850...
126,521,332 1851...
1835.
1836.
149,895,442 1852..
189,980,035 1853..
198,138,318 1807.
216,224,932 1868.
212,945,442 1869.
267,978,647 1870
་
1884.
248,555,652 1882
445,512,158 1883.
417,833,575
371,024,808
437,314,255
462,377,587
767,111,964
•
751,870,305
•
705,123,955
484

1820
1890
100-000
1840
200,000
1850
300,000
400,000
1860
500.000
700,000
800,000
Gross Imports
Immigration
100
100=1)
(1=1)
Bankrupts Liabilities
K100=1)]
Population
|(100=1)
600,000
Chart C.-The Connection between Immigration and Bankruptcy.
1870
426
1880
Ο
485
486
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
or migration of any alien or aliens, any foreigner or foreigners, into the United States,
its territories, or the District of Columbia, under contract or agreement, parol or
special, express or implied, made previous to the importation or migration of such
alien or aliens, foreigner or foreigners, to perform labor or service of any kind in the
United States, its territories, or the District of Columbia.
SEC. 2. That all contracts or agreements, express or implied, parol or special, which
shall hereafter be made by and between any person, company, partnership or corpora-
tion, and any foreigner or foreigners, alien or aliens, to perform labor or service or
having reference to the performance of labor or service by any person in the United
States, its territories, or the District of Columbia, previous to the migration or im-
portation of the person or persons whose labor or service is contracted for into the
United States, shall be utterly void and of no effect.
SEC. 3. That for every violation of any of the provisions of section one of this
act the person, partnership, company, or corporation violating the same, by knowing-
ly assisting, encouraging or soliciting the migration or importation of any alien or
aliens, foreigner or foreigners, into the United States, its territories, or the District of
Columbia, to perform labor or service of any kind under contract or agreement, ex-
press or implied, parol or special, with such alien or aliens, foreigner or foreigners,
previous to becoming residents or citizens of the United States, shall forfeit
and pay for every such offense the sum of one thousand dollars, which may be
sued for and recovered by the United States or by any person who shall first bring his
action therefor, including any such alien or foreigner who may be a party to any such
contract or agreement, as debts of like amount are now recovered in the circuit courts
of the United States; the proceeds to be paid into the treasury of the United States,
and separate suits may be brought for each alien or foreigner being a party to such
contract or agreement aforesaid. And it shall be the duty of the district attorney of
the proper district to prosecute every such suit at the expense of the United States.
SEC. 4. That the master of any vessel who shall knowingly bring within the
United States on any such vessel, and land, or permit to be landed, from any foreign
port or place, any alien laborer, mechanic, or artisan, who, previous to embarkation
on such vessel, had entered into contract or agreement, parol or special, express or
implied, to perform labor or service in the United States, shall be deemed guilty of a
misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not more than
five hundred dollars for each and every such alien laborer, mechanic or artisan so
brought as aforesaid, and may also be imprisoned for a term not exceeding six months.
SEC. 5. That nothing in this act shall be so construed as to prevent any citizen
or subject of any foreign country temporarily residing in the United States, either in
private or official capacity, from engaging, under contract or otherwise, persons not re-
sidents or citizens of the United States to act as private secretaries, servants, or domes-
tics for such foreigner temporarily residing in the United States as aforesaid; nor shall
this act be so construed as to prevent any person, or persons, partnership, or corpora-
tion from engaging, under contract or agreement, skilled workmen in foreign countries
to perform labor in the United States in or upon any new industry not at present estab-
lished in the United States: Provided, That skilled labor for that purpose cannot be
otherwise obtained; nor shall the provisions of this act apply to professional actors,
artists, lecturers or singers, nor to persons employed strictly as personal or domestic ser-
vants; Provided, That nothing in this set shall be construed as prohibiting any individ-
THE RIVALS OF AMERICAN LABOR.
487
ual from assisting any member of his family, or any relative, or personal friend, to
migrate from any foreign country to the United States, for the purpose of settlement
here.
SEC. 6. That all laws or parts of laws conflicting herewith be, and the same are
hereby, repealed.
Approved, February 26, 1885.
As to voluntary immigration the remedy is not so easy, although a
remedy must be found. Mechanical competition is displacing labor in
the old country even more rapidly than it does here, and the superfluous
workingmen seem to have no choice between America and death. More
than thirty per cent of the people now employed in mechanical indus-
tries in the United States are of foreign birth. No truer statement in a
few words of the whole question has been made than that of Mr. Carroll
D. Wright, the United States Labor Commissioner: "However much
foreign immigration has aided the development of railroad building,
public works, rivers and other enterprises, these industries have been
obliged to assimilate labor faster than the demands for products have
warranted." This, it must be admitted, is rather a remarkable statement
for a government officer to make, and yet the facts more than bear out
the deduction.
It is the development of machinery, of labor-saving devices, which
has interfered with the benefits which immigration, up to a certain point,
undoubtedly has produced. Our home-made surplus population is
increasing annually in numbers, as it must under our industrial condi-
tions. Labor-saving machinery, it is estimated, annually displaces
70,000 workers, who are thrown on the market to find some other avenue
of work. To these must be added the immigrants who also annually
come to our shores. There are honest, industrious, intelligent and
effective men who cannot find work in the United States. The supply
of labor is already greater than the demand, and yet we go on adding to
the supply by every steamer which crosses the Atlantic, and subtracting
from the demand by every patent filed in the patent office. A certain
amount of immigration is good; a surfeit of it is bad.
The matter must be examined without prejudice, and solely from the
point of view on what is for the best interests of American labor.
There is no "know-nothingism" in wise adjustment of the supply of
labor to the demand. There is no injustice; it is after all the working
of nature's first law, self-preservation, which impels us to protect
American labor, even at the expense of Europe. The oppressed of all
nations are becoming, by the mere weight of their numbers, the oppres-
sors of this nation. No one wants immigration stopped. Every one who
488
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR,
will examine the facts will desire it regulated and adjusted, so that it
will no longer be an annual and constant disaster to the business of
America. We can assimilate safely a quarter of a million a year, but a
larger number is unfortunate for us in direct ratio to its volume.
CONVICT COMPETITION.
The question of what should be done with the convicts was supposed
to have been solved when a system was introduced wherein manufactures
of different sorts were introduced in the prisons, and the felons were
made to learn and work at different trades. The supporters of the systemi
pointed out with truth that several very important ends were gained.
In the first place the convicts were made self-supporting. The cost of
their keeping was taken off the state. The felons were taught trades
which would enable them to make an honest living after leaving the
penitentiary. The work in itself had an influence for good and toward
reform, being in itself a powerful disciplinary force.
All of this goes to show how very little social economics are under-
stood, and how it is only after many blunders that we can come to the
truth - how only after exhausting the possibilities of error we cease to err.
That the cost of keeping the convicts was taken off the state, was true,
but the cost was paid by some one, as all should have known, and it was
paid by the honest labor with which convict work came into competi-
tion. Convicts working at an average of fifty-one cents a day produced.
shoes which were put in the market side by side with those made by
free labor at an average of a few cents over two dollars a day. The
prison contractor had thus a margin of $1.50 per day per laborer against
outside rivals. He could still sell at a profit while they were selling at
a loss.
The consequence was easy to forecast. The free laborer had
to adjust himself to meet enslaved competition, and he was assisted in
his adjustment by the pressure upon his employer. Instead of taxing
the whole community for the support of the convicts in the shoe shops,
the shoemakers of the country are ingeniously compelled to pay for
their imprisoned co-workers. The free coopers must pay for the convict
coopers, the free saddlers support the immured saddlers, and so the
vicious circle is completed along the whole line of industry. As far as
the careful investigations of the Illinois Bureau of Labor Statistics have.
gone, the following industries are to be found in the prisons of America,
with the number of felons employed:
SKILLED PRISON LABOR.
KINDS OF WORK.
Males.
NO. EMPLOYED.
Females.
Total.
KINDS OF WORK.
NO. EMPLOYED.
Males.
Females.
Total.
Adobe and buildings.
Agricultural tools
Bakers-crackers..
Baking and kitchen.
Baskets.
113
113 Harness and collars.
127
127
•
·
174
174 Harness and saddles.
203
203
40
40 Harness......
163
163
24
24 Hats....
314
314
2
2 Heelmaking.
48
48
•
Beds.
14
14 Hollowware..
193
193
• •
...
Bedsteads-wood…..
Blacksmiths...
Blacksmiths, painters, fur-
niture and wagons…….
Blacksmiths, masons, tail-
ors, carpenters, farm
Bolts....
Bolts and nuts..
Bone ash...
Boneworkers.
Bookkeepers.
Boots and shoes.
Bricklayers..
Brickmaking
Brooms....
84
•
286
Hosiery.
•
40
+
398
398 Jute.
42
8
50 Knitting.
107
10
•
8
4
•
•
•
2,799
14
84 Hollowware and castings.
286 Hose....
40 Hosiery and knitting..
Hosiery and woolen good.
107 Knitting, sewing, etc..
10 Knitting socks.
6 Knitting and tailoring
4 Laundry
2,799 Leather.
14 Machinists
295
295
50
50
75
75
30
30
184
184
310
310
•
4
4
•
181
181
535
535
·
61
61
185
82
267
17
17
100
100
634
634 Matmaking.
35
35
•
321
Brooms and brushes...
8
22
30 Milling.
Brooms and trunks……….
Brush blocks and backs.
9
15
321 Mattresses.
9 Molding.
15 Nebraska Mfg. Company..
4
3
·
7
2
•
55
55
·
121
121
Brushes.
836
35
871 Overalls.
3
3
Brushes and shoes.
292
47
339 Painters…….
65
65
Brushes and wire work.
160
40
200 Pantaloons.
30
30
•
•
Building boats.
2
2 Paper boxes.
38
38
Canes...
271
Caning chairs.
•
1,147
9 1,156 Printing..
Cane seat chairs.
91
Carpenters..
187
Carpenters and blacksmiths.
17
Carpenters'
and joiners'
tools...
110
Carriage bodies and shafts..
105
Carriages and trimmings..
60
Castings..
10
•
Chair cane seating.
93
•
Chairs.
1,078
•
Chairs and cradles.
162
Chairs, flag seating
35
Chairs, seating...
35
54
89 Shoes.
Chairs and woodwork.
Children's carriages.
24
24 Socks.
35
Cigars...
313
Cigars and cigar boxes
55
...
313 Stockings..
55 Stoves...
•
Clothing.
811
27
•
Coal mining..
1,652
•
·
Doors....
Coats and vests.
Collars.
Coopers.
Cots..
Cuffs....
Cutting and dressing stone..
Dressing granite.
Dressing granite and mar-
40
40 Tailoring.
160
160 Tinware.
797
5
271 Planing mill.
91 Saddlery hardware.
187 Saddle trees..
17 Saddle trees and stirrups.
Seamstresses.
110 Sewing.
105 Sewing and knitting..
60 Sewing machines.
10 Shelf hardware.
93 Shirts...
1,079 Shirts and laundry
162 Shoemaking.
35 Shoemaking and tailoring.
35 Steampipe fitters.
838 Stoves and hollowware….
19 1,671 Stoves and stove castings.
797 Tinware, toys, garden, etc..
5Tobacco.
11
11
26
26
525
20
545
+
173
173
35
35
•
231
231
25
25
50
284
284
•
•
50
50
300
300
•
334 129
463
100
100
944
13
957
26
26
3,063
31 3,094
75
75
2
2
467
10
477
1,045
1,015
114
114
80
80
451
40
491
56
56
•
130
130
·
94
94
·
100
100 Upholstering.
2
2
482
482 Wagons..
959
32
991
191
•
191 Weaving...
35
35
170
• •
170 Weaving carpet.
11
11
Wheels and spokes
35
35
ble.....
60
60|| Whips and brooms
121
121
Dressmaking..
40
40 Window shade rollers.
15
15
Dressing marble
246
246|| Wire and wire fence.
143
143
Farming implements
120
120 Wirework….
12
12
Farm implements and wag-
Woodworkers.
138
138
·
ons...
291
15
306 Woolen boots.
152
152
Foundry and machinery
74
+
•
74 Woolen goods.
29
29
Foundry workers.
131
134
·
Furniture
264
264
Total..
28,826 1,567 30,393
Hame and saddlery hard-
ware...
100
14
114
489
490
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
UNSKILLED PRISON LABOR.
NO. EMPLOYED.
NO. EMPLOYED.


KINDS OF work.
Males.
Females.
KINDS OF WORK.
Total.
“s[BIN
Females.
Total.
Breaking stone....
62 78
Building and working on
140 Green-house
Helpers...
10
24
railroad.
515 11
Building
railroads and
526||Improvements and repairs..
Mining coal and burning
7
10247
levees
820
Building railroads, mining,
otc
1,104
#888
44
864
coke...
400
15
415
38 1,142
Mining coal and construct-
ing...
291
291.
Burning lime.
46
• •
46 Mining iron ore.
150
130
Chopping wood
225
...
225 Phosphate works.
76
76
Constructing prisons and
roads....
420
420 Plantation...
Constructing public sewer..
65
65 Quarrying granite.
Constructing public streets
80
Constructing public works
1,166|
1,166
Constructing
roads
and
work on plantation.....
Cutting timber and sawing
lumber....
Engine house...
Farm, construction, garden
and prison duties.
Farm and garden.
Farm, garden and live
197
Picking cotton waste.
80 Quarrying lime stone and
burning lime..
Quarrying stone.
197 Quarrying stone, breaking
8
8
1,148
1,148
200
200
23
23
•
•
1,170
4 1,174
and grading.
147
147
55
·
55|| Quarrying stone and crush-
11
11
ing..
210
210
1,530
65 1,595
ting.
276
276 Rag cutting.
stock.
56
Farming.
1,891
Quarrying stone and cut-
Sawing lumber.
56 Sewing rags.
30 1,921 Prison duties.
361
361
139
46
185
21
21
•
14
4 18
•
▸
6,854 1,996 8,850
Gardening
51
51
•
General work.
154
3
157
Total
• •
•
20,012 2,334 22,346
Grading public park…….
55
55
Skilled.
Unskilled
Total..
SUMMARY.

Male.
Female. Total.
28,826
1,567
30,393
20,012
2,334
22,346
48,838
3,901
52,739
If to these figures be added the 4,592 prisoners who are for various
reasons idle, the prison population of the United States, which amounts
to 57,331, will be accounted for. In order that the statistics in the case
may be made complete, the distribution of convicts in the different states
is also appended :
THE RIVALS OF AMERICAN LABOR.
491
STATES.
Total population.
Male.
PRISONERS
WORK.
ᎪᎢ
'D[VIDH
Total.
Idle.
METHODS OF EMPLOYMENT.

Under con-
tract.
Under lease.
Piece
plan.
price
On public ac-
count.
In prison du-
ties.
597 582
1,621|| 1,547
455 431
930
643
89
197
197
1,659
1,620
3,320 2,730
1.737 1,714
1,011 892
1,376
1,342
1,384
1,300
...
864
820
183 174
1,214
491
3,819 2,749
Michigan.
2,628 2,377 250 2,627
549
515
812
780
2,000
1,604
376
363
132
126
224 203 16 220
1,579|| 1,325
UNITED STATES..
• ► ·
·
Alabama
Arkansas
California.
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
•
•
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
+
•
Maryland..
•
Massachusetts
Minnesota.
Mississippi
Missouri
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire..
New Jersey
57,331 48,838 3,90152,739|| 4,592|| 14,939 9,291 2,980 16,679 8,850
899 867 32 899
3788
វិឆធី :ជាឧត្តមគត
863
36
15 597
597

14 1,561
601
769
407
385
3 434
21
287
147
207
850
801 200
60
348
242
89
197
197
39 1.659
1,659
89 2,819
502 1,873
110
340
496
1,714
23 1,172
436
13 905
106
318
350 237
16
1,358
18 245
932
181
84
1,384
1,142
169
73
44
864
864
3
177
6
168
9
31
522
692
439
83
649 3,398
421
649
898 876
975
900
1,195
10. 525
24
330
130
65
812
741
133 1,737 263
869
543
13
376
278
نار
2
128
4
105
4
99
93
60 1,385!
194
625
511
249
New York
North Carolina
•
Ohio...
Oregon.
•
9,032
7,474
670 8,144
888
4,350
1,085 1,020
65 1.085
2,255 1,539
1,085
3,224
2,665
430 3,095
129
1,199
1631 992 441
291
282
1 283
81
170
50
63
Pennsylvania,.
Rhode Island.
South Carolina.
Tennessee……
Texas ..
Vermont
• •
5,533
4,099
649 4,748
785
402
45 2,698 1,603
744
661 79 740
4
122
10
465 143
945 901
44 945
526
398
21
1,339 1,293
46 1,339
1,339
2,539 2,359
33 2,392
147
109
2,128
155
170
150
20 170
70
84
16
Virginia
West Virginia.
Wisconsin..
The Territories.
1,024
956
68 1,024
808
215
275
269
6 275
215
60
1,052
989
33 1,022
30
340
456
226
420 327
3:29
931
60
207
62
From these figures we come to the very important facts depending
upon them. Taking Illinois as a basis of calculation, we can very soon see
how prison competition operates. There are 120,558 males of 16 and over
engaged in the industries of Illinois. There are eight specific industries
employed in the Illinois penitentiaries,* while there are in round numbers
a hundred specific industries followed by the hundred and thirty thousand
free laborers. Making a general average then, which, however, would be
misleading, there are 2,819 convicts competing against 1,205 free laborers,
While the proportion would not really arrange itself this way, it must be
borne in mind that convict competition is a serious and often a fatal
* At the cléction in November, 1886, convict labor was abolished in Illinois.
492
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
thing to free industry. The saddlery business of St. Louis is in the
hands of the convict contractors. The census report of 1880 shows 2,297
coopers in Illinois, of whom 686 are employed in Chicago. Of the con-
victs at Joliet 204 are employed in making cooperage for the Chicago
market exclusively, by a firm of Chicago contractors. Even yet the
figures are delusive, for the penitentiary work competes directly with that
part of the Chicago coopers who are engaged in making pork barrels.
The same firm of contractors owns the labor of one of the Indiana peni-
tentiaries, and as a consequence no free labor at all is employed in making
pork barrels for the Chicago market. The honest workingman has been
driven out of the field utterly. The manufacture of boots and shoes.
employs 883 convicts in Illinois, while the free labor engaged in the same
and cognate branches of industry in the state amounts to 3,443. The
convicts are therefore one fourth of the free labor in this department of
work. The number 3,443 represents the whole shoemaking labor in all
its branches. There were 2,060 persons in the factories and it is directly
against these that the 883 felons are fighting. Thus the competition is 43
per cent instead of 25. In the states immediately surrounding Illinois,
viz.: Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, there are, ast
a reference to the table will show, 1,431 convicts employed in shoe-
making. Under such a condition of things is it any wonder that the
shoe-making business in Illinois is languishing. Free labor must come
to convict labor rates. It is an actual fact, which will be found true in
all save isolated instances, that wages are lower than they were thirty,
twenty or ten years ago in the trade, and that the number of idle men
is larger. And we can see how this must be true. The average price
paid for prison labor in Illinois is 524 cents a day. Against such figures
how can the honest man compete?
The whole domain
And these are after all only isolated instances.
of industry is affected by this criminal labor. It does not need that the
percentages of felons to honest men should be larger. If there is enough
prison output to make any appreciable effect on the market the honest
product must come to the price set by the dishonest product. The
markets are sensitive and sympathetic and they govern wages. The end
of it all must be that free labor will approximate nearer and nearer in
pay and treatment to prison labor if we keep on in the vicious road in
which we are now traveling.
And there are other points to be considered. It is simply rot to talk
about either the disciplinary value of the work done in these prisons,
or the reformatory value of the contract system. The felons are
THE RIVALS OF AMERICAN LABOR.
493
mere machines held to labor by the dark cell and the scourge.
They do not learn trades; they simply learn parts of trades out of
which an honest living can not be made. The advantages claimed
for the system simply do not exist. When we examine them closely they
fade away. But even if the method was all that the fancy of the most
enthusiastic prison reformer painted it, it would still be bad, dangerous
and demoralizing. The state has no right to fit to the backs of one class
of workers the burden which should be shared by all.
In this year of grace 1886, the evils of the contract system are gen-
erally admitted by all legislators. Laws have been passed in most of the
states sweeping the system away, and in others at the termination of
existing contracts the method will terminate; but, somehow, the remedies
proposed by the economists simply change the form and not the substance
of the evil.
It seems to be still held as a cardinal principle that the con-
vict must be made self-supporting, and herein lies the radical de-
fect of all the remedies suggested. It is overlooked that a con-
vict can only be self-supporting by working at some business in which
the product of his labor can be sold. He thus competes, no matter under
what name, with free labor, and as a consequence free labor suffers
much more than the extent to which the state is benefited.
The public account system makes the state furnish the plant for
manufacture, and sell the goods in open market. It dispenses with the
contractor, but does not help the free laborer, who is met, just as before,
by slave labor.
The piece-price plan involves the setting up of factories by the state,
and the making of raw material furnished by outsiders into finished.
product at a fixed price per piece. Here again the convict competition
is manifest.
Indeed exhaustive study of the works of prison reformers shows that
they base their systems invariably upon making the convict a money-
making machine. The prisons are to be factories of some sort, rather
than penitentiaries. It is here where the workingmen should insist that
the line be drawn. He should argue that the prison should not
be a factory, but a prison. He should agitate until the penitentiary is a
penitentiary, and not a device for fixing the cost of crime upon a part of
the community instead of upon the whole, as it would be in a rightly
ordered society.
It is not our business, it is not the business of labor, to find a remedy
which shall meet the exigencies of the case. It would be better for this
494
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
country to have the convicts in utter idleness, than to force them into a
pernicious activity which destroys the free workingman. When the real
remedy is found it must, at least, take wholly out of the market convict
competition. Slave labor should not be employed against free. It makes
no difference who is to benefit by the difference, whether the contractors,
the state, or the middlemen; it is not just to make labor pay that differ-
ence, and the sooner our lawgivers realize this fact the better it will be
for American industry.
And thus we see how we are even more extravagantly burning our
candle at both ends than the first two departments of this chapter indi-
cated. We are adding to the supply of labor by a constant stream of
immigration, and subtracting from the demand not alone by labor-saving
machinery, but also by a system of prison industry, which adds a new
and wholly unjust competition that is insidious, dangerous and per-
nicious, and against which honest labor cannot hold its own.
MECHANICAL COMPETITION.
The chart in the statistical appendix to this work shows in a graphic
manner the displacement of manual labor by machinery in various
industries. In the manufacture of wall paper, for example, one man
now does the work formerly requiring a hundred men without machi-
nery. It is an admitted fact that in the past thirty years mechanical
devices in the shoe trade have made unnecessary six men for every one
now employed, while within a comparatively recent period, eight per
cent of the shoe factory operatives have been displaced. In the six
years last past machinery has made it possible for one man to do the
work of two. In carriage-making, twice the present number employed
have been displaced; the same in cotton manufactures; while the pro-
portion in other branches is still greater. We could, if we wished, go
through the whole catalogue of industry and show similar facts in all.
The ultimate effect of machinery on labor has been so thoroughly
debated that it has been moved out of the arena of dispute. We know
that while immediate disturbance follows the introduction of labor-saving
machinery the product is greatly cheapened, and the workingman
participates in this benefit along with the other classes of the community.
Whether labor thus gets back into one pocket all that it loses out of the
other is not so clear. In the statistics collected by the United States
Government occur some figures so very interesting in this connection
that they are worthy reproduction and comment. In agricultural
machinery, it is estimated that the displacement of labor owing to the

Wam. Emison.
President International Typographical Union.
THE RIVALS OF AMERICAN LABOŘ.
49%
improved machinery brought into use in the last fifteen or twenty years
amounts to fully fifty per cent. The actual facts in one factorv are given
as follows:

Number of Employés.
Department.
Required
with
machinery.
That would
be required
without
machinery.
Displaced
by
machinery.
Proportion.
Engine.
Boiler
Foundry.
...
Wood-working
Setting up.
Blacksmiths
Machinists.
Erecting-room.
Paint-shop.
Teamsters..
4
Pattern-making
Draft-room
Tool-room
• •
•
.
•
Shipping and stock.
Lumber
Bolt and nut.
Belt..
Watch.
•
·
•
110
•
8298844389-99894-
540
480
70
210
140
165
60
300
240
50
50
45
90
45
405
360
35
70
30
30
10
20
5
40
15
150
135
XHC: HOA: THE
1 to 9
1 to 3
1 to 1%
1 to 5
1 to 1
1 to 2
1 to 9
1 to 2
1 to 1
1 to 2
1 to 8
1 to 10
10
10
1 to 1
30
30
1 to 1
10
10
1 to 1
5
5
4 to 1
14
7
1 to 2
Co
3
6
3
1 to 2
600
2,145
1,545
1 to 3.57
It will be seen that the place of the 2,145 men who would have been
working in this factory to produce its present output is adequately filled
by 600 men. From this losing of labor one would naturally look for a
large decrease in the price of the product. By the census report we find
that plows which had sold for $6.37 in 1866 were sold for $4.00 in 1880.
Another grade was reduced from $8.50 to $5.90; still another from
$11.90 to $8.00, and a fourth from $10.90 to $9.33 in the same period.
Thus an economy of somewhat more than 70 per cent in the labor has
produced a saving to the consumer of a little more than 30 per cent on
each plow. Nor is this all. Wages in agricultural shops are very much
lower now than they were in 1866 and for some years subsequently. In
1866 the percentage of wages to the cost of the whole manufacture of the
plow was 37, in 1880 it was 29, and it is in 1886 even less than that.
There are not alone less laborers at work in the agricultural machinery
business as a consequence of the development of labor-saving devices, but
those in employment are paid less per capita. The price of the product
has gone down, but it has not gone down in proportion to the increased
economy in manufacture. The whole loss to labor has not been made
up by an equal profit to the community.
498
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
The result of the government inquiry has shown that 35,000,000
horse-power of the steam engines and water powers equals in muscular
effect the strength of 21,000,000 men. The report of the Labor Bureau
is so interesting that we quote from it the following:
"Twenty-one million men represent a population, according to the ratio of the
census of 1880, of 105,000,000. The industries are now carried on by 4,000,000 per-
sons, in round numbers, representing a population of 20,000,000 only. There are in
the United States 28,600 locomotives. To do the work of these locomotives upon the
existing common roads of the country, and the equivalent of that which has been
done upon the railroads the past year would require, in round numbers, 54,000,000
horses and 13,500,000 men. The work is now done, so far as men are concerned, by
250,000, representing a population of 1,250,000, while the population required for the
number of men necessary to do the work with horses would be 67,500,000. To do
the work, then, now accomplished by power and power machinery in our mechanical
industries and upon our railroads would require men representing a population of
172,500,000, in addition to the present population of the country of 55,000,000 or a
total population with hand processes and with horse-power of 227,500,000, which
population would be obliged to subsist on present means. In an economic view the
cost to the country would be enormous, The present cost of operating the railroads
of the country with steam-power is, in round numbers, $502,600,000 per annum;
but to carry on the same amount of work with men and horses would cost the
country $11,308,500,000. These illustrations, of course, show the extreme straits
to which a country would be brought if it undertook to perform its work in the old
way. The figures are only interesting because a condition represented by them is
utterly impossible. They are, to a certain extent, valuable to show the enormous ben-
efits gained by the people at large through the application of improved motive-
power. They illustrate, too, the extreme view of the displacement of labor, which,
as already remarked, has been positive, and, it may well be said, to some extent per-
manent. Certainly, to the men individually involved, the displacement has been
severe indeed. It is not necessary to show that all the effects of the introduction of
power machinery have been to raise the standard of life wherever the introduction has
taken place. It is true that in those countries where machinery has been developed to
the highest, the greatest number of work people are engaged, and that in those coun-
tries where machinery has been developed to little or no purpose, poverty reigns, ignor-
ance is the prevailing condition, and civilization consequently far in the rear. These
statements are simply facts which common observation teaches. They could be easily
illustrated by statistics."
Every thinker will agree with Mr. Carroll D. Wright, the Labor Com-
missioner, in his conclusion that to machinery is due the progress of our
industrial development, but that the workingman has not received hist
rightful share of the benefits which labor-saving machinery has conferred
upon America.
CHAPTER XI.-THE ARMY OF THE DISCONTENTED.
BY T. V. POWDERLY.
THE NUMBER OF THE UNEMPLOYED THE Downward TENDENCY OF WAGES- THE
LAW OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND" - THE RELATION OF WAGES TO THE COST
OF PRODUCTION CHILD LABOR-THE PLEA FOR SHORTER HOURS - THE
EFFECT OF LABOR-SAVING MACHINERY -THE EIGHT-HOUR SYSTEM-"THE
SIN OF CHEAPNESS" Too Mucп WHEAT," YET MILLIONS OF MEN AND
WOMEN IN WANT OF BREAD.
IN
$
N January, 1884, the following paragraph appeared in one of the
daily papers:
It is estimated that at the present time one million and a half of men are out of
employment in the United States; it is safe to predict that, if opportunities were
offered to these men to drop into useful occupations, a large majority would not avail
themselves of them.
Since then, the number of the unemployed must have increased, for
nearly every day we read such items as this:
The worsted mill connected with the Bigelow Carpet Mills, which employs about
300 hands, shut down this morning for three weeks. This, with the five per cent cut
down at the Lancaster Gingham Mills, where 2,500 hands are employed, which also
went into effect this morning, makes Clinton's business outlook decidedly poor.
In the two years ending December 1, 1884, those employed in and
around the coal-mines worked but little over half-time, and for the
length of time that they were not at work they must be counted in with
the unemployed. If the figures above quoted were correct in January,
it is safe to assume that at present the number will not fall short of
2,000,000. The census of 1880 shows that the number of persons engaged
in gainful occupations was 17,392,099. Of this number 3,837,112 were
engaged in manufacturing, mechanical, and mining pursuits, while
5,183,099 gained a livelihood as laborers (agricultural and otherwise).
Thus in 1880 we had in the United States, between laborers, mechanics,
miners, and those engaged in manufacturing establishments, 9,020,211
persons.
From a personal experience, I am led to believe that the greater por-
tion of those who are now out of employment comes from occupations
499
500
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
that go to make up the 9,020,211. It is safe to assume that the 2,000,000
unemployed persons are discontented with their lot; and not only are.
they discontented, but those who labor at the same occupations that they
previously followed have every reason to be dissatisfied also. With so
many men and women seeking employment, the tendency of wages must
be downward. It does not follow, because men are out of employment,
that such articles as their fellow-workmen produce should decrease in
value, or that the profit on the manufactured article, accruing to the
owners of the establishments in which they work, should be any less; on
the contrary, the expectation is that diminished production will increase
the price of the manufactured article, or at least prevent its depreciation.
when thrown on the market. Notwithstanding the reduction in the ex-
penses of the mining company, we pay the same price for coal that we
paid a year ago. It matters not that the carpet mills “suspend 300
hands," the price of carpeting remains unchanged. The gingham mills
and the cotton and woolen mills may reduce the wages of employés five
and ten per cent, yet the price of gingham and calico continues as be-
fore. Whether the manufactured article commands the same price in
the market or not, the employer, knowing that he can secure an abund-
ance of help, reduces the wages of his employés. Those who are out of
employment are no longer producers, and they certainly are not cus-
tomers to any increased extent. The wages of those employed having
been reduced, their powers of consumption are limited. The merchant
whose shelves are stocked with goods becomes discontented when he
views the rows of men and women that stand in front of his store, peer-
ing with hungry-looking eyes through his windows at the goods so
temptingly held to view, willing and anxious to buy these goods, but
deprived of the means, through enforced idleness or inadequate compen-
sation for services rendered. Ask the business man what the cause of
the depression is, and he, parrot-like, will say, "It is all regulated by
the law of supply and demand." A moment's reflection would show
him that the law of supply and demand, like all other laws, is open to
different constructions. On his shelves is a supply of goods; outside of
his window is a demand for these goods-a demand that is at all times
equal to the supply. Why is it that the demand does not reach forth
and secure the supply? The answer comes, "Because the medium of
exchange is lacking; because labor is too cheap and plenty, and money
too dear and scarce. That a deep-rooted feeling of discontent pervades
the masses, none can deny; that there is a just cause for it, must be ad-
mitted. The old cry, "These agitators are stirring up a feeling of dis-
""
·
THE ARMY OF THE DISCONTENTED.
501
satisfaction among workingmen, and they should be suppressed," will
not avail now. Every thinking person knows that the agitator did not
throw two millions of men out of employment. The man that reads
such paragraphs as this will not lay the blame of it at the door of the
agitator:
Mrs. Sarah Jane Geary, an Englishwoman, residing in this city, committed sui-
cide a few days since. Her husband is a miner, and owing to the frequent suspen-
sions of business in the mines during the past winter, his meager earnings were insuf-
ficent to support the family. The fact preyed on Mrs. Geary's mind, and she resolved
to end her life, that her children might receive her share of the food, otherwise they
would go hungry.
That the army of the discontented is gathering fresh recruits day by
day is true, and if this army should become so large that, driven to des-
peration, it should one day arise in its wrath and grapple with its real or
fancied enemy, the responsibility for that act must fall upon the heads
of those who could have averted the blow, but who turned a deaf ear to
the supplication of suffering humanity, and gave the screw of oppression
an extra turn because they had the power. Workingmen's organizations
are doing all they can to avert the blow; but if that day dawns upon us,
it will be chargeable directly to men who taunt others with unequal
earnings and distort the truth as was done in an interview recently had
with Mr. William H. Vanderbilt :
One of the troubles in this country just now is the relation of wages to the cost
of production. A skilled workman in almost every branch of business gets every day
money enough to buy a barrel of flour. I don't refer to ordinary laborers, but to
men skilled at their trades. The man who makes the article receives as much wages
in many instances as the article is worth when it is finished. This is not exactly fair,
in my opinion, and must be adjusted. Until wages bear a truer relation to produc-
tion, there can be no real prosperity in the country.
I have seen no denial of the above, and take it for granted that it is a
correct report. Mr. Vanderbilt starts out well enough, but he is in
error when he says that "a skilled workman in almost every branch of
business gets money enough every day to buy a barrel of flour." I know
of no business in the United States in which a skilled mechanic, working
regularly at his trade day by day, gets money enough for his day's labor
to buy a barrel of flour. That they earn the price of a barrel of flour, I
do not deny; but that they get it, is not true. It may be that Mr.
Vanderbilt refers to superintendents, foremen or contractors, for they
are the only ones that receive such wages. The average wage paid to
the skilled mechanic will not exceed $2.50 a day. I know of but few
502
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
branches of business in which men can command that price. The wages
of skilled mechanics are on the decline, while the price of flour remains
unchanged, from $5.75 to $8.50 a barrel. If Mr. Vanderbilt will demon-
strate how one can purchase a six-dollar barrel of flour for two dollars
and a half, he will have solved a very difficult problem for the working-
man. It is not the labor of the skilled mechanic alone that must be
taken into account in computing the cost of the manufactured article ;
the average price paid to labor in the establishment should be the stand-
ard, if a standard of wages is required.
An examination of the last census report shows that the number
of manufacturing establishments in the United States was 253,852, and
the amount of capital invested was $2,790,272,606; the average number
of hands employed was 2,732,595; the value of raw material wast
$3,396,823,549; while the product of the manufactured articles was
$5,369,579,191. Deduct the sum paid for the raw material from the pro-
duct of the manufactured article, and we have $1,972,745,642. This
sum represents the difference between the price paid for the article when
in a raw state and that received for it when manufactured. It is evident
that something more than interest on money invested was required to
give this additional value to the material. That something was the
labor of the hands referred to. The total amount paid in wages to the
employés of these establishments was $947,953,795. Deducting this
amount from the $1,972,745,642, we have left $1,024,791,847. This
sum goes to the manufacturer. It is estimated by some that the amount
paid for raw material includes taxes, insurance, salaries and repairs;
but, in the absence of reliable statistics, I am not prepared to prove that
such is the case. By adding the sum paid for raw material to the
amount of capital invested, we have $6,187,096,155, the total invest-
ment of the manufacturer. From this sum we have, pitted against
every one of the 2,732,595 employés, a fraction over $2,264. While the
average yearly earnings of each employé were $720, he received in wages
but a fraction over $346, or a trifle over one dollar a day for every work-
ing day in the year. Subtract the wages of the employé from his earn-
ings and we have left $374. The employé receives an average of $346 a
year for his labor, while his employer receives $374 on an investment of
$2,264. Instead of basing the cost of the manufactured article on the
wages given to the highest-priced skilled mechanic, it should be based
on the average wage paid to the men in these establishments. It thus
appears that a barrel of flour costs several days' labor.
It may be said that many of the employés of the manufacturing
THE ARMY OF THE DISCONTENTED.
503
establishments are minors, and consequently cannot perform as great an
amount of labor as a corresponding number of adults. That argument
might have had some weight years ago, but now it is fruitless. The age
and strength of the workmen are no longer regarded as factors in the
field of production; it is the skill of the operator in managing a labor-
saving machine that is held to be the most essential. It is true that a
child can operate a machine as successfully as a man, and that muscle is
no longer a requisite in accomplishing results. It i lso true that less
time is required to perform a given amount of labor than heretofore.
This being the case the plea of shorter hours is not unreasonable. Ben-
jamin Franklin said, one hundred years ago, that "if the workers of the
world would labor but four hours each day, they could produce enough
in that length of time to supply the wants of mankind." While it is
true that the means of supplying the wants of man have increased as if by
magic, yet man has acquired no new wants; he is merely enabled to
gratify his needs more fully. If it were true in Franklin's time that four
hours of toil each day would prove sufficient to minister to the necessi-
ties of the world's inhabitants, the argument certainly has lost none of
its force since then. At that time it took the sailing-vessel three months
to cross the ocean; the stage-coach made its thirty or forty miles a day;
the electric wire was not dreamt of; and the letter that traveled but
little faster than the stage-coach, was the quickest medium of communi-
cation.
It required six days' labor at the hands of the machinist, with ham-
mer, chisel, and file, to perfect a certain piece of machinery at the
beginning of this century. The machinist of the present day can finish.
a better job in six hours, with the aid of a labor-saving machine. In a
yarn mill in Philadelphia the proprietor says that improved machinery
has caused a displacement of fifty per cent of the former employés with-
in five years, and that one person, with the aid of improved machinery,
can perform the work that it took upward of one hundred carders and
spinners to do with the tools and implements in use at the beginning of
this century. In Massachusetts it has been estimated that 318,768 men,
women and children do, with improved machinery, the work that it
would require 1,912,468 men to perform if improved machinery were
not in use. To insure safety on a passenger train, it is no longer neces-
sary to have a brakeman at each end of the car; the automatic air-brake
does the work, while one brakeman can shout "All right here!" for the
whole train. The employé that has had a limb cut off in a collision,
must beg for bread or turn the crank of a hand-organ and gather his
504
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
+
pennies under the legend, "Please assist a poor soldier who lost his leg
at Gettysburg." He is no longer stationed, flag in hand, at the switch;
the automatic lever directs the course of the train and renders the one-
legged switchman unnecessary. It is said that the iron-molder recently
invented is capable of performing as much labor as three skilled work-
men; while the following dispatch to a Philadelphia paper, from
Mahanoy City, shows what is being done in the mines:
For the past three years the reduction in wages has been systematic and steady.
When one of the officials of one of the great companies was interviewed on the mat-
ter, he replied that the advance in labor-saving machinery had lightened the labor of
the men.
A miner at one of the Reading collieries says that some months ago he ex-
pended a large sum for a patent drill, which enabled him to do five times the usual
amount of work. He was employed in driving a gangway, the price paid being $10
a yard; but at the end of the week, when the officials saw the amount of work he had
done, the rate was reduced to $4.50 a yard.
Take the iron-molder as an illustration. Three flesh-and-blood men,
who require shelter, clothing, recreation and social intercourse, who
must eat or starve, who must pay taxes to support the state, and whose
bodies can be taken to defend the state in case of invasion or rebellion;
one iron man, who does not feel, sleep, eat, or drink, who never tires
and never rests. Three flesh-and-blood men, who have children depend-
ing upon them for bread; one iron man, who has no family to support;
and the three men whom he has displaced must continue to support.
families or enlist in that ever-increasing army of. tramps. Heat, steam,
electricity, labor-saving machines pay no taxes, municipal or national;
the men thrown out of employment through the introduction of these
agents are deprived of the means of contributing to the support of the
state, and an extra burden is shifted to the shoulders of those that con-
tinue to work. The existence of such a state of affairs gives evidence
that the introduction of machinery, from which the many should derive
an advantage, is being used for the benefit of a few, who already feel the
blow given to trade through the displacement of so many consumers.
A great many remedies are recommended for the ills that I speak of;
let me deal with what seems to be the most unimportant-the reduction
of the hours of labor to eight a day. Men, women and children are
working from ten to eighteen hours a day, and 2,000,000 men have
nothing to do. If four men, following a given occupation, at which
they work ten hours a day, would rest from their labors two hours each
day, the two hours taken from the labor of cach, if added together,
would give the tramp that stands looking on an opportunity of stepping
THE ARMY OF THE DISCONTENTFD.
505
into a position at eight hours a day. It is said that a vast majority of
those who are idle would not work if they had work to do. That state-
ment is untrue; but let us admit that 500,000 of the 2,000,000 idle men
would not work, we still have 1,500,000 who are anxious and willing to
work. If but 6,000,000 of the 17,000,000 producers will abstain from
working ten, fifteen and eighteen hours a day, and work but eight, the
1,500,000 of idle men that are willing to work can again take their
places in the ranks of the world's producers. Need it be said that 1,-
500,000 of new hats will be needed; that a corresponding number of
pairs of shoes, suits of clothing, and a hundred other things, will be re-
quired; that the wants of these men and their families will be supplied;
that shelves will be emptied of their goods, and that the money ex-
pended will again go into circulation. It would entail hardship on some
branches of business to require men employed in them to work eight
hours a day. Miners and those working by contract could not very well
adopt the eight-hour plan without lengthening their hours of labor.
Before giving the matter a second thought, many of these men look upon
the eight-hour agitation as of no consequence to them. If a mechanic.
is thrown out of employment and cannot find anything to do at his
trade, he turns toward the first place where an opportunity for work is
presented. If he is reënforced by 2,000,000 idle men, the number that
apply at the mouth of the mine, or seek to secure contracts at lower
figures, become quite large, and the miner and contract-man grumble
because so many men are crowding in upon them in quest of work.
Every new applicant for work in the mine makes it possible for the boss.
to let his contract to a lower bidder; therefore it is clearly to the inter-
est of the miner to assist in reducing the hours of labor in shop, mill and
factory, to the end that the idle millions may be gathered in from the
streets to self-sustaining positions.
The eight-hour system, to be of value to the masses, must be put in
operation all over the country, for the manufacturers of one state can-
not successfully compete with those of other states if they run their
establishments but eight hours while others operate theirs ten or twelve
hours a day. The movement should be national, and should have the
hearty co-operation of all men.
A Scottish clergyman, Dr. Donald Macleod, in a sermon on "The
Sin of Cheapness," says that "the craving for cheapness and hunting
after bargains is not only economically false, but a cause of great suffer-
ing to thousands of men, women and children." If men worked shorter
hours, they would learn that when a man begins to look for cheap bar-
506
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
gains he strikes a blow at trade everywhere. The employer looks for a
better bargain in labor, and reduces his force or hires cheaper men. His
employé must practice enforced economy, which is no saving; he drives
sharper bargains for articles manufactured by others; he cannot purchase.
so good an article, or in such quantities, as before; and the effect is felt
where these articles are made, taking the shape of a reduction either in
the working force or in the wages. When the President of the United
States issued his Thanksgiving proclamation in 1884, there were millions
of men and women in want of bread, notwithstanding "the abundant
harvests and continued prosperity which God hath vouchsafed to this
nation," and the cry, not of thanksgiving, went up from millions of
farmers of "Too much wheat!" Doubting as to the exact meaning of
the Creator in growing so much wheat, they invoked the aid of such in-
stitutions as the Chicago Board of Trade, in the hope of thwarting the
will of God by cornering wheat. These men invoked blessings on their
Thanksgiving dinners, and thanked God for the turkey, while they
hoarded the wheat away from those who asked for bread.
Give men shorter hours in which to labor, and you give them more
time to study and learn why bread is so scarce while wheat is so plenty.
You give them more time in which to learn that millions of acres of
American soil are controlled by alien landlords that have no interest in
America but to draw a revenue from it. You give them time to learn
that America belongs to Americans, native and naturalized, and that
the landlord who drives his tenant from the Old World must not be per-
mitted to exact tribute from him when he settles in our country.
CHAPTER XII.-MEXICO.
ANTIQUITY OF MEXICAN CIVILIZATION PREHISTORIC MEXICO THE CITIES OF
-
CHACO THE PYRAMIDS OF XOCHICALO AND PAPANTLA AZTEC CIVILIZATION
-INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION OF CHILDREN
SLAVERY DRESS AND FOOD OF THE
WORKING CLASSES CONDITION OF MEXICO AT THE TIME OF THE SPANISH INVA-
MINING AGRICULTURE-TRADES - WOMEN - THE CITY OF MEXICO
BARBARITIES OF SPANISH RULE - MODERN MEXICO SLAVERY ABOLISHED
AGRICULTURE MINING ARCHITECTURE AND HOMES OF THE PEOPLE.
SION
S
UNTIL within a few years, in Mexico, the dust of oblivion covered
the ruins of a civilization antedating by centuries the discovery by
Columbus of the new world. While Indians hunted and waged their fierce
warfare on the wooded heights surrounding New York bay; while the
cry of the wild-cat and the war-whoop of the savage still rang through the
forests on the hills now covered by the business palaces of Boston; while
Columbus in Spain was vainly trying to awaken confidence in the exist-
ence of a western continent; while Englishmen lived in huts, and when
Rome thought herself mistress of the whole world, there existed in that
part of the western continent bordering upon or inclosed by the tropics,
a people far advanced in the arts of civilization, and whose origin is lost
in antiquity. Spanish adventurers came, conquered and returned to
Spain ladened with the spoils of the plundered people. English, French
and Dutch settlers laid the foundations of mighty cities along the Atlan-
tic coast of the continent of America. Population in the newly-settled
country increased. Spain, jealously holding on to her territory in trop-
ical America, let her colonies languish and fall into the same decay that
even now holds all the Spanish peninsula in its grasp. The settlers in
the north flourished, and all thought of that luxuriant civilization in the
south soon passed from the minds of the people who finally built up the
United States of America.
But how full of interest are the evidences of that ancient civilization
in Mexico so contemptuously spurned by the Spaniards after they had
wrung from the people all that could be carried to Spain and turned into
gold to fill the pockets of the conquerors. It was reserved for a French
writer in the nineteenth century, amazed at modern discoveries in Mex-
ico and Peru, to cry out: America is to be again discovered! We must
507
508
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR
remove the veil in which Spanish politics have sought to bury its ancient
civilization." And so exclaiming, he set the example for a host of modern.
scientists who now study the long-neglected records of the life of the
ancient Mexicans.
""
The student of early Mexican civilization finds himself embarrassed,
at the outset of his labors, by the paucity of written records dealing with.
the subject. The destruction of the priceless treasures of the Alexan-
drian library by the infidel Mohammedans was not more complete
than the obliteration of Aztec and Mexican literature by the hordes
of fierce and fanatical Spaniards who, under Pizzaro, Cortez and
De Soto, ravaged the fair countries of Central and Southern Amer-
ica. But literature is not the only nor the grandest record of
civilization a people may leave to posterity, and thus we find today,
in the pueblos, temples and monumental ruins which dot the face of
the country from Peru to Arizona, the records of a people skillful in
architectural designing and industrious in carrying their designs into
effect. The record of the laborer was not to be obliterated by the
Spaniards, aided though they were by fire and sword. In the valley of
the Chaco, in New Mexico, stand in sombre silence today seven ruins in
the space of about ten miles. These ruins are the remains of the seven
cities of Cevola, destroyed and their inhabitants put to the sword by the
Spaniards in 1540. The ruins show that each of these "cities was a
single huge structure built in pueblo style; that is, a huge hollow square
of buildings, piled one on top of the other, and facing an inner court.
One side of the square is built up to the height of one story only, giving
entrance by means of ladders to the court. The outer walls were three
feet thick and built of huge, regularly cut blocks of sandstone. The
inner walls were of cobble stones laid in mortar. The foundations were
laid deep in the ground, showing a knowledge of constructive engineer-
ing. The piles of dwellings towered to a height of five, or sometimes six
stories, and had their only entrance from the outer side, by dizzy ladders
reaching to narrow windows. Speaking of one of these structures an
officer of the United States army, Lieutenant Simpson, writes: "It
discovers in the masonry a combination of science and art which can only
be referred to a higher stage of civilization and refinement than is dis-
coverable in the work of Mexicans or Pueblos of the present day. Indeed
so beautifully diminutive and true are the details of the structure as to
cause it, at a little distance, to have the appearance of a magnificent piece
of mosaic." Passing southward into the Mexico of today, the traveler
encounters still more gigantic monuments to a race now lost from the
LABOR IN MEXICO.
509
face of the earth. At Xochicalo, in Mexico, is a most extraordinary
monument of pyramidal form, yet unlike any of the pyramids of the
eastern continent. It stands on the brow of a towering hill, under the
earthy surface of which is a mass of rock. The pyramid itself is built
in five stages or stories, but in the rocky hill on which it stands are huge.
excavations; chambers six feet high, floored with cement and plastered
on the sides and ceilings with some white glistening substance of great
durability; galleries extend in every direction through the mass of rock.
Through the center passes the main gallery, sixty yards long, and
terminating in two huge chambers, the roofs of which are upheld by
massive pillars, carefully left by the excavators. Over a part of the inner
chamber rose a dome six feet in diameter and eight or ten in height.
The inner surface of the dome is faced with cobble stones set in mortar,
and from its apex rose a circular tube, nine inches in diameter, which
passed out of the pyramid at the apex. The purpose of this massive
structure, with all its elaborate details, is now a mere matter of conjec-
ture. Other pyramids are found scattered throughout Mexico. One at
Cholulu covers an area of forty-five acres and rises grandly into the air
to a height of one hundred and sixty feet. At present, however, it is a
shapeless ruin, and to the superficial observer seems like a huge mound
of earth. Nor are the prehistoric ruins of Mexico confined to pyramids
of problematic age and utility. Ancient bridges of carefully constructed
masonry, and flanked at either end by obelisks, are noted by many
travelers. The distinguished explorer Humboldt describes at some
length a pyramid examined by him at Papantla, in the state of Vera
Cruz. This structure rested upon a base of eighty-two feet square, and
its seven stages carried the apex to a height of about sixty feet. Up the
face of this pyramid stretched a broad flight of steps. "The facing of
the stones," writes Humboldt, "is decorated with hieroglyphies, in
which serpents and crocodiles carved in relievo are visible.
contains a great number of square niches, symmetrically distributed.
In the first story there are twenty-four on each side, in the second
twenty, and in the third sixteen. There are 366 of these niches in the
whole pyramid, and twelve in the stairs toward the east." Besides these
monuments to the industry of an extinct race in Mexico there are other
and still more imposing structures of the same character in the Central
American states and in Peru. Of these latter edifices, some description
will be found in the chapters dealing with the countries in which they
are situated. The foregoing descriptions are sufficient to show that
there existed in Mexico, at some period, a race of people among whom
Each story
510
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the arts of architecture, stone-cutting and masonry had been carried to
an advanced stage of perfection. All records, and even all traditions of
this race, have passed away. In the works of learned antiquarians can
be found only conflicting theories as to their origin and their fate. For
us, it is enough to note that they were a race in which labor had been so
far systematized, and had reached such a state of efficiency, that they
were enabled to leave monuments which have withstood the ravages of
centuries of time.
""
For us, the story of labor in Mexico must begin with the time of the
Aztecs. Strange, indeed, has been the history of this peculiar people,
who built up in Mexico a civilization fairly oriental in its luxuriance,
and then fell before the swords and matchlocks of the invading Span-
iards, ultimately being almost as thoroughly blotted from the face of
the earth as were their predecessors, the unknown builders of the cities
of Chaco and the pyramids of Xochicalo and Papantla. Today the
name of the Aztec is only kept in popular remembrance by certain
weak-minded and deformed children who, decked out in absurd and
savage toggery, are shown about the country by unscrupulous charlatans
as "Aztecs a despicable insult to the memory of a race at once civil-
ized, brave and industrious. The first appearance of the Aztecs, as the
dominant race in Mexico, was early in the eleventh century, or about
five hundred years before the Spanish invasion of Mexico. Ruins of
their earliest capital city at Tezcuco (which was abandoned later for the
City of Mexico) show them to have been a people skilled in the builder's
art and with some insight into the sciences, especially astronomy. In-
genious and complicated astronomical instruments have been found in
numbers amid the ruins of Tezcuco, now densely overgrown with rank
tropical vegetation. But at this period in their history, the works of
the Aztecs did not equal in grandeur the monuments of their mysterious
and unidentified predecessors. Not until the era of the Montezumas do
we find the civilization of the Aztecs putting on those aspects of opu-
lence and voluptuousness which, arousing the cupidity of the marauding
Spaniards under Cortez, were the primal cause of the downfall of the
Aztec power. Rumors of the magnificence of this empire in the new
world reached Spain within ten years of the discovery of America.
Columbus, on one of his adventurous voyages, was stopping in a harbor
of an island off the coast of Yucatan, when there came into the port a
vessel of the mainland, carrying sails of ingenious cut and presenting all
the appearance of hailing from a country of commercial and maritime
importance. Astonished by the spectacle of so much knowledge of
LABOR IN MEXICO.
511
naval architecture, in a region supposed to be inhabited by savages,
Columbus boarded the craft and had long and interesting interviews
with the commander. The Spaniard described the crew as well-clothed,
intelligent and far superior to any American natives he had yet seen.
The cargo of the vessel consisted of a variety of textile fabrics of various
colors, wearing apparel, weapons, household furniture and cacao. Mar-
veling much, Columbus secured specimens of the various articles and
returned to Spain, where he laid his report and trophies before the
throne. The cupidity of the Spaniards was aroused.
Here was a
people advanced in civilization, well versed in arts and sciences; doubt-
less in that country there was gold to be had for him who could win it
with his sword; and in an incredibly short space of time lumbering
Spanish galleons, ladened with hordes of desperate and unscrupulous
soldiers of fortune, were on the seas bound for the new El Dorado.
The people whose intelligence and industry had raised for them the
civilization that thus attracted the Spanish marauders, are well worthy a
place in the history of industry among mankind. So fully was the im-
portance of the laborer to the welfare of the state recognized by the
ancient Mexicans, that an elaborate system of industrial education was
prescribed by the authorities, and every boy of the classes below the
nobles was brought up to be a worthy member of the grand brotherhood
of labor. Hardly could the children walk firmly upon their feet, when
they were straightway made to understand that to live in this world means
to work. The boy was provided with small vases pendant from a yoke
about his shoulders, in which he brought water from the village spring.
The girl, while she was yet four years old, followed her mother to the
cotton field, and was there taught how to pull the fleecy bolls from the
waving stalks. As the children grew older the loads carried by the boy
grew heavier, while the girl learned to spin the cotton she had learned
to pick the year before. At six years old the boy was expected to bring
home daily from the village market some bit of meat or vegetables
which he had received in exchange for his labor. At the age of seven
the boy was thought to be old enough to begin the study of his trade,
which was generally chosen for him by his parents. Then began the
divergence of the education of the sexes; from that age thenceforward
the girl's duties became purely domestic. She learned to weave cotton
cloth, and then to cut and sew it into garments for herself and the mem-
bers of her family. From the fleecy boll that whitened the broad fields,
to the mantle that covered the body of her father and brothers, every
stage passed through by the cotton was familiar to her. The division of
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labor, so stimulating to great production and so dwarfing to individual
intellect, was not encouraged by the people of Mexico. As the time
went on, there was introduced into the Aztec system of education a
curious feature which is probably unparalleled in the educational system
of any people, save the Spartans. Children were put through a regular
course of training, to make them hardy and able to stand pain and
fatigue. Boys and girls of eight or nine years of age, for the slightest
offense, and often without committing any offense, would be stripped
naked, their hands and feet bound, and then thrown prostrate on the
ground, to accustom them to bear without a sigh the most severe floggings.
To the credit of the humanity of the Aztecs, it is well to record that
the girl was recognized as the weaker creature, and the severity of her
whipping was much less than that dealt out to the hapless boy. As the
children grew older, the pain thus inflicted upon them was made more
severe, and to it were added sundry other torments, all intended to
work the same end. When eleven years old, boys and girls were forced
to stand naked, exposed to the scorching and stifling smoke of burning
leaves. When the boy was twelve years old, his parents refused him a
bed and made him sleep naked on the earthen floor of the parental hut.
The girl, at this age, was rudely awakened at midnight and ordered to
clean up the house. When the children entered upon their "teens," the
boy who had not been apprenticed to a trade was obliged to fetch wood
from the forests for the family fire, to cut and bring in grass for the do-
mestic animals, and was taught by his father to drive the slender canoe
against the foaming torrents of the woodland streams. This accomplish-
ment led naturally to his acquisition of the art of angling, and this
again to the knowledge of bird-calls, snares and all the myriad means by
which men catch the lower animals for their use. So, by the time he
was fifteen years old, the Mexican boy was prepared to earn his own liv-
ing by woodcraft or was well embarked in the study of some useful trade.
By the side of the great mass of industrious citizens of Mexico worked
large numbers of slaves, but, though enslaved, this class was ruled in
accordance with a wise and gentle code of laws. The servile population
was created and recruited in several ways. Prisoners of war were com-
monly made slaves, although, in the earlier years, such captives were
sacrificed with barbaric ceremonies at the altar of the Sun God, and, even
down to the time of the Spanish conquest, such sacrifices were offered
whenever, in the opinion of the priests, the propitiation of the deity was
necessary. The Mexicans were most devout in their worship, and to the
friendly aid of the Sun God they ascribed all their successes in war.

John McBride.
President Ohio Coal Miners' Union.
UNIV
OF
MICK
LABOR IN MEXICO.
515
own act.
Hence they argued that all prisoners taken in battle should be devoted
to the service of the Sun God, and therefore, when such prisoners were
not sacrificed, they were treated with the most gentle consideration and,
although enslaved, were hardly forced to do any work whatever. The
second class of slaves were known as the free-will slaves, and, as this
appellation would indicate, were reduced to the station of slaves by their
The most common cause which led to a man's relinquishing
his rights as a free man was poverty and an inability to provide for his
own necessities. When a Mexican saw starvation staring him in the
face, he knew of one final resource: he could sell himself into slavery.
Commonly, the sale only enslaved the man himself, and his children,
even though born in slavery, were free. Sometimes, however, men sold
themselves into what was known as "perpetual slavery," and, in this
case, all descendants of the slaves were born into bondage. Children
were also sold by their parents into slavery, that the sellers might live
free. Slaves of the third class were called "law slaves" and were
enslaved as punishment for some crime or even misdemeanor. Should
a Mexican father find himself burdened with an incorrigibly wayward
son, he could, upon getting a decree from a magistrate, sell the boy into
servitude. By a curious provision of the laws, the money so gained was
ordered to be expended in a grand dinner to the remainder of the family;
a provision probably intended to prevent the father selling his son for
pecuniary profit. Some crimes, though capital by statute, were some-
times expiated by lifelong slavery. Thus, a man who murdered a father
of a family was doomed to death, but should the widow of the murdered
man so elect, the murderer might live to serve forever the family of his
victim. The life of the Mexican slaves seems to have been a rather easy
one. They were hedged about with humane laws for their protection and
provisions for regaining their freedom that show how entirely the institu-
tion of slavery was at variance with the character of the Mexican people.
To be made a free man, a slave had but to secretly pass outside the
boundaries of his master's dominion and then, besmirching his feet with
human excrement, present himself before a magistrate begging for
liberty. In response to such an appeal, it was the duty of the magistrate
to wash the fugitive's body, give him the clothes of a free man and then
take him before his former master, with the announcement that, by his
industry, he had liberated himself and the law pronounced him free.
Every facility was afforded the slave in his attempts to escape. The
fugitive slave law, unlike the one formerly upon the statute books of the
United States, prohibited all persons from obstructing a slave in pursuit.
516
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of freedom and imposed upon offenders lifelong slavery- a veritable
poetical justice. But the master of a slave was justified in taking any
steps necessary to prevent the escape of his chattel, and, should he detect
his slave in three attempts to escape, he might put a heavy collar about
the culprit's neck and send him to the market-place to be sold. Never,
in the times of slavery in Mexico, were slaves looked upon as legitimate
articles of commerce. They could be sold only with their own consent
or as a punishment, and if, at any time, a slave offered for sale could
control the price asked for him, he could buy his freedom of his master.
Sometimes the slaves standing for sale in the market place, weighed
down with heavy wooden collars, made frantic dashes through the
surrounding crowd and won their freedom through the law that any
slave bearing a collar was liberated by gaining the shelter of the royal
palace. But should the slave be unfortunate in his master or idle in his
habits, so that he was offered for sale four times, he became the property
of the priests of the Sun God and was offered as a sacrifice to the pagan
deity. Lastly, a slave might, and great numbers did gain liberty through
the custom prevalent among masters who noted the approach of death of
liberating those slaves who had well and faithfully served them.
The dress of the Mexicans of the time before the Spanish invasion
was simple, yet far more adequate to the needs of refined human beings
than the clothing of the poorer people of any nation of Europe of a
similar degree of civilization. Cotton was the chief material used, and
the Mexican women, trained from early childhood in the use of that fleecy
staple, wove from it fabrics the beauty of which astounded the Spanish
invaders. The dress of the men consisted of three pieces: a mantle,
trunks and sandals. Simplicity in dress was enjoined upon the poorer
classes, in whose ranks were enrolled most workmen and artisans, by
rigid sumptuary laws, which prescribed the dress of the plebeians. The
mantle was a square piece of cloth, woven of cotton or palm fiber, that
hung down to the lower part of the legs. The short trunks were large
and baggy, and the sandals were made of buckskin and fastened to the
feet with strings. The dress of the women was more elaborate. They
wore two or three long cotton chemises, without sleeves, that were
tightly confined at the waist by the belt of a petticoat of gaudy fabric,
that reached to the ankles. Their heads were bare, and their locks of
raven black hair hung in profusion down their backs or were sometimes
confined by bright-colored cotton cords or bits of bright green grasses.
The food of the working classes of ancient Mexico was almost entirely
vegetable. Unaccustomed to herding cattle or keeping domestic animals
LABOR IN MEXICO.
517
for the sake of the flesh, they relied for animal food upon the fruits of
the chase. Small wild animals they had occasionally, and fowls of all
kinds were common as well as fish, both salt-water and fresh. Maize or
Indian corn grew plentifully in the fertile valleys, and its use was known
to all the peoples who, at different times, inhabited that region. The
women were adepts in the art of grinding the hard kernels of this grain
into meal and making therefrom a great variety of edibles which, with
hominy and frigoles or black beans, formed the staple diet of the Mexi-
can peasantry. Although hardly to be classed as a food product, tobacco
was used in great quantities by the ancient Mexicans, and thousands of
workers earned their daily bread by toil in the tobacco fields or by pre-
paring the leaf for use.
At no time in the history of ancient Mexico do we find that heart-
less oppression of the poor by the rich, that lack of humanity toward
the wage-worker, that blackens the annals of so many European peoples.
Luxury existed in the court of the Montezumas, it is true, but to sup-
port that luxury the poorer classes were not plunged into poverty and
degradation. They were a simple people, and their needs were small
and easily satisfied. Living in a tropical climate, upon a soil that re-
paid a thousandfold the slightest effort of the farmer; surrounded by
forests full of game and rivers teeming with edible fish, the Mexican
lived a life of comfort that to the Saxon churl or French bourgeoise of
the same day would have seemed idyllic.
The second period in the history of Mexico begins with the invasion.
of the country by the marauding Spaniards under Cortez, who were de-
termined to gratify their insatiate thirst for gold even though, in their
search for the precious metal, they should be forced to wade through
seas of blood. In a work of this character an account of the Spanish
conquest would be out of place. The reader, whose interest in the sub-
ject may tempt him to study further the history of that expedition of
licensed freebooters, will turn to the picturesque pages of Prescott, where
the cruelty and rapacity of the Spaniards, as well as the nobility and
dignity of the people whom they subdued, are delineated with a master
hand. But in one way the march of the Spaniards into the heart of the
country is of importance to the historian of the laboring classes, since
many of the Spaniards who marched with Cortez have left on record
their impressions of the country through which they passed and the
character of the people whom they conquered. Thus we read that as the
invaders marched inland, they found "beautiful whitewashed houses"
scattered all over the country. At Cholulu, one of the more important
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C
interior towns, one Bernal Diaz writes in his journal: "I well remember
when we first entered this town and looked up to the elevated white
temples, how the whole place put us completely in mind of Valladolid."
And as the invaders pressed on, the signs of a great industrial civiliza-
tion became more and more evident until at last an officer, pressing on in
advance of the column, scaled the precipitous sides of Mount Popocata-
petl and saw "the valley of Mexico with its city, its lagunas and islands
and its scattered hamlets, a busy throng of life being everywhere
visible."
The people who inhabited this charming valley were peaceable and
industrious. Though living under the sway of the warlike Montezumas
and paying into the imperial treasury huge sums for taxes, their indus-
try and thrift were such as to make signs of squalor and degradation rare.
Their occupations were diverse enough to give every youth just coming
into manhood a wide choice of occupations by which to earn his bread.
Mines were known and scientifically worked for silver, lead, tin and cop-
per. Gold was obtained by placer mining, and the precious metals were
fabricated into vessels and ornaments carved and decorated in the most
skillful manner by cunning goldsmiths. Agriculture was in a tolerably
advanced state, the fields being laid out regularly, drained and irrigated
by canals and artificially fertilized when necessary. Granaries of admi-
rable construction were provided to receive the harvest. In these fields
the Spaniards saw growing the banana, cacao, or chocolate plant, the
vanilla bean, maize and maguey; the latter a plant which the Mexicans
put to various uses, making paper of its leaves, while its juice was fer-
mented into an intoxicating drink called pulque which still remains the
national beverage of the Mexicans. Weapons and cutlery were forged
by skillful smiths from an alloy of tin and copper, which was the only
substitute for iron. Of itztli or obsidian, a dark, transparent and ex-
ceedingly hard mineral, they made knives and swords almost equal in
temper to steel. On the tables of the people were cups, bowls and
dishes of earthenware and of wood, painted in the most barbaric gaudi-
ness. Their cotton clothing was dyed in most brilliant hues, the scarlet
of cochineal being a favorite color. The wealthier classes wore robes of
silk, the fiber of which was obtained from the cocoon of a species of cat-
erpillar much resembling the silk-worm proper. In the manufacture of
this fabric great numbers of people were employed. But the industry which
most delighted the eyes of the color-loving Spaniards was the work of the
feather-workers. These skillful artists constructed the most resplendent
cloths for the decoration of the houses and persons of the rich, by past-
LABOR IN MEXICO.
519
ing gaudy feathers upon fine cotton cloth. The wild birds of that trop
ical region gave feathers of scarlet, of green, blue and bronze, glistening
with opalescent iris and soft and flexible in tissue. The coloring of the
cloths made from these was resplendent beyond description, and the
patrician, clothed in a robe of feathers, inspired envy in the minds of
the Spaniards, accustomed though they were to luxury and magnificence.
The different trades followed by the Mexicans were grouped into &
species of guilds, and although the artisans carefully avoided the error
so common in Europe, of encouraging caste distinctions, yet a custom
arose of the son following the trade of his father. Both merchants and
artisans were people of standing in the community and often rose to high
and responsible posts in the government. The position of women among
the ancient Mexicans was an honored one. At no time were they treated
with the contempt which too often fell to their lot in European countries.
They partook, equally with the men, in all festivities, and their duties in
life were essentially feminine, such as spinning, weaving and sewing. At
no time were they forced to perform rude out-of-door work as is com-
mon today among the peasant women of France and Holland. Marriage
was a religious form, entered into with due solemnity, and its obligations
were held to be equally binding upon either party. Monogamy was the
invariable rule among the humble people, but the nobles and monarchs
sometimes had a plurality of wives.
After a long and bloody war, the Spaniards made themselves masters
of the country and established their seat of government in the City of
Mexico. This magnificent city, the imperial capital of the Montezumas,
was at that time even grander than it is today, although in 1803 Hum-
boldt wrote of it that it was equal to any city of Europe, and he had
fresh in his memory the cities of Paris, Rome, Naples and Vienna.
When, on a bright November afternoon, the Spanish line of battle was
drawn up before the city, the wondering invaders saw before them, in
the heart of what they had considered a savage country, long lines of
stately edifices looking like a thing of fairy creation rather than the work
of mortal hands. "Below them," writes Prescott, "the city lay spread
out like a map with its streets and canals intersecting each other at right
angles, its terraced roofs blooming like so many parterres of flowers.
Every place seemed alive with business and bustle; canoes were glancing
up and down the canals; the streets were crowded with people in their
gay, picturesque costume, while from the market place a confused hum
of many sounds and voices rose upon the car. They could distinctly
trace the symmetrical plan of the city, with its principal avenues issuing,
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as it were, from the fair gates of the temple and connecting themselves
with the causeways which formed the grand entrances to the capital.
They could discern the insular position of the metropolis, bathed on all
sides by the salt floods of the Tezcuco, and, in the distance, the clear,
fresh waters of the Chalco; far beyond stretched a wide prospect of fields
and waving woods, with the burnished walls of many a lofty temple
rising high above the trees and crowning the distant hill. The view
reached in an unbroken line to the very base of the circular range of
mountains whose frosty peaks glittered as if touched with fire in the
morning ray; while long, dark wreaths of vapor rolling up from the hoary
head of Popocatapetl told that the destroying element was indeed at work
in the bosom of the beautiful valley."
The next day the Spaniards entered the city and found within the walls
even more to wonder at. Water was brought to the city by a massive aque-
duct many miles long. The dwelling-houses were massively built of a
red porous stone, and the flat roofs were protected by stone parapets, so
that every house was a fortress. The great streets were intersected by
numerous canals, spanned by substantial bridges. Occasionally, they
entered a broad square surrounded by porticos of stone or stucco; some-
times a huge pyramidal temple of colossal size, crowned with tapering
sanctuaries and blazing altars, was passed. The palace of Montezuma
was near the center of the city, and was a pile of low, irregular stone
buildings, so vast that one of the conquerors says that, though he often
visited it, fatigue prevented his wandering through all its spacious rooms.
and interminable corridors. In a huge plaza stood the great teocali or
temple, guarded by a garrison of 10,000 soldiers. The temple was pyra-
midal, solid, and on the lofty summit blazed an eternal fire. But mag-
nificent as was this capital city of the new El Dorado, Cortez was too good
a soldier to occupy with his forces a hostile place cut up by canals, and
in which every house was a fortress. Reluctantly he determined to
destroy this city, which he himself called "the most beautiful thing in
the world." His innumerable Indian allies were called to his aid, and
in a few weeks seven-eighths of the proud city of 300,000 people was
leveled to the ground, the canals filled up with the rubbish and the
erection of a new city on its present plan begun.
It was no gentle government that the conquering Spaniards instituted,
and a very few years of their rule sufficed to plunge a once prosperous.
and contented people into misery and degradation. The first thought of
the conquerors was to extort from the conquered people all their riches
to glut the coffers of the grandees in Spain, and, with this end in view.
LABOR IN MEXICO.
..21
a system of merciless extortion, oppression and fraud was begun, and
continued unchecked for three centuries. Soon those who had been free
lords of the soil, and whose lives had been spent in peaceful enjoyment
of the gifts of a fertile country and a balmy air, were reduced to the
position of mere ignoble and degraded beasts of burden, stinted in the
very food necessary to sustain their miserable lives. The only distinc-
tion, in the mind of a Spaniard, between a native Mexican and a mule
was that one could carry heavier burdens and live on less food than the
other. The working people were regarded merely as pieces of machinery,
and were driven as though made of insensate steel and iron. The whole
country was looked upon as the "mine and mint of Spain." Gold was
all the Spaniards wanted. The fertile fields were not only neglected, but
agriculture was positively repressed by taxing heavily all fruits of the.
field. This was a particular hardship, for the ancient Mexicans con-
sidered agriculture the basis of all productive industry-a truth in polit-
ical economy that is generally recognized today. Among the Spanish
colonial officers who at different times ruled over the hapless Mexicans,
the most frightful corruption prevailed, and they stayed in the country
only long enough to enrich themselves by plundering the people; then
returned to Spain with their ill-gotten gains. The people of the colony
were not allowed to manufacture any articles which could be supplied by
the mother country, and hence many flourishing industries were obliter-
ated and artisans degraded to the station of serfs. Books were pro-
hibited, schools discouraged, and every means taken to prevent the growth
of intelligence among the people. The Mexicans did not bear with
tranquility the Spanish yoke, but broke out again and again in revolt
against such oppression. Nevertheless, the power of Spain was sufficient
to hold the province in subjection for three hundred years until, in 1821,
a popular uprising of the Mexicans, coupled with a revolution in Spain,
enabled the long subjugated race to gain their independence and the era
of modern Mexico began.
In the present condition of the laboring classes in Mexico, there is
much of interest to the American student of labor. Though bordering.
so closely upon the United States, there is little similarity between the
habits and customs of the two countries. The enervating influence of a
tropical climate has done much to deprive the Mexican of that energetic
industry which is so characteristic of his Yankee brother, while the long
centuries of Spanish oppression have left the stamp of servility upon a
people so long enslaved. It is true that the institution of slavery no
longer flourishes in Mexico, but neither is the dignity of labor recog-
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THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
nized as in the United States. Under the Spaniards the Indians were
all enslaved, but in 1829 a law provided that slavery should be thence-
forward abolished in the republic. All slaves then in servitude were
set free and their owners recompensed for their loss from the public
treasury.
Class distinctions still flourish in Mexico, and it is today the most
aristocratic of all republics. The line is sharply drawn between the con-
servative governing families and the millions of uncultivated, frugal, in-
dustrious and submissive wage-workers. To elevate himself socially is
impossible for one of the laboring class; hence a great incentive to indus-
try is withdrawn and the working people have fallen into a rut of con-
tented indolence. Farmers still adhere to the most primitive forms of
cultivation, using wooden plows of the form in vogue among the ancient
Egyptians, but getting good returns for their labor, owing to the great
fertility of the soil. To the list of agricultural products hardly anything
has been added since the days of the Aztecs. Rice, which is largely pro-
duced, is cleaned of the husks by beating in wooden mortars instead of
by machinery, as is the custom in more progressive countries.
Today, the chief productive industry of Mexico is mining. The
mountains of Mexico abound in veins of gold and silver, in the extrac-
tion of which are employed great numbers of the people of the country.
The condition of the laborers in some of the mines is thus described by
a traveler: "From five hundred to a thousand men are employed in
each of the mines we visited; they are strictly searched at three different
gates on leaving the mines. Any one caught stealing is severely dealt.
with; he is imprisoned or sent to be a soldier. In aggravated cases a
man is never heard of after he enters the prison door. An order arrives
to transfer him to some other prison and he is generally shot (by acci-
dent) on the way." The minerals obtained in the mines are fashioned
into ornaments by the gold and silver smiths of the country, who show a
skill in the manufacture of jewelry hardly excelled by the jewelers of
Europe. The delicate articles wrought in silver filagree are quite as
artistic as the best efforts of the silver workers in the Iberian peninsula.
The wages of the working people of Mexico are low to a pitiable de-
gree. Workers in cotton mills, who stand at their posts for fifteen hours
a day, receive the munificent stipend of thirty-one cents for a day's labor
and one-third of this must be taken in supplies from the company's
store. Agricultural laborers are still worse off financially. They are
chiefly Indians and are paid by the hacienderos or landed proprietors about
thirteen and a half cents a day. Their condition is rendered still more
LABOR IN MEXICO.
523
hopeless by the custom of the hacienderos keeping their workmen always a
little in debt, and as the debts descend from father to son they become
the perpetual slaves of one family.
Ordinary day-laborers in the cities can earn about twenty-five cents
a day and generally manage to acquire a bit of land on which they raise
vegetables for home use.
In the trades, Mexicans show a marked adaptability. Tailors in small
country villages produce clothes that fit the human form with a nicety
that would delight a Fifth Avenue tailor. Their hand-made shoes,
which they make gladly for four dollars a pair, scem to be modeled upon
Parisian lasts.
The dwellings of the Mexicans, both in country and city, are
usually built of adobe, or sun-dried bricks about fifteen by eight
by five inches. These bricks are now often made by women. The
houses are well adapted for dry climates, and, indeed, resist mod-
erately well the most inclement weather, and while cool in sum-
mer are casily warmed in winter. The better situated working
people build their houses with both doors and windows, whilst the
half-breed Indian enters and leaves his adobe hut through a hole
in the roof, and, once within, draws up his ladder and is cut off from
all unwelcome guests. Interior decoration is simple in these abodes of
humble industry. The walls are whitewashed with an earthen color.
Along the longer wall is an adobe bank covered with blankets that serves
as bed for the whole family. The whole furniture of the house consists
of a crucifix, a table, a few chairs and some cooking utensils. Nearer
the sea-coasts houses are sometimes built of reeds canes interwoven
until the structure resembles a huge bird-cage. On the great farms,
cabins of adobe for the laborers are built in long rows like barracks.
The dress of the working people of Mexico is picturesque and shows a
marked resemblance to the national costume of Spain. The prevailing
color of the dress of the man of the people is white shirt, jacket and trous-
ers are all of white cloth, but seldom spotless. On his head is a huge
sombrero, usually of straw, but sometimes of felt embroidered in gold and
gaudy colors. Over his left shoulder is flung carelessly a gaily colored
woolen blanket called a serape, which nestles in loose folds about his
bronzed throat. From his lips protrudes the ever-present cigar, and his
presence is always announced by a cloud of fragrant smoke. Shoes he
seldom wears. The women of the same class are comely in person, their
thick blue-black hair, bright dark eyes and white teeth making them
among the most attractive of their sex. Their dress is usually of calico
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C
print, cut so as to fall barely below the knees. Around their heads is
wound the rebosa chiquita, a small scarf of cotton or silk, gaily col-
ored. Often the folds of this scarf serve as baby carriage or cradle, and
the black eyes of some chubby little youngster peep roguishly out from
behind its mother's head.
The great food staple of the Mexicans is maize, and its chief use is in
the form of tortillas, or fried cakes of corn meal. But little cookery is
done in the home of the laborer of Mexico. He buys his tortillas, ready
fried and seasoned, of one of the old Indian women who squat by the
side of their baskets at the roadside. The cost to the consumer for a
meal thus procured is about one and one-half cents. Besides the tor-
tillas, the edibles described as in use among the ancient Mexicans are
still used, particularly among the rural classes. Frugality is the pre-
dominating characteristic of the Mexican laborer. It is this quality that
enables us to see in the Mexico of today a country in which the rewards
of labor are less, and the condition of the laborer more degraded, than
in any other civilized nation-so much content, and so little actual
suffering or misery.
CHAPTER XIII.- CENTRAL AMERICA.
EVIDENCES OF PREHISTORIC LABOR-THE RUINS OF COPAN AND PALENQUE - CEN
TRAL AMERICANS OF TODAY-OCCUPATIONS - THE INDIANS - AGRICULTURAL
LABORERS DRESS-FOOD AT STARVATION PRICES - LOGGING-MINING — WAG-
ONERS — THE CITIES OF GRANADA AND LEON - HABITS AND CUSTOMS - SPINNING
-POTTERY-FOOD.
To
10 the southward of Mexico, and forming the narrow neck of land
that binds together the continents of North and South America,
extends that wild tract of tropical country known as Central America.
Lying between the sapphire waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the mighty
surges of the Pacific Ocean; basking in the rays of a tropical sun, and
repelling by the heat of its climate and its deadly miasmatic vapors the
progressive people of the North, this region still retains the uncivilized
characteristics of a barbarous country. The surface of the earth is
diversified by low, marshy jungles, the thickly matted tropical vegetation
of which gives shelter to savage beasts and poisonous serpents. Farther
from the sea-coast are wooded hillsides and fertile valleys and meadows,
while as the explorer penetrates to the center of the isthmus he finds
his progress blocked by the rocky barriers of a towering mountain range
that forms the backbone of Central America. Although wholly compre-
hended within the limits of the torrid zone, Central America, by virtue
of its varying altitudes, possesses a wide range of climate, and therefore
produces the cereals of the temperate zone as well as the guava, fig and
banana of the tropics. Small though the area of Central America is,
there exist within its boundaries no less than six distinct and sovereign
states, which, in their form of government, are now republics, now mon-
archies, consummating the most revolutionary changes with a rapidity
bewildering to one bred under a stable government. That same tropical
sun whose rays make vegetation grow so rankly that the hoe of the
farmer can scarce keep pace with the growth of the weeds, seems to
stimulate in the same way the political growths which overshadow and
choke the rise of an intelligent civilization. The territory of Central
America extends over 192,564 square miles, or a trifle more than the
area of the state of California. Over this territory six states hold sway:
Guatemala, San Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica and British
525
526
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
Honduras. Less than two million and a half people are distributed
throughout this region — hardly as many as make their homes in that
populous region visible to the stroller upon the airy platform of the
mammoth bridge that joins the sister cities of New York and Brooklyn.
The traveler in Central America often comes upon ruins which show
the existence in ancient times of a race far in advance of the almost
savage people that today inhabit the isthmus. Under the thickly-matted
vines and bristling palmettos of the hummock-ground lie hid the relics
of ancient civilization fallen into oblivion. Such structures as we have
described as existing in Mexico, are found in all the Central American.
states. Indeed, it would seem that the seat of this prehistoric American
civilization was south of the southernmost boundary of Mexico, and in
the region now pointed to as the abode of idleness, savagery and sloth.
Here the ruins of many ancient cities have been discovered-cities which
must have been deserted and left to decay in ages previous to the be-
ginning of Aztec supremacy. Most of these ruins have been found in
dense forests, and doubtless the still unexplored jungles hide many more.
such evidences of a defunct nation. Ages will elapse before all the
mysteries of this region are made clear to man. By far the greater por-
tion of the country is in the primeval state, and covered with dense,
tangled and almost impenetrable tropical forests, rendering fruitless all
attempts at systematic investigation. There are vast tracts untrodden
by human feet, or traversed only by Indians, who have a superstitious
reverence for the moss-covered and crumbling monuments hidden in the
depths of the wilderness. Such a forest covers the southern half of
Yucatan, and extends far into Guatemala. Its vast depths have never
been fully explored. In it are somber ruins, which none but wandering
natives have ever seen, and doubtless some upon which no human gaze has
ever fallen. In this forest, according to the old Central American books
and traditions, was the site of the earliest civilization -- that of the
Colhuas. In their time the whole country was cultivated and filled with
inhabitants. Cities arose, and an urbane society was formed. Mankind
passed from the station of the nomadic hunter or herdsman into the more
civilized state of the skilled workman and farmer. But of the life and
habits of this people we know nothing. To us nothing remains save vague
traditions of mighty ruins in the depths of the forest and more detailed
descriptions of the ruins of Palenque and Copan, on the southern border
of that gloomy jungle.
The two groups of ruins known as Palenque and Copan may be taken
as typical of the archæological remains of northern Central America.
LABOR IN CENTRAL AMERICA.
527
Ruinous as they are now; crumbling with the disintegrating action of
time, and overgrown with weeds and trailing vines, the fragments of
masonry nevertheless attest the handiwork of a people skilled in stone-
cutting and joining. All who have visited them bear witness that the
workmanship was of a high order. The rooms and corridors in these
edifices were finely and often elaborately finished, plaster, stucco and
sculpture being used. Speaking of a room in one of these ruins, an ex-
plorer says: "The walls were coated with a very fine plaster of Paris, equal
to the best seen on walls in this country;" and of the construction of the
edifice he says: "Throughout, the laying and polishing of the stones are
as perfect as under the rules of the best modern masonry." Antiquarians
have always been impressed with the similarity existing between these
vestiges of an unknown race and the baths at Rome, which have been
described in a foregoing chapter. The edifices of which the ruins now
remain generally surmounted a pyramidal mound of earth, which was
faced with hewn stone and provided with spacious stone stairways. The
building on the summit was of hewn stone laid in a mortar of lime and
sand. To the credit of the masonry, no other testimony is needed than
the duration of their walls through so many ages. It is probable that
the buildings, the ruins of which still exist, were the public buildings and
temples, and that they were surrounded by populous cities, the residences.
and less important structures of which, being wood, have long vanished
from the earth. We have no means of judging the size of these dead cities,
though one enthusiastic explorer writes: "For five days did I wander
up and down among these crumbling monuments of a city which, I hazard
little in saying, must have been one of the largest ever seen. To us the
ruins are of importance only as showing that at some era, when all the
western continent was considered a desert, there nevertheless existed men
trained to use their hands skillfully, and able to rear massive edifices
worthy to stand alongside those of Rome or Athens. No race of un-
tutored savages could have put up that building at Palenque, of which
Mr. Stephens writes: "We saw before us a large building richly orna-
mented with stuccoed figures on pilasters, curious and elegant; trees
growing close to it, and their branches entering the doors; the style and
effect of structure and ornament unique, extraordinary and mournfully
beautiful." And again: "It would be difficult, in arranging four sides.
facing a court-yard, to have more variety, and at the same time more
harmony of ornament." But volumes might be, and have been, written
about these ruins, which, though owning the existence of a people skilled
in labor, yet keep the details of the life and customs of that people locked
""
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THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
in their gloomy fastnesses. To unravel, bit by bit, that tangled and
mysterious tale, must be the part of the archaeologist and the antiquary.
Let us turn our attention to the living race that today peoples Central
America.
وو
However surely founded may be the claims of the builders of Palenque
and Copan, the Central Americans of today can neither, by their habits
nor their works, show themselves worthy of a high place among the
world's workers. Like the Mexicans, and, indeed, like the inhabitants
of most tropical regions, the people of the isthmus are indolent, living
on the plenteous fruits of the earth, and caring little for the accumula-
tion of riches or intelligence. Their occupations are chiefly farming,
cattle-herding, and searching the swamps and jungles for logs of precious
woods-mahogany, rosewood, copal and cedar. In Central America,
as in Mexico, the body of day laborers, and particularly the agricultural
class, is made up of Indians and half-breeds. The Indian type of char-
acter seems to have engulfed the negro type, and the latter is seldom
found. The whites form less than one-third of the population, while
the great body of workers possess the appearance of Indians, or "dagos.
The Indians of Nicaragua are docile and industrious, and constitute an
excellent industrial population. In stature they do not equal the Indians
of the United States, nor are they, like the latter, fierce and treacherous.
Their muscular development is magnificent; their countenances mild
and soft. In the field of labor they are no longer looked upon as infe-
riors, but work by the side of the whites with the most perfect equality.
The predominance of the Indians and half-breeds in the state effectually
breaks down all caste founded upon color. A caste founded upon wealth
and landed estates has arisen, however, and in this the whites are prom-
inent in the highest ranks, for a majority of the hacienderos, or landed
proprietors, are white. In the wild interior regions of the isthmus,
notably in Honduras, are savage tribes of Indians, acknowledging fealty
to no one save their own chiefs, and living aloof from whites and civil-
ized Indians alike. Sometimes, when game becomes scarce, or famine
hangs over the land, these wild tribes come down from their mountain
fastnesses, work a few days in the mahogany cuttings, and, taking their
pay in ammunition or articles of cutlery, return again to their homes.
They are known as the Xicaques and Payas, and are described as having
long, black hair hanging over their shoulders, very broad faces, small
eyes, with a peculiar expression of sadness and docility, which prepossess
all persons in their favor. Slavery is now unknown in Central America,
but the peculiar character of the industries chiefly carried on, as well as
LABOR IN CENTRAL AMERICA.
529
the peculiar character of the laborers, has led to a system of "padrones,"
which is little better than slavery. The condition of the agricultural
laborer is miserable in the extreme, although the bounty of nature in
those fruitful regions enables workmen to leave a brutal or oppressive
master without fear of suffering for the necessities of life. The lordly,
hacienderos live in spacious country houses, with wide piazzas, high ceil-
ings, and every invention that may help to mitigate the pitiless heat of
an equatorial sun. Their broad acres are given over to the cultivation
for export of indigo, or to growing bananas, plantains, oranges and
kindred fruits for home use. The laborers are housed in quarters on
some portion of the plantation hidden from the windows of the planter's
house. Their homes are squalid cabins; their food fruits and vegetables,
with now and then a bit of fish or flesh of some wild animal. Their
children go naked, and they themselves are robed in rags barely sufficient.
to cover their bodies. For meal and cloth they are dependent upon
their master, who manages so to keep them in debt that they can seldom
revolt against the tyranny of his overseers, who watch and goad them at
their work. The women, who work with the men in the fields, wear but
a single garment, a shirt, fastened about the waist and reaching to the
knees. All the upper part of the body is usually bare, but on holiday
occasions a gaudy handkerchief is sometimes worn about the neck, par-
tially covering the bosom. The men clothe themselves in a kind of
cotton drawers, generally cut off at the knees. Sandals are sometimes
worn, but ordinarily the feet of both men and women are bare. Living,
as they do, almost entirely upon vegetable food, the cost of living to the
Indian laborers is but little. Sometimes, however, there comes a period
of scarcity over the land, and then prices of agricultural products rise.
On one such occasion the following scale of prices was in use throughout
Central America: One medida or twenty-five pounds of maize, $1.25;
the same quantity of wheat, $1; one pound of coffee, ten cents; one
pound of refined sugar, twenty cents; thirty-six oranges, five cents; a
fowl, half a dollar; thirty-five potatoes, five cents; one hundred bananas,
five cents; a cow, $8; an ox, $10. At the same time, saddle horses were
selling at from fifty to eighty dollars. It will be readily understood that
if such were the prices of the necessities of life in times of the greatest
scarcity, the ordinary cost of living for a Central American family of the
laboring class could not have been very great.
A branch of industry in which are employed great numbers of the
working population of Central America is the logging business. In the
dim recesses of the mighty swamps and tangled forests that line the
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THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
coast of Central America, are thousands of mammoth trees whose woods
are prized as one of the most precious means of decoration known to
civilized man. The ponderous and durable mahogany, the richly colored
rosewood, lignum-vitæ with its almost rocky hardness, the tree of the
dragon's blood, iron wood and cedar abound in those dense forests, need-
ing but to be felled and shipped to some more civilized country to take
on vast value. Cunning woodsmen are continually employed leading
great parties of men through the woods in search of these trees, and
immense numbers of laborers are employed in getting them out. Profit-
able though the business is to the employers of labor, to the workmen
themselves it is death. The swamps and forests are filled with wild and
savage animals; deadly serpents are coiled by every pool and hang in loath-
some loops from the branches of the trees that overhang the paths. Thin-
ly clothed as are the wretched Indians and half-breeds who earn their
living in this precarious manner, they are easy prey for the poisoned
fangs of a serpent, the lacerating claws of a wild-cat, or the hardly less.
dangerous thorns of the thick under-brush. In that air, heavy laden with
miasmatic vapors of decaying vegetation, a scratch becomes a sore, and a
sore leads surely to death. Many are the Indians who each year plunge.
into the dark and boundless forest at the bidding of some contractor,
and who never again see the fair unclouded face of heaven.
In the mountainous regions of Central America are vast deposits of
gold, silver, lead, iron and tin, but the mines today are but little
worked. During the Spanish occupation of the country the search for
the precious metals was actively prosecuted, and the mouth of many a de-
serted shaft in the precipitous mountain ranges marks the scene of the
labors of those indefatigable captains of industry. When the Spaniards
left the country, however, the people relapsed into their old lethargic
habits, bred of long residence in that enervating though balmy climate.
The mines were suffered to fall into decay, and the very location of many
of them has been forgotten. Although incalculable riches now lie
buried in that rocky range of mountains, the annual output of all the
mines in Central America hardly exceeds half a million dollars.
A feature of Central American life, often commented upon by
travelers, is the absence of any isolated country life. The people all
dwell in towns or villages. A laborer's cottage amid the trees is seldom
seen. The people live in small villages, often going five or eight miles
to their work in the fields. The villages are seldom situated on the great
public highways, but are reached by narrow paths so obscure that the
traveler seldom notices them. One traveling through Nicaragua or

Josiah B. Dyer.
General Secretary Granite Cutters' Union.
LABOR IN CENTRAL AMERICA.
533
Honduras, and keeping closely to the highways, might very naturally
conclude that the country was devoid of all inhabitants, so few would be
the houses that met his eye. Occasionally he might meet a cumbrous
cart drawn by two oxen jogging along to the nearest market town laden
with country produce. The carts are rude contrivances at best. The
body is male of light boards firmly fastened together, while the wheels,
instead of being skeletonized with spokes, are solid circular slabs of wood,
usually mahogany, and by themselves are a heavy load for any horse to
draw. They are not sawed, but are chopped into shape with an axe and
naturally are far from being regular or symmetrical. The oxen, which
are compact and hardy animals, are not harnessed by means of a yoke as
is customary among us, but carry a broad bar lashed to their horns,
throwing all the resistance of their burden upon their foreheads. The
team generally consists of two pairs of oxen, although sometimes in hilly
regions a string of three pairs are harnessed together. Commonly an
extra pair or two follow meekly behind the cart ready to relieve their
toiling comrades. Such an outfit as this is known as a carreta and is
generally conducted on its journey by two men, one of whom goes ahead
to clear the way of obstructions, while the other plods along behind the
oxen, touching them up with a long goad when they show signs of shirk-
ing. The beasts are trained to follow the man who goes in advance, but
their driver keeps up a constant fire of commands and curses which, with
the rolling and creaking of the cumbersome wheels, are heard all over the
country. Though the progress made by these carretas is small, yet their
loads are immense. Twenty-five hundred pounds is the usual freight
and is hauled from twenty-five to forty miles a day. The carters form a
distinct class in the industrial society of Central America. Their adven-
turous and roving lives make them objects of admiration to the simpler
home-keeping folk, and they possess that importance in the community
that once was held by the stage drivers of the Pacific Slope of the United
States.
The tendency of the people in Central America to settle together has
led to the growth of cities of considerable size. In Nicaragua, the city
of Granada is a place of about fifteen thousand inhabitants, while all
around the city are stately plantations, each of which is rather like a
village than a single plantation. Granada is beautifully situated on a
gentle slope of land which descends to a broad and placid lake. At one
side of the town the mighty volcano Manobacho rises majestically into
the blue sky, and from its peak a wreath of smoke curls in stately
waves. From its site upon the great lake of Nicaragua, Granada has
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THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
derived importance commercially. A large fleet of vessels owned by
people of the city ply upon the lake and the river by which it has its
outlet. The town contains many boatmen, for sailors they can hardly
be called, and these hardy travelers, visiting other countries, have
brought back to the city foreign manners and customs that give the
place almost a cosmopolitan aspect. The architecture of Granada is
distinctly that of a city of the tropics. Its streets are wide and grassy,
the houses low, spacious and surrounded by broad piazzas. The only
structures likely to be permanent are those of the Catholic Church,
which is firmly established and has built churches and monasteries in
various parts of the city.
The chief city of Nicaragua is Leon, situated on the Pacific slope
near the coast. In population the city numbers about thirty-five thou-
sand inhabitants, but like most cities in the tropics it covers an area of
land far out of proportion to the number of its people. Its broad streets
run at right angles or parallel to each other, and at regular intervals are
spacious squares or plazas. The houses are chiefly built of adobe and
rarely reach a height of more than one story. On the side toward the
street the houses present a forbidding expanse of wall broken by few
windows, but within is inclosed a spacious patio or courtyard filled with
fruit and shade trees. Here is found the family life—the children play-
ing on the grass; the women twirling their spinning-wheels in the grate-
ful shade. Sometimes there is yet another court, in which are kept the
domestic animals. Architecture, both domestic and public, has the
same characteristics of solidity and severe absence of ornament through-
out all Central America. The reason for this is found in one cause:
the prevalence of earthquakes. The buildings are all low, with broad
foundations, while the ornamentation is such as will withstand the most.
severe seismic disturbance. The influence of the Spaniards is clearly
shown by the prevalence of Moresque architecture in Leon. Above the
horseshoe arches may even now be seen the remnants of coats of arms
placed there in days when Nicaraguan aristocracy was as haughty and
powerful as that of Spain herself. Other doors bear above them carved
prayers or passages from the Bible. The interior of the houses of the
better class presents an aspect of great comfort in a country in which.
room and ventilation become necessary conditions of existence. The
rooms are generally open clear to the roof, thus permitting a free circu-
lation of air between the tiles. The floors are paved with large square
tiles, or sometimes with slabs of marble, and are often kept sprinkled
with water for coolness. A dwelling of this character is commonly
LABOR IN CENTRAL AMERICA.
535
inhabited by people of the wealthier classes. The homes of the working
people and middle classes are on the outskirts of the city, and are
usually built of wood and roofed with thatch. The great cathedral of
St. Peter in Leon is one of the most wonderful pieces of masonry in the
world. Thirty-seven years and five million of dollars were expended
in its construction, and it has withstood earthquakes, typhoons and the
ruthless hand of hostile armies for over a century. It stands in the
center of the city, fronting the grand plaza. As an example of massive.
masonry it is unrivaled. On its spacious roof, in time of war, as many
as thirty pieces of artillery have been planted, and on its eastern side is
hardly a square foot of wall not dented by the blows of hostile cannon-
shot.
The people of all the states of Central America show that mechanical
skill which has already been commented upon in connection with
Mexico. With the rudest tools they are able to produce articles of
utility and ornament which often show the most delicate and elaborate
workmanship. Passing along a street in a village or town of Central
America, one sees, sitting in the open doors of the houses, women, naked
to the waist, busily engaged in spinning cotton. The most common
device they adopt to aid them in their work is the little wooden spinning
wheel, with treadle, such as was in the house of every good New England
housewife one hundred years ago, and now can be found elevated to the
position of bric-á-brac in the houses of many of their descendants. But
a device even ruder than this is in the hands of a majority of Central
American women. This consists of a spindle of wood about fifteen
or sixteen inches long, passed through the center of a wheel of heavy
wood some six inches in circumference, giving the whole the appearance
of an enormous top. This contrivance is set in a calabash, or hollowed
bit of wood, and the operation of spinning begins. In her lap the
woman holds a heap of cotton, and twisting some of this into a thread,
she attaches it to the spindle just above the fly-wheel. The wheel and
spindle are then turned rapidly, and the thread, constantly drawn by the
nimble fingers of the operator from the pile of cotton in her lap, is
wound tightly upon the spindle. Rude though this method of spinning
is, so great is the industry of the women that large quantities of cotton
thread are thus made, much of which is woven into home-made cloths,
which are tastefully dyed and stamped. This industry, like most
others, is in the hands of the Indians, who form the industrial population
of Central America. Some agency, probably climatic, seems to interfere
with any growth of industry among the whites. Pottery of an admir-
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दर
able grade is made by the Indians and sold at prices that seem hardly to
pay the manufacturers. Their ideas of form are artistic, and they have
discovered a color and glaze by the aid of which they make their finest
pottery as smooth as glass, and black with a polish like jet. Fragments
of ancient pottery found in the ruins of Palenque and Copan show that
the art of the potter was familiar to that ancient people, whose name is
now a mystery.
In their habits the people of Central America are generally scrupu-
lously neat and clean, at any rate in their outward appearance. The
parlors and halls of their houses are always kept in perfect cleanliness,
but if one penetrates to that portion sacred to the family use, the appear-
ance is by no means so immaculate. The sleeping appartments occupied
by families of the highest classes are often left unswept for months, and
though the beds be draped in the most snowy linen, the floor beneath them
is covered deep with dirt. As a rule the people of Central America are
temperate, strong liquors are seldom used, and the grog-shop is an un-
common sight, even in the large cities. In their food they are exceed-
ingly simple. Beef, pork and poultry are to be had in all the markets
at low rates, but, as in most tropical countries, the diet of the people is
mainly vegetable. As in Mexico, tortillas and frijoles are found on
every table. Rice and plantains are eaten in great quantities by the
laboring people on account of their cheapness. Six cents' worth of plan-
tains will support a small family for a week. A pair of chickens cost
from a quartillo to a medio, that is, from three to six cents. This very
cheapness of all the necessaries of life doubtless does much to dwarf
labor by removing the chief incentive to industry. When the possession
of a dollar insures food for a month, a debilitating climate is not neces-
sary to make men slothful. Fruits of all kinds are displayed in the
market place, and for a quartillo (the smallest coin in the country) one
can purchase as much as can conveniently be carried away by one man.
Great difficulty is experienced in trade in Central America owing to the
lack of subsidiary coinage. Change for small amounts is universally
made in the aboriginal coin of the country, namely, cocoanuts. As four
of these equal a cent in American money the disadvantages of such a cir-
culating medium are obvious. In their habits of life the people are fru-
gal, eating but two meals a day and knowing no extravagant pleasures.
Tea is used only by foreign residents; among the natives its place is sup-
plied by tiste, a compound of parched corn and chocolate.
What then can be said of the condition of labor in this country? In-
dustry in its highest sense does not exist. The desire for wealth or for social
LABOR IN CENTRAL AMERICA.
537
position, which forms the chief incentive to industry in more civilized
lands, has no place among the simple people of these tropical countries.
For them the earth yields fruits that need but to be plucked to give
them food. In the balmy days of everlasting summer they pass their
lives, knowing nothing of the pangs of cold and hunger all too familiar
to their brethren of the north. Small wonder is it that, contented with
their humble lot, they mingle not in restless struggle for something better
that today engages the people of all more civilized countries.
2
J
CHAPTER XIV. -THE WEST INDIES.
EXTENT AND OWNERSHIP OF THE ISLANDS-POPULATION, NATIVE, NEGRO AND
WHITE GENERAL PRODUCTS SLAVERY AND FREE LABOR IN CUBA-IN
THE FREE ISLANDS-COOLIES-COFFEE - SUGAR GROWING AND MAKING —
TOBACCO AND THE MANUFACTURE OF CIGARS.
WHEN
HEN about four centuries ago Columbus and his little band of
storm-tossed and murmuring followers saw day break after their
long night of watching, and saw across the waters the low blue line of
the long-sought land, their voices rose over the water in hymns of praise
to God, who had enabled them to win the glory of discovering a new
continent. In the morning a gentle breeze sprung up, wafting the
Spanish ship over the smooth sea, until the shore with all its tropical
splendor of vegetation lay spread out before the weary voyagers. The
sight that met their eyes was one of rare beauty, the like of which can-
not be seen in this day, when travelers have ransacked all corners of the
earth and pristine moral innocence is no more. Nature's orchards,
lawns and parks extended in all directions, and were separated from the
pellucid waves of the sea by a narrow strip of white sand, glistening like
silver in the rays of the tropical sun. Out from the groves and forests
burst multitudes of natives, naked as the primal parents of all mankind
in the garden of Eden. To them the Spaniards were unknown, and
seemed more than human, coming thus mysteriously from the sea. As
the voyagers landed, the natives, knowing no fear, gathered about,
admiring the gaudy trappings of the men-at-arms, who in their turn
looked with admiration upon the clear, golden complexion, rounded
limbs and forms of the natives, from which might have been modeled
the statues of Venus or Apollo. From the West Indies of that time to
the West Indies of today the change has been slow but great. The
natives soon learned to know the harsh, avaricious and cruel character
of the Spaniards, and under their domination died away, until now no
trace of the original native population of the islands remains, and noth-
ing but the ever-beautiful tropical verdure is left to awaken in the minds
of visitors the feelings of wonder and admiration that filled the breast of
Columbus and his adventurous companions.
538
THE WEST INDIES.
539
The West Indies are a group of low-lying islands that stretch athwart
the entrance of the Gulf of Mexico, between Florida and the northern
coast of South America. Chief of them all is Cuba, an island with an
area of some 45,000 square miles, and a population of about two million
people. This island, with some smaller ones, is the property of Spain.
Jamaica, the Bahamas and most of the Windward islands belong to Great
Britain, and support nearly a million people. France asserts her sway
over Guadeloupe Martinique and a number of lesser islets, the total
population of which is about 260,000. The flag of IIolland waves over
a number of unimportant but fertile islands, of which the chief is
Curaçoa, whence comes the liquor, dear to all bons vivants, that bears
the island's name. Denmark, Sweden and even Venezuela have each an
island or two to give them, or, at least, the two former, a foothold on
the western continent. San Domingo and Hayti are independent repub-
lics, the former under the protectorate of Spain, the latter governed and
populated almost entirely by negroes; an island known as Hayti holds
both these republics, San Domingo occupying the eastern portion. The
republic of Hayti deserves mention here on account of its history, which
has been a long continued struggle of a vast but undisciplined body of
slaves against a few wealthy planters, backed by all the warlike resources
of France under Napoleon. Tremendous as were the odds, the slaves,
after many defeats, triumphed, and in 1804 declared their independence,
which, with short intervals, has been maintained ever since.
Physically, the islands of the West India group differ widely; the
Bahamas are low, flat and sandy, of coralline formation; Cuba is hilly,
with a beautifully diversified country, while the Antilles are mountain-
ous, and in Jamaica and Hayti the mountain peaks scale as high as 6,000
feet. Save for the differences in altitude the climate is much the same,
being the continuous heat of the tropics. But the mountain sides of
Hayti and Cuba are blessed with a delightfully temperate climate in
winter and summer alike, while the low-lying Bahamas are parched with
fearful heat, mitigated only by the sea breezes that for a part of the day
temper the atmosphere. The population of the islands is a heterogene-
ous mixture of all nationalities. All trace of the aboriginal inhabitants
has died away and their places are all filled by the negro descendants of
the slaves imported by the European settlers. France, Spain and Eng-
land were most active in colonization, and accordingly these three
languages are spoken on all the islands, except in Hayti, where a patois
of all combined, with fragments of African tongues, makes up a combi-
nation hard to be understood by the most accomplished linguist. The
540
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
European peoples who colonized the islands did not flourish, as the
climate seemed prejudicial to their health, but their African slaves found
in the equatorial heat a favorable atmosphere and multiplied with great
rapidity. Today the whites form less than one-third of the total popu-
lation of the islands, and even in Cuba, where they are most numerous,
they form less than half the population. In St. Vincent and Trinidad
are a half a dozen families of Caribs, the sole remnant of the savage
tribes whom Columbus found enjoying the fertility of the islands.
Trinidad, by the way, is notable for containing a Mohammedan negro
colony, the only one on this side of the Atlantic.
The exports of the West Indies, in which their chief wealth lies, con-
sists almost entirely of tropical fruits and plantation produce. Tobacco,
sugar and coffee are universally grown. Cotton is raised to some extent.
Hard cabinet woods are found in the forests. Pine-apples, pomegranates,
mangoes, guavas, oranges, lemons, limes, bread fruit and bananas thrive
in the fertile gardens, and such as will bear transportation are annually
shipped in large quantities. Spices and dye stuffs are staple products.
The larger islands are rich in minerals, both the precious and base
metals. The mines, however, are but little worked. The vast agricul-
tural resources of the islands have never been perfectly developed. Of
Cuba it is written that although hardly an acre of its soil is unfit for
cultivation yet less than one-nineteenth of the whole is improved. Meth-
ods of agriculture are wasteful and unscientific, and the labor performed
chiefly by slaves, has all the unsatisfactory and uneconomic characteris-
tics of labor of that class. Of this island sugar is the chief staple, and
of it nearly a million pounds are annually exported. Hayti and San
Domingo also export large quantities of sugar, coffee and tobacco. Of
Hayti it is recorded that the agricultural exports, when the people were
in a state of slavery, were from five to six times greater than now that the
people are free. But though the exports of agricultural products have
decreased, the exports of natural products, like timber, have largely
increased, thus indicating that industry has not been relaxed, but has
rather been turned into other channels.
Slavery has at one time or another been established in all the islands
of the West Indies, but today the institution exists only in the islands
under Spanish rule. The struggle of the blacks in Hayti for liberty has
already been referred to, and to give in detail the history of that move-
ment would require volumes. In the English and Dutch colonies
the abolition of slavery was accomplished peaceably. Cuba, the
greatest of the West India islands, now harbors nearly 400,000
THE WEST INDIES.
541
slaves. The negroes were introduced in 1524, and by their natural
increase and an active and continued importation have attained their
present vast numbers. Their life is that of animals, housed in hovels.
which however are ample shelter, in that climate, dressed in rags that
barely hide their persons and left to get their own subsistence from the
wealth of natural products about them. They differ from the brutes
only in being forced to labor untiringly for their masters. The family
relation is hardly known; marriage is an unknown bond. On the sugar
plantation their work is arduous and ceaseless. During the "grinding
season, " which extends from November to May, the slaves are often
worked nineteen hours in the day. Not infrequently their masters and
overseers are cruel, sometimes to the point of brutality, and goad them on
to their work with blows, punishing idlers with tortures. They are
degraded alike in body and mind, loose in morals and filthy in their
habits. Yet seemingly passing their laborious days with all that careless
African jollity that has enabled the race to bear up against constant
oppression in all times and in all countries.
Of course, against a servile and unsalaried class of labor like this no
free laborer can compete, and accordingly we find the free wage-working
population of Cuba plunged in the most abject poverty. Of skilled
labor there is none. There are no manufactures to attract their labor,
no thriving towns to give them employment. Trade is in the hands of
foreign residents who sell the manufactured goods of Europe at extor-
tionate prices. Besides the slaves, the free laborers have as competitors
hordes of Chinese coolies who are imported in colonies. These work-
men though nominally free are practically slaves, both in the smallness of
their earnings and their utter subservience to their employer's will.
But for the fact that land in Cuba is to be had almost for the asking,
and needs but to be gently tilled to yield bounteous crops, the condi-
tion of the free laborers of Cuba would be a miserable one indeed. As it
is they merely manage to provide for the meager necessities of a life in
the tropics, and die leaving their children to carry on the same lifelong
struggle against the encroachments of want.
In the other islands of the West Indies labor is dear and scarce. The
negroes recently freed find the productions of the soil sufficient for
their support, and so far from showing any anxiety to secure employ-
ment rather scorn it. Islands which might be covered with richly pro-
ductive sugar plantations remain almost trackless wastes, because the
planters, unable to secure labor, have withdrawn and left the country
to the idle shiftless blacks. Bad and utterly defenseless as is the system
544
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
equal any grown in any part of the world, and the drink made from it
would surely be as fine as that of which Burton wrote of, which he said,
"it helpeth digestion and procureth alacrity.”
The sugar interest of the West Indies is very extensive. It is not
known with certainty if the sugar cane was indigenous to the soil, or if
it was brought to Hayti by the Spaniards or Portuguese, but certain it is
that sugar was made at Hayti as early as 1495, and in 1518 there were
on this one island twenty-eight works for making sugar in operation. Of
course then, and until within the past twenty years, all the labor in the
manufacture of sugar was performed by slaves, who, at the time of the
grinding, were cruelly overworked.
The first step in the manufacture of sugar is the planting of the
cane, which is always from cuttings. These cuttings are planted in
rows four to six feet apart and each cane two to five feet from another.
The ground between the furrows is carefully hoed or plowed, and no
weed or grass is allowed to steal the nourishment from the cane. Plant-
ing is done in the fall in the West Indies and the cutting of the cane is
usually performed in March and April. The planting does not have to
be done every year, the plants renew themselves in ratoons sometimes for
as many as twenty crops. The cane is cut close to the ground, its top
and leaves left to protect the roots during the winter, and the lower two-
thirds of the cane is put in the mill as soon as possible, where the sugar
juice is pressed out.
In nothing is the marvel of science more plainly shown than in the
perfection to which mills for grinding the cane and making the sugar
have been brought. In some of the smaller estates in the West Indies
rude mills are used, exceedingly slow in action sometimes even worked
by negroes, but on the richer plantations are found powerful machines
formed of a series of plain and fluted rollers between which the cane is
pressed by all the force of steam, and yet withal not more than three-
fifths of the juice is extracted. This juice, about the consistency of
milk and of a dirty yellowish color is brought from the mill through a
pipe into the first vat where it is tempered, that is the natural acidity of
the juice is removed by the addition of lime, being slightly warmed the
while, then from the vat it goes in kettles where it is boiled; and
during the boiling, which must never stop, day nor night, until the sugar
is fairly made, negrocs or other laborers stand beside the kettles and
carefully skim off the skum which rises to the surface of the liquid. All
the juice passes through at least four of these kettles, and in the very
last one the miracle of crystallization takes place and sugar is made. The
THE WEST INDIES.
545
work at the grinding season is very severe, and cach plantation now has
two gangs of laborers, who regularly relieve each other. The fire must
never go out after the grinding begins, and sad stories are told of the
cruelties of slave owners who worked their men thirty-six hours at a
time, keeping them awake by the whip. Today, with improved machin-
ery and free labor, sugar is made with the greatest success; and to insure
the future of that industry in the United States, Cuba must free her
slaves or else a heavy duty should be put upon her export.
Tobacco has its home in the West Indies, and Columbus was sorely
amazed, so history states, when he saw "the natives puffing smoke from
their mouth and nostrils. Said smoke being the product of a dried leaf
which had a pleasant odor, and which was said to produce a pleasing
sensation." The white men were not long in following the example of
the aborigenes, and they soon began to cultivate the plant for export.
Immense tobacco plantations are found on all the islands but the finest
tobacco is produced in Cuba. The cultivation is simple, he great care
being to protect the plant from worms, which prey upon it. Turkeys
are fond of these worms, and as soon as they appear the turkeys are
turned into the field and they kill a great many more than they can
eat. The worm is the foe of the plant, and the hands watch carefully
to pick them off before they do any damage.
When the tobacco ripens it is cut down, sorted into the different quali-
ties and species, and is ready for shipment to market, or else part of it is
used for the manufacture of cigars, which is the chief organized in-
dustry in Cuba, employing a large number of person, paying fair wages to
all but the slaves, and remunerating the employer very handsomely. The
house of Cabanas has been for many years at the head of the trade in
cigars, and their brands bring as high as $200 a thousand. The con-
sumption of tobacco is immense among the people of these islands: in Cuba
alone it is estimated that 1,460,000,000 cigars or ten dozen for each per-
son, are annually consumed. The export in 1855 was 251,313,000 cigars.
Think for one moment of the profit. A Cuban planter has made
the following interesting calculation: 600 pounds of tobacco will yield
75,000 cigars, which at $10 a thousand amounts to $750. The cost of the
leaf is $300, and manufacturing at $2.50 a thousand, is $187.50, which
gives a total cost of $487.50, a profit to the manufacturer of $260.50.
Besides these staples the West Indies also count cotton and maize.
among their chief products, while dye stuffs and spices, gums and medi-
cinal plants are treasures to be had for the gathering. The forests are
rich in valuable woods, mahogany, rosewood and lignum vitæ, and if
546
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR,
skilled labor were once in possession, and traditions in favor of idleness set
aside, the future of the islands will be one of great prosperity. But
strange to tell there is no single labor organization in any of the islands,
and men are content to eat and drink without ambitions for the morrow.
In the life of the industrial classes of the West Indies there is appar-
ent that general indifference to the luxuries and refinements of civilized
life which is so characteristic of the people of the torrid zone. Why
should the free negro or half breed work in the sugar field or learn a
trade, when he knows that in almost every part of the island are broad
and fertile lands on which he can settle without the formality of rent or
purchase, and which will repay in plentiful harvests the least labor on
his part? With breadfruit, bananas, plantains, yams and other nour-
ishing fruits growing wild in the forests, what need exists for him to
stoop beneath the rule of an employer? For shelter from the rains he
builds for himself and his family a hut of reeds skillfully interwoven and
supported by posts at the corners. One room generally suffices, but
more industrious and ambitious peasants sometimes indulge in the
luxury of two. The thatched roof overhangs the walls so as to form an
encircling verandah upon which open the doors and windows with which
the walls are plentifully broken. The floors are made of clayey earth.
and land shells pounded into a firm cement. Cottages such as this can
be easily erected by the labor of one man and his family and in such
houses live the majority of the small farmers and rural classes. On the
great estates where laborers are employed, rows of such structures, each
with its bit of arable land, are assigned to the farm hands, thus enabling
them to save their wages for buying animal food or clothing, since their
rent is free and all necessary vegetables may be grown by them. It is
right to say that in all the free islands the laborers are negroes or half-
breeds, for the poor whites look upon labor as a disgrace, preferring even
to subsist upon the charity of the workers whom they despise. These
two causes, the small cost of living, and the disinclination of the whites to
work, lead to a scarcity of labor which makes wages high in all the free
islands, save in such places as have been colonized by Chinese coolies.
เ
CHAPTER XV.-SOUTH AMERICA.
GEOGRAPHY CLIMATE AND CHIEF PRODUCTIONS OF THE SEVERAL SOUTH AMER.
ICAN STATES-LABOR IN BRAZIL COTTON COFFEE CAOUTCHOUC
MINERAL WEALTH-SLAVERY IMMIGRATION - WAGES FOOD HOUSES
PERU-EARLY HISTORY - DEIFICATION OF LABOR — AGRARIAN LAWS-MINING
CLOTHING FOOD AND DWELLINGS-LABOR IN MODERN PERU-COOLIES
STATUS OF LABOR IN CHILI-BOLIVIA - ARGENTINE CONFEDERATION-THE
MINOR STATES.
M
INDFUL of the rapid increase of the human species, nature with
benevolent foresight seems to have held in reserve the two mighty
continents of the Southern hemisphere until such time as mankind, find-
ing the lands of the north overcrowded, shall flock to Africa and South
America and carry to those countries the developing influences of Euro-
pean civilization. As yet this movement has hardly begun. Along the
northern coast of Africa, the civilization of the Moors is firmly estab-
lished, and in some of the greater states of South America exists a native
civilization of no despicable degree, but the great body of each of these
continents is open to immigration and development. Brazil, with an
area almost identical with that of the United States, supports a popula-
tion of barely 10,000,000 people. Over the 515,700 square miles of the
Argentine Confederation are distributed fewer people than live upon or
do business within the narrow confines of Manhattan Island. Such be-
ing the condition of population in the South American countries, we will
naturally expect to find, as is indeed the case, agriculture and cattle
herding flourishing while manufactures and the labor of the artisan lan-
guish.
Before proceeding to an inquiry into the state of labor in the various
South American states some consideration of the geography and physical
characteristics of the chief political divisions is desirable. In extent of
territory, population and civilization Brazil stands easily first. Its nat-
ural advantages are very great. Its climate is cooler and healthier than
that of any other great tropical country, its soil is extremely fertile and
its commercial facilities unequaled. It is rich in mines of gold and
diamonds, and its list of exports is extensive. Mountain, plain and val-
ley diversify agreeably the face of the country and the varying degrees
547
548
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
of altitude aid the farmer in producing almost every known agricultural
product. Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador are essentially agricultural.
Their lofty table-lands on the Pacific slope bear all the productions of
the temperate zone, while the warmer climate of the lesser altitudes
breeds the rich fruits of the tropics. The eastern part of these countries
is made up of broad and grassy plains tenanted by a hardy race of herds-
men. The three Guianas, British, French and Dutch, lie side by side
north of Brazil on the Atlantic coast. Their southern boundary is a
range of mighty mountains and thence the face of the country slopes
gradually to the sea. The products of these countries are chiefly trop-
ical fruits and spices which are largely exported. French Guiana has
been hampered in her attempts at advancement by France which uses
the fertile colony as a penal settlement. Peru is one of the foremost of
the South American states, carrying on a large trade with both Great
Britain and the United States. Here are found the relics of that old
Aztec civilization, the magnificence of which so astounded Cortez and
inflamed the cupidity of the covetous Spaniards under his command.
Both in agriculture and minerals this country is wealthy and the indus-
try of its people is leading to the fullest development of its natural re-
sources. Bolivia, lying east of Peru, has the mineral wealth of its neigh-
bor, but is inferior in agricultural facilities. Chili, too, is rich in min-
erals, but it is estimated that only one-fiftieth of her territory is fit for
agriculture. The Argentine Confederation fills the southern portion of
the South American peninsula and exports great quantities of wool and
tallow. Uruguay and Paraguay are small states lying in the southeast-
ern part of the peninsula, and mountainous in character. The manu-
factures of these states are insignificant and their commerce but small.
A number of large landed proprietors reap fortunes from stock-raising,
but the bulk of the people are ignorant, degraded and impoverished.
The climate is mild, though severe frosts sometimes prevail in the up-
lands.
Such, then, are the physical characteristics of this vast continent.
How have they, then, the opportunities afforded by the fertile plains, and
the rugged mountain peaks, rich with precious metals, been improved by
the people whom fate has placed there? What has been done to combat
the disadvantages of the region - the hot, stifling winds, the burning
sun and the rank tropical vegetation of the northern part; the dry or
rocky fields of the South? For an answer we must turn to the records
of labor in the different States. We must see what use man makes of
the power over nature, granted him by the Creator, as well as what use

James hamilton.
Secretary Amalgamated Carpenters' Association, American District.
SOUTH AMERICA.
551
- }
the rich and politically powerful make of their power over the lives and
happiness of their fellow beings, granted them by wealth, intrigue or
chance.
Glancing first at Brazil, we find a broad expanse of fertile country
watered and drained by, perhaps, the mightiest of all water systems, the
valley of the Amazon. Yet of this enormous expanse of fertile land,
needing but the tickling of the cultivator to burst into a laughing wealth
of vegetation, not the one-hundredth part is under cultivation. Thou-
sands of miles of sea-coast are indented with hundreds of spacious ports;
but the vessels that ride in those snug harbors bear not the flag of Brazil.
The waters that on every side wash the coast of the empire teem with
fish; but scarcely a fishing-smack sails from all the ports of Brazil. A
high protective tariff proves vain as a barrier against the productions of
European looms, and the cotton grown on the soil of Brazil goes abroad
to be woven. Yet to this statement one exception must be made. A
beginning, small but nevertheless gratifying, has been made in cotton
manufacture. The fiber, though cultivated with the aid of the rudest
agricultural implements, is fine in quality, and produced in large quan-
tities. At one time the cotton of Pernambuco and the neighboring
provinces was highly prized by English manufacturers, but the short-
sighted dishonesty and avarice of the planters, who mixed with the su-
perior cotton quantities of inferior and even damaged fiber, soon robbed
it of its preeminence. In different parts of Brazil forty-seven factories
have been established for the manufacture of cotton fabrics, and in them
are employed three thousand six hundred workmen, many of whom went
to England or the United States to learn their trade, and are paid wages of
about the same grade as are paid their fellows in Massachusetts. Agri-
cultural products, raised in quantities sufficient for home consumption,
are maize, black beans, potatoes, rice, wheat, rye, oats and barley. But
for exportation the planters, large and small alike, concentrate all their
forces upon coffee, of which, in 1882, Brazil produced over half the total
production of the entire world. The coffee plantations cover a great
part of the national territory. The trees are planted in rows about ten
feet apart, and, by constant pruning, are kept down to a height of about
five feet. The berries are closely watched as they ripen, and when they
turn from a deep red to a brownish-black they are picked, dried in the
sun, and the outer hull broken off by hand or in a rude mill. The coffee
plantations are largely worked by slaves, who toil in gangs under the
watchful eye of the overseer. The labor-saving devices, even of the
simplest character, used in civilized countries, are unknown among the
552
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
Brazilian coffee-planters. At harvest-time long files of slaves can be seen,
each with a huge basket filled with coffee balanced on his head, bearing
the crop to the drying floor. The simple device of the wheelbarrow
seems unknown. Next in importance to the coffee planting is the pro-
duction of caoutchouc, or crude Indian-rubber, for exportation. Great
bands of native Indians, or negroes, range the mighty forests of the
Amazon basin in search of the tree which yields the precious gum. On
the discovery of a tree the leader chops an incision in the trunk, while a
second Indian places beneath the cut an earthen cup of rude manufacture,
in which the sap collects. Four hours later each tree is visited, and the
cups filled with the milky fat are gathered, and the substance allowed to
harden into gum. At one time these Indians did a large business in
rubber shoes, which they made by dipping a clay last into the sap and
holding it in smoke until dry, then adding coat upon coat until a shoe of
pure gum was produced. But now the rubber shoe, built up upon a web
of cloth, has put an end to this industry of the industrious though un-
tutored savages.
Caoutchouc ranks fifth in the list of Brazilian exports.
Sugar, though cultivated and manufactured in a most primitive manner,
is exported largely, although in quality it is far below that of other
American countries. The mineral products of the country are diamonds,
rubies, sapphires and gold, the latter being found in the beds of streams,
and extracted by washing. It has been reserved for a British company
to introduce anything like scientific mining into the country. Such
mines as are in the hands of native Brazilians are worked entirely by
slaves, who are provided with pans, and work day after day by the side.
of running streams washing pans of gravel and extracting the merest
pittance of gold, which is promptly seized by their master. The gold
and jewels thus obtained are sent to the large cities, where goldsmiths.
and jewelers show considerable artistic skill and drive a thriving trade,
although from their prosperity Brazil reaps little benefit, as they are gen-
erally foreigners.
The slavery that exists in Brazil, although unnatural and degrading
as all ownership in mankind must be, is, nevertheless, more humane
than that which formally existed in the southern part of the United
States. The Brazilian year is cut up by a great number of hol-
idays, religious and political, and on these days as well as on Sun-
days, custom prescribes that the work done by the slaves, if they
choose to work, shall redound to their own benefit. This opportunity is
eagerly seized by the slaves working in the diamond fields and gold
washings and, although they must seek out some unappropriated ground
SOUTH AMERICA..
553
on which to work, yet the records show that the largest diamonds and
the weightiest nuggets have ever been found by the slaves on their free
days, a fact which may be taken as indicative of dishonesty among the
slaves, or a striking instance of the superiority of free labor, according
to the pessimism or optimism of the reader. To gain his freedom is a far
easier task for the Brazilian slave, than it was for the English villein of
old. At any time he may demand, before a magistrate, that a fair price
be fixed upon himself, then with industry upon his free days and fru-
gality at all times, the sum necessary to purchase his freedom is easily
raised. Once free there is no obstacle, either legal or social, in his path-
way to the highest honors and, today, some of the foremost men of
Brazil are Africans who have been slaves. But mild as is the form of
slavery in vogue in Brazil its doom is sealed. In 1871 a law was passed
to provide for the gradual and peaceful abolition of slavery throughout
the realm. This law is a model of political wisdom dealing with a per-
plexing industrial question. It provides that all children born of slave
mothers shall be free. But, notwithstanding their freedom, they are
bound to serve their mothers' masters as apprentices for twenty-one years,
and any refusal to enter such service is punished by severe penalties. But
should the apprentice be cruelly treated, a complaint before a criminal
court, accompanied with evidence of the cruelty, will gain for them their
freedom. Before the passage of this act great numbers of slaves were
held by the government and employed upon the roads and other public
works. They were at once emancipated but are required to hire them-
selves out and lead lives of industry, living for five years under govern-
ment supervision. If, during this time, they are found to be idle and
living in vagabondage, they are set to work in public establishments.
The action of the government has been followed by hundreds of private
slave-holders, and it seems certain, that by the end of the nineteenth
century, slavery, the chief obstacle to the growth of self-respecting and
self-supporting free labor in Brazil, will be obliterated.
Desirous of populating their broad empire and recruiting the ranks
of the free laboring people the rulers of Brazil offer, to intending immi-
grants, inducements unequaled by those of any other country. A legis-
lative act of 1881 assured to all immigrants on their arrival, eight days'
support, at the cost of the state, in quarters on the little island of Das
Flores, in the bay of Rio; a free passage thence to their place of destina-
tion, and the right to purchase land from the government, paying for it
in easy installments. But by applying to one of the many immigration
or colonization companies the immigrant might secure even greater priv-
554
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
ileges than those offered by the state, and many thousands of European
Mechanics and laborers have thus been attracted to Brazil. In 1879 a
wealthy coffee grower brought over from Spain a large number of fam-
ilies to work upon his plantation, paying their passage money and guar-
anteeing them certain advantages. Each family was to be provided
with a house, furniture and medical attendance when ill, free of charge.
Able-bodied laborers were to work ten hours a day, receiving for a day's
labor about sixty-five cents, boys to be paid in proportion to the work
they performed. Young children were to receive a primary education.
To each family was granted land enough to serve as a garden for raising
articles for home consumption. Lastly, although the entire crop went
into the planter's hands, half the entire profits was divided among the
pickers. Yet this attempt at coöperation failed utterly, for in less than
two years every colonist insisted upon entering the ranks of the day
laborers. Indeed, the outcome of most of the colonizing schemes of the
Brazilians has been disastrous. Notwithstanding the zeal with which
the work of attracting immigration has been prosecuted, the results
have been far from satisfactory. It would seem that the climate, soil and
character of the productions are all unsuited to the needs of the Anglo-
Saxon or Teutonic peoples, among whom immigrants have been assiduously
sought, and these, together with the necessity of a total change in lan-
guage, customs and legal relations, have made the struggle for success
of the European immigrant in Brazil an herculean task.
The wages of Brazilian workmen are high in comparison with Euro-
pean standards. Day laborers on the sugar plantations receive from
sixteen to twenty umbreis a month with board and quarters. The wages of
unskilled labor in general may be set at from twelve hundred to fifteen
hundred reis for outdoor work, and from twelve hundred reis to two
umbreis a day for factory hands. Children in factories receive from
two hundred to eight hundred reis a day. By piecework a laborer re-
ceives one umbreis for cutting, binding and loading a cart load of sugar
cane. Day laborers at wool-shearing time get two and a half umbreis
a day with their board.
Although the life of the working people of Brazil is, by virtue of the
mild climate, sufficiently comfortable, a traveler used to ways of northern
life would find in their dress and habitations evidences of poverty and
squalor. The slaves and poorer freemen seldom wear shoes and their
dress is scanty and made of the thinnest cotton. Their principal food
is manioc, the roots of a flowering shrub, native to the country. In
appearance these roots are like unto long parsnips. When prepared for
SOUTH AMERICA.
555
This
cooking the manioc or cassava is like a coarse farina or tapioca.
substance with maize, black beans and sweet potatoes form the chief
food of the Brazilians, and from the ease with which the fertile soil
yields increase, the poorest are enabled to live in comfort. Little meat is
eaten, and indeed in that tropical climate a vegetarian diet is the more
hygienic.
In the materials and character of their houses the Brazilians again
profit by the warmth of their tropic regions. With his rude hut of
canes and brush the poor farmer or mechanic is housed with as much
or perhaps more comfort than the wealthy merchant in his city house
of brick. A palm-thatched roof, which sheds the rain and wards off
the rays of the burning sun, is cooler than the burning tiles that roof
the palace of the wealthy cotton planter. Hammocks swung from the
bare rafters above a cool floor of pressed clay conduce more to gentle
sleep than the beds imported from European cities to furnish the man-
sions of the nobility. Often the light residences of the rural folk are
elevated on piles some eight feet above the ground, thus letting the air
circulate beneath, and affording protection against wild beasts.
Next to Brazil in extent of territory, population and commercial
importance among the South American states stands Peru. But in
wealth of historical association Peru stands first. There was the seat
of that wonderful civilization of the Aztecs that spread northward and
left upon the soil of Central America and Mexico those monuments
which we have already considered. In Peru, long before the earliest
settlement of New England, there lived a people so refined, so indus-
trious and so civilized that invading Spaniards, fresh from the wonders
of the Alhambra, Madrid and Toledo, saw in this almost unknown
country palaces and dazzling evidences of wealth that threw into the
shade all the grandeur of Spain. Before Spanish avarice such a civili-
zation could not maintain itself. Beaten and cowed by the invaders,
the Incas paid enormous ransoms only to find their conquerors perfidi-
ously demanding more. When in response to the demands of Pizarro
the Inca filled with gold a room twenty-two feet long, seventeen feet
broad, and eight feet high, the Spaniard, maddened by the sight of so
much wealth, swore a mighty oath that unless another room of similar
size was filled with silver he would kill the helpless monarch. The
ransom was duly paid. Temples, palaces and homes were stripped of
their ornaments, and for weeks a steady procession of Peruvians
marched to the royal palace, bearing contributions toward the release of
the Inca. The treasure once collected the Spaniards, in the name of
556
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
that Christian religion which it was their boast to profess, burnt at the
stake as a heretic the unhappy captive. Full of interest and pathos is
the political history of the ancient Peruvians, but with it a history of
labor has but little to do. The history of their industrial organization.
in itself might fill volumes. Labor was exalted to the point of deifica-
tion. Not even the Inca was exempt from its laws, but with his im-
perial hands was forced each year to turn out some bit of handiwork.
Agriculture was extensively followed, and indeed so honored was the
profession of the farmer that his knowledge was thought to be of divine
origin. The Sun-the mother of all mankind. was fabled to have
sent her two children to the earth: the one "Manco Capac" to teach
men the culture of the earth; the other "Mama Oella" to teach women
to spin and weave. How well these two divine missionaries performed
their tasks, the remains of the ancient Peruvian farms with their systems
of irrigation, and the Spanish traditions of Peruvian fabrics, testify.
Guano, now one of the chief sources of wealth to Peru, was known and
used by its ancient people. Land was held by the state and rented out
to the people in shares proportionate to the size of the family. The
doctrines of communism were put into practice to an extent impossible
under any save a strong paternal despotism. The tenure of land, while
it rendered poverty unnecessary, nevertheless removed the chief incen-
tive to thrift, as no one could become more wealthy than his neighbor,
unless a noble or a member of the Inca's family. From the age of
twenty-five to fifty years every man was forced to work for the good of
the community, and until a code of agrarian laws was enacted women
worked by the side of their husbands in the fields.
The laws by which the ancient empire of Peru was ruled were simple
and few in number. Twenty-four laws only were upon the statute
books of that time, and of these four related directly to labor. One
section provided that in every town there should be mechanics and arti-
sans skilled in every trade known to the realm, and that should this be
impossible, every town should at least be possessed of facilities for the
manufacture of every article essential for the needs of mankind. A
second provision of the statutes, and one always most scrupulously ob-
served, was that at the time for harvesting or sowing, every one from the
emperor himself down to the poorest peasant, should be in the fields.
and perform his share of the work for the good of the community.
Again it was provided that every man should show care and discretion
in his choice of crops to be grown on his home acre. A nation that
understood the use of artificial fertilizers was not one to permit wasteful
SOUTH AMERICA. ·
557
or ignorant farming, but notwithstanding this they were not familiar
with the simple device of plows, but did all their tillage with spades.
The proper education of the children was left to the parents, but a
special statute commanded that every parent should carefully observe
the habits, tastes and mental characteristics of his child and found his
choice of a trade upon such observations. Whenever feasible, however,
it was thought best for the son to follow the father's trade. A national
interest in the training of youth, such as this, could not fail to foster a
race of competent workmen in every branch of industry. Therefore we
find the Peruvians growing enormously wealthy and making rapid strides
in civilization. Their weaving was skillful and the fabrics soft and
durable. In shape, color and finish their pottery was admirable. Their
jewelers were artists of skill and taste and the fruits of their handiwork
astounded the Spaniards who straightway appropriated all. Such were
some of the results of that wise system of laws of which Prescott,
the immortal historian, writes as follows: "A more thorough and effect-
ual agrarian law than this cannot be imagined. In other countries
where such a law has been introduced, its operation, after a time, has
given way to the natural order of events, and under the superior intelli-
gence and thrift of some and the prodigality of others the usual vicissi-
tudes of fortune have been allowed to take their course and restore things
to their natural inequality. Even the iron law of Lycurgus ceased to
operate after a time, and melted away before the spirit of luxury and
avarice. The nearest approach to the Peruvian constitution was proba-
bly in Judea, where, on the recurrence of the great national jubilee at the
close of every half century, estates reverted to their original proprietors.'
And later the same author writes: "By a constant rotation of labor it
was intended that no one should be overburdened and that each man
should have time to provide for the demands of his own household. It
was impossible in the judgment of a high Spanish authority to im-
prove on the system of distribution, so carefully was it accommodated
to the condition and comfort of the artisan. The security of the work-
ing classes seems ever to have been kept in view by the regulations of
the government, and these were so discreetly arranged that the most
wearing and unwholesome labors, as those of the miners, occasioned no
detriment to the health of the laborer; a striking contrast to the subse-
quent condition under Spanish rule." The regulation of the mines to
which the famous historian alludes, was essentially this: The mines of
gold, silver, lead and copper were worked for the benefit of the state,
and all mining operations were under the direct charge of the Inca.
""
558
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
Drfats for workmen were made upon all the people of the country, and
the laborers obtained by this conscription were obliged to serve for four
months, when they returned to their homes and were replaced by a new
draft.
In their habits this people who, in a by-gone age, solved so largely the
political problems that perplex the wisest statesmen of today, were very
simple. The dress of a man of the people in those days was of coarse
llama cloth or cotton. A long shirt or chemise-like garment, sleeveless
and hanging from the shoulders straight to the ankles, was the founda-
tion. A kind of thin shawl or blanket was wrapped about the shoulders
and straw sandals protected the feet. This was the dress of man and
woman alike. Their diet was simple, almost ascetic. Two meals a day
was the quota, and seldom did flesh of any kind appear at either meal.
Maize grew luxuriantly in their fertile soil and when converted into
meal by laborious rubbing betwixt two stones, could be made into bread
and cakes. Earth nuts, too, were made into a paste with honey and
baked. Water was the universal beverage. Unlike the Brazilians, the
Peruvians of early times were accustomed to build durable houses and
had distinct architectural characteristics of their own. The edifices
throughout the entire country seemed to have been cast in the same
mould. Porphyry or granite were the chief materials, but brick was
not infrequently used. The bricks were much larger than those in use
among us today and were made of clayey earth mixed with chopped
reeds or tough grass, much as were the bricks made by the captive
Israclites before Pharoah's order deprived them of the straw. Although
merely sun-dried, the peculiar composition of these bricks gave them
a hardness and durability that enabled them to set at naught the
onslaughts of protracted rainy seasons, and the fierce rays of the
tropic sun.
Abandoning our study of the ancient Peruvians and coming to the
present inhabitants of Peru, we find a race sadly declined from their
condition under the ancient Incas. All signs of progressiveness, of re-
fined tastes, of enlightened self-government have vanished. Living like
beasts of the field, content with the most miserable subsistence, show-
ing no desire for self-advancement, the Peruvian of today finds his
highest gratification in drinking brandy and chica to excess, the latter
an intoxicating beverage distilled by the natives from corn.
A great
part of the industrial population is made up of the native Indians, who,
although no longer slaves (slavery having been abolished in 1855), are
nevertheless in a condition of the most abject servitude. The cholos,
*
SOUTII AMERICA.
559
or agricultural laborers resemble much in their station the umjik of
Russia, inasmuch as in the agricultural districts every laborer belongs to
his employer, whose debtor he is for sums of money advanced in the
prospective security of the labor to be performed by him. The debt is
never paid in money, but by its equivalent in manual toil, a method
which seldom liquidates the account, as the poor man's daily needs are
apt to equal or often exceed his earnings. On many of the large sugar
plantations and in almost all the mines the labor is performed by Chinese
coolies, who are imported in large colonies by the heavy employers of
labor. These wretched beings, although paid workmen, are notwith-
standing in the position of slaves. They are directed in their labor
by brutal overseers, who do not hesitate to enforce each command
with a blow. As the cooley has not the meek and long-suffering
nature of the negro or South American Indian, they often rise in
servile insurrections, and massacre overseers and employers in the
outburst of their savage passion. For the slightest offenses the cool-
ies are punished unmercifully. Curtailing their already scanty rations.
and beating the culprits mercilessly are the mildest punishments. Not
infrequently a cooley will be seen working in the fields weighted down.
with ponderous chains, yet forced to keep pace with his unham-
pered comrades. Agricultural labor is further performed by a large class
of wandering laborers who correspond to the journeymen harvesters of
England, and go by the name of peons, a name that in itself means
footman, or one traveling on foot, as distinguished from cabellero, horseman
or gentleman. Among the peons are classed numbers of Bolivian immi-
grants who make long journeys, often of three hundred miles in
order to reach Peru and profit by the scarcity of labor. In com-
parison with English rates their wages are good, as they are com-
monly paid $2 a day and are housed by their employers in rude tents.
made of coarse sail-cloth, supported by poles of all sorts and sizes. Their
habits of life are most simple. Living on boiled rice, a handful of
beans and a little chili, they can often at the end of the farming season
return to Bolivia with money enough to enable them to pass several years
in comparative idleness. A picturesque feature of the Peruvian work-
fields is the sight of the workmen at the dinner hour, each cooking his
own meal. The peons come to the field in the morning carrying small
iron pots in which are the rice, beans, and sometimes bits of beef or
mutton which is to form the day's dinner. When the dinner hour
comes little fires are kindled and each kettle sings merrily over the
coals while the peon prepares his dinner with no mean skill. On holidays
560
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
or great occasions a kind of beer is added to the repast by the generosity
of the employer.
Besides farming, the Peruvians turn their hands to mining and me-
chanical labor. The guano beds which form the chief wealth of the
country are governmental monopolies, and are worked altogether by
Chinese coolies, as no Peruvian will undertake such unwholesome labor.
The minerals of Peru still form a vast proportion of the national wealth,
although after the occupation of the country by the Spaniards, a reaction.
set in against the forced production of gold fostered by those avaricious
conquerors. So rich in this precious metal are all the mountain ranges.
of Peru, that not a stream rushes down the hill-sides from whose bed
the golden grains may not be taken by careful sluicing. The chief mines
are on the eastern side of the Andes near the sources of the Purus, but
throughout all the country solitary miners are diligently working with
rude appliances. For this reason it is hard to estimate the total produc-
tion of gold.
In the mechanical arts, the Peruvians show considerable skill. The
excellence and delicacy of their work in straw is well known. By plait-
ing and weaving the fine white straw of the country, flexible hats, mats
and cigar cases are made. By the use of colored straw the plaiters form
all sorts of ornaments of figures and flowers. Some are clever enough to
be able to copy any figure of which a model is shown them, be it a fish,
fowl or human being. The prices of these goods vary immensely, but
the average earnings of the artists are about four dollars a week. Brick-
layers, carpenters and skilled mechanics of that class can command high
wages in Peru, but labor under the disadvantage of being forced to ac-
cept their pay upon the well-known and wholly indefensible "truck
system."
The status of labor in most of the remaining countries of South Amer-
ica differs but little from that in Brazil and Peru. In Chili the work-
man goes by the name of peon, and has the same wandering instincts as
his Peruvian brother. His dress is simple in the extreme. A shirt, short
trousers and a slouched hat, together with a poncho, or blanket with a
hole in the center through which the head is thrust, constitute his rai-
ment. Wages are poor, the field hands never receiving more than fifty
cents per diem in harvest time, and are reduced to twenty-five or thirty
in other seasons. In one respect the laborer of Chili is in advance of
his fellows in many other states. The rude agricultural implements of
ancient times have given way to the most improved machinery, and mills
and factories rival those of England. The agricultural products are
SOUTH AMERICA.
561
identical with those of Brazil and Peru, while the list of minerals in-
cludes gold, silver, lead, antimony, copper, zinc, cobalt and nickel.
Manufactures have been encouraged by the government, which has lately
offered monopolies for a term of years to manufacturers seeking to estab-
lish themselves. In Bolivia the population is idle, rough and ignorant,
careless of the opportunities of life and living only in the present. Agri-
culture is only followed to secure the necessaries of life; let there be a
superfluity and the fields are deserted. The people drink heavily of
chicha and pass their time in idleness or carousing. Coffee, cotton,
cacao and tobacco all thrive in that soil and climate but the indolence of
the people prevents the cultivation of either for export. Coca is a gov-
ernmental monopoly and brings in some revenue.
The wide and grassy
plains afford unequaled advantages for stock-raising but the people have
not enterprise enough to raise this most profitable industry to a point
sufficient even to supply the needs of the country. Mining offers a field
for most productive labor, but is prosecuted languidly since the termi-
nation of the Spanish occupation. Such mines as are worked are owned
and managed by foreigners. The Indians and peasant women weave
wool and cotton with some skill and derive some income from their sale.
Good fire arms are turned out in the cities, and every Indian under-
stands the art of making gunpowder. Observing travelers record that
the only industry that seems prospering is that of the distillers of
whisky. The Argentine Confederation in its industrial aspects presents
a more gratifying spectacle. The cattle ranches are wide and numerous
and the ranchers get from eight to fifteen dollars a month and are
housed and fed at the cost of their employer. In cities like Buenos
Ayres and Montevideo wages are high, but expenses are so great that
the wage-workers seldom become independent. House servants are
greatly in demand, good ones receiving as much as twenty dollars a
month.
Each city contains many large factories, but the workmen are con-
stantly harrassed by the fluctuation of the rate of wages, which is
changed several times a year. Artisans and mechanics who can work
on their own account are prospering. Shoemakers get $10 for a pair of
boots; trousers cost $15 for the making; coats $50; a hat, $5. Everything
pertaining to building or furnishing is held at the highest price: bricks
are $12 to $15 a thousand; a lounge costs $120; a chair $5 or $6, and an
easy chair $25. Competent carpenters and joiners are very scarce and
can easily earn as journeymen $25 a week. But the state of labor
in the cities can hardly be thought indicative of the state of labor
562
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
throughout the Confederation, for the cities are almost entirely Euro-
pean. The national industry of the Argentine Confederation is agricul-
ture, and this has been pursued intelligently and profitably. The labor-
ing population of the rural districts is roughly divided into peonadu
and guachos. The former are the farm hands on the great estates, while
the latter are herdsmen and in character and position show a striking
similarity to the American cowboy. Wandering over the country, a true
vagabond without being an outlaw, constantly breaking the peace, the
guachos are regarded with mingled feelings of fear and admiration by
the simple peasantry. The life of the peon is an easy and contented
Working sufficiently to keep himself in comfort, and taking little
heed for the morrow, they can, nevertheless, in case of need, develop a
wondrous activity and intelligence. But notwithstanding their indus-
try, their numbers are insufficient to handle the ever-increasing produce
of the fertile soil, and immigrants are eagerly welcomed by the govern-
ment, and earn wages that would seem high, even to an American.
one.
The state of Uruguay is far from being an industrial commonwealth.
Labor, properly so-called, is actually non-existent. Yet such labor as is
carried on repays the laborer at a rate which, taken in connection with
the cost of living, puts him in circumstances ten-fold more prosperous
than the English laborer of similar degree. Common farm hands earn
from $185 to $190 per year, with board and lodging; female domestics
get $200 to $250 per year. Even masons and carpenters are supplied with
board and lodging besides their wages, which will average from $2.75 to
$3 per day. Shoemakers, tailors, smiths and wheelwrights, etc., earn
even more. Even children can earn a comfortable living. These rates
are caused by the scarcity of population, and with the broad plains
almost untenanted seem likely to persist for many decades. Truly there
seems to be no cause for a condition other than prosperous for the work-
men of Uruguay, whose living expenses are paid by the employer and whose
wages come to him in hard and ready money. Slavery existed until
1843, but at that date all negroes were freed, and of late the government
has turned its attention to the education of this large class of freedmen
who are rapidly becoming valued members of the industrial society.
Like the foregoing country, Paraguay is an essentially agricultural
country. Its natives are docile, sedate and intelligent. There are but
few European residents, who are chiefly found in the large towns. In
their methods of agriculture they are unscientific to such a degree that
only the unrivaled fertility of the soil enables them to extract a mea-
ger return for their labor. The loose sandy soil demands but little dress-
SOUTH AMERICA.
563
ing and is merely scratched superficially with the rudest of plows made
from a thick bough with two short protruding branches cut to points
and hardened by burning. Two oxen drag this implement up and down
the fields until the soil is thus rudely broken. The women of Paraguay
spin and weave the native cotton into domestic fabrics. Their spinning
is done by means of a distaff or slender spindle of wood twirled between
the fingers and thumb of the right hand, while the fiber is drawn from
a tuft held in the left. This method is almost identical with that de-
scribed in the chapter on Central America, and resembles also the spin-
ning of Tartar peasants in the Crimea. An industry in which the
women of Paraguay excel, is the fabrication of lace which they weave
with wonderful delicacy. The patterns for laces, however, are com-
monly drawn by men. The finished piece usually is in the form of a
towel or scarf, the ends of which are finished with a border of embroid-
ery. These articles find a ready sale at prices from seventy-five to one
hundred dollars. Cloth-weaving is chiefly done by men who wander
about the country carrying their looms and calling at house after house,
to see if the housewife has a store of cotton thread she wishes woven.
When an employer is found, the weaver sets his loom up under a tree
and works away by the road-side until the fabric is completed. Besides
their spinning, the women occupy much of their time in the manufact-
ure of cigars.
Sugar-cane grows luxuriantly in Paraguay, and in its cultivation a large
part of the male population is occupied, but the cultivation, like all
forms of agriculture in the country is wasteful, and unscientific. The
stools are planted so closely together that the soil cannot nourish the
stalks properly, and the saccharine property in the sap is not properly
formed. The crushing, too, is wasteful, hardly half the juice being
extracted. The mill would be a curiosity in the sight of an American
sugar planter. A massive frame of timber holds up two heavy rollers of
hard wood, geared together with cogs. A slow-stepping yoke of oxen
furnishes the power, and the canes are thrust, a few at a time, between
the revolving rollers. The juice is caught in open pans beneath,
strained through a coarse cloth and boiled in open evaporators. They
seldom succeed in getting a dry and perfectly granulated sugar, but ordi-
narily stop the process with a delicious but very costly molasses, which
is stored away in leather bags. In the preparation of corn for food a
similar ignorance of improved methods is manifested. The kernels are
placed in wooden mortars made of the hollowed trunk of a tree, and are
beaten by heavy wooden staves until a coarse meal is obtained. This is
564
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
tossed into the air, that the wind may blow away the husks, which it
does with great efficaciousness, taking about one-third of the meal away
in the operation. The intoxicating drink chiefly used by the Paraguay-
ans is maté, a wood product, the manufacture of which is monopolized
by the government.
Ecuador, though blessed with a soil of wondrous fertility and a
climate of perpetual spring, is wretchedly poor. Within her borders
hardly a thing is manufactured, and to satisfy their wants her people must
enrich the manufacturers of Europe. No dress goods, no glass, not a
single nail, not one of all the articles necessary for the existence of even
a savage people is made in Ecuador, save in the mountain regions where
the people make coarse woolen cloth, saddles and pottery. All other
articles are purchased abroad, and brought into the country in panniers
swung across the backs of mules, for railroads they have none. In the
fields are produced cacao, sugar and tobacco, and in the forests are great
numbers of caoutchouc, but all these products go to the English in ex-
change for manufactured goods. Panama hats and straw mattings are
the sole manufacture of the people, whose industry is devoted mainly to
hunting or agricultural pursuits. Technically, slavery no longer exists,
but practically in the form of service for debt the Indians and negroes
are as much enslaved as ever. This pernicious custom is common to all
South American states.
In Colombia no trades are followed save domestic vocations of weav-
ing, dyeing, tanning, blanket-making and basket-weaving. There is
almost no manufacturing industry in the country, although the basis for
some future productive industry has been laid by the establishment at
Bogota of glass works, distilleries and one or two other manufactories.
The natural products gathered or grown by the natives and exported in
considerable quantities are cedar, caoutchouc, vegetable ivory and
tobacco. The mineral deposits of the country are vast, but little known
and less worked. The three Guianas, British, French and Dutch, are
industrially unimportant. Along the coast is a shallow belt of civilized
territory in which indigo, cotton, cocoa, sugar and coffee are produced.
So long as the planters were enabled to employ slave labor the exports
of the country were quite considerable, but since the abolition of slavery
the production has been largely decreased. Slavery at one time also
existed in Venezuela, but has been abolished, and the freed negroes are
now cultivating great tracts of fertile territory on the table-lands and in
the valleys of that country. Although they enjoy equal political rights
with the whites, yet the latter retain all power in their own hands. As
SOUTH AMERICA,
565
a class, the working people of Venezuela are light-hearted, sober, and
industrious.
The dress of the South Americans differs but little in the different
states. Cotton is the almost universal fabric, and white the almost
universal color, save in the case of the poncho, a relic of the
Spanish influence. This latter garment is of wool and often striped in
gaudy colors. The feet are often uncovered, but sometimes leather
stockings, made from hide taken from a horse's leg, are worn.
Once put
on, these stockings are not removed until worn out, for the hide is soft-
ened in water, and wrapped tightly around the leg, to which it adheres
closely when dried. Hats are small, made partly of wool and partly
of straw, and have a havelock or suspended cloth for protection
against the sun. The dress of women is commonly European
in form, i. e., shirt and waist, made often of the gaudiest fabrics.
Underwear must be white, however, else the poorest woman would scorn
it. In Uruguay the women wear a kind of short skirt instead of trous-
ers, the sides of which are tucked up under the belt, leaving the thighs
bare. Sombreros with enormous brims are worn in this state and as the
custom of decorating them is very common no small part of a man's
income goes for his hat, for which $125 is no uncommon price. The
dress of the womens simple but becoming-a long chemise, or tupoi,
cut low in the neck, with a deep border of black or scarlet wool forms
the chief garment. The sleeves are loose and deeply edged with lace.
From the waist hang silk or muslin skirts, puffed out by artfully starched
petticoats and fastened at the waist by a broad sash. Except in the capi-
tal few women wear shoes
The food products utilized by the South American have already been
described. One principal article of diet to which we have not alluded is
beef cut into strips and dried in smoke. This is almost a universal
article of food, and forms almost the sole diet of the guachos. Ferment-
ed or
"raised" bread is little known. The natives prefer corn bread,
or cakes made from manioc. Ordinary cooking is simple and good, yet
the people set but little store by the pleasures of the table. A common
expression of contempt is, "he is not even fit for a cook." Tobacco, in
the form of cigars or cigarettes, is seldom absent from the mouths of the
South Americans of every grade.
In the Argentine Confederation the people of the poorer classes live
in adobe houses, except out on the pampas, where huts made of branches
plastered with mud seem to fill every requirement. Some steps from the
main house is a smaller structure that serves as a kitchen, and
566
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
around the whole homestead fig trees are planted. The interior of such
a house, as may well be conjectured, does not present an aspect of much
luxury. The bed boasts of merely an ox-hide for a mattress, while tables,
chairs and benches are of unplaned boards. In Uruguay domestic archi-
tecture is no less simple. Four upright posts are fastened in the ground
on which is placed a roof covered with thatch, or often with sheet-iron.
The walls are made of wattled reeds daubed thickly with clay. This
completes the structure, thousands of which stand in different parts of
the country. Hovels as they are, these structures harbor a people con-
tented, though neither rich nor intelligent.
PART VI.
GUILDS AND TRADES-UNIONS.
CHAPTER I.— MERCHANT GUILDS.
MOTIVES FOR COMBINATION DIFFERENT CLASSES OF GUILDS — MERCHANT GUILDS
THE PROTOTYPES OF THE MODERN CORPORATION — THEIR SPREAD OVER GER-
MANY, FRANCE AND ENGLAND — ORIGIN OF ENGLISH LIVERY COMPANIES
COMBINATION OF GUILD BRETHREN AND LAND-OWNERS CONTROLLING CITY
AND TOWN GOVERNMENTS CRAFTSMEN ORIGINALLY MEMBERS OF MERCHANT
GUILDS THE SEPARATION OF MERCHANT FROM CRAFT GUILDS - SIMILARITY
BETWEEN THE CORPORATIONS OF TODAY AND THE MERCHANT GUILDS OF THE
MIDDLE AGES - OPPRESSION OF THE PEOPLE BY THE MERCHANT GUILDS — TIIE
TWELVE GREAT COMPANIES.
GUILDS, a common tore of
UILDS, or associations of individuals for a common purpose, are of
It is useless to attempt to ascribe to any
one nation, race or period the leadership in the inauguration of these
institutions. Although it is only within the past quarter of a century
that the subject has been considered of sufficient importance to
demand the attention of antiquarians, and the honor of their origin has
been assigned to various periods and countries, no one can positively
assert when or where they originated. They existed in Egypt, they
flourished in Greece and Rome, they exerted an immense influence in all
European countries during the middle ages. Always and everwhere
there have been combinations for the purpose of accomplishing, "by the
united efforts of numbers, what could not be accomplished by the
detached efforts of individuals." Often diverted from their real objects,
they have invariably resulted in benefit to their members.
In tracing their history we find the merchant guilds, the prototypes
of modern corporations; the religious guilds, the prototypes of modern
church societies; the social guilds, the prototypes of Masonic, Odd Fel-
569
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THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
嶝
​low and kindred organizations; the craft guild, the predecessor of the
modern trades-unions; and, finally, guilds of lawyers, and guilds of liter-
ateurs and artists.
It is in the evolution of the merchant and craft guilds, more especially
the latter, that we will find our principal interest.
In their inception the merchant guilds were sworn fraternities for the
protection of right and the preservation of liberty. As their powers
increased they developed a spirit of aristocracy and became institutions
of oppression. Although there are records of merchant guilds in Egypt
and other nations of antiquity, we have no reliable data as to their objects
and accomplishments, until we meet them in Europe during the middle
ages. The first that presents itself is the guild of Hanse merchants and
watermen of the Seine and Yonne, the most ancient chartered French
guild; it is supposed to have sprung up from the sailors or boatmen
existing in the time of the Romans. Like the modern corporations, this
institution realized the advantage of possessing monopolistic privileges.
Even at this early date, it seems, "influence" could be exerted to secure
these privileges. This body had the absolute control of the trade car-
ried on by the watercourses of the Seine and Yonne between Nantes and
Auxerre. No merchant could bring wares to Paris without becoming a
member of the guild. Similar guilds sprang up in most of the commer-
cial towns along the rivers and on the sea shore. In the seventh and
eighth centuries they appear simultaneously in France, England and
Germany. The annals of the Merovingian kings mention a guild of
jewelers, or workers in gold. Merchant guilds are mentioned in the laws
compiled by King Athelstan. There were guilds of drapers, grocers,
haberdashers, furriers, hatters and jewelers, in the Hanseatic towns of
Germany. It is conceded that Flanders and Holland secured the benefit of
self-government, before France or Italy, through the influence and power
of the guilds. Charlemagne, who had felt their power, laid down rules.
limiting the growth of merchant guilds. The Emperors Frederick II. and
Henry VII. vainly attempted to suppress them. During the eleventh
and twelfth centuries the merchant guilds banded themselves together
and gradually acquired such power in the cities of Germany that they
rivaled the nobles in influence, and aimed at controlling the municipal
government. Philip I., in 1061, granted special privileges to the guild
⚫ of chandlers, and Louis VII., one hundred years later, is mentioned as
granting the same privileges to the butchers' and harnessmakers' guilds.
At the time of the Norman conquest in England, merchant guilds
existed in nearly all the chief towns. In each borough they formed a
MERCHANT GUILDS.
571
body politic, with common rights and interests. They had each their
meeting-place, in which they deliberated and passed borough laws. They
possessed by lease or purchase houses, pasture and forest lands for common
use.
Under the Norman rule their growth was somewhat interfered with.
Henry I. subjected them to heavy fines for being established or exercising
their functions without royal license. They were encouraged, however,
by Henry II., and, increasing under this patronage, they became so nu-
merous that, in their annual or other celebrations, they often came in
collision with each other. Under Henry IV. they were forbidden to wear
liveries, but in a subsequent reign they were again endowed with that
privilege, which, finally, gave them the name of "livery companies,
which name has attached to the prominent merchant guilds of England
ever since. The merchant guilds of England, in the middle ages, were
far in advance of those of any other country in power and influence.
The landed proprietors, on or near whose estates the towns were built,
exercised great influence in them, and constituted their aristocracy. In
many of the cities the condition of becoming an alderman was the pos-
session of an inalienable estate. As the aldermen were chosen from the
guilds, it became necessary to have as members some of the landed gentry.
The constitution of the city of London was based upon a guild, and it
became the model for other English cities and towns. In the time of
King Athelstan the merchant guilds of London united, that they might
carry out their aims more vigorously. This united guild governed the
town. A similar union took place in the latter part of the thirteenth
century, of the guilds in Berwick-upon-Tweed. The union provided
"that all separate guilds heretofore existing in the borough shall be
brought to an end," and that "no other guild shall be allowed in the
borough; all shall be as members having one head, one counsel, one body,
strong and friendly." At this time only the inhabitants owning land,
and the merchants, were "guild brethren" or citizens.
There is no doubt that the principal membership of the merchant
guilds of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, in all the countries of
Europe, was composed of people of rank, social considerations or wealth.
They strove hard to, and did in a great measure, obtain the entire control
of the city and town governments. Many of the towns, whose govern-
ment was in the hands of such guilds, had been founded by merchants.
In all other towns a great majority of the burghers lived by trade. In
Cologne, in the eleventh century, the term "burgher" and "merchant"
were used as synonymous. At Spire the patrician families of the town,
from whose ranks the council was taken, all carried on trade. In like
572
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
¿
manner the leading families of Ratisbon consisted of merchants. As
to Denmark, the Danish word for town (Kiöbsted, bargain-place) suffi-
ciently denotes its character. In Scotland the merchant guild stood at
the head of the town governments. Though the merchant guilds con-
sisted chiefly of merchants at first, craftsmen were not excluded from
them if they possessed full citizenship of the town, which citizenship
depended upon the possession of estates of a certain value, situated within
the territory of the town. The strict separation of the merchants and
crafts arose only by degrees. Originally, the craftsmen traded in the raw
material with which they worked. In the time of Edward III. the
London tailors were the importers of woolen cloth, and as late as the six-
teenth century the brewers of Hamburg were the principal grain mer-
chants. It was only as the merchants accumulated wealth and aristo-
cratic notions that they began to be exclusive. They then sought for
means to eject and exclude craftsmen from the merchant guilds. The
famous, cr infamous, ordinance, repeated in the Danish, German and
Belgian guild statutes provided that no one "with dirty hands" or with
"blue nails," or "who hawked his wares in the streets," should become
a member of the guild; that craftsmen, before being admitted, should
have forsworn their craft for a year and a day. The statutes of Berwick-
upon-Tweed provided that no butcher, so long as he carried on his trade,
was to deal in wool or hides, except he were ready to forswear his axe.
This was to protect the guild, whose members were principally merchants,
and who traded in wool and hides. The craftsmen were not only excluded
from the guilds, but they were governed and oppressed by them.
The similarity that exists between the wealthy corporations of today
and the merchant guilds of the middle ages is singularly striking. All
laws were made by the guilds for the privileged classes, who were the
members of the guilds. In the formative period of the merchant guilds,
as long as freedom from the oppression of episcopal and baronial tyranny
was to be obtained, the "guild brothers" were modest and benignant
toward the poor. They did not then consider it humiliating to associate
and fraternize with craftsmen. The possession of freedom and power
rendered them insolent and hard; with the enjoyment of their dominion
the descendants of the simple associates of the early merchant guilds
became proud, ambitious and tyrannical. The freer and more independ-
ent they became the less they needed the assistance of their former
associates of the crafts, and the more haughty, overbearing and con-
temptuous became their conduct. The accumulation of riches helped
to widen the ever increasing breach. These riches were employed in the
MERCHANT GUILDS.
573
purchase of estates and lucrative privileges, which enabled the possessors
to live in idleness. Idleness finally became an attribute of rank and
honor. The laws were made to clearly discriminate between the patrician
and the man "without hearth and honor who lives by his labor." The
chief burden of the taxes was thrown upon the poor, while the income
which they afforded and the revenues from the guild or corporation
property were employed for the exclusive use of the ruling families.
Laws were partially administered, redress being entirely refused to the
unprivileged classes. It was feared by many that a new serfdom might
arise. In some cities the craftsmen had almost become serfs to the
patricians. This was especially true of the craftsmen of the city of
Cologne. A general and deep hatred of the governed toward their oppres-
sors existed. One idea, the abolition of the patrician, seemed to have
animated the souls of the craftsmen of the thirteenth and fourteenth
centuries. Finally the merchant guilds became divided by internal
dissensions. They began to fight for political supremacy in the towns.
Cologne, Strasburg, Basle and Ratisbon, were the scenes of intense
political conflicts. The craftsmen united and presented an unbroken
front against the hated patricians. Violent struggles ensued between
the two factions at Tournay, Ghent, Bruges, Brussels, Cologne, Frank-
fort-on-the-Main, and other towns in Germany, and toward the end of
the fourteenth century the victory was almost everywhere on the side
of the craft guilds.
England was at the same time undergoing a revolution of the same
character. Many concessions were made to the craftsmen. Nevertheless
in England, as in Germany, the power ultimately remained in the hands
of the old burghers, or members of the merchant guilds, with which
some of the more powerful craft guilds united. Finally, in London, the
separation of the richer companies from the poorer was obtained, and
the former gained paramount influence in the common council. From
this time dates the still existing custom of choosing the Lord Mayor of
London exclusively from the so-called twelve great companies. Origi-
nally established as charitable institutions, to afford mutual aid to their
members, these great companies gradually assumed control over the
trades and manufactures represented by their titles. By the payment
of large sums of money, they obtained various monopolies, with power
to make by-laws for the regulation of their respective trades. From the
gifts received for charitable purposes, from entrance money, from fines,
and the proceeds of their vast monopolies, they divided large sums
of money among their members, and amassed enormous wealth. Within
574
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
the limits of the city of London alone, the rents on lands belonging to
them amounted to nearly $3,000,000 per annum, and it is believed the
lands they possessed outside the city were of equal value. The changes
in trade maxims and in social life have now left them little more than
a shadow of their former authority over trade and manufactures. They
now exist principally as charitable institutions, and most of their income
is supposed to be devoted to charitable objects. The names and the
charter dates of the twelve great companies are as follows: The Skin-
ners, 1327; the Goldsmiths, 1327; the Grocers, 1345; the Fishmongers,
1363; the Vintners, 1363; the Drapers, 1364; the Mercers, 1393; the
Haberdashers, 1448; the Ironmongers, 1464; the Merchant Tailors,
1466; the Cloth workers, 1480; and the Salters, 1530. The hereditary
connection of these companies with the corporation, their large owner-
ship of property in the city, and their control of so many charities enable.
them to exercise great influence in municipal affairs.
}
CHAPTER II.-CRAFT GUILDS.
THEIR ORIGIN AND EARLY HISTORY-IN GREECE - ROME- PLUTARCH'S ACCOUNT
OF THE GUILDS INSTITUTED BY NUMA-THEIR PROGRESS UNDER THE REPUBLIC
UNDER THE EMPIRE-IN EUROPE DURING THE MIDDLE AGES - WARFARE TO
SUPPRESS CRAFT GUILDS-VICTORY FOR THE GUILDS - THEIR POLITICAL POWER
-THE ACME OF PROSPERITY SIGNS OF DEGENERATION -THEIR STATUTES
AND CUSTOMS.
CR
RAFT GUILDS are doubtless of more ancient origin than the
merchant guilds. Whether in the nations of antiquity, they were
associations of free laborers, possessing the democratic character of mod-
ern trades-unions, or whether they were mere bond-servants ranged by
the despotic rulers into companies, according to their different crafts,
each company under the superintendence of a government official, are
questions which have excited some keen controversy. The evidence
would seem to substantiate the former, but such a well recognized
authority as Brentano inclines to the latter opinion.
The history of the associations of craftsmen prior to the Christian
era is somewhat meager. It is only occasionally that we find any trace
of their existence outside of the Roman republic. We know that in
Egypt at the time of the Ptolemies the people were divided into priests,
warriors, agricultural laborers, and workmen; that in most employments
the son was compelled to follow the trade or business of his father. These
divisions evidently denoted the social rank of the people. Whether these
different castes or classes were subdivided, in accordance with their rela-
tive positions or crafts, is at least, questionable. If so divided, whether
the artisans would have been permitted to organize free associations is
still more questionable. The Athenians formed a separate class of citi-
zens of the skilled workmen. Their history mentions many trades, but
it was the warrior upon whom was conferred the special privileges.
Among the Greeks there were doubtless independent associations among
the freemen. In the second and third centuries, B. C., these associa-
tions were numerous at Rhodes, in the islands of the archipelago, at the
Piraeus, and at other important places. These societies partook more
nearly of the character of the medieval craft guilds than did those of the
Romans. The members paid contributions to a general fund, aided one
575
576
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
another in necessity, provided for funerals, met in assembly to deliberate
on their affairs, and celebrated feasts and religious sacrifices in common.
Strict rules for disorderly conduct were enforced by fine. He who did
not pay his yearly dues to the society was excluded from any participa-
tion in its affairs, unless he could show good cause for his failure.
Women could be members, and were admitted to the meetings. Our
first introduction to craft guilds in Rome would seem to confirm the
opinion of Brentano, that they were divisions of the craftsmen into
companies, made under the supervision of the government, for the pur-
pose of more easily subjecting them to control. We quote the language
of Plutarch, who is the principal and, in fact, the only authority for
the early Roman craft guilds. In his life of Numa he says, "But the
most admired of all his institutions is his distribution of the citizens
into companies, according to their arts and trades. For the city consist-
ing, as we have observed of two nations, or rather, factions, who were
by no means willing to unite, or to blot out the remembrance of their
original difference, but maintained perpetual contests or party quarrels,
he took the same methods with them as is used to incorporate hard and
solid bodies, which while entire will not mix at all, but when reduced to
powder unite with ease. To attain his purpose he divided, as I said,
the whole multitude into small bodies, who, gaining new distinctions, lost
by degrees the great and original one in consequence of their being thus
broken into so many parts. This distribution was made according to
the several arts or trades of musicians, goldsmiths, masons, dyers, shoe-
makers, tanners, braziers and potters. He collected the other artificers
also into companies, who had their respective halls, courts and religious
ceremonies peculiar to each society. By these means he first took away the
distinction of Sabines and Romans, subjects of Tatius and subjects of
Romulus, both name and thing, the very separation into parts mixing and
incorporating the whole together." Here, undoubtedly were the asso-
ciations or companies of craftsmen. They had for each society their
separate halls, or meeting places. They probably met and discussed
matters pertaining to their several arts and trades. But was not their
organization detrimental to all the principles of craft guilds. They did
not "combine to win," but were "divided" that they might be more
easily governed. It may be possible, however, that in the division of
the people into companies according to their several arts and trades,
King Numa "builded better than he knew." The artisans may have
been taught that "in unity there is strength." There is evidence that
these associations grew in numbers and strength, as the successor of
CRAFT GUILDS.
577
Numa, Tullius Hostilius, thought it necessary to issue an edict to sup-
press them. This attempt to extinguish them, however, only increased
their numbers. Their organization was once more encouraged by Servius
Tullius and they were again suppressed by the proud Tarquin.
Under the Republic they made rapid progress. They became the
protecting bulwarks of the various trades, and kept a vigilant watch over
the rights of their members. After the substitution of slave for free
labor, and the invasion of the Republic by Greek artisans, which caused
great competition, this protection became very difficult, and the associa-
tions gradually lost all their influence until the Romans began to acquire
foreign territory, into which they always endeavored to introduce Roman
customs. They sent large numbers of artisans with the armies of inva-
sion. They organized their associations, and in due time their member-
ship became enormous. With their growing strength they undertook to
engage in the political affairs of the nation. This tendency greatly
offended the aristocratic element, which in the year B. C. 67, succeeded
in obtaining a decree abolishing the guilds. Only those were allowed to
exist which were absolutely necessary to the state. Under the early Cæsars,
the government continued to make war upon them. Later they were
incorporated, and spread all over the empire. Trajan desired to destroy ·
them, but the guilds had become so powerful that he hesitated. Under
Constantine the Great, there were more than thirty guilds in Rome.
Their privileges were multiplied and confirmed under Theodosius and
Justinian. The Christian religion found them among the laboring
classes of the Eastern and Western empire, and infused into them its
active spirit of charity. In A. D. 354, Valentinian confirmed the priv-
ileges already obtained, and each trade became a separate guild, whose
members could embrace no other calling. The guilds were empowered
to accept donations, and inherit the property of intestate members.
Theodoric the Great found some guilds in Constantinople when he
conquered the place. They seemed to please the old warrior, who was
not in sympathy with the aristocracy. It is unfortunate that history
does not furnish a more complete and reliable account of the character,
objects and power of the ancient Roman guilds. It is only another illus-
tration of that historical despotism which ignores the really vital elements
of history. The men who tear down, burn, and destroy, are honored
with a high place on the pedestal of fame. The unselfish, uncomplaining
silent worker, he who builds both history and fame, receives barely the
unconscious esteem of his contemporaries.
The progress from the guild to the municipal corporation can be readily
*
87
578
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
4
traced in England, but in Germany the two are co-existent almost from
time immemorial. All through the middle ages the Dutch and Flemish
guilds exercised a preponderating influence. In Germany the immunities.
enjoyed by the craft guilds under the Roman dominion, were nearly swept
away by feudalism. The condition of the workman was almost one of
serfage up to the time of the Emperor, Henry I. (919 to 936). The
clerical monks at that time began to engage in various trades and exer-
cised considerable influence. They endeavored to prohibit the masons of
Lombardy from constructing the convents, and other religious institu-
tions. The result was an obstinate struggle by the guilds against the
clerical workmen, and the serfs and bondmen employed by the aristocracy
and nobility. The monks did not succeed in preventing the guilds from
obtaining employment on religious structures.
In the ninth and tenth centuries, many craft guilds were found in
Italy. They became so powerful that the heads of their organizations.
controlled the government. In Piedmont, some charter guilds date
from the year 707. The Records of Ravenna mention a guild of fisher-
men in 943, and a guild of butchers in 1001. In Southern Gaul, from.
time immemorial, the municipalities had their guilds, which formed the
great bodies of free citizens.
Foremost among all the craftsmen, from the tenth to the fourteenth
century, were the weavers. They formed a kind of a great middle class
between the aristocracy and the bond craftsmen. Other crafts worked
to supply mere local demands. The products of the loom found markets
in the most distant countries. This naturally invested them with
greater importance. They were distinguished above all others by their
wealth, self-respect and sense of freedom. Their unions enjoyed, from
the beginning, the greatest independence.
We find the weavers' guilds of Mayence in 1099, and of Worms in
1114. The weavers' guilds of London and Oxford, chartered by Henry
I., of England. The weavers' guild of Cologne, 1149, "formed a fra-
ternity with the consent of the judges, sheriffs, and aldermen," and
thenceforth all who wished to carry on the trade within the town were
obliged to join the fraternity and submit to its rules. The records show,
however, that the union of these crafts existed at Cologne long before
1149, and that its rights were merely confirmed that year. At Frank-
fort-on-the-Main also wool-weaving ranked first among the crafts. In
Flanders and Brabant, the first manufacturing countries of the middle.
ages, the influence of the wool-weavers' guild was most prominent. In
the reign of Henry II., of England, weavers' guilds, confirmed by the
CRAFT GUILDS.
579
1
king, existed at Nottingham, York, Huntington, Lincoln and Win-
chester. It is probable that, among the stubborn weavers of Flanders
and Brabant, the first exclusively crafts guilds of the middle ages orig-
inated. Prior to that, the guilds of ancient Gaul and Germany, while
composed, to a large extent, of craftsmen, included in their membership
also traders or merchants.
After the weavers' guilds came the butchers of Augsburg in 1104,
and of Paris in 1134; the fishermen's guild of Worms in 1106; the shoe-
makers' of Magdeburg in 1157. In 1162 there were five craft guilds in
Halle-the shoemakers, bakers, butchers, smiths, and doublet-weavers.
In 1180 there were fifteen craft guilds in London. In the thirteenth
century they spread rapidly over all the countries of Europe. They
appear in great numbers, as the traces of bondage disappear. When
obtaining their charters, they were frequently put under obligation to
pay certain taxes. In proportion to the degree of independence
obtained, were these taxes greater or smaller.
The existence of the craft guilds was developed, by the want of pro-
tection of the free craftsmen from the abuse of the lords, who tried to
reduce the free to the level of the bondman, and by taxes and otherwise.
to encroach on the freeman's earnings. The guilds provided for the
maintenance of the customs of the craft, framed ordinances for its regu-
lation, saw these ordinances properly executed, and punished the breth-
ren who infringed them. The maintenance of their independence
against the city authorities, and the possibility of carrying out and
making efficient their trade rules, depended on the condition that all
who carried on the craft should belong to the guild. Thus, though the
craft guilds as voluntary societies did not need confirmation by the
authorities at their birth, yet this confirmation became afterward of the
greatest importance, when they desired to be recognized as special and
independent associations, which were thenceforth to regulate the trade.
The transfer of all trade concerns, from the authorities of the towns to
the management of the craft guilds, was accomplished by a confirmation
of their ordinance that every one carrying on a craft within a town or a
certain district should join and belong to the guild.
At the beginning of the thirteenth century the craft and trade or mer-
chant guilds, which until that time had worked together in comparative
harmony, began a divergence of their mutual relations.
In the early
period of the middle ages it was common for the same person to act
both as craftsman and merchant or tradesman. Those who produced
the articles of the forge and loom purchased their own material, and
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THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
اللاحم
when their productions were completed, sold them directly to the con-
sumer. There were but few middlemen. As trade and manufactories
increased, the small trader developed into the extensive merchant, and,
as his riches increased, he grew arrogant and selfish. Instead of manufac-
turing their own wares, as had been done almost from time immemorial,
the merchants would deal only in the manufactures of others. With the
assistance of the craftsmen, with whom they had almost always acted in
concert, they had secured privileges which had developed into monopolies.
They now undertook to exercise these monopolistic privileges against
their former associates and co-workers. Their wealth enabled them to
purchase the assistance of the king and the constituted authorities.
They began a separation of their members, craftsmen were no longer
admitted into the merchant guilds. Those that were members were
gradually weeded out. An active warfare was begun, not to suppress.
but to subdue the craft guilds. This contest was carried on all over
Europe. It continued for more than a hundred and fifty years. It was
the craft guilds against the merchant guilds and the government.
Germany was the scene of some of the fiercest struggles. The craft
guilds had grown powerful both in England and Germany. In 1254 for
the first time in history, two master of the guilds, a furrier named
Henry, and a ropemaker named Arnold, were selected as members of the
town council of Leipsic. In 1272 was organized the first baker's guild
of Berlin. In 1280 came the furrier's guild. In 1284 was organized
the shoemaker's guild, which is still in existence, and two years ago
celebrated its 600th anniversary. In 1285 the tailor's guild was organ-
ized, and in 1295 the woolen-weaver's guild. Magdeburg the scene of
some of the fiercest struggles, also witnessed some of the most glorious
victories of the crafts. In 1330 they secured several seats in the town
council, and exercised an immense influence in municipal affairs;
but the very next year, the aristocracy, jealous of their power, robbed
them of their recently secured privileges, and, with the assistance of the
government, put all the masters to the flame. While the guilds were.
thus annihilated and their leaders burned alive, the determined spirit of
the artisan masses still lived, and after years of cruel oppression and hard-
ship, they again secured their rights in spite of the persistent and united
opposition of the aristocracy. The influence of their victory was not
confined alone to Magdeburg. Brunswick procured many concessions.
Zurich admitted several masters of the guilds to her town council, after
the place had passed through a terrible and bloody conflict. In 1368
and 1372 members of the guilds held seats in the city councils of Aix-
CRAFT GUILDS.
581
la-Chapelle, Cologne, Mayence and Dortmund. With this great change :
in the external condition, there occurred also a marked change in the
organization and life of the guilds. The struggle lasted from 1330 to
1390, and was commonly considered a war between the aristocracy and
the artisans.
In the meantime the craft guilds of England were also undergoing a
severe struggle for existence. The citizens of the towns or members of
the merchant guilds, showed themselves everywhere extremely jealous
of the influence that the crafts were exerting in their midst. They
therefore strenuously opposed the establishment of craft guilds. The
Norman kings, ready to make the most of these clashing interests vir-
tually, put up at auction the confirmation or suppression of the guilds.
The contest of the weavers in the city of London furnishes a striking
example of the struggle. They had obtained from Henry I. the privi-
lege "that nobody should introduce himself into their mystery, in the
city or in Southwark, or in other places belonging to London, except
by becoming a member of their guild." This exemption from the
jurisdiction of the city excited the jealousy of the citizens to such a
degree, that the weavers had to maintain a most violent struggle for
their privileges and their property. King John promised the citizens
"that the guild of weavers shall not henceforth be in the city of Lon-
don, neither shall be at all maintained," but as the guild had been in
the habit of paying eighteen marks the citizens shall pay twenty
marks as a gift." The attempted suppression was, however, as ineffect-
ual in England as it had been in Belgium and Germany.
For the complete independence of the craft guilds it was indispens-
able that they should be permitted to freely elect wardens for regulating
their trade and managing their guild. This privilege had never been
denied them in England. In Germany and France the right was re-
stricted, depending entirely upon the degree of independence enjoyed
by the craft at the time of the recognition of the guild. Some of the
guilds possessed absolute independence in this particular. Others, that
sprang from companies of bondmen, had their warden appointed for
them by the bishop. In Paris, in the thirteenth century, the provost
appointed and deposed at pleasure the wardens of the different guilds.
Later freo election became the rule in France, but Charles IV. deprived
the craftsmen of this privilege, and Charles VI., in 1408, actually ap-
pointed one of his valets to the wardenship of the barbers' guild." In
the thirteenth century it had become the almost universal rule to permit
the guilds to elect their own wardens During the contest between the
'
582
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
artisans and patricians the guilds had to submit to the appointment of
their wardens by the latter. With the triumph of the craft guilds,
however, this was changed. In the reign of Edward III. the guilds ap-
pear in the full possession of mastery. The privileges which they had
until then exercised only on sufferance were now confirmed to them by
charter. The authorities of the city of London, who had in former
times contended against the craft guilds, now found it advisable to ap-
prove their statutes. They were so popular that Edward III. actually
became a member of one of them, the linen armourers, and his ex-
ample found numerous imitators amongst his successors and the nobility
of the kingdom.
Political power did not everywhere remain in the hands of the craft
guilds, but they everywhere maintained independent jurisdiction over
their trades. The fundamental principle of their trade policy, “to live
freely and independently on small capital and labor" prevailed. This
was clearly shown by the statute passed during the reign of Edward III.,
which provides "that all artificers and people of mysteries shall each
choose his own mystery before next candlemas, and that having so chosen
it he shall henceforth use no other." This was a legal recognition of the
trade policy of the craftsmen. They insisted that provision should be
made to enable one, with small capital and his labor, to earn his daily
bread in his trade, freely and independently. This was in direct opposi-
tion to the cry of the rich for "freedom of trade" which meant freedom
to purchase and hold from the market all vendible articles, until by their
scarcity the selling price would be advanced manifold and they could
realize enormous profits. The principle of "cornering" the market for
the necessities of life is not new. It was actually practiced by the rich
merchants at this time. Complaints were made to the king that "great
mischiefs had newly arisen as well to the king as the great men and
commons, from the merchants called grocers, who engrossed all manner
of merchandise vendible, and who suddenly raised the prices of such
merchandise within the realm, putting to sale by covin and by ordi-
nances made amongst themselves, in their own society, which they call
the Fraternity and Gild of Merchants' such merchandises as were most
dear, and keeping in store the others until time of dearth and scarcity."
It was in response to this complaint that the act above recited confining
artificers and traders to their own particular trade or calling was passed.
This principle became prevalent among all the craft guilds of Europe
and was emphasized and formulated with special clearness by the
Emperor Sigismund in his "Secular Reformation " in 1434.
CRAFT GUILDS.
583
.
In the fourteenth century the craft guilds of Europe may be said to
have attained the height of their prosperity. But the privileges they
had won by their mighty contests with the aristocracy were not destined
to continue long in their possession. Supremacy weakened instead of
strengthening them. When fighting the common enemy there was
universal cohesion among the crafts. When victory perched upon their
banners, disintegration began. Many causes may be, and have been,
assigned for the loss of the liberties they had gained. Internal dissen-
sions may have assisted in their downfall. Their lack of appreciation
for the necessity of their existence may have tended to their gradual
decline. Numbers may have made them unwieldy and difficult to
govern. Their desire to accomplish too much may have prevented them
from accomplishing anything. But over all, and above all other causes
the corrupting influence of money and power led to their final disinte-
gration and gradual decline. The liberties that might have been were
pawned for the slavery that was to be. The aristocracy snatched from
the hands of the people the priceless boon of political freedom. Inordi-
nate greed conquered moderate apathy, and from this time forward for
three centuries, the story of the laboring classes is one of sad oppression.
The ruling classes never forgave them. Every opportunity was seizod to
crush the spirit of independence.
In the first stage of their growth, the constitution of the craft guilds
was but the perfect expression of the wants that called them forth, and
the tasks they had to perform. Excluded from the fraternities of the
"Firth guilds," the predecessors of the merchant guilds, the free crafts-
men first, and later the bond-men, organized the craft guilds. Their
object was brotherly relations and to render to their members mutual
assistance. In their early inception this assistance concerned the
protection of life, limbs and property. As civilization advanced, the
necessity for this protection ceased, in a large measure, to exist. The
objects of the guilds then changed so as to secure their members, in the
independent, unimpaired and regular earning of their daily bread by
means of their craft. As these guilds came to be legally recognized and
brought into the state organism as special associations for the regulation
of their trade, their quality as a police authority was added to the
element common to all guilds. The strength of these guilds was their
weekly, monthly, or quarterly meetings, which were held with certain
ceremonies intended to add to their solemnity. The box containing
the charter of the guild, the statutes, the money and other valuable
articles was opened, and all present had to uncover their heads.
584
>
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
!
Their officers were elected, except in cases mentioned, where they
were appointed by the bishops, king, or town authorities. A member
who declined to serve when elected was subjected to a fine. The
wardens summoned and presided at the meetings, and with their
consent enacted ordinances for the regulation of the craft. They saw
these ordinances properly executed, and watched over the maintenance
of the customs of the craft. They had a right to examine all manufac-
tures, and to search for all unlawful tools and products. With the
assistance of a quorum of the guild brothers, they formed the highest
authority in all concerns of the guild. No guild member could be
arraigned on account of trade matters before any other judge. The
severity and justice of the wardens were proverbial. Their courts were
held with special forms and solemnities. The wardens were brought
every year before the mayor, and sworn to "faithfully execute their
offices." The punishments decreed for slight offenses were the payment
of fines. Serious offenses, such as perjury, persistent disobedience, or
theft, were punished by expulsion. Expulsion was accompanied by the
loss of the right to carry on the craft. For the enforcement of the pay-
ment of the entrance fee and dues, they took away the tools of the
debtors, sold them, and paid themselves out of the proceeds. This
process of compelling the payment of dues is the rattening so much
talked of in connection with the Sheffield trades-unions, and has existed
from the time of Edward II. It called forth much pharisaical indigna-
tion from the press of the united employers a few years ago. It is
simply the right of distraint of the creditor against the debtor. In the
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries it was legally utilized to enforce the
payment of dues, while the trades-unions of the nineteenth century in the
absence of such legal right, enforced payment by seizing and hiding the
tools.
In their incipiency and early history there were no monopolistic
tendencies in the craft guilds. Their laws provided that all persons
carrying on the business of the craft should be members of the guild, but
no one honorably carrying on the business of the craft was debarred from
membership. It was not until the period of degeneration that the mem-
bership of the craft guilds became exclusive.
The income of the craft guilds originally was derived from a small
entrance fee to pay the current expenses, and assessments which were
levied for special purposes, such as the death or impoverishment of a mem-
ber from any cause. Later, regular periodical assessments were levied
to create permanent funds for the benefit of sick or disabled members.

Adolph Strasser.
President Cigar Makers' International Union.
UNIL
OF
BICH
CRAFT GUILDS.
587
The rules laid down by the guilds for government of the members
had reference to securing a good quality of work, and also provided for
the temporal and eternal welfare of the members. No one who had not
proved himself a proper workman could be a guild member. All were
required to have served a regular apprenticeship. The duration of this
apprenticeship differed in the various trades and countries. In England
it lasted seven years; in France from three to four, and sometimes six
years; in Germany from two to four yeas.
No one was admitted to any trade, even the lowest, whose moral
conduct and honor were not stainless. The admission of an apprentice
was an act of special solemnity. It was the beginning of a novitiate to
citizenship. The ceremony took place in the town hall in the presence
of the town authorities, or in a solemn meeting of the craft guild. The
apprentice was especially instructed in his duties, both as to the trade
and as to his moral conduct. On this occasion the indenture was drawn up
which contained the conditions under which the apprentice was placed.
with the master. By his admission the apprentice became a member of
the family of his master, who not only instructed him in his trade, but,
like a father, was bound to watch over his morals as well as his work
during the apprenticeship. At the expiration of his time the apprentice
was received into the guild with special forms and ceremonies.
""
Proper tools and well adapted processes of manufacture were also
concerns of the guild. No member was allowed to possess tools "unless
the same were testified to be good and honest. Minute details as to the
method of working were contained in the statutes. The mixing of infe-
rior with better material and the selling of patched up articles for new
were stringently prohibited. To protect the public against the spoiling
of materials entrusted to members of the guild for manufacture, it was
provided that members should, when called upon, assist the guild brother
who did not know how to go on with his work.
It was provided that "no one shall work longer than from the be-
ginning of the day until curfew" nor "at night by candlelight." This
was nominally to insure good workmanship, but doubtless, in reality, to
procure leisure for the guild brethren to fulfill their domestic duties, and
to prevent the collective body from being forced into competition with
over-zealous or greedy members. An ordinance forbidding work on
Saturday afternoon was common to all countries. It had its origin in
the customs of the Roman church to solemnize the eve of festivals and
Sundays by religious services.
No member was allowed to entice away a guild brother's customers.
588
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
A
Jul
Regulations were made as to prices for different commodities. No
member was permitted to work for one who was indebted to any member
of the guild. Any member who became poor "from adventures on the
sea, the advanced price of merchandise, or by borrowing and pledging,
or by any other misfortune," might claim. relief from the fraternity's
funds. No member was to work with non-members. A member was
always allowed to employ his wife and children and maid in his work.
The entire household of a guild brother belonged to the guild.
Statutes were made forbidding guild brothers to appear before a
court of justice against each other in disputes about debt and other
matters until the entire transaction had first been examined by the guild
wardens and every compromise proved impossible. Also to prevent
insults and ill usage among the members, and to control their domestic
conduct. Morality and concord were assured by stringent regulations;
illegitimate children could not become apprentices. Known immorality
was sufficient cause for expulsion. Each guild had its patron saint.
Crispin and Crispinian were the patrons of the shoemakers; St. Joseph
of the carpenters, etc.
CHAPTER III. DECLINE OF THE CRAFT GUILDS.
FREEMASONS
-
THE TRANSITIONAL PERIOD THE BLACK DEATH ITS EFFECT ON LABOR-
PROCLAMATION OF EDWARD III.- THE PROFITS OF THE LANDOWNERS - THE
IMPORTATION OF FOREIGN WORKMEN - THE HOURS OF LABOR
FIRMNESS OF THE GUILDS OF THE FOURTEENTH AND FIFTEENTH CENTURIES
CONFEDERATIONS-- SEPARATION OF THE GUILDS-THE PROSPERITY OF THE
WORKMAN TRANSFORMATION OF GUILDS INTO EXCLUSIVE SOCIETIES
STRIKES THE FIRST EFFORT TO STAMP OUT INDEPENDENCE · WORKINGMEN
FORBIDDEN TO COMBINE BRANDING THOSE WHO REFUSED TO WORK AT
STATUTE PRICES THE CONSPIRACY STATUTE OF EDWARD I.-THEIR CON-
STRUCTION BY THE ENGLISH JUDICIARY CONDITION OF WORKINGMEN IN
GERMANY AND FRANCE-DIVISION OF GUILD MEMBERS INTO CLASSES - THE
TRAVELING ARTISAN STATUTE OF APPRENTICES — COOPERATION.
THE
HE twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth centuries constitute a tran-
sitional period in the history of the European workman. It was
a transformation from slavery to the wage system. From the moment
that free labor entered the field, trade organizations appeared almost
spontaneously in all trades, and they comprised nearly all the laborers of
the period. Organization became the order of the day. No man could
work at a trade who was not a member of the union. The guild had abso-
lute command over the entire body of operatives. When the weavers of
Augsburg struck, not a man who could toss a shuttle was available
throughout Germany. The masters might send to the shores of the Bal-
tic, to Bohemia, to the confines of Holland but could not procure a man
to sit at their looms. They were compelled to come to terms with their
workmen-there was no help for it.
At the end of the year 1347 what is known in history as the black
plague attacked Europe, devastating and depopulating every European
country. The mortality was appalling. Sixty thousand persons are
said to have perished in Norwich, between January and July, 1349. It
is probable that one-third of the entire population of England perished.
No doubt the ravages of the pestilence were more severe among
the poorer
classes, but the rich did not escape. The "Black Death" forms an
epoch in European history. The immediate effect of this horrible pesti-
lence on the working classes was a dearth of labor, an excessive enhance-
ment of wages, and a serious difficulty in harvesting the crops, which
589
590
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
are said to have been especially luxuriant and prolific. The few work-
men left would only work for enormous wages. Produce was suffered to
rot in the field. Cattle and sheep roamed at large over the country for
lack of herdsmen. Much land went out of cultivation, utterly impover-
ishing the owners. Rents were remitted to the tenant farmers to induce
them to remain and cultivate the land. The few surviving serfs that
remained in England were almost emancipated. The lords were quite.
willing to accept a money rent instead of a stipulated amount of labor,
as had been the rule. The laborers were the masters of the situation,
and wages, according to all previous experience, were excessive. The
clergy even raised their fees for masses and prayers. Edward III. issued
a proclamation, circulated among the sheriffs of the counties, in which
he directed that no higher than the customary wages should be paid,
under penalty of a fine. The mandate had little or no effect. Many
laborers were thrown into imprisonment for disobedience. Many fled to
avoid punishment. Those who were captured were compelled to swear
that in the future they would exact no more than the customary wages.
All expedients, however, were in vain. Labor continued scarce. Par-
liament met and the proclamation of the king was enacted into a statute
which provided: 1. No person under sixty years of age, whether serf
or free, should decline to undertake farm labor at the wages which had
been customary in the king's twentieth year (1347), except they lived by
merchandise, were regularly engaged in some mechanical craft, were pos-
sessed of private means or were occupants of land. The lord was to have
the first claim to the labor of his serfs, and those who declined to work for
him were to be sent to the common jail. 2. Imprisonment was decreed
against all persons who might quit service before the time which was
fixed in their agreement. 3. No other than the old wages were to be
given, and the remedy against those who endeavored to get more was to be
sought in the lord's court. 4. Lord's of the manors, paying more than the
customary amount, were to be liable to treble damages. 5. Artificers
were to be liable to the same conditions, the artificers enumerated being
saddlers, tanners, farriers, shoemakers, tailors, smiths, carpenters,
masons, tilers, plasterers, carters, and others. 6. Food must be sold
at reasonable prices. 7. Alms were strictly forbidden to able-bodied
laborers. 8. Any excess of wages taken or paid could be seized for the
king's use.
These statutes, reënacted from time to time with accumulated penal-
ties, remained in force until the latter part of the sixteenth century.
The effect was to cause a combination on the part of the peasants to
DECLINE OF THE CRAFT GUILDS.
591
resist their provisions. The lords found it impossible to enforce the
law, and while there was some pretense of submission it was wilfully
and openly violated and evaded. The laborer, if he did not receive his
full demands in wages, was compensated in some other way.
In spite
of all the efforts of the land-owners, a great rise in the wages of
labor was effected. We have the statement of Mr. Thorold Rogers, how-
ever, that the average net profit, after deducting all charges, and an
average allowance for rent from agricultural operations in the year 1332-3
to the lord who occupied his own land, was fully twenty per cent on the
capital invested.
The general advance in farm labor for the next fifty years ranged
from fifty to sixty per cent, most of which was the direct result of com-
bination. The artisan class was not less favorably affected, the advance
in their wages during the same period averaging fully fifty per cent. In
some trades, notably the masons, it was sixty per cent. To the masons'
superior organization, probably the noblest of all the guilds of the
middle ages, is doubtless due the greater portion of this increase. This
brotherhood arose from the circumstances in which the traveling builders
of the middle ages found themselves. "They were brought together
from distant homes to be employed for a considerable time on such great
works as our medieval churches and cathedrals. Near the rising struc-
ture, on which they were engaged, it was necessary that they should pro-
vide for themselves a, common shed or tabernacle." This was the
original masons' "lodge." Before all things it was necessary that
masons should be free and accepted.' The entrance into all guilds
of the middle ages was surrounded by mysterious rites and ceremonies.
They each had their peculiar lore and traditions.
وو
One of the great questions even now, between master and workman,
concerns the right of the former to import foreign workmen and so keep
down the price of native labor. It is interesting to trace the progress of
this question during the middle ages. In Germany it was customary for
the mechanic to travel all over his own country and even over Europe,
in search of work and experience, wherever these could be found. The
reverse was true in England. English artisans seldom left the town in
which they were born. They maintained a jealous suspicion of for-
eigners. The revolt of the London apprentices is familiar to all readers.
of English history. In 1517, on the eve of May day, they arose against
the foreigners who had come to the city for the purpose, as they said, of
taking away the profits of English industry. The result was not very
disastrous to either side. What might have ended in a great tragedy
592
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
culminated in almost a farce. In 1586 another conspiracy was formed
in London to massacre the foreigners, but the plot was discovered and
the ringleaders were sent to Newgate.
The question of the number of hours that should constitute a day's
labor was also met and disposed of by the artisans of this period. And
it is a singular fact that 600 years ago, during the ascendancy of the
craft guilds of England and Germany, artisans worked on an average
during the year not more than forty-five hours in the week. The work-
ing-day was ushered in and closed by the ringing of the church bell and
lasted from sunrise to sunset, with three hours for meals. It was sought
also to reduce the number of working-days in the week from six to five-
and at a very early date Monday was conceded as a holiday except when
a festival or holiday should occur on a week day of the same week.
The craft guilds in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were bound
together more firmly than at any other period. Whoever would support
himself by his trade must enter the association of that trade and submit
without appeal to all its laws. As there was no salvation without the
church, so was there no working at a trade outside the guild. All the
family of a member were received into the union and subjected to its
laws. Whatever concerned a member touched the body and affected the
whole trade. "An injury to one was the concern of all." Whoever trans-
gressed a law of the union paid the penalty-a money fine or exclusion
for a longer or shorter period from the privileges of the guild. During
such excommunication no workman dared follow his trade. Offenses
against morals were punished as well as infringements against trade reg-
ulations. The whole life of the member was placed under the supervi-
sion of the guild which was armed with the power of fining, imprison-
ing and confiscation to an almost unlimited extent. This bond of dis-
cipline was common to all trades, even to those specially composed of
women, as the guilds of midwives and seamstresses.
The guilds of the several towns were confederated. The masters
assembled at certain times in a parliament and determined upon the
laws that should be enforced in their confederation. There is a record
of meetings in 1457 and 1484 of the tailors of the upper Rhine at Spire,
in which the guilds from twenty towns were represented. In the six-
teenth century the bakers of a number of towns met at Hildesheim, and,
according to an old chronicler, "ate up on that occasion all the calves in
the town."
The larger trades extended their unions throughout Germany. At
their diets laws were passed for a fixed period of eight or ten years. These
DECLINE OF THE CRAFT GUILDS.
593
laws regulated everything that concerned the trade, and especially the
manner in which wages were to be paid, the proportion in which they
should stand to the net receipts, and the treatment of the artisans and
apprentices. A master who made an arrangement with the workman
different from the rules prescribed by the guild was fined. If he repeated
the offence he was expelled. A workman who would not accept the
wages agreed to was obliged to leave, and no other master dare give him
work. No employer dare deduct on any account any portion of his em-
ployé's wages.
In the early period of their existence, as has been said, the guilds
comprised both masters and workmen. When the masters began to
grow rich, however, they endeavored to introduce a principle of exclu-
siveness in the guilds and to exert a tyrannic sway over the members.
Thereupon the men organized, and the masters were met face to face
with a union which sought to, and did for a time, escape from their
subjection. The relations became rapidly inverted. The union of the
workmen became as powerful as the old trade guilds, and exercised ex-
clusive control over its members. The questions of wages and of the
duration of a day's labor having been settled, disputes arose as to the
amount of work performed by different individuals of the same craft.
Piecework was then introduced and the masters paid only for work done.
This system encouraged application and technical skill, but it was found
to be detrimental to the quality of the work. It was also found to be
impossible in numerous trades. Many artisans declared it was injurious.
to the quality of the work and gave an advantage to the unscrupulous
workman. As the quality declined, the price of goods went down, and
honest workmen suffered for the dishonesty of others. The workmen
finally abolished the system. The tailors of Basle in the fifteenth century
refused to continue piece-work, and the guilds forbade it peremptorily.
The prosperity of the laboring classes in England during the thirteenth,
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries brought on events that seriously
alarmed the privileged classes. The emancipation of the serfs proceeded
rapidly. Mr. Thorold Rogers, writing on the fourteenth century, says:
"In the many thousands of bailiff's and manor-rolls which I have read,
I have never met with a single instance of the sale of a serf.” This
shows conclusively that at that time serfdom was almost a thing of the
past. The improved condition of the serfs created amongst them an
independence that was almost phenomenal. Sir Robert Sale, Captain-
General of Norwich in 1381, was born a serf, as was also Grosëtë the
great Oxford scholar of the thirteenth century.
594
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
The serf became possessed of property and was enfranchised. He
could recover wages due him from his employer by distraint. It began
to be perceived that laborers worked not alone for themselves, but to
enable others to live without labor. They began to realize that they
were oppressed by a privileged class whom accident, fraud or force had
placed in a superior social position. In their quasi-independent position
they began to listen, to think, and to combine. They awaited the sig-
nal to strike, and when it was given they did strike. That strike is.
known in history as Wat Tyler's Rebellion It was the uprising of the
peasants against the poll-tax, led in Essex by a thresher called Jack
Straw, and in Kent by a ditcher known as Walter, the Tyler. The
former accomplished nothing, but the latter rallied a vast mob, marched
upon London, destroyed the palace of the Duke of Lancaster, killed the
High Chancellor and the Archbishop of Canterbury, and succeeded by
violence in wringing from Richard II. charters allowing the laboring class
a few cardinal rights. The peasants demanded "the abolition of slavery
for themselves and their children forever, reasonable rent, and the priv
ilege of buying and selling like other men in all fairs and markets."
Although these charters were soon revoked, and the concession of the
king proven insincere, good was accomplished in showing the temper of
the populace and inspiring a wholesome awe of the peasant.
When the transformation of the craft guilds into exclusive societies.
began in the fourteenth century, petty rivalries and hateful egotisms
took the place of the great idea of association and combination, under
which the unions had grown up and flourished. The richer craftsmen
withdrew from their poorer brethren into separate guilds. The shoe-
makers left the cobblers; the tanners left the shoemakers. Disputes
arose concerning what belonged to the several trades. The crafts fol-
lowed their own advantage only to the public detriment. After the
great plague, when the villeins rushed from the country into the city to
take up trades, the old guild members became jealous of the new-com-
ers, and thus there arose two separate classes, whose interests, though
really identical, were apparently antagonistic. Under the pretense of
making rules to regulate the relations of the workmen to the masters,
oppressive statutes were adopted by the guilds. It was provided “that
if any serving- man shall conduct himself in any other manner than prop-
erly toward his master, or shall act rebelliously toward him, no one of
the trade shall set him to work until he shall have made amends before
the mayor and aldermen, and before them such misprision shall be
redressed." In the case of the tailors of Vienna, the rule was adopted
DECLINE OF THE CRAFT GUILDS.
595
that
no workman shall be allowed to leave his master fourteen days
before a festival;" that is, at a time when there would be the greatest
demand for work. Some of the statutes made it a requisite of master-
ship that every one should have worked as a journeyman for a certain
number of years. Some beneficent regulations in favor of the workmen
were made. For instance, it was provided: "If any serving man of
said trade who has behaved himself well and loyally toward his masters
whom he has served, shall fall sick, or be unable to help or maintain
himself, he shall be found by the good folks of said trade until he shall
have recovered and be able to help and maintain himself.”
<<
Accounts of strikes in the building trades in the latter part of the
fourteenth century are numerous, and are explained by the peculiar cir-
cumstances of this trade. There was great similarity in their institutions
to the unions of the present day. There were fewer persons who carried
on the trade on their own account, and a greater number of dependent
workmen, than in other trades. An ordinance had been passed by the
guilds, providing that, whereas, in disputes between the master and
workmen, the latter had availed themselves of strikes to procure satis-
faction, it was, therefore, ordained that from henceforth, if there bet
any disputes moved between any master and his man in the said trade,
such disputes shall be settled by the warden of the trade." If the work-
man did not submit to the warden, he was "to be punished by the
mayor and aldermen at their discretion." If the workmen could have
had any part in the selection of the warden, which it appears they did
not at the time this ordinance was passed, this would have been a rea-
sonable and satisfactory method of averting strikes. As it was, the
statute gave great offense, led to innumerable troubles, and assisted the
growing spirit of antagonism between masters and men.
The rise of a class of journeymen with special interests and views
necessitated an organization. Accordingly, we meet with special frater-
nities of journeymen in the building trades formed on the model of the
craft-guilds. The "
Compagnonnage" of France, which originated
about this time, and continued to exist for centuries, was an association
of journeymen in the building trades. The statutes of these unions
refer to common divine service at stated times, to common meals, to
burials, to support and nursing of the sick, to entrance fees, contribu-
tions, etc., and provides that every journeyman in the town must belong
to the union.
The relation between the employer and the employed in the builang
trades was direct. As a rule the owner himself conducted the work,
596
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
engaging both the masters and the workmen, the position of the masters
being similar to that of foreman of the present time. Work was seldom
let by contract. The men worked but eight hours a day. Doubtless it
was to the direct relations existing between the employer and employé of
the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries that the high remuneration of the
artisan was due. The owner, as a rule, supplied the plans; if not, the
master mason and the master carpenter could draw their own plans.
The employer bought all the raw material direct from the manufacturer
and placed it ready for use on the spot. Under this system there was
doubtless a great saving in the cost of a structure. There was, also,
much better workmanship, and the relations between the employer and
the employed were much more satisfactory than under the present sys-
tem of letting by contract.
Under the favorable auspices, subsequent to the great plague, the
wealth of the masters increased, and as, in their arrogance, they pro-
hibited the workman from joining the guilds to which they belonged, or
placed abject conditions on his membership, the laboring classes formed
unions among themselves. This independent move frightened the mas-
ters. They feared that the workmen would abuse their privilege, and
use the unions as a means for raising wages." From this began that
conspiracy concocted by the law and carried out by parties interested
in its success, to cheat the English workman of his wages; to tie him
to the soil; to deprive him of hope, and to degrade him to irremediable
poverty." This conspiracy extended over the European continent.
Palliatives were used from time to time, as they were found to be abso-
lutely necessary to mitigate some of the burdens of the workingman, but
every opportunity was taken to weld more firmly the chains of slavery
by which he was enthralled. "For more than two centuries and a half
the English law, and those who administered the law, were engaged in
grinding the English workman down to the lowest pittance, in stamp-
ing out every expression or act which indicated any organized discon-
tent, and of multiplying penalties upon him when he thought of his
natural rights."
The first effort to stamp out the independence of the workingman in
England took form in the infamous statutes of Edward III., just after
the black plague, to which we have already referred. These laws, how-
ever, owing to the union which existed among the working classes of
that period, could be safely, and were almost totally disregarded. In
1363 the prosperity of the peasantry was so great, on account of the con-
tinued rise in wages for the previous dozen years, that it was thought
DECLINE OF THE CRAFT GUILDS.
597
""
necessary to restrain them, and an act was passed enjoining carters,
plowmen and farm servants generally not to eat or drink "excessively,
nor to wear any cloth except "blanket and russet wool of twelvepence."
Domestic servants were declared to be entitled to only one meal a day
of flesh and fish, and were to content themselves at other meals with
"milk, butter, cheese, and such other victuals." In 1383 a proclama-
tion was issued in London forbidding all congregations, "coonis and
conspiracies of workmen." In 1387 three journeymen cordwainers
undertook to organize a union, with a charter to be obtained for them
from the Pope. They were arrested and carried off to Newgate before
their plan could be carried out. In 1396 the saddlers' journeymen's
union, which had existed for thirteen years, was suppressed by the city
authorities, because "the masters were of the opinion that this fraternity
might be made the means of raising wages." The same fate befell the
brotherhood of tailors in 1415. As a substitute for these attempts at
independent action the city authorities always decreed "that the serving-
men in the trade aforesaid should, in the future, be under the gover-
nance and rule of the masters of such trade, the same as serving-men
in other trades in the city are wont and of right bound to be." The city
authorities found it necessary, on this occasion, to reproach the wardens
of the tailors' guild "that societies existed among the workmen,
though those workmen were subject to the warden's control." An effort
was made to put all the workmen under the control of the wardens, or
guildmasters, and it was enacted by the leather sellers "that from hence-
forth no one shall set any man, child, or woman to work in the same
trade if such person be not a bound apprentice and enrolled in the trade."
The enrolling in the trade meant that they must join the masters' guild
and subject themselves to his jurisdiction.
In the reign of Edward VI. an act was passed to brand with the letter
“V” and reduce to slavery any one who should refuse to work at statute
prices. If he attempted to escape from that condition he was branded
with the letter "S" and made a slave for life. If he objected to that
condition he was hanged. The laws against combination were also made
more stringent during this reign, and it was enacted that “ whereas,
artificers, handicraftsmen and laborers had made confederacies and
promises, and had sworn mutual oaths, not only that they should
not meddle with one another's work and perform and finish what
another had begun, but also to constitute and appoint how much they
shall do in a day, and what hours they shall work, contrary to the laws
and statutes of this realm, and the great impoverishment of his majesty's
598
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
subjects." Any one convicted the third time of having joined such a com-
bination should have his ears cut off. This act was confirmed during the
reign of Charles II., and remained in force until it was finally repealed
at the beginning of the present century. For 250 years, among other
definitions of conspiracy of the law, in text books of England was "com-
binations of workingmen to raise wages." The laws of conspiracy en-
acted at the beginning of the fourteenth century, during the reign of
Edward I., provided, "conspirators, be they that do confeder or bind
themselves by oath, covenant or other alliance, that every of them
shall aid the other falsely and maliciously to indict, or cause to indict, or
falsely to move or maintain pleas, and also such as cause children within
age to appeal men of felony, where they are imprisoned and sore grieved,
and such as retain men in the country with liveries or fees to maintain
their malicious enterprises, and this extendeth as well to the takers as to
the givers." The offense aimed at by this statute is a conspiracy to
indict or maintain suits and pleas falsely. And it is this statute that
for 250 years was construed to embrace "combinations of workingmen
to raise wages." At the close of the eighteenth century the judges who
were supposed to be "learned in the law" became ashamed of longer
fathering such an apparent misconstruction, and the legislative depart-
ment was called upon to help them out of their difficulty. They did so
by passing an act of parliament providing all contracts except between
"master and man" for obtaining advance of wages, altering the time of
working or decreasing the quantity of work and the like, to be illegal.
Workmen who entered such illegal combinations were punishable by im-
prisonment, and a similar punishment was inflicted on those who entered
into a combination to procure an advance of wages, or sought to pre-
vent other workmen from hiring themselves, or procuring them to quit
their employment. Meetings and combinations for effecting such pur-
poses were punishable in a like manner, and offenders who informed
against their associates were to be indemnified. This act was passed
when wheat was selling at from ten to fifteen shillings a bushel. The
English judiciary after the repeal of the combination act, in 1824, dis-
covered that the common law against combinations was still in force, and
several persons were prosecuted, convicted and punished under its pro-
visions. We also find recorded several prosecutions and convictions under
this so-called "common law of conspiracy" in the United States in the
early part of the present century.
In Germany in the sixteenth century we find the government of the
In the laws of the em-
guilds entirely transferred to the rich masters.
DECLINE OF THE CRAFT GUILDS.
599
pire, however, we meet frequent ordinances intended to restrain the
abuses of the craft guildsmen, and especially to prevent the exclusion
of whole classes of persons from the guilds on account of pretended intamy
of birth. On the admission to the craft guilds, it was demanded that real
proofs of nobility should be furnished at the examination. Enactments
were made by the individual German states against the heavy expenses
that were required on the admission of apprentices. As the appren-
ticeship only lasted from two to four years, the journeyman was laid
under obligation to travel for five years after completing his appren-
ticeship. The making of a masterpiece of work before admission to
the independent exercise of a craft was also insisted upon. Moreover
in spite of the ordinances of individual states to the contrary, the
most luxurious inauguratory dinners were required. All these restric-
tions could have but one purpose, to make the society exclusive.
The sons of masters only, in England as well as in Germany, were ex-
empt fromt these provisions.
In France, also, after the middle of the fifteenth century, the craft
guilds extended the same exemptions to the sons of the masters. They
became so exclusive that in 1614 the third estate" demanded the sup-
pression of these guilds.
The overbearing spirit of the old craft guilds is everywhere apparent
in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It became common to require
from an apprentice an oath that when his apprenticeship was ended he
would not carry on his trade on his own account without the consent of
the master. Large sums of money were exacted for purchasing the free-
dom of the guilds. The price exacted by the guild for binding an ap-
prentice at length became so exorbitant that only the rich could afford.
to pay it. It increased from £10 to £20, £40, £60, £100, and finally, in
1720, £800 was demanded by the guildmasters for the freedom of the
guilds.
In the sixteenth century the guildmembers in England were divided
into three classes: The livery companies, to which only the rich masters
were admitted; the householders to which the rest of the masters be-
longed; and the journeymen, who were called freemen, or yeomen, or
bachelors. Instead of the meetings as formerly, in which all the guild
associates took part in the enactment of the laws, there was now a
"court
of assistants" who made the laws and governed the guilds.
appointed the first members of the court for life, and as these withdrew
or died their places were filled by the remaining members of the court
from the masters or wardens of the livery companies. Many protests.
The king
600
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
were made against these arbitrary measures, but without avail. The pos-
session of wealth was the only opportunity for a workman to rise to the
dignity of a master. The old craft guilds of England had become mere
corporations for the investment of money. Their dividends were entire-
ly dependent on the exclusion of competition.
It may be wondered why the workmen did not arise in their
might and overthrow the arrogant craft guilds as the craft guilds them-
selves had overthown the merchant guilds. Although they were only
nominally members of the aristocratic institution, the artisans hoped
that they would be able in time to reform them, and did not therefore
consider their abolition necessary. The character of government had
also changed. After the sixteenth century every European nation had
what might be called a "strong central government." It became, there-
fore, a much more difficult task for the working people to accomplish
anything by force. As for any assistance they might expect from the
State, this was obviated by the guilds themselves, which resorting to
tactics similar to those adopted by the corporations of today, succeeded
in controlling the judiciary and legislature, as well as the executive de-
partment of government.
In Germany, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, it is inter-
esting to note the formation of special fraternities, which have a striking
resemblance to the modern trades-unions. An inn was established in
each town for the accommodation of wandering journeymen. The host
was called father, the housewife mother, the daughters and maid-servants
sisters, the sons and men-servants brothers. To call them otherwise was
an offense punishable by fine. In this inn the workman could find lodg-
ing for a penny, and procure a meal for two and half pennies. The fra-
ternity of each town was governed by the whole body which met twice a
month for that purpose. The members contributed a small amount at
every meeting. They received support in illnesss, for which they were
compelled to reimburse when they recovered. In the event of death they
were buried at the expense of the fraternity, and the funeral of a jour-
neyman was attended by all the members. They had regulations for
promoting orderly conduct and good morals. No one was allowed to go
about the streets except in decent clothes. Insults and calumnies were
punished by fines. Every guild and journeymen kept a blacklist in which
the names of those who had offended against the order were inscribed.
No member in good standing would work with one whose name was con-
tained amongst the reviled or blacklisted. This blacklisting was the
most severe punishment that could be inflicted.
DECLINE OF THE CRAFT GUILDS.
601
Strikes were not infrequent. When a master infringed the trade
customs of the journeymen or attempted, with the assistance of the town
authorities, to coerce them by any oppressive measures, the men would
quit work and write to the journeymen of other towns warning them to
keep away until the dispute was adjusted. The most famous strike in
Germany occurred at Augsburg, in 1726. Disputes seldom arose about
wages, but generally on account of the infringment of privileges or
innovation in the trade customs.
In those days there were no large manufactories with hundreds of
workmen, but there were a host of masters, each of whom took a fixed
number of apprentices. The rattle of the loom sounded from every
house. In the middle ages the workmen were under the master, but
they were not doomed to be under subjection all their lives. After a few
years they obtained their freedom and became masters themselves. The
apprentice system was an important element in the early craft guilds.
Every master was bound to train his apprentice to become eventually in-
dependent. In accordance with this rule the apprentice received a
thorough training in all the details of his craft, and acquired not only a
technical knowledge and skill, but was given also an insight into all that
pertained to the commercial part of the business. He was informed as
to the cost of the raw material, the expense of working it up, and the net
profits in the business. If the master failed to thus acquaint the ap-
prentice with all the mysteries of the trade, he was punished by the
guild. Knowning exactly the economy of the business, the appren-
tice and journeymen knew what wages it would afford. Under this sys-
tem difficulties about wages were less likely to arise than under the sys-
tem that now prevails.
The statute of apprentices passed during the reign of Queen Elizabeth
provided, that no person could lawfully exercise, either as master or jour-
neyman, any art, mystery, or manual occupation, except he has been
brought up therein, at least, seven years as an apprentice; that whoever
employed three apprentices must employ one journeyman, and for each
apprentice above three one journeyman; that no person could employ a
servant for less than one year, and that no servant should leave his mas-
ter or be discharged by him without three month's warning; that the
hours of work shall be twelve in summer and for the whole period of
daylight in winter; that wages should be fixed annually by the town
magistrates, who should also settle all disputes between the masters and
apprentices. No one could be bound as apprentice except he was under
twenty-one years of age. Town ordinances supplemented these laws by
602
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
prohibiting masters who had not served seven years from bringing their
wares to market. This statute was in force practically for about 150
years, but was not repealed until 1809. It was considered by the em-
ployers, not without reason, that its repeal would cause a rush of able-
bodied men into the trades, and thereby cause a decline in the rate of
wages. To the abolition of the apprentice system may be justly attri-
buted the inferior workmanship in all departments of manufacture.
Coöperation was introduced by several of the guilds from the four-
teenth to the seventeenth century. The receipts of the week were thrown
into a box, this was unlocked on Sunday and the contents divided ac-
cording to a pre-arranged plan. There is, however, no evidence of any
remarkably successful attainments in this line. The recent attempts to
introduce this principle have been much more successful.
The utility of the craft guilds passed away in England in the six-
teenth century. In Germany they maintained a feverish existence for
perhaps a hundred years longer. They had lost their acquired character
and had become merely benevolent clubs.
In France the craft guilds, having degenerated into corporations,
were swept away by the sovereign people on the night of the 4th of
August, 1789. In Germany they suffered death by piecemeal, and the
last remnants were destroyed by the North German industrial code of
1869. In England all that remains of the ancient craft guilds are the
so-called livery companies.
BASA
CHAPTER IV.-ENGLISH TRADES-UNIONS.
THE JUSTICES REFUSE TO ENFORCE THE LAW-ADOPTION OF THE FACTORY
SYSTEM-LAW PROHIBITING COMBINATIONS OF WORKMEN TO RAISE WAGES
UNION OF THE WOOLEN WEAVERS-THE SHIPWRIGHTS THE FRAMEWORK
KNITTERS-INTRODUCTION OF MACHINERY- THE CUTLERS OF SHEFFIELD
THE SILK WEAVERS SKILLED LABOR SUPPLANTED BY MACHINERY INDUS-
TRIAL DISORGANIZATION - REPEAL OF THE COMBINATION ACT-PEACEFUL
PROGRESS-BEGINNING OF STRIKES-THE COTTON-SPINNERS-THE NEWTON
ENGINEERS-MOVEMENT FOR ABOLITION OF OVERTIME-COMMENCEMENT OF
AMALGAMATION-THE AMALGAMATED SOCIETY OF ENGINEERS-LOCKOUT IN
THE BUILDING TRADES-THE SHEFFIELD OUTRAGES - "COMBINATIONS
IN
RESTRAINT OF TRADE-THE TRADES CONGRESS-ITS MAGNIFICENT WORK-
MISTAKES OF TRADES-UNIONS- THE OBJECT OF TRADES-UNIONS- WHAT THEY
HAVE ACCOMPLISHED-TRADES-UNIONS OF WOMEN-THE GROWTH OF TRADES-
UNIONS STRIKES.
THE
HE motive which induced the English workmen to combine into
trades-unions at the beginning of the nineteenth century was the same
that created the craft guilds at the beginning of the thirteenth century.
Under the law known as the "5th Elizabeth, c. 4" no one could exercise
either as master or journeyman any art, mystery, or manual occupation,
unless he had been brought up therein seven years at least, as an appren-
tice. As long as the provisions of this statute were maintained the posi-
tion of the workmen was secure, as it assured them what they desired
above everything, regularity of employment. This act also contained a
provision for the assessment of wages by the justices. In 1756 the work-
men employed in the woolen manufactories petitioned the justices to fix
the rate of wages in compliance with the law. The masters had made a
counter petition, and the justices refused to act. The weavers struck,
and the masters were compelled to yield to their demands. The justices.
were then directed by law to settle yearly the rate of wages in the woolen
trade. The manufacturers, who, until this time, had had their work
done at the homes of the masters, began to adopt the factory system.
In 1806, at Armley, a manufacturing village of 4,000 or 5,000 inhab-
itants, there were more than 100 apprentices bound for seven years.
Each master employed, on an average, ten journeymen and apprentices,
besides being assisted by his wife and children. Sometimes the journey-
1
605
606
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
men worked at their own homes, and were assisted by their wives.
Under this system there was great stability and regularity of employ-
ment. As a rule, journeymen were hired for a year, and, when single,
boarded with the master, receiving board and washing and from £8 to
£10 a year as wages. The introduction of machinery changed the entire
system. Factories were erected on streams where suitable power could
be procured. The various processes of manufacture, which had hereto-
fore been chiefly performed by hand under the master's own roof, were
now executed by machinery at the public mills. These changes led to a
great transformation in the position of the journeymen. Apprentices
were no longer bound by indenture, although at first, as a matter of cus-
tom, they still served their seven years. Gradually the masters began
to violate the law by employing those who had served no apprentice-
ship, and large numbers of women and children. The children were
employed at a very early age-much earlier than would have been
possible without machinery. The number of employés who had served
no apprenticeship increased more and more. The trustees of the Cloth
Hall of Leeds, Bradford and other towns repealed the ordinance which
required that all cloth exposed for sale should be manufactured by
masters who had served a seven years' apprenticeship. Wages, which
formerly had been settled yearly, now began to change with every fluc-
tuation. The opulent cloth merchants "made it a rule to have one-third
more men than they could employ, and these had to stand idle part of
the time." When the factories were first erected the manufacturers
enticed the workmen with high wages to leave the small domestic masters.
Fluctuation in prices soon brought lower wages. The position of the
domestic masters changed also. They were unable to compete with
machinery, and gradually sank to the level of the journeymen, whom
they supported in their resistance to the change.
The statute of George III. prohibiting combinations of workmen was
passed in 1800. The tradesmen or domestic masters however, formed a
society whose object was to enforce the apprentice laws against the manu-
facturers who used machines. After several convictions the manufac-
turers petitioned parliament for a repeal of the statute. On these
petitions the laws were in 1803 suspended for one year for the woolen man-
ufacturers, and all prosecutions under them were stopped. This suspen-
sion was renewed in 1804, 1805, 1806, 1807 and 1808, and in 1809 the laws
were repealed. Notwithstanding the severe prohibition of the combina-
tion of workmen under the statute of 1800, they combined under the cloak
of "friendly societies." An organization was formed in 1803 to which all
ENGLISH TRADES-UNIONS.
607
journeymen belonged, and contributions to which were received also from
members of other trades yet unorganized. The chief object of this organi-
zation was to carry out the regulations as to apprentices, and to provide
for the assistance of the sick, and the care of widows of deceased mem-
bers. The moneys mere collected in the name of the sick or the widows
in order to evade the law prohibiting combinations for raising wages.
Twice a year a committee of thirteen was elected to manage the affairs
of the union. Seven formed a quorum. Fines were imposed for not
accepting office when chosen. Domestic masters were also members of
the union, but when the members undertook to assist striking workmen
the masters left it. When the master manufacturers heard that the
union, was organized to petition parliament to maintain the apprentice
and other laws of the "5th Elizabeth," they ordered their men to leave
it. The men refused and were discharged. The manufacturers then
formed a combination to suppress the union. The workmen presented
a united front and in some places forced the owners of mills who worked
for others on hire to join their institution, and prevented them from
working for the hostile manufacturers. Finally the manufacturers
signed a contract agreeing to employ no more workmen contrary to the
apprentice law of "5th Elizabeth.”
In 1805, when the trustees of the cloth halls agreed to take up the
petitions for the maintenance of the apprentice statute, the union dis-
solved and turned over its funds to the trustees. The committee of the
house of commons appointed to investigate the questions at issue between
the workmen and the manufacturers, were not favorable to the former.
They recommended the maintenance of the laws prohibiting the export
of raw materials, machinery and skilled workmen to foreign countries,
and the combination of journeymen. They also advised the repeal of the
apprentice law. From this time on combinations among the workmen
in the woolen trade became chronic.
The shipwrights of Liverpool had formed a union during the
eighteenth century, nominally as a benefit society but really to oppose and
check the employment of apprentices. Earlier than either union was that
of the hatters, called the "congress." The apprentice's statute had been
confirmed for this trade by several statutes after the Fifth Elizabeth.
During the eighteenth century a system had prevailed of carrying on this
industry by means of sub-contractors, or "sweaters." These received
their material from the manufacturers, and in working it up used only
apprentice labor. This custom led to a combination of the journeymen,
and a vigorous trade society was organized in 1772. When the employ-
508
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
ers undertook to give the work to the "sweaters" the journeymen struck
and forced them to take it back. The masters then petitioned parlia-
ment for the repeal of the legal restrictions as to apprentices for their
trade and the prohibition of the combination of journeymen. Both
petitions were granted.
The industry of framework, or hosiery knitting, had not been estab-
lished when the apprentice statute of the fifth Elizabeth was passed.
In 1663 Charles II. granted a charter to an incorporation of "several
persons by the name of master warden, assistants and society, of the art
and mystery of framework knitters of the cities of London and West-
minster, the Kingdom of England and Dominion of Wales, forever, with
power to exercise their jurisdiction throughout England and Wales, and,
from time to time, to make by-laws for the regulation of the said busi-
ness of framework-knitting, and to punish persons who should offend
against such by-laws." By Section 33 of the charter, the master
was directed "to enforce the statute of the 5th Elizabeth, c. 4, or
any other statute, as respects apprentices and the occupations of the
trade."
As early as the beginning of the eighteenth century the masters and
wardens of the company began to employ apprentices in unlimited num-
bers, often in the proportion of ten or more apprentices to one journey-
man. One master is mentioned as having employed twenty-five appren-
tices to one journeyman. In addition to getting the work of the
apprentices for nothing, the masters were paid £5 for every boy taken
from the work-house. After the expiration of apprenticeship the work-
man fell into the deepest misery. They could not obtain employment
anywhere. In 1710 they appealed to the company to carry out the regu-
lation of the charter with regard to apprentices and the company refused.
The consequence of this refusal was a riot in which the workmen des-
troyed one hundred frames, threw them out of the windows and thrashed
the masters and the opposing apprentices. The frightened masters
thereupon made the concessions demanded and agreed to observe for the
future the provisions of the charter with regard to apprentices. The
market was so overstocked with journeymen, however, that the mani-
festations of dissatisfaction continued. In 1727 an act was passed pro-
hibiting, under penalty of death, the destruction of frames.
May 22, 1745, the company ordained, and the Lord Chancellor con-
firmed new by-laws reënacting the old restrictions in regard to appren-
tices. They also provided that persons not in the trade might purchase
the frames from the company and let them out on hire. This is the first
ENGLISH TRADES-UNIONS.
609
introduction of purely capitalistic employers. The trade gradually left
London and went to Nottingham. The company sent deputies to that
town to look after their interests and to enforce the apprenticeship laws.
The manufacturers there, who had purchased the frames, declined to
recognize the company. They employed all classes, including women
and children. The company threatened to enforce the law of appren-
ticeship and were met with a reference to their own action in 1710. The
workingmen hailed with joy the action of the company, which asked
the assistance of the men, promised to re-establish the apprenticeship law,
and declared itself the true friend of the workman. The manufacturers
petitioned parliament and accused the company of endeavoring to ruin
the trade by monopoly. Parliament came to the assistance of the manu-
facturers, and henceforth the company ceased to exercise any influence
in the trade.
When all hope of relief by the exercise of the franchises of the com-
pany was gone, the workmen formed a trade-union. Thence arose the
Stocking-makers' Association for Mutual Protection. It soon became a
power in Nottingham and influenced the elections for Parliament. The
workmen, however, were completely abandoned to the discretion of the
employers, and much misery ensued. In 1778 they petitioned Parlia-
ment for a legal regulation of the rate of wages. The masters made a
counter-petition and a committee was appointed to investigate. They
found the condition of the workmen deplorable. They were unable to
maintain themselves and their families after paying the frame rent. The
committee reported in favor of the petition of the workmen, but Parlia-
ment refused to enact the necessary laws. Thereupon the masters
undertook to reduce the prices paid for work, twenty-five per cent, and
a strike was the result.
On the second of February, 1779, the frameknitters again petitioned
parliament and another committee was appointed. During the past
twenty years wages had been steadily reduced, while the price of food
had constantly risen. Workmen were barely able to earn six shillings
weekly. A frame costing from £6 to £8 rented at from one to two
shillings per week, or at the rate of eighty-six per cent of its value per
annum. The workmen were obliged to hire the frames or go without
work. The rent must be paid whether he worked or not. Many of the
employers stinted the workmen on material so that they could not man-
ufacture more than so much per week. In this way they employed a
larger force and rented more machines. The workmen, said the report,
were in a state of starvation. They were compelled to submit to any
39
610
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
condition of their employers. Those workmen who had signed the peti-
tions of the preceding year had been discharged.
On the reception of this report a bill was introduced for the avowed
purpose of correcting the evils. Leave was given to report the bill with
only one dissenting voice; but before it could finally be heard the em-
ployers presented a counter-petition and the measure was eventually de-
feated.
The rejection of the bill caused great excitement throughout the
districts where the industry was carried on. The workmen assembled
en masse, broke the frames of those masters who had been instrumental
in defeating the bill, and burned a house belonging to the employers.
Public opinion in this trouble was on the side of the workmen. The
masters finally promised to redress the grievances of the knitters, and
peace was restored.
During the next thirty years the construction of machinery grew
rapidly. The system of renting the stocking frames became fully es-
tablished, and the rents increased. The cost of the frames bore so small
a proportion to the income from rents, that many persons embarked
in the business. Apprentices were everywhere used to the exclusion
of journeymen. The knitting districts were in a constant state of tur-
moil. In their distress, the workmen once more sought the good offices.
of the chartered London company. The company attempted to give
them some relief and undertook to prosecute one of the masters for
violation of the law. The man was convicted and fined one shilling,
and all hope for any legal redress was at an end. In 1872 Parliament
again passed an act inflicting the death penalty on any one convicted of
destroying frames. This act only remained in force two years. In 1814
the workmen in all the branches of the trade formed a union which
still exists.
The workmen in nearly all the prominent trades of England passed
through the same bitter experience as the woolen and stocking weavers.
The cutlers of Sheffield organized a union in 1791 under the name of
the "Scissors-smiths' Benefit Society." Although a trade society, it was
compelled to organize under a Friendly Society Act to evade the work-
men's combination law.
The calico printers had been fairly well organized for several years,
and had a system of traveling cards on presentation of which a wan-
dering journeyman was entitled to relief from his brethren of the craft.
In Scotland each workman contributed a penny, and in England a half-
penny to the destitute journeyman bearing the society's card. In 1802
ENGLISH TRADES-UNIONS.
611
they presented a petition to parliament, and as there was great hope of
their grievances being redressed, they agreed and did cease their combi-
nations and relied entirely upon the law for protection from the oppres-
sion of the masters. The committee appointed by the House made a
favorable report and warmly recommended measures for relief. The
report dwelt at length upon the fact that the previous legislation, nomi-
nally in favor of the workmen, "had operated only in favor of the strong
against the weak." "Everything," it said, "was made subservient to the
interest of the masters, and exclusively, too; for the diminution of ex-
pense, considerable as it is to the manufacturers, arising out of their
multiplication of apprentices at reduced wages, and the introduction of
machinery did not appear to have produced any reduction whatever in
the price of the fabric to the consumer." Mr. Sheridan brought in a
bill in accordance with this report. Among other things, he proposed to
lessen the number of apprentices. Parliament, at the instigation of
Sir Robert Peel who opposed it, refused the bill a second reading.
On the rejection of the measure the workmen reorganized their union
which remained intact until 1831, when it was supplemented by the
Trades Society of the Apprentices of Calico Printing.
The silk weavers had organized a society late in the eighteenth
century and had maintained their union through all the vicissitudes of
trade. In 1813 they had a membership of eighty-three and had £5, 8s. 11½d.
in the treasury. In 1817 they issued a circular calling on their members
for contributions to replenish the exchequer, which had been exhausted
in sustaining some of the brethren, who had evidently been on a strike,
as the circular says: "Within the last nine months upwards of fifty
persons by means of the trade society have obtained the lawful process
for their work, which was withheld from them by the masters. The
expenses of obtaining which, with other things, have borne so heavy
upon your finances that you are embarrassed to a very large amount."
In 1814 the masters combined and petitioned parliament to repeal the
statute of Fifth Elizabeth. They claimed that the seven years apprentice-
ship restricted the number of workmen and thereby enabled them to
combine against their employers, and that the persons most competent to
form regulations with respect to trade were the master manufacturers.
The workmen presented counter-petitions, but in the end the arguments
of the masters prevailed and the statute was repealed. The victory of
the 2,000 as against the 300,000 was complete; the statute was repealed.
The state of industrial disorganization was now complete. Parlia-
mentary reports ascribe to the immediate effects of the repeal, the growth
612
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
of the system of "sweaters" and the great increase in the number of
half-pay apprentices. "The journeymen were driven to famine and the
female workers to prostitution.
""
William Pitt had said in Parliament in discussing the Arbitration
Act some years before: "The time will come when manufactures will
have been so long established, and the operatives not having any other
business to flee to, that it will be in the power of any one man in the
town to reduce wages, and all the other manufactures must follow. If
it ever does arrive at this pitch Parliament, if it be not then sitting,
ought to be called together, and if it can not redress your grievances its
power is at an end." So long as the workmen had hope for a legal redress
of their grievances, they continued to petition parliament. Now all
hope of assistance from that source was gone, and they tried self-help.
Combinations and unions arose in all trades. The workmen were refused
legal protection; self-help was considered a crime. The Combination
Act was still the law. In 1818 workmen accused of combination were
required to give bail in £200 each for their appearance at the sessions.
Workmen were in no humor to reason on the principles of political
economy. They were starving. To their eyes the new machinery and
the repeal of the apprentice laws cut off every hope. The combination
laws, by confounding right and wrong, led men to regard with less
aversion things really vicious. The workmen in their despair did not
shrink from deeds of the greatest violence, and the most infamous crimes.
They formed the strongest and most secret combinations ever known'in
England. For three years the havoc they perpetrated in the destruction
of machinery and otherwise was terrific. Enormous powers were granted
to magistrates, to the military and the police. Thirty of the ringleaders
were executed. The Luddite rising, as this disaffection was called, was
intensified by the fact that while the workmen were starving, the manu-
facturers were hoarding. Green says: "The war enriched the land-
owner, the capitalist, the manufacturer, the farmer, but it impoverished
the poor." Everywhere the combination laws were rigorously enforced.
The truck system was universal. The workman was paid at long inter-
vals. His hours of toil were generally sixteen out of every twenty-four.
The application of steam to the processes of manufacture, followed by
the patents of Arkwright, Peel and others, completely annihilated the
domestic system of manufactures.
In 1824 the Combination Act was repealed. Combinations of work-
ingmen "for improving wages and reducing the hours of labor," were
rendered legal, and from that time dates the rise of trades-unions.
;
ENGLISH TRADES-UNIONS.
613
*
Workmen were no longer compelled to evade the law by organizing
as "friendly societies," or to hold their meetings secretly. The work-
man was not indeed entirely free to find the best market for his labor,
for the law of "parochial settlement" remained. But membership in a
trades-union ceased to be a crime, although the organizations were not
yet under the protection of the law. In 1825, the masters demanded a
new inquiry into the question of the combination law. The act of the
previous year was repealed and a new enactment substituted. The
workmen protested, but in vain. The new act, however, gave consid-
erable power to the workmen. It permitted them to combine, and
nearly all the former prohibitory statutes were repealed. A period of
comparatively peaceful progress followed. Under the new law the
unions grew and extended, and their actions became less violent. The
act of 1825 was condemned only on account of reviving the old common
law doctrine of conspiracy, which the act of 1824 suspended. During
the first eight years after the passage of the act numerous unions were
formed, and those previously established were extended. Members of
trades-unions began to act as freemen. They combined in such numbers
that their strength gave them courage. They founded benevolent
institutions amongst themselves, and funds were created for resistance if
strikes should occur, or to assist the brethren who were out of work.
A system of yearly congresses or meetings of the different organized
trades was also inaugurated.
In 1834 occurred the prosecution and conviction of six Dorsetshire
laborers for conspiracy. This event caused a great sensation. These
men were sentenced to transportation for seven years. A great mass-
meeting was held in Copenhagen fields to protest against their conviction.
A procession nearly seven miles long proceeded to the residence of Lord
Melbourne, to present a petition for their release. Public opinion
demanded that they should be pardoned, and the pardon was granted,
but several of the men were not informed of it until they had served a
number of years in the far-off penal settlement.
In 1845, a movement was made to effect a federation of trades. The
movement received strong support but was not wholly successful. It
received a great impetus from the conviction of Selby and others in 1847,
and the twenty-one masons in 1848. In both cases the indictment was
for conspiracy and greatly irritated the workingmen. Other prose-
cutions a few years later, particularly that of Drury and others, at
Sheffield, influenced the workmen in favor of federation. The strikes
of the Newton engineers in 1847, the razor grinders at Sheffield in 1848,
614
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
and the tinplate-workers of Wolverhampton, in 1851, in each of which
cases prosecutions were instituted for conspiracy, greatly assisted in
molding public opinion against the misconstruction of the conspiracy
laws. The total cost for defending the men prosecuted in these cases
was more than $38,000, all of which was borne by the unions. The
lockout of the engineers in 1852, the Preston strike in 1853, the Wol-
verhampton strike in 1855, all gave great prominence to the labor
question and helped to popularize unions. One of the most important
events in the history of trades-unions since the repeal of the combi-
nation laws of 1825, was the movement of the engineers for the abolition
of overtime, in 1848-9. At that period the trades were divided into
independent sections, each body having its own union. All the sections
were favorable to the abolition of overtime. Having a common purpose,
and having closely identified interests, it was ultimately decided to con-
solidate. This was effected in 1851 and the union thus formed became
known as the Amalgamated Society of Engineers. This society included
pattern makers, molders, smiths, fitters and turners, and every trade
connected with the manufacture or direction of machinery. They made
their organization not only a trade society but a huge benefit society as
well. According to its thirty-third annual report it had, in 1883, 424
branches; the number of members was 50,418.
The central authority of the different branches is vested in a general
committee, consisting of thirty-seven members, eleven of whom must
represent metropolitan branches; the others being from the provinces,
including Scotland and Ireland. This council hears appeals from
branches, advises, forbids, inaugurates and terminates strikes. The gen-
eral secretary receives a salary of £4 a week, he also receives 1s. 6d.
for each council meeting he attends and is paid extra for any special
journeys undertaken, or work done; he also gets his house rent free.
His assistants receive £2 10s. a week and are required to give all their
time to the association. They compile and issue monthly, quarterly and
yearly reports. The hours of business are fixed at from 9 A. M. to 6 P. M.
The secretary has the power to authorize members that are on donation
to be removed from one branch to another where there is a likelihood of
obtaining employment. In this society the usual contribution is 1s. a
week from each member. The members receive assistance in case of
accident, sickness, superannuation or death, and when unable to obtain
employment. The income of the organization in 1883, was $620,000 and
the funds on hand amounted to $866,845.31. The expenditures during
the year, for strikes were $39,292.10; sick benefits, $133,575.69; acci-
ENGLISH TRADES-UNIONS.
615
dents, $7,299.75; superannuation, $138,675.78; funerals, $41,949.43;
grants, $10,993.42; members out of work, $153,143.88, or a total of
nearly $600,000.
This is an outline of the character and functions of nearly all English
trades-unions. The principle of amalgamation, though not yet entirely
universal, is rapidly approaching that state. Among the more important
trades that have adopted it may be mentioned the carpenters and join-
ers, the boilermakers, the iron shipbuilders, the steam engine makers,
the iron founders, the tailors, the railway employés, the miners, the
agricultural laborers, the lace makers and many others.
A lockout in the building trades occurred in 1859, and continued
during the following year. Many industrial and social movements
originated with that lockout. The unions acquired public recognition
such as they never had received before. Many leaders came to the front
as social and political reformers, and have maintained their positions to
the present time. The Reform League, for extending the franchise, was
one of the results of the movement, as was also the formation of trades
councils for general purposes. Beginning in London in 1861, they
rapidly extended to the provinces. Now almost every provincial town
has its trades council. The newly-acquired power of the unions was
jealously watched by the employers. The rumored outrages in Sheffield
and other places offered a favorable opportunity for attack, of which the
enemies of trades-unions were not slow to avail themselves. Accusations
of complicity in crime were indignantly repelled by the leaders, who
met their accusers with demands for proof. It is true, outrages were
perpetrated by some members of the unions, but they were, at all times,
execrated by the great body of the workmen. "In order to compel men
to join their unions and comply with the rules, a system had been
adopted of taking away the tools and driving out bands of non-union or
defaulting workmen." On application to the secretary of the union and
compliance with the conditions required, the articles were always
restored. Other means were adopted to enforce compliance with their
demands, which the most ardent trades-unionist cannot but stigmatize
with the utmost abhorrence. Masters and workmen who refused or
failed to comply, were subjected to the most diabolical treatment. They
were shot at, their ricks set on fire, their cattle destroyed, and, in one
instance, a master was killed with an air-gun. A Royal Committee was
appointed in 1865 to investigate these outrages by trades-unions. The
inquiry was long and searching. A number of outrages were brought to
light, and their perpetrators were unmasked and identified. Out of
616
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
sixty trades-unions then in existence, twelve were implicated. Of these
it was shown that the greater proportion of the members knew nothing
of the action of their officers, and that the offenses were committed by
small local unions, which had always refused to federate with the trades
councils. The final report of the commission was not unfavorable to the
unions. Legislation was recommended, not to suppress the unions, as
was vainly hoped by the employers, but to protect the property of
employers.
Up to 1867 the trades-unions had no protection whatever for the funds
they might accumulate. The judges decided that all combinations
which were "in restraint of trade " were criminal. The Queen's Bench
in 1867 confirmed the decisions of the magistrates that societies having
rules enabling them to combine to raise wages could hold no property,
not even for benevolent or charitable purposes. This decision created a
great sensation. The London newspapers, which had always been on the
side of the employers, declared that it was a death-blow to unionism.
The members of the unions were greatly alarmed. A conference was
convened by the "Workingmen's Association." There were present
delegates from sixty-five London societies, twelve provincial trades.
councils and twenty-five provincial trade societies. A resolution was
adopted as follows: "Resolved, That taking into consideration the late
decision of the Court of Queen's Bench, in reference to trades-unions,
depriving them of all legal recognition and of protection for their funds;
further taking into consideration the benevolent purposes for which the
bulk of such funds are subscribed, this meeting of trade delegates is of
the opinion that it is the bounden duty of the legislature to enact such
laws as will protect their funds, and thereby place the members of those
societies on the same footing, in respect to their funds, as all other
classes of her Majesty's subjects; and also bearing in mind the fact that
the workings of these trades-unions are to be inquired into by a royal com-
mission, and that legislation in respect to them may hereafter take place,
we consider that a bill of the following nature will answer that purpose.'
The bill submitted embodied the following points: That the same pro-
tection should be given to the funds of trades-unions as was given to the
funds of friendly societies; that their funds should be recoverable from.
defaulters in the same manner. A temporary act was passed in 1869
giving the relief asked for. This was followed by the Trades-Union Act
of 1871, amended in 1876, and which is now satisfactory to the entire
body of unions. The congress established in 1868 has continued to the
present time. The committee during the past eighteen years has suc-
ENGLISH TRADES-UNIONS.
617.
ceeded in having the Master and Servants Act repealed, abolishing the
common law of conspiracy; it has also had repealed the Criminal Law
Amendment Act of 1871, which was intended to perpetuate the legal dis-
ability of members of trades-unions. It has carried an arbitration act,
the employers' liability act, and many other useful measures.
As a
crowning honor to its intelligence and integrity, it has forced through
parliament a law that adds 2,000,000 wage-workers to the voting popula-
tion of Great Britain, thus making them citizens in fact, as well as in
name. Trades-unions are no longer under the ban of the law. Their funds
and property are fully protected. Their leaders are treated with becom-
ing respect, and the unions have a recognized status in the country.
The first trades-union congress was held in 1857. It represented a
considerable number of trades and of large and small unions. From 1868
sessions have been held every year. Their motives were to compel recog-
nition by unity, of their demands for corrective legislation, and to bring
about a consolidated effort to secure suffrage and other political reforms.
In the beginning the latter aim was not made prominent, but after the
agitation of 1867-68 it became of prime importance. The trades-union
congress of 1879 passed a resolution in favor of a federation of all the
trades in the United Kingdom.
CHAPTER V.-CONTINENTAL TRADES-UNIONS.
THE SUPPRESSION OF THE GERMAN GUILDS AT THE CLOSE OF THE LAST CENTURY -
THE INTRODUCTION OF MACHINERY THE REVOLUTION OF 1848 AGITATION
OF THE SOCIAL REFORMERS FORMATION OF TRADES-UNIONS IN 1869 — TRADE
REGULATIONS OF THE GERMAN EMPIRE - THE EMPLOYERS' UNIONS OF GERMANY
COMBINATIONS IN FRANCE-REGULATIONS OF THE CODE NAPOLEON — THE
PRESENT LAWS GOVERNING TRADES-UNIONS IN FRANCE-THE TRADE ORGAN-
IZATIONS OF BELGIUM, HOLLAND, SWITZERLAND, DENMARK, AUSTRO-HUNGARY,
SPAIN, ITALY, RUSSIA AND TURKEY.
THE
HE suppression of the German guilds at the close of the eighteenth
and the beginning of the nineteenth century was practically the
abolition of all forms of labor organization in that kingdom. During
the period of their existence, the masters were the aristocracy of labor,
but under the ancient system it was possible for any workman to aspire
and rise to the dignity of a master. After the abolition of the guilds
and the introduction of machinery into nearly all classes of manufacture,
the large manufacturers began to squeeze out the small masters just as they
did in England. The domestic masters were gradually forced to become
journeymen, or perhaps, foremen in the large factories. When the Ger-
man Confederacy was formed in 1815, it was attempted to revive the
stagnant industries that had become paralyzed by the Napoleonic wars,
but the government failed to recognize the necessity of fostering skilled
labor. No attempt was made to elevate the sunken handicrafts. It
was not until 1847 that any movement was made looking to the organi-
zation of labor. The agitation was conducted chiefly by such social re-
formers as Engels, Marlo, Rodbertus, Lassalle, Karl Marx and others,
who gave to socialism if not a firm scientific basis at least a theoretical
position. No attempt was made to organize the workmen into societies
representing distinctive trades.
It was not until 1869 that any effort was made to organize the German
handicraftsmen into societies modeled upon the English trades-unions.
This work was inaugurated by Max Hirsch, Franz Dunker and Schulze
Delitzsch, who organized "The Unions of the German Workmen's
Association." Their object was announced to be the protection of the
working classes against their employers, and to aid and further the
business of the small traders, through the medium of association.
1
618
CONTINENTAL TRADES-UNIONS.
619
Political discussions were strictly prohibited at the meetings of these
associations. A number of their members long to what is known
as the Liberal and Progressive parties. The great bulk, however,
are socialists. They aid and protect each other by providing for
the sick, superannuated and disabled members from the common fund.
The funeral expenses of deceased members are also paid. Members out
of employment on account of lockouts or strikes are supported by the
society. They compile labor statistics and establish intelligence bureaus
for those seeking employment. The local or district organizations are
subject to the control of a general council. No strikes can be inaugu-
rated without the consent of the central body and without a previous
attempt at a settlement. This association now has more than 400 local
unions with a membership of many thousands.
There still exist some remnants of the old German trade guilds in
all parts of Germany. Though formerly suppressed by the government
they maintained their organization in secret. Since 1869 their exist-
ence and organization has been patronized and encouraged by the
government and they have apparently begun to flourish again.
They have very little resemblance to the modern trades-union. As a
rule their membership consists principally of masters or employers.
Workmen are permitted to join them, and, in fact, are encouraged both
by the government and the masters to do so. But under the present
condition of affairs there is little chance for social or other affiliation
between them. The government of these guilds is generally in the hands
of the masters.
Since 1869 the organization of unions of workingmen has made some
progress. The effort to amalgamate the trades has not proven entirely
successful, so that as yet the unions are mere local organizations. In
Hamburg a majority of the trades are organized and have flourishing
unions. They fix and regulate the rate of wages. All disputes are
settled by the court of arbitration appointed by the government. The
printers, shoemakers and tailors of Germany have also good organiza-
tions in nearly all the cities. And nearly all the trades have societies for
mutual aid in case of sickness, disability or death. The restrictions.
placed upon the workmen's unions by the government have greatly
retarded their growth. In no instance are they permitted in their meet-
ings to discuss politics or governmental affairs. The government is
somewhat afraid of workmen's clubs and watches them very closely.
The least attempt to criticise the government or its officers by these
clubs subjects them to suppression or heavy fines.
620
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
&
It is worthy of note that where the workmen of Germany have
succeeded in organizing they have, in almost every instance, procured an
advance in their wages, and while strikes have not been frequent their
result has generally been in favor of the strikers. In Stettin in 1883
the building trades succeeded in getting an advance of twelve cents a
day by striking. The potters followed the movement with the same
success.
In France combinations of workmen for the purpose of influenc-
ing wages were prohibited with great severity by the penal code of 1810.
This code also punished combinations of employers organized for the
purpose of depressing labor. It declared that "whoever, by the aid of
violence, blows, menace, or fraudulent manoeuvres, shall bring about, or
attempt to bring about, a cessation of work with the object of forcing a
rise or fall in wages, or infringe the free exercise of industry, shall be
punished by from six days to three years' imprisonment and a fine of
from 16 to 3,000 francs, and that workmen, employers and contract-
ors who by means of fines, prohibitions, restrictions or interdictions:
resulting from any concerted plan for infringing free exercise of labor
shall be fined to the same extent and be imprisoned for from six days to
three years." It is a fact worthy of note that this is the first law that.
recognized the equality of the employer and the employé by meting out
to each the same punishment for the same offense.
Trades-unions did not have much influence in France until 1864
when "combinations free from violence or show of violence were sanc-
tioned. During the next few years the combinations of workmen spread
rapidly. "There is scarcely a trade in France," said Mr. Ward, writing
in 1868, "of which during the last three years the members have not
combined for the purpose of increasing the rate of wages and diminishing
the hours of labor, and their efforts to this end have usually met with
success."
At the present time each trade in France is represented by its dis-
tinctive union, the object being the study and protection of industrial
and economical interests, the welfare and advancement of members,
and the regulation of wages. Each union selects a committee chosen
from its most skillful workmen, which is known as the trades council.
In all cases of dispute arising between employé and employer this trades.
council, with a like number of employers, forms a board of arbitration.
The remnants of the ancient craft guilds that survived the revolu-:
tion have but little influence or effect either for good or evil. Some of
them still maintain their organization, and have a master or director in

Frederick Turner.
General Treasurer of the Knights of Laber.
UNIL
OF
MICH
CONTINENTAL TRADES-UNIONS.
623
each province to whom mechanics may apply for employment, but they
are rapidly disappearing, owing to the neglect of members.
Trades-unions are quite extensive in Belgium. Within the past few
years they have begun to exert an influence commensuraie with their
organization. In many instances wages have been raised and the hours.
of labor reduced. Among the other labor organizations there are two
assemblies of Knights of Labor, which are attached to the General As-
sembly of that order in the United States.
The cigar makers are well organized, having branches in all the large
cities of the kingdom. In the city of Antwerp alone they number 2,000
members. This society forms a part of the International Union of Work-
ingmen, and among its other objects is political agitation, which has
been exerted with considerable effect during the past few years. In the
rules regulating their trade they prohibit a member from working in a
shop where non-union men are employed. The prices for manufacture
are fixed by the union, and must be agreed to by the employer. If a
member is wronged by his employer he may leave his work and he will
be supported by the union until he succeeds in getting other employ-
ment.
The diamond cutters of Antwerp have a powerful union called the
Society of Mutual Assistance. It numbers 800 to 1,000 members. The
ship carpenters are also well organized. The tailors have a society known
as the "Cutters' Union." Some of the rules of this society will be of
interest:
No member of this association may present himself for employment at any tailor-
ing establishment where other members of the society are employed without first
ascertaining whether, by so doing, he will prejudice their interests.
In the event of any member presenting himself as a candidate for employment
otherwise than according to the rules of the society, he will be immediately expelled.
Any member having been out of employment one month or more may apply to
the committee for assistance.
This application is submitted to and decided by the general assembly, and the
committee may be empowered by it to advance a certain sum, as a loan, without inter-
est for three months.
The entire loan must be returned within six months from the time of resuming
work.
In cases of extreme urgency, however, the committee may act without waiting
for a reference to the general conference. No member, however, can avail himself of
this aid unless he has belonged to the society at least one year.
All members in search of fresh employment must enter on a register the exact day
on which their present employment will cease, and they must acquaint the secretary
or committee when they have obtained other employment.
624
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
Any member knowing of a suitable vacancy is required to acquaint the committee
of its existence.
In order to obtain admission to the society the applicant must undergo an exami-
nation in tracing and cutting, before an examination committee composed of seven
members.
There is also, we are told, a somewhat similar society existing in
Brussels among the salesmen in the tailoring establishments.
All the principal trades of Belgium have similar organizations, and
are rapidly approaching a state where their influence can and will be
exerted to some purpose.
• Trades-unions in Holland began in 1866 with the organization of
the Typographers' Union. The agitation of the International Working-
men's Association exerted considerable influence, and in 1871 the
General Dutch Trades-Union was organized. At the present time
this association unites under a central administration more than fifty
different unions, the majority of which represent distinct trades. In
addition to this central organization there existed in 1884 thirty-two
local distinctive trades-unions and sixty-eight mixed unions. Among
the latter two female organizations, one at Amsterdam and one at Rot-
terdam.
Among the other trades-unions of Europe, all of which are modeled
after the English unions, are the Handworkers Association of St. Gall,
and the Typographical Union of Geneva, both in Switzerland. The
various trades of Denmark have all been more or less completely organ-
ized since 1870, and in the capital of that kingdom there are more than
forty trades-unions, the most important of which are the bakers, with
900 members; the blacksmiths and machine makers, 1,600 members;
house carpenters, 1,100 members; shipcarpenters, 300 members; print-
ers, 500 members; painters, 600 members; saddlemakers, 200 members;
tailors, 400 members, and cigarmakers, 1,200 members. Up to the be-
ginning of these organizations the rate of wages was continually on the
decline. From 1870 to 1875 a rise was effected from one-quarter to one-
third.
Trades-unions exist in Austro-Hungary, Spain, Italy, Russia and
Turkey. But it is only within the past few years that any appreciable
advances in this line have been made in those countries. The present
outlook is favorable, and prospects for increased organization are
good. Especially in Russia are the Handicraft Artels on the increase.
These institutions have existed in Russia for centuries, but it is only
within the past ten or fifteen vears that they have shown any signs of
CONTINENTAL TRADES-UNIONS.
625
vigor. The watch that is maintained by the government over all socie-
ties of workingmen makes it extremely difficult for them to get out of
the old grooves in which they have run for so many ages, but with the
increased liberty that is sure to be obtained by conservative and constant
agitation, the hope for the Russian laborer in the time to come is bright.
40
CHAPTER VI.-LABOR UNIONS IN THE UNITED STATES.
·
THE FRANKLIN SOCIETY OF PRINTERS - THE TYPOGRAPHICAL UNION-THE HAT-
MAKERS' UNIONS- THE IRON MOLDERS-THE SONS OF VULCAN-THE MACHIN-
ISTS AND BLACKSMITIIS-THE GLASSBLOWERS - BROTHERHOOD OF THE FOOT-
BOARD LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS- CIGARMAKERS - THE STONEMASONS - THE
PATRONS OF HUSBANDRY - THE NATIONAL GRANGE-ORDER OF RAILWAY
CONDUCTORS-THE KNIGHTS OF ST. CRISPIN.
ABOR organizations in the United States date back nearly to the
close of the Revolutionary War. In that portion of this work treat-
ing of the Story of Labor in the United States will be found a full
account of the early guilds and their influence, and of the rise and
growth of American workingmen's societies. In the following pages we
will endeavor to give a brief history of those organizations now in exist-
ence or which have exerted a direct influence on recent events in the
field of labor.
In 1852 began the confederation or grouping into one general body
of all the local unions of a given trade. The Franklin Society of
printers, organized in Cincinnati in 1827, had led a checkered life until
1851, when it went to pieces in a strike. It was reorganized in 1852,
and upon reorganizing called a meeting of delegates from all typograph-
ical unions in the United States. A National Convention of Journey-
man Printers had met in New York in 1850, and at Baltimore in 1851,
but little of permanent organization had been effected. At the meeting
in Cincinnati in 1852, the National Typographical Union was formed,
which existed until 1869, when the annual meeting at Albany, N. Y.,
changed the name to International Typographical Union in order to
admit the printers of Canada. At that time the membership numbered
7,563. The Chicago Typographical Union had organized in 1852, and
entered into the national union at its organization. The International
Typographical Union regards the resort to strikes as inexpedient, ex-
cept where the rules or principles of the International or of a subordi-
nate union may have been violated. Recognizing strikes as detrimental to
the best interests of the craft, it directs subordinate unions not to order
a strike until every possible effort has been made to settle the difficulty
by arbitration. But as resistance to unreasonable demands will at all
626
LABOR UNIONS IN THE UNITED STATES.
627
times be necessary, its constitution provides the following protection for
members when called upon to sacrifice their positions in defense of their
principles:
"An Executive Council, consisting of the president of the International Typo-
grahical Union, the chief organizer and a vice-president or state deputy, shall be con-
vened, when necessary, by the president of the International Typographical Union.
It shall be the duty of the Executive Council to consider all appeals for aid for strikes
or lockouts from subordinate unions, to investigate such matters, and it shall decide
in all cases.
When a strike has been approved by the Executive Council, it shall
notify the subordinate union, and, in its discretion, order an assessment of from two
to twenty-five cents per capita to be paid to the subordinate union making the appeal.
Any union inaugurating a strike, without the approval of the Executive Council, shall
receive no benefit on account of such strike from the strike funds; provided, that
where a union strikes in case of emergency, without consent as above, they shall
be entitled to all benefits if the strike be subsequently approved by the Executive
Council."
The International Typographical Union allows one apprentice to
every five journeymen, and apprentices are taken into the unions, with-
out vote, in the fourth year of their apprenticeship. At first the strug-
gle against the union by employers was determined and desperate. All
the larger cities are now thoroughly organized, and opposition to the
union has substantially ceased. There are over 350 subordinate unions,
and in 1885 18,000 members were reported. Since then the membership
has increased very materially. The President of the International Typo-
graphical Union is William Amison, of Nashville, Tennessee, and under
his administration the organization has made rapid advances. Its Gen-
eral Secretary-treasurer is David M. Pascoe, of Philadelphia. Its official
organ is The Craftsman, published weekly in Washington, D. C., and
edited by H. V. Bisbee. The income of the union for 1885 was $55,888.
The pressmen were formerly a part of the Typographical Union, but
now compose a separate organization, though under its charter.
Following closely upon the printers came the hatters. Local unions.
of hat-makers had been formed in several cities at an early date, and in
1854 these came together and organized The National Trade Association
of Hat Finishers of the United States of America. The objects were to
protect journeymen from "excessive decrease in earnings," and to regu-
late apprenticeship. In 1868 this union divided into two, one retaining
the old name and the other taking that of Silk and Fur Hat-finishers.
The older organization had 3,392 members in 1885. The Silk and Fur
Hat-finishers reported 643 members. D. J. Haggerty is President of
the older society and resides in Brooklyn. The headquarters of the Silk
628
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
and Fur Hat-finishers is in New York City, and W. S. Higby is its Gen-
eral Secretary. Two other branches of the hatmakers also have national
unions. The Hatmakers Union has its headquarters in Brooklyn; Geo.
L. Gill is its President. The Wool Hatmakers also have a national
organization, with A. M. Taylor, of Matteawan, N. Y., as its General
Secretary. The organized hatworkers of the United States number
approximately 10,000 men.
The iron-molders had local organizations early in the century. In
Cincinnati they were sufficiently organized in 1849 to maintain a strike
that lasted for nine months, and in which they were eventually success-
ful. On July 5, 1859, the various local unions came together under the
directorship of the ablest labor leader of his time, William H. Sylvis,
and formed the Iron Molders' Union of North America. Under the
management of Mr. Sylvis the organization grew to be quite powerful.
Its present President is P. F. Fitzpatrick, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and the
General Secretary-Treasurer is John O'Keefe, of Troy, New York. The
constitution of the union provides the following stringent regulation for
the government of strikes:
Any subordinate union requiring the assistance of this union to vindicate its
rights and privileges under this constitution, shall be required to conform to the fol-
lowing sections, and shall await an official answer.
When a difficulty occurs under the jurisdiction of any local union through a
reduction of wages or through the principles of our organization being jeopardized in
any manner, the union under whose jurisdiction the trouble exists shall hold a meet-
ing at once to consider the same. If, in its judgment, the matter is worthy of atten-
tion of the executive officer, it shall lay the case before him. The President shall then,
either by deputy or in person, proceed to the place at once and make a thorough exam-
ination as to the facts in the case. He shall do his utmost to settle the trouble amicably
between employers and employed. Failing to adjust the difficulty, he shall lay the mat-
ter before the executive board immediately, which board in conjunction with the Pres-
ident, shall have absolute control of all strikes and lockouts. They shall see that no
more strikes are on hand at any one time than the organization is able to handle. They
shall concentrate the whole prestige and force of the National Union, financially and
otherwise, in the direction most needed. It shall be considered sufficient cause for expul-
sion from the National Union should any local union attempt to assume responsibility
of striking without their grievance being considered by the President and having the
sanction of the executive board before going out. Members out on authorized strike
shall receive the following sum per week: Single men, $5 per week; married men and
single men with others depending on them for support, $7 per week.
The income of the Iron-Molders' Union is $60,000 per annum; it has
300 local organizations, and a membership of 20,000. In February, 1880,
it commenced paying a death benefit of $100 to the families of all mem-
LABOR UNIONS IN THE UNITED STATES.
629
bers in good standing at death. Up to January 1, 1886, it had expended
$41,000, or fifteen per cent of its income, in death benefits. There is
no union more cautious or conservative in the matter of strikes than the
Iron-Molders. From April, 1879, to January, 1886, $65,924 had been
expended on strikes. Its organ is the Iron-Molders' Journal, which is
issued monthly from Cincinnati.
The Sons of Vulcan were organized April 17, 1858, and maintained
their organization until 1876, when, with two other unions, they joined
in the formation of the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel
Workers. On March 2, 1859, representative machinists and blacksmiths
met in convention in one of the eastern cities and organized the
Machinists' and Blacksmiths' Union of North America. In 1859 the
union was incorporated by congress, and was the only trades-union ever
receiving a charter from the United States government. At first this
body was composed only of blacksmiths and machinemakers, but after-
wards boilermakers and patternmakers were added. In 1877 it took
the name of the Mechanical Engineers of the United States of America.
Its membership in 1872 was 18,000, but the strikes of 1876-7 reduced it
to 5,000 in 1878.
.
The glassblowers of Philadelphia had organized in 1848. In 1852, a
convention was held in that city, to encourage organization among the
glass-workers. Representatives from Glassboro, N. J., were present,
and upon their return attempted to organize Glassboro and Temperance-
ville. A meeting of the glassblowers was called at night, under a tree,
near the Temperanceville factory. Quite an extensive discussion was
entered upon, but, just before organization was completed, one of the
"bosses" was seen skulking in view of the meeting. One by one the
men sneaked away, and went that night to the proprietor, Samuel
Whitney, to secure their own position, and to tell the names of those
who were "attempting to form a union." At that time the manufac-
turers did not acknowledge the right of workingmen to have anything to
say about rates of wages; and the New Jersey courts had imprisoned.
men for refusing to accept the "wages offered by their masters." In
1856 the glassblowers of Glassboro were, however, organized by John
Samuels, sent from Philadelphia for that purpose. Wm. M. Manks,
though then an apprentice, was elected Secretary of this union. The
organization of the New Jersey factories was delegated to the Glassboro
union. To expedite the work, Mr. Manks, assisted by Chas. H. Sim-
merman, drew up a constitution, and, being too poor to print it, wrote
several copies to be used by organizers. Written copies of the constitu-
630
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
tion and ritual were sent to Millville, Williamstown, Waterford, and
other points. Millville was an important point, and the manufacturers
were bitterly opposed to "unionism." Philadelphia and Glassboro at
length sent a "joint committee" to organize Millville. This committee
was chosen for its daring rather than its ability, as it required an
amount of bravado to face the Millville manufacturers in an attempt to
organize their men. In the winter of 1856-57 several places were organ-
ized, and in the spring of 1857 Wm. M. Manks, John Samuels, and Mr.
Congdon were sent to Pittsburgh to organize the glassblowers of that city.
This they succeeded in doing, and, in the summer of 1857, the first
national convention was held, and the Grand Union of Glassblowers of
the United States was formed. Barclay Rinear was its first President,
and Carl Newman its first Secretary. A constitution for the grand, and
for subordinate unions, was then printed. In 1857, the blowers at
Philadelphia went on a strike, which lasted five months. Owing to the
financial panic of that year, and to the prevalence of the truck or store-
order system, then universal, the men of other points were unable to
send money to the strikers, but wagon-loads of provisions were sent
them from the truck-stores. A strike had also been entered into by the
combative element of the Pittsburgh union, against the better judgment.
of the more conservative members. This caused a split in the organiza-
tion between the "striking" and "non-striking" elements. When the
Grand Union met in convention in 1858, neither Millville nor Pittsburgh
were represented. At that time, of the 600 members in and west of
Pittsburgh, it was said that not more than 250 could be depended upon to
stand by the union. The meeting in Millville, in 1859, was an eventful
one to the trade. Great efforts had been made to get a full representa-
tion, and this was secured. Just as the contending factions in the con-
vention began to show their belligerency, John Samuels began singing a
song he had written for such an emergency, should it arise. The
prayerful plea for harmony and good-will in the interest of the common
good was electrical in its effects. All schisms vanished before the breath
of song. The convention lasted two weeks. A complete schedule of
prices was made. There had been no intention of taking any action.
upon the matter of apprentices at this meeting, but the employers,
learning that the two factions had been harmonized, immediately pre-
pared to fight the union. Before the convention adjourned, three manu-
facturers had taken on thirty apprentices each, and had intimated that,
if they must pay the scale, they would hire very few journeymen, and,
by thus throwing a great many men upon the union for support, soon
LABOR UNIONS IN THE UNITED STATES.
631
break it down. Learning of this, the convention passed a rule that only
two apprentices should be allowed to each factory. It was purely a
defensive measure.
At this convention William M. Manks was elected President and John
Samuels Secretary. On the return of the delegates the general strike.
was inaugurated. Judge Porter, proprietor of th Waterford factory
and another smaller establishment, accepted the union rules and prices;
otherwise the strike was general. The central battle ground was Glass-
boro, the manufacturers having pooled and concentrated their energies
in that place. The men there who, though not members of the union, had
promised to stand out for the scale, were induced to return. Eight non-
union men were brought from Pittsburgh, apprentices were employed, and
every means tried to overcome the men. In September fourteen of the
66
+
strikers were arrested for conspiracy. In October the Grand Union called
a convention to meet in Philadelphia to consider the advisability of
abandoning the strike. It was a memorable meeting. The report says:
Strong men shed tears. The inevitable had come, and the strike was
abandoned." With the failure of the strike the whole union collapsed."
From 1859 to 1866 there was no central organization of the trade. In
December, 1865, the scattered remnant of the unions held a convention
and organized the "Glassblowers' League," electing George Dunley
President. Mr. Dunley was annually reëlected until 1870. In 1866 was
inaugurated the great glassblowers' strike, which proved as successful as
the one of '57 had proven a failure. The league rules were everywhere
adopted. In 1868 the league passed the "summer rule," by which work
is suspended during July and August. In 1870 Mr. Dunley resigned
the presidency, and James Congdon was elected. Mr. Congdon, how-
ever, resigned two months afterward. The organization as then
demoralized, there being less than 300 members in good staing. The
league had had its day. The Millville union, seeing the collapse, resolved
to reorganize the trade and appointed a committee to draft a plan, con-
stitution and ritual for a new organization, which was perfected under
the name of the "Glassblowers' Improved League of the United States."
Before the close of 1871 the new league embraced nearly every place in
the East where the trade existed. Delegates from all these local unions.
met in Philadelphia in the fall of 1871 and organized the Grand Improved
League, under the presidency of C. H. Simmerman, who was succeeded
in 1872 by Mr. Joseph Ferrell. The Improved League was not simply a
new name for an old organization. The Grand Union and the old league
had made strikes the panacea for all evils; the aim of the Improved League
132
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
was to prevent strikes. It enhanced wages and reduced hours of labor
steadily and almost without friction. The western blowers were organized
under the Improved League, and remained with it several years. The
flint-glass workers were also organized under the league, and retained
their affiliation until 1877. The administration of Joseph Ferrell was a
very successful one. The panic of 1872 and 1873 came, and with it
a reduction in wages, but the glassblowers suffered less than any other
trade. In 1877 Mr. Ferrell resigned, and his brother, T. M. Ferrell,
was elected. During his term the league improved more rapidly than at
any preceding period. The odious "truck system" has been abolished
entirely in New Jersey, and nowhere is a glassblower allowed to take
"truck." Eight hours per day, ten months in the year has been the
rule, and this has had the effect of making abundance of work at good.
wages.
In January, 1883, Mr. T. M. Ferrell having been elected to congress
resigned his position as President of the league, and F. S. Tomlin, of
Brooklyn, N. Y., was elected his successor. Mr. Tomlin was twice
reëlected, and when on July 1st, 1885, the Improved Glassblowers'
League merged into the Knights of Labor, and became district 149 of
that order, Mr. Tomlin was elected District Master Workman, and
William M. Manks, District Recording Secretary. A recent conference
with the manufacturers' association fixed the scale of wages and tried to
regulate apprenticeship. Upon the last point, however, the glassblowers
and the manufacturers have not as yet agreed.
The organizations that have sprung from the Glassblowers' League
may be appropriately mentioned here: The Western Division of the
Glassblowers' League comprised the territory west of the Alleghany
Mountains. For some time both were one; and the cause of the separa-
tion was purely a question of the expense of sending delegates such long
distances. The best of feeling and perfect harmony of purpose and
action have always existed between the two divisions. William Campbell
was the first President of the Western Division, elected in 1877. In
October, 1878, the Western Division met in St. Louis, where the consti-
tution was revised and the union reorganized upon a different basis.
Samuel Simpson, Jr., of Pittsburg, was elected President. He was
reëlected at the Pittsburg convention the year following. In July, 1880,
the convention met in Louisville, Ky. Louis Arrington, of Milwaukee,
Wis., was elected President. He was reëlected in 1881, and again in
1882. When the St. Louis convention met in 1878 there were but three
local lodges, one at Pittsburg, one at Alton, Ill., and one at St. Louis.
LABOR UNIONS IN THE UNITED STATES.
633
The membership was 200. In 1883 there were nine lodges and 400
members. In 1883 the convention met at Milwaukee, and Wm. C. Burt
was elected President; in November he resigned, and Louis Arrington,
as Chairman of the executive board, became President. The conven-
tion met again in Alton in 1884, when Mr. Arrington was reëlected, and
he has retained the office under each succeeding convention. Under his
management the league has prospered, notwithstanding the fact that for
three years, or since September, 1883, there has been a strike against a
reduction in wages proposed by the firms composing the manufacturers'
association. Nearly 400 men were affected by this strike, which was
settled in September, 1886, by a victory for the league. At the conven-
tion held in Pittsburg, July 12, 1886, it was decided to join the Knights
of Labor as a body, and on the 13th of July the Western Division of the
league was organized as District Assembly 143 of the Knights of Labor.
There were then fourteen local lodges and 671 members. Since then
three local lodges have been organized, and in October, 1886, there were
712 members. Upon reorganization, Mr. Louis Arrington was elected
District Master Workman.
The flint-glass-workers withdrew from the Glassblowers' League in
1877. In July of 1878, they met in Pittsburg and formed the "Amer-
ican Flint-Glass-Workers' Union." Its membership at date of organiza-
tion as a separate union was 1,000. The leaders of the movement were
B. F. Kearney, R. A. Steen, and Alexander Smith. The business of
the union is controlled by the President and an advisory board of eleven
members. Its object is stated to be mutual protection of members.
Strikes can be ordered only after all honorable means have failed to
adjust difficulties, and then only upon a majority vote of all the mem-
bers of the union, after presentation of the circumstances by the
executive board. Its present President is William J. Smith of Pittsburgh,
its Secretary William J. Dillon of Brooklyn, N. Y. It now has fifty-seven
local unions, and a membership of 5,000. The window-glass workers
are also organized, and all these organizations fraternize and work
together harmoniously. The organized glass-workers number approxi-
mately, 30,000. Their organization is not so remarkable for its numer-
ical strength, as for its compactness and adhesiveness. No trade has
clung so closely to its organization, and no organization has accomplished
more for its members. The American Glass- Worker is the official organ
of the various branches of the trade.
One of the most successful trades-unions, that of the engineers, was
organized August 17, 1863, in Detroit, Mich., as the "Brotherhood of
634
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
the Foot-Board." August 17, 1864, it was organized in Indianapolis as
"The Grand International Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers." Its
executive officer is P. M. Arthur of Cleveland, Ohio. Its objects are "to
combine the interests of locomotive engineers, to elevate their character
as men, and to improve their efficiency." No person can become a mem-
ber except he be a white man, twenty-one years of age, able to read and
write, and of good moral character, temperate habits, and a locomotive
engineer in good standing and actually employed at such occupation
when proposed for membership, with at least one year's experience. Any
member guilty of drunkenness is liable to expulsion. The same penalty
attaches to any member who neglects his duty, or injures the property
of his employers, or who willfully endangers the lives of persons while
under the influence of liquor or otherwise. In case of the death of any
member in good standing, inquiry is made as to the pecuniary condition
of his family, and if it is found that assistance is necessary, the members
are bound to provide relief. Sick benefits are attached to the order.
The organization seeks to prevent by "honorable means " the hiring of men
for firemen who will not make "respectable, competent and intelligent
engineers,” and also to abolish the classification of engineers in vogue on
some railroads. The insurance branch has 4,261 members. There are
289 local lodges, with a membership of 17,000. It has been very suc-
cessfully managed, and most of the strikes in which it has engaged have
proven successful. No member of the brotherhood is allowed to join or
belong to any other labor organization, under penalty of expulsion. The
constitution provides every possible safeguard for avoiding strikes, and
the organization has had very few. The insurance department is conducted
upon the assessment plan, and each member, upon loss of hand, limb,
arm or eyesight, receives $3,000. In cases of death, the family of the
deceased receives a like sum. Since its organization it has paid $1,650,-
000 in insurances, besides distributing $500,000 to needy members. Mr.
Arthur, as its chief, receives a salary of $5,000 per annum. Four-fifths
of the engineers of the United States belong to the brotherhood.
The cigarmakers were not slow in organizing for their own protec-
tion. The first cigarmaker's organization of which we have record was
at Baltimore, in 1851. Local organizations sprang up rapidly in various
cities, and in 1856 a convention was called in New York City to organize
these into a national union. This attempt proved a failure, and the
organization of the International Cigarmakers' Union was not effected
until 1864, when its first convention met in New York City. The fol-
lowing is an extract from the preamble to its constitution;
LABOR UNIONS IN THE UNITED STATES.
635
Labor has no protection the weak are devoured by the strong. All wealth and
power center in the hands of the few, and the many are their victims and bondsmen.
In all countries and all times capital has been used to monopolize particular branches
of business until the vast and various industrial pursuits of the world are rapidly
coming under the immediate control of a comparatively small portion of mankind,
tending, if not checked by the toiling millions, to enslave and impoverish them.
Labor is the creator of all wealth, and as such the laborer is entitled to a remunera-
tion sufficient to enable himself and family to enjoy more of the leisure that rightfully
belongs to him, more social advantages, more of the benefits, privileges and emolu-
ments of the world; in a word, all those rights and privileges necessary to make him
capable of enjoying, appreciating, defending and perpetuating the blessings of modern
civilization. Past experience teaches us that labor has, so far, been unable to arrest
the encroachments of capital, neither has it been able to obtain justice from the
law-making power. This is due to a lack of practical organization and unity of
action. “In union there is strength." Organization and united action are the only
means by which the laboring classes can gain any advantages for themselves. Good
and strong labor organizations are enabled to defend and preserve the interests of the
working people. By organization we are able to assist each other in case of strikes
and lock-outs, sickness and death; and through organization only, the workers, as a
class, are able to gain legislative advantages.
No one will dispute the beneficial results attendant upon harmonious and intelli-
gent action, and it is imperatively the duty of man to do all in his power to secure,
thorough organization, and unity of action. In the performance of that duty we have
'formed the Cigarmakers' International Union of America, for the purpose of elevat-
ing the material, moral and intellectual welfare of the craft, by the following means :
1. By gratuitously furnishing employment.
2. By mutual pecuniary aid in the case of strikes and lock-outs, sickness and
death.
3. By advancing money for traveling.
4. By defending members involved in legal difficulties, consequent upon the dis-
charge of their official duties to the union.
5. By the issuing of a trade journal defending the interests of the union of the
trade.
6. By using all honorable means to effect a national federation of trades-unions.
7. To use all honorable means to secure, first, the prohibition of child-labor
under fourteen years of age; the establishment of a normal day's labor, to consist of
not more than eight hours per day for all classes; the abolition of the truck system,
tenement-house cigar manufacture, and the system of letting out by contract the con-
vict labor in prisons and reformatory institutions; the legalism of trades-unions, and
the establishment of bureaus of labor statistics.
All persons engaged in cigar making, except employers and foremen,
are admitted to membership. The dues per member are twenty cents
per week, and from this revenue the Cigarmakers' Union has been
placed upon a better financial basis than any trades-union in the United
States. Any member in good standing for six months, unable to get
636
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
employment, and desirous of seeking work elsewhere is entitled to a loan.
sufficient to carry him to the nearest local union. Sick benefits of $5
per week are paid, and $40 is allowed to pay the funeral expenses of a
deceased member. The International Cigarmakers' Union was the first
to call public attention to the curse of tenement-house manufacturing in
New York City. Between 1881 and 1883 the Cigarmakers' Union has
engaged in 194 strikes, at a cost of $77,203.47 to the union, besides
$40,000 voluntary aid. Ninety-seven of these strikes were for an in-
crease, fifty-two against reduction, and forty-five for other causes. Of
these, 135 were successful, the others failed. Mr. A. Strasser, the
president of the union, estimates that the advance in wages secured by
these strikes amounted to $1,800,000 per annum, while they prevented
reductions which would have amounted to $500,000 more. Between
1883 and 1885 the union had 152 strikes, affecting 3,153 members, and
costing $210,526.88. Of these, 102 were against reductions, seven
against the "truck-system," five for increased pay, four against appren-
tices, seven were lock-outs and the rest for various causes. Sixty-nine
were successful. The Cincinnati strike alone cost $143,302.70. No
strikes for increase of pay are allowed by the union between the first day
of November and the first day of April, but this does not prevent a strike
against reductions. Since May 1, 1886, no member of the union is al-
lowed to work more than eight hours per day at his trade. Apprentices.
are required to serve three years. The union has a copyright upon a
label used in marking all boxes of union-made cigars, thus enabling
friends of organized labor to distinguish between union and non-union-
made goods.
The discussions which sprang up in the order, and which led, in 1883,
to a split in its ranks, began in the Rochester convention in 1879, when
a Detroit delegate offered a resolution somewhat socialistic in its phrase-
ology. The conservative wing of the International Union, impatient
with the radical element, rapidly drove the latter away, until, in 1881,
the rupture became irreparable, and in 1882, at Detroit, "The Cigar-
Makers' Progressive Union of America" was formed, comprising all the
cigarmakers whose opinions had been branded as socialistic by the Inter-
national. The war waged hot between these two unions, even going so
far as to issue boycotts against each other, as was done in Decatur, Illi-
nois, and elsewhere. In the Cincinnati convention in 1885, an attempt
was made to "bury the hatchet" and harmonize the two unions. The
Progressives demanded two small but significant changes in the wording
of the preamble. These changes were made, but the two unions
LABOR UNIONS IN THE UNITED STATES.
637
remained separate until September, 1886. The Progressives had grown
rapidly, numbering at the time of the coalition 11,000 members. The
International had over 200 local unions, and a membership of 20,000.
The combined unions on November 1, 1886, represented approximately
30,000 members. For the steady growth and remarkable success of their
organization, the cigarmakers owe much to the ability and untiring
industry of their president, Mr. Adolph Strasser; and his success is, per-
haps, due as much to the financial solidity of the organization as to his
personal effort. The high dues have kept the treasury full, and the
organization has always had in abundance the sinews of war. The
wages of cigarmakers have been advanced fifty per cent by the organi-
zation, so that the high dues have, after all, been a profitable invest-
ment. The organization publishes the Cigarmakers' Official Journal.
On the 17th of October, 1865, the Bricklayers' and Stonemasons'
International Union of America was formed. Its preamble says:
At no period of the world's history has the necessity for combination on the part
of labor become so apparent to any thinking mind as at the present time; and perhaps
in no country have the working classes been so forgetful of their own interests as in
this great republic. All other questions seem to attract the attention of the workman
more than that which is most vital to his existence. Whereas, capital has assumed to
itself the right to own and control labor for the accomplishment of its own greedy and
selfish ends, regardless of the laws of nature and nature's God; and whereas, experience
has demonstrated the utility of concentrated efforts in arriving at specific ends, and it
is an evident fact that if the dignity of labor is to be preserved, it must be done by our
united action; and whereas, believing the truth of the following maxims, that they
who would free themselves must strike the blow; that in union there is strength, and
self-preservation is the first law of nature, we hold the justice and truth of the princi-
ple that merit makes the man; and we firmly believe industry, sobriety, and a proper
regard for the welfare of our fellow-men, form the basis upon which the principle
rests. We therefore recognize no rule of action or principle that would elevate wealth
above industry, or the professional man above the workingman. We recognize no
distinction in society except those based upon worth, usefulness and good order; and
no superiority except that granted by the Great Architect of our existence; and calling
upon God to witness the rectitude of our intentions, we, the delegates here assembled,
ordain and establish the following constitution.
This organization has grown in numbers until it now registers 16,000
members. Its general executive secretary is Thomas O'Dea, of Cohoes,
N. Y.
"The Patrons of Husbandry," or "National Grange," was organized in
Washington, D. C., in January, 1866, by seven men, most of whom were
employed in the government agricultural bureau. They were O. H.
Kelly, William Saunders, Wm. M. Ireland, J. R. Thompson, Rev. A. B.
638
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
Grosh, Rev. John Trimble and T. M. McDowell. The growth of the
organization was marvelous. In ten years it had issued charters to 24,-
290 granges, and had a membership of 763,263. The preamble to its
constitution is as follows:
Human happiness is the acme of earthly ambition. Individual happiness
depends upon general prosperity. The prosperity of a nation is in proportion to the
value of its productions.
The soil is the source from whence we derive all that constitutes wealth, with-
out it we would have no agriculture, no manufactures, no commerce. Of all the
material gifts of the Creator, the various productions of the vegetable world are of the
first importance. The art of agriculture is the parent and precursor of all arts, and its
products the foundation of all wealth.
The productions of the earth are subject to the influence of natural laws, invari-
able and indisputable, the amount produced will consequently be in proportion to the
intelligence of the producer, and success will depend upon his knowledge of the
action of these laws and the proper application of their principles.
Hence, knowledge is the foundation of happiness.
The ultimate object of this organization is for mutual instruction and protection;
to lighten labor by diffusing a knowledge of its aims and purposes; expand the mind
by tracing the beautiful laws the great Creator has established in the universe, and to
enlarge our views of creative wisdon and power.
To those who read aright, history proves that in all ages society is fragmentary,
and successful results of general welfare can be secured only by general effort. Unity
of action cannot be acquired without discipline, and discipline cannot be enforced
without significant organization; hence we have a ceremony of initiation which binds
us in mutual fraternity as with a band of iron; but, although its influence is so pow-
erful, its application is as gentle as that of the silken thread that binds a wreath of
flowers.
In 1874, at the National convention held in St. Louis, it made public
the following declaration of its purposes:
We shall endeavor to advance our cause by laboring to accomplish the following
objects :
To develop a better and higher manhood and womanhood among ourselves. To
enhance the comforts and attractions of our homes, and strengthen our attachments to
our pursuits. To foster mutual understanding and coöperation. To maintain in-
violate our laws, and to emulate each other in labor, to hasten the good time coming.
To reduce our expenses, both individual and corporate. To buy less and to produce
more in order to make our farms self-sustaining. To diversify our crops, and crop no
more than we can cultivate. To condense the weight of our exports, selling less in
the bushel and more on the hoof and in fleece, less in lint and more in warp and woof.
To systematize our work, and calculate intelligently on probabilities. To discounte-
nance the credit system, the mortgage system, the fashion system, and every other
system tending to prodigality and bankruptcy.
We adopt it as our fixed purpose to "open out the channels in nature's great
arteries, that the life-blood of commerce may flow freely.”
LABOR UNIONS IN THE UNITED STATES.
639
We are not enemies of railroads, navigable and irrigating canals, nor of any cor-
poration that will advance our industrial interests, nor of any laboring classes.
In our noble order there is no communism, no agrarianism.
We are opposed to such spirit and management of any corporation or enterprise
as tends to oppress the people and rob them of their just profits. We are not enemies
to capital, but we oppose the tyranny of monopolies. We long to see the antagonism
between capital and labor removed by common consent, and by an enlightened states-
manship worthy of the nineteenth century. We are opposed to excessive salaries,
high rates of interest and exorbitant per cent profits in trade. They greatly in-
crease our burdens and do not bear a proper proportion to the profits of the producers.
We desire only self-protection and the protection of every true interest of our land, by
legitimate transactions, legitimate trade and legitimate profits. We shall advance the
cause of education among ourselves, and for our children, by all just means within
our power. We especially advocate for our agricultural and industrial colleges, that
practical agriculture, domestic science, and all the arts which adorn the home, shall
be thoroughly taught.
The order established a large number of coöperative stores in all parts
of the country. It made an especial fight upon excessive railroad
charges, and the "Granger legislation" of 1874 to 1878 placed laws
upon the statute books.of nearly every state in the Union relative to un-
just discriminations, etc. In several states railroad commissioners were
appointed to regulate freight rates. The enactment of these laws, how-
ever, had a bad effect upon the Grange. Its members, thinking its mis-
sion accomplished, grew negligent and deserted it by hundreds of
thousands. The laws were enacted, and the Grange disbanded; but the
laws were never enforced. Traffic was "taxed all it would bear," despite
the laws. Over one million and a half of people have been initiated into
the Grange. Charters have been issued to nearly 30,000 Granges. In
1885, 150 lapsed Granges were reorganized, and the order is again rapidly
building up. Its general secretary, Rev. John Trimble, of Washington,
one of the ablest of organizers, recently said in an address, that the order
has answered the call for its existence, if not all that was expected of it,
more fully than has ever been done by any similar organization, is now
known and acknowledged of all men.
The principles and teachings of the order, its ritualism and its laws,
inculcate and enforce the spirit and the practice of fraternity, of good
neighborship and good citizenship.
No man can be a consistent member without being made thereby a
better man in all the relations of life. But the brightest jewel in its
crown is what the order has done for woman. It is the first secret order
that ever admitted woman to a full and free participation in its secrets,
its benefits and its honors. In former times, and even now, where the
640
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
benign influence of the Grange has not been felt, the lot of the wife and
daughter of the farmer is more deplorable than that of the farmer and
his son.
While the farmer occasionally met his fellows at the store or
the mill, or spent a social day with them at court or election, the poor
wife was left at home to perform the monotonous drudgery of her daily
rounds, with little of joy in the present or hope in the future.
You know that the Grange came to woman as a Savior, and that its
enunciation was to her "full of glad tidings of great joy." To this
audience I need not enlarge upon the advantages and pleasures that have.
come to our sisters through the Grange. I saw the first few timid sisters
take their seats in the National Grange abashed by the novelty of their
position. I have seen them subsequently participating in the important
work of the session with as intelligent a comprehension of their duties,
as prompt, careful and conscientious discharge thereof as the most zeal-
ous of their brethren. They have always been among the most faithful
and conservative members of the order. They, too, have been educated
in the school of the Grange.
At this time the Grange numbers 800,000 members, and is growing
with a rapidity equaled by no other organization, except the Knights of
Labor. The master of the National Grange is Mr. P. Darden, of Miss-
issippi. The Grange has an organ in nearly every state in the Union. At
least forty-eight weekly journals are published in its interest.
The Conductors' Brotherhood was formed in 1868, at Mendota, Illi-
nois. In 1879 it changed to the Order of Railway Conductors. The
order has now 7,700 members.
In 1869 the "United States Wool Hat Finisher's Association ” was
organized. The same year saw the rise of one of the most important of
the defunct labor organizations, the Knights of St. Crispin.
At one
time this society had 100,000 members, the local lodges were joined
together in state and district lodges, which were in turn joined into the
International Grand Lodge. The Knights of St. Crispin at one time.
controled the boot and shoe manufactories of the country, and the order
was recognized by nearly all the employers of labor in that industry. A
separate branch, composed of women, was called the "Daughters of
St. Crispin." This order looked beyond the mere trades-union idea, and
agitated a coöperative instead of a wage-system. The last meeting of
the Grand International Lodge was held in 1873. The order gathered
strength enough to take a part in the great strike of 1877; but it was
substantially crushed in 1873 by the combined opposition of employers.
A
CHAPTER VII. — THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR.
THEIR BEGINNING-URIAII STEVENS' THANKSGIVING DINNER-THE PRINCIPLES
LAID DOWN-"THE FIVE STARS"
"THE FIVE STARS"- THE LEADERS-THE ABANDONMENT OF
THE SECRET POLICY - STATISTICS SHOWING THE GROWTH OF THE ORDER
THE PLATFORM AND ITS METHODS-THE STRIKE OF 1886-THE PRESENT
STRENGTH, DISTRIBUTION AND ATTITUDE OF THE ORDER.
N°
O labor organization in the world has ever had the strength, as well
as the solidarity, of the Knights of Labor. It is a new factor in the
labor problem, and one whose consequences can hardly yet be computed.
In 1869 it had eleven members; it now numbers about 1,000,000 in the
United States and 300,000 more in Canada. It is not a trades-union nor
an assemblage of trades-unions. It accepts the unskilled worker to as
full fellowship as the most cunning artisan. It is a society for mutual
defense and united attack, which is so well entrenched that every careful
thinker must recognize it as one of the social forces of the day. The mar-
velous rapidity of its growth is in itself the best proof of its utility. The
fact that it lives and waxes strong, is prima facie evidence that it has a
right to live and to grow. At the present time it is the strongest weapon
which civilization has put in the hands of labor.
Its beginnings were sufficiently humble. It arose out of a failure. In
October, 1869, the "Garment-Cutters Society, of Philadelphia," had its
last meeting, and greatly discouraged at the outlook, resolved to disband.
After the meeting was over Uriah Stevens requested those who were in
favor of forming a union on different and new principles to remain in
the room.
Wm. Cook, James L. Wright, R. C. McCauley, I. M. Hilser,
James L. Kennedy and R. M. Keen, all of them clothing cutters, re-
mained and discussed with Stevens the plan which he proposed. A
couple of subsequent meetings were held, and on Thanksgiving day,
1869, nine men, the seven named above and two others, met at Uriah
Stevens' house and joined themselves together in the society which is
now known as the Knights of Labor. The cardinal principle of the con-
stitution was to form a union of all wage-workers irrespective of race,
creed or color. The principles of trades-unionism had obtained in the
country for half a century previously, but this was the first effort in the
41
641
r
f
642
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
direction of national organization of labor. From the first Stevens seems
to have had this consummation in view.
The society was at first strictly secret. Even its very existence was
unknown for several years, except to those who belonged to it. The
name was indicated by five asterisks, thus:
*
*
*
*
*
and the public came to hear alarming rumors about an order known as
"The five stars. When the asterisks were chalked up on Independence
Hall a gathering of several thousand men would follow, and the news-
papers and the alarmists worked most earnestly at the mystery. The
clergy anathematized it on general principles, as they did not know what
it was.
In June, 1878, the managers felt that the society was strong
enough to come out into the open, and accordingly a call was sent out
signed by the Grand Master Workman, Uriah S. Stevens. It began:
N. AND H. O.
OF THE
*
*
*
*
*
OF NORTH AMERICA.
PEACE AND PROSPERITY TO THE FAITHFUL!
TO THE FRATERNITY WHEREVER FOUND, GREETING
SPECIAL CALL.
The object of the meeting, in Mr. Stevens' words, was "to consider
the expediency of making the name of the order public, for the purpose.
of defending it from the fierce assaults and defamation made upon it
by press, clergy and corporate capital, and to take such further action as
shall effectually meet the grave emergency.'
""
The hostility of the Catholic church was appeased by the rule that
the pledge of secrecy did not bind in the confessional.
The actual figures of the growth of the order are interesting, a close
census is made each year and the following are the results as far as they
have been published: 1878, 80,000 members; 1883, 52,000; 1884, 71,000;
1885, 111,000; 1886, 729,000. The unprecedented increase of the order
in 1886 will be observed. So rapidly were new assemblies formed that it
was decided to check for a time at any rate, the growth, in the fear that
the mass of new members could not be properly assimilated.
The name of Knights of Labor was first adopted in 1871, when local
assembly No. 1, of Philadelphia, framed the new ritual which has since
been observed. While the society was still secret it spread over Pennsyl-
vania and the neighboring states, following, by a natural law, the rail-
•
THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR.
643
road lines, whose workingmen carried the seed into new fields contin-
ually. The order is still secret in places where lodges are being formed,
and where, for any reason, it is deemed prudent not to avow its existence.
As soon, however, as the leaders deem the time ripe, an open stand is
taken and the consequences met. In 1881 women were first admitted to
the order, and many assemblies are now in existence composed wholly
of females. There is at the present time a female Master Workman at
the head of a mixed assembly in Chicago. The first purely colored
assembly was organized in 1883, and during 1886 the increase in the col-
ored membership has been phenomenally rapid.
The organization is very simple and effective. The order is classified
into local assemblies, district assemblies, state assemblies and the general
assembly. The officers of the local assembly are Master Workman,
Worthy Foreman, Venerable Sage (retired Master Workman), Record-
ing and Financial Secretary, Treasurer, Worthy Inspector, Almoner,
Unknown Knight, Inside and Outside Esquires, Insurance Solicitor and
three Trustees. District assemblies are now optional, the state assembly
being supreme. The officers of the state assembly correspond to those
of the local. Under the present law the General Master Workman
receives $5,000 a year, the Worthy foreman $4 a day and expenses
while actually engaged; the Secretary and the Treasurer $2,000 a year
cach. Several changes were made in the constitution during the gen-
eral assembly of 1886. General officers' terms are now two years instead
of one. Representation in the general assembly is one for every 3,000
members and fraction thereof. Working cards are exchanged with
trades-union who reciprocate. Cigarmakers cannot belong both to the
International Union and the Knights of Labor. They must elect which
they will have.
The condensation of the preamble and constitution of the Knights
of Labor next presented was prepared some time since for the Missouri
Republican by the writer.
The alarming development and aggressiveness of great capitalists and corpora-
tions, unless checked, will inevitably lead to the pauperization and hopeless degrada-
tion of the toiling masses.
It is imperative, if we desire to enjoy the full blessings of life, that a check be
placed upon unjust accumulation, and the power for evil of aggregated wealth.
This much-desired object can be accomplished only by the united efforts of those
who obey the divine injunction, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread."
Therefore, we have formed the order of the Knights of Labor, for the purpose of
organizing and directing the power of the industrial masses, not as a political party, for
it is more in it are crystallized sentiments and measures for the benefit of the whole
644
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
people, but it should be borne in mind, when exercising the right of suffrage, that
most of the objects herein set forth can only be obtained through legislation, and that
it is the duty of all to assist in nominating and supporting with their votes only such
candidates as will pledge their support to those measures, regardless of party. But
no one shall, however, be compelled to vote with the majority, and calling upon all
who believe in securing "the greatest good to the greatest number," to join and assist
us, we declare to the world that our aims are:
1. To make industrial and moral worth the true standard of individual and
national greatness.
2. To secure to the workers the full enjoyment of the wealth they create, suf-
ficient leisure in which to develop their intellectual, moral and social faculties; all of
the benefits, recreations and pleasures of association; in a word, to enable them to
share the gains and honors of advancing civilization.
In order to secure these results, we demand at the hands of the state:
3. The establishment of bureaus of labor statistics, that we may arrive at a cor-
rect knowledge of the educational, moral and financial condition of the laboring
masses.
4.
That the public lands, the heritage of the people, be reserved for actual set-
tlers; not another acre for railroads or speculators, and that all lands now held for
speculative purposes be taxed to their full value.
5. The abrogation of all laws that do not bear equally upon capital and labor,
and the removal of unjust technicalities, delays and discriminations in the administra-
tion of justice.
6. The adoption of measures providing for the health and safety of those en-
gaged in mining and manufacturing, building industries, and for indemnification to
those engaged therein for injuries received through lack of necessary safeguards.
7. The recognition, by incorporation, of trades-unions, orders, and such other
associations as may be organized by the working masses to improve their condition
and protect their rights.
8.* The enactment of laws to compel corporations to pay their employés weekly,
in lawful money, for the labor of the preceding week, and giving mechanics and
laborers a first lien upon the product of their labor to the extent of their full wages.
9. The abolition of the contract system on national, state and municipal works.
10. The enactment of laws providing for arbitration between employer and em-
ployed, and to enforce the decision of the arbitrators.
11. The prohibition by law of the employment of children under fifteen years of
age in workshops, mines and factories.
12. To prohibit the hiring out of convict labor.
13. That a graduated income tax be levied.
And we demand at the hands of Congress:
14. The establishment of a national monetary system, in which a circulating me-
dium in necessary quantity shall issue direct to the people, without the intervention of
banks; that all the national issue shall be full legal tender in payment of all debts,
public and private; and that the government shall not guarantee or recognize any pri-
vate banks, or create any banking corporations.
15.
That interest-bearing bonds, bills of credit, or notes shall never be issued by
THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR.
645
the government; but that, when need arises, the emergency shall be met by issue of
legal tender, non-interest-bearing money.
16.
That the importation of foreign labor under contract be prohibited.
17. That in connection with the postoffice, the goverment shall organize financial
exchanges, safe deposits, and facilities for deposit of the savings of the people in
small sums.
18. That the government shall obtain possession, by purchase under the right of
eminent domain, of all telegraph, telephones and railroads, and that hereafter no
charter or license be issued to any corporation for construction or operation of any
means of transporting intelligence, passengers or freight.
And while making the foregoing demands upon the state and national govern-
ments, we will endeavor to associate our own labors -
19. To establish coöperative institutions such as will tend to supersede the wage-
system, by the introduction of a coöperative industrial system.
20. To secure for both sexes equal pay for equal work.
21. To shorten the hours of labor by a general refusal to work for more than
eight hours.
22. To persuade employers to agree to arbitrate all differences which may arise
between them and their employés, in order that the bonds of sympathy between them
may be strengthened and that strikes may be rendered unnecessary.
The first score of pages of the constitution deal solely with the
organization and management of the order, matters which have already
been made public, and which do not differ from the fundamental law of
other societies. As to secrecy, the following provision is article 14 of the
constitution:
Any district or local assembly working in any locality where the members
would be liable to be victimized in case the existence of the order were known, may
work secretly until such time as the strength of the membership will permit the local
to work openly, and any member of a district or local assembly working openly
visiting a district or local assembly working secretly, shall conform to the regulations
of such locality.
An assistance fund is formed by a tax of five cents for each member,
which is forwarded to the district assembly and held there and controlled
by the district assembly; but it is liable to assessment by order of the
general executive board for the relief of any other district assembly whose
funds have been exhausted by reason of lockouts and strikes. These
assessments must be subsequently repaid by the assembly receiving the
money, unless exonerated from repayment by the general executive
board. The article, after establishing the fund, goes on to say:
SEC. 12. In the establishment of this fund, for the purpose hereafter set forth,
we declare that strikes are deplorable in their effect and contrary to the best interests
of the order, and therefore nothing in this article must be construed to give sanction
to such efforts for the adjustment of any difficulty, except in strict accordance with the
laws laid down in this article.
SEC. 13. No strike shall be declared or entered into by any member or members
646
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
#
of any local assembly without the sanction of the executive board of the district or
local assembly, as the case may be.
SEC. 14. Any member or members of any local assembly attached to a district
assembly having a grievance requiring adjustment, shall report the facts of the case
in writing to the officers of the district, who shall take the matter into full considera-
tion, and use every effort to avoid a conflict. When any member or members of a local
assembly strikes or quits work without the sanction of their executive board, they
shall not be entitled to the benefits of the assistance fund.
SEC. 15. Members of local assemblies attached to the general assembly shall
submit any grievance directly to their executive board.
SEC. 16. In cases of lockouts, where members are refused employment because
of their adherence to the principles of the order, the executive board of the district or
local assembly may, after a thorough investigation, draw upon the assistance fund for
the relief of such members; but this shall not apply to cases where members are dis-
charged for incompetency or for other just cause.
SEC. 17. Individual cases where members are victimized or otherwise suffer loss
solely through their connection with the order, shall be provided for from this fund
in such manner as the executive board of their district or local assembly may deter.
mine.
SEC. 18. No disbursements shall be made from this fund except as provided for
in this article.
SEC. 19. Relief from the assistance fund shall not exceed $1 per day to any one
member.
SEC. 20. All assemblies shall be exempt from the payment of the assistance fund
for the space of six months after date of organization.
Article xvii. deals with practical coöperation and details a scheme
for a coöperative fund to be used by the trustees in the manner re-
scribed.
The conditions of membership are set forth fully in the constitution
for local assemblies, which provides
SEC. 2. At the option of each local any person over the age of sixteen years, except
as hereinafter provided, is eligible to become a member of the order; but no organizer
shall admit any person under eighteen years of age at the organization of a new local,
the admission of persons of the age of sixteen is left to the option of such new local
after the organization :
SEC. 3. No person who either sells or makes a living, or any part of it, by the
sale of intoxicating drink, either as manufacturer, dealer or agent, or through any
member of the family, can be admitted to membership in this order, and no lawyer,
banker, professional gambler or stock broker can be admitted.
The whole document is skillfully prepared and well written. The
same excellent judgment appears throughout its pages which has been
displayed in the work and spread of the organization.
Uriah S. Stevens, the founder of the Knights of Labor, was born in
Cape May county, New Jersev, in 1821, and was a tailor by trade. In
THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR.
647
1869 he took the first step toward the foundation of the order which has
since made his name famous. When Assembly No. 1 was organized he
was elected Master Workman, a position he held until the General
Assembly was founded in 1878, when he was again placed at the head of
the whole order, where he remained for nearly two years. His rapidly
failing health compelled him to decline a reëlection in 1879. He died
in Philadelphia shortly afterward. The last general convention at
Richmond, in 1886, authorized the purchase of a residence in Philadel-
phia to be presented to his family.
Terrence Vincent Powderly was born at Carbondale, Pa., anuary 24,
1849, of Irish parentage. He attended school from his seventh to his
thirteenth year, at which time he became a switchtender for the Dela-
ware and Hudson Canal Company. At the age of seventeen he entered the
machine shops of that company, where he worked for three years, learn-
ing the trade of a machinist. In 1869 he went to Scranton and worked
in the shops of the Delaware, Lackawana and Western Railroad. He
joined the Machinists' and Blacksmiths' National Union and became
President of that association. In November 1874 he joined Local
Assembly No. 88 Knights of Labor. He soon after induced the mem-
bers of the organization of which he was President to join the Knights,
and they organized Local Assembly No. 222 in November, 1876.
District Assembly was organized the same year, of which he became the
Secretary. In January, 1879, he was chosen General Worthy Foreman
of the National Assembly, and in September of the same year he wast
chosen General Master Workman, succeeding Uriah S. Stephens, to
which office he has been continuously reëlected. He was married in
1872. In 1878 he was elected Mayor of Scranton. The nomination for
various political offices, including Governor, have been tendered him since
the expiration of his term as Mayor, but he has persistently declined.
A
Richard Griffiths, of Chicago, the General Worthy Foreman, elected
October 13, 1886, was born in Wales in 1825. He was a shoemaker and
a prominent member of the Knights of St. Crispin. He was first elected
to his present position in 1879; with the exception of two terms as
General Treasurer, he has occupied the position ever since. He keeps a
cigar and stationery store in Chicago.
Charles II. Litchman, of Marblehead, Mass., the General Secretary,
was born in Massachusetts in 1849. IIe has been a shoemaker, an
editor and a publisher. He was a member of the legislature. He has
held the office to which he was in 1886 reëlected from 1878 to 1886.
Mr. Litchman intends to remove to Philadelphia.
648
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
Frederick Turner, of Philadelphia, the General Treasurer, was born
in England. He is by trade a gold beater. He has held the office of
Secretary and Treasurer since 1883. He is now engaged in the grocery
and provision trade in Philadelphia.
The Executive Board consists of the following six gentlemen:
Thomas B. Barry, of East Saginaw, Mich., is an ax maker, and has
been a member of the state legislature. He is an energetic worker.
John W. Hays, of New Brunswick, New Jersey, is engaged in the tea
business. He was formerly a telegraph operator, and has unfortunately
lost an arm. He is a warm friend and trusted lieutenant of Mr.
Powderly.
William H. Bailey, of Shawnee, Ohio, is a miner. He was foreman
for the Central Glover House Coal Co. He was engaged in mining on his
own account. He was the successful manager of the Gloverville strike.
Albert A. Carlton, of Somerville, Mass., is a shoecutter by trade.
IIe spent the last year in the service of the order as a lecturer. He is a
capable, intelligent worker.
Thomas B. McGuire, of New York City, is a marble rubber by trade.
Latterly he has followed truck driving. IIe has been employed as a
lecturer by the order during the past year.
Ira B. Aylesworth, of Baltimore, Md., is a stair builder. He is a
member of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and was chosen
an auxiliary member of the Executive Board at the Cleveland special
session. He is a prominent member of District Assembly No. 49.
One of the most notable as well as the most hopeful signs for the
future is the position taken by the Knights of Labor toward women.
The order has steadily taken the part of the female laborer and has been
a force in the direction of the amelioration of female labor. When girls
have struck work on account of bad or indecent treatment the Knights
have supported them and fought their battle. A great many instances
of the really chivalrous manner in which the quarrel of female labor has
been taken up has not been without its effect on the attitude of women
towards the order. The Knights are gaining recruits in England and in
Belgium at a rate which forecasts strength for them in the old world
similar to that already achieved in the United States. What the
position in the United States is, we all know. Says the New York Sun:
66
Manufacturers who a few years ago would have had nothing to do
with the Executive Board, and would have resented any interference in
their affairs by it, now send for it to arbitrate between their help and
themselves. For instance, in a potters' strike, in 1882, the employers
THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR.
649
in Trenton refused to resume work until their men quitted the Knights
of Labor. This year, in the face of another difficulty between their men
and themselves, they agreed to submit their difficulty to the Executive
Board. The men were out on strike, and the Board declined to do any-
thing until the men were taken back at the old prices. In three days.
they submitted a new scale to the employés and strikers, and, as Secre-
tary Turner says, 'succeeded in pleasing both sides for the first time in
our history.' The Potters' Association passed a vote of thanks to the
Board."
The first serious check which the order received was in the great rail-
road strike of 1886, an account of which will be found on a preceding
page. The order did not win, although it did not completely lose. Its
membership is larger in the Southwest than it was before the strike.
Mistakes were made which will hardly be repeated; and as we have en-
deavored to show in other parts of this book, it is only by their mistakes
that the workingmen of the world have been able to find out, painfully
and with grave losses, the right path to the position which labor in a free
country like America ought to assume. Strikes will not win. Violence
simply invites counter violence. If it came to the test, capital could se-
cure more dynamite than labor, and could apply it more successfully.
The only road out of the wilderness is to be won by careful organization
and peaceful and constitutional remedies. It may take time to accom-
plish the complete enfranchisement of labor, but the evil work of un-
counted centuries can not be undone in a day, nor in a decade.
The Knights of Labor may fail, but whether the organization dies or
lives, it has taught a lesson which will never be forgotten as long as man
shall earn his bread by the sweat of his brow. It has demonstrated the
overmastering power of a national combination among workingmen. If
the Knights of Labor were to dissolve tomorrow, on the next day a new
society would be formed to push on their work. No fair man can object
to the ends which they propose. Labor must win, and the sooner we all
come to a realizing sense of this fact the better will it be for America.
CHAPTER VIII.-LABOR UNIONS IN THE UNITED STATES -Concluded.
THE GERMAN-AMERICAN TYPOGRAPHICAL UNION-BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE
FIREMEN - THE NATIONAL HORSESHOERS' UNION-THE AMALGAMATED ASSO-
CIATION OF IRON AND STEEL WORKERS-THE GRANITE-CUTTERS' NATIONAL
UNION - THE LAKE SEAMEN'S UNION-THE LASTERS' PROTECTIVE UNION-
THE NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF BOILERMAKERS-THE AMERICAN BRANCH
OF THE AMALGAMATED CARPENTERS' AND JOINERS ASSOCIATION OF ENGLAND -
BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS AND JOINERS OF AMERICA-THE SOCIOLOGICAL
SOCIETY OF AMERICA THE MOLLY MAGUIRES - THE AMALGAMATED Asso-
CIATION OF MINERS AND MINE LABORERS
MINE LABORERS - THE JOURNEYMEN BAKERS'
NATIONAL UNION-THE SWITCHMEN'S MUTUAL AID ASSOCIATION THE
KNIGHTS OF INDUSTRY - FEDERATION OF TRADES.
IN
IN 1873 the National German-American Typographical Unicn was or-
ganized in Philadelphia with seven local unions in various cities of
the United States and a total membership of 400. It now has seventeen
local unions and 1,200 members. But few German printers in the coun-
try are not members of this union, and perhaps no organization has
more complete control of its trade. It pays a sick benefit of $5 per
week, an out-of-work benefit of $5, and a strike benefit of $7 per week;
it pays $200 to the widow upon the death of a member, and $25 to a
member upon the death of his wife. The business of the organization
is thoroughly systematized and centralized. It is controled by the National
Secretary, Hugo Miller, of New York City. The dues of the organiza-
tion are very high, and twice each year there is an equalization of the
funds. The union is a part of the federation of trades, and its members
work but eight hours per day. It is in complete harmony with the
International Typographical Union. It has also a connection with the
typographical union of Germany, so that German printers coming to
this country can deposit German cards in their union here without pay-
ment of initiation fee, and vice versa.
December 1, 1873, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen of North
America was organized at Port Jervis, N. Y., by eleven firemen on the
Erie Railroad. The Brotherhood now has lodges in every state and ter-
ritory in the union, and in Mexico and Canada. It was organized prin-
cipally for benevolent purposes, and with the object of elevating the
intellectual, social and moral status of firemen. In 1885 it was made a
650
LABOR UNIONS IN THE UNITED STATES.
651
distinctive labor organization, and protective laws were established. It
has now 334 subordinate lodges, and 17,000 members. The first grand
master was Mr. J. A. Leach, of Kansas City. He was succeeded by Mr.
W. R. North. The third Grand Master was Mr. F. B. Alley, of Indian-
apolis. Mr. Alley was succeeded by W. T. Gundie, now general man-
ager of the New York elevated railway. Mr. F. W. Arnold, of Colum-
bus, Ohio, was elected his successor. S. M. Stevens, of Lowell, Mass.,
was for many years grand organizer, but in 1885 he was succeeded by J.
J. Hannahan, of Englewood, Ill., who is also Vice-Grand Master of the
Brotherhood. The present Grand Master is F. P. Sargent, of Terre
Haute. The Fireman's Journal, of Terre Haute, Ind., is the official
organ of the Brotherhood. The Grand Secretary is Mr. E. V. Debs, who
is ex-officio editor of the Journal.
In 1874 the National Horseshoers' Union was formed, although the
horseshoers' union of New York City, from which the National Union
sprang, dates back to 1849. In 1874 six of the larger cities sent dele-
gates to Philadelphia to organize a National Union. The strike of 1877,
which killed so many trades-unions, stunned this one also, but it never
disbanded. In 1880 another convention was called. There are now
twenty-eight local unions, with 5,784 members. The treasury fund is
never disturbed by strikes, or by death of members, as these call for
special assessments. In case of the death of a member, the widow or
relatives receive fifty cents per capita of the entire membership of the
National Union. The union has had very few strikes, and Mr. James Raf-
ferty, of Allegheny City, Pa., the President, states that wages are generally
satisfactory. A strike in 1885, in Newark, resulted in such a decisive.
victory that little further trouble is feared.
The order of "Sovereigns of Industry" was founded in 1874, by
William H. Earle, in Worcester, Mass. In the language of its preamble,
it is "an association of the industrial laboring classes, without regard to
race, sex, color, nationality or occupation; not founded for the purpose
of waging any war of aggression upon any other class, or for foster-
ing any antagonism of labor against capital, nor of arraying the poor
against the rich, but for mutual assistance in self-improvement and self-
protection." Its principal aim was distributive co-operation; its hope, to
do away with the "middle-man." In 1878 it numbered 10,000 members
in Massachusetts alone, and built a block in Springfield, Mass., at a cost
of $40,000. Its organ was the Sovereign Bulletin, which in 1878 claimed
that the order had 180,000 members. It died in 1880. The legislation
which relaxed the zeal of the Grangers killed the Sovereigns' organiza-
652
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
tion. But the experience that the coveted laws are but dead letters is
having a revivifying effect, and the Sovereigns of Industry reorganized
in 1886.
In 1873 the Associated Brotherhood of Iron and Steel Heaters, and
the Iron and Steel Roll-Hands' Union, were organized. In 1876 these
two unions and the Sons of Vulcan came together and formed the strong-
est trades-union in the United States, the Amalgamated Association of
Iron and Steel Workers. The business of this large union has been
thoroughly systematized. Each mill has a "mill committee," whose
duty it is to watch the interests of the members, and attend to any com-
plaint that may arise. The Amalgamated Association admits the follow-
ing classes of workmen to membership: Puddlers, boilers, heaters and
their helpers, roll-hands (except drag-outs in muck-mills), nailers, spike-
makers, nail and spikefeeders, hammermen, shinglers and knobblers,
refiners, roll-turners; also picklers, annealers, washmen, assorters, and
tinmen in tin-mills, hot and cold straighteners and their helpers, gaggers
and drillers working by the ton, chargers, pull-outs, hot-bed men, and
clippers in rail-mills, wiredrawers, tackers, springmakers, springfitters,
axleturners, watertenders, rivetmen, axlemakers, their heaters and
helpers, heaters and welders in pipe-mills, gasmakers in crucible steel
and iron works, after they have been working at the business one year,
shearmen in bar, plate, sheet and nail-mills, engineers and blacksmiths
directly connected with iron, steel or tin works; also stokers, chargers,
cupolatenders, speigel melters, runnermen, vesselmen, bottommakers,
ladlemen, pitmen, cindermen, stagemen and blowers working by the ton,
and pipefitters connected with Bessemer steel works; also keepers and
their helpers, bottom-fillers, engineers, ironmen, cindermen, and water-
tenders at blast-furnaces directly connected with Bessemer steel-mills.
وو
"The elevation of its members, to maintain the best interests of the
association, and to obtain by conciliation, or other means that are fair
and legal, a fair remuneration for labor performed, and to protect mem-
bers against broken contracts, unlawful discharges, and obnoxious rules,'
are the objects of the organization. Each member pays twenty-five
cents per month to a protective fund, for the support of "victimized
members," "legalized strikes," etc. No subordinate lodge is permitted
to strike unless authorized by the executive committee of the district.
No trades-union has done so much to introduce and render arbitration
popular as the Amalgamated Association. Its former President, John
Jarrett, rarely lost a strike upon which he was forced to enter. The
employers have generally acquiesced in the rules of the association. A
LABOR UNIONS IN THE UNITED STATES.
653
scale of prices is agreed upon once a year, usually the "sliding scale,
that is, so much is to be considered wages, at the price at which
iron is selling at the time of the agreement. If, during the year, the
price of iron advances, wages are to advance in a certain ratio; if iron
decreases in price, wages are to decline. The association fixes the quan-
tity of iron which shall constitute a heat, or, in other words, fixes the
limit of a day's work. No one is allowed to work boys under fifteen
years of age; and if any member goes to his work drunk, or loses work
-through drunkenness, he is expelled from the union, and can never be
reinstated. Wm. Weihe, of Pittsburgh, is President. The present mem-
bership numbers 60,000, which is nearly double that of any other dis-
tinctive trades-union.
The Granitecutters' National Union was organized in 1877. Mr.
Josiah P. Dyer, of Philadelphia, is the general Executive Secretary.
The union has had a bitter struggle against convict labor. There are
now 6,000 members; but owing to the forced competition with criminal
labor at a merely nominal price, and the importation under contract of
foreign stonecutters to do state work, the members of the union are gen-
erally poor, and the union itself struggling for its very existence. The
Granitecutters' Journal is their official organ.
In 1878 the Lake Seamen's union was formed in Chicago. Its pres-
ent membership is 8,000. Mr. Richard Powers, of Chicago, is its Presi-
dent. All members must be practical seamen; no saloon-keeper is allowed
to hold office or be appointed on committees; religious and political
questions are not to be discussed at its meetings. Each member pledges
himself to protect the property of a vessel in danger, even at the sacri-
fice of his own life, provided the vessel carries a union crew. The wife
of dependents of a member drowned by accident receives $50. A sick
benefit of $4 per week is allowed. The union has raised the wages of
sailors at least fifty per cent.
The organization now known as the Lasters' Protective Union of New
England, had its origin in the city of Lynn, Massachusetts, in December,
1879. After the dissolution of the once famous organization known as
the Knights of St. Crispin, the shoemakers of Lynn were for a time
without organization. The manufacturers, taking advantage of this
fact, for years made a practice of reducing the wages of the operatives.
throughout the city at the beginning of each season's work. The lasters,
always the poorest paid of any of the operatives, were the first to feel the
effect of these frequent reductions, and also the first to realize the neces-
sity of some organized effort to protect themselves, and, if possible, restore
654
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
wages to their former standard. Accordingly, a portion of them, sixteen
in number, met and organized under the name of the Lasters' Protective
Union, as above stated. The determined and aggressive policy pursued
by the organization in its infancy, secured for it repeated successes,
which, becoming known to lasters in other localities, led to the forma-
tion of many new unions. As these unions grew in number and influ-
ence, the necessity for some system of concerted action became apparent
and accordingly a convention of the several unions was held, and a con-
stitution adopted for their government. In 1885 it was decided to estab-
lish the unions on a more perfect and permanent basis, and they were then
consolidated under one head, to be known as the Lasters' Protective
Union of New England. A constitution was then adopted for the gov-
ernment of the organization, with proper provisions for regulating strikes,
dues, membership, etc, The officers of the organization consist of a
General Secretary, a General Treasurer and an Advisory Board. Edward
L. Daley of Lynn, Massachusetts, is the General Secretary, and it is to
his ability that much of the success of the organization is due. The dues
are four cents per month, per capita. Since 1879, 1,700 settlements
have been made with employers, upon a satisfactory wage basis, and at
present the larger employers of their labor annually meet a committee
of the Lasters' Protective Union and settle upon a basis of wages for the
year. There are now fifty-eight branches of the organization, and a
total membership of 7,864. The general convention meets every six
months. One of the more important topics of discussion at its last meet-
ing was the advisability of merging the union into the Knights of Labor,
as a district assembly. The best of feeling exists between this union
and the knights.
The national organization of the boilermakers was effected in 1880.
Prior to that, several cities had local unions. In Chicago an active local
organization existed, which sent out an organizer to the various cities
and succeeded in establishing sixty-four unions. Delegates from these
met in national convention in Chicago in May, 1881, and organized a
national union. The next year a convention was held in Boston, revis-
ing the constitution to meet the demands of the rapidly growing organ-
ization. The third convention was held in 1884, in Cincinnati, at which
time the iron shipbuilders were admitted, and the unions from Canada
sought representation. The name, International Brotherhood of
Boilermakers, and Iron Shipbuilders and Helpers, was then adopted.
The convention in 1885 was attended by representatives from England.
In 1882 the union had a great strike in New York City, when several
LABOR UNIONS IN THE UNITED STATES.
655
firms united and sent to England for men. Mr. Thomas J. Curran, the
President of the union, cabled to Robert Knight, Secretary of the Boiler-
makers' Union of Great Britain, and, as a result, not a man could be
hired in England. The officers consist of an International President,
Vice-President, International Secretary, Treasurer, and an Administrative
Council of five members. The President, Mr. T. J. Curran, has been
very successful in his management of the affairs of the union. He says:
"We have had strikes from Maine to California, from Canada to the
Gulf of Mexico, and have never lost one yet. We never let a local
branch strike until we have placed the international in a condition to
win the strike." The union is incorporated under the laws of the state
of New York; it pays a sick and death benefit; its rules regulating
the quality of work are very stringent, and a boilermaker who is known
to slight his work is immediately expelled. The importance to life and
public safety of honest work in boilermaking is inculcated in their
ritual. The membership is 20,000.
The Bricklayers and Stonemasons' Union was organized in 1880.
Thomas O'Dea, of New York, is its President. The preamble to its con-
stitution says:
History for ages past tells us that mechanics in various countries have adopted
measures not only to advance their respective trades to a state of higher perfection,
but also to preserve them from oppression. Indeed, when we consider a body of
mechanics who have devoted the best years of their youth to acquire a knowledge of
their trade for the support of manhood, it must be evident to the mind that they
should preserve it from all violation and encroachment, otherwise they are not faithful
or just to themselves and their successors. "The laborer is worthy of his hire,” and
God in His wisdom hath ordained that by the sweat of our brow we shall obtain our
bread. It is therefore a duty which we owe to ourselves, our families and successors,
and for the time spent in our youth in the acquirement of a knowledge of our trade,
that we join together and form a compact for our own protection.
"Nothing is difficult beneath the sky,
Man only fails, because he fails to try.
The membership of this union is 12,000.
"
The carpenters have made several attempts to form a national organi-
zation. The first attempt was in 1854; another, in 1867, was partially,
but not permanently successful. In 1860 the Amalgamated Carpenters'
Union was formed in England, and met with wonderful success. In
1869 it organized an American branch in New York City, and branches
multiplied rapidly throughout the East. Though the headquarters of this
organization are in London, it has a District in America numbering 7,000
members. Mr. James Hamilton, of New York City, is the President
656
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
of the American District. The success of the Amalgamated Carpenters
encouraged another attempt to organize a distinctively American union.
Mr. P. J. McGuire, at that time a journeyman carpenter in St. Louis,
issued a small monthly sheet, in which he called upon the trade to organ-
ize. The little journal, though its editor had only his "after-work"
hours to devote to it, met with a hearty response. The first number of
The Carpenter, for such was the name of the journal, was issued in
April, 1881, and in August a convention was called to meet in Chicago.
Thirty-six delegates were present, representing eleven cities and twelve
local unions, with a total of 2,042 members. At that convention it was
decided that the organization should extend into Canada and the British
Provinces, as well as throughout the United States. And for that reason
the name, Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, was
chosen.
From twelve local unions in 1881 the Brotherhood has increased to
214 local unions at the present writing, and from a membership of 2,042
it has grown to 42,521 members. Its jurisdiction stretches from Union
No. 83, of Halifax, Nova Scotia, to San Francisco, Los Angeles and
British Columbia, with eleven local unions in Canada, and more than a
score of unions in the Southern States, as far south as New Orleans and
Galveston. In the Southern States the colored men working at the
trade have taken hold of the organization with avidity, and the result is
the Brotherhood embraces fourteen unions of colored carpenters in the
South.
The conventions of the Brotherhood are held once every two years,
and these bodies elect the general officers and frame the laws. In the
interim between conventions, the society is governed by an Executive
Board of five members, elected by the unions within ten miles of the
city selected as headquarters. In this Executive Board the General Sec-
retary and General Treasurer have a voice, but no vote. The chief
administrative or working officer is the General Secretary; the office of
General President is merely honorary, and with very few duties attached
to it, being simply of a supervisory character. The first General Presi-
dent was G. Edmonston, Washington, D. C., and the following gentle-
men have acted successively in that capacity, viz: J. D. Allen, Philadel-
phia; J. P. McGinley, Chicago; J. F. Billingsley, Washington, and W.
J. Shields, Boston, the latter being the present incumbent. P. J. Mc-
Guire was the first General Secretary, and for five years he has been
retained in the position, and was again unanimously elected by the last
convention.
LABOR UNIONS IN THE UNITED STATES.
657
At the Philadelphia Convention, in 1882, the organization adopted
the benevolent features it now embraces. On the death of a member six
months in good standing, his heirs or family are entitled to $250. In
case of the permanent disability of a member by any accident occurring
to him while working at the trade, he is entitled to $250 on two years'
membership, and $100 on six months' membership. Should the wife of
a married member die, he receives $50 funeral benefit. The majority of
the local unions have weekly sick benefits ranging from $3 to $6 per
week.. At the next convention it is proposed to adopt as general features,
a superannuation benefit for members who have been attached to the
organization for twenty years, and who are over sixty years of age; also a
system for the insurance of members' tools in case of loss or damage by
fire. Instructions to that effect were given by the last convention, held at
Buffalo in 1886.
In locating the headquarters of the Brotherhood, in obedience to local
influences, the past policy has been one of continual change every two
years, and in this way the headquarters have been, at various periods, in
St. Louis, New York, and Cleveland. But the recent convention decided
on the permanent location of the office in Philadelphia until November,
1896
The qualifications for membership are that the applicant must be a
carpenter and joiner, engaged at woodwork, and competent to com-
mand average wages, not more than sixty years of age, of good moral
character and sound health, and not afflicted with any disease or subject
to any complaint likely to endanger life. Any stairbuilder, millwright,
planing mill bench hand, or any cabinetmaker engaged at carpenter
work, or any carpenter running wood-working machinery, is eligible to
membership, if possessed of the above qualifications. Members who be-
come contractors can retain their membership provided they hire union
men and pay union wages, and do not join any union of contractors.
Any member who engages in the sale of intoxicating drinks must with-
draw from the organization.
If a member is defrauded of his wages by an employer, and reports to
his union within four weeks after the day upon which he should have
been paid, it is the duty of the local union to advance sufficient funds to
prosecute for said wages.
In the early infancy of the Brotherhood, it was purely protective in
its character, upholding wages and struggling to advance them, but
always bent upon a movement to shorten the hours of daily toil. At its
second convention, held in Philadelphia, in 1882, it laid down the set-
42
658
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
tled policy of advocating the adoption of nine hours as a day's work. In
obedience to this rule the local unions of the Brotherhood on the Pacific
coast adopted the system, first in San Francisco, May 1, 1883, and since
then in every city of any size in California. Wherever there is a local
union of carpenters on the Pacific slope, not only is nine hours the rule.
for carpenters, but for all branches of labor in the building line. Seven
of the local unions, with 2,486 members, are working on the eight-hour
system; seventeen local unions, with 5,824 members, are working on the
nine-hour plan, and twenty-one unions have shorter hours of labor on
Saturday, making a sum total of 72,434 hours per week gained to the
members by organization. Wages in the trade range from $2 to $3.50
per day, the general average being from $2.25 to $2.50. In the larger
proportion of cities, wages for carpenters have been advanced an average
of fifty cents per day the past five years. This alone, say for 40,000
members, working 250 days per year, makes a total increase of $5,000,-
000 in wages the past year, not to take into account the large number of
non-union men who have been likewise benefited by increased wages.
The total amount spent for strikes by the local unions of the Brotherhood
the past year amounts to only $1,641. The policy of the Brotherhood is to
avoid strikes and render them almost impossible. To order a strike re-
quires a two-thirds vote by secret ballot of the members, and all mem-
bers must have two weeks' notice to attend the meeting. Then the
consent of the General Executive Board must be obtained, and if
granted, the "Protective Fund" of the whole Brotherhood is at the
command of the local union in trouble. But before the union takes a
ballot on the subject an arbitration committee from the union must wait
on the employers, and endeavor to adjust the difficulty.
To avoid the dangers of doing business in a mob fashion, a new law
has been recently adopted, so that local unions are not allowed to have
more than 400 members. When a union numbers more than 400 mem-
bers a second union has to be formed, and all local unions in a city are
governed by the same scale of wages and the same working rules.
The Brotherhood has been foremost in organizing councils or leagues
of the building trades. These leagues exist in over a score of cities, and
are composed of delegates from each trades-union in the building line.
Their object is to assist each other in having none but union men em-
ployed on a building, regardless of whether it be the hod-carriers, brick-
layers, painters, carpenters, or any other branch of labor. In case a
non-union man is employed, they all make common cause together to
influence him to become a union man, and they likewise see to it that
LABOR UNIONS IN THE UNITED STATES.
659
wages are paid regularly on the regular pay-night without waiting the
slow, tedious process of getting a lien through the courts. Should any
employer or contractor on a building fail to pay the workmen on the
regular pay-day in any one of the trades so combined, all other trades
employed on the job will quit work until the wages are paid. In regard
to the relation between this and other labor organizations, the General
Secretary, P. J. McGuire, of Cleveland, Ohio, in a recent address, said:
In its relations to other labor organizations the Brotherhood of Carpenters has
always carried out a fraternal policy. In the boycott of "scab"-made nails, during
the recent lockout of the nailmakers, the local unions of carpenters were of great
service, for they steadfastly refused to use or buy such nails until in the end the nail
manufacturers were forced to come to terms with their employés. In the purchase of
cigars, hats, etc., wherever there is a union label, the members of our unions make
it a practice to buy none but union-label goods. This fraternal policy extends even
beyond the Atlantic, and the most cordial relations are maintained by the Brotherhood
through official correspondence with the National Carpenters' Unions of Great Britain,
Germany, France, Switzerland, Denmark, Italy and Spain.
In America the local unions in each locality are connected with the Trades Assem-
blies or central bodies of local trades and labor unions wherever such exist; while the
general body, the Brotherhood itself, is affiliated with the Federation of Trades, which
holds its congress annually.
While the Brotherhood is not in any way attached to the Knights of Labor, and
has refused to connect itself with them, nevertheless it fully recognizes the useful
work that has been done, and that still remains to be done by said order. While it
will preserve its own form of organization, and is opposed to a centralization of power
and authority in the labor movement, yet the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners
will be always found ready to help and assist the Knights, as well as any other branch
of organized labor, at any time when aid is needed."
There is also a United Order of Carpenters, of which J. H. Perry, of
Brooklyn, is secretary.
The Sociologic Society of America was organized in the city of New
York, May 24, 1882. The society was founded by a group of ladies who
had attended a course of lectures on coöperation, by Mrs. Imogene C.
Fales, of Brooklyn, N. Y. The first organization was composed entirely
of ladies; though the present membership is composed of both sexes.
The motto of the society is, "Coöperation the law of the new civiliza-
tion." 66
'Believing that the measure of reward should be based upon the
productiveness of labor, instead of upon the law of supply and demand';
that competition-while it has produced good in the past, despite the
suffering it has occasioned - is now reversing its action, and is working
against the further progress of society; that the very nature of the prin-
ciple of competition is to break down and destroy the weaker industries,
660
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
and to concentrate wealth to such an extent as to disturb the entire
industrial system," the Sociologic Society seeks to avert what it considers.
an impending social catastrophe, by substituting profit-sharing and
co-operation for the wage system.
The society also holds that "labor, as it organizes and becomes
united in various unions, should recognize that those unions, while nec-
essary as a means of protection, are incapable of changing the present
condition of things and placing Labor and Capital in harmonious rela-
tions. What is needed is, not so much an advance in wages, as the con-
cession of the right of Labor to share in profits-in other words, to
introduce a new industrial system, where Capital is restricted to a fixed
rate of interest, and Labor, over and above the market rate of wages, is
allowed a share in the profits of the business."
The society has now an extended organization. Its officers are:
President, Mrs. Imogene C. Fales, of Brooklyn; Vice-President, Mrs.
Helen Campbell, of Orange, New Jersey; Treasurer, Joseph Lafumee,
of Brooklyn; General Secretary, Mrs. Lita Barney Sayles; Secretary of
the Southwest, Mrs. Margaret Peake, of Sandusky, Ohio; Secretary for
the Northwest, Miss Elizabeth Wyer, of St. Paul, Minn.; Secretary for
Middle States, George Boush, of Norfolk, Va.; Foreign Secretary, Prof.
C. H. A. Bjerregaard, Astor Library, New York City. The Chairman
of the Co-operative Board is Samuel Whittles, jr., of Fall River, Mass.,
and the Chairman of the Advisory Board is the Rev. B. F. De Costa, of
New York City. The society issues tracts and co-operative literature,
and at the Boston meeting decided to publish a journal, to be called
The Cooperative News.
This organization is important as showing the drift of the labor
movement. While not a trades-union, nor indeed a labor organization
in the strictest sense, yet it directs and points out the ultimate aims of all
labor organizations—the abolition of the wage system and the substitu-
tion of a profit-sharing and coöperative system of industry in its stead.
In 1883 the National Hatmakers' Union was formed with headquar-
ters in Philadelphia. George L. Gill, of Brooklyn, is its President.
In 1884 the railroad brakmen organized a National Brotherhood,
which has now 18,000 members. It publishes a monthly journal called
the Brakeman's Journal, at Rock Island, Illinois.
The condition of the coalminers of the United States, is, perhaps,
more deplorable than that of the miners of any other country. In Eng-
land and France legislation has done much to lighten the hardships inci-
dent to their occupation, but here legislation has been almost entirely
LABOR UNIONS IN THE UNITED STATES.
661
the other way; and, in the absence of legislation, syndicates of mine
operators have united to place upon the miners burdens almost unbear-
able. To ameliorate their condition, the miners have from time to time
formed organizations, and on September 12th, 1885, at Indianapolis, a
National Federation of all miners' organizations was formed. In 1874
the miners of Pennsylvania were pretty well organized, with John Siney
as their President, and Zingo Parks as Vice-President. The organization
had become quite general, and consequently powerful throughout the
state, when in 1875 a strike was provoked by a reduction in wages. At
first confined to Clearfield and Center counties, the strike afterward be-
came general throughout the state. The "coal and iron police," a pri-
vate armed body of men, was at that time formed and employed by Pres-
ident Gowan of the Anthracite Coal Exchange and by George R. Britton,
of the Soft Coal Exchange. John Siney and Zingo Parks were arrested
in 1875 for conspiracy. They were defended by Matt Carpenter. Mr.
Siney was acquitted, but Zingo Parks was sent to the penitentiary.
Emboldened by this, another reduction in wages was ordered by the
employers, and the "police" became more brutal and overbearing than
before. John Siney died of grief and hunger in 1876, and with him all
organizations among the men. His death was followed by another reduc-
tion in the price of mining. The men, now disorganized, became a furi-
ous, howling mob and committed many depredations. The New York
Bureau of Labor Commissioners says in its third report: "Most of the
mobs which have created trouble in former years, were composed of dis-
organized laborers. The lawless classes are rarely union men and often
not working men at all." This was especially true of the instance now
under review. As soon as the men became disorganized they became
desperate. Ignorant of the real cause of their misfortunes, they laid all
the blame on the "bosses" or superintendents, who were really only
obeying the orders of their superiors, but many of whom were maltreated
and some were killed. The wiser ones among the miners, at length
formed a secret brotherhood for the purpose of keeping alive the spirit
of unionism until better days should dawn. Learning of this secret
organization among the miners-their other unions had been open,
President Gowan called upon the Catholic Bishop Wood to interfere.
This prelate hurled an anathema at the head of the infant brotherhood,
and the entire power of pulpit and press was brought to bear against the
organization. The members were called Molly Maguires, and by that
name the organization became known throughout the country. The
original Molly Maguires, it may be remarked, en passant, were an
662
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
ancient Irish organization, formed in the fourteenth century, and con-
demned by the Roman Church, owing to their secrecy, but which event-
ually became the Ancient Order of Hibernians. The revival of the name
Molly Maguires and its application to the coal miners of Pennsylvania,
was a great stroke of policy for President Gowan. The church once
aroused, the press took up the popular clamor and echoed it far and
near. Every time the frenzied miners would make a raid upon some
unsuspecting bakery and steal bread, or when in desperation they murdered
an underboss, the offense was magnified, distorted and laid to the door
of the "Molly Maguires." At length the Pinkerton Detective Agency,
of Chicago, furnished a man, afterward known as informer McFartlen,
who claimed to have become a member of the organization, and to have
learned all its secrets. At his instigation, a large number of the more.
intelligent members of the brotherhood were arrested, and upon his tes-
timony fourteen of them were hanged. Informer McFartlen, stricken
blind, now begs his bread from door to door, led by a dog through the
streets of Chicago. The coal operators of Pennsylvania were not dis-
turbed by labor organizations for some time after the vigorous mani-
festation of the majesty of the law above noted.
The coal miners of Ohio at one time had a fine organization, and had
little or no trouble until the mines, originally owned by individuals and
small companies, were finally concentrated into the hands of the Hock-
ing Valley Coal and Iron Syndicate. The price of mining was reduced
from time to time until it resulted in the great Hocking Valley strike.
John McBride was at that time at the head of the organization in Ohio.
The men were literally starved into submission. Before the committee
of the Ohio Legislature appointed to investigate that strike, Mr. W. P.
Rend, of Chicago, testified that he had large mining interests in Hocking
Valley, and that he could pay the price the men asked for mining and then
make 30 per cent upon the capital invested. He stated that he was willing
to pay the price; but that the railroads refused to haul his coal unless he
reduced the wages of his men to the standard offered by the syndicate.
A large number of arrests were made, "Pinkerton's patrol" was liberally
patronized, and the organization among the miners was completely
crushed. The miners are at this time, however, by no means in an
unorganized condition. The Amalgamated Association of Miners has a
splendid organization. George Harris, of Pittsburgh, is its President.
There is also a district assembly of the Knights of Labor, made up of
local assemblies composed entirely of miners and mine laborers. This is
District 135, and Mr. W. H. Bailley is the District Master Workman.
LABOR UNIONS IN THE UNITED STATES.
663
Mr. Bailley is also a member of the General Executive Board of the
General Assembly of Knights of Labor.
The National Federation of Miners and Mine Laborers is what its
name implies and is a union of all state and local unions. The move-
ment was projected by the Ohio Miners' Aid Association, and the Illinois
Miners' Protective Association, the call was issued by John McBride,
President of the Ohio organization, George Harris, President of the
Pennsylvania organization, and of the Amalgamated Union, and by Dan
McLauchlin, President of the Illinois Miners' Protective Association.
The convention met in Indianapolis, September 12, 1885. It issued the
following preamble to its constitution :
As miners and mine laborers our troubles are everywhere of a similar character.
The inexorable law of supply and demand determine the point where our interests
unite. The increased shipping facilities of the last few years have made all coal-pro-
ducing districts competitors in the markets of this country. This has led to indis-
criminate cutting of market prices and unnecessary reductions in our wages, which
for some time have been far below a living rate. Our wages are no longer regulated
by our skill as workmen, nor by the value of the products of our labor, but by com-
petition with cheaper labor. Our standard of workmanship is fast being lowered by
the present method of screening coal before weighing, and of the practice on the part
of our employers of importing foreign cheap labor to their mines. In many localities
free speech has been effectually suppressed. That monstrous swindling machine, the
"truck system," which was banished from England by legislation, has been trans-
planted, and is now flourishing in our midst. Our ills are many and our privileges
few; all can be attributed to the lack of organized effort on our part. Our failure to
act in concert when contesting for principles and rights has brought about the
demoralization and degradation of our craft. Local, district and state organizations
have done much toward ameliorating the condition of our craft in the past, but today,
neither district nor state unions can regulate the markets to which their coal is
shipped. We know this to our sorrow. Hence, while approving of local organiza-
tions, whether secret or open in character, we are convinced that by federation under
one general head our powers for good would be increased and a speedy betterment of
our common condition follow. In a federation of all lodges and branches of miners'
unions lies our only hope. Single-handed we can do nothing, but federated there is
no power of wrong we may not openly defy. Federation will act as a stimulant and
infuse new life into all the different local, district and state organizations. It should
do so.
The cry of distress which arises from members of our craft in all sections of
the country demands us to act, and act at once. Then let us organize and agitate for
liberty and living mining rates for justice to our craft.
Mr. Christopher Evans, of Ohio, was elected Executive Secretary,
and Daniel McLaughlin, of Braidwood, Ill., Treasurer. The heads of
state departments were selected as follows: George Harris, Pittsburgh,
Pa.; John McBride, Massillon, O.; David Ross, Oglesby, Ill.; Patrick
664
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
McAdams, Oakland City, Ind.; T. P. Gray, Coal Valley, W. Va.; A. M.
Reed, Lucas, Iowa; James Smith, Scranton, Kan. These with the
general officers form an Executive Board. One of the most significant
features of this organization is its attempts to bring operators and
operatives together and fix by arbitration the prices of mining for each
coming year. The result of these attempts forms a sad commentary on
the bright hopes and promises held out by those friends of arbitration
who claim that it is the panacea for all of labor's ills. The National
Federation issued a call asking for a conference of mine owners and
miners; in accordance with this call a committee of miners and mine
operators issued the following remarkable circular letter:
To the Miners and Mine Owners of the States and Territories: At a meeting held
in Indianapolis, Sept. 12, 1885, by the executive board of the National Federation of
Miners and Mine Laborers, a resolution was passed instructing its secretary to draft
an address to the mine operators of the United States and territories, asking for a joint
meeting with the board for the purpose of adjusting market and mining prices in
such a way as to avoid strikes and lockouts, and give to each party an increased profit
from the sale of coal.
In pursuance of this call and in response to this invitation a convention assem-
bled in Chicago, Oct. 15, 1885, composed of a number of coal operators having mines
in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania, and of the delegates representing miners
employed in the various coal producing regions of the country.
The undersigned committee, consisting of three mine owners and three delegates
representing the miners' organizations, were appointed to make a general public pres-
entation of the objects and purposes of this convention, and to extend an invitation to
all those engaged in the coal mining of America to lend their active coöperation
toward the establishment of harmony and friendship between capital and labor in this
large and important industry.
The undersigned committee believe that this convention will prove to be the
inauguration of a new era for the settlement of the industrial question in our mining
regions in accordance with intelligent reasoning and based upon fair play and mutual
justice.
The history and experience of the past make it apparent to every intelligent and
thoughtful mind that strikes and lockouts are false agencies and brutal resorts for the
adjustment of the disputes and controversies arising between employing capital and
employed labor. They have become evils of the gravest magnitude, not only to those
immediately concerned in them but also to general society, being fruitful sources of
public disturbance, riot and bloodshed. Sad illustrations of this truth are now being
witnessed in certain of our large cities, and in several of the mining and manufactur-
ing centers of the country. These industrial conflicts generally involve waste of capi-
tal on the one hand and the impoverishment of labor on the other. They engender
bitter feelings of prejudice and enmity, and enkindle the destructive passions of hate
and revenge, bearing in their train the curses of widespread misery and wretchedness.
They are contrary to the true spirit of American institutions, and violate every prin-
ciple of human justice and of Christian charity.
LABOR UNIONS IN THE UNITED STATES.
665
Apart and in conflict capital and labor become agents of evil, while united they
create blessings of plenty and prosperity, and enable man to utilize and enjoy the
bounteous resources of nature intended for his use and happiness by the Almighty.
Capital represents the accumulated savings of past labor, while "labor is the most
sacred part of capital." Each has its respective duties and obligations toward the
other. Capital is entitled to fair and just remuneration for its risks and its use, and
must have security and protection, while labor, on the other hand, is as fully and as
justly entitled to reward for its toil and its sacrifices. Each is entitled to its equitable
share, and there is no law, either human or divine, to justify the one impoverishing
and crushing the other. God tells us that the laborer is worthy of his hire," and
threatens the vengeance of heaven upon the oppressors of the poor.
The question of what the one should pay and the other receive in compensation,
can be best determined by friendly conferences, where intelligence and arbitration will
take the place of the usual irrational and cruel methods of the past. It is evident that
the general standard of reward for labor has sunk too low by reason of the reductions
that have taken place during the past few years, and that miners generally are receiv-
ing inadequate compensation in an employment full of toil and danger.
It is also equally true that the widespread depression of business, the overproduc-
tion of coal, and the consequent severe competition have caused the capital invested
in mines to yield little or no profitable returns. The constant reductions of wages
that have lately taken place have afforded no relief to capital, and, indeed, have but
tended to increase its embarrassments. Any reduction in labor in any coalfield usu-
ally necessitates and generates a corresponding reduction in every other competitive
coalfield. If the price of labor in the United States was uniformly raised to the
standard of three years ago the employers of labor would occupy toward each other
the same relative position in point of competition as at present. Such an advance
would prove beneficial to their interests, as it would materially help to remove the
present general discontent of the miners in their employment. However, such a gen-
eral advance cannot be made at the present time, from the fact that already contracts
in many districts have been made between the coal operators and their miners which
will last till next spring; also that contracts have been entered into [with manufact-
urers and large consumers of coal which will continue in force up to the same time.
The committee would, therefore, suggest and invite that another meeting shall
take place at Pittsburgh on Dec. 15 next, where it is hoped there will be a full repre-
sentation of the miners and mine owners throughout the various states and territories,
and where permanent action may be taken looking to the improvement of both in-
terests.
The committee feels that this question of labor is one of vital importance, and
that it must be met in a spirit of conciliation, and that the problems connected with it
require studied thought, that may lead to some wise and happy solution.
This is the first movement of a national character in America taken with the
intention of the establishment of labor conciliation, and while many practical difficul-
ties may present themselves in retarding the attainment of the laudable end in view, it
is to be hoped that at least an honest general effort shall be put forth by the operators
and miners toward its accomplishment.
The intelligence and progress of the age demands this. Our material interests
demand it. Common justice demands it. The internal peace of our country demands
666
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
it. Respect for the dignity of American labor demands it. The security of capital
demands it.
The freedom hitherto enjoyed in this country by our well rewarded labor and the
intelligence and prosperity of the American workingman have been matters of con-
gratulation alike gratifying to our national pride and conducive to our national glory.
Our industrial progress, the continuance of our extraordinary prosperity, the peace of
society, and security of our free form of government, each and all require that the
American workingman shall receive just and liberal wages and decent treatment.
The men employed in our mines, in our factories, and in our fields compose not only
a vast array of citizenship, but also form our mighty standing army, which is ever
ready for the defense of our country's rights and the vindication of our country's
honor.
They have built up our national wealth in a marvelous degree, and to its present
gigantic proportions, and are, therefore, entitled to receive in the future, as in the
past, not the wages of European pauperism, but those of generous reward, which
will enable them to maintain the dignity of their manly labor and protect their Amer-
ican freedom.
W. P. REND,
A. L. SWEET,
D. C. JENNE,
Operators.
CHRISTOPHER EVANS,
DANIEL MCLAUGHLIN,
J. B. FLEMING,
Miners.
A joint meeting was held in Columbus, Ohio, February 23, 1886.
As this meeting was very important, not only in its objects, but signifi-
cant in its results, it may be well to more minutely record it. It was
largely attended by both operators and miners. For the most part the
meeting was harmonious, the operators conceding that in justice to the
men prices should be raised, the only question being how to get all mines
equalized so as to give no operator an undue advantage over another.
Coal in some mines is harder to mine than in others, and a great many
other features of the question of equalization of rates of mining upon a
basis just to both parties were discussed. At length, after a heated dis-
cussion upon the adoption of the Pittsburgh scale of prices, in which
individual interest seemed to override desire for the public good, Col. W.
P. Rend, a very extensive coal operator, addressed the meeting in favor of
the Pittsburgh scale, and made a noble plea for better wages and better
feeling between employer and employé. After this address the motion
was put on the adoption of the Pittsburgh scale. It was carried by a
vote of thirty-one against nine.
The Pittsburgh scale is as follows:
Pittsburgh...
•
Hocking Valley.
Indiana Block..
•
Indiana Bituminous, No. 1..
Indiana Bituminous, No. 2.
•
24 cents per bushel, or 71 cents per ton.
.60
.80
.65
.75
LABOR UNIONS IN THE UNITED STATES.
667
Wilmington, Ill
Streator
Grape Creek
Mount Olive.
Staunton...
Springfield..
·
Des Moines, Iowa
•
Reynoldsville, Fairmount, screen coal..
..95 cents per ton.
..80
(C
75
561
.56/1/
..621
66.
.90
71
(
At West Virginia, the Kanawha district reduced prices to be restored to 75 cents
per ton.
This scale, having been adopted at Columbus, was to have been in
force from May, 1886, to May, 1887. Mr. McClure, of the Grape Creek,
Illinois, mine, asked, after the adoption of the scale, that his mine be
rerated at seventy cents instead of seventy-five. He was voted down by
the operators themselves, who claimed that for competing purposes:
Grape Creek already had many advantages over other mines. The con-
vention, after adopting the following resolution, adjourned:
Resolved, That a board of arbitration and conciliation, consisting of five (5) miners.
and five (5) operators at large, and one (1) miner and one (1) operator from each of the
coal-producing states represented in the scale, be elected by this convention, and that
all questions of an inter-state or national character be submitted to this board for
adjustment. And that we would also recommend that the miners and mine operators
of each of the several states proceed, at an early date, to elect similar boards of arbi-
tration and conciliation, to whom all questions of state importance shall be referred
for adjustment.
The Grape Creek mine owners immediately refused to pay the scale,
and the miners struck. They were turned out of their houses, which
were of course owned by the company, and are yet (November 1, 1886)
living in tents in the woods, in a most abject condition of poverty and
want. The Springfield companies repudiated the terms of arbitration
they themselves, by their representatives, had made, and forced their men
upon a strike. Every strike in the coal mines of the United States, since
the Columbus arbitration conference, has been the result of operators
rebelling against the results of that noble attempt to "adjust market.
and mining prices in such a way as to avoid strikes and lockouts, and
give to each party an increased profit from the sale of coal." The num-
ber of organized coal miners is estimated at 90,000. The Pittsburgh
Labor Tribune is the official organ of the federation.
The Journeyman Bakers' National Union was organized in Pittsburgh,
January 13, 1886. George G. Block is the National Executive Secre-
tary. The bakers of many of our larger cities have had local organiza-
668
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
tions for several years. In New York City in 1880, the Bakers' Union
numbered 2,600 members. In 1881 a strike against long hours reduced
the membership of the union to twenty-five. It grew gradually, however,
until in 1885 it assisted George G. Block in issuing his Deutsch
Amerikanische Bäcker Zeitung, a weekly journal devoted to the interest
of bakers. This journal soon created a unior sentiment among
bakers, and in nearly every city were formed local unions. These came
together as above noted in a national union in January. The union
publishes a weekly called the Bakers' Journal. It has grown very rap-
idly, and now numbers 25,000 members. New York union is the
largest local organization, being 2,000 strong. The unreasonably long
hours the bakers have been forced to work, that is, from fourteen to
sixteen, and on Saturdays eighteen hours, have left them no time for
self-improvement and are the cause of the acknowledged ignorance of
this large class of laborers.
The
The Switchmen's Mutual Aid Association of North America was
formed in Chicago, February 22, 1886. A switchmen's local union had
been formed in Chicago, August 18, 1877, and several railroad centers.
had switchmen's unions. Five or six of these were represented in the
formation of the national union. The organization has now over fifty
locals, and a membership of 5,000. James L. Monaghan, of Chicago, is
its Grand Master, and Joseph D. Hill, also of Chicago, is its Grand
Secretary. The organ of the association is the Switchmen's Journal.
Many other trades have national organizations, as the Telegraph
Operators and Linemen, Thomas O'Reilly, of New York City, President;
membership, 10,000. The Custom Tailors' National Union numbers.
18,000 members. In the textile industries the Mule Spinners [cotton
factories] have a union 5,000 strong, supplemented by a National Cot-
ton Weavers' Union of like number. The Silk Weavers have a union
1,200 strong. The House Painters have a union numbering 10,000, con-
fined principally to New York. Three thousand paperhangers have a
national union, and the Coopers' Union is about 10,000 strong. The
Furniture Workers have a national organization with 10,000 members.
Mr. II. Enerich, of New York City, is its Secretary. The woodcarvers,
plasterers, plumbers, tinsmiths, upholsterers and harnessmakers are
among the smaller unions, numbering about 3,000 each. The stenogra-
phers organized a national union in Chicago, in September, 1886.
The Knights of Industry, founded in 1886, are also worthy of men-
tion, as among the future important organizations. The central prin-
ciple of the order is common and united public action for the perma-
LABOR UNIONS IN THE UNITED STATES.
669
nent industrial welfare of all workers. To effect which the following
platform is declared:
The purchase and working by government of railroads, telegraphs and tele-
phones.
The creation and control of a national monetary system on an equitable principle,
the issue of which shall be full legal tender for all debts.
The government control of the land of the country.
The discouragement of the competitive system of production and distribution,
with its devouring waste, limitation of consumption and restriction of production.
The control and scientific direction of production and distribution, cheapening
commodities, stimulating consumption, and increasing production.
Several attempts to form a federation of all trades and labor
unions of the United States have been made. In 1866 the National
Labor Union was formed, putting most stress upon its demand for an
eight-hour day and a national labor bureau. It held regular annual ses-
sions until 1870, when it met in Cincinnati and resolved to form a polit-
ical party. It never met again. Nearly all the unions composing it
were bound by their constitutions to take no part in politics and hence
refused to send delegates to what now seemed to them a political con-
vention. In 1873 the Industrial Congress of the United States was
formed in Cleveland by delegates from nearly every labor union then in
existence. This congress met again in 1874, but the hard times, reduc-
tions in wages, consequent strikes and swarms of men out of work, ren-
dered it impossible to sustain the movement. In 1881 the National Fed-
eration of Trades and Labor Assemblies was formed. It has held five
conventions. At Toronto, Canada, in 1883, it set the date May 1, 1886,
as that upon which the eight-hour rule should commence. In its Chi-
cago convention in 1884, and also in the Washington session, held
December 8, 1885, it reindorsed that date, and called upon laboring
men to refuse to work more than eight hours per day on and after May
1, 1886. The demands of the Federation of Trades upon the law-mak-
ing bodies may be summarized as the abolition of the Pinkerton patrol
and the coal and iron police, the discontinuance of the contract system,
restriction of Chinese competition, and the enactment of a law giving
the laborer the first lien on the products of his labor for his wages; the
education of children, and the prohibition of their employment in fac-
tories and in mines.
.
Illustrative of the tendency to unite not only the unions of states
and different trades, but of combining all labor, was the meeting of the
glass-workers, in Pittsburgh, July, 1885. Six of the leading nations
+
i
670
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
of Europe were fully represented, and they there formed the Universal
Federation of glassworkers. The object is stated to be: "To extend
their federation to all sections of the globe, until its membership shall
embrace every man engaged in our trades." Undoubtedly the day will
come when national prejudice and race distinction will be swept away,
and the world shall realize the full meaning of the words of Victor
Hugo, that kings and princes have different and conflicting interests,
but the people of every nation are one. One of the indications that the
toilers of the world are awakening to the fact that they are very little
interested in the broils of governments may be seen in the formation in
the fall of 1885 of a district assembly of Knights of Labor, composed of
soldiers of the union and confederate armies. It is known as The Gray
and the Blue, and its motto is: "Capital Divided, Labor Unites Us."
APPENDIX B.
A COMPENDIUM
OF
Statistical Information
FROM THE LATEST AND BEST SOURCES.
FACTS AND FIGURES RELATING TO LABOR
IN ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD.
671

NUMBER ENGAGED
In all Gainful Occupations, and the Relative Percentage
in each.
TOTAL LABORING POPULATION, 17,392,099.
Agriculture,
7,670,493 or 44 per cent.
Professional and Personal,
4,074,238 or 23.5 per cent.
Trade and Transportation,
1,810,256 or 10.5 per cent.
Manufacturing, Mechanics and
Mining,
3,837,112 or 22 per cent.
Engraved Expressly for the "Story of Labor."

TOTAL ANNUAL PRODUCTION.
Share of Capital, Savings of the People, and Entire Annual Wage Fund.
"A"-Domestic consumption on farms and domestic product of families, which is not exchanged
or does not come into the commercial product, $1,000,000,000,
$1,000,000,000,
TOTAL PRODUCTION, $10,000,000,000.
$450,000,000
Savings of the People 5%
Share of Capitalists 5%,
$450,000,000.
WAGES FUND,
$8,100,000,000.
In the above Tabulation the "Wages Fund" is calculated from official statistics, and may be
divided as follows:
FIRST.
Share of 1,100,000 persons assumed to be engaged in mental and administrative work..$1,100,000,000
This class may be further subdivided: 200,000 teachers in lower grade
schools, scientists, authors, artists, young lawyers, clergymen and
others in similar employments, at an average of $550.
900,000 merchants, tradesmen, officials, superintendents, etc., at
an average of $1,100.....
Total, as above......
SECOND.
$110,000,000
990,000,000
$1,100,000,000
Share of 16,200,000 farmers, laborers, mechanics, artisans, operators, clerks, dress-
makers and other wage-workers, at an average of $432...
Grand Total, as shown in diagram..
.... 7,000,000,000
$8,100,000 000
Engraved expressly for the Story of Labor.
A COMPENDIUM OF STATISTICAL INFORMATION.
TR
RUE statistics are the record of industrial history. He who cannot
read what is written between their lines or interwoven in their
columns, must rest content with only a partial knowledge of the great
facts in the interesting story of labor. The authors of this work have
not endeavored to advance new theories in political economy, nor have
they entered upon a discussion of the thousand and one theories already
put forth. In the compilation of the following pages, however, it has
been the endeavor to present in small compass, but in compact, accessible
and attractive form, a vast amount of valuable information gathered
from the most trustworthy sources.
The tabulated statistics and the self-explanatory diagrams will be
found of absorbing interest to the casual observer of events as well as to
the close student of political economy-to the tiller of the soil, the
artisan and the hand-toiler, as well as to the capitalist and the land-
holder.
FLUCTUATIONS IN WAGES.

INDUSTRIES.
Year.
WES
HIGHEST AVER- LOWEST AVER-
AGE WEEKLY
WAGE.
AGE WEEKLY
WAGE.
Amount.
Year.
Amount.
General Average
Weekly Wage.
EXCESS OF
HIGHEST
AVERAGE
W'KLY WAGE.

Over
Lowest.
Over
Average.
Agriculture
Agricultural implements..
Arms and ammunition.
1875
·
•
• •
D
$784
1860
$4 28
$6.59
$356
$1
25
1875
+
14 80
1880
7 75
11 42
7 05
3 38
1878
16.95
1880
9 55
13 62
7 40·
3 33
Artificial teeth and dental work.
1875
•
15 75
1880
11 77
12 65.
5 88
3 10
Artisans tools…….
1875
13 75
1860
8 45
10 32
5.28
3 41
Boots and shoes..
1872
14 73
1880
9 60
10 34
5 13
4 39
Boxes.
1875
11.00
1860
6 80
6 80
4 20
2 20
Brick
1872
11 25
1860
5 01
8 59
6 24
2 66
Brooms and brushes
1878
11.90
1880
6.88
9 42
•
5 82
4 48
Carpenters..
1872
12 76
1880
5 87
7 76
6 89
5 00
Carriages and wagons.
1872
17 11
1880
10 23
12 48
6 58
4 63
Clothing.
Clocks and watches.
Cotton Goods .
Cotton and woolen textiles.
1875
14 38
1883
17 28
12.99
3 10
1 39
1874
13.90
1360
8 26
9.23
5 64
4 67
1881
8 19
1860
6.50
7 14
1 69
1 05
1875
7 70
1880
653
7 49
1 17
70
Drugs and medicines.
1880
9 62
1875
9 32
•
9.53
30
09
Earthen and stoneware
1875
13 04
1880
9 11
11 14
•
3.93
1.90
Fancy articles
1875
11 80
1880
4 24
6 23
7 56
5 37
Flax, linen, hemp and jute goods.
1872
769
1860
4 63
5.99
3 06
1 70
Food preparations.
1875
12 00
1860
8 81
10 66
3 19
1 34
Furniture.
1874
16 42
1880
9.45
•
10.99
6 41
5 43
Glass
1883
12 28
1880
8 87
10 84
3 71
1 44
Hosiery
1881
10 09
1883
6.49
7 49
3 60
·
2 60
Leather.
1881
1 52
1880
9.63
10 41
3 89
3 08
Liquors, malt and distilled
1872
13 83
1880
9.50
11 44
4 13
1 09
Lumber.
1875
18 40
1880
5 13
7 80
13 27
16.60
Machines.
1875
13 98 ·
1860
W
40
10 16
9.08
3 82
Metal and metallic goods.
1872
15 52
1860
9 07
11 36
6 45
4 16
674
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
675
ARMIES OF THE WORLD.
The following table shows the present military condition of nations.
Soldiers per
10,000
Inhabi-
Infantry Cavalry Artillery No.of Field
in
in
in
Pieces in
Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands
tants.
United States...
Great Britain.
France....
· ·
•• ·
Germany.
Russia..
Austria...
•
12
8
3
100
•
Italy,
Spain.
Portugal
Holland...
Belgium.
Denmark...
Sweden and Norway.
Greece
Roumania..
• ► •
•
Europe.
Total....
ADRESSBRIGI||**
54
125
18
34
702
283
69
69
1,938
305
67
54
2,040
626
86
109
2,278
72
175
51
28
1,540
257
34
60
500
60
13
10
348
24
8
4
92
44
31
28
44
38
19
4527 00 00
14
150
8
204
5
106
7
300
3
5
96
3
6
180
2,079
365
413
10,470
2,009
373
416
10,578
AGRICULTURE OF NATIONS.
Agriculture, including forestry and pasture, maintains two hundred and nine
millions of people in the countries mentioned in the following table. It represents a
capital of more than one hundred thousand million dollars, an annual product of
about eighteen thousand million dollars.
VALUE IN MILLION Dollars.
Capital
per
Inhabitant.
Land. Timber. Cattle.
S'ndries. Total.
United States..
Canada..
Australia
· •
United Kingdom..
France
Germany
Russia
Austria
•
Italy
Spain.
Portugal.
Belgium
Holland.
Denmark
Sweden
·
9,615
900
1,825
2,400
14,740
290
900
240
175
220
1,535
350
900
50
330
350
1,840
600
8,685
250
1,175
1,190
11,300
$325
13,120
900
1,060
1.120
16,210
440
10,300
1,320
1,150
1,180
13,950
310
6,930 2,650
1,725
1,820
13,125
165
6,450
1,300
1,025
1,080
9,855
255
•
4,050
400
280
485
5,215
180
3,300
350
285
310
4,245
255
• D
790
50
55
130
1 025
230
1,245
75
150
280
1,770
315
•
•
1,060
25
165
425
1,685
420
1.050
20
155
140
1,365
685
1,560
630
200
150
2,570
570
Norway
550
310
125
50
1,015
510
Greece
525
35
30
70
560
350
Europe..
59,595
8,345
7,570
8,430
83,940
$270
Total
71,020
9,435
9,900
11,400
101,855
$280

AVERAGE YEARLY WAGES
OF THE
ARTISAN CLASSES.
TRADES.
AVERAGE
No. EMPLOYED.
TOTAL
YEARLY WAGES. YEARLY WAGES.
Hosiery and Knit Goods
28,885 $232
$6,701,475
Cotton Goods
185,472 245.
45,014,419
Men's Clothing
160,758 286
45,940,353
Woolen Goods..
..86,504
300
25,836,292
Mixed Textiles
43,373 308
13,316,753
Tobacco, Cigars and
Cigarettes
53,297
347
18,464,562
Paper
24,422
349
8,525,355
Book Bind'g and Blank
Book Making
10,612
371
3,927,349
Glass
24,177
379
9,144,100
Boots and Shoes
133,819
381
-50,995,144
Hats and Caps.
17,240
385.
6,635,522
Leather Tanning.
23,812
387
9,204,243
Agricultural. Implem'ts
39,580
388
15,359,610
Cars, Railroad and
Street,
14,232
388
5,507,753
Carrlages and Wagons
45,394.
400
18,988,615
Hardware
16,801 407
6,846,913
Furniture
48,717
418
20,388,794
Bread and Bakery
Products--
22,488
419
9,411,329
Cutlery and Edge Tools
10,519
422
4,447,349
Leather Currying.
11,053
438
4,845,413
Foundries and Machine
Shops
145,351
454
65,982,133
Carpentry.
54,138
454
24,562,077
Malt Liquors-
26,220
468
12,198,053
Marble and Stone
21,471
477
10,238,885
Jewelry
12,697 50%
6,441,688
Printing and Pub.
58.178
522
30,531,627
Musical Instruments.
6,575 692
4,603,193
Engraved expressly for the Story of Labor.

FARM WAGES,
By the Month and by the Day, in Harvest.
WITHOUT BOARD.
WITH BOARD.
Wages
during
Harvest.
Wages
Monthly Wages by the Year.
STATES.
Monthly Wages by the Year.
during
Marvest.
$1.08
$12.10 South Carolina
8.10
$ .78
1.20
12.86 North Carolina
8.80
.85
1.10
12.86
Georgia
8.70
1.05
13.15
Alabama
9.09
.80
1.30
13.75
Tennessee
9.49
1.00
888
.80
1.27
13.96
Virginia 9.17
1.23
1.52
15.10 Mississippi
16.34 Maryland
10.09
૩૩
.99
.95
9.89
1.15
1.12
16.64
Florida 10.20
.80
1.10
18.20
Louisiana
12.69
.85
1.60
18.20
1.54
1.34
1.30
1.39
20.20
1.59
22.39
1.73
1.89
Delaware 12.50
18.20 Kentucky 11.75
Arkansas 12.23
18.50
19.16 West Virginia 12.46
Texas 14.03
Missouri
13.95
22.88 Pennsylvania 14.21
23.14 Indiana 15.65
1.25
1.18
1
1.02
1.00
1.08
1.23
1.80
1.58
1.75
23.37
Vermont
16.00
1.35
1.89
23.63
New York
15.36
1.47
1.70
23.85
Kansas
15.87
1.35
1.91
23.91
Illinois
17.14
1.54
2.09
24.25
New Jersey 14.20
1.74
1.95
24.45
Nebraska
16.20
1.57
1.79
24.55
Ohio
16.30
1.41
1.52
24.75
Maine
16.75
1.22
1.71
25.25 New Hampshire
16.72
1.35
T
1
2.13
25.76
Michigan
17.27
.1.76
2.25
26.21 lowa
17.95
1.81
I
2.50
26.21
Wisconsin
17.90
2.10
2.61
26.36
Minnesota
17.75
2.16
1.60
1.65
1.75
1.92
33.50
2.21
2.30
88.25
27.75 Rhode Island 17.00
27.90 Connecticut
30.66 Massachusetts 18.25
Oregon
24.75
36.50 Colorado 27.08
California 23.45
1.30
T
17.37
1.33
1.35
1.50
1.80
1.86
Engraved Expressly for the "Story of Labor."
678
APPENDIX.
Jnited States..
'anada..
Brazil..
'hina..
•
Australia.
ndia.
ngland..
cotland.
reland..
•
·
•
•
United kingdom..
'rance..
ermany
• •
Lussia.
Lustria
Iungary
taly.
pain.
ortugal.
Belgia..
Iolland
Denmark
·
• •
·
weden
•
·
[orway.
witzerland.
Freece...
toumania.
ervia.....
'urkey..
•
•
Europe...
farms.
Cattle.
• •
Crops.
mplements
'otal……….
train..
otton.
Potatoes
lay..
• •
•
•
•
•
AREA OF ALL COUNTRIES.


P ·
Thousand
Square miles.
Million acres.
Acres per In-
habitant.
3.603.9
2.306
44.0
3.372.3
2,158
475.0
3.288.6
2,104
232.0
3.924.6
2,512
8.0
3.164.0
1,986
666.0
1.482.0
948
4.0
58.3
37
30.7
19
•
31.9
20%
154
1.4
5.2
4.0
120.9
77
2.2
201.1
129
3.4
212.1
136
3.0
2.261.7
1,448
18.0
144.6
93
4.2
124.4
80
5.0
114.3
73
2.5
182.8
117
7.1
36.5
23
5.2
11.4
7
1.3
20.5
13
3.2
14.6
9
4.5
171.0
109
24.0
122
78
40.0
1.
10
3.6
19.9
13
8.0
48.3
31
5.8
20.9
13
7.2
62.0
40
9.1
3.905.3
2,499
8.0
SUMMARY OF AGRICULTURE.
VALUE MILLION DOLLARS.
VALUE PER INHABITANT.

1850. 1860. 1870. 1880.
1850. 1861. 1879. 1881
3.915
6.910
50 1.130
9.715 10.580
150
221
245
211
1,580
1.890
25
41
41
41
580
915
1.070
2.0*5
25
31
31
41
155
255
345
515
11
11
41
4.720
9.210 12.610 15.060
215
311
325
311
•
AGRICULTURE OF UNITED STATES.
'obacco, etc…….
'illage
Ieat
•
Butter and cheese
filk..
lides, Wool, etc.
•
Total of agricultural products..
ACRES.
Million.
VALUE OF CROPS.
Million Dollars.
119
•
1,035
14
335
1.9
52
24
270
6-10
36
160
1,830
31/2
610
6-10
227
135
116
2,721
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
679
United States...
Japan
·
Egypt...
Algeria..
British Colonics.
· •
United Kingdom...
France.
Germany.
Russia.
Austria...
· • ·
Italy and Spain..
Belgium and Holland
Scandinavia..
Roumania, etc….
Europe...
Total.......
PRODUCTION OF BARLEY.

Acres.
Crop
Million
Bushels.
Bushels
per In-
habitants.
Bushels
per
Acre.
1,700
2,000
1,000
2,000
940
2,590
3,500
3,900
•
15,500
130
5,100
4,700
230
1,300
2,000
98493 88883°8+
1
11/22
3
14
5
212
2
2
12.
2
2
1
35
4
30
5
20
IN-N: J**-----R
24
25
15
22
36
34
23
23
8
16
18
38,820
653
2
17
46,460
837
2
18.
BOOKS.
A bout 100 new works are published daily, or 30,000 per annum, without
counting new editions of old works.
United States.
Great Britain.
France
Germany
Total..
BOOTS.
ANNUAL AVERAGE OF NEW
BOOKS.
1828-32
1866-69 1878-80
1,013
2,165
2,500
1,060
3,320
5,771
4,640
7,350
7,000
5,530
9,095
14,560
12,243
21,830
29,831
The American machine enables a man to make 300 pairs of boots daily, a single
factory in Massachusetts turning out as many pairs yearly as 32,000 bootmakers in
Paris. The advance of these machines has been as follows:
1862..
1865..
1870.
YEAR.
No. of
Machines.
Million Pairs:
Boots Yearly.
15
470
15
1,220
45
2,300
100
3,100
150
1875.
1880
The Austrian government makes two million pairs yearly. The machines are
now in general use. The number of bootmakers in Great Britain is rapidly declining

DISPLACEMENT OF MANUAL LABOR BY MACHINERY,
IN VARIOUS INDUSTRIES.
INDUSTRY. Required with
Machinery.
No. of Employes
PROPORTION DISPLACED.
No. of Employes
Required without
Machinery.
Wall Paper
1
99
in every 100
100
Silk (Weaving) 5
95
100
Paper
5117
947
44
100
Woolen M'fr's
517
94"
100
Silk (Winding) 10
90
EL
100
Hats (Stiff)
11%
88%
100
Tobacco
12%
87%"
100
Glass Jars
16%
83"
44
100
Brooms
20
80
<<
100
Boots and Shoes 20
80
66
46
100
Farm Labor
20
80
64
100
Flour
25
75
66
44
100
Cotton M'f'r's
33%
66% "
46
66
100
Hats (Medium) 33%
66% "
EL
100
Wooden Ware
33%
66%"
66
100
Carriages
34%
65
46
100
Saws
40
60
64
66
100
Furniture
50
66
50
100
Railroad Supplies 50
50 66
46
100
Rubber Boots
and Shoes
50
50
44
66
100
Soap
50
50
19
66
100
Firebrick
60
40
66
64
100
Silk (Gen'l M'f'r.) 60
40
44
66
100
Machinery
44
66
75
25
100
Brick Making
90
10
66
6.6
100
Trunks
95
5
44
64
66
100
Engraved Expressly for the "Story of Labor."

COMPARATIVE WEALTH, INCOME AND DEBT
BELGIUM
Wealth,
$4,030 M.
DEBT,
$310 M.
NCOME
$600 M.
OF VARIOUS COUNTRIES.
UNITED
STATES.
Wealth,
$47,475 Millions.
CANADA
Wealth,
$3,250 M.
DEST,
$200 M.
INCOME
$590 M.
AUSTRALIA
$3,050 M.
Wealth
$1,855 M.
DEBT
$470 M.
INCOME;
$225 M.
HOLLAND
Wealth,
$4,935 M.
$7,100 M.
Income,
Debt,
$1,842 M.
GREAT
BRITAIN
Wealth,
$43,600 Millions.
DEBT,
$485.M.
INCOME
$665 M.
SPAIN
Wealth,
$7,965 M.
Debt,
$1,950 M
INCOMET
$940 M.
DEBT
$400 M.
ANCOME,
$520 M.
AUSTRIA
Wealth,
$18,065 Millions.
$6,235 M.
Income,
Debt,
$3,845 M.
FRANCE
Debt.
$2,095 M
$3,010 M.
Income,
GERMANY
Wealth,
$31,615 Millions.
Wealth,
$40,800 Millions.
Debt,
$4,555 M.
$4,825 M.
Income,
Debt,
Income,
$4,250 M.
$1,145 M
Engraved Expressly for the "Story of Labor."
ITALY
Wealth,
$11,755 Mil.
Debt,
$2,610M
$1,450 M.
INCOME,
RUSSIA
Wealth,
$21,715 Millions.
Income,
$3,800 M.
Debt,
$2,765 M.
682
APPENDIX.
United States....
United Kingdom.
France
Germany
Russia
Austria
Italy
Switzerland
Belgium
Holland.
Denmark
Sweden and Norway.
Europe...
Total..
•
MANUFACTURE OF BEER.
The following table shows the product:

•
•
PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF BUTTER.
Production.
Tons.
Lbs. per
Milch Cow.
C'nsumption.
Tons.
United States..
370,000
Canada..
34,000
United Kingdom .
90,000
France
90,000
Germany
160,000
+ •
Russia
90,000
Austria
88,000
Italy
12,000
Holland.
46,000
175
• •
Belgium
Scandinavia
Europe...
Total
20,000
•
•
55,000
651,000
1,055,000
8A 84388FE83 3
62
350,000
16
70
24,000
12
50
205,000
13
45
65,000
4
55
160,000
8
20
86,000
2
88,000
5
17
12,000
1
10,000
6
90
15,000
6
68
40,000
11
48
681,000
LO
5
55
1,055,000
7
Breweries.
No. of
Million
Gallons.
per
Inhabitant.
Gallons
3,293
540
6.6
16,114
1,025
29
3,100
190
5.2
23,940
880
19.4
460
63
.7
2,297
245
6.4
200
20.
.7
400
16
5.6
2,500
170
31.5
560
35
8.8
240
25
13
640
35
5.8
50,451
2,704
9.2
53,744
3,044
9
Lbs. per
Inhabitant.
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
683
COAL.
PRODUCTION IN ALL COUNTRIES.
Great Britain, 147 million tons; France, 19; Germany, 59; Russia, 71; Austria,
16; Belgium, 17, and in all Europe, 265 million tons. United States, 70 million tons,
China, 3; Australia, 6, and in the world, 344 million tons.
United States
Great Britain.
Germany
France..
Belgium
Austria..
...
•
•
• • •
Total..
•
INDUSTRY OF COAL MINING.

Value of
Output in
Millions.
Number of
Tons Raised
Value at
Pits Mouth
Miners.
per Miner.
per ton.
•
$140
240,000
295
$2 35
235
485,000
303
175
70
220,000
270
1 25
55
•
102,000
190
2.75
30
101,000
168
1 75
20
·
83,000
192
1 50
550
1,231,000
269
$2.00
United States.
India..
'China..
•
Great Britain..
France.
•
Germany
Russia..
• ·
• • •
Belgium, Spain, etc.
Europe...
In the world..
COAL FIELDS OF THE WORLD.
United States.
Brazil..
Colonies, etc.
•
• •
United Kingdom..
France...
Germany
...
Russia
Italy.
Austria.
Belgium and Holland.
Scandinavia..
Europe...
Total
CONSUMPTION OF COFFEE.
SQUARE MILES.
194,000
35,000
200,000
9,000
1,800
3,600
27,000
1,400
42,800
471,800
28 | 4398988
THOUSAND TONS.
165
62
POUNDS PER
INHABITANT.
7.2
14.0
2.0
0.9
3.2
5.2
0.4
1.4
2.2
11.2
5.2
324
2.2
•
589

COST OF GOVERNMENT
AS SHOWN BY
The Taxation of various Nations.
NATIONS.
Per
Inhab-
Total Amount
itant.
in Thousands.
Denmark
10.25
20,150
Portugal
9.75
41,100
Sw.and Nor
7.50!
52,400
Holland
13.00
52,500
Belgium
12.50!
68,250
Spain
12.25
203,500
Austria
10,00
368,500
Italy
13.00
371,500
Russia
5.00
424,500
Germany
11.50
517,950
Great
Britain
17.75
618,865
France
19.25
723,225
United
States
13.251
The full colors represent Local Taxes.
The light colors represent National Taxes.
Engraved expressly for the Story of Labor.
799,000

CLASSIFIED EXPENDITURE
GREAT BRITAIN
OF NATIONS.
476,636.
Consolidated Fund
Charges,
129,380.
Army,
88,754.
Post Office,
24,273.
Miscellaneous,
TEL. SER-UP
AUS-HUN
74.023.
49,885.
Army,
42,480.
MISC
FOR AF'S
Civil Service,
89,075.
Navy,
61,933.
FRANCE, 745,789
Army,
114,952.
Pub. W'ks,
22.779
Public Debt,
266,750.
RUSSIA
435,974.
Higher
State Institutions,
129,823.
Army,
102,095.
Administration,
67,061.
Navy,
40,075
Pub. Instruc'n,
Miscellaneous,
207,775.
26,399.
Finance,
56,571,
Navy, 19,703
P.W.AND R. W
13,122
PUS. INSTRUCN,
Miscellaneous,
104,182.
10.479
ETHERLANDS
ARMY,
8,656
MARINE
5,526
14,579-
55,012.
P.W..
MISC
17,545
707.
GERMANY
176,471.
Army,
86,308.
Pensions,
12,203-
NAVY
9.350.
DEBT, 4.576
25,151.
Misc..
Treasury,
38,884,
Figures Represent Thousands
of Dollars.
JUSTICE
NAVY 3
INTERIOR, 201
NOR.
ARMY,
125
35
CH. NEDUO'N,
4,182.
SPAIN
179,429.
Public Debt,
Army,
54.835.
30,255
PEN.AND INDEM.,
929.
Pub.W'ks,
20,890
Justice,
11, 189.
NAVY, 8,780.
Misc..
43,551.
ITALY,
341,463.
Treasury, Ministry, Etc.,
150,294.
Army,
49,959
Pub, W'ke,
59,109,
Ministry, Etc.,
Finance,
35,917,
Navy
15,695.
PUB. IN..
2SC
MISC..
17,438.
UNITED
STATES, 260.22
Pensions,
56,102.
Int. on
Public Debt,
Engraved Expressly for the "Story of Labor."^
51,386
INDIANS, 6,552
Army,
42,671.
Navy,
16,021.
Miscellaneous,
87,494.
686
APPENDIX.
COFFEE.
PRODUCTION.
TONS (THOUSANDS).
Brazil.
Java..
Ceylon.
West Indies.
Africa..
Manilla, etc.
Total...
Great Britain.
France
Germany
•
Russia.
Spain.
Sweden.
•
Austria...
Europe...
•
{2 & R N° | J
1860
163
70
VALUE OF CROPS,
Million Dollars.
1885
333
110
90
35
53
20
15
36
15
35
15
589
42
PRODUCTION OF COPPER.
FINE COPPER, TONS.
1850
1860
1870
1880
11,800
13,540
7.220
3,440
2,300
2,500
4,900
5,100
1,650
3,300
6,850
10,140
6,000
5,500
5,500
6,100
• • •
200
300
1,100
21,300
2,300
2,200
2,000
1,600
1,600
1,900
2,000
2,200
45,250
67,370
82,120
120,040
The production increases rapidly in the United States, the yield for 1881 being
34,200 tons fine copper, valued at $11,000,000. The above table does not include
Japan, which produces 3,000 tons yearly, all being retained for home consumption.
Sugar..
Iron.
Coffee
Woolens
Cottons.
Silks
•
Linens.
Hides..
Tea.
Wool..
·
•
Sundries.
Total..
· •
COMPONENTS OF UNITED STATES COMMERCE.
IMPORTS.
MILLION $.
EXPORTS.
MILLION $.

1875
1885
1875
1885
75
95
•
45
50
Cotton.
Wheat.
210
• • ·
30
60
Maize.
·
45
30
Meat..
30
30
Cattle…….
·
•
30
195
826558
35
15
Petroleum..
Cheese.
•
•
30
Tobacco.
20
Timber..
10
Machinery.
GEARARARAP
260
70
220
.10
60
25
125
10
35
10
20
10
5
290
Sundries..
65
125
•
492223
40
25
20
10
505
665
Total
460
920
• •
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
687
United States.
Canada..
Australia
•
River Platte
Cape Colony
Algeria.
...
· · +
United Kingdom.
France
Germany
·
Russia
Austria
Italy
Spain
Portugal
Holland.
Belgium
Denmark
Sweden
Norway.
Greece
•
+
• · •
...
..
· •
• • •
Roumania.
Europe
The World……
United States..
India.
Egypt...
Various..
•
NUMBER OF CATTLE IN ALL COUNTRIES.
THOUSANDS.
Cows.
Horses.
Sheep.
Pigs.
35,926
11,202
35,193
47,644
2,702
866
3,330
1,425
7,863
1,065
65,915
815
18,390
6,150
76,230
362
1,330
241
11,280
164
1,204
350
8,788
300
9,905
2,905
27,896
3,190
11,480
2,833
23,370
5,810
15,790
3,360
25,200
7,130
•
22,770
16,160
48,820
10,514
13,133
3,760
21,418
7,080
3,490
658
6,980
1,570
3,090
590
22,800
4,465
530
68
2,417
858
1,462
279
898
333
1,242
283
586
632
1,348
352
1,720
504
2,337
466
1,503
417
1,017
152
1,686
101
258
97
2,292
30
3,600
600
6,180
2,310
91,352
32,563
193,766
44,948
158,764
52,437
394,502
95,648
COTTON PRODUCTION.
IN MILLION POUNDS.

1830
1840
1860
1870
1880
350
880
1870
1540
3160
194
212
420
625
540
18
30
61
2+0
282
74
70
40
69
56
636
1192
2391
2474
4039
COTTON CONSUMPTION.
IN MILLION POUNDS.

1830
1840
1860
1870
1880
52
135
410
530
961
250
454
1140
1101
1404
56
120
220
200
390
87
110
215
250
340
•
162
231
286
239
649
607
1050
3271
2380
3744
United States.
Great Britain..
Germany.
France..
Various.
...
• • •

PUBLIC DEBT OF THE UNITED STATES,
From the Foundation of the Government.
YEAR.
NAME OF PRESIDENT.
VICE-PRESIDENT.
TOTAL.
1792
George Washington John Adams.
$ 77,227,924.66
1796
George Washington.
John Adams………
83,762,172.07
1800
John Adams.
Thomas Jefferson.....
82,976,294.35
1804
Thomas Jefferson
Aaron Burr
86,427,120.88
1808
Thomas Jefferson.
George Clinton
65,196,317.97
1812
James Madison...
George Clinton.
45,209,737.90
1816
James Madison_
John Gaillard
127,334,933.74
1820
James Monroe.....
Daniel D. Tompkins
91,015,566-18
1824
James Monroe...
Daniel D. Tompkins...
90,269.777.77
1828
John Q. Adams..
John C. Calhoun
67,475,043.87
1832
Andrew Jackson
John C. Calhoun
24,332,235.18
1835
Andrew Jackson
1836
Andrew Jackson.
Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren..
37,513.05
336,95%83
1840
Martin Van Buren...
Richard M. Johnson
5,250,875.54
1844
John Tyler
William P. Mangum
23,461,652.50
1848
James K. Polk
...George M. Dallas
47,044,862.23
1852
Millard Fillmore...
David R. Atchison
66,199,341-71
1856
Franklin Pierce
Jesse D. Bright.....
31,972,537.90
1860
James Buchanan.
John C. Breckenridge 64,842,287-88
1864
Abraham Lincoln
Hannibal Hamlin
1,815,784,370.57
1866
Andrew Johnson
Lafayette S. Foster
2,773,236.173.69
1868
Andrew Johnson
Benjamin F. Wade
2,611,687,85119
1872
Ulysses S. Grant
Schuyler Colfax
2,253,251,328.78
1876
Ulysses S. Grant
Henry Wilson
2,180,395,067.15
1880
Rutherford B. Hayes
William A. Wheeler
2,120,415,370.63
1884
Chestek A. Arthur
George F. Edmunds
1,842,036,163.98
Engraved Expressly for the "Story of Labor."

WEALTH OF THE UNITED STATES,
TOTAL AND PER CAPITA.
TOTAL WEALTH
IN MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
STATES AND
TERRITORIES.
40
45
Nevada
Florida
75
Colorado
90
105
165
Oregon
Delaware
Nebraska
175
205
215
280
280
305
360
375
385
385
395
450
Arkansas
South Carolina
Mississippi
Territories
Alabama
Louisiana
Vermont
Georgia
Kansas
North Carolina
New Hampshire
Maine
AMOUNT IN DOLLARS
PER INHABITANT
$ 675
165
380
525
750
365
220
205
200
3CO
1
1
220
320
1,080
245
323
215
1,125
715
515
Rhode Island
1,825
530
Texas
330
585
Tennessee
390
635
650
665
740
790
955
990
1,025
Minnesota
Virginia
Kentucky
Connecticut
Maryland
New Jersey
lowa
Wisconsin
760
305
400
1,200
840
650
615
780
1,360
California
1,640
1,405
Missouri
640
1,520
Indiana
765
1,940
Michigan
1,170
2,475
Massachusetts
1,360
3,040
Illinois
994
3,255
Ohio
1,030
5,940
Pennsylvania
1,400
8,630
New York
1.690
Engraved expressly for the Story of Labor.
690
APPENDIX.
COTTON MANUFACTURES.
Million
Spindles
Million
lbs.
Thousands
Operatives lbs. per
Cotton,
Operative.
Manufac-
tures, Mill-
ion $.
United States.
Great Britain.
Germany.
France
Russia...
Austria..
•
11.2
911
260
3510
370
40.2
1404
482
2940
475
•
5.4
390
150
2600
120
4.8
340
200
1700
100
3.4
140
180
780
90
2.2
150
100
1500
65
Spain.
•
India..
Italy.
1.6
100
80
1250
45
1.2
80
80
1000
40
1.0
90
50
1800
40
Belgium and Holland
Switzerland..
Total..
1.1
56
36
1550
30
·
2.2
73
55
1360
35
74.3
3744
1073
2240
1210
United States..
India
+ ·
Egypt.
Brazil.
West Indies.
Total.....
• ▸ • •
COTTON CULTIVATION.

Acres
Thousands Million
lbs.
Crop
Value
Million $.
Lbs.Cotton
per acre.
13,613
3,161
317
234
5,200
540
61
104
872
282
46
324
150
42
6
280
100
14
2
140
19,935
4,039
432
202
PRODUCTION OF CHEESE.
TONS.
Lbs.
Consumed
per
Inhabitant.

Production.
Consumption.
United States.
Canada.
117,000
50,000
33,000
16,000
United Kingdom.
·
•
120,000
216,000
13
France.
Germany
• •
Austria.
•
Italy
15,000
50,000
80,000
80,000
•
45,000
45,000
14,000
21,000
Switzerland
Holland..
•
•
•
•
40,000
22,000
18
40,000
10,000
abvwrwãov
Total...
51,000
510,000
4
It takes 1 gallon of milk to produce 1 pound of cheese.
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
691
United States.
Spanish-America..
Canada
Australia
•
India.
•
South Africa.
Egypt..
•
United Kingdom..
France..
Germany
• • D D
Russia
Austria
Italy.
Spain.
▸
Portugal...
Holland
· • •
•
•
DEBTS OF NATIONS.
DEBTS IN MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
· • •
•
•
•
Belgium..
Denmark
Sweden and Norway.
Greece.
Turkey
•
Europe.
The World...
1820
1848
1870
1882
130
240
2,480
1,665
20
310
7:20
1,185
85
200
185
485
145
255
540
780
10
770
•
185
580
4,205
3,865
4,005
3,845
700
910
2,340
4,555
255
200
740
1,145
250
450
1,400
2,765
495
625
·
1,900
2,495
255
180
1,870
2,610
260
565
1,225
1,850
550
338
30
75
295
470
570
380
400
90
140
310
20
60
65
50
5
30
100
50
90
90
460
550
6,810
7.655
14,980
20,935
7,205
8,460
18,145
25,850
DRINKS OF ALL NATIONS.
MILLIONS OF GALLONS.
Alcohol.
Gallons
Wine.
Beer.
Spirits.
Equival-
ent in
Alcohol.
per
Inhabitant
United States.
Colonies, etc
30
440
76
66.5
1.31
• •
• •
108
81
20
25.2
1.80
• ·
•
•
United Kingdom
France.
Germany.
Russia..
Austria.
Italy..
Spain..
Portugal
Holland
Belgium.
Denmark
...
•
•
Sweden and Norway
Europe....
The World...
15
1,007
37
67.2
1.92
760
190
34
101.0
•
2.65
120
880
60
72.4
1.60
30
63
145
80.6
1.05
300
245
30
53.0
1.45
480
20
10
50.2
1.76
220
2
3
24.0
1.48
60
1
1
7.0
1.55
3
35
12
8.2
2.05
• • •
•
412
170
10
11.4
2.07
25
8
5.1
2.60
35
27
15.4
2.27
...
1,995
2,673
377
495.5
1.65
2,133
3,194
473
587.2
1.70

COMPONENT PARTS
OF NATIONAL WEALTH.
FRANCE
40,300.
Land and Forest,
14,650.
Furniture,
4,725.
Pub.W'ks,
2,950.
Railways,
2.470.
Cattle, 1,060,
Sundries,
3,490.
Bul.,1,505.
GREAT
BRITAIN,
43,600.
Houses,
11,400.
Furniture,
5,700.
Houses,
9,450.
Land and Forest,
9,400.
Railways,
Cattle, 1.175
Sundries.
7,590.
2.735.
Mdse.,1,750.
Pub.W'ks.
3,850.
RUSSIA,
9,700.
Land and Forest,
Houses,
4,400.
Pub.W'ks
1,120
Sun, 1,025
Rail45
Furniture,
Cattle,
1,725.
2,200.
21,715.
HOLLAND!
4,935.
L.and F
P1,100
W.
625.
C.1657
R.W.115
HO'S
380-
M.,305.
5.290
Sun..
1.755.
GERMANY,
Land and Forest,
12,100.
Houses,
7,350.
Sundries.,
2,790
Furniture,
3,675.
Railways,
2,335,
Pub.W'ks,
Cat., 1,155,
31,615
NOR,
L. and F.,
3,085.
WED. AND
F215
C.,315.
W.225
885.
18,065.
Figures Represent Millions
of Dollars.
AUSTRIA,
UNITED
STATES,
Houses,
13,900.
Land and Forest,
10,750.
Land and Forest,
7,950.
Houses,
3.850.
1.925.
Railways,
1,275.
at.,1,025
Furniture,
47,475.
Furniture,
6,925.
Railways,
5,950.
Cattle, 1,890.
Pub.W'ks,
2,635
Sundries,
5,425.
P.W.,940
Sun
ITALY,
11,755.
L. and F.,
4,525.
Fur,
1,640
PW., 655.
W., 540
Engraved Expressly for the "Story of Labor:"
Houses.
3,280,
Sun.
835-
SPAIN,
7,965,
L. and F.,
3,700
Housesy
1,700
Sun
Furn
850.
W.395.
5300

MONEY IN
CIRCULATION
In all Nations.
TOTAL AMOUNT
IN MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
30/
35
40
50
55
60
NATIONS.
AMOUNT IN DOLLARS
PER INHABITANT.
$10.00
Algeria
Denmark
Cape Colony
Greece
Switzerland
Canada
Swe. and Nor.
Portugal
Australia
17.50
---
40.00
5.00
| 20.00
13.75
111
60
10.00
75
17.50
95
: 31.50
165
Holland
41.25
210
Belgium
38.00
255
Japan
8.00
265
Spain
15.75
410
Austria
10.75
465
Span. America
15.00
525
Italy
19.00
750
Germany
16.00
760
Russia
8.75
925
Great Britain
26.50
960
India
5.00
1,505
United States
28.75
2.005
France
52.50
GOLD.
SILVER
PAPER.
GOLD.
SILVER, ETC.
Engraved expressly for the Story of Labor.
691
APPENDIX.
NATIONAL GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURES.
United States.
Mexico..
S. American Republics.
Brazil.
Canada.
Cape Colony
Australia..
Egypt...
India.
Java.
Japan
•
•
United Kingdom.
France.
•
Germany
Russia.
Austria.
•
Italy
Spain.
Portugal
Holland.
Belgium.
Denmark.
Sweden and Norway
Greece..
Turkey.
Europe.
• •
Total...
United States.
England..
Scotland
Ireland..
France..
Germany
Russia.
• •
·
· •
Italy.
Austria.
• •
Spain and Portugal
Switzerland..
•
Belgium and Holland.
Scandinavia...
•
•
MILLION DOLLARS.

1830.
1840.
1850.
1860. 1870.
1881.
15
15
1000000
25
15
10
15
5
5
5
5
5
50
10
10
110
125
140
10
• •
20
REGGGONGER
260
8328294488
290
290
5
25
270
30
ANJUENAAN
20
40
55
40
55
30
60
100
15
40
380
55
55
•
115
•
8.UZEEZA88E&S
260
275
375
350
415
275
300
415
450
605
80
110
140
160
255
450
150
210
280
345
400
140
BAUURRAGNS
195
225
275
375
155
185
205
180
70
105
20
35
30
10
10
5
40
32380008
165
165
25
40
35
15
25
10
20
105
3832323
40
85
945
1215
1495
1915
2320
2950
1150
1450
1990
2430 3190
4075
EDUCATION.
PROGRESS SINCE 1830.

RATIO OF ADULTS ABLE RATIO OF SCHOOL CHIL-
TO WRITE.
DREN TO POPULATION.
1830.
1850.
1881.
1830. 1850. 1881.
•
•
28
BHERRERO
80
84
55
64
77
83
88
46
55
67
42
57
81
86
1
2
11
49
16
28
41
9
18
78
40
88
41
62
•
80
82
ALOSPHERE*825
90
15
17
18
84
7
8
15
9
10
15
5
6
18
78
6
9
13
94
16
16
17
1
2
6
4
34
3
4
13
14
16
86
10
11
13
14
5001001010
9
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
695
United States..
Canada...
Australia...
Cape Colony
•
India.
China.
Egypt
•
West India (British)
Brazil
Chili.
·
United Kingdom..
France..
•
Germany
Russia...
Austria
Italy.
Spain.
Portugal
Belgium.
Holland
• •
Denmark.
• •
Sweden and Norway
Greece
•
•
Europe.....
EXPORTS OF ALL NATIONS.
1860.
MILLION DOLLARS.
DOLLARS PER INHABITANT.
1870.
1882.
1860.
1870..
1882..
330
340
765
10
55
85
105
110
140
250
10
15
45
•
145
270
375
90
105
125
40
80
ΤΟ
20
30
21
• •
•
35
90
120
25
40
65
20
30
45
680
1,000
1,205
455
560
720
390
550
745
10
558 OGACE TEAR
17
81
24
1
15
24
4
15
21
9
"HON" &* RE
9
14
21
24
ΤΟ
90
44
20
14
24
9
14
20
11
15
22
31
24
12
15
19
14
16
105
215
240
12
3
130
200
360
314
514
95
150
235
4
6
55
80
110
4
•
20
25
30
•
95
140
•
260
21
28
100
160
295
35
45
40
૨૦૧૭
27
42
24
25
40
65
75
7
•
• •
•
•
5
5
15
4
100220*
5
6
47
74
20
11
4
FREE FLOR TOO PONZZZQ=”
2
3

934
8
7
8
·
2,190
3,185
4,330
8
11
14
3,070
4,415
6,315
GROSS EARNINGS OF NATIONS.
MILLION DOLLARS.
Agriculture.
Other
Industries.
Total.
Ratio per
Inhabitant.

United States.
Canada...
Australia.
United Kingdom.
France
Germany
Russia..
Austria.
Italy
Spain.
3,020
4,080
7,100
135
290
300
590
130
330
285
665
215
1,330
4,905
6,235
$175
2,220
2,605
•
4,825
125
· • •
2,380
1,870
4,250
2,545
1.255
·
3,800
1,610
1,400
3,010
890
570
1,460
680
260
940
Portugal.
155
70
225
• •
Belgium.
225
375
600
110
Holland.
225
295
520
Denmark...
185
50
235
Sweden and Norway.
355
165
520
Switzerland……
90
130
220
Greece..
50
65
115
184883328382 3
90
45
80
50
55
55
80
80
55
Europe...
12,840
14,115
26,955
$90
16,530
18,750
35,300
95

FOOD SUPPLY
OF
PRINCIPAL COUNTRIES.
NATION.
VALUE OF GRAIN AND MEAT.
TOTAL VALUE.
Belgium and
The Netherlands
Canada
Scandinavia
Australia
Rumania
Italy
Spain and
Portugal
Great Britain
T
1
$ 170,725,000
170,775,000
257,175,000
$105,000,000
65,725.000
110,000,000
60.776.000
170,000,000
87.175.000
86,000,000
215,600,000
225,000,000
280,600,000
302,000,000
411,625,000
77,000.000
474,750,000
86,625,000
668,000,000
871,250,000
3:25,000,000
340,000,000
194,760,000
840,000,000
Austria
Germany
555,000,000
France
Russia
United States
328,625,000
316,250,000
645,000,000
369,875,000
805,000,000
291,500,000
1,330,000,000
540,375,000
1,014,875,000
1,096,500,000
1,878,875,000
2,016,750,000
GRAIN.
1,035,000,000
981,750,000
Engraved Expressly for the "Story of Labor.""
MEAT.

COST OF LIVING IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES.
Annual Expenditure per Individual.
STATES, $6,000,000,000.
UNITED
Food,
$2,870 Mil.
T BRITAIN, $9,409,000,000
GREAT
Food,
$2,365 Mil.
Clothing,
$690 Mil.
Sundries,
$1,980 Mil.
Clothing,
$1,200 Mil.
$111.00
$155.75
Sundries,
$2,410 Mil.
FRANCE
$4,125,000,000.
Food,
$1,960 Mil.
Sundries,
$1,605 Mil.
Clothing,
$560 Mil.
GERMANY
Small Circles Represent Annual
$106.75
Average Expenditure
per Inhabitant.
$90.00
$4,050,
50,000,000.
Food,
$2,530 Mil.
Sundries,
$970 Mil.
Clothing,
$550 Mil.
AUSTRIA,
$2,
2,010,
Food,
810,000,000.
$1,600 Mil.
Sundries, Clothing,
$760 Mil.
$450 Mil.
SPAIN
$75.50
$890,000,000
Food,
$615 Mil.
Sun. Clo
$176 MI
$100
M
$51.50)
ITALY,
$1,410,
$1,410
10,000,000.
Food,
$1,020 Mil.
Sun. Clo
8240 Mil $150
MIL
($47.25)
BEL
BETH,.,$1,0
Food,
$510 Mil.
$1,020,000,000.
Sun..
Clo.,
$160
$360 Mil. Mily
$105.25
RUSSIA
$3,750,000.00
Food,
$2,580 Mil.
($42.00
Sundries Clothing,
$560 Mil. $610 Mil.
Engraved expressly for the Story of Labor.
9695,
SWE.&
NOR
Food,
375 Mil.
$76.25
Sun.. $100
Clo
$220 MIMy
,000,000.
698
APPENDIX.
EMIGRATION FROM THE OLD WORLD TO THE UNITED STATES.
1821-30....
1831-40...
ARRIVALS IN UNITED STATES.
Thousands.
143 1861-70
609
1871-80..
1841-50...
1851-60...
1,706 1881..
2,598 | 1882...
Total for 62 years, 11,738,000 emigrants.
Cotton...
Grain..
Tobacco.
• ·
Meat...
Butter, Cheese..
Petroleum
Lumber..
Manufactures.
•
Sundries
Total
•
EXPORTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
Thousands.
2,493
2,731
669
789
-60. 186
1821-30. 1831-40. | 1841-50. 1851-60. 1861-70. 1871-80.
1881.
$26,500 $55,250 $56,000 $127,600 $84,000 $189,000 $258,000
6,000 8,000 18,601 30,500 46,000
125,500 275,500
•
5,750
7,270 8,350
15,500 19,500
25,500 21,500
1,500
2,100
7,200
9,400 16,500
63,000 109,400
200
200
1,030
1,500 8,750
14,000
12,150
2,050 4.950 3,750
1.100 2,150 6,150
13,450 15,015 18,550
8,000 10,250
12,000
37,500 31,000
21,600
39,000 42,000
18,000 19,000
9,400
21,500
29,000
56,550 91,000
91,000 115,500
50,500 120,000
115,500 241,000| 235,250 556,000 920,000,
COMPARATIVE COST OF FOOD.
MILLION DOLLARS.
Ratio of Food
to Earnings.
Per Cent.
Days of
Work Equal
to Food.
National
Earnings.
Food Value.
France.
United States……..
United Kingdom.
Germany
Russia.
Austria.
· •
7,100
2,870
40.4
121
•
7,225
2,365
37.8
114
4,825
•
•
1,800
40.6
121
4,250
2,830
59.5
177
3,800
2,580
87.9
204
3,010
1,600
53.1
159
Italy.
•
1,460
1,020
Spain.
940
615
65.3
196
Belgium and Holland.
1,120
510
45.5
143
Denmark…….
225
115
50.6
153
Sweden and Norway.
520
260
50.0
150
The days of work are 300 per annum, allowing rest on fifty-two Sundays, and
thirteen days of sickness for each inhabitant. These countries are relatively the most
affluent when the cost of food is lowest as compared with total earnings, viz: Great
Britain, the United States and France, and in these the wealth will most rapidly
increase. But if we consider only the working classes, we find that in the United
States the cost of food is exactly one-third the value of labor, whereas in Great
Britain it is almost one-half, and in France much more.
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
699
YEAR.
FOOD EXPORTS OF UNITED STATES.
MILLIONS.
PER INHABITANT.
Grain,
Bushels.
Meat,
Pounds.
Butter and
Cheese,
Pounds.
Grain, Meat,
Bushels. Pounds.
Butter and
Cheese,
Pounds.
1821..
5
22
1
0.5
2.2
0.1
1831.
11
24
2
0.9
2.0
0.2
1841.
9
47
5
0.5
2.6
0.3
1851..
14
78
11
0.6
3.3
0.5
1861.
66
142
1871...
62
235
1881...
285
1,536
180
មានន
48
2.0
4.4
1.5
73
1.6
6.0
1.9
5.6
30.1
3.6
United States...
United Kingdom.
France..
Germany.
•
Russia.
Austria.
·
Italy.
Spain.
• • •
· •
·
Belgium and Holland..
Denmark..
Sweden and Norway.
Total
United States.
United Kingdom .
France
Germany
Russia
• ·
Austria.
Italy.
Spain.
• •
·
Low countries.
Denmark.…….
"
· • •
•
Sweden and Norway.
Average.
•
·
COST OF FOOD.
MILLION DOLLARS.
Ave'ge
per

Inhab-
Grain. Meat. Liquor S'ndr's Total.
Liquor S'ndr's Total.
itant.
460
765
370
•
1275
2870
$55 50
275
700
510
880
2365
87 25
460
525
370
605
1860
57 00
600
630
400
900
2530
56 25
660
535
420
965
2580
31 25
280
440
315
565
1600
42 00
310
125
185
400
1020
37 50
150
105
100
250
615
37 75
105
85
94
225
510
53 50
25
25
25
40
115
57 00
55
50
40
115
160
42 50
3490
4085
2830
6220
•
16425
$47 00
AVERAGE FOOD PER HEAD.
·
MAN, AGED 20-60, OUNCES DAILY.
Energy
foot-tons.

Bread.
Meat.
Butter and
Cheese.
Sugar.
26
21
223333339.28
9
7
5
26
30
31
30
ONKOLOSLO 6250 HODLO
11/2
11/2
3.462
2
5
3.372
11/2
3.353
11/2
3.870
312
3.015
5
3.034
2.691
3
2.495
4
1
3.225
42
1½
214
3.558
1
1
2.456
1
12
3.320

OUR PUBLIC DOMAIN.
Unoccupied Lands and Where they Lie.
JUNE 1885.
Alaska Territory, 369,529,600 Acres.
Montana,
73,884,372 Acres.
Dakota,
49,204,238 Acres.
Idaho,
44,971,751 Acres.
Utah,
41,154,100 Acres.
New Mexico,
32,201,361 Acres.
Washington Territory,
23,621,859 Acres.
9,266,433 Acres.
15,666,433 Acres.
Colorado,
Wyoming,
Nevada,
38,946,658 Acres.
California,
29,225,270 Acres.
Oregon,
21,328,267 Acres.
*Indian Territory,
17,150,250 Acres.
Florida, 7,313,270 Acres.
Minnesota, 11,351,936 Acres,
Louisiana, 1,663,328 Acres..
Arizona,
59,690,903.Acres.
*Including Public Land Strip; 3,672,640 Acres.
This makes, exclusive of Alaska, a total of 478,288,337 acres. On June 30th, 1882, the
unoccupied public lands amounted to 1,814,793,938 acres; the decrease since that date having been,
as will be seen, 1,336,505,601 acres. If this appropriation of the public domain should continue
for only a short time longer, at anything like this rate, it would be speedily exhausted. But it
must be further remembered that the lands taken up have, in all cases, been the most valuable, and
that a large portion of those still available are uncultivable, or poor. However, a certain propor-
tion of the unrightfully obtained railroad grant lands is to be soon restored to the public domain,
and this restitution will increase the total of desirable land by many millions of acres.
Engraved expressly for the Story of Labor.

WHAT WE SPEND OUR MONEY FOR.
THE NECESSARIES OF LIFE, COMPARED WITH THE COST OF
LIQUOR AND TOBACCO.
DRINK,
$900,000,000.
BREAD,
TOBACCO,
$600,000,000.
$505,000,000
IRON
AND
STEEL,
$290,000,000.
MEAT.
WOOLEN
GOODS,
$303,000,000
$237,000,000
COTTON
GOODS,
SAWED
LUMBER,
$210,000,000
$233,000,000
BOOTS
AND
SHOES,
$196,000,000
SUGAR AND
MOLASSES,
PUBLIC EDUCATION,
RELIGION,
$55,000,000.
$85,000,000.
$155,000,000.
Engraved Expressly for the "Story of Labor."
*702
APPENDIX.
Oysters..
Milk.
Lobsters
Cream.
Cod-Fish
Eggs...
RELATIVE VALUE OF FOOD.
(BEEF PAR.)

22
Turbot
•
24
Mutton.
·
•
50
Venison
• ·
56
· • •
·
Veal...
68
Fowl
J
72
Herring
United Kingdom.
France.
Germany
•
• •
Russia.
Austria.
Italy..
Spain and Portugal.
Belgium and Holland..
Scandinavia……
Roumania……….
Europe..
United States...
Canada..
Australia.
-
India..
Other countries.
84
Beef
100
•
... •
* •
·
87
Duck.
104
89
Salmon.
108'
.
92
Pork...
116
94
Butter...
124
100
Cheese.
155
• •
GRAIN CROPS OF COUNTRIES.

MILLION OF BUSHELS.
Other
Wheat. Oats. Barley.
Total.
Kinds.
Value, Mill-
ion Dollars.
3
74
130
272
220
94
180
210
520
130
115
130
140
20
145
·
13
2883882
28
322
341
154
726
815
274
634
645
850 1,710
1,331
223
548
111
113
293
325
91
105
115
24
35
46
115
115
7
76
37
50
171
171
85
10
40
90
225
225
1,166
1,334
639
1,919
5,158
4,935
440
405
40
1,585
2,471
1,135
45
55
15
15
131
111
35
15
10
61
65
270
271
335
120
110
179
419
351
2,076
1,794
819
3,708 8,397
6,731
HOUSES AND THEIR VALUE.
Inhab-
Houses
Thousands.
Value Millions Average per
Average per
itant
Dollars.
House.
Inhabitant.
per
House.
United States.
8,956
13,900
$1 555
$265
5.6
United Kingdom
6,452
11,400
$1 760
$325
5.4
France....
8,813
9,450
1 065
250
4.3
Germany
5,770
7,350
1 275
165
7.7
Russia.
9,150
4,400
480
55
9.1
Austria.
6,290
3,750
720
105
5.9
Italy..
4,420
3,380
715
115
6.3
Spain and Portugal.
8,810
2,100
555
105
5.4
Belgium.
1,060
700
660
75
5.1
Holland.
720
1
580
775
145
5.5
Scandinavia.
1,200
650
545
90
6.9
Europe..
47,685
43.770
$925
$145
6.8
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
703
IMPORTS INTO THE UNITED STATES.
VALUE, MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
Dry Hard-
Goods. ware.
Sugar.
Coffee.
Tea and
Sun-
Total.
dries.
Ratio per
Inhabitant
Shillings.

1821.
1821.
25
5
45
1841.
50
1851.
80
1861.
90
1871.
130
1881
130
PO4245
7322
1212
15
15
1712
3212
30
70
45
55
90
80
DFDE848
5
712
45
$4.50
T½
172
85
6 75
372
120
7.00
172
80
210
8 25
112%
285
8.75
185
475
11 75
295
650
12 50
•
INDUSTRIES.

VALUE IN MILLION DOLLARS.
Ratio per
Inhabitant.

Agricul- Manufac- Com-
ture.
Trans-
tures.
merce.
port.
Total.
United States.
·
3,020
5,560
1,575
Canada..
1,250
13,405
$220
290
260
230
55
835
190
Australia.
380
130
505
45
1,060
355
United Kingdom..
•
1,330
4,090
France...
2,850
930
9,200
260
2,220
2,470
Germany
1,700
450
6,840
180
2,280
2,245
Russia.
1,575
550
6,650
150
2,545
1,190
600
315
Austria.
4,650
60
1,610
1,050
640
220
Italy.
3,520
95
890
565
Spain.
480
90
2,045
75
680
480
205
Portugal.
70
1,435
90
155
100
65
15
Belgium.
335
80
225
460
580
55
Holland.
1,320
240
225
200
605
Denmark...
30
1,060
265
•
185
80
Sweden and Norway.
95
15
375
190
• · U
355
185
180
ΤΟ
790
120
Europe..
12,700
13,125
9,575
2,800
38,220
125
Total....
16,600
19,140
11,980
4,390
51,910
195
Bar of pig iron.
Made into horseshoes..
needles..
VALUE OF IRON MANUFACTURED.
$5.00 | Made into pen knives
10.00
55.00
"
buttons..
•
•
•
"
watch springs..
•
*
3,250
30,500
276,000
704
APPENDIX.
CONSUMPTION OF PIG IRON.
United States.
Great Britain.
Germany
France.
Belgium.
Austria..
Russia.
Sweden..
·
·
Total....
•
•
POUNDS
THOUSANDS OF TONS.
PER INHABITANT,


1850.
1881.
1885.
1881.
560
5,372
1,970
6,415
170
420
2,520
450
2,110
170
•
720
150
520
300
630
45
180
4,065
18,467
Bo♪♪8228 3
55
240
420
126
122
303
30
18
90
68
COST OF LIVING-EXPENDITURES AMONG NATIONS.
United States.
United Kingdom.
France..
Germany
Russia.
Austria
Italy.
Spain.
Belgium and Holland
Scandinavia...
Europe...
Total...
United States..
United Kingdom….
Germany.
France
...
Austria.
Russia.
•
Italy.
Other Countries..
Total..
• •
•
•
*
Food.
MILLION DOLLARS.
Clothing.
Sundries.
Total.
PER INHABIT’T.
MILLION
DOLLARS.
Income.
Surplus.
2,870 1,200
1,980
6,050
$110
7,100
1,050
· •
2,365
6,90
2,410
9,455
155
6,235
770
1,860 6,60
1,805
4,125
105
2,530 5,50
970
4,050
2,780
6,10
560
3,750
1,600
4,50
770
2,810
1,020
1,50
240
1,410
615
1,00
165
890
510
•
1,50
360
1,020
105
• · •
•
375 1,00
220
685
dogAsse
4,825 700
4,250 200
3,800
3,010
200
1,460
940
1,110
745
ខ្លួនខ្លួននឬន
100
13,555
3,360
7,200 24,215 $80 26,375 2,176
16,425 4,562 9,280 30,265 $85 33,485 3,220
LOCOMOTIVES.
ANNUAL TRAFFIC PER LOCOMOTIVE.-
NUMBER.
PASSENGERS.
GOODS, TONS.
1880.
17,790
22,200
23,600
13,480
97,800
31,500
9,400
43,000
30,100
•
•
6,220
51,600
21,200
3,600
18,800
25,300
3,560
20,500
16,300
1,600
35,200
9,700
7,460
35,400
14,700
63,020
48,030
25,400
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
105
LAND CULTIVATION AND VALUE.
MILLION ACRES.
VALUE.
RENT.
Per cul-
Cul-
Uncul-
tivated. tivated.
Total.
Million
Dollars.
Per In-
Per
tivated
habitant.
Acre.
Acre.
· ....
United States.
Canada....
Australia.
Argentine Republic.
United Kingdom.
France
Russia.
Germany...
Austria.
•
•
Italy.
Spain.
Portugal
Belgium.
Holland.
Denmark.
Sweden
Norway
Greece.
•
•
Europe....
•
•
•
170
1,635
1,805
•
9,615
$185
$35
16
1,902
1,910
900
210
11
1,847
1,858
910
320
4
773
777
610
225
ទុគត |
40
35
20
17
23
70
8,685
240
165
+
$5.00
67
49
116
12,120
350
180
6.00
68
57
125
10,300
225
125
4.50
195
894
•
1,089
6,930
90
.50
57
85
142
6,450
180
75
2.00
27
41
68
4,050
140
110
2.75
90
112
3,300
200
90
1,25
17
21
790
180
125
2.00
1
6
1,225
230
240
7.50
5
2
7
1,060
265
210
7.50
12
·
UNON
2
86
98
∞∞
8
1,050
550
165
6.00
1,560
330
1.25
3
ΤΟ
73
550
300
1.00
9
11
525
285
3.00
520
1,426
1,948
56,595
200
100
2.00
721
7,583
83,047
1,830
195
85
United States..
Canada..
Australia
Argentine Republic.
United Kingdom.
France..
Germany
+
Russia.
Austria...
Italy.
Spain....
Portugal.
Belgium.
· •
•
Holland.
[] • • •
·
Denmark..
Sweden.
Norway.
Greece
Europe..
Total....
OWNERS OF LAND.
AVERAGE ESTATE.
Land Owners
No.
Owners.
(Thousands)
and
Population
Acres.
Value.
Per cent.
•
4,005
160
2,250
8.0
408
120
1,250
9.0
168
380
5,450
6.0
390
850
1,550
13.0
180
390
•
$48,000
.95
3,226
32
4,050
0.0
2,436
37
4,250
5.0
11,336
75
500
14.0
3,432
41
1,850
9.0
1,865
35
2,150
7.0
680
150
4,750
4.0
252
•
80
3,150
6.0
.
•
335
18
3,775
6.0
154
45
+
6,850
4.0
71
115
14,900
4.0
204
400
7,750
5.0
110
300
5,000
6.0
163
66
3,200
9.0
24,444
29,415
218
80
$2,450
8.0
96
$2,515
8.0
706
APPENDIX.
MACHINERY.
:
1.
A sewing-machine does the work of 12 women.
000 of these machines yearly.
The United States exports 105,-
2. A Boston bootmaker" will enable a workman to make 300 pairs of boots daily.
In 1880 there were 3,100 of these machines working in various countries, turning
out 150,000,000 pairs of boots yearly.
3.
Glen's California reaper will cut, thresh, winnow, and put in bags the wheat of
60 acres in 24 hours.
4. The Hercules ditcher, Michigan, removes 750 cubic yards or 700 tons of clay per
hour.
United States.
United Kingdom.
Franco..
Germany.
Russia.
Austria.
·
YEARLY CONSUMPTION OF NECESSARIES.

Italy
Spain.
Belgium and Holland
·
Denmark..
Sweden and Norway
Average..
United States..
England.
Scotland
Ireland.
France
•
Germany.
•
•
•
Russia
• • ►
Austria.
Italy.
Spain.
Portugal.
Belgium.
• •
Holland ...
Scandinavia
Europe...
Total..
•
·
PER INHABITANT, LBS.
Value.
Grain. Meat. Butter. Sugar.
392
330
505
585
490
410
420
390
445
475
340
■
450
JAJSŁUPAONŘg
16
13
4
21
8
5
15
CHOOBFT
35
0
6
31
9
3322-WEE
$31 50
68
35
27
21
29
7
16 00
14
23.00
15 75
15 50
16
22 75
24 25
17
19 25
7
20
31 50
OCCUPATIONS-WORKERS IN ALL NATIONS.
THOUSANDS.
RATIO.
Agricul-
ture.
Manufac-
ture.
Various.
Agri-Manu- Vari-
cult're. fact're. ous.
Total.

7,713
3,526
18,876
.26
.12
1,651
5,138
1,068
.11
.34
•
270
749
1,171
.12
.34
1,062
354
2,150
.29
14,162
6,615
6,988
.51
.24
12,920
10,140
7,014
.43
.34
40,590
2,43€
6,498
.81
13,755
3,266
7,987
.55
.13
12,862
1,274
4,174
.70
3,360
1,334
6,416
.30
.12
1,251
220
1,306
.45
1,512
1,436
828
.40
.38
1,563
321
806
.58
.12
111737282
.5
.14
.8
.30
3,540
520
1,750
.61
.30
108,508
33,813
55,052
.55
.17
8483333384388 2
.62
100
.54
100
100*
100
100
.23
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
116,217
37,339
73,928
.51
.17
.32
100
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
707
United States..
•
United Kingdom.
· •
France .....
Germany
Russia..
Austria.
Italy
Spain..
Portugal.
Belgium
Holland.
•
Scandinavia.
Switzerland.
Roumania.
•
•
Servia..
Greece.
Europe..
Total...
New England
Middle
Southern.
Western.
Pacific
•
U •
• •
· •
POWER AVAILABLE FOR INDUSTRIES.

THOUSANDS.
Ratio.
Steam
Rivers
Total
Human
Horses.
Horse
Horse
Horse
Workers.
Power.
Power.
Power.
30,116
11,202
8,152
61,150
83,516
36
22,570
2,906
7,780
4,520
17,466
72
27,765
2,833
3,513
6,130
15,253
6
30,074
3,360
4,325
6,040
16,735
7
49,520
16,200
1,365
36,145
58,630
252
25,008
•
3,760
1,280
5,830
13,370
5.7
18,310
658
480
3,960
6,929
2.9
11,120
590
483
2,220
4,405
1.8
2,780
70
66
640
104
.5
3,776
283
595
370
1,626
.7
2,690
280
216
640
1,405
.6
5,810
*970
416
6,360
8,327
3.6
1,815
110
253
650
1,195
.5
3,520
550
90
1,160
2,152
.9
1,700
140
35
450
732
.3
1,020
97
20
420
640
2
206,818
32,807
20,917
75,505
149,919
64.0
•
236,964
44,009
29,069
136,655
233,435
100
POWER USED IN AMERICAN FACTORIES.
STATES.
THOUSAND HORSES.
Water.
Steam.
Total.
Horse power
per 1,000 In-
habitants.
78
137
215
5.4
58
298
356
31
45
50
3
18
229
247
1
13
13
Total...
160
882
17
708
APPENDIX.
NATIONAL AND LOCAL REVENUES.
TAXES.
National.
Local.
Total.
United States..
375,600
420,000
80,000
United Kingdom
$12 25
7,200
11
473,410
190,455
618,865
14 75
6,235
15
France..
561,020
161,200
Germany
723,225
19 25
4,825
12
4
451,600
66,350
511,950
12 50
4,250
12
Russia.
368,500
56,000
421,500
5 00
3,800
11
Austria
Italy.
Spain.
Portugal
342,000
26,500
368,500
10 00
3,010
12
271,000
100,500
371,500
13 00
1,460
25
158,000
45,500
203,500
12 25
940
21
34,500
6,500
41,000
9.75
180
18
Holland.
Belgium.
Denmark.
42,000
10,500
52,500
13 00
520
10
57,000
11,250
68,250
12 50
600
11
13,500
6,650.
20,150
10 25
235
9
Sweden and Norway.
35,100
17,300
32,400
8 00
520
10
Total
•
3,140,635
.1,120,705
4,261,340
11.50
33,720
121%
Millions.
RAILWAY TRAFFIC.
Passengers.
Millions.
Goods, Tons.
Receipts.
Working
Expenses.
Per cent.
United States.
United Kingdom.
270
152
France
Germany..
180
210
Russia.
Austria..
+
Italy.
Spain.
Portugal..
Belgium.
Holland.
Denmark.
• ·
Switzerland.
Turkey..
Canada.
...
Spanish America.
Australia...
India
Egypt.
·
+
48
R R R R K J A S T -*-*
290
258
$580,500,000
349,200,000
90
214,000,000
258
236,500,000
38
35
112,000,000
70
44
57
116,000,000
34
10
32,000,000
61
24
6
26,500,000
47
G2822888
$7,220
$4.80
18,362
4.20
52
12,600
4.12
54
10,310
4.21
8,735
2.20
56
93,000
3.76
6,350
2.48
5,890
3.78
4
1
3,500,000
57
4,510
2.55
56
36
27,000,000
59
11,100
3.66
17
9,000,000
6
1
3,500,000
32
6
11,500,000
1
0
3,500,000
11
10
28,000,000
3
33,500,000
4
22,200,000
61
9
60,500,000
1
16,500,000
The World .
1,742 985
$1,994,000,000
SAFASESJES | 5
50
5,915
3.46
71
3,700
2.10
56
7,100
3.03
66
4,500
2.77
3,450
1.86
66
4,400
2.85
5,050
.36
51
6,650
4.55
68
40,360
2.80
57
$8,350
4.10
Earnings.
Per Mile.
Dividend
on
Capital.
Per Inhab- Income
itant, $. Millions,
Ratio of
Taxes
per
cent.
THE STORY OF MANUAL LABOR.
7709
United States....
Canada ...
Australia.
Argentine Republic
Brazil.
Egypt..
India.
Japan..
·
·
United Kingdom.
France
Germany
Russia...
Austria.
Italy.
..
• •
Switzerland
Spain...
Belgium.
Holland
►
"
• •
Scandinavia
Roumania.
Europe..
Total..
•
·
SCHOOLS, TEACHERS AND PUPILS.
THOUSANDS.
·
· •
• • U
Schools.
Teachers.
Pupils.
177
273
13
- 9,705
16
860
6
13
611
2
6
164
6
8
184
6
347
660
32 | RFC87588
2
963
81815558888259 | 89.0
170
2,196
2,161
5,251
4,950
6,984
1,240
3,690
2,515
1,428
10
411
690
7
490
1,100
4
110
28,857
44,724
SETTLERS IN UNITED STATES (60 YEARS).
FROM 1820 TO 1880.
FROM.
Arrived.
Dead or
Reported.
Living in
Ratio to
Survivors
per cent.
Ratio of
Total
per cent.
1880.
3,538
1,423
2,115
60
33
1,105
595
510
48
8
195
48
147
75
3
•
4,838
2,066
2,772
57
44
3,312
1,245
1,967
60
31
826
• •
109
717
88
11
...
427
51
376
88
345
238
107
31
231
126
105
44
402
120
282
ΤΟ
#SHO224
6
10,281
3,955
6,326
61
100
Ireland...
England.
Scotland
United Kingdom.
Germans
Canadians
Scandinavians.
French.
Chinese..
Various
•
1861..
1871..
1881..
Total..
Year.
COÖPERATIVE SOCIETIES.
Societies.
Thousand
Members.
Capital
Thousand $
Sales.
Million $.
66
749
38
1,825
5.5
249
12,650
41.0
1,118
1,083
34,250
122.0
APPENDIX B.
THE WORKINGMAN UNDER THE LAW.
ว
THE
LABOR LEGISLATION IN THE UNITED STATES.
HE legal aspect of the labor question has appealed more to the
states than to the general government. An abridgment of the
laws touching labor standing upon the statute books of the different
states cannot but be of interest in connection with the matter presented
by THE STORY of Labor.
California.-Minor children shall not work more than eight hours a day, except
in the vineyards and gardens. Save in cases of a special contract, eight hours is a
day's work, and even these special contracts are forbidden in work done for the state.
There are also laws for the protection of the health and lives of minors similar to
those given more at length below.
Colorado.-Seats must be provided for females in manufacturing, mechanical or
mercantile establishments, to be used when the woman is not actively employed ; the
failure to provide which is punishable by a penalty of from $10 to $30 for each
offense. Operators of coal mines employing ten men or more must keep a map show-
ing the workings of the mine, the strata and boundaries, drawn on a large scale, in the
county mine office, and another with the mine inspector. The mining laws of Colo-
rado are very complete and full; so much so that any adequate abridgment of them
would be too long for the purposes of this volume. It is sufficient to say that they
cover the exigencies of the case with great care. Any of our readers desiring
more full information can procure it by writing to the Secretary of State of Colorado,
at Denver. Child labor is prohibited in the mines.
Connecticut.-No child under fourteen years, nine months a resident of the United
States, may be employed in any labor who has not attended school sixty days during
the twelve months preceding the time when the labor is to begin, nor unless six weeks
attendance has been consecutive, under a penalty to the employer of $60. Parents or
guardians must furnish a certificate signed by the school authorities attesting the
attendance of the child at school, and falsification of the certificate is also punished.
All tenements and factories must be provided with fire-escapes. When a laborer is
employed under a contract which agrees to a forfeiture of part of the wages due for
leaving without notice, the employer is made by law liable for a discharge without
notice, unless for incapacity or misconduct, or a general suspension of work. Minors
711
712
APPENDIX.
under fifteen years may not be worked more than ten hours a day, or fifty-eight
hours a week. Eight hours' work is a day's labor, unless otherwise agreed, in all
departments of industry. The school visitors must examine the condition of the
children in the factories at least once a year.
Dakota.-To induce, or to attempt to induce, any employé to quit work by force,
threats or intimidation, is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $500, or imprison-
ment for one year, or both. The intimidation of employers is also a misdemeanor.
Two or more persons associating together and entering on mining property, or from a
distance close enough to be heard, to intimidate workers by threats and gestures, are
guilty of a misdemeanor. It is a misdemanor to compel adults, or to permit children,
to work more than ten hours a day.
Delaware.-Factories and tenements must have fire-escapes.
Georgia.-Employers are prohibited from using corporal punishment. No minor
may be employed longer than from sunrise to sunset in any factory or shop.
Illinois.-Fire-escapes must be put upon all buildings four stories high, save pri-
vate dwelling-houses. Factories and other places where work is done, more than two
stories high, must have one fire-escape for every fifty people for whom there is work-
ing accommodation above the second story. Coal mine operators must keep a sworn
statement of the amount of output, open to the inspection of any one interested. All
coal must be weighed at the mouth of the mine. The health and safety of coal miners
has been the special subject of legislation. No minor under fourteen, and no female
whatever, may work in a coal mine. Five mine inspectors are paid by the state $1,800
a year each. These are chosen by a board of examiners consisting of two coal miners,
two coal operators, and a mining engineer; the board being chosen by the commis-
sioner of labor statistics. Eight hours is a legal day's work, save on farms and in
cases of special agreement, and the law does not apply to service by the week or
month.
Indiana.-An employer working minors, of either sex, under eighteen years old,
more than ten hours a day in any factory, is liable to fine. Intimidation of working-
men to prevent them furnishing work or material to any person, is punishable by fine
and imprisonment. Interference or attempted interference with the working of any
railroad or common carrier is punishable by fine, imprisonment and disenfranchise-
ment. A state mine inspector is employed at a salary of $1,500. Boys under fourteen
are not permitted to work in mines, except in those employing less than ten men. Atten-
tion is paid by law to the adequate protection of the miners in the mines. Payments
and settlements to all classes of labor must be made once a month, at least, except
under special contract. Children under twelve may not be employed in the manu-
facture of iron, steel, machinery or tobacco. In other business they may not be
employed more than eight hours a day.
Iowa.--A mine inspector is paid $1,700 a year by the state. The mining law is
practically the same as Colorado.
Kansas.-The mining laws are nearly the same as Colorado.
receives $2,000 a year.
The inspector
Maine.-All factories must have fire-escapes, under penalty of $5 to $50 a day
and prosecution for maintaining a common nuisance. Ten hours is a day's work,
except under special agreement and in farm labor. Children must attend school four
months in the year, preceding employment, if twelve years old, and three months if
APPENDIX.
71:
between twelve and fifteen. No one under sixteen years of age shall be employed
more than ten hours a day.
Maryland.-Seats must be provided for female employés in factories and store:
to be used when the worker is not actively employed. The health of the employés in
factories and workshops has been made the especial care of the state, especially as to
the sanitary condition of shops and factories. Any five or more persons who se
fit to do so may incorporate as a trades-union. A combination by more than one per
son to affect a trade dispute is not indictable unless the action of one person would be
so. Mining work must not exceed ten hours a day. Minors under sixteen may no
be employed more than ten hours a day. Arbitration between employers and work
ingmen is fostered by the state.
Massachusetts.-Inspectors of factories and buildings have large powers to inspec
and report on the condition and needs of the laboring class. Precautions against fir
and accident are instituted by statute, under heavy penalties. Seats must be provided
for female employés. The size and weight of whistles, gongs and bells employed fo
the convenience of operatives may be regulated by the municipal officers. No chil
under ten years may be employed in any work, and no child under twelve may b
employed during school hours. No minor under eighteen may be employed mor
than sixty hours in any one week, nor more than ten hours in one day. Except during
the vacations of the public schools no child under fourteen may be employed who ha
not attended school for twenty weeks during the year preceding the employment
Employers must keep on file birth and school-attendance certificates of all minor
under sixteen. Intimidation or attempted intimidation of workingmen is punishabl
by fine. Workingmen cannot contract themselves out of their rights. The sanitation
of factories is established by law.
Michigan.-No child under fourteen may be employed who has not attende
school four months in the year preceding his employment. No child under ten ma
be employed at all. No minor under eighteen, and no female, shall be required to
work more than ten hours a day. Seats for female employés must be provided
Special powers are given to the police for inspection and report and prosecution o
violations of the labor law. Fire-escapes must be provided. Ten hours is a lega
day's work; employers requiring more must pay for over-time. Employers takin
advantage of the poverty or misfortune of anyone seeking employment are liable t
fine. Trades unions may be incorporated
Minnesota.- Railroad employés on trains shall not be required to work more tha
eighteen hours in any one day, save in case of urgent necessity. Minors unde
eighteen, and females, must not work more than ten hours a day. Ten hours is
legal day's work
Missouri.-The mining law is similar to Colorado. The sanitation of factories i
carefully ordered by statute. Railroad, mining, express, telegraph and manufactur
ing must give thirty days' notice of a reduction of wages. Tokens or checks issue
by manufacturers are to be redeemable either in cash or goods, at the option of th
employé. Seats for female employés must be provided.
Nebraska.-Seats must be provided for female employés. Ten hours is a lega
day's labor
New Hampshire.-Minors under sixteen may not be employed in factories, etc.
unless they have attended school at least twelve weeks during the preceding year
714
APPENDIX.
No child under sixteen may be employed, except during the regular vacation of the
schools, who cannot write legibly and read fluently. Factory sanitation is provided
for and fire-escapes are ordered. Intimidation or annoyance of workingmen is a mis-
demeanor. Ten hours is a legal day's work.
New Jersey.-The truck system, whereby employés are compelled to purchase
merchandise in the employers' store, is made a misdemeanor. Scats must be pro-
vided for female laborers. Fire escapes are obligatory. No boy under twelve and
no girl under fourteen may be employed in any factory. Minors under fifteen must
have attended school twelve consecutive weeks during the twelve months preceding
their employment. A factory and workshop inspector and two deputies are ap-
pointed and paid by the state. Combinations looking to the peaceable persuasion of
other workmen to enter or to withdraw from employment are not unlawful. Factory
sanitation is provided for. No minor under sixteen may be employed more than ten
hours a day or more than sixty hours a week. Provision is made for the arbitration
of disputes between labor and capital. Arbitration is voluntary, but once agreed to
the award is binding.
New York.-Seats for females must be provided. The orderly and peaceable
assemblage of persons employed in a trade is not a conspiracy. The manufacture of
cigars in tenement houses in cities of over half a million population is forbidden if
any part of the floor used for the said manufacture is also used for sleeping or house-
hold work. The crection of any insecure building is a misdemeanor. Eight hours is
a legal day's work. No child less than fourteen may be employed in labor who has
not been at school for fourteen of the preceding fifty-two weeks of every year.
Ohio.-Fire escapes are ordered. The mining laws are similar to those of
Colorado. A chief inspector and three district inspectors of mines are appointed and
paid by the state. Seats must be provided for female laborers. The sanitation of
factories is a matter of statute requirement. Children under fourteen may not be em-
ployed who have not attended school during twelve weeks of the preceding year.
Any one compelling women, or male minors under eighteen, or permitting any minor
under fourteen to work more than ten hours a day is liable to fine. Any employer
using the truck system is liable to fine, as well as any one compelling workmen to
purchase goods from any particular firm. Ten hours is a legal days work.
Oregon.-Persons preventing others by threats, violence or intimidation from
working, or preventing employers from taking on new men, may be fined and im-
prisoned.
Pennsylvania.-Tribunes for the settlement of trade disputes may be established
upon petition from the parties in interest. These petitions must be signed by fifty
workmen or by five firms and must be presented to the judge of the Common Pleas
Court. If there is a strike present or threatening, the judge shall take testimony as to
the representative character of the petitioners. At least two signers must swear to the
petition. The judge shall then authorize the tribunal, which may take jurisdiction
over any dispute between the masters and men who have petitioned for its establish-
If the tribunal fails to agree in three meetings, masters and men shall together
appoint an umpire whose award shall be final upon those matters alone submitted to
him, in writing, for his decision by both sides. The board of arbitration consists of
equal representation from the masters and the men not less than two of each. They
receive no compensation, but room rent, fuel and lights are paid by the county. Other
ment.
APPENDIX.
7715
necessary expenses may be paid by voluntary contributions which the tribunal is
authorized to receive. No lawyers or agents may appear for either side. The pro-
ceedings are wholly voluntary. Persons wishing to examine the details of the
scheme more closely, should consult the "Voluntary Trade-tribunal act of 1883,"
which appears in the "Public Laws of 1883," page 15, and may be obtained from
the Secretary of State at Harrisburg. Mine owners must pay employés in money or
in orders redeemable in money in thirty days. The manner in which miners' wages
shall be ascertained is fixed by law. Female labor in or about coal mines is prohib-
ited. Very complete precautions against accident and for sanitation in mines are
taken. Fire escapes in tenements, factories, etc., are obligatory. It is lawful for
associations or individuals to refuse work when they believe wages too low, treatment
bad, or labor forbidden by the society. Persons hindering others from working may
be prosecuted. Adequate laws are on the statute books against child labor. Eight
hours is a legal day's work, save when otherwise agreed. The act does not cover
farm work or service by the year, month or week
Rhode Island.-Child labor under ten is forbidden. The laws as to school
attendance are similar to those of Connecticut. Ten hours is a legal day's work.
Persons who hinder or seek to hinder others from working, are liable to fine and
imprisonment,
Tennessee.-The coal-mining laws are similar to those of Colorado. Boys under
12 may not enter any mine. The duties of mine inspector are performed by the
geologist of the Agricultural Bereau, who has authority to employ requisite as-
sistants.
Texas. It is unlawful for three or more persons to assemble to prevent persons
from working, or to interfere with the labor or employment of another.
Vermont. The laws as to school attendance of minor laborers are the same as
those in the other New England States. Hindering or intimidating working men is
punishable with imprisonment or fine.
West Virginia.-The mining laws are similar to those of Ohio. A mine
inspector is paid $2,000 a year by the state.
Wisconsin.-Eight hours is a legal day's work. Minors under 18 and females
may not be compelled to work more than that amount. Fire escapes are obligatory
on factories and tenements. The Commissioner of Labor Statistics has power to
enter and inspect any factory and enter complaint with the district attorney for
violation of the law, whereupon the latter shall prosecute. Information to the
Commissioner of Labor Statistics must be given under oath, and refusal to admit
commissioner into factory, etc., is punishable by fine.

THE UNIVERSITY O
HIGAN
GUATE

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
BOUND
SEP 19 1944
UNIV. OF MICH.
3 9015 06851 1719