In Prussia, Mr. Plunkett states that there is a universal tendency to reduce the hours of labour, and to raise the rate of wages. The Breslau Chamber of Commerce state that, in consequence of the increased cost both of labour and raw material, the prices of cotton carded yarn had advanced 10 per cent. on the best and 16 per cent. on the ordinary qualities. In the Silesian cloth trade, in 1871, prices rose 15 per cent.
In the spinning and weaving factories in Silesia, according to a statement by Dr. G. Reichenheim, quoted by Mr. Plunkett, the increase in the rate of wages in the last ten years has been about 30 per cent. for female weavers, while in the case of male labour it is more than double. The same complaints are made, which we hear in this country, as to the effect of higher pay in rendering the operatives less careful in their work, and more insubordinate than formerly.
Low wages and cheap production not convertible terms.
The most recent inquiries tend to establish the fact, which I have, on former occasions, endeavoured to urge on the attention of employers, that underpaid labour is by no means the most economical. It does not follow that, when a workman receives more pay for exactly the same amount of labour, there is no increase in the cost of production. It would be absurd to put such an interpretation on the axiom assumed by my father, when estimating the cost of work, that the cost of labour in a fully peopled country was, as a general rule, the same, whatever might be the nominal rate of daily wages. But, where the principle of payment by the piece is adopted, (and, trades-union opposition notwithstanding, no other system of payment can be really equitable), there it will be found that labour, when stimulated by a liberal reward, is far more productive than that of the ill-paid operative. The reports to which I have referred are full of illustrations on this point.
In Belgium, all the factory occupiers are of opinion that the English operatives are far superior to the Flemish. An Englishman, being better fed, possesses greater physical power, produces as much work in ten hours as a Fleming in twelve, and, understanding the machinery which he works, he can point to the cause of an accident; whereas in Ghent half-an-hour is constantly lost in seeking for the reason of a stoppage. Although the rates of wages are lower, and the hours of labour longer; English manufacturers have but little to fear from Belgian competition.