In the depth of winter, a trustworthy man wrote us from Indiana:—
"Here, at Rensselaer, a good mechanic, a joiner or shoemaker, for
instance—and numbers are needed here—may obtain for his labour in
one week:
2 bushels of corn.
1 bushel of wheat.
5 pounds of sugar.
1/2 pound of tea.
10 pounds of beef.
25 pounds of pork.
1 good turkey.
3 pounds of butter.
1 pound of coffee.
1 bushel of potatoes.
and have a couple of dollars left in his pocket, to start with the next Monday morning."
The moment the ice thawed in the spring, the demand for
mechanics exceeded the supply, and the workmen had the
master-hand of the capitalists. In June, the following rates
were willingly paid to the different classes of workmen—some
of the trades being on strike for higher:—
Dollars per
Week.
Boiler-maker 12 to 20
Blacksmith 12 to 20
Baker 9 to 14
Barber 7 to 10
Bricklayer 14 to 15
Boat-builder 15
Cooper 8 to 12
Carpenter (house) 15
Confectioner 8 to 12
Cigar-maker 9 to 25
Car-driver (city cars) 10
Car-conductor " 10-1/2
Engineer, common 12 to 15
Engineer, locomotive 15
Harness-maker 10
Mason 10 to 15
Omnibus-driver 10
Printer 10 to 25
Plumber 15
Painter (house) 15
Pianoforte maker 10 to 14
Shipwright 18
Ship-caulker 18
Ship-fastener 18
Shoemaker 16
Sign painter 25 to 30
Sail-maker 15
Tailor 8 to 17
- [Footnote: blacks always manage to keep themselves more decent and comfortable than the
poor whites. They very rarely complain, or ask for charity; and I have often found them sharing their food with white people, who were too poor to provide for themselves." A great deal of falsehood is circulated and accredited about the sufferings of the free negroes at the North. Their condition is bad enough, but no worse than that of any men educated and treated as they are, must be; and it is, on an average, far better than that of the slave.]
