SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY employed before the use of machinery was comparatively small, but it subse- quently rose to one-half the total labour employed. 199 In the arbitration of 1891, the manufacturers asserted that though the prices paid for different articles had been lowered since the introduction of machinery, the wages of the men need not sink if they would but work a little harder. To this the operatives replied, with some justice, that though a man might be able to ' put on a spurt ' occasionally, he could not be ' on the spurt ' always. 200 It is admittedly very difficult to arrive at any satisfactory estimate of the average wages in the pottery industry. Not only do the wages differ greatly according to the branch of industry, but almost every reference to wages deals with the rate of pay for various articles, and any comparison made is that between prices paid for such an article, at different times, the question being further complicated by reference to shapes and sizes. 201 It is possible, however, to quote the return of wages issued by the Potteries Chamber of Commerce in i 836 as paid at the principal manufactories. This return showed that in 1833-4 an average workman earned between ijs. and 21 s. per week, a woman 6s. to i is., and a child of fourteen from 3.?. to 3J. 6</. 203 In 1836 the man's average wage had risen to from 2is. to a8j., the woman's to from los. to 15^., and the child's to from 3^. 6</. to 4^. 6</. 203 In the various arbitrations before the joint board of masters and men established in 1868, the evidence of the two sides differed in their estimate of wages, and here again it is difficult to arrive at any general conclusion. In 1877 and 1879 the evidence indicated that the average rate of wages of a good workman fell below 30^., though the manufacturers quoted instances of a much higher rate. In 1891 wages were at about the same level, and a manufacturer supplied the following figures for 1900, as the minimum earn- ings of workmen working full time : Dish-maker ........ Plate-maker . Jiggerer of pails, &c. Basin-maker . l IOJ -
- "-
l 125. Saucer-maker ....... Women's wages quoted by the same employer were as follows : Cup-maker . . . . . . . . . i os. Saucer-maker ........ J~o 141. All these prices are calculated on the basis of a five per cent, advance obtained in igoo. 204 As everyone now knows, the pottery industry is one of the trades specially dangerous to health, and has been carried on since 1891 under special conditions enforced by the Home Office. Dust is the great enemy of the potter ; dust given off from the flint and lead used in the manufacture of the pottery. The flint dust being absorbed into the lungs produces bronchitis and phthisis, and the workers specially 199 Harold Owen, op. cit. 322-3, quoting evidence before Arbitrations of 1877, 1879, 1891. m Ibid. 314-1 5. Kl Ibid. 3 1 7, 3 1 8.
- Ibid. 37-8. " Ibid. 318. M Ibid. 333.
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