Appeal to the Wealthy of the Land/Essay 2
ESSAY II.
The first position on which I propose to animadvert is—
"That every man, woman, and child, able and willing to work, may find employment."
So far is this from being true, that a very cursory reflection would satisfy any candid person, that in the most prosperous times and countries, there are certain occupations, which, by the influence of fashion or other causes, suffer occasional stagnations. There are other occupations, at which employment is at all times precarious—and others, again, which furnish little or no employment at certain seasons of the year.
To the first class belong all those who minister to the fanciful wants of society—wants contracted or expanded by the whim or caprice of fashion. For instance, the Prince of Wales having, some years since, laid aside his shoe-buckles, and supplied their place with ribands, shoe-buckles became unfashionable, and the journeymen buckle-makers were reduced to a state approaching to starvation. Cases of this kind occur occasionally, in this country, though not by any means to the same extent, nor arising exactly from the same causes. But, whatever may be the cause, the effect is equally oppressive to the sufferer, deprived of his usual sources of support. Three instances occur to my mind at this moment. The custom of cropping the hair threw half of our hair-dressers out of employment. The general use of lamps produced a similar effect on the chandlers. And the introduction of marble cutting in the New York prisons operated perniciously on the stone-cutters of that state, particularly in the metropolis.
In the second class, the most conspicuous are the shoe-binders, the spoolers, and seamstresses employed on coarse work, who, being far more numerous than the demand for their service requires, a portion of them are at all times but partially employed.
In the third class may be enumerated labourers on canals and turnpike roads, hod-carriers, wood-sawyers, wood-pilers, &c. &c.
Instances repeatedly occur in our cities of decent men, with the most satisfactory recommendations, seeking employment in vain for months, as porters. There is at all times a superabundance of clerks. An advertisement for a clerk will, in an hour or two, produce a dozen or two of applications. I have known persons of this class, burdened with families, obliged to descend to menial and degrading employments for support.
It is frequently said, as a panacea for the distresses of those people—"Let them go into the country; there they will find employment enough." To say nothing of the utter unfitness of most of those persons for country labour, this is taking for granted what remains to be proved. The country rarely affords employment for extra hands, except for a few weeks in harvest time. Farmers are generally supplied with steady hands at all other seasons. But were it otherwise, take the case of a man of a delicate constitution, with a wife and three or four small children; what a miserable chance would he stand of support by country labour!
So far as regards seamstresses and spoolers, the employment of the two classes, through the year, does not average above 40 a 45 weeks. One thousand of the former have been employed by the Provident Society in this city, during a winter, who could procure only four shirts per week, for which they received but fifty cents! Some of them, living two miles from the office, had to travel that distance for this paltry pittance—and above half of them had no other dependence. In the absence of all other evidence, this would be abundantly sufficient to establish the cruelty and injustice of the accusations brought against this ill-fated and oppressed class, when they are involved in the general censure passed on the poor for idleness and improvidence.
The second position which I propose to controvert is—
"That the poor, by industry, prudence, and economy, may at all times support themselves comfortably, without depending on eleemosynary aid: and, as a corollary from this,
"That their sufferings and distresses chiefly, if not wholly, arise from their idleness, their dissipation, and their extravagance."
A primary element in this discussion is a consideration of the wages ordinarily paid to the class of persons whose case I attempt to develope, and whose cause I have undertaken to plead—and first, of the very numerous class, labourers on canals and turnpikes.
By the annexed letter from Joseph McIlvaine, Esq., formerly secretary of the board of canal commissioners, it appears that the average wages of this class, in common times, are from ten to twelve dollars per month and found; that in winter they may be had for five dollars; and that sometimes, in that season, when labour is scarce, they work for their board alone.
It is difficult to answer with precision your inquiry as to the average wages of canal labourers. They vary with the seasons, and are still more dependent upon the proportions of labourers to the work required to be done. In the winter season men can be had at $5 a month and found. In some cases I have known them to work a whole winter for merely their food. On the contrary, at the busier periods of the year, $15 to $20 a month have been given when hands were scarce. I incline to think, however, that $10 to $12 a month and found might be taken as a pretty fair average. Contractors, in making their calculations, set down 70 to 75 cents a day for each man employed, including wages and food. This would give about $12 a month as the average of wages.
M. Carey, Esq.
It is important to observe, that in this and similar cases, averages do not afford a fair criterion for a correct decision. This may at first glance appear unsound doctrine, but a very slight reflection will remove all doubt on the subject. Suppose A and B to work, the former at seven dollars, and the latter at ten—the average would be eight and a half. But would it be fair to calculate the capacity of A to support his family by this average? Surely not. The calculation must be made on his actual wages: I will therefore assume ten dollars for ten months, and five dollars for two—and take the case of a labourer with a wife and two children. Many of them have three or four.
| 10 | months at 10 dollars, | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | $100 00 | ||||||||
| 2 | months at 10 dollars, | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 10 00 | ||||||||
| Suppose the wife to earn half a dollar per week, | - | - | - | 26 00 | |||||||||||||
| Total, | - | - | - | - | - | - | 136 00 | ||||||||||
I now submit a calculation of the expenses of such a family, every item of which is at a low rate.
| Shoes and clothes for self and wife, each 12 dollars, | - | - | $24 00 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Washing at the canal, 6¼ cents per week, | - | - | - | - | 3 25 | |||||||||||||||||
| Shoes and clothes for two children, each 8 dollars, | - | - | - | 16 00 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Rent, 50 cents per week, | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 26 00 | ||||||||||||||
| Soap, candles, &c. 6 cents per week, | - | - | - | - | - | 3 12 | ||||||||||||||||
| Fuel, at 12 cents per week, | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6 24 | ||||||||||||||
| Meat, drink, vegetables, &c. &c. 8 cents per day, each, for wife and | 87 60 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| children, | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |||||||||||||
| $166 21 | [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Deficit, | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | $30 21 | |||||||||||
This is one of a large class, whom some of our political economists of the new school are not ashamed to stigmatize as worthless and improvident, because they do not, forsooth, save enough out of their miserable wages, to support themselves and families, in times of scarcity, without the aid of benevolent societies; whereas it appears that their wages are inadequate to their support, even when fully employed.
Here let it be observed, there is no allowance for a single day in the whole year, lost by accident, by sickness, or by want of employment—no allowance for expense arising from sickness of wife or children—no allowance for the contingency stated by Mr. M'Ilvaine, of working, during the winter months, for board alone. It is assumed that no unfavourable circumstance has taken place—that every thing has "run on with a smooth current;" and yet the man's earnings and those of his wife fall short of their support $30.21!
But we will present the case in another point of view. Suppose him to have $12 per month for ten months; and $5 for two; that his wife earns half a dollar per week; and let us see the result.
| 10 | months, | at $12 each, | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | $120 | |||||||||
| 2 | do. | at $5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 10 | ||||||||
| Wife's earnings per week, 50 cents, | - | - | - | - | - | 26 | [2] | ||||||||||||
| $156 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Expenditure as before, | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | $166.21 | |||||||||||
Even on this supposition he falls short about ten dollars a year of a meagre support, without, let me repeat, the loss of a single hour in the year by sickness or want of employment. What a hideous view of the situation of an industrious man, burdened with a family, and contributing largely to advance the best interests of society! what an overwhelming commentary on the idle and vapid declamations against the improvidence of the poor! and what an irresistible argument in favour of benevolent societies![3]
The allowance for food and drink is probably too low. The rations in prisons and almshouses are from 5 to 8 cents per day. In those cases, the supplies are furnished by contract, under the influence of eager competition. The articles are all purchased by wholesale, and on a large scale. How immense the difference between this case and that of the poor, who purchase all in the small way, and generally on credit, at a price enhanced by the risk incurred by the sellers. The difference in the price of wood may afford a tolerable specimen of the disadvantage under which the poor labour in their purchases. By the measurement of some wood recently purchased on a small scale, it appears that oak wood, sold out by three or four cents worth at a time (the mode in which it is too generally purchased by the poor), produced about ten dollars per cord, when the price at the wharf was only five or six dollars!
Philadelphia, June 24, 1833.
- ↑ Statement in detail of the expenses of such a family per week, exclusive of clothes and rent, which, I trust, will be found moderate.
Bread, - - - - $0.62 12 Salt, pepper, and vinegar, - $0.07 Meat, - - - - 20 Fuel, soap, candles, &c. - 21 Potatoes, - - - - 15 Butter, - - - - 20 Per week, - - - - $1.69 12 Tea, - - - - - 10 Sugar, - - - - 12 Per day, about - - - .24 12 Milk, - - - - - 7 - ↑ Although I have allowed 50 cents per week for the earnings of a wife, it must be obvious that a woman with two or three small children to attend, and making shirts for 6, 8, 10, or even 1212 cents each, can contribute little to the support of a family
- ↑ So far as regards canal labourers, the sickness and mortality among them form a painful drawback on the benefits mankind derive from their labours. It is not at all improbable, indeed it is almost certain, that among the whole number employed, five per cent. return to their families in the winter, with broken constitutions, by fevers and agues, one half of whom are carried off to an untimely grave. Those that escape this state often linger for years in a state of debility, subject to occasional returns of their painful and enervating disorder.