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LABOR CIRCULAR.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington, April 11, 1878.

To the consular officers of the United States in Great Britan, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway, and

Denmark.

GENTLEMEN: With reference to the circular addressed to you in August, 1877, in respect of the trade of the United States with foreign countries, it is now deemed desirable that you should make inquiries and report in regard to the following points, viz:

1st. The rate of wages usually paid to laborers of every class, but with more especial reference to agricultural laborers, mechanical laborers, and those upon public works and railways.

2d. The cost of living to the laboring class, or the prices paid for what may be termed the necessaries of life.

3d. So far as practicable, a comparison of the present rates with those prevailing during the past five years, both as to wages and cost of living.

4th. Such information as may be obtainable touching the present state of trade, whether prosperous or otherwise; the amount and character of paper money, if any, as circulation; and the amount and character of coin, with the relation borne by paper and coin to each other.

5th. And, lastly, such information as may be obtainable as to the business habits and systems of your districts.

It is desired that the information which may come to your knowledge on the foregoing points should be embraced in a report to the Department, to be made as soon as may be practicable.

I am, gentlemen, your obedient servant,

F. W. SEWARD,

Acting Secretary.

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BELGIUM.

Report, by Consul Wilson, of Brussels, on (1) labor and wages; and (2) the money of Belgium.

1. LABOR AND WAGES.

Depression of trade.-The general depression of trade that has prevailed in Europe for the last three or four years has reached its culminating point in Belgium within the last six months. All branches of industry are now realizing a degree of languor scarcely ever before experienced in the history of the country.

The Belgian labor system.-This general stagnation of business has resulted in throwing many of the laboring class entirely out of work, and entailing upon others much suffering. The daily earnings, however, of many of those who yet find employment are not so sensibly reduced as would be the case under similar circumstances in almost any other country. This fact results, I presume, from the better organization of the labor system in Belgium than in most other countries. In this country many of the public enterprises employing labor are either directly or indirectly under the control and supervision of the government, and the employés, as a rule, hold their places with more or less fixity of tenure, and are paid upon a scale of rates usually determined by length of service; consequently their wages are not subject to the same fluctuations as in a country like the United States, where individual enterprise largely substitutes that of the Government. Even in the large coal mines and iron and glass manufacturing establishments administered by individuals or companies, there is much less disposition on the part of employers to change and modify the price of labor than in the United States. The owners of these establishments have made ft a point to identify the workmen as much as possible with the place of their employment, so as to secure permanence and uniformity of employed labor. Consequently, in such times as the present, rather than lose these advantages, employers make every possible concession to their worngmen.

Reduction of wages.-Such, however, has been the falling off in the foreign demand for Belgian manufactures within the last two years that, notwithstanding these politic and generous intentions on the part of employers, they have been forced to reduce considerably the wages of their workmen, and in some instances to stop operations entirely.

Depression in the glass manufactures.-The glass manufactures of the districts of Charleroi and Lodelinsart have suffered most severely from this depression of trade. In 1874, there were in these districts 167 furnaces in full operation; in 1875, 151; in 1876, 135; in 1877, 133; and in April of the present year the number had fallen to 117; thus showing no less than 50 furnaces out of an aggregate of 167 that have stopped operations entirely within the last four years for the want of profitable orders; and I am informed by the proprietors of some of the larger establishments yet in operation that, notwithstanding the fact that coal has fallen from 30 to 10 francs per ton and the price of labor from 25

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to 40 per cent., they yet find the manufacture of glass unprofitable. There are but few iron mills in my consular district, yet I am convinced that the depressed condition of the glass trade is not much greater than that of the coal, iron, and other greater material interests of the country.

Agricultural labor.-Notwithstanding the fact that the price of labor has fallen off at least 25 per cent. within the last seven years in almost all branches of mechanical industries of the kingdom, the wages paid to agricultural laborers have been gradually but steadily growing up for a number of years. This improvement in the condition of the field laborer may justly be attributed to a number of influences, distinct in their character yet tending to the same results. The rapid development of steam and horse railroads, and the extraordinary increase of improvements, public and private, that have taken place in almost every city and town of the kingdom within the last few years have attracted the field laborer from the rural districts to these more populous centers, where he can not only get higher wages, but enjoy more social life with those of his own class.

There is another influence at work in the rural districts which is yearly tending to improve the condition of the laborer and change his relation to his employer. By the constitution of Belgium not only are all rights of primogeniture and entailment of estates prohibited, but the property of a Belgian subject dying intestate, or transmitted by testament, is required to be divided equally among the legal heirs. As a consequence of this constitutional provision, the great landed estates, upon which in former times large numbers of laborers were kept as mere retainers at nominal wages, are being gradually broken up, and the men employed upon them forced to seek employment elsewhere. Within late years many of the fractional parts of these former large estates have been purchased by rich and thrifty merchants and manufacturers, who, not compelled to obtain their revenue from the cultivation of the soil, build upon their property, from motives of pride as well as comfort, handsome chateaux, furnished with modern improvements, often involv ing a lavish expenditure of money; and this results in the employment of not only new men, but many of these old retainers, at wages often greatly above those formerly received on the old and larger estates. As a consequence of these influences, the field laborer in Belgium, who is willing to remain upon strictly agricultural lands, now receives from two to three francs per day, while but a few years since his wages ranged from but one to two francs.

Reduction of mill wages.-In the iron mills and other large establishments of mechanical industry the reduction in workmen's wages since the prosperous years of 1871, '72 and '73 will average about 25 per cent., while the cost of living has remained about the same.

Wages in the cities.—A careful inquiry of architects, builders, masterworkmen, and employers of unorganized labor in this and other cities. of the kingdom has enabled me to give, in Table No. 1, a statement of the average wages now paid their workmen. On this subject I wish, however, to remark, that while ten hours are usually regarded as a day's work, carpenters, bricklayers, stonemasons, plasterers, plumbers, painters, paper-hangers, and all that class of labor not employed in large manufacturing establishments of organized labor, are employed and paid by the hour. Tailors, shoemakers, jewelers, and several other classes of special workmen are paid by the job, and usually gain from 80 cents to $1 per day, according to the character of their workmanship. In the large glass manufactories the chief workmen are employed by the month.

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