pable people, and work in the factory is not infrequently looked
upon as a makeshift to supplement a family's earnings. Among
Lancashire operatives far more pride of occupation may be met with. In
many of the industrial parts of Germany English conditions are
evolving, but they are not generally the rule. An American consul may
be taken to report to his own country without prejudice as to the
rival merits of German and English conditions: one such wrote in
1901:--"The task of educating labour up to a high degree of efficiency
is difficult, and many generations are necessary to achieve that
result. The English cotton spinners have attained such a degree of
skill and intelligence that, for the most part, no supervision is
necessary. In Germany the presence of a technical overseer is
indispensable. Another advantage which England enjoys is the cheap
price of machinery. Germany imports the major part of her machinery
from England, and German wholesale dealers in these machines have not
been able, by placing large orders, to overcome the difference caused
by freight and tariff." Wages reflect the efficiencies of countries,
not of course perfectly, but in some degree. They are much higher in
Lancashire than in Germany, as is made evident by an article from the
pen of Professor Hasbach in _Schmollers Jahrbuch_ (vol. ii., 1903).
The author tries to show that Germany is not so far behind England
industrially as is generally believed, and the contrast drawn by him,
greatly to the advantage of Lancashire, is not likely to exaggerate
the superiority of English conditions. It is calculated by Professor
Hasbach that the daily wages of spinners are about 5/10 to 6/10 at
Oldham, 6/6 at Bolton and 5/6 in Stalybridge and neighbouring places.
With these he compares the 3.70 to 3.80 marks paid in the Rhine
Province and Leipzig, and the 3 to 3.15 marks paid in the Vogtland,
Bavaria and Alsace, and mentions an exceptionally high wage of 4-2/3
marks, which was earned by an operative who worked a new and long
doubling mule. The wage paid to the big piecer in England, Dr Hasbach
goes on to show, is not much greater than that received by a good
assistant in Germany. This comparison as it stands will probably give
some readers an idea that English advantages are greater than they
actually are, because it may be overlooked that the great difference
between wages in the case of Eng