Wages in 1873: Address read before the Social Science Association at Norwich

by Earl Thomas Brassey Brassey

Belgium.

In Belgium, all the factory occupiers are of opinion that the English operatives are far superior to the Flemish. An Englishman, being better fed, possesses greater physical power, produces as much work in ten hours as a Fleming in twelve, and, understanding the machinery which he works, he can point to the cause of an accident; whereas in Ghent half-an-hour is constantly lost in seeking for the reason of a stoppage. Although the rates of wages are lower, and the hours of labour longer; English manufacturers have but little to fear from Belgian competition.