The actual wages are the same as the nominal in the honourable trade, with the addition of perquisites in beer to the men of from 1s. to 2s. weekly, and of “findings,” especially to the carmen, of an amount I could not ascertain, but perhaps realizing 6d. a week. One carman put all he found on one side to buy new year’s clothes for his children, and on new year’s eve last year he had 48s. 0½d., “money, and what brought money;” but this is far from an usual case.
The rate of wages paid to the operative rubbish-carters throughout the different districts of London, I find, by inquiries in each locality, to be by no means uniform. For instance, at Hampstead the wages are unexceptionally 20s. per week; while at Kensington, Chelsea, and indeed the whole of the west districts of London, they are 18s. weekly; in St. Martin’s parish, however, 19s. a week is paid by two masters. In the north districts again, 18s. a week is generally paid; with the exception of Hampstead, where the weekly wages for the same labour are as high as 20s., and Islington, where they are as low as 16s. In the central districts, too, the wages are generally 18s.; the lower rate of 17s. and 16s. per week being paid in certain places by “cutting” and “grasping” individuals, who form isolated exceptions to the rule. In a certain portion of the eastern districts, such as Bethnal Green, St. George’s in the East, and Stepney, 16s. and 15s. a week appears to be the rule; while in Shoreditch and Poplar 18s. is paid by all the masters. The southern districts of the metropolis are equally irregular in their rates of wages. Lewisham pays as low as 15s., and Woolwich the same weekly sum, with one exception. Wandsworth, on the other hand, pays uniformly 17s.; while in Southwark, Bermondsey, Newington, and Camberwell, the wages paid by all are 18s. In Lambeth as much as 19s. is given by two masters out of three; whereas, in Greenwich one master pays 14s., and the other even as low as 12s. a week. When I come to treat of the lower-paid trade, I shall explain the causes of the above difference as regards wages.
The analysis of the facts I have collected on this subject is as follows:—Out of 180 masters, employing among them 840 men, there are—
| Wages per Week. | ||||||
| 5 | masters | employing | 11 | men, and | paying | 20s. |
| 5 | „ | „ | 30 | „ | „ | 19s. |
| 127 | „ | „ | 605 | „ | „ | 18s. |
| 6 | „ | „ | 20 | „ | „ | 17s. |
| 16 | „ | „ | 70 | „ | „ | 16s. |
| 19 | „ | „ | 97 | „ | „ | 15s. |
| 1 | „ | „ | 5 | „ | „ | 14s. |
| 1 | „ | „ | 2 | „ | „ | 12s. |
Hence, three-fourths of the operatives may be said to receive 18s. weekly, and about one-sixth 16s.
The perquisites in this trade are more in beer than in money, nor are they derived from the employers, unless exceptionally. They are given to the rubbish-carters by the owners of the premises where they work, and may, in the best trade, amount, in beer or in money to buy beer, to from 1s. 6d. to 2s. weekly per man. The other perquisites are what is found in the digging of the rubbish for the carts, and in the shooting of it. As in other trades of a not dissimilar character, there appears to be no fixed rule as to “treasure trove.” One man told me that in digging or shovelling each man kept what he found; another said the men drank it. Anything found, however, when the cart is emptied is the perquisite of the carman. “It’s luck as is everything;” said one carman. “There was a mate of mine as hadn’t not no better work nor me, once found an old silver coin, like a bad half-crown, as a gen’lman he knowed gave him five good shillings for, and he found a silver spoon as fetched 1s. 9d., in one week, and that same week on the same ground I got nothing but five bad ha’pennies. I once worked in the City where the Sun office now is, just by the Hall of Commerce in Threadneedle-street, and something was found in the Hall as now is; it was a French church once; and an old gent gave us on the sly 1s. a day for beer, to show him or tell him of anything we turned up queer. We did show him things as we thought queer, and they looked queer, but he all’us said ‘Chi-ish,’ or ‘da-amn.’ From what I’ve heard him say to another old cove as sometimes was with him, they looked for something Roman Catholic.” My informant no doubt meant “Roman,” as in digging the foundations of the Hall of Commerce a tesselated Roman pavement was found at a great depth.
Among these workmen are no Trade Societies, no Benefit or Sick-Clubs, and, indeed, no measures whatever for the upholding of accustomed wages, or providing “for a rainy day,” unless individually. If a rubbish-carter be sick, the men in the same employ, whatever their number, 10 or 40, contribute on the Saturday evenings 6d. each, towards his support, until the patient’s convalescence. There are no Houses of Call.
The payment is in the master’s yard on the Saturday evening, and always in money. There are no drawbacks, unless for any period during the hours of regular labour, when a man may have been absent from his work. Fines there are none, except in large establishments among the carmen where many horses are kept, and then, if a man do not keep his regular stable-hours in the mornings, especially the Sunday mornings, he is fined 6d. These fines are spent by the carmen generally, and most frequently in beer.
The usual way of applying for work is to call at the yards or premises, or, more frequently, to take a round in the districts where it is known that buildings or excavations are being carried on, to inquire of the men if a hand be wanted. Sometimes a foreman may be there who has authority to “put on” new hands; if not, the applicant, with the prospect of an engagement in view, calls upon any party he may be directed to. Several men told me that when they were engaged nothing was said about character. The employers seem to be much influenced by the applicant’s appearance.
I must now give a brief description of the rubbish-carter, and the scene of his labours.