AND ON THE CONTINENT.

177

only food, but also clothing, etc. One shilling per week is paid tothe trade union. But since this union grants relief only in case ofwant of work (13s. per week, or in case of a strike 15s. weekly),the man and wife are also insured in a friendly society againstsickness, for which they pay 5d. weekly, and receive in case ofsickness 8s. per week. The children who are working are alsosimilarly insured. The man takes a trip every year with some ofhis children—in August, during the so-called “ Oldham wakes,” atwhich time the mills close for a week. He goes mostly to' one ofthe neighbouring watering-places on the coast, and this absorbs aportion of the savings. The total expenses amount to about£185 ; therefore about £21 is saved per year.

As a second representative of the spinners I choose one fromHyde, a place near Manchester well known from its connectionwith the history of Chartism . The man is employed in one of thelargest spinning-mills, belonging to the Ashtons. His age is 47years, that of his wife 42. He has married rather late, and hasonly two children—girls of 15 and 17. The family rents a houseconsisting of four rooms and a kitchen—two living rooms on theground floor, two' bedrooms a story high. The measurements ofthe front room are 4£ by 4^ yds., of the back room 4J by 4 yds.In this case relatively more value is laid out on the dwelling thanin the one mentioned before. The rent is 4s. 6d. per week. Inthis case, also', wheaten bread and meat are given as the chiefnourishment. Meat, and indeed beef, is eaten once a day.

The man earns 30s.; the daughters, one a weaver, the other ina hat works, each 10s. per week. Here also only 50 working weeksare reckoned, and 14 days are expressly mentioned for holidaysand relaxation. Thus the yearly income, with £6 8s. in dividendsfrom the co-operative society, amounts to £131 8s.

The man is a trade-unionist, which costs him Is. weekly; forinsurance purposes Is. weekly is .paid to friendly societies. Theinsurances are as in the foregoing case. The man is, as well, amember of a social club, and subscribes to the trade paper, “ TheCotton Factory Times,” a non-political paper, and also—as hebelongs to a political party—to a Liberal paper. As long as thechildren did not work the family were partly dependent upon thesavings which both partners had made before their marriage. Thewife has, since her first confinement, ceased working. Since thegirls went to work the yearly savings have been considerable, theobject being to secure the parents in old age, and to allow of some-

N