Boot-making.—­The hand-sewn trade, which constitutes the upper stratum of this industry, is executed for the most part by skilled workers, who get good wages for somewhat irregular employment.  There are several strong trade organizations, and though the hours are long, extending occasionally to thirteen or fourteen hours, the worst forms of sweating are not found.  So too in the upper branches of machine-sewn boots, the skilled hands get fairly high wages.  But the lower grades of machine-made boots, and the “sew-rounds,” i.e. fancy shoes and slippers, which form a large part of the industry in London, present some of the worst features of the “sweating system.”  The “sweating master” plays a large part here.  “In a busy week a comparatively competent ‘sweater’ may earn from 18s. to 25s. less skilful hands may get 15s. or 16s. but boys and newly-arrived foreigners take 10s., 8s., 7s., or less; while the masters, after paying all expenses, would, according to their own estimates, make not less than 30s., and must, in many cases, net much higher sums.  Owing, however, to the irregularity of their employment, the average weekly earnings of both masters and men throughout the year fall very greatly below the amount which they can earn when in full work."[23] For the lowest kinds of work an ordinary male hand appears to be able to earn not more than 15s. per week.  A slow worker, it is said, would earn an average of some 10s. to 12s. per week.  The hours of labour for sweating work appear to be from fifteen to eighteen per diem, and “greeners” not infrequently work eighteen to twenty hours a day.  Women, who are largely used in making “felt and carpet uppers,” cannot, if they work their hardest, make more than 1s. 3d. a day.  In the lowest class of work wages fall even lower.  Mr. Schloss gives the wages of five men working in a small workshop, whose average is less than 11s. a week.  These wages do not of course represent skilled work at all.  Machinery has taken over all the skilled work, and left a dull laborious monotony of operations which a very few weeks’ practice enable a completely unskilled worker to undertake.  Probably the bulk of the cheapest work is executed by foreigners, although from figures taken in 1887, of four typical London parishes, it appeared that only 16 per cent, of the whole trade were foreigners.  In the lower classes of goods a considerable fall of price has occurred during the fast few years, and perhaps the most degraded conditions of male labour are to be found in the boot trade.  A large proportion of the work throughout the trade is out-work, and therefore escapes the operation of the Factory Act.  The competition among small employers is greatly accentuated by the existence of a form of middleman known as the “factor,” who is an agent who gets his profit by playing off one small manufacturer against another, keeping down prices, and consequently wages, to a minimum.  A large number of the small producers are extremely poor, and owing to the System which enables them to obtain material from leather-merchants on short credit, are constantly obliged to sell at a disadvantage to meet their bills.  The “factor,” as a speculator, takes advantage of this to accumulate large stocks at low prices, and throwing them on the market in large quantities when wholesale prices rise, causes much irregularity in the trade.