It had been said in a newspaper, that a miner was earning wages equal to that of a Captain, and that a mining boy was earning wages equal to that of a Lieutenant in Her Majesty’s service.  “I only know,” said Lord Elcho, “that I have a boy who, when he first joined Her Majesty’s service, was an Ensign, and that his wage—­to earn which, remember, he had, under the purchase system, to pay five hundred pounds,—­was not the wage you are now receiving, but the wage which you were receiving in bad times,—­and that was only five shillings a day.”  It might be said that the collier risks his life in earning his wages; but so does the soldier; and the gallant boy to whom Lord Elcho referred, afterwards lost his life in the Ashantee campaign.

The times of high wages did not leave a very good impression on the public mind.  Prices became higher, morals became lower, and the work done was badly done.  There was a considerable deterioration in the character of British workmanship.  “We began to rely too much upon the foreigner.  Trade was to a large extent destroyed, and an enormous loss of capital was sustained, both by the workmen and by the masters.  Lord Aberdare was of opinion that three millions sterling were lost by the workmen alone, during the recent strike in South Wales.  One hundred and twenty thousand workmen were in enforced idleness at once, and one hundred and fifty thousand pounds were lost every week in wages during the time that they remained idle.

What the employers think of the recent flash of “prosperity,” can easily be imagined.  But it may not be unnecessary to quote some of the statements of correspondents.  A large employer of labour in South Lancashire says:  “Drunkenness increases, and personal violence is not sufficiently discouraged.  High wages and household suffrage came upon the people before education had prepared them for the change.”

In a large iron-work near Newcastle, where the men were paid the highest wages for rolling plates and rails—­and where they were earning between three and four hundred pounds a year—­the proprietors observe:  “Except in a few instances, we are afraid that workmen and their families spend most of their earnings.”  Another employer in South Staffordshire says:  In the majority of cases, the men employed in the iron-work spend the whole of their wages before the end of the following week.  There are, of course, some exceptions; but they are, unhappily, very few.”  Another, in South Wales, says:  “As to the thrifty habits of the men, a small minority are careful and saving; they generally invest their money in cottage property.  But the great majority of the men spend their money often before they earn it, and that in the most reckless way.  Large sums are spent in drink:  this leads to idleness; and, owing to drinking and idling, the works are kept short of men until about Wednesday in each week, when the greater part of the most idly disposed have become sobered down.  Of course, when wages are low, the men work more regularly.  There is less drinking, and altogether the condition of the place is healthier in every respect both in a moral and physical sense.”