Another point on which my notions were corrected was, that it was not so very easy to find work in New York as is commonly reported; and that, though wages were 20 per cent. higher than I had been accustomed to, the high price of clothing, lodging, &c. made it, notwithstanding, necessary for a man to be exceedingly careful of his expenditure, if he wished really to save money.  There was no royal road to wealth on that side the Atlantic any more than on this.

Yet, among the facts which I liked, there was a set-off for this:  it was the absence of those stupid trade-regulations which in England, and on the continent of Europe, hamper so annoyingly the movement of commerce, and complicate so vexatiously the relations between employers and employed.  Few of these relics of feudal-age policy exist in the United States:  a master takes as many apprentices as he pleases, perfectly regardless of anything his journeymen may think or say to the contrary.  He believes, and not without reason, that while he pays them fair wages for their labour, they have no right to interfere with his mode of conducting his business.  It was a relief to get clear of the traditionary customs and usages of European workshops, and to feel that the way was clearer for rising out of the ranks.  But there was one exception, in a large foundry and engine-factory into which I sometimes went to see an acquaintance:  there the ‘old-country’ customs, as to drinking when new hands were taken on, prescribing coercive limitations, and so forth, were in full vigour.  My shopmates were greatly amused one day by my account of what I had seen and heard in the factory and our foreman exclaimed in language that would have done credit to Sam Slick:  ’Well! if them machinists aint the pigheadedest fellers I ever heerd tell of!—­they must be Johnny Bulls!’

Such were some of my experiences of American life, and I was working on in my usual plodding way, when I found that there was still something to be learned.  The journeymen cabinet-makers throughout the city took it into their heads that too great a share of the profits of trade went into the masters’ pockets, and they determined, by demanding higher wages, to secure if possible an increased proportion for themselves.  The masters being informed of the fact, maintained the contrary, and thereupon issue was joined.  An ‘old-price book’ and a ‘new-price book’ came immediately to be talked about, with a fervour scarcely exceeded by that of the O.P. hostilities, well remembered by old playgoers in London; and among the men, a few ambitious spirits assumed the direction of affairs, and drew around them many willing helpers.  Preliminary meetings were held to organise an opposition to the masters, and to take measures for the proper setting-forth and enforcement of the claims of the men, and the grounds on which the advance of wages was demanded.  Deputations were appointed to wait on the employers, or ‘bosses,’ and shew reason why they should ‘give in;’ but the bosses would not give in, and declared themselves to be the best-judges of their own business; that wages were as high as sale-prices would allow, and that a rise was out of the question.  On hearing this, the men threatened a strike, to take place by a certain day, if their demands were not complied with.