THE MINIMUM WAGE.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOE.1
SIR, Will the leaders of the late coal strike continue to insist upon the "minimum wage " ? If so, are they prepared for what will follow P Agricultural labour will migrate to the favoured coalpits, miners will be compelled to find irregular employment, casuals will again become a social order, and all the old Dock troubles will be transferred to the coalfields. If the minimum wage be adopted by the men, a maximum wage is the natural correlation. When coal is too cheap to allow of profit, if the minimum wage is a constant quantity, the masters, in order to obtain compensation, must look for- ward to indemnify themselves by a maximum wage when coal is dearer. Without some such compensation for absolute loss to the owner during a prolonged term of cheapness, collieries working at a loss, with owners of limited capital, must of necessity be closed, and thousands of the workmen doomed to emigration (an alternative much to be desired) or to pauperism, while capital will be transferred to other countries or other industries.--I am, Sir, &e.,
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