The " young men " in the great drapers' shops
of Paris are out on strike. They are badly paid, wages ranging from £50, with food and lodging, to £200 for a first-class salesman, inclusive of commission, without food, and they work fifteen hours a day. They want to reduce the hours, not by closing the shops, which is nearly impossible, but by the establishment of relays, and the masters refuse. A demand for a free Sunday was also refused, and the assistants, 8,000 in number, struck, and are now endeavour- ing to organize co-operative " Magasins," in which it is believed they will succeed. It is curious' to watch the rapid spread of the dislike for very hard labour. Has it really become harder of late years, or is education creating a thirst for leisure, or is it a result of the extinction of small shops? Formerly a shopman expected after, say, ten years' work, to become a shopkeeper, now he remains a shopman for life, and must therefore strive for shorter hours.
