WHAT IS WRONG WITH ENGLAND? . [To the Editor of
the SPECTATOR.] ' SIR,—In your issue of the 19th inst. you appeal for suggestions as to "What is Wrong with England?" May! suggest to you that the principal cause of unemployment, and of industrial strife is the excessive share of the national income which is paid to the -workers in sheltered industries.? The- Government returns show that we have 17,178,050 people who are" gain=' fully employed " in England and Wales. Of these about seven, millions are exposed to foreign competition, and about ten' millions are in sheltered occupations. From a chart recently. published by the National Reform Union, I find that the wages of the latter class are 114 per cent, over pre-War wages,. whilst the forrner only get 58 per cent, over pre-War. It therefore followsthat over £400,000,000 per year are paid to the sheltered .industries more than what would be if they were paid at the same advance as the unsheltered ones. This is not only an enormous drain on our exporting industries,• but is also a fruitful source of industrial strife and unrest.. How can it be otherwise when a blacksmith engaged in ship-, building, after having served seven years as an apprentice,. gets the same wages as a street sweeper ; when a joiner, brick-, layer, painter, pavior or plumber working for a corporation, and having -regular employment, gets 228. per week more than a skilled mechanic, who is even not' sure of his work from • week to week ? - • If these 400 millions were saved, they would reduce the cost - of living, the rates would be much lower and industry would.' rapidly improve. "Desperate diseases have desperate reme-1
dies," and in my opinion until this matter is rectified we shall' - not have either peace or prosperity.—! am, Sir, &c., G. I-IhNDLE.
The Grange, Wilpshire, nr. Blackburn. - OW wonder whether a new kind of Socialist is arising who will' demand that these notorious but dangerous inequalities shall be'redressed by a general pooling of wages in all industries. The answer to us no doubt would be that what is wanted is a levelling up, not a levelling down. But that answer begs as' many questions as Socialists beg when they demand the removal of the inequalities between Capital and Labour.— En. Spectator.]
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