156

CREFELD.

19  to  21  years  of  age,  18s.  ;  over  21  years,  22s.  §d.  ;  colour  dyers,  from
18  to  21  years  of  age,  23s.  ;  over  21  years,  27s.  (Assistants  in  colour  dyeing
are  paid  at  same  rate  as  black  dyers.)  The  rates  are  for  60  hours  a  week.
Ten  years  ago  the  wages  were  12  per  cent,  less  and  20  years  ago  they  were
15  per  cent,  less,  the  hours  being  then  66  weekly.
The  colour  dyers  are  said  to  be  about  one-sixth  or  one-seventh  of  the
whole  number.  The  report  of  the  Crefeld  Chamber  of  Commerce  for  1905
gives  the  following  figures  of  workers  and  wages  in  the  dyeing  industry  in
its  area  for  the  three  years  1903-5  :—

Year.

No.
of  Works.

No.  of
Workmen.

Amount  paid
in  Wages.

Average  per
Workman.

1903
1901
1905

36
36
37

«  OO
2,659
2,907

£
139,228
138,512
149,152

£  s.  d.
50  11  6
52  5  4
51  6  2

Silk  Printing.  The  following  weekly  rates  are  universal  for  this  branch
of  the  silk  industry  in  Crefeld  :—1st  year  after  apprenticeship  18s.  ;  2nd  year
after  apprenticeship  21s.  ;  3rd  year  after  apprenticeship  24s.  and  4th  and
subsequent  years  27s.  The  working  hours  are  60  per  week.
It  may  be  interesting  to  supplement  the  foregoing  information  by  the
following  classification  of  the  workers  of  all  kinds  above  16  years  of  age  in  75
silk  factories  (clerks  and  officials  excluded)  according  to  income  groups,  based
upon  the  earnings  in  1905  :—

Weekly  earnings-Groups.


-Income

Males.*

Females.

Totals.

Percentage  of
the  whole.

Up  to  8s.
Above  8s.
„  12  s.
„  16s.
„  20s.
„  24s.
„  28s.

and  up  to  12s.
„  16s.
„  20s.
„  24s.
„  28s.

Totals

89
72
169
919
790
158
165

2,362

235
471
937
417
57
2

2,119

324
543
1,106
1,336
847
160
165

4,481

72
121
24  7
29-8
18-9
3-6
37

1000

Of  the  men  probably  rather  more  than  90  per  cent,  are  weavers.

Building  Trades.—Coming  to  other  trades  and  industries,  the  usual  wages
of  skilled  men  in  the  building  trades  range  from  25s.  to  30s.  8d.  for  a  week
of  59  to  60  hours,  while  labourers  receive  21s.  10d.  It  is  noticeable  that
carpenters  are  paid  rather  more  than  bricklayers  and  masons,  a  circumstance
attributable  to  their  better  organisation.  Most  of  the  rates  in  this  group  of
trades  are  regulated  by  agreements.
Engineering  Trades.—The  engineering  and  machine  works  occupy  a
secondary  place  at  Crefeld  and  are  for  the  most  part  of  comparatively  recent
introduction.  Formerly  the  silk  industry  obtained  its  machinery  from  Saxony,
but  now  a  large  part  of  it  is  made  locally.  The  Factory  Inspector’s  enumeration ­
  of  industrial  workpeople  given  above  shows  that  14T  per  cent,  of  these
fall  to  the  machinery  and  metal  trades.  The  predominant  rates  of  wages  for
skilled  men  in  machine  works  are  from  305.  to  35a.  for  a  week  of  60  hours.
In  this  industry  14  days’  notice  is  still  usual,  and  most  works  pay  wages
fortnightly.  There  are  several  boiler  works,  and  a  large  steelworks  has  recently
been  established  on  the  outskirts  of  Crefeld,  and  is  making  rapid  progress  ;  though
the  latter  works  lie  at  some  distance,  most  of  the  employees  live  in  the  town.
Other  Trades.—There  are  several  boot  and  shoe  factories  of  small  proportions, ­
  soap  making  is  an  industry  of  growing  importance,  and  there  are  in
the  outskirts  some  chemical  works  employed  for  the  most  part  for  local
industry.  The  usual  wages  of  unskilled  workmen  in  the  chemical  industry  are
from  I85.  to  2I5.  per  week  of  from  57  to  60  hours.  The  following  retrospective
return  of  hourly  rates  of  pay  has  been  supplied  by  an  old-established  firm  of