246 SHIPBUILDING AND ENGINEERING 
probability that the Clyde may continue to hold its own in 
the face of the competition of other districts in the United 
Kingdom and of the German shipyards, depends not only 
on the talent and energy of the draughtsman and the works 
manager, but also on the comparative industry and skill 
shown by the workman and the rate of wages he receives 
for his work. In this latter respect the Clyde builder, so 
far as unskilled labour is concerned, is not so well off as 
Belfast, where wages are lower. The same observation 
applies to the competition of German and Dutch yards, 
though, from other causes, this disparity has until very 
recently been neutralised so far as British shipyards are 
likely to be affected. There is little difference between 
the Clyde and other British rivers so far as wages go. The 
men in the engineering and more highly skilled trades— 
unlike the shipyard ironworkers—are uniformly steady and 
industrious, and, having for generations been employed at 
work demanding skill and finish, they have acquired the 
traditions of high-class construction for which the Clyde 
has always been famed. 
The Clyde Trade Unions are well organised. The 
principal ones are the Boilermakers, the Iron Shipbuilding, 
the Amalgamated Engineers, the Carpenters, the Joiners, 
and the Blacksmiths. Since the strike of 1897 there have 
been few disputes of importance, and as both workmen and 
employers are represented by strong societies and federa- 
tions, better opportunities are now afforded for adjusting 
differences than was formerly the case. The result of the 
business-like footing upon which trade disputes are now 
arranged has been beneficial to the employers in enabling 
their work to go on without interruption, and has largely 
increased the prosperity of the unions by preventing 
needless calls on their funds. There have been several 
demands of late for an increase in wages in certain 
trades, but, having regard to the low prices at which