From the Richmond Daily Dispatch October 20, 1862:
Scarcity of laborers at the North.
–In some portions of the State workmen are scarce, in consequence of the drain for the war. The laborers upon the wharves of this city have a society which numbers over 500 members, who are pledged not to work for less than 25 cents per hour. Shoemakers are in demand in all the manufacturing towns, and we hear of places where masons and other mechanics cannot be obtained at any price.–The same state of affairs exists in other States, and especially in large cities.–Boston Traveller.
But the labor scarcity did not lead directly to higher wages. In Battle Cry of Freedom[1] James M. McPherson discusses inflation in the North. On the whole, wages did not keep up with price inflation, even though it would seem as if there would be labor scarcity because immigration subsided and huge numbers of men served in the military. There were three reasons for the wage lag: 1) some slack in the economy from the Panic of 1857 and the secession crisis 2) mechanization – unfortunately for the shoemakers in this story, the Blake-McKay machine for sewing uppers to soles greatly reduced the time required for that process 3) the employment of women in all sorts of occupations. However, the dock workers in this story might have been better off. Strikers in skilled trades and heavy industries did achieve some wage increases, especially in 1863-64.
endangered species?
Cobblers in 1807
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- [1]New York: Ballantine Books, 1989. Print. pages 448-50.↩
